Christmas morning

We had a great Christmas this year! Our best Christmas present was having our house (which had been on the market since June) close on December 22. It was supposed to close on the 19th and we were never really told why (paperwork??) it didn't happen. So, I had to worry all weekend long if it was really going to happen or not. We were so relieved when it was all final - just three days before Christmas. That would have been enough for me, but the kids would have been a little disappointed on Christmas morning :).

Emma loves learning her ABCs and when ever you asked her what she wanted, she always said ABCs!

Josh got a trunk of Star Wars dress up clothes complete with light sabers!

David still loves turtles and was thrilled to get a turtle Webkinz

Rachel just wanted a pretty watch ("a NICE one Mom, nothing plastic or Hannah Montana")

Enjoy the rest of the pictures in this slideshow.

We had a great Christmas and I am looking forward to the year to come.

Christmas pajamas

Here are the kids in their traditional Christmas eve pajamas. Since they always know they get pajamas on Christmas eve, I added a surprise by getting them all slippers. I was a little stressed this year and didn't do any sewing, but the kids enjoyed them just the same!
Rachel really wanted a nightgown this year

Emma loved her flower pjs

I found the cute slippers first and was happy to find some matching pajama pants for the boys.


All four of them - ready for bed!

Merry Christmas

We hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas concert

Josh's kindergarten class put on a really cute musical concert. I guess it was really a winter program. All the songs were about cold and snow and not about Christmas. I thought it was pretty funny because it's still pretty warm here - it will get up to about 65 in the afternoon. We are probably never going to have a snow day from school (something they sang about) or get even 7 inches of snow - let alone 7 feet! I guess it's all in the spirit of being politically correct.

Edible Snowflakes

The kids and I made a yummy recipe the other day from The Friend magazine. It was a fun activity and very tasty as well.

You take a tortilla, warm it up in the microwave to make it flexible, and fold it in half several times (like you are making a paper snowflake). Cut out shapes along the sides and unfold. Fry in a small amount of oil until lightly browned and crispy.


Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!


I promise he really is enjoying it! Josh was in a bad mood because he wore his pajamas to school on the wrong day. All the kids really enjoyed making and eating their snowflakes.

A Time to Give Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year at the with the Bloomfields. 5 of the 7 Bloomfield children were able to make it this year (with spouses and kids in tow!). It made for a large feast with 23 people. We all enjoyed good food, good company, and a chance to reflect on why we celebrate this holiday. We all have a lot to be thankful for.

Fun with Rock Band

While in New Mexico for we had a lot of fun playing with Amy & Brian's Rock Band game. David and Josh rocked out on the guitars (they also really liked the drums)

I love the intent, slightly bewildered look on Josh's face in this one.

Rachel loved using the microphone and Dad did great on the drums.




In the video you can see how much David got into playing the guitar.



We all got a chance to try the different instruments. It really is a fun game!

Veteran's Day Parade

On Saturday, Las Cruces had a Veteran's day parade. David's boy scout troup was able to participate by riding a float, waving flags, and throwing candy. David was very excited to be in his first parade.

We anxiously awaited the arrival of his "float".

It humbled me to see these old men marching in the parade. They were so proud to have served our country.

Here's David with his pack. They threw us lots of candy.

It wasn't as flashy as most parades - but inspiring to see all the military groups and equipment.

The weather was beautiful and it was a great day for a parade - even though it's November!

Tagged - 8 things

Ok Ive been tagged by Amy & Elizabeth. They were slightly different lists - so I combined the two.

8 TV shows I watch

1. The Biggest Loser
2. The Office
3. CSI
4. American Idol
5. Get it Sold
6. Design to Sell
7. Mythbusters (awesome show on the Discovery channel - it's one of our kid's favorites too)
8. ummmm, I don't really watch TV that much, maybe Oprah?

8 things I did yesterday

1. Made cookies for Josh's speech class at school.
2. Got Emma's hair cut
3. Visited someone from Church for their birthday
4. Did some laundry (after my marathon session on Saturday, I'm trying to do - and put away - one load a day)
5. Played around on facebook, read my blogs, updated my Quicken, blogged
6. Played dolls and blocks with Emma.
7. Helped 3 kids with homework.
8. Made dinner.

8 Favorite Restaurants
This is a tough one - we don't really go out to eat that much...

1. Applebees - it's always nice to have a familiar restaurant like this when you are in a strange town. It's family friendly and we've been there more than once with our family because our kids would get free kid meal coupons from our Doctor when they got shots.
2. The Cheesecake Factory - just been there once for a girls night out. The food and the cheesecake was amazing. But, the wait to get in isn't really worth it.
3. P.F. Changs - I love chinese food - still, I've only been there once (I guess I need to get out more)
4. Papa Murphys - I know, not technically a restaurant, but I really like their take and bake pizza and it's a lot cheaper than getting a cooked pizza delivered.
5. Red Robin - another fun family place that has good burgers and bottomless steak fries.
6. TGI Fridays - fun for the family and for GNO - they also have a bunch of entrees that are 500 calories or under (and that's pretty good for restaurant food).
7. Huhot Mongolian Grill - we went there once with friends in Omaha. You get to build your own stirfry and then watch a bunch of guys cook it on this huge round grill. It was really good.
8. Biaggis - an Italian restaurant in Omaha that I have fond memories of - we went there with some of our good friends.

