A Year in Review

So 2008 was a pretty good year for my family. I have seen this done before, and I figured I would join in the fun! What you do is post the first sentence of the first post of every month as a review for your year. Since I didn't start THIS blog until mid-March, I figure I will take January thru March from my Myspace Blog (where I USED to do all my blogging...). They will be accompanied by a bit of a description since you can't go back and satisfy your curiosity by reading the blog.

January:
My Result: Orange- You're a bold, confident orange. (this was that "what color crayon are you" test)

February:
So Saturday, Lil is sitting on her bed with a piece of paper and a pen. (she had written the word P-u-p-p-y all by herself)

March:
So most of you don't know this, but I have been hard at work planning a surprise birthday party for Joe. (this story was so awesome! Joe almost screwed up his own surprise party- I went from plan A to plan F before the party was over!)

April:
Lil was very proud of her work of art.

May:
8 things I’m passionate about:
1. My kids.

June:
Have you ever noticed that most people don't blog about being in a funk?

July:
So yesterday I noticed that my littlest rascal had some interesting marks on her leg.

August:
Joe and I get to go see Dave Matthews Band!

September:
So, this weekend has been a busy one!

October:
Not sure what happened, really.

November:
Yes.

December:
Thanksgiving was okay.

And there you have it! (Though I can't help but think it may have been more of a review to just use my blog titles for those posts. It better summarizes what the blogs were about...) I'd love to see all of you do this too! It was fun!

8 Wonderful Years

So I am a day late in posting this, but I totally blame Joe for that! :) He took me away for an overnight trip to Armstrong Mansion. :D

Yesterday Joe and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary! I am so grateful for my wonderful husband and all he does for me and the girls. He is such a great man, and I feel very privileged to be his wife. As a way of commemorating the last 8 years, I am gonna list 8 things about him that I admire.

* Joe is loyal- even when things aren't going well, and even when its a detriment to his own well being, or situation, he will continue to be loyal to those who have gained his trust.



* Joe is a spiritual giant- He loves his religion and lives it well. He is well versed in scripture, and serves in his callings without hesitation or complaint. He leads a life worthy of the priesthood he holds.



* Joe serves others- if someone he knows is moving, he will be there to help, when people (both in the family and out) call with computer problems, he is right there to help them out. He never expects payment, and he never expects favors in return. He serves and help others because it is the right thing to do.



* Joe is a great daddy- his love for the girls is so evident in his face and his demeanor. He has now written a letter to each of his girls, and both of those letters brings me to tears. He is so sweet with them, he plays with them and teaches them, and cuddles with them. He is their favorite jungle gym and pillow all in one. He adores his girls, and they, in return, adore him.



* Joe is a great husband- his love for me is evident in the way he treats me. He knows me so well that I rarely have need to explain my feelings to him. He helps me with so much around the house. He does laundry (all the time), dishes (some of the time) and helps clean the rest of the house (as needed). He also is quick to realize when I am having a bad day and either make dinner or offer to take us all out. :D Really- I consider myself truly lucky because he not only does all this, but he does it better than me!



* Joe is smart- he is a special kind of smart though. He never ever makes others feel dumb. He has this way of making complicated things sound simple. He is a natural at fixing and building things. He can look at something and understand it.



* Joe is funny- my very first impression of Joe was that he was very animated (kinda like Jim Carry). He always makes me smile. His laughter is infectious, and I enjoy his sense of humor. Even on the worst day, Joe can make me smile.



* Joe is working toward a healthier life- he wakes up at a RIDICULOUS hour (like 5:30) so that he can work out each day before work. He is trying to eat healthier, and is choosing low fat and no fat foods over the rich and fattening stuff. He has cut a lot of salt out of his diet (that's a hard one for me) and doesn't drink any soda. He is doing this all to improve himself. When we eat out he looks for the healthier alternatives such a fish (ick) or lightly seasoned chicken (as in- not covered in cream sauces and the likes).

