Year in Review...

As this year comes to a close, I think about the highlights of 2008. I guess I'll do a Top 10 list (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. I went to Europe in June! Germany was amazing and I'd love to go back and visit again someday, as well as visit all the surrounding countries.2. We got our basement finished in February. It's so nice to have the much needed space to spread out in and I love the fact that the kids each have their own rooms to mess up.

3. We've had some very good visits with my dear Grandma and my Grandpa. You never know what life will bring and it's important to spend every minute you can with those you love.

4. We went camping--but only once, in August.

5. Kristen was baptized into our church in April. What a big decision and a big day for her!6. Kendall and Jon got to go back East in May. They visited with Jon's cousin, saw some historic sites, hiked and bird-watched to their hearts content.7. Which leads me to #7. Kendall got a deer tick stuck in his back. Scary times, but all was well.

8. Kristen, Jarren, and I went to visit my sister and her family in California in April.

9. Jarren started Kindergarten and actually likes it!10. Jenna's hair went curly! Well, it always had a little curl around the bottom, but in June, the top went curly too.We have been greatly blessed with each other, a home, food to eat, and (most of the time) good health. May 2009 bring much of the same.Happy New Year to you all!

Hmmm.....

Something strange is going on. Jon and Jenna joined the sick gang and were up all night as well. But...it seems that some of my cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and siblings joined in about the same time. We can't figure out if it was something everyone ate or if someone was sick and passed it around. I think if it was something we ate, we'd all would have been sick a lot sooner. It's just strange that within a couple of hours, almost everyone got it. And not everyone who is sick ate the same things. Weird....

Later...

We've decided it was most likely food poisoning, since only 9/35 people who were at Grandma's Christmas Eve party are healthy and the rest are sick. We still can't figure out what it was that made everyone sick though. I think we'll be laughing at this in awhile and will always remember "the Christmas when almost the whole extended family got sick." Red punch anyone?

It's Getting Old....

No, I'm not getting old--this stomach flu virus is getting old!! I was just dozing off around 11:30 pm when Jon called me to get some cleaner. Kristen threw up. While we were taking care of her, Jarren did. Just to be safe, we put plastic sheeting and blankets all around everyone's beds because when they're tired, they get disoriented and don't always make it to the bathroom. When are we totally going to kick this thing for good? It's every couple of weeks, but we're a few weeks early this time around. I hope it's just too much candy and excitement, but it sure doesn't seem like it. I'm just sick and tired of my least favorite virus making the rounds AGAIN. Ew!

I was just telling Jon (on Christmas Eve night) that this Christmas just seems to be going so perfectly. The weather cooperated for us to make it to the family parties; the kids weren't sick; we weren't dealing with a major water leak like we were 2 years ago; we got a white Christmas; etc. I guess I jinxed us.

On one other note....I was supposed to go to visit my sister today--I had to be at the airport in about 5 1/2 hours. My trip was canceled when they decided to move back home. I am glad they're back. And now I'm especially glad the trip's canceled. It's still supposed to be stormy and I'm sure flights will be delayed. And now this stomach flu business.....I'm praying no one else gets it for 10 more years. :)

Christmas Day

What a crazy Christmas day we've had! A big storm was moving in last night, but we took the chance and went to my grandma's Christmas eve party anyway. We always do a $5 gift exchange--everyone brings a gift and we play a white elephant game. Jarren got a snow saucer and that was it--for him, it was the hit of the party! We made it home before the storm hit, and boy did it hit! We woke up to a whirlwind of snow. Jon had to go out and shovel before the kids could open presents because Toby (the dog) needed to go out and there wasn't really anywhere for him to go. Kendall and Kristen got up at 5 am, but we made them go back to bed for awhile, since they didn't go to bed until after midnight--hey, we were tired too. Jon told them they could get up at 7:30. Kendall's clock is a little fast, so they came up at 7:15 they had to wait. Then they had to wait even longer because of the shoveling. Our neighbor snowblowed us out twice more after that. It was kind of warm when it started snowing and it started melting pretty quickly and then it started to rain. Now it's back to snow. I must admit though, I love a stormy Christmas! The kids all had a good day and have been getting along great! Some of the highlights (gift-wise): an AT-TE, Star Wars Unleashed PSP game, and an eye clops for Kendall; 2 Webkinz, a guitar, and lots of makeup/jewelry for Kristen; Indiana Jones Lego sets, Lego Indiana Jones Wii game, and Prince Caspian DVD for Jarren; little Backyardigans figures, Papa Bear, stuffed dogs, and Littlest Pet Shops for Jenna; and a Wii for our family.
I made a turkey dinner and had a time of it. I forgot to take the giblets out and it took FOREVER to cook. Then as I was trying to lift the hot turkey to a serving platter, I broke my favorite serving spoon. The rolls raised too high, waiting for the turkey to cook and kind of fell flat. I guess it still tasted the same, but it wasn't smooth cooking. Anyway...we've had an enjoyable season, spending lots of time with family, reflecting on Jesus' birth, and giving to others. Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays

