Christmas is entertaining when you have kids in the house. We are noticing that more and more each year. This year is definitely going to be the best to date. They were so excited to have the tree up, and especially to start the special Santa calender that counts down to Christmas, (with candy in it of course).

There has been more talk about Santa this year than ever before. They have been pointing out things that they want to ask Santa for. I don't know how many people have seen Spike the Dinosaur at the stores. He is about 3 feet tall, and works with a remote control. All three kids love it! Jaylee puts her face right up to him and roars. It is hilarious. Anyways, I explained to the kids that as cool as Spike is, he is too expensive to buy for Christmas, ($130!). Alana decided thats what she wants from Santa.

My mom babysat for us this last weekend, and when we got home let us know about a story she had made up for the kids. (it's always nice to be in the "know" about such things) One of the kids had mentioned Santa bringing Spike, so she made up a big story about how Spike the Dinosaur might scare Santa and make him crash his sleigh, so then no one would get any toys for Christmas. Kale very logically told Grammy that Spike comes in a box, so it's okay. Grammy explained that Spike comes in a box at Walmart, but toys from Santa don't come in boxes, (good to know). I guess their eyes got big, and they agreed that maybe Santa shouldn't bring Spike.

Well, in the last week, this story has gotten bigger and bigger, in the telling, especially from Alana. She has added more details about how Santa will crash, and all the toys will break and fall out all over and how the reindeer will get owies and won't be able to fly anymore. Needless to say, I think we are off the hook with getting Spike. (not that we were going to anyways-these kids would have broken that very expensive toy in a day!)

Jaylee has discovered dress-up clothes. She absolutely loves the pink ballet tutu, and ballet shoes. We have had dress-up clothes for Alana forever, but she has never really been into them. Jaylee is loving it! She puts them on, and that is all she wants to wear. No clothes, just a tutu and ballet shoes.

She is showing off her dancing moves with daddy. She twirls and says "dance dance"

She also really has a thing for shoes. Anyones shoes that she can get her hands on. She is wearing my shoes here. Alana's shoes are always missing....usually wherever Jaylee was last. Her shirt she is wearing says "Future Fashion Icon". I guess that about sums it up. Scary.

Alana likes to wander at night. I don't know if she does it in her sleep, or if she is awake, but we keep finding her asleep in some very strange places. It finally occurred to us to start taking pictures of this phenomenon. My mom finds this hilarious, since I did the same thing at this age. She never knew where she would find me in the morning. You know, it is very interesting the things our kids get from us. Who would have thought? At any rate, we have found Alana in our room, in the dinning room, under the dinning room table, on the bathroom floor, outside the bathroom, etc.

Kaleb and Alana had their well-checks at the doctors this last week. They are, of course, healthy and active kids. Kaleb is in the 36% percentile for height, and the 40% for weight. Alana is in the 92% for her height, and 80% for her weight. Yep, he is really short, she is really tall. This much we knew, since they are almost in the same size of clothes already. I thought it was really interesting that they also do the kids BMI's now. I guess it makes sense because so many kids are overweight. My kids are definately not in that category. All three kids got shots, (Jaylee got her flu shot) which was great fun. Next time I am bringing reinforcements with me. Trying to console three screaming kids while hurrying out the door was not fun. Although I think the girls would have calmed down faster is Kale hadn't been crying so hard.

The flu shot made all three kids sick. Yeah, fun. So not only did I have crabby kids from getting shots, the next day they all got sick. Hmmm. Was it really worth it? I really hope they don't get sick for the rest of the year, but that isn't too practical. Anyways, the picture was of the kids snuggling on the couch having a pajama day.

Kid Quotes

I thought I'd take a few minutes and post some of the kids funny quotes of late. Pictures will have to wait until later. Our computer is quite delicate at the moment. We are working on the problem. So here we go, I hope these bring a smile. :o)

Kale: "Who's babysittering us today?"
Me: "No one."
Kale: "Why not? Okay, here's the plan, you call someone to babysitter us, and then you leave."

Alana: "Mommy, why do you run everyday when it's cold and dark?"
Me: "Because it makes mommy happy and keeps me in shape."
Alana: "Oh. Do you get lost?"

Daddy: "Did you thank mommy for cooking dinner?"
Kale: "No, 'cause Mom cooks yucky stuff. Can I have candy?"

Kale: "okay mom, here's the deal, (this is one of his favorite sayings right now). While I am at school, you clean the house, and if you do a good job, you can take me to Happy Meal!"

