Tis the Season

It's officially the Christmas season. I bought my first Christmas present today. No, I didn't get up at an insane hour and hit the stores on Black Friday. I'm to lazy for that...but I did get online and shop in my PJs. That, I'm willing to do. Much nicer. Most of my sisters are well into their shopping (probably almost done) and I'm just getting started. Yikes. I better get a move on.

On another note, we had five houses on our street that had Christmas lights already turned on this last week. I wonder how many will join the ranks to light up our neighborhood now that Thanksgiving is over. I would love to add lights to our house. It makes it so fun for the kids. I figure that Ryan won't do it so if I want it done, I'll have to do it myself. Lucky for me, there isn't any snow to have to worry about so it shouldn't be any big deal. I guess the big deal is shoveling out the money to buy the lights in the first place. Maybe it won't happen after all. I guess we'll see!

Happy shopping and decorating!

For This I Am Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I sit down and think of the many things that I am thankful for, I am amazed at how truly blessed I am.

*First, I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is so good to me and the calm in my worry filled life. He is a great father, especially since the kids are growing up and wanting to go out and play more with him. I love how he teaches them gospel principles just around the dinner table while we are eating. It reminds me of my own Dad and how much I love and miss him.

*I am thankful for my 4 beautiful children. I think that I take for granted how perfect they came into the world.

*I'm thankful for my family far away from here. You don't realize how much you love and appreciate them until you are far away. I treasure all of my memories and traditions that I had growing up. I'm also thankful to Ryan's family for making him who he is today! Such a wonderful son can only come from wonderful parents.

*I am thankful that Ryan has a job. I am thankful that he dutifully goes everyday even though he doesn't like it that much. He does it for us. For that I am thankful.

This list could go on to include even the smallest of things. But I wanted you to know that I am truly thankful to be alive, to have the gospel and know from whom all of my blessings came.

An Expirence Tag

This is a fun tag! I got this from a friend. She said that her life was pretty boring, but in comparison to mine, her's is much more exciting. Just copy and paste the entire list below and put the ones you have done/experienced in bold. Hopefully, your list will have a little more bold than mine!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain-it was a hike and it wasn't like all the way to the top or anything...
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (I can sing a solo, but am too afraid to sing karaoke...)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (I've also been the recipient of this too...there are still nice strangers around)
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I tried once and passed out. How pathetic am I?)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (I've helped tie a quite but It wasn't mine)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (does a scooter count?...oh, and I wasn't going very fast)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Happiness A Little Early

I was getting excited thinking that with Abby mostly potty trained, I would only have one in diapers. That would save money on our grocery bill! However she has decided that she doesn't really want to go potty in the toilet anymore and would rather just go wherever she happens to be at the time. The past three days have been awful! I've been running the wash constantly because we're going through so many outfits. I guess the funness (is that a word?) has worn off. I'm trying not to get frustrated but oh my heck! The bright side is that she never goes poopy in her pants. That always makes it in the potty and she doesn't even tell me that she has to go, she just does! So we take the good with the bad and try to be a nice Mommy when she pees on the carpet just 30 seconds after I have asked her if she needs to go. I hate potty training!

Showin' some Dimples

Yep, Kaden's got some dimples like his Mommy....but it's big brother Josh that can make him smile. He smiles a little for me (refer to top picture), but he was all out smiles and coos for Josh in the second shot. What's up with that? Maybe he knows that he and Josh will be best buds in the coming years!

Doin' the Spike

There isn't much explanation or fun story to go along with these pictures. I just thought that the kids looked funny with their hair stickin' straight up so I thought I would snag a picture. You know that some people go to great lengths to get their hair to look like this....hairspray, gel etc. My kids just run their heads on the tramp and there you have it. Spike Heads!

Playin' T-ball at the Park

Here are some cute pictures of the kids playing at the park for Josh's birthday. They love to get out and play, especially if Mom and Dad are out there with them. Josh and Ethan are pretty good hitters. Abby just loved chasing the ball. And Kaden...well, he must have been bored because he just slept the whole time :-)

Happy Birthday Joshua

I can't believe that my baby boy is 8 years old! Golly, 8 seems so old. This year for his birthday he got a digital camera. He's been asking for one for quite a while. I can tell that he's growing up by the things that he's been asking for for his birthday. We had a great day. I took cupcakes up to the school for his class and joined him for lunch. He was very excited about that. Then after school we went and got some food and had a picnic lunch at the park and played T-ball. Then the real party started...we opened presents had a great cake and flopped into bed. It was a fun filled day. I hope Josh had a great birthday. He's my special boy!

Thank goodness for Sesame Street

This past weekend we (everyone minus Ethan) were all sick and throwing up. Can I just say how thankful I am for Sesame Street! Abby loves it. Abby likes to get into trouble when I'm not paying close attention to her so this allowed me to veg on the couch and sleep off and on for like 4 hours straight. Thank goodness that I had that many episodes on my TiVo. I guess it helped that she was feeling sick herself. I hate being sick. I usually don't get sick that often so when I do, it's awful. Thank goodness it was only a 24 thing and we're back running. Got to run some cupcakes over to Josh's class for his birthday!

It's Finally Gone

Ethan finally lost his first tooth! He's been waiting and waiting. It's been wiggly for a while, but he's a lot more patient than Josh and let it come out when it was ready. Josh has yanked out teeth at the slightest wiggle and as a result, he has many holes in his smile that the teeth haven't grown in yet.

Ethan put his tooth on the counter and yesterday it was gone. My guess is that it fell on the floor, and of course I choose that day of all days to sweep. Luckily the tooth fairy knows that he lost a tooth and Ethan raked in some money anyway! :-)

My New Favorite Quote

I got this quote from a friend. It fits my household perfectly.

"Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling the walks...while it's still snowing!"

Such a Waste

Abby is all into her candy....just not eating it. She wants me to get her Halloween bucket down, then she proceeds to open everything (until I stop her) and take one bite or lick then throw the rest away. I've been finding candy, and let's not forget about all the wrappers, all over the place. I think some parents might be pleased that their kids weren't eating so much candy, but when I see her throwing a perfectly good candy bar away, I just have to cringe! What a waste. At least I didn't buy it. I thought the way that Abby lined up all the suckers was very artistic! She must have been taste testing. A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Trick or Treat

This was at our ward's trunk or treat on Thursday. The 1st counselor in our bishopric is a vet and so we had our party in the barn out back behind the animal hospital. The young men put on a spook ally in one of the stalls and Josh braved it and went it all alone. He was doing ninja kicks on all the boys...until the chain saw man came out....then he got a little nervous. I was proud. Ethan wouldn't go in.
This is my little pumpkin. He wasn't too happy about getting his picture taken. He was hungry and not thrilled with me that I was making him pose.

Is Ethan into super heros or what? Batman this year. Spiderman last year and the year before that, he was Superman. Gee wiz! What's next? Ironman? The Incredible Hulk?
Joshua the black ninja! I guess this was a pretty popular costume this year. There were 3 ninja's in Josh's class this year. I commented to Josh that his cousin Brandon was also a ninja and he got a kick out of that. He's been running around for days making ninja sounds and doing all kinds of cool kicks. Pretty serious stuff!
Abby the little ballerina! I was lucky enough not to have to buy Abby a costume. Our neighbor from Challis had given us this little outfit a because her daughter had outgrown it. I'm glad that I remembered that I had it. It turned out great. Yeah! I love not having to buy costumes! Borrowing or reusing is the way to go! She had a great time trick or treating. Of course, I enjoyed eating all of her candy that had nuts. Yum!