Christmas Day!!

Just thought I would post some pictures of Christmas. We had a wonderful day and because we stayed home we were able to start some new traditions. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and the turkey I cooked, actually turned out juicy and tender. Usually I am so paranoid about getting food poisoning, that I over cook my turkey. But this time when I craved it, it shredded, and to top it off I put a honey glaze with sauteed onions....Yummy.

This is Christmas eve!! They got to open new pajamas and a game :)

I love this Picture

I had to put this one in because we all know how much Justin loves Christmas. Don't they look so Happy :0

For parents gifts this year I thought it would be fun to pick up on old hobby and sculpt something for them. (I hope you guys don't mind that I am posting this. Chelsi I know you wanted to see them :)

These are my Parents. Aren't they so cute.

Justins Mom collects angels, so I did these of the kids. They don't have faces but I tried to give them something that could help identify who they are. Joel loves to draw, Syd love her stuffed animals and Bailee loves to dance.

Anyway my computer is being weird so that is all the pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Here is to a New Year, that I'm sure will be filled with many adventures!!!!

The Christmas Spirit

I am loving Christmas this year, but not because of the presents. For the first time (I know this sounds really sad) I have really felt "The Spirit "of Christmas. I am getting really emotional writing this, so please bare with me, and I am sorry if it doesn't make sense.

This year our family has been on an emotional roller coaster ride that never seems to end. Because of the difficulty of finding a full-time job and the diminishing hours of a current job, we have experienced a lot of hopelessness, doubt, anger and fear. We have wondered why, if we are doing everything we are supposed to, why aren't things working out. A lot of times we have felt that we were given the opposite of what we felt we wanted or needed. We have been in a a dark tunnel, with no light at the end of it.

But what I have come to realize through the challenges is, I may not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I know without a doubt that it is there. Sometimes we are left in the dark, so we will search for the light. This Christmas season I have found that light, and because of that light I have found that hope and peace that comes with it. Looking back, I see how blessed we have been. Through one source or another, we were always provided with the things we needed (usually by the government or family :) We have felt the love and strength from family and friends who have prayed and fasted in our behalf. I have come closer to my Savior, because I know that he has felt everything that I have this past year. When I have felt that things were unfair, I remembered that Christ, who was perfect, was not exempt from suffering and trials, and that his suffering went above and beyond my own. I have felt that when I cried, he was right there crying with me. At times when I have felt broken and without hope, he had his arms around me holding and keeping me together.

It is true that what the Lord takes away, he gives back a hundred fold. In my case, he took all the pain, sorrow and anger, and filled me with joy, peace and love. Our financial circumstances haven't changed, but I no longer feel that this is a challenge, but an opportunity to put my trust in the Savior, and feel of his love and power.

I am sorry I wasn't able to give out presents to people this year, but I wanted to offer my testimony as a gift instead. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!

Songs

I let Justin help me pick out some Christmas songs for my playlist. So the first two songs are the ones he picked out,(Dad I know that you will like these) The first one is actually really funny, make sure you listen to the whole song, and pay close attention to the guy talking about the lights. We both got some good laughs :)

Seriously!!!

Since living in Washington we have had a lot of wake up calls. We are no longer in the Mormon bubble of Rexburg and Utah. There are a lot of really good members here, but clearly not the majority like where we have lived previously. But I have to ask....

Who goes to the store in their bikini's?

Really, it is bad enough that we have to see it in the swimming pool, but walking around in the store. I don't care how hot it is outside, put some close on.

What happens when you take alcohol, a college female and a sheet?

A passed out girl on the grass by the side of the road in nothing but the bare essentials and a small sheet to cover her. That is a lovely site to have to see.

This is probably my favorite and the most recent, as of yesterday.

What happens when you have two young boys, and one big boy driving, who see not 1 but 2 females walking outside in nothing but snow boots and once again bikini's, in the middle of a snow storm?

A lot of honking from drivers passing by, probably males. But from inside of the car this is the reaction you get.

