Christmas!

I was one of those people who turned on the holiday music the day after Halloween this year. I just couldn't wait! Last year I was just big and hoping to go into labor and I didn't really get into the spirit of things. This year it was different. We all really enjoyed the whole season, Thanksgiving through Christmas.

We made gingerbread houses and ugly sweaters. We went to see the lights on Temple Square. We went to family parties and work parties and ward parties and parties with friends. We kept the Christmas tunes coming on Pandora all day.

Here are some of our holiday photographs.

To see the lights...

 

 

 

 

 

 

An custom ugly sweater (Tim's idea, my execution) and the party...

 

 

 

  

 

Arbon family Christmas party, English family Christmas Eve dinner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, New Years party with my family. First we tried to blow up our gingerbread houses with dry ice bombs but it didn't really work. Then, lanterns...

 

 

Mustaches

About two weeks into the month, Tim decided he would participate in No-Shave November. Thing is, though, he grows very little facial hair. No sideburns, no hair on his cheek. Some on his chin. However his mustache did not get the memo. It grew in so fast and so thick and he got asked more than once if he colored it in with mascara. It was a little like having a new husband and I actually didn't mind it. :) But, mustaches. Can anyone take them seriously?

Yesterday he turned 31. He had a kind of, once-you're-thirty-you're-in-your-thirties attititude about it. Like most of his birthdays it was just a low key event. Went to dinner, opened some presents. Didn't eat any cake. I hope it was good for him. He's amazing. The man can do anything. I really feel like I won when I married him.

This is where we are

Lately it is all art projects all the time with Mason. First thing he asks for in the morning (after chocolate milk, of course) is paper and scissors. Then markers, then crayons, then tape and glue. It is game on. My aunt gave him a few crafts-for-kids books a while ago and we plowed through those in no time. It is really amazing watching him improve as he draws the things he sees or creates things from his imagination. I am not the craftiest person alive either, so I've really had to up my game.

He likes his sisters. He really loves little things, like babies, so Ava gets the preferential treatment and Brielle gets a lot of abuse. But he is always sure to protect both sisters from the Daddy Monster's nightly attacks. The other night he was cooing over Ava, trying to keep her attention and said "Oh Ava, you crack my heart, you cutie-pie."

Mason got tickets from his Nana to go to the high school production of Tarzan. So he got a date night with me, Nana and Pop, and Granny. He loved the first half and several minutes after the intermission. Then he turned to me and said," I'm supposed to be asleep, mom." So I cuddled him up and he slept through the rest. The next morning he told his dad all about the gorillas and the butterflys, but had absolutely no opinion on Tarzan himself.

Since then Brielle has been asking if it's her turn to go to a play yet. Every night before she goes to bed (and several times throughout the day) she asks, "What we doing when I wake up?" Once she has an answer that satisfies, she asks for a specific book, we close the door to a crack, and she reads to herself until she falls asleep. I love hearing her little voice telling stories, alone in her dark room.

She finally, finally learned how to kiss this week. We are a family of kissers and maybe she was just sticking it to the man and refusing to cooperate because she felt smothered with affection. But this week she leaned in, lips pursed, and layed one on me. Smacked her lips and everything. Then she gave me about ten more perfect little kisses. After the final one on the cheek, she looked at me and said, "I break your heart!" And then I died. (I guess we do a lot of heart breaking around here.)

I thought Brielle was a handful when she started walking around 10 to 11 months old. I kind of forget the exact ages that each of my kids have started doing different things, but I feel like Ava has been at least a month ahead in everything. She was walking by nine months. Now she is just barely ten months and she is holding the phone up to her ear, pulling out the drawers to hang from them like a gymnast, climbing everything she can. She does everything with a giant grin and complete determination.

The last few weeks we have been tyring to soak up all the last bits of warm weather to store for the winter ahead. Basically that means the kids play on the playground while I chase Ava around, taking things out of her mouth. What a rough life.

October was pretty fun

Halloween seemed to start on October 1st and run right through the entire month. We did about four million Halloween themed art projects. We visited Scarecrow Alley at the train depot museum. We went to the Fright Lights at Willard Bay. We carved pumpkins! The list goes on.

Of course we also had Halloween parties with each side of the family. They are always the best. I tell ya, this holiday just gets better every year that my kids get older. I'm sure that will only be the case for a few years, so I am just soaking this up. This year we had an Iron Man (he's never seen the movie), a Snow White (she's never seen the movie), and a giraffe. For one party, I went as Mary Poppins (I've never seen the movie), and Tim was a vampire. The vampire was per Mason's request, but then the teeth were a little too scary for Bri, so they lasted about five minutes.

Mason has been asking for stories before bed lately and Tim is just the best story-teller around, I swear it. This month they have been scary stories about witches, mostly. Little boys getting turned into frogs or shoes because they drank the witch's brew. The mildly-scarier, the better. He has just loved all things creepy this month. He was not so sure about things when he saw his Nana dressed as a witch and stiring her brew in a cauldron, though.