Last day of being 30

Well, today is my last day of being 30. It really has been a great year! I think the thing that I feel was my biggest accomplishment this year was finishing the sprint triathlon. I wasn't that fast, but I finished. If I were to do it again I would train A LOT more, but such is life!

Here are some pictures from when I was a baby...31 years ago.

10 Years of Marital Bliss

Ten years ago today Aaron and I were married in the Mesa, Arizona temple for time and all eternity. Time flies when you are having fun. I dug out a few pictures from wedding. Man we were young and skinny!

Merry Christmas!

On Sunday we went to see the temple lights at the Salt Lake Temple. It was really nice. The kids loved it. It was a wee bit chilly and David kept asking for hot chocolate, but we loved the display of lights and the spirit of Christmas.

The next day it snowed and snowed! The kids have LOVED playing in the snow. They built a little ramp to sled down (when I don't take them to the park.) I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Believe

Every year I come across this question, "Is Santa real?" My standard answer is, "Legend has it..."

This year we did the collection for the children in need and when we were taking them to the lady distributing them Becca said,

"We are going to give these toys to those who may not get toys on Christmas. Why don't they get toys from Santa mom?"

Really what do you say to that! I said that we were going to help Santa out.

Then in a very pensive, quiet voice she said almost to herself, "Santa' s not real."

Sad. I don't think she has quite given up, but really when does it end?

Don't eat me...

Yesterday as I was turning on the oven for dinner David said, "Don't cook me mom, I's just a boy"

What???

Becca said that when they were watching a movie with Dad they saw a preview for Hansel and Gretel. HAHA.

"Don't worry honey I WILL NOT cook you!"

GREAT weekend!

Friday my sister called and said that she had two extra tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert that night. Sarah and I took Chelsea and Kendall to the concert. I was a little apprehensive to take an 11 year old and 2 eight year olds to a concert that was geared towards adults, but they were great and never complained. The concert was amazing. There were 5 different bell choirs, a story teller who read Luke 2 and told a VERY touching story about Henry Longfellow's writing of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", a very funny organ solo, a famous singer (who I thought was a little melodramatic in his singing, but good none the less) and of course the choir and orchestra. We saw a few of the lights but we will go back with the family on Saturday to see more of the lights.

Last night Amanda and her family came over to make graham cracker houses. It was really fun and the kids had a ball! They were all patient and no one fought or complained about waiting for their turn, it was a really fun night. I thought it was funny that the houses kind of brought out their personalities. Becca was very meticulous and everything had a pattern and place. Sarah was a little crazy with the frosting and candy...no rhyme or method. David just kept eating the candy! He did LOVE the succors in gum drops. I think he ended up with 9 of them.

The dancing house

There is a house near our neighborhood that we discovered one night that is just awesome! My friend Melissa came (picture two grown ladies screaming and hugging in the street that is how it looked like when we first saw each other) anyway, I told her about this house and here is her video of it. We took dad here when he was in town, then last night went with Amanda everyone loves it!

http://baxterbugs.blogspot.com/2008/12/for-your-enjoyment.html

My big bum

Everyday, yes, EVERYDAY David tells me that I have a big bum. I really don't think about it much because compared to his small bum, my bum is huge. Well today in Becca's class the teacher introduced me and one kid said, Smalley you are not small. You should be Mrs Biggie or Mrs Piggie. Oh, leave it to a kindergartner to make you feel EVEN BIGGER than you already do!

Yesterday we were shopping for some last minute gifts and as I was walking by there was an older couple and this is what I heard:

"Mabel, this shirt is just cute as heck."

I had to chuckle. I don't quite know how cute heck is, but really I never thought it should be a word that describes a shirt.

Gifts of Christmas

I have my first gift of Christmas. I came home one day and outside I saw a new little tree! I have been wanting an apple tree and was BUGGING Aaron all Fall that we needed to plant one this year so it will have time to mature. So now I have a Fuji apple tree!

Monday we had a neighborhood giving night. There is a woman who works with school counselors and assesses needs of the children for Christmas. She the distributes gifts to those in need (it may not necessarily be the ones everyone automatically thinks of). She serves the whole state of Utah and gives to more than 3500 kids. We distributed flyer's and collected toys. It was a fun night of hot chocolate and cookies, Santa came and the kids gave the gifts to Santa and instead of telling Santa what they wanted they told him what they were giving. It was really neat. It was not my idea, I just had the cleanest garage!

Each year my parents give each grandchild money to spend on a good cause. The kids all bought toys for this and then they bought hats and gloves for the homeless shelter. I hope that it will help the kids realize what they have and that it is good to give to others!

Serious help

Okay all you out there - does anyone have a good book for disciplining a 3 year old?? I think I must have blocked out all the tantrums and naughty things my other kids have done. This past week David has flushed 5 rolls of toilet paper down the toilet! (after he goes poop) I have tried talking REALLY STERNLY to him and then even sending him to time out, and he always says he won't do it again and he seems to be getting it, but then the next day he does it again! It is really getting to the maddening stage and yesterday he flooded the bathroom. IDEAS???

This morning when I heard him lock the door (a sign that he is going poop) I broke in and took the toilet paper. He got really mad and then I tried to talk to him and tell him that he couldn't flush the toilet paper down the toilet. I let him go and then brought some in and showed him how much he needed to use and what to do with it (other than put it in the toilet). We will see if that will get to his brain.

Amazing Snowflakes

If ANYONE is looking for Snowflake crafts or decorations this is how to make it!

It was amazingly simple and turned out so cute! Perfect for older kids with about a 15 minute attention span. This picture doesn't really do it justice. I think in real life it is a little larger. Happy snow. It is snowing right now, the girls are excited to have more snow. (for some reason the link doesn't show up, but if you drag your cursor over "this is how to make it" it should take you there if you click on it. I tried to change the link color, but apparently that didn't work.)