The younger boys "Eww, that is so gross!!!!" (good boys)

The bigger boy "They shouldn't be wearing bikini's"

Couldn't agree more!!!!

Maybe it's just me, but I think we have moved passed the "loin cloth" phase.

So for those girls, here's to clothes, use them, love them, but most importantly WEAR THEM!!!!

I understand now

When you are young, it is really hard to understand why your parents make the rules that they do. I remember saying,

"When I have children I'm not going to make them do that, I am going to let my kids do whatever they want." (Ha ha ha, yeah that's not going to happen.)

For example: Saturday morning cleaning. I dreaded it, I told myself I would never do that to my kids, but surprise, surprise every Saturday I have my kids help me deep clean.

Example #2 Early bedtime. I always complained about having to go to bed at 8:00, but now my kids go to bed at 7:00, sometimes earlier..... depending on the day.

Example #3 This is the rule I hated the most, 12:00 curfew on the weekends!!! Okay, so I don't have teenagers yet, so that rule is still pending. But the way Bailee is going, I may not let her out of the house on the weekends.

It is amazing how without even knowing it, we turn in to our parents!!!! Which is not a bad thing. I have wonderful parents and I am more than happy to follow in their footsteps, but it really makes me think twice about what I am doing as a mom. Because my kids will do as I do(or do the complete opposite if they are too traumatized :) It's kind of a lot of pressure when you think of all the generations you could be affecting.....yikes!!! If our kids don't turn out right, we can always blame our great-great-great.....grandparents....right!!! Just kidding.

I love my kiddos so much and I love being a mom. I don't think I say this very often, but they are really good kids, I am lucky to have them. My kids are my life, they are the reason I get up in the morning, and why I collapse at night.

So to Joel, Bailee and Sydney I love ya, and be patient with me, someday you will understand too!!

Catching up

Just thought I would catch up on some things:

First of all it snowed a couple of weeks ago and the kids were so excited. Bailee even sat at the window and watched the snow fall for 45 minutes without moving. So the next day we took the kids out and let them play in it,

I love these picture!!

For safety reasons Sydney is no longer allowed to wear her glasses when we go outside, I am a little paranoid now.

They tried sledding but it doesn't work very well with only 1/2inch of snow, oh well they had fun :)

Since Bailee had cut her own hair, I decided that now would be a good time to try a new hair style. I am kind of sad that her curls are gone but hopefully they will grow back. She loves it and I think it looks cute on her.

So for thanksgiving this year we went to Bosie and spent it with ALL of Justin's family, it was a lot of fun, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures except for these two. (So I will need copies from those of you who did take pictures :)

Joel, Madison and Annaliese


Bailee and Grandma


It is that time of year again. For family home evening we put up our Christmas tree the only problem is now the kids think it is Christmas and time to open presents.

I think this would have been a cool picture, but my camera wouldn't focus, oh well, you get the idea.

Can't you feel the love. I love this time of year!!

Bailee Update

• You know your daughter has watched too many romantic comedy's when you ask for a kiss and she closes her eyes and tilts her head...then starts moving her head back and forth.

• You know your daughter doesn't get out enough when you are at the store and she sees a dwarf, and she starts to laugh and point, saying "mom look at that, it's so funny".

• You know you need to hide the scissors when your daughter thinks that her hair would look better if only some of her hair was 2-3 inches shorter than the rest.

Life with Bailee has calmed down a lot, but life is never completely boring with her around :)

Winter Cleaning

So I've decided that I am boycotting spring cleaning and I'm going to do winter cleaning instead. It makes more sense to deep clean your house in the winter when you are stuck inside all day anyway, then when spring comes your house is clean and you can enjoy being outside.