We had a very fun day yesterday! We had a family Christmas party with Jon's side of the family so we headed up North for the day. We were able to spend time with my family (and meet my new nephew), visit with my grandma, and stop by my grandpa's house. The kids got to see all but one of their cousins too, which doesn't happen very often. Jon's family had a potluck dinner; cousin gift exchange; a movie for the kids; a white elephant gift exchange game for the adults; singing; yummy treats; and lots of visiting and playing.

The weather was fine until we got to the canyon. It was snowing and blowing and everything else. We couldn't even see the road a few times, but thankfully, everyone around us was driving cautiously and we made it just fine. Apparently, it didn't snow here, but it snowed there all day long! The drive home was just fine, but we had such a good time, we didn't get home until almost 1 am!!

I can't believe that Christmas is in just 4 more days! It was sooo good to spend time with our families and enjoy the holiday season.

Trees

I just realized that I never posted pictures of our Christmas tree. Well, we actually have two trees this year. I bought an artificial tree on clearance at Target last year and we set that up in the basement. It's our designer tree, since last year Kendall was having a fit about our mismatched ornaments and such. It's all red and gold.

We also bought a real tree for upstairs. Unfortunately, it doesn't really smell. Either that or I'm used to it. We don't have a truck, so Jon had to take all the seats out of the van to fit the tree in there. That meant that none of us got to go with him to pick it out. It's our mix-and-match tree, full of ornaments that we've gathered here and there and loaded with things the kids have made over the years.
This year was strange. We didn't pick the tree out together. We didn't decorate either tree all together either. I managed to get pictures of each of the kids, but they were never all together. Maybe next year....

Christmas Candy

Every year since I can remember (and probably for many years before that), Christmas candy has been made in my family. My grandma always made it; my mom always made it; and now I make it. Some of the family favorites are: peanut clusters, turtles, chocolate-dipped pretzels, fudge, and English toffee. I also like to make pumpkin rolls and sugar cookies, but those aren't done at the same time as the candy.

I've been meaning to get around to doing it for a couple of weeks now, but it just hasn't happened. A few days ago, Jon was craving something chocolate, so I had Kendall and Kristen help me and we set to work. Kendall told me that some of his favorite things are listening to Christmas music while making candy and watching the snow fall. We also had a fire going. Now how's that for Christmas spirit? I can't control the snow, but I can control the other things and for him to say that.....well, it makes me feel that maybe my kids will have some good memories of their childhoods after all.

Christmas Lights Escapade

Last week, we decided to do something that we haven't done for 8 years--we took the kids downtown to see the Christmas lights. Last time we went, we took the commuter train and there was a big sing-a-long going on. Needless to say, it was soooo crowded!!! And freezing cold! So we've just never braved the crowds again. I decided it was time we went again, since the younger two have never been there and the older two were too little to remember anything.

Well....it was another one for the record books. We drove this time, thinking it would be better, but it wasn't. We found out there was an NBA (basketball) home game that night at 8:30 and there was also a huge choir concert at 8:30. We left at 6:15, hoping to beat the traffic, but got stuck right in the middle of it. It normally takes us about 25-30 minutes to get downtown, but it took about an hour and 45 minutes, maybe just a little less. At one point, we went 2 blocks in 45 minutes. It was so frustrating to see light after light change and not even be moving. We almost gave up and went home, but we finally made it and Jon dropped me and the kids off and went to park, which was in and of itself, another long story.

