Attention Lovers of Books!

Ok, ok... so I haven't been blogging lately. What can I say? This summer has been busy, busy, busy! That is, if busy includes such activities as laying around on the couch complaining about how hot it is. Life is hard.
I do, in fact, have pictures to post and boring stories to tell, but frankly I just don't feel up to it right now. So sue me. My purpose in posting today is pure recruitment. After hearing many friends of mine gush about their fabulous book clubs and the fascinating books they've read and discussions they've participated in, I realized that the aching little twinge in my chest was jealousy. So rather than sit around feeling resentful and envious, I have decided to just start my own super fabulous book club! Unfortunately, in order for my book club to be super fabulous, it requires more people than just myself. Somehow discussing clever ideas, being aghast at what Mr. Whosit said in chapter 17, and laughing at all my witty remarks, just doesn't sound like fun if I'm sitting in an empty room. So how about it? Who wants to join me?! *crickets chirping* Ok, really... there has to be at least a couple of people... right? *laughing nervously*... right? Alright. So, the catch is that you have to be willing to drive out to my area (or where ever the meetings are held) once a month. If you want to join me, just leave a comment with a way to contact you, or email me at sheribeestaten at gmail dot com. I'll send out more information if/when I have some official members to send said information to! I'm thinking Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday night,(about 8:30ish) once a month. C'mon! Like I said... super awesome book club! Don't leave me sitting in an empty room crying over little Jimmy dying so unexpectedly alone!

My Comic Relief

When I became a mother, I had all sorts of grand expectations! I would spend hours reading books to my kids, spend ample time holding them and kissing their sweet cheeks, teach them all sorts of valuable life lessons... oh what a pretty picture! And while these wonderful things do indeed happen, they are often overshadowed by the not so pleasant moments of discipline, yelling, crying, cleaning, etc. One thing I really didn't expect, that continually comes as a most pleasant surprise, is how often these crazy kids would make me laugh. Not a day goes by that one of them doesn't say or do something that makes me giggle. A few examples of this, you ask? I will be more than happy to oblige you!

For those of you who spend a lot of time at our house, you know that you pretty much take your safety and LIFE into your own hands when you choose to sit at one of our kitchen chairs. Honestly, I should probably have people fill out liability waivers before offering them a seat. Brandon was attempting to fix one of the treacherous chairs when McKenna came in the room. The following conversation ensued:

McKenna: Are you trying to fix that chair?
Brandon: No (for those of you who don't know Brandon well, he is notorious for never being able to give a serious answer to any question you might ask him)
McKenna: Are you trying to break that chair?
Brandon: Yes
McKenna: Can I help you?

After a few more minutes of conversation, which mostly included McKenna asking numerous questions, Brandon says, "Kenna, you ask too many questions."
To which she replied "Um... how old are you? What's your favorite color? What do you like to eat?" Along with any other question she could rattle off the top of her head. This girl is 7! Where did she learn to be such a sass?

Mathew is my very favorite to listen to right now. Almost every word that comes out of his mouth is so entertaining, I'm constantly running to the computer to log what he says before he grows up and I forget how cute he used to be! Here's some of my recent favorites.

While enduring a cold a few weeks ago, he started losing his voice, which confused him to no end. He could not understand why his voice didn't sound normal. Apparently him being sick (like I explained to him) just didn't make sense. Here was his much more reasonable explanation:

“I have wrappers in my throat. I guess I swallowed some wrappers from my candy and it’s making my voice sound funny.” Much more sensible, right?

Pardon the vague TMI, but we have yet to properly train Mathew in the art of wiping himself after he has made a solid deposit into the toilet. For this reason, he has made a habit of finding me and letting me know whenever he is about to take care of business. The other day I was getting ready in my bathroom when Mathew came running in. He looked at me, smiled, dropped his drawers and plopped himself onto my toilet and then said, "It's a good thing you're in here!"

When we were about to leave the house to meet my sister for lunch a few weeks ago, I asked Mathew to go get ready. A few minutes later he appeared in my doorway and asked, "Mom, do you think I look handsome-ish, cool-ish?"
This is very important, since one never wants to look too handsome or cool. One must always settle for the "ish" so as not to intimidate other people!

