November

Well, here it is, December, and I am ONCE AGAIN looking back on a month's worth of memories I failed to report, in a timely manner, on this here blog of mine. So, ONCE AGAIN, here is a LONG WINDED, super in depth, probably not interesting to anyone but us, re-cap of November happenings (in no particular order):
My little (BIG) Brother's Birthday-

Yes. It is hard to believe, but Kirk is now TALLER than me and 14 years-old! He is such a good kid and I am glad he's around, not only for someone fun to hang out with but also for my boys to look up to. He has always been such a fun, good uncle to them. We had an enjoyable dinner with cake and ice-cream and then opened presents and listened to a private concert:) A typical, relaxing birthday occasion!

I found this picture of Lewis (on his first Thanksgiving) while at my mom's for Kirk's birthday. People are always asking me if any of my other kids were as chubby and huge as Brayden, I think this is sufficent proof. I actually think Lewis looks chunkier in his picture, and notice the two teeth! Lewis had two teeth by the time he was two months old and kept getting two more every two months after that! Brayden still has not had any teeth cut through his gums, but he has been working on it for a few months now. Hopefully they will just come in already and leave him BE! Anyway, I thought it was fun to see a picture that really showcases how similar Brayden and Lewis look.

The END of Football Season 2009-

Um, sadly this is the ONE AND ONLY image I have of EITHER of my boys playing football this year (and they aren't even playing)!!!! Our computer crashed last week and some of our photos are gone forever! That is indeed a whole 'nother story (a sad one) that I might feel up to telling later. As for this post, I just want to say that football season was pretty good this year. There are PROS and CONS to going with the Washington City League this year as opposed to the pricier SUSA that we have done in past years. With SUSA, the kids have way more playing time and they get to have custom jerseys and mouth guards and weekly games and practices. With the city league, there are WAYYY more kids per team and they wear the city jerseys. Also, apparantly nobody is at risk for losing their teeth 'cause mouth guards aren't required and, they have some different rules that I am not sure I liked or understood, but whatever. I guess the only thing I really liked better about city league was having the games on Saturday as opposed to week nights and you save a few bucks. I really think the boys had better opportunities to grow and shine on the pricier teams. Hmm, I really didn't think I'd come to that conclusion or even notice! I am so not a sportsy person! But, I guess as always, you get what you pay for. REGARDLESS, the boys had a great time and isn't that all that matters:)?!

Young Womens-

Man. This calling has certainly been keeping me busy! Between meetings, events (like Young Women In Excellence that we had at the beginning of Nov.) and other weekly activities, I am BACK in the saddle for sure!

Could not ask for a cuter group of girls to be hanging around with though! I have amazing girls who are so WITH IT! Here's something sort of funny, one of the girls in this picture I used to babysit when I was in college! She was THREE at the time! Now she is fifteen (and still cute as ever)! This really shows my age. . .

Yep! She is still such a sweetie. I can still hear her little three-year-old voice saying "Nick Jr." 'cause that is all she wanted to do (watch Blue's Clues on Nick Jr.)! So funny. Her little sister is in Y.W. as well. I used to change her diapers (she was one at the time). Oh, I am sooooo old:)

Being Thankful-

This year we did a Thankful Jar where the boys chose a paper from the jar each day and on it, it had something for them to be thankful for and a task to perform representing the item. This turned out to be a really simple and fun family thing to do each day. I was amazed at how little I had to do to help the boys perform their tasks. They were really cute about doing them and seemed geniuinely excited to choose a new one each day. I am thankful to Lindsay for sharing this cute activity with us. Otherwise, I never would have known about it and never would have done it. I think our family truly benefitted from this:) Here's the link in case you want to give it a go next year: Thanksgiving Thankful Countdown

First Place Lewis-

So, Lewis memorized a fairy tale for his school's Story Telling Festival and as no surprise to me, he took FIRST PLACE in his division and went on to perform for the district. He is such a great storyteller, a natural, and I am so proud of him for giving it his ALL! He had some pretty stiff competetion in the second round, but he did his best! Everytime I crack open the book, "Falling for Rapunzel" and read the words. . ."Once upon a bad hair day, a prince rode up Rapunzel's way. . ." I will hear Lewis' funny, little British accent-voice and smile! He is such a funny kid and never ceases to amaze us with his hidden talents.

