December 31 2007!

Wow-the holidays have about come and gone! I don't quite feel like I have actually caught up to them yet!

We had a nice Christmas. Santa found our house. The kiddies were all so happy and excited! We have been skiing a few times, eaten too much of everything and now have tons of messes to clean up.

Here are a couple of shots from our big day. I really didn't take too many shots-I am either taking hundreds or none!

Happy New Year!

Visions of SugarPlums!

Everyone is settled in. Hopefully with sugarplums dancing in their heads!

Merry Christmas!

If Only In My Dreams!

I'm missing home.

I have been married for 17 1/2 years. I have been a mother for almost 15. I still want to be home for Christmas.

My life!

Remember my post about my Christmas cards?



I mailed the letters--not knowing that they were too heavy! The lady at the post office called me about it. She said that they would mail them, I needed to bring a check in or put it out for our mail lady! Only in a small town would they actually call you when there is a problem. If I had been in a city they would have either been returned to sender or they would have had postage due on them for all my friends!

Jigle Bells

This tickled me. Little Miss E spent quite awhile writing down the words to the song Jingle Bells. She has been singing it at school.

She is at the very funnest age for Christmas! It is all magical! The songs, the snow, the wrapping paper, the cards and of course a present or two! She is also such a good little reader now that she is devouring all of our Christmas books.

What are you enjoying?

Where does it all come from?

It is late. I am doing laundry!

I try, I really do.

No Power

What to do when the electricity goes out?

Take pictures of the kiddos by the candles!

I didn't get the tripod out so they are a bit blurry but fun non the less!

I laugh at Little Miss #3. She was quite the poser!

We have had quite a snow storm so an electrical line was down. We were without power for about four hours. Nothing to complain about after the poor people in the East last week!

Santa Claus came to visit!

This is as close to Santa as my 3 year old boy got! He was starting to get croup so he wasn't interested! Poor little thing. He ended up being terribly ill that night.

The 7 year old was very happy to sit on the Big Guy's lap!

It was fun having Santa come to our ward(LDS church) party. We haven't had Santa for years. Trying to keep the focus on the Savior. This year it was decided to have a nativity--darling and then after the party have Santa. I enjoyed watching all the little children, they were all so excited.

I BELIEVE!

One more thing!

Do you ever wonder "WHY" you do certain things?

I certainly do! Take Christmas cards. I really enjoy receiving Christmas cards so I have almost always sent them. I enjoy writing a note to old friends and hoping that they will send a picture of their family.

I like to think that I am an artistic/crafty person. The problem with this is that I have 4 children, 1 husband who happens to have a job and is a Bishop, 1 dog, 1 big house, 4 toilets, 4 bedrooms, 1 office, 1 art studio(junk room!) a kitchen, 2 family rooms and a partridge in a pear tree!

I don't have time to be artistic and crafty! So, what do I do to myself? I think that it would be so much simpler to purchase a "kit" for my cards this year. They are pre-designed. All I have to do is put them together and they will look creative. However, I decide that I have to "alter" them a little bit. This process took forever. Doing it while helping eight maids a milking! So, I finally got the cards assembled, wrote a letter to go inside, put a picture inside, personal note to each and then had to use scotch tape to seal them up!(go figure) THEN--I go to the post office and they are too heavy for regular postage!

Oh, well! They are finished, darling and sent!!

More

It just keeps coming fast and furious!

Sunday: Take #4 back to Dr. with fever, sore throat, cough. He has strep throat. Just in time for the other 3 to have it by Christmas!

What will Monday bring?

Where Did This Week Go?

I'm exhausted!

Monday: Boot Camp at gym, pharmacy, 8 loads of laundry, 6 Christmas books read to #4, Family Home Evening in Salt Lake to see the lights. (one hour both ways)

Tuesday: 8 more loads of laundry, work on Christmas cards, Church Christmas party-made mint frosting brownies, recommend renewed.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning: Up with #4 sitting by the outside door breathing in cold air--most of night.

Wednesday: Miss boot camp at gym, go to Dr. with #4, he get's a nebulizer treatment and a shot for croup-102*fever, come home and sleep for two hours(#4 slept for four hours).

