Our Best Christmas Gift. . .

Okay, so I have been stirring up a lot of anticipation for what the big surprises could POSSIBLY be! Actually, it has been pretty hard keeping it a secret from a lot of people so it is going to be a relief finally getting out in the open! I guess the best way to do this is to just come right out and say it! So here goes. . .











Surprise #1:

WE ARE EXPECTING!!!!!!!!

I know! Shocker for us too! We have been in full ADOPTION mode for the past year. Busily working on all the endless paper work, sorting through agencies and options, figuring out exactly what would be best for our family. Then, seriously, only weeks after we were finally FULLY APPROVED-we find out about this little babe on the way. Isn't it funny how God has such a sense of humor?!



With my history, we have been hesitant (to say the least) to say anything about this news. We have been TRYING to keep it a secret but I have poked out so fast, it was no longer an option. I started living the life of a hermit about mid October and that served me well for a time (I really don't think people missed me too much at everything I skipped and flaked out on) but you can only lay low for so long.



So, with this pregnancy, I have been seeing a specialist as well as my doctor every two weeks. This has been the SECRET to our success with this pregnancy because the specialist was actually able to find the problem I had been having in the past with keeping pregnancies. He has me taking Heperin (a blood thinner) and it seems to be working. I have had five ultra sounds and each time we see the results of the medicine working. The baby is growing and developing perfectly and on schedule. We are BEYOND excited!
















So, this brings us to the NEXT surprise!









Surprise #2-

On Christmas morning, our family opened a much awaited for gift that will go down in history as our favorite of all time. It didn't look like much. Just a simple manila envelope. But its contents were amazing.



After all the other gifts were opened, the boys handed me this one little envelope and told ME to do the honors. Here is what we found:

In case that is hard for you to read it says: "I'm a BOY!"
We had a doctor appointment on the 23rd and originally, the doctor told me to bring the whole family so they could see the baby and we could see if it was a boy or girl. Then, a friend of mine at work suggested we have the doctor write it down and stick it in an envelope so we could have an EXTRA Christmas morning surprise. So, that is just what we did! Our whole family went to the appointment and got to see the baby, but we had the technician and doctor keep the goods a secret! Turns out, it was the BEST present we could ever hope for! The boys CAN'T WAIT to have another little guy around here to add to their dominating team! I am thrilled too. Hey, we know boys, we can handle boys! Boys are great:)
So, that's it! Those are our TWO big surprises! I know I promised you bloggers out there a "blog makeover" too, but that is going to have to wait. I have had too many technical difficulties today with Blogger and I need a BREAK! So, stay tuned. Until then, HAPPY NEW YEAR's EVE!

December in a Nutshell

December was a bit of a blur for me this year. Am I the only one who thinks it JUST WHIZZED RIGHT BY? I still can't believe Christmas has come and gone. We spent the majority of the month preparing for the Christmas break. I put together countless projects for my students in assembly line fashion. A packet of fun activities for those kiddos to work on over the break with a CD to go with it, parent gifts from the kids, gifts to the kids from their teacher, gifts from the principal to the entire faculty, decorations for the Christmas program, etc. Not to mention the extra curricular work that over took me. . choosing, buying and wrapping gifts for the Sub for Santa program, purchasing books for the school teachers to give their students as gifts. . .etc. etc. BUSY, BUSY! I could not WAIT for school to be over so I could start focusing on all of our family fun! Needless to say, it didn't slow down much once the Christmas break began. Like I said, it literally FLEW by! But, we did manage to make a few memories along the way. Most of them, I did not have a camera for (I have been so DISORGANIZED lately). But, I thought I would jot them down so as not to forget them entirely. Here's what I recall from the month of DECEMBER!

December 1st- Family Home Evening with the Van Fleets (went to the temple grounds to see the lights and nativity, back to the VanFleets for hot chocolate and donuts). We did take a picture of the kids on the steps of the temple, but we used James' phone camera, so I probably will never see the pic again unless I ask him to send it to us. It was a fun night though, not too cold or crowded and the company was excellent. We are so glad the VanFleets are in our lives!

December 6th- Lewis had his first Basketball game. He is loving basketball. Still a little unsure of himself out on the court, but he actually fouled someone at the last game-so he is getting more aggressive! Also, we spent the day decking the halls. After this day, I finally felt ready to take on the holidays!

