My beautiful little Miss A was asked to sing the National Anthem for our ward 4th of July breakfast. She was pretty nervous and has one or two little flat spots. Of course, as is usually the case, she did it nearly perfect in the rehearsal. But overall I think she did really well. I wish the video was focused, but what can I do? The husband had control of the phone. If you want something done right, you’ve gotta do it yourself! ;)
Happy 4th of July!!
What a fabulous holiday Mother’s Day is. I love it!
Father’s Day isn’t nearly as much fun.
It could be the fact that I love having an excuse to sleep in, have breakfast made for me, receive adorable homemade gifts from my kiddos, and not having to change any poopy diapers (pass if off to Dad!).
All of which happened.
The kids and Anthony woke up early to make breakfast for both myself and my mom. Dinner was taking place at Anthony’s mom’s house so my mom got breakfast. Pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, chocolate milk, and real maple syrup!
We didn’t make it to Sacrament Meeting at church due to breakfast running a little longer than we thought but we weren’t worried. The girls were sure the primary wasn’t singing. They hadn’t practiced anything.
They sang… and we missed it. Since my kids are pretty much half the primary there were very few kids to sing.
UGH! The girls and I were ready on time, too! I should have left with them and let Anthony deal with the boys. I love seeing them up there on the stand singing. C still refuses to do it. But he’s still very willing to bear his testimony on fast Sundays. Go figure.
It was a great day! I got some sweet cards from the girls, H gave me a Kit Kat, a flower made out of handprints from C, a bookmark from K, and some fun banners from all the kids. Those were for my Mom also.
It was a really great day! Next up… Father’s Day. That’s the day I get all the poopy diapers.
But I choose not to think about that.
And this is what Baby Munch gave me… an adorable picture of himself. Oh how I love that baby boy!
**Most of the pics in this post are unedited due to… well, I have a baby. I think that about sums it up ;) Oh, and don’t judge the pics too harshly. I used flash in many of them (big no no, I am well aware) but the lighting in my house SUCKS (excuse the French) and I knew Christmas Eve and Christmas would be filled with excitement and lots of movement which would result in blurry pics without Auto Mode. Thank goodness for Auto Mode!
Some blogger I am, eh? Sheesh!! It’s been on my mind for weeks now but I just couldn’t seem to pull it together enough to get it done.
So, here I am… weeks later. 2013 is my year! I feel it!!
Christmas around these here parts was wonderful. I hope you had a great one, too. It’s probably too late to blogging Christmas but I figure I’ve only missed ‘the window’ by a couple of days. Let’s just pretend I got an extension.
Our December didn’t quite turn out the way had planned. There was talk of going downtown to see the lights at Temple Square, seeing the candy window displays at Macy’s (which I was quite excited about), building gingerbread houses (or graham cracker houses, same diff), driving around to see fancy lit houses and oh so much more. None of it happened.
But let’s not dwell on the things that might have been. We did have a pretty great holiday season even if we couldn’t jam everything into our busy schedule.
To start us off, our ward held the annual Christmas party early in the month in hopes to get more people to attend. I think it worked! And wouldn’t you know it, Santa was there! It probably wasn’t the best move on the part of the planning committee to have a couple from the ward play Santa and the Mrs. but I have to admit they made a pretty cute Claus couple.
On the lists: K wanted a Digital Light Designer and an American Girl Doll (Caroline)
A wanted an American Girl Doll (McKenna) and a horse for her dolls
H wanted a kitchen set, a cabbage patch kid, and a snow globe
B wanted Toy Story Toys
Baby – he didn’t really have a list. He’s got the largest wardrobe in the family and doesn’t really need anything other than diapers at this point.
Anthony wanted a Nike Sportswatch and heart rate monitor
Brooke (that’s me!) wanted a Kindle Fire and new lens for my camera (don’t laugh, I know I’m not a great photographer but I can dream ;))
And now for C’s list. I saved it for last because it truly is the best! He wanted a bike, a ‘cut toy’ (toy chainsaw) and… are you ready for it?… a port-a-potty!!! That’s right, my friends, he wanted an OUTHOUSE!
