French Braids

Okay...NO ONE else in the whole world is going to appreciate this as much as me. So just ignore this post...it's just for me. I can FINALLY french braid Tatum's hair!!!! YAHOO!!! I've waited for over 2 years to be able to do this. So...like I said...only I care that Tatum now has real hair:)

Max's Spooky 5th Birthday Party!!!

Make a Smilebox invite

I am having a really hard time believing that my little Max is turning 5!!!  We have been talking about this party for about 6 weeks now--I wish I would have thought of it around Nov. 1st when all the Halloween stuff was on clearance!  It's super hard to find anything halloweenish in January!  But we managed just fine.  We had Max's party a little early this year and Max was super excited about it all.  He was telling all his friends at preschool about how "spooky" his party was going to be.  Apparently he stretched the truth a bit and we had a few kids a little scared to come ("a haunted house with dead bodies coming out of the ground")!  But I'm glad that everyone did come because we had such a great time!  

We played "Pumpkin Bowling," "Eyeball Ping-Pong Bounce," and the "Mummy Wrap."  Everyone enjoyed pizza, cheetos, witch's brew (kool-aid with dry ice), and of course cake and ice cream.  The cake was a spider!!! 

Despite all of my organizational efforts, the kids had the BEST time just running around the yard playing together!  Max was soo happy with all of his gifts.  Mrs. Packer (Max's preschool teacher) even surprised us with a visit!!!  

So all in all it was a FANTASTIC SPOOKY party!!!

Tatum is a Maniac!!!

Okay, so I couldn't resist!  Tatum was just too darn cute!  She is playing with this toy piano that ALL 4 kids have played with so it's like 10 years old but still a favorite.  AND she is wearing her favorite PJs that she just got for Christmas.  She calls them her "Chickie Boom Boom/Santa Claus jamies."  Explanation:  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is currently her most favorite book to read and every page of the book has a polka dot border--hence, her polka dot pants.  And there's Santa Claus on the shirt--self-explaining.  It's funny what these kids come up with!  So here she is!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSuxQlucCuM&layer_token=6fd53438263d7cdc

New Year's Day 2010

Oh my gosh!!!  We have avoided the snow for WAY too long!  Up to this year the kids had never seen real snow before--last year we went to Chic-fil-A one lazy evening to have dinner and it just happened to be "Family Night" and a snow machine had been brought in and a patch of snow was made in the parking lot--sad, I know.  Sooo...we promised the kids "real" snow this year and we delivered!!!  

We drove to Deming on Thursday, December 31st to go and help my family pull off a surprise 25th anniversary party for my sister and her husband.  Always fun to be with family and the party was a complete surprise which was a small miracle in and of itself!  And then on New Year's Day, my younger brother, Travis, and his family drove to Silver City with us.  We were getting a little nervous because we sure weren't seeing a whole lot of snow but then all of the sudden...SNOW!!!  As we were driving up the mountain to Pinos Altos, Max was looking out the window in total awe.  He said, "I never knew that snow was REAL!"  Poor Arizona kid!!!

We had borrowed snow clothes from friends in our ward and we were all completely outfitted for the event.  So we stayed nice and warm and dry all day!  It was the PERFECT day.  There was no wind, no new snow falling, and we had a whole hill to ourselves.  we spent hours playing and playing.  The kids all had 3 things on their snow agenda:  

1) Make a snow angel 

2) Build a snowman 

and 3) Sled!!!  

Tatum and Sabey LOVED going down the slope together!!!

Travis....need I say more?!

Let me just explain to everyone that my dad has been a farmer his whole life!  So it really was cold this day but my dad is made completely of leather!!!  He had no need for his jacket and he doesn't even own a pair of gloves!!!

Well check, check, and check!!!  Ethan was the biggest surprise to us.  He is our kid that is "allergic to roller coasters" and yet he was the one with limitless energy to keep climbing the hill and sledding down!  We all had such a great time!  The kids are already asking to go again next year.  I think I will be buying some snow clothes now that we know how much fun we've been missing out on!  (It wouldn't be as fun in he wrong clothes for sure:)

Grandmas Sherry & Donna--the Cheerleaders of the day!

This is a short little clip of Tatum & Cousin Sabey sledding on their own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmh5P5_ueZg&layer_token=9af722a06bdf4042

Christmas 2009

What a FANTASTIC year we have had.  We have thoroughly enjoyed this holiday season.  I LOVE the ages of my kids right now.  Everything is soo magical to them.  We just had soo much fun preparing for Christmas!  Carlie wanted to help Santa out this year by creating her own "list" to keep track of everyone's behavior:

But as you can see....Max was the ONLY one getting any tally marks on the "Annoying" chart--Tatum did get ONE "Naughty."  So we had to come up with a more fair judge and that is how I came across "The Elf on the Shelf."  

