Its December what?!

We started November off with Matt getting the 1st off for his birthday. (Yes, I know his birthday is on the 29th of October, but he wanted the Monday after instead of the day of his birthday) So, to celebrate his birthday, we went to the treehouse museum with the kids. We had a blast.

Beckett getting into the drums

Future xylophone phenom - Miss Belle



Fire Chief Anabelle - you can see her bandaged head from her bonk on Halloween in this picture

Everybody loved it. I was afraid that Beckett would get hung up on the Train sets they have at the front (terrible placing if you ask me), but luckily he willingly walked away after he had played for a few minutes and wanted to explore all over. That place is awesome. They really encourage children to use their imagination, instead of telling them what to do. They also have a lot of arts and crafts for them to do. I highly recommend that place to anyone with toddlers or older. Matt thought that place was super cool too. He was looking at everything as intently as the children. They had singing time, but the chillin's weren't really diggin' it, so they went and milked the fake cow instead. Thanks to Matt, Beckett learned how to squirt the water that comes out of the utter all over the place. Boys will be boys. We looked at more displays, played with more cool stuff, and then finally found the computers (I'm glad we didn't discover this until the end or we wouldn't have seen anything else). We hung out there for about 15 min. and then it was closing time, so that was the end of our fun. It was a blast.

Matt also installed a new toilet one Saturday. All by himself, I might add (well I helped a smidge). The kids loved the box it came in and spent the next week or so having me or Matt lift them in and out of the box. They also discovered that if you tipped it on its side, it became an awesome slide.

I wish I had that kind of energy and imagination.

Speaking of imagination, here are some of Anabelle's latest fashion creations:

Notice that she has them put on sideways, meaning one of her legs is through the top hole. It has created a triangle of no underwear. Thank goodness she is still in diapers.

Another winner

You can't see it, but she isn't wearing any pants with this outfit. She just really wanted to go outside and play in the snow that wasn't there.

I don't know if you can tell, but she has on all of her underwear, plus those green swim trunks from before, under those pants. It created quite the bulging effect.

Okay, I am going to confess something. I don't like to let my kids do things that are messy. I have a hard enough time cleaning up from daily life, let alone purposely letting them create a mess. You remember when I let them finger paint with pudding? Yeah, that was the last and only time we have done that activity. Maybe I can do it again someday in the future, but for now, the thought of all that clean up gives me a headache. (I am still finding pudding splotches on my blinds and wall) Playdough isn't quite that messy, but it still is a lot of work to me. I hate it when they mix the colors and Belle still tries to eat it. It really isn't that fun for me. Despite my feelings for playdough, I have tried to realize that it isn't about me, it is about the children having a fun and learning, so I just need to chillax. So, what did I do? I pulled out all the play kitchen stuff and let them have at it.

Thanksgiving was a blast. We spent it with my family. I made homemade rolls and pumpkin pies (only the crust was not homemade) for the first time. The pies turned out awesome, but I made way too much roll dough. They rose faster than I could get them on the sheets to bake them. Then I cooked some of them too high. The ones that weren't burned where very good though. Over all it was a good experience. I guess one of my new hobbies is cooking now. I am not a gourmand by any stretch of the imagination, but I have really enjoyed trying new recipes that I have never made before. Also, I have started to improvise a little and I am feeling quite confident in my abilities to do that now. (My spaghetti sauce is starting to get pretty tasty if I do say so myself)

Anyways, back to Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast with their cousins. They went sledding for the first time and they loved it. I am sure there are some of you shaking your heads at me, wondering why Beckett has never been sledding before now. He is 4 years old for goodness sake. Well, the truth be told, I am a chicken. I hate going down hills not slowly. That is why I don't ski or snowboard. And because I don't like it, I have never encouraged Matt to take them out. Plus, we have no idea where the good sledding hills are in Ogden. Luckily, my fears have not ruined my children. They went sledding before and after the feast.