December 7th- Watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with the Adams'. The boys didn't pay much attention to it (they were having too much fun reliving Halloween) but the adults (and baby Amy on occasion) really enjoyed the inspirational messages shared and it really helped set the tone for the coming weeks and got me on the right track for the holidays.

December 13th- Twelve Days of Christmas began! The kids woke up to discover the first day of Christmas goods in their stockings! This year, here is what they scored:


Day One- 1 new book to read!
Day Two- 2 new gloves (Conner immediately lost his within the day):)
Day Three- 3 awesome pencils (the mechanical kind) this was kind of a joke (Conner was WAYYY bugged. I think he said, "that's ALL we get?"). The boys do their homework in the car on our way home from school (we have a thirty minute commute both ways). It seems we NEVER have a pencil in the car-only pens. So, these pencils are to stay IN the car (hopefully)! P.S. After our sweet (easy to please) Lewis went ON and ON about how great his new pencils were, Conner finally came around. They have such DIFFERENT personalities!
Day Four- 4 chocolate bells (Conner made a suggestion after opening this gift. He said, "Mom, maybe for the FIFTH day of Christmas, we should get FIVE packs of Pokemon Cards!" We ended up having to remind Conner of the reason for the Twelve Days-to count down the days until Christmas-not celebrate Christmas in advance!)
Day Five- 5 Golden Spoons! (We have yet to go out for our ice cream date as I type this! We better get on that-the break is almost over!)
Day Six- 6 shiny quarters
Day Seven- 7 Kisses (Lewis immediately came looking for me for the real ones, even though he also got chocolate ones. He is soooo great! Conner begrudgingly took some kisses from me. I sure miss my little Conner who used to LOVE snuggling and kissing):(
Day Eight- 8 pack of crayons
Day Nine- 9 candy canes (some to make into candy cane reindeer and share with friends)
Day Ten- 10 ten places to put your fingers to keep them warm from the snow (Steve bought the boys REAL snow gloves since we actually had snow on our lawn to play in)!
Day Eleven- 11 dollars to buys a gift for your brother
Day Twelve- 12 ingredients to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies for Santa (save some oatmeal for the reindeer):)

December 16th- Faculty Christmas Party. It included a HUGE white elephant exchange (over 60 people!) that carried on throughout the evening as everyone ate and chatted. The food was endless and I ate WAAAY too much. I paid for this dearly throughout the night and into the next day. :( The boys were well cared for by Miss Maria, one of the most AMAZING ladies ever! She is one of the reading aides at our school and has a grandson the same age as Lewis. She invited the boys to eat at Quiznos and go shopping and then hang out at her house until the party was over. The boys had such a blast, she of course, spoiled them rotten! I really need to get a picture of her with the boys. She has been so good to our "commuting" family.

December 17th- My Christmas get together gets snowed out! About every other month or so, my old teaching girlfriends from my "Red Mountain" days get together at Applebees for dessert. I haven't been able to make it to the past few (Steve is usually out of town or at a meeting or something, plus I have my "morning sickness" at night). We don't meet until 9:00 at night, so getting a sitter on a school night is out of the question. Well, this time, I decided to move the party to my house (Steve was on his way to catch a flight to Cali). Crazy as it seems, our neck of the woods actually saw a good amount of snow on this night! One of the girls lives in Winchester Hills (up and away from the city) and was completely snowed in! We decided to cancel our plans and reschedule. Bummer. One great bonus: Steve's flight got canceled so he was HOME for the weekend! Looking back, how would I have survived those last few days of school without him? The snow ended up being a BLESSING in disguise!

December 18th- St. George sees it's first SNOW DAY in a really long time (I don't remember what the news said the time span really was). Anyway, OUR school did NOT get a snow day. We just got a LOT of rain! As we were driving in the early morning on our way to Arizona, the boys were in awe of all the white stuff everywhere. They were VERY concerned it was not going to be here when we got back (I think Lewis even got a little teary as we drove further into the gorge and the snow started turning into rain). Needless to say, the snow DID STICK to our lawn and there was just enough to make snow angels and build a jolly snow man (good thing Steve was home to do this with the boys)!