Jaylee: "Lily, (her frog) has stinks. Lily stinks.
Me: "Does Lily have stinks? Or Jaylee?"
Jaylee: "lily diaper"

Alana: in the Target lingerie department, very loudly, "oh, these are nice boobs! (holding up a large bra to her chest, turning in circles posing) I like these boobs! They're really pretty boobs. Can you buy these for me? I like these boobs. (there were a lot of chuckles from other women at this point)

Harvest Party

The girls and I went to a Harvest Party today for the Mom's group we attend on Wednesdays. Alana actually picked out a costume for Halloween this year, but I was somewhat dubious of her actually wearing it. As you may recall, the last princess outfit she just had to have, ended in a screaming fit.

she was a little hesitant about putting it on this morning, but really liked her mermaid costume once it was on. Jaylee was appropriately a ladybug, since we call her our Jaylee bug.

The girls and I got to play games, and decorate pumpkin cookies. Alana was very shy with the other kids, but seemed to really enjoy herself.

One of the games we played was bowling with pumpkins. Jaylee loved chasing the pumpkins!

Alana was running too fast for the camera, so she's all blurry. However, it is the only picture I got of her smiling!

More Wedding Pictures

Alana was having a great time clapping and dancing at the reception. Kale actually took this picture. He is very into taking pictures all by himself.

Kale and Mommy dancing. So fun!

Jaylee was able to wear Alana's old christmas dress. She loved it! She kept petting her dress and saying "pretty! Pretty Jaylee!" I think she will be the official girlie girl of the family. Alana cried when I made her wear that dress!

Kaleb, Alana and I were all in a friend's wedding this weekend. It was busy, and tiring, but went really well. Alana wasn't at all sure about being a flower girl, and refused to walk down the aisle during the rehearsal, but did great the day of the wedding, even without a nap. (this was partially because Dave had a stroke of genius, and put skittles underneath the rose petals in her basket, and told her she could have them but she had to throw all the the petals out to find them. This plan worked great).

They did pictures before the ceremony at the park. It was a gorgeous day, which was great for the pictures, but it was hard to keep the kids from running around and playing. They found some dandelions to blow, and that kept them entertained for a short while, and then it turned into a chase game, which turned into kale having dirt all over his tux pants. Thankfully it wiped off pretty well before the ceremony started.

Happy Birthday!

Alana is 3! She started her birthday with a chocolate donut with sprinkles, her favorite. It was quite a treat when mommy came home from her run with a bag of donuts.

I took Alana, Jaylee, and Alana's friend Riley to Kids Castle for her birthday surprise. She was so excited! Jaylee was excited too. So much that 5 minutes after we got there, she was running after Alana and fell and split her lip open. She slowed down a little after that. They had a blast playing in all the tunnels, slides, and ball pits. Jaylee isn't big enough to do it on her own, which meant I got to crawl through the tunnels after her helping. But she loved the slides!

Alana picked out frosted brownies for her birthday desert. She had a hard time blowing out the candles, and singed her hair a little leaning over to blow. I think the cake had quite a bit of spit on it, but that's what you get I guess.

The pumpkin patch

Daddy and Jaylee in the hay maze

This picture was just too funny to resist. Kale put the bucket on her head, which she found hilarious. She kept putting it back on over and over.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon. They loved it! The pumpkin patch had a hay maze, and a hay pyramid with a big slide. All three kids loved the slide. After they played, (and played and played), they each picked out a pumpkin to take home. Jaylee was quite proud of herself for carrying her own.

I'll try to add more pictures later!

Funny Kids

The kids have been saying such funny things lately, I thought I would try and blog a few of them before I forget them.

I've been trying to convince Kale to stop picking his nose, (and eating it). I told him big boys that are 5 don't pick their noses. His reply was "I am a big boy. Big boys pick their noses too. Daddy does."

Kale is also really into wanting me to buy everything for him. I explained we didn't have money for that toy right now, and his response was "yes you do mom. You take your card out, and put it in the machine, and then we can take it home!" I told him you have to have money in the bank to make that little card work, but he didn't quite connect that. He fully acted out how I was supposed to run my card through the little machine so I can buy him stuff.

Alana has been talking about "when I am four and a boy, I will get to do that too." I have been explaining that God made her a girl, and she is going to stay a girl. I'm not sure why she thinks she will be a boy after she turns four.

She is also anxious for it to snow. "Now it's fall, and when the leaves are all gone tomorrow, it will snow, and you can go to the store and buy me pink dora boots." Oh really. I guess I'd better get on that, huh? Even if it doesn't snow here for at least 2 months.

