December in a nutshell

Holy crazy month! I am ashamed of my blog-keeping performance this month, but vow to do better as part of my New Year's "I can conquer the world" delusion. I had planned on blogging about all sorts of fun Christmas festivities, but as December is almost over and as I don't want to blog about Christmas in January, I'm going to have to stuff it all into one big post again. If you choose to not continue reading this one, I don't blame you. Time is money!

Mid-December, we very much enjoyed McKenna's annual Christmas dance recital in which she was by far the most adorable of all the other little ballerinas who looked exactly like her. It was a crazy show and, for the first time ever, we were forced to stand through the entire thing because every stinkin' seat was taken by the time we got there. People take cute kids prancing around in costumes VERY seriously. And who wouldn't, look at how cute she is! (A completely unbiased statement, by the way...)



Shameful as it is, due to both Brandon and I losing our heads a bit during our busy month, we did not get a single second of video footage of her performance. Our camcorder was dead and let's just say Brandon didn't quite get the concept of pushing the button all the way in on our regular camera to record. Oh well, we hear they offer a DVD at the end of her dancing season and we'll just have to look into purchasing one.

Next on the Christmas agenda was Mathew's preschool performance which was just as fun as always. Gotta love listening to kids screaming singing your favorite Christmas carols. It really does make me giggle and giggle. I really wish I could put up video footage, but I don't want to. So instead, here ya go, a cute picture of the kiddo decked out in his Santa hat. It'll do, right?



The most exciting (but certainly not the funnest) moment of his show was McKenna jumping off a chair at precisely the wrong moment and slamming her chin on her crush's (Bridger's) head as he walked past. We had to rush the melodramatic McKenna out into the hall and attempt to calm her hysterical screams in the middle of the Kearns Library (which is where Mathew's little performances are held). Ah, good times. I'm relieved to report that a good half an hour later, McKenna finally calmed down and other than a very sore jaw and a headache, she suffered no permanent damage. Except I think she lost a bit of her gusto for Bridger, as somehow she concluded that it was his fault that she slammed into him so brutally.

McKenna and I had some truly fun girl bonding moments this month. Not only did we get to see A Christmas Carol, but the following Saturday I left poor Brandon to watch the boys again while I took her and her cousin Megan to see The Nutcracker at Capitol Theatre. Brandon's awesome nephew, Elliot, landed a role as a party boy and we were more than happy to get some tickets to go check him out. Brandon was supposed to join us, but due to an unfortunate episode of the stomach flu, he instead got the wonderful opportunity of staying home with a puking baby.
The ballet was wonderful and I've never seen McKenna pay such strict attention to anything in my life. She shockingly declared during intermission that she wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up. Really...just didn't see that coming. (Sarcasm comes across in print, doesn't it?)

Speaking of the stomach flu, on the 12th, Nathaniel celebrated his 1st birthday in style by spending the entire day throwing up and sleeping. Poor guy. Needless to say, it was not the time for birthday cake. In fact, he just started eating normally again last week, so we still haven't done the cake thing. We're thinking sometime this week...I hope.

Christmas was a fun affair in which, for reasons that can only be explained by extreme lack of sleep, I did not get a single picture taken. My camera is void of any pictures since mid-December. How dare I even claim rights to a blog if I don't take pictures on Christmas Day?? I'm still sad about it, but there's no way I'm re-staging the event for a few lousy pictures. Just take my word for it - it was a great, big, wonderful mess and the kids were insanely spoiled; even though we swore we wouldn't go overboard again this year. Oh, well. They're only kids once, right?

I also still haven't gotten any pictures of the absolutely INSANE snowstorm we got hit with over Christmas weekend. I don't think I've ever seen so much snow. Some of it has melted and it now has the nasty, filthy look to it, or I'd go take the pictures right now.

We're really looking forward to a couple weeks of major catch-up. Brandon is on break from school and my work schedule is back to being reasonable. Maybe now we can get our bathrooms looking like they don't belong in a run-down gas station. Happy Holidays everyone! I'll be back on in a few days to talk about what an amazing year 2009 will be; because I'm going to make some BIG changes...really. It's not going to be like last year...or the year before that...or the year...well you get it.

Bring on Christmas!

My apologies to you all for my prolonged absence from the blogging world. Not only that I haven't been posting, but that I also failed to keep my word that I would still be reading your blogs. I haven't read anyone's blog in ages...sorry. I hate to make excuses (but am going to anyway), but my new job has seriously been kicking my butt. Apparently I missed the small print when I signed on for this position that during the month of December, my time no longer belongs to me. My time this month is owned solely by my employer and only THEY will decide whether or not I deserve any sleep that night. (That didn't sound too bitter did it?) Anyway, my days lately are spent encouraging Mathew to watch a disturbing amount of television and forcing Nathaniel to take long, frequent naps so that I can spend all day sleeping on the couch. I've become such a zombie that I even...I don't know if any of you will believe this...but I even let Brandon do several loads of LAUNDRY!! Now you all know this is serious business. My house is an absolute disgusting mess and if anyone drops by unexpectedly, I can assure you that even though my kids may be peering out the window at you, I'm going to just go ahead and pretend we're not home. (You all think I'm kidding...I'm not.)

