Christmas Day 2008

Tickly, Heartwarming Lyrics

In our family, it is not unusual to change the lyrics of our favorite songs. sometimes it is just something silly, occasionally it's indecent, but it is always brings either a smile or the roll of the eyes.

This morning we were singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

Before long our lyrics were changed to " She's the Most Beautiful Girl in the World!" Which brought a giggle from Kellie.

After a few rounds of this, Aaron (my sweet little guy), turned to me and said, "Kellie is not the only beautiful girl in the world. You're beautiful, too, Mom!" (Don't you just love that?)

You would think the story could end there, but there is more. The lyrics changed again to "Matt's the most TICKLY guy in the world!"

As you can imagine, you can't sing a lyric like that without the accompanying choreography...
So, Aaron and I ganged up on my very extra tickly, very sensitive husband. hee! hee!

I've got to say it was the most fun morning I've had in quite a while. (Even though Matt might not agree...) :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

To school today Aaron wore the following:

socks and underwear

pants

undershirt

turtleneck

t-shirt over turtleneck

heavy coat, zipped up all the way, with hood up

scarf, under coat and around face and neck

gloves

hat, under hood

boots

If I had thermal underwear his size, I probably would have put that on him too!

It is SO COLD here in Colorado today. When Matt left for work about 7:30 am the temperature read -19 degrees. By the time we left a bit later, it had warmed up to a whooping -9 degrees.

Our high today is not supposed to be above 15 degrees in the heat of the day, with a chance of more snow this evening and tomorrow. I guess it's time to break out the hot cocoa again!

Cute Quotes...

My Mom and Dad came and spent the night last night so that Matt and I could attend his Christmas Party at work. (Thank you!) As always, the kids are extra cute when some of their favorite people are around. Here's some highlights from the last two days...

Caleb (singing): "You better watch out! You better not not scream! You better not cry! You better obey! Cuz' Santa Claus is coming to Town!" (I did NOT teach him these lyrics, by the way...)

Aaron: "Come play with our Baby Jesus playset!" ( I laugh because the kids refuse to call it a Nativity set, and insist it is their 'Jesus set'.)

Kellie: Making kissy sounds at Grandpa and shoving her stuffed dog relentlessly in his face for him to kiss over and over again.
Grandpa's response: "No, Kellie, I don't know where that dog has been- I don't want to kiss it!"

Caleb: (upon hearing that Grandma was going to make cookies with him while I took Kellie for her check- up) "I better go get my cookie shirt on, because it says COOKIE INSPECTOR on it and that means I get to eat them all!"

Christmas for "Little People"

For the last several years I have wanted to buy the Fisher Price Little People Nativity set for our kids. It was always just a little more than our budget could handle, so I never got it, even though I really, really wanted it. This year, I finally budgeted for, and bought it. We opened it a little early, so the the kids could enjoy it all month long.

The kids were fascinated with it. We presented it to them at FHE tonight, and I honestly don't know the last time we had a FHE that everyone sat quietly and paid attention to every word of the story. I'm glad we finally bought it!

(The star on the top lights up and sings "Away In a Manger.")

They love it!

I have a cute story to tell...

After FHE, we let the kids get down and play with the nativity set until bedtime. It was so cute watching them retell the story to each other.

At the end of the story, Aaron said "That's it, we're through," and Caleb corrected him.

"It's not over, silly! I think the baby Jesus wants to go for a ride now!"

He then put the baby Jesus in the donkey's cart and took him for a stroll through Bethlehem, introducing Him to everyone. I'm pretty sure that part isn't in the scriptures, but I thought it was pretty sweet!

Baby Jesus "going for a ride!"

My Favorite Christmas Things

I mentioned earlier that we got our Christmas tree up last Saturday. What I forgot to mention is that everything else was still in boxes, piled in our living room. I decided that today is the day to get it all up and the boxes put away. I always love pulling out the familiar decorations, remembering where they came from and making our house look extra special.

Maybe it's the 5 inches of snow out there, but I am just really starting to feel all Christmasy inside. Here's some pictures of a few of my favorite things...

