For Just One Week...

So, I found this blog called My Ice Cream Diary.(thanks Amber M.) Who could resist a blog with a picture of chocolate chip mint ice cream on the side bar? That is my favorite. So I was browsing her fabulous blog and read about "Just For One Week" (click the link for more info). I was seriously so excited to participate, I could hardly wait till today to post! I have a list longer than me of things I need to work on. But, instead of trying to better myself, I do nothing. I think out of fear of failure. Possibly out of laziness. Probably a combo of the two. But now, I have found a way to avoid failure. I always set unrealistic (for me) long-term goals. Then I get discouraged and give up and feel like a loser. So, I figure if I can set a goal, and actually stick with it for a whole week, maybe it'll boost my self esteem. So, thanks to the ice cream lady for the idea! And who knows? Maybe if I can do it for a whole week, I'll do if for another whole week, and eventually it will become a habit!

So, I'm starting out easy. Probably too easy, but I don't want to fail the very first week! I will make my bed every morning, and (to steal the ice cream lady's idea) keep the laundry from making permanent residence on my couch. If you want to join in on the good fun, check out the ice cream lady's blog, (her actual name is Liz) and add your name to mr. linky. Good luck to us all!!

Life...

So what's going on at our house?

*My 10 year old asked me why I don't have any chores. I. was. speechless. I truely did not know how to respond to that. But then it came to me. I started naming off everything I do on a daily basis. I think he decided maybe taking out the garbage and picking up the front room before playing on the computer isn't so bad.

*My 4 year old is talking like my 12 year old. He now says "sweetness" for anything he thinks is remotely cool. Which is pretty much everything. I caught myself saying it tonight. Dang kids.

*I have so many loads of laundry to wash, dry, fold, or put away, I don't even know where to begin. It's in the double digits. I hate laundry.

*I have a lesson to do, a YW fundraiser to finish, my room and bathroom to clean (because apparently I don't have any other chores), a really lot of laundry to do, and no motivation to do it.

*Our home in Twin Falls still hasn't sold. And the ecomomy is wreaking havoc on the construction business right now. Kinda scary.

on the brighter side...

*Jaxson is waving now. On cue, even. If he hears the word "goodby", he starts shaking both arms up and down. It's so cute. It makes me smile.

*Thanks to my sister, I have a new book to read. It's called "the mother in me". It's a compilation of stories about being a mom. It's sure to inspire, lift my spirits, and pull me out of these January blues that hit me every year. Thanks Wendy!

*My house is still mostly clean from Gabby's family birthday party. Mostly clean.

*Lastly, I have a warm home, food to eat, healthy kids (knock on wood), and a family who loves me. I am a lucky gal.

YW birthday gifts

My calling in our ward in Beehive advisor in Young Womens. (young womens is the girls in our ward, ages 12-18). Love it. YW's is so much fun. Even all the hormone driven soap opera crap. The other Beehive leader and I were put in charge of the YW birthday gifts this year. This is what we came up with.



She cut the wood and painted it, and brought it over to me Sunday night. I printed up the words on the computer, inked up the edges of the papers, modpodged it all on, added the ribbon and flower, and voila...inexpensive gift. I was so happy with the way it turned out. Now we just have to make about 30 more.

I also saw these ideas...

Melinda is making these necklaces for her YW. She has a tutorial here.



Melinda also has an etsy shop, and is selling some cute wooden decorations that are related to this years theme of "Be thou an example of the belivers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12. This one is my favorite.



And you can get the unfinished kit for $2.50. $2.50!!!! What a steal. But, she is a generous lady, and has posted the pattern for free on her blog, if you have the tools to make it on your own.


And I saw these at kellieannie's etsy shop. She designs the graphics herself. So talented, and so cute!!! $8 might be too much for your whole YW, but what a cute gift for new beehives coming in, or Seniors who are leaving!




So, there ya go. Hope this inspires you in some way today!

Gabbla

My baby girl is 8. 8 years old. Where has the time gone? I wish time would SLOW DOWN!!! So, Gabby turned 8 today. We had a spaghetti dinner (her favorite), and both sets of grandparents came to help celebrate. We had so much fun. Having them here sure helped make her day special! She's getting baptised on Valentines Day. Yeah, I know. "What!??!" is the reaction I had. She's totally excited, though. And that will make it easy to remember the day! Tomorrow she has her first activity days. She is just not old enough for this. Or, maybe I'm not old enough for this. At any rate, it's happening. Gabby is such a fun girl. She has soooo much energy, and loves to talk. She has lots of friends, and makes friends easily. She is a little scatterbrained, but when she remembers to focus, she is a big help. We are so glad you are a part of our family, Gab....We love you!!!! Hope you had a fabulous day!

Merry Christmas to you...

