Starry night

Tonight we got the kids ready for bed, then we all headed outside to look at the stars. In those few moments we found our piece of heaven. I love looking into the greatness of space and refreshing my perspective on life. I've got all I need to be happy for eternity right there in my arms- my Daniel, my Kylie, my Toast, my James, and my Ben. And to make it even more perfect- right as we started to head back in- a star shot across the sky. It was magical. Of course Tyler didnt get to see it, so he started crying, and Ben clawed my face as Daniel reached for him to get him off, so now my nose and upper lip are stinging, and the 8 feet that were nicely bathed became black from the dirt, but it was well worth it.

Delivered

Christmas Eve jammies photo-op

Christmas with the Jacksons

Even puking her guts out wont stop her from reading. Thats my girl.

Call of Duty/Male Bonding

The evidence is on his face

Bennies first Christmas

Shephard ninja

My dear Utah delivered the goods this year! I got my white Christmas. Oh was it beautiful. And oh was it COLD! My blood must have thinned since living in the desert wasteland as I could hardly go outside. We spent a few days with Daniels family and a few with mine. We went sledding, went to the temple lights, and drank hot chocolate by the gallons. We did our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, followed by the re-enactment of the nativity, followed by the 4 minute DVD of Luke 2, then opened up our Christmas jammie's. Then we got to have the delicious traditional Ice-cream cake roll! Then we watched the reflections of Christ dvd, and then everyone left grandma and grandpas, and then my mom remembered the traditional Christmas Eve book. We read it to the kids, then put them to bed, and visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. We woke up with our dear little Kylie puking her guts out. And she continued to do so all day. Last year James puked all night and day for Christmas, so it looks like its becoming a tradition. Ben slept through most of his 1st Christmas morning. But he still got to shove handfuls of wrapping paper into his mouth once he decided to join the festivities. James was mostly interested in his CANDY- and couldn't care less about anything else. And he proceeded to eat candy for breakfast lunch and dinner the next few days. Ty was excited about his Knight gear, and his daddy was excited by his remote control car that drives on the walls. Sweet. We got to have Uncle Johnny and Lala there on Christmas morning and that was quite the treat as they are THE favorite aunt and uncle. Christmas night everyone came back to Grandmas for another tasty dinner and lots of mayhem as 20 out of the 25 grandkids were running all over the place. And the guys hooked a bunch of computers together and spent the next few hours playing call of duty. Boys. We got home late last night and I am already homesick for my frozen Utah. Well not so much Utah as the people there that I love. I really don't like being so far away from my siblings and most especially my parents. And I miss my moms new washing machine. For the first time in my life I really really enjoyed doing laundry. You turn that machine on and boy was that the most cheerful greeting ever! It made me smile every time I pushed the buttons. Such a happy washer. Now to get back to the routine.

Gingerbread night

Tonight the kids and I decorated a gingerbread house. It was quite the fiasco as James kept trying to eat the gingerbread while we were trying to frost the pieces together. And when it was time to decorate James thought his baby brother would like the extra frosting. He also decided it was super fun to throw the sprinkles on Toast. Tyler retaliated by whacking James with the box the gingerbread came in. My favorite part though was this conversation between Kylie and Tyler.

Kylie: Tyler you did a really good job creating this window.

Tyler: Yeah, I am the best cremator in the world.

Kylie: well dont you like the doors that I did?

Tyler: hmmm, yeah, those are pretty good. You can be the next best cremator in our family.

Looks like we know what profession our son is going into. We are so proud.

ice-cream, cookie dough, and candy

This morning I found James all smiles with a dilly-bar shoved in his mouth. He was looking so proud of the fact that he was able to get himself breakfast. When I took it away the tantrum was tremendous. Ten minutes later, he is sitting on the couch shoving handfuls of cookie dough into his wide open mouth. I take that away and again- the tantrum was unbelievable. And then ten minutes after that he found my hidden stash of mint m&ms and then hid himself in the pantry so that he could eat in peace. So far this morning, nothing of much nutritional value has been consumed by my 2 year old. Just a bunch of sugar. And I wonder why he is bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball.

Yes I was THAT excited. Daniel got me a gee-tar for my b-day this year. I AM LOVIN IT. I made a comment to Daniel a while back about how I would like to learn to play the guitar so that when(really more like "if" but we will think positive) I record my album I can play the guitar myself. I guess this is also suppose to motivate me to get back into singing, and since tomorrow is my last day to teach preschool I might just have a little more time on my hands to do such. "LETS GET ROCKIN!"

So in other business Kylie had her Christmas program last night. The kid next to her was like a foot taller than her, and was super animated so he kept flailing his arms in front of her face, so I was a bit irritated, but thats kind of what you expect at these little functions right? I think I have to get a zoom lens for my camera cuz I tried to figure out how to zoom in to get a picture of my moo but ended up with this "wheres waldo" picture instead. Ah well. Such is life.

