Jyllian turns four-years-old

Four-year-olds are my favorite. They don't have as many major meltdowns as younger kids, but they are still sweet and say the funniest things. But most of all they don't talk back to you (as some kids who are "more mature" tend to do). Jyllian is our youngest, and I think she is definetly spoiled by her siblings and her parents. When Jyllian was born, Dominique would pray every night for almost two years thanking Heavenly Father for Jyllian. He still says it sometimes when we say family prayers. We took Jyllian to Chuckie Cheese for her birthday. We of course didn't have the camera, but we had a great time. We went as a family, and when we got there she wanted a big party with friends. I was just not up for a big party, and besides, she just doesn't have very many little girlfriends. I told her we would have a big party when she turned five. I think December babies just get ripped off for their birthday. There are ward, work, family, and friend parties during the month of December. It's very difficult to schedule an event around so many things going on. The day before her birthday, I had a ward Christmas party. Since, I am the ward activites chairperson, I was in charge. I was very busy that whole week. My house, my children, and poor Jyllian were put on the back burner. Jyllian did not know what type of cake she wanted, so I was just going to make a simple round cake. The day before her birthday she told me she wanted a unicorn cake. Well I have made her a Dora cake, a Cinderella cake, and a Barbie cake; however, I just didn't have the time to go looking for Unicorn cakes. So she decided a star cake would be fine. Well, I attempted to make a star cake. It was really a pathetic attempt, but we all ate the cake and Jyllian loved it (especially the frosting).

You are probably wondering what all of the ranch dressing is doing next to her on the table. Well, it was for the ward pary the next day. I did purchase too much dressing, but I took two of them back after the party. Note to self, people really don't like that much green salad at ward parties.

Universal Studios December 2009

On Decemeber 5th, we woke up early and headed down to Universal Studios. In August, Universal was running a promotion. If you purchased a two day pass as a Florida resident, you would get a season pass good through Dec. 31st. This was our only day we could actually go as a whole family before the end of the year. It was a cold, windy, and rainy morning, but I said we were going rain or shine. I was prepared though. We had raincoats, blankets, and jackets. The sun did eventually come through the clouds in the early afternoon. The first week of December is a great week to go to any Orlando amusement park. The lines aren't very long, and there aren't many people at the parks. We cruised through most of the rides in Universal and later headed over to Islands of Adventure.

Donovan took a lot of pictures because the last time we went to Universal we forgot to get our camera out of the van. It is not just a hop, skip, and jump to your car. This is picture is taken in front of Universal Studios. Jyllian of course would not get in the picture. But we did get a few pictures of her throughout the day. Here she is, but we she didn't know we took her picture.

The boys love their picture taken not!

Jasmine really wanted to bring a friend with her. She always complains that she doesn't have anyone to ride with. Aren't her parents good enough? So we brought our next door neighbor Morgan. The girls had a good time.

This picture is taken in front of the jaws ride at Universal.

I don't know why we continue to take a stroller inside the amusement parks. Jyllian just runs all over. I guess we need a place to store all of the stuff we take inside the park.

Jasmine and Morgan...busted by the Simpsons ride.

Bart Simpson with the kids.

This is the newest ride at Universal. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is the name of the ride. This was the only ride that had a wait, and it was a loooooooooong wait. Donovan and Dreyton waited in this line for two and half hours (and got the front row for the ride) while I took the other kids over to Islands of Adventure. Whoever designed this ride did not make it a very efficient ride. Each car only holds twelve people at a time, and there are only two cars. I don't know why they would put so much money into this ride without making it so more people could ride it at a time. I wonder what the line will be like in the summer. As you can see in the picture below...the first drop is a big one.

Jasmine and Morgan being silly.

I know it's a great picture of me. Please keep in mind the weather here in Florida doesn't do my hair any favors. Natural curly hair and humidty just don't mix. It had been raining and it was the end of the day.

I realized we hadn't taken any pictures with Donovan, so he decided to do something crazy for the picture. I'm glad everyone had a good time.

It was Donovan's first time at Universal, and it was a great day to go. He hates crowds.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year Anne and Wayne (my in-laws) came to Florida for Thanksgiving. We were truly grateful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family. We have been very fortunate to spend Thanksgiving each year with people we love and care about (the Melby's while we were in St. Louis). I worry that we will be alone, but each year it always works out. Anne and I went to see New Moon together. I guess it was an ok movie, but it was a little cheesy. Anne and I were also able to do some after Thanksgiving shopping. I think I wore Anne out. Thank you Wayne for watching the kids so we could shop, and thank you Donovan for working, so I would have money to spend.

Whenever Wayne and Anne come to town, I'm sure they fear my to-do-list. Grandma Lott made my four children Christmas pillowcases and Wayne did his fair share of car repairs and other odd jobs. Thanks for everything. We love you and really enjoyed your company.
Grandma even played Conquest of the Empire. Dominique loves to play this game, but it takes 4-5+ hours to complete. Thanks for being a good sport Anne.

Dreyton's sprained ankle

Dreyton hurt his ankle the very last week of football practice. Another player fell on his ankle in a tackling drill. Luckily, we had crutches due to a injury Jasmine had received earlier in the year. He hurt his foot on a Monday evening, but we learned that if you don't need to go to the E.R., just wait until morning to get into the Dr. It is much cheaper and also faster than sitting in a waiting room for hours. He did have his ankle X-rayed by the orthopedist, but it was not broken...just very swollen and sore. He used this walking boot for a week and then used one crutch for another week.

He was not able to play in the finals, but we took him to the game to support his team. His team took second in the region. They played their last game against Hawthorne and lost, but the team played hard.

I think Dreyton liked the attention he received from his injury. Dreyton is just excited to be heading back healthy to another season of football next year. In the meantime, basketball should keep him moving.

Science Projects

Dominique and Dreyton had to present a science project for the Science Fair in November. Dominique chose to measure the speed of light in jello. He placed 2nd in physics and will be going to Regionals in February. Dreyton's project examined how different colors absorbed light and heat for increasing the temperature of water. His teacher took pictures for him, but I don't have copies to download to the blog. Both boys did a great job and did the majority of the work on their own. We had to make five different jellos all with a different consistency of water.

The laser pointer was used to measure the speed of light.

I never did like science myself, but my boys really like their teacher Mr. Riley.

Jyllianism of the day

Jyllian: "Daddy, what are ghosts made of?"
Foolish father: "Ghosts are spirits."
Jyllian: "I think they are made of clouds."

A Day With Flat Stanley

Jasmine's friend Anne (from St. Louis) sent her Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a book character (see http://www.flatstanley.com), and Flat Stanley had to go everywhere Jasmine did. We had to take pictures and send them back to Anne. On November 14, Jasmine played a soccer game at 9:00am. After the game we took a picture with her friend Mackenzie and Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley was also able to attend Dreyton's football game. Dreyton was not wanting to stand next to his sister. Big brothers are just so darn loveable, aren't they?

Jasmine wanted Flat Stanley to have a picture taken with Daisy the dog.

Last but not least, these four girls were playing at our home that same day, and we had to get a picture with them and Flat Stanley. From left to right (Grace, Elesse, Jasmine, and Cheyenne)