Christmas Pajamas

Every year the kids get new pajamas on Christmas eve. Since they always know that they are getting them and it's not really a surprise, this year I let the kids pick out their own fabric. Josh loves monkeys, Rachel loves cats, and David picked sports. We just all picked out a cute giraffe print for Emma.




The kids laughed and laughed at this one with David's funny face. He said that he was about to sneeze!

The kids love getting a new set of fun pajamas. Last year I didn't have time to make them so I bought them all some. This year I planned for time a little better and was able to get my sewing done. They seem to love them so much more if they are homemade!

New Christmas Clothes

Here are the kids new Christmas clothes. I think Josh has grown out of a 4T. He still wears size 4 but the 4T outfit I got him from JC Penney is a little on the small side. It was the only one left and I thought I could make it work. I don't think this outfit will last him very long :) Anyway, my kids are always excited to wear new clothes - even the boys. I only made Rachel's dress. This was due to a extreme lack of pretty dresses in her size. There were racks and racks of holiday dresses for sizes 6 and under. As the mother of a "tween" it is very difficult to find clothes that look half way normal. I guess it is good that I can sew.

Gingerbread Houses

The kids had fun building houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and candy. Every year I forget that it is easier if Mom makes the houses the day before so that the kids don't get extremely frustrated when their house keeps falling down. But, any activity that involves large amounts of candy leaves my kids smiling.






It is fun to use these graham crackers - they really do taste like gingerbread! If nothing else, it makes it feel more authentic and less like you are cheating, because you didn't bake your own gingerbread.

Christmas Card Smiles

Most of you that read this blog will be getting a Christmas card in the next few days. It will have a cute picture of my kids. Here are the ones that didn't make it to the card. My kids consider this a form of torture - having them sit and continually smile while I snap pictures - hoping to get one with all of them smiling at the same time! Maybe someday I will get someone to take a picture of the whole family. Unfortunately, it's almost as hard to get my husband to smile for a picture.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Lost Shoe

You wouldn't think that a shoe could be a casualty of the winter weather. Gloves, maybe a scarf, but not really a shoe. But that's what happened today. I went to pick my kids up from school. I park on the street across from the school rather than waiting in the long pickup line. Lots of other parents pick up their kids where I do. I pulled into an empty spot. There was room in front of me and a car pulled up behind me and honked - they wanted me to move forward instead of them driving around in front of me. It was annoying, but I moved forward. In retrospect, I never should have done this. In between the sidewalk and the curb there is a huge pile of snow created from the snowplows clearing the streets. My kids have to step over this pile to make it into the car. By moving forward, I had unknowingly parked right next to a storm drain. Josh stepped over (and into) the huge pile of snow to get into the car. He was suddenly up to his knees in snow - he had stepped right into the storm drain. I got out of my seat and reached out to pull him up and into the car. Unfortunately his shoe never made it out of the storm drain. I laid down and reached my hand down the drain to see if I could feel anything (I wasn't wearing a coat or gloves). I couldn't see or feel a thing. I even went home, got a flashlight, and went back. Still, nothing. I don't know how deep the drains are or if retrieving the shoe was even possible, but I had to try. Next time I'm parked to pick up my kids, I think I'm staying put.

Snow Dance

Tonight my kids all put their pajamas on backwards and danced around the house chanting "snow, snow, snow!". Well, maybe their little snow dance worked - school has already been canceled and it hasn't even started to come down yet. Unfortunately for them, I don't think it's going to be fun to play in. The first couple inches of precipitation is going to be coming down as ice. Maybe they accidentally did the ice dance :) I think that's the main reason that the schools are already closed. It's not really the 3-5 inches of snow they are worried about, it's the ice that makes things so dangerous. So, we get a day off tomorrow. I'm glad I know now so I can just let the kids sleep in if they want to. I just hope that our power stays on and that the bad weather only lasts a day or two - at least until the next storm. Last year, we didn't have any snow or ice until after the 1st of the year. We have already had 3 significant storm systems. I think it's going to be a long winter.

