december daily #25

christmas day!
it is finally here! we've been counting down, keeping busy and enjoying the season!
todd, rachel and i got to bed kind of late...later than i was thinking i would. but we still beat santa.
xander came into my room and woke me at 2:30am and said that he heard santa land on the roof and open the bottle of coke we left for him.
i convinced him that he could wait til the morning to go downstairs and off he went to bed.
cassidy woke up at 3:00 and went to todd, told him that her covers had come off her bed.
so it was a restless evening.

we had to wake the kids at 7:30 because we had church at 9:00. we woke, we met at the top of the stairs, and we filed into the living room....

here is a list of the gifts received....

the day was good, lazy and full of food and music. summer sausage, cheese, monkey bread and fruit pizza for breakfast YUM!

xander was worried for a bit, as there were no presents from santa under the tree for him. instead he found an envelope in the tree that had both his name and cassidy's name on it.
inside was a word puzzle. "cross out all the letters in the word SNOW. you'll find your next clue at the place named with the letters that are left." so the first clue sent them to the fridge, then to the garage, the stairs, the laundry room and finally santa's bag. inside the bag cassidy found a present and xander found 3 presents bundled together. i think they also found a little bit of relief!
cassidy's present - an MP3 player. xander's presents - a Nintendo 3DS and 2 games.

we went over to g&p's house for dinner. the food was restaurant amazing! seriously couldn't have been any better if we had gone to a restaurant. and then we played a rousing game of christmas bingo, thanks to courtney. so funny. followed by yummy gut busting deserts and a few attempts at “just dance kids”…gummy bear was the best one!

 coming down the stairs

 always amazes me!

after church, before changing back into PJ's

 found in Santa's bag

the mess left behind

we are Longhorns

 christmas bingo

december daily #20

a funny tonight... rachel asked cassidy if she knew how to spell christmas. cassidy responded with "c-a-s-s-i-d-y". ha ha ha!

it was a great night. the kids danced at lake lanier's magical nights of lights. i couldn't stop smiling watching them. they were amazing.
it is so impressive to watch them. they may not be the best dancers or bound for broadway, but they love to dance and it shows!

december daily #16

tonight was the ward Christmas party. Sad…I didn’t take any pictures. But one someone was set up with a camera for Santa pictures, and got one of Cassidy. I don’t think Xaner even knew he was there, he just spent the whole night running around. Yes, that was my crazy, loud, hooligan running through the halls…sorry!

december daily #13

A new friend in my ward is currently living at lake lanier. She had a pass to get into the Magical Nights of Lights and gave it to us to use. We went and saw the lights tonight. It is an impressive light show, and more impressive is the work that must go into setting it all up, but not for the price. So we were very grateful that we could see it for free. After driving through the lights we went over to their house. The kids made gingerbread houses. They had a great time getting all sugared up, but they were entertained enough that “the adults” were able to talk and enjoy ourselves too.

december daily #10

Tonight was the Christmas party at All Stars. We had a good time. Although slightly crowded the kids enjoyed dancing and doing tricks. And much to my surprise Todd agreed to sing karaoke…he chose “White Christmas”. Cassidy sang with him. Totally blew me away, I would have thought he would have “declined” the offer, profusely. But he gave in pretty quickly when Mr. Alex asked. Too bad he doesn’t sing more often.

december daily #9

We let the kids sleep under the Christmas tree tonight.

december daily #6

We had a few presents ready… we had books printed with pictures from our trip to Disney and plan on giving them to Courtney, Shaun, & Chad. So we started wrapping those tonight.

december daily #5

for FHE tonight we talked about the symbols of Christmas. I found a great introduction to Jesus and Christmas, …at latter-dayhomeschooling.com

"Pretty soon we might have a special guest visit our house. You never know! I'm going to give some clues that describe this person and you guess who it is." The clues included:

• he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good.
• he has a beard and a kind face
• he spent his life giving to others
• he's often pictured in red and/or white clothes
• he loves little children
• he gives the very best gifts
• you can never see him, but you can feel him
• he gives us a wonderful, special warm feeling
• he can get into our homes even if the doors are locked
• he has special, wonderful powers
• we want to give gifts back to him, but he doesn't need anything we could buy; he just wants us to give to other people. (My kids have been talking about giving a present to Santa.)
• I ended with, "He encourages us to be good so we will be ready when he comes."