Jaylee's vocabulary is growing rapidly, (which is no surpise with how much the other two talk). For a while, all animals were dogs. It didn't matter if it was a fish, lion, whatever. All dogs. Now they are either dogs, Eldon's (grammy's cat), or turtles. Very rarely are they named right, but she is sure excited. We went shopping at the toy store for birthday presents, and she kept pointing to all the stuffed animals. "Dog! Want that! Want that! Dog! Turtle! Want that!"

Happy Birthday!

Kaleb had his 5th birthday on friday! It seems hard to believe that he is five already. We had a very busy day of celebrating.

I went to school with him in the morning to help in his class. He got to be the special helper at school all day, and wear a birthday crown. He also got to pick out a new book as a present from his teacher. He really enjoyed having Mommy there to help in his class.

Grandpa Johnson came and took us out to lunch at McDonalds, (kaleb's pick of course-is there anywhere else to eat when you are five?). The kids were thrilled to see him, and played hard at the playplace, which was great because it meant that they all actually took naps!

After naptime we headed to the fair with Kaleb's bestest friend. The weather wasn't great, but that meant that the kids didn't have to wait in line at all. They loved all the rides, but especially the bouncey cars, and the rollercoaster. Kaleb has gotten much more brave with trying new rides. Alana has always loved the rides. When the weather got too rainy, we went and checked out all the animals.

After that it was back to the house for cupcakes and ice cream. Kale always wants cupcakes, but only ever eats the frosting. It was a very busy day, but the kids enjoyed every moment of it. The kids were certainly tired the rest of the weekend.

Oh, and Kale got to have gum for the first time. The deal was he got gum after he turned five. That was the first thing he asked for when he woke up on his birthday. He has had a few pieces, and has swallowed them each in less than a minute. We have tried to explain to just chew it, and he doesnt' quite get it yet.

Alana and Jaylee got to ride on a horse for the first time this last week. They loved it! Some friends of ours have horses and invited the girls and I to ride while Kale was at school. Alana was very brave about riding with our friend Whitney. Jaylee rode with Whitney, and again with me. She loved it!

Alana doesn't walk down the balance beam-she runs. They have to step over the little bean bags on the beam. She does amazingly well, but the bars are her favorite so far. Well, and the trampoline, but that one is a given with the kids.

You know, I'm realizing that it is really hard to get a decent picture of three wiggly kids. I tired for quite a while, and someone was always looking the other way, running the other way, or moving so much that the picture comes out blurry. Our camera is clearly not fast enough to keep up with them!

We went with Dave up to Kelowna, Canada when he was up there for work. He spent three weeks there. We just went with him for the last week. It was beautiful! The kids and I found a park on the waterfront that had a playground, free kids water park, and a beach. We spent our days there while Dave worked. It was a lot of work for me to try to keep the kids entertained and fed in a different country, but I am glad we got to see where Dave was working.

This picture is Kale and Alana sitting on Ogopogo, a sea serpent legend around there.

I know, I am sorry about our blog not happening for a while. We have been experiencing technical difficulties with our computer. Hopefully it will give me a small window to post this before it locks up!

Kale had his first day of school yesterday. He was so excited! He is in the same class as his best friend from last year, so it was a happy day for him. He is seeming so grown up lately! (including dropping his nap, which makes me sad!)

Alana and Kale are both doing gymastics. They love it! They ask everyday if it is thursday so they can go. Grammy bought Alana a leotard to wear for gymnastics. I was somewhat skeptical about if she would actually wear it, but when she tried it on this morning, she wouldn't take it off! I had to pull rank, mostly because of the potty issue.

Jaylee is walking! Horay! She is still the slowest walker I have ever seen, which is funny, but she is walking most everywhere now. She is even trying to walk carrying toys around, especially those that are bigger than she is! That is always funny. Her favorite game right now is basketball. She'll chase the ball down, then I"ll help her dunk. She claps and says "good job".

Well, that is the update for now I will do my best to upload more pictures later.

Well, we've had an interesting week with Dave gone. Kale is really having a hard time with Daddy being gone. It didn't help that it was spring break for him, so he didn't get to have school as a distraction either. Jaylee had a cold all week, and was sounding pretty bad yesterday. She started wheezing and really having a hard time, so I ended up taking her into the ER. They did a few breathing treatments for her, and a chest x-ray and diagnosed her with Bronchiolitis from RSV. Thankfully, I was able to take her home after just a few hours. They talked about keeping her overnight for observation. They put her on albuterol and a steroid to help clear out her lungs. She slept the whole night last night for the first time in a week. It's amazing what happens when you can breathe! She is doing so much better today. She has perked up quite a bit, and is eating again. Praise God! I am so thankful it wasn't any more serious. We went to the pediatrician this morning so he could look her over. He was pleased with how much she has improved already.

