Our Christmas

I hate waking up at the butt crack of dawn! Of course it's even worse on Christmas morning after spending late into Christmas Eve wrapping presents. I have a vague memory upon waking of thinking "Oh crap! The lighting is going to suck and I'm still figuring out my new camera." Olivia did not want to wake up and by the time she figured out what was going on, she was grabbing everyone's presents and yelling "mine!". Good times! The boys were finished opening their presents in 5 minutes and it took Olivia 5 hours as she had to stop and play with each gift.We thought this Christmas was going to be tight this year, but Grammy wouldn't let that happen. She spoiled them rotten , as usual. Nick has been bugging us for a cell phone since October and I would respond to him with comments like "yeah right!". He would come home with writing assignments from school or leave me notes to mail to Santa about desperately wanting cell phones and bluetooth's. Well, while shopping at Sam's Club, I saw these prepaid Go phones for $17.00. I figured if I can make my kid blissfully happy for $17.00, why not? Of course we had to get Jared one too! So we're using this to our advantage. The kids must earn their minutes and they CANNOT take them anywhere without our permission. We'll see how it goes. Olivia got a tea party table, tea sets, and princess costumes. We didn't see that kid all day. It was nice! The bummer now is that she won't wear anything but those darn costumes, and it's Friday. I hope she doesn't expect to wear them to church. Jack of course had no clue as to what was going on and at one point became buried under wrapping paper from Olivia. The rest of the day was nice. We played Wii sports with the kids. I broke 100 for the first time while bowling. Of course I'm sure it doesn't count since I didn't play with a ball. Tons of fun though! My mom spent Christmas with us and actually behaved herself for dinner when my dad and step mom came over. Despite the hassles and crabbiness that Christmas brings, we enjoyed knowing our children will have happy memories for them to reflect back on in the future. Hope your day was special for y'all.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to our friends, family, and lurkers! We're having a great day! I'll be sure to post pictures and tell you more about it tomorrow (after I shop, of course!).

Christmas Eve Eve

Twas the night before Christmas Eve, the children ran a muck in the house. We were dressed in our Sunday best, not pictured, Damian's spouse. We hopped in the car and left for church in a hurry. Damian had to conduct music on time to avoid the bishop's fury. While leading all music, the children were left with their Mama. This poor lady had to deal with Olivia's drama. Olivia stole a handful of Sacrament bread, while her poor helpless mommy pulled her hair from her head. Despite all the chaos, ruckus and drama, the spirit was felt by everyone, "Holla!"

Gingerbread Houses

I thought I'd share one of our family traditions with you all. For Family night during the holidays, one of the activities we enjoy is to make a gingerbread house. The kids did a great job this year! Common sense dictates that if you have a two year old, you'd put the project away when finished. So I'll admit that I wasn't using my noodle. Olivia helped herself when we weren't watching. She sure enjoyed this activity this year!

"Huked on Fonics Workt fer Me!"

I read Kiahna's blog and found a link for website readability (you know, reading level). I was surprised to find my blog's readability was at a college (post graduate) level. Too cool! I intitally thought it would be lower since my days are filled with ABC 123. It is my hope that you find my daily ramblings enlightening. Here's the official ranking given by the sight and link to check it out if you don't believe me.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merwy Chrima!"

It's a miracle! We went to see Santa last night and Olivia looked at the camera! Santa knew what Mommy wanted!!! As you could see by the look on her face, she was completely in awe of that jolly old man. Another shocker, Santa asked Nick and Jared what they wanted for Christmas and they both said they didn't know. Santa said he would surprise them. I thought poor Santa would have to listen to the boys recite a long list of wishes. This was definitely an evening of surprises! Olivia was so impressed with her experience that she chanted "HO! HO! HO! Merwy Chrima!" the entire car ride home.

Christmas Card Revealed!

Here's a little sneak preview for the 4 readers of our blog (at least according to my calculations since about four readers leave comments--Lurkers and friends, leave comments or say "Hi"!) Anywho, Here is our family Christmas card Steph made for us (thanks again Steph, you spoil us). You should be getting your card this week, unless I don't know you or don't have your address. Olivia isn't really naughty, OK maybe a little, but we still love her! Olivia is still in the refusing to pose for pictures stage. The whole idea of the card was based on Olivia, so we just went with it and thought it was cheeky. Happy Holidays! Love, The Wolff's!

Jack is 3 Months Old!