Mathew has recently decided that he does not like going to church. This in itself isn't funny. In fact, it makes me sad and I hope it's just a phase that will soon pass. A couple Sundays ago I told Mathew it was time to get ready for church, in which he exclaimed, "There's no such thing as church!"
Admittedly, it was a brilliant plan he devised, but Brandon and I are equally brilliant and were fortunately not taken in by his evil schemes.

Mathew was putting socks on the other day and he made this observation,
"Mom, do you know why socks keep your feet warm? It’s because they’re feet blankets!”

Mathew has also recently become quite lazy. During his final days of preschool, every time I picked him up without a car, he would be incredibly put out. This exact conversation was very frequently repeated:
Mathew: "Where's the car?"
Myself: "I didn't bring it. We're going to walk home."
Mathew: "I don't WANNA walk!!" (Spoken in the best, whiny, 5-year-old voice he could muster)
Myself: "It's good to walk! We want exercise so we can be healthy and strong."
Mathew: "No it doesn't! I'm tired and walking makes me lose my strong power!"

I would go into the daily antics of Nathaniel, but he's at the height of his cuteness right now and every dumb little thing he does makes me giggle. I'm quite certain I get such a kick out of him simply because he's my son and I love him to little tiny pieces!

I acknowledge that most of these things are only found hysterical to me because they're my kids and I am obliged to think them each a comical genius; but I can't help but find that whenever life gets so hard that I just want to sit down and cry, my kids are always there to remind me how much more enjoyable it is to throw my head back and laugh!

When I Grow Up...

Preschool graduation... What a proud occasion for parents everywhere. Mathew thoroughly loved his preschool experience. Especially his fun teacher, Mrs Becky. We had an incredible year full of unique classes, share bags, super cute programs, and numerous, exciting field trips. I could post oodles of pictures, but will make do with only a few. A big shout out (again) to the Packers for forever stepping up as our official photographers when I forget my camera, or my camera dies, or I'm too lazy to pull out my camera... you get it. Kurt and Amanda are always there (with their super awesome camera that takes far superior pictures) to pick up my slack. And they always manage to get the pictures to me in a timely fashion... with only a couple snotty reminders from me!

Here's Mathew and his buddy Owen (son of the picture-taking friends I just gushed about)



Watch out all you cute little girls (and parents of cute little girls). These two will be patrolling the dating scene before you know it! They're pretty handsome little guys, right? Check this out... this one's even better.



They don't come any cuter than this folks! This one was taken at their last preschool field trip to Wheeler Farm last week. Gotta love it.

And finally... What's a preschool graduation without a family picture?



I'm not normally the bragging type, but that is one good looking family, if I do say so myself! ;o)

My favorite part of the graduation ceremony (other than the fun songs the kids yelled at us) was each child taking a turn with the microphone to let everyone know what they wanted to be when they grew up. Of course, we didn't bring our camcorder and my camera batteries ONCE AGAIN died at the worst possible moment. So my memory and written word will have to suffice. Almost every cute kid had the funnest answer that brought a smile to my face.
When Mathew got his turn with the mic, he announced, "When I grow up... I want to be a cooker!"
Well thank heavens SOMEONE does! Later Mathew let us in on the details of his dream job.
In his words, "I want to be a cooker at Old McDonalds!"
Fabulous. My son's life long dream is to flip burgers at McDonalds. Way to shoot for the stars, right? I'm so proud!
After further interrogation, we also got him to tell us this reason for his job preference, "When I'm a cooker, I will never be HUNGRY!"
Apparently I starve my child so much, he daydreams about the day when he can make endless food for himself to eat! The kid is 5 and already eating me out of house and home. What's a girl to do? Mathew's dreams are his dreams, and Brandon and I are loving and supportive parents. So I'm happy to announce that we have officially signed him (and McKenna) up for summer cooking classes with the very same Mrs Becky who we all adored as his preschool teacher. Classes start Thursday and I'm quite looking forward to my kids whipping us all up something to eat for a change!
McKenna has less than 2 weeks of school left and then we reach the official start of summer! Let the fun begin!