Thursday: leave for Logan at 7:15 am to drop #4 at best friends house(1 hour 15 min. one way)
Leave home at 11:00 headed for Boise(five hours). Take clients to Christmas dinner. Spend night.

Friday: Leave Boise, take a three hour nap on drive home!!! Talk with family, go to Ogden to meet friends for dinner. Best friend brings #4 back, Grandma eats dinner with us and takes #3 & #4 to her house while we go with three other couples to a Christmas concert.

Saturday: Leave home at 8:30 am headed to the Bountiful Temple with a great young man getting ready for his LDS mission. Get home at 2:30 p.m. Leave our house at 4:00 p.m. for a Martin's Cove planning meeting and then a Dicken's festival/dinner at a local school. Arrive home at 10:00 p.m. Empty dishwasher, take out garbage, load dishwasher, clean pans(eewh!) Clean off counter. Turn off all lights.

I AM TIRED!

Only in the Country!

You know that you live in the country when you look out your window and see a herd of cattle eating your dead weeds!

Yes, this was my backyard this morning. Seven cows clomping through my yard. The funny thing? This same herd came through two weeks ago. Hopefully, they are now properly contained, away from my back yard.

The End of an Era

My friend Lara at The Lazy Organizer has a little thing she does on Tuesday's. She (or anyone that links to her) tells about something interesting(at least to them).

My little guy is three years old. He has been an absolute joy. A few weeks ago I decided that he was way past ready to be out of the crib. My other children were out of the crib much earlier because they were climbing out. This little guy NEVER climbed out. Well, we did it. We put the big boy bed in the room and then it took a few weeks before the crib was removed. However, not one more night was spent in that crib! I thought he might have a bit of hesitation. NONE!

So, I have been thinking about this. This is the last time this crib will be used for my babies. It has been part of our lives for almost fifteen years. My Inlaws purchased it for us with the first baby. It has been a wonderful crib. We have used it in four different locations. Four different babies. Off and on for the past fifteen years it has been part of our decor. Taking it apart this time signified the end of an era. No more floppy newborns, no more 2am feedings. No more stretching the sheet over the mattress(they are the hardest things to get on). No more little ones yelling, "Mama, I wake". This crib has been a symbol of the sweetest, yummiest little babies that have been sent from heaven to this family. Babies are the closest thing to heaven on this earth.

I will be missing those babies.

A Blessing

Do You Recognize YOUR Blessings?

Yesterday, as I was shopping, I was buckling up my three year old into his carseat. A woman came up to me and said "Excuse me" As I turned to look at her (always nervous when people approach me from behind) I recognized her. She said "I have lost my bus fare and I can't get to work. Could you spare some change so I can catch the bus?"

In September we were early to an eatery for a birthday party. We were waiting in the car for a few minutes. A knock came to the car window--"I have lost my bus fare and I can't get to work. Could you spare some change so I can catch the bus?" We found $1.50 and gave it to her, not knowing if she was telling the truth but hoping that it would help her somehow.

When I recognized this woman(at the other end of a very large city) I was a bit surprised. I asked her where she lived, which caught her off guard. I said that I had given her bus fare on 12th street. She very quickly said "thank you" and took off across the parking lot.

As I was driving home I called my husband. My first intentions were not really that nice. However, as I was telling him the situation that had just happened, I had the strongest feelings of gratitude come over me. I felt so grateful that I didn't have to go up to strangers and ask them for spare change. I didn't have to make up stories to be able to get money. I have no idea what this woman does with the money that she gathers. I hope that it isn't for drugs or booze. What hit me the most is how blessed I am to be able to go into a nice dress store and shop for a dress that I WANT not NEED. I have a nice vehicle, a beautiful home, a full fridge and many, many more things that are lovely. I also have the knowledge that I am a Daughter of God and He loves me.

I AM TRULY BLESSED.

Where Are the Pretty Dresses?

Any of you been dress shopping lately? Well, my sweet Hubby is taking me to a dance tonight so he suggested I get a new dress. When the hubby says "go shopping" I listen. Therein lies the problem.