Jack and I visited Steph last night for his three month pictures. I just wanted to share with you a yummy baby shot. Jack is getting to be a fatty (which we love). He is talking up a storm and is constantly smiling. He is such a good baby! We are indeed very blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Friends and Family! We hope your turkey day was as wonderful as ours! Yet again, I cooked way too much food (we could have fed several families, but no, it was all just for us)! I prepared eight side dishes as Damian and I could not decide what would be on the menu. So I cooked them all! As we ate, we each shared what we are thankful for. As a recap:

Olivia and Jack- No comment at this time, but we could speculate.
Nick-"My brothers and sister and bacon"
Jared-" My family and Jesus Christ"
Damian-" Family and Book of Mormon"
Jennifer-" So many things! Other than the obvious (family, church, home), I am thankful that Jack has joined our family. I am thankful that I have a great job despite the fact I really want to be home. I am thankful that after two of our vehicles have taken a dump, that we have one up and running (also thankful for extended warranties).Nick blessed the food and also thanked Heavenly Father for Vitamin A,C, and D. As we ate, Nick also recited a poem that he had learned at school and that his teacher had asked him to share. He excused himself to get this poem titled "Thanksgiving". We were pleasantly surprised to be provided with entertainment with our dinner!
Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving is a special time

When we should stop and think

About the good things in our lives

Besides the food and drink.

We're thankful for our homes and friends

And loving families.

There's much more to Thanksgiving Day

Than "Pass the turkey, please."

Nick couldn't have said how we feel any better. We are indeed thankful for all the good things in life and for this special day to turn our thoughts towards all of our blessings! I'm off for seconds as should you! Love, The Wolff Pack

Digi Challenge

As you all know, I have just finished an awesome photoshop class. Many who took the class were totally bummed out it was over so we decided to keep each other challenged by continuing to share and learn new tricks together. Thanks to Deb for the challenge given! I love how this layout turned out! It only took me ten minutes to create!

School Valet

So the boneheads (developers) that built the school I work at failed to realize the importance of building a school on a corner. So, because of the lack of forethought, traffic is a nightmare! The police dept. and the administrators came up with a very nice solution which is our valet program. It allows for older students to help younger students get out of their vehicles quickly and safely. Jared took a training course and a test and qualified to be a valet worker for the year. He is having so much fun with his BFF's (they all work the same days). Jared asked me to blog this for him so you all can see his important job at school.

My Latest Creations

I am a little sad that my digital scrapbooking class has come to an end! I've learned so much and am eager to print these pages off and add them to my scrapbook! I asked for an external hard drive for Christmas because of all of the goodies I've been downloading!! I recommend this course to any of my scrapper friends!

Nick's Baptism

Today was a special day for Nick. Not only was he baptized today, he was confirmed a member of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was truly touched to see my son reach this special milestone in his life! He was so excited and had the biggest smiles on his face. I started to get teary eyed and of course Nick started to giggle and point at me from the stand as I wiped my tears. Today was Olivia's first experience at a baptism. She laughed really loud as the children were immersed. As the doors were closed to the baptismal font, she freaked. Apparently she was not happy that it was over. It was a bit of a joy kill as she was a stinker the rest of the time. Grammy Linda made a special trip to be here today. Our friends the Williams, Taylor, and Nelson Families joined us and helped take part in Nick's confirmation. Our new Bishop attended as well. We'll be an easy family for him to remember as Jack was his first baby blessing and Nick was his first baptism as Bishop. After the baptism, everyone was invited to join the Taylor's at their home for food and good company. When we got home, Nick was surprised with his own set of scriptures. He told us today was the best day ever! We couldn't agree more!

Digital Scrapbooking

So, I've been dying to give digital scrapbooking a try. I signed up for an online course at www.JessicaSprague.com .She was recommended by Creating Keepsakes magazine. I've had a lot of fun learning to do this and have learned tons more about Photoshop. I don't think I'll give up tactile scrapping, I see myself maybe as a hybrid scrapper (you know, a little of both). The only problem is I have started to hoard digital materials (lots of free ones online). It really bogs down my hard drive. I may have to consider an external hard drive if I get serious. We'll see!

Halloween

What a CRAZY day Halloween was for us this year! Of course I had my Kindergartners bouncing off the walls yesterday! Today at school was even more fun because, as you know, they all had candy for breakfast. I should have fed them candy at the end of the day for paybacks (just kidding)! After school yesterday, we went to Steph's studio to have the kids pictures taken in their costumes. We ran home and picked up the decorations for our trunk and took the kids to trunk or treat at church. Our friends from Silver Creek Ward, the Lawson's, met up with us for candy and light saber dueling!

Pumpkin Patch

We spent family night at the "punky" patch (Olivia's words) last week before Damian left for a very long business trip(it's amazing how much you need and miss your spouse when they are away). Anyways, the kids had a blast. Olivia and Daddy rode Cinderella's Carriage together. The boys played on the inflatables. Each kid (including Jack) left with a "punky".

