MADE ME SMILE with my WHOLE HEART:)

 Costco had a sale on this cereal. They were clearing it out for 2.97 a box.   I BOUGHT 3 boxes of it.  Well, my children would NOT eat it.  I fixed this problem by telling them I will not buy more cereal until it was gone.  They were not happy!!! They did start eating it however.  After school snack and bedtime mostly.  Then one day they come to me with this petition. I laughed pretty hard, and still made them finish off the cereal.  After quite a few months it is finally GONE!!!!!

 Way to go DAXON!!

So proud of you:)

I am picking up Ashlynn from pre-school.  The teacher mentions that I need to check in her backpack.  This is the envelope I found:).

The other day Ashlynn brings home this picture.  She is  OVERLY excited and super HAPPY that she made a RAPUNZEL gingerbread man.

MY BABY IS 5

 The other day I was running down stairs for some reason.  Ya, I can't remember what I was going to do.  This was the scene.  My 2 little girls sitting together on the couch coloring princess pictures.  It made me smile.  I love it when my children are loving to each other without mom telling them to be:).

PINKALICIOUS

Last year, just for fun, we did a fun party that was pinkalicious .  This year when I got out our Valentines decotations,  I realized I had tons of stuff left over from last year.  So why not have a birthday party?

Ashlynn loves PINK.  Ashlynn LOVES just just about everything except sitting still:).

Last year on the last day of school,  as we drove by the park, a bunch of kids were out doing games.  Ashlynn wanted to go be a part.  I told her she had to be 5.  She has ASKED everyday since that day how much longer until I turn 5.  The day FINALLY arrived.  That night as I'm putting her to bed she gets a little sad.  Then she says "Is it true?  Am I really 5?"  I tell her yes.  She replies sadly, so I am really going to miss my friends when I go to kindergarten tomorrow:(.  WOW that is a long time ASHLYNN to be excited about something.  I never realized that this issue would weigh so heavily on her mind.   She was a little happy,  yet sad as I explained she would need to wait until FALL to go to kindergarten and I would like her to just be my little girl for now.

I LOVE being this little girl's mom.  I realize counselors say you should not be your kids friends per say.  She is one of my BEST friends.  We spend every day together.  She is my shopping buddy, my have a picnic in front of the fire and read Fancy Nancy books on cold days buddy, go to the library, gym, swimming, and clean house with buddy. yes, I have it hard.  I Love being a stay home mom:) I realize that many of the activities we do are me taking her to do whatever.  I love being her mom and being able to do it.  She loves to play games.  I protest this at times.  She usually wins. She still insists someone lay by her at night, hold her hand and sing to her.  It usually only takes about 2 and a half songs before shes out and I can sneak away:)  She will outgrow this someday,  I think!  When I think about her going to school next year it truly brings tears to my eyes.  It will be an adjustment to move onto that new stage of life. Let's NOT talk about it.

Ashlynn loves a party, any party.  Her party or someone elses.  Presents are her thing.  This year the second she woke up, her voice echoed through the house.  Within seconds all the kids were hugging her, singing to her  and just so excited for her to be 5.  I LOVE how everyone in the family loves her.  It tends to make her a little spoiled. It may be hard to manage at times due to her being a little on the rotten side:).  I reason that it is just her strong will coming out and one day she will do AMAZING things with it!!!

Ashlynn loves dress up, princess anything, treats of any kind, and barbies.

Recently her and I started a book "Learning to read in 100 easy lessons."  We are both learning patience with this.  She loves learning to read a new word.  She DOES NOT love to sit still to participate.  I am learning to be patient with her.  I am also learning that I pronounce a lot of my sounds wrong:).  I thought the book was for her, turns out I speak slang in my speech.  It reminds me of the song from "MY FAIR LADY."  love that movie.  Why can't the English teach their children how to speak.  (It's a song about people like me.) It's a great book.  I Love it.

LOVE THAT FACE

Birthday cake pancakes

These were a hit with all the kids.  For some odd reason mine DID NOT look as amazing as the ones on pinterest.  I didn't tell my kids so they didn't mind:).

PINKITITUS

Made this cute sign & cake to go with our pinkalicious theme.  J.D. & Riley walk by the sign and say what is the big word suppose to say?  I say PINKITITUS.  Anyone who knows about the book would know that.  They both let me know that is NOT how you spell it.  I had to make a new sign.

Pink rolls

How fun are these. This idea came to me when I couldn't sleep one night.  They were so fun to make.  I am way too easily entertained.

LAST but not least.  I could NOT leave the best part of  mine & Ashlynn's day.  DRESS UP.  she does my hair, makeup, nails, and I get to return the favor.  It's a great time of the day.  What a lucky mom I am to have a true spa treatment DAILY!!!

