Gingerbread Houses

It's a Payne Tradition to make Gingerbread Houses at Christmas time, stemming back to when John was a little boy. He was telling me that every year his mom would buy Graham crackers, make frosting and then there were bowls and bowls of candy for decorating. We just used the the kit but we still had a great time. Dad was a great orchestrator!

Cupcakes

Cupcakes I know have become a big thing right now, and I've kind of latched onto the hype. It has become a desired hobby for me. A desire because I'd like to learn to make really yummy and exotic or different flavored cupcakes that make people happy. I'm not a great baker or cook...yet, but I'm practicing and it's fun for me. Our primary president, a friend of mine knowing this asked me to make cupcakes for our teachers for Christmas.

Saturday morning I had some friends over to help. We made Vanilla Christmas Ornament cupcakes from the book, "Hello Cupcake". BH&G Chocolate Cupcake with a Kick (Chipotle Pepper) and Gingerbread cupcakes with a cream cheese cinnamon frosting.

I am actually very happy with the results of our labors. Thanks girls for the help!

Santa Comes to Town

Santa is a HOT topic around our house this year. It's been a lot of fun as the girls remember last year and they kind of know what is coming up. The girls have been very aware of Good and Bad decisions, particularly Tyler who has been making a conscious effort to make good decisions. She can often be talked out of bad behavior by asking her if she's making a good or bad decision.

We went to a Christmas Party at the Colin's on Saturday night where Santa dropped in to say HI and give a gift to the kids. On our way there a song came on the radio with bells playing in the background and the girls brought it to our attention that they could hear Santa's bells. When Santa did arrive although McKenna was excited she was still quite apprehensive and quickly hid. Tyler on the hand was so excited she stood as close to Santa as we'd let her hopping from one foot to the other dancing while she waited for her name to be called out

Tate was sabotaged-he was in the kitchen with his father when his name was called. Without even thinking about it we wisked him over and when he got a good view of Santa he death gripped his Dad and started bawling.

McKenna did finally come out of hiding to watch the festivities and when she saw Tyler's gift from Santa her fear vanished and she was more than willing to go sit on Santa's lap.

It was a really fun night for all. Thank you Colin Family for inviting us all into your home!

Conversations with McKenna

While eating lunch McKenna proceeded to tell me what she wanted to do when she grew up:
*Hold Tater Tot
*Do My Own Hair (I dream of that too)
*Make food
*Have a Big Kid Bed-a Flower One
*Wrap presents by myself
*Help Tyler with the Computer

It's Not IF but WHEN

Last week Tate began "walking". He took his first steps on Thursday trying to get to his sister McKenna who was oblivious to the momentous moment that it was to me. He cruises along furniture and people quite easily and has gotten up the courage to take things to the next step. Never consistently enough to capture on film, but pretty big deal to me none-the-less.

Yesterday the inevitable happened...not a proud moment at our home, but all's well that ends well right. With that said Tate took a spill yesterday after church. He LOVES climbing the stairs and we do have the baby gate up at the bottom consistently but will let him climb them as long as someone is walking behind him in case of an accident. You can see where this is going can't you. Well a few months ago he fell down the top 2 stairs before I caught him, he's been really cautious around them since until last week. Apparently there's been a lap in memory as he's been brave enough to stand at the top. Yesterday he found himself unsupervised and fell down the whole flight of stairs. After checking him over we decided he's made of rubber because after 3 minutes of crying and a lil time with his binki his smile found his face again and he wanted to climb the stairs again. Go figure! When it comes to my kids, it's not IF, but WHEN they are going to fall down the stairs, or off the bed. With that said, all's well that ends well, although I'm still trying to be extra cautious and not throw caution to the wind.

New Moon, Christmas Rush and other things

A few friends (Leslie & Ady) and I went to see New Moon. Good flick, I give it a B+. In honor of the movie we decorated a few cupcakes for fun. The girls (McKenna & Tyler) loved eating them.

