A Gingerbread Christmas

Tonight was H's Christmas Play. It was soooooo cute.
She played princess 2 and did an awesome job. The music was cheerful and fun, the sets were fabulous and the kids were terrific. We had a very fun time.

Here's the three princesses rapping to Gingerbread Boy

Taking their bows.

Brother found his little friend Avery, from soccer, and they chatted while waiting for their sisters to finish up.

Lucy and Brother both loved it and even J, who was a little reluctant to go thought it was very fun.

We stopped at Sonic for treats on the way home and everyone had a fun evening.

in the light of the Son

On this beautiful Sabbath morning I am glad that the sun has finally broken through the clouds and it looks so pretty outside.
But I am more grateful that the Son broke the bonds of death and hell and that he has made a made it possible for me to live again.
When I was a young mom I read "Night" and I was so touched by the symbolism of the sun rising each new day and chasing away the despair of the long dark night. For some reason it's really seems bleak and scary in the middle of the night, children are sicker, shadows are scary, possibilities are harder to think of, fear lurks in the corners, storms rage stronger...but the sun comes bring with it a peaceful light and a new day.

I am eternally grateful that I can live my life with the light of the gospel to show me the way, wrap me in it's warmth and give me hope and comfort.

hat trick, car wreck and appendicitis

what do these things have in common? They are all keeping me up tonight.

We had our KBT. The Smith's won the trophy for the third month in a row! Despite the four of us ganging up and doing our best to win.
It was very fun. Heather made the cutest cake with bunnies and carrots on it.
Something I ate though has not settled agreeably with my tummy...keeping my slumber unsettled.

Also tonight my sister Em got in a car accident and totalled her car, but she is fine so that's good.

And my mom just called (it's almost 1am) and said that my sister Andrea is going into surgery. She has appendicitis. The surgeon just came so I am waiting to hear back before I go to bed again.

And for some reason unknown to me the kids have been up and down tonight too.

Maybe I'll go work on my lesson for a bit.

birthdays for 3 year olds...oh yea, now I remember.

Lucy was invited to her first friend birthday party. She was very excited to go. Got her tiara on, grabbed the present and ran out the door.

Unfortunately once we got there she realized that the present was not for her but for Emma and that she would have to give it to her. She did not take kindly to the idea and spent a lot of time crying and complaining about that. Much to the embarrassment of her mother.

She did stop crying when Emma's mom pulled out the crafts and she was happy to make a crown and some Christmas ornaments.

It was a nice little party and it was cute to see Lu and her friends play. When we left she remembered that she didn't have "her present" any more and was sad anew. The traumas of childhood :)

I was glad to go because I had been thinking of letting Lucy have a friend party this Jan and now I remember that it's not an awesome idea and I think we'll wait until she's 4 or 5 :) That and it was fun to visit.

Birthday

Yesterday was J's birthday. It was unfortunately a day of a lot of stress. The problem was that she had wanted to go to 6FLags with her friends. This was going to work out well because all of them except for J and Emma have season passes so we only had to get tickets for them and for DH and myself. We were going to fill our suburban, another dad was going to drive a car load down and all the kids would have a fun time at the park while DH and I walked around and had our own fun.
Problem. The stupid weather. It rained and was cold and continued to rain and be cold. We had already purchased the tickets (another long, sad story) and were feeling like we needed to use them.

Finally it was just too wet and too cold so at the 11th hour we switched plans...which meant we didn't have a fabulous plan to go with.

I think it worked out well and J had a nice day. She had four girls who came over and spent the night. We took them to the mall to see a movie. They had wanted to see "I am Legend", it was sold out. "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was the back up plan. Sold out. Finally they saw "this Christmas" and they all said they liked it so that was good.

We came home and had cake and ice cream. We had also rented some movies so I think they stayed up all night watching them. In the morning I made pancakes and they hung out.

Today it is not raining... it is darn cold however S and Mariah and Emma and J still bundled up, took the tickets and headed out the door for some freezing fun. I hope everything goes well. No one gets lots, or hypothermia and that they will have so much fun.