December 19th- Beaver Dam Elementary Christmas Program. I must admit, I was a bit of a scrooge about this program this year. We had to hike up to the high school (just up a hill from our elementary) to practice twice (two weeks prior) and then, go up again for the actual performance. I wasn't thrilled about the time away from "instruction" that my kids were going to be missing. I know, I am sooooo lame! The program ended up being pretty cute, however, I felt like the Kindergarten kids could have sung MUCH louder. They sounded so cute at practice, they must've had a little stage fright! Conner's first grade class sang a song called "Holiday Hoedown" and it was really cute. Of course, my son and a couple of his little "followers" decided they were "too cool" to wear the cowboy hats like everyone else (why is he such a rebel lately?) but it will be a funny memory to look back on. His little bare head amongst all the cowboy hats. He did sing really loud though! He's got a great voice! Lewis' third grade class also did a cute number. It was called the "Penguin Polka." His song invloved some more complex dance moves! He was a RIOT! I will never forget his excitement and energy as he performed the song. NOT embarrassed at ALL!
THIS WAS ALSO THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR 2008!!!!!!!!! HALLELUIAH!!!

I tried to do the panoramic setting on this picture, but I guess I still need some practice! At least I got the general idea! I thought that the reason the pictures below weren't so great is because I had given the camera to someone else, but this is proof that I can't work my camera very well either!

December 20th- Christmas Party at Laura's. This group is my Canasta group. We usually play cards once a month, but when there is a holiday, we try to have a party with the husbands. Steve really has fun with this group of guys. This night was no exception. We laughed and laughed. Plus, this was like the first thing I have made and appearance to since my belly started poking out. Not very many knew that we have a bun in the oven. I am sure they all just thought I was getting really fat! We ate appetizers and soup in bread bowls and played pictionary (Christmas carol style) as well as had the white elephant exchange. Steve scored this sweet life size George W. Bush replica for us, but it was quickly stolen away (I can't say I wasn't a little relieved):)


December 21st- Primary craziness! I was in charge of the Christmas lesson so luckily Carolyn, my trusty sidekick and next door neighbor who teaches the CTR 6 class with me, did all the EXTRAS! I had absolutely no energy left to put together yet another parent gift! She took the lead and made a handprint towel with our kids for the parents. She pulled each kid into the hallway during opening exercises and got them started so they would have time to dry. She wrapped them up real cute and later, during class, I helped the kids make cards to put with them. This year, during sharing time, Conner was chosen to play Joseph in the nativity. He looked soooo dang awesome! One of the other teachers snapped a picture of everyone with his phone camera (dang it, I didn't have mine with me AGAIN). Hopefully I will get to see that someday. It was precious!

December 22nd- Christmas Cards and Neighbor Gifts- I must say, working on the Christmas cards this year was very theraputic for me. It has been AGES since I have hauled out my scrapping supplies and worked on a fun project like this. These cards were super easy to put together and took very little planning and preparing. I didn't want to have to take family pictures or anything like that, so that is how the photo collage idea came about. All I had to do was pick three old pictures and put them together. I also didn't want to have to buy any new materials to make the cards, I tried to just use what I had on hand. This ended up working out at first, but I didn't have enough of any one thing, so I still had to make a trip or two to the craft store, but it was fun. The actual assembly line for putting the cards together sat around our house for a few days. I just worked on them whenever I had a spare second (usually while our family watched a fun Christmas movie together). This did not allow for all the cards to get out the door on time though. I am sure a LOT of people did not get them until Christmas was over, but I tried my best! I gotta say though, making the cards was the best! I felt so content to just be tucked safely inside my cozy little house with my family, working on something enjoyable! It was so relaxing and fun. My favorite ones ended up being the big red flower with the large antique bronze center (the one kind of cut off on the bottom of the picture). I wish I would have had enough of those items to make all 70 of them look like that one, but I didn't. I think all the people who ended up with that particular card are the luckiest!

Neighbor gifts were another story. I don't know if it's just a Utah thing to have to have a "catchy" play on words type of neighbor gift or what? But I was at a loss this year. We finally decided to give out Scone mixes (since we had bought so many for our food storage) and once we thought of our "catch phrase" Steve was actually a little embarrased to take them around! We laughed so hard when we were trying to think of something "clever" to say with our mixes. We ended up going with:

If you want to be happy in a million ways, for the holidays you can't beat SCONES SWEET SCONES!

