New Year's Eve!

While I was in Colorado Jon decided to invite people over to our house for a New Year's Eve Party! I was fine with this but I said "What are we going to do?" We had a fun time with all of our friends and the 21 kids that were here! We played games at the kitchen table:

Watched movies that were projected onto the ceiling:
Nerf Gun Tag (This quickly became an outside game)
And lots of Guitar Hero:
And More:

And more! JR and Christy were the champs!

Thanks to the Dustins, McKague's, Sork's, and Zundel's for making it a fun night!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!

Christmas in CO!

Once everyone arrived safely in Colorado for Christmas we were very excited! My brother got delayed by a day due to the snow in Portland even though he lives in SLC. We had a packed Christmas Eve planned. We went Ice Skating:

The kids had a blast and little Brinley was a natural! We made Christmas cookies but didn't have enough time to decorate them until after Christmas and several of the kids reminded us that we needed to still set them out for Santa since we forgot on xmas Eve! We reenacted the Nativity which is a tradition that I grew up with. Here are the Angels: The Shephard's: And one of the sheep! We were able to connect with our friends the Barnettes who now live in the Denver area. They joined us for dinner and yummy scones made by Jon and Big Al! We ended our evening with the opening of one present! My brother and Brinley with her new robe that she has been asking for since summer time! (She really wanted a Strawberry Shortcake robe! I kept on telling her that maybe Santa couldn't find her a SS robe, she then said to me "Mom the elves can make anything!") Christmas morning was chaos with 18 people, stockings, presents, and all the paper! The kids enjoyed all their presents! Maddie loved her Dress ups and her cousins Make-up. Brooklyn was excited for her Thermos and matching outfit with Bailey: Mason's PSP was a hot item and dad liked it just as much as Mas! Brinley with Kit Kittredge:

And Morgan grew up right before our eyes once she received her phone! She has enjoyed talking on the phone but mostly texting friends, cousins, and even ME!

The days after Christmas were spent playing with all our new toys, hanging out with cousins, going out to lunch, after Christmas shopping, and late night Settlers. We also wanted to take a picture of all the girls in these aprons that Mom had made for us! She made them for every girl in the family even baby Addie! This was one of my favorite gifts!

On Sunday we barely made it on our flight getting out of DIA. It was very crazy with seven people, thirteen pieces of luggage, and carry ons! I wish I would have gotten a picture because everyone was staring at us !!! The kids did great on the flight even Brinley and Maddie!

What a wonderful and fun Christmas! Thanks Mom and Dad!

I'll be home for Christmas!

For months I have been so excited to go home for Christmas! I have been looking forward to being with my entire family, having a white Christmas, and just being at home!

Since we have been in Colorado at Grandma's house we have been doing some fun activities like making snow angels:

Sending our letter to Santa:And celebrating Mason's Birthday by going to a movie and sledding:As we were playing here the rest of my family was stuck in Washington. There was so much snow in Vancouver that Jon and Morgan could not fly here on schedule. School, work, and even church were cancelled! As Jon kept on giving me updates about the weather in Vancouver I thought that for sure the snow would be gone by the next day but it just kept on snowing! I was getting mad because we didn't have very much snow here in CO, my family couldn't fly out, and I was missing the biggest snow storm to hit WA in 40 years! (Anyone that knows me well knows that I LOVE the snow) I then became worried that they were not going to make it here as I kept on seeing cancelled flights each day! Morgan was bawling and Jon was trying to deal with a bawling 13 year old. So when they called me I just added to Jon's stress and started crying also! But we are all here together now! As Morgan was crying to me on the phone she said something profound and I quote "I don't care about the presents and stockings I just want to be with the family!" And I have to agree it doesn't matter about the gifts, the food, or the fact that there is more snow in WA than in CO! We are all here together safe and sound! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

This is a picture from yesterday! The kids were very excited to see the snow! They were dying to get their winter gear on (BTW I had it already packed and ready to go to CO but busted it out for the occasion) and be outside! They loved sipping on their hot coco outside until they decided that 24 degrees is COLD! It was not hard to convince Mason to wear all his snow gear this morning as he headed out the door for safety patrol. This is good preparation for Denver because it's not suppose to get above freezing the entire week here in Vancouver! It could even set a record for the longest number of days below freezing! Bring on those cute scarfs and hats!

Checking Off the List #2!

The Hustle and Bustle continue during this time of year! I can now check a few more things off my list.