False Advertising

The weather is finally warming up enough to start considering the favorite of all childhood pastimes... playing in the water. Since last season's blowup pool met it's untimely death after we made the not-so-wise decision to leave it outside all winter, we thought Memorial Day would be a great time to remember the good times we had with it by going out and buying a new one. This time we decided to pull out all the stops and buy a pool that includes an inflatable slide. Does life get any more exciting?? Due to our tight budget and minuscule backyard, we couldn't get anything worth calling the neighborhood over; but we thought Target might have something relatively fun and inexpensive. So after several minutes of reviewing our slim options, we found it! A super fun little pool the kids would love all summer long.



Looks fun, right? Look at that kid just zooming down the slide! Look at those girls lounging in the pool with plenty of room to spare! Umm... yeah...



Here's the reality. Does it count as a slide if your feet are already touching the ground before you get a chance to go down it? I didn't think so either. This one's getting packed back up for a full refund. I want my $29.99 + tax back! Last year's pool may not have had a nifty slide, but at least my kids didn't have to take turns sitting in it.

SPRING! And everything that comes with it...

Dare I say it... is Spring finally here?? Ok, if it snows again after I post this, I won't be held responsible for tempting fate. Though we've been having some rotten cold days lately, I'm trusting the newly blossomed trees to announce that I can fully welcome Spring with open arms! Now that we've been able to make the occasional venture outdoors, I've even brought my camera fully out of hibernation! My April 2009picture folder is impressively full and I am starting to feel like coming out of hibernation myself! Here's what the month of April has brought us...

We, of course, celebrated Easter in style... or the kids did anyway. When was the last time I got a fancy, new Easter outfit? This should be addressed at a later time. Anyway... these kids can clean up pretty well when their parents have the right motivation, don't you think? The infamous Easter Bunny did make an appearance this year - though he did a crummy job hiding the baskets. McKenna and Mathew found them within 10 seconds. I think I'll be leaving a note for that lazy Easter Bunny next year, informing him that it's not a great idea to hide the kids' baskets in the same spots as the year before. You'd think this would be common sense... McKenna and Mathew were thrilled as can be with their booty, but Nathaniel could care less about getting any dumb ol' basket and was quite put out by having to pose for a picture next to it. Though he changed his tune once we presented him with his favorite Easter gift - a basketball toy for the bath! A great idea in theory, but now he throws a screaming tantrum worthy of some horrible form of torture every time we have to take him out of the tub. This kid is tiny, but he is going to be any amazing basketball player someday. I have never known a 1-year-old to have such a fascination with shooting hoops. Here's the kids showing off some of their Easter basket loot!



I'm afraid that's all I have for our Easter celebrations! No coloring eggs or festive hunts... If my kids only knew all the stuff they miss out on by having such a craft-challenged mother, they would pack up their little knapsacks and be off in search of new horizons! Moving on...

Spring also brings us to the next round of soccer! Hurray! It's my hope that we can experience one game this Spring that doesn't call for a big mug of hot chocolate once it's over! Man, those 1 hour games last a lifetime when you're freezing! Here's some quick, fun pics from Mathew's first soccer game of the season.



I wonder how many seasons of soccer it will take until I don't have a picture of the coach reminding the kids which direction they should be kicking the ball. Also, I love how one of the pictures above has Mathew playing in the grass when everyone else is getting ready to play some major defense. Let's just say Mathew's not exactly the star player on the team. But he's enthusiastic and he has fun. What more can I ask for? Want to know what's happening on the sidelines while Mathew plays? I'm glad you do, because I have pictures of that too.



The nice weather has also encouraged the kids to enjoy some much needed time playing out in the backyard. Thank heavens for a fenced-in backyard and a playground. I can't tell you how nice it is to send the kids outside and listen to their blissfully muted squeals through a sheet of glass. Nathaniel is proving to be the master of tantrums when he doesn't get to join the kids outside. This little boy has strong opinions about what he wants, and they WILL be heard. Here's what Nater looks like when the kids decide to go outside without him.



And here's what he expects once I cave into his screams and let him outside.



That's him, begging me to come pick him up so he can dunk the ball over, and over, and over, and over again. Trust me, it's only cute about 5 times. I can't wait until he's tall enough to do it on his own. The upside is that I'm developing some pretty impressive biceps muscles!