All in all, I got myself a pretty amazing husband. And besides all that, he is HOT. Well, at least I think he is... :) Happy Anniversary Joe. Thank you for making the last 8 years the best years of my life. I LOVE YOU!

A Moderately Good Christmas

I previously mentioned Joe being home with the flu- turns out I was wrong... he had food poisoning. Poor guy! Having had a bout of Food Poisoning this summer, we were absolutely convinced that was what he was (and kinda still is) suffering from. As of Christmas Eve he had not quite recovered completely, but was well enough to join in the festivities at my mothers house. We packed an overnight bag for the whole family, and went to my mom's for some pizza, games, and a nice little lesson on the true meaning of Christmas.

We had all sorts of fun and ended up not getting to bed til nearly 1 am. As Joe and I were headed to bed, we found Lilia had wet her makeshift bed. Not a good sign. About 10 minutes later (she is cleaned up, and settled into our bed with us) she informs me that she thinks she may need to throw up. So to lessen the damage of Grandma's house and bedding, I pull out towels, blankets and a couple pillows and I bed down with her on the floor in the TV room (closest room to the bathroom, and big enough to stretch out on the floor). It was a restless night for me, but Lil (thankfully) didn't toss her cookies.

That next morning after coaxing my brothers awake, we head down to start the Christmas morning frenzy. It went well and we got all the best reactions from Lilia. She got some dress up clothes from Joe and I, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell from Santa, scarves, mittens and hats from Grandma and a few other small toys and trinkets from my brothers. Lacey scored some pretty good gifts too. Joe was thoroughly surprised with his new Wii (from me) and games (from my brother and mom). Well, about 10 minutes after we had finished unwrapping gifts, I was making breakfast in the kitchen, my mom was settling Lil in to watch her new movies upstairs and Joe and my brothers were setting up the Wii downstairs in the basement. Lil didn't eat breakfast, and sure enough a few minutes later she finally did throw up. Poor girl ended up with the flu. Luckily it was a 24 (or less) hour bug, she felt much better by early evening. And she got to watch all her movies at least once (between sleeping bouts). Joe and the boys played the Wii most the day (which was fun to watch) and Mom and I played with Lacey and kept Lil hydrated (all the while watching our movies and calling family to wish the Merry Christmas).

We came home around 5 or so and by 8 Lacey was sick. :( Poor thing had a pretty bad night. At about 1:30 I found Joe back in the bathroom with the flu too. Seems that as of now, I am the only survivor. Good thing Joe (though tired) felt much better when he woke up. Lacey is doing better too. Though none of the three are up to 100% it seems they are all past the worst of it. Good thing too, because Joe has made plans for our anniversary, and the two of us are supposed to be disappearing off on our own for the night... Here's to hoping I don't get this little bug tonight!

All in all, minus the sickness, it was a nice Christmas. Now if I can just get the family all healthy again... Hope you all had a great one! (Sorry for the lack of pictures, I took the camera, but forgot to use it!)

Thoughts on snow, kids, and clever parenting...

Yesterday we woke up to our first true snow storm of the season. Snow was falling pretty hard and heavy most of the day. Out in my neck of the woods we usually get less snow than the big cities that flank us, but for whatever reason, that was not the case this time. While my mom (just south of us) raked in a good 8 inches, my MIL (just north) got MAYBE two inches if that. Now us? We got somewhere near 15 inches. Possibly more. (!!!) And of course, I took some pictures of my neighborhood all covered in white:







Poor baby Jesus- he is under there somewhere!



Even my swing- sitting against the house, on my covered porch got a few inches!



Much thanks goes out to my WONDERFUL Neighbor(s) who helped UNSTUCK me last night. Joe was sick with the flu, and had stayed home from a family party. As I arrived home with the girls at almost 11:00 pm, I found myself stuck in my own DRIVEWAY! It took me and Mindy a good 20 minutes to move my car 6 feet! Wow- talk about some deep snow. I wish they would plow the alleys (a majority of our neighborhood has their garage doors in the alley...)!

