Monday December 31

 

Last day of the year.

And Port decided to celebrate by staying in his jammies all day long :)

This boy has REALLY missed his Dad today.

About every 10 minutes he would say "Mom, I just really need my Dad home."

Guess he got used to having him next to him over the Christmas vacation....

That kid sure loves to hang out with his Dad.

Plus, it helps that Dad knows how to pass the levels that Port can't on his Batman Lego DS game :)

It amazes me to watch him play it....and I can't help a bit.

I think boys' brains work differently when it comes to video games......

*****

So we were invited to Pat and Steves house for a fun New Years party....

But the kids weren't exactly super duper helpful today.

It is always hard adjusting after a trip, let alone a Holiday.

Plus driving home from Star in the dark winter night is not one of my favorite things to do....

So we are chillin here tonight and watching movies on TV.

Right now it's enchanted, and Port is bored out of his mind....

But if he lasts, Despicable Me comes on in an hour :)

And these girls may or may not be allowed to make it to ring in the New Year.

They are really great for me for 10 minutes or so, then they fight, or they get snotty with me.

You know how it goes.

So we will see it if they get to celebrate....

*****

I still can't believe tomorrow is 2013!

I know everyone says it, but where did the time go????

I think it was a good year.

And luckily I have a daily blog to look back and see everything we did together :)

Sure would be great if I had it in a book.......

Maybe I can work on that as my 2013 resolutions.....maybe.

*****

I had a weird bout of vertigo/nausea this afternoon.

Luckily I feel good now....but I sure hope it doesn't come back!



Sunday December 30

So the kids have been beggin, and I finally let them eat the ginger-train.

After dinner we let them have at it.

Dippin gingerbread in milk.....they were happy kiddos.

Made a real big mess too.

 

Saturday December 29

So we made the drive home today.

The roads were good and we got home safe.

We got to have some time to just hang out with Emmy this morning....she is so great to put up with us, even if our kids ruin all her nice stuff :)

Anyway.....we are exhausted....so blogging and pictures will wait til later...

I am gonna go snuggle with my man and watch our DVR shows together :)



Friday December 28

We left Emmy house this morning at 10:00 to get to Matthews and Adrie's wedding at Timpanogas temple.

It was along day and didn't make it back home until after 4:00.

It was a long day and Emmy was so great to spend the day with our kiddos!!!

It was a nice long date for Brent and I though :)

It was a beautiful time in the Temple.

Then we went to the reception house for the luncheon...waited for quite a bit of time for the bride and groom to show up :)

But once we got eating we were all happy and really stuffed.

After we got to Ems house, we headed back over to Steph's house so we could all hang out again.

And this is what happened.........

 



 

We were all playing 'Draw Something' with each other.

So we were all interacting :)

I also have a cute picture of Brent and Port playing the DS with a bunch of boys around them....so cute.

I will have to add more pictures later.

It was a fun night.....even with all the technology :)

Now the little ones are in bed and Andy and Katie came over so we could play some games.....actual physical board games together :)

Good times.

Thursday December 27

So we started the day with packing everything up to get in the car.

It was still very snowy this morning, so we decided to just give Strip some treats instead of riding her.

Elsie was happy with that.

Then on the way out of town we visited Dussy boy and Grandpa and then got some lunch, thanks to Grandma.

And we had to make sure we stopped to see the Buffalo's.

Can't skip the Buffalo's :)

The roads were great in Utah, except we left a lot later than we had planned to.

So it was good the roads were good.

Made it to Em's and unpacked before we went to Payson.

I took Rachel's family pictures and then we headed to the Holdaway house for a big Christmas dinner and party with the Peterson Fam.

It was lots of fun....and lots of pictures were taken.

But it's too late, and I am tired :)



Wednesday December 26

 

We have had a fun snowy day here in Evanston.

Elsie never set a foot outside, but the other kids did.

The big girls and Port shoveled the walkways this morning with Dad....

And then Cassi worked with Dad at Grandpas store all morning.

A little after 1ish the big girls went to Heather and Laurens house.

Cass got some picts I need to put on here later.

They did some ice skating, wii playing and basketball at the church.

They had a lot of fun.

Elsie hung out here with Grandma all day.

She sure loves to play with Grandma :)

We didn't ride Strip today.....that was the original plan.

But it snowed all day long.

We kept putting it off because we thought it would let-up.....

But it never did.

And Elsie would not have had fun in the snow.

So I think we will just go and visit Strip tomorrow and bring her some treats.

Plus we will stop and see the Buffalo's on our way out....so that will be exciting :)

 



Christmas day

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone.

It was such a great day.

Dad got home shortly after 7:00 and we headed upstairs.

The kids had a great morning.

So happy.

I love watching them open stuff up.

I understand why my Mom used to have us open the gifts one at a time......all 9 kiddos :)

I missed most of what they were opening cause they just went for it.

Which is a lot of fun too :)

I had two video cameras set up to catch different angles....but I am still not sure I can see all what happened.

Oh well, they are all happy and that was what we wanted.

After a little bit of playing, we got cleaned up and loaded to head to Evanston.

I had a stocking in the car for each kid with a new gift to unwrap each hour of the trip.

