December and Christmas

December started out with that horrible windstorm and then life just kind of continued to feel like a windstorm throughout the rest of the month (isn't that how December always feels?). I have to admit that I was pretty happy when Christmas day came, just so I could sit around the house and not have to do anything for a while.

One of the first things we did in December was make a Graham Cracker house.

 I was surprised how well the kids did at not eating all of the candy for decorating the house. They had so much fun and loved helping me decorate it. I think we will try it again next year, but maybe we will try using real gingerbread instead. I bet it would hold together better than graham crackers.

Next I got to go on Beckett's first field trip with his Kindergarten class. We went to the Treehouse museum. I drove Beckett and two boys from his class in our car. Beckett was so excited and proud to have them ride with us. We watched a play that the kids participated in. Only one of the children was not afraid to say their lines in front of everybody. It was super cute. The kids also got to do a Chinese Dragon Dance. It was so cool. Each child got to hold one of the poles that held up the dragon and dance throughout the museum, while the adults made lots of noise with drums and cymbals. I think that might have been the favorite thing that we did that day. We also got to do a craft and then run free in the museum. It was a lot of fun.

After months and months of threatening to cut Anabelle's hair if she kept on sucking on it, I finally followed through.

On December 10th, I cut Belle's hair for the very first time, ever. It was difficult to do it, and not just for me, as you can see by the pictures, she wasn't too thrilled about it either. When it was all over though, I think she felt better about it, like she had passed a milestone and was a little more grown up.

I am a little sad that her long hair is gone. She had the cutest curls in the back of her head, just like me when I was her age. And just like me, once the hair was cut, the curls were gone too. But now her hair doesn't look all clumpy and gross. My mom didn't go for a styled cut, we just pulled her hair towards her mouth, and snipped it where it was just out of reach for her to get it in her mouth. Unfortunately, now it has grown just long enough that she can get it in her mouth again and she is starting to take full advantage of it. Urgh!! Why can't I get this child to understand how disgusting that is?! We have even told her that Paul (Matt's friend that Anabelle has quite the crush on, and yes, I am worried about that) doesn't like girls that suck on their hair, but apparently that hasn't fazed her. I guess she is just going to have to have short hair the rest of her life.

Also in December, I went on a date with my mom and aunt to see "A Christmas Carol." Two of my nieces and a nephew were in it and they did a fantastic job. "A Christmas Carol" is such a wonderful way to get you into the Christmas spirit. No wonder President Monson reads that every year.

I also got to go on a date with Matt to his company Christmas party, sans children. It was nice dress too. It has been a long time since Matt and I got dressed up to go out for a nice dinner alone (yeah. there were 400 other people there, but no children). We even got a nice picture taken, but I think Matt might have lost the link to our picture, so that was a bust. The food was really good and we sat with some fun people too. Despite the big let down of no gifts from the company, we had a really good time and were grateful to have had some time to ourselves.

That same weekend we also got to have a family sleepover with Matt's sister, Ana, and her wonderful family. We had a lot of fun having them stay with us. The kids had all kinds of fun together and Belle got to go shopping with Ana's family, so she had the time of her life. We adults made and ate way too much junk food and loved every minute of it. Isn't that what the holidays are all about anyways? I mean, really? One more bonus to having them stay with us, they put Netflix on our Wii, and have left it on there for us to use. It has been awesome! Ana and Scott, you are the best!!

The week of Christmas, both Anabelle and Beckett had parties at their schools. Beckett's was your standard school party. He came home with all kinds of gifts from his teacher and special ED teachers. Lucky duck. I don't remember getting presents from my teachers, let alone 3 teachers.

Anabelle's was a pajama party. She had a blast. Mrs. Claus came and so did the missing Gingerbread boy and girl (They went missing earlier in the month and sent them postcards from their travels all month long). Anabelle still talks about finding the Gingerbread girl. That must have been much more exciting than the big guy's wife.

Christmas Eve was spent at Ana's house, having dinner, painting ornaments, and busting open a pinata. This is two years in a row we have done this, so I think we might start calling it a tradition. The kids did much better at painting their ornaments this year.

 You could actually see the different colors that they used, instead of mixing them all together until the ornament was unrecognizable, like last year. The pinata was also a big success. This year, they actually understood what they were doing, so it was a little more exciting. Ana found some super cute felt bags for them to put their booty into.

 We parents also got to play games, while the kids ate some candy and watched a movie. A great Christmas Eve, if I do say so myself.

My sister Christa, stayed with us over the Christmas weekend. It was fun to have someone else there to celebrate with us. She is always so good at helping the kids get excited about stuff and have lots of fun. Isn't that what Aunts are for? It was really nice for me because I had someone to talk to at night when Matt was playing with his Christmas gift, the Xbox.

Christmas was super exciting this year. Beckett remembered a lot from last year and so he was really into it. He wrote letters to Santa this year. The first one said,

Pretty direct and to the point. No messing around with that note. I think he started learning about sentences soon after he wrote that first note, because the next one said, "Beckett is the train." And then the final draft that he actually put in an envelope said, "Beckett, I want the train." Santa had no way of messing up that order. Anabelle also wrote her own letter:

I asked her what it said, and she said it told Santa she wanted a princess doll. I'm glad Santa could decipher that letter, because I never would have figured that one out.

