Christmas '08

Here's some pics of our "night before Christmas".

Christmas morning began at almost 9 a.m.!! Yes, everyone slept in a bit (for a Christmas morning). We had hame & cheese omelettes (thanks to Chef Terry, who is the best omelette maker!) at noon. We have had a VERY relaxing day. After dinner (left overs from last night) we all gathered together for a picture of us all in our new lounge pants (shorts for Terry). I finally felt like sewing again!!! Terry's have red flames and golden dragons, mine are light blue with elf & santa hats, Brynn's are blue with candy canes, Emma's are red with green Christmas trees, Kara's are green with candy canes, Olivia's are blue with gingerbread men & candy canes. This has been an amazing month. When I compare it to last year, I can only feel gratitude for my many blessings. I'm loving life and reveling in peaceful bliss.

Merry Christmas!

The Perfect Day

Today has been the perfect day.  The squirrels & I have spent the day making cinnamon rolls. They had fun & did a great job!  Don't they look YUMMY!!

I just LOVE the smell of freshly baked home made cinnamon rolls!

Soon they'll be smothered in home made frosting.

I wish you were here to have some. But don't worry, I'm sure we can take care of yours for you!

While the rolls were baking, the squirrels went out & made a snowman.  They sure are enjoying all of the snow!!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Tire Chains Required in the NW

We have had a TON of snow here!  The last 2 days of school, before winter break, were cancelled (3 for Olivia).  Terry was  sent home from work early one day, started late the next, and then was given today completely off!  Church was cancelled this past Sunday as well.  I've never seen it snow this much here!  A few years ago, we invested in tire chains for our van.  We only did it to be prepared for the snow through the passes between here and Utah during November & December.  We've never had to use them..........till today......in NW Washington and only because we couldn't get back up our lane upon our return trip to Costco!

Emma took this picture from about half-way up the lane.  We were stuck at the bottom, just off the paved road, by the tree branch that seems to be touching the ground.  At least we don't have to look at all the leaves still on the ground that we've never managed to mow/rake up!

Not only can I change a flat tire, but I can put on chains, too!!  I totally rock.

Terry is THE MAN, once again!

We did such a good job!  WE rock.

We finally made it up the lane!

These chains are staying on until Christmas.  Why?  Because another storm is coming and we don't get snow plows in this part of the country.  YEAH!!!  (not) [unless you're a Squirrel!]

Memory

As Livvy & I were going to lunch, I asked her about her morning at school.   She said, "We played "Super Heroes" at recess.  It was so much fun!!" 

I asked what she did during class time.  She said, "I colored a number chicken picture.  Number 7 was brown, and 8 was yellow.  Number 6 was red.  Hmmmm...what other numbers' were there?  Oh yeh!  Number 9 was green and number 10 was...............oh, I can't remember!!!  Oh wait, number 10 was blue."

By this time I finally figured out what she meant by a "number chicken picture"  I was thinking about which number could possible be made into a chicken.  Silly me.  It was a color-by-number picture of a chicken.

"Wow!" I said.  "You remember all those numbers & colors?" 

"Yep!"

"That's amazing.  I couldn't have remembered all of that. You have a GREAT memory!"  I said.

She said, "Yeh, like when  you were talking to Amber and I fell in the toilet."

I busted up laughing.  That toilet memory is from when she was 2, maybe just 3 years old!  But she was right.  My sister, Amber, and I were talking on the phone.  I knew Livvy was in the bathroom (she had been potty trained by this time), and was waiting for her to tell me when she was finished in there.  Next thing I hear is Livvy screaming.  I hung up on Amber & ran to the bathroom.  There was Livvy, feet, arms and head flailing above the toilet seat with tears running down her face.   Being the unsympathetic mom that I am, I giggled out loud as I pulled her out!  Such a fond memory!

Terry & I are frequently amazed at how far back and how accurate Livvy's memories are.  This is just one of the many times she randomly blurts out her memorable experiences.   I thought this is one that might bring a smile to those who read it!

So Weird!

Here it is 10:00 on Saturday night and I'M OUT OF PRIMARY STUFF TO DO!!!   What am I going to do for the next 2 hours?  This is so wierd!!   This hasn't happened for.............EVER!  Our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program is tomorrow.  We've had 2 practices and they went great! The girls & I went to the church to get things ready earlier this afternoon.  We took almost everything needed for tomorrow and put it in the closet.  So we had the rest of the afternoon to do other things like going to Walmart and the Library.  We had waffles for dinner.  They were great with homemade blackberry jam & cool whip (yummmmmm!).  We miss dad, but we know he's enjoying Japan!  He already has great pictures of castles & other sites from the one day they had before reporting for duty.  I can't wait to see them!  

