A Glimpse Into Our Chaos

We hope your families enjoyed the holiday as much as we did. Thanks to everyone for all your spoiling.

gas: $20

lunch: $15

doll curlers to make up for disappointment: $15

making a 5 hour round trip drive to the American Girl Store in Atlanta to exchange a doll that came with an unattached leg since a replacement doll wouldn't arrive for almost a week:
PRICELESS

If the above does not make sense, I will explain the story. Santa brought Kennedy an American Girl doll that she has been dreaming about for the last 6 months. Since this is a little pricey, this was it, this was her Christmas. So you can only imagine her devastation when we picked up her doll to discover one of the legs was not attached!! I am so proud of her, she was really brave all day, but about 5:30 yesterday, the disappointment and devastation really set in. We told her we would get it worked out today. I called the customer service department thinking they could maybe overnight a new doll, but we were told the soonest we could get a replacement would be Tues. or Wed. The doctor instinct in Chris came out and he offered to perform a little surgery to hold the doll together until Tues, but Kennedy wanted her doll to be perfect, not with a temporary belly button. Kennedy was devastated at the thought of not getting her new doll until next week, so after more time with customer service and a hope and a prayer that it would be in stock, we made a super fast trip to the American Girl store in Atlanta to exchange her doll so she could enjoy it over Christmas vacation. (Thanks to Chris, Spencer, and Addie for tagging along without complaining!!!) Minus the long lines, it was an easy process and Kennedy had some Christmas gift money that she was able to use for a few extra things. And I being the guilt ridden mother for having such a devastated daughter on Christmas of course had to buy the special hair curlers to make up for the disappointment of yesterday. Needless to say, I think it was worth the drive and every second in the store. Her eyes lit up the second we walked in, the experience itself was a fun way to spend our day, and she has had a smile on her face since. She has lovingly cradled her doll, changed the clothes, held her without the leg falling off, and carefully secured her items she purchased today. I think we can successfully say her hope in Christmas has been restored.

Yesterday in an effort to entertain my children we drove around town looking for a Christmas item for each letter of the alphabet, and then took a picture of the kids with it. The pictures are not of the highest quality but the activity entertained my kids for seriously 4 hours!! I printed off the pictures and we are going to make Christmas ABC books another day this week. Anyways, these are just a few of our finds.
E is for elves

I is for ice

W is for wreath

U is for Us (some of the letters required a little more creativity!)

This past week was one of those crazy pre-Christmas weeks where we had tons and tons of stuff going on. And of course on Tuesday, Addie got sick. Spencer got it on Thursday. I got it on Friday. Kennedy got it Saturday morning. Chris got it Saturday night. Lucky for us it only lasts about 12-15 hours, but it sure put a kink in my week before Christmas. I am just glad that I did my shopping and mailed what needed to be mailed early. And I am glad that nobody had to miss their Christmas parties at school--at least it held out until then. So here's a look at our week gone by, and here's to a sick free week ahead!
I was at the store and Addie picked up the outfit she is wearing and said "so cute"! I am a sucker for the vocabulary of a 20 month old and guess who bought the "so cute" outfit. I could be in trouble when that girl is older with my lack of restraint.

Kennedy participated in her first piano recital last Sunday. She played 2 songs and did a great job.
Kennedy and her piano teacher Cathy

Santa came to our ward Christmas party. Spencer informed him that he would like a guitar?? Seriously where the heck out of nowhere did that come from?? On the way home I asked him about it because that was the 1st time I had ever heard him mention that, and he informed me that he was just kidding. I breathed a silent breath of relief because that request would definitely have been met with disappointment! Kennedy was great and I think we can conclude that her Santa fears are now nonexistent. Addie on the other hand HATED Santa. She was shaking the second he walked in the gym, and I being the loving, nurturing mother that I am, forced Chris to go up with her so that we could have a "special" memory. A few days later I took my kids to a Christmas activity at the YMCA and the second Santa walked in, Addie flipped out and glued her head to my chest the entire time we were there--I think it's safe to say she is not his biggest fan.


