He Came!

Christmas morning was so exciting. Hayden and Rebecca actually slept until 8:00!!! Shock. I think that was their Christmas present to me - unfortunately a day I was fine with waking up early. They were so excited to see their presents. Of course every present that was opened had to be taken out of the package ASAP before they wanted to open another present.

Hayden was of course spoiled with a lot of Star Wars stuff and a fun camera.

Rebecca loved her baby doll with the stroller, a Fur Real Kitty Cat, and dress up shoes.

After we opened presents we had our traditional huge Christmas Breakfast. It was delicious and fun. Then we got ready and went to Grandma and Grandpa Ewell's house to open more presents. So fun. We were spoiled again. We had a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun spending time with family and just relaxing. What a great day!

Christmas Eve

We had such a wonderful Christmas Eve! Growing up for me, Christmas Eve was almost more of a party than Christmas Day because the anticipation was still there. (Of course nothing beats Christmas morning) We had the missionaries over for dinner - hey kill two birds with one stone. I was making a big meal anyway, so it was easy to invite the missionaries. We had a yummy turkey dinner, then we had a visit from Alonzo Snodgrass. Who?? You might ask... Alonzo is an old man that my dad met about 35 years ago as he was traveling from Utah to California. His car broke down and he walked to the closest farm house he could see, which happened to be the Snodgrass home. He stayed over night and Alonzo helped fix my dad's car in the morning. (At least that's the legend :)) Every Christmas Eve since then - or sometimes at the Roylance Christmas parties - Alonzo has secretly delivered presents to our family. They are always hidden and we have to go look for them. (Sometimes one of his friends will call and give us a hint of where the presents are.) Alonzo was very secretive and would watch in our windows throughout the year, if he was ever going through town, so the presents aren't addressed to our actual name, it's a hint about something that we've done, or something about us, and we have to figure out who the presents belong to. He also sends a funny letter telling about his "happenings" throughout the year. Alonzo was always my favorite Christmas Eve tradition growing up. Since we didn't go up to Utah this Christmas Alonzo somehow knew we'd be here and he somehow knew the missionaries would be with us so after dinner we went looking for our presents and found them in the closet in the playroom/ baby's room. We read the letter and figured out who the presents went to.
Pregnant Paula = Me
Kitty Cat Loving Clara = Rebecca
Star Wars Steve or 8 Minute Matt = Hayden (He always wants 8 more minutes for everything - to stay awake, to play a game, to watch a movie, etc.)
Certification Studying Sam = Jerry ( He has a HUGE certification test coming up next month for work and he's studying big time for it.)
And the missionaries were, Far From Home Freddy, and Preaching Paul
It was a great night and Hayden and Rebecca were so excited that it was Christmas Eve, just thinking about Santa coming that night made it hard for Hayden to sleep. One tradition that Jerry had growing up was that Christmas Eve was the only night they got to have a tv in their room. They'd get to buy treats and watch tv that night in their room to go to bed. We have continued that tradition as well. Hayden and Rebecca watched TV all night. Finally they fell asleep at around 11:00, so I turned off the tv, but at around 3:30 I woke up and saw the tv on again. It was such a novelty they loved it. It's a good thing it is only 1 day a year or my kids would never go to sleep. We were surprised that they weren't awake until 8:00 the next morning.

They were too excited to sit and listen to the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures, so they danced while listening, in their new pajamas.

Cookies and milk for Santa. Once again, my kid's don't like to wear clothes.

Christmas Eve dinner with the missionaries.

Our cute little family at Christmas Eve dinner.

Hayden finally found the Alonzo gifts.

The missionaries got some donuts and McDonald's gift cards.

4th Advent

For our Fourth Advent (the Sunday before Christmas) we had fun making a gingerbread train. The kids were excited to be able to decorate it however they wanted.

yes, I know my children don't like clothes.


The finished product

Here is our Advent Wreath, with its pathetic candles. I guess that's what happens when you buy the cheapo candles. Every Day they'd gradually lean a little farther down - even without being lit. All four candles were lit for a few minutes, but because of the wax spilling one had to be blown out.

Snow Day!

I know this is a little late, but a couple weeks ago we were so excited to get some snow that actually stuck to the ground. Hayden was so excited to make snowballs and a snowman. Here are a few pictures, but the pictures don't do it justice.

Sneakiness around Christmas

I don't know if there is something in the air, or if it's just the excitement of Santa coming, or just my kids, but they both seem to be sneaking around. I love our Christmas decorations, but a very small part of me is counting down the days till the 26 when we can put our Star Wars tree away and Hayden won't be waking up early to sneak down the stairs, to play with all the ornaments that are fragile and can break easily. This morning I was sleeping and heard someone downstairs. I came down to find the back door open and Hayden hiding. I asked where he was going and he said he was going to leave. With shock and a little bit of hurt (thinking he didn't like it here) I asked why he wanted to go. He said he was going to go to Target to get a small Lego Star Wars toy that was in his dream last night. Good luck with that one. It's a good thing there is a lock on our gate!
Rebecca's sneakiness is displayed by her sneaking into any and every corner to strip all of her clothes, including her diaper. Last night she was hiding naked under the table actually trying to put a new diaper on. She wanted to wear the diaper that had kitty cats on it, not the one with the dog, so she wanted to change. The last three nights as I've gone in to check on her before going to bed I've found her completely naked! So how is it that after I put her diaper back on while she's sleeping, it is off again when she wakes up? I think it is time to start potty training this little girl. If not I'm about ready to resort to duct tape.
(For obvious reasons there are no pictures of Rebecca and her "sneakiness")

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Birthday Hayden!!