I think I'll see what it's like to lay in bed before 11:00 p.m.  So weird!

I'm still here!

It has been FOREVER since I last posted!  It seems to have happened with the death of our camera.  But Terry finally convinced me to get a new camera now, rather than sometime later in the year, so that he could take it with him to Japan. This one is a short trip.  He is all excited about the "foreign" experience and the planes and the boat and whatever else all the brainy engineers get giggly about.  Me?  I'm just excited for the blessing of extra income, smaller laundry loads, breakfast for dinners, and a king size bed all to myself!  

I read a lot of my family & friends' blogs and I'm determined to post an update on my own. However, there won't be any pictures.  But then again, it's been such a busy couple of months, there hasn't been time to really do much outside of school work and church callings.  Terry's keeping (or being kept) busy with his Young Men's calling.  He enjoys working with the other member of the presidency.  "Other" is because one of the counselors moved last month & hasn't been replaced yet.  So it's the YM President & Terry.   Terry also gets the "opportunity" to be Scout Master.  He's been on a few camp outs already and enjoys every minute of it.  (insert sarcasm here!)  

I still have the same calling (Primary President).  I'm going on 2 and 1/2 years now.  Although I have been frustrated more times than should be allowed, I still would rather be in Primary than anywhere else.  I complain too much about the high turn over of teachers.  I'm a murmur bucket when it comes to that.  Well, I'm a murmur bucket on just about everything right now, but I'm trying to re-focus.  It's hard when people keep leaving our state to go with their spouses to California or Japan, for months at a time.  I think I'm the only spouse that chooses to stay here while "My Man" leaves to enjoy the foreign experiences alone.  I tend to resent people when I learn of their plans to leave.  Re-focus, re-focus.  I've written my 3rd Primary Program & we are going to be doing it this Sunday.  I can't wait till it's over!!   It's been put off a few weeks and has seemed to drag out forever. The kids will do great, no doubt.   These kids are the best! There are a few who have never wanted to do a speaking part before.  But this year, every one of  those kids have willingly learned their part.  It's amazing to me how much they have learned and grown!  I have watched all of the children learn & grow over the past 2 and 1/2 years.  Of course, they have the best teachers who love them & teach them!  

School.  Not much to say about that right now.  My murmur bucket "runneth over" with this subject.  I never liked school as a kid, I don't like it any better as a mom.  When I tried to get the twins to drop out of school last week, I knew I'd lost it. They're in 4th grade.  Yep, it was a long week.  But they didn't drop out.  Crazy girls.  I would have so jumped on that suggestion when I was in school!  Of course, last year, I tried to get Brynn to just take a zero on a project because there was so little time to get it done & it was stressing both of us out.  I have come to a conclusion......I just don't understand & probably never will understand why school work is so necessary. Usually I can imagine myself in someone else's shoes and see their point of view. I've tried that with schooling.  For years!!!   I just don't see it. It eludes me.  How am I supposed to be a better mom when I can't "get it"?    In the mean time, I'm looking into Home Schooling. (Remember, I told you that I'd "lost it" last week.)  Oh, and I also said that I didn't have much to say about school right now.  Hmmmm.......I lied!  I could go on forever, but I'll spare you all & I'll try to do myself a favor by holding my tongue. 

One thing that would help fix the gazillion holes in my murmur bucket would be to win the lottery.  I could pay for private tutors AND a housekeeper AND a cook.  Then I would be free to soak in a hot bath while reading a good book!  Doesn't that sound heavenly?  But since I've never even bought a lottery ticket & don't plan on doing it any time soon, reality bites & I have to try harder to roll with it.  Wish me luck!

Tagged

The rules of the game are as follows:

1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag.

Hmmmm........random info about me:

1. I HATE to dust.  I get around to it maybe twice a year.
2. I know how to juggle.  Our entire 6th grade learned how as a course.  FUN!
3. I usually don't associate the word FUN with school.  Hate school.
4. I drank a bottle of perfume when I was 3 & got "drunk".
5. I love Chip Ahoy cookies.  Sometimes I buy a bag & hide it just for myself to eat.    
6. Halloween is my LEAST favorite holiday.  Stupid costume hunting or worse, sewing!

