New Do's

Rayden has his buddy Jett over today. They have come up with all sorts of creative things to do to keep themselves happy and busy since it snowing outside. I walked into the bathroom to find them occupied coming up with a whole new look.

You gotta love it! I guess that boys and girls just aren't that much different! They all love to play with hair!

The New Bag

I have this amazingly crafty friend who got me back into embroidery lately. (Thanks Melissa!) For my first project in like 8 years I decided to tackle this wonderful picture I found online and fell in love with. When I started I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make it into but inspiration finally hit and I made it into a Primary bag for Sundays! What fits better than the Singing Time Specialist carrying around a musical heart? I found the bag pattern online and wha la! Don't look too closely because it is full of flaws but I love it and it holds all my stuff. It even has pockets on the inside for certain items I like to carry at all times on Sundays. Now I need to get started on my next project.....

A Budding Artist

Simon is a budding artist! I always new there were some wonderful creative genes running in the family! This last week Simon decided to share his talent with the family. Here he is with his beautiful artwork.

The look says it all! He was so proud of himself. Unfortunately the marker was a permanent sharpie! Oh well I was looking for an excuse to repaint anyway!

Friends

Last week Lexi had her friend, London, over to play. These girls are so cute together! They had a little photo shoot with my camera. Here are some of my favs!

No Longer Private

Ok, since I haven't been updating as much I've decided to unprivatize (is that a word?) the blog. So everyone can update their links for the blog so they can see when I post! Just some FYI.

Trying to Keep Busy

I have been such a horrible blogger lately. We are just not very interesting I guess. We haven't been doing much around here. Last week, Dirk was gone all week, to Reno, for a business trip. In our almost 10 years of marriage Dirk and I have hardly ever been apart for more than a day except for when I went to Girl's Camp a few years. This was my first experience with him gone from home. I have to admit, I didn't like it.
I wasn't overwhelmed by extra work and the kids were as good as they always are but I just didn't like having cold feet all night!!!! All of us are really glad to have him home now! While he was gone I got together with my MIL and did some crafts. Here are some pics of what kept me occupied without Dirk.

It was quite fun getting together for the day and I think the blocks turned out rather good. I had a lot of fun designing the music one. It looks perfect on the piano. I have another project that I am working on that isn't quite finished. It is a sewing project and I haven't sewed for a few years so I am hoping it will turn out alright.

The Newest Addition

Here he is! Lexi's pride and joy! Almost 2 weeks ago we acquired a new pet, a rat named Jojo. Lexi is in love with him. She had asked her dad if she could get a guinea pig and he struck a deal with her. He would take her to the pet store to price out a guinea pig and all it's trappings and then she would do chores to earn the money to buy one. Well we all went to the store and 2 1/2 hours later we came out with Jojo. Lexi couldn't be happier and I have to admit that he is a great pet. He's almost like a miniature dog with a really long tail. Lexi is really good about taking him out of his cage everyday and playing with him. She has almost gotten him potty trained (yes, this is possible) and he comes out of hiding whenever he hears her voice. It is really kind of sweet. Lexi has all sorts of plans for training him tricks and such. I guess we will just have to see how it goes.

January Song

Here is a video of the song that I am going to start teaching to the Primary kids this month. I really love it. I only have one problem, I cry every time I listen to it. I haven't even been able to even try and sing it yet. What am I going to do?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year '09

We had such a wonderful Christmas full of family and friends and lots of fun! I wish I had pictures of the kids with Santa but we forgot our camera and I still need to get them from my sister-in-law. Santa visited the Sorensen Family Christmas Party this year. He was one of the best Santas I have ever seen. He was full of all sorts of Santa lore. He told the kids all sorts of fun stories and histories about himself. He even sang songs with them and had a present for each of them. Lexi and Ray were eager to tell him what they wanted but Simon cried until he got his candy cane and then he just wanted Daddy. Oh well, maybe next year he will be more willing to sit with the big guy!

Christmas Eve was so much fun for the kids! We spent the evening at Gma and Gpa Sorensen's, playing games and watching movies. Of course there was lots of yummy food. I love Christmas snacking! We got our annual Christmas Eve pj's. I will have to get a pic of the kids in theirs...they loved them so much that they didn't want to change until halfway through the 26th. That's what holidays are all about right? Staying in our pj's and being cozy! They were excited to go home and sleep in Mom and Dad's bed as they do every Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning started bright and early at 5:30am. The kids were excited to see if Santa delivered and he did! They got just what they wanted. Alexia got her Moxie girl with a car and she got a Gameboy Advanced, not quite the DSi she asked for but she hasn't figured the difference yet! Rayden got a train just like Pop's. In fact, he was worried that Santa might have taken Pop's to give to him. He was very nervous about it until he saw Pop's train again. Simon got a remote control airplane that was hooked to the ceiling with fishing line. He spent the next 45min. flying it and doing nothing else. He wouldn't even look in his stocking!

We spent a wonderful afternoon at Oma and Pop Dixon's house with all of my family. The kids were spoiled rotten and filled extremely full of good food and goodies. Christmas night they had some of their cousins to spend the night. I was a little stressed that they wouldn't want to settle down when it was bed time but all it took was a movie and lots of blankets and they were all out within minutes of each other. What a great way to end the holiday than to spend it with their cousins. I'm so sad that it is all over. Why does it have to go by so fast? Now it is time to start planning for next year!

Winter Recital

Monday night Lexi had her dance recital. She was sooo excited to get to perform both of her dances for all of us. She did great! She was super excited to find out that one of her cute little friends from school was there dancing in a different class. These two are so cute together! I have to admit though that I think the real highlight of Lexi's night was the flowers. She felt so special to get them!

After the recital Rayden was dying to go to my parents' house. Every Christmas season my father puts up his village and trains. Rayden looks forward to it all year. This year my father had a train up that he has never had running before. It is running this year with all 17 cars! Ray was in heaven, especially when Pop let him control the speed. He didn't want to leave and threw a little tantrum. I recorded the trains for him with my camera and he left begrudgingly. He did watch the video over and over and over.....