Things I Like Looking At

So I'm trying to be "blog trendy" by doing this today. I like what my friend Amy did on her blog about the things she is lovin right now and the ten things I'm lovin done on the SouleMama blog. I would like to do what I'm lovin to look at right now. These are my top favorite Holiday decorations this year. These are what get me in the mood for Christmas.

1.This is a little ornament that I like to hang on my window in the dining room.


2. These are some magnets that my sister-in-law made that I put on my stove. The middle one says Joy and the other two are of snowflakes. They are so cute.


3.This is the Department 56 Christmas Village that I got when I was working. They would give one every Christmas, I worked there long enough to receive 5. (Picture courtesy of Mr. Jewels.)


4. This is a new addition this year. It proudly adorns my frigde. Done by the artist known as Eme.


5. This is our backdoor decoration. I made this from the left over tree branches. So easy. This picture does not do it justice. I gotta learn to take better pictures.


6. Hallway Decorations. Got the idea from Martha Stewart.


7. Christmas photo 2008. Spearmint kids and Candy Cane Sam. And just as sweet.




8. My favorite Manger Scenes. The rock one was done by Jon in 2003. I just love it.

What is That?

Oh, great, a pimple right below my eyebrow which is making my eye swell. How do you cover that up? And what do I do about a section of fly away hairs that stick straight out above my ears, I have to keep pinning them down, are they ever going to grow long again? Oh my gosh, am I in Junior High again? Wait, no, I'm not. I don't have those older sisters of my friends telling me that I have a big nose or that the pimple on my nose is the biggest one they have seen or that my shoes are ugly, my hair is gross, my shoulder blades stick out too far (how am I supposed to fix that?) my earings that I just got are stupid and that I walk funny and my clothes don't fit right. Boy how I hated Junior High. Why do we have to go through such torture. I would spend hours in the mirror trying to make my hair look okay but to no avail, it was useless. I got through it though, went onto High School and enjoyed it. Now I am actually brave enough to try different things with my hair and it does look okay, not perfect, but okay enough to go out in public and not feel ridiculous. And I love the way my new 99 cent pants fit, I have worn them everyday this week. Yes, everyday. In Junior High I would have been shunned if I had worn the same pants twice in one week. Oh my gosh. Didn't she wear that yesterday?

Enjoyment, Pleasure, Delight

Enjoyment: 99 cent pants, fuzzy slippers, warm sweet potato pie.
Pleasure: Christmas lights, Christmas songs (I finally chose some for my playlist), Christmas Movies, Christmas Tree Smell.
Delight: Life, kids, husband, a good night's rest

Mostly For Relatives in Minnesota

Hi MiniSodas! I tried emailing these videos of Sam to you, but they are too big. So I am posting them on my blog for you to see. I am glad Sam hasn't started walking yet because his crawl is just delightful and I don't want it to go away. So there is a video of how he crawls. Another video is of him trying to say Snow. He loves the snow, we keep the curtains open during the day just so that he can see the snow and try to say it. The other video is of him and his favorite toy. I had been in the kitchen vacuuming the stairs and cleaning the floors and he was in that position the entire time. I thought he had fallen asleep, I was wrong. He was just enjoying his toy. Hope you are enjoying this Holiday Season in your new home. Love, Jewels

Birthday Boys

A belated birthday card reminded me that I should have posted a Happy Birthday to my two boys on their birthdays, but of course, I forgot. So in an effort to make up for days of neglect and compensate for bad mothering, I am breaking the "no pictures of kids" rule and saying Happy Birthday to my two boys. Born 8 years and 1 day apart. How wonderful is that. Happy Birthdays!

Charlie Brown Christmas

I think we are getting a shorter Christmas Tree every year since we have lived in our home. The first year, the tree touched the ceiling. This year we can't fit all of our ornaments or Christmas lights on this tiny tree. It was a lot easier to decorate though, I put on the lights and the kids did the rest, they were even able to reach the top to put the tiny star on. It was great. It sure looks pretty with the lights on at night. Maybe next year we will get just a little bit bigger tree so we can put all of the ornaments on. Oh, and it feels so nice to have my Christmas Shopping done.

