Christmas Day

What an exciting morning! Santa brought lots of goodies for good kids, the old and young. :) Ammon got a Leapster, Shayla got a CD player, and Liam a fancy walker/wagon. Dad earned a nice nod from Santa, and I was shocked to find an ipod in my stocking! I must've really pulled one over on Santa this year. Santa also thought it'd be funny to put silly string in everyone's stockings, but when the first can was whipped out (by me of course) the kids sounded like screaming banshees until we agreed Dad would be the only target.

Of course Dad thought that wasn't fair, so I got a fair share of the string. The kids thought it was hilarious.

We listened to "I've Been Working on the Railroad" all morning amidst flurries of wrapping paper, playdoh, and candy. I made Colleen's breakfast pizza, which was a big hit and a definite repeat I'd say.

On Christmas Eve we spent time talking about the real reason for the season, and also took time on Christmas morning to thank our Heavenly Father for all that He has blessed us with, good health, great family and friends, and most of all, a loving Savior.

Gingerbread houses

Here are our wonderful graham cracker gingerbread houses. Aren't they beautiful? And such a lovely quaint country setting for them. Of course it's more fun tearing them apart and eating them than it is to build. I think 2/3 of the ingredients went into the tummies and 1/3 on the houses.

SNOW

We got plenty of snow this year, and got great practice shoveling and learning some great alternatives to expensive deicer for our steep driveway (kitty litter works great). Shayla dove right in, making snow angels until she got snow inside her coat.

After that it was only snow skirts.

Ammon was more into snowmen and snowball fights.

Liam preferred the cozy indoors, with whoever would stay inside with him.

First Annual Slumber Party

We talked about traditions, and decided a family sleepover in the living room by the Christmas tree each year would be something fun to start. So we set up Ammon and Shayla's sleeping bags next to the tree, and Mom and Dad scouted out their spots on the couch, and the night began. Liam slept in his own bed this year. By morning Dad was in the bedroom flailed out all over the bed alone, I was stretched out on the couch, and Ammon and Shay woke up happy as clams. This is the only pic I took, with Liam being held by big sis under duress. I'm sure it'll be a different story next year. :)

Annual Family Christmas Party

George and Jessica threw their annual family Christmas party, and went all out with food, games, treat bags for the kids, and a hilarous white elephant gift exchange...the majority of it ocurring without power (that's the way we roll on the West side!). The hot gift was a hot cocoa basket, with married couples teaming up to win it. In the end, poor Claire ended up with the lamest gift, and with her yelling, "It's not fair! I don't have a husband to help me!" We laughed SO hard. Good times for sure.

The boy cousins having fun with the train set.

Grandma also took the chance to decorate sugar cookies with the grandkids, and Ali hopped in to help out.

boys and bikes

We HAD to make the mecca to Seattle for the annual motorcycle show this year, and the boys just HAD to sit on every bike that looked awesome... and of course it was lots of fun, even for us girls. Josh and Ammon drooled over many bikes, and it was all I could do to keep track of the kids as they darted from seat to seat, checking out the quads and racers and wherever else they could plant their tooshies.

Ammon and Shayla got to try these new little mini bikes out. Ammon was getting into it, jumping off the ramps and running around with it, while Shayla was a bit more cautious and genteel. Liam and I were the herd dogs you could say, and just followed and enjoyed.

Conspiracy Theories

First, you know when "they" tell you to be sure and leave one faucet running slightly at night when it's especially cold outside? Let me say, it is NOT a conspiracy theory put out by the water company to bill you to the ying yang. Early Wednesday morning, about 4am-ish, Josh and I were both startled awake by a wierd noise.

Josh: What was that?

Me: Uh..it sounds like the neighbor dragging his garbage can down the driveway.

Josh: Garbage day isn't for two days. I think it's a snow plow truck.

Me: What? It's not supposed to snow until tomorrow night.

Quiet....

Me thinking to self: Is it raining?

