Happy New Years Eve!

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL New Years Eve celebration tonight!

Even on Christmas!

Yes, Even on Christmas, when mom says "Smile Missy" it REALLY means ... "Make the most atrocious face humanly possible on that sweet little noggin of yours"

G and Gpa J having fun on Christmas

Yes, I am planning on putting up Christmas pictures...

It might be news years by the time I do, but I do PLAN on putting some up...just as soon as I find the darned cords to hook up the cameras to the computer again!

And NOW for the cleanup!

Some years it feels like I just BARELY get the Christmas decorations up and then it time to take them down again! Out come the boxes and the jigsaw like issue o getting them all to fit in the place that they somehow came out of!
And because it has been a couple of day since the toy fairy PUKED all over my house I guess it is time to start finding places for all of the now homeless toys and presents that call our house home so that said toys can be found when wanted by certain little fingers that can't find anything unless it is in it's rightful place.
Hmmm... maybe this could be a New Years Resolution? LOL

Cute Girl and Silly Boy

Just a couple of pictures :)

Silly faces

My Family

As the kids are getting ready for Scriptures and Family Prayer Little Li is in a good mood (usually he is grumpy by that time of night) and they had some fun making him laugh.

Political or Business?

Do you think that the statement "This is America, Speak English when ordering." in an eating establishment is racist or is it only about language?

Do you think it's worth sueing over?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316939,00.html

Pictures with the Man in Red

Missy My was really acred of Santa this year. Hence only one picture. I finally had to break it to her that "Santa" was Gpa S pretending to be santa. At that point she recognized his voice and wasn't scared anymore. The last picture is of "Gpa Santa" and cousin Little J.

So what do/did YOU say about the big man in red?

Is playing along with the worlds fascination with Santa Claus a lie? or is it a magical story that should be perpetuated because it brings magic to the season?

I think I like this way of explaining the whole "Santa Claus" phenomenon. I stole it from another blogger that I happened to stumble upon.

“When the kids were little I told them about the real St Nicholas: how he was a generous man who loved God, how he often gave gifts anonymously but somehow was found out, how over time “St. Nicholas” evolved into “Santa Clause,” and how to this day when someone leaves a gift anonymously at Christmas time they say they’re “being Santa Clause”.” She also goes on to explain to her children that most people like to pretend that Santa is still living today. Hence the Santa's at the mall etc.

If nothing more, it's an intriguing idea on how not to ruin the fun of christmas for little kids while still being completely honest about the whole "Santa" thing. It also helps bring in the possibility of having your children "be Santa" to each other on Christmas.

We need to decide soon how we are going to explain all of this and this is an option that may end up being part of the Christmas Eve celebration. Holiday Story... Story of St. Nicholas... Story of the Saviors Birth.

Her blog is http://laughter4daystocome.blogspot.com/ she addresses this topic in her Dec 7th blog.

Mom's Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor has, and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,Mom

4 mth Well Child

Today Little Li had his 4 mnth well baby check. He's pretty preportionate at the 20% mark all the way around and the Doctor is no longer concerned about his neck muscles. yay! He's a healthy happy kiddo.

13lbs 12oz, 24 1/2 inches, and his head is 16 1/4 inches. :)

SNOW!

Yesterday we got dumped on, so hopefully we have a WHITE Christmas! Either way the kids had a blast in it... I don't know how they stayed warm enough to stay outside for over 45 minutes, but they did somehow! :)

Family Pictures

So yesterday we had family pictures taken! Here is the one of our individual family, the one below is the S side of the family.

Speach on the role of religion in politics.

Can I say that I'm truely thankful that Mitt Romney did not go into what "Mormons" believe in his speach? If people truely want to know, it is easy to find out. All they have to do is ask a leader of their local ward/branch... or better yet, Got to the wesite! That way they will know they got it right from the source and got it right rather than getting a warped view of our beliefs.

Here is a link to his speach, I thought he did well... then again. I am a big supporter of people who don't shy away from there positions just because the wind of opinion blows the other way.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315486,00.html you can also watch the video of the speach there if you want.

Oh, and for those of you that don't know the official website for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's http://www.lds.org/

Ultimate Bravery From a 7 yr Old

This little girl jumped between her mom and her nutso boyfriend who was shooting at her. And SHE survived. Though it shows how evil people can be, it also shows the bravery needed to combat it.