I am a 39 year old mother of four. I am rather short, am blessed(or cursed) to have womanly hips. I will not wear sleeveless, low, revealing, or short clothing.

It is the Christmas season, I assumed that there would be many beautiful festive dresses to choose from.

I WAS WRONG!

I didn't find even one dress that I would even try on---not true, I did try on ONE( not a pretty sight). All other dresses were either for people that dress more bare than I do or are much more MATURE in their dressing. Where are the pretty dresses? Where are the Burgundy, Red and Green pretty dresses for the holidays? If you wear sleeves does that mean that you have to wear a blazer with absolutely NO SHAPE?

I finally found a blouse(do people still use this word?) and a cute black skirt.

I have actually seen little girl dresses for the Holidays that were beautiful. Make a few adjustments and they would be darling---where are they if you are past a 6X?

This is the reason that my closet is not full of the newest fashions. I can't find what I like or it doesn't fit my hips!!

Blessings

What are you grateful for?

Do you ever take the time to write those blessings down on paper? Do you ever write about when the Spirit touches your heart? Do you write down how the Lord has blessed you?

President Eyring(LDS church leader) recently gave a wonderful talk in General Conference where he talked about how he had written blessings, spiritual experiences, etc. down in a tablet for years. He did this for his family. He wanted them to know how he felt about the experiences. He did this so that they too, could learn to recognize the Spirit in their lives and be aware of their many blessings.

In our Relief Society (ladies church meeting) lesson this past Sunday my good friend gave the lesson about this very topic.

Well, I decided to make some little blessing books! I was having my friends over for lunch and I thought it would be fun to give them each a little book. I think that they turned out cute. I am new to this "altering" thing. I used those composition books and then adhered scrapbook paper to them. I stamped some words on them and then got very brave and actually used some paint to make them look---well, altered! I like how they turned out!

It was fun to let my friends pick one. I hope that they will take the opportunity to actually write down some experiences and blessings.

I actually wrote in my own!!!

(Mom, will you start doing this too?)

These Are Making Me Happy

These are making me happy right now!

Last year my sweet Mom bought me some Christmas bowls. I loved them so much that I bought a few more-in case we had a soup party, we would need enough for more people. Well, I went back to TaiPan trading and they had the same set of dishes available this year. However, they had a much larger variety. So, I decided that I was going to buy myself some dishes! I went a little crazy(ok, a lot). I bought a set of both prints. I already had both patterns in the cups. I also bought enough(8) so that if I set my beautiful new table that I would have enough to set all eight place settings.

Well, today I had my soup party! I invited gals from the neighborhood over for a little Christmas lunch. I had out all my pretty dishes and it was so fun. I really enjoyed having those pretty dishes to hold our yummy food. The best part was the company! I really do enjoy all these gals and it seems that we just don't have much opportunity to visit. I would like to try and have one of these little get togethers more often, perhaps once a month or so.

What is making you happy this Christmas Season?

Monday

I said to my three year old, "I am so glad that we got you" "Where did you come from?"

He say's "from the zoo."

December-already?

I am still alive! It has been a crazy week. We had Family Home Evening on Monday, dance practice on Tuesday, Festival of Trees(girls dance groups) on Wednesday, Skating activity on Thursday, Temple Activity on Friday, Neighborhood Party (our House) on Saturday. All of these activities are in addition to all normally scheduled activities-including laundry, dishes, decorating the house and Christmas shopping.

To say the least it was a very, very busy week.

I do have to say--I am so close to being finished with any shopping. With four children it gets a little nuts. I am not a HUGE shopper(my husband would disagree-but he doesn't know what other families do). I have eliminated most gift giving between family and friends. However, it is still a bit of a stretch to just think of the things that you want to have in your home. I worry and worry about the things that I buy for my children. Will they play with it, will it be a flop, will it sit on the floor. Will it help them learn something? I over-analyze every little aspect. I wear myself out worrying about it. Hopefully, this year I have eliminated some of these concerns.

I hope that I will have a moment to blog some pictures. I have some great ones!

