The Mitchell Family Christmas Quiz-Answers

Hopefully our Christmas cards arrived with our fun Christmas quiz. I promised at the end of the quiz that I would post the answers tonight. So here goes! I'll be posting more in the next week or so keep checking back for more fun things that we did this year!

Question 1 _______ ______ joined our family on February 11th. He weighted 7 lbs 13 oz and had a full head of hair.
a. William Phinehas
b. Edward Cullen
c. Harry Potter
Please see this post.

Question 2 Carson started teaching ______ ______ ______. We wakes up at 5:30am each week day to teach the freshman in our stake all about The Book of Mormon. He also started a new position at The University of Phoenix in their enrollment department and is still pursuing his doctorate.
a. English
b. Early Morning Seminary
c. Dance
Please see this post and this post.

Question 3 Siobhan (4) decided to cute 12 inches of _____ and donated it to Locks of Love. She was so brave and grown up and now sports a sassy bob to go with her sassy personality. She is such a great big sister as well!
a. Fabric
b. Hair
c. Ribbon
Please see this post.

Question 4 Audrey (2) started _____ _____ this fall and loves it! She was awesome in her first recital. She is growing up so fast and we lover her!
a. dance class
b. soccer
c. singing lessons
Please see this post.

Question 5 Meghan taught herself how to ____ and has had a blast learning how to re-fashion.
a. cook
b. sew
c. dance
See this post.

Question 6 Carson and Meghan joined a ______ _____ this summer. It was fun but Carson broke his ____ and had to take a break.
a. book club and arm
b. soccer team and ankle
c. cooking class and leg
sorry, no post about that.

Question 7 Siobhan has decided that she doesn't like ______ _____ and might start _____ in 2010 (hi-ya!)
a. dance class and karate
b. dance class and singing
c. voice lessons and soccer
Again, no post about that.

Question 8 Audrey loves her _____ ______ but it took a few weeks to warm up to him. She now asks, 'Mommy, where's my baby boy?'
a. Elmo toy
b. baby blanket
c. baby brother
See this post

Question 9 Mr. Will (10 months) taught himself how to sit up and has even taken a few ____ along the couch!
a. naps
b. bites
c. steps
Check out this post.

Question 10 This year, we feel so ______ as we reflect on the all the wonderful things that happened in our lives.
a. blessed
b. loved
c. inspired
d. all of the above

How'd you do? Leave me a comment and let me know your score!

Merry Christmas everyone!

King of the Stable-Day 1

I stole an idea from my sister Meredith this year for a countdown to Christmas tradition. I wrapped up all of our Christmas storybooks and placed them under the tree. We get to open one each day and read the story to help us get into the Christmas spirit. Some of the stories are spiritual and others are more secular, but they all help us get into the spirit. We started last night, but I didn't get to blog about it until now. We read the book King of the Stable by, Melody Carlson and it was the perfect way to start our tradition! It's about a little boy who grows up in a privileged household and then one day without warning, he is sent to live with his uncle, an in keeper, in Bethlehem. This little boy, Matthew, is put in charge of caring for and cleaning the stable. One day, a young couple comes and they need a room as the wife is about to give birth. The inn is full, but Matthew takes care of them in his stable....you can imagine the rest. It was a beautiful story and a great way to begin us on the path of remembering the true spirit of Christmas!

It's Official!

It's a very big day today...does anyone know why? Birthday? No Siobhan's is tomorrow....Baby Crawling? No he scoots. What could possible be so great about today? Wait for it................wait for it............. Taco Bell is bringing back the Chessy Gordita Crunch! That's right folks....one of the best combinations of tortilla, meat, cheese product and MSG. I can't wait. Herein lies the problem though. We have a very strict commitment in our home that we will not get any fast food unless it is free. So, any ideas as to how I can get my hot little hands on this little slice of heaven without dropping one red cent on it? Carson's ideas was to wait outside the door and give my money to someone and have them go in and buy it for me. Like an underage drinker at a liquor store. Not so sure about that one...I don't want anyone to steal my money.

Hair Today.....

It may be unhealthy, but I have always felt a certain amount of vanity when it comes to my kid's hair. But when your kids have hair like this.........

...Can you blame me????

I always love seeing the looks on the Doctor's nurse's faces when my babies come out with a part on the left side and pony tail (okay, the last one was an exaggeration). I still remember when Siobhan was born and the nurses all said that they had never seen a baby with hair like that who came from Caucasian parents. It's always a fun conversation starter and it never fails that said conversation will have some variation on the phrase, 'my kids were bald until age....' While all this hair is so much fun and beautiful, it has it's pitfalls. I have spent hours upon hours brushing hair. I have spent a lot of money on shampoo, detangler, hair gel, combs, brushes, rubber bands, bows, etc. I can't tell you how many times a day I re-do pony tails. On the upside, my kid's gender is usually pretty easy to guess.

