Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Anderson's house! We got to sleep in until 8:00. Taylor was so excited to see that Santa brought him and Lylee a kitchen and he got the "great big lightning" that he has been asking for for months. I think Chris' favorite gift was the Star Wars pop up book that I got for him. It's cool even if you're not into Star Wars! He's also really excited for his new shed for the backyard that he got from both of our parents and myself. It's the building of the shed while it's so cold outside that I think he's dreading! He and Taylor went outside today and started working on the side of the house where the shed will be living. Taylor helps for about ten minutes and then he starts playing with his toys. When we get it built, he can finally put up his Bowflex machine that's been sitting sadly in the garage waiting for a spot! Lylee loved every minute of the whole day and was in awe of every little thing that happened. Her favorites are her new baby doll from Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Bob and playing in the new kitchen with Taylor (and she loves to have it to herself when Taylor is not around!) She got so tired at Grandma and Grandpa's house that she started to fall asleep on the floor while we were still opening presents. I received lots of great gifts, but my favorite gift was the pure joy that I got to see in everyone else yesterday. We had a wonderful day and I really enjoyed every moment. I have to admit that I'm really excited to try out my new printer, copier, scanner! I didn't even ask for it! The kids stayed in their new pjs all day and Chris made a yummy breakfast for dinner. The only sad part about Christmas is that it is over...

Fun Christmas Gift

This morning we were treated to an early Christmas present. The Sacramento Zoo was open from 10 -1:30, admission was free, all of the zoo employees were in their pajamas and some were even caroling!

Taylor was infatuated with the zoo map. It had pictures of the animals and their exhibits. He did a great job finding the giraffes!


We have some fun red pandas that are one of the kids favorites. Don't they look like racoons?



Another zoo favorite, the flamingos. It's always fun to see the kids try and figure out if they have one or two legs.




Taylor and Lylee in the fun outback sign.

What a fun morning! It was such a nice break from the Christmas rush. Hopefully this will become a Christmas tradition!

Happy Happy Meal

I wanted to post this experience, mostly so that I wouldn't forget. A few days ago I took the kids to Walmart, which is a bit insane this time of year. Getting out of the parking lot was a little bit crazy and complicated. Finally, after waiting patiently for several minutes someone let us into the line to get out. There was a man standing on the side of the road with a sign that he needed money. He was obviously in need and I knew that I had five dollars, so I stopped and rolled down the window and gave the man the money and said "Merry Christmas". As we pulled away, Taylor stated that he "needed" a Happy Meal. I asked him if he saw me give some money to the man that was standing on the road. Taylor said yes. I told him that the man didn't have any money to buy a Happy Meal so I gave him our Happy Meal money. Taylor stopped, thought for a minute (I think about how sad it would be to not be able to buy a Happy Meal), he looked out the window and said, "Oh... Merry Christmas!!"

I think at that moment it clicked in his head that not everyone has the same things that we do. I am very thankful that I am able to buy my son a Happy Meal now and then and I am also thankful that he is able to understand that we can help other people and make them happy when we are willing to give up some of the "things" that we are used to having.

Merry Christmas!!!

Picture Man

We got this camera years ago when we bought our first computer and never really used it. Taylor loves to go around and take pictures of everyone and everything. He is very serious about his picture taking and loves making up things for us to say while he takes our pictures. His favorite subjects are Lylee and our dog Doc. I think he feels like they are most likely to follow his orders.

Last Day of Preschool Christmas Party

Taylor's teacher's gave all the kids each a gift. This Darth Vader mask and cape were his favorite part of his Christmas gift. He has been running through the house like this since yesterday!

Taylor and his friend Jade playing air hockey. Their party was at Chuck E. Cheese!
Lylee loved watching the kids and eating. She LOVES food.
Taylor's class sang "Once There Was a Snowman"

Taylor was the only snowman who didn't melt.

All of the parents are always amazed how well all of the kids listen to their 2 teachers, Miss Heidi and Miss Kristy. When they told the kids that it was time to eat they all climbed up to the table and started eating. I can barely manage this at home, let alone Chuck E. Cheese!!!

Taylor wanted to get presents for his friends, he picked out plastic candy canes full of Smarties (one of his personal favorites). He had so much fun giving each friend his little present and telling them Merry Christmas and giving hugs.

He has really loved his class and grown up so much since he started preschool. Four of the kids from his class will be in his new class that starts in January, so that is really fun. He will miss the other two little girls that aren't going with them. It's been really fun with just 6 little kids. Most of all, I know that Taylor will miss his teachers. Hopefully he will get to have them both again next fall.

Santa Tracker

I knew about the Santa Tracker, but not the story behind it. Visit the website and track Santa with us!!!