Did you all have a wonderful Christmas? I hope so. It was great here. Nice not to have to drive anywhere, and just stay home and enjoy the family. I will share pics later. Until then....I have added a new blog to my bloglist. I can't even remember how I found it. But I do remember the blog name caught my attention , and I just had to visit. My name is Brayden and my Dad's a Mexican. How could anyone pass that up? Turns out, it's a blog written by a third grade teacher, and this is where she shares all the funny that happens. If you are a teacher, a Mom, or human, you will laugh out loud. Check it out. It will provide laughs to help pull you through the post-Christmas blues!

Merry Christmas Adam!

Do you know my sister? She is the self proclaimed funniest person in the world. I agree. Tonight, she told me "Merry Christmas Adam!". I was like ????. She said "Adam came before Eve, so Merry Christmas Adam!" What a funny girl. Makes me smile.

And, just so I have this written down.....I vow that next year I will have my Christmas shopping completely done by December 10th. I will not shop 2 days before Christmas. I won't! Traffic today STUNK. Next year at this time, I will be relaxing and enjoying my family, not driving on ice covered roads and stuck in horrible holiday traffic. You are all my witnesses. Don't let me forget this!

Baby, it's cold outside!!!!

You know why they call these magic gloves? Because one of them will inevitably dissapear (just like socks). At our house, we have about 15 lonely little magic gloves withour a buddy. Lucky for me, my kids aren't too picky about having gloves that match, cause when the tempurature is in the single digits day after day after day, you just want something to cover your hands. Fashion goes right out the window at this point.
It has been snowing everyday since Friday. The first couple of days it was fun. Even for a snow-disliker like me, the anticipation of the first "real" snow is exciting and fun. Now, I'm ready for April. Seriously. I am not a fan of driving on icy roads. I guess most people don't that, but I am so over having my heart pounding out of my chest while I drive 20 miles an hour down the road. If my husband is home, I make him drive me everywhere. Call me a wimp if you must.
Now that I'm done complaining (thanks for staying tuned) I will share our FHE from last Monday. I got the idea from The McIllece Spot. Well, I didn't have a can, so I just used a gift bag, and did "FHE in a bag". It was a hit! The kids loved it. I did mine a little differently. I took a little tree (perfect size for a table centerpiece), and as I talked about each symbol, the kids took turns putting ornaments (that represented the symbol) on the tree. We are keeping it on our table so the kids can look at it, and hopefully remember the lesson and the true meaning of Christmas.





There were more pictures, but most of them had me in them, and I did NOT look fabulous. So, you'll just have to trust me when I say, It was a successful FHE. And at our house, that is great.

BTW, it's snowing...again. Stupid weather.com said it would be a clear day today. Not so much.

Christmas Tag and New blog

My sil, Melanie, tagged me for a Chritmas tag. So, here goes.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as I can get away with it
4. When do you take the tree down? January (once Febuary)
5. Do you like eggnog? Not so much a fan
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Legos
8. Easiest person to buy for? females
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several- I collect them
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. My intentions are always good, but I never get them sent!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? really can't remember
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story-"Deck the halls with boughs of horry, fa-ra-ra-ra-ra, ra-ra-ra-ra" lol!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Day after Thanksgiving
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? everything
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, it's pre-lit
17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary's Lullaby
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yes- even Donder!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open pajamas on Christmas Eve and everything else on Christmas morning.
22. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Cory cooks the dinner!
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? All of my nativity ornaments
24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Rib eye roast, cooked by Cory
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? (big surpise) For our house in Twin to sell.

So, there you have it! I tag Wendy and Marci and Ashlee and Montay and Lynn and Bonnie and anyone else who wants to play.

Now, if you want to get your craft on, check out this new blog. My sil, Melanie (same one that tagged me) started it. It's a place to keep track of all those great ideas we find everywhere on the net, and some of our own crafty ideas, too. So, head on over and check it out! If you have an idea you are dying to share, leave her a comment with your e-mail, and she'll add you as a contributor.

If I had a Million Dollars....

Do you remember that song? I love that song. And if I actually had a million dollars, I think I might spend most of it at the KEEN website. I love these shoes. Cory got me a pair on clearence when we lived in Twin. They are the most comfortable shoes I have ever, ever worn. And I've had my pair for probably 3 or 4 years. They are still in great condition (other than being dirty). They are spendy, though. I just found their website. They have shoes for everybody, and bags, and socks.

I want these for Gabby and Madi...



...and these for Jake and Alex...



...and these for Jaxson.



And for me? I want these...



...and these...



...and these...



...and these...



...and this...



...and this...



I could go on and on. I love these shoes. But, alas, I don't have a million dollars. So, now, I'll have to settle for playing the coupon game. I don't know if I have the patience for it. But if I'm ever gonna save up enough for all that stuff, I guess I better at least try. So my friend Ali J is loving it. Click on her name, and it will take you to her blog post about the grocery game. There are some great links to other blogs who have links to other sites that help win the grocery game. Ali's favorite place is CVS. I wish we had a CVS here. Sounds like I could be getting lots of stuff for just pennies. Dangit. Oh well. I'll just have to study those other sites, and come up with some other places to save. If you join the game with me, good luck.

I hate Walmart

Someday, I'm going to figure out how to juggle everything. There's just so much to do in life these days, that it overwhelms me. So I don't do any of it! Hence the Messy house and lack of Christmas presents under the tree! And then there's always the stress of the empty house in Twin this is STILL on the market. If that isn't enough of burden to cause stress, I don't know what is! (Ashlee, I feel for ya. I didn't realize your house had been on the market for 18 mos!!!)

I called Cory the other day and asked him to stop by the store and pick me up some motivation. He couldn't find any. Dangit.

I have a feeling this is going to turn into a mighty random post. I've been meaning to post every day, then I don't. Too much to catch up on. So much for keeping a journal for posterity, huh?

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We spent it with the Blad side of the family at the cabin. I love it there. It's so relaxing. The kids love playing with there cousins, and pretty much have fun doing whatever. But of course, we had to continue the Blad tradition of Black Friday Madness, so we came home Thursday night. Madi's old enough to babysit, so we left her in charge, and Cory and I ventured out into the cold bright(actually dark) and early at 3:45am. Headed to Walmart. I hate Walmart. I had a feeling it wouldn't be all that great when I saw the two Sherrif's cars parked at either entrance. We went to the Walmart closest to our house, since it was closest to all the other stores, too. Just had to get those $4 jammies, and a few other gems. Just let me clarify something here. The other shoppers were great. (Well, the ones I encountered were. Apperently there was a brawl over the cricuts.) The thing that bugged me the most was the employees. First, as you walk in, you are welcomed by the happy ol' greeter, and handed a map of where the doorbusters will be. The map is never right, and this year was no exception. Cory went off to get the things on his list. I stayed in the area of the $4 jammies and track suits. This Walmart did not have anything gaurded or wrapped up. It was all open with the understanding that you don't take it until 5am. Okay. I'll play along. Afterall, that's the fun of black friday, right? So, there were some rulebreakers who grabbed what they wanted, then moved on to the next thing. Those of us playing by the rules would pick up and look, then put back. Everytime that would happen one the the pajama nazi's (aka-Walmart employees) would scold us like little children and yell at us not to touch anything until 5am. I finally said "Look. There are people coming up, picking out the pj's they want, and walking off. Those are the people you should be yelling at, not us!", or something to that effect. At one point, a customer came over with some of the doorbuster track suits and said, they told me I could go ahead and take what I wanted. So one of the pajama buyers had us save her place in line and went to pick out what she wanted. Once again she was told "You can't touch anything until 5am!! You have to put them back!" She retorted, "I have been watching people come and go with these. There aren't that many left, now. I'm not putting ANY back!!" So that's how it went with Walmart. None of the employees were on the same page. Some were saying go ahead and take it. Others were yelling to put it back. I know Walmart has alot of employees, but they could have sent out a memo or something as to what the employees were supposed to do! At the very least, if they didn't want people touching stuff, they should have had it covered. Walmart ruined my Black Friday fun this year. Unfortunatly, with finances the way they are, Walmart was necessary.

What else have we done??? Oh yeah.

On Wednesday, my sil had some free tickets to the Nutcracker. I've wanted to take my girls to this forever! But the tickets are always so expensive. So when we were offered free tickets, we jumped! Now, let me just say...we had a blast. It was fun and entertaining, and the girls enjoyed it and loved being with cousins. But, this was not your everyday Nutcracker performance. I can only guess that it was a dance recital with a Nuctcracker theme. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I kept expecting to see a few professional ballerinas. Not so much. The older girls who danced en pointe were pretty good. But there were no professionals in the place. And Clara didn't do much but walk around on her tippy toes at the beginning, then sat on a bench at the back of the stage, with who I assume was the nutcracker, and watch everyone else dance. I think that when the cloggers came out and performed is when I realized this was not your traditional Nutcracker Ballet. All that being said, the dancers did a great job. The cutest was the little tiny girls. They were the princesses, I think. Must have been 3 years old. They were ADORABLE! They were supposed to run across the stage and jump over a wand in the middle of the floor. There was this one curly headed cutie who tip toed her way across, with her arms out to her sides, and her nose up in the air...so very dainty like. It was so stinking cute. And, there were some portly ballerina's, older like 14, 15, 16, who were really good! Much more flexible than you would think! And then, another little girl's class, probably 4 years old, danced. There was a little girl who was quite heavy. She sooooo did not want to be there. She just kept looking around at the other little girls, then she would flap her arms a little, then do a little kick, all the while with a look that said "Why did my parents make me do this?" It was funny and sad at the same time. Thanks to the Bawdens for the tickets. We had fun!

Can't think of all the other fabulous and interesting stuff I was going to share. One of these days I'll post a pic of my Christmas tree. And I have some links to some fun Christmas sights, and some money saving sights I want to share. Until then, have a fabulous day!!