I know! We are such dorks. I was just glad to get them out the door though. We did enjoy giving a special neighbor award to Carolyn though! She and her sister deserve double brownie points for all they do for us. A while back, Conner got the MVP award for his football team one day. It happened to be on a night when Carolyn had to take Conner for us and Steve and I felt like total loser parents because we missed the MVP action that got Conner the award (it was parent teacher conference night at school). We ended up discussing the fact that Conner would have completely MISSED the game had it not been for Carolyn stepping in and volunteering to run Conner there. Lewis said, "She needs an M.V.N. award!" (Most Valuable Neighbor). We all laughed and thought that was so funny! We joked about going around to all our neighbors and declaring the nominees for the award but that probably Carolyn would win for sure! Anyway, it's been a standing joke since that day in November, so we decided to present Carolyn with the REAL M.V.N. trophy this Christmas. We gave her sister Nancy the B.S.N. award too (Best Supporting Neighbor) since she is always helping us out too. It was funny to see the whole thing come full circle. We tried to make the awards as flashy, glitzy and funny as possible! Way to go Carolyn and Nancy! You are tough competition!




After this day was over, I felt like we could FINALLY relax a little. Then, I remembered, I still hadn't wrapped ONE thing FOR ANYONE by this day! UGHHHH. So. . .still a little more work for the elves to do-tomorrow perhaps!

December 23rd- Trip in to the specialist with the WHOLE family to see the baby on ultra sound! This was my fiftth time seeing the baby (and that wonderful little heartbeat) but neither Steve nor the boys had seen an ultrasound of this baby until today! He was very active and seeings how he had both legs up by his face at one point, it was VERY easy for the nurse to get a good view of this baby's anatomy. Definitely ALL boy! Of course! He looked very healthy and everything else looks great too. We are stoked!

December 24th- Christmas Eve was very relaxing and laid back. We made cookies for Santa in the afternoon and headed to Steve's parent's for the Christmas Eve dinner and program. We had a buffet style dinner and then gathered in the living room for the reading of Luke 2 with the kids dressing up for the nativity. Steve and I were Mary and Joseph last time, so Quincy and Sunnie took their turn this year. They sure made a cute Mary and Joseph. All the little boys wanted to be kings (wise men). Nobody wanted to be a shephard for some reason?! We tried to get little Amy to be the angel but she was pretty feisty about it. The highlight for me was Lewis playing two of the songs on the piano. He did a great job accompaning our off key voices! He was so excited to play and was so grown up about it. It has been fun to see him take to the piano.





After we left the Peterson's, we drove around Bloomington a bit to see some of the lights on the houses. It seems like the lights were pretty sparce this year so we got extra excited when we saw some houses that were REALLY decked out!




Before bed, we sprinkled the reindeer dust(oatmeal and glitter) on the lawn and set out the cookies. I also stayed up a little late after the kids were in bed to get some last minute cleaning done. This was the first year that I put my head to the pillow WITHOUT every square inch of the house being clean, all laundry put away etc. I just have NOT had the energy to keep up this year. I have tried not to let it bother me or distract me from having fun though!


December 25th- Christmas Morning- The boys did not follow orders to come directly to our bedroom FIRST before they went into the living room to see the goods. They snuck a quick peek and THEN came in to get us! I threw on a sweatshirt and went in to turn on the tree lights. Steve got the video camera ready and then the fun began! Of course, we saved our BEST present for last. The anticipation was thrilling and killing us! The boys let ME do the honors. Of course, I wasn't too shocked to see those words: "I'm a BOY!" We are SOOOO thrilled to finally know what it is! I really can't believe people have enough will power to go the full 9 months not knowing! Two days was enough anticipation for me!

At around 9:00, we piled in the car to go to my mom's house for the annual Christmas breakfast that she does for us. She makes crepes with strawberries and whipped cream and endless sausage and bacon. It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas morning! We opened more gifts and played all morning with cousins and nephews. Then we headed back to our house.

Christmas Afternoon- After cleaning up the general debri of the morning, I actually got to squeeze in a NAP! Then, Grandma and Grandpa Peterson came over to visit for awhile. It was rainy and yucky most of the day so we didn't get to try out the new skateboards much, but we did have a very peaceful and relaxing day playing with all our new stuff and being thankful for all we'd been given.

