Christmas at the Clinger's

For the Christmas holiday we had my Auntie Dale and Grandma come from Maryland. Also my Aunt Sharlene and Uncle John from Upland. Of-course my parents were here too. It was a crowded house, but we had a blast! Christmas day we spent the first half of the day with my family at our house and then the second half at Dan's parents. Here are some shots of the kids Christmas morning with their gift from Santa.Our traditional picture on the staircase

Spencer got a "real" skateboard!

Chelsea got a toy kitchen with lots of accessories

Melanie got lots and lots of dress-ups!

Why?

I know, she is just expressing herself and learning through play and blah, blah, blah! But, why? Why do they have to do it right when you have company coming or when you are trying to clean up for dinner. Why the messes! My sweet, loving daughter decided she wanted to make a "present for someone" using every messy thing she could find in the house. Well, she left a present for me too. This picture doesn't even show the half of it. It took a very long time and a lot of energy to clean this one up. I love you Mel, just do the real messy stuff at school! Yah, paint got on our really nice telephone too, but we won't tell daddy about that one.

Our Christmas Carolers

I just love the imagination of a child. We (our holiday company) were all sitting around chatting when the two girls come in singing. They said they were carolers . I love the hat Melanie made. I don't know where she has seen a "caroler" before, but it was a good imitation. They sang "Jingle Bells Batman Smells" and then left. It was pretty cute!

Future Architects?

Last week Melanie and I were at Trader Joes. Melanie spotted this ginger bread house kit. Well, because the kids don't like ginger bread AND I was just running out of time to do any more Christmas crafts, I avoided the box. Of-course, after excuses and a little whinning from Melanie, the kit was purchased. AND there is sat on top of the fridge for week, untouched just like I thought would happen. Well, tonight while I was at my Relief Society Christmas party, Dan was home playing with the kids. When I got home, this is what I saw on our kitchen table. I guess it just took an Architect to get it done. It was so cute! They did a great job.

Way to GO Spencer!

Cypress Elementary has a monthly award ceremony. At each ceremony two children from each class get awards. A letter is sent home before hand, inviting the parents of the child to the ceremony and told to not tell their child. It is cute to see the children walk into the auditorium and quickly scan the audience for their parents. That then tells them whether or not they are getting an award that day. Spencer got an award for "always giving a great effort". With Spencer's current diagnoses this was huge. He was so proud! What a great student!

You just have BAD hair!

Melanie inherited her father's bedhead. Every morning I get to wrestle this mop! We have every kind of hair detangler spray and a least three bottles floating around the house. I am sorry Mel, maybe you will out grow it!

We know where the REAL Santa sits!

The kids have had their picture taken with THIS exact Santa every year. We have lots of pictures to prove that this is the REAL Santa. When we see other Santas at the other malls and around town, they say, "that is one of Santa's helpers!" The real Santa sits at the Janss Mall in Thousand Oaks. He even takes the time to talk to each child about their lists in detail. Thanks Santa for being stationed close to our home!

OUR family tree!

Decorating the Kids Tree

This year we decided to have a kids tree and a family tree. So, in the playroom we put up a four foot tree for the kids to decorate. They decorated it with all the fun decorations (lots handmade) we have received from people and made over the years. This was an idea we got from my sister-in-law. This way they leave the pretty (family) tree alone. I think they decorated and undecorated this tree a dozen times. They loved it!

Elf Yourself

Ben and Ruth found this very fun website. It was so fun to play with. You have to check it out! Click here! What happen to my family? Happy holidays!!!

Ready for the Thanksgiving Feast!

Melanie was so excited for today. At Pre-K she was going to have a Thanksgiving feast. Her teachers' are amazing. They literally have a feast with turkey, potatoes, green beans, jello, corn and bread. They made these cute outfits, which they wore for the feast. The boys had the pilgrim boy "big belt buckle" hats and the girls had these cute bonnets. They were still "feasting" when we went to pick her up. All the classroom tables were moved together to make one huge table. They were all seated with their food eating. So cute! They made butter and played pilgrim games. How cool it that?!!!

Happy Halloween!

Here is a quick picture of the kids in their costumes. Spencer is Ben 10, Melanie is Supergirl and Chelsea is Snow White.

My Birthday Present!

I have been wanting it for so long. I started digital scrapbooking and having it would make things so much easier. I now can scrapbook and surf the web while I sit at the park and watch my kids play outside. What is it? A laptop! Hah! I am so excited! Happy birthday to me!

