"Snow" much for 2008

These kids love to up and play in the snow. When they see the tops of the local mountains all white with snow I start hearing about going to go see it.Lucky for them the have a fun Grammy who also likes the snowand a mom that likes to take them on adventures.
We take the trusty red sled to slide down the hills (sorry no pictures, but I was having too much fun sledding). In this next picture I think Jeremy is mentally debating the pros and cons of another hike up the sledding hill. It probably went something like this . . .

Pro vs. Con

I can sled down again vs. My sister might make me give her a turn

I won't be stuck here at the bottom all alone vs. My sister will take the sled and slide down - thus leaving me alone at the top

People will stop yelling "come on Jeremy" vs. that's a very big hill to climb in these very pink boots.

Snowball fighting at close range is never a good idea - however - it is easier to hit your target that way.

The safest place to be during the snowball fight for Eliza was in her Grammy's arms.Cassie found a snow reclining couch to sit in.One of the best things about our snow trips is the HOT chocolate. Grammy makes it really hot and so the kids get to put (clean) snow into it to cool it down.

This was a great way to spend the last day of 2008. That night we went to my parents' house and played games to ring in the new year. I was suprised that both Cassie and Eliza stayed up until midnight to watch the (time delayed) ball drop with us.

Another quote to remember from Jeremy

I still need to write about Christmas and what we did, but I need to write down something Jeremy said before I forget.

He came running into my bedroom full of excitement (3 1/2 hours after I went to bed mind you) because Santa had come and eaten the cookies and filled his stocking. Jon and I got up with him to watch him empty his stocking. At some point he saw all the presents under the tree from Santa with his name on them and he literally shrieked with joy and exclaimed, "I didn't know I was THAT GOOD!!!"

I love you Jeremy! You bring so much joy into my life!

Random Car Conversation With Jeremy

While driving home from doing some holiday shopping today . . .

Jeremy: Is Phillip a boy name or a girl name?

Me: It's a boy's name.

Jeremy: How do you know?

Me: Well, I've known a few Phillips and they are all boys . . . just like Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty.

Jeremy: Hmmmm. Did you know Phillip is a compound word? You know, like Santa is going to fill my stocking and then go up the chimney.

I love these little conversations.

Eliza's New Trick

Eliza has learned a new trick.

A trick that makes her mommy worried.

A tick that we knew she would learn sometime, but were hoping it would be later rather than sooner.

When she has mastered this trick our world will change forever.

We are hoping that she doesn't master this before Christmas because there are low ornaments on the tree that would be in serious jeopardy.

Much will be changing at the Kline household very soon.

Speaking of changing . . . I think I smell something.

Disneyland at Christmas

I love Disneyland (more than I'd like to admit) and Disneyland at Christmastime is even more magical. The decorations are always so over the top and I stand in awe over them. I even made my own garlands in my house with big shiny and glittery balls in honor of the happiest place on earth. The castle looked amazing this year.

Jon was able to be home on his day off for the first time in months so we took the kids to Disneyland. We had a lot of fun and even stood in line to go on "It's a Small World" for the first time since they redid the boats. We got to see the fun light show (a couple of times) that they put onto the ride.

This is just a little taste for those of you who don't get to go all the time.


It's obviously better in person when the lights go dark all around you and then the entire building lights up with this fun display.

It was really crowded that day and I can only imagine how crowded it will be when we go on this upcoming Thursday. We didn't watch the parade (we'll be doing that this week) and focused on the rides. I love having year passes to Disneyland and will miss them when they are up in February. We'll get them again at some point during the next year, but we'll be going to Disneyland a lot while the passes are good. Call us if you want to go with us.

Cassie and I wasting time by taking pictures while waiting for Daddy and Jeremy to come over from California Adventure.

Hey look everyone - Jeremy is looking at the camera! What I'm not posting is the 20+ pictures that I took before it. :)

Didn't I marry a good looking guy?

Cookies and Icing . . .YUM!

So I've had people call to find out if I'm OK because they haven't seen anything on the blog lately. We are all find and dandy and I've got tons to catch up on, but I'll start with getting back into the swing of blogging. I've taken the pictures, but I haven't posted anything. I promise to do better about posting from now on.

Jeremy had a cookie party and invited some friends from his primary class. My wonderful mother-in-law made dozens of sugar cookies in Christmas shapes for the kids. We had so much fun! I've learned from previous cookie parties of Cassie's that each child gets their own bowl of frosting. The temptation is too great when you are five and have a plastic knife full of frosting to not shove all that sugary goodness into your mouth. In fact, if you look at Jeremy in the pictures you can see that he's indulging in icing overload.

The kids were all great and so much fun to be with. The boys lost interest in the cookies after about 6 cookies and went outside to play on our fort, but the girls were with me for the long haul. After the cookies we watched a cute Christmas movie (Santa Clause is Coming to Town) until their parents came for them.

I feel like I'm so very lucky to be able to stay at home with my kids and have the luxury of time to do fun activities for them. I want them to remember all the fun Christmas times we had and not dwell on the commercialism of the gifts.

Halloween

The spooks and the goblins were out in force this year for Halloween. Jon and I missed the kids carnival and the ward party due to the funeral so I only got to see the kids dressed up once for Halloween. Cassie was Hermione from the Harry Potter books (which she has read every single one), Jeremy was Spiderman (with big strong muscles to boot) and Eliza was a cute little pink bunny.

Jeremy and Jon carved Jeremy's Jack-o-Lantern at his school earlier in the week at the annual kindergarten "Pas and Pumpkins". Jeremy drew it all out and I was impressed with what he came up with. Cassie and Eliza did their pumpkin on Halloween afternoon (I did help Eliza with hers).

I made a fun Halloween dinner with deviled egg eyes, hot dog mummies, spiders trapped in Jello, witches brew and graveyard salad. I love doing fun dinners for the kids. Jon's mom and his aunt came over for dinner and for a little trick-or-treating and I was glad I had something fun to serve them. We love celebrating holidays at our house I it's something I hope the kids remember about our family when they grow up.