I had never heard of him before this year but my sister-in-law, Stephanie, and I found the Elf at the mall and we each brought one home to help us out this year--and for every year from here on out.  The kids LOVED the elf right away and they named him "Buddy" just like on one of their favorite Christmas movies--"Elf."  And every day "Buddy" would be somewhere new.  It became a fun game to be the first to find him every morning.  And every night "Buddy" would return to the North Pole to report back to Santa on the kids' behavior.  So this new experiment has now become a new family tradition!  The kids can't wait to see "Buddy" again next year!  

Grandma Donna came up on Christmas Eve.  We opened our traditional Christmas Eve PJs and then we were off to do some cookie ditching and Christmas light seeing!  I wasn't planning on cookie ditching this year but the kids just had to!  It is hilarious to watch them do it!  They pick the houses, ring the bell, and run like mad!  Max wanted in on the fun this year except when he ran, he yelled!  We tried to explain to him that he couldn't yell because that could give us away.  We had a good laugh this year!  We found some amazingly decorated neighborhoods this year.  We had a great time.  Here are the kids in their PJs:

On Christmas morning, the kids were knocking on our door at 6:30 a.m.  We were all up and at 'em and opening gifts by 7.  Carlie got lots of clothes, a new softball bat, and a digital camera.  Ethan got his Ninetendo DS this year along with some games for it--and clothes too!  Max got his "Rocky the Robot Truck" which he soo desperately wanted!  Nothing else mattered to him.  Tatum got some more puzzles, clothes, and fun toys.  All the kids got socks and underwear from our most thoughtful dogs--Bubba and Minnie:)  My sister also got all of them cowboy boots so they would have them to work on the farms back home in Deming, NM.  So all in all it was a fantastic Christmas!  We had a huge lunch and then went off to a park to enjoy the beautiful weather and try out some of our new gifts.  It was a perfect day for the Meeker Family!

This is Max at the park.  We call

him our "Luchador" (Mexican wrestler)

He was scaring the other kids away!

Packer Preschool Christmas Program '09

Since all of my kids have gone to Chris Packer's preschool, we have been to lots of her programs and we LOVE LOVE LOVE them.  Chris Packer does such a great job with these kids.  Carlie, Ethan, and Max have all enjoyed their time in her school.  So here is Max in his Christmas program that took place on Friday, December 18th.  He is such a performer--kinda like his big sis!  We are soo proud of this boy!!!  Here he is!!!

"Boogie Woogie Santa Claus"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kGQTavgVW8&layer_token=ef1e16b3324e0eda

"Is This Not a Christmas Tree?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEFs1kzDEMY&layer_token=ed2c845238dea663

"I'll Be a Little Angel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JvpYPUUl7Q&layer_token=8af43ce8f1e9b40d

The Most Wonderful TIme of the Year!!!

Hannah Brundage, Annie Hall, Brooklyn Varvel, Tatum Jones, Sydney Del Fosse,

Carlie Meeker, and Zoe Gustafson

It really is the most wonderful time of year--not to mention, one of the busiest as well!  So here we are at Carlie's music theater performance that took place on Tuesday, December 15th.  We were able to hook up with several girls in our ward involved in this activity so Carlie had a great time with great friends.  We were actually quite pleased with this performance.  We were amazed at the amount of music these kids knew (9 numbers!)--and the costume didn't cost us an arm and a leg (we've been involved in dance recitals for 2 years now)!  So here is Carlie in her element--she has NO problem performing in front of crowds!

"I Got Rhythm"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCe51gMMAfc&layer_token=67bfb7b1678df529

"Straighten Up and Fly Right"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu6OGAPsL4o&layer_token=3a05d85d8a79577e

"Don't Get Around Much Anymore"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLXudaVTexM&layer_token=c318731fd9bcc619

"De-Lovely"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aIH44q0AP0&layer_token=bd286130c7346a6b

"Almost Like Being in Love"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9_lk3X5Tc&layer_token=ceea4efa0ba028ba

"Orange Colored Sky"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JowBoBqEC2Y&layer_token=7f8ca812d3c7defb

"Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqweUwxwDFY&layer_token=7090e276e8e4ddc4

"The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe0hwSB7-gk&layer_token=99f4b643c3895ad7

"When Christmas Comes to Town"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKE8fTGwk8k&layer_token=82719a92a96ea954