Sweet.

I love little girls dressing up!!!

Here is Wonder Woman (Abby Jolley)

& Ballerina Girl (Isabelle).

Wonder Woman is holding lip gloss that they needed me to open...I love getting girly!!!

Baby it's cold outside!

So, it snowed...A lot! Part of me wants to hate the snow, and yeah sometimes I do get frustrated, but I can't help thinking how beautiful it can make this dreary world sometimes. Matt and I discovered up at Ricks College that snow can make even an old chain link fence beautiful. Everything is quieter in the snow. The world is peaceful and beautiful. My kids are so adorable all bundled up making snowmen and throwing snowballs, which a lot of the time are targeted at their dear Mother.=) And yeah after a few months of snow we are praying for some relief! But I am grateful for the snow today. Things have been hectic around here lately and, it just helps bring me some comfort that someday the world will be a better place & will be clean and beautiful, and just peaceful.
It also made me smile to see everyone out shoveling, not just their yards, but neighbors too. Gives us a good oppurtunity for service...so...who's going to shovel my drive??? Hint, hint! Plus it just makes me feel good seeing others out helping other people.
This is why I love the snow today.

(So, I posted this a couple hours ago & have been out running errands. I just got back and now there is one of my neighbors...that I don't know...out snowblowing my sidewalk. He got the hint! Ok, no really we just have amazing neighbors who are kind and do things for others. I am blessed)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas was so fun this year! The kids didn't get up until 7:30! Bless them!!! They must have known that mommy and daddy needed their sleep. We opened stockings in our room and then went out to see what Santa brought us.Ben was SO excited to get his night light! This thing is bright too...it practically lights up the whole basement!

He also got his shark race car track...he must have been REALLy good this year.

Wow...umm...yeah....this is the wicked witch that wakes up every morning in our house. Isn't she just adorable? We would get rid of her, but she does the cooking, cleaning, laundry, nose wiping, etc. She got a pretty green scarf and skull candy ear buds! YAY!

Isabelle was a good girl too and got her Hello Kitty CD player. She is like a teenager and loves to blast it....what was Santa thinking???

I know, I know, I know...the hair totally makes this picture! Matt was a VERY good boy this year and got his new computer monitor. I love it too...

Sorry this is sideways, but I am too lazy to fix it. Aunt Elizabeth had Ben's name this year and made him this awesome Jedi Knight cloak! HE LOVES IT!!!!

Isabelle got Ariel from Mommy...I had her name this year and she thought all along I had her cousin Camryn's name. It was a very fun surprise for her.

The wicked witch with the super cute purse Ben bought her!

Ben & Matt...they look so adorable. Matt got him the sunglasses!

We went to Matt's parents house in Logan in the early afternoon and had Christmas dinner. It was fun to be with all of the siblings and cousins!

And that is our Christmas. We missed all of the family we couldn't see, but know that we will see you soon...someway or another! Love ya!!!!

Christmas Eve Adventures

We had a most joyous & fun-filled Christmas Eve! It was just the 4 of us so we pretty much got to do whatever we wanted....So Nice!First we visited Marilyn in the Crestwood Care Center. It was SO nice to see her! The kids drew pictures for her and I gave her a family picture so she can always see our cute little faces. She seemed really happy to see us. I have missed my visits with her. Plus she looked SO good. This picture does not do her justice. She is starting to get color back in her face, she doesn't look so gaunt, just overall so much healthier & happier. There are lots of activities for her to do, plus she had beautiful pink nails (one nurse likes to give the women there manicures, so sweet). And all of the nurses just were so nice and attentive to her. Gave me such a relief to see how well she was doing there!

We then went to Costco to pick up some pictures & get some rolls. Well, lo and behold they were giving out samples. The kids got So excited, and well, frankly I did too! Matt said we were eating our hor'dourves...so of course we had to take a picture. Cheapest ones I ever ate, plus such a variety (mini quiches, blue cheese pastries, sparkling cider, buttered toast, kettle chips, and some others I can't remember!)