Betsy

We took our new used Subaru Impreza out for her maiden voyage on Sunday afternoon. We decided to drive through the canyon up to a ski resort to see how she handled the steep roads. I remembered to take the camera this time, since it was such a beautiful day, I just had to document it with pictures. The sunset was amazing, especially on the mountains, but we should have paid more attention to that sign on the side of the road. We broke in the car quite nicely, new dents, new scratches, new deer hair stuck in the door frame and a broken side mirror. "Welcome to the family, Betsy." Yes, I know it's weird, but we name our cars anyway.

Blessings

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. We received that message on a card from a friend of ours yesterday, which was really weird because a talk in church on Sunday was about the same thing. He said if we are blessed with certain things then it is our responsibility to take care of it and use it to bless others. He is our next door neighbor and they have a huge yard and since he is blessed with a huge yard he is responsible for taking care of it and using it to bless others. I love looking at their yard and all their flowers and vegetables, it makes me want to take care of the yard that I have been blessed with. I am truly grateful for where my family lives. We have great neighbors and friends and schools and church. I am grateful for great health, exercise, happiness, hard work and the ability to enjoy life as Heavenly Father would have it. I enjoy my children and husband tremendously and marvel at them every time I see them and wonder what I did to deserve this. They are truly wonderful. I hope that with all that I am blessed with that I will use them in a manner pleasing those around me.

Snooze Button

The Snooze Button is my best friend. She says it's okay to sleep a little bit longer. The winter months make it so hard to get up out of bed. The bed is so warm and the house still so cold. My mom would take naps during the day and tell us kids what time she would have to get up. We would go in to tell her it is time to get up, she would always say, "just five more minutes", go back in the room five minutes later, again "just five more minutes". I love my mom and I love the snooze button, they both say, "just five more minutes".

Last Two Items of Business

Scouting, Scouting, Scouting, fun, fun, fun! We finished the last two items of business today for Jon to receive his Wolf and 7, count them 7, which means we did 70 electives to earn 7 arrow heads, one gold and six silver. We did the easiest things we could find in the book which were wrapping a present and learning to tie a necktie for the last two arrow points. He loves scouts. I think Scouts is weird, but at least it gives boys a chance to grow and learn and associate with friends.

5 Hours

We watched 5 hours of chess on Saturday morning. I know, I know what you're thinking, "AWESOME". Jon enjoys this game, he does chess club at school and this is just one tournament of a hopeful few that he will do. There were different age groups which helps. K-3, 4-6, Jr. High and High School. When we went to find the table for Jon's first round, his opponent was already sitting there. He said to Jon, "I don't play very well". I walked away shaking my head and chuckling. This kid really did NOT play very well. It was a sight to see. At one point in the game he was actually standing next to Jon and then he was leaning over the chess board, Jon had to hold his chess pieces down so the little boy wouldn't move them, chess pieces were sucked on and knocked to the ground, one got lost in the bleachers, this kid was obviously in Kindergarten. The game finally ended in stale mate. The next 4 rounds this little boy was usually close by where Jon played so we would watch and laugh. It turned out to be a great experience for Jon and us. 3 stale mates, 1 loss, 1 win, a walk up to the podium for a participation medal so Jon can prove he's been there, done that.

Is There an Editor in the House?

Blog Safety: To do or not to do? Everyone is talking about blog safety and I keep going back and forth in my mind "should I edit my pictures of my kids and house or should I just forget it and hope nothing bad happens?" At Book Club last night I received my answer, I will edit. Like Nancy said, some guy is probably sitting on his couch in his underwear looking at all of these cute blogs with their cute kids and plotting (not an exact quote, because I was laughing when she was saying it) I don't want to meet that guy. So let the editing begin.