do you know what they guessed? do you know how surprised they were when I told them I was talking about Jesus and showed them this picture?

we talked about how candy canes, wreaths and trees had other meanings, not just decorations for the holiday. it was eye opening for them.

we followed up the lesson with snowman ice cream sundaes.

december daily #12

tonight we watched a dvd about Christ's birth put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After having children of my own I am more in awe of Mary and the thought of holding a little baby, knowing what she knew, and yet just wanting to hold her baby as a mother. i don’t know that I said that right, but it makes me stop and think. as I talked about it with the kids tonight of course i teared up. they got worried because i was having a hard time keeping my voice even.
when were done we attempted a gingerbread nativity. xander and i had a fun time trying to figure out how to make the people. his star was the crowning glory though!

december daily #4

We snuggled up (or tried to with a fidgety 5 year old and an over energetic 8 year old) and read some Christmas books. We have a small shelf full, and never manage to read even half. But we thought we’d give it a good start this year.

december daily #3

i knew today was going to be a busy day, but didn't realize how much the kids would enjoy it!
today was the buford city holiday celebration.
the kids were scheduled to dance at 11:30, so we left the house at 9:45 to give ourselves plenty of time to get there.
we got a great parking spot and walked to the stage. because we were so early we had a bit of a wait, but it was so much better than rushing and getting there late. (will i ever learn?)
the kids performed and were fabulous. were they perfect? no, but they had a great time doing it. Love that dance is teaching them so much confidence.
they decided to perform in the parade down main street too. so we bought a pizza, ate at the car, then walked the whole length of main street to the gathering point for the parade. they complained a little, but showed a little more anxiety and excitement about being in a parade.
we left them at the float/trailer. cassidy sitting inside, xander walking with the older kids. and we left cassidy with a walkie-talkie.
then we headed back to the car. all the while checking in with the kids.
we waited and watched as the small town showed it’s spirit. and then before us were some kids doing flips and cartwheels. it wasn’t until they were even with us that we both realized it was xander doing the flips down main street! he and two other boys had gone in front of the truck pulling the trailer, and we almost missed him. we waved to cassidy as she went by and then set off for the end of the parade route to meet them. when we got there they were all smiles. xander was thrilled to have been doing tricks the whole way. crazy kid….i’m going to need to get him some tumbling classes.
walking through the shops and tents on the way back to the car made me realize i love living in small towns. it is such a thrill to be involved, even in little ways.
later that night we did a little shopping, starting to put together what the kids would want to get for each other and for their aunts and uncles. it is hard to keep them from asking for things for themselves, but again, their excitement grew as they thought about the gift ideas and the thought of putting them under the tree.

december daily #2

the end of the week! friday is here...and we don't have any plans.
we'll hang out at home and gear up for a busy day tomorrow.
i am getting our advent/countdown done. crossing my fingers that i'll have it finished this weekend.
i've been trying to plan an activity - large, small, religious, secular - all family oriented for each night leading up to christmas.
don't want to stress us out, but keep the focus where it should be!

december daily #1

First day of December. Wow! Time flies. Wasn't it just summer?
Well, here is my attempt at keeping up with December, and hopefully the blog.
The first day of December was a Thursday. Our house was already decorated - tree up, stockings hung, snow globes out, garland and red presents up the staircase.
Todd likes to get that done early, right after Thanksgiving!
We had signed up to have the missionaries over for dinner on the 1st. They were great company, and put up with the silly and slightly disrespectful antics of my children.
We listened to Christmas Carols while eating baked potatoes and chili, followed by sugar cookies. We talked about our favorite songs and traditions. The elders encouraged us to let our friend's know we are mormon, pass out mormon.org cards and to find a family or friend to invite to the Ward Christmas party.
It was a great night, a a wonderful way to start off the Christmas season.

