Holiday Fun!

My good friend Elizabeth invited Angela over for a fun Christmas Cocoa Party playdate with little Lauren a week or so ago. Little did we know that school would not be in session on the day. Elizabeth was a great sport and invited sisters to come along too and we had a fabulous time. There were 9 little girls all together. Elizabeth had the house so cute and Christmas-y with lots of fun foods set out. Sarah brought a pop up book to read to the littler girls, we sang carols and just had a fun time being together. That's what the holidays are all about! Thanks Elizabeth for a wonderful break from our cabin fever!

Winter Wonderland

The northwest is having a VERY white Christmas this year. Actually, it remains to be seen if this actually sticks around for Christmas day, but in our 8 1/2 years here, we have never had anywhere near this much snow during the holidays.

Some firsts for us out here include - the girls first entire week of school cancelled. This was fun and I loved sleeping in - but it has made getting last minute holiday preparations accomplished very tricky. Plus the girls missed all the fun holiday parties and activities that they normally do the last week before Christmas break.

First time we have accumulated over 10" of snow - in our experience here anyway.

First time chains have been required to drive in the Portland metro area. (since we can remember) The last two days we have kept the chains on the van at all times and actually feel pretty safe driving around with them on. We did a lot of driving around yesterday to finish Christmas prep and stock up on food (with the rest of the Portlanders). Everyone did this in the terrible weather yesterday because we were warned of an ice storm coming last night. Considering the terrible driving conditions and the crazy crowds trying to stock up before the ice storm (I almost couldn't find a shopping cart at Winco!) people were in good spirits and very friendly everywhere I went. For the most part, everyone is enjoying this holiday surprise.

Wahooo! We love it!

The girls are getting lots of use out of their winter coats - our other winter clothing supplies are pretty meager, however. The girls' golashes (sp?) aren't great for snow and we use gloves so seldom that Natalie and Angela don't even have any that fit them well. I think Angela's are actually baby gloves, but they stretch over her hands enough. (o: Luckily we found some new gloves at Fred Meyer on sale for $4 yesterday.

Though we have had to miss out on many Christmas parties, programs and other outings, we have had our own holiday fun. The girls had a 'sleepover' by the Christmas tree in the living room. They only got out of their sleeping bags about 42 times before finally falling asleep. Okay that is a little bit of an exaduration. (o:

More November Highlights

Fun with dew...

So cute.

Natalie and Sarah have really enjoyed participating in Chess Club at school. Unlike the days I remember (when being on the chess club was kind of nerdy) it is quite a popular club at Patterson - around 100 kids. I think it's a great way for the kids to learn sportsmanship and strategy. I played with a little 1st grader next to Natalie and Lydia and got "schooled" by the adorable boy in glasses who luckily didn't have time to finish a game and kick my behind.

Piano recital. (Heidi I have video of my song that I've thought about posting mostly for your entertainment, but don't have time at the moment to figure it out.)

Sarah and I had our piano recital the Saturday before Thanksgiving - Sarah's first and my second. Sarah was excited and showed no signs of nervousness. Me, on the other hand? I was terrified and I don't know if it was good or bad that I was first. There were a LOT of people there. I did okay, but my legs were shaking sooo bad. I could hardly use my right foot to push the pedal - it was a little pathetic. I was happy when it was over with. Sarah is very lucky to gain so much confidence while she is young. I don't know if I will ever overcome my fear of audiences, I sure hope so. I do have to say, however, that looking back on my song last year - I have improved significantly in my ability to play the piano and that makes me happy. So even though I looked a little dorky as the only adult playing along with several kids who could play better than me, I am still proud of myself.

Thanksgiving - we enjoyed a wonderful meal with Shannan and her family and another great family in our ward that I just love. We had a great time together and I learned to like brussel sprouts. Actually it was my first time trying them! Yum!

Natalie's teacher held a cute little feast between the pilgrims and Indians with her class. Angela and I joined and helped with the festivities.