GRANDMA JO

The cute little dress she is wearing  has a story.  One day my sweet mom called right before Alyssa started kindergarten and ask me to send her outside (so the boys would not see her leave).  I did and my mom took her school shopping.  They bought this cute little dress and I don't remember what else.  I remember Alyssa had such a wonderful day.  As I was cleaning out boxes I found this dress and it reminded me of her.  I miss her and am so thankful for all the little things she did to make my life and my children's  wonderful. I love that all the little things she made and did for my older kids I was able to hang on to. Every time Ashlynn puts a blanket on her, or pajamas that are homemade, she says excitedly, "Did Grandma Jo make this for me?"    Everyday she chooses a Grandma Jo blanket for our fireplace picnic(ya we live a rough life).  I was in labor a little longer with Ashlynn then my other kids.  I know it was because her Grandma wanted to hold onto her sweetheart just a few more minutes.  It's so adorable how Ashlynn has never met her Grandma Jo in this life, yet talks as if she is one of her closest friends. I pray with all my heart that this never changes.  I love you Ashlynn.  Happy # 5!!

New Discoveries

 Ashlynn Has officially discovered snow and cold.  As everything else in life SHE LOVES IT!!!!

 Daxon took her snowboarding after the last snowfall.  She wanted to stay at the snow hill forever.  It was tough to get her home.

The next few days she went to school with bumps and bruises from her adventures in snowboarding.  Is that bad parenting?  They were mostly on her face.  I was a little worried her teachers were going to think she was being beat.  The bumps did not slow her down.  She just kept begging for more.




Thankfully Daxon loves the outdoors also.  That way I did not need to stay the entire time.  I do NOT love the cold:).  Daxon says, "I guess we could do without the sled.  She just wants my snowboard."

 POPCORN POPPING

 When I grew up a popcorn popper was not anything too exciting.  My mom popped popcorn I think every weekend.  The other day I decided to get out the popper and let Ashlynn and her friend help make popcorn so we could play, DON'T EAT PETE."  (I ran out of microwave) I'm so glad I did.  SO SO funny.  I think I will need to use the popcorn popper more often.

 RACQUETBALL

 A few months ago the y was offering free lessons for racquetball.  After a few weeks my boys  decided this was the game for them.  They love it.

 It does not matter how late they are up on Friday, they make it to the gym on Saturday morning to play.  They now also attend lessons at Oakmoore. I'm happy they have found something to keep them entertained on these winter days. Something besides wrestling matches in the middle of my living room floor:).

 PINEWOOD DERBY

 Britton loves the pinewood derby.  He loves drawing the design for his car, sanding it, and just being a part of it.  For treats this year they had donuts.  I think Ashlynn had about 10 and Britton probably had about the same judging by the crumbs on his upper lip:).  What a fun memory for boys to have.

Home economics

 Daxon was pretty darn happy with the RAD pillow he made in sewing.  I told him to just use the material the school supplies.  His response, I want to use it to sleep on.  It needs to be NEW YORK YANKEES!!!

 These next 2 pictures I just put on here because they make me smile.  I love how much kids are amazed when they go to the Science center by this round ball .
A plasma globe or plasma lamp is (usually) a clear glass orb filled with a mixture of various noble gases with a high-voltage electrode in the center of the sphere. Plasma filaments extend from the inner electrode to the outer glass insulator, giving the appearance of multiple constant beams of colored light (see corona discharge and electric glow discharge).

Our family has been laughing about this for a few weeks.  TOO funny.

Christmas Joy

So excited that Britton wanted to join Ashlynn in putting out reindeer  food. I love going to see the lights, sing Christmas songs, act out the Nativity, open pjs, and do a dinner on Christmas eve .  This year we did those things and it was wonderful,  but man my kids are changing. (growing up FAST) I have to run the show a little bit different.  The effort involved is a little more intense with each year.  It's was soooo much easier to make my children think everything was fun and TOTALLY AWESOME when they were little. When the fact that we just did all those things,  are now tossing reindeer food well, that was the party and now it's bedtime:).(and it's only 8p.m.)

The x box has been 24/7 entertainment since it was opened.  Riley has to be forced away.  The other day I thought I would be very intelligent.  I turned off the outlets for the T.V.  that way even when they were sneaky the lovely thing wouldn't work.  I went upstairs, came down and what was the lovely sound?  The x box!!!  Ya it took them seconds to realize how to fix that problem.  I took the games.  Turns out they are willing to play the lame ones built in if that's all that was available.  I guess it's a good thing they go to the y for hours a day, school and do chores pretty good most the time:).

Brittton loves his skylanders when his brothers let him play:).