That wraps up our Spring festivities so far; but trust me, there will be much more to come! For those of you nearby, I hope you've all been enjoying the warmer (if not horribly temperamental) weather! If you live somewhere that has not been seeing nice weather, I'm sorry. If you live somewhere that has been seeing nothing BUT nice weather, I don't want to hear about it. Let me enjoy my little corner of the world like it's the best and only thing that exists. Happy Spring!

Celebrating 5!

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was blogging about Mathew's 4th birthday?? It just doesn't make sense to me that he's already 5. I must be losing my mind. Every year seems to go by faster. Anyway... whether I want to believe it or not, Mathew did indeed turn 5 just a few short days ago, and I suppose I need to just accept it. However, let's not talk about how I'm having to fill out paperwork for him to start Kindergarten this year, because I just can't talk about that one without crying yet.

Mathew's birthday most fortunately fell on one of the rare days Brandon was home to enjoy it with us. We didn't plan any raging parties and instead opted to simply take him to breakfast at IHOP, which to him is as good as any dumb ol' birthday party (or I'd like to pretend that's the case so I don't feel like a bad parent.) After spending an undisclosed, yet ridiculously large amount of money on breakfast (eating out is getting WAY too expensive), we decided that we would save the remainder of his birthday fun for the following Saturday, and go home for a nice, long nap. However, just because I'm not big into throwing parties, doesn't mean that other people are as lame as I am. Lucky for Mathew, his birthday buddy, Jared - who was born on the exact same day - has some pretty freakin' awesome parents who are willing to go all out and rent Bouncin' Off the Walls for their son's 5th birthday enjoyment. So, you see, it was easy to convince Mathew that this fabulous party was for his own birthday as much as Jared's. I probably owe his parents some money...
The following pictures are proof that he did indeed have a little fun on his birthday.

Here's Mathew with his awesome birthday buddy, Jared. I love this picture. Don't ask me what Mathew's doing... who knows? My guess is that he's bustin' a move. Go Mathew! It's your birthday!



More picture fun...



Unfortunately, I was not as lucky as Brandon and did not have Mathew's birthday off work. So we had to rush from the party early (before cake, ice cream, or presents were enjoyed) pick up Mathew's favorite for dinner - HAMBURGERS - and I enjoyed my solitary burger on the way to work while the kids enjoyed the remainder of Mathew's birthday alone with Daddy. But never fear! Cake, ice cream, and presents will be enjoyed!

Saturday was our day of celebration for Mathew. We took Mathew out for lunch, and were almost nice enough to let him choose the place. Almost. Mathew announced that he wanted to eat at McDonald's, and then that plan went out the window. So instead, we all went to Chili's and Mathew ENJOYED IT, whether he wanted to or not!



After lunch, we piled into an overcrowded and noisy theater to watch Monsters vs Aliens with all the other people who wanted to seek fun out of the snow... yes, snow. It is April... right? Just making sure. Anyway, Mathew fully enjoyed his popcorn and Root Beer, and later declared the movie as "SILLY". That's his review, take it or leave it. We then headed to Toys R Us, where Mathew picked out the coolest race track he could find - within the $20-$30 range, that is.



Pretty cool, eh? He thinks so anyway, and that's all that matters. I must shamefully admit that my lack of cool birthday party-ish abilities also extend to birthday cakes. "Baker" isn't exactly listed on my domestic resume, so we also headed over to Harmons and let Mathew choose among the many awesome cakes which one would commemorate his 5th birthday. Want to see his choice??



Yes, that's right!! Mathew passed up awesome cakes of Spiderman, Diego, and Thomas for this very cake. Why, you ask? Because all he wanted was a chocolate cake. *sniff...sniff* I've never been so proud. He really is my boy.

So maybe it was low-key and not very exciting; but if you ask Mathew, he had a super-cool birthday, and I'm grateful that my son is perfectly happy with the plans his unmotivated parents mustered up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATHEW!!

My Blog - the Bully

So...I'm not liking my blog too much lately. He's kinda mean. He's like the bully that sits at the back of the class and taunts me; saying things like,
"So Sheri...why haven't you updated your blog lately, huh?
You're lame.
You have no life.
You have nothing witty to say.
You don't belong in the blogging world."
Rude, right? (As my blog is mostly the color pink, don't ask me where I came up with the idea that it's a HE.)