Christmas Evening- Back over to my parent's house for Christmas Dinner. Ham, shrimp salad, rolls, potatoes, salad, pistachio dessert etc. Yummy! We played some of our new games before heading home. Such a fun, fulfilling day!

December 26th- The morning was soooo great! We actually sat around in our jammies and played Star Wars Monopoly with the boys for five straight hours! We had NO agenda and nothing pressing! We couldn't believe how lucky we were! Steve can't remember the last time he's had such a relaxing Christmas. I am sooo glad he hasn't had work to do and this is one time of year where being an educator really pays off (since it usually doesn't monetarily)! The time we have together is PRICELESS!


That night, the boys had their annual cousin sleepover at Grandma Peterson's house. A few of Steve's sister's were able to come down from up north to join in the fun festivities. The youngest grandkids went to McDonalds with G&G Peterson and then back to their house for the sleepover party. The adults and older cousins went to Pizza Factory and then went over to Sunnie and Quincy's for games. Of course, it was fun, fun, fun!

December 27th- Steve woke up early to go rabbit hunting with the die hard hunters of the family. They hiked through waist deep snow but still managed to have smiles on their faces at the end of the day (I for the life of me don't know how?). I spent the day relaxing (trying to clean or be motivated to do ANYTHING really) but I basically layed around and watched movies all by myself. I thought I would ENJOY the time alone, but really, I was sad without my boys (who were still engulfed in cousin FUN all day at Grandma's). They came home (from SWIMMING-in an outdoor pool in the middle of DECEMBER) just in time to get ready for the Peterson Family Dinner Party at Sunnie and Quincy's. We had Honey Baked Ham, baked potatoes, salads and rolls. All delicious. Later that night, some of us (Three of Steve's sisters, six of their older kids and me) went to the $2, 8:30 showing of High School Musical 3. I had not seen it yet and I was blown away with pure excitement! Disney sure knows how to pull off a grande finale to a great series of musicals! This was the best, most cheesiest, most amazing one of them all! I loved it!

While I was at the movie, Steve took the boys and their cousin Adam to our house for a sleepover. They watched Kung Fu Panda and were still awake at 10:30 when I got home!

December 28th- This was my last Sunday to teach my own little Conner in my primary class. He is moving up to the 7 year old group next week. I will miss being his teacher. Today, Steve asked him who his favorite teacher has been (he has had some AMAZING ones) and he said ME! I really thought he'd pick the over the top, unbeleivable Johansen's who spoiled him rotten last year in the CTR 5 class (and who still call us on our birthdays)! I really didn't think I had a chance up against them! I am so glad Conner DOES love me:)


December 29th-Present- Right now, we are busily trying to get things done (um refinance our home-what? That is allllll Steve) including organize all of our new stuff into our lives, prepare for the upcoming year, get caught up with reading and piano practicing etc. etc. while still trying to maintain the balance of enjoying the laid back Christmas season. We have had a fabulous and QUICK paced December! Hope yours was just as packed with memorable events, people and blessings! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I KNOW!

Nothing new YET! I am working on it!

Yup! It's time and 2 BIG Announcements!

Time to go private. Not for any reason at all. I just told myself when I started this blog, that I would let it be free and open for a year and then put a lock and key on it after that. I am not worried about crazy loonies stalking our family or anything, I mainly just don't like the idea of anyone being able to right click on any of our photos and do whatever they may with them. I have had a stat counter on it and that helps a little, but sometimes I wonder about those people visiting from far off countries!?! It is pretty crazy to think that I am accessible to the ENTIRE WORLD! Anyway, it just seems like the right thing to do and since I have some time over the Christmas break, this is when I will make the big switch.

