Crafting

Keeping 5 young children entertained and not fighting with each other is no small task. Good thing my sister came prepared with a craft. The kids made snow globes (sorry, no finished pics since they ended up leaking). Here they are painting the baby jar lids/globe bases. We had some serious painters. Later in the week they got to do another craft courtesey of Grandma - Frosty the Snowman masks. While the snowglobes were a big kid only craft, all 5 were included in the Frosty masks. Eric particularly liked his and would hold it up to his face and giggle.

Discovery Gateway

Aunt Kellie splurged and took everyone to Discovery Gateway for the day. Eric explored everything in sight and was in heaven being able to run and climb all he wanted. As usual, Caden took up residence at the water table for most of the day. Right before leaving we discovered something new - a full size helicopter on the second floor! Thanks, Aunt Kellie, for a fun day!

Wheee! Down the Hill!

We went sledding with the Dodds family so the Texas cousins could get a little taste of a true winter activity complete with snow. The three older kids couldn't get enough of going down the hill. We had enough sled and tubes for everyone to have their own, but all three kept piling onto the same sled. The two younger kids were much less impressed and cried most of the time. I suppose the thrill of careening out of control is an acquired taste.

Merry Christmas!

We are delinquent parents who didn't take a single picture of our children on Christmas. Crazy! We did, however, take this video of the kids first thing in the morning. Eric was content with the toys he got from Santa and his stocking stuffers, and Caden was having a blast unwrapping all his gifts (and Eric's once he realized Eric wasn't going fast enough). After we did Christmas at our house we visited the Dodds house, then the Scherbels. At each stop we increased our Christmas haul until by the time we got home we had been completely spoiled.

Cousins for Christmas!

The boys got lucky enough to get visits from all their cousins this year at Christmas.

Caden was obsessed with baby Clark. Eric was a little alarmed when the 'doll' he was hugging started to move.

Eric was enamoured with Brooklyn. He followed her around and anytime she stopped he'd slowly edge over to stand next to her.

The first week the Carruths were here they all got the flu. A nasty flu that knocked them out for days. So this is how Caden spent the first half of his cousin time - everyone laying around on the couch.

Breakfast, Anyone?

Its a wonder Eric was able to eat. He insisted on having so many guests to breakfast there was no room for the food.

Caden's Little Friend

"Mama, could you hold my friend while I play in the snow? Be soft with him, he's just a yittow(little) guy"

*The next day*

"Mama. Where is my friend? I want to play with him."

"Caden, snowballs melt. Your friend is gone."

"You were supposed to be soft! Thats not nice, mommy!"

Christmas Cruise

We met up with Ryan's family to go on the Provo River Christmas Cruise. It was lots of fun. The boys loved the lights and Caden couldn't quit talking about how Santa came up to the boat and gave him a high-5.

Today's Snow

To Caden's delight, this morning we woke up to about 7 inches of snow. I opted to leave Eric in his shoes rather than his boots and for the first time ever he enjoyed his foray into the cold white stuff. Caden helped shovel the walks, then Eric took a turn shoveling while Caden and I built a small army of 2.5 feet tall snowmen.

Budding Musician