Let The Christmas Festivities Begin

It was December 1 and my kids were chomping at the bit to "deck the halls." In years past, Rusty and I have done the majority of the decorating during "sleep time" while the kids are in bed. This is mainly so the next night everything is nicely organized, ornaments ready to just go on the tree, and the last few decorations can be put in place. It's just so hard for kids to understand that they have to wait to put the ornaments on the artificial tree until every branch has been spread out and the lights checked. Also, I've had one too many nativity pieces broken. But this year it all changed. Call it laziness, call it Thanksgiving was later this year and we (the kids) were too anxious to wait another day, or (and I think this is the REAL reason) they have Rusty and me outnumbered and are wearing us down.

Decorating went much smoother than I anticipated. It really helps to have NO expectations in these kind of situations. Then you can't be disappointed. I don't mean this in a negative, cynical way; it's really true. The times I find myself anxious, upset, frustrated, etc. are when I'm thinking someone or something should be a certain way. Our family decorating traditions ran smoothly and even though baby Jesus' hands got broken (Molly), it was water off a duck's (my)back.

We always have peanut butter cookies with a Hershey Kiss in the middle, and wassail to drink after the tree has been trimmed. This year I put the cookie making in Meg and Ben's hands. Besides getting the cookies out of the oven, they did the rest. Check that off my list and put it onto theirs. It is great having these kids get older. Soon they can make dinner and I'll just lay on the couch instructing:).

Sam got a little bored, but decided to entertain himself by making a club house out of the Christmas tree box. The lizard "soft guy" is the pet he rescued from the ocean.

Getting ready to put ornaments on the tree. Sam took this picture. See earlier post.

Every year Grandpa Mick and Grandma D. give each kid a Hallmark ornament and they love finding theirs and putting it on the tree.

If you want to come to our house to look at our tree (you're invited) you'll find the majority of the ornaments on the bottom fourth of the tree.

This picture is right before the "incident" where Baby Jesus lost his hands.

In their Christmas pajamas. One of the Christmas Card rejects.

You'll be seeing this one.

We looked at the weather for the month of December and said, "What is the coldest most miserable day there is so that we can put our outdoor decorations up". . .or so it seemed. We found it, Saturday, December 6, 2008. It was in the 20's, with a wind chill of something to make it colder, and snow flurries. Needless to say I gave Rusty a pass this year on putting the lights on the house. We just did our little porch trees, the wreath and our blow-up Santa Clause and Snowman (I know it's totally cheesy, but the kids love it).

Frosty and kids with frost bite (Rusty tried to get me to take that description out, but it's my blog).

More treats, and more "training" going on to pass the torch. Meg made Hello Dollies (Aunt Valerie's recipe).

When you are cold and it's snowing, hot chocolate is a must!

Molly also wanted to go outside, and after spending 25 minutes bundling her up, she lasted 25 seconds and said she was "too cold," and decided she wanted to paint instead.

Sam's Photo Gallery

I am so grateful to my dad for always allowing me to use the camera while growing up. I decided to learn from his example by allowing my kids to use our camera. The only condition is they have to make sure the camera strap is around their neck. Sam asked to use my Nixon D-60 to take some pictures of us "Decking the Halls." Here is Sam's gallery.

The element of surprise. Rusty's nose really isn't that big.

Molly and me.

Sam instructed me to take off my glasses so he could see "all my wrinkles really well." As I'm looking at this picture, I'm wondering why I accomidated him.

Sam: "Molly smile while showing all your teeth." He's really taking his "art" seriously and is a little demanding as a photographer.

Self Portrait

Thanksgiving 2008

For a few reasons we weren't able to celebrate Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Rusty's family. Threfore, to avoid the totally "alone" feeling, and to embrace the "spirit" of inviting someone to our Thanksgiving dinner, we asked our friends the Hitchcocks from Chicago to come. We have known them for 11 years and have seen them at least once a year since they moved away 9 years ago. We always laugh non-stop with them. They like to eat out, see movies, play games and LOVE to drink Diet Coke. . .what more do you need in a friendship?

Michelle and I just a baking away Wednesday night. We had spent the day at the movie (Michelle, Natalie, Molly, the boys and I went to "Bolt," and Rob and Owen took the other girls to see "Madagascar 2,") then we met up with Rusty and went to Q-doba for dinner. Michelle showed us how to make the yummiest pecan pie. Rusty seriously ate half of it the next day.

Anyone who knows me knows that there is ALWAYS some sort of Holiday craft involved. We made place mats and place holders Thanksgiving Day morning.

Rusty carving our 21lb. (I got a little bigger turkey than I thought) bird. We did have PLENTY of leftovers which included: sandwiches and turkey tetrazini.

Rob and Michelle pre-feast.

Thanksgiving Day feast.

The weather was "Fab." 50 degrees and sunny. The entire gang took a much needed walk. And then went home and ate four pies.