Wait!

I am drowning in a sea of laundry. I am experiencing a VERY busy week. I will try and post ---I have some pictures and thoughts about Thanksgiving that I would like to share--before Christmas.

Hold tight, I will return!

One bit of advice---If you see something at Costco that you want do not think that you will come back the next day and pick it up. If you do this it will not be there.

Today

*Tired
*Had a nice Thanksgiving
*crabby-became "Cruella" with my kids today
*tons of laundry
*going to bed early

Watch Out!

This was a much meaner "bug" than originally thought! It has also affected my Mother in Law, Sister in Law and her four children! That is one strong little germ!

We're Alive!

We all survived the icky, icky bug that attacked all six members of this family!

Now to repair the damage to my house that happened when everyone is laying around almost comatose-except the 3 year old!

Ewwh!

I have been a Mother for almost fifteen years. In all that time I have never gotten used to hearing "MOM, MOM" in the middle of the night followed by that horrible sound of someones guts wrenching loose. Last night I had three children and myself who were all spending time around the porcelain throne. Luckily, all of us mostly made it to the toilet. It is just the rudest thing to be heaving yourself and have to clean up the carpet.

The little guy started this Saturday morning---allover my breakfast at a restaurant. My #3 started at Grandma's(ick, she didn't make it-grateful for carpet cleaners). #1 and #2 started somewhere around 3:00 am.

This is where I want to yell out "Mom, Mom"

Explosion

I am walking around my beautiful home thinking to myself "wow, this is a really big mess."

Does anyone else's home just seem to explode on occasion? Mine does it much too often. So, I am going to try not to stress out and just think--

Baby Steps. Wish me luck.

I'm keeping it!

I have been MIA! It seems that I have been extra busy this week.

I have had an exciting week. I finally found and purchased a new dining table. I have been looking at tables for the past 3-4 years. Yes, I realize that most people make a decision faster than this. I am still working on my procrastination problem. Back to the table--I love it! It was delivered on Tuesday. I waited for the delivery with great trepidation. I am well known for my ability to love something at the showroom and then once it is brought into my house I hate it. I have sent not one but two SETS of living room furniture back. So, my sweet hubby would not even look with me. He told me to do it by myself! When I told him I found the table he told me he wouldn't hold his breath! I asked him to take the old table apart so there was more room. He told me "I better wait to make sure I was going to keep the table because WHEN I sent it back we wouldn't have anywhere to sit to eat dinner!"

Well, the table IS Not going back! I Love IT! It is a huge change from our tiny little table. We did not all fit around this table. Yes we could put six plates but that was it! There was not enough room to put the food! It was also a really light table. Pale pine on top with white legs.

My new table is HUGE! It can seat EIGHT! I bought eight chairs because there are already six of us. If we have anyone over to eat there would need to be more chairs.

Here is a picture of my new table!

Sweetness

As my little guy looked out the window this COLD morning he noticed the frost covered grass.

"Look, Mommy, there are stars on the grass."

Progress?

This is the mess that I have been looking at for much too long. Today I just couldn't stand it any longer!

Why does it seem that to clean up a mess we have to create an even bigger mess first? Is this part of the sickness of chaos? Do truly organized people never have enough mess to really make a mess in the first place?

As I have previously written, I started cleaning my bedroom--deep down, organize, dejunk, garbage, Deseret Industries(DI-like Good Will) all the unused and unloved items. Well, today after the kids and I went to dinner, I told them they had to go and spend 1/2 hour in their bedrooms. Well, Little Missy has a terrible time focusing. She is only 7 so I hope that she will improve. I ended up having to stay right next to her to get anything done. Well, it ended up becoming much more involved than I had originally planned.

This is a shared bedroom with her 3 year old little brother. Well, little brother is almost ready to move out of the crib and into a big boy bed! I decided that I might as well start the process along.

I had everything all torn apart(mostly vacuumed) when I realized that the little man was falling asleep sitting at the counter. So---that ended working in that bedroom for tonight. Hopefully, I will be able to put things back together tomorrow!

Check out the mess I made cleaning the mess!

