Goodbye Diapers, Hello Panties

 

 

A few weeks ago we started the potty training process with Alexa. She took to it really fast, and is officially in panties(except while sleeping). She rarely has accidents! We are down to one in diapers, and it is so nice! Hopefully, Alexa continues doing well!!

Reese Family Team

 

We are all now officially committed to the Arizona Cardinals Football Team. Austin is the only one in our family who doesn't own some type of Cardinals gear. He is growing so fast, that I hate to spend money on something he will wear a few times. We might have to settle on a Cardinals Snow hat for him. We were so sad to see our team loose to the Saints in the Playoffs. We will be ready to support them next Football season!

Christmas 2009

 

 

 

 

We had a great Christmas! This year Santa wrapped all of the presents, so when the kids woke up they didn't know what they had gotten. They had to wait until 7AM to open presents with the whole family. Steve and I thought it was more fun this way, but the kids don't all agree! They hate waiting for things! I guess they have a lot of me in them! The boys were surprised to find a play station 3. They also received Rock Band, Madden 2010, NBA Live 2009, and Wall-e. They were also very excited to get more Cardinal Jerseys. Sydney loves her easy-bake oven, cardinals sweatshirt(yes, even the girls support this team,) and a pink scooter. Alexa got an electric 4-wheeler, rocking horse, and Cardinals shirt. Austin is so happy with his mobile. He loves to lay under and hit all the toys. I got a Fitzgerald Cardinals Jersey, and Steve got a date night out with me and only 1 kid. (1 kids is so relaxing, compared to 6)

Christmas Goodies

 

Taking cookies around to friends and family right before Christmas has been a tradition in our family since Conner was just a baby. The baking has gotten a lot easier now that I have taught Conner and Derek how to cook. This year they baked 5 different types of cookies to take around. The cookies consisted of snicker doodles, sugar cookies with frosting, homemade Oreo cookies, peanut butter, and Norwegian sugar cookies with sprinkles. I seriously didn't even help them make the cookies. While Steve and I were wrapping presents, the boys were doing all the baking. I will have to admit that the cookies turned out just as well as when I make them. We formed a buffet line, and had all the kids go around putting 2 of each cookie on a plate. We delivered about 50 plates of cookies! Although, it is time consuming this tradition is one of my favorites, and the kids favorites.

Sydney's Christmas Gymnastics Recital

 

 

Sydney has been taking Gymnastics for the last 4 months. I put her in an older class to push her a little bit faster than the beginning class. She is the youngest in the class, while the majority of the class are 6 or 7 years old. Regardless, she loves it! She hasn't quite figured out how to do a cartwheel, but she does her best. Her gymnastics teacher has told me how much she loves Sydney. She says that Sydney tries her best to do whatever they are doing in class, even if she has no clue how to do it.

Conner and Derek Flag Football

 

 

 

One thing that the kids never get tired of is Football. Love is not a strong enough word to describe what these three boys think about this particular sport. Conner had just ended a season of Tackle Football, and he still wanted to play Flag Football. Conner and Derek both had fun, and did very well. Conner was the quarterback almost every game, and Derek played running back and receiver the majority of the time. Conner threw very well, and made many touchdown passes. Derek had his fair share of touchdowns and interceptions. They are now starting Basketball! This is their second favorite sport. They have been getting in shape, and training for their first game(which is tomorrow.) They love to run on the treadmill, lift my 8 pound weights, and now they have gone off sugar for the Basketball season. They are very self motivated! We will see how long the (NO Sugar) lasts!

Cameron during Flag Football

 

 

Cameron has one true love, and that is Football. This kid sleeps,eats, talks, and plays football every second of his life. Cam will even play football by himself. He will throw the ball in the air, and then dive on the ground to catch it. I can sum it up by saying he is slightly obsessed with the sport. Since he plays football with Conner and Derek in the mornings at school, he has gotten really good. It is quite funny to watch them play before school. Cameron is the only 1st grader playing with all 4Th and 5Th graders. He can definitely hold his own! You would think he wouldn't be thrown the ball very often playing with such older kids, but think again! They throw him the ball quite often, and he catches it most of the time. He did very well during the Flag Football season. His only flaw, was forgetting every now and then that it wasn't tackle football. You could always bet that if Cam was around he would make sure the other team didn't get by him. If he couldn't get a good hold of their flag, he would tackle them and get it. He made us laugh numerous times each game. He also scored an average of 3 touchdowns a game. He is sad that Flag Football has ended, but excited that Basketball will be starting soon.

Sydney and Mom's School Christmas Program

 

 

 

 

My class at school combined with the other Early Childhood classes to present a Christmas Program for parents. The kids sang,"Up on the House Top," with the whole group. Then just my class sang, "Nuttin for Christmas." After the singing performance the students and their parents made candy trains. Santa also made an appearance, and handed out candy canes to all the kids. Sydney loved singing for the performance, and sitting on Santa's lap. I don't think Alexa was as fond of Santa!

Alexa Turned 2 year old

 

 

 

 

Alexa turned 2 years old on December 11Th. Family that live in Logandale were in attendance. We ate cake and ice-cream, and opened presents. She got a doll from us that goes pee and poop, a xylophone, ponies with a brush, and a Dora card that sings when you open it. Believe it or not, the hit of the night was the Dora card. She didn't want to open any more presents after that card. I literally had to hide the card to get her to open the rest of her presents. She is slightly addicted to Dora!! Alexa is in such a fun stage! She is talking so much, and so well. She is adored by all her family members.

First Place Inventor Award

 

Conner was given an assignment in his 5Th grade Science class to come up with an invention. They had to present this invention in front of the whole 5Th grade. Steve and I are not lovers of Science(To say the least). I suggested to Conner that he call his Uncle Justin. Justin loves Science experiments. They worked on the invention together and came up with something cool! A remote control truck was hooked to some weights, which was hooked to a toaster. When the truck started moving it pulled down the weights, and then eventually pulled the handle down on the toaster. The bread would then start to toast. It was quite cool. It was a very interesting way to avoid using your finger to push the handle down on the toaster. Conner was one of 4 students out of the 5Th grade to get First Place. He was awarded a bag full of toys and candy. Way to Go Justin and Conner!

Annual Knott's Berry Farm Trip

 

 

 

 

We have been going to Knott's Berry Farm in December for the last 8 years. It has definitely become one of our traditions! Each year we go with family or friends. This year we went with a combination of both. Our good friends the Raban's, and the Endy's (Steve's sister) came along with us. A few years ago we made the trip to LA in about 5 hours with stops. This time it took us 9 hours! Many stops along the way to potty the kids, feed the baby, and eat. Plus we hit some road construction in Barstow. I guess when you have six kids, traveling gets a little bit more chaotic! Regardless, we all had a great time riding roller coasters, and hanging out with friends and cousins. I had to take a picture of our stroller while we were at Knott's. I don't think we could have crammed one more thing into it! It will be funny to look back when our kids are all grown, and remember what packing for a Theme Park used to be like.

Wolf and Webelo Scout Badges

 

 

Their hard work paid off! Derek received his Wolf Badge and Conner received his Webelo badge. They were awarded these badges together at the December Scout Pack meeting. Derek has moved up to the Bear scout group. Conner graduated from the Cub Scouts, and is currently a Boy Scout working on Merit Badges. It will take him 21 Merit Badges on top of his big project to get his Eagle. He had better get busy!