attitude of gratitude - a collection thruogh november

i am grateful for....
a clean living room and (almost) kitchen

missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. they give their lives to the service of the Lord for 2 years, they bring such a great spirit into our home when they come for dinner, and they are so patient with and inspiring for my kids! 2 of my brothers served missions, my husband served a mission, 4 of my brothers-in-law have served, my father-in-law and countless friends! thank you to those who have chosen that path, and to all the families that supported them through it!

scrapbooking. i love being creative with paper and scissors. of course i love ribbon and embellishments and buttons and brads and.... but really, it is all about the paper and the pictures!

bodies that we can use to move, exercise and dance. our bodies are designed to do some amazing things, but most of us never use them to their full potential. (as for Insanity...not so sure yet that i am grateful for this exercise program just yet. ask me again in 52 days!)

the fall. the leaves changing colors. it is such a miracle and so amazing each year as i watch the world light up with vibrant colors. and i wish i had my camera with me so i could take pictures of it all around me. and yet, it is so fleeting...which makes it even more special and reminds me that i need to treasure the enjoyment and awe of it while i can, because it might not be there tomorrow.

this year i am loving the red trees in the "Family Church" parking lot on Hwy. 20 the beautiful array of color as i drive down Whitehead towards my house, the bright orange trees in front of Sugar Hill Elementary (but those leaves are falling fast!) and the vibrant yellow tree along the woodline in our backyard.

my mom who came to stay with my kids for three days!

cars and fridges when they work... :(

a house, a home...a warm place away from the cold winds and outside world

cassidy is grateful for....
my habitat. that's my house.

xander is grateful for....
families. because we have someone that can teach us. and we can have examples from.

todd is grateful for....
you (he means me!!!) and xander and cassidy

health. overall, i'm pretty healthy and grateful for it.

new red chair

short story - a red micro-fiber chair and a 1/2 recliner for $50 at thrift shop

long story - good neighbors of ours were moving. they had a garage sale one saturday morning. when it was over i went down to help clean up. they didn't want to put anything back in the house, so they contacted a local thrift shop and had a truck brought to the house. they planned on loading up everything left into the truck and donating it. as we began loading the truck i noticed a plush red arm chair at the back of the truck. i wasn't sure if it was my neighbors, as i had never seen it in their house before. granted, i had not been in every room of their house, but it had not been out at the garage sale and it was all the way in the back...so i didn't think it was theirs, but i liked what i could see of it. i made sure i looked at the side of the truck to remember which thrift shop it was going to and then kept packing.
a few days later i looked up the thrift shop to find out where it was. there wasn't a whole lot of information about it, but i had a general direction.
another week went by before i could get out and try to find it. with rachel's help of google maps navigating me through the small streets of down town buford i found it, only to discover they were closed. only open three weekdays for 5 hours, and no saturdays.
another week went by and i was out having lunch with rachel and the flc teachers. the kids had started back to school so i was by myself. i had the time, so i went back to the thrift shop.
as i walked in the door there was the chair right in front of me. with a piece of paper taped to it that said $75. i walked into the building spoke with the lady behind the counter as she explained to me what they were and where the money went to. i started to browse, in awe of the crazy amount of stuff that they had, and the things that they would accept as donations and try to re-sell. but i found a few good things while looking, and knew that i would have to check back every so often for items to use for altering.
as i walked i started a text conversation with todd. i told him the chair was there and how much they were asking for it. we decided that we really didn't have the money to get it, but it made me sick and i knew i would regret it. so i called him. he asked if we had the money, and i laughed because we had been saving money to buy new phones (see future post!) and i had it in my wallet. he asked if i could talk them down. so i went to the counter feeling badly about talking them down, because i knew the money went to help in the community. i dold her that i was really interested in the chair, but didn't have the $75 to spend on it, and wanted to know if she would take lower. she asked how much i could offer. my response was $50 and she said SOLD! one brief moment of elation...and then i panicked a little. what if todd didn't like it? what if i didn't have a place for it? what if i didn't like it? what if the red clashed with the red in the kitchen, the red curtains and the red pillows we already have in the house? what if it was broken or dirty? i hadn't even taken one look at it long enough to see anything but the price. then the lady started talking about what i deal i had gotten and how it was a a chair and a 1/2 and a recliner...seriously? i really hadn't even looked at it, no idea it was that big or that it was a recliner.
i went ahead and handed my money over. and two gentlemen there helped get it out to the trailblazer. it wouldn't fit in the back. so they shoved it in as far as they could (now dripping with sweat because it was 98 degrees!) and then took a rope and tied the back door down over it. i promised that i would drive slowly and keep my hazards on...and off i went.
when i got home i backed the car into the drive (not even something i would do if i could see out the back window) and then i immediately went into the house and started cleaning the living room floor. because, in in the midst of all this scheming to get the chair home i had forgotten that i had unloaded my office in an effort to declutter and clean, and it was sitting all over my living room floor in crazy piles! yup, here is a picture to prove it.
but i did it! i got the floor cleaned up, lowered the chair from the back of the trailblazer, then waited for todd to come home and see it sitting in the driveway.
now, two weeks later, the kids have climbed all over it, todd has fallen asleep in it, and i have been dying to curl up with a book and sit and read for hours (i haven't done that yet!). it ended up being surprisingly clean, very comfortable (although the right side of the seat sags a little more than the left. must have been the favorite side to sit on), and it fits into the living room perfectly. it is almost the exact shade of the curtains, pillows and kitchen paint. i was able to move the book cases so they stand side-by-side now. we may have to re-think where the christmas tree will go, but for now, i am happy that my living room has grown up a little bit.