Pumpkin Patch

Melanie and Chelsea on the Hayride

Chelsea with her pumpkin

Melanie and her pumpkin

The Bummkin

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with Melanie's school. We were given a 10 minute lesson on pumpkins. We learned all the names of all the different pumpkins. Melanie learned that there is a pumpkin called the Cinderella pumpkin (redish/pinkish) and that is her favorite. We also learned that the best pumpkins to make pumpkin pie with are the sugar baby pumpkins. Never knew that! They don't seem big enough. The large ones we buys and carve into jack-O-lanterns are just too watery and not sweet enough.

We then went for a hayride tour around the farm. We were able to see all the vegies and fruits they grow and sell at the farm. Melanie loved this because she just loves gardening. We were dropped off in a field where the kids were able to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Melanie didn't have to search long. She quickly found her bummkin as we call it. It is the funniest thing ever. Her pumpkin is two pumpkins that formed together. They look like a bum. She and her pumpkin got a lot of attention at the farm. All the kids were laughing and calling it dirty words (we won't go there). I guess you will have to just see it. It is so funny! What a fun day.

I am back!

Where was I? No real excuse to be gone from my blog this long. I had my appendix out over a month ago and just haven't gotten back into the swing of things yet. So, I am so sorry to those who have been hounding me about updating my blog! I will do better! I am going to "cheat" and update using the date each event or blog occurred.

Babysitting CO-OP is the best!

OK, so some friends and I just started a babysitting co-op. It is the best thing ever. I highly recommend it for every mom out there. Come on... you know how nice it would be to go to your OB appointments without your three children. And wouldn't it be nice to run 6 errands in the time it takes you to run one with your three children at tow. There are things we as moms need to do and it would be so much easier if we could do them alone. Anyways, there are 6 of us and we each take 3 hours a day to watch kids. So, I can drop Melanie and Chelsea off to one of my friends houses for three hours everyday. They get a play date with their friends and I get to take care of STUFF. I LOVE IT!

Chelsea's Birthday Party

We celebrated Chelsea's birthday with a family party. Can't believe she is 2! We gave her her own cake to eat. She wasn't sure what to do at first. With Uncle John's help, she learned fast! It was fun to watch Grandma Sue squirm at the complete mess Chelsea made of herself!

A mouse in the house!

Have you ever had this happen? You think you see something, but then maybe it is your eyes playing tricks on you? Well, a few Saturdays ago, I came into the family room and out of the corner of my eye I saw a mouse run into our book self. When I told Dan to come check, I thought, maybe it was just my imagination! Yes, I know...I had a pet rat and a hamster as a child. I also love snakes. MICE are different! They are fast and they are small and they are in places I don't want them (my house). I was TERRIFIED! We cleared the books and peaked...cleaned...peaked, but nothing! A couple days later we start hearing mice scratching in the book shelf. For several nights Dan and I would hear this and I am thinking, "where could it be?" With a curious toddler and a very adventurous 4 year old, we can't exactly put mice traps or poison around the house. My mother suggested putting a sticky trap under the bed in the room behind the bookshelf. I did just that and the very next day, there was a little baby mouse stuck to it. I have to tell you. I was terrified to even check the trap. I made my adventurous 4 year old Melanie come with me and look first. She said, "yes mommy there is a little baby mouse and I want to keep him." OK, so these traps don't kill the mice right? Melanie wanted it off. I was scared she would go into the room when I wasn't paying attention and try to get it off the trap. Well, I wasn't going to touch it! After calling around to all the pest control companies and finding out it was going to cost $50 to just take a "caught mouse" to the trash can, I called my brother John. He was getting home from a business trip and stopped by on his way home. He had to bring his 3 year old son with him who thought it was the coolest thing ever! Melanie still asks where the mouse is. We just say it is gone. Don't know how to explain that we simply threw it in the trash can. I put another trap out just in case our friend had a family....nothing yet. I have Melanie check it everyday!

There Are Animals In My House!

Grandma Merrill stayed a week so I could recover from my appendectomy. The kids love when their Grandmas and grandpas come to play with them. It was great to have Grandma here to get down and play (something I couldn't do) with Chelsea. This is Cousin Christian, Chelsea and Grandma Merrill acting like complete animals. NOTE: We found these very fun animal masks at Target in the $ section. We decided we needed them for our "dress-up box".

Melanie's First Day of School

This is Melanie on her first day of Pre-K. She is so excited to be a big girl. She has the same teachers as last year, Mrs. Pat and Mrs. Lori. She will learn so much more this year. She will even have real homework. She will basically be learning in Preschool what I learned in Kindergarten. They want them reading in kindergarten so we have to learn all we can now. Crazy! She is ready though. She is are smart, determined girl! Go Mel!