Fun at the Museum

My mother-in-law volunteers at the Church History Museum. It has become kind of a tradition that we go down each winter break and visit her and look around at all the fun things they have for kids. This year we invited some fun friends and headed down.

String Stories: The kids were absolutely enthralled while they listened to Grandma and her friend tell them stories using strings.

Crafts: Then each kid had a chance to make a couple of crafts. They made little mangers with baby Jesus inside and metal star ornaments.

I am a Child of God: In this part of the museum there are tons of things for the kids to do. Audrey & Xavier were the two cutest parents I have ever seen. They had fun dressing their babies, rocking them, changing them, feeding them... But when Xavier found the vaccination shots, he was absolutely horrified and couldn't bring himself to give his baby a shot.

The Tree of Life: We weren't sure exactly what we were supposed to do with the Tree of Life, but the kids had a lot of fun making up their own games and running around like crazies.
I was glad to have some good friends along to hang out with.

After the museum we all went to McDonalds and got the biggest ice cream cones I have ever seen! Hooray for ice cream in the winter!

Christmas Morning

I have neglected my poor blog for far too long. Here's a little catch-up on our lives as of late. Here's how the Ellsworth Family spent their Christmas morning.

This doll house was the big gift from mom & dad. We did a good job being sneaky and getting it all assembled and hidden from the girls until just a few days before Christmas. Someone accidentally left our bedroom door open and the girls threw off the sheet and started to play. I came into our room and found the whole thing set up and a whole slew of little people making themselves at home. I was bummed that it wasn't a surprise, but it was still a big hit. (Thanks grandma for your part in all of this. ) Audrey's favorite present this year: Barbie & The Island Princess dress. She absolutely loves to play dress-up hasn't really taken this dress off since Christmas.Nicole's favorite gift: Art supplies! Nicole's our little artist. Santa knew what he was doing when he bought her every single art supply he could think of. We've had some pretty great projects come our way!Khursten's favorite thing this year: A whole box full of books! Khursten is our little reader. Santa thought she would love a box filled with The Babysitter Club books. Santa knew that her mom loved them as a kid and was hoping she might too.Mom's favorite gift: Well... there were many this year. I forgot to get a picture of the beautiful necklaces that my two oldest girls made me. They were very special. I guess this will have to be the runner up. A gift card to the Gap! A girl can never have too many clothes.

Ryan's favorite gift: (Well maybe it was more for Sarah) I saw these Heroes action figures and thought of Ryan right away. He is now the lucky owner of the entire set! He's thrilled, I'm sure. He's also sporting some pretty 'hot' pants. These were from the girls. Just some other random pics of the girls on Christmas. Please note the beautiful princess jammies that Aunt Jill made for them. They have lived in these things! Also... I can never get enough of the Christmas Morning bed-head! All in all we had a pretty great Christmas.

Don't Make Me Call The Robot!!

My sister already told me that I'm the meanest mom in the world for doing this. I know it's true, but what do you do??? It works so well.

A few weeks ago Ryan was chasing the girls around the house making them laugh and scream. (a typical pass-time around here) For some reason he decided to kick into robot mode and started moving and talking like a robot. Khursten & Nicole thought it was hilarious and ran around trying to out-maneuver him and find his 'off' button. Audrey didn't think it was very funny at all. She immediately started screaming with a face of sheer panic. The Robot was not okay. He was not funny. "No Robot! Too Scary!"

So being the mean parents we are... we have quickly learned to use this fear to our advantage. Audrey is a horrible listener. She flat out ignores us most of the time. It's terrible I know, But ever since the Robot came to town there's been no more time out, no more counting to 3, no more raising of voices. All we have to say is, "Do I need to call the Robot?" That's all it takes and she'll do whatever we ask.

Am I terrible to use her fear to my advantage? Please tell me you've done stuff like this too! Or do I throw out such a fabulous technique because I'm permanently damaging my child? If there's anything I've learned from watching the movies, in a few years from now our world will be heavily populated by robots. Will Audrey be the only mom on her block who doesn't own a HouseBot 3000 because of some inexplicable and irrational fear of Robots?

Dinner with the Prophet

I had dinner with the prophet last night! It's true! I'd like to say it was just he and I, but if I'm being honest I would have to say that the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir and their +1's were there too. My mom invited me as her date to the Tabernacle Choir's Annual Christmas Party at the Grand America. I thought it was such a neat experience watching President Monson and his wife at the head table just chatting it up with their friends. And me... just a few tables away. It was also fun to hear him speak in a non-scripted way, making jokes with his friends. He's so human and such an amazing man. How blessed we are to live in this dispensation with a modern-day prophet to lead our church! Thanks mom for bringing me along!

Who Dunnit?

It was July 2, 1881. The Honorable Judge Waylon Payne was found dead in his office. 12 shots were fired. They all had motive... they all had opportunity, but who pulled the trigger?

The Suspects:

P'Elvis Swagarin & Dee Adela Muerte
(Enos & Audrey)

Wyatt Hertz & Helena Handcart

(Joe & Kristin)

Elias Truist-Heath & Elvira-Lynn Fekshin (Why am I always the slutty prostitute? )

(Ryan & Sarah)

Chief Breaking Wind & Butch Chastity

(Joey & Amy)

Wanted for suspicion of murder!

The Not-So-Inconspicuous Blob

It's that time of year where there's secrets a-plenty. I'm constantly dancing around questions, trying not to out-right lie about many thing Christmas related. But what to do about this blob? Can you see it? Do you think the girls will notice? As much as I'd like to pretend, I don't think the sheet's fooling anyone. Hmm... When we built this house I didn't quite realize just how little storage there was. No extra closets, no basement, no shed, no nooks in the garage... As the girls get older, they'll get smarter. They're soon going to get really suspicious about this not-so-inconspicuous blob. This year we're keeping our bedroom door locked, but it won't take long before they realize all they need is a bobbypin and the secrets of Christmas are theirs. Any ideas?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

This year the girls got to decorate the tree all by themselves. I think they did a fantastic job!