Our first Snow of the season...Brrrrrrrrr!

I love the snow. It's the Zero Degree Temperatures that accompanied this years snow that turned me off. The kids were super excited to finally get their snow gear out and have some fun in it though. Normally they would play outside in the snow for hours but with how cold and windy it is this week the kids only make it about 30 minutes before coming back indoors. Kase came inside today saying, "my face is burning, I think I have a frost bite!"

The kids have been begging me to take them sledding, but with them only being able to stand 15 minutes of the freezing temperatures, it seems like so much work to get everyone all bundled up and drive to a sledding hill when we will be turning right around and coming home after 2 times down the hill.

So I had an idea! Why not make a sledding run in our own backyard??

I piled snow on my deck and a small picnic table and Viola!! Who needs White Pass or Leavenworth when you have a mothers creative genius. (or as some might call it... laziness)

Alright, so the ride was short lived from the top to the bottom, but the kids got a kick out of it and it allowed for me to enjoy the festivities from the comfort of my cozy warm home. 

The baby and I watched from indoors while the kids rotated from indoors to outdoors, thawing themselves out every 1/2 hour or so. 

Hudson spent most of his time watching them out the window.

This is him saying, 

"OUT... A-SIDE... SNOW"

(Repeated 9,364,729,894,157 times)

And this is Hudson saying,

MOM...HELP...STUCK

(Repeated another gazillion times)

Once this freezing, snowy couple of weeks is behind us, we will definitely need to replenish our supply of hot chocolate and marshmellows :)

Attn: 4 year old TriCities boy threatens to put Office Max out of business

So I walked into the office today to see Kase standing at my printer/copier. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Just making some copies." The kids are always bringing something in to copy so I didn't think twice about it.

The kids are fascinated with that thing. When they first discovered how to work it, they used it to duplicate their drawings so that they would only have to draw one picture and make copies to give to each member of the family their own copy.

Then they figured out that they could copy just about anything in the house. Toys, underwear, gloves, keys, hands, face, money, etc. Hours of fun for the kids and a very spendy ink and paper bill for mom and dad.

So back to Kase. I sit down at my computer to start on some work and I notice that the copies just keep coming and coming. I ask him, "Hey Kase, what are you copying?" He says, "Paper." I look over to see blank sheets of paper being printed out of the printer. I asked him, " Why are you copying a blank piece of paper?" and his reply was, "We were running out of paper, so I'm making you some more." He lifts up his copies to show me that we are now down to only 2 pieces of paper. He shows me the new paper he has just created and he tells me, " For some reason they all have a black line at the top. Do you like that kind of paper?"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. HE'S A GENIUS I thought. Why didn't I think of that before. And all this time I was going to Office Max to get more paper when all I had to do was print more.

It was so cute! He seemed so proud of himself for making mom some more paper and probably thinks that all of us adults are a little slow that we haven't thought of that before. I could just see his chest puff up and head held high as he waited for a big "thank you" from me.

Now that we have let the secret out...Let's see how long Office Max can stay in business. :)

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

So my kid is in love with Sugar Cookies!

Some youth from our church dropped off some frosted Christmas sugar cookies last night and the challenge of keeping them out of the kids reach began immediately.

3 attempts have been made by Hudson today in his quest for this sweet, delicious, sugary substance. (And the day is only a few hours old)

Attempt #1

While I was on the phone in my office, Hudson pulled a chair over to the counter to reach the plate of frosted sugar cookies sitting just out of his reach. Caught him just before he could get one into his mouth.

Attempt #2

I moved the cookies to the top of the microwave which I new he would have no way to reach them now, then headed back to my bedroom to get dressed. Kase came running into my room screaming, "Hudson is going to fall, he's stuck up on the counter!"

Sneaky little devil.

K, so the cookies went in the garbage and are now out on the curb.

Problem solved. Or was it?

