Week 31: 212-218

What I am grateful for or made me happy this week:

212.  Cute Kid Christmas Programs!

213.  Thankful that my son is ALIVE!

No seriously... he should at the very least have a broken bone!

I now have a climber... a very good climber.

He is 14 months old and can climb to the top of a ladder.

We have a ladder that goes up to the top bunk for the girls.  

All of a sudden one day I go in their room and he is on the top rung.

So I got rid of the ladder & the girls have to climb up the sides now.

A few days later I wasn't thinking (obviously) and left a ladder up after I finished decorating my tree. 

A 10 foot ladder.

(I was waiting for Joey to get out of the shower to help me take it down & to the garage)

I come back in the room to find my baby up 6 rungs-

Seriously HIGHER than my head!!!!

I calmly took him down (though I am FREAKING inside) 

then immediately get rid of the ladder.

I have to WATCH this kid!!!  

But amazingly he didn't fall!

(this isn't the ladder I was talking about but you can see big sister pulling

baby brother off the ladder in the bottom of this picture

214. Christmas crafts with the kids.
It was fun... but I'm not so sure about glitter... it is ALL over!

215.  Love these!
Especially Hazelnut ones.
I had to look at 3 stores before I found these.
I only allow myself to buy them once a year.

216.  Another seasonal favorite.
I love Costco's the best.
Huge, only $6.
Must be real whipped cream though!

217.  Savannah:
"Mom, we should read our scriptures everyday.
That's what Abraham Lincoln said."
What?
"I mean, President Eyring."
Love it!
I'm choosing to be more inspired than guilt-ridden that my children
have to remind us to read the scriptures everyday.

218.  Sudoku.
Just downloaded an app for it
and now I play it a lot.
I am not very good though...
any secrets out there for me?

Week 30: 205-211

Things that made me grateful or happy this week:

205. My little boy is so cute!  

He loves to get items of clothing (anything... including underwear) 

and put them on his head or neck.

206. S made her little puppy "Bugga Boy"

into a pirate!

Complete with eye patch and sword (check out his right-our left-paw)

207.  This child has refused to be spoon fed since the day I first 

tried to start feed him solids.

Here he is acting like a big boy on a regular chair, at the regular table,

with grown up plates and forks.  

208. Can't get enough of my kid's artwork.

(Though I take pictures of them so I can get rid of them...

I can get enough of storing the artwork).

 209.  Couldn't get a good picture, 

but I am so happy about my Christmas tree this year!
Got a new pre-lit tree & some new ornaments
and I feel like I finally have a "grown-up" tree
instead of the junky one with hand-me-down ornaments
that I've had our whole marriage.

210.  Despite what may seem to be my complaining above about my old ornaments...

I love my kids' homemade ones!

I will always put them on my tree and have them help me decorate!
(and they definitely helped me decorate this one-- so it's not looking too designer, but we love it!)

As we were decorating S said several times how much she loved our family time decorating!

Me too!

211.  I adore watching the LDS First Presidency Christmas Devotional

(watch or listen here)

Love the words from our Prophet and his counselors 

and I need to bring Christ more into this Christmas!!!!

Thanksgiving Post

Weeks 28 &29: 191-204
As usual, I am 2 weeks behind.  (I don't know if I'll make it to a year.)  I haven't been good at taking pictures lately, so this post will be all words.  Sorry.  But with just celebrating Thanksgiving, I really want to make sure I tell just some of the things I'm thankful for!

191.  Thankful for a nice home.

Love walking into my house after being away for 4 days.  

It is fresh to behold anew (poetic wording right?) 

192.  Thankful for a nice car.  

We just paid it off last week... feels like a huge milestone!
And I'm so grateful that we are lucky enough to own 2 cars!

193.  Love that my kids have named the cars.

Koda is mine.

Grep is Joey's.

They are named after the neighbor's dogs in our old neighborhood.

194.  Thankful for my mom!

She is so awesome and helped me all weekend on a special project 

that I will be blogging about in a few weeks :)

Can't wait!

195. Thankful for ALL the family that I got to see over the Thanksgiving weekend.

196. Thankful for my grandpa Walker who is still with us.

I think we have thought for years that he 

"wouldn't make it"

everytime he landed in the hospital (like 7 times in the last 3 years or something--I've lost track)
He is such an amazing example of desire, fortitude, and he loves life!
And we love him!