Anyway....here are some pictures of the grand adventure--and I'm sure the kids (probably not Jenna) will remember it, if only because of the craziness in trying to get there.
Of course, these pictures don't really do it justice.

Update...

Just a quick update. After Jenna was sick yesterday in the store and then right after her bath---nothing. She took a long nap and woke up and wanted to eat French toast and apple juice. She held it down and then ate a little dinner later. She even ate a piece of chocolate from her Christmas countdown calendar. Weird. And no one else got it. I just don't understand the stomach flu viruses we've had this year. In October, Kristen got it and then Jenna did. Five weeks later, Kendall got it. Five weeks later, Jenna got it. For the most part, they throw up twice and it's done. No fever or anything. I am praying soooo hard that it's done with us until after the holidays.

On a happier note, we had our ward Christmas party this morning and went, since it had been 21+ hours since she threw up. It was a breakfast with some entertainment and was a lot of fun! We came out of the party to snow! It's windy and snowing and from what I hear, we're in for a big one. YAY!!! Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow!

'Tis the Season...

I am totally humiliated!!! We got up this morning and every seemed normal. Jenna was up a lot from 4:30 am on and seems to be getting a cold--stuffy/runny nose, cough, sneezing, etc. I needed to run to Walmart to get a few craft things and treats for some upcoming parties, so we dropped Jarren off at school and ran. Jenna refused to walk or ride in the cart, and since she seemed tired, I just carried her. I got most of the things on my list and was standing there debating between two things, when Jenna threw up all over her, me, and the floor. No warning at all! I just stood there for a second, frantically trying to see if there was someone who could help me. Of course there wasn't. I grabbed a lady walking by and asked her if she could find someone to help me. She did and they cleaned it up while I tried to clean Jenna up. I hurried and checked out after that. I had NO idea Jenna was sick and I'm so embarrassed she got sick in the store! Now I'm sure we'll all get it. I just hope it's over with by next weekend so we don't have to miss our family party.

We Need a Little Christmas....

I'm feeling a little inadequate this Christmas. I think my shopping is done, but there are all the neighbor gifts to get out, candy to make, gifts to wrap (I HATE that part of it), carols to sing, and memories to make. I just feel like I can't do enough to make good memories for my kids. I just know they'll look back and think of the rotten childhood they had--a mom always running around stressing. :) I think I'm just grumpy because it's hard to really get into the spirit of things when there's no snow and the sun's shining so brightly (I'm sure you'll laugh at this Charisse). Maybe this weekend's storms will help.

The tadpoles are slowly changing. I'm sure they are. But they don't look like it. They have a little ledge in their pools that they like to sit on and they almost seem to be sticking their noses out to breathe in some air. Popeye looks bigger than Skipper. I need to do some research to see if males are generally larger than females or if it doesn't matter. I do know they won't mate for 4 years, if we even have one of each gender. I wonder how long they'll live....

One more thing....

First of all, I couldn't stand not writing one more thing--this is the 100th post for me! Wow!

That said, the kids went back to school today. They were off-track for 4 whole weeks! With my kids, the first week is great. They're excited to be home and out of school and they have fun. The second week, the newness wears off and they start bothering each other a little bit, but it's still kind of fun. The third (and final) week is tough! They start teasing and fighting and start getting bored. That's why I like year-round school. Just when they started getting burned out and need a break, the go off-track. Then just when they start getting bored, they go back on-track. This time, for some reason, they had 4 weeks off and then the next time, they'll only have 2 weeks off. I was sooo worried about it! But they (for the most part) did great!!! They had fun, we had Thanksgiving in there, they played hard, and it wasn't bad at all. I'm sure going to miss the sleeping in....

I got thinking about it yesterday and got really sad. Kendall has 6 more off-tracks and two summers and then he's in Jr. High. Where does the time go? And does time seem to be going faster???

Meet Brownie....

When I was a child, we had a little elf that came to our house the day after Thanksgiving every year. Every day, it would hide in a new place and watch us to see if we were being naughty or nice. If we started to fight, my mom would say, "Pixie's watching." because every night, Pixie would go report back to Santa Claus. It sure kept us good!