For dinner I made ham, corn on the cob, yams, rolls, and sparkling cider. (poor Matt is taking pictures, but soon he will be in some, don't you worry!)

Afterwards we went out and looked at Christmas lights. That is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time.

(Look! Here he is!) Here my sweet family is modeling the pajamas I made this year. It is tradition to get jammies on Christmas Eve. And my first time making a nightgown!

Mary & Joseph & Baby Jesus

Matt played multiple roles in our Nativity this year. Usually we are at one of our parents houses so there are plenty of cousins and siblings to take on some roles. This year we had to get a little creative. Here are our wisemen, Matt & Ben (Ben got tired of being Joseph at this point)

We ate some yummy treats. We got some chestnuts this year and roasted them...you know, like in the song..."Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at you nose..." So we were so excited, Isabelle especially..she couldn't wait! Ummmm..yeah...can we say disgusting! I took a small bite and it was all mushy, kinda like a potato, but not as tasty. I ended up spitting it out. Isabelle was the only one who ate at least half of hers. I think she was enduring it cause she was really looking forward to it & really wanted to like it. But yeah so disappointing. I thought they would be more like a nut. And would taste more like a water chestnut. Oh well, lesson learned.

Milk & cookies for Santa. A carrot for Rudolph.

(OK, little secret...we were so sick of treats by the time "Santa" needed to eat this that we just tossed them. Well, we broke the carrot in half & "Mrs. Claus" ate some so it looked like Rudolph nibbled it. And "Santa" guzzled the milk...what a man! Are we bad parents??? Plus Matt left a couple chunks of cookie on the plate, like the size of a dime. Well the kids were like "Why didn't Santa eat all of the cookies? Look, he left some pieces!" Uhhhh..we just said "I don't know" & distracted them!)

After the kids went to bed Matt & I watched "Julie & Julia." Super cute movie. We both really liked it! We got to bed late, like after 1..yikes! Thankfully the kids woke us up @ 7:30 Christmas morning. But that is a whole other post!

Pinky Promise!

Ummmm...Christmas was Fun!
I will post soon, but we have been doing laundry all day, I am STILL in my pajamas and it is 5:07 pm.
Sooooo....I will post about Christmas soon....I PROMISE!
Oh and I also made the kids clean up downstairs with me...it was atrocious. It ended up that I was cleaning all. by. myself. So after asking the kids to help a few times I finally said that whatever they could pick up first they get to keep, and whatever I picked up first goes in the confiscation box.
There was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, but I have never seen them pick up so fast. So big points for me!

RAWR!!!!!!!

Ben: Are dinosaurs in Heaven?
Isabelle: Yes
Ben: Well, I hope they don't eat me...when I'm dead!

Naughty or nice???

I am so grateful that my kids are young and they dont watch tv. Because I can help them "decide" what they want for Christmas and they also don't see endless commercials for dumb toys that cost a fortune & that they "have to have." My friends have complained about this and I am grateful that this year I don't have to deal with it!
This year the kids wrote letters to Santa and they asked for...
Isabelle: A CD player
Ben: A shark race car track & a nightlight
These things are SO doable and I am SO glad that they don't want every toy they have ever laid eyes on. I think it's cute Ben wants a nightlight. He says it is too dark in his room and that if Santa brings him one then he won't ever have to come into my room at night(which doesnt happen very often in the first place, maybe once every few months!)
Bless you children for making "Santa's" life easier this year by requesting things you REALLY want. And also being easy on the wallet =)
So have they been naughty or nice this year? Only time will tell (2 days to be exact!).

Pajama Party!

I got to go to Ben's preschool on Tuesday and help out at their Holiday Pajama Party! It was a lot of fun. They decorated sugar cookies, made Rudolph's with their hands and feet traced on construction paper & played pin-the-nose on Rudolph! I got to help trace hands and feet so I missed a lot of what Ben did. But, I did get to see him visit with Mrs. Claus! She was so cute and the kids loved her!

(This little nook is decorated differently every month. It is their creative play area. One month it was a carnival...SO CUTE! Miss Angie, and Miss Debbie do a fantastic job! They had to clear out some stuff to make room for all of the kids for Mrs. Claus, but trust me it was way fun!)
Here is my cute "Superman" reading with his other classmates. He loves preschool and I am so grateful that he gets to go once a week and be in a classroom setting.

