Snow much fun!

I have been CRAVING sunshine and warm temps. I don't think it's been any secret. This morning McKay begged me to get the snow stuff out, and since I've been in and out of the attic all day putting Christmas away, I decided now was as good of time as any. I am always amazed at how pleasant playing outside in winter can be when properly bundled. :) Last year I bought my first pair of snow boots since I was a kid and my parents found Jeff and I some really great snow pants on clearance last year. Can I tell you, I love to be out in the snow now?

The kids love it, too. Even Sophie. Despite everyone having the proper snow gear, we've still never purchased sleds. That's ok. The kids and I make our own fun with Jeff's old snow shovel and a little hill in our backyard. A metal shovel makes an awesome sled by the way. :) I'm so proud of my kids for wanting to play out in the snow. I don't remember loving it the whole time growing up. After snow time, we trekked around to the front of the house to draw on the driveway with chalk. It was so sunny and actually quite warm (with a realfeel temp of 42). The driveway was just calling to us! We now have a lovely, heartwarming mural of our house, lots of sunshine (they all had to draw their own), a few flowers, a bunch of hearts and even a swimming pool. Jeff's got the afternoon tomorrow and I sense a repeat day.

If you've got sunshine where you live, can I offer a suggestion? GO OUTSIDE! It will do wonders for your spirit and happiness levels. :D

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a great one with lots of fun and surprises.

There was lots of excitement at our house as we had prepared not only for Santa to come but Grandma and Grandpa to spend Christmas Eve with us. I think this is the first time we've ever had grandparents at our house for Christmas. The kids loved it.

Favorite gifts:

Dad-Numb3rs (tv show) season 3 highlight CD

Mom-Guitar

Lyndsi-Doll clothes or her HSM3 soundtrack

McKay-Legos

Sophie-My Little Ponies (the little ones-thanks for introducing us to the obsession-you know who you are:) )

I'm excited to have Lyndsi home from school for another week and hopefully we can do some fun things with the kids.

Doesn't this picture capture the joys of kids at Christmas? Love it!

Now that Christmas is over though, bring on the sunshine and warm weather!!!

Christmas Tag

1. Favorite Christmas song? White Christmas.
2. Favorite Christmas beverage? Hot chocolate (oh yeah! we got it!)
3. Favorite Christmas activity with your family? Mary and Joseph dinner and opening the Christmas Eve pj's and all the anticipation on Christmas Eve.
4. Favorite Christmas TV special? It's a Wonderful Life and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
5. Favorite Christmas candy? Before this weekend-Aunt Cynthia's homemade caramels. After this weekend-Oreo truffles.
6. Naughty or nice? Nice.
7. Biggest Christmas hassle? Cards.
8. Hassle or not, my favorite thing to do for Christmas is _________? Having the tree decorated so I can relax in the glow of its light.
9.Tree topper: Star, angel or other? Star on one, big bow and pine cones on the other.
10. The person you are most excited to give to this year? Umm....Everyone.
11. What is on your wrapping paper? I like traditional colors, so I try to stick with red and greens-stripes, candy canes, and santas. I do have some more colorful white/silvery stuff with little trees and presents.
12. Dreaming of a White Christmas? Uh-did you read number 1?
13. Going caroling? As long as our friends don't chicken out on us.
14. Gift you are hoping for most this year? for me-an MP3 player. For my family-that they all love what they get and have no disappointments.

Tagging: Marlene, Jennie, Randi and Kelly

Christmas Pictures

I don't really have time to be doing this, but my blog is sadly lacking in fun holiday pictures and info.

It's been a busy season. Here's the low-down:

1. The "other" ward party-for those of us not able or willing to find a babysitter for the "adult" party. Ran crazy around a friend's office (where we held the party). Ate delicious and bounteous snacks. Kids decorated gingerbread houses.

2. Dancing- Lyndsi in the Nutcracker. Chinese dancers. Several extra practices this week. (I think the only place I go now is "dance").

3. Crafting-Patience. Getting done. Too many. (Again.) Pictures come post-Christmas.

4. MoTab/Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Harrman. In the spirit now. Amazing vocals. Comforting narration. Good times with mom.

5. Snow. Not coming down (currently). Slows the driving (and thus everything else). Beautiful to watch. Fun to be in -if bundled properly.