Well...we have an elf that come to our house, named Brownie. Kristen loves to write notes to Brownie, asking him questions such as: who's your favorite reindeer? how old are you? is Santa nice? etc. And for some reason, the kids are scared to death of the Santa in the mall, so instead, they write letters to send to him through Brownie.

The other day, Brownie was hiding in the Christmas tree and the kids went to add some more decorations to it, and Kristen accidentally knocked Brownie out of the tree. She was appalled! She wrote a note to him apologizing. It was sooo cute!

The kids wonder why they can't see the elves at their friends houses. Maybe they're too small. I don't know....

Sweet Little Candy Canes

Kristen's dance group performed tonight at a festival. Their recital is in 2 weeks, but this was fun anyway. I took Kristen's best friend, Hannah, too. And of course, the girls were hyper and excited. Their costumes this year are sooo cute! They look like sweet little candy canes. The girls danced to the song "Jingle Bell Rock" and they did such a cute job!! I thought they saved the best for last---these girls were awesome!! I wish I could find my cord to get video on here..... Anyway...after they performed, we walked around for a few minutes and Santa happened to be walking by. He took a look at them, handed them a candy cane, and wished them a Merry Christmas. I think it made their day!

Jarren and Anakin Skywalker

Jarren is obsessed with looking like Anakin Skywalker, from Star Wars. He wants his hair long and curly. He's also obsessed with not liking Jenna and the reasons? Because she poops her pants and has curly hair. I think he's jealous that her hair looks like he wants his to. Yesterday, Kristen comes out of the bathroom and asked who cut their hair in the sink. We figured out it was Jarren. He showed me a picture of Anakin and told me that he doesn't have long hair in one part in front. Well...that's because his hair's so long that with the part, it goes over to one side or the other. He cut one little part of the front of his hair so it would look more like Anakin's. It's not too noticable, but it's pretty funny. Can anyone see the similarities? I just hope Jarren doesn't turn to the dark side. :)

Finally!

Jon went out and bought us a new dishwasher yesterday!! Our water is sooo hard here and really does a number on things. This house was without soft water for while and I think the dishwasher was about as old as the house is--16 years. It was rusted out inside, the seal was dead, and we haven't been able to use it since mid-April! The only bad thing about it is, it really shows how shabby our cabinets and floor are. The plan is to re-do the kitchen in the spring, so we'll make do until then. I'm just so excited not to have to wash dishes by hand several times a day.


The tadpoles really aren't changing too terribly much. In the picture, you can see something kind of red--it's the arm bud. I guess soon they'll grow the front legs and then the tail will absorb into the body and they'll get the back legs. They sometimes get really hyper and I think they'll jump right out of the pool, but they haven't yet. They are a lot of fun to watch.

Thanksgiving

I took another picture of the tadpoles on Wednesday morning, but then in the whirlwind of trying to get packed and out of here, I never got around to putting the picture on here. I'll take another one tomorrow and put them both up. When we got back today, we thought Skipper was dead, but luckily, he wasn't.

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! We ate dinner with my family and everyone was there but my sister, grandma, and uncle. We missed you!! We headed over to Jon's parent's house later that day and the kids got to see all of their cousins--only one of his sisters was missing. It was a really busy, but fun couple of days.

I really do have a lot that I'm thankful for. A few of them are: a great husband and wonderful kids; awesome siblings, parents, grandparents, in-laws, and extended family; Jon's job; and terrific friends. There are just too many things to list right now. And now with Thanksgiving over with, we can really start to enjoy the Christmas season. YAY!!

They're Named...

I probably should have made my blog more fun by letting everyone name our new tadpoles, but the kids took care of the names already.

Our new tadpoles are named......Skipper and Popeye. I'll post some more pictures in the next day or two. I have NO idea how we'll tell them apart, but we'll try. For now, they're in separate pools so it's easy. I think Skipper is more hyper, but when they're together, that may be hard to tell. Maybe we'll have to put fingernail polish on one of their feet or something like that.

Surprise!

A while ago, Jon found a frog house somewhere--a garage sale or something. We just stuck it in the garage and Kristen dug it up back in June. You send some money to some company and they send you two tadpoles to raise into frogs. I forgot all about it until we got a postcard in the mail a couple of months ago saying it was too hot and they'd ship them out when the weather got cooler. Again, I forgot about it.

