Go To Bed!

My Mom and Devlin's Mom made some adorable Christmas pillowcases for the kids and by request, we changed their pillowcases to the Christmas pillowcases tonight. Anyhow, I told each of the kids if they got out of bed, or talked, or goofed off, their pillowcase would immediately return to the pillowcase they had on their pillow before the switch.

I put my kids to bed an hour ago. As usual, Maxson and Gwen are off in dream land. They arrive there about 1 minute after their head hits their pillow and I leave the room.

William on the other hand is another story. That kid can never turn his energy off...or shut his brain down. I've been in my room listening to William. He hasn't said a word, but I can hear his mattress squeaking. I keep ignoring it since he's not bothering me and the other kids are asleep. I went in a while ago and he was sitting upright in his bed. I told him to lay down and try to sleep or the next time I came in the pillowcase would be gone. He replied, "I just can't sleep." I said, of course you can't sleep...you need to lay down, not sit up." I still wasn't sure what the squeaking noise was when I left. 15 minutes later...more squeaking. This time, I timed it right and found him doing a handstand with his feet touching the ceiling (he sleeps on the top bunk of the bunk bed). He was caught in the act! So... you guessed it...the pillowcase came off, and he returned to his boring BYU pillowcase. He was heartbroken. But guess what? No more squeaking mattress sounds. However, it has only been 10 minutes....

Happy Birthday, Devlin!

Poor Devlin had to have his birthday the day after Maxson...which unfortunately for him this year, meant that I was pretty worn out from the day before so he didn't get too much attention. I still haven't gotten him a birthday present...I know! I'm horrible! Hopefully I'll get him one soon...anyhow I did want to give a shout out to Devlin to tell him all the cool things I think about him:

• He makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich. The kids actually call them "Dad's Famous Grilled Cheese."
• He does an amazing job at putting the kids to bed. Every night they want to play "Nice knowing ya!" and have Devlin tell one of his "Famous stories." Do you see a pattern here...nothing I do is famous.
• He has an amazing singing voice. I think I'll go so far as to call it famous.
• He is the most patient person I know. I don't know too many people that can patiently help so many people with their computer and never show any sign of irritation. The man is a Saint.
• He is a mutant and thus has a superhuman memory. I think I'd call his memory famous too.
• He's pretty smooth.
• He's the hottest man in the world.
  

Happy Birthday, Maxson!

Maxson turned 5! I can't believe he'll start kindergarten this year.

This is a sad attempt to get a picture of him with his friends.

The birthday cake...he wanted a "Woody cake."

Before the guests arrived.

A couple cool things about Maxson:

• He's the most obedient kid in the world. Whenever I ask him to do something 99% of the time he'll say, "Yes, Mama!" and quickly obey. He's the best.
• He's always cheerful.
• He is kind-hearted and always a good friend to his little sister. Too bad she takes advantage of him and picks on him too much.
• He likes to make up songs and tunes. You'll frequently find him humming something he's made up.
• He likes to run with his tongue hanging out....I'm not sure why...but he does.

Cousins

My sister Michelle came a couple of months ago to move her now "Elder Tolson" son out of BYU. She brought her daughter Julia with her and we snapped a couple photos of her and Gwen after they had their nails painted and hair done up the same way.

Happy Belated Birthday, William

I never posted about William's birthday...he's 7 now! We had a great time having a "How to Train Your Dragon" party with all his friends. We had a great time making Viking shields and masks! William also got some space pajamas that he had been wanting for several weeks and had been quite disappointed when they didn't show up under the Christmas tree. The picture in his pajamas is not staged.



Some fun things about William:

• He has amazing handwriting for a 7-year old. I think he could give some adults a run for their money.
• He is a very talented artist. He loves to draw pictures and write stories to go along with his pictures. I won't be surprised if his future career involves him creating/designing something.
• He has a sense of humor. He's always trying to make us laugh and he usually succeeds. Some of his favorite jokes right now are:

1. What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.
2. Knock knock. Who's there? Interrupting man. Interrupting man (KNOCK KNOCK!!) who?
3. Knock knock. Who's there? Interrupting cow. Interrupting cow (MOOOOO!!!) who?
4. (My personal favorite) What has a bottom at the top? Legs.
   

• He's a good kid. He's very good at playing with his brother and sister and helping me around the house.
  

Dorothy's Going to the Temple

Three days before we moved into my parents, Gwen came into the kitchen dressed up in her "Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz" dress exclaiming she was going somewhere...to sweet.

Flying Kids

Devlin took these pictures back in January (before the move...don't worry Mom and Dad, they were using our bed)!

I thought I'd share...