6. Looking forward to-Ward Christmas program and chances to sing with amazing Cami. Caroling. Being with in-laws for the weekend. Work party. Family party. Christmas Eve. Mary and Joseph dinner, Christmas morning. McKay opening his sisters present that's already under the tree (so excited). Cards going out. Neighbor treat-making. Santa. Mr. Kruger. Polar Express.

See what I mean? Busy. Love it.

First the trees:
The kids-done in 10 minutes.

Mine. I think about a week.

Now the kids.

We have a princess.

And a Prince.

And then we have Goofy. She claims to be Minnie Mouse, but we all know.....

And then there's the three of them. See what I mean? Goofy.

Miscellaneous:

Totally not Christmas but so cute I had to share. My little man:

Sorry...

Christmas is coming and Mrs. Claus is in the house. (aka-I overloaded on projects again and will now need to go get a cucumber for my eyes and a great face mask to hide the damage.) I do have some cute pictures of my kiddos to share. If I can get them to upload that is.....

To and From

Running out of gift tags? Martha Stewart has some awesome printables that are (even more awesomely) free. How About Orange has the link. Check it out.

Thank you!!

For all the kind words about Twiddle. It has been so much fun to collaborate with Cami and Anisa on this and stretch my creativity a bit.

I did forget to mention, please feel free to put a link on your own blog if you want, and you are more than welcome to pass it on to your friends and family who might be interested. If you'd like a button for your blog, email me and I'll send you the code.

Introducing my new baby

No. I'm not pregnant. And, technically, it's not just my baby. It also belongs to Cami and Anisa. Our baby was actually born back in October, but is just well enough now to be shown to the world. Here she is-

Really, it's our craft blog. Lots of fun ideas coming from 3 very different girls. Go check it out and keep coming back. There are a lot of fun projects on the schedule!

Playing Favorites

Last night we had Jell-O for dessert. Jeff dished up the bowls according to how much each person would eat. McKay grabbed a bowl and almost immediately started throwing a fit because he didn't have much jello in his bowl. Jeff kept trying to convince him that he had lots of Jell-O.

Frustrated, Jeff tried to explain, "McKay we like you more so we give you more!!!"

Well, I could no longer play the silent observer. I cracked up laughing (as I'm doing now remembering the moment.) When Jeff realized what he said, he cracked too. Fortunately, McKay calmed down enough for us to explain that he had grabbed Sophie's bowl (which didn't have much). We gave him his bowl and all was well. But, we laughed all night over that one!

I promise, we like all our kids the same. Really.

My Hard Workin Girl

Early in the year, Lyndsi decided she wanted an American Girl doll like two of her cousins. She set out to earn the money to buy this doll. She did dishes, cleaned bathrooms, washed and folded laundry, worked in the yard, worked at the cabin, raked leaves multiple times, picked up pine cones for dad, and a whole other list of chores. A week or so ago AG had free shipping and she was getting close to having all her money. Jeff and I decided to order it on the sly. Boy am I glad we did!! She earned her last dollar this morning and wanted to go to the store to buy the doll, which, unfortunately, there isn't one here. About lunch time Jeff called and told me it was at his office. I herded the kids to the car and made sure Lyndsi had all her money with her. She was so surprised when she handed Jeff the $$ and the box was already on his desk. She's held and cuddled it all afternoon, except when she let mom tend it so she could play ponies with her little friend. Without further delay, I'd like to introduce Lyndsi's newest friend, Mia St. Clair:

Go Buy a Book

I just finished reading this very interesting blog article on the publishing industry, which apparently had a HARD October. http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/11/crash-flow-or-what-went-wrong-in.html

So, those who are still looking for a gift for that hard-to-buy for person on your Christmas list, here's a novel idea. :) Buy a book. A comic book, a cookbook, a novel, a gaming book. And don't tell me your person (or yourself) is not a reader. Everyone is. You just may not have found the right book, but watch out when you do. lol.

Here's a small list of my favorites:

-Anything by Shannon Hale, including Goose Girl (and the whole Bayern books), Princess Academy, Austenland, Repunzel's Revenge

-Twilight saga (duh)

-Marley and Me by Josh Grogan

-The Hobbit

-The Uglies (and related novels) by Scott Westerfeld

-A Girl of the Limberlost

-Jane Eyre

-Sundays at Tiffany's By James patterson

-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak



As I am a girl, most of these would appeal more to the female persuasion, but a few like The Hobbit (if you haven't read this, go get it NOW!), The Book Thief and Marley and me are all around good reads for anyone.

