The first of December

Somehow I thought I would be much farther along on my list of things I need/want to get done than I am. Teaching pre-school this month was not a good idea, but since I made the schedule, I can't complain too much:)

This first week of December has been busy and full of craziness. First, on Tuesday I went to a Christmas party with some of the ladies from the neighborhood. They are great! (and soo funny). There was wonderful food (the yummiest ham), good conversation, and fun games. We had a white elephant exchange and, though there were some great gifts, no one could top K's.Lucky S took home a stuffed bobcat (i think..maybe a cougar?..). It was the greatest white elephant gift ever. I tried to get it for the Hs annual Christmas party, but there's no trading in this game--you get what you get. (Doesn't she look thrilled?--I would have died to take that cat home--Can you imagine S's face when I brought that baby in!)

Next, on Friday we got our Christmas tree, Happy day! It was soo much better than last year. (S was out of town, so I took the three girls and got it by myself--It was halfway through the month. I had some great friends that helped me get it in the house and in the tree stand.) But not this year. S was home and it is up and decorated. I love it! Now I just need to keep the kids from knocking it over, looking for "the pickle". And, not to ask too much, but it would be reeeeaaaaally nice to have some lights on our house this year. (hint...hint:))

Saturday was a big day. First, I took the girls to the Festival of the Nativities while S stayed with the napping Ms. M (who would NOT have done well with all the "please do not touch" signs.I don't actually have pictures of any of the nativities, but it was BEAUTIFUL! The girls got a little bored after a while but the spirit touches you. It's a great way to start the month, remembering why we celebrate Christmas. The paper said there were 825 nativities, 103 from other countries. The girls liked seeing a nativity from the Phillippines, where G and G K are. They also liked the childrens' room, where they got to dress up as nativity characters (a sheep and a shephard) and "Joseph's Workshop" where they had crafts. It was such a nice event (and soo much work--wow!).

That afternoon we went with some friends to see the Vancouver Dance Theater's production of The Nutcracker. Lucky E got to experience my crazy driving (I missed a few turns). But, sigh of relief, we made it and the girls loved it. I was a little worried about A, because we went to the 2pm performance and that is naptime. She did fine. I did not; I slept though almost the whole first act.

The girls being ballerinas (except for Ms. A)

And...a picture with the Sugar Plum Fairy. (You can tell how into this A is). It humors me:)

Last, (I'm almost done, I promise) Saturday night was our church Christmas Party. Again, lots of planning and time when into this event. S and his friend, J, were asked to be Roman Gaurds They greeted everyone as they came in the doors. (and I heard they were giving people a rather hard time--no good). We were asked to come dressed in clothes from the time of the Savior's birth and bring a blanket to sit on. The culture hall was decorated like Bethlehem.

They had games and crafts for the kids, yummy food, and a wonderful program. It was really a great event and, again, helped us better focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Overall, a crazy, lovely week. And it looks to continue being crazy up until I finish teaching pre-school. Why am I doing this again? How was your week? I hope lovely and bright!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving was fabulous, of course. We were soo fortunate to be able to spend time with family, which is one of our favorite things.

We usually stay with my parents or my husband's parents, but things worked out that this time we stayed with two of S's brothers (on different nights). My girls loved being able to play with their cousins. Very fun times!Here's the girls with two of their cousins. This night B and M taught us two new games, Buzz Word and No Peekie. The girls were robbed. We should have won!

Thanksgiving was at my parents house. Dinner was, of course, scrumptious. This is the kid's tableand the adult table. My two sisters and their families and my sister's in-laws were there, as well as my family. Crazy, but good times.That night the kids got to open a present from grandma and grandpa (pajamas to save for Christmas). Then we had to say good-bye to grandma and grandpa for a little while. They left early the next morning for Utah and the Missionary Training Center. They will be there a week and then it's off to the Philippines. They will love it and be wonderful missionaries. And they'll be home before we know it. (But I'm still a little sad).

Friday I got up at 4:46 to run to Walmart for a few specific items. Granted, I wasn't there right at 5 am when it opened, but when I did get there (at 5:10) the parking lot was JAMMED full. I kid you not--It was the craziest thing. And people in the store were a little crazy themselves. Funny! Not that I'm bitter, but I was only able to get ONE of the items on my list and it was a $5 set of cars for my sister. After checking out the line I decided she was going to sacrifice for the greater good and I left the store empty handed. I already had the two items I went there for, but it was $20 cheaper (and I had bought two). That was worth getting up early for. But not to get them made me grumpy (or the lack of sleep). However, fear not--I fared much better at Target and Fred Meyer. (The Target line was a little crazy, as well, but moved at a good pace).