Time to Ourselves-

One great thing about Steve's mom is that she is always begging to have the grandkids come and stay with her and Grandpa. Since we were up to their house in Richfield for Thankgsiving, we decided to leave our boys there for a few nights of fun with them and some of their cousins. While they were off riding four wheelers, building gingerbread houses and Christmas caroling, Steve and I had some time to re-connect and relax at home with Brayden.

Steve is soooo super busy all the time. He is always running from one thing to the next and it's hard to carve out time for just us and for just FUN!

We spent our three days getting Christmas shopping done (yeah Black Friday!), doing odd jobs around the house and just CHILLING! It was so great! We even got a jump start on the holiday decorating and surprised the kids with most of it done by the time they got home on Sunday.

Of course, Conner was soooooo stoked to see his baby brother again. He is such a sweetheart when he wants to be. He played with Brayden for HOURS non-stop and was just so obviously excited to be with him again:)

Of course, we saved the decorating of the tree for the boys to do with us that night. It was the perfect way to send November out the door and welcome in the December festivities. We had a fun and packed month and look forward to more of the same in Dec.

ONCE AGAIN, I am going to make a promise to myself to not wait until the very end of the month to post the happenings! I am going to try harder to keep that promise this time:)

The Blur That Was October

Along with the usual comings and goings of the every day. . .

October was a month that packed in a LOT of little "extra" festivities and celebrations. It was crazy and sometimes exhausting trying to keep up with it all, but we did our best. I made it to about 50% of what I needed to or wanted to, I guess there is some give and take in life.

One of the events I really enjoyed (and look forward to every year) was the annual Girl's Weekend event. It is the best time, getting together with the high school crowd and just relaxing and chatting the night away. I always come away from this event with my cup filled back up again! Such GREAT girls and amazing examples to me. The conversation never fails to be impressive and amazing. I feel like I need to take notes; so many great ideas, home remedies, advice about child rearing, marital counseling, and endless humor! It's the best:) This year, I was only able to make it to one night out of the two. Such a bummer, but it was still great! It was held in a beautiful cabin in Pine Valley and it could not have been more enjoyable. I didn't bring my camera but Erin, the amazing photographer that she is, got a GREAT group shot of most everyone (I wonder if we'll ever be able to swing getting EVERYONE there all at once?). You can click here to see it, plus some head shots of each beautiful girl. My favorite is the last group shot. I feel like they are all smiling at me! I love that I am not in this photo (especially since I am so overly critical of myself lately). I can look at each person and remember something funny or encouraging or motivating that she has said at any given girl's weekend/life event and it makes me feel so blessed and inspired and happy! I am a total product of good friends. Without their influence (and a lot of their families' influence) on me in high school and college, I think I would be a completely different person. What an amazing group of girls! Glad I made it to at least one night, oh and Brayden got to go too!

Actually, part of the reason I didn't get to go to the entire girl's weekend was because he was just getting over his first yucky cold. No fun! Actually, our family dealt with our share of illnesses and trips to the doctor this month. We did get our flu vaccines though, including H1N1, so hopefully we will be on top of our game come winter (fingers crossed).

Okay, so when we were all feeling up to par, we were able to make it to some fun seasonal, family events, like the Staheli Corn Maze. Laura's family invites us every year and it has been fun to see the boys grow and change at this same event each time. They looked AWFULLY big to be sliding down the slide and riding some of the rides this year, but I am convinced it is still fun for all ages! I even had my brother Kirk come along with one of his friends. They are 14 year-olds and they had just as much fun as the younger variety. Brayden enjoyed the crisp, fresh air more than anything I think. We played around on some of the fun "farm" rides for awhile, then hitched a ride on the trailer bed over to the actual maze.

We spent plenty of time getting LOST (the fun kind) in the maze. Conner was worried about everyone getting lost (the scary kind) so I sent him off with Steve to keep track of the bigger boys. I had a grand time chatting with the girls (all two of them) and looking after the smaller kids. Brayden fell asleep in the carrier thing I had him strapped in. He loves that thing. I swear, if he weren't so dang heavy, I'd pack him around in it more often!