Today I started with the floors, they have been driving me crazy for a long time. The kitchen floor has tiny little groves in each of the squares that is great at collecting all the dirt, a curse to whomever invented that. I have mopped and mopped and could not get them clean, so I decided to do things the old fashion way. On my hands and knees with a brush. I soaked a section of the floor with water and cleaner, let it sit, soak another section, go back to the first section and scrub....so on and so forth. I was in the cleaning zone. The zone where you just go and you don't stop until you are done, no matter how much your arm hurts or how tired you are. The zone where along the way you see other things that need to be cleaned so you clean it too. The zone that scares your husband where he questions your sanity, and he retreats to the bedroom. Oh yeah I was there, and I love it!!!

I'm embarrassed to show this picture but this is what my floor looked like before. Disgusting I know.

I did manage to recruit some help

Finally.... 2 hours later, Ta Da!!

So clean you could eat off of it. I had so much fun. I love taking something dirty or old and making it look clean and new. Tomorrow the work continues, I still need to do under the fridge, stove and in the bathroom. I can't wait, and yes for those who are wondering I am OCD when it comes to this stuff and I will be checking myself into a psychiatric hospital as soon as my house is clean.

Halloween Fun

We had a lot of fun for Halloween this year. But to be honest I'm kind of glad that it is over. Now we can all re-cooperate from the sugar overload. So here are some pictures of things we did for Halloween.

I made clay for the kids and let them mold it, then once it was dry the kids painted them. They had a lot of fun doing this.

Craving pumpkins

Bailee refused to put her hand in the pumpkin, she said it was too gross. That is a little weird coming from Bailee.

This is Justin's pumpkin, can you guess what it is?

A Decepticon symbol, He is so proud.

Bailee got to go to a pumpkin patch for school, and do a corn maze and pick pumpkins. She loved it.

Decorating cup cakes, it seemed like a good idea at the time....until the sugar kicked in :)

Bailee enjoying her bowl of frosting

The finished product

The costumes.....

A fairy, a tiger and of course Optimus Prime.

Here comes the Potty Train

I've decided that since I have so much time alone with Sydney, now would be a perfect time to potty train.

Time to get out the carpet cleaner and disinfectant. Time to spend most of my days watching Sydney for any sign of pushing, leading to frequent sprints to the bathroom, sometimes making it sometimes not. Spending a lot of time washing the extra loads of laundry and scrubbing the floor, only to put on clean dry socks but still end up stepping in something wet. Looking for and staying close to any bathrooms when going out into public but always bringing an extra set of clothes. Dealing with the excitement of sucsess and the disapointment of failure. But most of all looking forward to the day when I can go to the store and pass by the diaper section and leave the store with extra money in my pocket.

I really hope that day comes sooner rather than later. Wish me luck!!!

Odd Sensation

With what happened to Sydney I forgot to tell everyone that Bailee got into preschool!!! We were surprised when she got in because there was a waiting list of 40 kids, but because she has a "communication disorder" (aka needs speech therapy) and is considered as "special needs", they bumped her up the list :) She started on Monday and loves it. She is going to Head Start just like Joel did, she has the same teacher, rides the same bus with the same bus driver, we have the same family social worker and she goes the same time Joel did from 11:15-4:00. I'm having a serious case of dejavue. The only difference is she is happy to go and she runs to the bus where Joel I had to pick him up and put him on the bus crying. I'm so happy, everything is falling in to place.

I have to admit that I love only having one child during the day, but it feels so weird. Bailee has taken so much energy and time that I really didn't have time for anything else, but now that I only have Sydney I need a new hobby, any suggestions?

Anyways here is a picture of Bailee on her first day of school.

This was just a picture of the kids I thought was cute.

Dad and Sydney after she hurt her head

With the band aid on

and with it off, gross!!!

Darn Glasses!!!

