Have Yourselves.....

A Grumpy Little Christmas

The Croup and a Tired Mommy...

My title says it all. 2:30 a.m. Cries of mommy...mommy... followed by seal barking. Interestingly enough, it was Daddy who went. I knew it was bad because my husband brought her to bed with us. He is the one who never lets them in the bed.
Joy was wheezing and coughing. The doctor told me it was croup and that it's going around. I'm off to find my humidifier and then take a nap.

Hmmmm....What to Blog...

I just can't decide what to blog about our Thanksgiving this year.
I could do a full blog on Joy's different hairstyles, courtesy of her favorite aunt.
I could blog about 25 people sleeping in my house and where they all fit.

I could devote an entire blog to pies. 6 pumpkin, 2 lemon meringue, a banana cream, coconut cream, chocolate peanut butter banana, chocolate cream, a delicious apricot and huckleberry cheesecake. Aunt Lecia also brought her famous chocolate chip cookies, one batch of Andes Mint. We cooked a 22 lb turkey, 2 turkey breasts and 2 smoked turkeys. We made enough mashed potatoes to feed an army. (Who are we kidding? 35 people is an army.)

I could blog (or brag) about beating Matt at Settlers and Rook.
One of the highlights of the weekend was sitting around the piano singing through a bunch of music. I asked everybody to sing in church as payment for the free stay.
I could blog about my cute neices and nephews. Joy woke every morning and called out, "Calef! Calef!" and she called all the babies Layla.
I could blog about the guys going to the BYU game.
I could blog about how my in-laws (to show how much they love me) short-sheeted my bed and how Uncle Mark left his nose-picking mug as the wallpaper on my cellphone.
I guess I'll just blog that we had a blast. It was great to be together and I'm glad I married you all 12 1/4 years ago.

When the Family Gets Together...

So it's been weeks. Several. Since we had family night. A combo of Monday Night soccer games and play practice. We kept saying we'd do it Sunday night instead. We didn't. So tonight was a new beginning. #2 gave a lesson on using kind words--Don't say stupid or butt cuz those are bad words but you can say but without the last t.

#1 made BYU blue mint brownies.


The boy picked the game--TAG! We had several crashes and a few kids crying by the end.

We had a discussion on how we can help the walls stay marker free. Every time Mom picks up a writing utensil off the floor, everyone in the house has to pay her a dime. I'm going to be rich!......Sonic here I come!

Hair Hooray!

We crossed an important milestone today. Joy's bangs are finally long enough to pull back into two ponytails. Look how cute she looks.


She would not smile and say cheese. She thought she was so tricky when she ran away!

I dedicate this post to Joy's favorite aunt who loves to do her hair. (She's having a boy!)

Here's the post-nap pictures. The ponytails made it. (sort of)

It's Magic!

I admit I'm in love. It is the reason that my youngest is not up for adoption. It is the reason that my second oldest, the budding artist, doesn't have to be shipped off to boarding school. It is because of #2 that I can't just throw away all writing utensils in the whole house. Praise the man that invented the Magic Eraser.




I recently received an email about the dangers of magic erasers. Apparantly some lady scrubbed marker off her child with one and he got all these chemical burns. Don't worry about me. Joy always looks like this.....
















































But at least my walls are clean!

Witch Hunt

We have an annual tradition of going to see the witches at Gardner Village. This year we saw a new favorite.
Witchy Poo

Hey Jackson, Maybe these ladies should have played for your Rockies...


Joy was so excited to see the ducks.


My personal favorite.

I'd do just about anything for chocolate...

Such a Joy!

Here's the pictures from the big day.
The kids wanted to show off their Dora hats.

She figured out that she was supposed to blow.
She got this dolly and she wouldn't let go. She's trying to get it in the basket of her new bike.
I cannot believe my baby is two and there's not one in the oven.

Dora the Grouch

Recently, I was inspired by Mel's Elmo and Mer's Purse so I decided to take on the challenge of creating Dora for Joy's birthday. It looked so easy. Let's just say she looks like Oscar the Grouch. I am so cursing the Mexican skin color right now. I decided to let it be and not redo but she is sort of green. At the last minute I decided to add a touch of black to the frosting so she wouldn't be orange. BAD IDEA!

Conference Traditions

When we lived in California, we used to gather at Uncle Roger's house at conference time . He had the BYU channel on his satellite. It was a two day feast (spiritual and physical). I always looked forward to smoked tri-tip, jello, slush, marshmallow brownies, strawberry crepes and Susan's quiche is a MUST. I always made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We watched all the sessions. We talked about our favorite talks. It was a time of bonding: friends and family getting together to share. So now that we're missing them, (but we'll see them next week-Hooray!) I thought about our new traditions.

I still made cinnamon rolls (with help).





I made a quiche that wasn't nearly as good as Susan's.

We got to eat turkey dinner at my parent's house with Grandpa and Grandma visiting.
You know it felt the same, yet different. It was still conference. We were with people we love. We ate food that was delish.
We feasted spiritually. My cup is full once again.

Crazy about Canning

I just couldn't help myself.

Is it because my mom did it?

Is it because of my wonderful memories with my Logan aunts? (I'll never forget where I was when I heard the Proclamation during the General R.S. broadcast. At Aunt Janette's after canning all day.)

Is it just in me? Actually maybe I'm just crazy! There's just something about the Pop. (Aunt Michelle used to cheer everytime we heard a pop. I now do it too.)
60 pounds of grapes...



42 quarts of Grape Juice...



(Canning grape juice brought back a memory from when we lived in Logan. I dumped the seeds, skins and pits or the pulp out the side of our house in a little flower bed area. The next day we looked at the side of our neighbor's house and it was covered in purple bird poop. I guess the birds really like grape pulp.)

Now some of you may ask, "What was Joy doing while you canned?" This is why I usually can at midnight.

Playing in the sugar....


Cleaning the bathtub with a bottle of shower gel...



And wearing the same clothes as yesterday, after sleeping in them. (I did change her diaper though.) And Julianne, Yes her hair was in her face all day as I didn't put it in a hair doolie.

Now if only the kitchen cleaned itself. I'm off to watch The Biggest Loser while eating a big bowl of ice cream.

I love fall...

It was one of the things I missed when I lived away. I love the leaves changing. I love jacket weather. I love baking pumpkin everything. These are delish. So are these. I love the return of my shows. (Any JAM {Jim and Pam} fans? Hooray for the office!)

or I could just keep posting Joy's messes.....



We grew this watermelon in our garden!


I actually found her holding the knife but I grabbed it away instead of running for my camera.(I know some of you think I'm not a responsible parent but there's proof!)

Never...

Leave the peanut butter out!



On the way home from the soccer game, (#3 scored a goal, Hooray!) I got a call from #1 who had generously offered to stay home with Joy. It was freezing so I thought this was a great idea. "Mom, I'm soooooooooo sorry. I wasn't really watching her. (I'm thinking, what, did she get hurt? Is she okay?) You know those loaves of pumpkin bread you made for your visiting teaching people..." Curses!