The fat lady has sung

Christmas at our house, and New Year's too, was pretty uneventful. We had cancelled our plans to travel to KS a couple of months ago and John's sister, Jordan, and her fiance cancelled their plans to come out here. (They did have a great time in Louisiana with his family though.)

I was up late doing Christmas Eve 'stuff' and woke very early in the morning to vomit the remains of the very time consuming dinner I had prepared merely hours prior. Very Christmas Cheer-y, I know. I don't get sick to my stomach very often at all and I don't know why it had to be on Christmas. Very disturbing planning by the fates. Anyway, I was very tired and not feeling well this Christmas but . . . it was a good holiday.

Given my sickly state, my mother prepared Christmas Dinner, so I didn't really have a whole lot to worry about that day (except of course the fact that the first hurricane to ever hit CO had happened in my house!) The kids had a great holiday. I cannot believe how spoiled they are!!! It was great to be with family and enjoy the excitement of the holiday.

New Year's this year was the first holiday ever that we did not spend with extended family. It was just us and the kids and I have to say I loved it!! Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with John's family and mine too, having big holiday events and traditions, but it was so nice to have our family start our own traditions, just us. We rented movies and got a lot of junk food. The kids were in heaven. They stayed up so late, but I was the only one to make it to midnight, sad, huh John?! So I stole my New Year's kisses from a sleeping husband and sleeping children.

So it's all over. All the crazy-ness and preparation for the holidays and it is all over...until next year.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

We are getting ready for Christmas in our house, as are all of you. Abbi asks me everyday if it is Christmas yet.

"Not today," I have to reply.

"The next day?" she always retorts.

"No."

"The day after that?"

This goes on for a while, every morning. You think she is a little excited? Well, to be honest, I am excited too. I remember the jitters I would get when I was younger in anticipation of the big day. That majic kind of wears off as you get older. . . until you have your own kids. At least for me, the excitement returns as I decorate, plan and shop for my kids. I get so excited for them.

This is such a wonderful time of year. John and I talk about Baby Jesus as much as we can and try to explain the purpose of the holiday to a three and four year old. I am always amazed at how much they do understand. Abbi approached me the other day and explained to me that Jesus was a baby like Isaac is a baby and He wouldn't like it if she was mean to her brothers.

I love to shop, so naturally this is one of my favorite times of the year!! I love the opportunity to give to my loved ones but I also love the special opportunity to teach my children kindness, generosity and a love for their fellow men. I am so grateful for my Savior and I pray that despite the excitement for all that is Santa Claus this time of year, that my children can continue to learn and understand the true meaning of Chirstmas.

Jake Ryan...

Well, it was Jake's birthday on the 25th of last month!! ( I know I am a slacker) I can not believe that he is three. It was only three years ago that I went through the torture that was his labor, and finally, his delivery. It's crazy to think that just three years ago I had a very sick little baby boy. At this point, the doctor didn't even know what it was but would be rushing us to the hospital for surgery in just two weeks. Wow, three years seems so long ago but then again, it passes so fast.

Jake's party was was a great time. This was the first real party that he has had with friends and favors and all that. Jake had three of his little friends over, Colton, Blake and Paris (not to mention our family, and the parents of most of the extra kids, my sister and her husband were in from ID and my other sister and my niece). It was a Bob the Builder/tractor themed party and it was a lot of fun. The boys had a great time building with the big blocks, painting and playing the Construction Zone game we had for them to do. All of the boys especially loved the hard hats, tool belts and tools that they got as favors.

It was crazy in the house with all of the people around and four little boys going crazy with excitement like the little boys they are. All in all, the party was a success and everyone had a really great time. I still can't believe some of the really great toys that they have now a days but Jake is definitely not complaining!!!

I am so grateful for Jake in my life. Those puppy dog eyes and his cheesy little smile melt my heart. I love you Jake!!

Halloween

I think my kids get almost as excited about Halloween as they do for Christmas. The idea of dressing up and going around to ask people for candy (which, under normal circumstances, would be rude) is just absolutely the most fun they can have.

The Saturday before Halloween, we got all dressed up and went to the Costume Parade here in town. Costumes were a little bit of an issue this year. I really wanted to force them to be Tigger, Pooh and Piglet. Silly, I know, but they were actually okay with it. We go to Wally World and lo and behold Tigger, Pooh and Piglet were nowhere to be found. Then the older two decided they could all be puppies and be the Dalmation Plantation off 101 Dalmations. Dog costumes were not to be had either. We kept looking and Abbi decided she could be a beautiful witch (this is after I vetoed the $30 Princess costume) because Mommy was going to be a witch too. Although Jake decided on Superman, he kept calling himself Batman. Then there is Isaac, who didn't get much say in the matter, who was the bee that now all three of my kids have been. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the other Supermans and bees and other crazy and imaginative costumes at the parade.

On Halloween, we went to Greeley for my sister's ward Trunk-or-Treat. They did a whole "Fall Festival" thing too so the kids had a really great time. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, trunk or treated, got faces painted and even won a couple of goldfish. Abbi and Jake had a grand ole time while Isaac slept in the stroller for most of it.

The Saturday after Halloween, we had a dinner party here. It's kind of been tradition in my family to have a Haunted Dinner so we invited some friends and family over and had a great time.

