Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas Morning
Mark bartered with the kids until they all decided on 7:30 am. ; this is when the kids can come wake us up so we can go downstairs and see what Santa brought for them.
Jacob was standing next to my bed at 4:00 am... I told him to go back to sleep... then he woke me up again at 7:00 am... Mark told him to go back to sleep... finally 7:30 am... we all got up and enjoyed the morning!
Does someone look excited!!!!

Iree was sewing all morning... she made 4 bookmarks and 3 purses... she loves it!

Jacob was making all sorts of project with the snap circuit set...

We all had a great Christmas... Fun and low key!!!
Thinking about our Savior's birth and what an amazing gift he is to all of us. It is great to see the kids starting to understand the meaning behind Christmas and knowing that the best gift we can give to Jesus is to follow his example by being kind, loving, and following his teachings.
We headed to my parents for dinner and games with family...
What a Great Day!
Happy Birthday Dave!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve

Kids in PJs, can't wait to go to bed!!!

We played a family game of Monopoly... It can get pretty vicious!!

Chuck was king!!!!

Time for bed.

Jacob read the Christmas Story out of the Scriptures...

After the story the kids laid out their stockings, left cookies and carrots for Santa, and checked the Santa tracker to make sure he hadn't skipped over us.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Snowman!
The perfect packing snow calls for a snowman... After we got the older kids off to school Mace and I shoveled the walks and then just had to make a snowman.

Odie thought it was a person and wouldn't stop barking and digging... we will see how long our snowman stands with Odie determined to take it down.

Ireland's Dance (Tap) Recital
She was a super excited...and a little nervous! The dance company she goes to is huge... they have tons of dance classes and that makes for a whole aditorium filled with eyes watching her... Not her favorite thing.

Show Time!!

And the big finish!

She did great!!! What a cutie!!!

So I learned a big lesson as a Mom (A Dance Mom that is)... I know most of you wouldn't have made this mistake but I Did!! Whoops! Big Whoops!

After the show... every girl, and I mean every little girl was holding a bouquet of flowers... As I was going to the back to get Iree after the show I was getting a little sick to my stomach, hoping she wouldn't notice I didn't have any to give her...
After I gave her a hug and told her how great she did she said, "Mom, why does everyone get flowers except for me?"

Ahh!!!! Ok, I feel like the worst mom of the year!!!

I told her we better hurry to the car because Daddy was taking us to go pick up her flowers... she smiled and was excited to go.

When we got to the car Mace said in a nice little voice, "Iree you did a good job." That made everyone smile.

Here they are... she loves them and put them in a vase in her room... I won't make that mistake again. I am a little air heady when it comes to this dance thing but I will never forget the flowers again... Never!!!

Here is her little number... she is to the right on the back row...
Enjoy!

Alex's Graduation!!!
Mark went to Colorado for a quick trip to see his little sis Alex Graduate from College!!! She got her bachelors in Marketing... Isn't she the cutest!!! It is crazy to see her all grown up. When I first met her she was a little 13 yr. old that didn't like me taking all Mark's attention!
Now, she is a beautiful grown up woman, graduating from college and has a bright future ahead of her... Good luck on the job hunt... Who wouldn't hire this smart, cute lady?!

Cousin Fun
I had the Perry kids for a few hours while Kevin and Michelle did a little Christmas shopping... We made good use of the new fallen snow.
Scott is a pro at snowboarding on the sled.

Sunny was having a blast too.

Sawyer has the best smile... this tube dumped him every time and he would just trek back up and do it again.

Scott and Mace tried to go fast and reach the finish line at the bottom... they got closer each time.

Sunny and Scott and the double snowboard.

Girl Fort...

Boy Fort...

After the snow the older kids had the TV playing the Wii so we set up a little tent theater for the little ones to watch a movie. Cozy!


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Kirby Christmas Party 2010
14 Adults...
23 Kids...
Sleepover...
Endless Yummy Food...
Dessert...Candy... Chocolate!
Chaos... Games... Presents... Pajamas...Fun... Family.

We look forward to this night the whole year.

Grandma and Grandpa Kirby and all 23 grand kids...
(Paige is cooking in Heather's tummy, she'll be here next year.)

Around the World Ping-Pong can get pretty silly!!

Grandma and Grandpa always have pajamas for all the kids... the kids have to answer a question from Grandpa before they get to open their present.
Mason's question was, "Who is the mother of Jesus?" Mason knew that one, "Mary."
The kids sat with their present and then did a mass opening. Paper and boxes were flying everywhere.
Of Course the first thing Jacob and Parker do...

But they're not the only ones... silly kids!!!


It was Michelle's Birthday so we sang a little song and had some Boston Cream Pie... Yummy!
The Boys...

