Christmas Season

We've been havinga great time celebrating the Christmas season. We had Brian's first office party as "the boss" and it went well. We went to a dinner theater show. The food was great and the show was fabulous! Very funny and creative. They exchanged gifts and laughs and it was a good time.

We had our ward party this morning. I've been sewing squares all week for part of the service project. I thought it would be quick, but I signed up for 30 squares and they took a LONG time! But it was nice to do something service oriented. We had breakfast there and then they had a cute children's live nativity. Cooper was a cow I think, Caroline was a sheep and Liz was an angel. It was really cute.

When it first started, baby Jesus was in the manger and Isabelle went up there to pick "Him" up. Everyone thought it was pretty sweet. Then a minute after Cooper went over there to check the baby out. He was trying to open the eyes.

After the nativity we had Santa come visit. Elizabeth came up to me after her turn and said, "he's not real Mom."

Me:"Oh yeah? Why do you say that?"

Liz: "Because he's wearing tennis shoes."

I thought that was so funny and so observant.

It was cute because Santa had them ask for a gift for someone else, like a brother or sister or whatever. I should have listened closer to see what they were saying, but I was trying to take pictures of course.

And then we got a family one. It's been about 3 years since we've done that. We've had 2 more kids since our last one. Boy how our family has grown!

Thanksgiving

So I had this great photo idea I wanted to do this year showing everything I was thankful for, but the time got away from me and another year went by without it. Maybe next year. We had a great Thanksgiving with the fam (minus Jill and fam) in Sandy. Good food all around and my favorite.....pie! I discovered pecan pie with whip cream. Delish! We have pecan every year, but I've never tried whip cream on it. New fave.

Mom and Dad were great hosts as always. Mom did a great job decorating the table and making it pretty and she even made everyone their own white chocolate pumpkin drizzled with milk chocolate. Mmmmmm. I was in charge of the rolls and of course they were still in the oven during the prayer, so I stayed on roll watch duty but thought it was so cute to see everyone in their prayer mode, so I took a picture. Obviously someone was peeking while they should have been listening...... CAROLINE!

Thought these pics of the kids being reverent were cute.

8 Years

So I'm kind of posting everything backwards. Our 8th anniversary was November 16th but there was too much going on to get out really. We did manage to make it out to lunch, but that wasn't enough time alone!  Since we were going down to Sandy for Thanksgiving, my Mom, sister Caroline and Dad helped to watch the kids while we took the day to play. We started out with lunch at Z-Tejas. I really like that place. It was yummy and a meal uninterrupted is always nice. Even if there's no conversation (but there was) it's nice to eat in peace.

Afterwards we had  a little bit of time and did some window shopping and then headed up to our 3-D movie at Gateway. It was an expensive nap. JK. It was a great movie and the 3D was fun, but the lapping water put both Brian and I to sleep. He slept probably 50% of the time. I nodded on and off but caught most of the movie. It was fun. We were sitting behind a "friendly man couple" and they were playing with their I-phone. I've never really seen one in action so I was watching as they were going through their pictures and we got a peep show before the show! I'll be more careful when spying next time. :)

Afterwards we checked out their free exhibits. Brian tried out being a weatherman. He did a good job. I'd watch him on tv! :)

Although some may say man didn't really walk on the moon ;),  I thought I'd  give it a try and no, I don't know what I'm doing with my hand.

We had another break in between activites and stopped in for some ice cream. How I love me some good ice cream ! Super yummy! Ice cream was followed by some book browsing at Barnes and Noble. That's always relaxing to me. I could do that all day. So many good books and interesting things to read.

Our evening ended with a play at the Desert Star Playhouse theater. It was a fun change up. Brian was their biggest supporter with his boo's, hissing and loud laughter. It was a great night. Here's to 8 more!

Ouch!

The other day Cooper and Caroline were spinning on our office chair while I was out of the room cleaning. All the sudden I hear Cooper totally crying and I run in there to see he and Caroline in a serious embrace. Caroline was trying to comfort him. I didn't know what happened until I look at his head and he had this huge goose egg on there.