Believe it or not, we've actually had a lot going on. Life's been busy, just not really busy with anything I can joke around about. I'm afraid there's nothing funny about Brandon's dad having some major health complications and being stuck in one hospital after another. Fortunately he's beginning to make a few improvements, and we're hoping he'll be back to his healthy self in a few weeks.

I have taken a whopping TWO pictures on my camera in the month of March. Both of which I already posted on my facebook account since there's no need to write out long, witty captions when I put them up there. But for lack of anything else to look at here on my mean ol' blog, I'll put them up anyway.

I came home from work Friday night to find my poor kids unsuccessfully waiting up for me to get home from work. Bless their hearts, they sure tried. And though it may appear otherwise, Mathew does not actually sleep in the buff. The top to his pajama set was dirty, so he opted to sleep without a top at all. Darn our laundry fairy, she hasn't been keeping up on the job lately! *sigh* I guess I'll have to start doing it myself.



On Saturday, I left my poor, over-worked husband with our 3 kids while I enjoyed a much needed child-free lunch with a few of my girls. Everyone needs to be selfish sometimes, right? Let's just not talk about how often I give in to my selfish side.



From left to right...Kirsten, who I hadn't seen in almost 8 years; Me, declaring my love for Coke all over my t-shirt; Sarah, who just gave birth to about the cutest little baby girl I've ever seen; and Julie, who recently got married. It was a fun two hours that went by WAY too fast. Thanks for hosting Sarah! I love these girls and can't wait to see them again.

With spring on the brink of breaking...except for today, (stupid, stupid snow storm!!) I'm hoping our camera will be getting a little more action in the near future. Then maybe I can have some more entertaining blogging material and show him that I AM in fact interesting, witty, and have a super cool life...thank you very much!

If I had $100...

McKenna's elementary (which just opened last fall) recently celebrated 100 days of school! Whoo-Hoo! If that ain't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is. For school they were required to bring 100 of something. Having forgotten about it until the night before, I went all out and sent 100 straws to school with her. Brilliant, I know.

So, apparently they had other exciting "100" activities that day, one of which was making their own little book called - what else - 100! McKenna brought her book home the other day and I'm not sure whether to be amused or concerned. Either way it made me laugh. It also made me wonder if I should seek out help for her...

I know you're all dying to see what she had to say. So let's check out page 1, shall we? But first let me add for my own vanity that this is not McKenna's best show of artistic ability. She was either feeling lazy this day or they didn't have much time to work on them. Ok, I'm done making excuses - page 1:



A NEW FAMILY???
And not just a new family, but a new family she can get for $100 that would also include a sister. Well, that's just great. I'm not sure I can handle the fact that McKenna would rather have a cheap new family that the lame one she has now. *sniff* When I asked her about this, she just giggled and said, "I messed up on that one." Way to make it all better, right?

Whatever, let's move onto page 2.



100 candies...I guess that's pretty normal. I mean, who wouldn't want 100 candies, right? Unless you're a parent that has to keep saying, "If you ask me for ONE more candy, I'm throwing it all in the GARBAGE!!"
My favorite part of this one is the look of sheer horror on her stick figure face at the idea of having 100 brothers. I'm guessing if we have another baby and it's a boy, her life as she knows it will be destroyed. No pressure.

Here's the best one - page 3.



Yes, that does say cil (aka kill) myself; yes, that is a knife in her hand; and yes, that is blood...lots of it.
This is usually the type of picture that is followed up by a concerned phone call from the school counselor. But either the teacher didn't look over these 100 books, or she saw the logic in the picture. As McKenna said when I asked her about it, "I don't want to be alive in 100 years. I'd be so OLD!" So you see, perfectly logical that she would want to brutally kill herself with a knife at the age of 107. Honestly, who wouldn't?

The last one isn't nearly as...uh...entertaining, but is still worth looking at.



Again with the candy. If you're wondering how many times a day I threaten to throw away the kids' candy because they constantly ask for it, I would have to say...100. I can't blame her on the vechubls (vegetables) though. I can't say I'd like to eat 100 of them either.

If you feel the need to leave a recommendation for a good child psychologist - be my guest!

