Playing Catch-Up... February Edition

Honestly,

I don't know

where February went.

It's a busy month for our family,

so I have to do a

"better late than never" post

just for the sake of

Family History.

We celebrated Valentine's Day

at breakfast this year

because we had a birthday dinner date

with Grandma in the evening.

Everyone got their traditional

books and candy to celebrate the love day.

Matthew is a recent convert to the world of Tom Clancy,

Adam is trying a new series,
and Camille is starting on one of my all-time favorites!

The evening was topped with a
delicious dinner to celebrate my mom's
big day...
you know, the one she wasn't celebrating!
Happy Birthday, Mom.
You're the greatest!
Our kids were furloughed from school
on the week of President's Day
(in case you haven't heard - our state is broke!!),
and so we gathered together these friends...
and spent the day at this place.

What a great idea!

The next week was my birthday,

and it was a lovely week!

I got to go out to lunch a couple of times

with some dear friends,

and then I got this beauty of a gift from my in-laws.

A book all about why I am so loved.

No one has better in-laws than I do.

Period.

And the favorite moment of my actual birthday??

Another dear friend remembered

that I loved dried mangoes,

so she brought me some.

And look what I found in the package...

Perfect!!

Matt and Adam spent my birthday weekend

snow camping.

They had a great time,

except that Adam came home with this beauty.
I guess everything can't go smoothly all the time.

Near the end of the month

we celebrated the baptism

of a very special cousin.

Aren't these two adorable???

Afterwards we stopped to visit Grandpa Sanders.

He and Camille got into a little argument

over the delay of our food,

but they soon made up,

and like any good girl would,

she picked the bugs out of his hair

to show him just how much she loved him!!

And then to top the month off,

we celebrated Adam's birthday.

He got a bag of his favorite candy

and a new party game from us,

and Matt and Camille each got him

a new t-shirt.

We spent the evening with family

where Adam collected some new

ammunnition for extended nerf wars

and a new basketball

from his cousins.

All in all, it was a great day-

and a fabulous month!

Hope your February was great as well!

Spelling Bee

I just have to give a shout out

to my brave little girl

who took her rightful place

at the school spelling bee,

even though her knees were knocking

and she was pretty darn nervous.

In the end her nerves got the best of her,

but she made it through several rounds

("against sixth graders, Mom"),

and we couldn't be more proud of our sweet little girl.

Way to go, Camille!

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!

Just last week we celebrated

my Grandmother's 90th Birthday

with a fabulous birthday bash

and an intimate family dinner.

I've lived near my Grandmother all of my life,

and I have loved every minute of it.

She is a lovely, kind lady

and is constantly thinking of others.

She has a cheery outlook on life

and makes everyone feel special...

no easy task considering that

she raised 10 wonderful children

(though I'm partial to the third one)

and has more than 70

grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This picture was taken four years ago,

but she pretty much looks just like this --

except she's starting to get a few gray hairs...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

When I grow up,

I want to be just like you.

Ode to Toddlers

For the past three days, I have been the parent of six -

thanks to a dear friend who needed to leave town on short notice.

I never really wanted six kids,

but it was fun to see what it would have been like.

{All three of hers are younger than my youngest.}

I came away with an appreciation for those of you

who have that many,

and a lot of fun memories of the "toddler years."

Just for fun, I thought I would list

The Top Ten Things I Miss About Having Toddlers:

#10 - Physical Exhaustion

Sound crazy?

You have to have teenagers

to understand that the

physical exhaustion of having toddlers

is nothing

compared to the emotional exhaustion

of having teenagers.

#9 - Utter Pandemonium

I do get to experience this one once in a while

{picture 6 teenage boys playing Settlers

and eating their way through your refrigerator},

but there's something special

about the kind of pandemonium that toddlers create.

#8 - Conversations with the Television

In our house we yell at the television

{think football},

but we never ever have sweet conversations with the television.

I miss that.

#7 - Pointing at Cows

Between us and the boys' schools there is a lovely field

full of cows.

I love those cows,

but I'm the only one in my family who gets excited about them.

Not so with toddlers...

they love cows too!

#6 - Squeals of Joy

{picture the field of cows here}
One great thing about toddlers is that you always know

when they're happy.

We have squeals around here too

{think big brothers teasing little sister},

but, in general, they are not squeals of joy!

#5 - Happy Helpers

Toddlers love to help with EVERYTHING

from cooking dinner to unloading the dishes to

"helping" you go to the bathroom.

If you've got toddlers and they're driving you crazy in this regard,

take my advice...

enjoy it -because you're going to miss it!

{Trust me on this one!}

#4 - "Like this?"

When you're teaching a toddler,

you show them what to do and they say,

"Like this?"

And then they do it.

It's so fun.

Don't ask me about how to teach a teenager something.

I haven't figured it out yet.

#3 - Being Called Mommy

To a toddler,

any woman who is taller than them and has children

is their mommy.

It was fun to be called that again.

#2 - Snuggle Time

Those random moments

when they come up and snuggle in your nap

for no apparent reason.

Priceless.

{I could probably get Brad to snuugle in my lap,

but I don't think it would be quite the same.}

#1 - Rocking Someone to Sleep

I did it with all three of my own babies,

and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

If you have little ones,

never miss a chance to rock them to sleep.

Time slips by so quickly

and you should take advantage of every minute.

So glad I did.

Thanks, Dave & Kyra, for letting me love your kids for a few days. It meant the world to me.

What We Didn't Do in San Francisco...

Last Tuesday

the kids and I

took a little jaunt to

San Francisco

with my mom,

my cousin Debbie

and her two adorable girls.