Kennedy had fun at her class Christmas party. We made reindeer cookies to take that turned out super cute if I do say so myself. They played some fun games and it's always fun for me to see her interact with her friends!

Spencer's class Christmas party. He was up all night the night before because he was so excited they were getting happy meals--seriously ALL NIGHT over some french fries and a Bionicle guy--I am glad it was worth it for him! They also did a book exchange which he LOVED!!

Spencer's preschool had a cute little Christmas program where they sang some songs and loaded the kids up on treats!! Spencer specifically requested we spike his hair. I think it looks so cute and it is very rare that any of my children actually want me to do something to their hair.

I also became fully aware that I must be a less than proper mom because Spencer was not in full holiday attire--maybe next year!! This video clip is pretty funny. We learned all sorts of new holiday songs.

9 years and counting and I am grateful for each and every one of them! Happy Anniversary Chris, I love you!

Spencer had his 1st basketball game on Saturday. He has been so excited for the season to start, and on Saturday morning he came into our room and said, "Today's going to be the best day--it's the big game." Anyways, it did not disappoint, and he loved it. All the teams are named after NBA teams and he is on the Nuggets. He is super excited to have his friend Brock from church on his team too. He did great and it was so fun to watch him!



After the game we took the kids to Lowe's for their kid workshop to build a gingerbread house. I love these, mostly because they are free. This was Addie's 1st time participating so I was glad I had Chris there.

I was emptying my memory card and found various pictures of Addie throughout the week. She was standing on our kitchen table in quite a few, another gentle reminder that she needs better parental supervision (I think we have already established this on numerous previous occasions). Anyways, I thought I would let you all get a little glimpse of a week with Addie.
The kids and I made cookies and every time I turned my back to put a new pan in the oven, Addie climbed on the table to eat the dough. I think she probably consumed a good 1000 calories or so with the amount of dough/cookies she put into her system. (ps mom, that cookie gun you got me last year is awesome--it's SOOOOO much better than my old one--I LOVE IT!!)

Chris called me into the living room to check out Addie's "status". She was just sitting in his lap perusing the Sunday paper--namely the ads. Seriously, can materialism start this early? I am guessing she was making a mental list for Santa since she doesn't quite have the vocabulary to actually say what she might like. Thank goodness she is easy to please!

Addie diligently raked a pile of "pre-raked" leaves one afternoon, and then threw them in the air at herself. It's amazing how she can make herself just laugh. That girl LOVES to be outside and has a huge fit anytime we try to bring her in.

I took Addie to our ward playgroup to make gingerbread houses. She mostly just ate the candy, or licked it, put it on, and then immediately took it off and ate it. The mini oreos were her favorite--notice there are no oreos on her house--it's because she ate them.

And last, but not least, Addie eating her gingerbread house that only lasted 6 hours. We sure love our Addie and all the excitement she brings into our lives--even though it often means cleaning up a disaster of sorts!!

I just got home from one of my most favorite places--the Scholastic Book Warehouse sale. For any of you B'ham locals that might read this before next Friday, the warehouse sale is awesome. All their books are 50% off, unless marked otherwise. Some are only $1--it's a steal. And they have more than just kid books. Anyways, the next one isn't until February, and I love to buy books, especially when they are cheap, mostly because I have a problem remembering to return library books, so for me it's just as cheap to buy them as it is to pay fines. Anyways, if you don't live here, they have the warehouse sales all over, just go to the scholastic site and type in warehouse sales, and it will tell you if you have one in your area (if you live in Utah, they have one in Draper and one in Layton this month). I also learned that you can volunteer and for every hour you work, you get $10 towards the purchase of books, so if you work 12 hours, you get $120 credit to purchase books. Anyways, I just loaded up on Christmas gifts for my kids and some other fun reading and thought I would share the info.

Kennedy sang with the 2nd grade at the Santa's Breakfast at her school this morning. She did a great job. I laughed because for the last few weeks she has practiced an air guitar for one of the songs and then didn't end up really doing it--I think her nerves got to her, but she had a great time!