Of course, we have to get a great group shot with everyone. This year, only mine and Dani's family joined Laura's so it is fun to see that ALL the kids in the picture are BOYS! Pretty crazy huh?! Yep, we are mamas of ALL BOYS and definitely outnumbered:)

Another fun fall tradition that we were able to make it to this year was the annual Peterson Pumpkin Party in Farmington at Steve's sister Shauri's house. I really love this event. It is such a fun idea and I love being at Shauri's house in the fall. She lives in the coziest, cutest little neighborhood that reminds me of days gone by. They just don't make neighborhoods like this anymore:

Shauri's house is the one in the middle and the other images can be found either across the street or right next door. I should have taken more pictures, these are not doing it justice. It really is so quaint and festive! Of course the kids had a blast with their cousins and I had fun visiting with everyone and keeping Brayden content. Shauri's family has a great little garden and they grow their own pumpkins. They invite all the siblings (and their families) from Shauri's side of the fam (which is a LOT of people) and we get to carve pumpkins and eat homemade donuts and other goodies! It really is so simple and so fun!

Capitalizing on the fact that most of the family was in Farmington for the P.P.P. anyway, Shauri's son Heath had his missionary farewell the following day. I can't believe it is his turn to go out into the field! His brother Morgan will be returning from his Australian mission in January. Heath won't get to see his brother for another two years and it has already been two years since HE left! I realize this will be the exact same situation for our boys when they go off on their missions. Their birthdays are EXACTLY two years apart. Just one more thing to test their faith. We are proud of Heath and his amazing example to our boys. He'll be an awesome missionary to the Spanish speaking people in California.

Okay, let's see, what else happened in October? Oh yes! My birthday! I can't believe I am thirty-something! Steve and I are noticing that we are turning into those "older people" we always looked at curiously from afar-never imagining we would become them someday. . .
I had a nice little birthday this year. One of those events that drag on over a few days. Steve and Lewis were off hunting for the first part of the weekend, but cut the trip short after Steve shot a deer on the first day. It was a nice present to have them come home on my actual day (Sunday). Also included in the festivities; I went out to lunch with some girlfriends, went to my mom's for dinner/cake & ice-cream on Sunday, ate a yummy birthday breakfast prepared by the boys on Monday. . .all good stuff! I am blessed.

Alright, moving on. Let's cut to the chase. We all know HALLOWEEN is the main event in October. We had our fill of the holiday for SURE at our house. Lots to do. We managed to squeeze in a ward carnival:

School Halloween Parade and parties:

The Beaver Dam School Carnival (Steve's school-yes, he dressed as "The HULK"):

You might notice in the pictures that my kids had SEVERAL different costumes this year. This was the first year that I made a mandate that they choose their costumes from the large collection we have here at home. No need to fork out an arm and a leg for costumes when we have an assortment of perfectly great costumes right here. Conner ended up being really logical in his decisions to dress up for each event. For the church carnival, he opted for last year's Storm Trooper costume which was just down-right easy and comfortable. He had been planning to be a vampire for weeks leading up to Halloween and he ended up being a super cute version on the school parade day. However, later that night at the Beaver Dam carnival, he said he wanted to be a Karate Kid (again for comfort) and because he didn't want to have to do his makeup over again. Amen I said! Now he has an INKLING of an idea of what it's like to be a girl that has to be "made up" on a daily basis-sometimes twice when we have evening events to go to. "Man, I'm glad I'm a boy!" he said! So cute:) For the ACTUAL Halloween event, once again-he went for his GO-TO storm trooper ensemble. It was all about the candy at this point!

I really have no idea what Lewis would have chosen to be if he could have chosen from the store again this year. I am sure it would have been something "scary" but he was happy to bring "the Joker" back to life again this year. He wore the mask to the church carnival and we did his make-up for school. He opted for the "football player" costume for the other two events.

Then there was Brayden. Now, I confess, I know there are people that literally go NUTS over 'Baby's First Halloween.' I am not one of them. I am a little more laid back and VERY traditional. I ended up dressing him in the same dragon costume that his older brothers wore for their first Halloweens. It makes my heart happy to know that someday there will be a scrapbook page in our Fall family album with a picture of each of them as the dragon. I don't even know where we got that costume? Oh well, it's cute and warm. Brayden, our little chunky monkey, was a bit too chubby for it though. We weren't able to do the top snap because of those cheeks of his! Even though it is a size 12 month, it barely fit him. He is such a big boy! He was "sort-of" a pirate during some of our day time events (preschool party and the boy's school parade), but I didn't officially get him all decked out as a pirate. Let's face it, we were SWAMPED! I keep thinking I am going to dress him up with all the trimmings and at LEAST get a good picture! Better hurry or he'll be too big for IT too!