SO, as you all have done in the past with other blogs, you will need to let me know if you want to be invited in to see the goods from now on. I realize my blog has left much to be desired in this past little while but I will say, I have a couple of major fun announcements that will only be made known to our biggest fans! I am also conducting a major blog makeover that will be unveiled at the time the blog goes private. So, hopefully that is enough incentive to get all you blog stalkers to make yourselves known and to keep my blog buddies checkin' in on us! We love getting comments and sharing our everyday lives with you! So, without further adieu, let the comments begin to flow-leave us your email! We will be OFFICIALLY private before the NEW YEAR!!!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Some traditions are worth keeping around. We have tried a lot of fun Christmas ideas from year to year, and some have been worth the effort while others have left me frazzled. This idea is one I think we will keep around for awhile. It was such a big hit last year and I actually have no choice but to recreate it again this year (the boys are already geared up)! My friend came up with this sweet little idea of surprising each of her family members with a fun treat each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas. She did kind of a cute/romantic version for her husband and then conjured up some fun surprises to share with her kids too.
Last year, the boys and I hung up red stockings in their bedroom and each night (while they slept) I would drop the contents of their next day's surprise down inside. I used cute little note cards to write the messages that went along with their gifts and I enjoyed listening to their little squeals and giggles each morning as they retrieved their new prize. Of course, I kept the contents of each day's gift very simple and inexpensive. The joy came from the COUNTDOWN and the messages really. The boys LOVED it! I had a blast coming up with ideas for each of the twelve days. Wouldn't ya know, I did not type the list on my computer. I must've just jotted it down in one of my zillions of notebooks, so now that I am trying to share this fun activity with the world, I really can't remember much of what I did! At first, I wanted to the messages to rhyme (like the song does) but, I realized I am not THAT above and beyond in the creativity area. So, I just tried to mix fun activities with treats here and there. Since the TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS officially begins on Saturday, I am trying to get my supplies gathered and remember what I did, but also change it up a bit. Here is what I can remember from last year:

Twelve Days of Christmas:

*On the 1st day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

A fun new Christmas DVD!

*On the 2nd day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

2 new gloves!

*On the 3rd day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

3 new books to read!

*On the 4th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

Four yummy Cuties!


*On the 5th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

FIVE Golden Spoons (you can invite one friend each to enjoy ice cream with us at the Golden Spoon)!

*On the 6th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

Six Shiny Quarters (to spend at the arcade or toy machine of your choice)!

*On the 7th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

Seven Chocolate Kisses

*On the 8th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:
8 Mini Milky Way Bars

 

 

*On the 9th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:
9 Cinnamon Teddy Bears

 

*On the 10th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

10 tiny candy canes


*On the 11th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:

11 new songs to sing (this new CD has eleven songs)

*On the 12th day of Christmas my mommy gave to me:
A dozen cookies to decorate and eat (save some for Santa)!

 

 

Sometimes the gifts were shared items (the movie, the CD, the spoons and the dozen cookies). When this was the case, I just set the item down on the shelf in front of the stockings and tucked an individual message down inside their stockings. I do remember keeping the little notes (they were too cute to throw out) but I haven't the time right now to try and figure out where I stashed them. From now on, I will DEFINITELY type up EXACTLY what we did. I know that last year's CD was the High School Musical 2 one and the movie was A Charlie Brown Christmas. Lewis invited his buddy Luke and Conner brought his pal Kaleb for the ice-cream trip. We also ended up going to Cold Stone Creamery instead of driving clear across town to the Golden Spoon. Anyway, at least the "bones" of what I did is now officially recorded and I can expand and change it up to meet the needs of our boy's tastes and personalities.

In addition to this fun family Twelve Days of Christmas, we have also decided to "adopt" a family this year and do the traditional twelve days with them. I am excited about that too. There is just something about counting down the twelve days of Christmas. It is a tradition I love and although I can't believe it is right around the corner- (you still have a couple of days to "gear up" if you want to take on this fun tradition too!) I am looking forward to all the excitement each new day will bring!

Playing CATCH up!

FINALLY I have been waking up to the idea of Christmas and all the fun that it brings! Thanks to many of my "concerned" friends and family, offering to "help" me, inviting us to fun Christmas festivities and also (unknowingly) making me feel guilty with their awesome displays of Christmas cheer-I have finally snapped out of it! You'll all be relieved to hear (chuckle-chuckle) that we do indeed have our tree up and decorated, lights strung along the roof line of our house and stockings hung! Indeed, Santa will be sure to find our house this year (that is if we can keep the kids from killing each other:) We devoted the entire day yesterday to sparkling up the house and getting the decorating DONE. I made sure to put out the two most important things first, the tree and the nativity. Everything else fell into place after that. PHEW! The only thing that could make me happier is if I could get a few presents wrapped and throw them under the tree. It's a little (okay, A LOT ) bare right now. But, we'll get there! Also, now that I am updating this sad little neglected blog, I can feel completely at peace and BALANCED!