Yummy

It actually looks kind of gross now that it has been eaten. We cut it up and shared it, the maker (aka Jon) only had one slice, so I ate the rest, my body feels much better now.

Staring at Me

The maker of this caramel apple has yet to eat it. It keeps staring at me to eat it so I have obliged, but only the extra caramel and chocolate chips that flowed onto the plate. Do I dare eat it without permission? I do deserve it, my body aches from the workout on Monday night and maybe I should put it at ease by giving it something good to eat. This caramel apple will be gone by nightfall. Candy goodness on the outside, nutritious sweetness on the inside. What more can we ask for.

Weather the Storm, Whether the storm?

It is raining today and snowing, I went to vote this morning thinking there was going to be a long line, but there wasn't. I guess I went at the right time. It makes me feel grateful to live in America when I see all of our neighbors coming to the school to cast their vote. It is the one time that this country is unified in doing one thing for the common good.
This month I am in charge of doing Sharing Time in Primary. I am trying to make a good effort at working on it all week instead of right before I go to bed on Saturday night. This week's theme is "I am thankful for my body. I know my body is a temple." Having been in Primary for so long I forget that there is other curriculum besides the Friend and the Primary Manuals. I found a lot of articles about the word of wisdom and being worthy to enter the temple, but the one article that I devoured was one by Harold B. Lee titled "Take Time to be Holy". It brings to mind that along with keeping my physical body healthy and happy that I also need to take the time to keep my spiritual body healthy and happy also. I will try to be better at taking time to be holy so when need be I can weather the storm. I hope it will be a good sharing time, I already have some pretty good ideas. Sam is making this very difficult to type, why does he want everything I have!

What A Beautiful Family

What a good sport he/she is! And thank goodness we only do this once a year. Emeline dressed up as a chihuahua dog and Jon came as a piece of paper.

Cracker Delight

Someone left their crackers unattended for a brief moment and came back to find this. As you can see he has three crackers in each hand and has taken bites from both. I'm sure he was just waiting for that someone to leave the room so he could have a wonderful solitary moment to himself and reflect upon what is best in life; the ability to eat.

Peer Pressure

I guess the term I'm really looking to use is peer influence. Because pressure makes it sounds as if you have to do something and influence makes you want to do something. I've been thinking about what makes me do the things I do and why I have these opinions of mine. I came to the conclusion that it is because of years of peer influence. Yesterday in church we were talking about using cloth diapers and another lady replied that she would never had thought to use them and she doesn't want to take the time to recycle. Then we mentioned the use of the reusable bags for the grocery store and how wonderful they are. It got her thinking that maybe, just maybe she would try it out. We didn't pressure her to use them, we only suggested trying it to see if she would like it. "Going Green" one step at a time. I think about all the things I have tried and all the things I do and it reminds me of the people who have been my friends and have taught me these things. I wouldn't know how to cook if it weren't for a friend who was willing to take some time and show me a few things, even though it was after the fact that she laughed at my inabilities. I wouldn't be a stay-at-home mom if it weren't for some friends who convinced me it isn't all that bad and I wouldn't get bored of it and that it is okay to still shower everyday and look nice even if no one but my family sees me. I wouldn't read good books at night if it weren't for some good friends who started a book club and invited me. I wouldn't be shopping now at Savers for clothes for me and the kids if it weren't for some good friends who show off all of their good finds at remarkably cheap prices. I wouldn't be trying to get a long-term food supply going if it weren't for some friends who are trying to do it also. I truly am grateful for all of the friends who give great peer influence. You never know who is watching and listening and who you could be influencing.

For the Love of...

