Rainy Day

That would be Ellie's black eye. Last night Dustin was playing softball at a Quad-Stake thing and I had to be at Pack Meeting, so I left the kids to play with the other bazillion unsupervised kids at the playground by the fields and ran over to the Church. When I came back Ellie was sobbing and had this HUGE goose egg. I guess a child who shall remain nameless was swinging side to side on the swings and collided with Ellie on her swing.

After a minute or two of sympathy from me, she got over it and ran off with a friend from school, so no one feel too badly for her. I thought something would happen with all those kids, no parents and the swings, but I thought it would happen to Nate. Boys are suppose to have war wounds!

Luckily the bump was gone this morning, but it was still bad enough that I got questions every where I went -- including the doctor's office. I hope they don't call CPS on me!

Today has been rainy -- which is so nice in Arizona. If it does rain, it's usually only for an hour at most, so it's been fun to look outside at clouds all day.

According to Ellie, today was "the best day ever."
1. It was Friday so she didn't have to wear a collared shirt to school
2. She got to go out to lunch with mom and Nate -- I picked her up early from school so we do #3
3. She got a shot at the Doctor -- and she didn't even cry
4. The Doctor gave her a bracelet and a ring
5. We went for pedicures
6. We had hot chocolate for a snack
My girlfriend Michelle took me and our girls out for pedicures for my birthday. It was so much fun! Her little Abby really wanted a reindeer on her toes, but they were too little, so she ended up with a snowman. It is the tiniest snowman I have ever seen. Ellie got snowflakes and jewels. I loved spending time with my little girl when she should have been in school.

What we've been up to

When we weren't eating, we were actually busy doing things.

Sadie has been busy tearing the house apart. We already have 3 broken Christmas tree ornaments and yesterday she broke my biggest glass bowl. I cannot even keep up with her. I think my house is just going to be messy every once in awhile.
Went went to the Temple for FHE on Monday. It was nice and empty since I think I'm one of the few people feeling the Christmas spirit in November. The kids were actually old enough to sit still for all the presentations this year, so we did it all -- the concert, the Christus statue presentation, the movie. . . Nate was pretty upset that there was no popcorn.
Tuesday and Wednesday were craft days for me. Yesterday Molly came over and we ran up to Ribbons N Lace to get me started on some bows for Sadie. I actually bought a glue gun to make my own. She also helped me make these cute letter signs for the girls' room. It was a multi-step process which I have no patience for, so I appreciate her helping me out. Thanks Molly! Their room is going to be so cute once I get it all put together. . . and move Sadie in there.
Today I went over to Susan's and we worked on Super Saturday crafts we never finished and I got some letters painted for Nate's room and fixed some picture frames. I think I am kids-room crafted out!
And it is officially cold in Arizona. Well, only first thing in the morning, but that still means we get to pull out the comfy PJs for Sadie. See how cute she is all bundled up. I actually had to turn the heat on! It only comes on in the middle of the night, but it still counts as Winter -- right? Ellie even wore a coat to school one day this week!

My diet plan

So most of you know that I've been slowly losing my Sadie weight and I was finally down to my "ideal" weight. . . until this week. Here's what I've eaten over the last week

Wednesday: Go out to eat for my birthday dinner including a HUGE piece of Chocolate cake for dessert
Thursday: Thanksgiving. Skip the protein and only eat stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls and pie
Friday: Dustin makes Paula Dean's Gooey Butter cake for dessert
Saturday: Baked french toast and buttermilk syrup for breakfast plus leftover Gooey Butter cake
Sunday: Left over baked French toast for two meals of the day, plus birthday brownies
Monday: Cafe Rio for FHE and then cookies for dessert
Tuesday: Chocolate Molten lava cake for a snack and then neighbor shows up with a huge thing of white chocolate chip cookie dough. . .

Am I the only one who does this to myself? I just love sugar! I cannot resist it. Anyway, I have much more interesting things to talk about -- with pictures -- but for tonight I had t write it all out so I can end the madness! Feel free to share your own weaknesses with me so I can feel better, or at least slightly normal.

What you've been waiting for!

I have some CRAZY friends and we have some crazy birthday traditions. Every year we decorate each other's lawns in some weird theme that is only hilarious to us, door bell ditch over the phone and then hide and watch the fun. The best part is seeing the pictures on their blog the next day and re-reading all the inside jokes. And since I'm sure my friends have been checking the blog all morning long. . . I won't make them wait any longer!

My theme: BINGO cards.

Of course they're not just bingo cards, they're in color and then mounted on card stock and the center square on each BINGO card is some sort of Christmas-y picture. Beth always goes above and beyond. Plus every single card has something written on it -- and there were a LOT! I also got some yummy treats, Christmas ornaments that match my tree-- which is up of course, and some Starbucks hot chocolate. YUM!

