All Penny

Well, Dominic is in Alaska for the week spending Christmas with his Dad and we have this new camera just itching to be used a jillion times a day. So here are a FEW of Penny Poo Poo

This one is actually the old Camera, but it made the cut because its funny. =)

She loves this new toy that Dominic got. It shoots out these orange discs that the cat likes to chase to the floor. She plays this game with Oliver in stitches with laughter .....its fun to watch them.

Lately, I've gotten her to eat wierd things by playing the game:

"Everybody clap your hands" *clap clap clap clap clap clap clap (you know the song, she likes it)

Only, I then put in the thing I want her to do. 'Simon says' has worn off, so this is the new thing. In this picture I had said "Everybody eat your taco" and surprisingly, she took a bite.

(these were taken with a continuous option on the camera, it takes one every second until you let go)

Only, she didn't actually like it. lol But, it didn't stop her from continuing to play the game for another 7 bites or so. Do you like how she stacks her smoothie and water?

Coloring with two hands takes some serious concentration

She loves to peel her own oranges (cuties) lately. She loves it when she gets big pieces like this....and this one was extra special, it was a big piece with the sticker on it.

She's becoming quite the Picasso lately. I need to make her a smock though so that she can get used to painting with clothes on.

Making brownies with Mom is fun, especially when you get to eat some of the batter.

I just like this cheeky puckered shot.

This was after the said video at the bottom. She was so tired tonight because she didn't get a nap. Got to love that curl falling down in her face.

All tuckered out. I love how completely flat she is.

Snuggling with Daddy too is pretty great.


And then this video. Oh, Penny....we love you. She was being a stinker and wasn't consolable so I just put her down and walked away. Two minutes later this is what we found. Penny, we love you. Sorry its so shaky, I couldn't stop laughing.

We got a new camera

We received a new camera for Christmas from Sean's mom and sister and WE LOVE IT! Check out the clearer pictures below

Uhm, Julia? You rock. This kitty purse is amazingly cute and Penny LOVES it. She went to the store with Daddy today and packed it full of goodies and books. Thank you!

Penny has a certain make-up of mine that she can put one because its so old and I never use it. She likes the pink and the dark brown the best....lol. She loves to do the things we do. Lately, her favorite thing to put on is deoderant and she's pretty good at it.

Riding her horsie while trying to take pictures is hard! I love these curls!

Penny and her Great Gma Matteson. Best friends for sure.

My new Piano

I found a piano on freecycle today and Sean was a gem and picked it up right after he got off work with some friends (thank you!).

Isn't it beautiful? When you look closer, its a little "worn" but its still quite nice, I think. There is no piano bench and it is in serious need of a tuning (we're taking care of that soon!). Can't wait to tinker on it. I don't play piano well enough to say I can play the piano, but am excited to start practicing so that someday I can say "yes, I can play the piano." =)

I loved having a piano in my home growing up.

And perhaps Dominic and Penny will take some lessons too...we shall see.

I won this play kitchen for Penny on a blog (second thing I've ever won on a blog contest and I've only entered probably 5 contests on blogs)

And today Sean won a contest at work for being #3 in submits (and got a large sum gift card).


Who said our Christmas was over? It just keeps pouring in!


I'm only now hoping that I win the Meridian contest (I actually want 2nd place instead of first though I'll gladly take the first place prize if I win). I'm not sure how many entries are a lot and I don't think I have THAT MANY in.....but I would love to win nonetheless and I put in all the names I could so I can't do any better. =) So please don't enter and try to beat me out...or if you win, can I have second place at least since thats what I want anyways?

Our Early Christmas

We got a letter from Santa (it was in our fireplace) that said he was coming early so that Dominic would have time to play with his toys before he left for Alaska. Santa is so cool.

Sidenote: we were the first house he visited this year and the first cookies he's tasted since last Christmas. How's that for awesome?

I snuck downstairs to see if I could catch him in the act, but he'd already come! He's so quick.

Christmas morning was full of great presents for the kiddos. We had so much fun opening all the presents and making a big mess with wrapping paper! We immediately put stuff together to start playing.

Penny's shopping cart needed assembly:

Dominic's racecar track needed assembly (remember the one Sam and Nephi got the year Jon was on his mission?) That thing was well loved and Santa must have known that Dominic would love one too.

Santa also knows our Penny very well and how much she loves to paint and draw. She was all smiles to get this out and paint.

Who wouldn't want to paint in their birthday suit?

On the back other side of the easel (which also has a white erase board underneath where she paints) is a chalkboard. Erasing what you draw is lots of fun too!

Messy curls are awesome.

They both loved this race car track. Penny giggled everytime her car went by. Dominic did some cool tricks and is pretty good at going fast without flying off the track.

More pictures to come. Thanks Santa and everyone else who sent presents to open. Each present is getting its own turn throughout the day and getting well loved.

Merry Christmas everyone!

CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT

So lately, we've been home a lot (sick) and since Dominic only gets 20 minutes of video games a day during the week....and there are only so many shows recorded to watch...they had to get creative with their fun.

I was cutting some polar fleece and ended up with some long strands of scraps. This is what he created...It actually strung throughout much of the house, but this was the best part. I let him leave it until I almost fell over it a few times. It was pretty fun and when he was all done he said, "that took a long time but it was so much fun."
CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT

Yesterday, we got some Christmas presents in the mail. Courtney was kind enough to send a somewhat large box and Dominic immediately wanted to poke some holes in it and make it into a robot. He and Penny proceeded to color and create it for about 30 minutes.

