Jelly Belly!!!

Here are a couple cute pictures of the kids on day trip to the Jelly Belly factory. Thank you to Hayley for taking them for me. The older two were there just not as cute...just kidding, I forgot my camera so I mooched off of friends!

Exercise....

OK I have one of many love hate relationships. One being exercise. I always feel that if I could be like a few stalwart people and learn to love exercise it would be fabulous. To be able to get into a routine and actually force myself to miss a day...that would be ideal. So in sharing these feelings I was surprised to find out that it isn't easy for my sweet hubby to get up three days a week at 5:30 to go running (4.5 miles way to go stud!). He said he has to talk himself into it. One feeling I do have in common is I have yet to regret getting up and "moving" early in the morning. Knowing that I am not the only person that has a stern one-person conversation with myself is so helpful. I have two friends that I can go walking with...along with the child count totalling 8, 4 are mine, luckily one can walk most of the way. I think pushing a stroller with 3-4 kids should count as a combination of weight training and aerobics! Then two days a week I have come to know a lady who does fitness training at our church. It is not always easy but I have been there and I am doing my best to not miss anymore. It has been long enough that this baby weight can't park on my abs (well what used to be my abs before children decide to kick them to shreds before evacuating the premises) any more. It is a lot of fun. I know I complain in a humorous way when exercising, but bear with me I am having a great time, I am just trying to laugh through it!

Family Home Evening Resource

In looking for a Family Home Evening idea I came across this website www.HatchPatchCreations.com. You can purchase FHE packets $5 for B/W and $7 ccolor. To see a sample you can print one out it is in Helaman and the Stripling Warriors. If you do group orders you get a discount too. Just thought I would pass this along. Just thought I would pass along the information.

I don't have time to order what I wanted but if you have a great idea for a Family Home Evening on President Monson or General Conference, please feel free to pass along the idea!

Star Performers

Here is a few short videos of our muy telented children...man they come from good stock!
The Clan (minus Lauren):

Haylie and Hannah:

Logan:

Miranda:

Lauren

Here is a little video of Lauren. She is crawling on all fours now. Although when she wants to move quickly she still does a very quick army crawl. She is now pulling her self up to stand, but only in her crib. She has been saying what sounds like da-da, and has moved on to whan can be interpretted as ma-ma. Here is my little Lauren hanging out. It is about 3 minutes long and nothing terribly entertaining happens but who can pass up watching such a cutie!

Hear a WHAT?

Alright no catchy title but I wanted to share this and who know maybe it will work for you and your family. Since it is spring break a.k.a. Easter vacation, Jeremy wanted to take the kids to a movie. So for Family Home Evening we talked about the still small voice, or Holy Spirit. We talked about how you need to be quiet to hear it's promptings, but you also need to act on what you hear. Jeremy used his loud voice to explain that when we are loud it is almost impossible to think much less hear that delicate little voice. Then we surprised the kids by taking them to see Horton Hears a Who. There is one point where Horton looses the little "speck" in a big pile of flowers. I leaned to Miranda and said how do you think Horton will find it and she said to be quiet and listen. I asked what is that like and she said the still small voice. There are other good messages in the film, but this is by far the most apparent. I love how Horton won't deny what he has heard and no matter what the cost he continues to do what is right.

Then after bedtime we watched August Rush. I really enjoyed the movie. It was about a kid who hears music in just about everything. One thing you noticed is that when he stood still to listen is when he could put the music together, so it what like a grown-up version of Horton, August hears a song which ends up being an orchestra!

A new little boy!

On my mom's side boys are few and far between. Logan is the only grandson surrounded by six count them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! That is until now. My older sister had her second child via scheduled c-section yesterday. I asked if only green babies were born on St. Patty's Day and my mom assured me he was very much pink. Here's the goods: Spencer Allen (still not sure how they are spelling Alan, Allan...) weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 1/2" tall! Mom and baby are doing well. Of course it is not right to make a post about a baby and not show him off so World, that's you, welcome Spencer!

My Baby Girl

I had to put a quick post of representation that my little girl turn SEVEN yesterday. Holy Smoke is time flying. I have to say these last few months she is going through such a growth spurt. I am not necessarily talking physical. This will be a moment to brag so if you are not in the mood to read about a mother's love for her daughter and the pride she feels skip this post.

Miranda is an amazing girl. She has such light in her eyes they sparkle with beauty and creativity. She sing non-stop and talks almost as much, Jeremy claims this is from him and I will concur! A few things happened recently and I could help but feel my heart swell. We were walking home form school and we were coming up behind a young boy who must have been learning how to drive his classy high powered electric wheel chair. It wasn't easy but he was doing a good job. As we were walking by Miranda looked at him with a cheery expression and said "Hi Alex." In a world where disabilities almost cause you to be shunned whether it is to not may eye contact or show pity or making sure you are not staring, she said hello and we stopped and talked to Alex. What a super kid he is and to think I would have walked right by. The other thing was yesterday. It was Miranda's actual birthday. We have a few traditions that we do like getting morning donuts, and maybe go out to dinner. Since it was Sunday we didn't get donuts and the morning was filled with the hustle and bustle of going to church. We came home and made a friend a cake since she has no family to help her celebrate with her kids. That night I was laying down with Miranda and asking her if she had a good birthday she gave the thumbs up. I asked if she missed out on anything and she said yeah, I wish we could have put candles on friend's cake. I though how selfish am I that was the last thing on my mind. I would have thought how unfair it would have been that my birthday was not as fabulous as it could have been.