Elizabeth said it looks like he has a nose on his forehead. I'm assuming he fell off and bonked it on the corner of the desk.

But even with that huge bump on his head I still see his beautiful brown eyes first.

Oh nuts!

This past Saturday we took the girls to the Nutcracker. They were so excited and I was so excited to see them so excited. We got them dressed up and did their hair in buns and then went over the rules for taking big girls out to dinner and the rules for the ballet. They of course weren't really listening to me since they could see all the new Christmas lights that everyone had put out around their houses. Oh well. We haven't taken them out to eat at a restraunt in about 2 years because the last time was THAT BAD! This time was very enjoyable though. We took them to Texas Roadhouse so we could use the free dinner Liz got from taking 1st place in her reflections. They sat down and immediately started coloring. Brian and I got to watch a little of the BYU vs Utah game, but we also had some conversation with them. We got our food, ate, finished the fourth quarter of the game and then headed out to the ballet.

We got to the ballet and as soon as we were in our seats Caroline turned to me and said, "thanks Mom. I pereciate it." She's so grateful about so much. Elizabeth kept asking me questions and her reply was always, "cool". She's getting so grown up. I loved watching them and seeing their eyes light up and just really enjoy it. I loved watching them smile and seeing them clap. It was a magical time for me, not watching the ballet, but watching their reactions and joy. I loved it! At the end Elizabeth turns to me and says, "I'm exhausted!". I just laughed. It was so funny to hear her say that, but I think she meant bored. The last 20 minutes felt like forever, but all in all, it was really fun and a great night out with the girls!

November 22nd 2009

Security is........

...having a passy in your mouth and one in each hand for backup.

Love is.......

...waking up in the morning and sitting in front of the camera so your wife can practice with her studio lights!

Whadda day!

Today has been a great day. I think a day like this is what being a Mom is about. I've been struggling  (I know. Another thing I'm struggling with) with having fun with my kids. It's hard for me with their different ages trying to find something that keeps them all happy and something I enjoy doing. I do not like playing with barbies, dolls or a lot of pretend things. I'm a lame Mom I know. I love games and just hanging out together, but sometimes that doesn't work or isn't fun enough for them. We had a few kids games but either the pieces are missing or I can't find them, so I thought I'd journey down to the DI to see what they had and I scored big time! I got I think 8 games for $11. We've played 2 so far today and they are having fun. Correction... WE are having fun.

--OH, and on a side note, I set Isabelle down because she was freaking out and I'm not lying, 10 seconds later I turn around and she's totally disappeared. I wasn't too worried. It was hard to try and spot her though because there were all these clothing racks around, so I got down on my knees to look for her..... nothing. I told Cooper and Caroline to help look.....nothing. So I thought the worst thing would be for her to get kidnapped so I walked to the front of the store 'cause I'd spot the thief or someone would bring her to the front of the store. Well as I get closer I see her walking OUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! There was this older lady there and she was looking around wondering where the psycho mother was and this man grabbed her hand before she was out in the parking lot. She had to have run the whole way up there because I was up there in less than 30 seconds. Little stinker.

Elizabeth came home and was so excited because..........

Yep. She got first place in the reflections photography division. The next round of judging isn't for another 2 months, but we don't care. We're so proud of her!

After another game and some snacks we headed over to a neighbor's house to pick some apples to make an apple crisp. We pulled our wagon to gather them up and Cooper pulled it all the way home. It was so cute. The girls were so great about washing and drying them and then I cut them up but unfortunately they were all past their prime. A little soft and not much flavor, so we'll be heading to the store tonight. :) They did look pretty though.

And yes.... we do have a little bit of crazy hair going on today!

We also took a few mintues to do a secret service for a neighbor and raked leaves and cleared the sidewalk off. It was really rewarding to watch the girls have fun working hard and working together. I was proud of them and it was fun to do a "secret service". We don't do it often enough.