Now YOU tag 6 people!

1. Amber M.
2. Amber A.
3. Sarah F.
4. Katrina
5. Dom
6. Stacia

Happy Birthday Emma & Kara!!

On September 23rd at 10:56 & 10:58 in the morning, Emma & Kara were officially 10 years old! They were born 8 weeks premature weighing in at 5 lbs. 3 oz. & 4 lbs. 14 oz. respectively. Emma was 17 inches long & Kara was 17 & 1/4 inches long.  They came home after 11 days in NICU weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz.

Because I have a GREAT desire to be caught up on my blogging, I have made 2 different slide shows. There would have been more, but the camera met its accidental demise that night. This is great in two ways: One, I am able to catch up on the blogging that has been in the rough draft stage FOREVER! and two, we get to invest in an updated camera. So sad!

The twins had a movie night the weekend after their birthday. (No pictures, dead camera) They had a blast with their friends by watching their new DVD and enjoying cup cakes, ice cream, nachos, punch, and playing flashlight tag. It has been a week-long birthday party full of great memories!

Happy Birthday you two!

Jammin'

Washington has an abundance of blackberry bushes.  In fact, just this last week we have seen people pulled off on the freeways just to pick ripe berries.  Kind of funny.  We have plenty in our yard, so we don't have to go to that extreme. 

I gave Livvy the camera for a blog about our blackberry jammin' day.  She loved it!

Mashed berries.  Livvy is the best berry masher!

Here's a pic of the cooking process.  I don't like this part.  It spits at me & hurts!

Glamorous, huh?!

Beautiful clean jars.

This is her favorite picture. I asked her why. She said because it looks like blood. Nice.  

Jars of jam sealing by the Inversion Process.  So easy!

The Master Photographer of this blog, yours truly-Olivia.

Kirk & Tawnya's Wedding Celebration!

It's a good thing I did the slide show like 3 weeks ago!  

Tawnya & Kirk were married in the SLC Temple on September 5th.  We love Kirk!  Well, we love Tawnya, too, but Livvy has a bit of a crush on Kirk.  So she REALLY loves him.

They just wanted a family gathering instead of a reception (AMEN!).  We had tons of candy & cake & the kids just played.  It was very relaxing & short.  Like I said, I'm anti-social.

Glad you two had a great time in Cancun!  

Addie's Blessing Day

Ryan & Amber had their 3rd baby girl in June.  YEAH for girls!  Baby Addie was blessed at the end of August.  We were invited back to their home for desserts & slushy drinks.  This is one of my favorite pictures.  

This is my one and only brother, Trent with his youngest, Trishelle & his wife Shelly and our "eldest" sister, Korin.  Terry's dying of the heat in the background.

This is just a wierd shot.  Ryan is pointing at something & it just happens to look like he's honking Tawnya's nose.  Tawnya is another one of my sisters.  She & Trent are twins.

Gotta love playing in the sandbox with "Sunday Clothes" on!  Anna & Livvy ended up being best buds during this trip.  Amazing because they are both such dominant personalities!

Lilly is almost 2 & is stinkin' cute!  I caught her chompin' on ice.

Amber is starving Addie to death.  Addie doth protest!

Swimming at Grandma's

I'm sick of being so far behind on my blogging!   So I've made a decision to just post what I have from the summer & not be fancy about it.   Most of it is from our end of the summer Utah trip.  Lots of special occassions.  Too busy for me, but I tried to remember the camera.  I think I earned a C for the effort.  I really struggled to remember it.

This is Emma & Kara with their cousin MaKenzie.  (Sorry about the spelling)  Makenzie just relocated to Utah from North Carolina.  We all enjoyed getting to know her better!

This is Kara jumping off the diving board.  Yep, all us girls are "nose pluggers".

Livvy even braved the board, as long as dad was there to catch her.  I did mention I don't do the swimming thing, right?  Especially with tons of people around.  I'm so not social.

This is Terry (the big dude) and his younger brother Joey (the short dude).  They are awaiting their turn to out dive each other by clearing a pole that is being held over the pool.  The pole was held higher for the more confident boys.  It was fun to watch!  I missed tons of photo moments because I'm slow, anti-social, and there were really tons of people there for me to try to move around to get a shot.  Mostly it's the first two reasons.  I was quite proud of Terry's attempt, though!  