I bought this Nativity at JC Penney's the first year we were married. It is a complete set, including the shepherds, wise men, animals and angels, but I don't always set the whole thing up, because the kids tend to get into it.
I love our stockings. Matt's mom spent many hours making all of these needlepoint stockings for us. Every one has a different Santa scene. (Matt's stocking is actually behind Kellie's- I need to get more hooks!)
Caleb. When I was taking pictures he told me to take a picture of him because "HE must be" one of my most favorite things ever! Our decorated light. Actually, this is not really one of my favorites, but I love watching the kids get all excited during dinner when they look up at the light. I love it because my kids seem to love it.

Santa Brought My Toys Back!

On Saturday, we pulled out the Christmas tree and started decorating. Normally, we would probably wait a week or two, but our schedule is so hectic that when we looked at the calendar, we realized it was now- or the week before Christmas, which is a little too late in my book.

We put the kids to bed and we started cleaning house. A few months ago I took ALL the kids toys away because they were so rude and nasty about helping me clean up. (They even told me it was MY job to clean up after them!) They have been earning them back, slowly. In the mess, I decided it was time to bring the toys back out and put them away properly.

When Caleb woke up Sunday morning, he ran downstairs to see all his toys back on their shelves. He ran up to our bedroom, burst in through the door and yelled, "Momma, momma! Santa came last night- EARLY- and he gave me all my toys back!"

DINOSAURS in the house

Upon hearing a tremendous amount of roaring, I went to find my kids in the living room. They were magically transformed into Super Dinosaurs! They had blankets wrapped around their necks like superman. I was informed that I have 3 dinosaurs: a T-REX, a SILLY-SAURUS, and a CUTE-O-SAURUS. Any guesses on who was who?

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

That's right. You heard me right. EGGNOG. PUMPKIN. PIE. Matt's Aunt Kathy signed us up for this awesome magazine, called Taste of Home. Every month or two we get a magazine full of recipes (they are actually recipes you'd use, too, nothing too complicated). In the Thanksgiving issue it had a recipe for Eggnog Pumpkin Pie. It smells so good while it is baking. I thought I'd share what might be one of my newest favorite recipes.

EGGNOG PUMPKIN PIE (created by Lyn Dilworth)

Crust (I actually used a store-bought crust, but here's the 'real one')

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 tablespoons shortening

3 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling

2 eggs

1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin

1 cup eggnog

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a food processor, combine flour and salt: cover and pulse to blend. Add shortening and butter, cover and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. While processing, gradually add water until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1-1 1/2 hours or until easy to handle.

Roll out pastry to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate; flute edges.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs, pumpkin, eggnog, sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves until blended. Pour into crust.

In a small mixing bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until crumbly, about 2 minutes. Stir in pecans, sprinkle over filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.

Note to Self...

SELF- Please remember NOT to touch red burners on the stove any more.

On Friday, (the day I planned to do nothing more than hide), I did a monumentally stupid thing. I was browning some hamburger on the stove when I noticed an awful burnt smell. There must have been something on the burner or the drip pan, so I moved the skillet to a different burner, and then (without thinking!) I proceeded to reach down and grab the red hot burner so I could wash it off.

What proceeded was a whole lot of crying, a quick phone call to my husband, a trip to the urgent care, lots of a ice, a bit of Vicodin, a tetanus shot, and 7 stripes (that might possibly scar) across my fingers where I grabbed the coiled burner.

I am feeling better, but the skin is so charred across my fingers that I am having a hard time bending the tight skin. The worst part is I don't even have a cool story to go with my injury. It's bad enough when you get hurt, but it's even more embarrassing when you get hurt doing something stupid.

Sigh.

HIDING

Is it rude to turn off your phone, pull the shades, lock your car in the garage and ignore the world around you? I sure hope not, because I've about reached my limit and am preparing to hunker down. My schedule has been so crazy this week.

Last Sunday- Church is at 1:00. I really hate this time slot. It falls during both my kids naptimes and they are SO crabby both at church and then later at home. After the sacrament was passed this week, during the rest hymn, my tongue started swelling. I must have had a reaction to something. I went in the bathroom to see a big sore UNDER my tongue. Of course this meant a trip home for a dose of Benadryl and resulted in a very sleepy mom dealing with very crabby kids. To top it off I had to finish the dry pack order for the Bishop when I got home, so spent a few hours sorting through the mess, but got it done.