Lilia has been all sorts of cute this year as we prepare for Christmas. She was absolutely convinced that snow meant Christmas morning. She has been begging me since yesterday to let her open her presents. She is still in dance, and she LOVES it. She practices everyday, and is getting very good at certain parts of dance... other parts, not so much. I can't seem to get her to loosen up while in position one. The teacher told the kids that they have to hold their hands like they are holding a beach ball. This is Lil in position one:



Lacey has recently hit the ever popular stage of stripping down to naked any chance she gets. It has been all sorts of fun keeping her in clothes. As cute as it is to watch her wander the house in naught but a diaper, it is also frustrating to try and catch my Popsicle child and re-dress her. Especially difficult is pajamas. I used to go check on her after she falls asleep to find her wearing only a diaper and shivering. Which meant waking her up to re-dress her. She has learned to open snaps, zippers, and remove pants. The only thing truly safe on her is a t-shirt. So THIS is how I solved the problem!





That's right! I slap a t-shirt over her jammies now, and sure enough she stays in them all night long! YAY!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Be safe, and warm, and happy, and well.

Tagged again!

Here's a gooey, romantic game of tag. Here's how it works: I will answer questions about Joe. At the end of the post, I'll tag 3 people and post their names. Then, those three people can do the same thing on their own blog and so on and so forth.

What is your husband's name? Joseph
How long have you guys been married? 8 years next week
How long did you date? Been together 1 year and 25 days
How old is he? the big 3-0
Who is taller? Joe
Who can sing the best? Joe
Who is smarter? It depends on the topic, but mostly- Joe.
Who pays the bills? I do
Who does the laundry? I wash and dry, he folds
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? When you are looking at the bed... me
Who mows the lawn? The neighbor :)
Who cooks dinner? More often than not, me- but he CAN and does cook on occasion.
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Whoever IS wrong.
Who kissed who first? I think he would say I kissed him first, but last time I checked, it takes two to kiss...
Who wears the pants? We both wear pants, but he wears the important pants.

I tag three people! :) You decide if you are one of those three...

100!

So... this is post #100 for me, so I thought I would celebrate that with 100 of my favorites. (No worries, this is more for me than anyone else, I won't be offended if you don't read it... but the last 10 are favorite pictures...)
PEOPLE
1. Joe
2. Lilia
3. Lacey
4. Family
5. My In Laws
6. The Gospel
7. God
8. Jesus Christ
9. My Ward
10. Friends

TV
11. Biggest Loser (yay for Vicky NOT Winning!)
12. Heroes
13. House
14. Lost
15. Eli Stone
16. Ugly Betty
17. Pushing Daisies
18. The Closer
19. The Office
20. Chuck

BOOKS
21. Scriptures
22. Harry Potters
23. Twilight Saga
24. Fablehaven Series
25. The Giver
26. Bruce Coville books
27. Anita Stansfield books
28. Robert Langdon Series (Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons)
29. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books (I know- but they were good!!)
30. The BFG

MOVIES
31. Harry Potters
32. Mary Poppins
33. Pete’s Dragon
34. White Christmas
35. Cutting Edge
36. First Wives Club
37. Con Air
38. Court Jester
39. Better Off Dead
40. Down Periscope

HOMEMADE FOOD (ask if you want any of these recipes)
41. Honey BBQ Ribs
42. Butterscotch Yams
43. Nik’s Ham and Noodles (I was surprised at how unbelievable this tastes!)
44. Mindy’s Crock Pot Chicken Burritos
45. Mom’s Tacos (or Enchiladas)
46. Natalie’s Oatmeal Bread
47. Rachel’s Gingersnaps and Pumpkin Dip
48. Banana Slugs (homemade breadsticks)
49. Stroganoff
50. White Chili

