What's On My Happy List?

                                                        Thursday, December 30, 2010
  This just happens to be one of my favorite weeks of the whole entire year. Play, play and play some more.  Here's just a few things that we have been up to....
                                                         Enjoying the snow...FINALLY.
    I think Mother Nature is trying to make up for the lack of a white Christmas. {It's about darn time missy}  

Grandpa got out the ATV's last night and the kids were pulled on sleds through the neighborhood streets and the church parking lot. Too fun! Even little Kate had a turn on the ATV with Mom and Dad.  

Getting all the kids bundled up to go out. ..just a tad exasperating for me...once we are all dressed and out in it...totally worth the chaos! But the aftermath...dealing with wet snow clothes...ugh! not on my happy list I tell ya. Its about the only thing I don't like about the snow though. 

{now just don't go getting your tongue stuck on a flag pole kiddo..total 'Christmas Story' flashback here with all the bundleness}

They were back in it the next night....in 7 degree weather! 

The past five days have been filled with rounds of Emma's Rummikub, here we are in the middle of one with Kate in my lap and her tree stumps chill'in on the table. Cracks me up!

Thanks to grandma's buying spree with Uncle Ryan we've sword fought, canoed, cycled, ping ponged, wake boarded, and archery'd our way through Wii Resort. Never heard such hoopla from the gang than on Tuesday night in the throngs of competition.

And the girlies busting some moves at grandmas to Just Dance 2 in their 'Saturday Self', just minus the turban, attire.

Get a load at this one...Dad shook what his mama gave 'em at a recent work party with 80 of his administrative co-workers. He was one of 12 chosen to dance. He won his heat (got an i-tunes card to boot)and landed in the top four. Oh my! He had to have been busting a move. Who knew? We witnessed him in action just today and apparently he's been holding out on me all these years. Now I know where my girls get their dancing genes, because it's certainly not from me!

And in other complete randomness....We've had a goodbye Carbonara dinner for Uncle Ryan...but not before he took the older girls on two dates before he left...Harry Potter and Cafe Rio one day with Tangled and In an Out Burger the next.

Kyleigh pulled an all nighter, literally, at a sleepover with the Starlette Co. girls. She does not take after her mother in this area. {I swear I was always the first one asleep at any given sleepover growing up.}  Hannah's gone swimming at the rec center with her best friend. They've been to the neighbors to hang out and to the park with them for night sledding. Kyleigh's been ice skating with her friends at a multi-stake activity. Brie's made video dairies. We've O.D. on another DVD classic that Santa brought..watching episode after episode of Gidget, to the point where I can't get the theme song out of my mind. I'll even sing it for ya..as I've got it memorized. Love that show! I have fond memories of watching it with my mom when I was younger. I can't tell ya how fun it is being able to share pieces of my childhood with my girls. We've watched Nanny McPhee Returns, and Ramona and Beezus {darling shows btw} where we learned a new word from the latter****TERRIFICAL***Adding that one right away to our vocabulary. We've started the not so fun Christmas clean up. I've colored, snuggled and watched Tom and Jerry classic cartoons with Brie. We've drank mugs of hot chocolate and I've munched on Grandma B's best ever carameled popcorn balls. We've stayed up late and slept in. We've made an unexpected trip to the Ortho for a broken wire,  had one kid get an electrical shock up their arm, no lie! {scary} AND one fully potty trained {for years now} girl, pee her pants...of course there was unforgettable laughter that ensued. This week has been a trip folks and we are not even done. We are going out with a bang with our New Years Eve and Day celebrations. Even if it's my least favorite holiday.    

What's On My Happy List?

one cry awakened the world

one birth changed history

one life made all the difference

What a glorious gift!

Merry Christmas everyone...

Dad and I were awakened by two teenage daughters at 7:30 a.m. (THE earliest we would allow). The younger three had to be woke up, but it wasn't too hard. They were bursting with excitement!  Poor Kate didn't know what in the heck was going on.   

                      lining up youngest to oldest for the grand entrance into the family room...

Love the expressions on the kids faces on Christmas morn. It's the best!

Brie discovering her Easy Bake Oven...

                          took me back to my Holly Hobbie Oven days when I was little...                                
We made a cake Christmas morning..

             Here is Hannah opening up the seven book collection of "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid". She was stoked! She also asked Santa for a remote control car (huh?) in her favorite color. ORANGE! {of all colors} Who knew this very toy would be the biggest hit with my girlie's! {the middle three anyway} Maybe Santa will have to shop down the boys aisle more often.                                                            

The look of disbelief and surprise..LOVE IT!

Brie and Hannah have been playing the old hand held Game Boys for years now, so Santa thought it was high time for a Nintendo DSi.   

Hopefully they can keep Dad away from it. Luckily for them, he's been busy trying to figure out Epic Mickey for the Wii. 

Like I said. Hannah had some interesting requests for a ten yr old. She wanted a pillow pet LOL {that itself wasn't hard} but it had to be a giraffe...her favorite animal. That one had Santa searching too...but Santa prevailed.

                                                           A new camera for Kyleigh....

                                         and oh my goodness..the look on Kate's face..die.

