Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post to wish everyone the very merriest of Christmases. One of the girls in my Young Women's class told us the best idea. Her home teacher had told her and she told us that every time we heard someone saying "Merry Christmas" this year, we are to try and think about Jesus Christ. I thought it was a wonderful idea. So to all of you I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Surprise!

Have you ever had a week where you literally just run from one place to another all day long? That would have been my week. I think on Friday and Saturday I was home for probably a total of 2/3 hours both days combined except for when I was asleep.

While I was gone, my children were home alone for a good chunk of this time so imagine the state of my house. Oh, and add into that the fact that I have Christmas decorations boxes out (I decorated my tree at 6:30 Sunday morning,) the kids slept in the living room the night before, and we had orange rolls (Rhodes dough) for breakfast. We had stake conference at 10:00 a.m. and my wonderful husband was at the church for meetings most of the morning so absolutely none of this was cleaned up before we left for church.

My sister and family were coming for dinner that night so I new I had a big job ahead of me. After conference I started pulling out leftovers for lunch and gearing up for the cleaning.

Why, you might ask am I sharing all this terribly exciting information with you? Imagine my surprise when as I'm pulling out the leftovers my lovely, always with a perfectly clean house, mother-in-law shows up for Sunday dinner. I about died right there on the spot!

I guess Nate invited her on Monday and then promptly forgot all about it and never mentioned a word of it to me. If the earth could have opened up and swallowed me right then and there I would have been a happy camper.

I spent the next half hour desperately trying to pick things up while I'm scanning my brain for anything I can fix instantly for lunch that will not look like leftovers and trying to entertain Marilyn at the same time. She was very gracious and just laughed and said not to worry as I begged her to understand why I was in such a state of chaos.

We ended up having grilled chicken salad with a yummy loaf of whole grain rye bread that I had bought on a whim. My sister said she'd bring a salad for dinner, so luckily I had all the things I needed for a salad on hand. We had fresh baked cookies for dessert. THANK YOU Krissi for the idea to share cookie dough at our last book club. Over all, the meal turned out okay, not what you'd expect for a Sunday dinner, but I did the best I could.

Nate always tells me that we should always have the house cleaned in case someone stops by. I guess he was right.

Good news and Bad news...

The good news is that my 21 month baby is ALMOST potty trained!!! I'm pretty excited about it. Never have any of my other kids been remotely interested at this age, and she is doing amazingly well.

The bad news is that my 21 month old baby is ALMOST potty trained!!! Which means that she thinks she can do it all by herself. Went to get in the shower the other day and picked up a cute little snowman off the floor and found it covered in poo. Some how she managed to go to the bathroom, wipe herself and leave a little treat on the floor. I never even knew she had gone. As one adventure ends another one is always around the corner.

Pie thief

Today I had to make a pie for our Mutual activity. We made Thanksgiving dinner for the singles in our ward. I debated about making one or two pies. I decided my family would appreciate a pie so I made two. One looked beautiful, the other had some funny bubbles on it, so you know which one was for my family. Anyway, as I was talking on the phone as it was time to walk out of the house imagine my surprise to find my beautiful pie full of lovely little finger swirls through the entire thing! The lady on the phone heard my gasp and wondered what could possibly be wrong. I told her and she really felt sorry for me.

I guess it was a blessing for my children that I was on the phone when I saw it because I couldn't completely lose it, but I was so mad! Oh well, what are a few bubbles among friends right?

I wanted to take a picture, but I was all ready running late because of the phone call and I didn't have time. Just imagine beautiful spirals from the crust to the very center.

Thanksgiving

I know it has been months since I last posted. Not sure why, just found other silly things to fill my time like facebook. I've decided to try and break that addiction and move back to blogging a little more.

So today I'm sharing my stress about Thanksgiving. As you all know, I lost my mom many years ago and with that loss brought a million other losses. Having Thanksgiving dinner at her house is one of them.

So now Thanksgiving dinner is at my house. While I'm excited for the challenge and excitement of having family at my house, it stresses me right out! Two years ago we had it here, but my chef of a brother was there to help me prepare the whole event. This year he will be here, but only in time for dinner. (He has to work a graveyard shift the day before and the day after.) So the main event falls mostly on my shoulders.

I have so many things to be grateful for; my family, home, the gospel, good friends, plenty to eat, chocolate, etc..., I really don't have anything to complain about. I just miss those awesome trips of my youth to Idaho for an incredible Thanksgiving weekend. The fact that I wasn't responsible for anything and just got to enjoy it all I'm just starting to fully appreciate. It makes me incredibly grateful to everything so many people did to make it wonderful for the rest of us.

So, just wanted to start my Thanksgiving preparations by saying thank you to everyone who has helped make my life wonderful, either in the past, the present, or the future.

What do YOU do with the toothpaste you get from the dentist?

