Rocker Girl Kate

O Christmas Tree

We followed the same tradition as last year.
We set up our Christmas tree the week BEFORE Thanksgiving.
It was the perfect setting. We had our first big snow storm and we were snowed in! We decided to light the fire, and set up the Christmas tree and decorations. The kids made it magical. They were so excited rediscovering all of their favorite things about Christmas.

The magic of the holidays has begun!

Thanksgiving Weekend

What a fun Thanksgiving Weekend!
Wednesday: We went to the movies with the extended Derrick Family.
We enjoyed Tangled. How fun to see it on opening day!
Thank's Grammy and Papa J.
Thursday: We had an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner at our house! This was our first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner. The cousins played for hours, we were able to build a fire, visit, watch sports (for the men), and enjoy being together.
It was one of my favorite Thanksgiving days!
Friday: We had tickets to go see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular! We have been to New York twice, but never seen the Rockettes live! Their show was amazing! So exact. So perfect. It was a great way to start the holidays. After wards we went to Tepanyaki,
for a fun and entertaining dinner.
Thank's Dad and Mom for the fun night!
Saturday: The big game day! U vs Y Football game.
My parents have season tickets and were unable to go, so J took his brother Brian and braved the cold weather and enjoyed the game. I took the girls shopping!
Sunday: Saturday into Sunday was our biggest snow storm yet. With 12 new inches of snow,
the kids loved sledding in the backyard and building a snow maze in the front yard.
J shoveled a total of 4 hours of snow. It may be time to get a snow blower!!! He shoveled our house 4 times, and the ward building 2 times. We were able to attend church, however they canceled the afternoon ward because of the heavy snow!
Let it snow! It is a beautiful winter wonderland!

Gratitude

We have so much to be thankful for at this Thanksgiving time:

We are grateful for Abby:
We are grateful for her good example.
She is a good listener.
She is very bright, and a great student.
She is an eager learner.
She is a great gymnast.
She is a wonderful dancer.
We are grateful for her obedience.
We appreciate her positive outlook on life.
We are grateful for Kate:
We love her sense of humor.
We love Kate's laugh.
We love her eye for fashion.
She is a good helper.
She is very clean (she makes her bed everyday without being asked!!!)
She is very understanding.
Kate is very obedient.
She is a great teacher.
She is a great dancer and has good rhythm.
We are grateful for Ella:
She has a contagious laugh and smile.
She makes us laugh.
She is very independent.
She has a beautiful voice and loves to sing.
She loves to cook and wash dishes...a great helper!
She is a good leader, as well as a patient follower.
She is very kind to animals.
She is genuinely happy!
We are grateful for our baby girl #4:
We are grateful she is healthy and active.
We are grateful to be having a little baby sister!!!
She is already loved so much!
She already gets blankets, kisses and hugs daily!

Tangled

Today Tangled came out!
The girls have been so excited to go and see it.
We bought the book and read along CD, and have been listening to it all week.
Grammy and Papa J took us all to see it today, and we loved it!

The best part was Ella dancing, and the very end when Ella said she looks just like Rapunzel!
She was so excited!!!

Reading Together

The other night I was making dinner and couldn't hear the kids playing as I usually do at that hour. I walked into the family room and found Abby reading to her sisters. They were listening, and laughing, and enjoying a good story. It was so tender!

Beautiful Sun

Wow! Love that sun!

Mrs. Mommy's Preschool

I love spending time with our girls! My favorite moments are our creative moments, when someone has an idea, and we create it!

Here are a few things we've done at Miss Mommy's preschool this month.

Apple Turkeys
I love their turkey legs!!!

(Made out of apples, marshmallows, laffy taffy, pumpkin candies, crasins and toothpicks.)

Ella learned how to write her name this month!
She used glue to write her name, and glitter to decorate
a fancy name poster!
We've been reviewing colors.
I gave the girls a pile of colored noodles,
and let them sort them by color.
They each decorated a green, yellow,
blue and red paper with coresponding colors!
They were so creative in their artwork!

Always time to cook together!

Kate's pancakes!
(She was so proud of this work of art, that Kate made a heart to eat
and saved her name, because it was too cute to eat!)

Cupcake decorating!
We made our own witches brew with dry ice!
The girls were so nervous to drink it....especially Ella!
They couldn't believe it was homemade root beer,
and that we made it ourselves!!!
They were pleasantly surprised!
Gone Fishing!
We bought a fun circular mirror, but even cooler than the mirror,
was the box the mirror came in. It looks like a fishing pond.
So....we printed out fish, added magnets,
made fishing poles and have been fishing all week long!
Ella found some black stickers and put them all over her body!
"Guess what I am? I am a cow" she proudly announced!
It was adorable!

Kindermusik

Abby, Kate and Ella are each taking Kindermusik this semester.
It has been so much fun to see them express themselves musically.
They each have an instrument.
At home they love to do their music homework,
as well as to sit and sing and play their music together!They each attend different classes, and love to come home and teach
each other what they have learned!

Abby just brought home her dulcimer. She can play 20 songs, and is beginning to learn some Christmas songs as well.

Dance

All week long the girls look forward to their dance classes.
I love watching them practice and play dance class at home!
They are each becoming such beautiful dancers!

Obsessed with Sugar

We love our Ella!

Obsessed with sugar?
About a year ago, Ella was into butter. 6 months ago, it was honey.
Now...it is sugar. She not only loves to pour it, she loves to eat it....plain!

Sugar and spice....that's what little girls are made of!

Snow

Hello Kitty, dressed for snow!
Minnie Mouse ready to head out in the snow!

There is always an excitement when the first snow of the season falls.
This week, the kids have gone crazy each time it snows. They want to be outside playing in it, and shoveling it. We have a great view of the mountainside. If you look closely you can see 2 deer near the trees. The kids love to get out the binoculars and watch the deer in the meadow.

It is a beautiful time of year!

Ella can Spella

Ella can write her own name!
It all started a week ago. She has letters on her bathroom wall, which spell her name. We began repeating them over and over. Today she sat down and wrote her name, all by herself.
E, L, L, A. She doesn't call "a" an "a". She calls it a circle with a tail!
Way to go Ella!