December....Week 1

I love Christmas time. It gets busy and a little crazy, but I love it. I like to do something related to Christmas every day if possible. We have done pretty well this year!

Tues Dec 1st: Went to dinner with the girls! We had a great time! I love catching up with them.

Wed Dec 2nd: Scott left to go out of town. The kids and I met a friend at Chick-fil-A. We talked and the kids played and made a cute Christmas craft!

Thurs Dec 3rd: Met Scott's family and the live Nativity. A big thanks to Roy for standing in the FREEZING cold weather for an hour so that we didn't have to. It was a good experience. There is something about hearing "There is no room here" and then seeing a real live baby laying in a manger that pulls at my heart. Jade was amazed that the baby at the end was real. The kids were pretty good and really loved the live animals outside!

Fri Dec 4th: We made the annual trip to Festival of Trees. It was fun....and crowded. Later that night we went to The Mayan. The kids were amazingly well behaved for an out to dinner place and liked the diving show!

At the Mayan

Crazy kid at the salsa plain!

Jade and "Moroni Ali Baby Shrek" who came with us all weekend!


Sat Dec 5th: The kids went to a Christmas Party with Scott's dad and Belva. Afterwards we headed downtown. We started at the Museum at the Gateway and met Ashley and her kids there. It wasn't very crowded and the kids had lots of fun playing. Afterwards we had dinner and then decided we would head over to temple square. Ash decided to take her kids home. Jade wanted to ride the train over to the lights. They seemed to like that, but by the time we got off the train (5 min later) Jade was tired and the kids were cold. We went to Temple Square. We walked around for about 2 min, went in to see the statue of Christ, and then decided it was time to go. 3 years ago we took Jadyn and we decided it is not something we loved to do. Cold, crowded, big stroller, kids bundled up so much they can't move. Yes the temple is beautiful-as our the lights, but we would much prefer the temple in the summer when the kids can run and play and the Christmas lights from inside the car! :) Needless to say our trip was short and it will be a few more years before we go back! Jade said it was "the worst night ever" but then said she just meant the cold and lights part. Whew....sure would hate it to be the worst night ever. We did have a great time at Gateway though!

Jax loved this

Jade the checker!

Jax playing in the water

Ummm....guess he likes the ketchup!

The kids looked so happy! ;)


Sun Dec 6th: Sunday nap....nothing better than that! And Scott came home which after 5 days I was pretty happy about!

Mon Dec 7th: Bishop's store house at the D.I. We let the kids pick out some gifts and then after Jade's dance we headed over to the D.I. They put the gifts in the box, got a few refreshments and they we headed home. I am glad that we had a chance to do this. Probably the first year that Jade understood we were giving to someone else.

Thanksgiving Day!

We had such a great Thanksgiving Day. We of course started the day at my dad's house for breakfast! Knowing that we were just going to continue to eat all day long I headed over to my sisters house to get in a 90 min workout. The kids had fun playing and I had fun knowing I was working off a little of what I would eat! We headed home and got ready, cooked some food, and then went back to Meg's for dinner. The food was delicious as was the company! I love Thanksgiving-you get to spend time with family without all the craziness of presents and such. It's a good way to kick off the holiday season!

Not sure Jax wanted to take a family picture.

Jade loved getting to hang out with this boy all day!

The kids table!

Fried Candy bars. Nasty!

Jaxon...Jaxon...Jaxon

There are a few things about Jax I have been meaning to write about.

Fruit Snacks: Over the past month he has become hugely addicted to fruit snacks. For weeks I would open his door in the mornings and he would walk out and head down stairs with "I hungry. Want fruit snacks" And yes...I let him have them. He LOVES them. Shoves about 10 in his mouth at a time and can eat several packages in a VERY short time.

Gummy Bears:

He LOVES watching Gummy Bears. I owe my sanity to Gummy Bears. We realized a while ago that if we put it on for him in Jades room-and he has his binkies-he will actually sit down and watch for a little bit. I was amazed the first time it happened. AMAZED. He loves the show though. I love when I can hear him laughing out loud at whatever is happening. He LOVES Dukey and will walk around the house laughing and saying "Dukey fall in da waaaaaaaterrrrrr" It's hilarious. The only problem is now when we put him to bed at night he will cry and say "I watch gummy bears on JJ's couch" I'm just glad we found something he loves to watch. I try to get him to watch something else at times, but he only wants Gummy Bears.

Breakfast:

The past week he has changed from requesting fruit snacks in the morning to just saying "I want breakfast" and heading downstairs. He usually eats "monkey bars" (granola bars), yogurt or eggs. Last week I was getting dressed as he headed down saying "I want breakfast" I told him I would come down as soon as I got dressed. Two min later I walked down the stairs and could hear him say "MOMMY!!! I make eggs! I make eggs. See???" Yep! He sure did. He had a pan on the floor and had got the eggs out of the fridge and cracked them. I thought I'd find a HUGE mess but somehow he had cracked 6 eggs and only had 3 tiny shells in the pan and all the other egg shells were in the sink! I was very impressed. I couldn't get mad at him because he was so proud. So- I told him he did a good job but that next time he should wait for mom. And then I picked out those three shells and made them scrambled eggs.