Here is the link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315245,00.html

Up Late or to Bed Early?

Ok, so I'm in a conundrum.

I'm currently going to bed WAY too late. As in midnight to 1am. I know that I need to get to bed earlier for my mental health, but know also that my sanity is reliant on finding time to do things that I enjoy without having to juggle a 4mth old (or at times a 4mth old AND a 2 yr old) while doing it. For some reason trying to balance kids on my lap while reading seems to take away from the overall relaxation factor!

So I ask you... where is the happy medium? Am I nuts? But for some reason I find sleeping to be overrated when I go to sleep early and still wake up tired in the morning :) Any good fixes for getting enough sleep and a good amount of "me time" without spending a fortune on babysitters or wearing out the family "benefits"?

My Boys

Out of the blue G asks if I will take a picture of him a Li. Aren't they cute!? Of course, I'm Not bias AT ALL! lol

FRIDAY!!!!

So nice. weekends are my one chance to actually get a NAP! Must. Have. Sleep.

Spidey

Apparenty he is the newest member of our family. "I'm NOT G, I'm Spiderman." is a current statement often heard at our home. That and "I'm NOT Pretending." soooo... I thought I might introduce him to the rest of you. LOL

PS... soon I'm going to end up with both movies memorized against my will!!!

Private Blog Coming Soon?

KK. so since nobody has responded (Save my hubby) to the post to get opinions on setting the blog to private I shall assume that everyone is indifferent! You all don't really care one way or another. If this is not the case please let me know ASAP. I will be setting the blog to private this Saturday if I get no objections.

Opinions on setting blog to private.

For concerns about internet safety I'm seriously considering setting this blogg to private. All it would mean is that you would have to be approved by me to view it and would have to sign in. Would this cause problems for anyone???

Happy Thanksgiving

Thankful for:

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought I might list some of the things I'm truely greatful for.

-That I have parents, who I know truely love myself, my sisters, and our children.
-The fact that the guy I really liked in highschool never took notice of me, because I might have missed out on the truely amazing marriage to a really wonderful man.
-That my In-Laws not only love my husband and children...they seam to really count me as one of their own as well.
-That my children can yell and scream and even fight with one another, because they are healthy and have the ability to do so.
-That I have a home that is in a safe neighborhood, that I don't worry about taking walks in.
-That I have neighbors that I can call if I need anything, be it a babysitter or 1/4 cup of sugar.
-That I have a car that is reliable and can fit my whole family... even if it is getting tight :)
-That the few close friends I have are down to earth and worry about me when they can't get a hold of me after a few days.
-That I wouldn't feel weird calling my friends and neighbors for no reason at all, just because I needed an adult to talk to.
-That my children have friends.
-That G and Missy My are such good friends and really adore their little brother.
-That my marriage is stable and loving and that I have never had reason to regret marrying the man I did.
-That my life is not a soap opera like so many people I see around me.
-That I have the opportunity to stay at home with my children, raising them how Jer and I see fit.
-That I can still kiss a ouchie better sometimes
-That I have a backyard, for those times when my nerves are shot.
-That sometimes money is tight, so I can recongnize how blessed I am in the comforts of this world.
-That there is always someone better than I am, so I have something to aspire to.
-That there is always someone worse than I am, so I don't beat up on myself to much.
-That somehow things always work out for the best even when I don't see how they can when I'm in the middle of them.
And so much more...

Little Li Laughing

Your taking FOREEEVER

Apparently this is how long my children think it takes for me to get ready to leave the house. After 5 minutes of waiting for mom to finish feeding Little Li they both decided it was time for a nap.... on the STAIRS of all places.

Fingernail Polish and Bandaids

Poor kid! G is just having a bad day!!!

First preschool and not bringing anything for show and tell (nobody told me!), then Gma S paints Missy My's fingernails and G wants his done too (hope dad doesn't think much of it)... then he shuts his thumb in the car door!! ouch. thank goodness it is only going to be bruised.

Preschool

Today G didn't want to go to preschool. He hasn't wanted to go the last few times, but I make him go anyways. I don't want him to think it's ok to ditch just because you don't want to go to school. But then again, I don't want him to hate it because I make him go either! When I go to pick him up he seams to have enjoyed being there... I think maybe he thinks he is missing something fun at home.... the thing is that he isn't, and I've told him as much. I just hope that this isn't the start of disliking school before he has even offically gotten into school!!!