What is this you ask? Well I wish I had my video camera this night so you could appreciate how hilarious this was. These guys are young men in our ward (16-18 year olds) who put on some very entertaining entertainment for our Senior Dinner. They did a synchronized swimming number that had us all in tears. The Andrea Boceli song they danced to (one of my favorites) made it even funnier - must be the stark contrast of the beauty of the music compared to the silliness of this group of teenage boys attempting to be graceful.

Just a funny random activity I caught Angela and Natalie playing. They dressed up our plastic bowling pins and I think pretended they were babies.

Sarah and Natalie participated in a cute "Reading to the Dogs" program at our local library. Robert, the dog, was very sweet and especially helpful for Natalie to practice her reading without judging if she messed up. Cute idea, I thought.

Quick November "Scrapbook"

Angela and mommy playing at "Out of This World" for a preschool field trip. This was a fun outing for both of us! These bikes were a hoot! Some of us moms rode around for a while on them even without the kids. We had fun visiting, the kids had fun running around on the inflatables and we enjoyed good food too.

Oh boy. This kitty is a handful! This was right after she fell in the tub with the girls! She loves to walk around the edge when someone is taking a bath. She didn't learn from her mistake and fell again the next week. What a stinker. Trouble with a capital "T".

Even though this is kind of sad, I thought it was a very good way for Natalie to express herself. I don't remember what the sadness was about (it's always something). I think this work of art really exhibits so much emotion, it is stirring, don't you think? Too bad it's on a magna doodle, it reminds me a lot of Van Gogh's "The Scream"

This is most of our "Twilight" movie group at 3:00 a.m. - do we look a little tired? This was a fun night and I think the movie was a lot of fun - I loved seeing it on the big screen. Some people were disappointed, as we often are when people attempt to change a story from a book to movie form. I thought it was fun and probably didn't notice as many differences because it's been a while since I read the first book in the series. I do have to say that Bella, or the actress that played Bella, overdid her scene when Edward tells her in the hospital that he has to go. That's probably more the director's fault than hers. It's not good when the audience (especially a die hard Twilight fan audience) laughs at a scene that is supposed to be heart-wrenching. "No, don't go, no, no... no... no... nooooooo." Those probably aren't the exact words, but it is not much more creative than that.

I love this picture of my little "LooLee" as we affectionately call Angela around here. She got pretty fast on her little tricycle this past summer.

Conversations with my angel...

Angela: Mommy where Santa live?

Me: The north pole.

Angela: Hey, dat where Jesus live too.

Me: Oh, really? I thought he lived in heaven.

Angela: Hey, I from heaven too!

Me: Yep, you're my little angel from heaven.

Angela: Yeah, I an angel from heaven. And I be a cat for Halloween!

Me: smiling and a pause in conversation . . .

Angela: Hey, I up in heaven with Jesus and Santa! He cute when him a baby. (Jesus)

Hello from Sarah

Okay, I guess since I am such a slacker lately on the blog, it is necessary to turn over the responsibility to my eight year old. Just kidding, but Sarah does have something to say. I'm not sure what, but I am interested to find out what she wants to launch out into cyberspace...

It's very , very cold outside wouldn't you say so? If you don't think it's freezing, you're defenently crazy. It is so cold that it's snowing!Even though I tried making a snowman, but my snowman head fell apart. It is so snowy that I don't have to go to school tomorrow! Sincerely,
Sarah.

Random December fun!

The girls love this cute little wooden nativity set I got when Sarah was a baby at Deseret Book on clearance for $7. It has everything - wise men, an angel, a shepherd, Mary, Joseph and of course baby Jesus. The weird thing is that it has quite an assortment of animals, but no sheep for the shepherd. Perhaps the reason it was on clearance. No matter, the girls don't notice and love to play with these. It's the first thing Sarah asks for when the Christmas boxes come out of the attic.

