Halloween, Snow storms and confessions

 

It is amazing that the kids were able to go trick or treating since the four days previous to

 Halloween it was snowing like crazy and we had school cancelled three days in a row!

  Saturday morning it was really sunny and everyone around the neighborhood made a huge effort to get the sidewalks clear so the kids could have their fun!   It was great and challenging to have the kids home for snow days.  There was entirely too much fighting going on.  Now I know why when we asked my Dad what he wanted for holiday and birthday gifts he would always say

 "Love and Harmony".  We hated hearing that answer, and yet it is so true!  We did clean up the basement and the garage and the kids were great about helping but we also did our fair share of laying around in pajamas, sledding, watching movies ( Kurt and I watched Miss Potter and I LOVED it) and drinking hot cocoa.  

Our Pumpkins looked great after we carved them, yet did not fare well in the snow storm so by Halloween night we had a few "Flat Stanley" pumpkins!  Thats what 2 feet of snow will do I guess!

So in case you cannot see from the photos the costumes this year are as follows:

Madeline - Belle winter princess

Savanna - Reniassance Princess

Christian - member of SWAT team

Emma - Snow White (The MOST amazing costume you have ever seen, sewed by her sweet Great Aunt Sue)

Clark - turtle

The snow white dress is such a beautiful and beloved addition to Emma's wardrobe already, she insists on wearing it almost daily for any activity - she "needed" to have her costume on to color in her coloring book!  

   Emma is completely adorable, and quite a silly, honestly hazardous girl to have around! 

The other day I was making dinner and she just got up and walked out the front door - I went after her and asked her where she was going (because I have learned that if I do not follow her she ends up two houses down happy as can be playing in their yard.  all by herself.)  She said "well, I just need some fresh air."  

Emma, you are two.  Silly.  Silly.  Ok, three in February, but seriously, fresh air?

 Another funny statement: driving the kids to school and she looks over and sees snow on the windshield of a car parked in the parking lot 

"Mom, I want to go over there and lick my tongue on that car to eat the snow."

She has a great vocabulary, I am sure that comes with having older siblings, and she expresses herself very clearly, it cracks me up!  

Clark has become completely mobile and is enjoying himself all over the house.

I know the lighting is funny in this photo, but I love natural light.  And pulling out every tissue in a box is a thrill every child should enjoy at least once, right?

Well here is it 8 days into November already and its moving too quickly for me.  I love this time of year, love it right on through New Years Day.  And this year I want to savor and enjoy each day and do wonderful things with my children and have great meals and decorate my house and visit friends and..... so many pretty pictures in my mind which will never come to pass.  And who ever said it's the thought that counts?  NOT TRUE!  Two new traditions for us this year, a Gratitude Poster and the Thanksgiving Penny Project, thanks to my sister and her brilliant ideas you can see it at her blog  http://hopefulhomemaker.com/wp/2009/11/02/thanksgiving-penny-project/

If I knew how to make that link into a word it would just say 'here' but since I have no idea how to do that there you have it.  

The gratitude poster is simply a poster board up in the house for us all to write things we are thankful for and blessings we enjoy every day.  So the plan is that the entire poster is completely covered with expressions of thanks by turkey day!  This year many of my siblings are coming to stay at my parent's house for the holiday so we get to see them!  Very exciting.  We get to meet two new cousins, Lexi and Brinley.  Huge blessings right there! 

ok, well, not that anyone really wants to hear it but maybe it will make me feel better if I do get it out, a few confessions: 

a few weeks ago, I paid someone to come help me clean my house (gasp!)  I know.  I am still in shock myself.  All I can say is that is by far the nicest thing I have done for myself in years.  The best $70 I have spent in a LONG TIME.  I know, that is still a lot of money, but there is no way I could have recovered this place without help.  It was wonderful, I was scurrying around putting things away, throwing things out ( you can only do this successfully while the kids are at school and when the garbage collector is coming immediately)  doing laundry, straightening toys, putting away clothing that kids have grown out of, and so on.  While I was frantically doing all of that work, two very sweet women were scrubbing the house from top to bottom - windows, blinds, baseboards, banisters, all of those things I never get to.  It felt truly luxurious to me.  I hope I can do that a few times a year to help me start fresh.  And since they left I have noticed all of us making greater efforts to keep things looking more tidy, which is super! 

