Lots of different Santas!

On Friday Marty was invited to join an elite group of internationally successful plumbers, he even got to have a steak lunch. I decided that since I wasn't privileged enough to be invited that I was going to treat the boys to super elite day of Christmas fun. We went to the grocery store for some supplies, then we headed for the Mall. Last week I took the boys to Big Lots and had them each pick a toy to give to Toys for Totes, and we were going to drop it off and talk to the police officers, which they were very excited about. Tyson was a little awe struck by the officers.
The plan was to say hi to Santa and play at the play place. I don't push Dylan into doing stuff much anymore, so they played for a while and when he was ready we went over to see Santa. He really wanted to go first but pushed Tyson head of him instead. I didn't have my camera, but Tyson's face was classic. He just starred with no expression the whole time, it was hilarious. Dylan was all smiles and so excited once he realized it was ok. We had such a great time, they are so fun to hangout with, I just love, love them.
On the way home Dylan and I had the following conversation.
Dylan-Mom there are lots of different Santas.
Me-Yep you're right there are lots of different Santas.
Dylan- Why?
Me- Well , because there are so many kids in the world, there have to be alot of Santas to be able to get to all of their houses.
Dylan-Oh, there is the North Pole Santa, the Santa from the church, and Santa by the big tree.(at the Mall)
These were all of the Santas that he has seen this year. I was impressed that he was so observant and noticed that they were not the same. So now we have 3 Santas coming to our house this year. We have to make cookies for all of them. Cute stuff.

Polar Express

Thursday Marty's parents came up for a visit and to join us on the Polar Express.

Before our adventure to the North Pole, the boys got a surprise gift dropped off on the door step from Santa, new pjs. Dylan kept saying "Oh thank you Santa, Oh thank you Santa for the new jammies." That was only the beginning. We decided not to tell them what we were doing until right before we got to the train station. So worth it, they were so excited. If you know Dylan and Tyson, trains are their world, and to be able to ride on one and go to the North Pole, wow that was so exciting for them. They have both had the spirit of Christmas so much this year, it has been so cute to watch them. I have enjoyed watching the wonder and magic of the season through them.

At the depot waiting to get on the train.

Dylan looked out of his window almost the whole time. He was so cute, there was music playing, and he just danced and danced and watched himself in the reflections of the glass.
Arriving at the North Pole, Dylan was a little disappointed that we couldn't get off the train and take a tour of the North Pole.

Finally the moment they were waiting for, Santa. I kind of thought they were going to freak out, but no way. They have talked about Santa for so long and finally he was real to them, they loved him.

Dylan got to give him a high 5. He was a little sad that he didn't get to spend more time with Santa, he said after Santa passed, "But I want Santa to sit next to me." He didn't want to see him leave.

What a fun thing to do, it was so worth it to see that magic in their eyes. I hope that they understand that Christmas is really about our Savior and His birth. We have talked about that alot and they love Baby Jesus and the story of the Nativity. I hope they can see Santa as someone who loves our Savior and loves all of God's children. And as someone who is so giving, so kind and so happy. We hope that you all have a magical season.

Pies and Perkins Family Christmas Party

I didn't realize how much I like to make pies until this year. I made a couple of pies of the Daddy Daughter Date for the Activity Day girls. They turned out pretty good so I decided to make a couple more for Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving at home by ourselves this year. It was a nice quite day. Dylan had pinkeye and a cold, so he was a little miserable. It was nice to just spend a few days as a family. Dylan and Tyson are great helpers in the kitchen, these boys are going to be great cooks when they get older.

We even made some little individual pies, the boys loved those.
My family has a tradition that we do at our family Christmas Partys every year. We make homemade Christmas tree ornaments and an exchange game with them, everyone gets one even the babies. It has been fun in the past years and it is even more fun now because the boys get to help make their ornaments. We made these little mice for them, so cute and very simple.

This was the first year in quite a while that everyone was at the party. There were 35 of us jammed into my parents house. These are all of the grandkids. Tyson wasn't feeling good and didn't want to be in the pictures so Grandma and Dylan were holding him down. My dad is holding the 3 babies that were born this year.

And this is my whole family. I am very grateful for all of them. I wish we could spend more time together, I love them all and hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Last Weekend

Last Friday we went to Tempe to spend a few days with Marty's family. We had a busy weekend planned, but we had alot of fun.

We dropped the boys off Friday morning with Grandma. Marty and I got to have a whole day date. We had a great day together, he is really fun to hang out with. To top off our date, he took me to Rubios for dinner. I love Rubios.

Saturday morning we went to Freeman Park for family pictures. It is a really popular place for pictures, I think there were 10 other families there taking pictures also.