All the cuteness aside, we do still struggle a bit with him. He can get angry very quickly. He still roars at me (which makes me laugh), has tantrums where he falls to the ground, pounds the floor, and will try to hit or kick whatever is closest to him. I took him with me the other day to take lunch to a friend. My first mistake was taking him when he was hungry, second mistake was taking him when he was tired, and my third mistake was taking him to a home where there were no kids (except the brand new baby we went to see) The three were an awful combination. It was pretty much a frustrating experience and I actually went home and cried. Yes...cried. And I don't cry. I look back at the situation and realize I was embarrassed. Good thing about looking back is I can realize I shouldn't have been embarrassed. I should just have left sooner or never went it-just dropped the food and left. Oh well....we got past it, I put him to bed as soon as we got home. He was asleep within 2 minutes and was so sweet when he woke up. Lesson learned for me! He can be so sweet he just REALLY hates to be told no (what two year old does). The problem is the anger that follows. We deal with it the best we can! No worries....I love ya Jax!

Short and to the point. Thankful: 5, 6, and 7

Yeah....a little behind. Still grateful though! :)

#5: Little things that make me happy: (I will list a few)
- Diet Pepsi
- My space heater
- My Favorite face lotion
- Good running shoes
- Candy
-DVR (even though I just cut out 1/2 of my tv watching)
- Having my Christmas tree right by my desk and working with the tree lights on
- A good book
- itunes

#6: House
I am grateful for where we live. We love our house, the neighborhood and the ward. It was a good move for us.

#7: The Gospel
It makes life worth living. The final goal is to be able to be with my family forever and that is awesome! I am grateful for the Savior. I am grateful to know he is aware of me and my family and that he loves us.

WAY Behind

I am way behind. Life is still crazy, busy, and stressful. But....we are all together, happy, and healthy so we are counting our blessings. I LOVE this time of year and stay VERY busy. I will catch up by the end of this coming week....In the mean time I will post a pic that makes me laugh Every. Single. Time. I look at it. We had family pics done this week. This picture of the kids is priceless to me. Jax yelling (probably roaring) at Jade-(I'm sure he wants her to go away from him) and Jade looking at him like he might be a little crazy. Love this picture and I'm so glad the photographer added it to my CD. Too many would have thought it was not a good pic and deleted it. :)

What am I Thankful for? Day #4

Working out

I have been working out regularly now for about 10 years. I am addicted to it. I love it. Before I had kids I was at the gym every single day. When I had Jadyn I still managed to go most days, but would have to work out at home maybe 2 days a week. Then came Jaxon and things changed. It was harder to make it every day with 2 kids so I found myself working out a lot at home. 6 months after having Jax I started training for a 1/2 marathon so I started running a lot. I loved running the 1/2 marathons and the training was good. After the 3 half marathons last summer I had hurt my hip pretty bad and had to take off about 3 months of hard working out. I hated it-and appreciated working out even more when I got back to it. Again in Jan I started training again for my 1/2's and since it's almost Dec it is easy to know that I will start again this Jan. So although I rarely find myself at the gym anymore, I have a treadmill, kick bag, bosu ball, and my Gymbox that allows me to workout at home most of the time now.

It is safe to say I will never be "skinny" but there is something good about knowing that I am physically fit. Last night I did go to the gym. I ran 65 sets of double stairs, a hard bike ride for 50 min, and a kick box class for 30. And I felt really good. Last Thursday I ran 9 miles outside and felt great! I love that not only does it keep my physically fit, but the overall feeling of happiness and energy when I am done. It gives a huge boost to my day. I can definitely feel it in my mood when I don't get my workouts in-especially if I miss more than about 2 days.

So there you have it. Working out is definitely a huge part of my life and I am so grateful for it.

P.S. Last year I did the challenge of getting in at least 30 min of workout in every day in Dec. I am going to do it again. Who's joining me? (Rachelle-you did it last year-let's do it again!)

Jade's Birthday

I think we were all looking forward to Jade's bday. Jade-because it was her birthday and that meant cake, presents, and fun. The rest of us-it meant a break from the house! Either way, we had a good day. She went to preschool and got to be the leader-she loves that! When she got home she made her birthday cake. Check it out in the pics. Didn't she do a fantastic job? She was so excited about it! :) Scott brought Zach home with him and she was FINALLY able to open her presents. She was so good about having to wait all day to open them! :) She got her LONG awaited cowboy boots, Hannah montana barbie, a purse, markers and twisty crayons, and footed pjs (don't ask why-she has wanted some for awhile). She had decided she wanted to go bowling. I had told her she could take a friend and of course she chose Zach! She was so happy to have him with use. Zach and Jade and Jax had a great time bowling. We also told her she could choose where she wanted to eat dinner. She chose Red Rooster-because they have eggs! And eggs she ate. I think her kids meal came with two little waffles and an egg. She ate her egg and then at Jax's and left the waffles! She was very happy she got to eat there. On the way home Zach wasn't feeling well so we took him home and swaped him for Sam! :) When we got home she had some visitors: Aunt brandee, Uncle Mike, Belva, Roy, Weston, and Grandma Debi! She got her pink cowboy boots, Snow White, Ice Age, Hannah Montanna, Monster vs Alien, A panda that she loves, and a CD player that she has wanted for a long time. She is one spoiled little girl! :) She had fun dancing later that night with her boots and hat. As you can tell she had fun posing with her boots as well! She had a great day and is blessed with so many people who love her!