Christmas in Virginia

We were able to celebrate Christmas with Scott's family this year. All of the siblings, in-laws, and grandchildren were there except Ryan who is on a mission in Argentina. There were a grand total of 16 people in the house for a week including 5 little boys ranging from almost 4 years old to 2 months old! We had a lot of fun watching the boys interact, playing games, watching the trains, going to the temple, eating Doug's delicious cooking, and many other things.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

This picture does not do the amount of gifts justice. There were so many gifts that it took us almost 3 hours to open everything!

Here are Rigby, Daniel, and Peter watching Rudolph while patiently waiting to open presents. I was VERY impressed that they did not throw a fit or try to sneak into some gifts while we waited for everyone to assemble.

Peter was so much fun this year because he finally knew what Christmas entailed. He furiously ripped open each present and exclaimed, "YES, this is just what I wanted! This is just what I wanted! Thank you!!!" Even if he had not mentioned it ever before, everything was just what he wanted. Peter may be our dramatic little boy, but his enthusiastic reactions are priceless!

Rigby enjoyed himself too, but just in a quieter way. He always has such serious looks on his face when he is concentrating or thinking. His facial expressions and subtle reactions are fun to watch, just in a different way than Peter's.

Peter and Rigby became VERY good buddies with Grandpa Flamm. Peter wanted to hang out with Grandpa every waking moment. It was really cute.

Here are Scott and Rigby just chillin' on the couch. My 2 laid back boys!
On the other hand, here is my intense Peter playing with his Spiderman.

BABY BLESSING

Jason and Lindsey had their little baby boy, Joshua, blessed during the visit.

FAMILY PICTURES

All 16 of us.

The attempted Grandparent-Grandkids picture. It may not be a perfect picture, but it sure makes me laugh to look at now!
Here is the second attempt. Peter looks like he is trying to strangle Rigby. The poor boys thought this was a form of torture.
Fatima, Stephen, & Gabriel
Jason, Lindsey, Daniel, & Joshua

Scott, Rachel, Rigby & Peter
This picture turned out pretty poorly-especially me. The boys were so done with pictures by this point.
Stephen, Scott, Jason, Eric, Melissa, Kristine, Doug, & Kathryn
What a sweet picture, huh? I want one like this when Scott and I have been married for 31 years.

RANDOM PICTURES

Here is silly Peter dressing up in my pajamas pants.

Rigby really loved hanging out with Uncle Eric.

Thanksgiving and Other Stuff

Thanksgiving was good. Scott was able to take off work starting Wednesday, so the kids and I loved that. The official celebration of Thanksgiving is probably one of the harder holidays for me though because 1) I dislike cooking, and 2) there is no family close to get together with to make the pain of cooking more bearable! So, to cope with my issues we just SIMPLIFY! This is the "simple feast" we had: rolls, jello, pumpkin chiffon pie, carrots and broccoli with dip by me & turkey, cranberry sauce, and Stove Top stuffing by Scott. In my family it really is blasphemy to do Stove Top stuffing and I truly miss my Great-Grandma's stuffing, but easier meal equals happier Rachel, thus happier family!

Rigby just about lost his mind while waiting for the meal. He ate breakfast, but after that it was snacks until we ate at about 3 p.m. I told Scott that Rigby's list of what he wants in a future spouse will need to have this requirement at the top: Someone who prepares and finishes meals ON TIME! The boy cannot handle a hungry tummy! He must have tired himself out with all that drama because he passed out while we were watching the Phineas & Ferb movie (fun movie by the way).

And here is part 2 of my "decorate mantle for the holidays" goal this year.
We bought and decorated our Christmas tree on Saturday. The kids love it so much that they have knocked off half of the needles and I am continually rehanging ornaments! Oh well, it is worth it to see them get so excited. Seeing the holidays through the kids eyes makes it so much more meaningful!

Part of the reason I have not posted much the last few months is because of various Young Women events. I had a blast helping with YW in Excellence this year, but I must admit I am glad it is over! Our theme was Princesses/Daughter of a King. Here are some of the fun things I got to do:

This quote by Elder Uchtdorf was what we based much of the program upon.

The girls were given bookmarks with Elder Uchtdorf's quote on one side and a picture of the Houston Temple with the YW theme on the other side. The tassels were made from embroidery floss of each of the value colors.

I found a wax sealing kit at Hobby Lobby that I used for the invitations.

We hung these gold-glitter balls with ribbons of the different value colors from wires across the ceiling. We also had crowns for the girls and an eight foot cardboard cutout of a castle. It really felt like a royal event.

I was even more excited about the actual program because each of the girls was able to share a personal progress goal they had completed and how it had strengthened their testimony. We had a few unavoidable technical problems like no sound system and a loud activity taking place on the other side of the curtain, but regardless I know the Spirit was there and I hope the girls enjoyed it!


Here are some recent pictures of my cute boys:

Rigby wears hats or his little hoodie sweatshirt all of the time. He is also obsessed with shoes (especially my high heels:). This boy knows how to melt our hearts without even trying.
Peter loves to dress up in more peculiar ways than his brother. Lately it usually involves Scott's socks without pants or a shirt-sometimes without both ;). I promise I make him get dressed at the beginning of the day, but for some reason he never stays that way. This boy knows how to make us laugh!