Oh yes. I did dress up as well. Of course, a witch, it's what I do best! Plus, I really like singing, "I'm a mean old witch with a hat. . ." to the preschool kids! Wouldn't be Halloween without that!

and then, of course, there was HALLOWEEN NIGHT Trick-or-Treating! Steve took the kids out while I stayed home and RELAXED (gave out candy)!

Needless to say, with all that runnin' around to all those different events, we ended up with WAAAYYYYYYYY too much candy! How 'bout you? What's the deal with people giving out FIST fulls of candy these days? I'm so old school. The candy seems more special if you have to work for it. How pathetic I must have seemed to the poor kids that came to our house and I was giving ONE measly piece to each person! The boys RAVED about the houses that just dumped in handfuls of candy! WHAT???

So there it was! October-what a blur! Now, I need to go put away all those darn Halloween decorations before Thanksgiving gets here!

Wake me up when September ends.

What a CRAZY month. There was a LOT of TRANSITION going on and I am just glad we survived.

Here are the highlights:

1. Preschool started back up. I am teaching a class of 14 students two days per week. It is just the right amount of work. Brayden has been AMAZING. I get him good and tired the morning of preschool and feed him right before it starts. He has been sleeping through the entire two-and-a-half-hour sessions. Sometimes he even sleeps for three hours! I am so grateful for this. The entire preschool dynamic fits so well with my life right now. I LOVE it!

2.  A new church calling for me. Young Women's AGAIN! This is my fifth time serving in this capacity. In the past I have either been the First Counselor over the Mia Maidss or the Second Counselor over the Beehives and once I was the Mia Maid Adviser. This time it is First Counselor so I get to hang with the 14-15 year-olds.I like this age group so much and they are a really GREAT group of girls. This whole thing has really caught me way off guard though. I thought I was enjoying my "cushy/easy" calling of being Steve's Cub Master assistant. I didn't realize how much I needed to be back in this type of calling (one that is physically and spiritually demanding). It has been a good thing thus far. Very busy, but the good kind of busy.

3.  Solid foods and a bigger boy! September has been a turning point for Brayden. He is getting physically stronger and better able to control all that excess fat and body weight he is sporting. He is trying to sit up like a big boy and just LOOKS so much bigger to me. He is past that sweet little newborn stage. He's old news now. When we go to the store, he doesn't get the oohs and ahhs that he used to. He is just your average, ordinary baby now (well in the rest of the world's eyes anyway). To us, he is still the miracle child, center of our world. Anything he does is cute and spectacular and we are LOVING him to pieces! He seemed to turn over a new leaf this month and has fallen into a GREAT routine. LOVE this kid!

4.  Miss Maria's baptism. What a great event! She is a special lady to our family and we had NO IDEA she was even investigating the church. She works for Steve at the school and was my aide in Kindergarten. She is the Grandma to Jayden, one of Lewis AND Conner's best friends. Talk about a good example of Christ-like love-this woman is the epitome. It makes sense that her heart would be softened to the gospel. I am so glad she was able to recognize the spirit and go forth with this important step. Her grandson was her inspiration. He was baptized a month or so ago and was so at peace with it and has been such a sweet example to her, she decided if he can do it, she can too. I loved what Jayden said in his prayer at the conclusion of the baptism. He said, "Please bless that grandma can STAY strong." Isn't that perfect? He is wise beyond his years, that boy. Staying strong is definitely the trick and it isn't easy, but it is worth it! We are so happy for this family and can't wait to see what is to come from this huge step in their lives.

5.  September has been an endless blur of homework, yard work, piano and football practices/games, project after project and the other day-to-day meals and household tasks. It has been fun trying to juggle it all, but it has definitely been a change from our laid back summer. I hope we can hold up 'til May!