Happy Holidays from Isabelle

Isabelle drew this picture for me yesterday.

I just thought it was really cute

& wanted to share it with ya.

(She says the black dots are snow!

and she took this picture of it on my phone, just fyi)

Gingerbread Houses

Today I got to go to Isabelle's school and help her class make gingerbread houses! It was SO much fun! Although some of the kids had a hard time keeping their tongues from licking their knives...and yup, those slimy knives would go back in the frosting...YUCK! Thankfully I didn't see anyone at Izzy's table doing that...and if they did, well my ignorance is bliss!
Aren't we cute??? Don't you love her cheeks bulging with candy? It reminds me of Josh's hamster storing it's food.

Afterwards they played Head's Up 7 Up! I loved playing this game when i was in grade school.

Breakfast...

This just goes to show just how different my kids are. This morning I asked them what they wanted for breakfast. I gave them cereal choices and Ben said without any hesitation "trix." Isabelle looked in the pantry and wanted "rice krispies."

What??? What kid wants boring rice krispies when she could have sugary trix???

Yeah, that would be my kid!

The thought that ran through my head when she made her choice was "dang it, now how am I supposed to made my yummy, chocolaty rice krispie treats!"

This is just typical Isabelle though. When she was 3 I caught her picking the "yucky brown stuff" out of her chocolate chip cookies. Oh boy, she is so not her mother's daughter.

She does have a weakness though...she will make herself sick on ice cream.

Ben on the other hand will eat dirt if it has sugar sprinkled on it!

Books...

I love it that my kids love to read!!!

I thought these three looked so cute all snuggled up reading bedtime stories!

One of my favorite memories as a kid was having my mom read to us kids. She would read us chapter books and I LOVED IT! So of course that's what I do with my kids. We have read the Wizard of Oz, Pollyanna, and other great reads.

Right now we are almost done with the first Harry Potter book. It is SO much fun. And the kids really do love to just sit and listen to me read, even though they don't have pictures to look at.

sick...

I really, truly think the Dayquil/Nightquil people are mean and vicious and take pleasure in our pain! "Oh poor you! You are sick! Here take some of these caplets they will make you feel so much better....what you can't open them? Well since you are too weak and sick to open our caplets that are sealed so tightly shut that even Hulk Hogan can't open them on one of his good days, try some of our delicious medicine in syrup form. Don't worry you will only gag for a minute and the burning sensation will soon subside. What? It tastes awful?....Muwhahahahahahaha!!!!!"
Yes, I really do think they have a committee to making sick peoples lives more miserable.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

When we got out of church on Sunday it had insanely snowed, and the white crap was still coming down! Several of the Elders (Matt included!) had to literally push people out of the parking lot because they were stuck. It was insane! When we finally made it home we discovered the snow plows had been out and our driveway was blocked by a few feet of snow. So Matt and I got to work, along with the help of our neighbor Gary. (Yes I was in my church clothes shoveling, although I did have boots on, so it was all good). We shoveled for a good long time, was able to get the van parked and yes, I am still sore today (mostly in my back...yikes). As we were shoveling Isabelle made this adorable snowman! You can't see the face, but she rolled little snowballs for the eyes, nose & mouth. It was SO stinkin' cute!!!

It made me realize that yes, snow is a pain to shovel, but how can I really hate it when it makes my Izzy so happy?

(And yes, the arms are a baseball bat and her umbrella...ingenious!)

Meet Marilyn

This is my friend Marilyn Newton. I have been wanting to do a blog about her for awhile and really wanted a picture of us together. I. Love. Her.

I clean her house every week cause she has a hard time getting around. I've been doing this since the end of March and I really enjoy being at Marilyn's.

First of all, she thinks I'm funny, which only encourages my behavior. She lets me act like me, which I was so nervous about at first cause she seemed so strict and proper at church.