Plan B Weddings

As many of you know, my good friend Steph owns a photography studio and I help her out with her business by coordinating displays of her artwork in hospitals and high end kiddie couture stores. On occasion I shoot community events and weddings. She's trying an experiment with her business. She is in demand and many people who want her to shoot for them just can't afford her. So she asked a few of her friends/ employees who have shot for her before if we would be interested in providing more affordable photographer services. So her idea of Plan B photography (a division of Inky-Dinky-Do ) was born. I recently helped to shoot a wedding this month and here are a few of my images. If you know of a deserving bride, please contact me and I'll give you Steph's contact information. Steph is looking for three more weddings this year to use as training for those of us who will shoot as Plan B.

"Mommy, I Hope he Loves Baseball!"

Nick has been making the cutest comments lately! He was telling me how much he loves Jack and that it makes him sad that Jared doesn't like baseball. Jared has played several sports, but ends up not impressed with his experiences. He is my child that enjoys art, music, books (anything creative really). We always give him the opportunity to play, but he turns us down. This disappoints Nick. So Nick, after telling me how much he loves Jack tells me " Mommy, I hope he (Jack) loves baseball like me so we can play together!" My heart melted hearing of Nick's hopes for his baby brother. So, in honor of Nick's love of baseball, we took baseball pictures of Jack in our great room with all of Nick's baseball stuff. I'll probably scrapbook this in a layout for both the boy's scrapbooks and in my scrapbook. Everyone has to have their own, you know, so that when I die, nobody fights over the pictures.

The Padres vs. The Yankees

Nick's team played the Yankees this weekend! From what I understand, the Yankees are the best team this season. The Padres did an awesome job! I don't usually keep score, but in the end, Nick's team was down by about 3 points. In other words, they did awesome! Nick and his buddies thought they won. Who am I to burst their bubble? One of the grandma's at the game pointed out something to me. EVERY time Nick is catcher (which is for most of the game) he crosses his fingers behind his back (see photo). I asked him if there was a reason and he said "For luck". Too stinkin' cute! On another note, I watched general conference today and was impressed by President Eyring's talk. He stated (and I hope I get this right, but here is the gist of it) that Heavenly Father doesn't always give us experiences just for us, so write it down. I got a little teary eyed as did Damian as we thought about documenting our family history not only for the significant moments, but maybe some of the more mundane moments. These experiences may be more significant than we think. So maybe our kids can look back at journals, blogs, scrapbooks, etc... and find something they may need when they are grown. On a more humorous note, the first presidency has further strengthened my argument for hoarding scrapbook materials and keeping the office as more of a scrapbooking space.

Jack's Visit with Stephanie

Jack and I went to Steph's house for a visit yesterday. Steph updated pictures of Jack for us. Jack was so happy to be there that he, too wanted to visit and we patiently had to wait for him to fall asleep. Needless to say, Steph and I had a great visit! Steph, you spoil our family way too much!! XXOO!

What's Up!?!

I thought it's about time for a Wolff Pack update. I also figured I might as well get as much blogging in before I go back to work as I may not have a whole lot of time on my hands (or energy). Jack is great! He is 5 weeks old today! I must say, he is the easiest of all of my babies! He is beginning to smile and his cheeks are becoming quite chubby! He wakes up twice to feed at nights, but goes right back to sleep! He definitely shows his preference to Mommy, but that could be because I am his food source. Olivia is as cute as ever! She is having a hard time sharing what was once her time. We are having lots of tantrums, drama, and have put potty training on hold. Nick started cub scouts this week. He is very excited! They went to a local school to plant some flowers. He loves that his BFF Scott is in his group! Our ward is much smaller now as a new ward was created in our stake and to do this, families from our ward were moved. Both Nick and Jared's scout group was reduced to 3-4 kids. This weirds us out as our ward was typically one of the biggest in our stake. Nick turns eight this month and is preparing to be baptized. He started baseball a little rusty this fall and is coming out of his rut. He plays catcher for his team and is quite good at it. He is doing well in school and has won the heart of his teacher and seems to be the life of the party at school. I am not sure if that is good or bad, I'll get back to you on that. Jared is doing well in school. His progress report was excellent. He got two B's and all A's. We are very proud of him. He wants to start piano again so we are on the hunt for a new teacher as one teacher stopped teaching and Kiahna moved away:0(. He loves being a Bear Scout and is super excited that he now gets to go to Matthew's house for scouts. If you've seen Matthew's house, you know why.