I'm a Minivan Mom

I'm so not ready for this, but it happens to the best of us. (No offense to those of you who own a minivan) I recently acquired a minivan to replace my car I totaled. I LOVED my car and I didn't want anything but one just like it , however with the money the insurance paid out and what we have saved this van just fit the bill. So I now am in the minivan club. I do have to say that getting kids in and out all the time is much better , I have much more room to haul my month's supply of groceries, and the gas mileage is the same as my car was. I just really liked my car. It was a part of all my travels for nine years and I was sad to see it go. I will get used to the longer vehicle to drive I suppose. But at least I do have a vehicle now. Cory was none to thrilled that I had to use his white work truck for my "car" these past few weeks. I think he was going through withdrawals :)

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve day Sadie, Lexi and I made chocolate chip cookies to put out for Santa. Sadie decided that he needed a drink too, but wasn't up for putting out a glass of milk. She thought Santa needed a pop, but couldn't decide if Santa was a Pepsi drinker, or a Mountain Dew drinker. I told her to put out one of each and see what he drinks. Well we found out Santa drinks both but prefers Pepsi because it was all gone and the Mountain Dew was only half gone. (That tells you which of Santa's helpers stayed up the most doing all the work! Me!)




We have a tradition that we get new jammies for Christmas and this year I decided to make them. The girls got to pick out the material, which wasn't pink and purple flowers much to Cory's surprise! They settled for a giraffe print that we could all wear and we all wore our matching jammies. It was fun. The girls had a great time opening gifts from us and Santa who spoiled our children this year :) We then had our tradition of Sourdough Pancakes for breakfast with Buttermilk syrup (they are so yummy, if I can figure out how to put the attachment on here, I'll put the recipe up). We then went over to Cory's parents house for their part of Christmas. The girls were spoiled there as well, even more so. Haylee got a Bumbo seat which I personally was VERY GRATEFUL for. Sadie and Lexi each got a dump truck to play in our future sandbox. Cory got some for Christmas when we were first married so now we have our own fleet of dump trucks! Hee Hee! We traveled down to Rigby to see my family a few days later and got to do it all over again! We were very blessed this past year and are eternally grateful for the abundance of blessings and family in our lives. Merry Christmas to all-

A day to remember: Sadie's Birthday

There are a lot of events to catch up on so I will try to break it up a bit. December 16th was Sadie's 5th birthday. The day started out as a trip to Salmon for Haylee's four month shots and running errands. As we headed away from the District Health Department, Sadie was talking to me about her party that night and asking me questions about the details. I looked up in the mirror to look at her and smile without noticing the stop sign in front of us. We collided with another vehicle and thus ended our carefully planned day. Nobody was seriously injured, Sadie got the worst of it with a bruised up eye.

I was sore from whiplash but we were really lucky. The other two girls were just scared. My car was totaled and we had to wait for 90 minutes in the laundromat before Cory could come get us and take us all home. We were very blessed and I am humbled to think what could have happened if we weren't all wearing our seat belts.

Sadie still wanted to party when we got home. So the guests arrived and we had a great time. Her friends Brooke and Jordan came with their mom, the Herbsts, Whittakers and of course the Birds were all there. She requested a Barbie cake which I was planning to do when we came home from town but because of the events of the day, I ended up with only an hour to do it in.

Sadie was pretty shaken up over the accident, I think the party helped her put it out of her mind though. Opening presents was a major highlight along with the toys, clothes and candy she got. She will always remember this birthday for good and bad I guess. But the day turned out enjoyable for us all.

Lies, Lies, Lies

I cannot believe what a liar parents become! You have to of course to make the whole Santa thing work but it doesn't help my telling more lies to cover up my misfortunes. I did so bad this year with the whole Santa thing. Sadie has seen three presents this year somehow, (not all hers) but asked questions and I stink at covering it up. Now all those gifts she saw will have to be from Mom and Dad insted of Santa or she may just get suspicious. She seems to have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time for me. Oh well, I guess ithis whole Santa thing comes with a learning curve right!

I'm Freezing!!!

Okay literally I am freezing. This whole week the weatherman had said "Tonight will be the coldest night this week" and that was on Sunday! I always check the temperature when I get up at four in the morning to feed Haylee and I was surprised on Monday morning when it read -11 degrees. I was shocked to see -14 degrees on Tuesday morning. I was appalled to see -18 degrees Wednesday morning. I was absolutely floored to see -24 degrees this morning! My kids are crazy because they haven't been outside much and we are going through soooo much wood for the wood stove. I hauled in wood just now and it is already - 4 degrees at 5:30 p.m. My hands about froze just touching the wood even through my gloves. I heard that winter was here, but I think Jack Frost is out for vengeance this time around!

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the pediatrician's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with a red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years. Here are my Christmas wishes: I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy. If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone. On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your sister," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a styrofoam container through a window in a bag with a clown on it. If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be to much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family. Well Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my daughter saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think she wants her crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,
Mom

P.S. One more thing....you can cancel all of my requests if you can keep my children young enough to always believe in Santa!

Old Toys, New Joys

I was cleaning out the spare bedroom trying to de-junk and remove clutter when I happened to come upon a box of my old childhood stuffed animals. Inside was a variety of things and I thought the girls would like to look at them with me before I donate them to the DI. Sadie was so excited to see my many Tiggers and loved my Cabbage Patch Doll. My mom made clothes for the doll for me for Christmas one year and they are still in tact. Sadie has loved playing with "Darcy". Lexi was more interested in the Bouncing Tigger and Tumble Time Tigger. She played with them for an hour on the kitchen floor. Thank goodness for the OFF switch! It was fun to tell my kids what I did with the toys and stories about me and my sisters when we played together. I had a perfect example for Cory of how me being a "pack rat" payed off!

I even still have the authentic birth certificate for the Cabbage Patch Doll!

Blessings in Disguise

It has been said that the mother of the household sets the tone of the rest of the house. With that being said, I was having a particularly hard day a week ago or so and was having difficulty putting it behind me so I could be a happy mom that day. It was a day that I didn't get in the shower until 1 p.m. because of business demands, crying and tantrum children, etc. So as I was in the shower, contemplating how I was going to snap out of this mood and get happier when I heard the door to my bathroom open. I just sighed, asked Lexi what she was doing. Nobody answered me so I hurried to finish my shower and go check on the girls, who were supposed to be coloring at the table. I came out of the shower and there on the counter were two folded pieces of paper. I opened them to see Sadie had helped Lexi draw and color a heart on the paper for me. The other piece of paper Sadie had colored a heart with my favorite color and tried to spell out I love you on the paper. I just stood there as the tears started to fall and I realized I have much to be happy about , which two of those reasons just did the most thoughtful thing for me. When I later asked Sadie why she did that for me she said "I just thought you needed a picture to show you I love you." What a blessing she is for me!

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm a little behind here but I will try to catch up. We were kind of boring for Thanksgiving. We stayed here in Leadore but went over to Cory's parents house for dinner. We had a good time and the kids had fun. It was great to just relax and visit and play games instead of going over there with a time crunch. Cory's sister Angie was going to come up with her family but her daughter got sick so they had to stay put instead. I am reminded of all that I have received for blessings in my life at this time of year and how blessed I really am. I love that Cory's family literally surrounds us out here where we live. They are such a blessing and we enjoy being close to them. I love my family and miss them during the holidays as we don't see them as much. My little family is so fulfilling to me. I enjoy most days (we all have some days we wish would end so a new one could come) staying home with my children and I feel very blessed to be able to do so. My Heavenly Father has given me so much in my life and he continues to do so, I am continually grateful for all that I have.