Josh and I: zzzzzz......

Well we found out that the sound of a copper pipe bursting open and running water all over is kinda like a snow plow and a garbage can being dragged on ice, followed by soft rainfall.

Thank goodness Josh's dad came over and they fixed it together. And even installed one of those fancy pipes with a little heater built-in so it won't happen again. But call me crazy, since then I've been leaving our kitchen sink going with just a tiny stream at night...because...you never know!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

See the fanciful dresses for the holidays here. :) I have a 3 year old girl who would LOVE these!

We must be related

Feeling an urgency to get the Christmas lights up outside, I enlisted Ammon's help and we went to work. Getting down the lights from the top shelf in the garage. Check. Untwisting the strands. Check. Finding extension cords and a step ladder. Check. Everything was going great, until Ammon bailed on me because it was too cold. I continued anyway. I plugged in the first strand, success. They all lit up. So I strung them tightly across the top of the garage door. The strand ends about 3 feet short of the height of the garage. No problem, I'll grab another white strand. I plug them in, no lights. Hm. I grab the big extension cord, deciding to use the outlet outside by the front door. As I plug in the strand to the cord, I hear a familiar click from the garage. I tripped a breaker. I reset the breaker, come back (my hands are numb by the way because I'm so cold) and plug the strand right into the outlet, still dead. I test three more strands, which ALL worked when we put them away last year. All dead. I throw them into the driveway in frustration. I'm down to four strands left, all blue and green and one white, so I check the white one, and half of it works. Oh well, I'll use it anyway, so I plug it in, finish the garage, and use the extra along the side of the house, and take the dead part and shove it behind a potted plant. On to the blue and green strands, but wait, I have blood spotted on my left hand. Evidently, I sliced my finger on something, which I later discover is a broken blue bulb that someone stepped on. (not me of course!) So after a bandaid, I head back out. Half of the rest of the strands are working, so I try to be frugal, checking each bulb, finally finding one empty bulb socket...so I search on the ground for this lone bulb...and find it! I twist the green around a bush, the blue strand around a small tree, and plug in my last strand, a little green one. I immediately see it's only half lit, and by now I've had it. I wadded it in a ball, threw it at the base of my blue tree, and call it good. It's now several hours later, and now my lights around the garage are sporadically coming on and off. Is someone running a blender nearby or something? Maybe this is why I feel a kinship with Clark Grisswold, on Christmas Vacation. We both have good intentions, but the worst of luck. Oh well. I gave it the good old college try right? Josh's turn.

Christmas is in the air

We are one of the families that LOVES getting out Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. I asked to put up Christmas stuff a week ago, but was asked to wait at least until the day after Thanksgiving. So Saturday morning we set up our tree (fake this year, I know I know, a cop out, but last year we forgot to water our tree, dead pine needles all over, messy...poky, we decided to alternate each year between real and fake) and the kids all decorated it, even Liam. Although his was more of a deconstruction of the light strands. The kids are very excited for Christmas to come, and we'll have more decoration fun for FHE when we finish putting up our Christmas village and other stuff...as well putting up all our outdoor lights we got on clearance on the after-Christmas sales. Yay! Shhh...don't tell Josh. He loves putting up lights, but maybe not the whole "that doesn't look even/tight enough/long enough/it's the wrong color/let's try this instead" type deal. Maybe I'll surprise him and do it while he's at work. Or at least get it ready and set up. :) wink wink...

Thanksgiving

We traveled to Grandma and Grandpa K's house for Thanksgiving this year, and spent two great days with them. Dinner was tasty and there was plenty of food at that one meal to feed a family of five for about a week. Ammon discovered that sweet potatoes are not his favorite, but pumpkin pie is great. Shayla lightly grazed on her turkey and corn until the pies and whipped cream were brought out. Grandpa had fun tossing Liam into the air and spend a little bonding time with him and the other two grandkids. Our kids were living it up, being the only children there with all that attention! I overheard Shayla telling Grandma K quite a few stories, that girl has a great imagination. I did go out early for Black Friday shopping at Walmart and actually had a pleasant experience there-polite and courteous employees and shoppers. Josh was teasing me saying it's the one day of the year I get up before he does. Not true. But mostly, yes.

I have so much to be thankful for, food, clothing, shelter, working cars, my husband's employment...these are all wonderful things, but I am most grateful for wonderful family and friends and the blessings the gospel brings to me daily. My heart is full, and I am truly happy.

Friday Fun

We get together with other moms on Fridays and do fun field trips and activities, and before Thanksgiving, we got together and made turkeys out of oreos. We also had a cookie exchange, where we would give a plate of cookies to someone we were thankful for, and we made cards to go with the goodies. The turkey oreo was a good idea, even if I didn't quite have all the turkey parts exactly right. And the kids ate them just about instantly after they were created, so in the end, the important part is, that they tasted great. I grabbed the camera just in time to catch a glimpse of Ammon and Shayla's turkeys before they met their demise.

Shayla's 3rd Birthday

I feel like Shayla's been three for awhile already with the way she talks and acts. And she's been telling me that she's going to skip three and just be four. We convinced her that three is a very good year, and she relented. She wanted a princess cake, so we made a crown cake for her, and plopped a princess in the middle. Walah. You can see in the picture, Ammon picked out a present just for her, and she's opening it. Hmm... A Cars puzzle?! She does love it, and of course big brother is always ready and willing to help her put it together. Of course, most if not all her presents from everyone were princess based. She even reminded me when I was getting after her on her birthday that, "Mom, you are NOT treating me like a princess." Well! She told me. :)

She is such a huge bundle of radiant and joyful energy in our home, and we are SO grateful for her! We love you Shayla!

Change is in the air

I'm thinking about changing our blog address soon and making a few tweaks and twizzles to our blog...I haven't been diligent in my updates lately and I apologize. I promise to do better. Consider yourself warned of changes on the horizon. I will email ya'll our new blog address when I figure one out. And no. There is no other change to speak of. I'm not pregnant. I may look it but that is just winter storage. :)

Halloween came with lots of candy, fun costumes, and a huge party. We went to Josh's parent's ward's party, and they were loaded! Candy, haunted house, dry ice, cobwebs, candy, cupcake walk, food, candy...did I mention candy?

We had three temporary members of the family that night. A cute little elephant, a very famous MotoGP motorcycle racer, Valentino Rossi, and a very dainty and fanciful princess. It was fun having them over for the night, and we were sad to see them go.


The kids enjoyed themselves, ok, maybe not the elephant so much (he kept trying to eat his hood) and we are still coming down off of our sugar high almost a week later. Just in time for Thanksgiving treats, right? What a great time of year!

Endure (with joy) to the End

Amidst all the whining and crying this morning, I decided the kids and I needed a break. It would have to be together, so I gave them a choice. Walmart or Costco. What a choice huh. In the car I had the music on a little louder than usual to drown out a particularly persistent whiney noise coming from the backseat, and as I felt a headache popping by for a visit, a thought came to my head, "Endure to the end, and do it with joy." Now I'm not saying my life is something I need to "endure", sure there are certainly enduring moments, some days have more than others, but I did it. I took a deep breath (something I was coaching Shayla to do in between sobs), drove to Costco, enjoyed the scenery, and by the time we were all situated in the cart and heading inside the store, the two big kids were giving me hugs and kisses, and baby Liam was almost asleep. The rest of the day has been much more enjoyable for all, and I appreciate the smiles and play noises more than I would have before. I think life IS like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get. But come on...whether it's good or bad...it's all chocolate!

The Little Red Hen

After wiping off months of dust, we pulled out our brand new wheat grinder and decided to see how user friendly it was. After screwing a handle on and placing the hopper on top, I wondered why I hadn't gotten it out sooner...it wasn't as intimidating as I had imagined. The kids each took a turn grinding wheat, and I felt like the proud little red hen that did find some helpers to plant, harvest, and make the bread. The kids LOVED making and eating whole wheat pancakes, and suddenly the stores of wheat in our garage seemed a little more practical. I think I'll leave the grinder set up for a couple days, since we want to see how our whole wheat bread recipe tastes, and the kids will do a few turns every time they walk by. I feel so pioneer-y!!!

What not to eat

Last night I got creative and let the kids make either a pizza or calzone, making and kneading the dough, spreading tomato paste, toppings, etc. We learned measuring and cooking, some of us learned patience (when I noticed tomato paste being scraped under the table and on a light pink shirt). So I'm thinking, this dinner is going to be fantastic! I also whipped up a pasta salad from a box...as a filler. During dinner the kids are beaming as we compliment them on their pizza. Moments later, I hear a spitting and gagging sound, and turn to see Ammon spitting out pieces of pasta salad. "Mom! I can't EAT that! It tastes like...like tires!" Josh and I cracked up, now come on...I can't make him eat tires! :) Funny.

And a word to the wise...if you're going to eat a bowl of cereal, toast, and a glass of milk, don't try to do an intense DVD workout right afterwards. Even if it's the DVD you ordered from Amazon.com that's taken forever to get here and you can't wait to get started. It's not worth it.

My semiannual blip of clean

I finally summoned enough courage and energy to clean the fridge this week. It looks so great I almost hate to put anything in it now. Things are cleaned, rearranged, and up to date. Ahh...the feeling. I just had to share, since it doesn't happen but a couple times a year. Now I just need to tackle the rest of the house. But that's what the rainy season is for, right? Staying indoors and cleaning? I can't wait.

A dream come true

Josh and I went and saw the Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, and it was as dreamy and surreal as I'd imagined. Everyone was great, but the best of course, was the Phantom! Josh had to remind me that the Phantom was a murderer, but with that voice, I don't know ladies...he could sing me to sleep every night if he wanted to. wink wink... It was a great date, Josh was ever the gentleman, opening my door for me, being so sweet. Like usual of course. And the Flanders watched our kids for us...thank you so much!!!

If you ever get a chance to see this production, go and do it. It is SO worth it. I'm looking for someone to head to Vegas with me now and see the Phantom show playing down there. And I'm also looking for the airfare and tickets...anyone?

Frogs and Fire

I decided to grill a few burgers last week, and in the process I saw a little green frog hop onto the grill side burner, so I swiped him up and ran...well...walked quickly into the front yard to show the kids. They loved that little frog and each took a turn holding him, except Liam. Liam tried to eat him. So we agreed to return him to the backyard, and as we were trekking to the backyard, Josh gasped. Serious, it was a gasp. I looked around, thinking I burned the burgers to a charbroiled crisp (it could happen...for sure..) but instead it was something a little more exciting.

Have you ever seen a side burner plate on fire like that? Or a pipe? It was amazing. As Josh was grabbing the hose I grabbed the camera. A true blogger I am! The kids were excited to see a real fire right on our very own deck, and now we have the charcoal wood to memorialize this day forever. By the way, the frog made it home safely and the burgers were great!

Big Zucchini

I had to put this picture in here of the kids displaying our proud harvest from the garden out back. We grew a monster zucchini that survived a massive slug assault and horrible neglect from the gardener. It's our miracle zucchini, and so we treated it as such. It sat in its place of honor on the counter for about 5 days, and now resides in baggies all shredded up and frozen, minus about three cups that ended up in our zucchini chocolate chip bread. I may have to go have a piece of it right now...is it too late to eat?

The Fair

Sliding with Grandpa!