Alana is very insistent on picking out her own clothes and accessories lately, which is sometimes pretty funny. For the most part, she picks out things that match well. The hat and purse were cute additions. :o)

Family Fun

We decided to make Saturday a Family Fun day. Dave left today for two weeks or more to be in California for work, so we wanted to play hard before daddy left. We went to the arcade, which the kids absolutely love. We played games, the kids rode the carousel, and drove the go-carts. The go-carts were a little chilly, since the weather has not been very spring-like lately. It snowed all day friday, and is snowing again today. Yuck!

Anyways, we had a great time playing together. Kale really likes the driving arcade games. Alana liked bowling best I think. My favorite is always basketball, (my high score was still on the game from last time we were there:o). Alana rode with me in the go-carts, Kale rode with Dave. Jaylee sat in her stroller and watched. The kids really had a blast going fast in the cars. I think Kale's highlite was that we "crashed". Dave bumped me from behind, and we spun out. He thought that was great.

In the food court area, they had a play area for smaller kids with slides. Jaylee loved that! She loves going fast down the slide.

She is getting closer to crawling. She has started scooting on her bottom a little bit to get to things. I would guess that she might start crawling while Dave is gone.

Doesn't Alana look like she has serious road rage issues? The funny thing was, that was the look she gave me when I asked her to smile!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, despite the weather not being the best. We went shopping on saturday which was fun. I've discovered that taking kids to Hallmark usually means free stuff. In this case, the Easter Bunnies that sing and dance. Jaylee loves them! She laughs every time, and complains when they stop singing.

I can easily say that saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. I was tucking Kale in, and we were talking about why we celebrate Easter. He said that he wanted to ask Jesus to live in his heart forever and ever. It was such a sweet moment to be able to hear him pray and pray with him.

On Easter morning we went to church of course. Kale very proudly told our childrens pastor and his sunday school teacher that Jesus was in his heart.

Alana did NOT like wearing her Easter dress. It was really funny. She pitched a fit over putting it on. At church, Grammy gave her a matching purse that even had lipstick in it. She loved that of course, and it cheered her up. She spent a good part of church putting her lipstick on. Trying to get a picture of all three kids smiling at the camera was next to impossible. Jaylee was really enjoying trying to hook Kale's mouth with her fingers. Oh, and Jaylee now has four teeth! Two on top, two on the bottom. They have been slow in coming and painful for her.

After church we went to Grammy's house and spent the day. The kids did an Easter egg hunt of course. Kale was so interested in opening his eggs and eating the candy right away, he didn't grab as many as Alana. (we made it even in the end). After naps, we did a big dinner and played until it was time to come home for bed.

This was the best family picture we managed after about 15 tries. The kids looked so great! We are so very blessed.

New Swing set

We got the kids a new swing set a few weeks ago. They absolutely love it! It gives them something to do while they are outside.

Kale is learning to pump his legs on the swing. He is enjoying swinging more and more, although Alana usually uses the swings the most. Kale is more likely to play on the slide.

We put Jaylee's swing up too, which she loves! It is fun for her to be part of the action.

Kale and Alana on the teeter-totter. Kale also had his friend over after school to play on the new swing set.

It is starting to feel like spring around here. The kids have been very excited for things to warm up enough to be outside. Unfortunately, Mommy has been sick most of the last two weeks. First it was the flu, then the stomach flu, then migraine headaches. I think everything has pretty much run it's course. I don't know what else i can get! But for the last two weeks, the kids haven't been outside as much as they'd like, and have been eating more McDonalds than usual. Of course, the one day we got it, our power was out so it was the best option for lunch. Jaylee thought Kale wearing the box on his head was hilarious.

Alana playing outside on the slide. It has been in the 50's here for the last few weeks, which is great! We are very ready for spring weather so we can get out and play.

So hopefully we are all over our various sicknesses, especially me, and we can start getting out and enjoying the sun.

Seriously, aren't these the cutest pigtails ever? She even leaves them in, once I get them done. She isn't fond of having me fix her hair at all, but it is long enough that it hangs in her eyes if I don't at least put a barrette in it.