A Loooong Overdue Update

 It's been a long time since I've really updated this little blog. In all honesty, it's been a long time since I've had the energy or motivation to do much more than the basics. The kids have been watching a lot of movies...way more than they should...but I have also been getting a nap every day. So I'm okay with it for now.  :)

Emma has really gotten into rhyming lately. Several times a day she'll shout out a random word and then start saying all the words she can think of that rhyme with it. It's been fun to see her mind at work. She is very creative and loves to do anything art related. She and Matthew are getting better at playing together...though they can also fight pretty good. Matthew can hold his own now and Emma knows it, so it can be pretty entertaining. They really are good friends though and it's fun to watch them grow up together. Emma loves giving Matthew nicknames. She rotates through Buddy, Bucky, Brady, and an assortment of characters from her favorite shows (usually one of the Backyardigans). He answers to all of them and occasionally will try to give her a nickname too....usually a Backyardigans character.

Matthew is talking so much these days and says so many funny things....though  I can't remember anything off the top of my head. He is still very cuddly and loves to give kisses. He also asks for kisses any time he gets hurt, and miraculously they make it all better. I love it. He is generally a really happy little guy, but he can also be strong willed when he wants to. Matthew has recently started waking up early most mornings. He wanders into our room and climbs into bed with us and just lays there and talks and tries to play. I would love it a lot more if it weren't 5 in the morning. But we love him anyway. He is such a sweet little boy.

I can't believe how fast Christmas has come this year. Nine more days! This is the first year Emma has really understood the Christmas story and she loves trying to tell it to us. Both kids also love all the Christmas music. Their favorite Christmas song is Jingle Bells. They are getting excited for Christmas. They love sitting by the tree, trying to guess what is in each of the boxes. Emma is sure that one of the boxes is MarioKart...she's going to be disappointed! We did use our Amazon credit from buying our Wii to get a couple games, one of which is Madagascar Karts...same concept as MarioKart but with the Madagascar characters and much cheaper. Hopefully that will suffice.

Anyway, here are a few random pictures from the last few weeks...about all the pictures I have taken!

 Getting ready for Christmas

This is the extent of our Christmas decorating this year. A tree, a couple nativities and some garland, and the (mismatched) stockings. We have LOVED having a fireplace this year. Just makes it feel so much more Christmasy. 

A couple weekends ago, Jon got free tickets from work to see Shrek the Musical. We took Emma and her friend Andrew. It was at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco...my first time ever going there. We had good seats in the orchestra section and enjoyed the play. The kids were really getting into it...it was really entertaining.

 The four of us (Andrew is hiding behind Emma)

 Last weekend we watched our friends kids while they took a quick weekend trip. Saturday was so nice and we were all feeling a little stir crazy, so we took the kids to the zoo. It was the perfect outing. Everyone had a great time and the two younger kids ended up sleeping for 2 hours afterwards...success!

Matthew LOVES playing on these frogs

Andrew the turtle (...or tortoise)

Emma and Madeline

Brushing and petting the goats is definitely Matthew's favorite thing to do at the zoo. He's  only been there once before, but he remembered exactly what to do and where to get the brush.

Saturday night was our ward's Christmas party. The kids didn't really know what to think of Santa. Just kind of sat there for the picture and then waited for their candy. No requests...guess it makes his job simple.  :)