8 Things I Love About Fall

1. That it starts to cool down.
2. The kids are back in school.
3. The beautiful fall colors.
4. low electric bill
5. Thanksgiving
6. Carving pumpkins
7. earlier bedtime
8. Having a big pot of warm soup or chili for dinner.

8 Things on my Wish List

1. That someone will buy our house.
2. A house that would clean itself.
3. Instantaneous travel - like "beam me up, Scotty" That way we could always visit those that lived far away and distance wouldn't be a problem.
4. To go on a dream vacation with my family - like Disneyland or something.
5. To go on a dream vacation with my husband - like Hawaii or a cruise.
6. For all my kids to be happy and successful in life - you know - missions, temple marriages, good college educations, successful careers.
7. A personal chef
8. A gym membership with a personal trainer.

And, there you have it. A bunch of random lists of 8 things. I tag Jessica Hutchings, Trinity Moore, and Ginger Bloomfield (and anyone else that feels so inclined...)

Emma's haircut

Emma has the kind of hair I've always wanted - very fine and extremely straight. You can let it air dry and it is straight as a pin. The fact that it is very fine also means that it gets tangled very easily. I've spent lots of time (with lots of conditioner and a comb) combing out the tangles that get in her hair. She's never had very long hair - it would just make the tangling so much worse. So, it was time to chop a few inches off her hair. I forgot to take a before picture so I snapped this one in the car with my cell phone before we went in.

She was so cooperative with the hair stylist! I just know she wouldn't have held as still or put her head down for me - like she did at the salon.

Here is her cute new 'do. She went around all day telling everyone she had pretty hair.

I'm hoping it will lead to less tangles and less tears!

Mom to the rescue

My kids come home with lots of notes in their backpacks. They need to bring something or have some special day at school, etc. With three kids in school it's hard to keep track of everything. I know I should write everything down on a big calendar or something, but we get by. Last week Josh brought something home from speech saying that he earned a "free day" (he has only been going to speech for less than a week - guess it doesn't take much to earn such a day) and that he had to bring cookies for the group of 4 kids. It was a note with blanks for the date, what to bring, and how many kids. It was written in Josh's cute handwriting - but still legible. So, last week, I glanced at it and it said Mon, Nov 13th was the day to bring cookies. All I noticed was that it said "Nov 13" which I knew was far in the future and I didn't have to worry about it yet. Fast forward to this morning - Josh is insisting that he has to bring cookies TODAY and that I forgot. So, I called his teacher, explained the discrepancy on the note, and said I could probably bring cookies to the school. I did have some errands to run today, starting with a Relief Society visit at 10:00 and I could probably pick up some cookies and drop them off at the school. She called me back at 8:00 am and said that he was supposed to bring cookies today and that his group meets at 9:00 am. Hmmm, didn't exactly fit into my schedule. I was still sitting here in my bathrobe and it wasn't going to work out to hurry and get dressed (and get Emma dressed) run to the store, run to the school, then do my errands - which involved going BACK to the store. The teacher said not to worry about it. But all I could think about was how Josh told me he needed cookies and how he would feel bad when he didn't have them. So, I quickly threw together a homemade batch of chocolate chip cookies and had them in the oven at 8:15. Now I'm just hoping they won't balk at homemade cookies - these days everything brought to school is supposed to be store-bought. I'll just say what I say to my kids when they get something and they would rather get something else - "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit".

Well, the cookies are out of the oven - time to run them over to the school. Hopefully they will appreciate it!

In Loving Memory

Late Sunday night, just a few weeks past his 90th birthday, my Grandpa Glen passed away. He had been declining for the past few years, so in many ways, this is a blessing. We will miss him, and are all a little sad, but also happy to know that he is in a better place now. The kids don't really have a lot of memories of their great grandpa, but I was touched when Rachel and David both shed a few tears when they learned of his passing. This picture is my grandpa as a young father - the cute little boy in the picture is my dad. My sister told a fun story about him on her blog, so I thought I would share a different one about him that I remember being told. He was born in 1918 and was a twin. I'm sure times were quite different back then, but I can still imagine a mother's worry when a child goes missing. I'm not sure how old he was (I think he was a baby) but one morning he was placed on a bed and then later, when his mom went to check on him, he was gone! Everybody searched high and low for several hours and it was determined that he was probably kidnapped by gypsies. I can't imagine the grief this young mother must have been feeling. Then, someone noticed some sounds coming from under the bed. Turns out he rolled off the bed and under it, where he slept peacefully for several hours. He has always been a teaser and a joker and I guess he started very young!

We will miss you Grandpa!

Halloween costumes

I finally finished all the costumes (the final one being finished the day before Halloween) and the kids all had a great time.

