We are heading to Utah today for my nephew Jobi's baptism! Woo hoo! We are so proud of him and can't wait to see the Gelder's.

Congratulations Jobi! We love you!

Big Day at the Clinger's!

(Steve Erkle or Vampire? Ryker thought it would be funny to put a pair of Dax's pants on)

Ryker is reading!! I am so proud of him!

Last night I went to Target to get some Christams shopping done and I picked up a "beginning reading" book. I gave it to Ryker this morning and he has been reading like crazy ever since. He has been sounding out words for a while now so I thought getting him an actual book that is at his level would be a good idea.

He was so proud of himself. He called Cole at work to tell him all about it and Cole told him to keep practicing all day and he could read the bedtime story tonight. So he did. He was so proud.

The first book he read is called "I like bugs". When he read it through the second time he said "This is So easy". Like he's a pro now. I am so excited for him.

Helping Ryker learn to read has made me realize how screwy the English Language is!

Some more updates...

Dax stands all by himself without holding onto anything! He even takes a step to get from one couch to the other. I know some of you may be thinking "Wow, he's almost 14 months old. He should be walking by now." But you have to remember, he is enormous. It takes a lot to hold up that huge body. Reese and Ryker were the same way. They didn't walk until they were 15 months old.

Ryker took steps at 13 months and he could do it, but he decided to hold off for another couple of months so he could run instead of walk.

Dax is talking more and more everyday. The other day he had a toy car (which is his favorite kind of toy) and he said "car". Then this morning I was sweeping on the other side of the gate and he was standing against the gate and said "Hi" and gave me the sweetest cheeser grin I've ever seen. So darn cute.

Another part of our day that isn't so great is that we went to the dentist and Ryker has 3 cavities! I knew he would have some cavities because he has the worst teeth. They are in a really bad spot too, in between the teeth. Is it bad when the dentist suggest to put your kid under to get cavities filled? Does that mean your child is a nightmare?

Reese on the other hand had perfect teeth. She's the big age of 3 1/2 and doesn't have any cavities :) She didn't get her teeth from me, or Cole for that matter. Maybe my mom? I don't think my mom has ever had a cavity in her life. How would it be?

So that's the big news at the Clinger household. That's a lot of excitement for one day! Good night!

Happy Holidays!

Traditions

Tradition! TRADITION!!! (insert fiddler on the roof song here)

I was just thinking about family traditions and how fun and special they are. So I wanted to share some of ours. You should do it too, it's kind of fun to post about! I'm sure that we share a lot of the same traditions but some may be different.

Here are some of ours that we do every Christmas:

1. Every year we get a new Family ornament and I paint the year on it. We decorated the tree last night and it was fun to look at each ornament and think about where we were the year we got it and how much we have changed. It's also fun to tell the kids about it.

2. For each baby's first Christmas, they get their own ornament and I paint their name and the year on it.

3. Christmas tree hunt! One of my favorites. Cole tries to convince me each year to buy a tree around here so we don't have to go on a tree hunt. But I know he secretly loves it. He will not settle for anything but the best tree out there. The kids love it! We have gone on a tree hunt every year and I love it too.

4. We build and decorate a Gingerbread house. One of Reese and Ryker's favorites!

5. Decorate the tree together.

6. Read a Christmas story on Christmas Eve.

7. The Santa Key. Some friends of ours last year gave us a key with santa on it and some jewels. I think it's supposed to be an ornament, but I thought we would start a new tradition. We started this tradition last year. Since we don't have a fireplace, on Christmas eve we put the Santa key on the door knob of our front door so Santa can get in. When we woke up the next morning, the key was sitting on the table right next to the empty plate of cookies. The kids thought this was pretty awesome.

8. Decorate Christmas cookies!!

9. Cruise the town for Christmas lights.

10. This is a new one...Reese and Ryker are getting each other gifts this year. When Dax gets older we will add him in and draw names. They are so excited to get each other gifts.

11. A tradition my parents started last year is to do the live nativity scene. My mom adopted a donkey so she had to do it. The kids played the parts and Cole read the nativity story. Then we sang some songs. Can't wait for this year!

12. It's the third annual Hill Family Christmas Party! I am the host this year. Can't wait!

There are more, I just can't think of them right now! I will add them on to my list as I think of them.
We add a new tradition every year.
Please share some of your Christmas traditions with me! I'd love to hear them.

A little preview...

We decorated the tree tonight. Little Dax is sick and went to bed early, so he missed out on the fun. Poor thing. I hate it when they're sick. I wish I could be sick for him :(

Cole put these ornaments on the very top of the tree right next to each other. I thought it was so cute. We got these ornaments the first Christmas we were married. It's a miracle that we found ornaments that actually have our names on them! It always says "Katie".

I love Christmas!

Reesie's First Dance Performance

Reese had her very first dance performance! I was such a proud Mom. I wasn't very happy with her costume though. They are completely different from what we were shown. The fake flowers they sewed on are pretty ugly. But overall, they all looked cute.

She performed at the Festival of Trees. She is definitely not shy. She is the youngest in her class. She has certain parts of her dance that she loves to do, and the rest, well, she does her own thing. The picture below is of her doing her own dance. The revised version.

Getting in their spots.

Ryker had to sneak over to Santa one more time to make sure he knew what he wanted.

Reese practicing her twirl.

Before we left for the performance I took some pictures of her. She got to wear make up so it was the best day ever!

I took so many pictures of her. I couldn't leave any out. They all turned out so cute!!

Cheeser!

I think this one is so funny

She's such a cute Ballerina!

She did so good and I'm so proud of her. It was a bitter/sweet moment because I was sad that she is old enough to be doing a dance performance but so proud of her at the same time. She was so cute. I love you Reesie!!

Thanksgiving Program

Last week Ryker had his Thanksgiving program at the Festival of Trees. They sang Thanksgiving songs. It was so cute. With each song, they would wear a different hat. A turkey hat, indian headband and a pilgram hat. He told me before they went on "I'm nervous Mom." He did so good, I was a proud mama.


Afterwards they got to see Santa. Dax was a little freaked out.

They didn't get to sit on his lap. They sat on a stool right next to his lap. How lame is that?

Ryker was SO excited.

Reese telling Santa she wants a jewelry box for Christmas.

Ryker telling Santa he wants a train. He has changed his mind about 3 times since then. Santa is probably so confused right about now.

Turkey hat.

Pilgram

That kid standing next to Ryker is 4. That's right 4. He is a big kid! Ryker isn't short either. I was talking to this kids mom who was holding his little brother. His little brother looked like he was at least 3. Bigger than Reese for sure. I said "How old is he? One?" I thought I was being funny because I expected her to say 3. She said "Yup, He's one." I think he was pushing two, but still.

Ryker and some of his classmates right before the big show.

My Mom and Dax. She has the cutest new haircut!

"Posing" for the camera. I didn't even get one them to look at me!

Good job Ryker! You did so good!

Michael and Jason

The other day, Reese and Ryker decided they wanted to play indians and go on a turkey hunt. Their indian names were Michael and Jason. Hmmm...interesting. We didn't have any feathers on hand so Ryker had the idea that we could get leaves from the yard and use them for feathers. Very creative I think. So we made paper headbands and taped the leaves on the back. They ran around like indians all night. Ryker, I mean Jason, shot the turkeys and Reese (Michael), cooked them up and shared with her parents. It was pretty fun. Cole even joined in on a rain dance or two.

I think this is one of my all time favorite pictures of Reese. Awesome.

This is second.

I think I just saw a bear.

I forgot to mention that they took their shirts off and got into my "war paint" and painted stripes on their faces and stomachs.

We saw a flying turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!