December craziness part 1. Probably to be continued :)

The craziness of December - in parts. And probably to be continued. :)

Isabelle turned six at the beginning of December. Wow that went by fast!! She got some crazy leggings, a Belle wig, and a Tangled barbie that sings just enough of the song from the movie to get it stuck in your head for the rest of the day. :D

This gorgeous girl got her Christmas, birthday and graduation presents for the next several years all wrapped into the gift that will just keep giving - braces!! Yay!! She only had four put on top and four on the bottom - the ortho said he wants some teeth to move around first to give a little more room. She looks so grown up and teenagerish with them!!

Wade was part of the "Pay-it-Forward" committee this year at work. It has another, more professional title, but I can't remember it for the life of me. He and some co-workers each took separate groups to help out at Christmas time, and Autoliv gave them the money to help. Like one lady took a battered woman's shelter in Kaysville, one guy helped out with Christmas box house, places like that. Wade had two groups - one group that takes non-perishable food items into people that need food, and the other group is the Frodsham family in Farmington that have been helping homeless people at Christmas time for over 20 years. They set up their backyard with campfires, trees decorated with hats, gloves, socks, and scarves. Last year there was over 700 homeless people that they helped. They feed them soup, give them a coat, let them pick stuff off the trees, and give them a gift. And all of it is donated. It was amazing. The two pictures at the top were 40 pairs of sweats, wrapping paper, boxes, and toys that we donated. The pic on the left bottom is the food, and the pic on the right is their warehouse full of donated items. Toys, clothing, blankets, hats, scarves, etc. I wish we could have been there to hand out items, but we had other engagements. We decided next year we want to spend the year making blankets to hand out, and raise even more money to help out somehow. It was awesome!

These are my new three dancing queens. :) They had their first dance recital and did awesome!!! I was so super proud of them and my new calling in life is that of "crazy dance mom". My new goal in life is to get them into Miss Dede's advanced dance class when they're in highschool. They were so good!!

To be continued I'm sure!!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year! The kids carved pumpkins for the first time EVER and had a blast. Wade took them to Black Island Farms on Halloween Day because I had school that day. Then lots of fun trick-or-treating! Hope yours was just as fun!

Stop the day, I wanna get off!

Oh my lands. It started out with me getting sassed at by the 12 year old daughter, then the 8 year old decided she was still sick from the day before and wasn't going to school. I have literally- LITERALLY, FOLKS- been on the computer ALL DAY LONG doing homework for my EMT class, therefore sadly ignoring the Quote, Unquote sick child, who has been complaining that it's too boring to stay home and be sick cuz there's nothing to do. What, did you think we were going to the movies?

I pick up the other two elementary children at the end of the day only to find out that the 10 year old was apparently stung by a bee, and that the 5 year old, brand new kindergartener has not eaten anything since breakfast because her teacher couldn't find her lunch box, thus forcing her to attend school lunch where all she ate was a piece of cheese because she is so damn picky.

The afternoon ends with a resounding fight again with the 12 year old because I have the audacity to inform her nicely and with much tact that it's probably not best to wear a blue bra and patterened underwear to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. I don't know.... call it personal experience.

Not my personal experience, of course. ;)

Turning 8

My beautiful Olivia was baptized in February! Can't believe she's already 8!

Disneyland 2011

Way back in April we made the insane decision to go to Disneyland over Spring Break. I know. Apparently 799,000 of our closest friends from Utah decided to do the same thing. Haha :) We flew there which was honestly, the best decision we made out of the entire trip. Never will I drive. However, we will NOT EVER get a hotel that's farther than a block away. So totally not worth waiting 30-40 minutes for a shuttle with hungry, tired kids.

The culminating moment of this trip was waiting in line with my five year old for 45 minutes to see Princesses. You didn't get your pick of princesses, you get what you get and don't throw a fit. ;) The entire 45 minutes she's saying "I hope we see Belle. I really hope we see Belle. I will be so so so SO happy if we see Belle." I had chatted with the Charming Princes and found out that it was Jasmine, Tiana, and Ariel. Sigh. We saw Princess Tiana, came around the corner, and there, in all her princessliness beauty, was Belle. Oh my lands.... I literally saw the magic of Disneyland through my 5-year old's eyes. :)

To go or not to go, that is the eternal question

So my 11 year old daughter this morning is complaining of a stomachache and doesn't want to go to school. ALL MORNING she is fighting me about going to school. I give her ibuprofen and say give it til ten thirty... if the medicine hasn't kicked in and you still feel like crap then call me and I will be more than happy to come get you. More fighting and yelling (her, not me). Her sister stayed home yesterday complaining of a sore throat and I should've doped her up and sent her on her way but I was tired of listening to her cry. And yes, she ended up running errands with me and was fine and got an icee at Sam's Club. Ah..... now I see..... So I say to the 11 year old, "ok, you're more than welcome to stay home. However, I am not running any errands today. I'm not taking you to the library or the store or anywhere else cuz today is my stay at home and get things done day. You're more than welcome to lay on the couch and read a book or watch tv. It's your decision."

She got in the car and went to school.

*sigh*

I will never understand this child.

A reflection of 2010...

Well the year 2010 has come and gone... did anyone else feel that rush of air as it raced by? Geez louise!! Haha This year was great :) Wade went to Germany, I got into great running shape and accomplished a goal of running two half marathons and some other races, we went on a cruise and had a ton of fun, and Wade survived his first year in the Stake Presidency (what are we saying, he was born for this stuff!!). I had a blast in Scarlet Pimpernel and had some really great auditions, the kids started piano lessons, and we got a puppy! Ethan had surgery and Wade trekked Pioneer Trek. We went on a really fun family camping trip and floated down a river, and stayed overnight in Park City which the kids thought was fabulous even though the swimming pool was freezing!! I got a job as a CNA at an assisted living facility close to home and I love it. :) Looking back I love how busy we were and how much time we spent together as a family!

Here we come, 2011!!