Battle Wounds

Nathaniel is up and moving! Over the last two weeks he has nearly perfected the art of walking (and, might I add, he looks pretty dang cute doing it.) He's also the conqueror of stairs and climbing onto most stationary objects. So really, it's quite disappointing that his first note-worthy injury should come from crawling, something he's been doing for months. His hand slipped while crawling on the tile and he did a spectacular (ok, fine, a really dull and unimpressive) face-plant. He came back up screaming and covered in blood and sporting this fancy new look.



How humiliating! This is where Nathaniel - if he were a little older - would insert some trumped-up story about a bully twice as big as himself and a cheesy line like, "you should see the other guy!"

Nothing shows my motherly love for him more than making him pose for pictures only minutes after the previously mentioned lip bashing, so that our family and friends might have a few minutes of entertainment. On a side note, I hate how pictures never do an ouchie justice. It really looks worse in person...poor guy.

The Doldrums

I have decided that it is now my goal to not have to start each new post out with, "Sorry I haven't been posting lately..." So I'm not going to apologize, as I don't want to break my new goal, and I'm pretty sure no one has been too heartbroken over my inactivity anyway. So instead of apologies, here's my excuse - life is so dull right now. Seriously. I always forget just how much I despise winter once the holidays are past.

We have been up to absolutely nothing the past few weeks. The kids have enjoyed their usual unhealthy amount of television and my camera is covered in an impressive film of dust from lack of use.
Brandon is so busy with work,school, and studying for the abnormal amount of tests he has to take, that I sometimes forget he exists. I probably would forget completely, if not for the aura of stress that sits at the kitchen table reminding me that I have to keep the kids semi-quiet. As for myself, other than "celebrating" a certain birthday I refuse to acknowledge (I'm sorry, I simply can't be 30, it's just not possible), I've just been working, reminding myself that I should probably start exercising again someday, failing miserably at keeping the house clean and cooking nutritional meals, and I've - of course - been reading. I'm afraid I'm not much fun to talk to these days, unless you want to talk books or hear me complain. (I expect my phone will be ringing off the hook with people dying to spend time with me after reading this one!)

Overall, life is good...just dull. Keep checking in! I'm bound to have more tales of fascinating nothingness to share soon!

Bringing in the New Year - Mommy Style!

Well, I really did have great intentions of going back to updating my blog every week...Hmmm...I don't think it's gonna happen. Crap! 12 days into the New Year and my resolutions are already circling the drain. Typical. But how I'm going to choose to look at this (since it makes me look better) is that one of my resolutions this year is to stop waiting for Mondays or a new month or new year to start making changes. Today is the day to change! So in honor of that little goal of mine, I'm going to go ahead and ignore the fact that it's 12 days into the new year and just start from today. Does that make sense? Dangit! *sigh* I really didn't think so either. I think I may be reaching. Anyway...

So New Years! I hope everyone had a fabulous and fun New Year's celebration! As those of you with kids already know, our exciting New Year parties stop being fun around 10:30, when the kids begin to realize they normally don't get to stay up this late and they start expressing whatever emotions they have with the utmost exaggeration. Normally McKenna and Mathew do really well staying up until the famed midnight on New Year's Eve. So we thought we would head over to the Packers' house and enjoy way too much food and good company. We thought the kids would have fun and Nathaniel would fall asleep at some point...right? Uh, apparently not. Admittedly, McKenna had a blast and she was just as hyper and giggly as always. Here's a pic of the girls doing what they do best - smiling beautifully for the camera. McKenna wore her own jammies over to their house, but felt the need to change into one of Savannah's nightgowns once she got there, like always.



Mathew did pretty well until, around 11:00 at night, Amanda took it upon herself to put him through some brand of horrible torture by taking this picture of him.



Totally rude, right? Well, I guess he thought so. Immediately after this shot was taken, he hopped up and ran to me in fits of hysterics. Here he is again only seconds later.



Mommy makes it better. Don't I look tired? I think we were very ready for the night to be over at this point. After Mathew felt fully comforted, which took only a matter of minutes, here's where we find him next.



Man, what a wimp!

If anyone was having less fun than Mathew, it was Nathaniel, who cried from about 10:00 on. Heaven only knows why the Packers didn't kick us out of their house long before the New Year came in. It must've been all the good food I brought...

