What happen to my sweet little boy???

Lately Kaden has not been the sweet boy that he has always been. He doesn't want to pick up his toys, get dressed, say his prayers, etc. Not that he always came running when I asked him to do something, but he did what you asked and generally wanted to please you. All of the sudden EVERYTHING is a battle @ home (thankfully he is still VERY good @ school). We are just really struggling with what to do with him. I want him to be a good listener and be respectful of us and his things. A perfect example of this was that we were at Barnes and Noble Book Store the other day and they had lots of toys clearenced out. I was digging through them and I found some playmobil construction sets (which was a super find b/c playmobil is super expensive and rarely goes on sale). These were perfect for him b/c he received the playmobil construction crane from my parents for his birthday and the construction garage that goes with it for Christmas. I was not about to just buy it for him since he had just gotten a bunch of toys for Christmas. So, I asked him if he would like me to buy it and he can do special chores and projects around the house to earn the set. What was his response?? "No thanks, I don't want to earn it" Are you kidding me??? My son, who LOVES anything playmobil just turned down getting a new set b/c he "doesn't want to earn it"!!! Then the other night Kaden didn't want to get his pajama's on b/4 he went to bed. So we said okay you will just sleep in your clothes then. This battle went on and on and on and on! That is how the below "toy jail" got started. The cabinet is so full now that the doors won't even close on it. Hopefully this is just a phase and he won't continue to act like this but if he does I will be ready b/c I am starting a parenting class (love and logic) @ the end of the month.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!! We brought in the New Year with my grandparents and Char and Marc and their kids @ Cascade. They had a kids party that was so much fun! We danced, made silly videos, watched a magic show, got balloon animals, and had a balloon drop at Midnight (it was actually only 9:30). We hardly had time to eat b/c we were having so much fun! What a great way to ring in the new year with everyone that I love!

Christmas 2009

Christmas Treats

Today we decorated cookies with some good friends. The kids had so much fun being able to decorate the cookies however they wanted (w/o me over their shoulder trying to control the chaos). Here is one of Emerson's creations. There is a cookie under all of those sprinkles.

The girls jumped right in and started decorating

The little boys even got to decorate their own cookies. Most of the toppings went straight into their mouth and didn't make it to the cookie.

The kids "helping" make treats for Emmy's dance Christmas party

Last week we went to a gingerbread house decorating party with Grama. Instead of the kids decorating individual houses, they all iced and decorating one BIG house. It was pretty chaotic and there was candy and icing everywhere. But the kids had a lot of fun and definitely came home on a sugar buzz!

We have made a lot of treats, done lots of Christmas crafts, and decorated numerous gingerbread houses. The kids and I are ready for Santa to come!!

Santa Brunch

Last weekend we went to Cascade Country Club for our annual Santa brunch. I wasn't sure how the meeting with Santa was going to go since we hadn't seen Santa yet this year. I have to say that this year was probably the best yet. Perry wouldn't sit on Santa's lap but he let me hold him next to Santa. Kaden asked Santa for legos and Emerson asked him for girl legos. There have been lots of questions about Santa around here lately. Kaden is definitely trying to figure out all of the details about Santa. His latest question was "does Santa ever die?" I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. Any advice is welcome :)

All of the cousins with the newest addition, Milana
(can you believe how coordinated they all are, we didn't even plan that)

Our attempt at the annual family Christmas photo, it gets harder and harder every year

Snow Day #3!!

Today was our third snow day!! Needless to say we are going a little stir crazy. Luckily I had bought our gingerbread house kit on Tuesday before the storm hit. They have kits now where the house is already assembled, so all you have to do is decorate. What a fabulous idea!! We spent the day decorating our gingerbread house, watching Christmas shows, and making Christmas goodies in our jammies. I may have even let the kids open up a Christmas gift (thanks Isabelle and Ethan!). Lets hope that the schools are open tomorrow!

Snow Day!

The kids had a snow day from school today and since it was the first snowfall of the season we were outside playing in the snow by 9:30. I forgot just how hard it is to get everyone dressed in all of their snow gear. I am thankful that I have at least one that can dress himself. So it took us a 1/2 an hour to get dressed and we were probably only outside for a 1/2 an hour.

Kaden has always loved the snow and has been waiting patiently for it for over a month. He was very happy this morning when he woke up and saw all of the snow.

I was surprised how much Perry liked the snow. I always think that it is hard to play in the snow at his age b/c they can hardly walk in their snow pants and boots. I took him and placed him the middle of the backyard and he just stood there smiling. Half of his body was covered by the snow but he loved it. He really had fun when Kaden, Emmy, and I started having a snowball fight. I had to make him come in after his mittens and hat were wet. He just keep saying, "Snow, outside, snow, outside". He repeated that all day! I guess we are going to have to get him a second him of mittens so he can stay out there longer.

Emerson was loving the snow today too. Last year she would always stay inside with me. Today Kaden and Emmy continued to play for awhile after Perry and I came inside.