Christmas 2010

The WORST stocking of all time!!  I had to showcase it:)

Boston received Coal for Christmas...

Well this Christmas was a little different this year...our kids are getting older, and some a little wiser...

This year has been a rough year for Boston...I guess I can chalk it up to the fact that he's the only boy...but really I think he's just testing our patience as parents:)  Usually when this kind of stuff happens...especially around Christmas we pull the 'ol "You better be good, or Santa won't bring you any presents" routine...and it works pretty good.  (It's usually pretty amazing)  However this year, Boston decided it would be fun to test how good he really would need to be, in order for Santa to come.

So 2 days before Christmas this year, I overheard him talking to Brooklyn and Paris. They were pleading with him to be good so he could get presents...his response, "Oh it will be okay, I was bad 85% of the whole last year and Santa still got me presents, so I think he'll come anyway."....PUNK!  So later, I ask him to clean up his room and he responds, "No, I don't feel like it."  After we had a short and very direct conversation about the room situation, I decided to have a little chat about this whole Santa situation:) 

Me:  So Boston, how come you're being so rotten right before Santa comes?
Boston:  Oh, because I think Santa's a fake and dad and you get me the presents.
Me:  Oh, okay...so why would we still want to get you presents if you're being so disrespectful to us?
Boston:  Because that's what parents have to do no matter what, get their kids presents for Christmas.
(I'm thinking...have I taught you NOTHING!!!!)  I guess all my Christmas stories, donating toys, and our FHE's devoted to the real meaning of Christmas, simply went in one ear and out the other...

So it was ON!  I called Phil and immediately told him about our conversation...HE IS SO GETTING COAL...NO MATTER WHAT!  We both agreed, but since it was so close to Christmas we weren't sure how we were going to gain access to this coal.  Luckily, Hobby Lobby had some great rocks that resembled coal...and our plan was in motion....

My mom and dad were here in November and left their presents for the kids, his was large enough that it had already received lots of attention, and he knew that he had that present coming to him, so we left that one untouched.  My mom called Boston on Christmas Eve and asked him to be good, but Boston refused and told her the same thing...he was still going to get presents.  So my mom helped us by setting the stage, she said that usually she gives a special call to Santa asking for him to still deliver presents to him, but this year she's been to busy to call.

The next morning he wakes us up at 7:30am (which is pretty late for our kids) and you can tell he's been crying.  He said with his lower lip quivering, "Mom, Santa came...he gave everyone else presents, but he actually just got me coal."  I know this sounds mean, but I was trying to hold back laughter!  It was just too good!  It was completely worth his bad attitudes and "rudiness" over the past 2 days:)

We had thought of everything...after we allowed the girls to open a few presents in front of him, we referred him to a note in the tree.  After he opened it, he learned that "Santa" received a call from his Nana after he had already left and he just had enough time to leave his presents in the back room:) 

I'm thinking he learned a great lesson...it doesn't matter where the presents come from...but to get them, you still have to be good:)
 

Halloween 2010

Berlin had so much fun this Halloween!  She basically walked around looking adorable and when someone dropped a piece of candy...it was fair game!  Shavonne and Greg came over and we made it a PARTY!

She is Paris' twin...she's so expressive!

 The kids couldn't resist when she came around begging for candy!

Of course when she was denied she'd get a frowny face


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Boston and Madison

I thought this was so funny!  Boston is an awesome big brother, one of the things he loves to do is play games with his younger sisters.  Most of the time it does involve a huge mess, but it ALWAYS ends up in them having so much fun!

So today I was sitting down checking my email when I hear Boston yell, "Okay come try and find me!"  (Which I ignore...sad!)  A few seconds later I see Madison sneaking up to his doorway.  I forgot all about the "find me" comment and am completely dwelling on the fact that she's "sneaking".  So my "mom radar" goes off and I spin around super fast to see what she's trying to smuggle into Boston's room.  (Typically items smuggled into rooms involves some type of food, drink, or scissors...Which of course are ALL off limits!)

Madison...holding her "Gun"

I had to go in for a closer look...it was a "gun", created out of his Geo Trax train pieces and hair ties holding a flashlight on top of it!  Hahahaha!  Only a boy, living in a house full of girls, would think to use hair ties when we had no rubber bands!  I thought it was cute...

Sim's Company Picnic

This year, Sim's Company picnic was held at the Phoenix Zoo.  Our kids were super excited that it meant another trip to the ZOO:)  After our fun party the night before, Phil and I were just looking forward to a relaxing lunch.  They raffled off a BUNCH of prizes, when I mean a bunch, I mean a bunch!  There were over 300 people there and when they drew your name to win a prize, you would still be eligible to be in the GRAND PRIZE drawing for a 42" Plasma TV.  Phil knew what the prize would be, so he wanted to stick around until the end.  Our little ones had kind of had it, and I was just hoping they'd hurry up and call the winner so we could go check out the animals!  Long story short...Phil was called to win the TV! 

Totally exciting!  We never win anything... 

 After we cooled off...we went and checked out the monkeys.  The highlight of the kids day:)

 This guy is HUGE!  Although the monkey's were AWESOME, Phil couldn't take it anymore...so had to jam home so he could find our new TV a permanent residing place.

Our Halloween Party 2010

I absolutely LOVE halloween and hosting an annual party is one of the highlights I actually look forward to every year!  This year was a bit more challenging though...I've never had to plan it, while working before:(  I made it work though, the guys at work got to see my "Martha Stewart" crafts come to life!  Ha Ha, I kind of multi-task...a LOT;)

Right before the guests arrived, I tried to take a few shots to set the stage...



Thanks to my girls and their friends, these garbage bags turned out awesome!



Chocolate fountain...



"Choose Your Poison" Italian Soda Bar...



These coffin favors are one of my favorite things to make!  They actually hold the perfect amount of candy and they are super festive looking:)  I found them a couple of years ago while watching a Martha Stewart episode.  If you'd like the pattern, you can click here.

This year's theme was Witches & Vampires...I had fun with the invitations...inviting guests to a party where the guys all "sucked" and the girls were total "witches", how often can you say that with out getting in trouble?!  Ha Ha...LOVED IT!  Of course I had to add a little vinyl to the background, they were supposed to be thought bubbles.  Hopefully you get the idea!

The Palmers



The Clarks



The O'Neill's

The Norths





The White's

Good Times...

My gorgeous sis!

Greg rockin his gothic style

Two witchy sisters;)



The whole group...almost the Clarks were taking the pics in this one:(



Melanie made her costume...completely awesome and yes, she won for the best witch:)
We didn't get a photo of the winner of the best vampire...but it was Rob aka "The Count!"

 One of our favorite games to play is the "Oddlywed" game, we come up with different questions each year to see who knows who the best!  It always sparks the BEST conversations!  Ha Ha, this year it was Greg and Shavonne who won the Clarks by 1 point!  So they were awarded 2 movie tickets where they could take a night off from chatting...apparently they already knew eachother pretty well;)

 Whenever there's a winner there has to be a loser:(  Ha Ha, so close, but unfortunately the Palmer's came in last, so we sentenced them to a date where they would be working closely together and could work on some of their conversation skills:)  Ha Ha!