Last week Ady talked me and Rocio into running Kent's annual Christmas Rush 5K. I missed the race last year since Tate was born only a few weeks earlier but apparently the race got a lot bigger. There were a lot of people there and it was FREEZING! Although.

Happy and Ready to go...before the race.

I'm quite pleased with our race results. I ran the 5k in 30:45 minutes. Rocio was 5th in our division and I was 8th. Not too shabby with 65 people in the category. :)

Tyler

Everyday Tyler does things I want to write about, but never seem to get around doing so I thought I'd take a minute to do so. She's at a great age 2 going on what it seems like 5 sometimes. She's a bright little girls who LOVES to:

• Dance
• Sing (anything she can think of) Lately it is the chant from Dragon Tales-which she has only seen a couple of times in the last couple of months ("I wish, I wish with all my heart to fly with dragons to the land of heart") as well as myriad of Barbie songs (mostly Princess and the Pauper & Diamon Castle), and lots of Primary songs (I am a child of god, Snowman, Spring?, The Family is of God).
• Dress up (mostly as snow white)
• Paint & color
• Putting puzzles together (Growing collection to which she does by herself)
• Homework (usually a copy of McKenna's homework)
• Everything "By Myself" which is said, "I want to do it"
• Making people happy (especially her Mom, she is always asking me if I'm happy)
• Making Tate Laugh
• Give hugs and kisses and tell you she loves you
• Reading books (after we've said goodnight, until she falls asleep)
• Play computer games (color My little pony)
• Saying "that's cool", "that's you Daddy"
• Playing pretend with McKenna
• Playing with her Princess Dolls
• Playing "can't catch me" with her Dad (so he can chase her until she can't stop laughing.
• Learning her ABC's ("T is for Tyler and M is for McKenna") She tells me that T is not for Tate, just Tyler.
• she loves wearing skirts (Has worn pants once in the past month when her dad took her outside to work in the yard)
• Hates getting her hair combed & washing her hands

I sure do love this little girls who is usually my ray of sunshine!

She's a doll who hates getting her picture taken.

Tate's 1 Year Doctor appointment

Tate had his 1 year dr's appointment today. Took him and Tyler while McKenna was in school. I wasn't surprised to walk in and see the receptionist with a face mask on her face, I was surprised to find the lobby/waiting room completely empty of patients. Seems to me to be a good sign of avoiding any floating germs, although we did use plenty of hand sanitizer while we were there.

Tate was a champ through the whole appointment-He had a male nurse who played with him. Tate loved the attention and rewarded the nurse appropriately. Tate's stats: 31 .5 inches long and 18.4 lbs. Under 20 pounds, does that mean I have to return him to the faceback position in the car? I can tell you right now neither of us is going to be happy about that, me not being happy because he lets me know how much he HATES not seeing forward. While waiting for the dr to visit Tate familiarized himself with the room-he bee-lined it as fast as he could when he saw drawers. Luckily I was faster than him.

Tate was even friendly with Dr. Grubb who played with his legs to make sure all was well with his hips. Dr. Grubb also let him play with his little hammer looking light-which is pry why Tate liked him: It's all about the Tools. We chatted about immunizations and the flu shots and after an extended conversation it was decided to hold off on a few immunizations and trade them for the flu-reg & H1N1 and catch up on the rest in 6-12 months.

Tyler who was nervous about going to the Dr's for Tate's appointment, so nervous that she asked to go to a friend's house (one of my friend's house) to be watched. I reassured her that this was for Tate and she just had to watch and politely say Hi and if Tate got nervous she could help make him happy. She was a great cheerleader! Even stepping in during the hip exam to make Tate smile. But when Dr. Grubb suggested she get the shot too....Poor Tyler.

Tyler did really well, there were tears from both her and Tate for the actual poking but when it was done, so were they back to their happy little selves. I'm actually still surprised how well things went with the whole experience. I'm so used to crying kids after shots and well this afternoon has been like any other. I'm a lucky Mom today!