For the 52nd consecutive year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be tracking Santa Claus as he makes his worldwide journey Christmas Eve night.
NORAD's traditional Santa Tracker started in 1955 -- all because of a wrong number.
According to NORAD lore, phones starting ringing off the hook at NORAD's predecessor the Continental Air Defense Command in December 1955. Confused personnel at the Colorado headquarters couldn't understand why so many children were calling and asking for Saint Nick.
Turns out, they didn't need to look any further than the local newspaper, the Colorado Springs Gazette.Sears-Roebuck placed an ad in The Gazette telling kids to dial a number if they wanted to talk to Santa. Unfortunately, the number was one digit off. But ever in the holiday spirit, Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup answered many of those calls -- and told the delighted kids that the U.S. military would keep their eyes peeled and their radars locked on the skies for any sign of Santa.
Since moving the operation online in 1988, NORAD's Santa Tracker website has exploded in popularity. In 2004, www.noradsanta.org collected 912 million hits from 181 countries in addition to fielding 55,000 phone calls.

I got this story from the Channel 10 website.

School Projects

This is Taylor and his turkey feather with all of the things that he is thankful for. We started with "orange and church" and the list grew from there.
These two little projects were very big accomplishments for Taylor and his teachers as well. Taylor does not like to get sticky or dirty, which made having paint on his hands quite a challenge. Somehow his sweet teachers talked him into it and he has a cute tree and reindeer to show for it. The reindeer is different from the rest of his class. The head of the reindeer is supposed to be a footprint, but he absolutely refused to take off his shoes and socks, so they used his shoe. Apparently, he was gagging while the paint was being applied to his hands. I can't wait until the day that he is faced with his own child's dirty diaper!

Big Girl Stuff

Yesterday at church we hit a big new milestone for Lylee. She started standing!! I looked over and there she was on the floor in front of our bench just standing up like a big kid. She stayed up for at least a minute or so and then she grabbed the bench and sat down. She has been practicing this new little trick all day today. I can't believe how fast her babyhood is flying by. I'm so excited that we only have to buy formula for 2 more months and then she can have milk. Today she split her first Happy Meal with Taylor. He was such a proud big brother when Lylee ate 2 whole chicken nuggets. In case anyone doesn't know, McDonald's (otherwise known as the Happy Meal House) is Taylor's very favorite place to eat, so he was really very excited to share such a treasure with his little sister!

FHE Christmas Light Fun

Tonight we got to go out for a fun FHE with a lot of friends from our ward. Taylor was in heaven with all of these familiar people in such a fun place. Lylee cried through most of the lights, which is very out of character for her. I think maybe she just felt left out while she was stuck in the stroller. She was just fine when we went for donuts after!!
Lylee's only taste of freedom for the night.
Taylor found his favorite CARS, Lightning and Mater. He also found another little friend.
This is a great demonstration of Taylor's mood the whole night. This is one of my favorite houses. We go to this neighborhood every year. It's really fun to have Taylor so excited about something that Chris and I have enjoyed for so long.
Chris loves The Fox and The Hound, so this is one of his favorite houses. Yes, even though we didn't get it on camera, Chris didn't have to work!!! Yay!! We love it when Daddy gets to play with us. We're still soaking up every bit of the Christmas season that we can.

Cozy Day

Today has been very cold and wet. Taylor had preschool this morning, but other than that we have stayed in the house all day. I love these days. Everyone is mellow and snuggly. The kids have even played nice all day!! We had hot cocoa, but Taylor refuses to try it. That's been the only sad part of the day, which I think makes today a great day!! Welcome Winter!

Getting in the Spirit

The kids both love to look at all of the fun ornaments on the tree, as well as the decorations around the bottom. Taylor decided that it was time that he taught Lylee about trains. She listened very intently.

We all have stockings that I made. Everyone's is supposed to reflect a part of their personality. I don't think that I ever took one of Taylor with his before. I made Chris and my stockings the second Christmas that we were married. This is one of my favorite traditions in our family. It's always so fun for everyone to see what's inside on Christmas morning!!

This is our first family gingerbread house. It came from a kit. When the kids get bigger I plan to make them from scratch. That was a favorite thing that I did growing up.

This morning we had breakfast with Santa at church. My Dad has been Santa in our ward since Taylor's first Christmas, so this is always a really fun day and I love trying to get a good picture. How many Kids are lucky enough to say that their Grandpa is one of Santa's personal helpers??? This morning was fun. When Taylor sat on Santa's lap, he didn't want to leave. Lylee screamed. She was still mad later tonight when she saw Grandpa at his house.

It has been a great week. I feel like we got the holiday season off to a great start. I just hope the rest goes so well!!!

Popsicle Buddies

Lately it feels like Chris and I are playing referee every moment that the kids are awake. That is why it is so incredibly wonderful when we have those few moments each day when we find them playing nicely and sharing. Lylee thinks that Taylor is the most amazing person in the world. She loves everything that he does and every toy that he has. His bedroom is her favorite place in the whole house. Even when he makes her cry, she still looks at him like he is the very best big brother.

