Getting to Know You Christmas Tag

One of my friends posted this "Getting to Know You Christmas Style" on her blog. It was so fun to read, that I thought I would do the same on my blog. It really was fun to write and reminisce about Christmas! Enjoy!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

--- I definitely prefer wrapping paper. The kids love to rip into it and I love to watch them. (I have to admit that I still love to rip wrapping paper too!) Although, for the sake of time, I sometimes resort to gift bags.

2. Real tree or Artificial?

--- I love the smell of real trees, but Kenny refuses to let us have one. He has several reasons including 1. It's a fire hazard and 2. It's unnecessary to kill a perfectly good tree in the name of Christmas. Maybe some year I'll talk him into it just for one Christmas.

3. When do you put up the tree?

--- I'm totally against jumping the gun on Christmas. You have to enjoy Thanksgiving first. With that in mind, we put up our tree as soon as we have time after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?

--- By the time Christmas is over, I'm ready to get rid of the tree. But, Kenny insists that we keep it up until New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog?

--- I LOVE eggnog. Kenny does not like it, which means more for ME!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

--- Every year Santa would give me a new doll. I loved dolls and looked forward to a new one every Christmas.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

--- I think men in general are all hard to buy for.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

--- We have a Little People plastic set that the kids can play with and I don't have to worry about it breaking.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

--- So far in life, neither. Every year since Kenny and I have been married (10 years)I PLAN on sending out Christmas cards and every year I don't get around to it. Maybe I'll do it THIS year.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

--- I love to watch "While You Were Sleeping." Kenny loves to watch "A Christmas Story" and can (and frequently does) quote many lines from that movie.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

--- I like to start early to avoid the chaos. One year we waited until 2 days before Christmas to start shopping. We went to Wal-Mart and it was packed. They didn't have a single shopping cart left to use. People were crazy and it was really no fun. I have vowed to not every do that again.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

--- Probably, but I'd never admit it!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

---Eggnog, sugar cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, toffee, and more eggnog to name just a few things.

16. Lights on the tree?

--- We actually still have the tree we bought our first Christmas being married and that was before they sold pre-lit trees, so we have to string our lights on it every year. Kenny tries to get as many lights as possible on the tree. I love when it just glows!

17. Favorite Christmas song?

--- I've always loved the Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire song. I don't even know the official name.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

--- We visit family on Christmas Eve; spend Christmas morning at home; and visit family again on Christmas afternoon.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?

--- Of course!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

---A lit up star

21. Open the presents Christmas eve or Christmas day?

--- I love to save the presents for Christmas morning. Although, this year I was thinking about giving the kids new pajamas to open and wear on Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

--- I feel terrible when I get caught up in shopping and don't think about the true meaning of Christmas. Also, one of my pet peeves is when people try to abbreviate Christmas by substituting an -X- for the most important part of the word.

23. Favorite ornament theme and color?

--- This year it will be "baby friendly" since Max is crawling around grabbing everything and putting it into his mouth!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

--- Anything that tastes good. I'm not picky.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

--- I haven't decided yet.

26. Favorite Christmas Tradition?

--- Since I was really little, my family has always gone caroling at rest homes or hospitals on Christmas Eve. I remember taking Christmas stickers and sticking them on the elderly people and just loving it. You wouldn't guess it, but sadly those places are pretty quiet during the holidays. The old people just light up and sing along. It's so much fun and we'll be doing it again this year.

If anyone feels like answering these questions for themselves, feel free. I would love to read on your blogs how you celebrate the Christmas season!

Thankful Thursday On Wednesday

My friend Linde, posts a "Thankful Thursday" every week. I thought I would try it in honor of Thanksgiving, but since I think I'll be too busy tomorrow, I'll have to do my "Thankful Thursday" on Wednesday. "Thankful Wednesday" doesn't sound very clever, so I've decided that my official title for the post will have to be "Thankful Thursday On Wednesday."

I am thankful for many things, but here are just a few:

1. My wonderful husband

2. My three wonderful kids

3. Our family's good health

4. The nice house we have to live in

5. The Internet and having a wealth of information at my fingertips

6. My cell phone; I don't know what I did without it

7. My jetted tub

8. My dishwasher

9. Good friends and neighbors

10. And of course, having the gospel in my life

Once in a while, it feels so good to sit and think of a couple of things you're grateful for. I really think I should do it more often and not just before Thanksgiving.

It's Snowing!

It's snowing outside right now! Everybody here is pretty excited about it. Iven thinks that it must be Christmas time. Max looks pretty confused when a snowflake hits his face. Lily was excited that she finally needed to wear her cute coat to school. Kenny has been waiting to have a reason to have a blazing fire in the fireplace and last night he sure had our house toasty warm with his fire. We love the song lyrics, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Trick or Treats!

For FHE we carved our pumpkins. The kids insisted that the pumpkins have scary faces. I tried to talk them into something funny or cute, but to no avail. Our FHE project ended with roasted pumpkin seeds.


My Spiderman, Skunk, and Cheerleader.



Spiderman really had some good moves!

Lily loved the parade, especially all the candy she came home with.

By the end of the night, my little skunk had a poop blowout in his costume. The costume fittingly stunk pretty bad.

We love Halloween at our house, especially Kenny. He decorates the house inside and out every year and insisits that we have real carved pumpkins lit out on the front porch. This year he took the kids trick or treating, including for the first time, little Max, who thought the whole thing was a blast. Earlier in the day, we watched Lillian march down Fairview's main street with the elementary school's halloween parade. Iven was just glad to be feeling better since the day before he had the flu and had to miss his preschool party. He was just about as devastated as a little boy could be, but feeling better on Halloween and able to go trick or treating and eat lots of candy, made him in much better spirits. Every year my mom makes homemade donuts on Halloween and so we went trick or treating at her house first to get the hot donuts right out of the grease. In addition to all the yummy treats and fun memories, we got a special treat on Halloween this year. KrisAnn (Kenny's sister) and Corey had their baby girl! Congratulations! They named her Siena and all is going well.

Our Last Adventure

Thanks to the recent episode of warm weather, we were able to go on one last fall vacation hoo-rah at the Little Sahara Desert (the sand dunes!) As was expected, it was a ton of fun. The kids dug in the sand to their hearts content and when we came home it was evident in the amount of sand that fell out of their clothes, shoes and any body cracks or crevices. Kenny had a blast on his four wheeler and won the race up Sand Mountain. Lily and Iven enjoyed going for rides on daddy's and grandpa's four wheelers; they think fast is not fast enough. Lily even got a little lesson in driving. Max loved being in the outdoors and he even got to go for a little ride. We were surrounded by friends and family and had a ton fun being together. Winter will be here soon and the warm weather activities will have to end, so we better take advantage while we can!

In the Beginning

(My very first post; here goes; wish me luck)

Sometimes I am bored and want more excitement in my life, and sometimes I have way too much excitment and just want things to slow down. Right now is one of those times when I am just way too busy and really want things to slow down. Is there ever a happy middle ground in life. I love seeing the plaques that say "Simplify." That is what I need to do. Somehow I keep getting myself roped into things that don't add up to simple; coaching soccer, PTA room mother, cub scout leader, to name just a few. In the end life is good and I'm really enjoying every minute.