This was the finished product...complete with a slot where you could stick a quarter (my boy always thinks about how to make the next buck).

Penny was covered in marker and there were even a few spots on my floor (again, I love my bissell little green machine). It was worth the mess. They had a great time and we got a great robot costume out of it.

CHEAP ENTERTAINMENT

Plus, the glasses double as TV glasses.

One more shot of the great Robot.

Penny squeaks over all things LITTLE

Winter Wonderland

Penny brushing Daddy's hair. You can see the agony in his eyes, he must have tangles. She loves to brush hair.

They have matching PJ's.

This was the snow that put our power out for 24 hours......kinda whimpy, but it stuck for 2+ days and is still lingering though I think the rain today will take care of whats left of it. What you may not understand is that Cameron Park RARELY gets snow. Like maybe every 5 or 6 years it might snow and be gone by afternoon.

Our front door and the snowman we made. It was fun to watch him melt. He looks pretty silly today.

Penny insisted on wearing Dominic's bright orange FAIRBANKS GRIZZLIES hat. It was quite funny to see this girl in pink with a bright orange hat on. A guy in the store said her head was glowing. Needless to say she had VERY interesting hair all day.

See where the snow starts? Just over the hill was no snow.

Getting the gingerbread house started. This was a lot of fun eating/decorating with the kids this year. Penny liked putting stuff on, but would purposely stick her fingers in the icing on the house so she could lick it off. Dominic was really good at using the icing bag this year and outlined a few things (and then tired of it and handed it to me). He chose the patterns of what went where. He's very creative. Pictures of the finished product later...I guess I haven't taken any yet.

Getting cozy by the fire. I love this picture.

Penny's birthday present from Gma and Gpa Hirt arrived just in time for the snow and matched perfectly with her new black Ugg boots. She was only called a boy once.......I put a clip in her hair on this day so she looked more girly. =) I love the jacket though mom and so does Penny! Thank you!

She said she was pretending to be a Santa Hat.

Playing with baby 'Dzesus'. She makes funny noises when she plays with little things, very high pitched squeeky silliness. Its fun to listen. I'll try to catch it on video.

Kitchen giveaway

So this walk-in kitchen is amazing. Childhood clothing is having a contest and giving away a kids kitchen. Man, would my little Penny play for hours in a walk-in kitchen and I could sit on the other side of the counter and be served. Here's to the best!

Dominic's masterpiece

Dominic likes to create things on Microsoft Paint. I was quite surprised with this creation which only took him a few minutes. I love it!


Ho, Ho, Ho!

An all time low?

I took a picture of my cat yesterday. Yes, I've resorted to finding his cute-ness amusing enoug that I took A picture. He's resting his paw on the stair like he's so cool. He really is a good, funny cat.

Lately he's been more playful. I think he just didn't know the world of play yet. We got a laser and now he pounces things all the time. He loves his light, but on his own now will attack a random toy and bat it around the floor. Its pretty funny to watch.

Went to Bethlehem to be taxed

We had to go to Bethlehem again this year to be taxed (canned food). This is such a neat Christmas thing to do. The gym was decorated to look like Bethlehem and there was a market where you had to purchase your food and trinkets with gold (pebbles sprayed gold). Then there was a live nativity presentation that included audience participation in song. It was a great night bringing the 'reason for the season' back to Christ and his birth instead of Santa Clause.

Several people came up to me and told me how nice a boy Dominic is. That made me feel good. When sitting next to us while eating he struck up a conversation with a lady. It went something like this...I couldn't help but giggle as they chatted,

"So, are your children here?" (Dominic)
"Yes, they are around. Do you know my son? He's in 4th grade." (Lady)
"No, we don't get to play with the 4th graders at school. ....oh that kid? Yeah, I know who that is. Cool. I didn't know he was your son."
"Yep, he's my baby." (Lady)
"So, do you have other children?: (Dominic)

(this is where I lost it/couldn't stop giggling because about half way through the sentence he had to stop and finish swallowing and put up his hand for a second to let her know he wasn't done talking)

"Yep, they are older though, they are around. They have red hair." (Lady)
"Oh neat." (Dominic)

I just laughed. He was sparking up conversations like this all over the place. Other people said things like "Dominic came up and said he was getting food for his mom and that he wanted to pay double the gold. He was just so proper and polite and said thank you when he was all done getting food."

"Dominic shared his gold with my daughter, he's so sweet."

He got some juice and delivered it to his babysitter (Cassie) who was working at one of the booths because he thought she might be thirsty and the drink booth was all the way accross the gym.



He was just in a REALLY good mood yesterday and was just trying to make it such a pleasant experience for everyone around him. I love days like that. He's such a good boy.

We mostly just wore towels re-vamped to look like the appropriate attire, but there were some pretty neat costumes that we saw. Penny loved wearing her costume and told everyone she saw, "I'm wearing my costume!" She was being such a ham. I took it off eventually because it was bulky and she wanted to run around. She kept scooting away and saying, "What? I can't hear you!" At one point she said, "I'm going to get some more cookies dad okay." and tromped off.

It was a fun night.