6. With the change of the season and the nip in the air, I have been spending extra time shopping for warmer clothes for the family. It has been tricky trying to go back to our "EXTREME BUDGETING" lifestyle after two years of being a two income family. Before I taught at Beaver Dam, worrying about money was just a way of life and something I was used to. During the time I was teaching at Beaver Dam, we had two blissful years of going to the store and buying whatever it was we needed without having to clip a coupon or bat an eyelash. We ate out, we traveled, we went out to the movies. It was heavenly! Perhaps the best blessing from me working though (and possibly the reason that whole experience happened for our family in the first place) was being able to pay for our baby. He was PRICEY! The daily meds I had to take ALONE would have been over a thousand dollars per month had I not had that teaching job and the insurance that came with it. Although we are STILL paying down the medical bills, they are not near as steep as they would have been, so hidden blessing there. But, now we are BACK! Back to reality. Trying to pinch every penny and make every penny count. I HATE it! Fortunately, I do have a few tricks. This picture represents my BEST money saving secret. I bought that whole pile of clothes for less than $5. I used my Old Navy bucks and got Brayden a whole mountain of warm weather clothes (plus a cute little dress for me). I use the Old Navy Visa like I would a debit card. I use it on EVERYTHING I buy and pay it all off when the statement comes. Each time I get the bill in the mail, it has ten to twenty dollars worth of Old Navy bucks (just as good as cash) in it. I save them up and then go on a little shopping spree when our family needs clothes. I have been able to do four or five pretty big shopping sprees with this method. It is awesome. So much better than sky miles or something I will never use. You can always use new clothes! Cha ching!

Well, that is it. Septmember in all its CRAZY glory! I am so glad it is over. I am looking forward to a much calmer October, now that some of the bumps in the road are out of the way and all these TRANSITIONS have been tackled!

So Blessed!

Brayden's blessing day was such a special event. He has brought so much joy to us and it was fun to celebrate that on a day just for him. A lot of fun things to remember about this day. One, the blessing Steve gave was so great. It is amazing to hear words spoken through the power of the priesthood. It was so touching and such a blueprint for our baby's life. Some things that were mentioned were that he would be blessed with the spirit to guide him in his life. That he would always have the desire to follow the prophets that will head the church throughout his life. That he will be an example to others and that also, he will look to the examples of his brothers and other stalwart men and women in his life. It was a wonderful blessing and so telling for what is to come in this day and age. I wasn't quick enough to get a good picture of Brayden with just his dad in a picture, so the closest we have is this one of Steve's hand carrying him through the halls of the church on the way to have his blessing.

Some other memorable moments were when our baby decided to have a "blow-out" seconds before he was to go up in front of the congregation for his blessing. Isn't this Murphy's law or something? The same thing happened when Lewis was to be blessed. This was Brayden's first MAJOR blowout. He has had a couple of small ones that have leaked out a tiny bit on the sides, completely unnoticeable, but this one (probably because he was wearing all white, vintage {Steve's baby outfit}) was right out there in front!

He only fussed a little bit for his blessing but quickly let me know when it was over that he was ready for his power nursing session! I was trapped in the mother's lounge for the rest of the meeting. I had pictured myself going up and bearing my testimony and leaving my words as a part of this day, but I had no clock in the mother's lounge and before I was done feeding him and putting him to sleep, the meeting was over. I was so relieved to hear sweet Lewis' voice over the intercom in the mother's lounge. He was able to go up and say a few words on behalf of our whole family I guess. It was very sweet.

After the meeting, we did a small little lunch to feed those family members who needed to get back on the road for travel and it was fun to have them in our house. Brayden cooperated for a bit and I was able to snap at least one photo while running around. A sweet picture of Grandpa with his newest, 26th, grandchild!

After Brayden woke up later, Steve snapped a few more photos of him in his outfit before I took it off to wash it. We actually were able to get him to smile for the camera! He has been smiling for a good week or two now, but I could never get him to do it while the camera was pointing toward him. Finally, today was the day! It was a good day and we feel very blessed!

Fave Five For the Week

Gosh, I haven't done a "Fave Five" post in a long time! This week (April 20-26) there were a lot of fun things to remember as favorites. Starting with today.

