6 - 8th Night

Well I tried to post every day but I got behind. The sixth night (Christmas Day) was pretty chill. I was at home with the kids by myself while Johnny was working a 15 hour shift. Uncle Rocky came by to drop off the kids gifts which have been some of there favorite. A radio flyer scooter for Pennington and a vacuum for Piper.

For the seventh night we didn't even light the candles because we were driving up to the cabin with Grandma to meet Nonni and Poppy.

For the eight night we lit the candles at the cabin. Below is a picture of the whole family.

5th Night

For the fifth night of Hanukkah we lit the candles at home before heading over to Uncle Elliott and Leasley house for Christmas Eve. If you watch closely you can see Pennington trying to sing along. Enjoy!

4th Night

For the fourth night of Hanukkah the kids and I joined Nonni and Poppy at the Synagogue Hanukkah Party. There was lots of traditional food, including sufganiyot (aka donuts). This year they had the guy that sells the mini donuts down at the Saturday Market come and make donuts which was awesome. Pennington loved the suganiyot. Piper enjoyed the fact that she was able to dress up. She is really starting to be interested in her clothing and accessories. Below is a video of the kids dancing at the Hanukkah Party.

3rd Night

For the third night of Hanukkah we had our Havurah come over to our house. Our Havurah is group of other families with children of similar ages. The hope is to get our Havurah together several times a year. This was our first event and it was a hit. We lit the candles, had a gelt (chocolate coin) hunt (this is sort of like an Easter egg hunt except for you are searching for gelt instead of eggs), and colored pictures of dreidels and menorahs. We are hoping that our next Havurah event will be out to another families farm to see the baby farm animals after they are born in the spring.

2nd Night

The second night of Hanukkah was our extended family night. Papa, Grams (G.G.), Aunt Lisa, Uncle Mike, Cousins Bryan and Isaac, Uncle Elliott and Leasley, Uncle Henry, Nonni and Poppy were all there. Hanukkah is the festival of lights and the tradition is to make food that is fried with oil. Daddy both Mexican and Asian egg rolls and Nonni made Latkas (traditional potato pancakes). The kids got lots of really cool gifts from everyone. The biggest hit for Pennington was the football helmet from Uncle Henry. Piper really liked all of her gifts. She spent lots of time analyzing everything she got. Below are pictures of the kids on the second night of Hanukkah.

1st Night

The first night of Hanukkah was also Jesikah's company Holiday party. Before heading to the party we lit the candles at home and opened presents. This year the company party was at the Idaho Botanical Gardens - Winter Garden A Glow and we were encouraged to bring the whole family. They had a heated tent where dinner was served and then we were free to roam around the gardens. The kids loved the trains. Especially since Thomas and Percy were there. Below are some photos from the first night of Hanukkah.

Presents

We decided to go all out this year and get each of the kids 8 presents, one for each night of Hanukkah. Some of the gifts are big, some are small, some are toys, and some are necessities. We have numbered each of the gifts with foam numbers so we can talk about counting from 1 to 8. I was surprised to find out a few days ago that Nonni (my Mom and I still can't agree on how to spell her name) and Poppy got 8 presents for each of the kids as well. Boy are my children very spoiled and loved all at the same time. Stay tune for (hopefully nightly) updates on Hanukkah. Below is a picture of the mountain of gifts for Pennington and Piper.

Fish

I came home a few days ago to find a nice fish tank in Pennington's room. Was I consulted on this purchase for our children. . . . of course not. Pennington and Piper are now pet owners. We originally had 2 fish, got 2 more, they ended up taking a long nap, and now we are back down to the original 2 fish. On Thursday morning we discovered we are down to only one fish and that the one we have is missing a portion of his tail. We are still working on a name. Pennington vetoed the following: Buster, Bob, Gossie and Gertie. Hopefully we will have a name soon. For all I know by the end of the week we will have killed off all the fish. Below is a picture of the fish tank.

Johnny's Birthday Party

For Johnny's 30th we decided to have all of our friends over for dinner, drinks, and fun. Johnny and I used to have dinner parties all the time before we had kids. It is something we really miss doing. So I decided why not have a dinner party for Johnny's 30th. We provided all the food and asked people to bring a beverage to share.

We feel so blessed by how many people turned out for the party. The food was amazing and there was plenty of beverages to go around. We needed up breaking out Pictionary and playing it on the kids easel. It was a battle of the sexes and I am sad to report that some how the men won. I have no idea how except for the fact that the version we played involved rolling the die and the men kept rolling sixes and the women kept rolling twos. Basically the men are better at rolling die then the women.

