new rooms, new clothes, and New Year's Eve

We spent the Saturday after Christmas cleaning out toys. We had to make room for all the new ones! We put a ton of older, baby-ish toys up in the attic and while we were at it, we played musical bedrooms. Molly was ready to be on her own. We figure we probably better give her the chance now while Stockton is still okay to be sharing with a girl.

To say that Molly was excited about her own room was an understatement! She kept saying it was her very best, most favorite Christmas present. She became so obsessed and conscientious about the state of her room...it was perfectly clean at any moment of the day for the first month. She still keeps it fairly clean even now, but the newness has worn off a little bit and she needs a little more encouragement to pick it up.

back to where she began in this house-same room, same bed, just a few changes...and a much bigger girl!

Stockton graduated to the top bunk and Brynn got the bottom. They have done well in this situation. There are those occasional nights that they can't stop playing but that doesn't happen all the time so it's good.

This all happened at just the right time...Molly wasn't ready a few months ago when we asked her, claiming she would be too scared by herself. Also a few months ago, Stockton was still getting up every night and I worried about him climbing down the stairs in his sleepy state. But gradually we saw signs that Molly needed her own space and Stockton was getting up less and less so it just worked out.

My mom always gifts the kids new church clothes for Christmas.

After all the partying and celebrating through the holiday, we like to keep our New Year's Eve low-key and simple. I can't even remember what we ate but I do remember the double layer cake Molly made in her Easy Bake Oven.

We usually just get out all the board games as an option of something to do and this year I rented some Wii Games from Redbox. The Wipeout game was a favorite across the board. It was a little hard for Stockton but he was able to hold on to the remote with one of us and make it work that way. It took Molly a few times to figure it out but once she got the hang of it, she was hooked. Justin and I also really liked it. It is a game that we would probably buy for ourselves.

We let the kids stay up as long as they wanted. Brynn went to bed around her normal time, Stockton around 10, and Molly crashed sometime after that...probably 10:30 or so. Justin and I stayed up to watch the ball drop and then went to bed (we actually watched the ball drop while laying in bed-we are so exciting).

Good-bye 2013! Happy 2014!!

Comments

Brynn @ 18 months

Yes, you read that right. Brynn is 18 months old!! She is so fun to have around the house and I haven't done a post devoted just to her for a while, so I thought it was about time. -She loves books! She was never really that interested until sometime in the past couple months and now she can't get enough. Sacrament meeting went from impossible to we can make it through...as long as I pack enough books for her. This is how I often find her at night or during nap time. -She also loves blankets and towels, although she is not particular about which blanket. She just wants something soft. She wants to walk around all over with them wrapped around her...they don't stay very well and she gets frustrated. For that reason, I try to keep her blankets out of sight during the day. They come out when it's time to sleep. -Like my other kids, she loves her warm milk! Actually, she'll drink it cold too. -She is a quiet one, always has ...

Stockton's 16th birthday

Stockton turned 16 on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. We've always told him he has the best day to have a birthday but I don't think he was convinced this year. He was anxious to turn 16 and get his license...it really felt like it took forever to get here. I told Justin that Stockton had to wait so much longer than Molly to get his license and he said, "actually, it took the exact same amount of time", which is factually true, it just felt a lot longer with Molly getting her license September of her sophomore year and Stockton not getting his until after sophomore year, before junior year. But, it did eventually arrive and we did our best to celebrate. We did the family celebration the Sunday before, since it was Girl's Camp that week and Justin, Molly, and Brynn would all be gone on his actual birthday. We had his requested dinner, meatballs, and he opened his presents. He got his favorite treats (nerd clusters, sour patch watermelon, and cow tails) and a new bat th...

all about Stockton

Stockton has loved having his license. He enjoys his independence immensely and does not take it for granted, probably because he had to wait for so long. He takes care of his truck, inside and out. He is always willing to run errands for me or take/pick up his sisters when I need him to. He tries to take back roads whenever he can-good thing you can get most anywhere in Heber on back roads. This summer his love for cars has really amped up. He said he's always loved cars but he has just been noticing and talking about them more and more. He will point out a "cool car" whenever we are in the car and has a lot of knowledge about all the different features of the different cars. He has a dream car (can't remember which one) but also knows which color he would get in each of the different kinds of sports cars. He has slowly been buying sports car Lego sets with his birthday money, putting them together, and displaying them in his room. It's fun to see how excited h...

GOODRICH

Search This Blog