Some of my favorites can't go on the blog but here are a few I can share that will probably make no sense to the general public:

• Bring snickerdoodles or don't come
• Back back middle
• But she's on a schedule
• I start my Christmas countdown in January
• I've only been driving for 3o minutes, so get out of the way!
• Hillary in 'o8 -- and other political ones like Mormons for Hillary, Vote for Barak, he's cute
• Am I 22 yet?
• Thank you for having grass
• I brake for everything because I'm a bleeding heart liberal
• If Lisa could be here, she would be here
• I raise neat freaks
• Schedules are our friends
• Should, I, use, a, comma, here?
• I am officially out of sweaters now. Bring your own
• MILFS drive Buicks
  

The best thing about having your birthday around a holiday is that the celebration lasts all week. Wednesday night Dustin took me out shopping and out to dinner and Friday was spent doing my favorite thing of all -- putting up Christmas decorations. stuffing my Christmas card letters, watching Elf, and all of my other favorite day-after-thanksgiving traditions. Plus the kids got me the best cards. Nate's was a Sleeping Beauty card and Ellie picked out a High School Musical card. Sadie loves to open and shut them so if I never hear Breaking Free again, I'll be happy. This morning I video chatted with my fam back East and Dustin made us all baked french toast. . . I think I've gained a zillion pounds between all the sweets and then all of the goodies friends brought by, and BYU won the game against Utah. Go Cougars. So all in all, turning 28 wasn't tooooo horrible.

Happy Thanksgiving -- with pictures

We started the day off with a bang -- at 1 am, Nate decided it was time to be awake for the morning. Dustin and I took turns for the next hour putting him back in his bed every ten minutes. When I got up this morning, I found his blanket in our room, so now I feel bad. Did the baby sitter forget to give it to him last night? Maybe he was just getting out of bed repeatedly to try and find it.

Last night Dustin and I went out to dinner and then down to walk around the new mall. I love it! It's all outside and all the store fronts are ready for Christmas, so it made me feel all holiday-y. On Tuesday I was out shopping with a girlfriend and Christmas music was playing. Ahhhhh, I love this time of year!

We went to the gym this morning to work off the calories we're sure to consume in a few hours and now we're watching the parade on TV. Our dinner assignment: fruit salad. We totally lucked out so we can take it easy today. What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Oh -- and I forgot my BIG accomplishment for the week! I made an article of clothing for my daughter. I made her one of those cute tulle ballerina skirts that everyone is making these days -- thanks for the tips Lara. It actually involved no sewing, since you just tie the tulle strips onto the elastic and I had Kate sew my elastic together for me, but hey! My daughter will be able to wear something that I made for her -- even if it was super easy, I'm not diminishing my achievement. Of course it had been finished for a whole ten seconds before I boxed it and wrapped it for Christmas, so you'll have to wait to see pictures of my mad skills!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Pictures from after the event:

Me trying to make my kids take a picture with me. Big old boogers!

Ellie and Kayleigh were inseparable.

Sadie when the food ran out. Or maybe she was just mad about the ASU game.

The actors in our little Thanksgiving play. Tanner is supposed to be an Indian, not Uncle Sam, and the girls were all "Pioneers." We tried to explain to them that Thanksgiving involves the Pilgrims, but I guess any P word was good enough.

Oops!

I had every intention of posting last week and then things got busy when Dustin left town and by Thursday I was sick. Really really sick. The kind of sick that only happens every few years. The kind of sick where you contemplate keeping your 5 year old home from Kindergarten so that 1. You won't have to dress her and 2. She can take care of you and the other kids. It was very sad and pathetic and included Nate feeding Sadie cereal for lunch and crackers for dinner.

Nate had full run of the kitchen for 2 days until Dustin got home and he just helped himself to whatever he could find in the pantry. Mainly he ate apples, fruit snacks and chips, but he and Ellie did try to get away with eating a giant lolli pop for dinner. The only good thing about sending Ellie to school was knowing that she was getting some sort of nutrition from school lunch. No such luck for the other two.

But we're all back and healthy here now! I put my HO HO HO sign on my wreath to kick off the BEST WEEK IN THE WORLD! I even stuffed my advent calendar boxes. What are you doing to get ready for the *official* start of the holiday season?

It's only a matter of time now

So last night Sadie took her first few steps. It was only one or two, but by the end of the night, we got her to take 3 or 4 in a row. Sort of fun and sort of sad all at the same time. Next week she'll be ten months old. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. It seems like forever with your first -- maybe because you only have one kid to focus on or maybe because you are in too much of a hurry waiting for the next milestone. . . but I can't even figure out where the time has gone with Sadie. Maybe she's just an old soul, but she's always seemed so grown up and now she's acting it too.



Fun weekend re-cap tomorrow, I HOPE! Because I've got to go wrangle the kids.

My kiddos

Pictures for my mom in honor of her birthday!