I wasn't surprised how much Beckett loved the sledding. He loves to go out and help shovel and play in the snow. Belle surprised me though. She had a blast. She kept wanting to down over and over again. I was so proud of her.

Matt had to work the day after Thanksgiving (lame), but I got to go do Black Friday for the first time ever. I went to the Shopko just down the street at 8 in the morning. It was easily the busiest I have ever seen that place, but compared to probably everywhere else, it was pretty empty. You barely had to wait in line for your purchases. No one was fighting over something. No one was getting trampled. I walked in, went straight to what I needed, grabbed them, and then purchased them. I was home by 8:30. It was so easy. I was shocked that one of my purchases wasn't gone already. It was a 7" portable DVD player for $39. Granted, it was that price after the mail-in-rebate, but come on. That is a screamin' deal.

The next day, Saturday, we had a get together with some of my roommates from the Maple House. It was so fun to see some of them and chat and get caught up and see all the new babies. They are such great girls and I was so lucky to live with them for two years and still keep them as friends today. Even to this day, no one believes that there were 10 of us in the house and we only had one fight the entire time I lived there. And it wasn't even a big one. The kids had a blast playing together too. Here they are running around:

Here are some goofy pics of the kids trying on my glasses. I couldn't resist putting them on here.

Also in November, Matt and I decided that we are going to stay in Utah for a few more years. We aren't sure how long exactly, but definitely long enough for Matt to get his bachelors all done, which is now going to be in English. Then we can figure out where we are going from there. (Sorry to all our Omaha family and friends that want us out there. Things just weren't clicking for us to get out there. Maybe it will be easier in a few years.) (Sorry to all you Utah people that really wanted us to get out of here. You are stuck with us for a little longer.)

I guess I should do a little update on everybody. Anabelle is growing up so much. She loves babies. I have started babysitting two days a week for a friend that needed someone to watch her kids while she is at work. She has a little baby boy and Anabelle just adores him. She is constantly trying to get him a toy or is patting his head. She is just so sweet with him. She also loves her own babies. She frequently sleeps with them. She is going to make an awesome big sister someday. She is also the favorite of the boys already. Almost everytime we do something with a little boy about her age, they just love her. We are going to really have to keep those boys away when she becomes a teenager. Belle also loves to dance and sing. She mostly sings when she thinks no one is around. She will take my little hymn book and go hide and sing from it. It melts my heart. She is also quite the talker. A lot of people might not think so because she gets so shy around other people, but she is Chatty Cathy at home. She also loves to read. Here is a video I was able to sneak of her reading to herself:

Beckett is potty trained. He is also really starting to become more independent (finally). He is going to primary easier and easier each time. Today, he just walked straight in without hesitating. Granted, Matt was the one to take him, but he did it. I couldn't believe it. He has also started asking to go to school. I was floored the first time he said that to me. I hope he continues to feel that way once he really does go. He is still super addicted to the computer, but he is a lot better about getting off, especially if I use a timer and say he has to get off when it goes off. So much easier. He too has become really cute with the baby that we babysit. He will bring him toys to play with and things like that. I hope this will stick for when we do have another baby because he didn't even act like Anabelle existed for like the first 6 months of her life. (For the record, I am not pregnant. Yes, I would like another baby, but not right now. I am just thinking of the future.)

I am doing much better with my depression. It has been harder with the winter setting in, but I don't feel anything like I did a year ago. I actually get dressed everyday, before 10 am even. And we leave the house. Feeling good. :) Like I said earlier, I have started cooking as a hobby and I have taken one of those free cooking classes they offer at Macey's. It was really fun. I was the youngest person there, but it was a lot of fun. If anyone wants to join me, please give me a call. I would love to go with someone. They give out samples and have a drawing for a prize. Plus, you can get your grocery shopping done after the class is over. Also, I have started doing yoga. Livia Taylor teaches it. It is so great. She is a good teacher and I feel like I am really starting to get the flow of it (after a month or so). We are always look for new people to join our class. It is only $5 if you pay in advance and they offer free babysitting. How awesome is that?! Check out the link for more info if anyone in Ogden is interested. The more the merrier.