Hayden turned 4 on Monday, December 15th. Rebecca's birthday was last month and he knew it was after Rebecca's so he's been expecting it "any day now" for the last month. He got to play Lego Star Wars without any time restrictions on his birthday - that was a big deal for him. We also had a little birthday party that night with Jerry's family. If you can't tell he is in a MAJOR Star Wars phase right now. This phase might last years though with the way we feed it. I tried my best at making a Clone Trooper Helmet Cake. He wanted the one with red, and he was excited, so even though it is amateur it's good enough for a 4 year old. I think it turned out pretty good, except I ran out of frosting, but not a huge deal. After the party Grandpa Ewell brought over the big bus and we went on a ride around the temple to look at Christmas lights. Hayden loves going on Grandpa's bus and every time he see's a city bus he asks when we're going to go on Grandpa's bus again, so this meant a lot to Hayden. We had fun driving around and listening to Rebecca yell, "temp0" every time she caught a glimpse of the temple. He is a special boy and we are so happy that he had a good birthday. But he did inform me today after looking at the calendar and counting that it will be his birthday again in "7 weeks." Hmm, we'll see about that one.

Some things about Hayden at four: He is a sweet little boy. He's very loving and usually obedient. Lately he has prided himself on being "a teaser boy" when he gets caught doing anything he shouldn't. He thinks if he's teasing it's ok. He's also obsessed with the ornaments from the Star Wars tree. He can't keep his hands off them. Even a letter from Santa reminding him not to touch hasn't helped a whole lot. But he is such a sweet boy it's hard to get too upset with him. Yes, his obsession is Star Wars. He loves to play Lego Star Wars, and with all his action figures he has. He knows all the character names and the color light saber they use. He is also very into Thomas the Train, puzzles, Curious George, books, and learning. He asks a lot of questions about everything and I love it. Lately he wants to know what is in everything. "What's in my clone trooper?" "What's in Mac 'n Cheese?" "What's in the car?" "Does a plant have bones?" and his latest odd infatuation is earlobes. I'm sure he'll be embarrassed as he gets older and reads this, but he LOVES earlobes for some odd reason. I'm wondering if it has to do with thinking about how bones are in everyone's body, but there are no bones in the earlobes? I don't know, all I can say is watch out. If you bend over in front of him and he sees an earlobe he can't resist reaching out and rubbing that earlobe. Odd? Yes. Funny? Yes. Concerning? Not quite at this point, but we'll see if it continues through adolesence - then Yes. He also loves babies. He can't keep away from babies. He is so excited for his little sister to come and he talks to her all the time. He is a sweetheart and we are so lucky to have him!

Random things from the last month!

Growing up we always celebrated the German Advents. Starting the 4th Sunday before Christmas you light one candle on a wreath of 4, and do a fun family activity to welcome in "the Christ Child" for Christmas. This is a picture of our 1st Advent. We had a good dinner together then made Christmas cookies. Yes, once again we made sugar cookies because Hayden is still on a big sugar cookie kick. With Jerry's help they turned out a little better than when I make them.

A couple weeks ago our ward had a Christmas breakfast. It was such a fun party and the kids loved it especially when Santa got there. Rebecca loves Santa. She talks about him, loves to watch any movie with Santa, etc.. until she actually sees him in person. She is scared to DEATH. This is a picture of her hiding behind who she thought was Jerry while Hayden was in line to see Santa. The look on her face when she realized it wasn't Jerry she was hiding behind showed even more fear than the look on her face when she sees Santa in person. Hayden was so excited to see Santa and tell him what he wanted again. He was amazed that we saw him at the mall AND at our church too. He wanted to follow Santa everywhere he went so as Jerry was helping clean up Hayden was on the search for Santa. He was amazed when he saw Santa go down the hall and around the corner towards the drinking fountain and bathrooms that he was gone by the time Hayden got there. Hmmm, how'd that happen. I asked Hayden where he thought Santa went and he figured he touched his nose and made a magical chimney appear to go up to the roof where Rudolph was waiting. His Santa knowledge is very good.

Last weekend we were lucky enough to have my brother Joseph, his wife Angela, and their two boys Ethan and Alex come to visit. We had a great time with them here, unfortunately Ethan got sick, throwing up one night, and pink eye. Poor boy. So we had fun hanging out around the house and eating too much. The kids always exchange a Christmas present with each other. Even though it's just a cheap present from the dollar store they get so excited to give and open gifts. It was great having them come and welcome anyone that wants to come for a visit.