So, this blog of ours has served a great purpose this year in keeping track of our family memories as well as helping us stay in touch with the people we adore. Now that it has been almost a FULL year of blogging, I am going to have it printed out so it can be preserved along side our family scrapbooks (I know of a few websites that do this. I will do a bit more research and then let you all know which company I use. Plus, if any of you have any recommendations. . .). I've tried hard to make sure I haven't left anything out about our family happenings, but lately I have slacked a little. The next few posts are serving the purpose of CATCHING me up a bit. So, it might be boring and a little out of date to most of the world, but it must be done. So here goes. . .

Our FAVE FIVE this WEEK!

Lewis starts Basketball- Lewis is stoked to be playing basketball and I gotta say, I am too. Basketball is my favorite sport, so I am excited to get out there on the pavement with him and teach him some of the basics. He had such a great first practice. I have a confession though, we as parents totally spaced his first game this Saturday. Well, we didn't space it, we just got mixed up on the time. He ended up only getting to play for a few minutes. When we first told him we had goofed, he got so sad- total tears and all. Steve and I felt HORRIBLE! But, he perked up after the game and I explained to him that when I was a little girl, I didn't even get the opportunity to play ANY kind of sports. This seemed to help put things in perspective for him. Even though his parents biffed this one game, he is still a pretty lucky boy to be able to have all of the opportunities that he has. This is a pretty short season with only six more games to play, but he is absolutely on fire about it and it will be short, but I know it will be super sweet! (Maybe I'll remember to take some pictures this week too!)

Fixing the Playground- So when we built our house five years ago, the goal was for me to be able to do a preschool in our basement so I could be home with our boys and still make a little money and do what I love-TEACH! That first year was crazy. We moved in on the same day that I did my first preschool open house and we didn't even have grass! I still can't believe people actually signed their kids up to come! Anyway, by that first summer, we had our grass and Steve went to the ends of the earth to get this play set for our yard (I don't have a picture and my camera is M.I.A. right now, so just imagine a "wannabe" Costco play set with smaller scale everything but which includes swings, a slide and a little loft area). It was from Walmart and it was only like $300 which was about all we could afford. The only problem was, it was always sold out at all of the Walmarts we would go to. Steve finally found one when he was doing practicum work in Vegas and he snatched it up (if I recall correctly, he had come down with the stomach flu too and was on his death bed trying to figure out a way to get the dang thing home). Anyway, this play set started off fufilling our needs just great, but over the years, it has been worn down and has gotten so rickety that I almost am afraid to let the kids even get on it! Anyway, my friend Marci who has been running my school for me while I've been doing Kindergarten this past two years finally came up with a solution. Apparently her father-in-law is a genius with wood and he found a way to correctly reinforce this little play set and now it works better than ever! I am just sooo grateful to have this figured out and to not have to worry about it anymore or try to figure out how to come up with the funds to replace it. I am so glad there are handy people in this world (since Steve and I are not) and that they are willing to help out such a cause. Amazing, amazing! I am so grateful!

New Computer Armoire-

Another thing we had been putting up with for the past five years was a rickety old computer armoire that BARELY functioned. The doors BARELY opened and closed and the filing cabinets had to be duct taped shut because they no longer worked. We don't have an actual office in our home, so we needed a place to house our computer that could be closed up and out of sight when not in use. Well, earlier this fall one other piece of this old armoire broke and I had HAD it. I began looking on line, just to browse and get an idea of price range for a new one. Our old armoire was one of those fake wood Sauder brands and it just did not hold up over time, so I knew I needed to step up a bit. Well, I found this particular armoire at several different sites but it was a particularly GREAT deal at one site. Well, to make a long story short, the reason it was such a good deal, was I only bought the BOTTOM! I felt like such a dork when it came and I realized I had only purchased one part of it (of COURSE it was too good to be true)! So, after awhile, we decided the only solution was to order the top as well (this time we ordered from a local retailer who could guarantee mess ups) and it FINALLY came last weekend! Steve was totally mad at me at first when this whole incident went down, but now that we have a fully functioning armoire, he is glad we have it. I was soooo thrilled to get rid of the old one-this is just so nice. It's like REAL furniture a grown up would buy! It is really beautiful. Anyway, I obviously have not gotten a chance to organize all of our junk yet, and it appears I need to dust a couple of areas (funny what pictures show that you normally can't see) but I cannot WAIT to get on that! Here's to being organized and free of duct taped filing cabinets!!!!