Tina has a Blog!

I have added a new link on my sidebar. My sweet friend Tina has a new blog. She is showcasing her photography along with her family. She is the talented photographer who took our family picture. She is also the friend that I went to Germany with. Go and check out her blog. If you live in the Northern Utah area she is fabulous! Check out Tina Pierson Photograhpy! She is the best!

My Confession

Hello, my name is Rosie and I am a procrastinator. I have plans that never happen. I buy cute things to hang on my walls and they never get hung. I buy hooks and they sit in a box. I am in therapy for this disorder.

Today I made a huge step in my recovery. I actually got out power tools and hung up two hooks that I purchased many, many months ago. I got them cheap at Target. Cheap doesn't matter if they just sit on a shelf! Today-- I put two hooks up in my side of our closet. I have lived in this home for six years. I have needed hooks to hang my robe up for six years. Today---I DID IT!!!

(Now I have to remember to put all the power tools away!)

Baby Steps!

I am trying to focus on making little improvements in my life. Little "baby steps" that will develop into a much more organized life! (Grandious ideas, but trying just the same!)

My family looks at some of the pictures I take and all they can say is "why?" Case in point. My closet has been a mess. It is a constant battle to keep it fairly decent. My sweet hubby is more orderly in his side of the closet. The mess is all mine! Well, the other day I started sucking up bugs in my bathroom. This led to me deciding to really start to clean my bedroom. Unfortunately, my bedroom often becomes the graveyard for things that I just don't know what to do with. Usually the best thing to do with whatever "it" is would be the garbage!

So, I have been working for three days. Ok, ok, I have been working in shifts, here and there for three days! I am making progress!Here is the proof!

Some Days!

Some days go better than others.

Tuesday afternoon I had to pick up the dog from the groomers. So, the kids wanted to go to the gym. No big deal. The little guy and I will just play at the new park right next to the gym.

When we arrived there were no other people at the park so I let the dog run around. Well, after awhile some other people came. This little girl really liked our dog. So, I didn't worry. Then another man and a boy came, well, it was very obvious that he didn't like the dog running around without a leash. (Which I understand-dogs can be very scary) So, I went and put her into the car. It was cool so it wasn't a problem. Well, I called the kids to come so we could go home. We went to go and get into the car and THE DOG HAD LOCKED THE DOORS! I was the only person at the park when I got there. I left my keys in the car(dumb-I know). The dog stepped on the door lock button and locked the doors! Great! Lucky for me, I have a cell phone-that was in my pocket(it was almost dying-I had to talk fast) and my sweet hubby hadn't left our house yet for his meetings. We waited and froze while he brought us the extra keys.

Moral to this story? Don't leave your keys in the car, especially with a do inside! (a hidden key would be a good idea also!

Bugs, Bugs and more bugs!

Ewwh!

I hate box elder bugs! They are nasty, dirty little creatures that have been invading my house for weeks and weeks. I am so sick of their dirty little slimy spots all over my windows. I had to vacuum my bathtub today because there were so many. It was only a few days ago that I sent about a thousand down the drain.

While sucking up bugs with the vacuum I pulled my very large wooden blinds up- to be almost suffocated by dust. I guess that you know it is past time to dust the blinds when this happens. So, that is the fun we are having around here today!! Bugs and dust!

Fall Joy's

One of the inevitable realities of fall is leaves. Where we live there are LOTS of leaves. We don't have so many in our own yard but out Grandparents have millions in theirs and we live on a connected lot.

So, today was leaf cleanup day! The kids always complain and complain and then once they see the HUGE pile they are all smiles.

When I was at college in Hawaii I remember calling my Mom and complaining about there not being any fall leaves.(Imagine that?-what was I thinking--warm is always good) Well, my sweet Mom boxed up a care package with goodies from home and included a baggie full of leaves! I loved them! I carried them around and shared the smell with all my Polynesian friends and then kept that baggie pinned to my bulletin board. I still smile when I think of my Mom sending me leaves. It is one of my favorite little memories.

Go make some leaf memories today!

Halloween 2007

Happy Halloween!