A little while later we ran to a few stores and then headed over to Elizabeth's school for Literacy Night. It was super cute. It was a pirate theme and they had different stations with fun activities. The kids got popcorn, Caprisun's, hot rolls and lots of fun. It was a good day. I need to have more days like this with them. There were a few crazy moments, but all in all, I really loved being with them today. It's nice to have days like that!

Photographer in the making...

Elizabeth decided to do photography for the reflections contest at her school. She took all the pictures herself and decided instead of doing one she wanted to do a collage. I told her one time the five steps she had to do to get them all over there and ran to do something. I kept waiting for her to call me for help, but about 5 minutes later I walked back in and she was nearly done. I was amazed! How can a young brain remember something to do with technology so well and yet it can sometimes take older people several times to grasp. Amazing! Anyway... so I sent it off to get printed and picked it up later that night. The guy pulled the picture out and said, "do you have the copyright release for this?".

Me: What?

Guy: Do you have the release for this or are you the photographer of the picture?

Me: What did I print off? ( I thought that maybe I had accidentally printed off a picture from my photoshoot on Saturday)

He opened it up and it was Elizabeth's picture. I laughed.

Me: That picture was taken by my 6 year old daughter.

Guy: (leans over to the other guy) this was taken by a 6 year old

Other Guy: well, she must be destined for great things.

It made me smile. How funny. I do think she did a great job putting it together! It was so fun to watch her play around with the saturation and exposure and see what her creative eye ended up with. She loved it. Maybe she can be my assistant in a few years! :)

Just about me!

As many of you know, I've been struggling with losing weight for oh, like 4 years! I've had many things that have kept me from losing weight, mostly my own issues. I've had "a new day" a number of times and it just hasn't stuck for very long. I'd say "okay, I'm going to go without candy or sweets for a week." I make it a day and say to myself, "I guess I can do it, I just don't want to." So then I quit. I would think I had the self control to do it and fooled myself into thinking that if I could make it a day, I could make it as long as I wanted to.

Last winter we signed up at a gym and it was good. Brian said I could get a personal trainer and  that was great too. I worked out so hard and didn't see any real results on the scale. My trainer worked with my food and said I was doing everything right, but just wasn't losing. I was so frustrated. I was spending almost 2 hours a day at the gym. I had one week where it went well and I lost 3 pounds, but shortly after that we were in the process of moving and I couldn't keep up with it.

We moved up to Logan and lost our membership because they didn't have a gym up here. I also started feeling guilty about taking the kids to the daycare there for that long every day. I was starting to think this was just the way it was going to be for the next 4 years 'til my kids were in school and I could work out then. It was very frustrating. I hated waking up and putting on the same clothes that I packed away last year saying that I would for sure be out of them by this year. I hated, well, so many things. I hated the way I looked and the way I felt about how I looked.

Two weeks ago I started the South Beach Diet. I've done Weight Watchers and it's a great program, but I just didn't want to have to think about it. This diet took the thinking out of it. It also took out pretty much all the good things, but I didn't want to think about it, and this sounded easy enough. Surprisingly it was pretty easy. We went down to my parents house 2 days after I started it. The last timewe went down there I gained 3 pounds and just barely lost it, after 3 weeks. My Mom, being the great Mom and Grandma she is, made 2 different kinds of cookies for everyone to enjoy and had candy in various dishes around the house. I didn't even take one bite. Even at night when we were sitting around the table playing games and there was a plate full of cookies, I wasn't even tempted. I couldn't believe it. The next day we got pizza and I so wanted a bite, but I didn't. Again, couldn't believe my strength. There have been so many times in these two weeks that normally I would have taken a bite here or a little bit there and I didn't. I'm so freakin' proud of myself!!! Even through everyone in my house eating candy from Halloween. Not a bite here!