I think I may sincerely be addicted to www.landsend.com

I have found the greatest bargains on overstocks for my kids to be geared up and warm in the snow and soft pajamas, nightgowns, shoes, you name it.  I'm hooked!  I LOVE great quality products at fabulous prices.   But for now I NEED to stop looking there.  OK.  that feels better.

I have learned that you should ALWAYS have your children in for an allergy check BEFORE you take said children to pick out a kitten for a birthday gift.  Let me assure you, waiting until you are about to bring the kitten home and THEN having Savanna have a huge allergy attack, waiting a few days to get into an allergist, only to find out that she has the highest allergy possible to all furry creatures, is the worst possible way to do it.  why do I do these things to myself?  well the real confession is that I am secretly THRILLED that I am now justified in never having a pet.  Isn't that terrible?  The kids are crushed, and inside I'm doing back flips of joy! 

ok. .  I'm sure that is enough.  But so much happens every day and if I don't write it down here, where?  like the primary program in church today - SO sweet, I am so proud of Madeline, Savanna and Christian for having their parts memorized and learning all of those new songs with such sweet words.  It made me weep.  Especially "and when I am a mom or dad, so glad, I'll help my family remember  God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be.  This is how he shares his love, for the family is of God."  

if you have not heard this song, you must.  

http://broadcast.lds.org/primary/Primary_04_TheFamilyIsOfGod_.mp3

My baby

WOW! Is he really going to turn one in a few weeks? I can't believe it! C has to be the most amazing 15 pounder I know!!! Yesterday he just army crawled over to the top of the stairs, turned around and went down backwards. No falls. I have NEVER taken any time to show him how to do this or helped him do it. He just did it. I was shocked. Then on the landing he turned around and came back up. He was so proud of himself and loved the attention it drew from all of us at the top of the stairs cheering him on. I hope he remembers this and we can skip that falling down the stairs thing all the way around.

HE also currently loves to climb out of his high chair and since he is still so small he can wiggle right out of pretty much anything, including ONE side of where his feet go in a shopping cart (as I learned at ace hardware yesterday, good thing I caught him before he was all the way through!) I turned for a moment to sign the keypad and there you go, he was almost on his way to the floor! Silly boy. He is also standing up and walking around the edges of the couch, chair, chest, you name it. My favorite new trick of his is the cute 'ma ma ma ma' that he says! And a close second is he will start this growling thing (usually with Christian but I play along too) and then Christian will growl back and they do it back and forth for several minutes. It is quite funny. A few nights ago he started giving kisses too -- the slobbery kind and only if he is in the mood! It is great to actually see some meat on his bones and some chubbiness in his cheeks and legs for the first time ever. It almost seems like he has been with us for more than a year because I feel like we have been through so much with him - did that really all just happen in the past 12 months? wow. I sure love him and I'm glad he is doing so much better!

On a side note, some things that I do NOT particularly enjoy:

- going to take a drink of my newly mixed cup of mint hot cocoa with whip cream on top (yes, my very healthy breakfast today) only to find that two partially eaten, chewed on grapes have been dropped into it. awesome. At least it lowered my calorie intake, right?

- My husband having surgery this past week and being quite grouchy. I don't like either part.

- My daughter having chicken pox for the THIRD time (and yes, she has been vaccinated TWICE too) and being home from school telling me all about how its not fair and she should not be having this happen and its hard to be 8 years old and ..... not sure how many more days I can listen to that so lets hope those spots disappear tonight!

- My children fighting with each other. Does that really happen at your house too? Because right now it seems like it's just us.

- Never getting enough done. Always being a day behind and an hour too late!

And to balance things out... More blessings:

- Finally getting on some good meds this past week (6 to be exact) so hopefully my cough will be gone by thanksgiving and I will be sleeping and breathing great at night again!

- So far so good. No plans of re-surgery for my baby yet. Keeping my fingers crossed.

- Snow. Cold, wet, and beautiful. I love it.

- A pair of jeans that fit, are comfortable and I actually feel like I look OK in them.

- A new niece. And another one coming in November. More babies, I love it!

