Oh Christmas Tree...

The tree was up for a week before Tadj was home to decorate it with us before bedtime. It is most definitely NOT a designer tree. Though I'm thinking after Christmas I'll buy some mini clearance trees so the kids can each have their own to decorate with their OWN ornaments next year. Anyway, Scarlett was THRILLED to be doing this and the look on her face here was the same look in EVERY picture. HA!

Sofia, always the poser.

Grayson became obsessed with the THOMAS ornament Afton gave him last year, but we did get hime to put some more on the tree.

All done... and ready for bed!

Scarlie Mo!

Ok, so she's just THE funniest kid ever, so I take a lot of random pictures of her doing funny stuff. Well, this one's not so much funny as clever. We are trying to rid her of this pacifier habit. She know the rule is that she can only have it in her bed. She's taken to climbing up onto her dresser to grab one down while we're not looking. Very sneaky!
She brought me her hat and mittens to put on for her. She just looked so cute I had to take a picture.
We made toaster waffles for breakfast. Scarlett wasn't interested in eating, so we gave up but never cleared her plate. 1/2 hour later I found her sitting right ON the table eating her unfinished plate.

Hanging with the kiddos...

This time of year is very busy for Tadj at work, and then he does his Ski Patrol shift on the weekend. Essentially, I'm a widow for a few months out of the year. So, the kids and I have been on our own for a bit and making our own fun. Here are my cuties sitting around on the couch.

And some self portraits...

Aren't they cute??!

Thanksgiving bowling

After Thanksgiving dinner this year, we got to load up all or desserts and head to Dad's bowling alley for a couple of games. It was SO fun. Not sure why Scarlie was crying here, but she sure was mad.

Sofia picked up her spare... and it looks like Grandma Hardie was well on her way too.

Grayson was thrilled his ball was going to know something over.

The kids just hanging out.

Afton with Amandine and Scarlett (her little buddy that night).

Sofia definitely had a blast!

Family

Three generations of Hemingway men (or "little" men). I told them to make a silly face. This really was the best Grandpa George would do. Crazy guys!
Grandma Gay and Grandma Hardie posing with all the kids at Scarlett's birthday party. THE BEST GRANDMAS IN THE WORLD!!!!

Party Pictures...

Just a few pictures that I forgot were in the camera from Scarlett's birthday party. We had both sides of Grandparents over, Afton, Uncle Chris, Aunt Rachel, Thierry, and Amandine. We just had cake and presents. It was a great time.
Scarlett trying on her new hat and gloves (still attached to the hat).

Scarlett opening up her new baby.

Cake!

New pictures...

Ok... so for now we're only going to post the new header photo. We also had a family picture taken, but that will be our Christmas card this year. So we'll post it later. We had a really good photographer, but poor Sofia was really sick (we're now thinking it was probably H1N1). You can see in the picture she was trying so hard to be happy and smile, but her eyes were puffy and watery. It just wasn't working well. Maybe next year.

Happy Birthday Scarlett!

Scarlett turned 2 years old today. It just breaks our hearts that she's getting to be such a big girl. She will always be our baby. She is such a joy to be around. It's so hard to remember our older kids at this age because we always had another baby right behind them, but our little red head is SUCH a crack up. She's quite mischevious! She's the only one of our babies who's ever tried stripping clothes off... and boy does she ever. Just this morning Sofia came to find us because Scarlett took off her clothes, then took off her diaper, then colored her tummy with marker. Scarlett was quite pleased with herself. She loves being naked and declares "NAKED SCARLETT" whenever she's getting changed. Her speech is phenomenal. She says something new everyday. As the youngest one, she MAKES SURE her voice is heard and screams more than anyone we have ever known... really ear piercing. She loves to play with babies and ponies, take baths, and color with Sofia. Her favorite breakfast is probably scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, but she really likes frosted mini wheats cereal too. She won't really eat a sandwich, but loves ramen noodles or mac and cheese for lunch. She doesn't really EVER like to eat dinner, but if she's cooperating she likes pasta dishes. We're so blessed to have little Scarlie in our family and are excited to see what this year brings for her!

Trick or Treat 2009

This year for Halloween Grayson was a cowboy, Scarlett a chick or duck (not too sure), and Sofia a fairy princess. They collected candy around the neighborhood and were even too excited to realize how stinkin' cold it was!

Pumpkin carving

All the kids really wanted a cat carved in their pumpkins.

Yep, Scarlett really did get that messy.

Dad tried using power tools, but Sofia and I did ours by hand just as quickly.

Sofia did a really good job poking the holes in the pumpkin for the design pattern.

Scoopin' Scarlie

Messy Fia

Focused Gray

Trunk or Treat

*It's been a while since posting, so read down for more*

This was our 2nd of like 8 Halloween events this year. The ward Trunk or Treat. Perfectly simple: trunk or treat, donuts, hot chocolate, 1 hour long (THANKS SHAUNA!). The kids had a great time. I'm sure more (and better) Halloween costume pictures will come shortly. We've got a lot more parties to attend. Scarlett is the duck the year. This costume has been worn my her brother, sister, and 2 older cousins. It will retire this year. Sofia insisted on wearing her ballet costume. Since I paid $50 for it, I happily helped her don it. Grayson was a cowboy. His boots were found last minute at WalMart. Tadj did his beard... it needs work for the next party.

Sibling love...

I've been noticing more and more the last couple of weeks that our kids are starting to actually like each other sometimes. I've caught Sofia with her arm around Grayson showing hime something on the computer and then later Grayson with his arm around Scarlett trying to teach her something too. This day, I caught them reading their FAVORITE Scooby Doo book together. No, this wasn't staged... they were in fact reading the book upside down... I don't know why.

Blakes Orchards

We made our way back to Blake's this year, but this time with Grayson's preschool class. Lucky for us, some friends in our ward go to the same preschool and so we got to hang out with them too. It was SUPER cold, like 35 degrees, and Scarlett had been awake in the middle of the night so she was very cranky. We never allow the pacifier outside the crib, but something told me to grab it on the way out the door. I was glad I did. She was still miserable, but at least had the paci. We each got to pick a pumpkin and five apples and had cider and donuts with the rest of the class. We also got admission into the fun play area.
Here is our group on the "train" getting ready to head back from picking our pumpkins.
Miserable Scarlett still wanted to climb the straw mountain.