After all was said and done I think she had a good time and was happy. And that's what I wanted.

fisher price nativity

I bought this cute little fisher price Nativity for Lucy the other day. She's been so excited with it. We set it up and I told her the story...many times. She loves to place Mary on the donkey and walk it across the fireplace to the stable. She lovingly picks up the baby Jesus and gives Him a kiss when she puts him in. Now she's heard it so many times that she can tell the story on her own. It's very sweet.

silly Christmas quizes

You Are Rudolph

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy. Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

little things..

Have you ever noticed how annoying little things can be.
Big challenges and trials are easier in some ways. I had cancer, okay. I got better and it was easy to say "the Lord's will be done". I get a hard calling, grin and bear it. Divorced...stinks but we'll move forward.
The DVR is broken...oh no! the world is ending. We've had a string of little things break or go wrong lately and it is taking all I've got to face it cheerfully. We had to replace our roof and got to replace our floor and both were expensive. Now DH's transmission is acting up..uh oh. A string of our hard hung lights are out and the whole strand is not giving off it's cheery Christmas glow. Our lap top won't talk to our network and we have a new part coming but in the meantime we have to share our desk top. Many is the time I walk over to just spend "one short minute" and I'll see DH already there. And vice versa. We smile, while sighing under out breath and leaving to go do something else. The weather...not cooperating. The vacuum, clogged as is one of our four toilets. Then yesterday, to add insult to injury, as if I was not already suffering enough ( I just know someone is writing a sad country song about my trials right this very minute) the receiver on our satellite had a "fatal error" and after spending some quality and quantity time talking with a very nice, but completely not helpful "help desk" worker somewhere in India (that's a system that's working splendidly) I got the bad news that we had to replace it. It's also "in the mail". AND now I have to watch live TV, what is actually playing at the moment I have time to sit and watch....why bother?
AND slide.com took the 20 lovely, funny, personality capturing photos of J and choose to randomly only display 7...and I can't make it cooperate.
...hopefully this refiners fire is building character :)

J's 15th Birthday!!!

dancing

This is from last week. We didn't get a photos because DH, the camera man, was practicing his trumpet in the other room and I was MCing. I was VERY sad to find this out. Luckily I saw this on my friend GoodLife's blog! I am hoping to get some more from other moms too. H is in the green shawl. They had so much fun!

controlling the weather and other things I can't do

This + this don't equal this (edited because the pictures didn't come out and I don't feel like messing with it cause I have laundry to fold and dishes to wash so it's 6 flags plus rain don't equal a happy birthday)

I am hoping for no rain on Friday. J is going to Six Flags with her friends to Holiday in the Park for her birthday. We've had rain for a couple days now. A couple more are expected this week. More the following week. I am fine with that....love the rain. I just don't want it Friday afternoon from 4-10. Is that too much to ask?

I don't think we'll have much fun.

This summer during our dream Disney vacation in rained one day. We were at Epcot and we had a blast...but it wasn't 37 degrees outside.

She is excited and I want her to have fun.

I am excited about hanging out with my sweetie and seeing the shows and the shops and sipping hot chocolate.

Plus I have no good back up plan. ....dum dum DUM!

ps. don't google storm images...it's shocking what comes up

trim the tree and deck the halls

Monday we had the missionaries over dinner. It was quite fun. The kids told jokes at dinner. After dinner J asked Elder Robinson to play something on the piano and he was happy to oblige. He played a couple of pieces and the kids danced around like they were in the middle of a very lively tornado.
After they left we decorated the Christmas tree. S and H set it up and then the three little joyfully put on the ornaments. By the time we were done the big girls were off doing homework but the rest of enjoyed the sparkly lights and the pretty tree. If our floor when our floor gets done I will be excited to put up our down stairs tree so we can enjoy it too.

Today I went to mom's and was there all day. We had several sisters come to help pack and we got a lot done so I was very happy about that. Hopefully their move will go smoothly and they will be able to get things in order and off on the missions. I am excited for them.

Tonight J and G and I went to the mall. We got some shopping done and G played on the playground. We started out together and then split up to take shifts so Lucy could play. It was fun.

My house is a wreck but mom is happy, shopping is getting done and I don't have a floor anyway so...