I am not sure if either event causes you to see the pride I feel but my heart is full with gratitude that she is a part of my life, the laughter she brings to us and the caring & love she shows and the desire to be a great big sister.

Happy Birthday Miranda!

The thoughts that float through my head...

I was lying in bed between dream and reality. This idea popped into my head about relating parenting to the Book of Mormon in a comical kind of way. The first part would relate to Nephi and Laman. Oh how sibling rivalry is obnoxious and very real. I know my kids will not try and slay each other even though they have a slew of lightsabers, pirate guns and nerf shooters, amongst other weapons of pretend destruction. There are times when it would be so utterly satisfying to tie one up to ship and let them not be able to move. Or be filled so strongly with the spirit that they are humbled at your feet. Man what a power trip that would be.

I figured as I went through the Book of Mormon on a more personal and less spiritual level, I would be able to relate the little temper tantrums that my children and myself go through. May be it would be like the battle of the stripling warriors where these young men honor their parents and fight in order to protect and help keep the promises that their parents made, more importantly, to honor their righteous upbringing. Oh the day when my children will fight for me. I already feel that they help keep me on a great path. I can’t help but look at them and see my flaws and want to be a better person, but again be able to look at my children and give my self a good pat on the back because they are shaping up to be great kids, who love the Lord and besides the typical things of youth they are kind and considerate to others, well Miranda definitely is Logan is getting over that little gap between thinking of only myself to thinking mostly of others. The twins, well they are three so enough about that.

Then I felt how the final battle at the Hill Cumorah is like the last ditch effort that we have as parents to save our children. Teenage hood can be so difficult and the decisions that are made can be so detrimental to their future. So this final battle where there are pretty much only wickedness every where you look are fighting, the good is worse than the bad and the bad are still just plain bad. Then you have a small group of righteous people who face the inevitable result of being slaughtered, yet hold out hope that it will turn out good in the end. Obviously we know how that battle turned out but when we relate it to our children and that stage of their lives it is so important that we act as Moroni did and continue to fight for the righteous.

Sometimes you felt lead by the spirit to do things and others you wonder if that is the carnal you wishing and dreaming. I would love to have the creativity and insight to write a book, but I don’t feel passionately that is who I am. Maybe that would change. I am not sure why I am posting this but hopefully it will make you smile at least once, make you curious about the Book of Mormon, or maybe you will skim through and move on. Either way I love being a parent, trials and all, I love the Gospel, and I love how the Gospel meets you on the level you are on.

Addiction...

Well it is actually more of an excuse to get together. A few friends have been using stamps to make onesies. I finally decided to make a couple for Lauren. I will post some more after I put together a slide show.

Thank you Katie~

This blog's for you!

Just in case you are not clear on what is happening here, Logan is swallowing air and making himself burp. Of course when the camera is rolling they are pretty week but he belched pretty good as soon as I stopped. It is not easy to hide the fact that I was impressed that he could do this so young. I think Katie wasn't good at it until she was in 5th grade! The girls tried a pathetic imitation but it is really just a growl more than a burp.

Scavenger Hunt

Here is the long awaited video of our Scavenger hunt date.

Attempted kidnapping...

This is Jeremy's new all time favorite embarrassing story from my life. He was even more thrilled that he got to watch in unfold, partly thinking to himself..."MAKE HER STOP!" Here is how it went down...

We were in one of our favorite stores in Disneyland the Star Trader, you know the Star Wars one. (Let me digress for a moment: Jeremy came across a saying called "seeing birds" What it means is that one gets easily distracted and forgets what he/she should be doing. For example one needs to go to the bathroom but sees a dirty sock and puts it away, later remembering you were on your way to the bathroom, now I will continue the story) We were actually done and ready to leave when I decided to window shop and Jeremy was about done. I reached down to where Logan was and gently steered his head towards Jeremy and said come on Logan. I continued to "see birds". Logan kind of moved his head to get my hand off him. Jeremy then called my name. I then gently try to lead Logan away...again. He was not moving. Jeremy called my name again. I was getting frustrated because he was hurrying me. So I look down to tell Logan firmly to follow me. Logan had a toy in his hand and was playing with it. I go to reach for the toy as I am asking him where did he get it. Then I realized at that same time Jeremy was calling my name for the third time that this boy whose head I was using as a joystick was NOT my son. His dad was standing right there and never said a peep. I then tried to fumble through an explanation. I don't think he thought it was funny but he was not upset, I am sure he was debating who would last longer if the boy came with me.

After a good time of thinking (and Jeremy practically busting a gut) I should have said " We have a hard time having boys I was trying to even out the playing field and your boy was cute enough!"

Basketti

Well none of my adorable kids actually call it that. Hannah says sketty. If you haven't figured it out I am talking about Spaghetti. It is a meal that we typically avoid even though it is a favorite amongst the pint size cuties. The reason has to do with the mess factor. That's right this is amongst the messiest of meals. Not only that but the staining of clothes. On a rare occassion I will make this meal in hopes that no clothes will get ruined (I do not do the laundry nor am I a stain master, but I should think of learning.) This is one of those rare occassions where I thought I would embrace the mess. Suck it up and then clean it up while giving myself a lecture as to why I should not give the kids sauce with their noodles. Here are a few pictures of the twins while commencing with the mess. Jon this is for you!

