Jack Loves PopTarts

I mean, he really loves them. He would eat them everyday if I let him. He has been making his own breakfast for about a year now and he is in a pop-tart and hot cocoa stage. So basically he gets all sugared up then I send him to school...

He did go through a butter wutter stage, which is basically toast with peanut butter on it. He will eat cereal, but no milk on the cereal please! That one baffles me.

Two Weeks to go...

This month is really flying by it seems. I am doing pretty well getting all my shopping and such done. Nate has been a huge help this year and has gone to the mall with me the past two weeks in a row. I like when he comes with me because I am much more efficient. Also, I finished shopping for the kids last week while Bella was at preschool. She is just too old to shop in front of this year and it seems I get much more accomplished in the morning, so I am grateful for preschool.

The kids went to see Santa on Saturday. B actually sat on his lap this year, she has been terrified of him her whole life, but still wants to make sure he knows what she wants, poor kid. But this year she decided to be brave so she could protect Sophie. She asked him for Lincoln logs, which was a bit of a surprise. Jack asked for Lego's, which I expected. After Santa we went to eat at Red Lobster, my first time. And I actually managed to eat some fish-I am usually not a fan. While we were there the snow started coming down pretty heavily and it took us over an hour to get home. The kids were pretty excited, nothing like playing in the snow. I am sure Nate was just thinking-man, I am going to have to shovel. But we woke up the next morning to find our driveway and walk all shovelled, we have some very nice neighbors.

I had sharing time yesterday in Primary. I actually kind of like doing it, but always feel a bit relieved when my turn for the month is over. We also had our Primary teacher appreciation dinner last Friday and it was a blast. We only had about half the teacher show up-about 25 or so-but it was a lot of fun and the food all turned out great. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with a primary this large, but everything always seems to go great and everyone gets along really well.

We took pictures outside yesterday of the kids for our Christmas card. The above picture is from yesterday, but not the one I chose for the card. I can't wait to get them to see how they turned out! Nate thought I was insane taking Sophie out in the cold, but we went super fast and she was inside with him until right before I snapped the picture. Everyone survived just fine.

Last night we watched the Amazing Race and Jack's favorite team got philiminated. He was a bit devastated. For some reason Bella has picked Ronald and Cristina as the team she likes. They are a father daughter team where the father is not so nice or considerate of his daugther's feelings. I am hoping she is not catching all of that, but is just imagining herself and Nate going on the Amazing Race together. I picked the goth couple early on. They came in second last night, so hopefully they will keep moving up.

In other news, LOST season 3 comes out tomorrow. Nate and I have been watching this pretty much from the beginning and have gotten to the point that we had a little party with our in-laws last year when the season began. I find that LOST is something people either love, hate, or have no idea what is going on. I am totally buying it tomorrow with much relief that there will be something we can sit down and watch in the evening. We only have basic basic cable, and the writers strike is starting to effect what's on. I kind of like watching the older Leno every once in a while, but on Saturday night we found ourselves watching the most ridiculous movie called Night of Terror. It was so bad we couldn't turn it off. So LOST will be a welcome diversion. That and all The Office DVDs. After all-the strike seems to be here for the long run.

Smiles!

Sophie has been so smiley lately. She smiles at Nate whenever she sees him. She smiles when I aim the camera at her, which makes me think she may be an aspiring ham! She smiles at the kids when she sees them, and she smiles whenever she wakes up. It's so adorable, and most of the time her smile is too big for her face!

It seems like we have entered a really busy time of year. At least there is more to do than I seem to have time for. Sometimes this is good, as it causes me to really prioritize what we should be doing this time of year and what we should be focusing on. I am trying to really set down and figure out how we are going to spend our time between now and Christmas with what we want to do and what we need to do.

Sophie has her two month check up tomorrow, and I must say I am not really looking forward to the shots. I can't believe she is already two months old and it seems she is growing so fast. When Jack was a baby it seemed to last such a long time, and Sophie's babyhood is already speeding by. She is really coming out of the newborn stage and becoming really aware of what is going on around her. She has started to pay attention to toys, mostly just to look at them, but she will bat and try to grab one every once in a while. She is also awake a lot more during the day.

Saturday we all went to the jewelers to get my stone tightened in my wedding ring and Nate bought me an anniversary ring. I really love it and am a bit surprised how tickled I am by how lovely and sparkly it is. We had been planning on getting one someday, it is so nice that someday has arrived! Bella loved looking in all the cases in the store and was enamoured by all the sparkly things. After the jewelers we went to the mall and did some shopping and went to Cold Stone-yumyum!

Last night we went with the Glovers downtown to Temple Square to see all the lights and such. We have done this every year for the past several years and the kids all have a ball. Well, after we planned for the night we realized the First Presidency Christmas Devotional was going on, so there would be a lot of people and a lot of traffic. We decided we would just get there right after the devotional started and leave just before it ended. Logistically, it seemed easiest to have Nate and Jeff drop us all off next to the temple, have them park the cars and come meet us in the visitor center. That way, we wouldn't have to walk with all the kids as far in the cold. Shelly and I and the kids waited and waited in the visitor center for quite a while. Jeff showed up and said the nearest parking was miles away, and for us to take the kids through and meet up with them on the other side, and to be quick about it because the devotional was going to end in a few minutes. So we hurried across and they picked us up. We had not factored in that we wouldn't be able to find any parking, they have knocked down the two downtown malls and their parking structures, and with the Christmas devotional, everything else was really full. So this will be the year they just played chauffeur while Shelly and I rushed the kids through. Nate and I laughed about it all the way back to their house. We then had cocoa and cinnamon rolls and the kids exchanged gifts. It was really a fun night despite the parking.