bummer birthdays and other stuff

So, last Monday was Ellie's 7th Birthday. Unfortunately our family had the flu. I did not get out the camera on this day as our family neither showered or brushed our hair. We still did all her favorite meals and a cake, but it was hard to actually enjoy it. Ellie's big present was an easel with a white board and chalk board - the girls have LOVED it! I think we've finally got a gift they won't get sick of.

My birthday was last Wednesday, and although I did take a shower, I didn't brush my hair or do anything to get ready, so again no pictures. It was an even bigger bummer than Ellie's birthday because we did absolutely nothing to celebrate (seriously nothing) and the girls were still not well enough to go to school, but well enough to fight most of the day (despite my requests that the only present I wanted from them was no fighting). Or maybe it was a bummer because I still had a sore throat and was stuffed up and had a headache. Or maybe the fact that a bunch of my friends here went out to watch Les Mis, but I couldn't go because of scheduling conflicts (they didn't know it was my birthday). Or maybe the fact that Aaron didn't get me anything for my birthday (either he thought it unnecessary, or he took me seriously when I told him the Kitchenaid I bought clear back in December could be my birthday present. Why does he always have to take me so seriously?!)

So, I'm going to celebrate my birthday tomorrow now that I'm feeling better. Aaron and I are going out to lunch, and after school the girls and I will watch Anne of Green Gables since we don't have any after-school commitments. Then I'll make my favorite Chocolate Sundae Cake with ice cream!

Okay, on to other stuff.

 Just cute Carly

 This is called a house centipede and it's HUGE (about 2 1/2 inches long)! Apparently they're good though because they eat other bugs and spiders. Even so, I am going to let it live outside.

 Carly reading to her sisters - makes my heart feel good! 

Also, this is a great book with beautiful illustrations.

 A work of art by Carly.

 Santa brought us the game Sorry and these girls love to play it.

 Carly's working on a story on the old computer. She is such an amazing writer!

 Just us and the flu!

 Ellie with a headache. :(

Last night when I got home from mutual this whiteboard had "Wirst day ever" written all over it.  I asked her about it this morning and when I came in to the family room she had "This will be the best day ever" written on the white board. A good night's rest can always make a difference. I hope the positive self-talk works for her! (The letters and artwork on the bottom are Aubree's)

According to Aubree

The girls were getting all suited up to play in the snow and Ellie had a huge meltdown. Aubree comes over to me and says quietly, "Ellie has a bad attitude once a yeow [year]. She's having one again. I think she has a weally sowe [really sore] bum. It must be weally itchy."
I guess we need to get Ellie's bum checked, cuz she has been having meltdowns a lot lately!

(Just so you know, the way she talks is even cuter in person! I don't want her to have a speech impediment, but I really really don't want her to grow up and learn how to pronounce her R's - it's just too cute!)

The biggest insult according to Aubree:
"Liar, liar pants on fire, hanging on a telephone wire!"

When someone is not sharing with her she angrily sings/shouts:
"Sharing, sharing, that's the thing to do!"

Aubree's "homework" (one of Ellie's extra spelling sheets) - she loves to write letters

I've told Aubree she's not allowed to grow up anymore. I know it's because she's the baby (and she may always be the baby), but I don't want to be done with this stage of life! She told me she has to grow up and go to school, but she'll come home when it's dark outside.

Happy New Year! and Resolutions

This year we had our own little New Year's Eve party with just us. We decorated the house with balloons and surprised Daddy when he got home from work. Then we watched "While You Were Sleeping" for tradition's sake. We've watched that movie the previous three years with my parents (and anyone else who happened to join us) to bring in the new year. Carly was so into it - she was getting pretty stressed out about Lucy's counterfeit life and how the movie would end. We had hors d'oeuvres and sparkling cider during the movie and then made a new years treat to deliver to neighbors the following day (because we didn't do Christmas gifts/ goodies for neighbors).  