Around Christmas time last year Kennedy came home from school one day and said, "Mom, I would like an elf." I was clueless, an elf? She told me all of the kids in her class at school had elves and she would like one too. She said that you write Santa a letter and ask him to send you one, and then he does. I called my friend Katie who explained the "elf phenomena" to me. Apparently some mom came up with the concept that an elf (a stuffed animal) comes to your house to make sure you are behaving for Santa. The elf also does "mischevious" things while you are away like spreads a few toys around. Normally I don't give into the "just because everyone else has one" concept, but I caved and last year my kids got elves. The longer the elves were with us, the more I began to loathe them. My kids were expecting them do do funny things, "hide", etc., and our bedtime routine was constantly delayed by Kennedy preparing plates of peppermints for the elves to eat during the night. Kennedy then would come home saying this boy's elf brought him this present, and this girl's elf, did this-expecting hers to do the same. Now I am a generally a lover of all things Christmas, but come on, isn't Santa enough? The elves "went home" with Santa on Christmas Eve, and I could not have been happier.
So anyways, last year I swore the elves would never come again. However, much to my chagrin, last week the elf conversations began to come up again. So and so's elf did this, their elf did this, this friend's elf brought them this huge gift (seriously, when did the elves start delivering gifts Dec. 1st?). Anyways, I have spent the last few days trying to convince Kennedy that the elves needed to visit someone else this year and that we didn't need them at our house this year. This has been very disappointing. I told her that maybe her elf could go visit someone who didn't have an elf last year. She quickly informed me that Santa had plenty of elves for everyone--apparently she is very knowledgeable in the workings of the North Pole. Anyways, after continual begging for the elves to return, I told her she needed to talk to Chris. So she did. He told her that she needed to talk to me. In a moment of weakness I told her she could write Santa tonight and ask for her elf to return. I admit, I caved--total lack of parental enforcement. So maybe I'll keep you up to date on our visitors--that is if they "remember" they are supposed to do stuff!!

Anyone that knows us, knows that our family has a "special" relationship with Diet Coke--the drink, not the drug! It has gotten our family through medical school and the intense training that has sense followed. So naturally, we wanted to visit the World of Coca Cola to see how this favorite family drink is created. We dragged Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Janelle along with us.
As a preface, our kids had been anticipating this visit to the World of Coca Cola for several weeks. I was hoping they would not be disappointed as they were giving the museum the same type of hype as they would Disneyland or a trip to the beach, and let's be honest, we all love a good Diet Coke--but going to the beach is on a whole different level of awesomeness.
The morning we drove over to Atlanta, Spencer came in and said, "This is the best day ever (meaning we get to see extended family), but (is a wistful voice) tomorrow is going to be EVEN better." And let me tell you, they were not disappointed.
The museum has a few little movies including one of those 4D ones that shoot water at you and poke you in the back, etc. There is memorabilia galore, an actual production line, but then at the end--the Tasting Room. They had about 60 samples of pop from around the world and we just let our kids loose (pointing out to them not to drink the tea). They were in heaven with all the sugary goodness we usually don't let them have!! Italy's drink was nasty, Greece was delicious, but we still loved our Diet Coke!! Addie thought it was great because she had several samples--and her own cup, what more could an already hyper 1 year old ask for? At the end you get to take home your own bottle of coke, and my kids thought that was awesome.
So if any of you are ever in the Atlanta area, we thought it definitely a fun afternoon! We were also so glad to have Grandma, Grandpa, and Janelle come back to B'ham with us for a few days--we miss all our game playing and our kids are suffering post-traumatic grandparent departure syndrome! We also loved hearing about Janelle's mission to Korea!!

Chris's parents and little sister Janelle came out last week and we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early. We drove over to Atlanta where Chris's brother and his family live and had a great time visiting with everyone!! I left my camera out in the car, so I missed all the pics of our yummy dinner, but use your imaginations--it was good! After dinner we went to a little lake nearby and the kids had a great time attempting to skip rocks. We had a second Thanksgiving on actual Thanksgiving with some friends here--we are so thankful we had the opportunity to enjoy the holiday with BOTH family and friends! As they say here in the south, we had a blessed day(s).

