Christmas......

Christmas Eve we had our friends the Grants over for dinner and then we played a game called Snorta (?) It was SO much fun. We always have a good time with them and Christmas Eve was no exception. Before bed the girls opened up their pj's from Grandma & Grandpa Van Dyke. Can you tell Livvy was ready for bed by this point? And then it was off to bed to dream of sugar plums, etc, etc,.


Whitney woke up at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, came downstairs and slept on our floor. She woke me up 3 more times between then and 4:00 a.m. to see if it was time to open presents yet. I finally just carried her back upstairs thinking they would both sleep until 7:00 or 7:30. No such luck. They came down to our room at 5:48 a.m. I remember the exact time because I could NOT believe they were already up. We made them wait until 6:00 a.m. and it was FinAlLy time! Between last Christmas and this Christmas Jeremy officially became a grumpy Christmas Dad. You know the type, the ones that don't get up with the baby or kids in the middle of the night 6 or 7 times and go to bed before you and even slept a little later than you, but are still grumpy pants on Christmas morning and acting SO tired. Welcome to the old man club sweetie!

Anyhow, the twins got so many fun presents - Whitney's favorites are the Hannah Montana guitar, microphone and barbie that Santa brought her. Gracie loves her Hannah Montana, Gabriella & Troy barbies and they both love their High School Musical sweatshirts - they wear them all the time, I've already had to wash them once and they wore them to bed tonight. Olivia definitely enjoyed eating on all of the wrapping paper, and really loves all of her toys which is so fun. This year Jeremy and I were excited because we finally feel like we got it right for the twins - that their gifts are things they wanted and are "age appropriate" - in a good way.










We aren't quite sure about the faces Gracie has been making lately in her pictures, but my goodness she is funny!
Later in the afternoon the girls got on their new scarves and hats (thanks Grandma Caren and Grandpa Neil) and their new snow pants and sleds (thanks Grandma & Grandpa Van Dyke) and headed outside - we had a good 12 - 16 inches on the ground and it was perfect for making a snow fort. We even bundled Livvy up in her snow suit and hauled the excersaucer (of course) outside and she just laughed and danced around while we built the fort.




We ended the day with a round of Princess Yahtzee and a game of dart tag which is by far our new favorite thing to do. It was a great day and we feel so blessed to have these amazing, wonderful, beautiful girls as our daughters. And we are also thankful for all of you and hope you each had a wonderful day!

Christmas Party & Other Adventures...

So, the other morning the twins climbed into bed with Livvy and I was trying to get some fun pictures of them together:

Gracie, open your eyes! Let me take another picture...

Grace - you did it again! Keep your eyes open this time....

Really? This is the last time I'm taking a picture of you guys....

Good job! Let's get one more!

Awesome!

Our ward party was last week and the primary had a little program for us - for some reason Whitney was not front-and-center on the stage - very weird - but I got some pictures of Gracie...





We were talking about the program yesterday and I was telling them both what a great job they did up on the stage and Gracie said: Yeah, but we were stuck up on that freakin' stage all night!

Here is a picture of Whitney handing her Christmas list to Santa - two pages worth - he didn't know what hit him.

Livvy watching the program - don't you just love those 2 bottom teeth?



One last thing - this has been another long post, sorry - the other day Gracie had her sketch pad and was asking me how to spell I Love You - I was cleaning the bathroom at the time and wasn't really paying attention to her, so when she came back with this paper and asked for Ty's address my heart just melted:


If you can't tell it's a picture of Ty, Charlie, Jeff & Ashley. By the way - we need your address!

These girls are funny....

So this past week Gracie and Whitney have been cracking me up - when they haven't been making me want to pull my hair out. Here are a few gems from this week:

I got up from the floor in the family room to turn on the Christmas tree lights Wednesday morning and started singing....

me: Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la la la, tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la

gracie (singing): You've got a napkin stuck to your butt, fa la la la la la la la la.

Sure enough, paper towel stuck to my butt.

Wednesday night my frieng Jinger, whose little boy is in the girls preschool class says:

So, Jennie (the kids teacher) told me that on Tuesday Whitney was sitting at the boys table and this is what she heard:

whitney: So, which girls in the class do you think are hot?

WHAT???? I went right over to Whitney and asked her why she was asking the boys which girls were hot and she says: I didn't mom.

me: Mrs. Jennie said she heard you say that yesterday at school.

whitney (turning pale): Is she here?

me: Whit, do you even know what it means when you think someone is hot?

whitney: No.

me: Where did you here that from then?

whitney: From Hannah.

Aha! Boy crazy teenager. Makes much more sense now! =)

On Saturday we had been snacking on swedish fish and I told the girls we weren't having anymore that night. So we were watching a movie and I was holding Whitney and we both fell asleep (Jer was at Wal Mart) for probably an hour. After the show I was taking the girls up to bed and this is what Gracie tells me:

gracie: Mom, I have to tell you something. Guess what I did while you were sleeping?

me (instantly starting to panic): What did you do Grace?

gracie: I ate a bunch of swedish fish while I watched the movie.
She was laughing hysterically after she told me this. It was so funny.