197. Thankful for Joey's sister who invited us up to her cabin.
Had Thanksgiving there
(Wednesday night--a tradition in my husbands family--which means 2 awesome dinners!  I love it!)
We slept over and it was so fun!
Her cabin is the most gorgeous, amazing cabin I've ever seen!
Thanks to her for letting us stay.
It was like being at a cozy 5-star resort!
(wish I had taken pictures of it!!!!)

198.  Thankful for my brother Jack!
Congrats to him on his recent engagement!
Looking forward to getting to know his fiance better.
I had fun going with him to pick out a ring for her though.
I love her ring!

199. THANKFUL THAT MY BABY SLEPT THRU THE NIGHT!!!!
Seriously people... the child is 13 months old and had NEVER slept thru the night.
Finally, we had a run of 5 out of 6 nights that he slept all night.
8pm-7am.
It's a freaking MIRACLE!!!
Then we went on vacation and messed it up.
Let's try to get back on track... PLEASE!

200. Thankful for friends!
Had so much fun on a girl's night out with 5 ladies on my street.
Went to my favorite restaurant--Tepanyaki.
Then to the Breaking Dawn movie.
So fun!!!!

201. Thankful that I had my first winning tennis match!!!
6-3, 6-0!
I had lost my first 2 matches, then finally won!
I'm grateful to have a healthy body and the opportunity to
use it in fun ways and learn new things.

202.  Thankful for my husband!
He works so hard for our family.
He is so fun with the kids.
He is patient with me.


203.  Thankful that I won something!!!!
My grandpa (mentioned above) is a builder/welder/designer/carpenter/you name it!
He built a "sheep wagon" camper/trailer.
He wanted to have a drawing and give it to one of his grandkids.
I think there were 14 of us and I was drawn!
(wish I had a picture of it too!)

204.  Thankful to be a mom!
I had so much fun with my kids this weekend.
I traveled alone (to and from St George) because Joey had to work.
So me in the front, 3 kids in the back.
Usually when we go on trips Joey drives and I am turned around half the trip
assisting the children with all their needs and wants.
So I wasn't sure how I'd do that while driving!
But they were so good!!!
S is getting so big and helped me so much!
N was cooperative and patient.
W slept a lot and was entertained by his sisters the rest of the time.
It was quite pleasant and I just love my kids!!!

Weeks 26 & 27: 177-190

177. My cousin Todd found this picture in his stuff and sent it to me.

Gave me such a smile.  

Me, Todd, Russ, and baby Emily in the background in a playpen I think. 

 178.  Been enjoying this good BBC drama!

It has Lydia from my favorite BBC Pride and Prejudice as one of the main heroines.

Don't know why I can't get enough of my old fashioned British entertainment. 

179.  My cute Halloween kids. 

We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with the neighbors. 

So grateful for such a great neighborhood and neighbors!!!

180. Cutest Lion ever...

 .... except for maybe this one!
(this is Nomi 4 years ago;)

181. Making homemade applesauce with my kids!

 it has become a little tradition... this is our 3rd year!

 S declares it her favorite food!

She is my best helper... she does nearly all the turning of the "saucer" 

(i don't know what you call it?)

183.  For a Sabbath day activity I encouraged the girls to draw "churchy" pictures.

Here is my favorite by miss S.  :)

184.  Trying to be healthy and been making "green drinks"

(mostly spinach with half a banana, little yogurt, and orange)

Baby W loves it!!!

Check out the green healthy smile! ;)

185.  Cracked 4 eggs.... got 5 yolks!

Love getting double yolks!!!  Twins!!!

Joey thinks I'm weird because I squeal with excitement,

 have to bring everyone in to see it, 

and take a picture!

Hope someone else thinks it's as exciting as I do.

186. Found this picture on another blog.

Love this picture!

So thankful for the wonderful President Uchtdorf who is such an inspiration!  

187.  My "first born in the wilderness" (this is what my dad always called me:)

had a birthday.

She got a little haircut for her birthday which she wanted even shorter 

(mom and dad weren't ready to chop those curls though)

All the pictures from her party are on dad's phone and I haven't transferred them yet.

But we had fun going bowling with a few friends!

188.  Grateful I got to go to this girl's school class to volunteer for the first time.

Little 1st graders are so cute!

189.  Have I mentioned we finally upgraded to one of these pretty little babies?

Have to say I love it!

I'm seriously amazed by the technology

 (and how I've been living without it all these years ;)

190.  Grateful for my sweet baby brother who just left to go on his mission to Salta Argentina.

Well, he actually just went to MTC (mission training center) still here in Utah.