So I need to blog because I am going crazy and need a distraction. Today we went for a walk and were almost home when Sydney tripped and hit her head on the cement, when I picked her up she had a deep gash in her head, so I ran her in to Justin, he looked at it and said it was deep enough for stitches. Because I don't do well with blood Justin took her to the Emergency Room (only because that is the only place that is open), that was over 4 hours ago. I've talked to him twice and the Doctors have not done anything yet!!! My baby is in the hospital with a gash in her head, bleeding, and the doctors are dealing with people with the Flu. I am so mad. If someone has the flu there isn't much you can do about it other than test for it and send them home, but you can treat someone who is bleeding. Okay now that I've done my little rant I'll continue.

Anyways they just got home and Sydney ended up with 7 stitches, and from what I hear from Justin he said that the hole was really deep. What happened was her glasses broke and jammed in her head causing the hole. Poor little girl. It is amazing though, she hardly cried after she hit her head, and Justin said the only time that she cried in the hospital was when they were giving her the numbing shots, she actually fell asleep while they were stitching her up. Kids are so resilient right now she is running around talking up a storm, and she is getting the bed ready for Justin and saying "Good night dad, lay down...... lay down now!!!"

Now that my baby is home and I know that she is safe I'm going to bed, but I'm glad that she is ok and that she did so well. On a funny note when Joel said his prayer he prayed that the doctors wouldn't cut off Sydneys head :)

Feeling Good

Today we did a 2.5 mile family fun run, as a part of the Community Hospitals wellness program through Justins work. Our wonderful friend let us borrow her jogging stroller, and let me tell you that made a huge difference, I am officially in love with these strollers. I would sell my van to get one.

We started at 10 am and at 10:21 Justin crossed the finish line in 1st place. That is awesome considering Justin has been having a lot of back pains and wasn't going to run, he got stuck in the crowd at the beginning and had a lot of ground to cover and he was pushing the stoller with the girls. I think that even he was a little suprised. But it was REALLY cold and I think that helped to motivate him :)

I stayed back with Joel, who ran the whole 2.5 miles. I couldn't believe it!!! We came in 7th place with a time of 30 minutes. He was the only one his age who ran it. But Joel also had a little motivation. We had a lady with a dog behind us the entire time, so Joel made sure that we stayed well ahead of it.

Here we are at the start of the run. Freezing, but in good spirits.

The girls enjoying their ride and their warmth.

This is Joel and I after we crossed the finished line.

I know that pride is a sin, but I am so proud of my boys, they did so awesome!!!

Praying for what you believe in

Prayers have been very entertaining at our house lately. Here are just a few things Bailee has said in different prayers lately.....and I am quoting:

"help me to go to dance class"
"mom and dad are not being nice to me"
"bless the boys" (should I be worried :) and
"joel licked my bum"

It goes on and on but these were some of my favorite.

And this is what Joel has prayed for lately

"Dear Heavenly Father please help that Bailee will go away, so she won't be part of our family anymore, so I can have a cat"

Can't you feel the love.

Not excatly prayer material, but I'm sure that Heavenly Father is getting as good as a laugh as we are.

Bring on Fall!

I love fall for many reasons, here are my top 5:

*The beautiful colors of the leaves, before they start to fall off the trees.

*It's finally time to pull out the warm sweats and slippers, and snuggle up on the couch with the hubby.

*Good-bye popcicles, hello homemade soup, hot homemade bread and of course hot chocolate, yumm!! Something to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

*The cold seems to calm Bailee down. I don't know why, but it happens. She will spend most of her time curled up on the couch under a blanket and when we go outside she doesn't run as fast :)

*And my all time favorite........it gets darker earlier, so I can move bedtime up and my kids don't notice. It is the only time of year I can really get away with it. This sounds bad, but I will put my kids to bed at 6:30 and they will sleep until 7-7:30 the next day.

Oh yeah, I'm lovin it.

Thank You, hiking and night terrors!!

First of all thank you to everybody who left a comment on my last post. It really helped make up my mind on what I should do. So after talking to Justin we decided that we would try and put her into the Head Start program, see how she does and if she hasn't improved with her running off and locking herself in places then we will hold her back from Kindergarten and do another year of preschool. It seems like such an easy answer but for some reason I was having a really hard time coming to that conclusion, so THANK YOU!!