As you can tell I was pleasantly surprised how neat they were. Hannah actually used silverware, what a novel idea.

Our little Performer

Yesterday I had the fun opportunity to see Miranda perform in a weather play. She was a cat as in raining cats and dogs.

This was the song she sang:

Raining, raining Raining cats and dogs See the Saint Bernard splash down Raining-Watch out for that basset hound. Raining, raining Raining cats and dogs Pouring labradors so hard Raining-Beagles flooding out the yard. A shower now of kitties Oh no, oh no A shower now of German shepherds And oodles of poodles in puddles wherever you go! Raining, raining Raining cats and dogs Can't you smell that wet sharpei? Raining-Raining cats and dogs all day. (CATS and DOGS do the Cat and Dog Dance, or THEY can hold the stuffed animals and "dance" them around) CATS and DOGS and CHORUS: Raining, raining Raining cats and dogs See the Saint Bernard splash down Raining-Watch out for that basset hound. Watch out for that basset hound. Raining-watch out for that basset hound.

At the link above you can listen to my next favorite song Warm/Cold Air Mass. This was sung by 8 boys dressed in baseball attire. Acting like opposing teams it was great!

Here is a little video of her singing.

Lauren..again

Who can complain about looking at more pictures of Lauren. She really is a perfect baby...although not sleeping through the night again...I see white spots promising more teeth. She is sitting up really well so the sink is a fabulous place to bathe her. Here is my favorite picture. Lauren must have been concerned since her little ducky friend was not breathing. She decided to give her little friend a little mouth to mout resuscitation. I knew she was an angel but I didn't expect one so young to be willing and able to help a friend in need.

On another note Lauren is 9 months old. Holy moly she is growing so fast. She is crawling and moving it is soo cute. She does the army crawl quite effectively.

Her hair is long enough to do the cute pony tail on top thing. It sticks straigh up about 2 inches.

New obsession

OK I am sure this too shall pass, but I can't wait. Several people over the last 6 months or so have brought up the book Twilight and highly recommended it. Not only did they enjoy it but their hubbies did too. That had my interest peeked. What could a book offer both genders and be so fascinating that the men were almost stealing the sequels before the women could finish. I broke down after Christmas and finally bought it. Then a friend asked if I had read those books. So I finally found the time to read it Thursday. Then we went to Target where I bought the other two books, New Moon and Eclipse. I told my self it will be my reward for loosing 10 pounds. Jeremy said "Just try to read them a piece at a time. And that is the last thing he said to me for two days! Well not exactly but I read the other two very quickly. They are great books. I would highly recommend them to any one who likes romance and adventure. I have to say if Edward were real there would be a lot of women fighting over him! Not me of course, I am married to my own Edward...except that ONE thing! The fourth book is coming out in August, I can't wait.

A few other awesome series have new books coming out too. The Inkheart Series has it's final book in the trilogy coming out Inkdeath. It is a great series of books about books really coming to life...literally. It should be out in March 2008 (or Spring at least). She is definitely more a childs author but this book is for an older group probably the same Harry Potteresque crowd.

The other fabulous series Eragon has another book due to be released September 20, 2008. It shall be called Brisinger. It was originally supposed to be a triligy now it is a cycle. He couldn't finish it in the third book so there is now a fourth book. Ohhhh, I am excited what a year for books. This author is amazing Christopher Paolini was 15 when he started his finished his first draft for Eragon. The KID is 22 now and has two very popular books with promises of two more. If I had to pick between this series and Lord of the Rings I would pick this. They have a lot of common themes but are very different. Besides what can't be exciting about a Dragon rider...

I am in total awe of each of these authors. There creativity blows me away. If you haven't read any of these books I would really recommend them. Do you have any books that could make me ignore everything I love for a day or two...OK edited for JEr's response...one that I could read slowly but enjoy immensely.

Things to do:

I have gotten my very first..."so you haven't posted in a while" reminder. This is not a real post but a to do post. Here are a list of things to post about:

Christmas
The Stuart's visit (= 9 kids only two boys)
New Years Eve
Lauren in the bath I mean sink
Lauren turned 8 months
Scavenger Hunt Date
Disneyland
My attempt to kidnap a boy in Disneyland
Haylie and Hannah turn 3
Game Plan Movie night

I thinkI have some posts started but I wanted to add pictures so maybe I will bite the bullet and let you use your imagination as to what it really looked like! So be excited for the fabulous things to come

Girls Night In

A couple of weeks ago, a friend organized a fabulous girls night in. A friend's sister who is now a friend too...just completed all her training and is a certified beautician (I think that is the right word!) She came and was willing to cut everyone's hair who wanted it done. Since she couldn't cut all our hair at once we had a friendly game of Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii (WHICH IS THE MOST FABULOUS GAME SYSTEM EVER!!!) I am pretty much the most uncoordinated of all my fabulous friends! In fact I down right stink. Teri, Janelle, and Tammy are Pop stars at it! We had a great time, thank you Tara for putting it together and thank you Janna for cutting my hair. It is my absolute favorite haircut ever!
If you are looking for a hairstylist I will give you her information. She works in Walnut Creek. Also you know it always looks best when the stylist does it, so please forgive the fly away hairs!