Where did the month go?

Well, I have no idea where the past month has flown to, but I'll give a brief update of the happenings around our home - since I know you're dying to know. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I attempted to make my very first turkey. I know, pretty pathetic that I'm 32 and have never made a turkey before. When we were first married we always joined Jerry's family for Thanksgiving, but when Rebecca was born she was only a couple days old on Thanksgiving so we decided to do a quiet Thanksgiving meal at home, then went over to visit a little later. We fell in love with doing our own Thanksgiving - thanks to Albertson's cooking our turkey meal.

Seeing the turkeys that were on sale for $6 at Smith's I decided it is stupid to pay Albertson's to cook our meal, and it is time for me to learn to cook. I have to brag and say that the turkey was DELICIOUS! The only problem was that it took about 2 hours longer to cook than expected, so by the time we were ready to cook Hayden had fallen asleep from too much playing, and Rebecca was more than exhausted. It was still fun though.

Rebecca was having a blast playing with all the games.

Poor Hayden was so tired, he missed eating with all of us.

A couple days later we went to the temple for Family Home Evening. That is one of the many things I love about living so close to the temple. Hayden and Rebecca love to walk around the grounds at the temple.

Can you tell from this picture who wears the pants in their brother/sister relationship?

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!!

Rebecca turned 2 on Sunday, November 16th! Happy Birthday little girl! We celebrated on Saturday (and of course on Sunday too because, for me, birthdays are at least a two day event) Saturday morning we went and saw Santa - as you saw in my previous post. Then when we came home we had Jerry's family over for a birthday party for her. It was so fun having everyone over. We had pizza and cake and ice cream, etc. Rebecca is a HUGE Curious George fan, so I attempted to make a Curious George cake. I know it's not as adorable as a store bought one, but it's much cheaper, and I like to challenge myself to see if I can do it. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself... Anyway. After her nap we went to see the matinee of Madagascar 2 as a family. We all loved it. It was such a fun day, and now Hayden is very anxious for his birthday. He knows that his birthday is after Rebecca's, so he's ready now. Not to willing to wait for another month.


Rebecca at two: She is such a fun girl. She is a ball of energy and knows EXACTLY what she wants, so don't try to convince her otherwise. She loves babies and every time she hears a baby cry, she says "Oh, a baby crying!" She is such a talker. I love her little voice. She loves puzzles, and she's even really good at them. They can keep her occupied for such a long time. She also LOVES Curious George, 101 Dalmations, and Minnie Mouse. She also loves animals. She hugs, kisses and licks them. (Yuck) It's especially cute... and gross, when she tries to pick up a small cat or dog and they squirm to get out, but she still has the behind in her arms and she nuzzles her face right in their behind to give them loves. Yeah, gross. Her best friend is her "Min-na" (Binky). She's not going to be too happy when we wean her off it soon. She also LOVES her big brother, Hayden. She loves to play with him, and to tease him - she is good at both. They are good friends.

Rebecca LOVES babies


My Curious George creation!

Me and My Becca Boo!

SANTA!!!

We always get an early start on Christmas, and we are so happy that Santa cooperates with us. We like to go to the mall to see Santa before Thanksgiving, so we don't have to wait in line long. We went to the mall on Saturday to beat the rush, but had to wait for 15 minutes because Santa wasn't there yet. Hayden's been so excited to see Santa. In fact he wants to go on vacation to the North Pole to see Santa. Hayden has been prepping Rebecca for the last couple weeks about Santa, and how he isn't scary and she shouldn't cry, since she cried last year. Will all his pep talks, she still cried, it was cute though. Oh, I love Christmas!!

Rebecca, eagerly waiting (on the floor) for Santa to arrive.

Hayden was so excited and gave him a big hug.

Abandon and Enjoy!

Hayden has been begging to make cookies for a while, so I decided to abandon all housework and be the kind of mom that I want to be. I clean every day and it still is just as dirty the next morning, so I think I need to go with abandoning and enjoying more. Rebecca LOVED this idea and had a blast cutting the cookies and getting flour all over everything. Hayden also loved choosing which cutter to use and was very helpful in rolling out the dough. It was a very fun day. Unfortunately the recipe was not very good. For sugar cookies they weren't very tasty and sweet at all. So, we'll just have to try it again soon with a better recipe. If you have a good sugar cookie recipe let me know!

If The Hat Fits...

Last week we were watching Curious George - our usual - and Hayden got a great idea to make hats, after watching George try to make a yellow hat. I have so many crafty items sitting out in my garage from when I taught, and Iknew I had been holding on to them for a reason. We finally got to get out the foam and feathers and make hats. Here are our creations.

This little princess took a nap in her hat, she liked it so much.

Our creations! Jerry had a blue king's crown.

Rebecca's Princess Hat

Hayden's Yellow Hat - of course