Ladies & Gentlemen...it was all an act! She is funny and I LOVE talking to her. Sometimes I have to hurry through my cleaning because we would have chatted too long! She might be a smidgen proper, but only an infinitesimal bit! And hardly around me!

She is a single lady and her sister lives right across the street from her. That has been a blessing because Louann and Steve take such good care of her!

Well, yesterday I got the call that she isn't doing too well. I wasn't shocked because I see her every week can tell her health has been declining. She has diabetes and has been trying to heal a small cut on her foot for over a year now. Plus now her legs are swelling and the medicine the Dr's have her on is making her sick. She is going to be in the hospital for 3 days and then will go into a care center for a few months. I'm worried she might never get out.

So yesterday I went to clean. The house was empty. I missed my visit with Marilyn. She is my dear friend. I didn't like it being so quiet. Louann wants me to come in the next couple of weeks and help clean out stuff. I'm not sure I want to. It will make me so sad. I cried yesterday because her chair was empty. It was sad. But I will do it cause I love Marilyn.

So anyway, this is my friend Marilyn. Just thought you might like to meet her!

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!

We made sugar cookies and decided to do green frosting. Well, the frosting turned out a little grinchy green so that is what we made our cookies!

Ben's has a mustache!
And yes, Isabelle did her own hair and was very proud!
She couldn't resist and took a bite of her "Mrs." Grinch while waiting for me to take her picture. We took these adorable Grinches to our good friends and they were a hit!

Dance, Dance!

Here are my two little dancing cuties!

They performed at the old folks home today! Ben just takes tumbling at the studio and they don't perform but at the last minute they put together a boys hip hop routine and invited Ben to join in! It was SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! It was just Ben and 2 other boys and they were seriously hot stuff! They performed to "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas" by SmashMouth. He was a bad boy, hence the tongue sticking out and mohawk!

Isabelle danced to "Run, Run Rudolph". It was so fun watching her and she LOVED her sparkling outfit with matching feather boa hairpiece. Too Cute!

They perform next week at their recital...can't wait to see them dance again!

Great job kiddos!!!

I"m A Good Girl I Am

Dear Santa,

I have been a really good girl this year! And I mean really good.

That said, I would like you to please send me a heated ice scraper.

It would make my job in the morning a whole lot easier. The frost on my car is just really the pits and my current ice scraper is a piece of junk! So far Isabelle has made it to school on time this winter, but my stess level increasing a million times over when I see those little ice crystals all over my car (yes they are really beautiful and patterned like snowflakes. So pretty in fact that Isabelle requests that I leave them, unfortunately I told her I would probably crash the car into something and we would all die...yeah not fun).

So please Santa, a heated ice scraper would be so pleasant to have.

Thank you kindly,

Emily

PS: A carport or a 2 car garage would also be great, but I realize that this is a last minute request and those take awhile to install. So see, I am just making your life a ton easier by requesting a simple heated ice scraper.

(the one shown above is on amazon for $20. There were cheaper ones, but let's be honest, this one looked cooler!)

Daring...but what did you expect?

So I dyed my hair...black.
I'm not sure what to think about it this morning. Last night I totally had a crush on it. Matt likes it too. I think because my hair is already crazy that I like to experiment with it.
So yeah, this morning (which is right now) I think it looks more like the pictures of Elizabeth and her girls in their black witch's wig! HAHAHA too funny!
Maybe I should just go and do it...I am REALLY lazy though...
Ok fine...I will do it and try to get a picture posted. No guarantees though!

Winter Fun!

If you are a mom then you know that once winter comes you can pretty much lose your mind if you don't have fun things to do to keep the kids (& well you too) happy. This was Sharon Bee's idea of fun & it was a huge hit!
The kids brought their bikes & scooters to the church and we let them ride around!
It was SO much fun! I highly reccomend it to anyone who is stuck inside because of the snow.

Ben is super happy because he just, yes, just today, he mastered his 2 wheeler!

Go Ben! He kept wanting me to hold onto the bike while he rode & I really wanted to hear Kristen Jolley rant about the people who just bought her house. So I told him that I wasn't going to hold it anymore, and he...took...off. Wahoo!!!