But I also need some more advice. Sydney has been having a lot of night terrors lately. She wakes anywhere from 2-5 times every night screaming bloody murder. She has stopped taking naps during the day so I don't know if that is making her overly tired and that is why she is waking up. It is getting very exhausting, but the nice thing is she only wants Dad to help her, lucky for me, not so lucky for Justin. So if anyone has any pointers that would be great. (Maybe I should just turn this into my I need help blog :)


On the bright side, this weekend instead of doing our usual deep cleaning of the house, we listened to our kids pleas to go to the mountains and decided to go hiking instead and I am so glad that we did. We hiked the Manastash Ridge again, and I am so proud of my kids, they did awesome!!! Instead of doing the same route we did before, we found a different route that was longer but more of a gradual uphill climb with shade. Let me tell you it was soooo much better. I think the distance was about 6 miles round trip and it took us 2 hours to climb up and 1 hour to get back down. Not too bad considering both Justin and I were sick with colds and Sydney had to stop and look at everything. But the kids were able to sign their names in the book at the top, rest for a little bit and recieve a nice sugary treat to re-energize them get back down. It was really nice. I love hiking with my family, there is just something about being in the mountains and exercising that is very theraputic for our family. Someday I hope that Justin and I will be able to do a 4 day hiking trip by ourselves, I think that would be so much fun.

Dilemma!!!

So I need some advice. I can't decide if I should put Bailee in preschool. Next year she will make the cut off for Kindergarten but she will be the youngest in her class, and I'm not sure if she is ready. So here are my options and please feel free to give me your opinions.

Option #1 Put her in Head Start , which will be 4 days a week for 5-6 hours, that includes riding the bus. This is the same preschool that Joel went to and it wasn't all that great. But it is free and the only thing we can afford. But she will be able to socialize and it will hopefully get her ready for kindergarten and she will learn she can't run off........hopefully.

Option #2 Find a twice a week Preschool for about 3 hours a day, and get the socialization and
discipline she needs, but take out a loan so we can pay for it.

Option #3 Teach her stuff at home, keep her in dance, arrange playdates and hope that in a year she would have matured and is out of the running off hiding phase. Put her in kindergarten next year, warn the teachers, ask the school to barracade any openings in the playground with security guards infront of them, have the teacher install a lock at the top of the door with a security alarm to go off every time the door is opened, and assign someone to follow her everywhere she goes ,especially to the bathrooms. Then sit at home and wait for any phone calls informing me that my daughter is missing.

Option#4 Home school her for the rest of her life. (not a big fan of this idea so don't even think about voting for this one)

Option#5 Hold her back from kindergarten and put her in preschool next year and hope that an extra year of maturing will help her to be ready for school.

I am so confused, please help!!!

Utah and The first day of School!!

Here is Bailee in all of her glory. What's not to love......right :)

Bailee enjoying some mama time while Joel is at school

Here is the handsome boy on his first day of First Grade!!!!

Here are our pictures from our trip to Utah. A much needed break and a week full of fun and lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa. We did a lot of swimming and the kids were able to play outside almost none stop, which was wonderful. We went to temple square, had picnics, made jam and salsa, went bowling, played games and just enjoyed being with family..It was so nice and really hard to leave. Bailee of course had to meet the neighboors and tour their houses, it wouldn't be a trip unless she did this. But here she is with her new talent of playing the guitar and singing words that no one can understand.

This is how I like to picture my children. We made sure they didn't have any energy left in them for bedtime.

Playing at Willard Bay

Sydney was giving some love to her adorable cousin, but I could never get the picture when she was giving her a kiss.

Not the best picture, but we are alone, I think the kids were off with grandma and grandpa somewhere. Ha ha:)

Justin took this picture at temple square, pretty good.

Bailee showing how much fun she had!!!

Water fun!!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Blue and Amber for all of the fun , we miss you guys and we Love you!!!