In other news...

As if Grandma didn't have a hard enough time with Grandpa passing, she got some more bad news. She had been having tummy problems. The doctor blamed it on a normal issue. Grandma was not satisfied and demanded more in depth testing. The day Grandpa passed away Grandma went in for the test. The day before his funeral in California she got the call that she had cancer. She needed to bring her family in to discuss treatment. She has stage three ovarian cancer. This is not good but there is positive things too. Other than this she is in excellent health. For most people her age they do gentle treatment, they try to avoid surgery and Chemotherapy, but because she is in good health her doctors think she can handle it. She has a surgery date for February 19th. Let's hope they can get it all!

A Picture worth Posting

Since around September , Lauren has not been sleeping through the night. I am talking waking up at midnight and about every 2 hours after that. The culprits of this un-welcomed change have finally popped through. While she is always a relatively happy baby and beyond adorable, I am not appreciative of the interrupted sleep. (Ask Jeremy about the treatment he gets when he interrupts my sleep!) She is back to the absolute perfect baby again...(I know if my only complaint was sleeping I should be grateful and I AM!) Here is a picture with the most adorable face showing off her pearly whites!
In other toothy news...Miranda complained of her tooth hurting so we took her to the dentist. He said it was beginning to abscess. He tried to help save the tooth but the infection has gone too far. So today Miranda will be loosing another tooth, a molar at that, by force. Poor girl. Now the problem is who gets to tell her?!

I have lots to post about..

Here are a couple of pictures with our over-sized umbrella. It has come in handy the last few days:

Inspiring

I have wanted to do this for a while but haven't taken the time to actually do it. I have read a few books here and there and have come across inspiring thoughts for mothers or women in general.



From Emily Watts book Confessions of an Unbalanced Woman:



This is paraphrasing and summarizing: She is talking about over commital and doing more than you can. She likens it to a washing machine. Just because it says you can fit 15 towels in it doesn't mean you should.



Just because we know it is possible to do more, doesn't mean we should. If we do 100% of what is possible we will eventually break.

This is all I can think of for now but I will post these other fabulous thoughts as I come acroos them. Just remember don't overload yourself eventually you will break!

New Year's Eve

We had a great New Year's eve. We went to my sister-in-laws house. Although not to far the freeway connecting us has been known as blood alley (also where I totalled my car, not injuries luckily). We decided to stay out there, then we didn't have to worry about any accidents driving late at night. Another awesome reason is that we rarely get to play games anymore since there are so many little ones, so we were able to put the kids to bed and play until the wee hours of the morning. The older cousins stayed up later to watch a movie...so that just means Hunter and Lauren were in bed.


A highlight of the evening was Jeremy trying to play the part of law enforcer...

He would make a pretty good looking police officer heh? Quite intimidating...unless you know him he is a softy! Tough too of course!

We stayed up late and woke up at approximately 7:00...actually it is kind of a blur from this point on. Jeremy and James went to get doughnuts for breakfast. One heartbreaking moment that happened was when we were getting into the car. Jeremy went to close his door as his mom was leaning down to get in the back, it made contact and cut her head. Jeremy was asking if she was OK. I didn't realize what was happening until Jeremy said in a concerned voice "Mom you are bleeding" It was a fairly small cut but none the less, he hurt his mother. The only good side was that atleast it wasn't me who did it. I would go down in history as the worst daughter-in-law ever! She was really OK but I know Jeremy felt terrible. It was fun to say that us Mormon's know how to throw a party, someone even got hurt!

Visit from Oregon

Jeremy had a great friend growing up. His name is JonBoy. Since high school due to timing missions, marriage and moving we don't get to see him very much. This year Jon and his awesome wife Emily and their four children came to visit. Jeremy, Jon and Tim all were good friends so we had everyone over to our house for a couple hours. There was a total of 3 families, 6 adults, 12 children, 4 boys and 8 girls. Sometimes it is goo to not do the math before you plan something like this. We had a great visit it is always fun to catch up. Here is a picture of our kids and Jon's kids.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. We got to do all the typical things that we look forward to each year, although not in the same order. We watched all our favorite Christmas movies, although some have been debated as they are not REALLY Christmas movies but ones that happen t take place druing that time of year, for example The Cutting Edge...love it. It has Christmas and New Years so I have put it as one of those movies. (So Pthhhh to all you who argue!) The one that Jeremy always watched growing us was Scrooge. Amongst the typical ones like Miracle on 34th Street new and old. A first for us was White Christmas. I would label that as my all time fave now. (Thanks Hayley and Matt for introducing it to us!) It was fabulous. WE try to make it to the temple to see the lights and watch one of the performances. This year we watched a great Christmas musical montage. It was a sample of all the presentations the were happening over the following weeks. Then we went to Fenton's. Such a treat! We also make rollout sugar cookies with the extended family and save a few for Santa. Christmas Eve Jeremy and I make breakfast for his family. It is my favorite thing to do. The menu consists of Caramel French Toast, bacon or sausage, potatoes O'Brien, Scrambled Eggs, and orange juice. Then we got to hang out as everyone went their own way for the afternoon. For Dinner we went to Jeremy's Mom's house where we also do a Christmas Program. Everyone gets the opportunity to share something a thought, a story, a song, etc. I was so proud of Miranda she got up a sang Silent night all by herself. Her and Logan sang Christmas Bells. I played a game, it is a Right/Left game while telling the Nativity story. Jeremy told a story about a rusty violin being put up for auction, no one wanted to bid on it because of its looks. Then a man came and played it beautifully and the bids came and were high bids. Kind of like our savior. He makes us each valuable, and makes the difference between amazing and spectacular.