Getting Our First Christmas Card-

So, one of my FAVORITE things about Christmas is getting greetings from long lost family and friends, through the old fashioned mail box! I love opening the mail and seeing those envelopes ready to be ripped into and read. I love hearing about what people are up to and seeing how people have grown and changed over the years. I totally keep my Christmas cards (all of them) filed in a special box that I intend to go through when I am old and gray. I am really not a "keeper" of much, so this shows how much I adore Christmas cards. I also really enjoy the whole process of making cards and sending them out. I am not a great cook or a seamstress or anything like that, but I do like to keep track of our family memories through scrapbooking and I totally LOVE the process of card making and the feeling of ending the year with a really great memento of our family. Even if I only do that ONE project and plop it in our scrapbook, it is a really good reminder of our year (I always type up a few paragraphs about our year to go alongside our card in the scrapbook) and our family's life. It has been hard for me to find time to do handmade cards this past couple of years, but this year, I have decided I will make the time. I am sure it will be simple, but it will definitely get done.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Our first Christmas card arrived this week and I was so excited! This year, the first card came from our good friends in Pennsylvania, the Stathams. They got the coveted first spot on our door and now I get to look at their beautiful grins for the next month or so. She too is a lover of the handmade cards and I totally appreciate them! Take a look at how cute that family is! On the inside it says: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14 Merry Christmas! Love, The Statham Family

Thanks so much Jen- I am now officially inspired to take on my Christmas Card tradition!

Feeling the Holiday Spirit- I am grateful to have been able to taste a little of the holiday spirit this week in so many different ways. If you look around, there are lots of ways to get distracted from the true spirit of the season. But, if you look even further, there are plenty of opportunities to feel the great joy too. Through GIVING and sharing, I have definitely been lifted up and I can't wait for the Christmas season to unravel even more. Soon, our boys will help us execute a "Twelve Days of Christmas" to some needy families and I look forward to seeing their little faces light up as they feel the spirit of giving too. It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Hope you can feel the spirit in your neck of the woods too:)

Steve's New Calling/Lewis Earns His Wolf Badge

My husband is now the happiest man in the universe. He has been given his DREAM calling. No more week night meetings with Elder's Quorum Presidency or Young Men's activities. No more Gospel Doctrine or Young Men's lessons every Sunday. Indeed, it has been awhile since Steve has had a little "breathing" room with the heavy duty callings. Now, Steve is the Cub Master of our ward and he is stoked! ONCE A MONTH he gets to dawn his Scout duds and pull together a fun evening of games and activities for the scouts. His first Pack Meeting went really well and after it was over he said, this is the BEST calling! I am so glad he is excited about it. I have had a couple of scout callings before and I tell ya, NOT my cup of tea! But I liked helping Steve gather up ideas and execute this fun night. Lewis and Conner might be sick of their parents always HEADING up all their activities (with their parents in charge of their school festivities too-you'd think they would be a little bugged). Not the case though, they loved it and it was yet another fun way for our family to spend q-time together!

It was especially fun this night because Lewis was able to earn his Wolf Badge. It was kind of a surprise. He had been working on it with his dad, but Steve didn't officially tell him he had completed all of it. It was fun to see him look surprised and especially proud of his accomplishment. Here's a few pictures. The last one is blurry (I am still struggling with this camera) but I love how it captured his expression when everyone was cheering for him! Way to go Lewis!

League Champions!

Who would have thought that this tiny little team (barely started with enough players to make a full team-ended up adding a couple of siblings mid-season) could end up taking the title? They had a great mix of talent and a good coach. Conner had such a fantastic season and this was a fun team to be a part of. The last game was a total nail biter and it could have gone either way, but in the end-the Dolphins pulled through. Conner proudly displays his trophy in a prominent location in his room (what is it with boys and trophies?). He really did earn that little trophy-played his little heart out! They all did. Way to go Dolphins!