Scott recently got the new iPhone. The boys love snuggling up with him to watch short cartoon clips before bedtime.

And just in case you made it to the end of this ridiculously long post . . . . . . .

. . . . Peter and Rigby are excited to announce that they are getting a baby . . . .

SISTER!!!!

I think her name is going to be Adelyn Afton Flamm (still not completely sure). One thing I am sure of is that the color PINK is exponentially increasing in our house and I am having way too much fun with all this girly stuff!

Halloween 2011 (only 5 days late, not 7 1/2 months)

I decided that I needed to make our house look more festive for the holidays this year, so I have been working on getting some Halloween, Fall, and Christmas decorations. Many of our walls are empty from every day decor, so getting seasonal decorations to put up was not on my list of priorities. However, the kids are at the perfect age to get excited about simple decorations like window stickies, so we have made a few purchases at the dollar store, Target's dollar section, and Hobby Lobby. Here is what we came up with for Halloween on the mantle. Not great, but better than nothing right? And yes, after 2 1/2 years there is still no picture above the fire place. Someday, someday . . .

We also found some cute little pumpkin socks that the boys went crazy over.
After seeing them roll in the dirt while camping, I was a little surprised that they did not dive into pumpkin carving.
Peter just enjoyed being his normal goofy self and refused to put his hand in the pumpkin; but he did like to dump the seeds back into the pumpkin after all of my hard work of getting them out!

Rigby was fine getting a little dirty after I grabbed his hand and made him pull out some pumpkin guts.

They loved seeing our "scary face" and "ghost" pumpkins lit up at night and they absolutely LOVE their glow in the dark "bones shirts."
Since the kids got plenty of candy at our ward Halloween party on Saturday, they just stayed home and helped us hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters on Monday. Peter LOVED giving the kids handfuls of dum-dums (yup, I'm cheap; I gave the good stuff away at the ward party). The kids were so wound up after all the trick-or-treaters coming by that it took them until 11 pm to settle down enough to sleep.

And the GRAND FINALE of Halloween. My handsome little knights.

Here is Peter as a "dragon knight" (as he calls it).

Here is Rigby as a "lion knight."

And the greatest part of being a knight is sword fighting with daddy!

Camping at Pedernales Falls

We have not had a family trip with all four of us yet this year, so we decided to go camping with my friend Shauna and her family. Pedernales Falls State Park is west of Austin and about four hours from our house. It was strange to be in more of a desert environment with cactus and scrubby cedar trees because we get so use to the more humid loving vegetation in Houston (which is all dead because of the drought now!). I had the boys touch the end of the cactus, so they would understand to STAY AWAY! They stayed clear of the cactus, but Rigby managed to fall and get 20 to 30 tiny barbs stuck in his hand. It took us a good 15 minutes with tweezers to pull them all out; I guess he is my accident prone child!

The boys LOVED running around with their flashlights in the dark. It was great because we could keep track of them better. Also, Rigby could not stay away from the stove. Do not worry, we made sure to turn off the propane.

There was A LOT of playing in the dirt. The boys became one with the dirt and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I put away my OCD clean side and actually enjoyed seeing them get filthy; although, I confess that I had to give them a quick shower before they stepped into the tent for bedtime. (Peter is fairly clean in this picture, but we do not have a picture of him at his worst)

They also LOVED playing in the water and throwing rocks.
They both had fun playing with "the girls" as Peter called Clara and Moriah (Shauna's girls).
The men enjoyed a little cat nap.
Peter tried to snore and take a nap, but it only lasted for a mere 10 seconds
(enough for me to get a cute picture!).
I LOVE Rigby's serious faces.
I do not remember exactly what Peter was telling us, but this is what his bossy stance looks like.
My wonderful hubby and I at Pedernales Falls or should I call it Pedernales Puddles because of the drought.
My handsome boys at Pedernales Falls.
This picture shows the Falls a little better.
I love this picture of Shauna, Trevor and their girls.
Camping is not complete without a messy s'more. Fires were banned, so we had to do s'mores over our propane stove; not quite the same, but the boys thought it was great!
Our tent was a little cozier than we would like, so I think a larger one is in order for our next trip. The boys slept WONDERFULLY once we actually got them to fall asleep (which took about TWO HOURS each night)!
Another picture of my cute baby:),

. . . but not for long because baby #3 is coming in April. Most people know, but I figured I should document it on our blog. Here I am at 16 1/2 weeks. I look like crap, but this is the only picture I have for now.

It was a great trip. I love spending time with my boys doing what we enjoy!
P.S. Rigby was really tired, so we tried to get him to take a nap inside the tent. He fussed for 10 minutes in the tent and then it was quiet, so both Scott and I figured he had passed out. However, he actually figured out how to unzip the tent and walked out in his socks for about a few minutes before my friend happened to see him wandering about. We should have known better than to think he could not escape; Peter has taught him well!