The kids really wanted to leave out cookies for Santa, but we forgot to bake some. I don't think Santa minded because he wrote a very sweet note to the kids anyways, which they thought was pretty cool. Santa obviously got the message because Beckett got two trains and more tracks to go with them. Anabelle did get her princess doll (actually, she orginally wanted a set of all of the Disney Princesses, 7 in total, but Santa decided that was a little much), a Cinderella Barbie doll that she loves and Strawberry Shortcake with a bakery as a bonus. They got lots of other toys and wonderful presents that were loved just as much, but I don't want to bore you all with telling you about each individual gift, so I just went with the highlights.Thank you so much to those that gave us gifts this last Christmas. We loved and appreciated them all.

After Sacrament meeting that morning, Christmas day was spent at my brother Ben's house, eating more good food and playing more fun games. This is becoming a tradition as well. I guess we started all kinds of traditions this last year. We had such a good time, except that I started to get sick. The day after Christmas was spent mostly in bed, resting. I was able to actually take a sick day thanks to Christa. She took my kids home with her and brought them back the next day. That never happens for a mom. I appreciated it so much.

New Years Eve was a lot of fun. We spent it at our friends, James and Shana's place. We ate yummy pizza and snacks, and finally watched Captain America. We must be getting old though, because it felt like it took forever to get to midnight. We all kept saying to each other, "It's only 9?!", "It's only 10:30?!" Beckett and Anabelle, on the other hand, had no problem staying up that late. They could have watched stuff on Netfix all night long. They were mad when it was time to go.

Beckett enjoyed having a break from school, a little too much. I tried very hard to get him to understand that he was going to have to go back to school eventually, but I guess it didn't sink in because he put up a big fight when it was time to go back to school. It was worse than when he started school in some ways. I almost don't want to have Spring break if it is going to be like it was in January. Do you think they would give me a key to the school?

Lets get to Christmas as quick as we can

Okay people, I really want to get caught up on here, so, this is going to be fast. Besides, October through November were pretty quiet anyways.

We made carpet angels one day.

We went out for half priced sushi for Matt's birthday, and it was absolutely delicious, especially the FRIED cheesecake and bananas. Anyone in Ogden interested, let me know and I will send you the info. Totally worth it.

We did more for Halloween stuff this year than any year previously. Maybe it was because I totally rocked it this year and made Beckett the best costume EVER, and I had to show it off.

I think he likes it

One of the many festivities was a fair with Cousin Ally. Beckett had to have some pizza before he could get over the scary masks, but then he had a great time.

Belle on the other hand, was miserable the whole time.

And just because I am super prideful about this, one more picture of the awesome Thomas

Another thing we went to was the YM/YW Halloween carnival, which Matt helped with since he is now in young mens. It was a lot of fun. We also went to the Treehouse Museum for their Fairy Tale party. This time we went with our friend Krista and Aspen. This might have been our favorite thing we did that month.

They got goodie bags. How nice is that?! - Sorry Livia, I didn't get a picture with Aspen

Then, of course, there were the school parties. I did Anabelle's hair so pretty for hers. She let me use my 3 barrel crimperish iron. It was a little nerve wracking, but we made it through and she looked so beautiful.

Beckett's Halloween parade was fun and brought back lots of memories of when I was in Elementary. All the kids were super excited. I felt really cool when a lot of the older kids at Beckett's school commented on his costume. I don't know if I will ever be able to top it. Okay, I'll stop bragging now.

Halloween night we spent at my brother's, in Kaysville, which is becoming a tradition. Honestly, it is mostly because I don't want to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. Plus my brother's neighborhood gives out good stuff, like full size pixie sticks, which should not be given to toddlers I might add.

Guess what this is a picture of...

Nope. Those are bats. Beckett watched a Wild Krats episode where they talked about bats. He then made a bat of his own. He clipped a little sheet of paper with a bag clip and then began flapping it. His invention did sound like a bat flying and kind of looked like one flapping its wings. Anabelle had to join in as well, only she used multiple sheets in a sandwich bag. It didn't sound quite the same as Beckett's.

Beckett had a puke day during November. It was awesome, especially when he puked all over in the car, right after we had all went out to eat dinner. Not cool. I did feel really sorry for him while he was sick. He kept saying, "I don't want to throw up any more." in a sad and frightened voice. Poor kid. At least it was for only 24 hours.

Thanksgiving was spent with Matt's brother, Nate. We had a great time and ate lots of super good food. We played lots of games, shopped Target on Black Friday, and saw the Black Canyon near Nate's house. Matt had been to the canyon before, but the rest of us hadn't. It was really cool. It is a canyon made of black rock that is almost straight down, and super deep. I would never go hiking around the edge of that place. It was uniquely beautiful, but I think it would be much more pretty in the summer or spring. If you are ever in Montrose, you should take a detour and see the Black Canyon.

Well, those two months are down now. Just December and Christmas to go.

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!