RESTAURANT FOOD
51. Crème Brule (it was fantastic at Maglbys, but anywhere works)
52. Café Rio (or Costa Vida) Smothered Pork Burrito with black beans and mild sauce
53. The Madarin’s Orange Chicken
54. Olive Garden’s Breadsticks with half and half dipping sauce (you ask for half marinara half alfredo sauce and mix them together)
55. El Pollo Loco’s Flan
56. Roxberry Juice’s Orchard Harvest (with raspberries instead of blueberries)
57. Sizzler’s Ribs (better in my opinion than even Tony Roma’s)
58. Joe’s Crab Shack’s Coconut Shrimp
59. Spaghetti Factory’s Mizithera and Browned Butter
60. Chili’s Chips and Salsa

SMELLS
61. Fresh Baked Bread
62. Petracore (the smell that is given off from the cement when it rains)
63. Freshly bathed baby (preferably in Baby Magic)
64. Apple desserts baking (though I am not fond of apple desserts, I do love the smell)
65. Cucumber Melon (Bath and Bodyworks)
66. Boiling Milk (I dunno- something soothing about the smell…)
67. Craft Stores
68. Joe’s aftershave lotion
69. Bounce Fabric softener
70. Book Stores

SONGS
71. Sing Along by Dave Matthews and Blue Man Group
72. Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie
73. Finger Tips by TMBG
74. All of Les Miserables
75. Step In Time (on Mary Poppins)
76. The Way by Fastball
77. One Week by Bare Naked Ladies
78. Inside Out by Eve 6
79. Gonna Be by The Proclaimers
80. YMCA by The Village People

RANDOM STUFF
81. Lilia’s smile when she is NOT trying to smile
82. Lacey’s smile when a camera is trained on her
83. Lacey’s cuddling
84. Lilia’s “ideas”
85. Songs in a minor key
86. The annual primary program
87. My girls laughing together
88. My nieces singing the Happy Birthday song (cha-cha-cha!)
89. Family Reunion
90. Either daughter trying to make the other one smile (as long as its not during bedtime)

PICTURES (I have way more than 10 favorites, but these rank pretty high up there... and they are in no particular order)
91.

92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.

Allergies?

So as some of you might know, I went in for allergy testing this week. And the results are in. I couldn't help but share a few of my more odd results.

Now first off, I was tested mainly for my allergy to metal. And boy am I ever allergic. The dermatologist was a bit alarmed at my reaction to Nickel. Which is a pretty common metal. But- most of my other allergies are minor. Though the dermatologist made it a point to warn me that they may be slight now, but the more I handle the items I am allergic to the worse the allergy will become. So now- on to my allergies!

The proper name for the items I am allergic to are:

Nickel
Wood Alcohols (Lanolin)
Ethylenediamine Dihydrochloride
Cobalt Dichloride
Mercapto Mix
Tixocortol-21-Pivalate


Now these items are located in some pretty common items! Like I mentioned before I am pretty severely allergic to Nickel, so I really need to avoid things like Zippers, buttons, watchbands, anything less that 18-ct gold (platinum and 18-ct or higher gold should be fine), scissors, keys, coins... yeah- that sucks. The doc said if I can help it, and I am gonna have prolonged contact with any of these items I should wear protective cotton gloves... why cotton you ask? WELL- it seems one of my lesser allergies is a key ingredient in rubber! I am mildly allergic to rubber gloves! Amongst other rubber items...

Some other items I should avoid due to allergies?
Cosmetics such as foundations, powders, blush, mascara, LIPSTICK and CHAPSTICK, etc.
Most lotions
Pet shampoos
Hair removal products (like Nair)
Cement
Bricks
Cobalt based paints
DENTAL IMPLANTS (such as the one I need next month)
Vitamin B12
most forms of natural rubber
wetsuits
neoprene
hydrocortisone creams
Prednisone
Steroid:groub b and group d2
Desonide (read: Desitin)
ear, nose and eye drops

And that folks, is how SCREWED UP I AM! :) I can't help but laugh at a good portion of these allergies. Mostly because everything on this second list is just a mild allergy. I don't react too bad, at least not yet...

