Christmas Lights 2014

We only did 2 fun things total this year as far as Christmas celebrating goes... so this crap must be documented. #ahhmemories. We drove up to see the lights at Old Settlers. There was suppose to be a carnival but it go rained out. We let the kids hang out of the windows and the sun roof cause we are cool like that. And at the very end Derek said it was the best Christmas ever. Which is what I need to hear in order to continue attempting these types of family outings especially with a grumpy pre teenager who sucked all the fun out of my evening with his bad attitude. It worked out in the end cause I had him mop the front walkway tiles as a punishment and my house smelled of pine sol for a week. All is well in the Weeks household again.

(Grumpy teen sat in the back and wouldn't look at the lights)

Gingerbread Houses 2014

The month of December I started out happy with high hopes. This is a good type of mood to be in to tackle gingerbread house making. Cause by the end of it I was exhausted and didn't want to do anything else for Christmas. The kids are getting better at it. They have more patience and fine motor skills to actually make it look similar to a house. They still eat 90% of the candy. Which is 10% down from last year. However they like to put each others houses down when they get frustrated cause a gum drop (or two) falls off. I was impressed with Addie's ability to take her frozen obsession and find everything blue or white in the assortment of candy for a perfect Elsa house. Dallin got up on his own and made hot cocoa for every one. He was very funny making jokes and making fun of my lack or patience to take the edge off. Georgia didn't get up on the buffet and eat the houses this year so they stayed on display for a couple of weeks. Who knows what next year's Ginger bread extravaganza will be like. But the future is bright!

Thanksgiving 2014

We spent most of Thanksgiving day at Operation Turkey. Andrew and I wanted to have the older two kids volunteer and see how people less fortunate than us live. Thinking if they saw how homeless people live they will be more thankful and giving during Christmas coming up. It basically didn't go at all the way we planned. It back fired BIG TIME! There were more do-gooders/volunteers that just showed up to feel good about themselves and take a few pic so their Facebook friends could see their good deeds, than there were actual homeless people or people in NEED. Tons of food went into the garbage and money was wasted. Every homeless man and woman already had 12 plates from other volunteers that had gotten to them before we could. It was pretty funny when we drove up to a homeless man holding a sign that said "hungry need food". Addie got out to hand him a plate of food and he refused it. At which point my dad got angry and threatened to get out and kick his ass for not being nice to his Grandbaby. It was all funny by the next day. But needless to say we need to find a better way to teach our kids gratitude.

Addie's loves Horses

Her obsession with horses never really went away. She is old enough now that it was time to see her dreams come true. Well half of her dreams (we don't actually have a horse in our back yard) but she gets to ride horses every week. We found a ranch that will teach her how to care for and ride horses. I thought our little princess would scoff at the thought of cleaning and grooming horses but she actually loved it. She is learning how to tell the horse what she wants it to do without saying anything. Naturally she took to the horse and it took to her and she was so beautiful up there riding it I shed a few tears of happiness for her (under sunglasses. I cant let people see my softer side). She is looking into horse camps for the summer. I think once a week isn't enough she wants to see a horse every day. But it will have to do for now. And its better than nothing. We are so lucky to have such a unique child come to our family.

Derek's Birthday

The day after Halloween. Poor guy, no matter how hard I try his birthday always seems to be shadowed by Halloween. Especially this year after the big party for Dallin. We went rock climbing and once Derek got about half way up the rock climbing wall and started to cry, we realized he is afraid of heights. Not the best birthday party idea for that fear. But it ended up being super positive because we kept pushing him to get to the top. He went up several times and asked to go back down when the fear became too much. He finally over came his fear and reached the top earning himself a Lego set. He was so proud of himself!! We were all so proud of him too. The next day we made a rainbow birthday cake and Dallin made his name with Legos as a cake topper. Derek fixed the K and then blew out the candle. He is still the sweetest little boy. Not sure if he will grow out of it but every one loves him. And every one comments on his red hair. Dallin admits to picking up on girls that think his little bro is cute. Its so funny.

Halloween Part 2

Dallin is getting older and wanted to throw a party with his friends this year. We agreed and some how Addie had to add her friends into the mix. They went trick or treating and my mom came up to hand out candy at the front door. We played really fun games. The kids loved murder in the dark (except one) and begged to play again over and over. I have to admit I can rock a party if I put a little planning into it. You should ask my sister Annette about the parties I don't plan out very well.. Any ways It was truly a fun time. I have video of the jello rat eating contest up on our youtube account I will post a link at the bottom. In the rush I didn't get a pic of Derek in his costume. The little Devil ran off with his friends too quickly. Olivia went to her friend Ashley's house for most of the night. We missed our kids but its better that they have fun with their friends than we insist they stay with us.

Halloween Part 1

The month starts off with Halloween packages from Aunt Net. Full of candy,Halloween t-shirts,flash lights, pumpkin carving kits, glow sticks, and crafts. They love getting the package so much that I usually hold them on top of the fridge and give them a list of chores that must be done before they can open them. My sister would gut me if she knew this, but I have to utilize these golden opportunities when I can. We went the school Halloween carnival for the first time this year. Andrew tried homemade tamales and feels like he has now had the full Mexican experience. We won TWO cakes in the cake walk...Go big or go home right? And we bid on the class baskets but thankfully lost (I did not bring cash but I wanted our kids to think we are high rollers). A week before Halloween we carved pumpkins and the kids did really well. Derek's pumpkin is too cute. It looks just like him. He sat there never made a peep and carved it alone with out any help. I love how cool all the pumpkins turned out.