Birthday memories

So today is my birthday. I have one more year before I can claim I am old, so I am gonna really enjoy it. Last year was my most favorite birthday. here's why- since Daniel and I met, he started a little list in the back of his journal of things he noticed about me that he liked. He continues to add to it and its really quite sweet. He tries to be all sneaky when adding to it and not letting me see cuz he is afraid of coming off as sappy or something- but I love it. Anyway last year he took 100 of those things and compiled them into the gift in the above picture. It made me cry when I opened it and read it last year. I really married one incredible guy- how lucky am I? So thats my favorite birthday.

My worst birthday: when we got married, I moved to Mesa with Daniel. I got a job at a Dr's office, and it was quite the strange change for me cuz I went from working in an office where everyone was LDS to being the only member of the church in that new office. Which was fine- until some of the girls thought it would be funny to bring porn magazines and show them to me as if that was funny. They thought I was stupid for not having slept with Daniel before we got married, and thought I was crazy cuz I never went with them for "drinks" after work. It became a really uncomfortable place to go everyday and I decided I was gonna look for another job after the Holidays. SO on my birthday I go into work- (it was a Friday that year) and right after the crazy morning rush, the office manager pulls me into his office and tells me "you're fired"(try it in your best Trump voice-) cuz I am "not up to par"- his exact words. Now let me just say- being a receptionist is not that hard of a job, so for him to say that in the first place was pretty rude, then add to that the fact I was the one receptionist who was the one who answered the calls, checked people in, made the appointments while the other six receptionists sat around gossiping about Ross and Rachel. Top it off with the fact it was my birthday. And the "Christmas party" where they handed out bonuses was the following week. I was really bummed about that. (the bonus, not the booze fest) anyway I went home and cried cuz I felt like a failure and was confused as to why. Daniel and Michael made it up to me though- they took me to Claim Jumpers for dinner and that was quite the treat! But really what kind of a "boss" fires someone on their birthday. Harsh.

Anyway Daniel has made it a great day again- I will post pictures of my surprise once he lets me open it!(I must say I am really excited!)

Thanks to my family and friends for the kind birthday wishes- you sure know how to make one feel loved!

Twist on a tradition

Kylie loves to have pancakes on Saturday mornings. This morning I was in such a festive mood after a GREAT Holiday party last night, that I figured we should make this mornings pancakes Christmasy- we used cookie cutters to cut our pancakes into trees, stars, snowmen, gingerbread-men, angels, and candy canes. It was simple and yet the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Then as I was cleaning the kitchen, Kylie whipped out one of the Christmas books, and started reading to her brothers. It was a tender little moment.
Can this day get any better? It just might as we have our wards Christmas party tonight and woo-hoo Santas gonna be there! Hooray! Bring on the Christmas Cheer!

Endorphins make you happy

I absolutely love mint m&ms. They only come out during the holidays, and once they start showing up at the store you can guarantee we add at least two bags to our weekly grocery run. So we noticed them a little earlier this year- right after Halloween to be exact. And since that time I have been eating them like candy. This daily indulgence is starting to show its consequences as my clothes are fitting a little differently. Last year I blamed the weight gain on my pregnancy. This year I dont have that excuse. Knowing full well I am not gonna stop eating this tasty treat, I thought I should probably get my rear in gear and pull out the old pilates/yoga routine. I use to do this daily, but since last years Thanksgiving, I couldnt do it effectively while being pregnant and even though I planned on starting back up after I had my little Ben, sleep has been too precious to give up. Truth be told I am just lazy. Well today I dont have any commitments until this afternoon, and Daniel took Kylie to school this morning, so I decided this was the opportune time cuz I didnt have to get up early and I could shower after working out. Perfect plan. I fed Ben, and got him and James toys to keep them busy, pulled out my equipment, and began. Not even 3 minutes into it all 3 of my boys were on top of me. I guess they figure this was the perfect opportunity to catch me off my guard for some wrestling. I gave them all loves, and got them distracted with some books this time, then went back to try to pickup where I left off. Several minutes later, same thing. I figured they needed to be in a different room. So I gathered some blocks in the front room, and then snuck back to the family room ,and tried to get back into the routine. Five minutes later they all were on top of me again. So I just tried to proceed with all of them all over me. Very difficult and ineffective as far as working out goes. So after a few more minutes I gave up. I got maybe 15 minutes of work out time, but it took me an hour to do so, and then I knew I had to get ready for the day. How the fetch does anyone exercise when they have kids around? I should try to get up early before they are awake, but its torture to drag myself from bed after having woken up just a few hours earlier to feed Ben each night. So thats not gonna happen until he starts sleeping through the night.(one would imagine he should be doing by now, but he thinks otherwise.) There is always the option of doing it after my kids are in bed, but by that time I am worn out from the day and just want to hang out with Daniel, so I dont think I can commit to that either. So really I should just give up the m&ms, but I have no power to resist their sweet temptations, so I guess I will just have to deal with the love handles. Of course I have this little voice in my head that says, "Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people just dont shoot their husbands." Not that I think my marriage is in peril, but really it would be nice to workout again, but after this morning I dont see it happening for a little while longer.