It worked out pretty good.....except Port kept asking when they could open the next one over and over.

It was the kind of stuff they could keep busy with in the car, so it helped with the drive.

I think the fav was the pipe cleaners :)

We got a family Kindle.

Brent and I shared earphones while we listened to 'Life of Pi'.

Cassi was bored so she wanted to read along.

We told her she wouldn't be able to hear it, she would just have to follow along with the highlighted words.

I cannot believe how long it held her attention.

She kept up, and I kept watching her and her mouth was working right along with what I was hearing.

It was pretty cute.

Anyway, we got to Evanston safe and sound.

The kids were so excited to get here.

Grandma had some fun presents waiting for them and a ham dinner.

Yum!

I think the next few days will be fun cause we get to be with family, and it has been a long time!

 

 

 



Monday December 24

I am so mad that I forgot my camera when we went to Christmas Eve dinner at the firehouse!!!!!

Oh well, at least I have picts, it would be the end of this life as we know it if I didn't get pictures somehow :)

So, like I said, we all went to dinner this evening at the firehouse with Daddy and his guys and their families.

The kids had lots of fun.

It was great cause those guys are pros at cooking, (prime rib might I add) as well as cleaning up.

I tried to help, but I was kicked out of the kitchen.

The boys did get called out on a diabetic patient.

They were gone for about 20 minutes or so before they returned and we had some yummy dessert.

Then we took our little family in a separate room and opened our Christmas jammies and somehow it became a tradition to open another gift too :)

Daddy got each of them, and myself an awesome Boise Fire t-shirt.

The kids were so excited and they all look so cute in them!!!

It was such a fun night.

I am glad we got to spend time with daddy tonight.

The guys who comes in for him in the morning had Christmas with his family today, so he is gonna come in at about 6:30 to relieve Brent, so he should get home around 7ish....if he isn't out on a call when his guy comes to relieve him.

Hope he gets some sleep, cause we gotta drive tomorrow in what maybe looks like not the best weather.

We are very excited for tomorrow!

WE are excited to see our families.

It has been a long time since we have been to see them, and it is great we get to do it over the holidays!

I better go to sleep so Santa can come :)

 

Sunday December 23

Elsie went to class today!

Okay, I stayed with her the whole time.

But I think just a few weeks of me joining her, and we will be set.

They made a cute little craft in class today.

She was very excited about it....(But I do think it could have been a disaster if I wasn't there :)

(She also got two buffalo quarters and two horse quarters from the Tooth Fairy last night, she was a very happy girl!)

After church I put Port down for a nap and the girls lounged around while I wrapped some gifts.

I only have a few more things.

So far my goal of having a no-stress Christmas is working out.

I have definitely dropped A LOT of things off my list in order to make it stress free....but nothing that was important.

There were a few more good deeds going on today.

I am not sure if there was enough to off-set all the fighting.......

But I am willing to give it a fresh start tomorrow :)

It was pretty cute that she gave Madi a foot massage......

And then she moved onto a nice neck massage.

Madi should sleep good tonight.

She was the one who was really 'off' today.

Hope she gets some good sleep.

I am sure the 'off '-ness has nothing to do with her age....and the teenage years looming over us ;)

So I am off to finish wrapping.

Tomorrow should be a fun day.

We need to pack and get ready to leave, but that shouldn't be too bad.

We are also looking forward to having Christmas Eve dinner at the Firehouse with Dad and the crew and their family.

Should be a lot of fun.

So I need to plan to have everything done for Christmas before we leave for that!

Wish me luck!

 

Saturday December 22

 

So, since it is so late....I will just write down a list and then fill in the blanks tomorrow....

*Port has made quite a stack of gifts for the fam under the tree....

Mostly for dad

*Dad and Port worked outside together for a bit....Port loves to start the fire with Daddy

*Elsie lost her very, very, very lose tooth!!!

*Port took a nap and Dad and I dropped Cassi off at a birthday party and then went and did some last minute shopping while Madi babysat Elsie and sleeping Porter

*Madi did many good deeds today...many.

She found a little elf that Grandma gave her a  few years back....last night while asking me why all the elf on shelves do naughty things, she decided she wanted to do good deeds.

She did Cassi's chores this morning and left a little note saying Merry Christmas Loves Elvis (the elf's name)

She cleaned Cassi's room spotless while we were out shopping...

In turn the good deeds got Cassi doing secret good deeds.

Might be a great new tradition!!!

*Picked up Cassi from the party and headed to Winco

*My favorite Christmas tradition....buy a Christmas dinner and each person takes turns giving directions until we find someone to give the dinner to.

(First guy we found told us he doesn't celebrate Christmas and to find someone else who would enjoy it....and we did :)

*Quick stop at the Youngs to wish them a Merry Christmas :)

*Bought Pizza.....this has been the worth two weeks of dinners for the fam!!!

We have eaten SO BAD!!!!

*Dropped off 12 days Nativity

*Gave our little neighbor gifts to the families on our lane

*Another favorite Christmas tradition...Gingerbread train!!!!!

We didn't even start this until about 7:30....

But all went smooth and I think they turned out awesome this year!!!

