Changing Rooms

We wanted to have the kids switch bedrooms right after Christmas. Ethan has been sleeping in a small room and Courtney has been sleeping in the larger room. Since Courtney didn't want to sleep in a blue/green room and Ethan didn't want a purple room, we had to paint!

On Monday morning, Bryan helped me move things out of the bedrooms and then I had to primer the small room (Ethan's old room/Courtney's new one) and the purple wall in the larger room.


Then I painted the larger room a yellow/cream color (that I LOVE) on three of the walls. Then I painted a dark blue accent wall in the large room and a bridal rose accent wall in the smaller room. They got to pick these colors themselves and I think they turned out cute.


The kids got to spend the night on the couch bed and the living room floor while their rooms dried. Then on Tuesday Bryan helped me move some furniture in the rooms before he went to work and then I finished things up and moved their things into the new room they would have. Courtney has made herself quite at home in her new room.


Ethan has the same bed but Courtney has a new-to-us loft bed. Since her room is smaller, there is only one place to put the bed and, unfortunately, the ceiling fan is right where the ladder is located. So we are thinking of cutting a few inches off the bottom of the bed and disabling the fan so she doesn't get hurt. But she loves her new bed and Ethan loves his new "big" room. The loft bed had a desk below it which we put in Ethan's room so Courtney could have her dresser under the bed. I like the results!!

More Videos

This is a video of the kids after we opened the Wii.


Here is the video of them opening their Wii games after the clues:

Christmas Morning!

At 6:30 a.m. SHARP Ethan opened his door and said, "Hey, it's Christmas morning. Can I get up?!" We told him he could go look and Courtney came right out of her room to investigate too. Their stockings were on the couch with candy inside. They also each had a book, a quillow (from Mrs. Claus because they were so good this year) and there was a note from Santa. He was a sly guy this year and decided to hide their Christmas presents so they would have to figure out clues and search around the house.

The first clue sent them to the game closet where they found Clue #2 in the chess box. That clue sent them to the garage where Clue #3 was taped on the wall. Clue #3 sent them to the mini Christmas trees they each have in their bedrooms. Under that tree was a small present which they got to open. They were a bit confused at first because they were Wii games and we don't have a Wii. But then Ethan went barreling into the living room to investigate his stocking a little better. Ethan then had Bryan and I open our Christmas present and it was a...Wii! They were so excited!

(The video is down at the bottom of the post, if you want to see them chase the clues around.)

We called my parents and they came over so we could open presents with them before they headed to Phoenix. The kids had a great time. Ethan got the DSi he has been wanting with a couple of games to go with it. Courtney got a Leapster 2 with some games. They both got books, games and some other toys. They had a great time.

Bryan got a ton of bike stuff. He said, "You'd think that at 35 I would have outgrown asking for bicycling stuff like a 12 year old." But he loves it. Ethan gave him a BYU logo cycling jersey and he got cycling pants, water bottles, a new helmet, cycling socks and a heart rate monitor. He is all set now!

I got some Willow Tree figures, a program to turn my Cricut into a vinyl cutter using my computer fonts (yeah!!), a Memory Mixer coupon (which I need to use today because I'm so excited), some cookbooks and a mini Sansa Clip for exercise and to complement the Sansa I already have. It was a good Christmas! Bryan wrote me a wonderful poem that made me cry and gave me money to buy what I wanted. (This was NOT a cop-out! The things I told him I wanted ended up being too expensive, so now I get to pick what I want, which suits me fine.) He got me a Willow Tree Nativity that is gorgeous too.

Thank you to everyone who gave us gifts this Christmas or who thought of us and brought over treats. It was a great holiday!!

Christmas Morning!

Clue #1

Clue #2

Clue #3

They found their Wii games from Santa but...we don't have a Wii!

Lego Star Wars from Grandma and Grandpa Pack!

Ethan's DSi from Grandma and Grandpa Oman and Mom and Dad (he was in shock when he opened it because it was what he REALLY wanted):

Courtney's dress from Grandma and Grandpa Oman:

Courtney's "favorite doll" from Grandma and Grandpa Pack:

Courtney's present from Ethan (she loves it!):


They got a lot more presents but those were just some of the photos I took.

Looking for clues:

Bowling, Racquetball, Pizza and Pajamas

Those were some key activities/things that were part of our Christmas Eve!

Bryan went to work for the first part of the morning. When he came home, we ate lunch and took off for the bowling alley. Ethan didn't want to bowl so he became our photographer. We had a great time and Courtney did great bowling. For a while she was beating us, but then Bryan and I came back with strikes and ended up tied in the end.

Self-portrait!

Michelle:

Bryan bowling:

Courtney has her own "throw the ball" form:


Then we took off for the St. George Rec Center to spend some time. Our tradition is to eat Pizza Hut Pizza on Christmas Eve in front of the Christmas tree. I ordered the pizza online and put in a time of 5:00, but bowling didn't take as long as we thought it would so we couldn't pick up the pizza for a few hours. So we decided to go to the Rec Center and do some free games!