Thursdays

You know... I've decided I like Thursdays. They don't enough credit. Friday and Saturday always get the glory it seams. But Thursday isn't so bad! Yeah, it's not the last day of work for the week, but it is on the downhill side! And it's a day that you don't have to rush around preparing for the weekend quite yet... if your weekend involves anything big. Everything isn't demanding my time on Thursday. Mondays Are crazy and I understand why people dislike them. Tuesdays are still too early in the week to be too excited about. Wednesdays seam to me to be the days of craziness around here... with preschool, volleyball, naptime, Jer's scouts, and errands that need to be run. But Thursdays. Oh Thursdays, seam to be the day to catch up with things I haven't gotten done or relax if I have kept on top of things. And hey! tomorrow IS Friday... right??

The World We Live In

I did some research and i have decided that this is most likely a REAL story. What a shame.
Thanks Steph for making me aware of it, I think it is worth posting for all the moms I know. If you click on the title of todays post it will take you right to the news link for this story (it includes a video of the news report), if not, just click on the link at the bottom.

"I recieved this as a forward. It is a sad reminder to all of us. Our children are our greatest gift and we must protect them. Please be careful!!

**If you click on the link at the bottom for the full newstory you canverify that this is legitimate**

I know that it is very common that the Relief Society, Primary,Young Womens, Bishopric, Elders Quorum, etc. meet at the ward during the week for Church business. Due to busy family lives and schedules, it is standard practice to bring kids. Rightfully so, members of theChurch should feel secure in the ward buildings.
Unfortunately, in Laurel MD last week a predator who appears to be familiar with the LDS Church and the tendency to leave children unattended in the building while parents attend to Church business, sexually assaulted 4 children in the ward building on a week night, while parents were only several feet away behind closed doors having a >leadership meeting. The predator went so far as to actually remove the youngest child from the building, but she was recovered alone several hours later. Subject is still unidentified. Laurel, MD is a decent part of town not too much unlike Cypress. If you haven't received notice of this from Salt Lake yet, the ward leaders need to be alert so that they can take necessary precautions, i.e . lock doors, leave kids home, or bring an adolescent sitter (note that one of the victims was as old as 12). I hate sending this, as it is such a sad reflection of the times in which we live. "

http://www.nbc4.com/news/14424638/detail.html?rss=dc&psp=news

Procrastinating

Am I a pro or what? LOL instead of cleaning or preparing something for Family Home Evening, I decided to play with the kids and the camcorder! Oh the joys of little kids and the fasination of seeing themselves on the screen.

Iraq

In our Ward I help out with Activity Days. Basically this is an after school group for girls age 8-12 (though we only have the 8-10 year olds... there are too many girls in our ward to only have one group!). We have about 14 girls total though we usually end up with about 10-12 that show up! Needless to say...my new Codirector got a baptism by fire when I had to run and pick up one of the girls and she ended up with 10 hyper girls all to herself for a few. LOL Sorry Heather!!

Anyways, because Veterans Day is coming up I envited a dad of one of our girls to come talk to them about the military. This particular dad served in the National Guard in Iraq for 2 years. I have to say I think I enjoyed this more than the girls did! But I think by the time we were through they understood that they should be thankful for all of the blessings they have due to where they live in the world. And thankful for the military that continues to fight for those freedoms today.

Afterword I talked to our guest for a while asking more "Adult" questions that I don't think the girls would have understood, or would have been more graphic than they needed to hear in their young lives. So not everything in this post reflects what the girls learned :) I thought that I would list some interesting tidbits about Iraq that some of you may be unaware of.

1. An average Iraqi day is about 150 degrees F. And their nights run about 115 degrees F. WOW talk about hot...and to think that they haven't even heard about Air Conditioning!!! Yowsa!

2. Our military me and women end up carrying over 40 extra pound of gear around in this heat!

3. Iraq grows loads of watermelon but they have sanctions so they are not allowed to export them.

4. Our military is not allowed to interfere with their police or political people. They are only there to make sure that the Iraqi government has a chance to survive.

5. Terrorists come in from all of the surrounding countries. This includes our Ally Turkey.

6. Turkey pays for some of the most deadly Assisins in Iraq.

7. The Kurds love our military and do all they can to help them.

8. The Kurds have there own military outside of the Iraqi military and have had since before Sadam Hussien. They use their military to police there own land making our militarys job in there reagion easier.

