Nerf Gun Fight

So maybe this wasn't the best bedtime wind down activity!  Nathan & I are about as addicted to the fight as the kids are!  Last night was Addison first "real" fight.  She has the best gun- it only shoots one nerf at a time but its very fast & far!  And she was VERY serious about it!  Mostly about collecting as many bullets as she could.

Jackson is just plain good.  And sneaky!  I'll be cooking dinner and dodging bullets!

SO proud of herself!

Daddy is very serious also.  He does not cast sympathy votes either!

This week...

I have been meaning to blog about this week.  The kids are getting so funny and cute.

Earlier in the week... Jackson "mommy, I want to marry you." Me "Jackson, mommy is too old.  you are going to want to marry some young hot chick."  Jackson- "mommy, you are a young hot chick."  YAY!!!!  Jackson is my sweet, loving boy.  He has grown up so much these past few months.  We can just see him getting ready for school.  Also- we went to the dentist this week and he has THREE loose teeth!!  He thinks he is SO big now that he has loose teeth! I nearly cried when they told me this... I can't believe I have a boy old enough to lose teeth!

Addison had started becoming "girly" and liking to dress-up.  Auntie got her a box of dress up stuff for Christmas.  She loves to be in charge (because she rarely is) and have Jackson come to her room and play one of her games.  This week she has gotten him to dress up and tonight she got us all to dress up.  Pictures below.

This week she also got her BIG GIRL car seat.  She is in love!

Mommy, in a fairy dress.  She MADE me put it over my head at least.  This picture (taken by Jackson) was before I had all my jewelry on).

Yes, this is my BOY!

Addison posing.  I was playing with her and I was her "prince".  She kept telling me things to do- "prince, can you unzip this.  prince can you get this.  prince get my..."  so cute.

another pose...

Daddy had to have shoes too.

BIG girl seat!

Four Kids & Gingerbread house

Last week Heather & Phil went skiing in Colorado.  So, the boys came to stay the week with us.  We had a BLAST!  It was so fun especially because two days that week were snow days!  So, Ashton didn't have to go to school, the preschoolers didn't go to preschool and I skipped work!  We stayed home, played in the snow, made hot chocolate and had a super fun day.

When Addison saw all the beds in Jackson's room she began to melt down.  She wanted to stay in there too and have a sleepover.  Parker over heard her having concerns and spoke up "I'll stay in Addison's room".  He had a lot of tolerance for her talking and going in & out of the room.  Day two came and he was about to go to the boys room and he said "I'll give her another try".  It was so cute.  Come night three and he wanted in Jackson's room.  Luckily, Ashton stepped up and volunteered to spend the night in her room.

The Fig boys were supposed to spend the weekend with Nana & Papa.  Early in the week - for some reason- Ashton said he wanted to stay with us and not go to Nana's. Addison immediately said "I want to go to Nana's!".  So, when the weekend came the little ones went with Nana and Ashton & Jackson stayed at our house.  It was so much fun to have just two- non siblings.  We got out the Nerf guns (and had to invest in a few more) and had a great Nerf gun war.  And just had a big boy fun weekend!

Here are some pictures of our gingerbread house making.

I could NOT get them to take a good picture!  This might be the best of like 12!

Final Product!

Addison's First Day of Preschool!

I was a little stressed about this day.  Addison has been nervous about large groups of people for awhile.  She has never liked the gym play center and hasn't had many opportunities to be without mom or a close family member.  We were hyping up preschool and she was getting excited but I was still worried about her actually going!

This morning came- I dropped her off and she did GREAT!  No tears (no, not even mommy!).  She did stay at the window and wave goodbye- but Jackson usually does that anyway!  And it was a bonus today and Gram picked her up and they stayed with Gram for the afternoon.  It also helped that Ashton & Parker are staying the week with us- so they were excited for her this morning.  She did SO good!

2009 Picture of the Year!

I am not sure how many pictures I take a year.  I am quite certain that 2009 was the year I took the most!  I love having memories- and pictures just take me back to the time & place.  Like this one of Jackson.  He is his very happiest when he is in water.  And this year was especially fun because he was able to swim across the pool- therefore, letting him be a diving board champ!  Heather captured this picture.  I missed this day of lessons.  It was fun friday.  As you can see our other champion swimmer going off the other diving board!  They had so much fun!  We are thinking about doing swim team next year (yes, my 5 1/2 yr old might be on swim team!).

This precious picture of Addison was taken by Gram at Uncle Robb's house.  She is standing in front of his fish tank.  I must admit that Addi is not very photogenic.  She either does not want to take the picture or gives this awkward smile.  I just love everything about this picture!  This was just a regular day- that I threw her hair up in a pony tail. She was wearing her "Go Dad" shirt and we had just gone to his Xterra Race earier that day. It really captures the sweetness in her personality!

Sledding!

Throughout the Christmas weekend we kept accumulating snow which made everyday a little more special and beautiful! Finally on Sunday morning we had quite a bit of snow and the flakes were still falling. So, we bundled up until Addison was screaming "I'M HOT, I'M HOT!!!" and finally got outside. If you have visited our house you know we have a great hill right out our front door. And just before it gets to the road it slopes uphill to the road. If you can miss the creek in the middle its a perfect sledding hill!

Santa brought them these snow tubes- they are the best sleds yet! Except mommy popped one going over the road the first day!

Adorable pic of Jackson my snow buddy

Addison climbing the hill back up

Uncle Robb getting ready to go down

Addison with a big cheese!

Jackson & Uncle- snow flying up on his face!

Giving Addi a big push! Nothing is too fast for that girl!

My camera fogged up- still a neat picture of me and the kids right before we started rolling!

One of the best parts about the cold!

Addison's last trip down turned into a tumble. She was enjoying Gram- and Gram was enjoying her!

Merry Christmas 2009!

This year was especially fun and I think I will say that every year till I have teenagers! Or maybe until the kids stop believing in Santa. There is something so magical about Santa! And it is so fun listening to them talk about him and getting so excited about him. He brings the best gifts....which is a bit difficult for me to reliquish rights on.... but it is so fun watching and being a part of.

We started out the day with our family. The kids woke up at 730am and began talking about Santa and they thought they "saw some lights..." but they didn't hear any bells. Then we went over to have brunch and gift opening at Gram & Grandpa's (Nathan's parents). Then we ended the day at the Figueiredo's for Christmas dinner. I made prime rib and Heather & mom made some yummy sides to go along with it. I also made my first chocolate pie- Chocolate Hazelnut! YUMMO!

Addison's Santa gift- Hot Wheel!

Santa brought Jackson a hockey table! How did he fit it in the bag?!

Addison with all her stocking stuffers- and her new snow tube.

Jackson with his loot.

Santa also dropped by Gram's house- and left more stocking stuff.

The kids & grandpa have this thing going on with this rubber snake- they hide it from each other to find in crazy places. So, for christmas the kids wrapped it up in the box to be a huge surprise.... but right before he opened it up Addison was giggling and told him it was the snake!

Addison had to help unwrap Uncles presents.

Joan has been wanting a "Nook" (Barnes & Noble's Kindle) for a long time. She has been talking about it and Joan never gets this excited about a "thing". So, Robb & us went in together and got her one for Christmas.

the kids with their zhu zhu pets. they LOVE them!