CEREAL. What can we say, we love cereal. Like Jerry Seinfeld once said, "it's the only meal where you can eat and drink at the same time without even looking." All of this cereal cost us only $20.00. Each bag was $1.00. Malt-O-Meal was doing a donation drive for the United Way and they were selling bags of their cereal for only one dollar, all of the proceeds would go to United Way. Malt-O-Meal thought they wouldn't even sell 10,000 last Saturday in Tremonton, but by 9:00 in the morning the cereal was gone. People were lining up at 6:00 in the morning to get their hands on the goods. Our friend bought 50 bags and his brother also bought 50 bags, they must really like cereal because they live together. We got to see what 100 bags of cereal looked like. It's a lot. Happy eating!

Fall Weekend Fun

This weekend was full of relaxing fun. We had no time limits on anything we did, which I love, I hate being rushed. The kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday so we took Jon's friend Nathan to Gardner Village to visit the witches and all the great pumpkins. It took us a good 30 minutes just to make it out of the parking lot when we were done because of all the people that were there. Crazy. Friday, we, along with all the other "park moms" took the kids to a corn maze which also had a hay ride, hay slides, animals, pig races and lots of other great stuff. Then Saturday was work in the yard day and go to Carlos produce to pick some more pumpkins, of course. And I did find another crow. Then Sunday, go to church day. I love going to Primary. The kids are so funny and great. I love weekends like this, now if only every weekend can be this wonderful. Wishful thinking.

Two Sisters Alike

I just noticed while looking at my sister's blog that we happen to choose the same layout with some of the same colors. It's not that I want to be just like my sister, but I'm trying different colors and fonts for a little while to see what I like best for me so that she can have some individuality also. Sorry, Lisa, I really didn't mean to copy you, it must be in our DNA.

Tuesday nights' routine

Every Tuesday night for the past 4 years I have stayed at home with the kids while Spencer went to Young Men's activities. We would hurry and eat dinner together, he would leave and I would help the kids finish the day's work. Have them take a bath, read scriptures, pray and go to bed. Now that Spencer has been released from that calling, I don't do anymore yelling by myself on this night for the kids to hurry up and get ready for bed, now there are two of us yelling at the kids to hurry up and get ready for bed. It's been great. I don't know why it takes us so long to get the kids into bed. We start at 7:45 and they finally get into bed at 9:00. Am I not yelling loud enough? Maybe I'll try a gentle nudge next time. But I am finding some of these moments precious to behold. Like Sam admiring at his sister and Spencer and Jon in the kitchen, preparing a turkey that we are going to cook tonight. They even cleaned up the mess. How great is that!

Bizarre Breakfast

I asked Eme what she wanted for breakfast this morning because she either wants bread with syrup on it or cereal, "frosted snowflakes". She was looking in the fridge to decide and told me she would like bread, mustard and ham, "we don't have any more ham, Eme" I said, "okay, I'll just have bread with mustard" came the reply. She ate the whole thing without a complaint.

Halloween Weakness

I have this branch that I painted black and stuck it in a black pot for a Halloween decor for outside. I usually have a black crow that sits on one of the branches, but this year I put that crow on a birdcage inside my house. I went to the store today to buy another crow for outside. I bought some spiders, pumpkins and a mouse, but no black crow (the store didn't have one). I love Halloween stuff. I don't like the gory Halloween and not the hooky Halloween, but I love the classic Halloween stuff, like the spiders, witches, crows, bats, cauldrons, potions and all the beautiful colors of the pumpkins and leaves and dark nights with full moons and bright stars. There have been a couple of times where we will be sitting in our living room and see someone out the window, usually it is a little kid, walk up to the crow on the branch to see if it is real. So to keep up with the good times I'll keep looking for that special crow to be a permanent adornment for our black branch.

Doll Love

I have this doll that my older sister made for me a long time ago, which of course, I still have. It is displayed on a shelf in the kid's bedroom and everytime we leave the room, Sam loves to look up at it and talk to it. So here's to my sister's great talent at making great things. Cheers!

Getting started

I love looking at other's lives on the internet. Wonder if my own life will look just as great and exciting, if I look at it from a different perspective.