-Celebrate Mason's Birthday-Sort of! His birthday is not for another two weeks but we did take him out for his special Birthday Date with just Jon and I. He's been dying to go to our new Olive Garden. The food was great but the service was Terrible! We will officially celebrate his bday on his actual birthday December 22 with favorite breakfast, dinner, and presents!

-Ward Christmas Party- Our party theme was "The Polar Express" Stacey outdid herself once again! It was really fun! We all wore our PJ's which I loved! (I gave the kids their xmas jammies early so they could wear them to the party) We each got a ticket when we walked in and got that ticket punched when we were served our Hot Chocolate! (I forgot to take a a pic of the conductor but he looked awesome) Breakfast was served for dinner, the kids made candy trains, we sang Christmas Carols, and then the kids all left with their "Believe Bells."

-Attend the Union High School Football Game!-This was a new event that was not on my original list. I decided to go to the state championship game last Saturday with Mason!

This is a brand new HS in our area and it is only their second year of existence! So this was a HUGE deal for them to already be in the final playoff game for the State Title. Unfortunately we lost making their record 13-1. Many fans, parents, and players were sad but felt grateful to have gotten so far! I went to the game with several friends from our ward! I called it the party bus because it was filled up with lots of fun people having a great time together! We still love the Titans and are proud of their accomplishments!

-Attend a Piano Recital-We enjoyed listening to M&M(and others) play their Christmas piano pieces last night. They both did great and I'm proud of them. I am so grateful to my friend Christy who has taken them as their piano students this year! She has seriously taken a huge stress out of my life by having them. The past two years with their other teacher have been crazy because the only time she could have my kids is on Wednesday! We would go from Dance Team, to Piano, to YW with no breaks! But now Morgan can ride her bike to Christy's home for lessons and she even comes to MY HOUSE early before school to teach Mason! How great is that! The kids have loved their new teacher and are doing well! Thanks again Christy we love you!

Checking Off the List!

With only two weeks left before we leave for Colorado I am feeling the pressure of the holidays. We are VERY excited to see G & G Baldwin for Christmas and hope that Mother Nature will make my kids soooooo happy by delivering some winter wonderness!!! I have been working hard at my "to do" list and have accomplished many things!

-Thanksgiving Holiday

-Decorate for Christmas-CHECK!

-Entertain Kids During Thanksgiving Break-CHECK! Went to the movie Bolt, Swimming, Hot Tubing @ G'mas, Playing Games.

-Finish Christmas Shopping -Working on it Still!

-Attend the Fred Meyer Sock Sale at 5am on Black Friday- Had a great time with Morgan! As we were driving home she said "Mom how much money did we spend today?" I replied, "I'm not sure yet but don't tell your DAD!"

-Watch the Twilight Movie-CHECK! LOVED IT!!!

-Address/Mail Christmas Cards-CHECK! Mailed by December 1.

-Make and Deliver Friend & Neighbor Gifts-CHECK! Jon and I worked really hard on Saturday to make several batches of the famous Whitcomb Carmel Corn. We then had our little elves deliver them to friends and neighbors! Many people were surprised to be getting gifts so early in the season but with Jon leaving for CA, and then us leaving so early for CO it was last weekend or never!

-Host a YM/YW Fireside-CHECK!

-Take Jon to & from the airport for a business trip to CA-Tomorrow morning at 5 AM!

-Make Christmas Jammies-CHECK! I took Christy's advice (Thanks KiKi) and bought really cute jammies at Old Navy on Black Friday!

-Finish buying snow gear for CO-CHECK!

-Figure Out Teacher Gifts-CHECK! Delivered already!

-Attend Two Wedding Receptions-CHECK! Only made it to one!

-Finish a Holiday Craft-CHECK! (x2) I actually made another one for my sister-in-law for her birthday that's tomorrow!(This is the only new item that I will be adding to my Christmas Decorations this year)

-Attend Pie Night-CHECK! One of my favorite nights of the year!

The next two weeks will be a whirlwind of activities. If I can just finish the rest of that list we will have a fun and relaxing Christmas!

Super Mom!

The other day Brinley had to take snack for her Kindergarten class. I saw this cute cupcake idea on Annie's Blog. I debated tackling such a time consuming cupcake just for a "Snack". But I decided that Brinley and Kennedy (who was coming over for a play date) would have fun helping make the Turkey Cupcakes for their classroom.All the girls had fun; even Maddie made her own cupcake. Her teacher and a couple of my friends said "Wow you're super mom!" I told them no!!! I usually just throw some granola bars in for snack time. That same day I made a pie with the help of my friend Ali. When Morgan came home from school and saw that I had baked the pie and the cupcakes she said "Oh mom you finally have become a cook and now you're like other mom's that bake in the kitchen!" That's sad!