Attempt #3

Last night at our Young Women's craft night we frosted Christmas Sugar Cookies. At the end of the night I dropped all of the extra frosting and supplies in a box and brought it home, then set it on my counter to unload later.

Well Hudson must have a nose like a hound dog because he sniffed that box right out, climbed up on the kitchen table, snagged the color frosting of his choice (red) and began to feast.

If you'll notice he started with his fingers first, but must have noticed what a mess it was making and decided to remove the middle man (his fingers) and just go straight from frosting tub to mouth.

I can't imagine where his love of frosting comes from??? :)

(Let me just say, it's not Dan.)

So...I've had enough frosting patrol for one morning. Is it nap time yet?

Young Women Craft Night

My assignment/responsibility at church right now is to work with the young women of our ward. (We have 31 girls ranging from ages 12-18.)

Last night I was in charge of a little craft night for the girls. We made magnet boards with next years young women "theme" written on them. They were lots of fun to make, turned out super cute, and only took an hour and a half to finish. 

Here's a few examples...

While the paint was drying on their boards, the girls moved to other tables to make their magnets, frost sugar cookies, and make Christmas chains.

It took hours and hours to get the project ready to go for tonight, but all of the preparation and hauling of supplies was worth seeing the girls have such a fun night. 

I love serving these girls!

I wasn't alone in the preparation though. Thank goodness!

To All the other leaders who helped pull this event off... THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Christmas Cards in the mail, CHECK!

Just got the Christmas cards in the mail.

One more thing I can check off my long list of things to do this week.

I helped my Mom and Dad with their Christmas Card this year also, so our great family picture wouldn't go to waste. It isn't very often our whole family is all together for a nice family picture like this, so I thought for sure they should send some out this year.

Damon, with Realife Photography, always does a great job on our pictures.

I can't imagine ever using anyone else. I guess unless he gets sick of us, which wouldn't be hard because I love me some pictures:)

Happy 29th Birthday Leslie!

A few of our FAVORITE things...

I asked the kids what their favorite things to do around Christmas time were, and here's what they came up with...

On the top of their list was playing in the snow

Because it snows very little here the kids enjoy every inch we get.

They love to...

Make Snowballs, Snow angels, Snowmen, and Igloos.

Getting pulled behind Dad's truck.

(We probably won't be attempting this one this year. 

Our family can only afford one big accident a year :) 

Skiing!!!

Sledding and inner tubing.

Our family goes to Leavenworth each year, for inner tubing with the kids. The nice thing about this hill is the tow rope. At least for us parents who get tired after one trip to the top, hauling 5 kids and 7 tubes. Hooray for tow ropes!

You just hook your tube up to the tow rope, sit back and enjoy the ride to the top. 

And as you know, once at the top it's all down hill from there.

While in Leavenworth we usually walk through the little village shops, 

have lunch and dinner, and see their awesome Christmas lights. 

( Leavenworth is a couple hours away. Fun day trip if you've never been.)

The kids love looking at Christmas Lights

We usually go up to Christmas carol lane and then hit some other houses around town, but their all time favorite lights are at Senske Lawn and Tree Care. They deck out their building and all of their trees with over 70,000 lights. Then the lights flash on and off and change colors in sync with Christams music. You just tune your car radio into 101.7 to listen. Senske does this daily from 5pm-midnight. Lots of fun!

(Here's a video of one song, but it's much better in person) 

(Turn off the music at the bottom of my blog before watching video)

The kids also like to check in on what Santa is up to

They go to emailsanta.com or northpole.com to check in on Santa and see what's going on at the North Pole. They check out his naughty or nice list. They can email Santa a letter and Santa will email a personalized letter back instantly. They especially love to check these sites out on Christmas Eve to see where in the world Santa is and where he is headed next.

Going to Steve's Cabin

The kids would choose to go to Steve's cabin over a trip to Disneyland or Hawaii. 

Crazy I know, but they love it that much.

