Best Friends

Benjamin and his best friend, Jaden, love Star Wars, Legos, and all things boy. We are so sad Jaden moved because these two loved playing together. I hope Benjamin can find another friend as good for him, and as much like him, as Jaden is.

A Friend's Baptism

We attended the baptism of one of Benjamin's friends, Asiah, back in November and there was an interesting visitor during refreshments.

Bekah was enjoying her dessert too much to care.

Flashback Friday: Christmas 2004

Our first Christmas was spent at my parents house, and the scenery was a lot more interesting than our Christmas morning. Pictures became a lot more fun after we started having kiddos.

Festival of Trees 2011

I love going to the Festival of Trees and seeing all of the unique designs people come up with. This year we took bingo cards and stickers so the kids could have a scavenger hunt looking for various Christmas items in the displays. We had a lot of fun!

The designated "favorite" trees of the festival: Legos & pink bears.

Can you find the hidden pictures in the puzzle?

The "Up" tree, decorated after the movie "Up" made by Disney.

The M&M tree reminded me of going to Grandma D's house at Christmas time. She had LOTS of M&M Christmas decorations, and she even let us play with some of them.

The elusive drum from our Christmas bingo.

Making crafts at the Kids' Corner.

Black Friday 2011

I did the crazy midnight shopping, came home at 6 a.m., took a nap, and then took my kiddos to the Dinosaur Museum. The museum was the best part of the day! I even convinced the baby to toddle around holding my hand for half the time we were there.

Read Me a Story

Ryan loves books. He loves being read to. In fact, one of his favorite tricks lately is to bring a book to Michael or I so we can read it to him. He will repeat this method for quite awhile before he finds something else to do. Good thing we have a plethera of books in our home and are always adding more.

Rubber Duckies Are So Much Fun

Ryan has reached to carrying and toddling stage. Today he was toddling around holding his rubber duckie from his bath. He came over and handed it to me while I was sitting on the couch. I decided to balance it on my head and then let/make it fall. Ryan thought this was hilarious and laughed as he had me do it over and over again. I love sharing giggles with my little ones.

Messy Rooms

The original quote reads "My room is not messy; it is an obstacle course designed to keep me fit." I would have to change it to say "My children's rooms are not messy; they are just obstacle courses designed to keep me fit."

Resolutions for 2012

• Create 365 posts for this blog. Again, I did not say post every day, just 365 posts.
• Index 75,000 records using Family Search.
• Read most of the books in my house I have yet to read (for example, we own the Harry Potter series, but I haven't read it yet.)
• Finish projects I have started previously and not start new ones.
• Help Ryan learn English and stop speaking grunt.
• Help Bekah start Kindergarten.
• Help Benjamin improve his piano skills.
• Find time to laugh, smile, and serve others.

Resolutions 2011 in Review

My resolutions for the year 2011were

1. Spend time each week with my children doing something they enjoy. Every day would be fantastic, but I am trying to be realistic.
2. Take a nap each day whenever possible.
3. Read at least 12 books.
4. Plant a garden.
5. Create 365 posts for this blog. Notice, I did not say post every day, just 365 posts.
6. Spend less time on Facebook playing games.
7. Sell 100 flower headbands and clips.
8. Help Ryan learn to crawl, walk, say a few words, eat solid foods, and feed himself finger foods.
9. Help Benjamin continue to develop his reading abilities, do homework, transition into 1st grade, and have play dates with boy friends.
10. Help Bekah transition into Primary, have play dates with girl friends her age, learn how to ride her scooter, and ride her bike without training wheels.
11. Index 75,000 names using Family Search.
12. Find time to laugh, smile, and serve others.

I accomplished

1. Spending time each week with my children playing games, doing chores, going places, and reading books, etc.
2. I took a nap at least 5 days a week for the first 9 months of the year and then about once a week the last 3 months.
3. I read over 36 books.
4. I planted a small garden and we enjoyed home grown corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and one tiny pumpkin.
5. I completed 320 blog posts (this one is going on the 2012 resolution list.)
6. I cut back my Facebook game playing time by several hours a day. Now, I only spend about an hour on Facebook each day and that is to keep track of what others are doing and if anyone needs something.
7. I sold 1 headband, started a whole bunch, and need to send my pattern to a friend. I think I am going to shelve this business venture for a few years.
8. Ryan learned how to crawl, walk, eat a variety of solid foods, say about a dozen words, and proficiently feed himself.
9. Benjamin transitioned into 1st grade a little roughly, but is now doing well. He likes to read books on his own, has developed friends with several other boys in our neighborhood, knows the homework routine even if he doesn't always like it, and he even started to learn to play the piano this year.
10. Bekah found she loves Primary (even if she doesn't always get to say a prayer in class), started preschool at home, learned how to write her name and a lot of her ABCs, and is getting better at holding still while Mom does her hair.
11. I indexed 61,078 records using Family Search and am now the Family History coordinator for our ward. (This one is also going on the 2012 resolution list.)
12. I did find time to laugh, smile, and serve others and I had some good experiences doing this. I want to do more of these things in the coming years.

Why I Believe in Santa

Santa is a tough topic this time of year. Christmas is suppose to be about the birth of Christ and a lot of focus is drawn away from that and focused on a fat man who flies around and gives presents to everyone if they are nice. Not very realistic in a lot of ways and so we have adapted the myth at our house to focus more on the Savior by but we discussing and reinforcing the parallels between Santa and Christ. That is the only way I can be okay with having Santa tradition.