Boo has been looking forward to going to the dentist since we left the last time. I get asked several times a month when we are going to the dentist next. She loves it! She asks so often that I've often threatened that she won't be able to go next time if she doesn't quit asking. I've decided they just do their jobs too well. They have to start being mean or something.

Anyway, when we got home from the dentist with their fun little bag of goodies I was changing laundry and picking up when Boo came to me with bright blue hands. I just rolled my eyes and asked what it was this time. Imagine my joy when I found toothpaste all over her...
all over the counter and sink, (you can't see all of it from this picture)


all over the floor,all over Roo,
(side bar, nice scar to the fore head huh? She fell down a stair at the church and landed on her head.)on the wall, and later I found it all over my sheets as well. I love my daughter, I love my daughter.

Another fun day in July!

If you are ever looking for a great way to spend a couple of hours, and you can go for free or have discounted tickets (love my Tracy Aviary pass!) I strongly recommend the Natural History Museum. There are lots of fun things to do. Like seeing the affects of flood water,
digging for dinosaur bones,
more bone digging,
checking out the great frog exhibit,
posing for fun photos, checking out the live bugs, doing puzzles, looking at dinosaurs, or a variety of other fun things. We go every summer and everyone from youngest to oldest have fun.
When we came out of the museum imagine our surprise when we found it pouring rain! It was blue skies and sunshine when we went in. Our plans to go to the zoo were quickly changed and we went to the Cole's house to watch a movie instead. We couldn't go home because we had plans to go to my brother's house in Salt Lake for the evening.
Jman's soccer coach has encouraged the boys to watch professional soccer games. Since we don't have cable Uncle Cliff recorded the championship game between U.S.A. and Brazil. We had peanuts, pizza, and soda and watched it at their house. Thanks guys! We had a great time!

Cliff and Ray decided they needed something for the girls to do when they came to their house. I think they hit the jackpot! Boo had a blast!

Willard Bay

Our cousins invited us to come and play with them at Willard Bay. They just got wave runners and they are a ton of fun. The day started out with a few rough patches, but thanks to the kindness of an old friend we still had two wave runners and lots of fun. My kids can't wait to go again.

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Summer Fun.

Here are a few fun things we have done this summer.

Our very nice friend, Michelle, let us come in her back yard and pick cherries. We had a great time picking them. Roo liked watching for a while, but she got a little bored with the whole event.
Jman had to count every cherry he picked. I think he had over 350 cherries.
Mr. T wanted to be as big as his brother, so with a little help from Mom he had almost as many cherries as Jman.

Eating otter pops at Uncle Richard's house

Nate's work party is a high light of our summer. The kids love playing bingo, the bouncy toys, eating dinner and having fun.


Too cool or what?

Father's Day

We had a nice Father's day this year and one of my favorite parts was all the kids wrestling with their dad.




The boys had so much fun making this candy bar poster for their dad. We spent all week looking for candy that would make great sayings on the poster. Their favorite line was the one that said "Mom thinks you are one 'Hot Tamale"

My bowling prodigy

Saturday I took my three oldest kids bowling while Nate stayed home with Roo. It was nice to be inside during all the rain, and we had a lot of fun.

Why, you may ask, is this worthy of a post on my blog? Because Boo, my THREE year old bowled a 103!!! I couldn't believe it. We did use the bumpers but not the little ball roller. She had two spares and a strike! Yes, I said a strike, and she didn't even use the bumpers to get it.

We were all amazed at how well she did. She beat both her brothers soundly (I won't embarrass them by telling you how much) but it was more than 10 points. Maybe I have a future bowler on my hands, or maybe she just got incredibly lucky. Only time will tell...

Boo's First Swimming Lessons!

Boo just finished her first swimming lessons. I was a little nervous about putting her in them. She is so hot and cold when it comes to the water. One day she loves it and the next she won't put her face in the water or even think about swimming at all. She LOVED it! I've never seen a child smile much while she was in the water. It was fun to watch. She passed and will start level 2 in a couple of weeks.

Some of these aren't the best pictures, but moving child in the water, lots of glare, what can you do. Maybe I should have Brock come and take some pictures for me.

Swimming lessons

Mr. T. did so well in his first session of swimming lessons this year. His teacher told him he had the best breast stroke in his class! He passed to go into level five for his next class. It was fun to see him do so well. There was no complaining about swimming lessons which was nice coming from him.

I love to watch him swim he just floats in the pool. I don't think he could ever drown, because he always just bobs back up to the top. His teacher tried to teach him how to touch the bottom and he said, "Mom I really tried, but I just kept floating back to the top." That's our Mr. T.

Machine Pitch Baseball

Tman has been playing Machine Pitch Baseball this year. For the most part, he has loved it! But, he hates getting ready and swears he doesn't want to play, and he hates it, and why do I have to make him go; you get the idea. Once he gets there he loves it and we all have fun hanging out with neighbors and friends and visiting.

He had a hard time hitting at first, but Nate really worked with him, and the last game he had three hits! I was so proud of him.
Some of the fans watching the game.