I love New Year's Resolutions. I tried to get my family all excited about it ... didn't happen! Even Aaron isn't really into goal setting. He's a super self-disciplined person so if he sees something he wants to change about himself, he just changes it - no fancy goal setting, vision boarding, etc. I, on the other hand, am not very self-disciplined, but I love to set goals and try to improve myself (even if I'm not always successful). I get a little anxiety whenever I think about goal-setting because there are so many things I want to improve in my life and so many roles I have - wife, mother, homemaker, church calling, physical, spiritual, and financial well-being.... it's a lot. So, I try to keep New Year's Resolutions pretty simple and always specify HOW I'm going to achieve them. I don't even know if these are really considered goals or not, but anyway, here's a few of them:

Better time management - I decided that one of my biggest time wasters is internet, so I have this little stick-it note on my computer:

Spending - again, this goes back to the self-control issue. I am a super frugal person - I would say that 98% of my clothing is either hand-me-down, consignment, or seriously discounted. But, I also love to have new things to wear and love new styles and trends, and all those consignment dollars add up. So, I am thinking about maybe, possibly (insert any other non-commital words you can think of) going to try to not buy any new clothes this year (unless it is gift money) - do you think that's even possible?! I don't know if it is, because right this very moment I'm thinking of how I really need some new capris or shorts for summer and how my black boots are starting to get a hole in them. But wouldn't that be totally awesome if I went a whole year without spending money on any clothes?! It would. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly to carry out this goal. (If either of my two faithful followers have any ideas, please share.)

Wife goal - It's pretty simple, but I really need to improve on this one: Treat Aaron as I want to be treated. I often hold higher expectations for Aaron than I do for myself. For example: it's totally legitimate if I'm frustrated or having a bad day to sulk around and be short tempered with everyone. But if Aaron's had a crappy day he better just pull it together and be cheerful ... or else! I'm not very patient with him and he is usually very patient with me.  So, I'm going to improve in this area by just reminding myself of how I want to be treated and give Aaron that same respect. (Sometimes the best way for me to change a bad habit is to just write it down and then let others know so I feel more accountable. It also just helps to keep it in the back of my mind so I don't forget about it.)

Mom goal - Be ready when the kids come home from school. Have the table cleared off so they can do homework, have a snack ready, be ready mentally to greet them (don't you have to prep yourself emotionally and mentally for your kids to come home?), have dinner started (or at least planned). 

Speaking of kids coming home from school .... gotta' go!

December Part II

 One night while talking to Aubree in this hallway I could tell she was more preoccupied with posing than what I was talking to her about. After a few seconds, she interrupts me and says, "I look pretty". So, I took a picture of her pretty self. :)

 Ellise lost her first tooth! She was very excited to finally lose a tooth - I think most of the kids in her class had already lost a tooth (or more).

 Aubree and I volunteered to help the second graders do gingerbread houses (lucky for Aubree, they had some extra supplies).

 Carly and Sarah. Sarah is also one of the oldest in the second grade and she loves to read and she is very mature for her age - her and Carly are BFFs.

 Aubree hid the buzzer for our Taboo game behind her back and would make her nose honk whenever someone would pinch it.

 Christmas Eve pajamas - but this time we did robes since we have plenty of pajamas at our house. Aaron gave me my robe last year for Christmas and the girls have wanted their own ever since.

 Our sweet neighbor, Bernie, gave each of the girls a little Christmas gift - so nice and thoughtful!

Can you believe I didn't take any more pictures of Christmas day?!  I think this is partly because I really don't like my camera very much. 

We had a wonderful Christmas even though we would have really loved to see our families. The weekend before Christmas we had a book club party with spouses (no kids) at the West's. On Christmas Eve several families in our ward got together for dinner and festivities at the Olson's. And for Christmas dinner we went to the Kirkpatrick's house for a delicious steak dinner. We're so grateful to have friends here who helped us not feel so homesick for Christmas.

Each year I have such wonderful plans for making our Christmas so Christ-centered and full of service and just perfect. But I think I'm realizing that it has to start with me and I need to plan ahead. I just get so busy and preoccupied.... I'll do better next year. (And I'll try to remember that these things are never perfect until looking back on them five years later.) But really, we did have a wonderful Christmas. 

Oh yeah, and I got something that I've been wanting for a LONG time...

One of my friends posted this deal on Facebook so I got this brand new beauty for $200 (that included the shipping)!!! I'm in love.