If you need something more to get you excited, watch this (always worked for me):


I think it's time for a trip to Barns and Noble myself......

Bite Me

....no really. It might help me keep my eyes open. I am SO tired, but it was SOOO worth it. Here's what happens when mom's, unaccustomed to leaving the house at 10 pm or so (let along even being awake at these late hours), do with some free time and no kids:

We started out fairly normal (although it was strange to be showering and getting ready at 9 p.m.).

Tiffany, Angie, Cami, and Rachel (who I just met and love!)

Me and Tiff and then Me and Cami all anxiously awaiting the midnight hour while enjoying bags of candy, chips, bottled water and free pizza

Did I mention the treat bags came with fangs?
And what would anything Twilight be without Edward?
(That was a dare of sorts by the way)

There are more pictures, but not on my camera. :) The movie started and it was like one big giant sleepover. Everyone cheered when each new character was introduced. We all laughed at things that were probably not that funny but it was midnight. There were lots of pleasant surprises. It was what I thought it would be, but then again different. I absolutely LOVED the cinematography, though. Will I see it again? Yes. In fact, I want to see it with a group of normal people at a normal time. I liked it.

We had cheese fries (well, I did) at denny's afterwards and recapped the movie and procrastinated going home as long as possible. (The poor host/server guy was a little overwhelmed by Twihards that kept popping in. Hey-at least he's making some extra $$, right? ) I love a good girls night and this had to be one of the best.

**If any of this sounds incoherent, well, let's face it. It probably is. I am very tired. :)

Happy Twilighting!!

While most of you are sleeping, I will (along with my BF and other good friends) will be viewing the midnight premiere of TWILIGHT. Sweet dreams, everyone.

Dancing with the Sophie

So, tonight I was watching Dancing with the Stars while folding laundry. Sophie wandered down and started watching with me. All of a sudden she blurted out, "she doesn't have a shirt!" I almost laughed because it's true. Those women are barely covered. But, it wasn't much longer before she was captivated by the dancing and asking for some dancing clothes (not that I think she wanted to wear what they were). Thanks to Lyndsi, we have plenty of "dancing clothes" which Sophie wore and almost slept in. Here's my little "star"

She also has discovered her "piggy bank." She wants to carry it around whenever she sees it and has also discovered the joy of dropping those shiny silver coins in there.

Digital Scrapping

A little while back I decided I want to try a little digital scrapbooking. I've been looking around for some free software and found some at http://www.scrapbookflair.com/. It doesn't come with much and what it does come with isn't that great. I did figure out how to use my cute kits from over at Shabby Princess, though. That was helpful. I'm still figuring out if I can layer paper with this software.

Anyway. Here are my first two attempts at digital scrapbooking (and yes I realize McKay is sideways):

I NEED dessert!

1. dessert, 2. Untitled, 3. Love at First Bite Cupcakes, 4. macaroons., 5. gelato., 6. tarte aux pommes りんごのタルト, 7. Bear with me, I’m resting, 8. Moelleaux, a chocolate treat in Avignon, France, 9. My blueberry crêpe

Tag Nab It!

I got tagged twice. Good thing I like these things. Here goes:

Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? mexico
3. Your hair color? Auburn
4. Your mother? Fun
5. Your father? Funny
6. Your favorite thing? people
7. Your dream last night? crazy
8. Your dream/goal? organization
9. The room you're in? calm
10. Your hobby? making
11. Your fear? sadness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? vacationing
15. One of your wish-list items? vacation
16. Where you grew up? west-side
17. The last thing you did? read
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? on
20. Your pet? dog
21. Your computer? helpful
22. Your mood? blah
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? Minivan
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? warm
28. Love someone? Jeff
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

Now tagging: Emily Y., Emily C., Hannah, anyone else.