The weekend was pushed over the top for my kids when Grandpa came home for a surprise visit. They were outside all day Saturday helping Gramps work on the the truck. 'Helping" is used very loosely in this context but they did come in right before the dinner party absolutely filthy and covered in oil. Thank you Grandpa. My kids just adore Gramps. When Abbi prays for meals or family prayer she, without fail, asks, "Please bless Grandpa in Arizona so he doesn't get hurt by the big cactuses and that he won't get sick in Arizona. " She was praying for a long time that "Grandpa can get better from his sickness that I don't know what it is." That, of course, is referring to the kidney stones he was hospitalized for a few months ago.

Anyway, had I known that Gramps was coming back we may not have planned all the activities we did but the kids had a great time with him and all the stuff we did.

Well everyone, life here is crazy!! We spent this last weekend having a garage sale and cleaning out my Dad's garage. If you have ever seen his garage, you'll know the kind of effort that would have to go into cleaning it. the result however is very exciting for me, I get to park in the garage! It is the first time in a good 11years that my parents have had a working car in their garage. I know what you're thinking- "well, good for them. " That's right, good for them (us) but not to burst the bubble, they are moving to Arizona! They were pressured a little (by me of course) that if John and I are to rent the house from them when they go, the garage needs to have my mini van in it and dad needs to put on the garage door opener he got last Christmas.

On Monday, I started babysitting two adorable kids. Talin is two and his sister, Zara, is 4 months. They are adorable. So with my three that makes 5. Which is not too bad really except that's 5 kids under the age of 5. It's like having Abbi then two set of twins in a row. Crazy. These kids are good kids, I just have to adjust to it. The past two days, I didn't eat lunch, just an early dinner. I am working on the routine and things are going well.

My father took another trip to the ER last night (that makes 6 trips there in the past year). HE was rear-ended on his way to pick up my Mother in Boulder. He is fine, just a little sore. Before we had to go pick them up last night, John took me to buy new silverware and he also got me a new crock pot. Yeah, new appliances!!

KIDS

The past few days I have had to remind myself several times how much I love my kids. They have been crazy!! I don't know that I mentioned that my daughter is 4 going on 17. I thought the "I know everything" attitude didn't start until a little older. I guess not. My oldest son, Jacob, is 2 going on monster. He is crazy! He is all over and into things and playing too rough with the baby. He is so lightning fast to do things he's not supposed to, but getting in and out of the car takes five years!! Isaac is just so cute. I think this only because he doesn't walk or talk yet. That is to come.

Jake is potty trained. Everyone says that boys are so hard to potty train, not him really. I do have to say that I had it pretty easy with Abbi. I put panties on her one day at two and a half and told her not to go potty in them . . . and she didn't. Jake was a little tougher than that. It took a good two weeks constantly reminding him to use the toilet and quite a few accidents but it went pretty smoothly. We just have to work on the wiping thing-gross!

Abbi is loving preschool. It does cost a lot more money for preschool here than we were planning on spending in KS but I feel it's important. I did do her first year of preschool here at the house and she did great. She has been able to write her name for a year now almost and she knows most of her letters (if she's in the right mood she will grace you with her knowledge). I did feel however that for her pre-K year she should be in an environment with other kids her age and a teacher other than Mommy. She is doing great. Every time I ask her what she did in preschool she says she can't tell me. . . it's a secret. Should I be concerned? I would be except for the fact that she points out everything that every one (adults included) does wrong. I am sure she would be first in line to tattle on her classmates or teachers.

Isaac was sick a few days ago and that was pretty gross. A baby spitting up on me is nothing, but he vomited all the freshly eaten baby food all over me and I made the mistake of putting him directly in the bathtub to clean myself off. This was a mistake because he had also exploded in his diaper. A poopy diaper in water is not a good combo!! Crazy day!! I know this is all gross so I will stop that and tell you that he is so happy all the time. He will smile and laugh at anything and everything. He is sitting up well and rocks back and forth on his hands and knees. He hasn't figured out the coordination to actually crawl but he somehow makes it across the living room floor.

I love my kids!!

Random

Well, I have to say that I am a little disappointed in the participation in the last post!! Don't you all just love to play those little games?! That's all right, I will forgive.

I don't really have anything exciting to report. Abbi started preschool and she really enjoys that and Jake gets sad every time we take her because he can't stay. Isaac is getting big and I love his happy smile- he is always smiling!! I did want to post some pictures. Abbi needed to take a family picture into preschool for an activity and we actually didn't have any of all five of us. Poor Isaac. So we dragged Gram and Gramps on a Sunday drive to the mountains and had them take some pictures of the local wildlife--I mean our kids. I can not describe how frustrating it is to get all three kids to look at the camera at the same time. Getting them all to smile is out of the question. I do have to say that the seven month old cooperated well. The older two, well, I should have left the older two at home but that kind of defeats the 'family picture' purpose. Maybe I should have left them in the mountains. They would be okay, Abbi believes that she can whine her way out of any unpleasant situation and I believe that the bear wouldturn and run after listening to her for a second or two. Despite the struggles, we did get a few cute ones in.tains.

We did just got back from a really quick trip to UT to bless my niece. My bro, Aaron, and his wife, Jessica, had a beautiful little girl, Brooklynn, in July. All the family headed to their house this weekend to be there when they blessed her. It was the first time we (John and I and the kids) had seen her. She is so tiny and cute. Congratulations again to them.