Parallels include:

• Santa wears red just like Christ does. Christ wearing red is symbolic of our sins being washed clean "though they be crimson."
• Christ keeps track of whether we are "naughty or nice" and loves us regardless.
• Santa brings gifts to everyone just like the Atonement is a gift for everyone.
• Santa wants us to be nice and good so we can earn "rewards." Jesus Christ showed us how to doe this and He wants us to be nice and good so we can return to live with Him one day.
• Santa is a symbol of something good and full of hope just like Christ is our best example of good and through Christ's life and death there is hope for all of us.
• Santa is suppose to know what we want or need for Christmas even if we don't have a chance to ask him for it. Christ know what we need and gives those things to us as we need them.
• We are suppose to ask Santa for gifts or things we need (depending on our circumstances) just like we pray to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to ask for things we want or need.
• Even the impossibility of going to everyone's house in one night parallels with the miracle of Christ's love being able to reach all of us no matter where we are or what are circumstances may be.

There was a time in my life when I had stopped believing in Santa and then I read a book called "Why I Believe in Santa" and discovered how Santa is truly a symbol of Christ. The media and other traditions have distorted something meant to be beautiful. I believe in Santa as a symbol of good things in the world and the possibility of wonderful things happening. We try to keep Santa gifts simple and I have even been "caught" helping Santa do the shopping so expectations of Santa are kept realistic. The focus at our house is on the Savior, but we incorporate some fun in our Christmas traditions as well. It's tough to determine how to balance everything this time of year. I am hoping my efforts and beliefs will have an impact on how my children live their lives and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Santa Pictures

Last year we waited in line for over an hour to see Santa at the mall, and they wouldn't let me take pictures because I had to buy theirs. With all the lines I have waited in so far this Holiday season, I just wasn't up for one more long wait in line trying to entertain three busy kiddos. When the place we had our family pictures done at offered personalized Santa pictures, I was delighted! The children had already talked to Santa at the Ward (Church) Christmas party, and I just wanted awesome pictures of my kiddos with Santa so I scheduled an appointment.

Today we went to our appointment and only had to wait ten minutes for our turn with Santa because we were ten minutes early. Our photographer took a couple of minutes to become familiar with our children and learn their names before posing them with Santa. Ten minutes later we were done, and he even got the baby to smile and Ryan is pretty shy around strangers. Now, I have a handful of awesome, unique pictures for the same price of one picture with the mall Santa, and I can print of as many as I want because I have the copyright for personal use.

Department of Lost Socks

Today I am working in the Department of Lost Socks a.k.a. doing laundry. Since adding another member to our family and trying to regularly clean our linens (you know, stop wondering when the last time I washed sheets or towels was) I seem to have several extra loads to do each week than I did a year or two ago, which is a good thing. The thing I find mystifying when it comes to laundry is the amount of missing socks we rotate through. I always have 3 to 5 socks that never find matches no matter how thorough I am in cleaning up dirty laundry which has not quite made it to the dirty clothes hamper. Ironically, more often than not, I do not have the same set of 3 to 5 socks without matches each week. Some day I will solve the mystery of where the lost socks are. I hope.

There's a Mouse in My House!

Dear Mouse,

I really, thoroughly enjoyed cleaning behind my kitchen appliances this morning once I discovered you. I am so glad I had the opportunity to clean up after you instead of doing my Christmas baking and running errands. I am so delighted to have you in my house I am going to buy you a large package of DICON for Christmas and give it to you early. I will even put it in all of your favorite place you marked so well for me.

Sincerely,

The Disgusted Mother of Three

God Created Wives

I stole this from my cousin, Krista, who received it in an email today.

"GOD'S SENSE OF HUMOR"

While creating wives,
... God promised men that
obedient wives would be found
in all corners of the world.
And then He made the earth round.

Benjamin's Piano Recital

I attended my first piano recital as a parent. I have gone to a lot of performances for siblings and other people's kiddos, but this was my first one as a mom. It felt a little strange and fun all at the same time. Benjamin played "Celebration" as a solo and "Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer" with his teacher Mrs. C. It was fantastic!

Elves at Our House

Tonight we delivered neighbor gifts. I had two little elves help me. They were delighted to run to the door and deliver the wrapped gifts to each of our neighbors and friends. I had Little Elf and Big Elf with me and when we came home Little Elf informed me that her little brother was Teeny Elf. I am grateful to have elves at my house tonight.

Baseboards & Trim

Something I've learned in painting the house and finishing the basement is that baseboards and trim are best painted before being installed.  Needless to say, I forgot on half of the basement so I will be taping, painting, bending, stretching, and laying on my back to make sure I get all parts of the baseboards and trim while trying not to paint the wall or the floor. Thankfully, I remembered before we finished the laundry room or closet so I can at least paint those baseboards before they are installed and save myself the acrobatics.

What's for Lunch?

I ask myself this question every night before I go to bed. You see, Benjamin takes his lunch to school and I make it each night before I go to bed. This week Benjamin has asked for strange things in his lunch. One day it was cold nuggets, another day it was a cold egg roll. He also likes cold pizza on Mondays because that is what the other kids are eating at school every Monday. So I sent what he requested and each day he was delighted to tell me how he really liked his lunch that day. Funny kid, but at least he is eating his lunch. I wonder what he will ask for next.