Kid gift exchange was a first... we thought for sure there would be tears as they stole gifts from one another...
They all did great... no crying...and all smiles!
Iree and Sammy doing what they do best!

Aww!!
A moment like this always makes me smile!
These two don't always get along so when I see this I have to document it.
It must be Christmas time!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

$5 well spent!!!
Every time Mace and I go grocery shopping he sees this little shovel...
He has asked for it many times, he has even thrown tantrums but I always said no!!!
The other day... he didn't even ask... so, I told him to go pick out a shovel...
he was so excited, he couldn't believe I let him get it!!!!

We have had it for three snow storms and he has been out there helping me every time... today the snow wasn't very deep so we finished quickly...but he spent another 30 min doing all the neighbors... he loves it and I am sure the neighbors did too!

I am finding that Mace is becoming a very hard worker...

I love spending time with my little guy.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Jr. Jazz Basketball
It's the start of another basketball season...
I love watching Jacob play ball. His goal today was to make more than 2 baskets in this game... He made 12 of the 16 points...
#47

I am super proud... but, we did have to have a little chat about passing. (This I have to blame on Mark!!!! For those of you who know how competitive he is you must realize how competitive our little boy is becoming. ) His response to my "passing" question was..., "Coach told me to shoot if I was open! I was open a lot..." my response... , "Buddy, It is great to win and make shots but is more important to be a team player. You need to pass... If they pass back then you can shoot. " I think it took, he really does listen to our suggestions... so hopefully he can learn to balance his competitive nature and being a team player.

He is one of the taller boys so he naturally gets put in as center... It is the perfect spot to get rebounds... so fun to watch... I am so impressed at how the whole team has improved so much from last year. Good Job Boys!!!!

One of those "Mommy Moments"
So I wasn't going to post this but I just looked over some old blog posts from a few years ago and loved reading about the funny things... so I think this one is a worth while mom memory!
If you don't like poop stories don't finish reading this.
Mark had a Volleyball tournament this weekend... so I packed the kids up with some toys, DS, food, and drawing stuff so they could last the evening. We made our camp in the bleachers and I noticed that I left the camera in the car... I told the kids to stay put while I went to get the camera... I got back 5 minutes later. In those 5 minutes DISASTER happened!!! I get back to the bleachers to see all my kids missing... then I see Iree and Jacob running toward me yelling "Mace went Poo in the bathroom" Everyone in the bleachers turn their heads and laughed a little. I wasn't too worried... he still has me wipe so I thought that was all I had to do... Jacob then goes on to say, "He has it all over his hands!!!" at this point I am getting worried...I start running toward the MEN'S restroom, because that's where Jacob took him.
As I got to the door I could hear him crying and one of the volleyball players was in there saying, "It's okay... your mom is coming." I poked my head in and asked the guy if it was okay to come in... he said he would stand guard... Mace was standing with his pants down and poop in them... plus all over his hands and toilet seat. This never happens to him... he never has accidents so I couldn't put together what happened... I asked him, "what happened buddy"...he replied, "I just can't to anything right." talk about break my heart! Jacob came in and explained that Mace told him he had to go...they went to the MEN'S restroom and Mace went in and locked his door...It happened to be a tall toilet and he couldn't get up... He told Jacob to help him but he couldn't unlock the door and then he couldn't hold it any longer... then he tried to clean it up but as any 4 year old would do... he made a huge mess.
We were an hour from home... no extra clothes... and hours or watching volleyball still to go. I cleaned him up... threw his pants, underwear, and socks in the trash (Mace thought that was hilarious) and tied Jacob's sweatshirt around him. We went back up to our spot in the bleachers... The kids wanted to go play in the boxing room but I wasn't about to let Mace run around in a sweatshirt skirt that would fall off at any moment. When Mark was done with his first game I raided his bag in hopes of finding something that would work for Mace... He had extra undies!!!
So Mace ran around in Mark's undies for the rest of the night... I tied them tight with my hair tie and walla... instant shorts...
While these things are happening it is not so fun... but I love looking back and laughing at all the mommy moments we have...
I love being a mom!!!!

Yes this is Mark...
And no... this isn't an old picture of when we were dating... It was 2 days ago!!!
Yikes!!!
These crazy UVU Alumni Guys always have crazy ideas of what to wear the first night of a tournament... this tournaments theme... Star Wars/ Short Jean Shorts / 80's...
So here is what we came up with for Mark....
He needed a haircut anyway so I just gave him a Mohawk for the evening... The kids were so so so embarrassed!!!

This is day two... hair cut and normal clothes... Mark said it was a little easier to play without the tight jeans... I Bet!!!

Line Shot!!!