Here's the second tag:


Where did you meet your husband? My apartment
How long did you date before you got married? 6 months
How long have you been married? 8.5 years.
What does he do to surprise you? sends flowers
What is your favorite feature of his? His tropical sea colored eyese. Very unexpected for his dark complexion and hair.
What is your favorite quality? He's a thinker and makes me think, too.
Does he have a nickname for you? Hon. I remember having to ask him to call me Angie or Ang on occasion just because I wasn't sure he remembered my name.
What is his favorite food? Mexican.
What is his favorite sport? Baseball
When and where did you first kiss? Ranae's apartment lawn.
What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Road tripping. We always have our best converstaions while driving.
Do you have children? Two girls, one boy.
Does he have any hidden talents? He says he can play the piano. I don't believe him. I've never heard it. ;)
How old is he? 32
Who said I Love you first? He did.
What is his favorite music? Jars of Clay and Collective Soul
What do you admire most about him? He is a hard worker.
What is his favorite color? Green
Will he read this? Of course
People I tag: Cami, Ranae, Lisa

A few fun things

First, I saw a fun article on the Twilight movie here: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20238689,00.html (sorry-can't get my link thing to work). Here's a new mag cover (much nicer than the famous Edward/Bella one that nobody likes):

Second, McKay heard Josh Groban singing a Christmas carol on the radio and asked me, "mommy, is this an angel?" I told him yes because let's face it, that sound is heavenly. He is becoming a big Groban fan now. ;) (He actually asks for his CD at nighttime.)

Third, I along with a couple of friends have something exciting in the works and I'm excited to share it with everyone. Just a few more things to work out and I'll let everyone know!

Happy Halloween!!

Hey, it's better late than never, right? :)

For Halloween, we mostly did the usual-pumpkins, pizza, and trick-or-treating. We did hit the "Boo at the Zoo" and a bit of candy-grabbing at the mall. Jeff's brother and his cute little family came down to hang out with us, which was fun. Not too much happening this year, but it was a nice, relaxing, and VERY enjoyable Halloween this year!

Our little pumpkins-McKay drew his own face and dad cut it out. Lyndsi requested her face have a crown to be a princess. Sophie had just one thing on her mind-MICKEY!

And the cute little monkeys in costume. I can't tell you how much they each loved their costumes. I never fought once with them (at least in the month of October) to try on or wear their costumes. It was great!

And the grand finale! Jack and Elizabeth. I think Jack wins. :)

My favorite thing about halloween!

This is not a Halloween gone by. This is Jeff this morning. I love this guy!

Errands

I was running errands like crazy this morning which means the level of obedience and calmness in my 2 kidd0s was next to nothing by the second store. McKay and Sophie were laughing and chatting it up so loud you'd think they were at a party. So, I had this conversation with Sophie (who was the louder of the two):

Me: Sophie, you are being too loud. Shhh...

Soph: I not too oud. I cute!

Yes Sophie you are. Can't argue there!

The 4th of 4th

I saw this very fun "tag" on another friend's blog, and even though she didn't tag me, I'm going to do it anyway. Hey, I needed a new post since I'm not ready to share all the Halloween festivities just yet. :)

This is my brother-in-law, Dustin, helping with decorations at my BIL and SIL's wedding luncheon which happened to be held at my stake center.

Ok. So here's what you do. Choose the 4th photo file on your computer and then the 4th picture in that file and tell about it. Kinda fun!

Now I tag Sally (because that's your hubby up there), Cami, Ranae, Simone and whoever else wants to play.

Somebody else

Friday I went and got my hair cut. When I walked back in the door, Jeff saw me and his jaw dropped and his eyes popped out. When Lyndsi saw me she told me she liked my hair. Sophie, being 2, didn't notice my hair at all and would only notice it if it had a cookie or candy on top. When McKay say my hair, he stared at me for a minute and then said:

McK; Why'd you do that to your hair?

Me: Because I thought it would be fun. Don't you like it?

McK: Well, yeah, but you look like somebody else.

And here's another view:

Thank you Marlene for the beautiful family picture! I can't wait to see the rest!!

I love being random

I have lots of pictures and even a video to share, but it will have to wait. I still need to find some camera cords to upload them. In the meantime....

Last night, after her bath, Sophie insisted on wearing "undies." Now, I know most parents would be jumping up and down with delight and joy, but I'm not one of those. Not that I love diapers. I just don't enjoy potty-training. Amazingly, she stayed dry for the 45 minutes she had them on and even sat on the potty and sang some songs with me. (If you can get her to sing the theme song to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" for you, it is priceless!) No big deal. I figured she just overheard me talking to McKay about his undies and wanted a piece of the action. Fastforward to this morning. First thing she asks me for is her undies. Oh joy. But, I went along with it. Once again she stayed dry for a long time and sat on the potty and sang some more. Mimi even got to sit with her. (Mimi is her beloved bear.) Not too long after Lyndsi informed me that Sophie smelled. We won't go into details, but the diaper went back on. I promise I'm not trying to hold on to my baby. She's not ready and I'm not ready. Yay for disposable diapers! (I'm sure I'll get the mother-of-the-year award for this post.)