One last story. Today in sacrament meeting the twins primary teacher was one of the speakers. We were sitting in the middle section about 3/4 of the way back in the chapel and Jeremy was holding the twins on his lap (don't ask). When all of a sudden Gracie, who is sitting up a little higher than Jer, sticks her hand up in the air and starts furiously waving at her teacher in the middle of his talk.

I love these girls!

O Christmas Tree and some other stuff

We put up our Christmas tree about 1 1/2 weeks ago and I let the girls decorate it - can you tell I'm tired? I am honestly not one of those people that really cares if my tree looks perfect, it's more fun for me to watch the kids decorate it and this year they did not disappoint as evidenced by these pictures (is evidenced a word or have I been watching Law & Order too much?) Anyhoo, if you are bored and would like to count the number of ornaments on the bottom 1/4 of the tree I believe there are between 20 & 30.



I also thought it would be fun to string popcorn this year and put it on the tree. Then I got the bright idea to add gumdrops to it so it would be colorful - an hour and a half later this is what I had accomplished:


I am planning on finishing up with just popcorn today or tomorrow.


Here are some random pictures of the kids.....well, mostly Olivia, the twins are kind of getting shafted in the picture department right now.



The twins watching a show after a bath. It is ridiculously hard to get candid pictures of these two.





Can you tell this kid loves her exersaucer?




This is what happens when you leave the baby with her daddy while you go grocery shopping.

One final note: I was talking to the twins yesterday and told them that mommy was going to be eating more healthy and exercising more so that we could do more things together and this is how the rest of the coversation went:

me: So, do you think you could help mommy work on being more healthy?

gracie: Sure! Do you think you can also work on not yelling at us?

crap.

Just Another Day in Paradise......

Let me preface how this day has been going with how my night ended. I was on the computer ready to watch a little Chuck and decided to hurry and check my facebook - such an addiction - there was a message from my cousin to click on a link for a video I was in, thinking maybe it was from Ashley's wedding dinner, I clicked away - yep, it was a virus. So I was online with Norton for two hours last night while they repaired my computer. Are you jealous yet?

So, this morning Livvy had her immunization and well baby appointment for 8:30 in the morning. Jeremy had to go down to Utah last night to attend the funeral of his aunt so he took the car and left me his work truck, so I was already a little on edge about that because it has been a while since I've driven a stick. The twins have preschool at 9:00 which I totally spaced when I made Livvy's appointment so my friend Jinger said I could drop the twins off at her house and she would run them to preschool - her son is in the twins class. So at about 8:00 I went out and started the truck, Jer told me it took a good 10 minutes to warm up and headed back in to get the kids bundled up. Whitney and Gracie were both in the bathroom and Whitney said, "Mom, Gracie just threw up in the toilet and it was a lot." Great. Can't take a pukey kid to preschool or my friends house for that matter. So I get on the phone and call our next door neighbor who said she can watch Gracie, who, by the way, is looking greener and greener every minute. Have I mentioned that I was supposed to work tonight? Can't take a pukey kid to the babysitter either. So I called my friend at work and she said she would cover for me. Still haven't left the house. Get the kids bundled up and put the baby in the truck, Whitney in the back seat and walk Gracie over to Cheryl's hoping she doesn't pass out. She does not pass out. Whew. Take Whitney to Jinger's house and I have 10 minutes until I am supposed to be at Livvy's appointment, it will take me at least 15 minutes to get to the office. One bright spot - have not stalled the truck yet - so I call the doctors office and tell them I am running late and they say no big deal. Finally make it to Rexburg and am about 2 minutes from the doctors office when they call and say Livvy's doctor will not be in until 9:45 (he is a family practitioner and is always delivering babies), can I please come in the office then? "No I can't. This always happens when I have an appointment with him. Can I please see another doctor." They comply. Pull into the parking lot which is completely empty. Get Livvy out of the truck and the diaper bag and purse. Haul us to the doors and there is a small sign saying that they have finished construction on the building and to now please use the doors on the other side of the building. Bugger. I said a couple of choice words, pack us back in the truck and drive to the other side of the building. Finally made it. Livvy got her immunizations and the other doctor was awesome. Livvy has a bacterial infection and yeast infection, not awesome. Take the baby to Walmart to get her prescription filled and 30 minutes later we are headed home to pick up pukey pants and wait for Whitney to get home from preschool.

Cheryl (my neighbor) said Gracie was great, didn't eat much, but also didn't throw up. Things are looking up. As soon as we walked through the back door Gracie immediately heads to the bathroom and barfs. Poor thing. She is just so sweet and cute and when she is sick it is just so sad. The baby is sleeping in her car seat in the bedroom, Gracie is resting on the couch and Whitney walks in the door having had an awesome time at preschool. Whitney is now my official helper for the day - she is reveling in the title and is looking forward to the time when she is in charge of all things, not just the helper. Gracie has only thrown up one more time and the baby woke up, ate, pooped, played, nursed and is down for a nap again.