I am SO proud of my little man!

(So, I just noticed I don't have a picture of Ben on his bike, only him on his scooter. So you will just have to trust me that I am telling the truth about him riding his bike.)

Nature Lover

Here is Ben and his pinecone bird feeder. He's squinting cause the sun is in his eyes even though his back is to the sun...whatever makes him happy!

This is our cute little cherry tree we planted in the front yard last spring. Keep your fingers crossed and lets hope it makes it through the winter!

Chitters the Great Horned Owl

We go to circle time @ the Resource center at Club Heights Elementary. They always have the cutest activities. Well this week a guy from the nature center came and brought "Chitters" the owl. Ben was absolutely fascinated! (He is the kid in the red with white striped shirt. just fyi)
And yes the ear flaps on his hat are up cause he thinks it looks cool and it makes him look like a bird! And yes Josh knitted him that hat for his birthday and he LOVES it. He even sleeps in it, cause he says it keeps him "roasty toasty".
They ended the activity by making pincone birdfeeders. You spread peanut butter on the pinecone and roll it in birdseed. Too cute & too fun!

...Sigh...

I am getting a sore throat. Darn that Matt for getting sick & then getting me sick.
Thank goodness the kids are still healthy.

Thankful chain!

This year we decided to start writing down things we were thankful for during the year on strips of colored paper. We each wrote down one thing when we had Family Home Evening. I even have a couple my mom wrte down and even one from Erin! It was so fun to read about all of the things we have been thankful for this year. So the plan was to make a chain to put on our Christmas tree. Well we got so excited about putting up the tree we forgot that we needed to put the chain up and thenour ornaments.

So instead of taking them down or even covering them up (which would make me sad) we decided to hang it on our window! It was a ton of fun! Now I just need to write down on a seperate piece of paper what everyone said.

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!!!

Yeah for decorating our Christmas tree! We did this last Monday (which technically was still november, but who cares!) for Family Home Evening. The pictures are a little fuzzy but we don't have a camera and Matt took these with his phone. So just be grateful our phone has a camera! Here are the kids with their new ornaments this year.

Every year growing up, for both matt's and my families we always got a new ornament each year. My kids LOVE this tradition. And frankly, we would do it even if they hated it.

Here is is all decorated!!! I know...we are amazing! Such talent!

One Small Request...

Dear Senior Primary,
Every week I get to stand up in front of you and sing beautiful primary songs with you. Most of the time it fills me with joy and I love hearing your sweet voices, & sometimes loud & awkward ones! I love feeling the spirit and I get chills every week!
This week, I am sorry to say you were obnoxious and yes when my voice cracked that was me about to burst into tears. It was not because of your sweet voices filling me with the spirit. It was because you were obnoxious and rude and I really just wanted to run out of there and leave you naughty children.
I do love you dearly & I understand you are at an awkward age where singing just isn't as cool as it used to be. But please dear children will you sing for me? And would you also stop acting like you are too cool for it all, because frankly that isn't supposed to start until you go to Young Women's and Young Men's. And there I don't have to deal with you.
All my love,
Sister Robertson

*yeah, just had to vent for a minute. Thanks

Family Pictures

This is my favorite & you will most likely get a copy in your Christmas card...if I can manage to get them out! So my sister-in-law Abby took these fabulous pictures!!! I was all set for going to the train museum in our longsleeves and taking pictures and we woke up and yikes...it SNOWED! So change of plans...but I am liking this so it all worked out good. Besides it was pretty fun being out in the snow....I love my kids!

This would have been a cute one, but what is up with Isabelle's face??? Of course she had just been bawling and behind my happy face was a really irritated mom who wanted to throw her child in the pond. Isabelle was getting cold. I told her to stop playing in the snow and her gloves wouldnt get wet, but what 6 year old listens when there is snow to be played in. Thankfully Matt is calm and patient...with both of us!

This one is fun too, but I think I would zoom in if I used it. But my goodness we are so cute!

BTW...I debated about posting these because now you won't be surprised when you get your cards...oh well. Maybe next year we will surprise you!