Ethan, Courtney and I played pool while Bryan checked out their new "Spin Class Room." Then while Bryan and Ethan played ping pong, Courtney and I played basketball. The boys joined us but after a while Courtney wanted to play racquetball. I played with her and we had fun and then the boys got the court next to us and played. None of us were really dressed for racquetball, but that's okay.

Courtney got tired, but wanted to play with Bryan and Ethan, so we waited until they were ready. Then Courtney played with Bryan (Ethan was too tired) and they had fun until Bryan started aiming at Ethan who was outside the glass box and Courtney yelled at him for hitting the glass with the ball. It was pretty hilarious.

She hit the ball!!!

Playing air hockey:




Look at that muscle!



Ethan went back into the gym to play basketball while we finished up playing racquetball and then we all left to go window shopping until the pizza was ready.

After spending time at Deseret Book (which was very crowded, by the way) we picked up our pizza and went home. We had pizza in front of the Christmas tree, made cookies for Santa, played the chimes, read Christmas stories, read Luke 2, opened the kid's Christmas pajamas and then the kids went to bed...but Ethan had a rough night.

The kids were in bed by 7:40 p.m. but Ethan was so wound up that he asked if I would lay down next to him until he fell asleep. It took about 2 minutes and he was out! About 8:20, Ethan comes out really confused thinking that it is morning and he was confused that Santa hadn't been here yet. He went back to bed and when I checked on him he said he had a really bad headache. I gave him water and Tylenol but he wanted a blessing from Bryan. So Bryan gave him a blessing and Ethan asked me to lay down next to him again. He told me he felt a little better after the blessing but still couldn't fall asleep. Finally, Ethan asked if he could sleep in his wicker bowl chair. I got him set up and it wasn't long before he was asleep. Poor guy.

Free!!

We haven't used the coupons in our Dixie Direct this year like we have in the past and we have a ton of coupons/gift cards the kids have earned these past few months, so we decided to try and use a bunch of them over the Christmas holiday.

We went to Jumpin' Jacks on Monday and ate free pizza for lunch and then today we went to the Rosenbruch Museum (a wildlife museum) with free passes and then got lunch for free. (Courtney had Del Taco and Ethan had Wendy's.) It's been fun. We would have gotten ice cream too (with our free coupons) but Ethan is convinced that it's "healthy" because it's frozen yogurt from a health food store. And if it's "healthy" then it must taste bad. ;) We were also going to try and go mini golfing at Fiesta Fun with coupons we have, but it's been raining so much that the golf course is all flooded and it wouldn't be fun to golf in the rain anyway. We still have bowling coupons we need to use, but Ethan isn't much of a bowler, so we'll see if those get used. It's hilarious how many coupons you rack up by having them do things at school.

Here are some photos from the museum today. Ethan was the photographer part of the time so we have photos of EVERY animal in the museum. So let me know if you want a photo of something...I have it! But the kids had a great time there. Last time they weren't impressed, but this time it was "so much fun!" They have a kids area where there are camo things for them to wear and things to read and do. And Ethan had to listen to the entire recording at each different "country area," which was something he hasn't done before. So it was a good outing and got us out of the house for a while.

Camo Courtney:

"Look Mom, it's Dexter from Night at the Museum!"


Can you tell that he misses his glasses? He squints all the time now. I hope they fix them soon!

St. George Temple Lights

Last night for FHE we decided to go see the lights on the St. George Temple. Bryan and I were a bit worried because last year we went to see the lights and they were turned off on account of all the rain. The grounds keepers at the Temple didn't want the lights to short out because of all the rain. It has been raining here since last Thursday so we were a bit nervous. Not all the lights were on, but a few on the south side were on and the Nativity was going on the East, so we decided to stop. Ethan had made us all hot chocolate so we had something to keep us warm and we were bundled in rain gear.

Ethan took over the camera and took a bunch of pictures of the Nativity. Then we went inside the Visitor's Center and watched the movie of Luke 2. The kids loved it.

Jumpin Jacks

The kids earned some free passes to Jumpin Jacks (an indoor bounce house) so I took them an some friends yesterday so they could have something to do.

Tired girl:

Baby blues:

Hayley and Courtney:

Brennon and Ethan tired out:

Choir Concert at the Tabernacle

The Cougar Choir from Ethan's elementary school performed at the St. George Tabernacle tonight and it was awesome! They did a great job. They had the Dixie High School Madrigals join them on one song and then the Madrigals sang a few on their own. There were about 80 kids singing and they sounded great. Most of their songs are in another language (Italian, Hebrew, etc.) but they sing them well.

Here are a couple of photos (we were in the balcony near the back so they were zoomed in quite a bit and are a little fuzzy). Ethan is to the left of the wreath in front of the green mantle piece on the left, if that makes sense. He loved goofing off with the scarf they gave him before the performance began!