Last Monday- Early out at the school. I hate early out. I have to leave at 1:30 to pick Aaron up by 2. This falls in the middle of naptime for the 2nd day in a row. I've tried laying the kids down early, but it just doesn't work. I usually try to lay them down for a late nap when we get back, that is if they haven't fallen asleep in the car and wake up when I try to get them out. FHE's are especially bad because everyone has 2 days worth of crabby to deal with.

Last Tuesday- Our Cover to Cover group. We have been reading a few articles from the Conference issue and meet to review them every couple of weeks. This has actually been the highlight of the week.

Last Wednesday- VT extravaganza! Luckily, we got in to see everybody, even if we had to go out at three different times to see everyone. Finished one in the morning, and then one in the evening. Feels good to be done.

Yesterday- Dry pack canning. Stress. No other way to sum it up. Stress. Evidently most of the wards in our stake wanted the canners this weekend. I had reserved them so we got them, but I have enough to deal with without listening to begging from others. I feel bad that they have to rearrange their plans, but I really don't understand the wisdom in planning an activity that revolves around having access to certain equipment, and not reserving the equipment before you plan the date. Doesn't make sense to me. Spent several hours at the activity dry pack canning. It's tiring. Worthwhile, but tiring.
Also, Kellie went to the Urgent Care with a fever and an ear infection. Crabby girl.
To top it all off, Matt had an Elders Quorum meeting last night- at our house- while I was gone. The problem is that he didn't bother to tell me about the meeting until right before I was leaving. I was pretty ticked. If I had known we were having company, I would have made sure the house was clean. As it was, our house was a mess. (Husbands out there- don't ever do this to your wives- it is just not nice!) grrrrrr

Today- I am going to hide. Turn off the phone. Lock the cars in. Pull the shades. Hide.

Tomorrow- Back to reality and more dry pack canning, while secretly dreaming of hiding out again next week. Hiding out and eating turkey. And stuffing. And cranberry sauce. hmm... cranberry sauce. (yummy)

Worst Date Ever

My cousin Carrie asked me to complete this tag about "The Worst Date Ever." I had to laugh, because until I met Matt 9 years ago, I had a string of really REALLY bad dates. Since I couldn't decide on just one worst experience, I thought I'd share a few and let you be the judge.

1.) I switched High Schools in my Junior year. I was invited back to a dance at my former high school. I really had no great affection for the guy who asked me, but I knew he had been following me around since 7th grade, and I kind of pitied the poor guy, who I had repeatedly rolled my eyes at. (He asked me like 6 weeks before the dance.) About a week before the dance, he called and told me what time I would need to pick him up. (Evidently, he didn't have his Driver's license yet.) Although mom and dad thought it strange, they agreed to let me go pick him up. At the door, his mom told me to promise to have him home by a reasonable hour. From there we went to dinner- a Chinese take out place where he actually tried to speak Chinese to the server. After dinner, as I headed to the dance, he asked me to pull into the King Soopers parking lot, since he had to get something. He wouldn't let me come in with him, so I circled the parking lot until he came back. He came out with a bouquet of carnations, and proceeded to throw them at me. I set them in the back seat, and drove to the school. We had been at the dance a little while when I noticed this Sophomore girl crying everywhere we went. At first, I didn't think much of it, but she kept staring at us and sobbing. I finally asked my date if he knew what was wrong with her. He then confided that she was upset because they had been dating for the last few weeks and she was actually his girlfriend. As politely as I could I asked him what he was doing here with me then, and he answered that he was hoping he could convince me to be more than friends. After assuring him that I was not going to be his next girlfriend,I told him to go to the sobbing girl. I spent the rest of the night with old friends, and when it came time to go home, I went to find my 'date'. he actually was so humiliated that he refused to get in the car. Thinking of the promise I made to his mother, I made quite the scene and told him to get in the car before I had to call his Mommy to come pick him up. He got in the car. Luckily, I never heard from him again.

#2 In college, I was asked out by a really sweet guy from my institute class. We were double dating with his brother and another girl from church. We went to Chuck E Cheese's where he then made a big deal about singing (loudly) with the animated characters, and at the end of the meal, he made us all sing Happy Birthday to him, so we could get a free dessert. (It was not his birthday) From there we went roller skating, which could have been fun, except he was terrified of falling, and so he was sweating excessively. His whole shirt was wet with perspiration. He then clung to me (literally), pulling us both down a few times. It wasn't really such a bad date for me, but I felt so sorry for the guy. I don't think I will ever understand why you would choose an activity that you are terrified of for a first date.