Emma was a fairy

Josh was a doctor

Rachel was a fairy

David was a doctor as well.
The original plan was that Rachel was going to be a nurse, but then we couldn't find a pattern and Rachel fell in love with the fairy one. It didn't turn out exactly like we had hoped, but she still looked beautiful.

Happy Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins

We had our traditional Family Night before Halloween pumpkin carving activity. This year it was great because I bought 3 little pumpkin carving kits and the kids were all able to do almost everything themselves. We had a lot of fun. The only problem (if you can call it a problem) is that the weather here is so warm that all the pumpkins were pretty much spent by the time Halloween came around. But that's okay - the fun comes with the carving.

Still trying to get it sold

Well, unfortunately, our buyer backed out, and we are still trying to sell our house. We are very disappointed, but life goes on and hopefully the next offer will be just around the corner. Maybe it's just waiting for a special family who will love the house as much as we did.

Get it Sold, part 2

We finally got an offer on our house!! We are so excited and relieved. After 5 long months, I found myself thinking that it was NEVER going to sell. They want to close very quickly and we are hoping and praying that everything will go along smoothly. I won't be totally relieved until after we close - but we are well on our way. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes.

Halloween Costumes

Yep, it's that time again. I don't think I'm being quite ambitious as last year, but I'm still making 4 new costumes. I hadn't even broken out my sewing machine since we moved. I no longer have a sewing room so that makes sewing a little more difficult. I wanted the costumes to be a little easier this year, so I am making scrubs for David and Josh (dressing up as doctors). Rachel and Emma are going to be fairies. While the patterns are not too complicated, I'll be working with a lot of tulle, so hopefully that won't be too frustrating. The scrubs are almost finished and everything is all cut out (the worst part in my book). It has been fun to be sewing again - I really forget how much I do enjoy that. We don't have anything going on until Halloween, so I've still got some time on my hands. I'm really excited for this warm fall weather. I think the kids might not need coats this year! One time in Utah we were trick-or-treating in the snow. I'll post some pictures when the costumes get done.

Sugarhouse Ink

My very talented sister, Sarah, is launching her new business today, Sugarhouse Ink. She designs and prints beautiful cards, announcements, and invitations. Please check out her website! Here is a sample of her beautiful work. Please think of her next time you need a personalized card.

Thinking happy thoughts...

Lately I've been getting pretty bummed that our house is still on the market. Especially with the financial crisis that has been going on in the country. I've also really been missing the great friends that we had in Omaha. So, instead of dwelling on the negative, I came up with some things to be happy and thankful about.

• My husband has a great job here that he enjoys
  
• His former company just had layoffs (and he could have been let go)
  
• We will get a bigger tax deduction from all the mortgage interest we are paying :)
  
• The weather here is just beautiful! The rainy season (which was wonderful too) is over so the humidity level is dropping. The evenings and mornings are crisp and cool and it reaches about 80 for a high. Just about perfect.
  
• Even though the floor plan is not ideal, we have a nice house to live in here
  
• We have met a lot of nice people here and made some great friends.
  
• The way my 3 year old's eyes lit up when I gave her a new set of water paints
  
• All the kids are healthy, happy, and doing well in school.
  
• I found out my treadmill keeps track of the total miles it has gone - I just hit 1000 miles.
  

I'm sure there are many more things that I could list - but I feel better already. Thank you for all the prayers for our house. Please keep praying!

The Whole Enchilada

This past weekend in Las Cruces was the Whole Enchilada Fiesta. I guess the reason why they have it is this person makes the biggest enchilada in the world (it's in the Guinness Book of World Records - who knew there was a category for enchiladas?). The making of the Enchilada takes place on Sunday, so we didn't see that. We weren't really sure what to expect but we heard there was a parade on Saturday morning, so that's the only part of the celebration that we attended. Maybe next year we'll have to venture out and participate a little bit more. We ended up right at the beginning of the parade. Here's Rachel blocking some of that great Las Cruces sunshine.

David and Josh waiting for the fun to begin.

The parade featured several marching bands - NMSU & each of Las Cruces' three high schools. Josh was plugging his ears for this part.

The kids got kick out of this miniature little horse (or pony? I'm not sure).

The also loved these cars with their funny doors - some of them could raise up and down around the tires.

Emma enjoyed her lei and candy.

We had a fun morning! I was considering getting there early and running in the 5K race, but my knee has been bothering me lately and I didn't want to stress it. I'll have to try for that next year.

Here is Rachel with the hair bows I made for those of you who wanted a picture of them in action.

Curly Hair Bows

I learned how to make these fun bows at a church craft activity (Super Saturday). Rachel wanted one tied onto an elastic for ponytails, and I made the other two on metal clips for Emma. They sure take a while to make, but they really are cute. Rachel helped me make the bows by twirling the ribbon around the dowels. She already wants to make several more sets. There is a tutorial online if you are interested in making some of your own. I just used different clips and I tied the bunch of ribbons together with a piece of flat ribbon. I used two 10 yard spools of thin ribbon - it's supposed to make 2 very fluffy bows but I divided it into three and they still looked great. It's a fun project!