Last Saturday Chris counted down the hours until the BYU/UTAH game. And even though our Cougars lost, we still had a great time enjoying the game with friends. And here's betting we'll get'em next year!!

The night before the game, Chris was jam packed with ideas on how we could "vandalize" our big Utah fan friends. After a few unsuccessful attempts to locate blue chalk to inscribe a "Y" on their driveway, he and the kids made a BYU banner and hung it up on their house. We woke up the next morning to find the joke was back on us, as they returned it "graffiti style" covered in red. They also rolled up our BYU flag so that we couldn't see it--however, I did just notice today that they have a Utah flag hanging on their house--they better consider this fair warning!! (J/K--maybe!!)


We breed football rivalry young here in the south! This is Addie and one of her favorite little buddies on the planet. She could say David way before she could say Kennedy or Spencer (and technically she still can't say Kennedy or Spencer, but she does have a "sound" for each of them!)

And what BYU rivalry game would be complete without "Y" cookies?

Today I had a plan. We don't have a great bike riding neighborhood so I wanted to take the kids' bikes over to a path where they could ride hill-free. I did not. however, count on rain!! So in an effort to get the kids out of the house, we decided to go to the Art Museum--something we hadn't done before, and to pretend to teach our kids that we are a little "culturally aware" for lack of a better term.
Anyways, we couldn't take pictures inside the museum, so you'll just have to use your imagination to visualize our afternoon. After going through a kid friendly exhibit featuring Indians and how they lived, cooked, etc., we headed off to exhibits such as 17th Century England, Italy, Glass Exhibits, etc. Then we got to an American Landscape exhibit, and what portrait was blaring right at our impressionable children??--a gigantic naked lady. Chris managed to divert Spencer's curious eyes, but I wasn't quick enough to deter Kennedy's. She was shocked, in a giggly, 7 year old kind of way. I quickly tried to move her to the next room amid her what seemed to be very loud questions of why someone would paint a picture of a naked lady. I tried to explain that many artists consider the human body to be a form of "art", so they paint it--end of conversation, right? Wrong. A few minutes later we found Chris and Spencer in an area that had paper where you could draw your own "landscape." I noticed a mischievous look on Kennedy's face, and I knew exactly what she was doing. I informed her that she could not draw naked people in the art museum, and saw that "I got caught" smirk amidst a few giggles.
We continued on through the rest of the museum, and I thought for sure we had passed all of the naked art. But as we were exiting one of the last exhibits, what was the last painting we see, that's right folks, another gigantic naked lady!! Can a mom not get a little warning?? I totally understand that everyone has their own interpretation of art, and I probably should have expected it in an art museum, but for the love, I need them to post a warning sign before this kind of stuff!! Kennedy had the giggles for a good 20 minutes after this. So much for teaching them culture, I think I just exposed them to a side of life they aren't quite mature enough to handle!!

This is just to catch up on all our "Mid-November" activities!! It seems like once Halloween is over, life just gets crazy, so I am a little behind--not that anyone sits around their computer going, "I wonder what the Fosters have been up to every single day," but it's really for my sake!
A trip to the zoo on a day off of school.


We raked a gigantic pile of leaves at the park one day.



Addie did a little art in the laundry room with detergent and pencils--good supervising mom!


Addie and I went and ate Thanksgiving lunch with Kennedy at school.

Spencer had a cute Thanksgiving feast at school where they ate and sang a few songs-which I will try and post later. They also made their own feathers for a giant turkey. I made the mistake of having a conversation with someone about how I "like to make cookies" and they asked me to make all the cookies for the feast. The kids and I had a great time whipping out a few dozen turkey sugar cookies.



Anyone that knows me knows that I put up Christmas decorations obnoxiously early. However, this year I decided I wasn't going to do it until after Thanksgiving so that I wouldn't have to deal with Addie. Last week Kennedy cleaned the whole house because she wanted to put them up, so I gave in. Several broken ornaments later, I regret every second of it, but I can't deny a motivated 7 year old!!

And last, but not least, we came into our room one night after we put our kids to sleep, and found Spencer in our bed wearing Chris's pants. Gotta love his fashion sense.