Ben and Sam let Natalie sleep in their room. Natalie and Sam were seriously BFF's. They got along great and when Sam showed a little concern about "hanging out" with a girl, I assured him that having a girl as your best friend only would help him throughout life.

Last time Sam and Natalie (they were five years old), were together we caught them kissing. Before the Hitchcocks arrived, I had a little sit-down with Sam and told him to lay off on the kissing. Not 24 hours later when I went outside to take Sam and Natalie's picture while they were on the trampoline, I found them kissing each other's shadows. "Mom, we weren't kissing on skin!" Sam, Sam, Sam. . .

Megan and Rachel slept in Meg's room.

I rarely get with Michelle that we don't create some sort of a project. This time we made a window treatment and roll pillow to match Molly's room. I LOVE how they turned out.

Molly and "O" as I called him (his name is Owen). The first day Molly thought Owen was a "baby" and tried to constantly hold him. When she caught on that he would not allow this, she settled to just play with him.

There is a lot of baby teeth showing in this picture.

Saying good-bye.

Molly and Dad Celebrate Thanksgiving

Molly's preschool had a Thanksgiving feast a few days before Thanksgiving. Since I was out of town, Rusty got to be her escort. After a short Thanksgiving song program, the kids and their parents enjoyed a feast prepared by the pre-school staff.

Molly tried to convince Rusty that she was eating "turkey" for Thanksgiving, as she snarfed her orange-stuffed Oreo with at a malt ball head in the shape of a turkey. She rounded out the meal with pumpkin pie. Let's see, were any of the four food groups represented in her lunch? Represented, yes, consumed, no. Obviously, I was at my girls weekend and, therefore, any complaining has to be stifled.

Molly's teacher and a friend collaborated to provide Rusty some much-needed assistance on Molly's hair do. Here, Molly is singing "1 little, 2 little, 3 little pilgrims."

Molly has two church friends in her pre-school class. One is Anna, to her left.

Molly the Pilgrim with her homemade place mat.

Note Molly's "turkey" and pumpkin pie.

M0lly with Ms. Kelly and friends.

Knocking On 40's Door

I am officially no longer, GULP, in my mid-30's. I guess I really haven't been for the last few years, but felt like it was okay to say--but no more. I'm, eeek 39! I don't know what happened. I know that many of you know exactly what I'm talking about. It seems like I was just 25, newly married, no kids, just graduated from college. . .and then I turn around and I have four kids, one reaching puberty, two others thinking I'm dumb because I don't know how to do "new math." BEWARE OF TANGENT. . .what the crap is "new math" anyway? Does 3x5 still equal 15? Okay then. . . I know how to do math! Also, when was the day that my body started to ache sometimes getting out of bed? I exercise, I take vitamins. WHAT! ? And I'm not even going to discuss the hair issue. Again, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about (Rusty said gross, but yet, he knows what I'm talking about and that's why he said gross).

Anyway, my birthday was great. It was uneventful and relaxing. I had told my kids for a month that all I wanted was for them to write me a note telling me what a great mom I was and how much they loved me (can you tell I'm in DESPERATE need of a self esteem/worth boost? But then again, what young, I mean old mom isn't?)

Rusty took me out to dinner at a restaurant called Captain's Quarters (the food was okay, but since it's on the river the ambiance was amazing). Then we went home for presents, cake and ice-cream.

One such note as previously mentioned that was "willingly" written for me.

The notes were all great, but here is Sam's. Notice the "O" is scratched out. He must have figured I knew which Sam it was (always in a class with more than one Sam).

Sam's gets a hug after his note.

Ben and Sam helped me blow out ALL my candles.

Rusty's cousin Jessie, her husband Rob and little boy Charlton came to visit for Thanksgiving and helped me celebrate my birthday.

I got so many cute gifts, including flowers, clothes, jewlery, cd, notecards, etc. from friends and family. Thank you everyone. Here is one such gift from a very talented friend.

Here is another gift made by a different amazingly talented friend.

And it's reversible!!! I'm hoping that some of their talent will just rub off on me.

Another Girls' Trip

I was lucky enough to have ANOTHER girl's weekend to Virginia on November 20-23 to visit one of my BFF's, Isabel. She's going through a tough time so we (one of her BFF's, Joni -- whom I have gotten to know in women solidarity and support of Isabel -- and I) thought that Isabel might like some girl bonding.