One Month!
One month from today I will be getting on a plane with four of my children to visit my family in Colorado for Christmas! It seems hard to believe that it is so close. I realized this last night while trying to turn my mind off so I could fall asleep. I also started to think about all the things that need to happen within this months time frame.

-Thanksgiving Holiday
-Decorate for Christmas
-Entertain Kids During Thanksgiving Break
-Finish Christmas Shopping
-Attend the Fred Meyer Sock Sale at 5am on Black Friday
-Host a Christmas Party
-Celebrate Mason's Birthday
-Attend a Piano Recital
-Attend a Dance Performance
-Watch the Twilight Movie
-Address/Mail Christmas Cards
-Make and Deliver Friend & Neighbor Gifts
-Host a YM/YW Fireside
-Attend a Cookie Exchange
-Take Jon to & from the airport for a business trip to CA
-Ward Christmas Party
-Make Christmas Jammies
-Finish buying snow gear for CO
-Figure Out Teacher Gifts
-Attend Two Wedding Recptions
-Finish a Holiday Craft
-Film & Edit Christmas Lip Sync Video
-Attend Pie Night

This is in addition to volunteering at school, carpooling, helping with homework, laundry, cleaning, teaching, the list goes on and on! I am thrilled to be spending Christmas with all of my family and can't wait for this crazy month to pass! Wish me Luck!

Pleasant Surprise!

After many days of rain we woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise! SUN! It is so beautiful and sunny that we even ate our lunch outside on the trampoline!

Crazy Hair Day!

At Harmony Elementary they have a day each year called Crazy Hair Day. Students and faculty participate in this fun day. Every time this day comes around my kids "chicken out" and don't make their hair look CRAZY. And every year I hear all about the crazy hair at school and how they wished they would have participated. Well this year I had two brave children that were thrilled to make their hair look crazy. Morgan had an idea for Brooklyn last night and after about 20 minutes she came downstairs looking like this:

Morgan used a LOT of hairspray, bobby pins and a bunch of backcombing. Brinley wanted to look like Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch (she got on this Cindy Lou Who kick last weekend and decided she wants to be it for Halloween next year). So with only 30 minutes before leaving for school I figured out how to put that hair straight up.
We tried to get Mason to do something Crazy with his hair but after seeing the girls he said "no way!" Morgan told B & B hopefully you will get your picture taken for the yearbook this year! What a fun day!

Candy, Candy, & more Candy!

We had a fun Halloween week which included lots of CANDY. Morgan had to do a project for Math dealing with geometrical shapes. She decided instead of drawing a picture that included triangles and quadrilaterals she would make a Haunted House! It turned out great and all the kids loved helping her make the house and eat the left over CANDY!

Maddie had a party at her preschool on Thursday. She came home with a bag full of treats. Her and Brinley sat on the kitchen floor to divide up her CANDY and then eat it!

Brinley had ballet on Friday afternoon. She wore her costume and then had a little party. There were cupcakes, cookies and CANDY!

Her costume was the only one that I purchased this year. She was dying to be Strawberry Shortcake! All the other kids wore costumes from either my dress up box or grandmas!

That evening we went to trick-or-treat on Grandmas street. The kids always want to go to her neighborhood because there is a house that gives out big CANDY bars!

We met up with some of the cousins at Grandmas house. Morgan went with Paige and Mckenna to go trick-or-treating, watch a scary movie, and then sleep over. We took the rest of our kids to our neighborhood to finish trick-or-treating. Jon took Maddie and Brinley around for about an hour and a half. He said that people kept on giving Maddie twice as much CANDY because she was a cute little bunny!(She kept on changing her mind on what she wanted to be this year a Frog, Kitty, Bunny or Pumpkin. Luckily I had three out of the four of those costumes. She decided to be a Bunny on Halloween so she would stay warm)

She did end up getting about twice the amount of CANDY as did Morgan! She couldn't get enough of it in her hands when she got home, I just couldn't resist this picture!

For the first time EVER I stayed home to hand out the CANDY. We usually have some type of conflict and are not at home. So in past years we have just turned the lights off and give out nothing. It was really fun to have people come by and to see so many familiar faces. Jon and I finished off our evening by going to Union High School's football game. We had a fun time cheering on the Titians. They won their final game and are on the way to the State Championships with their 9-0 record. It was a fun day overall! The only thing we didn't accomplish was carving our pumpkins. So Brinley said today, "Mom can we still carve our pumpkins?" I told her I'm afraid that won't happen this year!