Matt is super busy with work. He has started doing photoshopping for his job. It kind of stinks. I am glad that he is home while he does it, but he is still working. Luckily, he isn't under a specific time crunch, so he can stop and help with putting the kids to bed and stuff. We have been staying up pretty late since he started doing that though. He hasn't finished until 1 or 2 in the morning a few times. Yuck! On the positive side, Matt has found a new TV show that he loves. I enjoy it myself. It is called Top Gear and it is hilarious. I have found myself laughing pretty hard at that show. Yes, it is a car show, and frankly, I could do without all the car tests they do on there, but they do some of the funniest challenges on that show. They also do some really cool stuff too. They made their own aquatic cars, a convertible van, and a lot of other crazy things that usually end in disaster. I highly recommend it, especially if you love British humor (which I do).

Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgivings and that you enjoy your Christmas this next weekend. We love you all and are so grateful to have each of you in our life. We hope all is well with each of you and that Santa brings you all that you asked for on your lists this year. Merry Christmas!

Some things I have to share

I saw an advertisement for the cutest line of clothes, especially the kids and baby clothes. I love it. I had to share with all of you. Here is the link. I would love to buy me some of these socks, Girls' and Women's Neon Multi No-Show Socks LittleMissMatched They are so cute! Check out the site. I bet you find something you want to buy.



Something else I want to share is the latest recipe that I love. I am not the best improve cook. I need a recipe or else I probably wont make it. I have recently gotten brave and tried a made-up marinade that I tried along time ago. I loved it!! It turned out so yummy. I didn't measure anything and it still tasted great. Matt doesn't like plain chicken very much, but he thought it tasted good. It is so simple too. 3 ingredients, how can you beat that? You buy Lawry's Lemon Pepper Marinade (I found my bottle where they keep the BBQ and Chinese sauces) and OJ and chicken breasts. Put the chicken in a Ziploc bag and add in the marinade and the OJ until the chicken is mostly covered by the sauces. I add more marinade than OJ, maybe about 2/3 or 3/4 part marinade to 1/3 to 1/4 part OJ (I'll try to measure it out next time). Then you let it sit in the fridge for about a day and a half to two days. After that, cook the chicken and devour. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out. I am having some tonight and I am so excited.

Do not try this at home

Last September or October, I read something where, about this mom that lives up north, and she and her son are inside for a good part of the year. Her son is about Anabelle's age or younger, and they love to bake together. He helps her. She said their favorite thing to make together is taking a spiced cake mix and adding applesauce or pumpkin to it to make it a little different and more healthy. She said they have a wonderful time and he is just the best little helper. Well, I thought, "I can do that. Next time I bake something, I will let the kids help me and it will be just like a science class and they'll learn all kinds of things and they will have a great time." I'm sure you all are already shaking your head thinking, "What a sucker?!" and you would be right.
Last November, I gave it my first go. We made my favorite muffin recipe, bran muffins, and the whole time I felt like I was constantly having to tell them not to do something and I was getting very frustrated and upset and it was not fun at all. You'd think I would have learned my lesson. Nope.
I thought after a few months, my kids would have grown up a bit and would be a little more well behaved to help me make the muffins (plus Beckett had been begging me for a few days to go buy eggs so we could make the muffins). I was so wrong. I got them each their own little bowls with a little sugar in it and gave them their own spoons so they could pretend to be making their own muffins and would hopefully let me do my thing. It worked for about a minute and then they wanted to help me stir and help me dump in stuff. At one point, Belle had a 1/2 tblsp. and wanted to help me stir the dry ingredients. When I noticed she had the spoon in there, I tried to take it away, but she was too quick for me and yanked that spoon back, throwing a flour mixture back behind her all over the fridge. It was not a fun science class at all, especially for the teacher.
So, the moral of the story is, don't bake with your kids (unless you are using a packaged mix).