Christmas morning we had the traditional bearclaws and banana eggnog with Jer's mom and Chris. They stayed and watched us open our presents. Then we packed up and spent the rest of the day at Jer's mom's house, opening gifts, hanging out with the family and relaxing.

It was a great Christmas. I love this time of year and being able to feel closer to my Savior and the constant reminders to not only be Christ like but to remember the spirit of giving. That was our holiday in a nutshell.

A Great Life.

About a month ago Grandpa Ralph fell and had a stroke. He has not been doing so well since then. He was in the hospital for about a week, then he got came home for a day. It was too much work for Grandma June to take care of him, so he was moved to assisted living. Hospice was called to help care for Grandpa. He was then moved to an in-home assisted living place where he has been since early December. Grandma was able to visit him most every day. Last night he passed away.

I am so grateful for him and Grandma and for the example of goodly parents that they have shown me. They are also a great example of marriage. After Grandpa fell the first time he was in and out of the hospital fairly quickly so we went over there for Family Home Evening. We got to hear him tell some stories and share his testimony with the kids. I loved watching them sit there reverently listening to him Even Haylie and Hannah sat mostly quiet.

I wish I was great with words so I could pay the tribute he deserves. He is an amazing man with a strong testimony of the gospel. He always made me feel special when we had family gatherings. I am grateful that our kids will have some memory of their great-grandpa.

Logan will miss him. The other day we stopped by the house to drop some thing off for grandma to bring to grandpa. As we left Logan asked where Grandpa was. I told him that grandpa's body was getting old and in lot's of pain. I said that grandma could no longer care for him in all the ways that he needs, so grandpa is still close but he is in a home not too far away. Then the subject faded. You never know what the kids retain so I was surprised at the dinner prayer he prayed that granpa's body would feel better and he can live with Grandma June again.

I guess I am rambling, but know that we love him and will miss him.

He's FIVE!!!!

I just had to acknowledge this quickly. Logan had his birthday Tuesday. He is five. I can't believe how old he is. He is growing like he is supposed to and doing all the things little boys do. He is very helpful with his sisters. They can play for hours in the back yard. He is starting to play with action figures. He loves Planet Heroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Land Before Time, and Scooby Doo. He is showing lots of interest in learning his letters and he really wants to read like his big sister. He has fabulous blue eyes that sparkle when he is feeling mischeiviuos or sweet, angry or sad. I am so glad I have this son to raise, I hope he groes up and follows in the footsteps of his amazing father.

Happy Birthday Logan!

We saw Ho, Ho, Ho!

On Friday night we went to see Santa Claus. They all seemed very excited in line and said they would sit on Santa's lap. When it was time Haylie and Hannah froze. They were not going to get near him for nothing. We got Logan and Lauren on his lap...well you can see the picture. Haylie and Hannah were less than thrilled by who they call Ho, ho. To you other folk he is also known as Santa. It wasn't near as traumatic once they got to walk away. Here is the picture:

On Saturday we had our Ward Christmas Dinner. It was great. We got to experience a deep fried turkey for the first time. Holy guacamole is that good! The kids got to perform in the program.

They also got to see Santa and confirm what is wished for. Here are a couple of cute pictures: Please note we do not love Haylie any less than the other four. She saw Santa, started crying dug in her heals and high tailed it out of there! She did get a candy cane just like the rest of the kids.

Word of advice ask what the kids want from Santa before you go shopping, and wait until the last minute!!!

Miranda~originally wanted an Easy Bake oven...told Santa iDog

Logan~originally wanted Blue Lightening McQueen...told Santa Drums

Haylie~originally wanted whatever we, the parents, said...told Santa...well told us to tell Santa Winnie-the-Pooh

Hannah~originally wanted the same as Haylie...told Santa a baby doll.

Lauren~as always perfectly angelic. She didn't change her mind!

We are 2 for 5!

