Resolution Recap

I had a nice Christmas day-fabulous actually! And I have pictures I want to share and stories I want to tell...but I'm in CA with my family. No access to my pictures (that's what happens when you get good at putting them on your computer :)). So, even though it might make my head explode, I'm going to do things out of order and reserve the right to go back and update on Christmas later.

RESOLUTION TIME!!!

1. Actually thinking about resolutions at the end of the year rather than just at the beginning: Check-so that's something-first time for that for me. And I like the website joesgoals.com. It's simple but effective.

2. Train for/run a 5K: Check

3. Exercise for 30 minutes a day: Okay, so I did Wii Fit, 30 Day Shred, and the 5K thing (and even went to the stake aerobics...twice)-but alas, I gave this one up in August. I don't think that was the last time I exercised but it was the last time I tracked it and let's be honest, if I was doing it then I would have written it down

4. Write in my journal daily: Um....does blogging count? Probably not. I didn't totally fail on this one but it's the closest I came. I did it in short fits and spurts. ldsjournal.com was my friend for a while but not often enough. Does anyone have recommendations for improvement in this one?

5. Food Storage: My goal was a hearty, well fleshed-out 3 month supply. I certainly worked on it and not a week went by when I didn't buff it up a bit (sometimes a very small bit). AND I got my first 2 of 5 needed 55-gallon drums but I am a long ways from feeling secure on this one.

6. Be a better friend to my sister Erin: This, this, this and this certainly helped. Us both being mom's helped. Me trying my darnedest to not be bossy or excessively opinionated did the most good (even though if that was a goal all on it's own I wouldn't be owning up to it). This isn't really a pass/fail resolution but I feel good about it.

7. Finish reading all the Newbery award-winning books: I started this (for the 2nd time) in 2008!! (July) And I STILL haven't finished. But I'm only like 6 away so almost....

8. Catch up on my scrap-booking by doing 7 pages a week: In my mind this would work-I don't take pictures every day so by doing the equivalent of a page a day then I would eventually catch up. I think in theory it would work. I don't know about in practice because I only did this occasionally (and it was a mid-year resolution addendum, not a New Years) so I'm basically as far behind as I've always been. A year and a half backlog means that Eliza doesn't even enter in the scrapbook register...sad

So this list makes me a little depressed BUT I will try to look on the bright side and say that I'm a little bit...not a lot...but a little bit better than I was at the beginning of 2009. Good on me. Maybe I should do a la Wally Whipple and make at least one more d0-able resolution:

In 2010 I will eat more Mexican food: done

Merry Happy*: On the 19th day of Christmas

I would start this post with the requisite "I'm so sorry I haven't posted" but I don't really believe in that since my blog should be fun for me, and I doubt anyone was waiting with bated breath for my next post :).

So December! AHHHHH. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone feels this way but oh my goodness, it is a crazy month! We have had lots of fun. Also, lots of stress. Despite my best efforts and daily resolutions I still don't know if I'm always focusing on the right things or being warm and loving to my family the way I should be. But...enough of that, let's focus on the fun positives. **Warning: This is my recap of my 19 Days of Christmas so far-so it will be long. But remember, if you read it, I will love you.

1. Sent off half of my Christmas cards. I ordered from a couple of different places to get the best deals (like 12 free cards here, 30 cards half off here, etc). Financially smart...but more room for error and I accidentally sent one batch to VA-um, yeah. So Snapfish finally received them from my renter and I should have them in time to send New Years Cards!

2. The first weekend in December we went to our annual City Christmas Party-which was AWESOME!! It's two events over a weekend. Friday night was the hot air balloon glow, lighting ceremony and a carnival. My kids had an absolutely (freezing) blast. There were boat rides, and car rides, and a huge obstacle course-which I went on and was more scared than them. It was a lot, lot, lot of fun.

Aren't we cute?

But she's cuter!

3. The next day was the second half of the party. This was the party last year that we rode an elephant. But this year, we rode a camel!! Okay, Eliza and I rode a camel because the two other kids wimped out (like an Elephant is so much less scary!!)