Here is one of the songs they sang with the female Madrigals(they performed about 12 songs):

Ethan here

hi! Me and my friend Brennon are starting a magazine. He gets to name it, I get to do the interviews. From Ethan

Desert Hills High School Performance

Courtney's dance group, Pizazz, performed the half-time show at the Desert Hills High School basketball game tonight. This is their first performance of the season and she did a great job. There were a few little glitches (her ring got caught, for one) but she didn't get upset about it. We were also very impressed that she just got right in there and strutted her stuff! I was afraid that she would get stage fright or something but she was so excited and loved doing it. We have about 7 more shows to do! ;)

Here is the video of the performance. At the beginning, she is the 4th from the left (it's actually 5th but one little girl is hidden, so it looks like 4th), then she is 5th when they fan out. They all look alike, but Courtney is the one with glasses. It's a cute dance and the girls did it well. They have only been practicing since August. They will only get better and better.

Great job Courtney!!


Courtney is the 3rd from the left:

Courtney is the dancer under the red blur:

Courtney:

Courtney and Lydia:

Choir Assembly

After Courtney's Polar Express program she wanted to go to the school library to take some book tests on the computer. Ethan's class was there and he asked if we would stay for the choir assembly. I didn't really know about it but told him that we would stay. A few minutes later, the choir students were called out of class to get ready, so we wandered to the lunch room to get a seat.

The assembly was really good with the choir singing wonderfully. They were on this little stage on risers and someone had turned on the overhead lights. Then they were given scarves to put around their necks. The kids were HOT! I got most of the songs on video but then we ran out of space on our video camera, so I pulled out our regular camera to tape. About 3 songs from the end I noticed that Ethan wasn't looking so good. He started to sway from side to side and I was sure he was going to pass out. He put his head down at one point and disappeared, so I was sure he was a gonner. I tried to get his attention and get him to sit down but he either didn't notice me or was afraid he would get into trouble. I should have gotten a teacher's attention and had someone get him to sit down but I didn't. I didn't record the last 2 songs because I wanted to be ready in case he hit the deck.

Finally, the assembly ended and I was able to catch up with him to see how he was doing. He didn't want to talk because he had to get back to class and didn't want to be late. But he said he was really hot and was afraid he was going to pass out. Poor kid!

Anyway, I was going to post the video of him almost passing out, but thought better of it. So here is a video of one of their many songs. They really sound great! (It's probably in another language because they rarely sing in English, so if you can't understand it, that's why!)


He has a choir concert at the St. George Tabernacle tomorrow night and now that I have most of the songs on video, I don't have to stress if we don't get the best seats! Yeah!! His choir director also told the kids not to worry because there aren't any hot lights in the Tabernacle. They all cheered. I guess Ethan wasn't the only one "feeling the heat."

The Polar Express

It was the Polar Express day for Kindergarten! We decorated a train car for Courtney to wear, which she was very particular about, and she went to school in her pjs. Then they had a program for the parents followed with hot chocolate. Then it was over and they expected us to take the kids home...2 hour early!! Needless to say, it has been a long morning. But the program was really cute with these gorgeous kids singing songs to us. Courtney had a speaking part all by herself, which she did wonderfully.

Here is a song they sang that I really liked:


Saying her part:

Singing:

In her train car next to her friend Dezzie:

Yoga

Bryan and I try to exercise each morning in the basement. Courtney likes to join us. The problem is that we get up and begin at 5 a.m. and we DON'T want her up that early in the morning. Just a side note: our kids get up really early anyway (6 a.m. is usual for them) but we draw a line when the clock says "5."

Yesterday she woke up really early and wanted to exercise with us. I tried to put her back to bed but she just wasn't going for it. Somehow she thinks that working out with us is a lot more fun than sleeping (I'm sure she'll get over that when she's a teenager). Anyway, it didn't work. I finally ended up promising her that, if she would let us work out on our own, I would take her to the library to get a work out video for kids that she could do every day after school. She went for it!!

So we went to the library after school but the only video they had was Yoga For Kids. She wanted it. We went home, she changed into "work out gear" and popped in the video. She had a blast for an hour doing "tree pose" and other things. It was hilarious because every 10 minutes she had to run in and show me how well she does her poses. It was great and something she wants to do again today after school. Only now she insists that she needs new "work out clothes" because she doesn't have any good "yoga pants." Good grief! :)

9th Ward Nativity

Our ward had our annual Primary Nativity last night. Ethan sang a song with some boys from his class and I have attached a clip of it. Courtney sang the "Asleep, asleep" echo of a song with her class but we didn't get it on tape. It was a cute Nativity though and Ethan was so proud that he sang his song without needing the words.

Cute Kids

We had pictures taken with my family at Thanksgiving time and we just got them. So I scanned a few to have on the computer and thought I would post them. Ethan had this thing with wanting to pose while lying on his belly. So we let him and they turned out really cute. (Just a side note: When Ethan was a baby I tried and tried to get a photo with him on his belly but he would scream and cry the entire time, so I don't have one. Now that he is older, that's the only way he wants to pose. Go figure!)