Early Christmas

Last night we celebrated an early Christmas with Papa and Grandma. They are going to Utah for the holidays. I was just thinking I have not had a Christmas with all my siblings and their kids in a long time....like over 10 years. Sad. One of these years, after mom and dad get done missioning, we need to meet somewhere for the holidays and spend a Christmas together.
Anyway. We went to church, where I had to got to speak on Charity. Then we came home and prepared a yummy dinner. I tried a new dessert recipe called "Eggnog Cheesecake" and it was very yummy.

Then we told the nativity story and sang some carols. Followed by opening some gifts. It was very lovely. I kind of like spreading the fun out a bit. Especially the present opening. Sometimes it gets overwhelming for the kids and gifts get over looked or not appreciated as much as they would by themselves. Each of the kids got a soft new blanket. The big girls got lotions and CDs and the little ones got new shirts for colder weather and a toy. Grandma also made the girls cute necklaces. This morning we tried out the Cocoa latte machine that DH got and last night I went to bed in my oh so cute and warm froggy jammies.

I'm very excited for this week. It's going to be low stress and high fun. Last week I had the ward social which took a lot of time and planning and work and I had my talk. This week there is nothing hard to do. H has practice after school each day and she has riding lessons. E and karate. Tomorrow I am helping mom pack. Wednesday play group will be here. Thursday night I have a fun cookie party to go to. Friday is J's birthday party and Saturday is a KBT. Oh and tonight the missionaries are coming to dinner. Fun all week long. And I am reading a fun book. I actually got it for H. It's called the Legend Of Holly Claus. I read the first couple chapters out loud to her..she stopped listening and now I am reading it and it's really a fun Christmas story.

I do need to do a bit more shopping, and track down some addresses for the rest of the Christmas cards and make something to deliver to my VT families but that won't be too much.

numbers

I'm really not great at math, which is secretly the reason why I married DH. Dani was in 5th grade and her homework was getting kind of hard for me to help with. Solution: find an engineer, convert him, marry him, assign him to be the official homework helper. Problem solved :)

I think I'm going to be in trouble before 5th grade with brother. Yesterday we were getting him ready for church and he asked me if there were any numbers smaller than zero.

Yes.

What are they?

(thinking great) saying: well they are called negative numbers.

I don't get it?

I know, no one does.

Blank look.

Fine, your dad does, but no one else.

More expectant looks.

Okay there is negative 1 and negative 2 and so forth.

I still don't get it.

Okay, lets say that I tell you "Brother if you mow the lawn I will pay you 10 apples. And then you do it but I only have 7 apples so I give you those."

That wouldn't be fair.

Yep, so then how many more do I owe you.

Three.

Right.

So I have -3 apples.

thinks for a minute, because the next three you get are really mine.

Yep.

Ohhh! How many are there?

apples?

No negative numbers? does it go to infinity?

Yep they never end in either direction.

Cool!

Whatever (I didn't say that part out loud.)

And thankfully that was enough or someone else needed their hair brushed I don't remember which because I have pretty much exhausted my knowledge of negative numbers.

And if I'm wrong, DH, then you might want to have a little chat with your boy.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

Ward Social

Tonight was our ward Christmas social. It was a lot of work, but I think it turned out well. We had a dinner, concert and a visit from the big guy.

I have been teaching the activity day girls a Christmas Dance, from Pride and Prejudice and they performed it tonight. They did such a good job! Also on the program we had several songs including Holly and Kimball singing "Baby it's Cold Outside", Ingrid singing a couple classics, Mariah singing. Baylee played the bells, DH the trumpet, Christa and Jenita played a duet on piano and violin, Elder Robinson played the piano, the cub scouts did a skit and the Bishop read "The Night Before Christmas".

We decorated with a Christmas tree and greenery and red table clothes. The usual.

We had SO many people come out it was crazy. We went through almost 400 plates. Heather and I were very worried when we saw the crowds because we had not planned food for that many. I don't know how it worked out but we had a little Christmas miracle in our kitchen because we had just enough. At the end of the night we had one pan of potatoes left. No ham, no rolls, no salad. A few people took home parts of their desserts. Everyone ate even though we had at least 50 more people than we were planning on.
The kids had a fun time. They enjoyed seeing Santa and playing with their friends. I was so happy because all three little kids behaved nicely during the program and S and J were there having a good time with their friends.