And Samantha performed because she takes dance through the city. She was so darling...but SO cold!

There were pony rides

And train rides

There was also and awesome petting zoo and fun booths. We love that our city does this!!

4. We've also had a couple of personal parties to attend to. At this one there was a gingerbread house contest. We won "Most original" Can you tell Tom has a camping background?

5. GOODIES!! I've been making loads of goodie plates. So far I've made 6 batches of poppyseed bread (yield 30 usable small loaves and 3 burnt-to-a-crisp ones). 4 batches of fudge and 4 batches of chocolate dipped peanut brittle. I absolutely love this part of Christmas. I think it's so fun.

6. We've watched a couple of Holiday shows:

Some classic

And some new (LOVED this-very cute and clever)

7. Had mutual at my house where we proceeded to wrap 3 million -okay, 3 hundred-caramels and make snowflakes for the "Santa Room" for the ward Christmas party

8. Went to the mall to meet the big guy (no picture because they want to charge you 35 dollars for a wallet size or something like that). But they enjoyed the play place.
9. Samantha had her winter dance recital. Marshmallow world! She was darling and I think she's a little more "with it" than her first recital. Tom's extended AZ family came so that made it even more fun.

10. And of course, the Daddy Daughter dance. If you remember the summer one, the moves are basically the same but the music is different. I think that's funny.

11. Went to the above mentioned Ward Christmas party. It was lots of fun. The kids met Santa again, and in Arizona-he's Latino :)

12. I contended with the great leaning Christmas tree. After spending well over 2 hours combined working with it and having it fall over three times we decided to shove it in a corner-more rooms for presents right? It's a gorgeous tree, just kind of stupid.

13. And I obsessively read this book series until the wee hours of the night. I recommend the first one, "Poison Study" and the next ones are okay, not great, but okay.

14. Tom found his new true love:

15. Between Samantha and I we've had four gift exchanges. This is what we got in return:

I forgot to grab the fuzzy pink flip flops which were the most fabulous but I didn't want to have to take another picture

16. Made 12-count 'em-12 homemade bread bowls to help out a friend. Used this recipe. I loved it so much I made another batch of 4 to have friends over on Sunday

17. Saw several of my friends sing in the Hallelujah Chorus for our Stake. If I had to choose, music is my favorite part of Christmas.

18. Attended the Temple which was finally something that truly focused on the meaning and real reason for this time of year. Tom and I switched off so that afterwards the kids could see the lights. They were very pretty.
And that's not even everything, but it's certainly the main highlights. It's crazy, but that's part of what makes it so fun.

*"Merry Happy" is from a show called "Community" which if you're not watching, then you should be. "Fall Finales" on television have also been a big part of this December for us as well. (19)

Phew....

Well, I finished. It was fun while it lasted. The funniest comment I got on this whole thing was my mom's: I told her Thanksgiving night that I had to hurry and post before midnight (it was like 11:30 at the time). When she asked why I explained it to her and said I could win a prize....and all I could think of was the first listed prize, a no-sew fleece blanket*. She waited a few beats and said "Emily, I could have just given you a blanket." Well obviously she missed the point entirely.

* There are cooler prizes than a fleece blanket though I'm not holding my breath because there are like 15 prizes and like 15 million participants.

My Brain is Turning to Mush: Fairy tale edition

So I'm reading Samantha some stories and I realize that I don't just let my brain wander to dark and dumb places with TV shows-it extends to her stories as well. Like:

Really, what difference does it make if the wolf convinced her to go off the path to collect wildflowers. That isn't what got her granny killed, it was TALKING TO A WOLF that did it. Never give strangers, wolfish or otherwise, your granny's address. So the whole moral to that story (listen to your mother!) is moot.

Why did the wolf go to all that trouble to trick her with the flower-collecting anyways? I think that as a self-respecting wolf he should have found out the info on Gram, eaten Little Red and then gone and chowed on Grandma.

