My New Blog

My sister, Kimi, and I started a new blog showing crafting, sewing, and cooking tutorials... check it out!

ificould-ificould.blogspot.com

My baby is 2!!

Honestly, I don't know where the time has gone. How did my baby turn into a 2-year-old? Morgan, you are such a sweetheart. You're about as stubborn as they come, and I hope you will use your strong will for good. You are also about as tender-hearted as they come. You love to give hugs and kisses and love cuddling. You are so loving and we are so lucky to have you a part of our family!!!  Oh, I just love that smile!!

Christmas 2009

Quick catch-up here: Christmas ended up being not as stressful as I had anticipated. Loved spending time with family and LOVED watching the excitement as the kids opened their presents. Emily and Morgan both got the makeup from Santa they were wanting.  Lindsay got an American Girl doll (Kit) and a Fur-Real puppy.  Josh got a Star Wars helmet and gun and a remote-control car.  Grandma and Grandpa surprised Linds & Josh with Heeleys and Ems & Mo with new dolls, cradles, and blankets.  Here are some pics:

Holiday Stress

So, because Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth and life, we should feel a lot of peace this time of year, right?  And because we focus on Christ, we naturally feel close to our families and I should relish all the family get-togethers, right?  WHAT'S MY PROBLEM?


Here's a summary of last year's Christmas: After a very late night preparing for Santa to come, we set our alarms to wake up the kids.  Crazy, huh?  It's the only way we can squeeze it all in today.  We spend about an hour opening gifts and then the panic begins.  We need to be somewhere by 9:30.  I'm trying to get myself ready, every few minutes coming back into the living room to tell the kids to stop playing with their new toys and get ready.  By 9:30, I'm yelling at everyone - yelling at the kids to get ready, yelling at Ryan because after 10 years of complaining, we still need to be somewhere Christmas morning by 9:30.  At 9:40, my yelling escalates and I'm almost in a full-blown tirade.  Feeling the Christmas peace yet?  We drive 100 miles an hour because we know we're the last to arrive, even though we live the closest.  Whew! 10 a.m. and I'm already stressed and exhausted (and a little hoarse).  I hear others at the get-togethers saying "this is what it's all about - being with family" and again, I think: WHAT'S MY PROBLEM?


I've decided I need an attitude change.  This year I've finally realized that EVERY part of life has stress in it.  But I need to find the joy - and yes, peace - amidst it all.  I need to let go of those things I can't control (like other's schedules) and relish in the time we have together.  This Christmas, I am going to stop being so selfish.  Don't get me wrong, it's gonna take more than one Christmas for me to get the hang of peacefully having to be somewhere early Christmas morning, but I'm going to get better each year and really try to feel the peace of Christ.

Frugal Halloween

The week before Halloween, we made it to Gardner Village to see the witches - if you haven't been before, you need to go next year.  It's such a fun outing with the kids.  (Shhh!  Don't tell Lindsay and Josh we went - they were in school.)

For Halloween, Lindsay was a dead bride - she was able to wear her baptism dress (no she was not actually baptized in it, so no sacrelige) and I made her a veil out of tulle.  Josh was a vampire - $5 costume from Wal-Mart (thanks Mom for the alterations).  We added a vest that he already had to help it look better (it was a great one-piece number).  They did their own makeup and loved every minute of their spooky costumes.

Emily and Morgan couldn't make up their minds, so they switched their costumes several times... Emily wore both Cinderella and Belle and Morgan wore both Snow White and Tinkerbell.  So great that we have a lot of princess dresses in our dress-up box.

It really was so great to let the kids pick exactly what they wanted to be and just have fun piecing together the costumes... no stress, no "keeping-up-with-the-Joneses."  Four Halloween costumes for under $10, including makeup and black hairspray.  The greatest part?  My kids couldn't have been happier with their costumes!  What a fabulously frugal Halloween!!!

Adults Only!

Sounds naughty, but really it's just nice! Over conference weekend in October, we went to St. George with Ryan's family - sans kids. What a nice reprieve! Fun times going out to eat (no kids menus, please), relaxing, wheelchair races, and laughing so hard we cried. And Happy Birthday, Ryan (not really - I just make the servers sing to him every time we eat out). Thanks Amy, Kimi, and Mom & Dad for all helping to watch our kids - it was a busy weekend for all of you. Thanks everyone for a fun weekend!!

I Have a 9-Year-Old

Lindsay's 9th birthday fell on a Saturday, so she got to have a tail-gating birthday party and then went to the football game with Ryan. She's somewhat of a tom-boy, so it was perfect for her - she had a blast! She also had a friends party and invited a zillion girls over to her Grandma and Grandpa's house for a luau. Love you, Linds - happy birthday!