On a completely unrelated note, I love Jasper Hale/Cullen/whatever. He is one of my favorite characters in the Twilight series. I am not, however, loving the face they chose to play my southern hero. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely face. Just not my Jasper's. I think I posted an option I could live with a while back. Last night Jeff and I were watching a movie and one of the supporting characters (who coincidentally was named Carlisle) caught my attention. Ok. It was a little more than that. I started bouncing up and down on the couch because I realized that man could be a lovely version of my Jasper. (I am very fun to be around when I get excited about something.) He's rugged. Maybe a little older than Jasper in the book , but I always pictured him slightly older than high school anyway. Without further adieu, here is MY Jasper (aka the beautiful Eric Christian Olsen):






















And here is something just plain cute to leave you with:

I am

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Calling in sick

Blah. Mom's really can't do that, huh? Too bad. I would love to just lay around in bed with a good book, but kids need to be fed and dressed and run here and there. Fortunately I'm in recovery mode and the worst of whatever I've had was last night. (I'm thinking some sort of 24-hr something.) I'm actually feeling loads better than this morning which was loads better than about 1:30 this morning.

Why is it that when we are under the weather our appetite diminishes when that is exactly the moment we need food the most? I'm sure if food sounded good right now, I would be just fine. Maybe I'll go and eat something to see.

But first, I hope everyone enjoyed conference as much as I did. I think my favorite talk was by Elder Wirthlin. (Don't you just want to hug him?) I've often thought in hard situations "I can either laugh or cry. what's it gonna be?" and so his counsel to laugh really hit home. I also enjoyed Pres. Eyring's talk. There is just so much love radiating from that man. I would love to meet him some day. And, last but not least, Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from RS meeting was amazing. Obviously I enjoy being creative with ribbons and paper, but I never thought about "creating" beyond that basic definition. It really made me think about the different things I do to "create" and makes me want to be sure to create good things-beautiful objects, beautiful/kind/honest/etc children, a "heaven on earth" kind of home, and the list could go on. So inspiring!

Speaking of creating, I finished my Christmas cards! Wahoo!!!!!!!! They (I think) are so cute. I wish I could show them to you, but it would ruin the surprise for when they show up in your mailbox. Guess you'll just have to find some way to manage the suspense for the next 2 1/2 months! lol.

Ahhh...

Conference weekend. A time to laze around the house in your jammies, eat too much junk, maybe accomplish a project or two, be with your family, and maybe (wink) grow a little spiritually.

It's not a holiday technically, but....Well, I would say it is at least a religious holiday. Let's look at the facts. We get a break from regular meetings. Very holiday-ish. A lot of people use that weekend to gather with family. Definitely holiday-ish. AND it is a weekend seeped in traditions. (see above)

For me, Conference is the official "kick-off" weekend to the last 3 months of the year, better know as the "holiday" season. I get my kids settled in with some fun new coloring book and crayons and arm them with their little 1st presidency/quorum of the 12 flip-book. Then, I pull out my projects (usually a paper craft of some sort) and get to work. I find if my hands are busy with simple, repetitive motions like cutting, my brain seems to focus better. Last October, I proclaimed Conf. weekend official make my Christmas card weekend. And this year-I'll add "finish everyone's Halloween costumes" to my agenda. A huge bite to chew, but it will be FUN!!

Happy Conference!

I'm A Believer

I've used the Mr. Clean magic eraser before and have seen good results, but honey, I am a BELIEVER now! I have been putting off my disgusting shower because anytime I tried to clean it with other products, it took way too much muscle and toxic fumes to get any results-let a lone the ones I wanted. Last week I decided I had enough and wanted a sparkling shower again. I mulled my plans and tactics over in my head and had the thought that I have a few friends who use that little white eraser on everything. Why not? I'll try it. At least there isn't the toxicity in the air like with bleach. Ladies (and any gentleman that may drop in), I now have a very sparkly, white, CLEAN shower. Thank you, Mr. Clean. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

I also BELIEVE that I can change. The other night Jeff and I were chatting while playing a game. I confessed that I have no follow through. So, we made a list of several things I haven't finished mostly because I lost interest or got it done "enough" to get by. I am happy to say that several things just were checked off yesterday with not much effort. What a silly girl I am.

I believe that I am hungry now, so I'll go fix dinner....