Joni and I decided to be covert and surprise Isabel. It worked. The weekend included girl talk, watching "Survivor" in Isabel's bed (we LOVE it!!), hanging out with her kids, holding her new baby Sophia, picking out a new dishwasher, more shopping and seeing "Twilight." Side note: I read the Twilight series for a couple of reasons; 1) to see what all the hype was about, and 2) because my 11 year old was asking if she could read it (ummm, NO!). I saw "Twilight" twice (I know I'm a total tweener), once with Joni on Friday afternoon while Isabel was at work, and then with Isabel and her four kids on Saturday evening. This was probably one of my favorite "activities" (besides the actual surprise) of the entire trip. Obviously, I wasn't going to see the movie with my kids or Rusty, and couldn't really sit by just any teenagers and talk to them about their perspective of the movie. So "experiencing" this event with Isabel's kids was AWESOME ! They are/were totally into it. It was their "Dirty Dancing" (in my feeble attempt to relate). I mean what teenager didn't go and see this movie in 1987? If you say you didn't, you're lying. Edward. . .Jonny (Patrick Swayze) is there a difference (actually, I never thought Patrick Swayze was cute)?

Joni actually still uses Jean Nate. She "splashes" it all over herself after she steps out of the shower. The smell took me back to my Grandma's bathroom in 1975. No offense, Joni. Hey, if you like it. . .Notice the "Twilight" poster in the back.

While we were waiting to "hang" with Isabel, we made these bead/safety pin bracelets. Joni also made me Native American inspired earrings to match my "Team Jacob" shirt. Thanks Joni for helping me set this trip up.

Before going to "Twilight."Joni got us these shirts. Aren't they too cool?

"Facebook poses" When in Rome. . .

Two of Isabel's kids, Sophia and Coleman. Doesn't he look a little like Ben? They are going to be roommates at BYU if I have anything to say about it.

Kyle (Joni's eight-year-old boy) in his "jungle" themed room. He reminds me of Sam, so I totally loved him instantly. He also showed me how to feed crickets to his lizard. Not a highlight for me, but Sam thought it was cool when I later told him.

Could there be a cuter family? Austin, Isabel, Sophia, Coleman and McKenzie.

I don't know anyone who has endured more trials in their life than Isabel and yet has stayed faithful, positive, and focused on what matters. She is one of the true inspirations in my life, and I LOVE to be with her, talk to her and learn from her example.

I need to thank Rusty for allowing me to go and taking over all the "mom tasks" this weekend. He did a great job, no one was hurt and the house was clean when I got home.

Mormon Girls Gone Wild

I am one of the luckiest women in the world because I have these women in my life (I could include many others, but today I'm going to feature them). We had a girls weekend November 6-9 at our friend Judy's house in Sarasota, Florida. I've known these women for at least 10-12 years--mainly through church--but they all moved away in the last five years. The weather was amazing, the food--plentiful, and I have NEVER laughed so hard (even to the point of a little pee coming out at one point). We decided to make it a yearly event. Can't wait for next year.

Some of my favorite moments include:

• Consuming AT LEAST 150 Breast Cancer M&M’s each;
• Drinking gallons of diet coke with Julie and Heather, while Laurette took three sips of hers;
• Cuddling Ryan (Heather's little boy);
• Perching my camera on every counter/car/chair to get all of us in the picture, and falling into the hot tub while getting one such picture;
• Making “Paris Hilton” faces in the camera for at least 2 hours (I didn't include any of these on the post);
• Julie, when looking at the amount of luggage that needed to fit in the Escalade, didn’t hesitate and said, “You should have seen me pack my van for California; I have five kids, I can get that in easily.” And then she did;
• Getting ready to “go out” all together like we were college roommates;
• Celebrating Heather’s birthday ALL TOGETHER;
• Hearing all of Laurette’s AMMMAZZZING responses to her kids when they openly discussed stuff with her;
• Listening to COUNTLESS conversations between Judy and her family while she was talking on her cell phone. They are so nice to let us have her while they did all the funeral arrangements for her father-in-law;
• Changing into our swimsuits in the Escalade. Heather opening most of the doors while I was changing and Judy doing it outside where Julie saw her bum;
• Face book and Blog snooping for hours—until the lap top battery died—otherwise we still might be there;
• Our matching Nike workout gear (thanks for the suggestion Judy);
• Two words: Jersey Mike's;
• Two more words: Outlet Mall;
• Saying anything (bragging about kids, expressing faults or mistakes I’ve made, etc.) and knowing that I am not being judged;
• Being uplifted and supported the entire freakin’ weekend;
• Learning how to be a better mother and wife at the feet of all four of these women. They are such great examples to me and I am so blessed to have these friends.

We all arrived at different times throughout Thursday, November 6. This was the first picture of us all together. Me (from Louisville), Heather (Budapest, Hungary), Judy, Julie (Arizona) and Laurette (Texas).

Judy was our hostess, and was amazing!

We went to the beach the first day and had a picnic lunch. It was so beautiful and relaxing with no kids (except for Heather's baby who was perfect).

A must for Heather was to eat at Jersey Mike's.

One night was hot tubing, and of course more talking. . .and more eating.

Laurette is one of the funniest people I have ever met. If you are down, let me give you her number and she will have you laughing in seconds.

Heather, Julie and me in the back of the Escalade crammed between TONS of luggage.

The "Nike" shirts. I know it's cheesy, but who cares?