Yesterday, I went to the mailbox and there was a square package in there. I went to grab it and it said to open immediately. Then I noticed it said something about tadpoles. I started screaming for the kids to come. Surprise! We are the new owners of two tadpoles! We had to run and buy some spring water for them and then had to get them adjusted to the temperature. They are still alive this morning! YAY!
It said they are about 7-10 weeks into their growth. When they start getting back legs, we get to move them to the frog house. But in the meantime, they stay in these little pools. I will update every 2-3 days on their growth. This will be a fun thing for the kids to observe.

Grape Jelly

Wow! I can't believe how I'm slacking on the picture-taking lately. We have this grape vine along our back fence. About 2 years ago, we finally got around to picking the grapes to do something with them. It sounded like too much work to make jelly, so I decided to make grape jam. The kids HATED it!!! And it was a pain to make. You have to wash the grapes and then squeeze the insides out of the skin. You have to boil it and then strain it to get the seeds out. Then you put finely chopped skins in it, which make a texture that the kids didn't like. I made one batch without skins and it was a weird color without the purple in it.

You can imagine how my heart sank when last week Kendall and his friends went out and picked all of the grapes (without being asked) and asked for me to help them make jam. I decided to try jelly this time around, thinking it would probably be gross. They rounded up some Pectin and we went to work. It was still a lot of work, but MUCH easier than the jam was. And it tastes soooooooo good!!! We ate almost a whole jar in one day and I only made about 8 jars for us. Next year, we're going to make tons more for sure. The kids want to sell it--give people a sample and then sell the jars for a little bit of money, although most of the money will go towards sugar, jars, and Pectin. So....be on the lookout for our little jelly stand next year and you'll definitely be in for a yummy treat.

Sky Patterns

Yesterday morning, I went to let Toby (the dog) outside to go to the bathroom and saw this beautiful pattern in the sky. Of course I had to take a photo of it. We live underneath a flight route going to the airport, but these contrails look like the super high flying planes, and possibly just some clouds. Sooo pretty....

We had a fun adventure last night and I forgot the camera, but I did grab the video camera. Now...if I can figure out how to get video from my camera to the computer, I'll post some footage. Teresa (or anyone else), if you have any tips, I'd GREATLY appreciate them. :) Thanks!

12 Years

Jon and I have been married for 12 years today. The concept of time has really hit me the last little while. It seems like just yesterday was our wedding day, yet it seems like we've been married forever. I can't imagine NOT being married to my best friend.

Here are some of our engagement and wedding photos (and don't we look YOUNG?!):
And here's the two of us now:
It's been a great 12 years. I hope the next 12 are just as good.

Candy Cane and Snow Bear

Kristen just got her Christmas dance costume and it's one of my favorites of hers. I think she looks like a big candy cane--sweet and cute. Of course, she had to come home and try it on immediately. When Jenna saw the skirt, she about died--she wanted to try it on too. Kristen went and got Jenna a costume from a couple of years ago--Kristen had danced to a song about a polar bear, which fits Jenna, since she LOVES bears. They both looked sooo cute! I just wish Jenna would let me do her hair. It's at an awkward stage where it hangs in her eyes a lot, but it's still curly. :) Now we can call our girls....Candy Cane and Snow Bear.

Better Late Than Never....

We had a nice little 5 inch snow storm last week. The kids loved it--especially Jenna. She had me help her get all her snow gear on--hat, boots, gloves, and coat--and walked around and around. She came in and a little while later, I heard the door open--she was outside again. She'd put on one of Jarren's boots and one of Kristen's boots, her gloves, and a hat (no coat). She gathered up a big chunk of snow and brought it inside. She put it in a bowl and ate a few bites. She kept doing that off and on all day long. Cutie! The last time she went out, one of those too big boots fell off and she stepped in the snow. Brrr...that ended that---for the day.

It's Autumn Time

I'm mad at myself! The other day, I turned onto my street and was struck by how beautiful my street looked. You could see the snow-capped mountains in the background. And the street was lined with beautiful trees, in shades of green, yellow, orange, and red. I wanted to take a picture and forgot to. Two days ago, we were hit with a storm and yesterday we had a hard freeze. When that happens, half the trees on the street (fruitless mulberries) drop their leaves in a snap. We have 13 trees on our 1/4 acre property. Anyway...now the street isn't nearly as pretty and I never got my picture.

The kids are still enjoying the leaf raking. Grandma Watkins taught them how to build leaf forts and Jarren has made obstacle courses out of them for his Indiana Jones role playing. Yes, he's back into Indiana Jones again. That storm (as previously mentioned) dumped a lot of the leaves off the trees, but we were having trouble figuring out how to rake leaves off of the snow, so we saved it for today, when most of the snow is melted. Too bad the leaves didn't melt along with the snow--there are STILL lots of trees with leaves and I'm getting tired of the raking.

Cat Face Spider

I believe it was around the end of August sometime, we noticed a small cat face spider that had built a web just outside of the family room window. It got to be quite big! We saw it a few days ago, but on Saturday, it was gone. It was the neatest thing because #1 they aren't dangerous to humans and #2 we were able to observe it through the window. The kids would catch bugs and throw them into the web and we'd watch the spider wrap them up. It was just fascinating and as much as I hate spiders, I'm going to miss this one. We even named it Charlotte, in honor of the spider from the book "Charlotte's Web." Maybe it will come back next year....

Halloween Part II

The kids all made it out trick-or-treating. Kristen went with her friend Hannah and her cousin, Kendall went with a friend, and I took Jarren and Jenna around. They all got TONS of candy and had a lot of fun organizing it when we got back. It kept sprinkling on us, but it was one of the warmer Halloweens.

Charisse...I don't sew well at all, but thank you for thinking that.

Halloween Part I

Happy Halloween!! Our school does a Halloween parade about 15 minutes after school starts in the morning. They set chairs out in the lunch room/gym and the teachers lead their class, snaking through the maze. They start from youngest grades to oldest. The kids go through so fast that it's hard to take pictures, so I took video instead. I did get some pictures taken before school though. Each class will have a Halloween party at school. I'm Kendall's class room mother, so I'll be in charge of his party today. Fridays are early out day, so there will be plenty of time to get excited (and ready) for trick-or-treating this evening. The kids are all soooo excited!! It's been fun "practicing" with Jenna on what to say. Basically she'll say, "Trick or treat" and "Thank you."

Jarren decided he wanted to be either Jango Fett or Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars characters). He has a full Indiana Jones costume and we also have a fireman outfit and a few other Star Wars characters. I guess I thought I could convince him to be something we already had, but yesterday discovered that it wasn't going to happen. I had to run to the store to get some material and I made a very simple vest to go over some brown clothes and he is in heaven!

Jenna goes back and forth between a witch and a dog. We'll see what she does for tonight.

Kristen is a dead bride. She hated her hair the way it turned out, but I thought it really fit the costume.

Kendall is an army man. It's too bad we don't have some of his uncle Matt's accessories.

And I'm a witch, in case anyone couldn't tell. :)

I had anxiety nightmares all night--forgetting to wake the kids up early enough to get ready; forgetting part of the game for the party; forgetting the spooky music; etc. I'm already tired--but it WILL be a great day!

Big Helper

I was looking some stuff up on the computer a little while ago--I have to teach a lesson on Sunday for church--when Jenna started calling me. I told her I'd be there in just a minute. She kept saying she needed help with her diaper. Boy was I in for a big surprise when I finally got around to going into her room! She had decided to change her own poopy diaper. She did a pretty good job, containing the mess to a changing mat and herself! I know....I really need to just set aside a few days to just potty train her, but I've honestly been so bus lately--I don't have a few hours, let alone days. Maybe she'll just do it herself. :) Yeah, right...wishful thinking.

Pumpkin Carving

Last night, Jon and the kids carved the pumpkins. They had a blast scooping out the guts. It almost looks like Jarren could crawl right into his pumpkin. Kendall was a big help in carving them--he immediately outlined the face when we bought them. The kids couldn't wait to get the candles in them--Jenna thought it was great fun to blow the flames out, which made Jarren mad. Just a few more days until the school parade, class parties, and the trick-or-treating.... I love this time of year!