Awesome! :)

Play date!

Can I just say that I have some pretty awesome neighbors? Cause I do. And I just love that there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood. And that both my girls have plenty of kids their age to play with. Earlier this week I had one of the neighbor girls over to play. I am sorry to say that until Christmas comes around, I am not too well equipped with every girls favorite activity... dress up. So I was forced to do my best with what I had. I decided to make cupcakes for the girls to decorate. I happened to have a bunch of Christmas sprinkles and such left over from the cookies we made a few weeks ago, so I sat the girls down at the table with some cupcakes, frosting and plenty of sprinkles. Needless to say they had plenty of fun and all kinds of sugar in their system by the end of the play date!


Even Lacey got to participate!


They may have some awfully serious looks on their faces, but they were all enjoying it...


the temptation to munch as they decorate finally got to one of them... not sure which one did the nibbling!


Lacey had all sorts of fun sneaking one of the cupcakes. I caught her only after she had taken the top off her cupcake all together!

Dinner and disaster!

We had some friends come over for dinner last night. It was SO GREAT catching up with them, and I REALLY enjoyed talking with them all (though I especially loved talking with Jordyn and Julie). I am so glad they came up for dinner (Thanks Julie, Ben and Russ!)!

BUT- with all the noise and awesomeness (read: fun chaos) all of us managed to NOT hear Lacey take yet another tumble down the stairs. I had removed the gate because at OTHER peoples houses, Lacey handles the stairs pretty well. But for whatever reason she doesn't like our stairs (hmm... maybe its because she keeps FALLING DOWN THEM!). Well- This fall was by far the worst one yet. Poor girl has one heckuva bump or two, and scratched up her face.

This was right after the incident:


This was this morning...


It's hard for pictures to do it any justice. This was a pretty nasty looking mess last night. There were two bumps and a lot of bruising and scrapes around her eye.
This last picture gives a pretty good look at the size of the bump...


And that was this morning! Imagine how much worse it looked last night!

Good news is that she is acting normal and I have all day today and tomorrow to monitor and decide if she might be concussed and need to see a doctor (so far all signs point to her being just fine...)

Family Party!

So my cousin and brother (roommates) invited the fam over to their apartment for a night of cocoa, cookies, laughter, and all sorts of good times. I, like usual, failed to bring my camera. BUT- my very best friend (and cousin) did happen to remember hers. (I think her camera resides in her purse... she always has it!)

Anyway- so I stole her pictures and am posting them here for everyone to see!

First off, my unbelievably tall brother Kevin.



Okay so maybe he isn't THAT tall. But he pretty tall. Here he is with my baby brother David.



It's like the Jolly Green Giant and Paul Bunion! I swear my younger brothers are HUGE! (Now to be quite honest, they ARE standing next to a 6 foot tree and a totally fake fireplace, so they look much taller than they actually are...)


To give you a better perspective, here is a picture of LACEY in front of the fireplace. Someone in their apartment complex made the mistake of challenging the always creative duo (Kevin and my cousin, Steven) to a decorations contest. This fireplace is made of ply wood, paint and some awesome tissue paper fire (amongst other things)... Bet you can't guess who won!



Lacey was such a sucker for the camera! Always has been. She sees a camera and comes running, smile always ready.



Then came the well known, annual tradition...




of taping your big sister (me) to the ceiling...




What?! Not a tradition in your family? Wow! You are SO behind the times! (okay- totally kidding. But this should help you see the size difference between me and my younger brothers!)

During the whole ordeal, Joe sat on the couch smiling, and it wasn't until Lil came in the room that I stood a chance of escape. She was in near hysterics crying while they attempted to tape me up. So being the good uncles they were, they put me down to calm Lilia down.



