Tag

I was tagged by Shana.
I was suppose to show my 4th picture in my 4th folder and here it is:

It's from October 2008 and look at that mop of hair!
I tag Heidi, Tiffany, Amber, and Adri...and anyone else who wants to. It was kinda fun!

Revisiting Christmas via Jingle Bells

So Elliot learned Jingle Bells I think at preschool and was singing it the other day and hasn't really stopped since. The funny thing is her take on the lyrics:

She gave us a lesson on the words when I tried to teach her the real words. This is the way she says it is suppose to go:

"Jingle bells, jingle all the way. Odis hide, dester ride, open slade." Boy, she makes us laugh!

CHRISTMAS!!!

WARNING!!! THIS MAY BE A VERY LONG POST AS IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG TIME SINCE THE LAST POST!

What a wild week and a half or so it has been. I can't believe that it is all over and done with! I have to back up a little bit and mention Elliot's Christmas program at preschool. They were lucky to have a program at all given the snow and cold weather we have had, but Grant County seems to luck out in the snow department and I have yet to see a snow day yet here. Unfortunately, I had to work, but Justin (bless his heart) went over to see her program and took some pictures for me. Like the Thanksgiving program not much singing from the kids and Elliot spent the entire time with her hands in her eyes so much that she had a wound between her right eye and nose afterwards. In the pictures though you will notice that one girl is on the floor, many are looking all around and one is crying. So maybe Elliot wasn't the worst.

We spent Christmas this year at my parents' house in Arlington (40 miles north of Seattle) and it was a real treat because all my brothers were home and we don't know when that will be happening again. It was so much fun to have us all together. Justin loved the chance to have someone to play video games with and this was a common site. One, two or more in front of the video game, some times a baby around, and treats usually not far.

This is a picture of all my brothers (and Justin of course):

From the left is Justin, Michael (a junior at Western studing business), Mark (a senior at BYU studing mechanical engineering), Aaron (a freshman at BYU and getting ready for a mission this spring/summer), and David holding Elliot (works at Hartford of Conneticut in NYC as an actuary).

Christmas morning was exciting with all the presents and everything, especially for Elliot. She got her swim baby that she despretely wanted and it is pretty cool. It really does swim!

But this was where we found Elliot for the next few days, literally...at the kitchen table playing with her barbies and a polly pocket.

Grey, of course, liked the paper more than anything. As a Christmas gift to me though, he started sitting up a couple weeks ago. He loves being able to sit and play with toys and I love having him content for a little while.

My little man, ready for church!

I was lucky enough to get a Cricut from my mom and Justin gave me some tools and cartridges to go with it. I am so excited to get working on some scrapbooking. I feel behind as Grey is almost 6 months and I have nothing to show for it. I know that isn't as bad as it could be, but I need to keep up or else it feels to overwhelming. Besides some spending money, I got some running stuff to help me with my marathon, a magazine subscription and plenty more. Justin got some great gifts as well and we feel so blessed. I was excited about the things that we were giving this year as well. I made a lot of my presents and I really felt like it meant more. A lot of thought was put into them. I made this star for my mom and mother-in-law (and I have to give a shout out to my friends Shana and Kreanna for the idea- check out their blogs...they have cute stuff!):

I've also been working on knitting hats. My friend Leslie (check out her blog too, Miss Crafty, I tell you!) told me that you can learn on youtube how to knit. And sure enough I was able to learn how to make a simple hat. So I started with my kids and then made one for each of my neices and nephews (8 all together). It's been fun to learn and really not as hard as it seems.

These are my nephew, Brooks, and neice, Faith, and their mom, Annie.

Before I go any further I have to mention the snow that was on the west side of the mountains. It is always a pain when it snows over there because no one is used to driving in it and they don't have the equipment to take care of it in a timely fashion. We made it over the pass in no time but as soon as we got off the freeway it was a nightmare. At major intersections it was like we were off roading. I was so grateful for the four wheel drive. Everyone was stuck everywhere. I didn't want to drive anywhere. Snow plows were not seen very often, but I praised them when I saw them. It was awful. Bless Justin for all the extra driving he did simply because of the bad weather.

On December 30th, my cousin Lauren got married and Elliot was the flower girl. I held my breath, not knowing if she was actually going to do it, but thanks to Grandma Dolma helping with a nap that afternoon and my cousin Brookie for helping hold her hand down the aisle, she made it. The ceremony was beautiful and I wish Lauren all the happiness in the world.

Finally on New Years Day, we made the snowy drive to Spokane to see Justin's family. It took an extra hour to get there, but worth it to see our family. We only stayed one night, dug our car out again and drove home. Again, thank goodness for 4-wheel drive.

Grandma Jana and my nephew, Kolby:

My nephew, Ryan:

Grandma and Granpa got Elliot a leapster and I am not sure who is more excited about it- Elliot or me!

Grey got his own rocking chair to match his sister's:

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday too. I am actually looking forward to getting back to normal life. I spent most of the day today clean up and putting away and it felt pretty good. I think majority of this week will be doing more of the same.

