Snow . . . and more snow

Last Sunday it was supposed to snow a little, and then, rain. Um, no. Not quite. The "snowstorm of 2010" according to the weather man ended up being a big deal about a skiff of snow. But now, when they say little snow - I'll plan on being snowed in.
So, Sunday it snowed and just kept snowing. Monday I shipped Whitney off too school and shoveled during Hailey's morning nap - after me and Travis quickly made a snowman :) I swear I shoveled the heaviest snow for almost 2 hours! It was insane.

Then it just kept snowing. And Tuesday morning Whitney's school got cancelled. Which was sad since she was all excited about her elf party. But when I opened the garage to see this, I was happy I wasn't going anywhere! Aaron was nice enough to take the shoveling shift the next day - the front walk that is :) Our neighbors plowed our driveway with their tractor. We owe them.

It was heavy snow = horrible to shovel = great to play in! We built a sweet slide in about 10 minutes. The snowballs were so heavy I couldn't push them. We definitely had some fun.

Demolition

Today and yesterday are mile markers. Yesterday was my 8th anniversary. Anything I can say about how amazing and wonderful my husband is, and how happy I am to be married to him -is too mushy for this blog. Eight years has gone fast. Yet I look at all that has happened and all that we have accomplished, and yes, it then feels like it's been a great 8 years.

Today snowed! What a great excuse to consider shoveling lifting and then play all during Hailey's nap in the snow! Here's Mr. Frosty. I'm all for Christmas decor - but my gingerbread house and train has made my kitchen feel a tad bit cluttered. Today I decided it was demolition time - and this might be a tradition. The kids had way more fun destroying than decorating! And yes, my kitchen feels a thousand times cleaner now :)
Mile marker #2 - Hailey is 9 months old today. She's a cutie. I love that she now waves, claps, and is much more vocal. Her smile still melts my heart. Love ya Hailey!

December Ramblings

What an interesting start to the month I've had. We started off festive: decorating and doing Gingerbread Houses and trains. We had Aaron's Business Christmas Party, where I have completely put to use the present of a Blu-ray player. We had a great Saturday watching Tangled with Grandma and Grandpa and doing lunch. What a great movie!

But lately I've felt a little more like a Martha than a Mary. I get way to focused on cleaning and things that need to get done rather than getting on my knees and playing with my kids. It sometimes seems an impossible job to keep a husband and three kids happy and satisfied while keeping a clean and functional home. Good thing my family is patient with me.

This past Sunday our ward did a fast. Turns out that same day a neighbors 2 month old boy passed away. Things like this make everyone evaluate life. It reemphasized to me that God is in charge, he has a plan, and we need to humble ourselves and submit to that. It has made me think of how we view this time on earth. How different time seems here - how long it feels to wait a "lifetime" to be with a loved one again.

While running Saturday (running is when the endorphins give me a clear mind :)) I concluded that the best way to live life is with gratitude and a positive attitude. As a kid that seemed obvious. Life was a big adventure. It still is to me. But something about age has made those simple things more of a choice than second nature.

I'm so grateful for this season where everything around me reminds me of Christ. I've written a kids book and have an idea for an adult Christmas book swimming/screaming in my head. Problem= I have no time to write it = when will people ever have time during Christmas to read it? Maybe that's more reason to write it and focus on the reason for the season.

Here's some of our Gingerbread making pics. Aaron was patient with me - I got a little too ambitious doing a house and a train. I'll stick to one next time . . . or maybe a gingerbread castle :)

Whitney is still mom #2 - here's her homemade playpen. Her genius ideas inspire me!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings again - that is if anybody reads this. If not, it was nice talking to myself :)

thanksgiving plus

It's been a nice thanksgiving. For the most part, it's been just a relaxing break.
Whitney learned from watching the cub scouts how to blow up a balloon....mostly. I had to capture the cross-eyes in action. My girls - love 'em! Whitney likes to be the mom. She takes Hailey all over the house. Which is good.........and bad :)

To keep the kids entertained when it got cold we brought the trampoline (water tramp) upstairs. It was prime time for Travis to practice his snowboarding/surfing tricks.

Whitney had fun learning about Indians in class. She came home decked out after their Thanksgiving feast. Love the pose Whit.We went to my parents for Thanksgiving. They are always such amazing hosts. My kids love it there. It was great to see family and have great food. Shockingly, an amazing sweet potatoes salad was my favorite.

It was fun to see the cousins play together. Thanks for the pics Lori.
Snowies!