Well time to sail on and sign out. I feel better anyway.

Wow, is it really friday again?

a few things:

school really wipes kids out.  They are SO tired after a long week of school that friday night is code word for an all-children meltdown at our house!  WOw!  It was bad tonight.   And they don't even realize how tired they are and so they don't know why they are crying so they keep crying and saying I just don't even know and you know they just neeeeeeed to go to sleep as in right this second and they do noooooot want to go to sleep and wow its a little touch and g

o for a while there until they stop and say well Mom you know I really am tired I think I will go to sleep now.  whew! 

Colorado is beautiful all the time but I really love it right now.  Leaves falling and changing and although I am sure it looks rather brown to my eastern friends, I love it here right now.  Beautiful.  

Christian is five years old now and he is such a delightful and fun boy.  The other day I asked what he learned at school and he said "well, you know all that stuff that you mostly learn while you are at school, well we mostly just did that."  That really cleared it up for me - now I know exactly what he did that day, don't you?  So far since kindergarton started they have studied this fabulous unit on animals, reptiles, amphibians and such.  They have had CU come with bones, furs, antlers and other items to see and touch and learn about.  The "Reptile Guy" has been in with his tortoise, snakes, lizards, and whatever he has!  And Hawkquest has been at the school with a great horned owl, bald eagle, falcons and hawks!  So many fun things to learn and Christian has been so completely captivated that I am a little worried that Unit #2 will be a bit of a let down... unless its dinosaurs.  He told me that the whole reason he went to school this year is to learn a lot about dinosaurs.  Very fun.  He is working very hard to learn to write all of his numbers and letters and colors properly.  He is an awesome boy!

Another thing:  my children LOVE to line up for photos for me - you can see a perfect example of that 100% willingness right here.  Gotta love it. 

Lately I have noticed so much the guiding hand of God in my life.  Blessings all over the place.  Sometimes they have been blessings that seem insignificant and that could just go into the 'that worked out well' category, but after I have reflected on it I have realized how blessed we have been.  For example, Christian's latest surgery.  We got in to see the doc a week before we were even scheduled because I randomly ran into his wife at the store and she told me his trip was cancelled, we got in 3 days later and had surgery the following day.  All before school started so he could actually HEAR his teacher!  Huge blessing. 

Business is slowing down with roofing and the weather has been cold and wet but Kurt has continued to have steady jobs coming in and is doing great.  That is a massive blessing.  

Although Clark has started spitting up again and his surgical wrap has slipped a bit, the surgeon has decided for now to wait and see how he does and so far he is moving more towards all solid foods (which he does not spit up as much) and he has gained a few ounces and not lost any weight.  Another miraculous blessing.  

Those are just a few examples, and I am not particularly thankful for the rounds of sickness we have had at my house over the past 2 weeks -- however when I really LOOK at my life and spend time being thankful for what surrounds me I am reminded that the Lord LOVES ME and I am BLESSED! 

Trying to dig out.... still drowning.

So I got my computer back today.  HA!  2 months, no computer.  Could be a good thing.  Except for all the emails I missed from friends and family and school teachers and the stress from not hitting some deadlines for work and stuff like that.  right, so you actually DO need a computer.  

Another new hard drive for me.  And I am hoping for a NEw new computer from Santa.... but I am pretty sure I have not been 100% nice this year so we will see. 

I am trying really hard to dig out from the huge tornado called my life that I am currently drowning in.  So much to do.  I never get enough done.  Kurt is helping like crazy and working hard and I feel like I hardly rest but we still never get enough done!  I feel like a complete train wreck right now and I am trying so hard to pull it together.  I need someone to lock me in my house for a year or two so I can get caught up.  seriously. 

Maybe sometime soon I can post some photos of the kiddos.  They are so happy in school and Emma is missing them at home.  She keeps herself busy by destroying things and making messes.  And changing clothing every 20 minutes. No joke.  It is CRAZY making.   THe final soccer games are next week and that has been really fun.  The school musical performance "broadway review" practices are in full swing and Madeline is thrilled to be singing and dancing to something from High School Musical.  Savanna and Christian are doing something Disney, not sure what.  Maybe now that I am back online I can look up the songs on the music teachers website and have the kids practice like I am supposed to ha!