Thanks for saving me Lil!



We had so much fun catching up. I just LOVE my family! All sorts of fun, lemme tell ya. Both girls had more than their fair share of cookies and chocolate. ESPECIALLY Lacey. She is a chocolate FIEND.

Eventually it was time to head home. We bundled our girls up in their jammies for the drive home, and smart little Lacey, who knew that jammies mean bedtime, got very very sad.



All in all a great night, filled with, Chastity Lines, Spare Oom, Delicious gold fish, and some pretty boisterous laughter... (don't ask- we are NUTS)

Hope this season is a great one for you all!

It's Christmas Time

Christmas for me is a hit and miss holiday. Sometimes I LOVE Christmastime, and other years... I get so tired of the commercialism and greed. Needless to say I really have to work hard to get myself in the proper frame of mind. This year is still up for grabs. I haven't really felt strongly one way or the other. Financially, Joe and I are doing well this year, and though I am very happy with our gifts we have purchased for our children and family, I am also very happy with the donations we have been able to make this year. One in particular is special to me. There is a family I know who has had a pretty rough year so far. They found out in August that their two-year-old, Brynlee, has cancer... needless to say it's been a rough year for this beautiful family and Brynlee's grandma has set up a BLOG to keep track of Bryn's progress and a PAYPALL ACCOUNT to help the family out. If any of you feel the need, you are more than welcome to contribute to Brynlee's account. Heaven knows how expensive treatment has been (and will continue to be).

The girls are being pretty good for me so far this year. Lacey loves undecorating the bottom of the tree. I finally gave up and just collect the ornaments she has removed and only replace them once a day instead of all day long... Lil loves looking at the gifts that are slowly collecting under the tree. She keeps asking if it is Christmas yet. We are gonna be having a little talk here soon on what Christmas is really about (as in, not about getting presents). I am also gonna take the girls out to get presents for Daddy and each other. (Yes Joe- I am gonna start that this year- no worries... I was thinking the dollar store would be an ideal shopping place for the girls).

So... my cousin Connie tagged me earlier this week for a survey that is all about Christmas. So, on with the show!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper unless the gift is odd shaped...
2. Real tree or artificial tree? Artificial all the way!
3. When do you put up your tree? I usually try to get it up the day after Thanksgiving... but this year it was up two days after.
4. When do you take the tree down? As soon as I get around to it...
5. Do you like eggnog? Sure. But I have to dilute it with milk to make it drinkable.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Well- I wasn't really a child per se, but I think my favorite gift would be the last one I got from my dad (and my mom too of course) and that would be my Letterman Jacket. If you really want a CHILDHOOD gift then I would have to say my Cabbage Patch Doll...
7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother in law
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have two- both with broken pieces from the kiddo's... I may have to invest in the Little People Nativity.
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I like to receive mail. I suck at sending it though- so e-mail wishes are great for me!
11. Favorite Christmas movie? White Christmas
12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December 26th. I am always on the lookout for a good gift!
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yeah. Last year I received a game for my girls that had been given to me by the same person the year before! So I gave the game to a friend.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Well- I would have to say my mom's homemade candy. Especially the English Toffee.
15. Lights on the tree? White only.
16. Favorite Christmas song? Most people don't know my favorite one, since it is a Primary song (a youth song from my church) it's called, "Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus." My favorite MAINSTREAM song is "Little Drummer Boy/Teach the Children"
by David Bowie and Bing Crosby
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both. Travel to see family in the area, after spending the morning at home.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Commet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph, and Olive (you know- Olive, the other reindeer?)
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
20. Do you open Presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? The girls open a specific present (containing Jammies) on Christmas Eve, everything else waits for Christmas Day.
21. The most annoying thing about this time of year? Commercialism and Greed
22. Favorite ornament theme and color? I don't have a favorite theme, I do a traditional country style tree. But I do have a favorite Christmas ornament STYLE. Blue and White Snowmen... hard to explain. I may just take a picture and post it here to show what I am talking about...
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Something easy. OR a big family feast with the extended family.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? I am happy with the idea of the donations made being my main gift, but my girls are more than welcome to get me little things for the home (like a new large sauce pan or a new bathroom rug...)
25. Favorite Christmas tradition? Well- Joe and I are still in the midst of finding our own little traditions, but we do like sitting down with the girls and telling the Christmas Story to them on Christmas Eve (with the visual help from one of our Nativity sets).