Thanksgiving shopping nightmare

I am a creature of habit. I always like to shop at the same stores. I even park in the same general area so I always know where my car is going to be. I know where everything is at Walmart and it is about 2 minutes from my home. Plus, Walmart will price match other stores ads. I didn't used to take the time to do that, but recently I have and you can save a lot of money. Anyway, Thanksgiving is a different story. I look at all the ads and I usually end up going to the store that has the best Turkey price. You never know if Walmart is going to match something like that and when it comes to big holidays, they never have the best prices. This year, the best price for Turkey wasn't even printed in the paper, Super Saver just printed that they would beat the best Turkey price by 2 cents per pound. So, I decided to brave a new store, one that was easily 20 minutes away, so I could get a deal on a Turkey. I left early Saturday morning. Rachel came with me and that came in handy because she added things up on the calculator (I was trying to follow a strict budget). Before I went to the store, I stopped and got gas (I'm pointing it out because it is an important part of the story). Then we make our way to Super Saver and got through our list. It was pretty busy, but not too bad. We finally got all our shopping done and made our way to the checkout. I had some store coupons and a couple price match items that I had to keep track of (Super Saver also matches ads, but you have to have the ad with you and they are a little more strict about it than Walmart). Anyway, as we are nearing the end of checking out, I realize that my wallet is not in my purse. I start to panic. This has never happened to me before. At that moment, my brain froze. I totally forgot that I had stopped to get gas and therefore my wallet had to be nearby. I just thought that I had taken it out of my purse at home. I was so flustered that I wasn't thinking straight. I did have my checkbook with me and I tried to write a check. Of course I didn't have ID and I'm not a pushy person demanding that they take my check. I quickly offered to go home and get it. I still had to bag up all my groceries, have them set them aside, and then come back and do the whole checkout procedure again. I was mortified. The store acted like it was no big deal. I rushed to the car, still not thinking that I had purchased gas earlier, and rushed home as fast as I could. I ran inside and started looking for my wallet in the usual places. When I couldn't find it, I started to get worried, where could it be? That is when it hit me, I had it with me the whole time. After I got gas, I set my wallet on the seat of the car. It was in the car and if I hadn't been so flustered, I probably would have noticed it when I got back in the car. So, I drove all the way back. Part of me just wanted to leave my groceries back at the store and never come back. But then I would have to do my Thanksgiving shopping all over again. I went back, they rang up my groceries again, and they were nice enough to put my cart in the cold dairy section because I had some frozen things. But, hold on, it even gets worse. When they rang up the turkey, it came up as .67 cents a pound. It was only the Norbest Turkey that was .44. The poor cashier just gave me the lowest sale price. He was probably tired of dealing with me. I still can't believe I went all the way to this special store and I didn't even get the turkey that was on sale.

Anyway, despite my shopping troubles, we had a lovely Thanksgiving with another family from Church. We had lots of good food and since the other family was bringing the rolls, yams, and mashed potatoes, things did not feel rushed on Thursday morning. I think next year I'll just go to Walmart.

The soccer star

I am very late in posting about this but Josh had a great time playing soccer this fall. A dad in our ward was the coach and they contacted all the boys that were Josh's age to see if they wanted to be on the team. Josh loves soccer! He even scored a few goals. He would practice kicking the ball around at home. It was fun to watch him be so excited about something. Hopefully he can play next year too.

Brand New Kid

Well, I guess she is the same kid, but she has a brand new hair cut. Emma's hair grows really fast and it also has a tendency to get tangled very easily. She also pulls out any ponytails or braids that I put in. So, I decided to get a cute bob hair cut and we can do the pig tail thing in a year or two. This is much easier to take care of!


A classic Emma face.

Halloween

Here are the Halloween pictures. Enjoy the slideshow.

The Human Sticker Book

This page of stickers kept Emma entertained for a long time.


She loves to play with stickers! If only she always stuck them on her skin, and not the walls and hardwood floors....

Emma scissor hands

 

This is why you should always know where all your pairs of scissors are. This is also another one of those times when your 2 year old is being very quiet for a long time and you don't know where they are. It's true, when they are quiet and happy they are usually doing something that they aren't supposed to. I'm just glad she only cut up her shirt and that it wasn't something new - although it was still in great condition. I just think it's funny how many times she cut her shirt. It was sliced from top to bottom in a wide path. Josh has done this before, but I think he was old enough to know better and he only cut his shirt in one or two places. Also, in my defense, she had a pair of child scissors that David had left out. Who knew they could cut through fabric? I guess the next time she is being very quiet, I should go and find her right away.

Singing in the Rain

We had just arrived home. It was one of those brief, but powerful, late summer rain storms. I could see the look in my kids eyes as we pulled into the garage. I said "go ahead, you can play in the driveway for a few minutes." At first, they were hesitant. Is mom really letting us play in the rain? Can we really get soaked and dirty? They were probably hesitant because this is the sort of thing I usually never let them do. They had a blast. They found a small puddle to jump in. It was totally worth it. It reminded me of something that my siblings and I did. We had just moved to Virginia. In fact, I think it was one of our first days there because we were still at a hotel. We had moved from Oregon where, when it rained, it rained all day. It has a hot, humid summer day. All of a sudden, it started raining buckets. We were in the parking lot of the hotel, jumping around in this sudden rainstorm that only lasted a few minutes. That was fun too.

I'm a winner!

It seemed like everyone I knew had won something from the contest that Ryka was doing. I was even reading a blog that was linked from a friend of a friend - she got shoes and her mom got a shirt. My sisters both got shirts and everyone they knew that had entered had won something as well. My sister-in-law Ginger (whom I referred) won some shoes. I was feeling pretty left out. Then today, when I was leaving to get my kids from school, the fedex man was in my driveway. As soon as I saw him, I knew - I had won! Was it a shirt (not as exciting) or a new pair of running shoes? The weight and shape of the box gave it away. I won some shoes! Well, I'm not really that special - they were giving away 50 pairs of shoes each day for a month. But it's still exciting to me! Hopefully they won't give me shin splints when I run :)

Costume update

Well, I am 99% done with Dorothy and the Tin Man. I bought a green shirt instead of sewing one for the scarecrow and I found some ruby slippers. I think I'm going to make it!