and that is my story.

what am i doing now that i'm not working???

what i have learned by decluttering my house & my life:

*i was way too busy, but i may have liked it that way (?)
*i have always made lists. i found lists i made when i was 8, and then more from high school and college
*i have started WAY more projects than i have finished
*i am terrible about sending letters, cards and presents!
*i keep way more than i need
*i have a terrible memory - i'm finding stuff that i did or received that i had completely forgotten about! (stalled out for a bit reading old letters and cards)
*it feels great to carry bags of trash to the curb
*i love opening cupboards and finding exactly what i need and being able to put it away just as easily without shifting and moving other things out of the way
*i knew i could do it!

as of wed 8/17 i have done every cupboard in the kitchen, the fridge, my office and the closet in the office. a few clean up stuff to do to call it completed...but the trash is gone! or at least in the garage to try to sell it or give it away.

dancing without pictures

so many missed photo opportunities!

todd and i have been involved with some amazing youth, dancing to celebrate the rededication of the atlanta temple...and i didn't take a single picture!
i am hoping to steal some from other people, and create a scrapbook page or mini-book.
it was incredible.

xander's games lately, i haven't taken nearly as many pictures... (i know, not dancing, but in a way it could be!?!)

cassidy and xander are dancing with allstars performing academy in their spring recital but i didn't even get pictures of them dressed in costume, cause i was so busy dressing them and sending them to the stage!

xander came off the stage dressed as the Sultan from Aladdin and said "that was great, can i do it again?" then he danced and he said he held his end pose longer than he ever had before.

cassidy was so brave and confident. she had never been on that stage before, and was the first one in her group to go out for their part. she was supposed to line up in the middle and dance (2) counts of 8, and then the other girls would come out and line up behind her. someone from the audience said that when she went out and danced by herself there were murmurs around them of how wonderful she did, how brave she was...! overall, and incredible experience!

next year i'll do better with the pictures!

busy busy times...but hopefully memorable.

spring break 2011

we spent spring break in Helen
i think the kids were a little spoiled...i got a little scrapbooking done (very little...but something!)

Babyland General - home of the Cabbage Patch Dolls

hiking to Anna Ruby Falls
visit to Betty's Old Country Store
old soda fountin

miniature golfing at Pirate Adventure

Candy from Hansel & Gretel's Candy Shoppe
(this was a 2 ft long gummy snake)

playground on the walk home (yes, we walked to town!)
if you look carefully, cassidy is on the top platform counting and xander is underneath hiding
they were playing hide-n-seek

they got along for a few minutes while they colored!

gem mining
this was an experience.... expected to see a few more teeth from the people who worked there.
that and cassidy knocked over a vase, that was as big as she was, and we had to pay for it. seems the guy gave me a deal, cause he was trying to sell it for $100. ha! who would go into his place planning on spending $100! so, the adage is true... you break it you buy it.
in our case we bought it and left it there in the shop. no use for a vase.
but the kids liked the "gems" we found.

