~Santa~

Every year we take the kids to see the jolly ol' man himself. In fact we usually see two or three Santas! I've been blessed in the fact that I dont have very shy children, they love going and sitting on his lap and telling what they want for Christmas, of course it helps that they usually get candy afterwards! This last year Abby was especially funny, when we went and saw our third Santa, she actually said, "I already told you what I want for christmas, dont you remember!?" She's a smart one! I have a feeling she might learn the truth waaayyy to early. I wish I could keep them small forever~

Christmas in February!

I'm FINALLY getting around to posting our christmas pictures, better late than never right?

I thought it would be fun to make gingerbread (or in this case grahm cracker) houses with the kids. I thought it would be so easy to slap a little house together and then let the kids loose to decorate. Boy was I wrong! Matt and I each made a house, Matt thought his through and made a plan, he had interior walls, windows, and even roof trusses to make sure his house was structurally sound. Mine was the complete opposite! Never in my entire life did I think making a tiny house would be so frusterating! Next year I'm going to buy the kit where the house is already put together.

While I had a few minutes of peace and quiet I thought I would fill everyone in on what's been happening at our crazy house!
My mom moved in with us the day after Thanksgiving. She has had a really hard time since my dad died and so we think this is the best thing for her right now. My brothers are also still here and that means that there are now 7 people living in my tiny house!!!
We had an amazing Christmas and I promise that I will post pictures soon, my camera is upstairs and I'm just too lazy to walk up and get it. It was nice to have my family here to celebrate with us. We also got to spend time with Matts family which was great since his brother Jeff leaves on Wed. for the MTC (Missionary Training Center). Jeff will be serving his 2 years in the Oklahoma City Mission. We are SO proud of him!
And lastly we have all been dealing with the nasty winter germs. Just this week I've taken sick kids to Urgent Care 3 times! Shawn went twice because he has Pneumonia, and now Abby has a horrible double ear infection. On top of that everyone has had a round of the ever so fun flu!
Hopefully things will start looking up in the new year!

New Hair Do

I've been a blonde for as long as I can remember. I've done everything from super platinum blonde to strawberry blonde and have had every shade of highlight and lowlight. Dont get me wrong I love being blonde! I actually feel more myself with light hair and I've been told that I have a very "blonde personality" whatever that means.......Well I thought that with the bleak winter months and me being so sickingly pale it would be fun to change things up a little bit and now I'm a sexy brunette! I absolutly love it! I dont quite feel like me, but I think that's part of the appeal; being someone new. What do you think?

Tinkerbell~

Abby has been begging for a kitten for a couple of months and Matt and I were reluctant to get her one just because we have Max our dog that she begged for last Christmas and both of my brothers living with us. The house just seemed too small for another person/animal!
Well we got new visiting teaching routes and I was assigned an older women by the name of Sandy Robinson, when I called to make an appointment to visit she told me that is was no problem for me to bring the kids because she had a lot of toys and cats for them to play with. Well it turned out that wonderful sister Robinson had this tiny little kitten that she was trying to find a new home for, Abby and I both fell instantly in love with the little bundle of fur and so Tinkerbell (thats what Abby named it) has a new home! Tink is the most patient, loving, playful kitty~ Thank you Sister Robinson~

Bugs

All summer both of the kids have been fascinated by all the bugs on the side of the house, Shawns always running over there saying "help me, help me" He wants me to catch them so he can see them up close. The only thing was that both of them were too scared to actually touch the poor little grasshopper themselves...Until now! Being the cunning mother that I am,and with the weather getting colder, I told the kids that the bugs were getting ready to go away for the winter and that if they wanted to hold them they had better do it today. So sure enough they both dug deep and found the courage to hold it, all the while saying "goodbye bug, come back next summer!"

Halloween~

Abby has been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz lately, and so of course that obsession carried over to Halloween! She was sooo excited for her ruby red slippers, the only problem was all the glittery red shoes in her size were sold out. So what did we do? We got crafty! We found a pair of plain red shoes and then with the help of some spray glue we added the glitter ourselves! So we spent $5 dollars for a pair of fabulous shoes instead of $20. And everyone knows that you can't have a Dorothy without the Cowardly Lion. I found this awesome lion costume on e-bay for $3.00!!! Shawn looked so adorable in it, he was even one of the winners of the costume contest at our church party. All in all Halloween was a complete sugary success and Abby is already planning out what she and Shawn are going to be next year~