What a day - and it is only 1:20 p.m. Here are pictures of my cutie pie kids today:





One side note: Livvy now weighs 17 lbs. 6 oz. and is 27 inches long. That means she is in the 89% for height and 81% for weight.

We Are Back

Whew! We just got back last night from our VERY extended stay in Utah. Ashley & Jeff got married on November 15th and I watched her boys the whole next week while they honeymooned in Cancun (so jealous) and then we stayed the next week for Thanksgiving. Jeremy joined us the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we were so thrilled to have our little family back together.

Some highlights of the time we spent in Utah:

-Jeff's brother Scott singing the MOST beautiful song at their wedding dinner

-My brother Matt forgetting his temple recommend - he lives in Provo and they got married at the Salt Lake Temple

-Watching Jeff, Ashley and all of the kids dancing their hearts out at the reception

-Getting out of the shower one morning and hearing little feet running around upstairs. Charlie had escaped and gone upstairs by himself. When I found him he had colored most of his face and inside his ears with a green sharpie. He said "Please, I'm sorry, but I wanted it to look like grass"

-Me and Melissa taking our kids and Ty to High School Musical 3 and watching them dance like crazy people during the closing number

-Cafe Rio pork salad. 'Nuff said.

-Going to the midnight showing of Twilight. SO awesome! Me and Melissa had a blast!

-Jenn's awesome jello cups at Thanksgiving

-Jeff in his Indian costume at dinner. Love the mustache Kip!

-Seeing my extended family - I love being around them, I always laugh so much!

-Staying up late with Jer's family planning our strategy for Black Friday!

-Waking up at 3:45 to go shopping with Jer's family

-Buying so much of our Christmas on Black Friday that none of it fit in the trunk and Jer actually has to make a special trip down to pick it all up

-Whitney telling me is was time for us to get home to Idaho because "You really need to get back to work at Applebee's

-Getting home last night and seeing Livvy's face ABSOLUTELY light up that we were home.

I really didn't take very many pictures, but we did get a new camera and I can't wait to try it out! Thanks to everyone that made our stay so much fun - we can't wait to see you all again!

Food Storage Fun

Over the past few months I have been increasingly aware of the need for food storage. Maybe it's because I live among amazing women who are diligently working toward the goal of having a years worth of supplies for their families, or maybe it's the turmoil that seems to be swirling at our feet each day around the world. I know that the prophets have been counseling us for YEARS AND YEARS to get this done and for YEARS AND YEARS I have figured I would get around to it - well, the time has come. I think that part of the problem for me was that food storage just seemed so overwhelming, and if that wasn't enough, it seemed just plain old boring. Who wants to store 85 cans of honey in their basement only to throw them out in 20 years? Well, I have found someone that makes food storage fun, interesting and totally possible. She has a blog called http://myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/ and she has TONS of great ideas on how to acquire your food storage. In addition to that she has a website, in which, for just $9.95 a month, she will e-mail you every week the ads for the 5 major grocery stores in Utah, highlighting the deals which are the best, how much of each item you need for the year and THEN she e-mails you meals for the week using the items from the ads and a shopping list for those meals. I think for like $5.95 you can just get the ads. It is great! For me it has totally "modernized" food storage and her approach to the whole thing is very doable. She will even give you a two-week free subscription to her services - if you don't want to do that at least check out her blog and let me know what you think.

Halloween and Raking Leaves

This year Halloween was VERY fun for a few reasons:

#1 The girls each had different costumes this year and I thought they fit their personalities perfectly




#2 We went to our stupid trunk-or-treat for the ward, but then we actually took the girls trick-or-treating in the small neighborhoods and the streets by our house which was very fun and a great way to meet neighbors that aren't members/very active.


#3 Whitney was so excited about Halloween that she started talking in her high excited voice I have only ever heard her use on Christmas morning


#4 Livvy just sat in her stroller all evening and either slept or stared, it was awesome

#5 It was actually warm enough that we didn't wear coats or jackets - need to put that day down in the journal as a reminder when there is three feet of snow on the ground in January

For any of you that have not been to our house, we live on a corner lot and have 5 very large, old trees that run across the front yard and 4 very large, old trees that line the west side of our home. When fall comes and all of the leaves turn beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow I know that it is only a matter of weeks until our yard is absolutely covered with said leaves and that if they aren't raked up before it rains/snows they won't get raked up until Spring. Jeremy had the whole yard raked in an hour or two and thought it would be fun to bury the girls






Don't you love the faces they are pulling? Cracked me right up when Jer showed me the pictures!

Pumpkin Guts Drive Me Nuts!

A couple of weeks ago we carved pumpkins on the back patio - I personally think that it is way fun and don't mind all of the sticky guts that go along with the carving, I'm pretty sure Jer feels the same way. When they were scooping out their pumpkins Whitney told Jeremy, "Daddy, your fur is sticky", meaning his hairy arms had pumpkin all over them. It was pretty funny.




Gracie wanted a spooky pumpkin and Whitney decided she wanted hers to have big teeth.



And Livvy just watched us from the exersaucer.