As far as tagging others is concerned... I will tag Julie, Diane, and anyone else who feels the need to do this tag as well! But especially Julie and Diane...

Hope you all have an amazing, spectacular, and festive holiday season!

All I want for Christmas

A friend of mine, Mindy, wrote a blog earlier today about her daughters first attempt at a letter to Santa. And lemme tell ya- it was absolutely fantastic and so CUTE! Mindy's daughter is in Lilia's preschool class, and she is a pretty smart kiddo! She is also an extremely polite little girl! I love having her over to play with Lilia because of how well behaved she is. Anyway- totally beside the point!

So of course, as soon as I read that blog I asked Lil if she wanted to write a letter to Santa. Of course Lilia loved the idea, and so she found a pad of paper and a pen and proceeded to write out her list. Of course, she is only 4, so you can't expect a perfect letter yet, but she did her best!

She asked Santa for:

PEDRPAN (Peter Pan- When I told her she already had Peter Pan, she said, "Oh yeah! oops!" and crossed it out.)

PRPL BIC (A purple bike- "I already have a pink one, now I want a purple one")

TIKRBEL (Tinkerbell the movie)

COR (A car- not sure why, but that's what she says she wants!)

She also added that she wants some JAMUS (Jamma's as in Pajama's...)

Warm Holiday Wishes!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Collateral

Collateral: n. Assets pledged by a borrower to secure a loan or other credit, and subject to seizure in the event of default. also called security.

My 4 year old may just be the only child her age who understands this word as it has recently become a favorite of mine. Example?

Today Lil had dance class. I had already told her if she was a good girl we would go get doughnuts after her class was over. (She acted up and ended up not getting those doughnuts) Anyway- after the class was over I had to run an errand to drop of a cell phone that was not mine... Anyway- so we are on our way to drop off the phone when Lil starts throwing a fit. I told her to stop. She didn't listen. I told her to stop now or she was gonna be sorry. She threw a bigger fit. I finally grabbed her pony (a doll she got in her last happy meal) off the passenger seat next to me and said, "IF you don't cut it out RIGHT NOW I am gonna throw your pony out the window! Do you understand?!" (I KNOW! I am so MEAN!) She said something to the tune of "I am not answering you." And so I started rolling down the window... To which she responded, "NO! NO! My pony! No! Momma! Don't! MY PONY!" I rolled the window back up and asked again. "If you keep being naughty I am gonna toss the pony, do you understand?" And she said, "Yes, momma. Can I have my pony now?" And my response? "Nope. Collateral!"

((She did, eventually, get her pony back. And all is well in the world again...))

Darn that cute baby!

Friday evening we had a Christmas party to go to as soon as Joe got home from work. About 20 minutes before his expected arrival, I told Lil it was time to get ready for the party. I got Lacey ready then went to find clean clothes for Lil. Well- Lil asked if she could take a bath. Totally fine by me. I got the water temperature "just right" for her, and I left her to play for a while, so that I could finish cleaning the kitchen before we had to leave for a party. She was happily playing in her bath, while Lacey was happily playing in her bedroom, and I was not so happily cleaning. Well- a few minutes later I hear Lilia cry out, "MOOOOOOMMMMM!!!" I go running into the bathroom thinking something bad has happened and THIS is what I found:

Spooky- yet cute!