9.The Kurds are not Iraqi. They are Gypsies.

10. Our military does not go near Oil Fields. The only time they have gone anywere near them was to protect the oil lines going out of them from getting bombed.

11. Though our military has had over 800 casualties this last year usually this in not put into perspective. California has over 200 a year and they aren't in a war zone.

12. Iraqis live in mud huts with dirt floors. They do have some "modern" buildings but are afraid to live in them because crooked politicians and police make people that live in them "disappear".

13. the serviceman that I talked to believes that Fox News is the channel that gets the most information correct and has the most reporters in Iraq, though they do mess up as well. He detests MSNBC because they assume our servicemen are evil and try to find the worst information possible to report. He said that he had some of their reporters ask him "how many babies have you killed today?" He was disgusted but still fought to protect them when they were in harms way.

ok, so that is all I can think of at the moment. I just found it enlightening to actually get first hand information from someone who has been to Iraq and doesn't have an agenda as far as the information he shares with me. I personally no longer trust the media (call me paranoid!). So I love it when I'm able to talk to someone who knows first hand. Wish I had more oporunities like this one.

Playing

So yesterday I went and attempted to play volleyball with some ladies from church. I had loads of fun... but BOY AM I SORE TODAY!!! I haven't played since highschool and now my body is mad at me! I won't be taking that long of a break again!

On The Market

So, we put out house on the market yesterday. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the house clean enough to show 24/7! Hopefully this will be our last move for a while. I told Jer when we first started building houses to sell after 2 years, that as soon as our children were in school I would be dead sent against moving any more. Next fall G will be in Kindergarten so hopefully we won't have to move again for some time after this move.

I'll be sad to leave our wonderful neighbors and ward. The people that have surrounded us during our time here have been absolutely wonderful! I hope to be able to keep in contact with many of them after we have left this house, we most certainly are not leaving the city, hopefully the change of neighborhoods isn't too much of a challenge. I'm hopeful that the next neighborhood and ward might be able to hold a candle to this one. I have never been in a more friendly, accepting, and giving neighborhood in my life. This includes the one I grew up in.

This being the case people may wonder why we are selling. Well, our finances and other life situations are leading us down this road. I think that if it were ment to be Heavenly Father would certainly let us stay. But I don't think that this is the case. I guess you never know what may happen... He knows what is best.

Little Li's Blessing

Yesterday at church Jer blessed Little Li. In our religion this means giving the baby a name on the records of the church and in life and pronouncing a blessing on them to help them throughout their lives. We do not believe in baptizing infants and wait until the child is old enough to know right from wrong (age 8) before we give them the choice of if they want to be baptised or not.

The little blanket and jacket that he is wearing are the same ones that I was blessed in by my great grandfather as an infant. Both of Li's siblings and most of his cousins on my side of the family were also blessed in the same outfit.

Great Grandma drops by!

Gr8 Gma K dropped by today with Gma J! This is the first time Gr8 Gma got to meet Little Li. :) She came in from UT to visit for the weekend with her best friend. It was so great to see them and have a chance to visit!

Clean Kitchen

So we actually got the house to a point where I feel like it's CLEAN! So I had to take a picture... to remind myself that sometimes it does happen!

Halloween Costumes

Happy Halloween!

I was going to do Missy My as Mary Jane from spiderman... but getting her hair red seamed like too much work :) Big G is Venom though...

Ok, so I couldn't find Little Li's pumkin outfit. Oh well.... I will find it someday when I really don't need it! LOL

The little boys

Don't you think they look like buds already? Cousins... what can you say? :)

Cute Hair

So I actually took the time this morning to do Missy My's hair cute. She stayed still for it too! Horay! I love it when she looks like someone loves her! LOL ... Needless to say I'm proud of myself... and think my kids are way cute... so here are some pictures!

I really did tell Missy to smile.... instead she gave me a stern look. LOL




G wanted his picture taken too!

A Little Spooked

So, this morning at about 3 am I woke up with a killer pain my my side. For those of you that know me well, you know my pain tolerancy is high... well about the time I decided to take 800 mg of Ibuprofen (about 5am), Jeremy got a little spooked decided to take me to the ER. I was worried I was being a major wuss and that it would be gas or something. Before I went my In-Laws came over to be with the kids and Jer and Gpa S gave me a blessing... it was really nice. Told me the pain would go away, but just in case I needed to go to the ER to get it to go away we still went. Well, by the time the bloodwork and that was done the pain had pretty much gone away on it's own. Yay... no appendicitis for me!