Rachel gave me a cute Christmas necklace that she had made! So fun! Thanks!

I am glad that's done and fortunately we'll be moved before the next one so with any luck that was my last Christmas party to plan.

After the activity girls gave me some pretty flowers to thank me for teaching them the dance, which was so sweet.

Now S and J are at the Petty's for a sleep over. They've been reading the Book of Mormon together each Sunday night and are almost done, their goal is to be done at the end of the year. Tonight they are going to do a bunch of reading and a bunch of goofing around. H is spending the night with her friend Amanda.

riddle

if you have a daughter who is almost three and she comes up to you and says:
"I not cut hair, only paper."
What does that really mean???
Yep, she cut her hair.


Luckily it's not too much, although it's right off the top.

Today is Nana's Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Nana!!! First of all I have to say that it's hard to find a picture of her. You kind of have to sneak up on her and take it while she doesn't know :) But when I searched through the archives I did find them...and they were always with her grandbabies, which makes sense because she loves them and is a great grandma and I would venture to say that they are one of the most important things in her life.

When you meet someone for the first time and they are going to be your family it's a weird thing. I remember when we first met. I was nervous. DH and I were engaged and we were traveling back to Ohio for an engagement party. We also had the three big girls with us. I knew that I wasn't their ideal choice for a daughter in law. Someone who was divorced with three kids? Right. That's the top of every mom's dream list :)

We had talked on the phone, I think. And sent letters, I know. But I was still nervous. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. She and Abba were both awesome. They were so nice and welcoming and warm and kind.

From day one they have been wonderful to my daughters and I know there is no difference in their hearts between them and DH's biological children.

Nana is a terrific mom and a terrific person. She's very smart and talks politics with the "menfolk". She is an avid reader. She is an awesome seamstress and makes fabulous things for the kids when ever we hint at it :) She is a kind and loyal friend and I am very blessed to have her in my life. We have a lot of fun when we are together. The kids LOVE her and can hardly wait to call her up and tell her things or for her to visit.

She is always there when we need her and flies across the country to help us when babies are born, closets need organizing or kids need a grandma sitting in the audience to watch them dance/sing/swim/recite something or just stand there looking cute.

Happy Birthday Nana!! When I am a grandma I hope I'll be like you!

Princess dress

Christmas Princess dress arrived in the mail today.

H was THRILLED! She danced around for a long time with Lucy dancing behind her.

little snafus

So, we've wanted to put wood flooring into our living room for a long time. Our carpet has some runs in it and doesn't look as nice as we would like, especially since we are going to try and sell the house in the spring.
It's been on our list of things to do soon for a while. Last week at play group I saw my friend Connie from the Highland Station ward and she said she was staying out of the house because they were having wood put up their stairs. I got the number of her guy and gave him a call and next thing you know we were ready to pull the trigger. DH and I went to lumber liquidators and picked some flooring and he started to rip up the old stuff (picture coming~I couldn't find it on our computer for some reason). We were happy that everything fell into place easily and it was going to be done a week and half after we decided to go for it.
Then the day DH was supposed to go to pick up the wood we found out it didn't make it on the truck. Now we have a sticky messy floor, all the furniture squished into other rooms and no floor.
Hopefully it will be in and furniture back and tree up before our family arrives for the holidays.
The kids however are loving all the open space and taking advantage by playing non-parentally sanctioned games in the living room.

And Lu and I have been trying to stay out of the house. Yesterday we went to the mall for playgroup.

Today we've been running errands trying to get stuff ready for the ward social.

Besides floor stuff we've had the usual play practice, karate, activity days, young women, dinner groups, and all the other normal getting ready for Christmas stuff.

That's Lucy on top of the train.

Today mom and I went to run our several errands and then she treated us to lunch at Central Market. They have a nice outdoor play area and tables on the patio and we sometimes like to go there. Lu always picks a fruit bowl for lunch. She did today too. I got warm and yummy carrot, leek and ginger soup. It was so tasty. Mom got cream of mushroom soup. We had a lot of fun sitting outside and eating and watching her play.