Ellie had Dads and Donuts this morning. Thekinders learned some really cute songs and filled out little surveys about their dads. It was so cute. Here's her survey:

1. What is your father's name? Dusin
2. What do you call him? Daddy
3. How old is he? 31
4. How tall is he? 2o feet 1o inches
5. How much does he weigh? 1o pounds
6. What color is his hair? black
7. What's his favorite drink and snack? cok and presls coke and pretzels
8. What does he cook? hmbgrs
9. What is his favorite TV show? ftball
1o. What's his favorite thing to do with you? cudl cuddle
11. What does he like to do for fun? play
12. What does he do during the day? wrk
13. What's the one thing he says to you most often? I love you

Nate is the King of holidays. He just loves the decorations, the stores and the commercials. . . so the other day, we were asking Nate what he was going to get everyone for Christmas. He decided to get Ellie a "princess," me a "kiss," Dustin a "hug," and Sadie a "baby doll." I was telling my mom about it and she wanted me to ask him what he was going to get her. He was kind of in a pouty mood, but Ellie over heard and told me that she wanted to get Grandma jewelry for Christmas. So we're watching TV and some jewelery store commercial pops on and Nate sees the diamond earrings: "Looooook. I'm going to get that jewelry for Baba for Christmas."

Sadie is so sweet and so happy and SO.MUCH.TROUBLE! She loves our phone and she knows how to use it. For a long time, she enjoyed prank calling my friend Karen multiple times a day. I don't know how she managed to find her number over and over again, but I finally removed it form my caller ID. A few weeks ago, Sadie managed the horror of all horrors -- she called 911. I had heard of kids doing this, but I thought it was impossible. What are the odds? Like 1 in 729 IF you know to at least push numbers. There are at least 21 buttons on our phone, though, so the odds are probably closer to 1 in 9261. Toilet lids must always be closed, trash cans are off of the ground, the doors have to be completely shut or else she'll head butt them open and go wild. Nothing is safe. Her favorite spot in the house is Ellie's pink chair. She'll just sit there and rock herself in it forever. I find her there multiple time throughout the day. See below:

Slacker Blogger

OK, so I pretty much suck a blogging this week. Sorry about that! I thought it would die down once Halloween ended, but this weekend was crazy.

Friday was Ellie's school's Fall Festival. Dustin's flight got in late, so he met me up there and I'm so glad he showed up when he did because keeping track of the 3 kids in that chaos was hard! Nate's favorite booth was the huge blow up slide and Ellie loved dunking her teacher in the dunk tank. She also got to throw a pie in her face. They don't pay Kindergarten teachers enough. It was fun, and luckily we came home with MORE candy ;p

Saturday I had a Stake Primary thing in the morning, ran home and nursed Sadie and then back out for lunch with some girl friends. That night we also had a Ward dinner, so we made potatoes in in the afternoon.

The last few days have been spent preparing for CHRISTMAS! I know most people are still recovering from Halloween, but by NOON on Nov 1st, I had shopped the Target 5o% off sale and packed all of my Halloween goodies away in my orange rubber maid tubs.

I've been all over the world hunting down the last few toys for the kids, including a trip to the mall to visit Gymboree where I spent way too much on matching PJs. There was also Staples, Wal-Mart, GAP, Macy's, Children's Place, Target, Micheal's . . . Tomorrow should be the last of it, but I have to trek to IKEA for one last present for my little girl.

I would also like to rub in. . . I mean mention that I have addressed over half of my Christmas cards, wrapped most of my presents, and finished my shopping for pretty much everyone. So now I can enjoy the holiday season and just pick up those last few extras that I see along the way. And shop for my husband. That in itself is enough stress to fill the next month and a half.

Update!

When I was little and my brother and I would fight, my mom would pull out her hymn book and start playing "Love at Home" and singing it at the top of her lungs. If you're not LDS the words go a little something like this:

There is beauty all around when there's love at home.
There is joy in every sound, when there's love at home.
Peace and plenty here abide, smiling sweet from every side
Time doth softly sweetly glide, when there's love at home

And then there's a chorus with more LOVE at HOME's, and two more verses. If you really want to hear it click here. To this day, I can't stand the song.

So last night my kids were driving me bonkers. Dustin is out of town and I couldn't just leave them there, although I wanted too. They were fighting and Ellie did a rendition of, "I'm dyyyyyying, " that could rival my childhood performance where I laid on the kitchen floor pretending to be dead while oozing bread out of my mouth. I decided that despite the urge to lock the all in the bathroom with the lights off, I would take a page from my mom's book and play the piano. So I pulled out the Children's Song Book, and you'll never guess what I found in my piano bench -- my address book! HOORAY! It's been found. Nate had obviously gotten a hold of it because the pages had green and blue scribbles all over them.

The kids survived the evening and I found the book after all. Even if I had pretty much gotten every address anyway. Oh well, now I have a back up copy!