Friday was a fun day. We decorated the home. My kids love to decorate for the holidays and were insistent that the Christmas tree be the first thing to go up. I love it - decorating with my kids, with Christmas music playing and snow outside! My kids put the decor to other uses:

The Mr. Potato Head beard

The back-up Christmas tree skirt. From time seen to time put on = 2 seconds. She turns everything into a skirt.....especially a Christmas tree skirt! Once again, nice pose. Where does she learn this stuff? Honestly!

Friday night we had a Chocolate Fountain feast before going to see the light parade. As you can see, Travis was all over this meal!

We insisted that he didn't have to eat the strawberries whole, but apparently that wasn't as much fun. If only this picture could capture the slurping, chomping, and dripping chocolate.

I'm so thankful for my family, for the memories, and for this season where we are able to focus on the Savior and all he has done for us. The last Christmas decorations I pulled out were my souvenirs from Jerusalem. What a special place they have in my heart. The warmth I feel when I see them rings Christmas through and through to me. It completely reminds me of how I feel towards Christ and my testimony.

I love Hailey

Wow, 8 months. Things are great. I love watching her develop so fast and learn new things every day. With each day more of her personality comes out.

Here's my Chicken And her every day Halloween costume

Here are some things I love about Hailey: So I never forget :)

-When you growl at her she growls back

-When I say her name, even if I'm holding her, and she pretends she doesn't hear me. Just gets a smirk on her face.

-When I give her a hug she pats my shoulder

-When I feed her she plays with her feet, my shirt, my hair . . . anything but chill

-Sometimes she breaths like a panting dog

-When she's happy she'll say Da Da. When she cries she says mom.

-She is almost always smiling. Especially is you smile at her.

-She loves licorice

-How she snuggles her head into my shoulder anytime someone other than family looks at her.

- When I hold her she mountain climbs up my body.

- She thinks leaves are delicious

- Every time she gets in the bath she looks straight into the metal circle under the faucet and smiles at herself.

-Her concentrated "Aaron look"

-How she pulls my hair even if it's in a pony tail - oh wait - this is things I love. disregard that one

-Her clear blue eyes and olive skin

-Her yoga poses

Love you Hailey - you liven up our home!

kiddieos

It has been nice to slow down a little the last couple of weeks. My kids seem to be changing and growing daily. Sometimes I sit back and watch them play - realizing that they're not the chubby little midgets they used to be.

A couple weeks ago I brought an old desk up into the living room. I figured it would be a spot I could put my laptop and books until I can buy my desired furniture for the room (which I hope occurs sooner than later:)). It didn't take a minute after Whitney saw it for her to claim it her workstation. Which I'm fine with. But over the last couple weeks it's become her second room. I can't complain. She decorates nice. Keeps it very tidy and organized. She even vacuums and mops.
It's actually worked out nicely since she wants to color and cut while listening to music. If only her music of choice wasn't Chipmunks Christmas...
Oh, yes - and the shopping cart under the desk is the garbage. Pure genius.

Travis is still our surfer dude/pirate fighter. One morning I made a surfboard for him out of swim noodles. He caught some sweet pretend waves that day.

He also has picked up on something very important from all of our B of M reading. Every time we sword fight and I take the lead he informs me "no you can't win 'cause I have the power of God."

Hailey is growing the most rapidly. How much she has changed in only a month!! She now can crawl at super speed and pull herself up to standing. It's quite entertaining to watch her little body go.

The funniest thing is how she has started imitating Travis' silliness. She always shakes her head like crazy - trying to be funny. It always makes me laugh. Exhibit A:

This midget makes me smile.

like way

So I suppose I should've seen this coming . . . but it still makes me laugh. Other than the alphabet basics, my child has learned some very good "valley talk" in kindergarten. It takes me by surprise to hear her use the word "like" at times when it is absolutely unneeded. If I didn't have higher hopes for her I'd swear I was raising barbie.

Example:

Whitney: "Mom will you put my hair in a ponytail" she asks as she walks up to me with elastic in hand and her hair in the exact location she desires.

Me: "Sure"

I then put her hair in the desired position - a style I'm very familiar with these days :)

She then feels her hair and gets worried

Whitney: "No mom, I wanted it smooth . . . . . . oh, ha ha" She discovers it is in fact how she wanted it.

Whitney: "I was like no mom, thats like not how it's supposed to be."

I was never really the "valley girl" kind, but I like to play along.

Me: "And then I was like, no Whitney, that's like the way you told me."

The End