But I'm so proud of this good kid and his choice to serve a mission for 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Weeks 24 & 25: 163-176

I have been 2 weeks behind for a month now.  Let's see if I can get caught up!
What made me happy or grateful these past 2 weeks:

163.  My hubby got out his old surfboard from our Hawaii days and let the kids play on it.

They loved it!!!

(p.s. I'm not sure what the gold-coin-in-the-eye-thing is ;)

 164. I bought my little girls new toothbrushes.  

They have suction cups on the bottom of them to stand up on counter.

My kids thought these were the greatest toys & played with them for hours.

I love when they are so easy to please & entertain.

 165. Our brother-in-law gave us this old motorcycle-thing

(I say thing because it's not a "real" motorcyle--

my hubby says it's a cross between a motorcycle & a lawnmower ;)

I hate it but the kids have had fun riding with dad on it.

(p.s. it is for sale... cheap!  I want it out of the garage :)

 166.  Carving pumpkins the week before Halloween.

167. My cute niece got married.  

We had a lovely family dinner the night before at the Lion House.

168.  She got married in the Salt Lake City temple the next day.

I'm so happy for her to have found a great guy & get married in the temple. 

I'm grateful to be married to my sweet husband for time & all eternity in the temple also.

169.  Our fun neighborhood had it's annual Halloween party.

Complete with hayride & pumpkin picking.

(this picture is from last year... I forgot my camera this year)

 170.  We grew pumpkins this year in our garden.
6 total.
They are really small and super cute.

 171.  My mom helped me make these chore charts for the kids a few weeks ago.
They work pretty well.
I put the jobs in the bottom row for them to do,
when they complete them they put them in the top row pockets.
The little cards have pictures on them so they know what the job is.
So far I have pretty good compliance with this system, especially from the 4 year old :)

 172.  Sometimes it doesn't take much to make me happy.
I got this new pretty pink paring knife & I am just looking for food to dice!

173.  I have been wanting covers for my cookie sheets since I learned that they existed!
Finally got some!  Love them!
Used them this past weekend to take pumpkin bars to a party.

174.  We got a big box of Honey Crisp apples from a local farm.
These are the best apples in the WORLD!
And look how huge!  Almost as big as baby boy's head ;)


175.  Thankful for a gorgeous fall that hasn't been relatively warm
(though it has changed this last week)

176. Sadly learned how thankful I am for a cell phone, since mine has been busted for about 10 days.
It has been hard to live without one!
New one coming in the mail soon.

Week 23: 156-162

 156.  Doesn't this just make you cringe!?  Yuck!

The kids got to hold a tarantula at school.

S said it had been "one of her dreams" to hold one and it came true!

Sounds more like a nightmare to me, but glad she was happy :)

157.  Rise & Shout!

Isn't he beyond adorable in that football jersey??

 158. Happy 32nd Anniversary to my parents!

Grateful for their example to me.

159.  Had my first 2.5 league tennis match this week.

I lost but played better than I thought I would.

7-5, 7-5 (and I was up 5-4 both times).

So I only have room for improvement :)

Plus it was really fun & a great workout!

160.  Had fun at my cousin Kara's wedding. 

Loved seeing so many relatives & dancing with my kids.

161. My kids are on YouTube!  Click here to watch it.

It is a video by Jenny Phillips, the LDS music artist.  

It is pretty entertaining :)

My 2 nieces are in a video here .  

It is even more entertaining.

162. So glad my favorite show is back on the air!!!

Week 22: 149-155

149. Me & Joey got a date night to the BYU game.

It was a little cold but so fun!

I haven't been to a game for 2 or 3 years so it was awesome...plus they won!

 150.  What is not to love here?

 151.  Love my little girl's creations.

This is N's.  She love "multi-color"

152. Watched this latest version of Emma. 

Loved it. 

If you are a Jane Austen fan then you must check this out!

153.  After a really cold week, I was happy for nice weather again.

154. Student of the Week:

for using time wisely.

I'm so proud. :)

(the irony though, is that she is horrible with time in the morning 

& I'm always yelling at her to hurry and get this or that done so she can get ready on time.  

How can I get this to translate from school to home?)

155.  Went to baby boy's 1 year doctor appt.

He is healthy & normal as can be, 

though he is in the 3rd percentile for weight!

(that means if you lined up 100 babies his age, he would be the 3rd smallest).

It's not a big deal... he just gets to eat whatever he wants and as much as he wants

(don't I wish that doctor's order was for me!)