A little bit girly...

After I took these pictures this morning Haley asked, "are you going to put them on the computer?"

So, here we go...

 After 7 years I may have succeeded in a fancy girlish hairdo.  Of course, it is not perfect.  We are talking before school here.  But she was happy with it.  Probably took me way more bobbie pins than I really needed, but I am not anywhere close to expert.  Peter of course called her Princess Leia, which she was not happy with.  They are roses, Peter. At least that is what we are calling them.

Sweet little girl. Sometimes I can be a successful mom to a girl.

Hat Trick!

Boastful mom moment....I think he surprised us all last night, including himself!  He had an incredible game of indoor soccer last night!  He played field the whole game, instead of keeper for half.  Good thing too, Caleb scored 3 goals for his team last night!  Yes, Caleb Gray.  Can you just imagine my cheering?!?!?  The poor lady that decided to talk on her phone right as Caleb scored his second goal, she was not ready for me. :)  And then to get a third!  He was in the right place at the right time and totally in the zone!  I loved it!  Unfortunately we were playing a really good, fast, physical team, so we lost 5-10.  But three of those goals were by this awesome kid, Hat Trick!  He was a pretty happy kid!

An Eagle in the house

 This AMAZING kid!

 Robert Caleb Gray

Eagle Scout

 Yes, I made this in honor of his Eagle.  Hopefully I get to use it again in a year or so. 

 We had a live eagle come for the Court of Honor.  It was so cool!!  Nick Harris was the man that brought the eagle and he shared so many interesting facts about the eagle, all tying in back in to scouting.  The eagle, Liberty, was very vocal that night, and always seemed to be looking in the direction of Caleb and Haley.  It was a really neat experience for us all.

After he received the Eagle Rank and Charge.  We could not be more proud of him and all he is accomplishing, plus his great example.  And he is not even done. Has one more merit badge (maybe 2) he wants to earn and will receive his first palm at the end of this month.  Love you, Caleb!

Harry Potter Yule Ball

 First things first, this cool kid decided that his goal was to read Harry Potter 1 before the Yule Ball.  He finished the night before, he was pretty proud of himself.

 Second, I was crazy and decided to sew a cloak for Caleb the night before the Yule Ball.

 Day of, fun preparations.  I made the boys pumpkin pasties and chocolate caramel pretzel wands, plus lots of other yummy food for our "great feast."  I also decorated our dinner area with the lights to resemble the feast.  As my awesome Haley put it, "it looks like the cultural hall in Harry Potter." So cool!

 We dropped the boys off at the library in a blizzard.  Bridger also went with them and they all had a blast!

 The dance area was decorated really cool with lights and the crest of each house.  Not only was there butter beer (one cup per kid, grrr), they had a Honeyduke's candy shop, a really enormous line for divination, scavenger hunts, different trivia games and fun activities, and the kids could receive coins to vote for their house to win the house cup at the end of the night.  Hufflepuff won!!

 They also had this really awesome bearded dragon dressed as a Hungarian Horntail.

 Live owls.  In this picture the owl was busy tearing up a tissue with his talons, to help it not be bored.

The kids walked away from the night really happy and with some really cute looking Harry Potter glasses that make them look too adorable.  It was a super fun night!

Where have we been???

We are still here, just lots of things going on.  So, before I get to the meat of exciting things, here are a few random things that have happened.  Fun little things to remember:

 Zoo lights!

 Caleb's science fair.

 Baby alpacas!  So freaking cute!

Home Depot kid's workshop.  Yes, we went in our PJ's.  Yes, it was a super fun building project.

And we FINALLY got our snow!  It was so freaking fun to play in the snow!

Squeezing in more Christmas fun

We had a couple of Christmas parties, just our little family...

At one we played this silly little candy cane game.  It was pretty fun and Rob and I did very well at it.  I also have to remember what a success the "Draw that Song" game was.  Like Pictionary, only drawing Christmas carols and then after they guessed the right song, we sang it.  Everyone loved it!

William was rocking it this night (actually everyone looked pretty cool in those glasses)!

At dinner for our party.  Everyone was awesome!

Grandma and Grandpa Rachiele gave us a super fun new game, Farmopoly. Just like Monopoly but everything to do with the farm. 

 Christmas day

 I think everyone was pretty happy with the things they got.  Well, for the most part.  Haley was slightly disappointed that Santa gave Peter a teddy bear and she got a tiger (she had written a letter to Santa ((in school)) 3 days before Christmas that she wanted a teddy bear.)  William seemed a little down that there was not more for him under the tree.  And Caleb felt a little sad that he did not get any toys for Christmas.

 But he did get some snazzy shoes, and Diedre liked her fabric gift bags she made (I am a dork).

Granny Gray's house had plenty of snow to play in.  Haley was out there for all of 10 minutes.

But Caleb and others built a great snowman.  Then everyone else had loads of fun playing the Jason Gray's new video game, singing together, eating together, laughing together and having fun.  Even Peter said it was an awesome Christmas!  Steve made delicious ranch to go with the rolls.  Dacia made a terrific roast and gravy.  My kids loved playing with baby Abby.  Kids had great cousin time. It was awesome!