Where did it go?

I can hardly believe that 2009 is over...and 2010 is about to begin.

Holy smokes.

2010.

Doesn't it seem like we should be riding in flying cars and wearing space suits?

It was a good year for our family, and I am grateful for it.

And I am looking forward to the year to come.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Well...we did it.

The presents are wrapped.

The stockings are filled.

Six little children are asleep, dreaming of tomorrow...which I am sure will be here before I know it.

I feel really blessed this year...and even more so because of our friends and family...now scattered around the world.

I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

xo

Hot Chocolate Wishes and Birthday Cake Dreams

I can't believe it's happened...but I guess you can't stop time.

Sweet Becky is five.







Becky was very happy to celebrate her birthday with her friends...and she was especially happy to get a bicycle. When you are the third girl, you get a lot of hand-me-downs, so she was thrilled with the first brand new bike she has ever had.



So...time for a top five list.

Top Five Things I LOVE about Becky

1. She is always happy...a ray of sunshine.
2. She has the sweetest dimples...and every time she smiles, it just melts my heart.
3. She is very opinionated and bossy.
4. In spite of how opinionated and bossy she is, her preschool teacher thinks she is shy and retiring. (One of my kids?)
5. She has the best laugh...you can't help but laugh right along with her.

There are so many more things I love about this sweet girl...but for now...let's just say Happy Birthday Becky.

Got a Shovel?

6 pm and still snowing...the view out the back door.

2 pm

No End In Sight

We got woken up last at 2 in the morning.

One of the kids?

Oh. I just wish.

Instead it was three crazy guys who were stuck in the snow and trying to get their car out of the middle of the road.

It was seriously like a bad three stooges episode, but all in Vietnamese.

Really...I didn't know what they were saying, but it was hilarious (as much as it could be at 2 am) to listen to them scream at each other...and you could just tell they each thought the others were total dorks.

They kept pushing on the car and switching drivers and after I don't even know how long managed to wedge their car up onto the curb.



Troy actually got out of bed to go and help them, but it turns out they had destroyed one of the tires by ramming into the curb, so the car wasn't going anywhere.

All I can say is that I am glad I'm snug and warm at home.

Your Own Blog Book

To answer your questions about the blog book.

I used Blurb.

It's pretty simple.

You download their software and then it "slurps" your blog for you.

The pain of it is that it will put each blog entry on it's own separate page, and if you want something different than that, it's a time consuming process to reformat it all.

Plus...it puts the photos on in whatever size it thinks is best.

When I first slurped my blog...I decided to just do one year, otherwise, I might never been able to finish.

The first time it formatted the book, it was over 300 pages.

After spending quite a bit of time formatting it (some of my blog posts were just a line or two, and I could sometimes get three posts to a page), and changing photo sizes (I wanted all my photos to be bigger)...my finished book is 189 pages, and it cost $60.00.

The binding and cover are awesome. You can choose to have a dust jacket, but I knew that my kids would mess that up, so I choose to have it wrapped. It's awesome. You can choose whatever color you want as well. I love the black.

The inside pages are thick and wonderful and the photos came out great.

Here's a peek at the inside:







I took photos of the pages with photos so you could see...there are lots of posts that don't have any photos at all.

FYI: Blurb often has coupons online for $10.00 off a book or for free shipping. I was able to get mine with free shipping, which saved me $10.00.

Let me know if you have more questions.

How Happy Am I?

My Blog Book came today!




And it is perfectly lovely...hardcover, tons of photos....totally worth the HUGE amount of time it took to make it look pretty.

woo hoo!

I Give New Meaning to the Word Hot

I had a medical test today where they injected a radioactive material into my veins so they could look at my heart.

It was seriously weird. They kept the medicine in a special metal tube and techs called "nukes" come to administer the stuff.

You watch how the treat everything...and then they put that stuff inside you?

Yeah.

Everything is fine.

My heart is working great...but for the next 30 days I have to beware of going into a federal building or airport cause I might set off the security alarms.