Brandon and I took turns holding the little Nater and trying to get him to go to sleep. But alas, he stayed awake the whole time and screamed in the New Year with the rest of us. Mathew was our only sleeping casualty.



Even though 11:30 came and we were all wondering if we would ever make it to midnight, we did! And here's a pic of the girls banging pots to prove it.



I may sound whiny in this post, but the truth is we had a great time and I owe a big thanks to the Packers for having us over. Also a big thanks to them for the pictures, as I was just too lazy...er, busy to take my own.

Happy Belated New Year to you all! I have a lot more pictures and adventures to post about, but I'll get to those in a few days...or weeks...or, you know, whenever.

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.

Re-joining the Workforce

I have gone from one extreme to the other. Last month my blog lacked action because I had so much going on, I didn't have time to post about it all. Now my lack of blogging comes from having absolutely nothing happening to blog about. How 'bout that?
My kids ask everyday, "Where are we going today?"
And I reply everyday, "Um...nowhere."
We're bundles of fun. Part of my reason for the lack of any exciting activity is...*sigh*...I got a job. We all know times are tough and with Brandon's busy school schedule, it leaves little time for him to work. So I started working this week for the Post Office at the Remote Encoding Center. Just my standby, data-entry type work. It's my calling in life. So nothing too fancy, but it helps out a little with the bills and will hopefully help us through the next year. I'm working at night from about 6 - midnight, and let's just say, I am most definitely not a night person. This is taking some major adjusting and I apologize to any of you who see me if I appear a bit zombie-ish (yes, that's a word).

The plus side of all this - Brandon is getting a nice dose of what it's like to take care of 3 kids on your own. He is learning empathy and I am learning that sitting in a quiet room with a bunch of adults really isn't so bad. But really, I do miss my kids (and I suppose my husband...a little ;o)) and I get a little choked up every night when I tell them goodnight over the phone while taking my 8:00 break. Responsibility bites.

My point in all this is to give advance warning that my blog may lack it's usual updates for awhile. *pausing for all the sad, collective groans and regrets....still pausing.....ahem....still pausing*
But don't you all worry, I will still be taking the time to keep up with all of YOUR blogs as much as I can. A girl's gotta get her addiction fix somewhere!

**Also, a quick Brandon update. Brandon got the results from his latest scan yesterday and everything still looks great! He is now 1 year cancer-free and we couldn't be more grateful. He has another year of check-ups and scans and then he will be given a clean bill of health. Lots of love and gratitude to all of you out there who have shown their constant love and support! It doesn't feel fair to everyone else that we should be loved and cared for by so many amazing people.

Winter Blues

It snowed today. *sigh* I know that I've had a wonderful fall and have been enjoying incredible weather over the last month, but I'm really not ready to welcome winter with open arms. In fact, can I assign winter to stay strictly in the month of December? That would be nice.

Since everyone in Utah somehow seems to forget how to drive whenever we get our first big winter storm, I was forced to miss my gym class this morning. (And might I add how horribly disappointed I was!) I sat in traffic for almost a half hour before I realized my class would have already started, so I just turned around and went home. So I opted to get my exercise another way and be productive at the same time by shoveling the driveway. Not a bad idea, eh? I got almost a full hour of cardio and strength training for my arms, back, and abs. Mathew was so kind as to help me out with the shoveling...in his Superman pajamas. Hey, he didn't want to change, and who am I to deny Superman? Here's the cute guy helping me with the driveway.



And then here he is again, being even MORE helpful by shoveling snow off the grass...



"Uh, Mathew...you're supposed to shovel the snow off the...Ah, nevermind. Enjoy your childhood!"

October Highlights

Well, dangit! I can't believe October is over already. My favorite season is wrapping up it's final weeks. Oh well, at least I still have Christmas to look forward to.

This was such a fun, busy month for us. And after last year, we (my kids in particular) really deserved a fun October. I think we got to experience almost every fun little Fall activity we could think of. I only missed a couple of things, but we'll get them next year! For the sake of not having another dreadfully long post, I'm just going to post up some of my favorite pictures and save my endless ramblings for later.

So, let's start at the very beginning...of October anyway.

