Patches

Rex has been struggling with having his eye patched over the last year and a half. He did so good with it when he was really little (he's been patched since 7 weeks old), but once he figured out how to take it off, we were in for it. He is too little to understand why and too little to bribe. It has been a constant struggle. He's starting to get old enough that I can convince him to wear it for about 30 minutes a day now. We spend the whole time reading books together and he asks me after each book if he can take it off, but we are getting there. 

Sometimes I can convince him to wear it a little longer (he's supposed to wear it 3 hours a day) by playing on the photo booth app with him. He thinks it is so funny, and honestly, so do I!

Here's to good vision!

Nature Walk

Ken took the boys for a nature walk and to a bridge that spans a freeway. They had so much fun and I love seeing pictures of them getting along. 

 They found this map of the museum grounds and Rex was so excited. He pretended the rest of the time that he was a captain and was following his treasure map. 

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam

He spent his first Sharing Time in Primary laying on the floor. When I finally went in to help, all he would say is "I want to go to nursery". Once he got to class and got snack, he realized Sunbeams was okay and now he talks about it all the time. 

Jelly Belly

We had the youth over for a game night during the winter break and we played a Jelly Belly taste test game with them. The boys saw all the Jelly Belly's when we bought them and were dying to get a hold of some. We had extra, so the next day we did a little mini flavor guessing contest. It was so fun for them, but more fun for us to watch. 

We have a walker!!

It may have taken her almost 16 months to get here, but we finally have a walker! Once she figured it out, she took off. She pretty much won't crawl anymore. Next step, conquering the stairs.

Knightdale Station

The day after Christmas we had some unseasonably good weather, so we headed out to a park that I'd found recently, but Ken had never been to. 

Rex had a little trouble when we first got there, so while I took care of business with him, Ken took the other kids for a walk. Annemarie was SO close to walking at this point. 

Still trying to walk. See Abraham sulking behind us? He'd decided this was a park for little kids and he didn't want to play.

Tyler on the other hand had worked up a sweat in no time.

He got over his sulkiness when he found this tire in the sand pit.

Rex wanted to play farmer the whole time. He's feeding his cows.

The drive home. Not sure what they are all doing, but I thought it was funny.

Happy Birthday Ken!

I almost forgot to post about Ken's birthday! We had fun day together as a family. 

I made Ken a cherry pie instead of a cake. 

Ken's brother sent him a couple of games that he'd found on ebay that they had played as kids. Our boys loved them and wanted to play all day long.

Happy Birthday Ken!

Rub a Dub Dub

A little more Christmas

Here are a few more Christmas pictures from our phones. My brother Barlow's family sent us this awesome FHE wall hanging. We love it.

Carlile Christmas cereal. Can you match the cereal to its owner?

The big boys, especially Abraham, pretty much spent all day neck deep in Legos.

The aftermath shot. Time to clean up...

Annemarie's present from Grandma Carlile was this Fisher Price princess toy. It was probably the most played with toy that day. I've caught the boys in her room playing with it by themselves several times. Hooray for getting some princess toys around this house finally!

Meeting the REAL Santa

Abraham, Tyler and I were the only Carlile attendees at the ward Christmas party this year (Ken was home with 2 sleepy little ones). On the way there, the boys had discussed how they would see Santa, but he wouldn't be the 'real' Santa, he was just a helper who'd report back to him. On the way home, Abraham remarked that he couldn't believe he'd actually met the real Santa. When I questioned him why he now thought it was the real Santa and not a helper, he replied that he'd called him and Tyler both by name before they said anything. Thanks to a great Santa for keeping that magical spark alive for one more year!

Christmas 2014

Santa came!

 The first presents! I thought it was so cute that the first thing each boy wanted to open was the present they'd been given by their siblings. I guess eyeing them under the tree for a week made them extra curious. 

 Grandma Red crocheted Rex these awesome batarangs, but my favorite part of this picture is my photo bomb in the back. Christmas makes me really excited. 

 Another awesome crocheted present from Grandma Red. 

 My brother (let's be honest, it was probably my sister-in-law) sent Annemarie this cute book. It is a board book, very simple Pride and Prejudice. She LOVED it, which made my book worm heart so happy. 

 Grandma Carlile sent Rex a Batman costume. 

 Aunt Kristy made an awesome Transformer blanket for Tyler. 

 This year each child got one big present from Santa, one book, and one shirt. We loved simplifying things a bit. Tyler's big present was a big art kit. 

 Rex got a balance bike.

 And Abraham got a huge Lego set. There isn't a picture, but Annemarie got a little keyboard. 

 Can you spot the flying batarang? Bad guys beware....

 I loved this. For some reason it just seemed so "Christmas" to me. 

Stay tuned for a few more Christmas related posts!

Christmas Eve

I love our Christmas Eve traditions. We invite friends over. We make french dip sandwiches (what my Grandma Bodily always made for Christmas Eve). We reenact the nativity. We open Christmas jammies. 

 Our ragtag nativity this year. 

 Some may remember that last year, Rex was adamant that he play Mary and he totally owned it. This year, he knew exactly what he wanted to be! The angel. 

 After we finished all the kids were playing with the gold the wise men brought baby Jesus. It made me chuckle. 

 'Mary' hoarding the loot. 

 Opening jammies, notice that Rex is still wearing his angel wings. 

 Annemarie was totally into opening the present, a first for her. 

 Batman!

 The boys

 The girls

 A nice picture for posterity's sake....

 What it is really like at our house....

 So, Annemarie has been totally terrified of the Christmas tree. She wouldn't come near it and if you brought her within a foot of it, she'd get totally anxious and start whining. For some reason, after we were done opening our jammies, she was totally interested in the tree for the first time. It was the magic of Christmas, I guess.