Clark is cute as ever and hanging right in there fighting for weight gain and happiness! 

It is SO COLD here and we are staying inside and drinking a lot of hot cocoa for breakfast.  

We have 3 new cousins, (nieces and nephew to me) Tal, Sonora and Alexis.  Can't wait to meet them.  we will have another niece this week.  Baby happy! 

signing off, hoping this thing keeps working!

Home from vacation and back at it!

We are now back from our long awaited family vacation to Newport Beach CA.  It was so fun to play at the beach and to get away.  I did not answer my phone or even check my email so it really was a get away!  

Now I am home and always playing catch up it seems.  This week has been busy and 

feels like me against the world.  Ever feel that way?  I know its silly (does it make you think of that 80's song...?ha!)  but its just been a rough week.  I think its tough on the kids having Kurt and me all alone with them for 10 days doing nothing other than playing with them and reading with them and spending time with them and then we come home and WHAM!  Dad is back at work and I

 am trying to clean up the house and figure out my next meal for meal group swap and getting them registered for school and setting up co-op preschool for Emma and taking Clark to the doctor again and coaching soccer and driving kids to piano lessons and trying to exercise and lose weight and in general not handling my life as well as I could have if I were a better person!  In time I'm sure I will figure it out ..... well I Hope I will! 

these are just a few of the many hundreds of photos that I took, the beach is one of my absolute favorite places to take pictures!

Some creative stuff

I finally had a chance to get back into my creative mode.  I love this chance to create.  There are several challenges it presents into my life because of the supplies and the mess I create, however, I truly love the outlet so thanks for letting me share! 

I have been spending a lot of time holding little ones lately (I love this too).  Emma has been

 saying to me (especially when I am holding Clark and she wants me to put him down and hold her) 

"Mommy can you just take care of me?"

who can refuse a plea like that?

oh, and no, she won't go for sharing my lap with Clark AND I CANNOT hold her while sitting down, it MUST be standing! I know, I will miss these days, I know I will!  

THe Trip.... FInally!

Well there is really no way to fully describe all that we experienced on our three week long road trip.

  We went from home in Colorado to Spanish Fork, where we stayed with Kevin and Leigha.  It was so fun to play the Wii, run around in their huge yard, and watch movies with them.  I got to see Rachelle at the park with her kids too and that was a blast!   Next stop was Jen & Eric's  house for a night in American Fork.  From there we stopped at the new temple open house on our way up to Logan to see Kristen and Jake.  We stayed there for 2 days and had a chance to see their jewelry store  SHINE!  It was great.  Then we went to Idaho Falls where we stayed with Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob and saw Aunt Laurie, Uncle Dennis and Aunt Nan and Uncle Phil too.  We got to go to the zoo with Annalyn and Luke and that was awesome

 too! 

From Idaho we trekked up to Spokane where we got to see Matt and Kate's place for the first time.  It is beautiful.  We went to an awesome children's museum and then headed up to Sandpoint, ID for a weekend on the lake.  It exceeded my expectations, if that was possible!  Everything Matt has every said about how wonderful it was to be there is 100% true!  We loved it and want to go back.  

After that, back to Idaho Falls, back to UT.  This time in Utah we got to see the Weeks, and the  

Thurmans.  We made sure to have as many snow cones as possible (I think its a CRIME that they are not available in Colorado!)  It was a treat to see Rosalene and to meet Zibby  (WHY did we not take a photo?)  and our friends the Merrills - how fun to see you all again !  If we didn't see you well, we wanted to and hope we can next time!!!

So here are some of my favorite of the 2000 photos I took.  THere are so many more I wish I would have taken.... Me with Aunt Fay, Aunt Laurie, me with all the kids.....  me with Julie.....ME with Kathie .....  me with my sisters and brothers..... the kids with their Auntie's..... but some memories from this trip must be recorded in my heart and feelings rather than in photos.  And they will be.  I will always be so happy I did it.  

I give up on trying to get the photos posted in order.  You can figure it out I am sure!   Whoever is in charge at blogger that can't write this thing so that your photo will post where you leave your curser when you upload... can I just say that BUGS ME!!!!

ok.  i"m done.