We started off our fall fun by making the ever popular (and most importantly...free!) trip to Gardner Village to see the witches. My thanks to Amanda for taking most of the cute pics, since my camera was dead, like usual. My camera eats through batteries like they're made of chocolate. Although, to cameras, maybe batteries DO taste like chocolate. Who knows? The kids had a blast running wild and ignoring every word of discipline Amanda and I shouted at them. Amanda and I had fun perusing the shops and pretending the crazy kids running amuck belonged to someone else.



Later that week, we celebrated the wonderfully warm fall weather by crashing in on the Packers' plans to visit the Hogle Zoo while the kids were out of school for UEA weekend. Unfortunately most everyone else had the same idea and it was a wee bit crazy. But still a good time!



The day after that, we again crashed in on the Packers' plans (wow, they must have gotten pretty sick of us...) and joined them at Farnsworth Farms to pick pumpkins and enjoy some hot apple cider while sitting on a bale of hay and watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Well, at least we thought we'd get hot apple cider. Kurt braved the INSANE line and managed to get some cider for his family, but I told my kids "tough luck" and they got a bag of Cheetos and a Root Beer from inside the little store. Actually, I think they preferred my snack offerings better. They don't care much about being festive. We really did have so much fun and I think we'll be making this one a tradition. Only we'll be sure to always be there plenty early. It was a madhouse of people with the same great idea. I guess everyone wanted to seize the good weather while we had it. Also, a quick plug for Farnworth Farms: They have the BEST apple cider I've ever tasted! We guzzled down the half-gallon I bought in a matter of a day or two. And this is coming from someone who really isn't an apple cider fan.



Next on our list of fun October activities: ENGH Gardens - where they had a fun array of little activities. Those things including: A little maze, a super awesome version of The Black Pearl for the kids (and possibly adults...) to play on, and a variety of those little wooden displays you stick your head in for fun pictures. It's amazing, all the little things you can find to keep kids entertained for hours. And might I add...FREE! This has become my favorite word. I have so many fun pictures from this one, I might have to create a couple of collages for it.



Sure enough...it's gonna take two...the pictures at this place were too much fun.



And the award for my favorite picture of the day...



This is Amanda, myself, and Brianne, playing into the roles of the character we're standing in for. I still can't look at it without laughing.

Ok, moving on...nope, sorry, I'm still not done.

Brandon and I managed to break away from the kids for a day at Frightmares with Steve and Katie. Katie and I had a GREAT time. Steve and Brandon also had a great time, except for the half hour they spent secretly rolling their eyes while Katie and I chatted up some of our old Lagoon friends. Sorry, but if you ever come to Lagoon with me, it's almost a guarantee you're going to have to spend at least 15 minutes standing around while I visit with old friends. My fabulous sister, D'Ann was so kind as to spend the day with the kids while Brandon and I enjoyed our day out. And as if that wasn't enough, she also stayed the NIGHT with the kids and got us a room with her Marriott discount so we could fully enjoy some alone time. It was a wonderful little break and I thank my "D" for playing so well into the "favorite aunt" role.

Now, because once simply wasn't enough...we also enjoyed yet another trip to Gardner Village to see the witches. This time, we ventured off with Julie and her boys. The trip was equally full with rambunctious kids we chose to ignore, except during the handful of times one of them would be seconds away from falling into the pond. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. It was getting dark and my camera...well...sucks.



The day before Halloween, Mathew had his preschool program which was SO cute! I think I giggled the whole way through it. I have a few video clips of it, but I simply don't have the patience to put it up. Plus I'm pretty sure it's one of those things no one would care about but myself. But here's the unmasked Spider-Mathew with his cute preschool teacher, Mrs. Becky. She's amazing with the kids and Mathew loves her.

Ok, the end is in sight. All we have left is HALLOWEEN!!!

This year, Halloween was seriously perfect. I could not have asked for a better day. The weather was fantastic, it was just the right amount of busy, and we got to do everything we wanted to, which NEVER seems to happen. We enjoyed our ward Trunk-or-Treat, some pumpkin-faced Papa Murphy's pizza, a quick trick-or-treating trip, and watching some scary movies while eating popcorn. It was the perfect, low-key Halloween I was hoping for. What a great day to end the best month I've had in years.



Well, so much for a short post minus all my ramblings. Oh well! HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!