There were some duck ponds, the boys loved watching to ducks and throwing dirt in the water.

I thought this was a cute one that I took of the boys.

There was a little kind of carnival inside to the park that had a train ride. We had a few minutes to wait before we could get into the park and this boy could hardly contain himself. He wanted to ride that train so bad. I snapped this pic of him waithing by the gate. Man he is one handsome boy. Tyson was very also very excited.

On the train.

There was a little ferris wheel. Dylan laughed the whole time and Tyson was very nervous, we finally got a little smile. Dylan rode three times.

After a morning of fun we went back to Grandmas had some lunch, all of us girls got ready to go to Phantom of the Opera, Marty took Dylan to a walk in clinic because he got pink eye, and Tyson took a nap.

Phantom was awesome, so glad I was able to go. The music, costumes, performance was just amazing. I loved it.

After Phantom Marty and I went to a friends wedding reception in Pheonix.

Sick Days!

This is what happens at our house on sick days. We play marching band, Tyson plays in his underwear and Dylan and I in our pjs. We put a lot of miles on the trains and cars, did some crafts, colored and watched way to many movies. We are all feeling so much better though.

This was really fun. I have a stack of magazines and I had the boys go through and find pictures of things they are thankful for, we cut them our and glued them to foam sheets. It was fun to have them repeat back to their dad and grandparents the things they picked. I put a loop on them and they are hanging in the kitchen so they can see it everyday.
And this is what happens when I have a busy day of baking. I gave each of them a little flour in a bowl to drive there trucks through. The flour didn't stay in the bowls very long. Big mess but they were happy and let me finish my pies.

Halloween 09 and a few other things.

Dylan and Tyson were so excited for Halloween, they even got to wear their costumes quite a few times which was nice. Dylan really wanted to be a mountain lion, but I couldn't find a mountain lion costume. He decided on being a brave lion. Isn't he so cute?

And here is my Tyson chicken. He actually had two costumes this year. The first was a dragon, which I bought a couple of months ago, then I saw these chickens at Old Navy. He had to be a chicken, for those of you who don't know, Marty calls him Tyson chicken. He did get to wear both costumes though.
Excited to go to the church for Trunk-or-Treating.

I tried a new breakfast the other day, pumpkin pancakes. I've wanted to make them for a long time, but I get a little nervous making new things around here, most of the time nobody likes it but me. Well this time was it was a hit, Marty liked them, and Dylan said, "Mom, I love pumpkin pancakes." Phew !

My mother-in-law showed me these cute stuffed pumpkins when I was down visiting last month. I decided to have the Achievment Day girls make them for our last activity. It was a huge success, they loved them. They all turned out so cute, and the girls even named their pumpkins. So I had six leftover and my goal for this month is to finish my unfinished projects and I really wanted to get these done. So here is one set, I think they are so cute.

I am so proud of this boy!

Man do I love this kid. He could move mountains if he wanted to. For those of you who know Dylan very well, know that he has anxiety about new situations, and old situations for that matter. Like crying everytime we dropped him off in nursery for 18 months. He has always just been an anxious kid. We decided to put him in preschool a few months ago hoping that it would help him get ready for kindergarten. Well needless to say it was not good. He hated it. The teachers said he just wasn't ready, maybe try again next year. I was so discouraged, we just haven't known what to do to help him try to get over this. So I thought great another year of this and he will probably do the same thing next year. I am so thankful for answers to prays and teachers that thought enough about Dylan and realized that there was a problem. I got a call we got the ball rolling, we are working with some wonderful people who have set up a great plan to help Dylan work his anxieties. So last week was his first week back to preschool, I'm not gonna lie, it was rough. I was ready to throw in the towel a few times, but his teachers kept encouraging me as well, that everything was going to be ok. Well starting yesterday at the primary program, I was finally at peace and knew that he was going to be just fine and we are going to get through this with no problem.

The primary kids have been practicing their program for a couple of weeks, Dylan had his part memorized but wouldn't say it into the microphone. When it was time for the kids to go to there seats, Dylan asked me to walk him to his seat, and I did. The Sunbeams were first to say their parts, I was expecting some crying and his teacher pulling him to the microphone, but nope, he marched himself up to the podium said his part clear as day. I was so happy. Marty and I were standing in the very back, if the congregation would have turned around they would have seen two proud parents doing the happy dance. I was so proud of him, it just brought tears to my eyes. Then today on the way to preschool, he asked if I could walk him to his class. I was more than happy to do that. He walked into class, being so brave, he gave me a hug and a kiss and said see ya later mom. I cried all the way home. This is a huge milestone, I am so proud of him.