A Christmas Meme

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper it looks much prettier with Ribbons and Bows which I am not allowed to use!
2. Real tree or artificial? Real...although if tree tipping becomes a tradition we may switch teams!
3. When do you put up the tree? Friday after Thanksgiving...except this year it was the the following week.
4. When do you take the tree down? Between Christmas and New Years. There's nothing else to do.
5. Which do you prefer: Hot chocolate or Apple Cider? Hot Chocolate. Although I think my taste buds are maturing, I do like Hot Apple Cider who knew?
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't remember the gifts as much as the creative ways we "earned" our gifts.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, although I would almost kill for a Willow Tree one
8. Hardest person to buy for? Jeremy...bad ebay experience.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Jeremy and my kids.
10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? A toilet seat?! It was a white elephant gift but it actually turn out handy, we also got a pregnancy test that was also handy!
11. Mail or email Christmas card? Mail, although I think I will post our picture and letter on our blog, I am addicted!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I watched White Christmas for the first time, I love it...Not sure I could choose, Liken the Scriptures: The First Christmas, oh I am not a good decision maker!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When do I stop? Usually November, or October...or sometime before then.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Christmas, I don't think so...wedding, um...yes?!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Aunt Dawn's Peanut Butter Fudge... Mom Jacobs' Stuffing, Carmel Stuffed French Toast...Who am I kidding anything in front of me.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? colored
17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary Did you know? It makes me grateful my kids are mine, and I am not Raising God's only Begotten! What can you teach Him?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home, It is hard to make others appreciate your traditions.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer?"You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen; Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall....blah...Rudolph!" I could but why when it's already there!
20. Do you have an Angel on top or a star? A star, infact it is already our second star for this year and we've only had our tree up 5 days.

Tag-- You're it! (That includes you!)

Ohh, the memories

When I was growing up I distinctly remember one Christmas when we decided to walk the block and a half to the Christmas tree lot and carry our tree back. It was me, my two sisters, my step-dad and my mom. It was a fun thought, since we are pure city girls, to walk to get our tree even though we didn't cut it ourselves and carry it back in the snow! Well about 20 feet after carrying our carefully picked tree it started going down hill. The comedy of watching three girls and a man carry a Christmas tree down a semi-busy street had to be hilarious. As we started walking back reality set in and I realized this is embarrassing. As always things started getting awkward, I started getting giggly which I am sure encouraged my sisters to start too. Then the man who was trying to keep us together...oh the memory. (I had a similar experience with my dear hubby that caused 10 minutes of speechlessness and a look of bewilderment.) I am sure it wasn't quite like this but in a nutshell good idea at first, not so good halfway home!

Anyways now to Saturday. We live +/- 1/2 mile from a Christmas tree lot. We decided we would try that one this year. We were trying to figure out how we could get our Christmas tree back and all 5 kids with one vehicle that does not happen to be a truck. So I said well...we could walk. We thought how we could get the tree back and it came to me. We have this fabulous all-terrain wagon that screams "I can carry a Christmas tree". Jeremy was sold. Off we went. I pushed the stroller with Lauren inside. The Haylie and Hannah rode in the wagon, Logan walked along side Jeremy and Miranda limped alongside me. It was fun.

So we got to the lot. We received the standard "are these all yours?" and "wow." Then we found the perfect tree. The sales man, I think his name was Chris (isn't every body's?), chuckled to himself when we said we were walking. We assured him we lived really close. We paid for the tree, they gave each of our kids a candy cane. We adjusted our children: Logan and Miranda walked (she was no longer limping amazing how Christmas can heal all ailments!). Haylie and Hannah jumped on to the stroller with Lauren and Jeremy got the tree. We headed home.

We stopped about 4 times to help Jeremy adjust. The tree was about a foot short to hold it comfortably so he had to reach over his shoulder and grab the tippy top of the tree. He was just far enough away from the wagon that it barely missed his foot as he walked. He said he used muscles that are typically ignored. Also note he helped with a move that day too. He was still smiling as we approached our street. We, I mean he, safely got our tree home with only two minor broken branches.

Then the fun began. "Can we decorate the tree?" "No, we need to put the lights and tinsel on" "Is it on yet?" while looking at the tree!, "why isn't it on yet?" We then went and put the stuff out front. It took us a lot longer to get things done, so the kids each put on three ornaments and headed to bed. Jeremy and I finished decorating and then we hit the sack.

At about midnight we heard a crash. It is becoming a tradition that our tree falls over! UGH! So we had to clean up the mess and re-straighten the tree, and re-tighten all EIGHT screws. About 20 ornaments fell off the tree, two broke in 3 or four places. One is missing two pieces and our Christmas tree star broke into a few pieces. Thank heavens for super glue. The star still needs some attention. So how often do you get to decorate you tree twice? In our home more often then we would like! As we were both exhausted trying to figure out if we can put Logan's Toy Story ornament back together and who was going to tell him if need be, it was comical but almost worthy of tears. These are costly ornaments. It came to us separately that as beautiful as the tree is all decorated, our house decorated inside and out, the music and lights, etc. It really isn't what the season is about. We have so much to be grateful for. This is all just cherries on top. But wow what a fun story to share!

Laughter makes you live longer...

I am not sure that is true but it should be. Laughter and ice cream, my two favorite things. I have a couple videos of Lauren laughing. It is so sweet and so cute. I want to point out in the first part of the video Lauren only laughs when Haylie is drinking out of the water bottle. I hope you enjoy their laughter as much as I do!


Since knowing my husband since 6th grade he is always right. The beginning of this clip was posted earlier so it is a retake. It is till funny though. Sorry for the retake!

Cookie Basics

I have this passion right now for cooking. I m not sure it is a fad or a true passion but I love it. I am learning new things all the time. A friend ran across an article with cookie basics and said she would get it for me but life happens, it gets lost, you know the drill. So I got on he internet, which is always there in time of need! I came across two articles and thought I would pass them on. It is how to make great cookies...cookie Chemistry. Now that is a subject I can sink my teeth into! (I know Queen of Corny here!)

Cookie Basics
Cookie Chemistry 101

If you have a great sugar cookie recipe I am in need of one. The best sugar cookie I have had included sour cream in the ingredients. I like a soft cake-like cookie, no so much crispy. I hope this helps you. Enjoy your holiday baking and please pass on those great sweet recipes!

G-R-Attitude!

I don't know why I spelled it that way but it reminded me of Bruce Almighty when he was talking about his life B-E-A-Utiful. I am a little late in this attitude of gratitude post. I have shared this thought so frequently lately that it may be boring. Too bad this is my blog and I can do what I want with it, HAH! In talking more with parents and grandarents I find them saying "I don't remember that." Of course I know why now. I used to be of the opinion that I would never forget this or that moment. There are so many moments that I am watching the kids play around or doing something sweet, like show genuine concern for each other. I think to myself this is a moment I want to remember forever. Sure enough I forget. I think having Miranda in all day school is hardest on Logan. The playmate he has had since birth is not around as much. He always runs to her after school and will even share how much he will miss her while she is at school. Since Logan has been running to hug Miranda, who laughs and pretends she doesn't enjoy it and tries to dodge him, the twins have followed suit. I find Logan and Miranda in her room playing games like Charades or Go Fish. They will play pretend really well, and even wrestle. These are the moments I want to remember. I try to imagine what is going on in other people's minds as I see their lips move as they silently count how many kids we have. I would not have it any other way. Just imagine the laughter you have in your home and multiply it by the number of kids we have. I would say more nights then not there is at least two girls and a little boy dancing, a couple singing, Lauren talking, Jeremy being crazy-goofy, and me trying to soak it all in to remember that moment, but we are all laughing and having a good time.

I know our family is bigger than what the general public would like to see, but I couldn't imagine our family being anything less. With each child we add, it is a puzzle to figure out who he or she is (mostly she though) but the rewards of happiness is so worth it!

Oh that Logan!

I had to share this moment. I am not sure whether I should be proud or embarrassed. We had some friends over and the kids were playing in the backyard. As I was watching I saw Logan throw a rock. You could see the thought process, "Oh, Mom can see from where she is sitting. Did she see me?" Unlucky for him I did. I walked up to the slider as he got this look of Oops on his face. I opened the door, not saying a word he walked into the house and went straight to his bed for a time out. The part that I am proud of is that he knew what he did wrong and what his punishment was (one of my faults is inconsistency so this shows I am somewhat consistent). He also was "man" enough to accept the blame for his wrong doing. I was embarrassed as my son was "cowed" before me. I couldn't help but wonder if the "Hill" look was smothered across my face. You know "the look" that says you better just do what you are supposed to before the lid blows off this CAN! It was a funny moment. I think my face actually showed one of shock as he walked past me with his head down.

Just a quick note before I forget...

We all take turns saying the prayers as I am sure most families who don't have demanding 3 year olds who need to say it exclusively... sorry I got a little sidetracked. I love to hear Logan say prayers. I don't think there has been one yet that I haven't been laughing when Amen was said! Tonight he said...thank you for our family except for the mean ones." I am not sure where that came from, I am assuming I had been mean to him earlier.

The kids say and do funny things all the time. I think to myself I don't want to forget this moment. I wish my memory could take pictures and file them to when I need a reminder or just to recall a special cherished moment. Alas, I forget and the memory is gone. With little notes on a blog I can at least remember the story. So I have made an executive decision to even blog the one liners! SO THERE! ; )

Lauren is 6 Months old!

As of Saturday Lauren is officially halfway through her first year of life. It has gone fast. In honor of her 6 month milestone she got to go shopping with mom and got her first pair of shoes! In Lauren World she is no longer sleeping through the night as of about 6 weeks ago. I am hoping that it is because she is teething. She has the two teeth as mentioned earlier. Now she is growing a third tooth in an unlikely, yet normal place. She is getting her upper left eye tooth. Weird, I know. She rolls over, and still loves to suck her thumb. She is an amazing baby even if I have to wake up in the night to feed her THREE times. Now for the lastest stats! We visited her doctor yesterday. Lauren is growing, but my little chunk is underweight! Lauren has grown another 2 inches and is still in the 96th percentile, her length is 28". She has gained 1 lb 6 oz she is in the 26th percentile for her weight which is down from the 49th last month. She weighs in at 14 lbs 14.6 ounces.

She also has croup. My children may have had it before but I had no idea. I thought croup was a very juicy cough associated with congestion, and also not common. When it is actually a barking kind of cough with no congestion. I can't believe some of the things I am learning. Lauren gets to go back in about a week and get her shots since she wasn't feeling well.

Laughter makes everything worth it.

As I was madly cooking a million things yesterday I turned around to this:

Lauren thought it as hilarious everytime Haylie drank out of the water bottle. I love that our kids are so easily entertained.

Just wanted to share...

Miranda and her cousin are 3 months apart. They have a lot in common except their looks. One of the funny things about them is they are missing all the same teeth. Look at this cute picture:
You can see Gwen's tooth growing back. Miranda's is too but it is the opposite top tooth.