Now that's hot.

It Had To Happen...

I mean...with 4 girls...someone had to take the scissors to their hair right?



But seriously...I thought we were gonna make it.

big sigh.

Christmas Tradtitions

I love Christmas lights...and have always wanted to go to the light festival at the regional park...but convincing Troy is was worth $15.00 is a lot easier said than done.

So, with the help of a coupon, we finally got him to go.





Fun times.

It Was the Lie

So, with all the drama, I'm sure you are thinking that the kids did something pretty major to lose Christmas.

But it wasn't major.

It was actually something really small and stupid.

But what really got me was the LIE!

I hate when you ask, "Who did this?"

And the answer from EVERYONE is, "Not me!"

I just couldn't stand it anymore.

So...I held Christmas hostage until "Not me" became "I did it."

Doing something naughty is one thing...lying about it is something else all together.

Meanest Mom, Ever

What's in the bags, you ask?

The kids' Christmas presents.

They are being held hostage until the guilt party fesses up.

Ack.

Meanest Mom. EVER.

Trimming the Tree

Well, we've had the tree up for quite some time...but we finally got to hang the ornaments tonight. Now it feels like Christmas.


And we continued our family tradition of giving the kids their own ornaments...one each year, so that when they leave home, they will have their own collection of ornaments to start their own trees with.

This year the girls got hello kitty ornaments.


And the boys got star wars.


And really...what would Christmas be without Troy's special Christmas ornament.

It Wasn't Meant To Be

Crazy day.

Troy finally got home after a week of being in Paris...sheesh...his life is rough.

And we ran a couple of errands and went to make our way to our ward party.

I had baked a lovely lasagna...it was yummy! And off we went to the party.

Well..wouldn't you know it, but tonight was the city light parade. Light parade?

Yeah, I know.

It's a bunch of people who decorate their cars, tow trucks and flat beds with Christmas lights...and then they drive down the MAIN thoroughfare and clog up traffic for miles around.

Seriously.

We sat in traffic nearly an hour....waiting for the parade to cross, and when the end was in sight...literally 10 cars away...a police office came and made us move into the turn lane and turn around.

Are you kidding me?

I still can't figure out why we couldn't just wait for the parade to pass. It was so maddening.

So...there we were, back at home...and traffic was still totally at a stand still.

Ack.

We took it as a sign that we weren't meant to go the party.

At least I had dinner cooked.

Cute Production? Clever Marketing?

So...we had Barnes and Noble night, and this year Joshy performed.



It was cute...he performed a little French song...and sang a couple of winter songs.

I especially love how in the down time...Josh tried really hard to see the bell on top of his hat. Ohmygosh. He is so Josh.

But of course...after spending a chunk of change getting the kids books, buying books for their teachers...and supporting spirit night at Baja Fresh...I have to conclude that this was a supremely clever marketing ploy...but...it worked.

Plus...how can you resist this face? You'd drop a chunk of change for that, wouldn't you?

Where is a Hole When You Need One?

So...I left the car lights on all night.

Thankfully, the car started this morning.

But, as I was running errands, I came out to my car and pushed the automatic unlock on my keys...nothing.

CRAP.

I pushed it a couple more times, and nothing.

Finally...I gave it a little jiggle, and it opened.

Phew.

As I pulled the car door open, I knew instantly that something was wrong...but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then it hit me.

This wasn't my car.

But...how did I get it to open?

Well, one quick look over my shoulder at the very unhappy lady behind me said it all.

CRAP.

All's Quiet...Thank Goodness

It's been quiet here on the homefront.

We've already had our first big snow of the season...which is the earliest it has ever snowed here since we moved here.

The kids were excited to get out and building snow men and sled.

I have been trying to take it easy...de-stress my life -- which is a lot easier said than done.

But...we are enjoying this Christmas season. It's such a festive time of year.

I have high hopes of picking up my camera and sharing it with you...we'll see how that goes.

xo