scenes from our rainy day yesterday

it rained here all day yesterday.  a nice steady rain, no crazy downpour, just steady rain all day.  we had a nice afternoon hanging out together.   here's what went down at our house:
the older kids got busy playing new games while john john napped...

john helped me make cinnamon rolls when he woke up...

i made pioneer woman's famous cinnamon rolls for christmas morning and still had half the dough to make.  they are delicious!

the kids got out their rain jackets and umbrella's and went outback in the rain for a good hour...

then it was inside for warm baths (for the younger two who were cold) and warm cinnamon rolls.  it was a good afternoon.

all she wanted for christmas was a...

blizzard maker, and she got it!! we finally got to try it out last night and it works great...

(that's popping candy on top that came with it)
actually, she also desperately wanted a gerbil but pets are something that santa has to get permission from the parents on and umm unfortunately we weren't quite up to it - let's just say i'm not really an animal person, although we did surprise the kids with a puppy one year.  that counts for something, right? (i'm just including this info since this blog is kind of like my journal and i want to remember that this was the christmas that she asked for  the gerbil).  since there has been some serious drama about wanting a gerbil over the last few months (all due to a trip to pet smart and falling head over heels about how cute they were!!) chris told her he would buy her one as a house warming gift when she buys her first house.  i got a good laugh out of that one and thought that was a great idea!

anyways, back to that blizzard maker.  ella really wanted one and was thrilled with it.  of course she got a lot of other wonderful gifts too, including the roller skates in the picture below which she wore for about 8 hours straight on christmas and has worn every day since even just around the house.

more on christmas to come in the next few days, just thought i'd try to do a quick post and share the success of ella's new blizzard maker.

santa's visit last night...

we've been going to a family friend's christmas party for years.  santa always comes to visit the children.  here are some pictures of the kids with santa at the party last night...

winter band concert...

was last week.  christopher is in intermediate band this year.  he still practices 2x a week at school, but this year one of the practices is before school at 7:15.  those are early days for us, but so far we've made it on time each week!

he and ben are the only guitarists this year.  they are great friends and since they are in different classes for the second year in a row, it is nice that they can hang out together during band.

christopher has learned many new songs this year and is very good about practicing.  he really enjoys it and so practicing is not a chore to him, he gets so excited when they learn a new song and he is able to play it well.

he really likes the band director, as do all the kids.  andrew will have him next year for music and christopher has him all excited about it.

the concert this year was in the school's new building (will post on this soon).  it is a gymatorium - a gym with a stage built into it (with a removable wall) so that performances can be held there.  the sound and lighting are amazing.

we are very proud of christopher's commitment to participate in band (especially since about half the kids have dropped out from last year).  he is a major sports guy (which i love), and i am so glad he has a real love for music as well and continues to be a wonderful example to his siblings.

we had a visitor last night...

st. nick!!!

the kids put their shoes out by the front door before they went to bed and st. nick brought them some goodies.  the boys all got baseball card packs...

including john.  he's learning all about sports from his older brothers, he knows the names of more players than i do!

and ella got some holiday hair accessories...

ella made this sweet card for st. nicholas...

they were sure excited to check their shoes this morning, the older three were up extra early.  did st. nick visit your house last night?

entry wall quotes

we have finally started hanging things up on the walls of our home post remodel.  actually, chris has hung them for me (still have a lot more to do) and it makes our house feel so cozy and well like home with photos of the kids and such back up on the walls.  i've had this framed chalk board for awhile and i love how it looks on our entry wall even though this picture doesn't really do it justice...

my goal is to change the quote weekly so that we all will have something to reflect on each week.  hopefully it will reinforce some of the values we are trying to instill in our children.  i think the next quote may be 'clear your breakfast dishes every morning!!' and then 'put your dirty socks away', then at least i won't have to hear myself say those two phrases over and over!

pink scarf

ella has been wearing her pink scarf every chance she gets.  and i must say she sure looks cute...

she's even gotten to wear it to school on a free dress day - i remember how exciting it was when we got to have a free dress day.  she was thrilled to wear it to school on that day.

summer getaway #1...

since it is almost thanksgiving i thought i'd better finish this post i started oh about 2 months ago!  i don't do that great of a job recording events right when they happen.  i need to work on that, how do i get more time in the day?? maybe i'll have all my summer posts done by christmas!

since we were remodeling this summer and had many changes and little issues along the way to deal with, we didn't know if we would be able to make it out of town over the summer.  luckily, we were able to fit in two five day vacations the last two weeks of summer which made for a wonderful break from the remodel and heat just in time before the start of school.

lori has been inviting us up to her cabin for years and for years we have gone...we absolutely love going and she and i both love the time our children have together to relax, explore and enjoy each other in some cooler temps...

the boys played a lot of soccer...

the little guys got real into it too. you can tell they both have older siblings, both # 4, and both so sweet...

then they would just keep running to play in the sand for awhile...

and the girls always get along great too...

these two are still the best of friends...

look at that gorgeous scenery.  it was so beautiful, we just loved being there with our great friends.  

we made hot chocolate for the kids every morning (along with a big breakfast, lunch and dinner!!) here's our morning hot chocolate crew...

the kids took turns putting on plays for us on the front porch.  the girls:

and the boys:

we went on hikes and on the zip line...

here's our crew in the annual picture on the 

front porch right before we leave to go home...

sweet baby Ava is missing, but here they are again...

and lori and i were brought to tears watching these two say good-bye to each other (they were staying at their cabin for a few more days after we left).  they wouldn't let go...

we had a great time and are so thankful to have such wonderful friends.  all of our kids get along so well and we cherish these memories they will have to look back on of their childhood summers up in the cooler parts of az.