#3 During my first few weeks in the Singles Ward, I was invited to go up to Estes Park with "a bunch of us from church." (and yes, that is a direct quote from the guy) I was told that we would just be picnicking and enjoying the scenery. I agreed to go, and asked if I could bring a friend along, since several people were supposedly going. He agreed and came to pick us up from my dorm. When we got up to Estes Park, it was not a 'gathering' of church friends, like he had led me to believe. We were at his family reunion. He then introduced me as his date, and told everyone how much he really liked me. Since he drove us, we were "trapped' in the mountains with strangers who were pumping me for information about how serious we were, and if I minded getting married at a young age. It was awkward, to say the least, since I barely knew the guy, and was by now pretty determined that we would not be having a future together. Luckily I had a friend with me, who was just as shocked as I was. On the trip home, I decided I needed to talk to him- to let him know there was definitely NOT an us. So when he asked if we could take me for a walk when we got back to the dorm, I agreed. There was a park just a few blocks away.

During the walk, before I could really figure out just how to "let him down gently" he started grilling me with questions like: How many dates do I have to go on before I'd let a guy kiss me? or How many kids do I want? or Do I believe in short engagements? He never let me get a word in. Sitting on the shore at the park, I quickly realized that I would never have the nerve to tell this guy off, and I started praying mentally for a way to get away from him. Why hadn't I just jumped out of the car and run into my dorm? About that time, a very large rat started swimming towards the shore, right to us. It was all the excuse I needed. I jumped up and started VERY QUICKLY back to the safety of my dorm. He was running to keep up with me. I told him thank you for the interesting day and waved to him from my dorm. To this day I am convinced that the rat was sent as an answer to my prayer to help me get away from the guy. (Coincidentally, he was engaged within about six weeks to the very next girl he asked out after me. I am SO GLAD I dodged that bullet, and wish him all sorts of happiness with his wife.)

Matt, I am so glad you found me. Thank you for being normal, and loving me so much.

SNOW!

I knew all that wishful thinking about the holidays would pay off. This morning we woke up to snow! It was only about an inch or so, but I'll take it!

It is Sally's (our dog) first experience with snow. When I let her out this morning, she ran out into the yard, quickly turned around when she realized something was different, and glared at me through the door. (Yes, she really glared. Kind of a how dare you kind of look) She then parked herself on the concrete step outside our door until I let her back in. Her whine was enough to tell me that she was not all that happy to be out in the cold.

I, on the other hand, was glad to see the snow, even if it will be gone by tonight. Makes me want to go make hot chocolate. :)

Will Christmas Find Me?

I was sitting in my car this afternoon, waiting for Aaron to get out of school. Needing a change from our normal Cars soundtrack, I looked through our CD's. I found our Josh Groban Chrismas CD, (which by the way is excellent!) and threw it in.

Our kids love Christmas music, just like me, and nobody complained that it was too early to be listening to holiday music.

During the song, "I'll be Home for Christmas," during the part that says Christmas Eve will find me, Caleb spoke up.

He said, "Will Christmas really find me, Mom? Are you sure it knows where I am, and will find me?"

I thought it was pretty cute. So, to help Christmas find our family, I took the first preparations today, by revamping our blog to make it holiday friendly. Hope you enjoy!

Carrots and Tumbleweeds: a Not So Brief Explanation

Once upon a time in a very big backyard, a windstorm occurred. Over the fence flew many, many, many, many tumbleweeds. These tumbleweeds were bothersome to the inhabitants. The dog liked to chew and scatter the noxious plants, but moaned when their pricklies got stuck in her fur. The people groaned at the awful sight from their windows.

"What a horrible eyesore! Something must be done!" the gentleman of the manor exclaimed!

There was only one thing to be done. "We must banish these plants!"

On a Saturday morning, (well to be perfectly exact, THIS Saturday morning.) all members of the household retired to the backyard to rid this plague from the land. The littlest one, Lady Kellie, worked with the most enthusiasm, never complaining at the daunting task. Her roguish brothers escaped duty as much as possible, by digging a huge hole in the dirt.

Kellie's father, Sir Matt, braved the bright red trash can, jumping and beating the weeds until they were truly bits. (Here is where you sigh, and say, "My HERO!") He then hauled them off so we would have to look upon them no longer.