Driving home one day from K’s dance class we stopped at a red light next to a truck carrying 4 outhouses. C excitedly tells me that truck “has lots of bathrooms on it.” Then he says, “Maybe we can ask Santa Claus for one!” I told him that I would rather not, to which he replied, “I do. I will ask him for one!” And he did!
In case you’re wondering, no he didn’t get one. It just wouldn’t fit in Santa’s sleigh. But he hasn’t complained so I think we’re good. ;)
We celebrated A’s birthday with a Birthday Breakfast for family and friends. Never done a breakfast before for a birthday but it was pretty darn fun. It might become a tradition. Having a birthday in December with all the Christmas hoopla isn’t easy. I’ve tried to convince A to celebrate in early November but she always objects… something about it “not feeling like [my] birthday”.
Ok, that makes sense, I guess. No pics to post right now. Just know that it was a good time!
We also had a couple of family Christmas parties. Lots of fun, food, and white elaphanting…. it’s a word, as of now!
Little C may have been disappointed with the squirrel feeder he got but lucky him, my uncle stole it from him (to be nice) and C ended up with a fairy coloring book. Also a huge disappointment because “it’s for girls!” Well, thank his lucky stars, there were lots of little girl cousins there and one of them stole the coloring book from him. Finally, he ended up with a pocketknife.
Good heavens!! C and a pocketknife, what a combo.
He couldn’t have been more delighted! In fact, he hugged it. Then and there my uncle declared that if anyone hugs their gift it can not be stolen.
Thanks Mark! Thanks… a lot. **Sigh**
So now, C is the proud new owner of a pocketknife that lives on the top of the bookshelf, unopened… for now, at least. But fear not, C checks on it every day to make sure it’s still there and to ensure that we all know that it is HIS pocketknife.
We know, little man, we know.
Moving on, K had a dance recital for clogging. It was fun to watch her dance. I haven’t been able to watch her at all other than practicing at home so it was fun to see how good she actually is. And she even performed her routine for the talent show at Anthony’s family party.
A was asked to do a small part in the Christmas program for Sacrament Meeting at church. Just a short little poem. There were lots of singing parts in the program and I, admittedly, wish that they would have asked her to sing something. She really does have quite a beautiful voice.
Then there was of course the traditional opening of PJ’s on Christmas Eve along with new ornaments for the kids from Grandma and Grandpa. This year it was decorations bigger than the baby. The kids all LOVE their new nutcrackers!!
Christmas morning came WAY too early for Anthony and me. “Santa” didn’t get to bed until almost 4:30 in the morning!! What a crazy guy. Just when you think you’re almost done you realize that you have way more than thought. And I’ll be darned if I could get the Toy Story gang to shut up!! I thought for sure we were gonna be found out. Little did I know that they react to movement… and each other! … so as I was trying to unpackage them so they would be ready for immediate play (because what kid wants to wait for you to cut and remove every stinkin’ twist tie, screw, and plastic packaging Christmas morning) they just wouldn’t be quiet! And they are LOUD!
The big pic of B below is by far my favorite from Christmas this year. You can’t tell me it’s not fabulous! I laugh every time I see it.
In the end it was a fabulous Christmas and everyone got at least something that they really wanted. I have to show off my husband’s (Uh, I mean the elves…) mad skills. He (They) was able to turn this old desk that had sat in the girls’ room forever…
This was the first Christmas in YEARS that Anthony and I were able to get something for each other. It felt so good and it was so much fun trying to sneak around and make sure he didn’t know what he was getting. We were both pleasantly surprised.
For breakfast, my family has a tradition that I just couldn’t live without. I can go without presents and I can go without snow (though I’d much rather have a fresh blanket of white) but it just isn’t Christmas without our traditional waffles with ice cream and strawberries with my entire extended family. THAT is Christmas to me! Has been as long as I can remember.