*Got to bed way too late!

*And the tooth fairy still needs to make a stop

 



Friday December 21

We had a full day today.

Lots of Christmas fun.

The days started out with Christmas parties at school.

I should have taken a picture of Madi before school, cause she looked really cute and Christmas-y today.

We got several emails and phone calls yesterday regarding the middle school.

Saying there had been rumors of threats to the school.

The kids were told that absences would not be held against them if they chose to stay home, but that they would up the security at school just to be safe.

Even though they found no credibility to the threats.

Madi chose to go to school, but she said that about half the school was gone.

Her first class normally has 30 kids and there was only 18 today.

But she had a very fun day today, so she is glad she went.

Elsie and Cassi both had class parties today.

I helped with the breakfast in Cassi's class first thing in the morning.

I had time to go home for about 30 minutes before I had to head back to help for Elsie's class party.

When I got home Dad came in thinking I had played a prank on him.

He went into the shop to grab something and left the 4-wheeler running.

When he came back out, the 4-wheeler was missing.

It took him a while but he found it down by the canal up by the old tree.

It had rolled about 150 ft or so.

The wind was pretty brutal today....and I am sure that is what started it rolling.

Kind of funny, and good that it didn't cause any damage :)

I got a lot of wrapping done today once I got Port down for a nap and Elsie watching a movie :)

Almost done!

When Cassi got home from school we headed to Katie's clinic where they were having a Christmas party.

And they had Santa.

Elsie has been so excited for this!

Until she saw Santa.

But Port was so excited to talk to the big guy.

He actually sat on his lap for a really long time.

It was pretty cute.

Then we stopped at Panda Express for some yummy dinner.

When we got home we had a visit from the Terry Family.

Sure love those guys.

Lots of fun...noisy fun :)

 

Thursday December 20

Madi had her choir concert tonight.

She did a great job and really enjoys singing.

The 6th graders sang first, then they sat down and the 7th/8th grade choir sang.

When Madi was seated, Dad took Elsie out for a drink, and I tried to keep Port quiet, but he was bored, so we all went out in the hall to wait for her.

Well, I guess Madi was worried cause she didn't see us.

She found us right away, but she wasn't very happy with us.

We explained that maybe she would have been really mad if her brother had disrupted the whole auditorium.

I guess we just need to be better about letting her know where we are.

Silly girl.

But she did a great job singing, and she looked so grown-up up there!

(I wish I didn't forget my camera....oh well...)

 

Wednesday December 19

 

Dad was up way early this morning on a fire.

It was a pretty crazy night and I should make him sit down a d write it down.

But he said that as soon as they pulled up they saw this lady running down the street yelling "BOMBS, BOMBS!"

Fire and explosions.....it was a pretty lively night.

And a long one.

*****

This evening the kiddos had fun with candy canes.

I put the candy canes in the oven at 300 degrees and let them sit for about 5-7 minutes, and they softened up enough to play with them and shape them how we wanted.

They were a bit warm, but not too bad to handle.

Port had the time of his life, and lasted much longer that the girls did.

I even had to stick his back in the oven to re-soften them.

Then he started asking questions about how the oven worked....

I told him that he should never play with it and that it was very dangerous, then I changed the subject.

Curious little boy.

Madi wrote her name out...Cassi did some hearts and her initials, Elsie watched TV :) and Port made some sort of Dragon.

 

Tuesday December 18

Port and I did some grocery shopping and last minute shopping all morning until we had to go pick up Elsie.

Only a week away.

I am feeling a little stress, but then I tell myself that what I don't get done, is not a big deal.

No big deal.

:)

Porter was kinda rotten all day.

I am wondering if maybe he isn't feeling really good.

I mean he has a normal level of rotten-ness, all boys do...

But he was just off today.

I hope it was just a bad day, cause I don't want him to get sick.

Anyway....I have a few unrelated to Christmas stuff that also needs to get done in a timely manner....so I guess maybe the stress I am feeling comes from that stuff.

I was asked to take all the individual primary kiddos pictures in primary....

A way for us all to get to know names and faces better....

Not a big deal, just time consuming.

I got most done on Sunday, but now I need to resize them so they can load it easier into their program....

Just time.

I also have art smart the day we get back to school.

We are making a mural of a syringa flower.....each class has an Idaho symbol.

It will be cool.

I just don;t know how to do it.

The kindergartners get bored quickly, so it needs to be something that doesn't take too long....

But I don't want something too simple either.

So I need to figure that out, and what supplies I might need before we get back from break :)

AND

I was told we have some money I can spend for activity days before the year is up.

I want to make some canvas tote bags for the kids coming in, and with each goal they pass off, you sew on a button or something.

Still working out the details...but I need to figure out what I need to get, the cost, then buy it and get it turned in and reimbursed by the end of the year.

I am excited about it....but again, time consuming.

*****

The kids dipped some pretzels in chocolate today.

We were gonna make some to take to neighbors.....but with them licking their fingers and eating as they go along (Elsie and Porter) I thought maybe they could eat this batch and maybe the big girls can help me make some new ones tomorrow.

But they did have fun with it.

And that is what matters, right :)