Meanwhile, The exquisite Julie, Sir Matt's wife, harvested the remaining carrots from the garden. There were many varied colors of carrots, since the seed packet used was a variety pack named "Kaleidoscope Carrots." Later that afternoon, while the younger children enjoyed their afternoon siesta, Aaron, The exquisite Julie, and Sir Matt cleaned, peeled and sliced these crazy colored carrots. "We will enjoy them in a feast, perhaps later this month, " said Sir Matt.

And that is the very true story of how a family rid their yard of pesky tumbleweeds, and prepared their carrots for consumption. THE END.

(Well, what do you expect? It wouldn't have been any fun to say, "We cleaned the yard and picked the carrots." That sounds boring...let us live a little, and pretend our life is more exciting than it actually is.)

Carrots and Tumbleweeds

Matt's Weirdness

Julie tagged me. I can't believe it. (Yes, I can.)

Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself.

I'm going to have to lean heavily on the "random" aspect, since I'm not at all weird.

1) I'm an only child (not uncommon, I know, but still a bit random).
2) I am deathly afraid of heights, but only open heights. Flying doesn't bother me. I think it's mostly fear of falling to my death.
3) I've never eaten eggplant. I don't think I'm missing much.
4) I once thought - before I could read - that the CBS jingle went "C-V-S."
5) I'd rather drive across Wyoming than across Colorado. If you've done this, you understand the weird factor here.
6) I don't like Hawaii - it's too humid. Colorado is even a stretch for my personal humidity scale. (In all fairness, Hawaii is a beautiful place).
7) I'd rather spend time with those I love than watch the Super Bowl. I understand from some of Julie's college friends that this makes me weird. I would disagree.

I don't have anyone to tag, since Julie already tagged everyone who reads our blog. But if you read this, and haven't been tagged, please respond!

Tagged from Andrea

My friend Andrea tagged me. Here goes...

I am glad that I have 3 wonderful (and sometimes very noisy) kiddos.
I think I am ready for snow. (We've had such warm Fall weather, I think I'd like a bit of white stuff, instead of 70-80 degree weather.)
Everything in life can be made better with time, prayer, and faith.
I want to be debt free! We are getting closer.
I have so many blessings.
I dislike laundry. It never ends!
I miss laughing and playing games with my sisters. (You two better miss me when you're together!) :)
I fear snakes and crickets. Snakes are just gross and it's just not natural for a creepy little bug to be able to make so much noise. I hate them. (A LOT)
I feel like hugging my family.
I hear my dog outside barking at the neighbors cat, who is on the fence. (She is actually afraid of this cat, and if it comes in the yard, she whines at the back door for someone to save her.)
I smell the burning leaves from the field a few blocks from here.
I crave Mexican food.
I cry a lot lately. Emotions have just run a bit close to the surface these days.
I search for really good books. I love to read.
I wonder when we'll finally decide to move and what our new house will be like.
I regret not always being the first to apologize.
I wish I always knew what to do.
I love my husband and my kids. I couldn't be more blessed.
I care too much. I hate to see other people hurting or worried.
I always play with Matt's hair when I am trying to fall asleep.
I am not very good at math. (It's kind of funny, really, that I am married to a Math Major)
I remember the first time Matt called me. I was getting ready to walk out the door to go to the Dining Hall for dinner, and I was so surprised that he called that I skipped dinner to talk to him instead. I was SO HUNGRY later, butI think it was worth it.
I believe in routine bedtimes and schedules. My life is much less hectic when the kids know what to expect, and when I have an hour or two to myself every evening.
I sing whatever song Matt gets stuck in my head. It is so annoying! Matt is always singing showtunes and then they get stuck in my head, too.
I don’t always think before I speak.
I argue over things that don't really matter. Ask Matt. We are both so stubborn sometimes.
I write in my journal.
I win at Battleship most of the time. I feel bad for Matt, he always lines his ships up in predictable patterns, whereas my ships are all over the board.
I lose my cell phone a lot. It's always at home, butI just forget where I set it down.
I listen to the Primary CD's in the car.
I don’t understand why my kids think they will get their way by yelling at me. Has that ever worked?
I can usually be found at home, at Aaron's school or at the church.
I need to go fix dinner soon.
I forget to send Show and Tell with Aaron on Fridays sometimes.
I am happy when I take time to count my blessings.

I tag: Carrie

Halloween

Kellie's Birthday