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!