But I do like the authenticity of the riding cap. Any mother of a preschooler knows that a little kid is going to find something they like and then not take it off for the next 398402984 days.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel-let down your long hair. I can't enjoy that story because all I am thinking about are the years and years of intense psycho-therapy Rapunzel is going to need because of the witch. I hate to say it-but do you think something was wrong with the prince? Rapunzel had to be kind of backwards after all those years in the tower, right? I wonder if their relationship ends up being self-destructive and co-dependent.

And how 'bout the Three Little Pigs. I personally think it's just one big indictment of the housing industry bursting it's bubble. Wolf=foreclosure. Enough said.

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey

I was too busy moaning about Black Friday to talk about our actual Thanksgiving. It was very fun. We made actually too much food, I don't know what I was thinking but I was just so nervous about having people over that I over-did it. It was good though and everyone had a good time. I loved having my family here. It was too short-they're already gone!

My cute dad with my cute kids.

Sleeping off the turkey

And her too

The grown-up table

Tommy's favorite part-the pie

I thought this was such a cute photo-she's so darling! And she loved the sweet potatoes.

And me being a dweeb.

It's finally here!

The Christmas Season!!! I am so happy. Now I get real mail in the mailbox. I can put up Christmas trees! Christmas music on all the stations and in all the stores (and on my blog-sorry if you don't like blog music but I HAVE to do it at Christmas time!!). Packages, ribbons, bows! Giving goodies to neighbors! Getting goodies (sometimes :)). Yay! The Grinch! The Gift of the Magi! Charlie Brown's Christmas! The Christmas Story! Waiting inappropriately long hours to have my kids scream upon meeting Santa. Oh I love this season.

Black Friday

I'm not even going this year, which makes this my second Black-Friday free year. I might be losing my touch. But maybe I just wasn't impressed enough with the sales to wake up at 4:00 AM. Good luck to all those who do go!

Finished with Tommy's Room!

After "planning" for months (which didn't involve planning, just thinking about what I wanted) and two consecutive weekends we are done with Tommy's room. Yay!

I went with Nautical-which in my mind means grown up enough that I don't have to change it until we move or he's 12, whatever comes first.

Sorry the pictures are so, so terrible. It was late and he was sleeping and I don't know much about cameras.

Full View

The border

And the requisite vinyl saying. "I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship." Louisa May Alcott.

New Mooooooooooooon

There are three general groups of people when it comes to the Twilight series.

1. People who loooooove it

2. People who absolutely loathe it

3. And people who enjoy it for the guilty pleasure it is but won't be buying Team Edward/Team Jacob shirts any time soon.

I'm firmly ensconced in the third group. I wanted to go to the movie as a fun girls night out more than I actually enjoy the movies. And I did last night (and boy am I tired today).

So as any self-respecting member of the female race/blogosphere I have to put in my two cents:

Kristen Stewart makes me feel nauseated (as did her depression scene -I actually had to look away from the screen I was getting so sick/dizzy from the camera work).

WAY better cinematography than the first movie

Could they have made Edward any uglier in Italy? I really don't think so. How are you supposed to root for him after something like that?

And I'm too old for this but OH MY GOSH JACOB'S ABS!

And lastly, go read this parody because it's just so funny. Even if you haven't seen the movie but have read the books-I think you'll appreciate it.

Mrs. Clean

It's day 1 of my pre-Thanksgiving cleaning blitz. I'm starting with the stuff that won't get dirty as fast (dusting, wiping down bedrooms/stairwells, dejunking bedrooms, etc.) Unfortunately those are also the things that leave no discernible trace of me doing anything. I pick up as I go but the actual "deep" cleaning shows nothing. Tomorrow is the kitchen and all three bathrooms so I'll feel better after those.

P.S. With three pairs of grubby little hands stairwells can get really, really dirty.

Primary Program-SO CUTE!

