Ho Ho Ho, Merry...

You all know the ending to this title - Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!! Well, Rachel has taken a new spin on this saying. She has been watching a Barbie movie lately - Barbie as Mariposa (or something like that). So, to Rachel, it's now...

Ho Ho Ho, Mari-posa!

Nativity Fun

Emily and Josh decided to put on their very own Nativity last night. It was so cute! I think they just copied some of what they saw at our Ward Christmas Party, but they did a great job! Emily really had to convince Rachel to participate (as a shepherd), and they brought all the stuffed animals to help too! They came up with the costumes on all on their own (mostly from the dress-up box). Here are some pictures:

Emily is Mary

Josh is Joseph (don't you love the bandana beard?)

Rachel is a very reluctant shepherd (I think she looks like an angel)

Josh is such a loving daddy!

Emily is a calm and loving mother (although there was a bit of a struggle over who got to hold the baby!)

(Caleb watched from the sidelines!)

Merry Christmas!!

Please Forgive Me...

I really need to change the background, seeing as how winter has hit full-force this week, but I just can't seem to find the time...

Maybe by the time winter is over, I'll get it changed!

You Know It's Bad When...

In Primary, leading the music on Sunday:
Girl (Emily's age): "Wow, you're really pale!"

Me: "Oh, that's usually the way I am."

Boy (Emily's age): "You're not that pale!"

Me: "Oh, well thank you!"

Same Boy: "Wow, now you're red!!"

I am officially self-conscious!!

I'm Thankful For...

This year, we tried something new to get the kids thinking about their blessings. We put a jar of candy on the counter, with a notebook by it. Anyone could have as much candy as they wanted, but for each piece of candy they took, they had to write down one thing they were thankful for. Let's just say Emily and Josh ate a lot of candy!!

Here are some of the things they wrote.
Emily: pinket (her pink blanket), yard, freedom, Jesus, earth, cheese, curlers, napkins, family
Josh: Jesus, blankets, naps (not sure if he's thankful to take them, or if he's thankful his younger siblings do!), Wii, earth, white blankey (the one Grandma L. made for him when he was born), spiders, Pepperidge Farm, MOM, weapons(???)

Emily and Josh wrote things for Caleb and Rachel, like milk, blankets, family, etc.

Who would have ever thought to be thankful for napkins, or spiders for that matter?!?!

I am so thankful for each of my kids. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am to be their mom. They are amazing!! They have such wonderfully strong spirits and I am humbled that I get to be a part of their lives!

And I love all of you, and am so thankful for each of you! I shudder to think where I'd be without you!

I gave Caleb his first haircut a couple of weeks ago. At some point in our years of haircuts, we discovered that suckers work best to keep them on the seat and not-so-wiggly. So Caleb got to enjoy a purple sucker while I snipped away! It went pretty quick and turned out looking rather nice! But, I only have pictures of during the cut - I didn't think to get one when he was all done and cleaned up. Oh well - here he is! His hair was a lot longer than I even realized!

There are some people who wonder what moms do all day long. Here is my response to that:

{Caleb and Rachel snuck into the candy corn while I was trying to use the bathroom (the nerve of me, I know)! Rachel was a real lady, only eating one at a time. But Caleb was afraid she'd get them all, so he had about 10 in his mouth and several in each hand!! Don't you love all the orange drool?!?!}

I clean up messes ALMOST as fast as my kids make them!! I'm sure all you parents can relate!

Halloween 2009

We are bad parents - we didn't take the kids trick-or-treating! I know, I'm feeling pretty guilty about it! We had cousins over, and they were all having a great time, and we were having a great time, and they were eating tons of candy, so that makes up for it, right?!!? And Caleb got sick in the evening, so I'm sure that's a perfect excuse! (I'm really trying to make myself feel better, but it's not working!)

We did have a Halloween party earlier in the week with Jared's family, and the kids got to dress up for it. Well, Jared and I could have dressed up too, but that's just no fun! Here are some pictures from that night.

Rachel the Bumblebee and Caleb the Pumpkin - too cute!!

Josh was a Clone Trooper from Star Wars.

Jared took 4 pictures of him, and they all looked exactly like this!

Emily was a Rock Star, complete with colored braids in her hair, a headset, blow-up guitar, shiny skirt and mom's belt!

She kept dancing around saying "I'm a HOT rock star!"

All of us, with Jared behind the camera.

Man I'm scary!!!

The Rock-ettes!

These boys love their Star Wars!

I love the look on Caleb's face in this one!

He'd had more than enough pictures by this time!

All the Ripplinger grandkids - aren't they cute?!?!

Budding Artist

Rachel loves to color.

She begs me all the time to color.

This is why I don't like to give in to her pleas.

Thankfully it wasn't a permanent marker.

{I think maybe she's going to be an impressionist - looks like a spider to me!}

Jared's Handiwork

If Jared ever loses his job as a CPA, he could go into business as a craftsman! Here are some pictures of the nightstand he made for Emily (and he didn't start this until Friday afternoon, had it finished by Monday night - so basically 2 full days of work). I am so impressed - it is perfect!!

Oh, and the scalloped part on the bottom he cut by hand with a coping saw (not sure what that is)!

Who Ordered Snow????

We woke up to a skiff of snow yesterday - the very first snow of the season. We thought it would be melted by lunch-time. WRONG!! It just kept coming down - it felt like December or January!

Here is what it looked like last night,

And this morning!

It looks like about 3 inches! I guess next time it snows, I shouldn't tell the kids that I'm sure it will melt quickly, because I sure didn't hear the end of it yesterday!

I let them take their snow boots to school today (in the hopes of making up for it)!