Halloween Craziness

I'm one of those moms that likes to make her kids Halloween costumes. It's kind of fun and the kids really like it too. For the past several years, we have always had a costume from the previous year that the younger kids don't mind wearing - in other words, I have never attempted to make 4 Halloween costumes at once. This year I thought I would try it. We are doing a theme (4 characters from the Wizard of Oz) and I am making all of the costumes. There aren't too many places they get to wear the costumes. There is a parade at school and Trick or Treating (where it's dark and cold and you usually have to wear a coat over your costume). But, there is usually the Church Halloween party where it's warm and well lit and I get to show off my sewing skills. I haven't really started the costumes other than buying all the patterns and fabric and cutting out some of the patterns (the paper, not the fabric yet). I kept thinking I had a few weeks - Halloween isn't until the 31st! We just got an invitation to our church party. It's on the 19th!!! I have a little over a week to make 4 costumes. I think I may have gotten a little over my head. Let's hope I can finish them so we don't end up with Dorothy, Bob the Builder, a pumpkin, and Peter Pan. Wish me luck!

Open window weather

We have had some beautiful fall days! I love it when the weather cools down enough so that I can open the windows in the house and let some fresh air in. The afternoons are warm and the mornings are delightfully crisp. I love having a long fall where winter doesn't start too early. You can say what you want about the weather in Nebraska, but ever since I've lived here, we have had a nice beautiful fall and spring. You definitely get a taste of each 4 seasons here. So, I'm enjoying the fall and I'm hoping for no snow until at least after Thanksgiving :)

Rachel's Friend

I am really behind in blogging and have a lot of stuff to catch up on. But, I just had to blog about this one now. In the monthly magazine that our church puts out for Children, The Friend, there is a paragraph written by Rachel and her photograph. We were pretty excited that they printed her submission. It's in the October 2007 Friend, page 23, in the "Trying to Be Like Jesus" section. We are just so proud of her! As soon as the church website puts their pdf version online, I'll put a link to it here. So, if you have access to the Friend, go check it out!
**updated with a scan of the magazine - Thanks Ginger!

First Day of School

Here are Rachel, David, and Josh, very excited to start school! School started on August 22nd. The kids had been anxiously awaiting that day for some time now.


Rachel carefully picked out her first day of school outfit. I still can't believe that she is starting 4th grade.

David really liked his shirt but didn't pay too much attention to the pants he put on - they actually belong to his brother. David will be starting 2nd grade this year.

I think that Josh was excited to start Kindergarten. I know he was excited to do the same things that Josh and Rachel have been doing for a few years now.

"Mom, I'm in 4th grade now, I don't need you to walk me to my classroom!"

David seemed happy to find where his class was lining up.



I waited with Josh until they let them in. The parents didn't even get to come in the building with them! They all had a great first day.

Allergic Reaction

 

The other day, after sending David to bed, he came back down looking like this. "MOM, something's wrong with me!!!" He was scratching all over, breaking out in hives, and he said his throat was itchy. I gave him some benadryl and a cool cloth for his face. The scary thing is, I have absolutely no idea what caused this reaction. Hopefully it doesn't happen again - because I heard the more times you are exposed to something, the worse it gets.

Blog challenge

My friend Jessica had this on her blog and tagged me, so here goes

4 Jobs I've had

1. Broccoli picker
2. library book filer
3. Computer Science TA at BYU
4. Computer programmer

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

1. Forrest Gump
2. Matilda
3. Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 one with Kiera Knightley)
4. Sense and Sensibility

4 Places I've Lived

1. Utah
2. Oregon
3. Virginia
4. Nebraska

4 TV Shows I Enjoy

1. The Office
2. American Idol
3. Law & Order
4. CSI

4 Places I've Been on Vacation

1. Disneyland
2. Utah
3. New Mexico
4. Palmyra, New York

4 Favorite Restaurants

1. PF Changs
2. Cheesecake factory
3. Applebees
4. Subway

4 Websites I Visit Daily

1. www.calorie-count.com
2. www.myfamily.com
3. friends & family blogs
4. www.zionsbank.com (not all that exciting, I just check my bank account every day)

4 Places I'd Rather Be Right Now

1. asleep
2. on a lounge chair, poolside
3. curled up with a good book
4. visiting all my family

4 People I Think Will Do This

1. Sarah
2. Mollie
3. Ginger
4. anyone else reading this blog that feels inclined to do so....

Emma and her siblings

Okay, this isn't one of those amazing videos where a baby is naming off all the presidents of the United States, or naming every country on a map. Emma likes to carry around pictures of her brothers and sister and say all their names. I think it's really cute how she says all the names. She also goes through all the laundry and says who owns a particular piece of clothing. She's pretty accurate too! Anyway, enjoy.

Children's Museum

We went to the museum a while ago (we've actually gone twice, but the first time I didn't have my camera). I thought I would share some fun pictures from our time there. It is really a great museum. Everything is hands on. We could go again and again and the kids would love it.