Friday afternoon we went bowling with another set of cousins. T and A had never been bowling before and loved it. I haven't been bowling for a while--the new lanes have the bumpers automatically come up when it was T or A's turn. Fancy! Fancy! S, T and her cousins.I don't know why, but both T and A would have their legs spread apart and usually had both hands in the air. It was pretty funny to watch.I had a hard time adjusting the camera for the lighting at the bowling alley--The pictures mostly turned out dark.

There was also a birthday party

And an early visit from Santa (Grandpa R)It was really nice, since we (and another set of cousins) won't be back for Christmas this year.
Here's all the cousins that were home
and our girls. Ms. M wasn't the least bit afraid of Santa. Both T and A were terrified at that age. (of course, T was afraid of carpet samples at Home Depot, pumpkins, and the list goes on and on). It was a very enjoyable, busy trip. I'm glad we have Christmas coming up. This is one of my favorite times of the year and it's nice to have so much to distract me. It's hard to be sad with so much going on. Good luck Mom and Dad! We love you!

Three things

Three quick things so I can go to bed!

First, my new obsession! Leaf blowing! (Clearly, this isn't me:)) On Monday I spent way too long trying to sweep all the wet, matted down layers of leaves off my back deck. My girlfriend lent me her leaf blower and it was MAGIC! Seriously! Within 15 minutes I had all the leaves off my deck AND my cement patio. Then, I went out of control. I can't TELL you how much I love this thing. I do have to take care of my children (feed them, etc..) so I have had to put it down a few times, but Monday I blew leaves until it was so dark I was tripping over things. Tuesday was busy, but today I finished up our back yard (until the big tree by the house drops all its leaves). It is soo fun. The girls love it, as well. Ms. A held on to it with me for about 15 minutes until I couldn't stand it any longer. She gave me her saddest face, but it was still too hard. I did let T blow leaves while I put them in the yard bin. (She did okay, not great, but okay.) Anyway--this is the coolest power tool. I'm thinking we might need to invest. I was sad to return it today.

Second, I had my first stitches incidentLook at that cute face! I ran to the library a little after 4 today. The girls played while I reserved some books on the computer that they didn't have at our little branch. Somehow Ms. M fell right on the corner of one of the tables. I have never seen so much blood. The poor librarians were all in a flutter. I took her into the bathroom to try to clean her up and stop the bleeding, but, as you can tell, she got blood all over--her clothes, my clothes, the carpet (just a little). Thank goodness we are getting a new library. I took her home, cleaned her up a little more, but ended up having to take her to urgent care for stitches. Only three--It was kind of interesting to watch, but I felt so bad for poor little M. The doctor says there will not be a scar--probably.

Last, this last weekend we went home for my parents farewell. They report to the MTC Dec 1st and then off to the Philippines. I think I'm going to be very, very sad come November 28 when they drive away. The farewell talks were very nice. No surprise that I cried, but no one else did. (A few people were a little teary-eyed, which made me feel better.) The weekend, overall, was a little crazy! My job was to watch children. All weekend. My parents moved their stuff downstairs. My sister A and family moved their stuff into my parent's house. My sister E and family moved their stuff into sister A's house. I think I had the easiest job.

One fun thing. I took T, A, and cousin B to the musical "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" Saturday night. It was darling. The girls got to dress up and participate in the princess parade during intermission. Also, it was interesting enough to hold everyone's attention the whole time (even Ms. A). Of course, quote the girls, "It wasn't like the real one." (meaning the Barbie version). Soo sad they think that is the real version. I'll have to work on that.

Getting ready to go in. Hooray for Uncle S who was able to locate all the dress-up amid the chaos of moving.

Learning how to wave like a princess. (Do you like T's boots?:) and A's jeans)

Practicing their wave as they parade around on stage.At the end, the cast comes out so you can ask them questions. Very fun evening.

Halloween week--a little late

I know Halloween is past and gone, except for the candy that lingers on forever. Also, I know I'm falling behind. S was out of town most of the week last week (and the week before, for that matter). I never had time to sit down at the computer. Soo sad, I know. Sooo, here's our Halloween week, just a little late.