Turns out they think it was a kidney stone... OUCH. Never had that before. Hurt like a booger, but I was greatful to get home in time to get to church because G had his first primary program today. I was really glad I didn't miss it.

On the way up to the front of the church with the rest of the kids he decided he needed help... so what did he do you ask? He said "I need help" ... reasonable right? well, he said it right into the microphone. LOL At least the kid isn't afraid to be up there or to ask for help!

Eww

Ok. So the pumpkins got moldy! EWWW. They grew long stringy black hair on the inside... NO WAY am I going to try to light them! ... I may have to take a trip to get new ones :P Yuck.

Something for mom too :)

Today I went shopping. Not grocery shopping (that was last night), not miscellanious crap for the house shopping, but CLOTHES shopping. Granded I only had enough extra moola to buy one outfit and some new jeans... and some new snow boots... but it was something for ME for a change! And I didn't even have to take the kids along. Halleluja!

Jeremy cleaned up the garage this morning and G went to Gma S's house to help her make cookies. We ran a few errands then Lissa called an asked if I wanted to check out the new Lane Bryant store.... Um, YES. So off I went leaving the sleeping younger kidlets with Jer while I got to giggle and laugh with a friend who doesn't make me feel like a sumo wrestler while we try on clothing :) There is no better way to spend some girl time than to wander around doing only what I want to do, not nessassarily only what I need to do.

When I came home and tried on my new shirt for Jer, G walked in and asked what I was wearing. LOL. umm.. new clothes. You would think the kid had never seen mom by new stuff for herself! So I told him that sometimes mom and dad need new stuff too. Granted I did pick up some long sleeves shirts for missy while I was out... but that doesn't count does it? :D

We all need a break sometimes.

So Wednesday was a nightmare... No kidding Big G and Missy My were fighting NONSTOP all freakin day! I would attempt to get something done and no kidding 5 seconds after I got to the top of the stairs Missy would start screaming bloody murder and G would start yelling at her to stop.... which only proved to make the issue worse. On top of this Li wouldn't let me put him down for more than 2 min without squaking about it. SIGH.

Yesterday was MUCH better. I think the fact that I had to go visiting teaching and left them with Gma S then after that had to go do Activity Days and arranged for them to go next door for a little while (many thanks Tandee!!) really helped. They seamed like different children last night... they played so well together and gave mom a few minutes to read a book in peace! Amazing! I usually have to wait till after they go to bed to really read and get anything out of it. I need to remember on those days when they are being demons that sometimes it's not just ME that needs a break!

I just have to remind myself on those hard days that even though I may not like my children at times... or some days even. I really do love them and enjoy them more often than not. Things like this make it all worth it!

G dressing up Missy and her letting him. WITHOUT fighting about it! And of course Li smiling...makes the frazzled nerves and diaper changing worth it when they get along and are happy!

Jack-O-Lanterns

So these are the kids pumpkins that we carved last night. Big G's is the big one and Missy My's is the little one. To make the pumkins truely be theirs I drew a bunch of different eyes, noses, and mouths and had them each pick the ones they wanted.

Manic Monday!

Yesterday I promised Gavin that if he kept his undies dry I would make sure he got a chance to ride his bike today... thank goodness the weather was alright!

Check out the snow on the mountains! It won't be long till we have it down here too, I'm sure. Hopefully halloweeen won't be too cold (I'm totally crossing my fingers on this since most years it snows on halloween or at least we have some snow already on the ground by the time the little ones brave the weather in their quests for sugar highs).

After spending some time making their noses runny (It was a little chilly) I decided it was time to go visit Gma J... so off we went to Grandma's house. She is so good with them! For some odd reason the kids wanted her to read them a book under a blanket, it must have had something to do with the glow sticks that she gave them in a bag for halloween. Both Big G and Missy My had a glow stick glowing by the time we left for home :)

On the way home Missy My fell asleep in the car so into bed she went for a nap while Big G and I prepared the pumpkins for demolition during Family Home Evening tonight. Jer hates the slimy stuff so I'm sure he will be glad he missed it!

Needless to say... today has been a bit of a crazy day. If nothing else was accomplished today at least the kids had fun!