Leaving the snow . . .

We're headed out of town for a few days. Hallelujah! I was so hoping to get all of our Christmas photos edited and posted, but I just haven't had the time. Packing . . . cleaning . . . and more cleaning. Does anyone else feel the need to have their home spotless before leaving on vacation? I do. I even change the sheets on the beds just before we leave so that we come home to fresh bedding. Love it. Anyway, I'll get Christmas pictures up when I get home.

So just some random thoughts I've been having lately-

*My boys are the cutest children ever. I know you all think your children are, but you are wrong. Mine are. ;)

*Why do people complain so much about slow drivers in the snow? Do I sometimes wish I was moving a little faster behind them? Yes. But I for one am grateful that these people drive at a speed that they are comfortable with instead of pretending the snow doesn't exist.

*I have a husband who feels the need to out-do me every Christmas. He always has plans to be so frugal when it comes to presents, and then changes his mind at the last minute and ends up buying me something really good on Christmas Eve. I have yet to get him a better present than he gets me, but there's always next year.

*I have never seen so many happy people when I was out and about this holiday season. Usually I run in to mostly annoyed people who are in a rush, but this year they were mostly smiling, courteous, and excited. With the exception of that one guy who gave me the stink eye when I let him go ahead of me in line at Winco. You'd think he would have been grateful.

*I loved this Christmas. It was simple. It was sweet. We had a wonderful time together as a family. And now it's over and that's happy too.

Next!

Merry Christmas Friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Picture of the Weekend

Sad though when so many of the people you try to deliver them to aren't home . . .

O Christmas Tree

We've all been sick (again) and needed something to get us out of the house, without infecting anyone else with our stuffy-ness. So we found a Christmas tree farm and picked out a tree. It was freezing, but the fresh air was so nice after being cooped up in the house for four days straight. Charlie really got excited about decorating the tree this year. Peter also got excited, but his excitement is more about pulling the ornaments off while I'm not looking. It feels like Christmas at our house. Now if we could all just get feeling better . . .

He's a thinker

Charlie: Mom, do you want some ice-cream?

Me: Nope.

Charlie: Why not?

Me: Because I'm cold and ice-cream is cold.

Charlie: No it's not. Ice-cream is good.

Me: (laughing softly)

Charlie: Not like poop.

Me: Poop?

Charlie: Yeah. Poop's not good.

Hmmm. Who knew?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

101 things I'm thankful for

In the random order that they came into my thoughts . . .

1. my boys (Mike, Charlie, Peter)
   
2. my savior Jesus Christ
3. my home
4. my husband's job, which allows me to stay at home with my children
5. my parents- Dad, Mom and Ron
   
6. my in-laws
7. my brother and his adorable family
   
8. that I knew all four of my grandparents
9. a sweet step-family
   
10. digital photography and my D60
    
11. photoshop elements
    
12. mint m&ms
13. peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
    
14. sunshine
15. heaters
16. Sesame Street
17. epidurals
18. crayola
19. Roberts craft store
20. Primary
21. Relief Society
22. visiting teaching
23. my play group friends
24. my time spent in Moscow
25. my degree
26. my mother's Delta benefits
27. the sacrifices of the U.S. military
    
28. the United States of America
29. cousins and friends that make me feel like I have sisters
30. 4 wheel drive
31. my garage
32. the holiday season
33. Christmas lights
34. hot chocolate
35. babies, especially my new nephew, Ethan
    
36. the ocean
37. Walt Disney
38. Pixar
39. the nearby dairy where we get good milk and ice cream and zoo-like entertainment for the kids
40. my computer
41. the internet
42. the blogging world
    
43. theater popcorn
44. the Thomas play table at the mall
45. old navy
46. health care
    
47. President Thomas S. Monson
48. the temple
    
49. the invention of tissues with lotion in them
    
50. indoor plumbing
51. water heaters
52. fully potty trained 3-year-olds
53. birthdays
54. airplanes
55. literacy
56. my yard
57. the park at the end of my street
58. creative children's book authors
59. jessicasprague.com (for keeping me entertained)
    
60. toaster waffles
61. that soon our church will switch from 1:00 to 11:00
62. itunes
63. Charlie's glow in the dark pjs
64. footie pjs for Peter who refuses to keep a blanket on at night
65. immunizations
66. antibiotics
67. bandaids
68. mascara
    
69. all the family vacations we took growing up . . . and the wonderful memories we created
70. Target
71. Winco
72. my cell phone and picture messaging
73. Jack Johnson
74. digital scrapbooking freebies (shabby princess, designer digitals, peppermint creative . . .)
75. Melissa & Doug products
76. shutterfly
77. our cars
78. the sanitation workers who pick up our garbage every week
79. nice normal neighbors
80. that I was able to live in so many beautiful places
81. the farmer's market
82. my over the fence neighbors who passed squash and tomatoes and plums over the fence for us to enjoy
83. my piano (okay, so it's my mom's piano, but she doesn't have room for it so I'm keeping it for a while)
84. my mom for putting me in piano lessons as a kid
85. the wii and wii fit plus . . . keeping us all entertained on cold rainy/snowy days
86. kids that sing in the car with me
87. my Wednesday nights singing with Viva la Voce
88. our fire pit for summer nights
    
89. our fireplace for winter ones
90. Elder Uchtdorf's talk on creativity
91. General Conference weekends
    
92. our family cookbook
93. my little box of random things that make me happy
94. Harry Potter
    
95. jeans
96. warm winter hats and mittens
97. snowmen
98. Candy Land
    
99. game nights with our families
    
100. the library

And one more-

101. I am so completely grateful for the life that my Heavenly Father has given me, and for the joy that I find in each and every day.

Happiness is . . .

a best friend.

Charlie & Ryan

Welcome to the World

Meet Brittany and Jared's new baby, our nephew . . . who is at the moment nameless. He is so sweet and tiny! And you all know how much I love little boys!

Congratulations you two. We're absolutely thrilled that he's here and everything went so well!

Picture of the day

Halloween Day

Favorite things about the day:

Making tacos!


Charlie playing with his friends at the church Trunk or Treat. I wish I had gotten a picture of him with any of them.


Peter figuring out that there was candy in his bucket and refusing to let go of it even for a second . . . unless he had a lollipop in his hand.

The kids knocking on their first door and trying to walk right in. I guess we didn't explain that we weren't staying.

Charlie ringing doorbells and then calling out, "Trick or treat! Trick or treat!" until someone answered the door . . . at which point he would politely ask, "Can I have a treat please?"

All the comments about our costumes.

All the wonderful costumes other people came up with!

Watching Charlie sort his candy when he got home.

And thus ends my favorite holiday . . . a magical night of make believe . . . Let us try to keep the spirit of Halloween with us always.

The Second Day of Halloween

Friday we carved a bunch of pumpkins. Charlie picked out the patterns that we used and helped us clean them out. Then we carved them. Actually I carved one and Mike carved four. This is his favorite part about Halloween.

The First Day of Halloween

We celebrated for three days straight. First, we went to Boo at the Zoo with my mom, Patti, Alan, Ryan and Mari. Charlie figured out how to get candy and Peter discovered the joy of the lollipop. It was VERY cold and crowded, but we had so much fun! It was a fantastic way to get in the mood for the "not-so-spooky" holiday.

We interrupt this family blog . . .

I know many of you already follow jessicasprague.com, but for those of you who have not discovered her yet, she has a free class coming up. I've taken two of her free online classes, and have loved them both. Such fun! So head over and take this class with me. You won't regret it!

Happy Happy Halloween

My kids don't do "spooky" . . . yet . . . so we went "fun" instead.


I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday! We sure did, but I'll elaborate on that later . . .

The Pumpkin Patch

A perfect day. Pumpkins, a corn maze and a train ride . . .

We'll be carving our pumpkin treasures tomorrow . . .

Things that make me happy

Charlie's "I'm trying VERY hard not to smile" face

The way little boys are so entertained by a stick

Fall leaves

Peter's "I'm so proud of myself!" face

Out of focus pictures of little boys getting rid of all their energy.

Family Pictures Attempt #1

My dad came to visit this weekend and we decided to take advantage of him. We made him take some pictures of our little family, but it proved to be too difficult a task. This is what he had to put up with.

Cranky Kids
Sad because the lighting was so fantastic here!


Weird-faced Mike and lots of shadows.

This would have been fun if the kids could stay standing . . . but they insisted on hanging down and letting us drag them.


I think this one is the best one we got, and Mike still looks funny. We'll be trying again . . .


Have you ever seen that episode of Friends where Chandler and Monica are trying to get engagement pictures taken and Chandler can't take a good picture . . . and every time the camera is in front of him he automatically makes this stupid face that makes it look like he's in pain. Mike totally does that. I have the hardest time getting him to make a normal face in a picture.

Wish me luck for "Family Pictures Attempt #2." I'm going to need it.

On this day in 2006

Just sharing past pictures with the grandparents . . .

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Halloween is coming!

(Yes, those are bats. We took this picture in Sydney in '05.)


And a little hint at what I have planned for our Halloween costumes, unless I change my mind in the next week . . .

Charlie and the Chalk People

This boy . . .
has covered our patio with chalk people.

He's holding one of those ugly "realistic" looking garden rabbits. It was in the yard when we moved in and I swear I've thrown it away at least five times. Charlie keeps fishing it out of the garbage and telling me not to throw away his friends. When I got out the camera, he wanted his bunny in the picture with him.