"Let It Snow, Let It Snow , Let It Snow!"

My sister, Alison, was down for the weekend and we all decided to go sledding. It snowed all weekend which made it perfect sledding weather! We took the snow machines so that we could be spoiled and taken to the top of the hill after sledding down. The brother in laws had so much fun pulling each other up the hill as fast as they could to see who could make the other fall off. My dad came and got bombarded by the grand kids to sled down the hill with them. All of the kids had so much fun. Chandler lasted the longest out of all the kids. She found out that if she laid down she could go much faster and went down by herself over and over. I finally had to talk her into going to the car with the rest of the kids to warm up. While the kids were all warming up Alison, Sharla and I went sledding together.

Alison, Chandler and Joey!
WE LOVE GRANDPA!!
My little Popsicle!
You can't fool us Gabe!
Chandler fell in a big hole on her way to the car!
Who ever said, "the more weight the faster you go", was lying!

Brandon wrecking!

Chris pulling Brandon up the hill!

CREPE KING!!!!!

Every Christmas morning My dad, to his dismay, makes crepes for the entire family! It takes about two hours for him to make them all. Two hours of making and two minutes of divulging! It is so worth the wait! I mostly posted this one for all of my sisters who didn't come home for Christmas to see what they were missing out on. Mom does not approve of my doing this, she thinks I am being mean. I guess you will all come home for Christmas next year! Did I mention we had all of the toppings imaginable for these delicious skinny pancakes?

Christmas Morning!

We set the alarm for 7:00 a.m. Christmas Morning, just in case the kids slept in. I couldn't wait any longer, so right before seven I woke Chandler up and told her that Santa had come. She quickly woke up her brother and we waited at the top of the stairs until daddy got the camera ready. They didn't quite realize that we were video taping, that is why you hear them saying CHEESE the entire way down the stairs! The first thing they wanted to see is if Santa ate all of the cookies we left him. Sure enough they were satisfied. Then they found there open gift with there name on it, ( which is a tradition in my family to have one open gift with a name tag by it) and started to unwrap. They loved all of there gifts and we spent the next hour undoing all of the little, obnoxious twisty ties on every little part of every little toy! Listen to Chandler's excited baby talk, "Santa... bring me presents, that's a cute one"! It makes me laugh every time!

Christmas Eve!

On the day before Christmas we played in the snow! There is so much snow this year. We built a fort for the kids by building snow walls around the tramp with one little opening to get in. I need to take pictures of it. My batteries to my Camera weren't charged, so I wasn't able to take a picture. It took Chris and I awhile to build but it was so much fun to play in. I was hoping it would snow even more so that Christmas day we could play Fox and Geese, no such luck. Christmas Eve we called Grandpa to remind him of a made up tradition. We told Grandpa that every Christmas Eve he orders Papa Murphy's take and bake pizza and that we all eat pizza and watch a Christmas movie together. He asked us if that was really a tradition, we all complied with a big smile and a loud YES!! I guess it's not a lie if we make it a tradition from now on, RIGHT? Well that is exactly what happened. Grandpa brought the pizza and we all watched Home Alone in our new Christmas Eve P.J.'s. After the Movie we went home to make Santa Cookies. The kids had so much fun guessing where Santa would create a fake chimney in our house to deliver all of the presents. We left the cookies, milk, and a note. Santa must have been really hungry from all his travels because every cookie was devoured!

Making Gingerbread Cookies!

Every year we make Gingerbread cookies for our Christmas tree. Last year I tried to save them and it didn't quite work. The coldness from the basement where where they were stored mixed with the warmth of the upstairs made the cookies crumble. Gabe found the old cookies in the garbage from last year and before I caught him he had practically all of them devoured. I wish I had taken a picture of the look of disgust on my face when I realized what he had done. We had so much fun making the new batch of cookies. The kids had the most fun hanging them on the tree. I still have to remind Gabe not to eat the cookies off the tree. Every now and then I find a cookie with a missing head or leg, laugh to myself and move it to the back of the tree.

Ward Christmas Party!

I hate to brag but we have the best ward ever!!! We are always doing such fun activities in our ward and this years Christmas party was my most favorite of all. We all woke up Saturday morning for a breakfast feast. Every one wore there pajamas and ate muffins, fruit and every breakfast casserole you could think of. The best casserole would have to be the German pancake one, it had blueberries and cream cheese in it. It was divinity! The best part of the morning was when Santa came in and all the kids went running over to him. Gabe, however, dashed under the nearest table and hid from the jolly old impostor. Chandler kept asking Santa where he parked his sleigh and if she could see the Reindeer. We had to occupy her until Santa was out of site! Chandler finally coaxed Gabe into sitting on Santa's lap.

RIBBONS AND BOWS!

My friends and I have been making ribbons and bows like crazy. I think all the girlie projects like this make having a sassy little girl worth it. I love making them in every color so she has a new headband or hair bow to go with every ensemble. Here are just a few that I made. I still have more that I have been working on to add to my collection. They are super easy and fun to make. For new born baby girls, the nylon material is perfect for the headbands.

Our Exciting News!

We wanted to let everyone in on the exciting news that I am PREGO!!!

Chandler's response to the news. "Are you telling the truth Mom?" " Yes, I'm telling you the truth, you are going to have a new baby brother or sister ." She then yelled up the stairs to Gabe, "Gabriel we are going to have a new baby sister!" I had to explain to her that we did not yet know the sex of the baby and that it could be a boy or a girl. She started sobbing her eyes out," I don't want another brother, I want a sister!" I hope that she won't be disappointed! She also continues to ask if she can feel the baby kicking me. She is certain that she can feel it even though I have not yet felt it myself.
Gabe's response to the news. "You have a baby in you belly?" "I'm going to eat that baby!"
I don't know about you but I think that means they are both as excited as we are!