funnel cake at "granny's best" in downtown Helen. it was my second of the week...

as promised, ice cream cones!

there was a wooden toy shop. the guy that owns it makes all the toys there in a little shop inside the store. xander got a zapper - shoots ping pong balls with the help of a wooden clothes pin and elastics. cassidy wanted the fishing pole with the "gold" fish.
here she is posing on the walk home with it.

we did have a trip to the ER first thing on Sunday
xander had an awful allergic reaction to pollen (at least that is what we think)
his eyeball swelled up. i've never seen anything like it
it freaked me out a little bit, so off to the ER we went.
blessing, steroids, claritin, and allergy drops and he was much better
this is what the condo looks like. ours was the upstairs
here is the inside. upstairs is a loft.
kids love being up there, looking over the edge and sleeping up there

this is the view from the back porch.

and this is the indoor swimming pool. we spent at least an hour there every morning.
kids say it was the best part of the trip (oh sure... that was the free part!)

bye Helen...see you next year.
thanks for a good time

potd 2/6-2/12

sunday 2/6
so this week started out with the superbowl! do you watch it for the commercials or the game. me, game, even if i don't really care who is winning. i'd rather get the low down on the commercials after and then watch the good ones. however, this year i saw some previews before the big day. the one that i saw and was excited for everyone else to see was a VW commercial with the cutest darth vadar trying to use the force on anything and everything around his house. loved it. reminded me of xander trying to be an air bender and water bender after watching the movie "the last airbender" this past summer. (he went with my mom and rachel when we were in boston).
we watched the game (and commercials) down the street at a neighbors house. they were so kind to invite us, and we were glad we joined them. here is a picture of all the kiddos together. the boys actually watched a good bit, as they ran in and out of the room.

monday 2/7


tuesday 2/8


wednesday 2/9


thursday 2/10


friday 2/11
rach and i went shopping tonight. i don't get to go very often without kids to drive me crazy while i'm in the dressing room. nor do i get to go to spend money very often. this time i had gift cards from my birthday! i actually liked most of what i tried on. yeah! very happy with my purchases as of late. (i included two items i've found at h&m over the last month.)

saturday 2/12
went scrapbooking tonight. but no picture today. if i had taken one it would have been xander coming to me in the house, with his hands behind his back, asking me if i knew how to make homemade bread from wheat. "cause i just picked you some outside." and out from behind his back he pulls a handful of weeds that are light brown/tan in color with stalk-like looking tops to them. what a riot!

potd 1/31-2/5

i'm going to change things up a bit...after this week i'm going to post sunday through saturday. i don't usually have sunday's picture uploaded yet when i work on my blog post. so, i'll start with the sunday before and go from there. (did anyone really care about that?)

before i start the potd, there is other news that does not have a picture.
we are out two cars right now. and truly it is tough. thanks to rachel, george & pam we've made it to everything that we've needed to be at. and even had their cars to run a few errands. my escape has $4000 worth of repairs that need to be done to it. evidentaly the trailer hitch that hit the front part of the car in the accident that happened in october did quite a bit of damage to the inside. so much that had we had collision insurance they would have totalled the car. radiator, engine mounts, the hood, bumper and grill, transmission hose, another hose....
so, now i have to decide what to do with it. i loved my car. and i know we don't have the money to get another one. i'm being slightly selfish, pardon me.
then there is the old buick that we are driving. the kids call it the hot car, because it doesn't have air conditioning. but it also doesn't have great heat. but, still it is the hot car. well it didn't pass emissions. so todd brought it in. the same day i find out the damage to the escape, todd gets a call from the mechanic and says there are too many things wrong with the buick to try to fix it. it won't be worth it.
well, that was last thursday. then this monday, we pick up the buick and bring it home. hoping to find a place to donate it to and take the write off. we get a call, from someone who wants to help us fix the buick. both todd and i were in tears. thank you.
so as of now, we are still down both cars. waiting on news of the buick and trying to decide what to do with the escape, and most likely looking for another car. we are definitely a two car family.