Grandparent's Day

In Miranda's Class she is learning about her heritage. It is kind of fun, we got to look up flags and see what they looked like and also dress a doll. Miranda has ancestry from: England, Scotland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Finland amongst others. Today in class they got to have a grandparent come to visit the classroom. Since her most of her grandparents work or are out of the area we moved onto great grandparents. Jeremy's Grandma lives right around the corner so Miranda invited her. She wrote a very nice letter and they mailed it. So today I went and picked up Grandma June to take her to the classroom to meet Miranda, by the way she is 90 years old. As she was getting into the car she was dressed so nice and her hair done. Although she said her hair was acting weird, I thought it looked great. Then she turned to me and said "I haven't been this excited since my first date." It was super cute. I walked her to the classroom and then had to get a few things ready at home. All the kids had their turkey masks on when the grandparents came in (as in picture above). Grandma said Miranda was the perfect hostess. She stayed right with Grandma, they read stories, played games and shared their grandparents. Then an hour later the parents and families were able to join them for a potluck lunch. So Lauren Jeremy and I went to meet her (Dani & Ben watched the rest of the crew THANKS SO MUCH for doing this while you are on vacation!!!). Here are a few pictures of the day. As always I made a treat and here are the pictures of my "Pilgrim Hats" made of fudge striped cookies topped with chocolate covered marshmallows. The buckle is piped in yellow frosting.

Just a Reminder...

FYI. Does life slow down?

A Day Trip

I love this time of year...and dislike it because we are so busy (yuk) doing fun things (yeah)! This past Saturday we went to Apple Hill with our friends the Cooks. They were experienced so we tagged along. We had lots of fun. I can't help but love chilly fall pictures. We visited High Hill Ranch, Fudge Factory Farm, and Kids Inc. Apple Hill is a plae where there are about 35 growers of produce, mostly apples of course but some wine and other fruits too. If you know us at all our favorite place that cost us the most money was the Fudge Factory Farm. Jeremy got what they called Bear Crunch, it is caramel corn and peanuts covered in chocolate. If you are lucky I might be able to duplicate it before Christmas. Anyways here is a little video of our day. We had blast, and are talking of making it a family tradition!

Lauren has two teeth!

Just a little note that our happy girl...
...has another tooth

Ratatouille

We bought the movie Ratatouille and decided to have a family movie night and watch it together. To keep with the chef theme I decided to cook omeletes. Then a friend suggested crepes. So we had omelets, fried potatoes and crepes. It was a fun evening. Here are a few pictures of our event.

Feeling Toothy?

After all these months of blaming teething for the runny nose, no longer sleeping through the night, fussy spells, constipation, diarrhea, clingy-ness, not wanting to nurse, only wanting to nurse and anything else that is unbecoming of an infant, Lauren's first tooth has broken through. Here is a picture so the untrained eye can see it too! It is her front right tooth for all recording purposes. Needless to say she is still a dream baby. She only woke up one time last night and is still smiling. Well as much as can be expected. (You can double click on the picture to make it bigger.)

One WICKED Trip.

OK I have waited to post this because I want it to represent the awesome-ness of the trip. We drove down with the intention of driving at our leisure. We stopped by the Jer's work and it turned out to be For Good! (Wink, wink) The drive went perfect. We got down to LA at about 7:00. All the kids were so glad to see each other. Especially the toothless duo, Miranda and Gwen. On Saturday we lounged around in the morning and then we took all the kids to see Bee Movie. Super cute. We came back and relaxed. Then Jeremy and I went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a first for Jer. The food was great but the company was better! We came home and got dressed up in a fancy clothes (not recommended on a full stomach!) Then headed to Hollywood to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater.

We had a great time. The cast was awesome. I am probably partial because I was in the audience, but in comparison I loved Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty. They did an amazing job, all notes on key, and the humor was great too. I can't say how good it was, it would never do it justice. I have been lucky enough to see a few musicals but this one takes the cake, I would see it again in a heartbeat! For those of you who have not seen it here are a couple performances here are a few of my favorite songs: Popular, Defying Gravity, and a short trailer to tell the basis for the story. Youtube has tons of clips mostly illegal copies... anyways, it was a fabulous trip. I would turn thirty again anyday to be treated this well....wait I am treated this good everyday! (That's for you Jer XOXO!)

Here is a little slideshow of our trip. (Note: Click pause on the music player on the right column towards the bottom)

Lauren's Blanket

We got home Monday from our trip to LA to see Wicked (A Wicked cool slide show will be posted soon!) and there was a large box on our porch. It was Lauren's blamket and bumper pad made by my mom. It is gorgeous. Here are a couple of pictures.

That was Wednesday this was Thursday!

Thursday we went to the Hannah Montana concert in Oakland. I think rumor has it some insane person spent over $1000 to see this concert. I kind of hoped they would call that person on stage so I can say you are CRAZY! Anyways it was fun. Miranda and I went with our super amazing friend Teri and her family. It was so fun watching Miranda dance and "rock out" to the music. I think she only hit her neighbor once while dancing. Here are two pictures taken from my cell phone.


You can't tell but that is the Jonas Brothers at the end of the catwalk.


This is the bus of Miley Cyrus in the background.

It was hilarious when we got home. Miranda ran in to her daddy and said: "Daddy I met Miley Cyrus." That alone was worth the price of a ticket. She was so thrilled. We are very blessed!