I hope your Christmas was just as perfect as ours turned out to be.
This year when we asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween, C was the only one that said something and stuck to it.
Santa Claus!!
Of course, we got to choose for B since he’s too young to really understand what it’s all about. We used an idea we had seen on Pinterest a few times. A Bum!
The girls changed their minds several times before finally deciding on something.
After it was all decided, C was going through each costume in his mind… out loud. “H is gonna be a pirate, I’m gonna be Santa Claus, and B’s gonna be a butt! **Pause** Mom, why does B have to be a butt?”
I laughed hysterically. Actually I’m surprised it didn’t put me into labor. :) Apparently, he was hearing ‘bum’ and interpreting that as a butt. (I really hope it doesn’t offend anyone. It was just a cute costume… not to mention FREE!!)
It really was a fun Halloween. My family came over for carving pumpkins the night before and on Halloween night we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. OH how I adore those! Get all the candy in a fraction of the time and get on with your night.
We also hit a few houses in the neighborhood that don’t attend the Trunk or Treat but have their houses ready for Trick or Treaters.
We came home to dinner that my mom had made. I don’t remember what it was called but OH MAN it was delicious!!
This is one of the few pictures I got of Santa after he was fattened up.
My sister was kind enough to be Santa’s reindeer per his request.
Umm, yeah… it’s a bad sign when you look back at the pictures on your computer and realize that you forgot not only Father’s Day but your own child’s BIRTHDAY as well. Not really forgot… just never blogged them. Let’s not get the two confused.
And those cinnamon rolls I promised… yeah, so, I hope you weren’t holding your breath on those. ;) They’re still coming. Eventually.
But for now let’s backtrack and take care of some unfinished business. FATHER’S DAY! The Birthday post will have to wait… gotta do this chronologically. I’m weird like that.
This year we didn’t really buy anything (other than junk food ;)) but we wanted to do something more than just cards and well wishes for Anthony. I found this idea on Pinterest…… about a billion times. Seriously, I think I saw hundreds of different versions of this and I just thought it was so stinkin’ cute we had to give it a go. It didn’t really cost a whole lot. Just bought the sodas, some candy, nuts, and sunflower seeds. I already had the scrapbooking supplies so there was no added cost there.
I had told Anthony a few days before that I was going to get a ‘treat’… SODA! He requested root beer so off I went. He had no idea that I needed the bottles for his gift. Unfortunately, when I went to grab the root beer I realized that the bottles weren’t clear.
We just couldn’t have that. So, I bought a different flavor and told him they were out of root beer.
He was bummed. So, the next day what does he do? He goes to store to find that the shelves had been ‘restocked’ with the root beer. K was with him and tried to convince him not to get them because she knew we still had 3 bottles of red soda at home that needed to be drunk (?). But, he’s a man…
Men don’t listen to reason ;)
And so, I forced the kids to share two of the bottles and dumped one down the sink. Who am I kidding? I didn’t have to force them. They would have happily downed the third bottle as well but I just couldn’t bare the thought of that much sugar and red dye in their little bodies.
That night (the night before Father’s Day) we set to work. Anthony knew we had a project going on and that he was not allowed upstairs. He had been banished to the dungeon for the night. Fortunately for him the ‘dungeon’ is his happy place… there’s a TV, I mean, c’mon!
This story is getting pretty long. I know it could have been shorter but remember, this is my journal. You may not need all the details but I do. :)
Let’s get to the pictures, shall we?
We had so much fun making this! And the girls thought writing on the tags was so fun. Anthony originally took this to work but found that customers were so intrigued by it they wouldn’t leave it alone. So, three days later it came home again.
And now, just because I feel the need to share… LOOK AT WHAT B DID TO MY (uh, I mean OUR) COMPUTER!!
Good thing we have a wireless keyboard, eh?
Last year I discovered Resurrection Rolls per the tip from a friend. We had made Easter Cookies (which are also a great way to teach about the resurrection of Jesus Christ) but had never heard of Resurrection Rolls. Guess what… they are even better than the cookies! And quicker, too.