Santa

Now that I am a parent of a preschooler, I am realizing how strange Santa really is. Why is it that we teach our kids that this strange, jolly man brings gifts for no apparent reason other than you've been good all year (which is a real stretch, isn't it?)? Believe me, I am not going to stop doing Santa at our house, but it has just got me thinking this year. Then we load the kids up and take them to see Santa. Oh, won't this be a gloriously fun event. Elliot will be so cute and tell Santa she wants a swim baby and a ballerina doll just like we have practiced. And Grey will be so handsome and a little angel. Both will smile at the camera and we will all rejoice. This what we actually got:
My lovely daughter would not put her hand down and smile and Grey was just "Sweet, I've got something to put in my mouth. All is good with the world." Elliot barely squeaked out her requests and I had to interpret them after the fact. This got more thinking going...why do we make our children sit on some strange guys lap that is pretending to be Santa? It's a little weird when you think about it. Our past Santa experiences have been interesting too. Last year there is no picture because Elliot refused to do it. The year before when she was about a year and a half, we had Elliot all in a dress looking cute (because that was what I was going to do every year...note what my kids were wearing in this year's picture...the tradition didn't last). And this is the picture we got:


Still Elliot's first picture with Santa is my favorite. We met my mom in Tacoma and they had the best looking Santa ever and Elliot was so pleasant that afternoon. Plus she is just my little butterball in this picture. I love it!
I hope everyone had a good Santa experience, even if it is only good for a laugh!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday and I wanted to give a shout out to her. Justin and Elliot made a cake with candles and all. For some reason, he let her pick out the flavor so we ended up with strawberry cake with rainbow chip frosting. Not my favorite...or my mom's for that matter, but I think it was an excuse to enjoy a cake this afternoon. So thanks for having a birthday, Mom, so we could celebrate over here.

I am thankful so much for my mom and all she does for me. She is my best friend and a terrific grandma. I love her so much and am excited to see her and the rest of my family for Christmas.

Christmas Questions

So my good friend Heidi tagged me with these Christmas questions. I'm usually game for a good questionnaire so here is my stab at it. I'd love to see them on anyone else's blog!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. Bags are way easier, but wrapping is still fun to do and to tear into on the big day.


2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. I grew up with a fake one and we did the real thing the first few years of marriage, but when you can get a decent artificial one for the price of a fake one with a LOT less work, I will sacrifice the ambiance and smell of a real one for a plastic one.


3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime early December. I am actually getting a little anxious this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? A couple days after Christmas. This year probably after the new year because we are out of town so long.


5. Do you like eggnog? Not really, but Justin and my brother drink it and sometimes add sprite. A little weird I know.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I remember a Barbie house that was pretty cool. Then I would coerce my brother into playing with me in exchange for playing He-man with him.


7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, several of them. Love them.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad and dad-in-law, hands down.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Elliot

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Usually mail. Debating this year on doing them at all. May send out a happy spring card later instead.


11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. (Although Christmas Vacation is a close second)


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Depends, but this year I actually got started early....like before Halloween.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so, but I wouldn't put it past me.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fudge!


16. Clear lights or colored on the tree ? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? O, Holy Night, The First Noel and Where are you Christmas sung by Faith Hill.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Always stayed home as a kid, but now travel to parents

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I think so...Dasher, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Prancer, Vixen, and Rudolph. Yeah!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star that lights up.


21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning although we could usually convince whomever to let us open one Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Everything is so busy. I am learning to do more online shopping. And snowy roads.


23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Nope, just all that we have.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Always order pizza for Christmas Eve. Crazy I know, but it's always the tradition and no one wants it any other way.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? No real wishes. Just excited to be with all my brothers for a few days.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great thanksgiving at Justin's parents house in Spokane this last weekend. It was great to get the cousins together again to play. No limbs were lost or too many tears shed, so all in all it was a successful gathering. Much thanks to Grandma Jana and Grandpa Snook for the great food and the new toy we all got to play with.

All the older cousins just love baby Grey and he loves the attention.

Then there was the Wii. Justin and Kyle conned Grandma and Grandpa into buying one on Thanksgiving so we could all play it that afternoon. Boy, did we have fun playing too. It was great because even the little kids could have fun doing it. They especially liked the boxing and the tennis. The adults enjoyed the bowling, especially watching Justin with his fancy leg kick out bowling technique. The kids play room turned into Wii central...and soon was more adults than kids. What a hoot!

Grey got to have his first taste of "real" food on Thanksgiving too. We tried a little rice cereal mixed with pear juice. He seemed a little confused by the whole scenario, but I think he will take to eating pretty well. He just has to figure out what to do with it once the food is in his mouth. Of course, Elliot wanted to help in the process, too, bless her heart.

Earlier in the week, Elliot had a little Thanksgiving program at preschool. Usually I am a very prepared mother, I think, but something went awry this morning and I got to the school without my camera. I was just sick. All the kids looked so cute in their little pilgrim hats and bonnets. They had about 5 songs to sing and really none of them sang. Miss Cheryl gave a great solo though for the parents! They were all a little shy and uneasy with all the parents there. We had cookies and juice afterwards and Elliot showed me her thanksgiving projects. As soon as we got home I made Elliot put her hat back on and hold up her projects so I could at least get that picture.



Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday. Now it is time to gear up for Christmas! I am actually well on my way to being done with shopping this year. I can't believe it! Maybe 2 kids and working is making me be a little more on the ball than usual!