Step stool table...

My kids love to eat their food on a step stool.  They sit on one step and use the other as a table.  Mikayla doesn't do it as often as she used to.  Mark eats most midday meals and snacks at a step stool.  For some reason it doesn't apply to breakfast and dinner as much.  

Little hike by our house...

It must be the month for cinder cones because we found another right by our house.  We'd seen the trailhead but never ventured.  We decided to go get some exercise.

Julie didn't want to go so we left her at home with Mark, who was napping.

Jack, Mikayla, Maxine, Merril and Jamie hiked.

It was short and the top of the cinder cone looked like Mars.  It was barren with lots of red lava pebbles.  Now we know what's up there.

Big kid bed for Mark...

Mark has been sleeping in a pack and play in Jack's closet for a while now.  He pretty much fills the whole space.  If his head is touching one side, his feet touch the other.  For a few months, I've been ready to move him out to the bottom bunk but we were busy with the holidays.  I also needed curtains on the window to block out the light.  Got the curtains up, found a twin mattress on Craigslist and out he moved to his big bed.  

I was worried he wouldn't like it and he would try to climb out when it was nap time.  I'm happy to say that he goes right down for naps and stays in when it's bed time!  Wahoo!

Update:  The first week, I heard him open his door to get out and wander around in the basement.  I yelled down "Mark, go get in bed!"  He ran back to bed and had a nap, no problem.  He's a really great kid.

Decorating the mantle...

I feel like we are born with certain gifts.  Home decor is not my strong suit.  I took Julie with me and we headed out to find some things to go on the basement mantle.

It's taken a few weeks but I'm pleased with these items!

The huge marquee letter C lights up and is my favorite piece by far!  The lantern and the marquee letter are battery operated so I don't need to get any wires to them.  I think it turned out great!

Mikayla's fever...

Mikayla came down with a fever Sunday afternoon and it didn't quit for 4 days.  She threw up a couple of times so I figured it was a flu bug.  After giving her a bath on Wednesday morning, I toweled off her head and she said her ear hurt.  Knowing this, I massaged her neck and put a warm compress on her ear and within hours, her fever cleared up and she was fine!  The next day she wanted a hamburger and I agreed because she'd hardly eaten anything for 4 days and had lost 2 pounds.  We had Wendy's at 10:30 a.m.  That's the perk of being a stay at home Mom and getting to choose how we spend our days.  I'm very lucky!

I just threw this last picture in because I think it's silly.  Mark loves sunglasses.  Merril said he looks like the unibomber from way back when.  Ha ha!

Maxine's sprained foot...

On the first day back to school after the Christmas break, Maxine was stepping off the bus at school and rolled her ankle.  She hopped to first period and second but realized that her foot really hurt and wasn't just going to be able to walk it off.  She went to the office and they pulled off her boot.  Her foot had swollen considerably and so they iced it for a few minutes and decided to call home.  I picked her up and we wrapped and elevated her foot.  

We borrowed some crutches from Grandma Gordon and she hobbled around of them.  She stayed home the first day but used the crutches at school for the rest of the week.  We drove her to and from school so she wouldn't have to use the bus.

This is a week later and the swelling is going down and you can see the bruised ankle.  The bruising has leaked down to her toes, there was nothing wrong with them.

She got a lot of help from friends at school and was able to use the elevator, which is reserved for kids with injuries or a handicap.  

Update: After a week and a half, she was tired of the crutches and started walking with a limp.  After 2 1/2 weeks, she was walking normally again.

Hiking up the Cinder Cone by Veyo...

During the Christmas Break, Merril had to go fix something in Veyo and so we all decided to hike up the cinder cone.

It was kind of a cold day, a little windy and no sun.  We tried to bundle everyone up and most were fine.

Mikayla wanted to hike in a princess dress.  Go figure.

Mark was okay on the way up but was pretty grumpy on the way back because it was past his nap time.  

I ended up carrying a blanket that Juliet didn't want anymore.  I was a little chilly but not too bad.

It was a good little adventure.

By the time we got back to the car, Mark little hands were freezing.  I sat in the back to try and warm him up.  He cried until I warmed his hands with mine and then he totally zonked out and slept all the way home.

New Years 2016!

Usually we have a party for friends at our house but I just wasn't in the mood this year.  We had a ward Halloween party, hosted Thanksgiving, had part of my family over for Christmas day dinner and I was burned out.  So we just had food and counted down with our little family.

Just because we weren't inviting everyone over, didn't mean we could celebrate quietly.  We still bought tons of food, sparkling cider, noise makers and party headbands.

Mikayla got tired around 10:30 p.m. and I think Jack made it until 11:40 or so before he crashed on the couch.  We didn't even give Mark a chance.  We put him to bed at 8:30 p.m.

The older girls and the parents stayed up until midnight!  We toasted the New Year and then everyone went to bed!

It was so pleasant to celebrate with just our family but the kids said it wasn't nearly as fun without all the people over.  *sigh*  So who knows, we might have to throw a big party next year.