Before making the rolls you can read John 19 in the Bible to remind everyone what Jesus went through as he was crucified. However, because most of my kids are still pretty young and unable to sit through a long chapter like that, I just tell them about it and what each ingredient represents.
You’ll need the following:
Preheat the oven to 350*. If you have strange phobias like myself, have one of your children open the tube of crescent rolls. Yes, I’m scared of them….. balloons, too. Let’s not talk about it.
Moving on, take marshmallows one at a time and roll them in the melted butter. Once coated, roll them in cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on large end of a crescent roll. Roll it up and pinch all sides closed tightly. There should be no holes or gaps if possible.
Place on cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and bake for 12-15 minutes. – The three days.
While it’s baking, read John 20:1-18
When they are cool enough to eat (but still warm because they’re best that way) open one up and show the kids that Jesus (the marshmallow) is no longer there! He is risen!
And now eat because they’re delicious!
And on a side note… these pics did not turn out quite the way I had them envisioned in my mind. I’m going to get this photography thing down if it KILLS me! ;) I’ve decided that FOOD-tography is even tougher than people photography.
It’s WAY too late for a Christmas post at this point, I know. But I’m procrastinating holding off on doing my New Year’s Resolution post (one of which is to stop procrastinating ;)) in order to… perfect the resolutions. And then I can leave out the ones that I’ve already smudged on. See how that works? You wish YOU had held off on your own Resolution post now. Ha!
But seriously, I was looking over my Christmas list again and guess what… I got EVERYTHING on my list! Well, in one form or another anyway. Anthony wasn’t so lucky but hey, we’re talking about MY list. When he gets his own blog, he can gripe about not getting everything on his list. This is my blog.
**Side note: I really do love my Afony. The previous comment was all in jest.**
First up, my WANT: A new camera (DSLR)… let’s come back to that one.
Next, my NEED: Dishwasher! Can you believe my parents bought us a new dishwasher? The old one… UGH! We had to prop a chair in front of it because it didn’t latch, but surprisingly, it would still run… even with the door wide OPEN. C, B, and I all got sprayed in the face a few times. Normal dishwashers will stop when the door opens. Not that one. And to top it all off, more than half the dishes would come out with gross nasties all over them. It was beyond frustrating. I have to admit that I was a little frustrated with the new one at first, too. The dishes still came out dirty until Anthony checked the water pressure in the line to the dishwasher a few days later. **Drip, drip, drip** Next to nothing was coming out! Got that fixed and VOILA!! A magically CLEAN dishwasher! I’m so in love with it.
Third, my WEAR: A bra! Well, I don’t actually have this in hand yet. One of my new blog friends sent me an e-gift card to Victoria’s Secret. I need to go be fitted and then order what I want online. Now that all the holiday bustle is over, I can sneak away and do that. A HUGE thanks to her for being so generous! (I won’t link you to her because I don’t know if she wants to be identified.)
Fourth, my READ: My brother got me a book with all the Jane Austen novels. I am so excited to read them!
Finally, my EXTRA: We got a board game called… what was it again? Budweiser? No, that’s not it… BEZZERWIZZER (Anthony just likes to call it Budweiser). Lots of fun!
So you see, I got everything. on. my. list.
Oh wait! I didn’t tell you about my new camera.
No, I didn’t get a new DSLR (I wish!) buuuut, I did find this cool new app for my phone called Retro Camera (I have no affiliation whatsoever with the makers of this app. I just found it.) and I love it!
You get to choose from several (several as in 6) different old school cameras and snap away. Here are some examples:
The Barbl:
Little Orange Box:
Xolaroid 2000:
Pinhole Camera:
FudgeCan:
Hipsteroku:
Some of the cameras allow both color and black & white. But the best part is that it’s FREE!!
Which camera is your favorite? I think I like the Pinhole camera best.
I feel like I’m so behind but I have to blog this stuff just for my own remembrance.