First, we had our trunk-or-treat on Friday, the 24th. The ward did a great job, with games to play, food to eat, a glow room, a movie room, and last...trunk or treating. (We parked a little too far out, so I had to borrow a friends trunk to give out candy).You might be saying, "Wait a minute--I've seen these costumes before." And you would be right. M is wearing A's old princess costume. A is wearing T's old Tinkerbell costume (with red shoes--we tried to change those). Actually A had a couple options, unlike M, but wanted to be Tinkerbell. That left us with only having to find a costume for T, who wanted to be red riding hood (for a few years now--And next year as well). Happy day!T doing the cupcake walk.M playing pumpkin bowling.

Next, because both our husbands were out of town, my friend Ellen, invited us over for dinner-in -a-pumpkin. Sooo fun! I can't say my kids ate a ton, but I loved it. I think this may have to be a tradition. (Of course, S is a little wierd about food--we'll have to see.)The kiddlets, all ready to dig in.Dinner--It looks a little stewish, but it's not. The main ingredients are rice and ground beef. I thought it was yummy! And very festive.

We finally got around to carving our pumpkins on Thursday night (I was waiting for dad to be home--he's good with sharp objects).Everyone was very into the pumpkin carving. My job is to take pictures and sort out all the pumpkin seeds for baking. Kind of slimy, but sooo yummy. Also, don't ask why S is still in a white shirt and tie. "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine".T, cleaning out her little pumpkinTrying to keep M from eating the pumpkin seeds and gunk.Finished product (minus dad's pumpkin--he was inside, very maticulously at work carving away.)

Finally, it was Halloween! (I know this is a long posting--I'm soo sorry. Stick with me. We are almost done)Here's the girls, ready to go out--Ms. M stayed home to hand out candy with dad.Some friends of ours have a trailer they decorate and take the kids around to look at scary houses in the neigborhood (the driving was a little scarier than the houses, but the kids LOVED it.) What a fun idea.They stop the trailer at a few houses that are known to give out lots of candy.After the trailer ride we finished the night by trick-or-treating with friends. This is A with her sweet friend. She (A) was soo tired by the end of the night I had to carry her home. You would think she would have gone right to bed, especially since she had no nap. That was the plan. No, we got home and had to check out the candy and run around crazy for a bit. I love Halloween, but Hooray that it is done for another year.

Turning Six

T just recently turn six years old--that would be two hands instead of one. She, of course, thinks she is twenty six, but that's for another posting. What a happy day for all. We made her wait until her birthday to open gifts. We told her it would be worth the wait. She wore the outfit Grandma and Grandpa R gave her Friday (her birthday), Saturday , and Sunday. Thank goodness I do wash on Monday.She has watched the Sleeping Beauty movie from Grandma and Grandpa K many a time and feels very brave about it. She keeps telling A, "it's not scary." (Even though it is a little).

Friday night T got to choose where we went for dinner--She choose Sweet Tomatoes, even though S tried hard to tempt her with other places that brought ice cream and sang. S does not like Sweet Tomatoes, but he sucked it up. Also, we had Uncle B visit. What a fun treat. T loved playing adult sequence with him and dad and winning.

Saturday was her birthday party she could invite her friends to. I thought we had the rule of a friend birthday every other year, but apparently not. We'll have to revisit this idea later. Anyhow, T wanted a costume halloween party. We had beautiful princesses, ninjas, vampires, witches, a football player, and a cat. Very fun! (Sorry , in the chaos I did not remember to take a group picture like I planned). The kids decorated halloween bags, played games, ate, and opened presents (the opening presents was a little rushed--I ran out of time at the end).

Decorating bags.

Playing games--S was a huge help--Here he is demonstrating pumpkin bochee, which he wants to make sure and get credit for. Pumpkin Bochee was his idea.This was the "Over the head, Under the legs" game. Just so you know, the Stealth Ninjas beat out the Vampire Princesses and the Superstars.There were a few more games, but the favorite was the scavenger hunt leading to...

the skeleton pinata (That was S's pick--He passed up the nice, happy pumpkin for a scary skeleton--The kids loved it--hope they didn't have nightmares)The ninja, who was the only one who wanted to be blindfolded, finally broke it on his second turn.Last, cake and presents. I know many of you that make beautiful, amazing birthday cakes. I am not a cake person. I feel like I'm doing well to make cupcakes (from a box). The girls helped me decorate them. We also had ice cream and cream puffs--aka eyeballs. Last was opening gifts. T has very wonderful, thoughtful friends.

Also--Very exciting! A few days after her birthday T lost her first tooth.It was a very exciting week. But hopefully it will be a little quieter for a while.