It was a busy night! The middle kids were so excited to go "treating" with the neighbors that we didn't get many pictures taken! My good friend has her four-wheeler with a trailer hooked up behind it. The kids can sit on the trailer between stops. We live in the country so sometimes the distance is a bit. These kids had a ball. I think that it was one of the funnest years that they have had. The little guy went to Grandma's house and was happy to have a treat in his bucket. He then proceeded to take his costume off. So, for me it was a calmer night than we have had on Halloween in years!

This is not my "little lamb" but isn't she just the sweetest thing? I took more pictures of her than my middle children--they were too busy!

Disneyland Fun!

We had so much fun on our trip to Disneyland! Here are a few pictures from all the fun.

(I have no idea why some pictures are sideways!)

"Let's go"

"Let's go see Mickey Mouse!" The big kids say to the little guy. He goes into his bedroom, pulls out his suitcase, packs it and brings it out---"I'm ready!"


Now if only his Momma can get a family of six ready to go buy morning!

It's over

Well, it's over. Football ended in a dramatic loss. It was a very difficult game and the boys did so well. It was so hard to watch all these boys after the game ended. It was all I could do to not break out bawling-I believe that most of them did. This team has played so hard. Our teams are not stacked. Any kid that wants to play plays. The team we lost to is not like that. They come from a very large area. They have an A B C team. They put their very best players on team A. Well, we came to the game and played hard.

So---now what are you going to do? We're going to Disneyland! We had looked at dates and tried to decide when would be a good time(if that is possible). We decided that fall break(first time ever) would be perfect. Then we discovered that it was the same weekend as the football mini-bowl. We decided to not mention it to the kids--that way if they made it to the bowl the other kids couldn't hold it over #2's head. So, we are going!!! It works out well for hubby also because he has stake conference instead of normal meetings so he can make arrangements so much more easily.

The next three days are going to be nuts!!

The Dreaded Family Picture!

The Dreaded Family Picture!

Picture day came and went. Amazingly, we all survived. There was no bloodshed, tears or tantrums! It was almost perfect, except for the HUGE black cloud that came over the sun after we took 2 shots. So, the lighting was less than stellar but we survived!

Here is our official family portrait.

Where did the week go?

I have been quite preoccupied this week. For those three of you that read this blog, sorry it has been an empty week!

My #1 child had surgery on her ears on Tuesday. It went well but still consumed Tuesday and Wednesday. She can't tolerate the strong pain medication, they made her so sick. Once we got those out of her system she felt much better. I would show a picture of her but to respect her privacy I won't! Imagine a head totally wrapped with gauze, all around the head and chin with a ponytail, 1985 style(on the side). She sat in the back of the car with tinted windows so that no one could see her. As we went into the Dr's office to have the wrap removed she covered her head with a hoodie. She was such a trooper. She will be sore for a week or two and then it will be better.

The weather has changed. We have snow on our mountains and it is down right freezing in the morning and evenings. I realize that it is mid October but somehow it still seems to come upon us so fast. Perhaps it really is slow but we try to ignore it as long as possible!

I should be going to the gym today but I decided to stay home and really try and get caught up--whatever that means! Just trying to dig out so that I am not too much of a raving lunatic!

More Football

We have been playing football since the first week of August. Four nights a week and a game on Saturday.

Today our boy played in his second round of the playoffs. This is a big deal! They started the playoffs in first place. That is so cool!

Well, they won again today! It was a tough game. So the team will play again next week--hopefully win and then on to the MINI BOWL!

What does this mean for me? Football-- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday!

Go Team!

Party Time!

Our little guy is three!

We had a little party tonight to celebrate. He was so excited about the "Cars" blanket that Grandma gave him, he laid down on the table with it!

It was fun to see him be so thrilled with his little gifts. We really didn't get him much. He just didn't need much. He got some books, little airplanes and an Army man. He was a happy boy. He also picked out his very own cake. I was going to make one and then realized that I didn't want to!(no big surprise!) He chose the motorcycle cake--no question about it--I wanted the cute Mickey Mouse cake!

He was so tired that he fell asleep on the floor!