Milking Millie the Cow



On the train ride, and Liam trying to get into that pop can




I love fair time! The kiddie rides, greasy food, crowds, odiferous livestock, amazing handiwork (my favorite section...4H, arts and crafts), questionable lavatories, fudge samples...and that's only a small part of it. The kids and I went to the fair on Friday with our preschool friends and toured the animal and kiddie sections, even Aunt Susie and cousin Shelley came to hang out. Then today we went again with Daddy and did the rides. We also met Grandma and Grandpa and aunts, uncles and cousins from Josh's side...it was great! A mini-family reunion of sorts. Ammon and Shayla LOVED the rides, trains, cars, miniature roller coaster...The favorite was the big yellow slide, they did that three times. We were diehard fair goers for two days, and now I think it's time for a rest. :)

The Three Amigos

Aren't brothers and sisters awesome? Ammon and Shayla have been spending more time with Liam as he interacts more with them. Shayla always asks, "Mom, can I pet Liam?" So cute. We got cute sibling photos from our trip to the park and a nice little cookie moment on the living room floor...which led to a nice little vacuum moment and a multiple baby wipe moment. They are the greatest!

Ammon's Big Ride

Ammon wanted to go to the park, so Dad made a deal...we'd go to the park if Ammon would take his training wheels off his bike. So he did! He took off on his first try, with Daddy close behind. He rode straight down the road and he was so proud, so was Dad! We ended up going all the way to the park, about six blocks from our house. After some swinging and sliding, the ride back was with a little less confidence, but with Dad's hand on his shoulder, Ammon made it all the way back home. Yay Ammon!!

Great shot!

One of the best pictures ever taken of me.

What a MAN!

(Disclaimer: This is Josh, not Laura. Laura is not a man.)

Together again

I am awaiting the return of my camera from Josh's backpack. He took a lot of pictures during his recent motorcycle trip with his buddies down along the Columbia River. He promises me a great picture of him doing something he guarantees was safe and sound. I believe I heard the word "wheelie" mentioned, hmm.. :) That's not safe, but he said he looks awesome so I will have to post it when I get a chance.

While Daddy was gone, we went to the zoo with Aunties Jessica and Anna, saw the Flanders (another motorcycle widow), and went to visit family for Grandma B's 78th birthday party. The weather was cool, then hot, then in the middle, with of course some rain sprinkled in. Why not? This is Western Washington!

Now Daddy is back home and we are SO excited to be together again. We sure missed our husband and Daddy!!!!

Dontcha just love IF?

We are back from hot and sunny Idaho Falls, and it's nice to enjoy the cooler weather here. We did lots of fun things with Aunt Rose and Uncle Jeff and the girl cousins. We went four wheeling (which Ammon LOVED), to the zoo, the sand dunes, the park, and rode bikes a lot. We also went to the dump (transfer station, for the PC) and Ammon said he wanted to drive a bulldozer when he gets bigger. Did you know that my sis can take whatever she wants to the dump for FREE?? And her garbage and water bill combined are $25 a month?? Let's all move to Idaho Falls!The kids had fun playing with their cousins 24/7 and it was sad to leave, but we had to come back and see Daddy!! We missed him too! We were gone for almost three weeks, and had a great time. I finally got to meet Alicia, who is my sista for sure! We had a girls night with Alicia, Leslie, and my sister Rose and I, which was fun. There was talk of reviving the Golden Girls in our later years, but when I heard I had to be the tall manly one, I was out. :)

Josh had the house all nice and clean, and we immediately trashed it, so I've been working on it (slowly) and getting caught up on emails and blogging. I had to give my sista a bad time for not having a computer, but after the first few days of withdrawl, it was nice to just be "disconnected" for awhile. Speaking of withdrawl, I think Liam is going through w/d from not being held and adored 24/7 by his girl cousins and aunt and uncle. Poor guy, he deserves to be held that much, cause he's so dang cute (of course!) but he just isn't receiving that same attention from his brother and sister at home. :O)

I was teasing my sister that her backyard was like a park (see the girls in the top of the playhouse), with a huge playground structure, an in ground trampoline, and lots of bike riding space. The kids had a blast there, and we are already planning a time when we can get together again. :)