5- Relief Society and Sunday School Class:
I never thought I would see the day that I would be grateful to be back in Relief Society class on Sundays rather than Primary or Young Women. Same with Sunday School class. It has been so many years! For the past three years, I have been the CTR 6 teacher (I was able to teach both Lewis and Conner during this calling:)) which camps me out in primary for those last two hours of church each Sunday. I pretty much had that calling mastered! Such a fun, fun three years. Prior to that, I served in the Young Women organization (with a tiny two month time out for scouts right before the primary calling) and had already been serving in Y.W. in my previous ward (so, it was like a five year stretch). Prior to THAT, I was in primary for a good year to year-and-a-half, at least. So, I figure, it has been a little over 8 years since I have been in Relief Society classes!!! CRAZINESS!!!
It is fun to sit back and have MY brain challenged with inspirational questions and be asked to stretch my knowledge of gospel principles. For so long I have been on the "6 year-old or teenager level" which has been great and fulfilling, but change is always promising-even if it is a little sad or scary at first. It is going to be nice to do the "mom" thing again. Sit in class with my newest little man, trying to keep him from crying and bothering everyone else. It has just been SOOOO long!!! I can't believe I am looking forward to such a simple, funny thing?!

4- Girl's Lunch at P.F.:
Such a great group of girls I am associated with! My friend Jessica headed up a fun little gathering yesterday to celebrate the arrival of our baby boy. It was fun to see my friends from high school again and catch up. We met at Pizza Factory and stayed for a couple of hours. I am so bugged that I didn't think to grab a picture with them? At least I can snap a pic of the fun goodies they brought for the babe.


Even Amy from S.L., and Mary who JUST delivered her little girl a week ago, came with their newest babies and that was so fun! Also there was Jill, Melinda, Kristin and Jess. Thanks girls for taking some time out to help me chill and just have fun! I really hope we follow through with making it more of a monthly event!

3- NEW DUE DATE!!!!:


My appointment on Wednesday was pretty exciting!!! Not only am I still not in labor (phew!) but the doctor scheduled me for an induction and moved my due date up by SIX days! YEAH!!!! The new due date is MAY 14th so the countdown is on! The induction is necessary for people like me who are on blood thinning medication. I have to stop my injections at least 24 hours prior to delivery. In the event that this guy wants to come BEFORE that time, there are still meds they can give me at the hospital to REVERSE what the Heparin has been doing, but I would prefer to keep the drugs at a minimum as much as possible! I would like to think that I could actually maybe deliver a kid without an epidural (if it happened super fast, like some lucky ladies are blessed to experience, I know I could do that). But, for me, it's the NOT KNOWING how long labor will take that freaks me out. I am not sure I have the stamina and endurance to make it a really long stretch of time. So, I need to plan for that epidural and the less other drugs, the better. However, my contractions have been registering stronger at the last couple of non- stress test appointments, yet I am still able to go about my day as usual?! So, maybe I am slowly building up some sort of slight immunity to them!? Oh, we shall see. I'd like to think I could last a couple of hours on my own, but I am sure after two HARD CORE contractions, I will be asking for that epidural! Which brings us back around to the point that I NEED this kid to come on his NEW DUE DATE so I don't have to have all those other drugs too! Here's hoping it will all pan out!

2- Baseball:
This year, the boys have been placed on the SAME team! We REALLY scored big on this one! I am sooooooooo grateful we are only having to go to ONE practice each week and ONE or TWO games as well, rather than the DOUBLE of that that we have done in the past (and will have to do again the next 4 years until the boys are in the age ten and twelve bracket). It has been SO fun to see them play alongside each other. Lewis has really stepped up to the plate and has had some great hits. Both he and Conner hit TRIPLES this week! Conner also has been trying his hand as catcher and did a great job this week. He's getting the hang of it. I just think he looks so cute with all that baseball equipment draped all over him!



1- Most grateful for. . .
This week, I have been MOST grateful for an understanding, supportive, hard working husband who has been SO helpful and so awesome as I have been feeling even MORE like an invalid. At the end of the day, when I am SPENT, he cheerfully takes on the all that needs to be done. Especially when the kids ask to 'go fly kites' or play catch or basketball outside, he is THERE with a smile and COMPLETELY focused in on them. I am amazed! He is just the greatest dad ever and the kids are so lucky to have that. I actually was feeling a little jealous early on in the week. Conner didn't want to finish reading Stuart Little with me but instead, wanted to 'practice baseball with dad'. He said, "Mom, we have a game tomorrow, I need to get ready!" I was a little hurt that finishing OUR book wasn't as exciting to him, but I do understand. I just wish I could have the energy back again to be more a part of what they are wanting to do now that the weather is so perfect. I am definitely not the TOP DOG according to the boys lately. This is fine, and I truly am grateful that they DO have a top dog dad!

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!!!