Bobolito Bear on the preschool field trip to the airport. More on Bobolito below...

I have done this field trip to the Hillsboro airport with all three of my girls. It is a favorite, for sure. We love the guy who takes us on the tour - he always makes it so fun.

Kayelynn and I did preschool the first week of December. The lesson was on transportation. This pretend airplane was a HUGE hit. The kids played along and had a great time putting on their seatbelts, getting pretend snacks, looking out the windows at the clouds and reading books during the flight! They even had tickets and had to find their seat numbers. Very cute. Julie and Kim have the cutest preschool lessons.

One night we had Mark and Michelle over for dinner. We enjoyed chili, Christmas singing and dancing - provided by the kids with some lovely piano accompaniment and while the dads were up playing Barbies with the little girls, they made the discovery that Prince Phillip looks just like one of their co-workers. If anyone is interested, apparently this is an exact replica of Kevin and he is single, ladies. (o: Although, I'm not sure if the real life version wears a red cape.

The first part of December, Angela was honored with a visit from Bobolito, the preschool "pet". All the kids adore this little friend and can't wait for their turn. Angela took good care of Bobolito and loved feeding him, sleeping with him and bringing him on our field trip to the airport (as seen above).

Natalie is always creating something with tape, scissors, glue, markers, stickers, bananas?? Whatever she can get her hands on. I love this banana butterfly. (o: Very creative.

What a couple of nuts!

O Christmas Tree

Every year, our family heads to Helvetia Tree Farm to cut down our Christmas tree. I think we've gone there for 7 years now. This year we sprayed our tree with some Raid to avoid the problem we had last year. A spider egg hatched somewhere near the top of the tree and all of December we had darling little spiders gracing our ceiling (and probably other places too). Every day I would have to vacuum the little friends that I could find. Yuck. This year we were happily critter free. (I heard a story this last week about someone who had a BAT in their tree!!!! I don't think even Raid would help with that!) We had some issues getting the tree to stand straight in the stand and then several strands of lights went out that had to be replaced. It was such a pain this year that we nearly vowed to buy artificial next year, but I'm sure we'll have amnesia and get caught up in the Christmas spirit and go through it all again.

Here are some pictures of the decorating process - much more fun than the 'getting-it-in-the-stand-and-lights-on-it' part.

These glass-looking ornaments are actually plastic! The coolest idea ever - pretty, but unbreakable. Much safer for little hands. We love these!

Wanna laugh until you cry?

Okay, this YouTube "Hitler's Reaction to BYU Loss" made me laugh so hard that I am still crying. Those of you who are BYU fans and still upset about the game - maybe hearing Hitler's frustration will help you vent too. Trust me, I know first hand how painful that game was for you Cougars. Check this out for some laugh therapy. And as for you fellow U of U fans - YEEEHAW!! Go Utes! Thanks dad for the link - I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CROOR2QN8&eurl=http://www.utefans.net/list.php?page=0&feature=player_embedded

Why Come?

The girls have said some funny things today that I had to mention before I forget.

Angela, like any three year old, is constantly asking, "why?", but she has her own little twist that I think is extra cute and takes away some of the annoyance of being nagged to explain everything. When I tell her that, no, she can't have candy for breakfast she asks, "Why come, mom?" I respond with something reasonable like, "Because that is not healthy for your body." And she shoots back, "but why come?" And I say, "Because too much sugar can make your tummy hurt." And, yep, you guessed it, she asks "Why COME?" Then I just start laughing and smile at her cute made up English and it makes her mad because she really wants to know 'why come' and my answers never satisfy her.

Tonight, we (my husband Bill* and I) were asking the kids about what they would like for Christmas. Bill* asked Sarah, "Do you think you've been good enough to get something from Santa this year?" Sarah stopped and thought, really thought about this. I fully expected a quick, "Yes", but her pause made me curious. After thinking she said, "Well, no body's perfect." (o: What a great answer! We laughed pretty hard at this and assured her that of course she had been good enough.