Acting out the Nativity Story is another favorite

A couple of years ago David and Linda Bruns (my brother and sister in law) video taped all the cousins acting out the nativity with costumes, narration, music and the whole works. It was fun enough, and FUNNY enough that it happened again the next year. I think now it has turned into sort of a tradition that the kids look forward to, and that we parents get a kick out of. We usually all sit around on Christmas Eve to watch the video production together.

And last but not least, they love turning themselves into Elves

(Before watching this video, scroll to the very bottom of my blog

and turn off the music.)

K, so the kids aren't the only ones who enjoy being elves!

Yes, these elves are actually Dan and I.

It's a hard-knock life... for a 2 year old.

Life can be tough on a 2 year old. Sometimes at the end of a long hard day you just want to kick up your feet, and have a little time to yourself, to relax and unwind.

I got this foot massager a few years ago for my birthday. I had it out last night because my legs and feet were KILLING me, after a long hard day.

It was still out in the living room today, and I couldn't keep Hudson away from it. I think he just needed a little pampering too. You know, with all of the pressure, stresses and demands that are place on a 2 year old these days.

It was funny when I caught him using it for the first time, sitting up there on the couch with his little feet dangling down. He was fascinated by all of the vibrating, rolling and squeezing. He would stick his feet in for a while, then his hands, then checked to see if his toys liked it too.

I don't get this foot massager out very much, so I have often wondered if it was a very good investment. Today that question was answered... It was a great investment and will pay for itself 10 times over. Not only does it massage your legs and feet.

It babysits and entertains kids.

It kept Hudson entertained all day. And that's priceless!

Christmas Decorating!!!!!

I'm always wanting to start setting up Christmas in, oh I don't know... October!!! I love this time of year and I'm pretty sure it would be fun to have Christmas all year round. Dan doesn't quite feel the same way. Don't get me wrong, he enjoys the holidays, just not the decorating part of the holidays. I'm sure he would be fine with just throwing up a Christmas tree a few days before Christmas. 

He actually does enjoy it when it's all done, I think it's just the whole cutting down a tree, hauling it home, climbing ladders, dealing with broken Christmas lights, and carrying heavy boxes in and out of the garage, that turns him off to the idea of doing it a minute sooner than he possibly has to.

I've made a commitment to him that I won't break out the tree until Thanksgiving is over. So once the turkey is eaten and the dishes are done it's pretty much fair game :) 

While Dan went into work for a few hours this morning, the kids and I broke out all the decorations, the tree, stockings, the wreath, and outside lights. We were on a mission. The kids had a blast trying to get as much of our Christmas stuff up before Dan could get home and start raising a fuss about how early it is to be setting things up.

It was funny watching the kids shew Dan out the door this morning (knowing what was coming when he left), telling him all sorts of goofy lies like....We are moving the furniture around to vacuum when you are gone dad. And other such funny remarks to throw him off the scent.

We got the job done before Dan pulled back in this afternoon and the kids got a kick out of surprising him with the change in scenery.

We of course saved all of the Christmas tree ornaments to do as a family later in the evening when the whole family was here, but were able to get the bulk of it done while he was away.

Of course, a little rock-paper-scissors took place to decide who would get to put the star on this year. (Rock crushes Scissors, Scissors cut paper, Paper covers Rock:)

And the winner is... KY!

Yea, for Christmas!!!! Love ya Dan. 

I'm Thankful...

Just reflecting a little today on the things I am most thankful for...

I am so thankful for my savior Jesus Christ. For my testimony of his gospel. And for the knowledge of where I came from, who I am, and who I can become one day.

I am grateful to be married to the most amazing man on the face of the earth. He means everything to me. I can't imagine where I would be today if I wouldn't have snagged him all those years ago.

I am grateful to have such a loving family. 5 beautiful, healthy, happy children. Being around them makes me want to try harder each day to be a better person. I love the ages my children are at. (2-9 years old) I'm grateful that all of these ages are equally fun and rewarding. Each child brings so much laughter and love to our family.