So last night at the family party, I was talking to my aunts (my dad's sisters) and mentioned how Lacey has my dad's eyes. I then mentioned that I had a picture of Lacey as a newborn and a picture of my dad as a baby, and how similar they looked (not just in looks, but in the poses as well!) So I promised them I would post the pictures on here today. So without further ado:

Lacey



And my dad



Hehe, both this pictures just make me laugh... Hope you had a good weekend!

Food for thought Friday (okay Monday)

I am a bit late here on this. Been in a bit of a posting funk since Thanksgiving. Sorry about that... But I was intending to post a recipe on Friday and couldn't come up with one in particular that suited my fancy.

WELL- Last night was one of the family Christmas parties for the year, and my mother (okay- my brother) made one of her staple meals. One of my cousins was wanting the recipe, and since I owed a recipe for FFTF, I decided to post it here for my cousin (and anyone else who may be interested in it).

STICKY CHICKEN
Dressing:
1 cup plum jam
1 cup Catalina dressing
1 package onion soup mix
water
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
pineapple tidbits (optional)
bell pepper (optional)
sliced carrots (optional)

Mix dressing ingredients. Cook chicken pieces. Add dressing to chicken in the frying pan and add a little water to almost cover chicken pieces. Add pineapple and veggies. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice.

(Another version of this replaces plum jam with apricot jam, and replaces catalina dressing with BBQ sauce)

On a side note, Katie, I got a call on my way home last night from my brother profusely apologizing to me because (it seems) he (kinda sorta) forgot to add the plum jam to the sticky chicken. So I was RIGHT last night when I said something was "off" about it! SOOOO- What was fed to all of us last night was missing one of the key ingredients. It was still good, but trust me- it is 100% better when plum jam is added!

A fun one

I have seen this on other blogs, and had yet to be tagged. THEN- my cousin sent this to me and everyone else on Facebook, so I have moved it back to my blog... Enjoy it!

* Grab the book closest to you. Now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write that sentence here.
* Don't go looking for your favorite book, or the coolest one you have -- just grab the closest one.

Okay- so I am doing this three ways.

Why? Because! The closest reading THANG to me isn't a book- its a magazine. So I am gonna do that one first.

"The Spirit whispered impressions regarding some previously unexplored areas of research." (technically its on page 57 cause 56 was a full page picture) Ensign Dec. 2008

Second, the closest BOOK to me is a learning to read book of Lil's. It only has 8 pages. If you do the math and keep counting so that page 1 becomes 9 etc. page 56 is... the last page (for the 6th time) and since that last page has a single sentence on it, that would be sentence #5 (the fifth time you read it...)

"Kit has six cats!" Lad and the Fat Cat (Bob Books Collection 1 Book 11)

And finally- the closest book that actually has at least 56 pages!

"'Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders.'" (Betcha can't guess what book this is! It's the first book in the series...)

AND in return... I tag ALL of you! Even those of you that are lurkers... This is probably one of the more fun meme's out there!

Quick update for ya'll

* Thanksgiving was okay

* Lacey gets to go see a Dermatologist next week

* I get to see the dentist on Wednesday, and a implant surgeon on Thursday about getting my front tooth fixed :S

* Joe's job is going well.

* WE GOT (NEW) CELL PHONES TODAY! (I have been without a cell phone for about 3 years or so, Joe just got an upgrade and a personal phone)

* Lacey also gets to go in next week for a booster shot :(

* Lilia is really excelling at reading, and dancing. Though she does need to work on her somersaults.

* Midge got her last haircut of the year, and is now stuck in a sweater til she grows some of that hair back :)

* Lacey got her first haircut today. She no longer has a mullet (it was a whole three snips and they didn't charge us for it...).

* Lilia hounded us all day Saturday about putting up our Christmas tree, and eventually she won, because it is up, decorated, and lit.

* And last but not least, I love Joe and the girls. They are amazing.