TAG I'M IT!

I was tagged a while ago and didn't think I would respond to be honest. Everyone I know has already been tagged which would leave me doomed considering you are supposed to tag six others. I hope you find my six little bits of randomness as weird and as interesting as I did yours.


1- I believe that every meal should end in a dessert! I don't think I need to elaborate on this matter!



2- When I was younger I would act like I was the actress in almost every movie I ever watched. I loved playing make believe and still find myself acting out certain characteristics that I love in people. My favorites were "The Secret Garden", "A Little princess", "Little Women", and my most favorite character to act out was True Danzinger from the movie series "Earth II". I found an old key the other day so I borrowed the movie "The Secret Garden" and watched it with my kids. After the movie was over I pretended to find the key and told them, " let's find our own secret garden in the house"! They had so much fun and I got to relive my childhood. Which brings me to another childhood addiction.



3- BARBIE !!!!!!! I know that everyone already knows about my obsession with Barbie dolls and that I played until the embarrassing age of fifteen. Unfortunately I really don't like to "PLAY" Barbie's anymore. There is something about your daughter telling you exactly what you can and cannot say and always putting your Barbie on time out that makes you a little less enthused. However, I still love to buy her every piece of furniture I can find and rearrange the Barbie house.






4- I am a pretty paranoid person in general, but for some reason I am constantly finding things in each room of the house to use as weapons. I tell myself that I will know what to do in case a predator tries to attack. My most unique weapon idea was my hair dryer, just in case he surprised me in the bathroom!


5- Although I have been guilty of using them and they serve a purpose for people who have a large family and are to lazy to wash dishes. I think that paper plates should NOT exist! Not only do they look tacky and somehow make your food taste less satisfying, they are not exactly helping our environment. Plus, they now come up with pictured plates that are supposed to put a smile on your child's face. I don't know about you but this Sponge Bob plate makes me lose my appetite!

6- I hate surprises!! I hate not knowing what I am going to get for Christmas or a birthday and I constantly guess what it will be until I see my husbands expression change. ( sorry sweetie, you are a horrible liar) I hate when people drop by unexpectedly! I hate everything about surprises. I even have a hard time keeping a surprise because I am so anxious to let the other person see what I got them.

7- TAG YOU ARE NOT IT!!!!! Due to the fact that everyone I know has already been tagged I will not be tagging anyone else, SORRY!

"Happy Halloween"

Every year we do the same thing on Halloween. First we feed the kids a good meal, then we take them to all of the family we have around here (which happens to be a lot!) and finally we take them to the Trunk or Treat. We are always so exhausted by the end of the night that the kids just want to go to sleep. After the kids are down, Chris and I go through the candy and pick out our favorites. Chris and Gabe were "Bampires" and Chandler and I were witches. By the end of the night instead of looking like a witch, Chandler looked like an orphan child. She took the feather boa off her dress, took her wig and hat off and was left with a few green smudges on her face and her black dress. My most favorite picture is of Chris in the car. Doesn't he look like you imagine Edward?

Chandler at the Gym

Chandler is learning so much in "Little Shicks" Preschool. She gets to go to gym once a month and she absolutely loves it! The coaches were surprised at how strong she was. She would pull herself up on the bars, flip upside down and hang there until a teacher would get her down. She also looked so adorable in her little gym outfit!

Couples Game Night!

When I moved in the ward I really wanted to start a couples game night. I was really nervous and I wondered if anyone would even show up, but it ended up being a huge success. Every month since we have had a new host and new couples show up. We have such a fun ward and here are the pictures to show it. We had a donut eating contest, played murder in the dark and also played what If and Then. Major Kudo's on a great party Stace! Sorry the pictures are a little bit blurred. I forgot to put my camera on action!

BASKETBALL

My hubby is such an "Amazing" athlete (that was for you Rebecca). We had to limit him to two basketball leagues at a time. These pictures are from his A league. They won the trophy last year and are looking to reclaim their victory. I know it sounds prejudice, but he really is the STAR player. My camera didn't flash quick enough to get his two handed dunk and a few other really cool shots! Every time I see him play I am screaming at the top of my lungs. When he asks me if I am going to the game tonight, I know he secretly wants me to say "no" in hopes of saving him from a night full of embarrassment.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Chandler has been begging to make pumpkin cookies, so we decided after breakfast we would make them for all of her friends. The kids had so much fun decorating the cookies, and I had fun eating them for my every meal. Now I know what you are thinking, 'That plate looks strangely like a green apple instead of an orange pumpkin.' I blame that entirely on my husbands inability to find orange plates around Halloween.

"Ine not Gabrilljohnteyill Ine Spider Man !"

My friend Babysat Gabriel for me and returned him wearing this Spider Man costume. It is his most favorite outfit. He would wear it every day if I didn't hide it from him. Just last weekend we went to D.I. in hopes of finding new goodies. Gabriel let out an exasperating shrill of excitement, "My spider Man Glasses"! After weighing whether we wanted this to be a pleasant trip or not, we bought the fifty cent goggles resulting in this famously cute picture.

The Perfect Day

Today was my idea of a perfect day. It's hard to believe just a few days ago there was snow covering the ground. We decided to take advantage of the weather and go to the river to feed the ducks, have a picnic and walk around the Greenbelt. I had the brilliant idea to let the kids ride there bikes the entire way around, in hopes that they would be exhausted and take a nap willingly. Two strenuous hours later we made it. My plan back fired!!! Not only did it take eons to walk the belt, the whole nap idea wasn't so brilliant after all. It was now four 0'clock and there was no way I was going to let them sleep(considering bed time was in three hours). I yelled really loud, obnoxious songs the whole way home while listening to two screaming, tired children!