Yesterday, Taylor wanted a popsicle. We told him that he had to eat it on the front porch. Naturally, Lylee followed. They had a great time!!!

First Tooth

See how Lylee's clenching her little jaw??? Well, hopefully she'll get a break from that since she finally has her first tooth!! I can't believe that she's becoming such a big girl.

Sydney

Today we had to put our little Schnauzer, Sydney to sleep. She has been sick for several months now and there was not much more that we could do for her. We were very sad that we had to make this choice, but feel that it is the best choice for her and us. Our other dog, Doc is already very sad and we can tell that he misses her. We explained everything to Taylor before we went to the vet. We told him that we were taking Sydney to the doctor and he was going to help her fall asleep and that when she woke up, she would be in heaven. He could not understand why we would be sad about this and told me that heaven is a happy place. So we went and took her in and I of course fell apart when they took Syd away. Taylor wanted to know what was wrong. I told him that I was going to miss Sydney. He told Chris to stop the can and go back and get Sydney. That broke my heart. We had both of our dogs long before our children, so we are pretty attached to them and consider them a part of our family. Taylor asked me if Sydney was in heaven, I told him that I think she is and we can see her when we get there. When you have to do such a hard thing, I really have to believe that this is true.

What I'm grateful for...

Taylor has little "family projects" that he brings home from school that we make at home and he takes back to school. That day at school the kids all share their projects and they are displayed in the classroom. They have had one of these each month. Taylor loves to make his projects and it's been fun to see the new thing that he is learning from school. For November's project, the kids were each given a giant construction paper turkey feather. They were supposed to decorate the feather with things that they are thankful for. It was really interesting trying to explain exactly what thankful means to a 3 year old. I tried different approaches for a couple of days and Taylor just looked at me like I was nuts. Finally, I asked Taylor what he was going to tell Heavenly Father thank you for when he said his prayers that night. He thought for about 2 seconds and then answered, "I want to thank Heavenly Father for the church and orange." I told him that we need to think of a couple more things to be thankful for, but that was a great start. His feather turned out great. I'll have to take a picture of him with it when he gets to bring it home.

Trunk-or-Treat 2007

Taylor and Lylee ready for the party!

The kids and Grandpa! Taylor didn't want to leave and go trunk-or-treating. He wanted to help Grandpa pass out the candy.

Lylee and her hero, Daddy!

Me and my favorite cowboy!

Tonight was our ward's annual Halloween party and trunk-or-treat. It was so fun!!! The night started out with a carnival. There were tons of games for the kids and a bounce house. There was also a ton of fun carnival food. We tried just about everything between all of us. Taylor loved the fudgsicles and the corn on the cob. Chris loved the dry ice rootbeer. I liked the cotton candy and the caramel apples. Then there was Miss Lylee, she loved EVERYTHING. She is so funny! She just loves food. Hopefully that means that she won't be a picky eater. They also has a stage set up with carnival side show acts and lots of fun music for us to dance. We all had a great time and everyone is now exhausted, especially Chris. He is on the activities committee so he got to help with all of the behind the scenes stuff.

Both Kids!

This is Daddy's favorite pose!

Both Taylor and Lylee loved the lemonade pictures.

It makes me so happy that my kids actually like each other!!!

Lylee's Six Month Pictures

Actually, she was 7 months by the time that I finally got them in for pictures. When Lylee didn't have Taylor, she just wanted to crawl around. That was until she got the lemons. Wow, she LOVED the lemons. When they sliced one for her she just dove in. I love the top picture. It totally captures her personality.

Taylor's 3 year old pictures

These are a few of my favorite shots of just Taylor. He really doesn't like going to get his picture taken. He did do a lot better in the pictures with Lylee. The middle picture was indicative of his mood the whole time. Funny, yet frustrating...

Hey Dad...and Keith, and Mom

Dad, there is a music player at the bottom of this page. Can you find the song that is on here just for you?????


Ok, the song for my dad was Convoy. We listened to it a lot when I was a very little girl. It reminds me of driving through Wyoming with the big trucks.

Now there is a song for Keith. You sang it one of the first times that we met. Chris was the one who remembered it. Can you guess???

Also, there is a song for my mom. It is a song that reminds me of your Webelo days and those silly boys that you had at our house. Do you know what it could be???

Come on now, anyone is welcome to guess. Except Christopher. That would be cheating!


Who should we pick next?????

Puddle Jumper

Taylor loves the rain and he loves puddles. Last spring, my mom got him a pair of rain boots because she knew this about him. Taylor really liked to look at his new rain boots, but absolutely refused to wear them. Eventually, he started wearing his rainboots around the house and pretty soon he wanted it to rain again so that he could go jump in puddles. Unfortunately, it was the middle of summer. Now that the rain season is here, Taylor is thrilled! We got him a new raincoat and he faithfully checks the weather outside every day before he leaves the house to know if he needs his rain gear. He is very concerned that Lylee doesn't have rainboots though.