I'm not sure what this gift is I just love how cute they are looking at it together. Alyssa received her I-pod Touch finally.  I have not wanted to get my kids devices with internet.  I see how I have to force them off the family internet. I want to be able to regulate the time the spend on that kind of stuff.  She was not overly happy that night when she went to bed to find the internet on it shuts off in the evening and that she can't use internet in her room.  We told her it was good parenting I'm not sure she agrees:).

 I was super excited to come across a shirt with Daxons favorite thing to say on it. LOL

Ashlynn was up ALLL night on Christmas eve throwing up.  I truly believe her excitement for Christmas made her sick. She is the type of personality that just gets so excited for things .  Her enthusiasm grew with each day.  When she was finally told it's tomorrow it was too much for her.  OR she just had the flu for 2 days.

To bad this darling girl doesn't have a nicer mommy to buy her a real puppy.  She really loves her Dog that is pretend it barks and she cuts its hair with pretend scissors and its a marvelous precious friendship:).

                                     When we get tired of it's barking we turn it off.

Tender mercie Christmas miracles

The guard Christmas party this year was so great.  On the way home our car was causing us some problems.  We were not sure what was going on. (our fuel pump went out) It would drive a few feet quit, we would have to sit for awhile and the wonderful process would start again.  Finally Jers tells everyone to be quiet as he says a prayer.  As he finishes, he sits for awhile, tries to start the car, off we go.  We made it out of camp dodge a least:). When he gets the car going again he states I'm not taking the freeway,  I am going the long way.  The car does not cause us too much trouble until we get almost home.  This happens to be at a main stoplight where many of the people from our old ward would be going by at that EXACT TIME!!!!!  I am soooo embarrassed.  I say "why did you go this way? everyone will see us."  He replies "I know, that's why,  I new we would need the help they would be willing to offer."  Offer they did!!!!!  Within seconds the younger kids and I had a ride home,  Jers had tons of people offering to help.  How blessed and loved we felt at the tender mercy of that moment. 

The following day I had agreed to let Jers take the car hunting and go without one due to the fact that the weather had been nice.  I could walk Ashlynn to preschool and other than that we could just stay home that day.  It would be a lot of walking because I would also need to go back and pick her up.  We woke up to freezing cold rain and wind.  I had no car and I new Ashlynn would not be happy if we skipped preschool.  WHAT TO DO???  I had decided we would bundle up REALLY good and just walk.  I was a little concerned how Ashlynn would handle walking in the rain & wind to school:).  I went on about my day but had a prayer in my heart to know what I should do.  I really didn't want to bother anyone for help.   All the sudden my phone rang.  It was a preschool friend I had never met.  The mom wondered if her daughter could come over to our house,  play with Ashynn,  then she would take them to school and bring Ashlynn home. UM YES!!! 2 tender mercies in less than 24 hours.  I felt very blessed by our own little Christmas miracles indeed!!!

DECEMBER 2012

First of all I was a little sad to think we may NOT have snow for Christmas this year.  We ended up having PLENTY!!!  I could not have been happier for the kids to be out of school for 2 extra days of school.  They had a ball playing out in the snow.   I LOVE Christmas break and Christmas is one time of year I actually enjoy the snow.  Christmas break ends in 2 days so it is free to leave any time:).

Christmas cookies, I always look forward to these until it's time to clean up  and then I think I NEVER want to make these again.  However next year will come and I will once again be excited to do cookies as will my younger kids:). Somehow I forget the mess and remember how fun it is to crank up the Christmas music and make cookies.

The annual  Clive SANTA visit.  We have a special neighborhood to warrant a visit from this jolly man every year.

Ashlynn kept begging to go for a picnic.  I am NOT a cold weather picnic fan!!  We solved the begging by her and I making Rudolph lunch bags one afternoon then for dinner we had a family picnic. NEXT to the glowing fire:)

I will be VERY sad to not watch Ashlynns preschool Christmas program next year.  It is so very adorable.  Seriously cutest Christmas program I have ever seen.

Ashlynn has been begging to do Santa pancakes.  I am so thankful I still have one kid who still thinks these little projects aren't lame:)

AShlynn had a build a bear birthday party.  It was adorably fun!! Birthday parties are so much fun.

Christmas Moment

 As I was baking one evening, I glanced into the living room to find Ashlynn being more still than she normally is.  For the next little while I watched her as she glanced at the details of the Christmas tree and all the gifts.  It was a beautiful moment to watch her as she just smiled and looked at everything.  I love this season!!!  For some reason, it seems like  it comes and goes quicker with every year.  From the day after Thanksgiving, it's a battle at times to not get caught up in all the worldly parts of it and easily miss the whole meaning of the season.  How thankful I am for little ones who help ME to remember to slow down and take in the magic of this beautiful time of year.