This is Samantha, and she's part of an eternal family

You know there are some things I looked REALLY forward to before becoming a parent. I'm sure that it's the same for all parents and yet different in terms of what they're looking forward to. It might be coaching a team, or them playing an instrument or whatever. One of the things I wanted was a child in a primary program. And today my dream came true. And further bonus life-long dream: having the loudest most boisterous singer up there! I've really arrived! And FURTHER bonus: she got to sing in a duet of "Jesus once was a little child" and it was so stinkin' cute" She sang loudly, she e-nun-ci-ated big time! In fact she was so loud that the girl singing the duet with her put her hands over her ears for a second-the congregation actually laughed out loud. What a doll.

And here it is, just for you.

Request a sidebar, your honor!

Do you know what my favorite part of my blog is? It's the sidebar stuff. I love my sidebar and incidentally, I love other people's sidebars too. If I read your blog I can guarantee that I've read what you have and that I check it periodically to see if you've added a new button, your kid has said something new and funny, etc. I think the sidebar says a lot about you like:

How long or little you've been blogging

What your interests are

What you find funny or poignant

What kind of websites you spend your time browsing

Whether you think less is more

or More is more

How technically proficient you are if you can have 2 sides of sidebars!

And so on

Do you read side-bars? Do you like mine? I know some people enjoy my kids stuff, specifically the stuff by Samantha because I've had people comment on the blog and in person. Have you ever read my feature quote, my movie "review"? I won't care/be offended if the answer is no, it's my blog and I'll include what makes me happy. I'm just interested in these kind of things. Look, I've even included a poll for you to take on the subject.

Flashback Fridays: Jump Houses

Hey, I can still do Flashback Fridays if I want, even if it's been a while! Back in Virginia, we had a bounce house place down the street. And there were two more fairly close. They were pay for 2 hours, jump on all the bounce houses/slides you wanted. Boy do I miss them. I've heard tell that there is one nearby but by nearby people mean closer than Phoenix.

But the main point of this post is not bounce houses, it's that I miss having things to do. In CA, VA and even UT there were things to do. Especially with and for kids.

Beaches, mountains, Historical sites galore in Virginia. Restaurants (and not just chains) and museums. I miss all that. Here it's an hour drive to Phoenix and there's still not that much to do even there. So you say "Arizona is for the out-doorsy" Well, I'm not outdoorsy and even if I were, the outdoors that are worth going to are more than 2 hours away. If I sound negative, well I feel a little negative. I would love to be proven wrong-if you're a local I would love to hear about things to do. But not swimming. The difference between a bounce house/museum/etc. and swimming is that I don't have to carry 2343 things in a bag and get my kids in special clothes and diapers only to forget the sunscreen and then have extra laundry for a week.

Wooo-obviously I need to go to bed and try to be happier tomorrow.

I still do this occasionally

I still do coupons, I don't know if I'm more discriminating about deals, or if they're just not as appealing to me lately but I've lessened the things I buy. Here are my last two weeks though

I can't remember the original price vs. my price but the cereals were only .97 cents each and the Ragu was only .58 cents each. I'm pretty sure the deodorant was only .50 or a dollar.

The batteries were only .88 each and the crackers were only .99 cents each.

And by the way-I know that non-couponers are shocked by my cost of 30 dollars a month in newspapers (as I used to be) but I paid for the whole years worth in 3 1/2 months-pretty good huh?

Nothing New Today

So I have nothing to say. I'm half-way done with this blog posting challenge and it's been 98% fun. I hope my 10 1/2 readers have had fun too. None of you are sick of me yet right? (Do NOT answer that question except to deny, deny, deny)

C is for Cupcake

It was my turn for Tommy's preschool again this week. I was doing my own thing for a few weeks when a friend in the ward invited me to be a part of a co-op. We're using the same website as I did for Samantha back in the day. I was excited to have the two weeks in every three off but I actually have to do cool stuff now and like, plan. We got started a little later than regular schools so we're on week three.

So my letter was "C." Among other things, we made cupcakes, they were a hit.

Tommy, Emma, Nate

P.S. Thanks to the unified consensus of the commenters, as well as my mother/husband's opinions I am going to -in the words of my mother-take the money and run (see below)

Moral Dilemma - weigh in.

So I went to Kohls today with my 10 dollars in Kohls cash and my 20% coupon in the mail. I bought two matching tree skirts for my living room. They were already 50% off too-bonus! So I should get them for 24.99 each minus 10 dollars and then 20% off. Everybody following so far? The total rings up for 13.01 and I think it's really low but Tommy is throwing fits. I'm not very good at math so it takes me 10 feet or so to realize that it's way too low so I look at the receipt-he only charged me for one. Of course I go back and explain the situation to him. He says "Merry Christmas, don't worry about it! You look like you need a break anyway" (Remember how I always look like I need help )

I was very thankful and sweet back but....I still feel guilty. Should I go re-explain the situation to customer service and insist they take my money dang-it, or just be grateful? Am I morally vacuous for not having the answer at my fingertips or is my lifetimes worth of engrained guilt making a simple thing complicated? Which is it? YOU tell me.

It's November, Let's talk about gratitude already!

It's Sunday, it's been a good weekend. I'm in a grateful mood. These are some things I'm grateful for today specifically:

1. How cold it is outside-brrrr and yay! I love that it's not in the 80's :) It's actually 59 degrees right now-awesome

2. To go along with that-hot showers. It's one of my favorite things in this world for it to be cold outside and to take a hot shower. Not too many opportunities here so I love it when it happens.

3. That I get to be in Young Womens. It's just so fun to get to be with the youth, they are funny and at such an impressionable and important stage-I love it.

4. Visiting Teachers: They invited me and their other teachee to dinner tonight, is that not the most awesome thing you've ever heard of or what?!?

5. Sitting in Tommy's newly painted room (more pictures to come on that topic when it's fully decorated)

6. That the dog training classes I'm taking already seem to be helping immensely

And of course:

7. Eliza the sweetheart

8. Tommy the riot

9. Samantha the generally awesome (who already seems to be coming out of previously mentioned phase)

10. And my true love Tom

Yay for November, blessings and gratitude

My Weapons of Mass Destruction

The images you are about to see might be so horrifying that you need to look away, but you should know that I clean/pick up every day...so don't judge

Every.single.game got taken out and scattered

There wasn't a good enough shot to show how messy the games thing was but believe me, it took a long time to sort it out.

Eliza took all the foam curlers and spread them throughout the whole stairs.

Just the general room mess

And not to leave the downstairs out.

Maybe you'd ask yourself how I let this happen. The games happened while I checked my email, the curlers while I showered, and the downstairs mess while I was cleaning the kitchen. I'm sure someday my house will stay clean...right...right?

Under the Wire

I had a blog post planned but our main computer (the one with our pictures) isn't working at all. So I'm going to go back to watching Firefly re-runs.

My Brain is Turning to Mush

A few quick facts for you before you read this post: 1. My mom used to do/say the same things so I come by this honestly 2. I used to be smart.

My kids basically watch two genres of shows: PBS and Disney Movies. And so they are in the background when I am trying to get stuff done. While I am half listening to them I find myself thinking about and analyzing them. Things like:

*Professor Wiseman (originally a man in the book series) and the Man with the Yellow Hat are totally seeing each other (special birthday presents, dinner dates, come ON!)

*The Man in the Yellow Hat probably wants to marry her but she's too focused on her career for a real relationship

*That explains why he keeps that dreadful monkey around-it's a surrogate child because he can feel his biological clock ticking.

*And speaking of parents-who the heck are Steve's (or maybe it's Bill-I can't tell them apart?!?) The boy so obviously needs a father figure.

The super-readers just bother me from beginning to end but my pressing question is WHERE ARE THEIR PARENTS? I am all for kids finding out the answer for themselves but honestly. Do we really need 20 minutes of Goldilocks and the Three bears for Whyatt to figure out that he should say sorry to his brother for messing up his room? Common sense anyone?

But their dance moves are awesome

And Arthur....why are some people aardvarks/dogs/monkeys/bunnies/whatever and some people are still humans? What's that about?

And why if Muffy's dad is a used car salesman does everything about them scream "old money?"

But I'm not alone, check out this blog for more mommy brain mush