Valentine's Day photos

I love Valentine's Day, and I Love taking pictures of my kids with Valentine's props.

This year, Hattie was awesome at posing for me. We had tonnes of fun taking a million pictures!

Peter was so funny the entire time. He wanted to be in the photos really bad, but he always acted like a ham in all of them. It's so him lately! He would do some goofy pose, then run to the camera to see what he looked like, then laugh like crazy. Funny boy!

I love these photos of my two oldest! For whatever reason, I think Hattie looks way older in these photos. Made me a little sad cause she's still my little baby girl.

And, wahoo! I got a photo of all three kids looking, and looking pretty cute!

There were only two photos in 1000 where Peter wasn't looking goofy. He was funny that day. He even went to his closet and picked out his own shirt and pants to wear for his pictures because I changed Tanner and Hattie once too. He did not want to be left out!

The Risk of a Sunday Nap

I don't know how he does it, but Larry frequently falls asleep with the kids playing on him. This time, however, I was completely amazed at how he could stay asleep during Hattie's makeover. I came upstairs and couldn't stop laughing. Hattie had attached almost every bow in her drawer to his head while he was sleeping. Those she couldn't clip on, she piled on top.

Once he woke up, I think she got a little jealous of how 'beautiful' he looked, so she restyled his hair with the biggest bows and pinned every single other bow in her hair. She thought she was the prettiest girl in the world.

When Peter came upstairs he wanted to look pretty too, so he put on all her headbands.

For about a week after, she continued to style her hair like this (even for public outings and ballet).

Star Wars

Lately my kids have been huge into Star Wars. I love it because it brings back my childhood, and what's not to love about Star Wars anyways. However, unlike me who loved Luke and Leia, my kids Love the Dark Side.

They spend HOURS dressed up fighting and role playing. I love Hattie's costume - a shirt on backwards with white tights. Ha ha!

Tanner wears his cape with dress pants and black shirt. They look Awesome!

1/2 way to your Birthday

Since Tanner's Birthday is in the summer, his class celebrates it with a 1/2 way to your Birthday day. Tanner was so excited! I loved watching him. He got to wear his special birthday hat ALL day and birthday cape. He got to lead everyone in all the activities, pick the songs, and have everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. To see him, you wouldn't have known it wasn't his real birthday.

It was an activity packed day. For starters, they went to the computer lab and got to play games.

Then back to class for snack. Tanner got to bring 'Superman' cupcakes for everyone. He was super excited to announce them.

Off to the library for a fun story and then picking out a new book for the week.

From library to the gym to play on all the gymnastic equipment. Tanner got to lead the lines all day and hold the doors. Who would have thought such a simple thing could bring so much happiness.

Back to the classroom, where the Grade 5's came in. The kids in Tanner's class are paired up with an older kid who reads them some stories. Tanner had a super sweet girl who brought a book that helped teach him to tie a shoe lace.

After the Grade 5's left, the kids got to play in the centres. Tanner got to pick where to go first and select two classmates to join him. He selected the hospital. I was so in love when I rounded the corner and found him in full nurse costume with his birthday hat right on top. Ha ha, love that kid!

What a fun way to spend the day!

I hear the sleigh bells ringing

Ya, on to Christmas! Going to Disney set us back by 2 weeks on our Christmas prep, so as soon as we got back we got a tree, decorated it, and got our pictures done for our Christmas cards. I got some pretty cute ones of Tanner and Hattie, but Peter was not so accommodating. However, we did get some with him in it. The kids loved it. Okay, me too. We had tonnes of fun making faces and choosing what we wanted to wear in the next pictures.

Larry got home from work and we had him right in with the rest of us.

Tanner and Hattie had been asked to play Mary and Joseph in a nativity, but because of scheduling problems they didn't get to do it. They were really upset since we had talked it over a lot and had costumes for them. However, their disappointment wasn't so deep that we couldn't do a little makeshift nativity in our house with the classic tea towel headpieces to make them excited again. Even Peter was excited to play the part of the shepherd/wiseman/inkeeper.

The next big Christmas event was Tanner's class Christmas party. Again, Peter and Hattie got to take part while I helped out.

And you'll never believe who showed up. SANTA! This was an extra special Santa, so it was probably a good thing his hair fell in his face at Tanner's turn. Santa was extra sweet to the Besters, and the kids were over the top excited to see him!

Well, Peter wasn't excited. Probably terrified is a better word. But he was really cute. Santa handed him his goody bag, and he managed to say an unprompted "Dank you Ho Ho"

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Bester's. The 23rd we had all the Bester's together to have a big party at the school gym. It was as fun as Ever! Then, as luck would have it, Santa visits the kids in Hill Spring every Christmas Eve and leaves a tonne of candy. Hattie missed this Santa though cause she was pretty sick and went to bed really early.

Yay for Christmas morning!!!

Gift highlights for the kids: Tanner got the clone trooper and darth vader masks he wanted from Santa, and a bunch of Star Wars action figures from Hattie, Peter, and dad. Hattie got a princess castle from Santa and Pinkalicious books and doll from Tanner and mom. (Tanner was SO excited for her to get these from him. It was really cute to watch his excitement as she was opening them and then gushing over them with her) Peter got train stuff from everyone.

After Christmas we went with the Wendorff's up to Edmonton to go swimming and to the Science Center. We stayed in the same hotel and had a blast playing and visiting with everyone!

Christmas is the Best!