so, onto the week...

monday 1/31
100 days of school! such a milestone to reach each year. that means only 80 more days left. is it sad that i like to countdown as much as the kids do?
xander's 100thday stuff was on friday, but they didn't ask for anything from home.
cassidy was asked to bring 100 of a food item to add to a 100th day trail mix. she chose lucky charms cereal. but once she started counting them all out, the marshmallows were sticking to her fingers. so she ate the marshmallows and counted out the crunchy cereal pieces instead. (yes, she washed her hands first!)
she also had to wear 100 of something.
we choose sticker foam dots/circles. we counted out 100 of them and stuck them to a white shirt. i got a picture with my cell phone. i'll put it on here when i grab it off there.


tuesday 2/1
we had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. i knew i wanted a potd, but i didn't want the missionaries to feel weird about me taking their pictures and posting it on my blog. well, as usual the evening was never void of conversation or entertainment from the children. and just when we were winding down, xander (who had disappeared upstairs) comes running into the kitchen with his star wars: clone wars helmet on. it sent us all into a fit of hysterics! and then, the elders wanted to try it on. it fit one of them. so, i grabbed my camera and got my potd!
good times with the elders (at least until cassidy can flirt!)wednesday 2/2
yes, i took this picture of myself. yes, i used a self-timer. no, i was not really asleep.
i have been getting so tired at night! i'm not in a master's class right now, but i start a new 8 week class in a week. i'm a little nervous. if i am so tired so early in the evening, how am i going to stay up to get my school work, pre-k work and scrapbook work done? PRIORITIZE! yup. i'll make it work. this will not be me!


thursday 2/3
embarrassing? maybe.
this is all the laundry that made it's way to my bedroom floor.
got it all sorted out tonight. got all mine folded.
will fold the kids stuff tomorrow, or the next day. but at least my floor is cleared and i can see it.friday 2/4
my wonderful friend bought we a very unique gift and i love it!
a necklace with a charm shaped like the state of massachusetts. there is a heart engraved/stamped where maynard should be. is my heart in massachusetts? not too sure, but i do miss it sometimes. don't get me wrong. georgia is great and i have really enjoyed living here. but i still call massachusetts home, and would like to try and live there again someday. (picture is on my cell phone. will post later)

saturday 2/5
a busy day today.
but it started off with a fun birthday party for a boy in the neighborhood, at skate country.
took lots of pictures for the family, but love this one. cute little skates. and a little girl standing all by herself while wearing them. i'm amazed at how well she is doing only her second time trying to skate. she even made it a few steps before falling. but she was determined. after falling one time she told todd she didn't need any help because she wanted to be tough like xander.
x, your little sister is watching you!

saturday date night

daddy daughter date night to chick-fil-a
when she poses i can't keep a straight face


while they were out xander and i had a date - chinese style
he was so excited, and then confessed that he had eaten two hot dogs at a friends house just before. it's alright, the conversation was great.

potd 1/24-1/30

monday 1/24
kids playing games on the computer, x is playing star wars, while c plays on pbskids.org
tuesday 1/25
xander doing his reading for homework. he is supposed to read 20 minutes a day. most days he puts up a big stink about doing it. but he has been reading the "diary of a wimpy kid" series and really likes them. wish he didn't complain so much about it though. caught him in a quiet moment.

thursday 1/27
cassidy's half birthday! she is 4 1/2 today. so, she got 1/2 a cake.

saturday 1/29
here we come spring ball!
baseball assessments at george pierce park. went early, warmed up with his best baseball bud, went through the assessment with no problems (overheard comments from coaches while i was playing pohotographer...."nice swing", "good hit", "nice job (on fielding)", "good arm").
it was a beautiful day, so we hung out at the park for 2 hours. saw lots of friends from years past. met a few new ones...
now we wait for the call to find out what team he is on, and who his teammates will be. keeping our fingers crossed!
sunday 1/30
New Beginnings for the young women at church.
as an advisor for the beehive class i helped put the decorations and backdrop together. the counselor i work with was the mastermind behind this balloon arch, and i was in charge of the clouds and "title". not too shabby!