After Pictionary a bunch of us headed downtown to go dancing. It was blast. It made us feel like we were 21 again. I have to say I think it is very healthy to turn back time every once and a while so you can remind yourself how great it is not to be 21 anymore. If we had to party like that every weekend in our thirties we would be in big trouble. Below are some pictures from the night.

Picture of some of the guys that came.

Picture of the winning drawing. Johnny knew the answer in about 2 seconds. It is Mickey Mouse of course.

Hand, Foot, & Mouth Diasese Part II

Surprise, surprise. As soon as Pennington starts to feel better Piper ends up getting Hand, Foot and Mouth. The only saving grace is that Piper doesn't have it in her mouth but rather on her bottom. Honestly Piper doesn't even know she has it which is 180 degrees difference from what we experienced with Pennington. Hopefully Piper will get better soon. It would be nice to be able to hang out with other kids and not infect them.

16 Months Old Going on 16 Years Old

Earlier this week I told Piper we needed to get ready to go to the store. I turned around to find her with her play wallet and cell phone. I think I have a 16 month old going on 16 years old. Looks like we are going to have our hands full soon.

Daddy Turns 30

Daddy turned 30 on Wednesday. He had the whole week off from work but not from being a Daddy. Daddy got to spend his 30th birthday taking care of sick little Pennington. Happy Birthday Daddy. Welcome to the Thirties!!!

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

On Tuesday morning Pennington told me he wanted to lay down because he felt sick. I asked him why he felt sick and he pointed to his mouth. I felt in his mouth and it felt like he had a canker sore. I thought he just bit the side of his mouth when he was eating a banana for breakfast so I went ahead and took him to school. A few hours later I got a call that Pennington wasn't feeling very well and had been sleeping all morning at school. I was told that another child had hand, foot and mouth so I called Dr. Booth to see if he could see Pennington that afternoon. Dr. Booth confirmed that Pennington did in fact has hand, foot and mouth. Below is some background on hand foot and mouth.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common childhood illness. It causes sores in the mouth and on the hands, feet, and sometimes the buttocks and legs. Mouth sores can be painful and may make it hard for your child to eat. The disease is not serious, and it usually goes away in a week or so.

This sickness sucks. Pennington cried for about two days straight. He only had sores in his mouth which made eating and drinking really hard. It has been three days since he was diagnosed and he is finally starting to recover. Below is a picture of Pennington at his doctors appointment. This pictures is deceiving since he looks totally fine but after this appointment he cried for a long time.

Like Father Like Son

Below is probably the only baby photo I have ever seen of Johnny. Some would say that Pennington and Johnny look a lot a like others would disagree. Regardless we know one thing for sure. They both LOVE football.

Bronco Basketball Game

Johnny and I have been wanting to take the kids to a Bronco Basketball game. So last night we took them to a game. Before the game we went to dinner at the RAM. Both kids did great at dinner. After dinner we headed over to the basketball game. We went to the game with Poppy, Bella and Grandma. For the game they were running some sort of deal where you could exchange your football ticket stub for a basketball ticket. Even though we only had three football tickets the lady was super nice and gave us 7 free tickets to the game. What a deal! Both the kids really enjoyed the game. Piper was walking and climbing up and down the stair constantly which was a bit annoying. Pennington couldn't keep his eyes off the game or Buster Bronco. I asked Pennington if he would like to go see Buster. He said yes. So we walked down to the basketball floor to see Buster. Buster gave Pennington a high five and took a picture with him. Below are some photos of the kids at the basketball game.

Piper 15 Month Checkup

Today Johnny and I took Piper to her 15 Month Checkup. Of course the only concern I have relates to the fact she has NEVER sleeps through the night (meaning more than 6 hours in a row). Dr. Booth told me the same thing he has told me at least 5 times before that if I want her to sleep I need to stop feeding her in the middle of the night. So I will continue to work on that.

Below are her stats:

Height: 30 inches (31st percentile)

Weight: 20 pounds 8 ounces (13th percentile)

Both Johnny and I were totally shocked by her weight. Piper eats pretty much anything you put in front of her and typically eats at least twice as much as Pennington does. To see that Piper is in the 13th percentile is crazy to us. I don't think she has gained any weight in over a month. Dr. Booth didn't seem to be concerned. Piper is just super active. Below is a picture of my little munchkin eating away.