How did we celebrate the New Year? We stayed home… just us (we’ve NEVER done that for New Year’s). After all the baptism hoopla was done, K and I ran to Target to exchange some shoes that C got for Christmas. They were ginormous! Meanwhile, Anthony turned on the Utah bowl game….
Which the Utes won! Go UTES!!
This is a pic of B celebrating with one of the players in the background. Like I’m gonna know who it is. I think Anthony said it’s someone with the last name of White. Do I get any points for knowing that much? Go me!?
Later that evening, we started our own ‘party’. Of course it couldn’t begin without first putting the boys to bed. We told the girls they could stay up until midnight.
Do you let your kids stay up?
The boys went to bed at 8:30 and then we pulled out the games. Games are hard with two little boys. One just blatantly destroys them (that would be B) while the other claims that he want to play ‘nicely’ but the second something doesn’t go his way, he’s all about throwing pieces and demolishing everything that’s set up.
That is why the games didn’t come out until then. We even got to play the Wii. The girls think it’s hilarious to watch Anthony and I make fools of ourselves play! We’re pretty much awesome.
Then we flipped the TV on just a few minutes before the ball dropped (What’s New Year’s without the ball drop?), drank some sparkling cider and went to bed…. after taking a New Year’s picture, of course. I’m awesome at taking pics backwards, no?
It was so nice after all the Christmas festivities, the baptism, the birthday party, etc (all held at our house) to just be able to spend some fun, quality time with the kids. All by ourselves! We loved it!
And of course on New Year’s Day we wrote down some goals for 2012. That’s a post coming later. So behind!
How did you celebrate?
It was fabulous, as always!
Santa made his second appearance for the year to fill stockings and such. He also left his autograph in the form of a Thank You not for the cookies and Coca-Cola.
My parents spoiled the kids Christmas Eve night with dresses and suits (which were worn to church ON Christmas, and yes I forgot to get a picture)…
… and new pajamas. It’s tradition.
They also got their new Christmas ornaments for this year. K got a beautiful angel, A got a cute little sassy cat wearing sassy boots (you have no idea how fitting this is), H’s ornament was a pair of ballet slippers, C was presented with a Lightning McQueen ornament, and B got a cute little snowman wearing blue, popping out of a blue ‘jack-in-the-box’ box with a star on the front of the box.
And I’m sure that’s what my mom thought it was. Just a cute little snowman in a blue box. (It’s a Dallas Cowboys snowman ornament.) We got a kick out of that as we put the Christmas stuff away. **Mom, if you’re reading this, just laugh. It’s funny!** And really, it is a very cute ornament.
Christmas morning went as planned. Luckily, we were able to get to bed relatively early on Christmas Eve this year which made waking up at 7:30 a breeze!
And now we’re just waiting… for Thursday. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
No, there’s nothing special about Thursday, just in case you’re wondering. It just can’t get here quick enough!!
Thursday is garbage day! We’re to the point that we are stock piling bags of garbage because we don’t have the kind of garbage men in the movies where they get out and pick it up if your cans are overflowing and you have to leave some of the sacks to the side. Oh no! Ours are the kind that pick up the cans with that funky contraption they’ve got that lifts them up and dumps them. Anything left to side will still be left to the side once they leave.
After hosting a couple of family Christmas parties and opening up boxes and unwrapping presents, our 2 garbage cans and our recycling cans are all about the explode!
But hey, it’s all been worth it.
For breakfast, we had my family’s traditional meal. Waffles with vanilla ice cream and strawberries (frozen berries with sugar… heated on the stove and mashed). I don’t know when this tradition started. I only know that is what we’ve had for breakfast on Christmas for my whole life. Whoever thought that one up is pure GENIUS!! Try it, you’ll agree.
**Picture courtesy of my sister. Thanks Kort!**
Doesn’t it look heavenly? It is!
You know, I could go without any presents at all…. just give me my waffles and ice cream and it’s Christmas!! It’s one tradition that I refuse to change, ever!
So, what was your favorite part of Christmas this year?
