Rain Walk with Daddy

Kylee loves to wear her rain coat and boots any chance she gets. Steve took her out one rainy afternoon just because. All of these pictures were taken within 50 ft of our house, but they had lots of fun.

Cramermas 2012

On December 15th we celebrated our traditional Cramermas holiday (the day we open our presents from our own little family so that we don't have to haul them across the country and back again.)

We started the day by going to our Ward Christmas breakfast. Then we came home and opened presents. The kids were so excited to GIVE the presents they had for each other. They really didn't talk much about the gifts they would get.

 This picture is so blurry but it shows all of us with our gifts....Cody gave his sisters a Strawberry Shortcake Memory game, Cody got a Lego set with a jeep, trailer, and 2 motorcycles, Steve got a Star Wars Lego set, Kylee got a new apron since she loves to help in the kitchen, and I got an apron from Sara and a sleeping pad for my sleeping bag.

Trying out my new sleeping pad. I'd say it passed the test since I fell asleep for a bit. It was so comfy. 

Kylee taking pictures... 

Cody playing with both Lego sets. Did you know that motorcycle guys like to ride their bikes while holding light sabers? And Luke Skywalker likes to ride motorcycles when he's not training to be a Jedi?

And here is Kylee wearing her cute little apron. Steve and I picked out the fabric and I found an awesome free pattern online. I liked this pattern because there are no ties so she can put the apron on by herself. The neck band has elastic in it and the waist strap wraps around and attaches with velcro to the other side. 

After enjoying our presents for a bit, we went to the temple to see the Christmas lights.

We finished off the night with Pizza Bombs. It was a great day with the family!

Playing Airplane

While I was at Parent Teacher Conference, Steve was playing airplane with the kids at home.

Please enjoy these pictures of Kylee, Cody, Steve's feet, and our ceiling (nice paint job, Grandpa!)

Daylight Savings TIme and Other Stories

Tiffany: "We need to change our clocks and watches for Daylight Savings."

Cody: (wearing his Lego watch) "I like this watch though. Can we get another one like this one?"

Tiffany: "We can just change the time on that one."

Cody: (smiling and looking relieved) "Ohhhh! I thought I had to get a new watch!"

*******

Cody comes into the girl's bedroom while I am getting Livy into her pajamas. I look up to see him standing there with his shirt off flexing his biceps with all his 45-pound-might. Then he says (in a serious tone), "Mom, according to my muscles I don't look strong, but I actually am."

*******

At Cody's school they have a color scale to help the kids stay on good behavior. At the beginning of each day all the children start on Blue and the goal is to stay there or, if they do something particularly extraordinary, they can move up to Pink or Purple. But, if the teacher catches you talking or acting out of line you move down to Green, then Yellow, and then Red (Red being the worst and involves notifying parents).

Well, Cody, who normally has no problems staying on Blue, has had a few days recently where he has changed to Green (for talking to friends when he's supposed to be quiet, etc). So Steve and I have been having little talks with Cody when he comes home from school about things he can do to avoid this and also encouraging him to keep trying even when he makes mistakes. He gets so sad when his color changes and he wants to be good. Every night he prays that he can do better and every morning I remind him to be a good boy and do his best as he hops on the school bus. 

On Tuesday this week I was sure that he had done better. He seemed happy when he got home, but when I asked about his color for the day he told me he got put on Green again. When I asked what happened he started acting really uncomfortable. He said he didn't want to tell us and no matter what I said he didn't spill the beans, so I dropped it. The only thing he said was that it happened in art class. All the time that he worked on his homework and we were going about our day I was wondering what on Earth he could have done. Automatically my thoughts assumed the worst, but I had to remind myself that his color had only changed to Green so it couldn't have been too horrifying. But, Cody was acting so strange that it was making me very curious.

An hour or two later Steve and Cody were outside and somehow Steve found out what had happened. Steve came inside for a minute to tell me that Cody had told him what he had done. Steve said he couldn't help but laugh, but that I might not like it. I was still puzzled, but relieved that it didn't seem serious and I was glad I hadn't made a big fuss about it.

At dinner Steve told Cody that he needed to tell me. Cody looked down at the table and mumbled, "I glued myself to a chair."

At first I thought I hadn't heard that right. But when I realized what he said I asked, "You glued yourself to a chair?"

Yes, I had heard right. Apparently, he was trying to be good and stay in his seat so he decided to help himself out. We talked about some better alternatives. And I have to say I've never been so happy to find out that my son glued himself to a chair. :) Of course, I didn't tell him that.

Behind the Scenes: Christmas Tree 2012

What do you get when you leave Steve alone with a camera, a tripod, and a camera remote?

All the flexed calf muscle pictures you could ever want!!

That must be why cameras have a two-second delay option. (So you can click the remote in your pocket, flex, and act like you're hard at work all before the picture is taken).

Christmas Tree 2012

We kicked off the Christmas season by strapping a tree to the top of our car the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And although it was an activity we did as a family, one of our little family members decided not to participate in the family picture taking.

Kylee was right outside the view of the camera here. I think she had had enough and was ready to go inside. It was a really cold and windy day.

Once she got inside, Kylee had a lot more fun. Good thing she likes to vacuum...there's always pine needles to clean up around here.

There is one perk to cold weather: hot chocolate!!

Ready to decorate!

We haven't had a real Christmas tree (or any tree at all) since we moved from Utah four years ago so I was super excited to get this beautiful thing decorated.

Thanksgiving weekend was one of the most relaxing weekends we've had in a long time. There was plenty of time to play and enjoy eachother. In my opinion, all weekends should be that long.

Thanksgiving 2012

For the first time since Steve and I have been married we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We spent the day cooking and playing games with friends, the Hansen's and the Hale's. And by the looks of these pictures you'd think I care more about the food than the company. I guess I was too busy having fun to take very many pictures of the house full of people.

Steve did an awesome job on the brined turkey. 

Cody didn't think he wanted any turkey, but then he tried it and changed his mind. 

 Stuffing, green salad, deviled eggs, fruit salad, roasted yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole with fresh green beans, homemade rolls, and veggies...

and of course the turkey.

We also had Sour Cream Apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cream pie.

The day turned out to be wonderful and we have so much to be grateful for!