                                  we've all had fun with the flying balls from this new toy of Kate's

A joint surprise for Kyleigh and Emma..an Instyler! the hottest hair appliance out there, or so I'm told.

An iPOD nano for Emma..and we can't forget Debra the manikin..who quite literally could make you wig when you walk in a room, forgetting she's there, and you see her staring at you. Jeesh! Another strange request for Santa but Emma loves to do hair and she wanted a manikin with real hair like the beauticians use in beauty school. So... wish was granted.

jewelry, jewelry, jewelry, and more jewelry for Kyleigh....

We had Christmas brunch with Dad's side and then we went to my parents in the afternoon to visit with my siblings and the cousins...

Little Brie playing her solo on the piano.....

 The fam spent a quiet evening at home playing with toys and watching some of the old classic movies Santa brought.....a Doris Day & Rock Hudson comedy, along with Christmas in Connecticut.

It was a lovely day.

What's On My Happy List?

Friday, December 24, 2010

Just enjoy'in the Christmas Eve festivities...

                                   baby Kate, in her Santa tu tu, found an Oreo and devoured it! That a girl!

Emma and grandma decorated for our traditional seafood feast....

After our bellies were full we played the crazy 7-11 dice game to open our gifts...

Grandma and Grandpa have the spoiling thing down pat. We always come away with our fair share of loot!

     Have you seen these Sing-A-Ma-Jigs? Depending on who you ask, they are either creepy or cute but they SING! alone and or together...in harmony. Kate loves them!  


Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home For Christmas" has a whole new meaning for our family now. Who should come sneaking in the house Thursday night to surprise us all? Uncle Ryan! All the way from Bamako, Mali in Africa!  Shocked the heck out of us! My girls were thrilled.

  

He came bearing gifts ...African jewelry for us girls... 

After our party we had our own little family celebration...

we opened our p.j.'s and Christmas book...

daddy read The Night Before Christmas to the girls....

                                                  we sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn...

left a plate of fudge and peppermint Oreos for Santa {Oreos and milk are his favorite!... at our house anyway}

 Before the kiddos were nestled all snug in their beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads... we watched the Motion Picture movie..The Nativity Story...

This movie, which came out in '06, is so beautifully done. We love it!  It sets the perfect mood and gets our hearts centered on the true meaning of Christmas... 

The whole day was delightful. {despite a bit of drama in the morning hours between Kyleigh & Emma} Even got it on camera. But that's a whole other post for another time. LOL

I'd have to say one of the ultimate highlights of Christmas Eve day for me was reaching my goal of visiting all the widows in our ward. We have 25! plus the little lady in the rest home. It took me two days to get 'er done but I did it with the help of my four older girls who took turns going with me.  We lucked out with only six that we didn't catch at home. We took a little gift to them but I'm sure for some of these ladies it was the visiting that meant the most to them. Some of them get so lonely. {breaks my heart.} I love these ladies! Without a doubt, this is the single most important thing I have done this Christmas Season. period. What a sweet, sweet experience it was for me. 

And I couldn't have been prouder of Kyleigh who spent hours volunteering at the Food Bank on Thursday with Grandpa {pictured with neighbor boys}.  

Giving is truly Living...

Christmas Day post coming soon.....

What's On My Happy List?

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My family Christmas Party was a delight.

There is always a houseful of good company, food and laughs.

There was reenacting of the Nativity by the grand kids, in its 27th year. Pretty amazing I think. Our very first baby Jesus is now married with three kids of his own.

My mom and I, costume director and executive producer since '83 (family joke)

could have used a strong drink after getting this year's cast of thirteen in costume. Absolute mayhem!

Kate wanted nothing to do with the angel business...

The night was filled with singing of Christmas carols, chime playing, family members performing on the guitar, piano and drums. Even my little Brie played a solo "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" on the piano that she had almost memorized by heart. Grandpa busted out his dance moves again with the room of 40 + in an uproar. Good times I tell ya!

Speaking of parties...

had a lovely luncheon with the ladies from the neighborhood at 'Naborhood Hour'. The hostess served a scrumptious lunch that was complete festive eye candy. Dr. Seuss showed up for a reading of the "Grinch". So fun!

Kyleigh is at a party tonight in a mansion belonging to former BYU and NBA player, Shawn Bradley. Wish I could be a bug on the wall at THAT one.

Tomorrow, holiday pedicures and dinner are in order with the girlfriends...

AND in other holiday food and gift randomness...

I'm feeling a little domesticated as I've tried a new dessert recipe two nights in a row. rare occurrence around these parts. It must be the holidays. Last night was double layered chocolate peppermint brownies from scratch. They were not worth the calories, (too rich) nor the time and effort it took to make them. We will stick to dad's kind.

And tonight... hot cocoa, from scratch, with crushed chocolate and mint candy canes added to the rim...it was a thumbs down too... And that folks is why I love cooking and baking so much. NOT! We will see how tomorrow night's recipe of gingerbread cake fares.

Moving on to the presents....

These make great inexpensive friend/classmate gifts for your kids to give away. One dollar! There is even a blue one for the boys..

Last day of school today. Christmas vacation is here...almost two weeks worth. Let the celebration begin!