Anyway, while having all this hair is a blessing of sorts, there are a lot of children who don't have that blessing in their lives and not just because it took a few years to grow in after birth. Many kids have illnesses which deprive them of a beautiful head of hair. How sad would it be to be a little five year old girl who can't wear pig tails like her friends? As a mother, I can't imagine not being able to spend special time with my daughter coming up with fun hair styles. So Siobhan and I decided that it was probably time to pass that blessing on to other kids who don't have any hair. We decided that after almost four years of growing, we were going to get it cut and donate it to Locks of Love. We found a kids salon in Lone Tree which does free hair cut and styling if you're going to donate it. So we decided that today was the day. Her first REAL hair cut and it was a big one!

Before we left for the salon.

Holding her 12 inch long braid that will be on it's way tomorrow.

Shaping and trimming.

Siobhan sporting her new sassy bob. I was so proud of Siobhan and her willingness to give something so personal to those in need. We had been talking about how her hair was going to be given to a little kid who doesn't have any. She asked me what their name was, so we came up with a back story. I had to make something up on the spot and for all she knows, I told her the truth. In Siobhan's mind, her hair is going to a little girl names Jane who live in New York City. On the way home, Siobhan said she wanted to talk to Jane but I told her that wouldn't be possible but that Jane could probably write her a letter. To that Siobhan replied, 'Oh I would LOVE that!' I love my little girl! I think this hair cut made her age about 2 years in looks and personality!

I don't why, but these pictures aren't lining up the way I want them to. Sometimes blogger drives me crazy!!!!

Happy Halloween

We had a great time this Halloween. Daddy got home from Vegas just in time to celebrate the big day with us. We had fun parties to go to and got lots of candy trick or treating. So much fun! Here are a BUNCH of pictures!

Funny story about Siobhan's costume this year. Originally, she wanted to be the main character from her favorite book When Sophie Gets Angry...Really, Really Angry. It's a super cute book. So I got to work on her costume which would consist of a blue and white striped shirt and overalls. I finished the shirt and was getting ready to start on the overalls when a package came from Auntie Meredith in AZ containing this Snow White costume. I wore it when I was Siobhan's age and cousin Lindsay wore it a few years ago. Since Snow White it he current obsession in our household, Sophie went out the window. Luckily I hadn't made the overalls yet. :) You can't see it but Auntie Meredith made a beautiful cape when Lindsay wore it.

I had so much making this peacock costume! We already had the leotard so I just sewed on a few feathers that I cut out of lining material in the colors of a peacock. I got the tutu at goodwill for $1.99 and added more feathers plus the peacock feathers in the back. I also made the cutest little feather headpiece but you can't really see it in the pic. I did her hair in a bunch of ponies all the way down her head to make a 'pony-hawk'. Add some fun sparkly green make-up and voila-Peacock. How cute is she???

Mr. Will chilling while we were trick or treating. He was Edward Cullen for Halloween. I think I need to submit at pic to a magazine or something because it was so dang cute! His costume was super easy in theory. I made his jeans out of pair of my old jeans and found the grey pea coat on ebay for $5. The hardest part was the shirt. I hate that is so difficult to find a plain colored t-shirt for a baby. After going to Target, Walmart, gap and the consignment store, I finally found this one at Children's place. Why didn't I go there first? I then gelled his hair and he looked the spitting image of Edward.

Everyone together!

This is from the ward trunk or treat on Friday night. It was tons of fun but a little chilly as we were still trying to thaw out from the deep freeze that came through. I was Bella to Mr. Will's Edward. :)

I hope everyone else had a fun safe Halloween. We had a blast! I was very proud of the girls for how polite they were whenever they were at the doors getting their candy. They always took only one piece and said thank you every time!

Toys....

I always looked forward to watching my kids use their imagination. I never considered myself to have a really active imagination while I was growing up. I always just dressed and undressed my barbies and did their hair. I never really played house with them or anything. I always figured that Siobhan might be that way, but she seems to be more of my problem solver. Audrey on the other hand, is having so much fun playing imaginary games with her toys. I frequently find them in odd places throughout the house in various real world situations. Here are some fun pics that I snapped.

I call this one 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' Her little people, or 'Dollies' as she calls them, are always having some sort of event...birthday parties, family dinners, family home evening, etc.

I call this one 'Someday My Prince Will Come' (I know, wrong fairy tale). I found it on the stairs one morning and it made me think of how some days, I'm just waiting for my gilded coach with white horses to come and take me to my castle where I have beautiful clothes and never have to do another dish or fold another piece of laundry.

How To Tell If Your Baby is Mobile...

He sits up pretty well on his own...

Gets up on all fours...


Makes his under the saucer...

And ends up following his sisters under the kitchen table to snack on any crumbs left over from lunchtime.

P.S. Those stripy jammies look so comfy! I want some. And the khaki pants from the last picture....I made those!