 

I am grateful for a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at myself. 

I'm thankful for the family I grew up in and the memories and relationships I have with my siblings and parents.

I'm grateful to live in a time where we are so blessed with our income and abundance. 

I am grateful for the talents and strengths I have.

I'm thankful for friendships that have been developed over the years.

I'm thankful for feelings I get from the spirit as I live and learn.

I'm grateful for the little, cozy home we live in and for the great memories we make together daily, within the walls of this home. 

I'm thankful for our great neighborhood, and school district.

I'm thankful for a husband who unconditionally loves and supports my life and dreams. Who is a best friend to me. A confidante for my most heartfelt ideas and feelings.

I'm grateful for Health and strength.

I'm grateful for the safety and protection that has been shown to my family.

I'm grateful for forgiveness, growth, and repentance.

I'm thankful for the scriptures. I'm grateful to live in these last days, in the fullness of times, preparing the world for the coming of the Savior. For temples and the peace and revelation that comes to me therein.

I'm thankful for a democratic government, with freedoms un paralleled anywhere in the world. For a strong military to keep our country safe and protected.

I'm thankful for technology, computers,  and modern day conveniences in the home.  

I am so grateful for cameras, pictures and memories to help me reflect.

I'm am grateful for snuggle time with my kids and dates with my husband.

I'm am grateful for this life. I am so blessed!

Exclusive Twilight Showing

After reading maybe only 10 books since high school, I was a little skeptical that I would actually like a book about vampires. It took a year of my friends recommending and begging me to read Twilight and I still hadn't found the motivation to crack it open and give it a try. Finally one friend actually forced me take her copy home to read it. (Thanks Kate). To my amazement I loved it and couldn't wait to read the next 3 in the series.

When we heard they were making this book into a movie, a friend of mine thought it would be fun to rent out an entire theater to ourselves for our own private viewing of Twilight. No husbands, or Kids allowed!

Normally that would be pretty spendy but I happen to have a friend who manages a theater here in town, so she was able to help us make this happen at a very reasonable rate. We booked our showing for 10am the day the movie was being released, and then the preparations for this fun event really began.

It was lots of fun to put this event together.

Here's the Official Twilight planning committee... Stacey, Kathy, and Jenne.

So I'm a fan but, Kathy and Jenne are HUGE Twilight fans. They made this event memorable and really fun for the 85 women we invited to this private showing.

Jenne designed these awesome passes for all the ladies. We had fun staying up until 12am making them for everyone. We all felt pretty cool flashing our "all access pass" to get into the theater. (Thanks for taking the ticket idea to a whole new level Jenne. Super Cute!)

We wanted to make this a super fun experience for all who attended, so earlier in the week we sent out a quiz to all the people coming to the movie. A little Twilight trivia from Bella. 10 minutes before the movie started we gave out movie prizes to the winners of the quiz. A few of the prizes given out were for... getting the most answers right, read the book the most times, told the most people to read the book, best twilight dressed, best story about having to lie to read the books, 17th person through the door, etc.

We hung memorable quotes from the book all around the theater. Also pictures from the making of the movie to add that special touch.

Here's a few you may have seen hanging on the wall.

Bella, oh I mean Kathy and Edward.

Edward, Jenne, and Emmet hanging out on set.

Me and Edward.

I'm pretty sure he's grabbing my butt. And Ohhh what a nice butt I have, if I do say so myself. So fun!

As for the movie, I really liked it. It was a little corny in some parts but I still enjoyed it. The movie was not as good as the book, but what movie is? It was fun to see all of the characters in the book brought to life and for the most part it was what I had envisioned. I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. I liked it enough that I would probably go see it again if someone invited me.

It was a blast taking a morning off from my normal routine to hang out with friends, and act like a teenager again.

All in all.....It was totally fun, and the memories made doing this little Twilight Movie Day will be sticking with me for many "new moons" to come. :)