Monday, January 20, 2014

Happy new year!

I love the new year. I love fresh starts.  I love making resolutions even though I rarely keep them very long.  I love trying to get myself to be a little bit better than I was yesterday.  And when I fail to do that...I can always try again tomorrow. 

Here's a confession:  I sometimes feel like I am the worst mom ever. My kids don't hesitate to tell me this too, and let me tell you that it is hard to hear that.  I am trying my best and it's never perfect but I'm doing what I can.  I am trying to teach them and help them learn and grow, which brings about lots of tantrums and melt downs because I don't always do everything they want me to or let them do everything they want to.  Once in a blue moon, however, I am reminded that I am raising amazing kids that do know right from wrong.  After a particularly bad night a few weeks ago where I thought the tantrums and blaming would never end we woke up to this note:
 I do have awesome kids but sometimes it's really hard to remember that when they are so mad at you for "being a good parent."  Wow, parenting is hard.

Okay, on to a lighter note...Rachel decided she wanted to try basketball this year.  She's actually quite good if she weren't so afraid of getting hit with the ball.  And she does look so cute too.
 I took Kate and Will to the zoo last week with my sister and her cute boys.  The zoo in the winter on sunny days is the absolute best.  Nobody was there, the animals were up and awake.  The tiger was even growling!  It was a much needed outing.


 We even got up close and personal with the gorillas....
 And then there's this boy.  I just can't get enough of him!  He gets cuter and trickier every day which really doesn't seem possible.  He now has 4 teeth that he's constantly gritting, he claps, sometimes will "raise the roof" and today he waved "bye bye" for the first time when Kate was leaving to go to a friends house.  He is always talking and is so stinkin' cute!
 Oh, and let's not forget this little piece of information.....I got my piano!!  It might not be the "dream piano" but the price was right, the location was awesome and it's in really good condition.  I absolutely love it and we've been tickling the ivories ever since.  Merry Christmas, Happy birthday and Happy Anniversary to me!  I LOVE IT!!
 Speaking of anniversaries...we just celebrated our 12th.  12 years?  How the heck did that happen?  I still love my hubby so much.  That was the best trick I've ever played was getting him to marry me.  Hah!  If only he would've known 12 years ago....We had an awesome day of watching Trav's church ball game, going to the temple and doing sealings and then going to P.F. Chang's for dinner which was not only delicious, but they also gave us $20 worth of gift cards because we are so cool.  It was an awesome anniversary!  Here's an oldie but a goodie for your viewing pleasure...  This is when we were dating
Okay, now here's the test.....we've always taken pictures of our babies in boxes.  Can you tell who is who?  I think they're related...what do you think?



 Happy new year!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Christmas!!

Holy Cow I love Christmas!  This year was awesome.  This is the first year in like 12 years that I haven't worked at the Roof and am crazy busy during Christmas. I can honestly say that I enjoyed it so much more than I had been able to in the past.....  We were able to do everything that I wanted to do. So beware, this is a complete picture overload. 

We did take a night to go downtown and see the lights.  Always a blast.  This year we didn't take the train in like we have the past couple years.  I think that causes way too much stress when we do. I like the luxury of my own car.

 This is what the front room looked like on Christmas morning before the animals attacked.  Rach and Josh actually woke up at 4:30am.  I let them open their stockings then sent them back to bed (I was up with William at the time). Then they woke up at good old 8:00.  Much better!
 Here's a picture of their new Christmas jammies. It's hard to tell on Josh's, but when you cross your arms it looks like a dragon is going to bite you. Super cool.  I think Rachel's footsies are a little big, what do you think?



 This is me opening my big gift from Trav.  I know I don't look too excited (and very gross, ewww!) but, I'm reading a note that says, "Go pick out a piano you schmuck!" (or something like that)  I'm getting a piano!!! You don't even know how excited I am about this!!!  So now the hunt begins....
 Will had an awesome first Christmas and especially loved his Noah's ark.



 The thing most asked for and received was Legos.  They spent hours on Christmas day putting together Legos. 
 Even little stinker finally got her own Legos..
 We made some gingerbread houses about a week before Christmas.  I always get shown up by the house I make.  That's what I get for marrying an architect.  His houses are always so much cooler.

 Kate and I built Frosty when it snowed.
 This was my favorite package by far this year....
 Grandma gave Kate a new dress which I think it so cute.  She totally looks ready for Sunbeams now.
 And my boys all got matching ties and wore them to church.  This is the most handsome bunch of boys I've ever seen!
 The day after Christmas we went up to my parents cabin and spent a couple nights.  Everyone was there so it was really cozy.  But we did a lot of sledding, drank a lot of hot chocolate, and had a lot of fun! 

 Kate's favorite part was being the hood ornament on the 4-wheeler bringing kids back up the hill.
 Here's all the grandkids.  We are a big bunch!
 There were a few minor crashes on the sleds...


 William even got to try sledding for the first time.  He wasn't too sure about it.
 I like his little camo pants for the cabin....





Looking back on the year there were a lot of ups and downs....but mostly ups.  I love being able to reminisce and set new goals for the new year.
  I think 2014's going to be a great year too.