We were going to ride the trolley cars,

until we found out they were $5 a person-

ONE WAY!

Pleeeeaaasssse...

We've got better things to do with our money,

AND we know how to walk!

So we walked down by the wharf

and did some shopping.

Did I say shop?

I guess we didn't technically do that either.

{Trying things on was way more fun!}.

Then it was time for lunch,

but we didn't go here.

Why would we spend a fortune

to eat in the rainforest

when In-n-Out

was right around the corner?

(And 1/4 of the price!)

Then we saw these cuties.
How fun would that be?
Not $70 an hour fun, I'll tell you that much!

{I guess the trolley wasn't so expensive after all!}

After getting lost about ten times

we finally made it to Chinatown

so we could tour this place.

Oops.

Didn't do that either.

They wouldn't let us in... said it was "too hot inside."

Whatever.

So we did some more shopping,

but still no buying.

These glasses were fun,

but the store made us

claustrophobic

and we had to get out!

Oh, yeah-

The trip did have a purpose...

taking a gander at this loveliest of all Christmas trees.
Thanks for having us, Sandra!

For all that we didn't do, we sure did have a lot of fun! When we finally got home, I was exhausted! {All that driving wore me out!} So I decided to take my fortune cookie's advice...

I came home,
crawled in bed
and read Princess Academy
{have you read it?}

and then the next day I read
Book of a Thousand Days.
I highly reccommend them.
{And I think you should start
with Goose Girl - my favorite!}

I love vacation!!

I'm Gonna Miss This...

The kids have spent two weeks straight

sleeping together in Adam's room.

They've stayed up late wrestling and laughing,

waited with anticipation for Christmas morning,

and even slept in a little bit.

Tonight everyone's back in their own beds.

Too bad.

Christmas 2009 Top Ten

Christmas was Fun and Fabulous

again this year.

(Isn't it always??)

Here's our family's Top Ten

for Christmas 2009!

#10 - Family Traditions

Every year

on Christmas Eve

we have a little program.

It's one of many fun traditions

on an evening

that warms my heart.

#9 - Some Amazing Ornaments

Every year

the kids get a couple of ornaments

that are picked

especially for them.

Camille LOVED hers this year!

# 8 - The Best Stockings Ever!!

On Christmas Eve

everyone brings goodies

for everyone else's stockings

(not to be confused with

the stockings Santa fills at home!).

This year just happened to be

OUT OF CONTROL

(in a good way, of course)

and there were so many goodies

that all the kids got a stocking

AND a grocery bag

full of wonders.

Fun stuff like these...

bug eye glasses

that mimic a real bug's sight!

#7 - Some Serious Family Fun

My favorite presents are always the ones

that encourage the kids to play together.
This year was no exception -

we'll be continuing to have

some totally fantastic

Nerf gun wars around here!

#6 - More Family Fun

Lately the kids have been having fun

with their scooters -

but Camille didn't have one.

The boys are great at sharing,

but sometimes they ALL

want to play together (yippee!).

Now they can.

#5 - My Smart Girl

How fun is it that Camille
wanted a microscope for Christmas?

I love that girl!

#4 - A Boy and His Dad

Anyone who knows Brad
knows how thrilled he was
when Adam wanted some of these
this year.
Like father, like son?

We hope so!

#3 - A Genuine Smile

The most fun this year

was surprising Matt

with a gift we KNEW he would love,

but would never DARE ask for!

This is one of the truest smiles

that has crossed these lips

since the teenage years began!

#2 - Multi-generational Fun

I love this shot that Brad got
while I wasn't looking.
One generation helping another
figure out their identical Christmas presents.

Priceless.

And the #1 Best Thing About Christmas This Year -

Our Family!

I love these people.
What more can I say?

I hope you and your loved ones
had a very merry Christmas as well!

The Last Weeks of Christmas

Day Twenty-Three...

Decided to take President Monson's advice

this Christmas,

so we made some treat buckets...

gathered up these darling girls...

and these handsome boys...

took these cuties with us...

and went caroling to some of our

favorite older friends.

Such fun-

especially the visiting

and hot cocoa afterwards.

We have such a great ward family!

Day Twenty-Two...

Another crazy day for Mom.

All the Young Women

coming over tonight.

Must be time for another

do-it-yourself craft!

Day Twenty-One...

Watched a new movie.

Found out we don't love watching

movies of plays.

Day Twenty...

My mom got these fun puppets

for Christmas this year,

so we had a great puppet show about

the First Christmas.

Loved it!

Day Nineteen...

We've collected lots of Christmas books

over the years,

and we used to read one a day -

but the kids are WAY too busy for that these days.

So, we just pick a couple of afternoons

and sit down with a few of our favorites,

including these...

Day Eighteen...

Sorry-

Can't show you any pictures...

(otherwise it wouldn't be a secret!)

Day Seventeen...

There's a stree in Vacaville

called Candy Cane Lane

where the people are all crazy

about decorating for Christmas

and every house looks something like this...

It's one of our favorite things we do every year.

Seriously, who wouldn't love all this?

Day Sixteen...

I've given up all hope

with the boys,

but I'm determined that Camille

will learn how to wrap a decent gift.

I try to make it fun for her

so she won't hate it-

here's today's effort...

Day Fifteen...

It's a busy Tuesday afternoon -

I've got Young Women's tongight

and I've got to have a bunch of cookies made-

but I knew certain children

would be looking forward

to their daily Christmas activity.

Luckily I had something

they could do all on their own...

Isn't it darling!