Oh Christmas Tree

Time for the annual "cut down our christmas tree "event. Tate's first year. Not sure he cared too much for the experience-had to wear a hat, gloves, and it was really cold. The girls LOVED it, running wild through a bunch of trees calling out to each other, and then there was cutting down the tree itself. We actually took the first tree we liked, 20 feet in, we did circle around a bit to see if there was anything else but we came back and claimed her as our own.

First you smell the trees

It was a Group Effort

Taco Night

Taco night is always a big hit-this weeks report is that Tate had his 1st Taco and loved it. He's falling in his oldest sister's step and mostly wanted the taco shell, but eventually made his way to the meat.

McKenna's learned to make her taco all by herself: Taco shell, sour cream and cheddar cheese. She thinks it's a little piece of heaven on earth. So much that she asked for it for dinner again tonight. (Otherwise she's really on strike again all dinner-unless it's a breakfast food!)

Life's little moments

Sitting at lunch yesterday I had a moment where I looked around as we (John included) all sat there eating our soup and cheese sandwiches. It was a rare moment in which everyone was eating and happy and I thought to myself, this is a good time of life. Yes there are things that still make me cringe and wonder how long it will take before my kids get past all the screaming, but at that moment I was thankful for their young ages and how simple life really in all actuality is. My kids still love me and need me as their mom and most of their hurts in life can be taken care of with a kiss, maybe a hug or just being held for a moment or two.

I love my kids and my dear husband and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be both wife and mother.

A house with Lights

I've had lights for our house for about 3-4 years, I lost track just exactly how long.

This year I asked John at the beginning of November if he would PLEASE put the lights up on the house. I can't tell you how excited I am and how happy it makes me everytime I walk outside and see the lights on my house.

I also have a mantle in which to decorate.

Thank you John!

Tate is 1!

Has a year really gone by? I was thinking as I frosted cupcakes tonight of a year ago when I was sitting at our new island visiting with a friend who was in town while my mother nervously made dinner knowing I was in labor and wondering when I was going to leave and if I was going to get to the hospital in time. I wasn't in too much of a hurry since I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting for Tyler so I figured I had time. Tate was already 3-4 days late according to my calculations, but his due date was Dec 1st and he was right on time.

It was the only time I've really waited for Tate, these days I'm chasing after him as he races me to get through the open bathroom door, or up the stairs that hadn't been gated yet that morning. He's scaling the open dishwasher, climbing in open cupboards and pulling on anything that hangs. He's all boy-my girls were and are scared of anything that makes any kind of noise. Tate charges it-the vaccumn is his favorite toy...while it's going. Nothing fascinates him more than his dad working, especially when he's using anything that involves the air compressor. If John's working Tate tries to be right in the middle of it. John hopes his enthusiam carries over the next 20 years or so. It is worth mentioning that we found that Tate is scared of one thing-the singing/dancing reindeer we brought out the other night. I guess it's just not natural.

Tate loves his sisters and vice versa. He looks for his sisters first thing in the morning and at naptime if he's the first to wake there is nothing more he loves than to find and wake up Tyler. He'll find her door, push it open, look over the end of the futon and start squawking at her. McKenna loves to be a mother's helper and loves to try and carry or hold Tate.

Move over Edward, I've got my very own vampire. Tate has just gotten his 3rd tooth with his 4th almost breaking through, but not his top middle teeth, it is the the 2 just on the outside. Not too mention this boy is fair skinned, blue-grey eyed (still) and the apple of his mother's eye.

We had a fun time with him tonight. just a small little party giving Tate his first fist full of cake.

He had no qualms tackeling these gifts. His sisters thought he'd need help but alas after trying to gnaw it open, standing and lifting it (showing it who's boss) he managed to rip the paper open.

Happy Birthday Tate! We love you and all your boyisms!