Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Here is a cute video that Jayson took of Kaydence and Kyndall singing "Jolly Old St. Nicholas". They know the words better than I do!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Ho, Ho, Ho...Who Wouldn't Go?

Last week was "Polar Express Night" at Riley and Kaiya's elementary school. The kids got to dress in their PJ's and sit on Santa's lap. They were soooo excited. They are really getting into Christmas this year---even more than I expected them to be. I even made the mistake of taking them shopping and letting them explore the toy aisle at Walmart---I had no idea how opinionated they would be about what they want for Christmas! The girls told Santa that they want a doggy in a pink purse, and they will not be swayed (no matter how hard I have tried, since that was not what Santa was planning on getting them!)

The quints LOVE singing all the Christmas songs and I have been amazed by how well they remember the words. Kyndall and Kaydence can sing all the verses of "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" and Ryder can tell you what his true love gave him on all twelve days of Christmas.

They also love all the Christmas decorations, but I have had to be careful about what I put out this year----the temptation is just too strong for them to touch everything! They can strip the tree bare in less than three minutes.

In my pre-quint life, I loved dressing up the kids in cute holiday clothes for church. Having seven kids just makes it all the more fun! Here are some pictures I took of the kiddos in their holiday church clothes a couple of weeks ago:

Riley, Kaiya, Ryder, Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall and Rustin

Ryder, Kaydence, Riley, Kassidy, Kaiya, Kyndall and Rustin

Riley

Kaiya

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

My in-law's were in town the day I took pictures of the kids, so we thought it only fair that they endure a photo shoot as well. I thought this picture of them turned out really great!

Grandma & Grandpa Wilkinson

Ho, Ho, Ho...Who Wouldn't Go?

Austin Family Magazine Cover!

Right after the quints were born, Austin Family magazine did a story and had a great picture of them on the cover. This month, they decided to do a follow-up article with a picture of all the kids on the front. It turned out really cute! If you are in the Austin area, you can pick up a copy of the magazine at places like HEB, Randalls, and other local businesses. It is a FREE publication and is usually at the magazine rack in the store entrance. You can also check out the magazine online HERE. The article is on page 30.

Austin Family Magazine Cover!

Thanksgiving

Kaydence, Rustin, Kaiya, Kyndall, Grandpa and Grandma Wilkinson, Kassidy, Riley and Ryder (Notice anything different in this picture? Read on to find out...)

This year Jayson's parents came for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful, busy, fun-filled week! We kept Grandma and Grandpa busy taking kids to movies (everybody's favorite was "Tangled"), working on projects around the house and babysitting. My father-in-law spent a good chunk of time cutting out a beautiful wood nativity scene for our front yard. He also cut me a set of pipe chimes! My responsibility at church (in the church it is called a "calling") is Primary Chorister, which means that I teach/lead the music for the 3-11 year-olds. They are going to LOVE playing the pipe chimes!

My Mother-in-law taught me how to make adorable flower bows for the girl's hair. We had fun making all different types and colors of flowers. My girls now have the most beautifully decorated heads on the block :-) In addition my in-laws babysat so that Jayson and I could get away for a quick over-nighter to San Antonio. It was so nice to enjoy some time together away from the kids.

Poinsettia Hair Flower

Kaydence modelling another hair flower.

We had Thanksgiving dinner while the quints were napping. They actually all slept long enough for us to enjoy a leisurely meal, which is indeed something to be grateful for!

Jayson, Rachelle, Riley, Grandpa, Grandma and Kaiya

The quints had a full 9-course Thanksgiving meal when they woke up....unfortunately I did not get even a single picture! We did, however, take lots of video which Jayson will hopefully get edited soon. Below is another video--NOT the one we took this year--but if you watch it, it will give you a clue as to what the video we DID take is about!

Still wondering what was different about the first picture? A couple days before Thanksgiving, Riley got GLASSES! I think he looks cute with them on, and he is happy that he can see better!

Thanksgiving

Together We Can...

Every year, the PTA sponsors a "Reflections" contest where kids of all ages can submit artistic entries relating to the theme. The categories are: Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Literature, Photography, and Film Production. This year, the theme for the PTA Reflections contest was "Together We Can". Both Kaiya and Riley submitted entries---Kaiya in photography and Riley in Film Production. Last night was the awards ceremony for the school and they both got the Award of Excellence! Their entries will go on to the school district level competition.

I am so proud of them....I think they both did a great job! Of course it helped that they entered in categories that few people pick...This year there were 117 Visual Arts entries, 2 Music entries, 1 Film Production entry, 6 Photography entries and 1 Literature entry. Of course, being a statistician, I encourage them to enter categories where the odds are in their favor, but I think they would have won no matter how many entries there were :-)

Here are Kaiya's two photography entries. Both received the Award of Excellence:

Entry 1, entitled: "Together We Can Accomplish Anything"

Entry 2, entitled: "Together We Can Do Hard Stuff"

This is Riley's Film Production Entry. This is the third video he has done for Reflections contests and I think it is by far the best! He had to write, direct, shoot, and edit the film by himself!

Kaiya with her entries and awards

Riley with his entry and award

Together We Can...

We're Going For a Record...

...Four theme parks with five three-year-olds (plus two older kids) in six months! This time we did Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We were able to get nearly free tickets through Jayson's work, so we figured, why not?? It turned out to be one of the best theme-park-days ever. The weather was perfect---not too hot, not too cold. The lines were short, and we had great company. My mom (aka "Mimi") was here visiting and came with us. My brother, Ryan, who recently moved to McAllen, TX (about 6 hours away from us) drove up to go with us. And two other families we are friends with met us there too. My mom and I spent the first half of the day taking the quints on all the kiddie rides, while Jayson and Ryan took Riley and Kaiya on the roller coasters. After lunch, my two friends Tammy and Natalie offered to go with the quints so that my mom and I could go on roller coasters with the big kids. I have awesome friends! The whole day was so much fun!

Arriving at the park

Hanging out with Bugs and Sylvester

Riding in "The Big Red Car"---Mimi with the boys--The park had an entire "Wiggles World" section, so the quints were in HEAVEN----they LOVE the Wiggles

Rachelle with the girls

The "big" boys: Riley and Henry (Riley's friend)

Waiting in line

Lunch! Kykndall, Ryder, Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy, Riley and Henry

Ryan, Kaiya, and Jayson

Riley and Henry

Jayson and Mimi

Kaiya, Kaydence, Kyndall, Rustin, Kassidy and Ryder

Ryan, Jayson, Henry and Riley

The Whole Gang

PS On a completely unrelated note....if you have been saving a spot on your wall for the 2011 Wilkinson Quints Calendar, sadly there will not be one this year :-(

We're Going For a Record...

Bye, Bye Cribs...Hello Big Kid Beds!

Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence and Rustin

We finally did it! Last night we made the transition to the "big kid beds"! It is probably long overdue, but I have been putting it off. They could all climb into and out of their cribs (as all of you who watched "Texas Quints" on TLC witnessed!!), so it didn't really contain them, however with the bars there, at least the kids knew they were doing something wrong when they climbed out.

I am not sure how things will play out in the long run, but last night went great! They actually all fell asleep earlier than they normally do---maybe because they were soooo excited about having big kid beds that they actually stayed in them long enough to fall asleep. I found everyone pillowcases in "their" color and it was fun to see how excited they were about them. Reaching this milestone in their lives just reminds me of how fast they are growing up!

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall

Ryder

No more Cribs! Rustin, Ryder, Kassidy, Kyndall and Kaydence

Bye, Bye Cribs...Hello Big Kid Beds!