Answered Prayer

**Disclaimer**- I have debated about posting this post- I dont do it to be "seen of men" so to speak, nor for anyone to think I am bragging or trying to be all "look at us, arent we great" cuz thats not what we think at all- I write this because this is my journal and I hope my kids read this someday and know that what I try to teach them, I try to do by example. I want them to know that I know the Lord has had a hand in not only our lives but in the lives of people we dont really even know. And with that I share with you this years answer to a year long prayer-

Last year at Christmas Daniel gave me a book. He thought I would like it cuz its a Christmas story and he knows that I love Christmas. I had seen the little write up in the desert book ad, and wondered what the fetch a "Christmas jar" was, but didnt really intend to find out. SO when he gave me the book, I was like- "oh gee,... thanks hun...its what i always wanted(laying on the sarcasm pretty thick))" It was sweet of him to get me anything as we kind of have this thing where we dont really spend money on each others gifts, but Daniel never holds to that. Anyway I wasnt all that enthused about the book, but a few weeks after Christmas, Ky was at school, Toast was at preschool, James was napping and I had my house clean and laundry done, so I had some time to kill. I went looking for something to read, and saw the book and figured I might as well give it a try. So I read the book, liked it and thought it was a cute idea. So we started our own little jar and have been adding to it throughout the year. Well as it is the Holiday season, I have been praying for the past several months to know who we should give this to. I have been getting a little frustrated cuz I havent been receiving any inspiration and the thing is- I want to be inspired. Here's why- I think anytime anyone is in a hard situation, it is EXTREMELY hard to ask for help. I dont know if its pride or just embarrassment, but I think we like to put on a happy face for friends/family/neighbors and think we can some how manage to do it ourselves. Well thats how I feel anyway. But having had some "hard times" I have learned that my Father in Heaven knows of my needs, and has used family/neighbors/friends to offer love, kindness and support many a time over. How utterly grateful I am for those who have been in tune with the quiet whisperings of the spirit and without really knowing what personal fires we were going through, were there and in one way or another to answer a personal prayer. So I have really wanted to be in tune to be able to really help someone in need. I have been on the receiving end so many times, and I really want to be the one giving for once. Again- I have been praying- and praying and praying and trying to be in tune with this. I know there are so many people out there who are suffering, and I also know that sometimes the only one who knows is our Heavenly Father. Daniel and I have thrown around some names, but I wanted this to be something that I really felt. So Daniel came home one night this week, and started telling me about his day. He told me about this woman he talked to on a unexpected call. She just had her third baby, her husband is in another state trying to get into some kind of training for the field of work he is wanting to go into, and she is barely getting by. As he starts telling me about his conversation, I felt a physical heat rush through me and I got a little emotional cuz right then in that single moment I KNEW who this jar needs to go to. I felt so strongly the answer to my prayer. And this makes me completely joyful. My heart breaks for this little family that I dont know, but I am happy knowing that their needs are aware of by our Heavenly Father. And I am so happy to know my prayers are heard.

Traditions

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is "the Book" each family in my family gets on Christmas Eve from my mother. This started many years ago and its something I really look forward to. Last year we got "The Last Straw" by Paula McDonald. Its the story of a little family who in order to have the Christmas spirit make a bed for Baby Jesus and when an act of love/service is given a piece of straw is added to the bed. My mom challenged all the grand kids last year to do this for this years Christmas. So as our 25 days of Christmas started yesterday, we kicked it off last night for FHE. We read the story again, Daniel made the little bed, and we drew names of the person we are to secretly serve this week. We stressed to Ky and Ty that its a secret so they cant tell anyone else and cant let the person know. And since James and Ben are both a little too little to draw names, we just made them bonus points/free for all. So at bed time I was trying to give them ideas of nice things we can do. Ty was trying really hard not to tell me who he had cuz he knew its a secret, but then he asked me," um mom...pretend I had my name, how do I do nice things for myself?" Suffice it to say he and I switched names. Anyway they kids could hardly sleep they were so excited and both were anxious to start their secret acts of service this morning. James however has other plans. He thinks the bed for baby Jesus is his new little fort. Hopefully the thing will last through this activity.