So it's been 2 weeks. I'm down 8 pounds and feel like I'm finally in control of myself. Brian told me I could buy an elliptical, so we did on Monday. Now I can work out at home when the kids are in bed, or in the morning before everyone wakes up and not feel guilty that I should be home with the family. I feel like there's light at the end of a tunnel that was so long I never thought I'd make it out of. Eight down, 22 to go!

Happy Halloween

Boy it's been a long and fun day! We started out at a corn maze. I thought it'd be fun for the kids, and it was, for the first 30 min. That's how long it took us to get lost and find our way back to the beginning. At least we could find the beginning. The kids wanted to jump on the hay, so we let them do that, then we did the kiddie maze. We were awesome at that one! Next time, just Bri and I will have to go on a date for the "adult" one. It was fun though.

After that we ran home and changed the kids into their costumes so they could go trick or treating at the mall. Not the best idea. Some stores weren't doing it, others were out of candy, but we stood in a forever long line and waited about 5 minutes in between stores to get a tootsie roll. Cooper and Isabelle were so fussy, so I took them home for naps while Brian took the other 2 girls out to main street where they were doing trick-or-treating there. It ended up being a nice break for me. About 2 hours of silence! Thanks babe!

Elizabeth was a witch, and I pretty one at that I might add! She had her school parade and wore the hat basically just because it covered her face. She is so funny sometimes about attention. Who would have thought she'd be shy..... at anything?!!!

Caroline originally said she wanted to be a dog, so I bought this cute headband thing and tail, but then she changed her mind and said she wanted to be Snow White, so that's what she was for her school day. I loved seeing her with black hair. You should have seen the shower! You'd think we hadn't cleaned it in months, oh wait, that's about accurate! (okay, not quite months)

So here is our attempt at trick-or-treating. Brian was going to stay home to hand out the candy and I said I'd take the kids out. This was how Cooper and Isabelle were by the first home. They didn't make it to the third! I turned them right back around and dropped them off with Brian and I took Liz and Caroline out for the big kid trick-or-treating! We snagged one of Elizabeth's best friends and she and her Mom and sister came with us. It was fun, aside from them standing completely off the porch at 75% of the homes waiting to see if they had a dog. One of  the first houses had a dog run out and jump on them, nearly knocking Caroline off the porch, so they were a little nervous at EVERY house! But we survived, they got their candy and are all now sleeping peacefully in bed. Missed being with Mom and Dad on Mom's bday. I like trick-or-treating in my home neighborhood. Elizabeth is already asking to go with friends, seems a little early too me! Happy Halloween!

Isn't this face just so darn cute?!!!

This wasn't the first of the drama for the day, but thought it was so telling of what the day was like with Cooper.

Oh, and before I forget to get this down, yesterday these two were so  stinkin' cute!!! I was trying to get them to help clean the basement and put away some clothes. I  admit, I'm horrible and doing chore charts and keeping on top of them to get their stuff done. I'd just rather do it and get it over with, but I am getting to the point where I'm getting overwhelmed and I know they're old enough to help. Well, Elizabeth was putting up a major stink about helping, but Caroline was doing fabulous and I kept telling Caroline how awesome she was and how great she was doing. Elizabeth was upset that I wasn't telling her but I said, "well, you're not doing anything". She took her stuff and put it away and I started vacuuming. I went into Cooper's room and she was in there all by herself folding all the clothes that were on her bed. She grabbed Caroline to join her and they cleaned Cooper's room, made his bed, cleaned their room and made their bed, cleaned Isabelles' room  and straightened the sheets in her crib. That room alone was a major accomplishment. I've been doing a little at a time because there are seasons of clothes to be sorted through in there. They even folded all the clothes, and I'm talking like at least 30 things. Then they went upstairs and cleaned our room and made the bed. I mean really cleaned it. Not just threw things in a pile. They folded everything and put things away. It was so cute and so nice. I guess they can do more than they let on. Time to jump on that! I just thought it was so cute and they were having so much fun doing it. I love these little stinkers!