Anyhoo...in case it's taken you awhile to notice, because it has me...it is officially the Christmas season!! Hurray! During less hectic and poverty-stricken times, this is my absolute favorite time of year. Though I think this year the awesome Autumn we had is going to kick Christmas's trash. Nevertheless, I do love Christmas. It is a time of magic that I absolutely believe in. When I take the time to stop thinking about all the material things that don't really matter, I get an amazing feeling that reminds me what life's really about.

In the spirit of the season, here are a few of the fun activities we've recently been a part of:

McKenna and I carried on a tradition we've kept for the last 3 years and went to see a play at Hale Center Theatre together. This year's choice was the ever famous A Christmas Carol. I'm really hit and miss with plays. I either love them so much I cry my way through the entire thing for no apparent reason, or I'm so bored I find myself wishing I wasn't so bent on trying to encourage McKenna to appreciate the arts. A Christmas Carol was beyond wonderful. I really did just cry and cry. The music, the acting, the set, the story....I can't say enough how much I loved it. I highly encourage everyone to spend the bucks to see this one someday. They play it every year, and I may just have to start going every year.

On Monday, we finally got our act together and got the tree put up. Let's not talk about the mountain of bins that's still sitting in the way of the front door. We'll get them put away eventually. I know that the cool thing is to have some fantastic, themed tree with beautifully matched ornaments, but I can't help but love our crazy eclectic tree that has so many random ornaments. We have the same crappy tree decor now that Brandon and I put on our very first tree the first year we were married, and I love it. The kids put up most of the decorations and they are not exactly evenly distributed, but again...I love it. My Christmas tree is my heart and soul and I'm not sure I'll ever have the heart to change it.

After swearing up and down for the past few months that he wasn't doing Christmas lights on the house, Brandon caved (again) and put them up (again). This wasn't exactly a surprise since he does this every year. He swears he's too busy, too sick, to run-down to put up lights, and the first time we drive past a house that has their lights on and he sees the kids awing over them, he caves. I'm grateful that my husband risks his life every year so that our kids can think our house is cool for having Christmas lights up. He really does a great job and they look fabulous!

What Christmas season is complete without a trip to see Santa? This is one we're sure to take care of as early as possible every year to insure that we're able to secure the ever coveted Santa gift. And our kids are notorious for throwing out the most random request. Last year McKenna jabbered on for months (and even up to a few minutes before seeing Santa) about asking Santa for a Jasmine doll. I don't know if she gets stage fright or what, but when the time came, she asked for a Peter Pan doll. What the...? Where did that come from? We never were able to find the elusive Peter Pan doll and she had to make-do with some Peter Pan action figures (much to her disappointment). So this year, we safely made it through her request (which fortunately stayed the same as previously anticipated) but Mathew is a different story. He's been storing up the idea for a play barbecue for weeks now, and on the drive to see Santa he changed his mind and decided to ask for an "insider sleeper". (Which, after some intent questioning, we learned was a sleeping bag). But he shocked us all by asking Santa for a calendar. ???? Whatever. At least it's cheap and easy to come by.
Before moving on, allow me a quick little Mathew comment that made me laugh. When we were getting dressed to go see Santa, I asked Mathew if he'd please wear a nice sweater for me (since he usually refuses to wear anything that's not a t-shirt...just like his mama) and surprisingly he quickly agreed, stating "We need to wear warm sweaters 'cause it's really cold at the North Pole!"
Poor kid, really thought we were going to see Santa at the North Pole. I waited until we were safely out the door before informing him otherwise, so as to not lose his favor for the sweater.

We also managed to get a fairly decent picture taken of the fam (thanks to Amanda's amazing mom) so we could get our Christmas cards sent out this year. So if you don't usually receive a card from us and would like to, but sure to email me with your address.

Other than family and ward Christmas parties, that pretty much covers our Christmas fun so far. I had every intention of sprucing up my blog with a cute Christmasy background and music, but frankly I'm too lazy. Maybe next year.

We have more fun holiday activities coming up, so stay tuned for (hopefully) additional, near-future blogs posts. That is, if anyone is still left out there reading my blog....heeellllloooooo? I'll also try to be better about checking out the blogs of my fellows. I hope you all forgive my lack of comments. I hope everyone is enjoying the season in their hearts, even if their brain wants to freak out, like mine.