Here's Emma making her attempt.  No diving, just nose plugging & feet first.  They all had a blast!

I am a child of God. I will wear His armor

I am incredibly behind on my blogging. The last month of summer was so busy with tons of activities, both family and church! I have 6 blogs in the draft stage. Not to mention the ones that I've been able to sneak in since school has started.

Every summer, I plan a Primary Water Activity at my house for all of the kids in our ward. Last year the kids memorized the Articles of Faith to earn water balloons to throw at the bishop or I. We ended up filling up over 700 water balloons!









Even though it was a VERY fun activity, I didn't feel inspired to fill that many water balloons again this year!

This year I thought of how much fun it would be to have a water tank dunking machine for the activity. Those are hard to find, you know! I told Terry of my thoughts months ago. In May, he came home from work & told me about a "Sploosher" that a co-worker of his made for the youth auxilliaries in his ward. It is the same idea as a dunking machine, just without the tank of water. In place of the tank, there is a garden chair to sit in. Above the chair is a basketball hoop and net. The net is tied at the bottom to hold a 12" party balloon filled with water. The balloon should be the size of a volley ball or basket ball. Quite heavy!! Behind the net is a long board that extends about 5 feet or so. It is angled with the high end behind the net and the low end with a round target attached. A sharp nail or screw is attached to the net end for the purpose of popping the water filled party balloon when the target is hit. The lucky person sitting on the chair gets soaked! PERFECT!

The next step was to think of a way to turn it into a gospel oriented object lesson. This year, our primary is focusing on The Armor of God. Each month we add a piece of armor, with it's scriptural reference, to posters of children hung in the primary room. This has been great because as a ward, we are focusing on scripture reading. We combined the two ideas & the kids are having a great year learning about the scriptures and the blessings we receive when we read them & apply its teaching in our lives.

Orchard Heights Ward Annual 

Primary Water Activity, August 2008

Theme: "I am a child of God. I will wear His armor." 

Object Lesson:
The target-throwing balls were likened to the "fiery darts of the adversary".  These are the temptations that Satan throws at us every day.  The kids came up with examples such as choosing not to pray or read scriptures, fighting with others, lying, stealing, complaining, etc.... The water filled balloon represents all of these temptations that surround us every day.  They are always there.  Then we talked about the purpose of armor.  We discussed our scripture reading goals & how the scriptures tell us how we can wear the armor of God (I used a clear rain poncho for the armor) & how this will help protect us from the "fiery darts".   We all will experience temptations, but as we try to choose the right & keep His commandments, we will be better protected from the affects of temptations.  The popped water ballon is likened to the way temptations & sins affect us.  Then just for looks, I had a foam knight's shield & a homemade wooden dagger for a sword.  I wanted the kids to see the difference it made to have the protection of His armor as well as when we tend to forget, or put aside those things such as scripture reading, prayer, etc.... and we lose that valuable protection.   I wanted them to see how the temptations & sins can get us "soaked" when we aren't clothed in His armor.

This is our bishopric advisor, whom we love and adore!  Above his head is a huge black water filled balloon.  Notice what his shirt says? WARNING!  He is showing the kids the affects temptation can have without wearing His armor.

I am throwing those "fiery darts" at the target.  (It was so much fun!)  The kids named off a temptation with each ball as it was thrown, the anticipation growing with each one he got away with.  I don't think it was more than 3 before........

SPLOOSH!!!!  He sure got "soaked"!    It's amazing how cold & shocking you feel when this happens.

Now, I display the "armor" and ask the kids how "soaked" they think I'll get.  Because I wasn't totally protected, some were a bit worried.

Payback.....Bro. Bushman was quite eager to place that balloon over my head!  However, I knew the damage would be minimal for I was wearing the "armor"!

One of my presidency counselors wanted a chance 

to get me with the "fiery darts".

It took her only 2 throws!  But, I didn't get more than a few drops on my face.  I was well protected!

The kids LOVED this!  For the rest of the time, they were allowed to throw the "fiery darts" or be the one to get "soaked".  Some chose to wear the armor, others didn't.  It was amazing to feel the temptations dump on you, yet not wear the affects, so to speak, when the armor was on. But with the warm weather, it also felt good to get cooled off without it!  

This was a fun memory & was one of the 

highlights of my summer!