Moving on...

 Ellie is quite the hairdresser - she did this french braid in Aubree's hair.

Carly working on drawing with Daddy. This is a picture of Mr. Smith.

Aaron had the whole week off which was so nice! We watched a lot of movies, went to the gym a few times, the library, and ice skating. The girls have a new appreciation for figure skaters - it's harder than in looks!! Aubree was kind of like Bob ("I sail!") - her trick was to lean on a crate and let Mom or Dad do the work.

My Orbit

This is a quote from Elder Neal a Maxwell I've run across a few times and it always gives me a lot to think about:

"The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well."

First off, I had never thought of the Star of David being placed in orbit long before the birth of the Savior. But of course it would have been - it wasn't an afterthought! Then, I think of how my Heavenly Father put at least as much thought (and probably more) into when and where I would come to earth and the people who would come into my orbit. What kind of influence do I have on those around me and what influence do they have on me? It's a little overwhelming sometimes. And I think of these words - illuminate, lead, warm - and wonder if they are words I can use to describe myself.

December, Part I

Something we've really enjoyed since moving out here is having the missionaries over for dinner each month. They are such awesome young men! You can just feel the spirit that they bring into your home - we love it!

 December's dinner was a little different than usual. First off, they had their zone leaders with them (the ones in the front) and so the girls were even more hyper than usual. (Our girls get super hyper and show-offy when ever guests come over.) And instead of a regular dinner, we had breakfast for dinner. The type of breakfast you never have time to make in the morning - waffles, pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, juice... mmm mmm!

I remember one time having the sister missionaries over at our house when I was a little girl. My mom forgot they were coming over and we were having pancakes for dinner that evening. My mom was pretty embarrassed because she usually goes all out for those sort of things. But the sister missionaries said how much they loved it, so 20 years later, I thought I would give it a try!

Ellie, Elder Young (front), Wekesser (back), Woodruff (front), Nordin (back), Carly, me, and Aaron.
Sadly, Elder Nordin is being transferred soon - he is a great missionary!

Don't these two girls look so sweet and innocent and lovey?!

 Don't let it fool you! For a couple weeks it seemed they were fighting non-stop! Seriously, I was going crazy (still am going crazy some days).

So, I decided to try out this idea I saw on Facebook - zipped them up in my coat. Aside from Ellie peeing her pants, it worked! They started getting along and thought it was so fun to be zipped up together.

(Aubree, what are you doing in thin cotton shorts and t-shirt in December?! Silly girl!)

 Aubree and some friends ate lunch at our house last week and afterwards Aubree lined them up to wash their hands in the bathroom. Well, I kinda' forgot about them and went about doing other things until a few minutes later when the little boy told me they were washing their hair in the sink with soap! Sure enough, they had bubbles all over in their hair (and had a great time in the process).

 Ellie in front of our advent calendar. Angela gave us this beautiful quilted advent calendar about 6 years ago and I love it ....  and kind of hate it. I hate it only because my girls expect either candy or some super-awesome activity to be in one of those pockets EVERY day! We put candy or a ticket for some fun activity in there occasionally, but my girls are always (overly and dramatically) disappointed when it's just our Christmas scripture for the day in there.

And last but not least, (and I'm really kind of embarrassed about this even though I shouldn't be) - Ellie got lice a couple weeks ago! We were getting ready to go to a friend's house for dinner last Sunday and Ellie wanted me to redo her hair. So, I do the part and see something in her hair - maybe lint or a fuzzy or something - but it MOVED! So, long story short (even though Aaron doesn't think I'm capable of making any story short), we spent three hours in her hair alone and quite a bit of time in everyone elses and did lots and LOTS of laundry, and we are now lice-free! (Luckily and miraculously no one else in our family had any.)

Here the girls are with coconut oil in their hair to aid in the lice-combing process.

Mommy Spa

Back in October Carly checked out a Fancy Nancy spa book and decided to try it out on me (with her sisters' help). Aaron took them to the store to get all the supplies they needed.

 The headband is made with pipe cleaners shaped to say "MOM"

What Sweetie Hearts! (with our neighbors dog, Missy)

p.s. Thanks Fancy Nancy for such a great idea!