Spike

This morning my boy informed me that he wanted to spike his hair so he'd look goo-od. Apparently Blaine spikes his hair every day.

Last night he ran into the kitchen and said

"mom, while I was looking for my gun I found a present with my name on it!!!!"

Great.

"Mom, you aren't a very good hider."

E, once they're wrapped I don't have to hide them anymore. When we get the tree up they'll just sit under them.

"Ohh..." walks away shaking his head at how crazy that idea is.

funny

Q. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?
A. It's Christmas, Eve.

seasonal meme

Since I have more to do than I could ever got done I thought I'd take this time to do a silly, time wasting meme :)

Wrapping paper or gift bags?Wrapping paper, although sometimes if it's too oddly shaped we do a bag.
Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, several. I love them and would love more.
Do you like eggnog? I love eggnog but we usually only have once or twice a season.
Favorite Christmas movie? The Santa Clause. 1-3. And every other. Love them all!
Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? We mail them, they are usually a picture of the kids and a brag letter. I don't typically send them to people I see regularly just friends and family far away.
Easiest person to buy for? The kids.
Real tree or artificial? Artificial tree. Okay, Really I'd like a real one but we have a nice artificial so....and this year I mentioned getting a real one and J said "no, they make a mess and then one of us will have to clean it up and vacuum a million times until the other one is satisfied" any guesses which one she thinks she is?
Angel or star on the tree top? Angel
Have you ever recycled a Christmas gift? No, I don't think so.
Favorite Christmas song? It's hard to pick I like so many, maybe "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day"
Do you travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends on the year. This year family is coming here!

White lights or colored on the tree? White I so meant colored
Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? are you serious?
Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph and I didn't have to cheat and google them:)
When do you put up the tree? Early in Dec.
What is your favorite place to go at Christmas? Last year we saw the lights at Temple Square and that was my favorite.
Open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? morning
What do you love most about Christmas? Making all the goodies, making things for other people, shopping, spending time with family, and most importantly, remembering the birth of the Savior and feeling that wonderful spirit throughout the whole month.

I would love to hear about your Christmas too if you want to participate in this MEME.

we're kind of a boring family

We hate to leave our warm beds in the morning.
We never intended to have a family bed. And in fact with the first four children we did not.
When brother came along he quietly lay down next to us in bed and nursed the night away. He was a very peaceful sleeper so we let him stay. 5 years later he still likes it there. When he started kindergarten we moved him to his own bed because he needed to go to sleep earlier than we do. Still he often joins us at some point in the night or early morning. Lucy also slept in our bed and often joins us as well. I guess you never know :)

We also like to sit around and read. Here's Lucy reading our Christmas books to her baby.

sunday best

weekend

DH working on his car. His old truck needs lots of TLC.

Lu rides her bike in the yard. She loves playing on big kid toys.

A page from my new magical wintry book!

very vanilla

In honor of tonight's great date with my DH I give you the ice cream quiz. I wasn't surprised to be vanilla.

Tonight we went to Staples to copy some flyers for the ward social next weekend. Then we went downtown to eat at Uno's (one of DH's favorite spots) where I burnt the roof of my mouth on some oh so yumm-o shrimp and lobster fondue. (and now I have blisters and hanging skin inside my mouth~ sick! )

Then we went to the bookstore and I got a very magical wonderful wintry book to read to brother's class next week when it is my turn to take the snack in.

Then we ate my favorite ice cream in the world, double dark chocolate with strawberry mix-ins.

And now we're home ready to watch TV!

December 1st~ it's here!!

Things I am most looking forward to this holiday season:

1. Dani and Greg coming to visit. I CAN.NOT.WAIT!!
2. (a very close second) the rest of the family coming: Abba, Nana and Uncle Brian. It's going to be so fun to have everyone here together.
3. Watching H in her play.
4. going to Holiday in the Park with DH. We're driving J and friends for her birthday and then we're going to hang out by ourselves while the "young folk" run amuck.
5. the ward Christmas Concert, I think it'll be a really fun night.
6. Joy's cookie exchange
7. watching the kids open their gifts
8. getting cards in the mail
9. baking
10. watching my favorite Christmas movies on DVD
11. seeing the beautiful lights everyone, and even on my own home :)