Natalie, on the other hand, based on her performance today, would probably get a lump of coal and maybe a Barbie because she is so cute, even when she's a stinker. Today Natalie has regressed to being a two year old, apparently. I have no other explanation for the many naughty things that she did today...
1. she colored some ABC's in crayon all over our kitchen desk drawers.
2. practiced writing letters in soap on the mirror in the bathroom.
3. picked off a slew of pink feathers from a fluffy pen she loves to write with and THEN chuckled to herself as I blamed the cat for making the mess that was all over the bunkbeds, the floor and even the wall!
4. Hid a peed on Pull Up under the shoe rack, luckily I found it.
5. Peed in the tub! This one got a big long lecture - gross.
6. Sat all the way in my friends' baby swing while we were at Sarah's piano lessons and had a lovely time swinging until I caught her. We had a long talk about this one too - Sooo sorry Kirstin!

I think there were a couple other things, but it's been a long day and I've lost track. What in the world is going on? I don't understand why the sudden increase in toddler behavior. Maybe the stars were just aligned a little funky today. Good thing Natalie is so cute.

#10 Favorite Memory From Fall 2008

#10 Election Day

Although I HATE political ads for many reasons ( in case you're interested - a. they are annoying, b. there are so many better ways to spend millions of dollars c. most of the time they don't really educate you on the measures or candidates d. they are often hateful and just bashing the opponent)

I love election day, especially on the years we get to vote for president. It is exciting to take part in choosing our leaders and turning in that ballot. Can I just say I love the mail in ballot?! I enjoyed studying each of the many measures - I did one or two each morning while I ate breakfast. There were quite a few that I started out with one view and after reading the arguments for/against I changed my mind. I love getting to have my "say". I think it is amazing to think about the fact that women have only had the right to vote for less than a century. I'm glad I live in a time when I can take part in choosing our leaders and defining our laws.

Sarah has been very interested in all the political talk and Natalie, who I thought was totally oblivious to the whole thing, came home the day after the elections talking about Barack Obama being our new president. It's great having the opportunity to talk about the way our country works and how lucky we are to live where we have a voice. This is an exciting time.

The one thing that has made me sad this week is seeing the harassment of our church since the Prop 8 measure passed, and even before the elections. It has been so frustrating to hear blatant lies about Mormons, reading about the harassment of members trying to go to the temple in Los Angelas and to hear stories of vandalism and threats to those who dared to put up signs supporting the proposition. So many have been genuinely scared to say what they think. It is maddening to think about people trying to bully others into voting a certain way. That is not how our country works. The topic of homosexuality is very sensitive and I can understand the genuine disappointment of those who saw the proposition as intolerant and unfair, but there are some who have taken their frustration to a very scary level.

On Sunday, I found out there was a death threat to the Mormon kids in the high school that many of my young women attend. They all kind of brushed it off, but the school is taking it seriously and requested police presence the day that the threat said it would supposedly be carried out. I'm sure this is only one story of the intimidation people are trying to use. The saddest part is that our church leaders and doctrine only teach compassion and Christ like love. We are not hateful of anyone, no matter who they are or what their sexuality may be. I am grateful for so many other Christian faiths that have stood up for our church as it has been so unfairly targeted and slandered. I hope that the vicious and ugly turn these protests have taken will cool off before anything tragic happens. It is awful to worry about your own safety and the safety of those you care about because of an election. I am sad that a few people have turned to bullying and lies to threaten our basic rights of voting and free speech. It sounds like stories you hear about in other countries, not America.

Ah, but I hate to end on a negative note. I believe that the vast majority of the people on both sides of the issue are good people and I am grateful for that. I still have faith in our political system and our country. We really are the luckiest people in the world to live in the United States. I feel like I should end by breaking out in song . . . but I'll spare you. (o: