My Husband

I am sitting here thinking that there really isn't a lot to blog about. The girls and I were sick for so long that life seems to have stopped. Then I realized that even though I have been in bed for quite a while, someone else has been busy doing all the things I normally do, plus his own work. So I thought I would take the opportunity to brag on my husband and send him a little love and appreciation. He had to take care of three very sick women for several days. That's a big job when everyone is feeling well. He got medicine, did the shopping, cooking, and even still managed to go to work. He did take one day off when I was really sick. He didn't get mad, and he didn't even get sick. So I have to say he is amazing and we would not be in a good spot without him. I love you Steven.

Tagged

So everyone. If you have ever tagged me, then you have noticed that I don't ever respond. But today I believe I was tagged, and I feel like doing it. The girls and I are sick, and have been in the house since last Tuesday. So maybe I'm just a little desperate for contact! Besides, I know you all can't wait to see what 7 interesting things I will share! Here goes.

1. In college I got left at a truck weigh station at night, with a trucker and a police man. In the end it turned out ok, because I am still alive to tell the tale.

2. This may not seem very interesting to some, but it never has made it to normal status in my mind so I'll share. I have received several very wet toothless kisses from old ladies in France.

3. I was a great-aunt way before I was ever a mom.

4. I own all of the Christy movie series, the good ones with Kellie Martin and Tyne Daly. They are all VHS and I watch then over and over. I am way excited because they just released them on DVD and I can't wait to get them!

5. I am not really good at picking out clothes for myself. I have the most success when Steve goes with me. We find a few things, and then he just keeps bringing things to me to try on. I think I am getting better, but I still really don't like shopping.

6. Steve and I love Bollywood films.

7. Lastly, I am not going to officially tag anyone! If you feel like it, go for it. Have a good one.

 

Our New Place

So I said I would send pictures of our new place. I will start out tonight with a few the girls actually took. I thought they have a very different and unique perspective of things. I hope you enjoy. I am planning of taking some new ones tomorrow and posting them so you all can get a more complete look. So we start with their beds, dolls, and a view looking out from their window. Then there is their view of the kitchen. The last one was just funny, so I had to share. I hope no one is scandalized! It was interesting as I looked through all the pictures they took how different their perspective really is. I hadn't really thought about it for quite a while.

The new look

So I have been messing with the look of my blog. I am not completely happy with it yet. So I am wondering if any of you out there have ideas, suggestions, tricks. I really love the background, but with my limited HTML skills, I can't really tweek the the rest to really look great. I would love you to take my quiz (see left) and also, leave any and all advise/info that you might have. Thanks!

Moving Out

So we are moving yet again. This time it's just a few buildings down the road in our apartment complex. Sitting here in our almost empty apartment has got me thinking. Pretty much all that we have left is our furniture, a few dishes, and a blanket or two. The apartment has echos again and somehow it already doesn't feel like home. I counted today and the next place will be #9 in our 6 years of marriage. Which means we have made 10 moves, and so many friends. There have been 9 places that we have made feel like our home. Each place has been unique and totally unlike the ones before it(except for Wymount because we lived there two different times). Our family has grown, our possessions have decreased...this statement might just be wishful thinking. Our moving techniques are streamlined and fine-tuned. 

Why then does this make me so thoughtful each time I do it? I have to admit that in the past we have always changed at least our ward, if not the city we lived in and twice now the state we lived in. It never gets easier. Leaving a place where you have felt loved and safe is always hard. I guess that's why even this time I am a little hesitant to return the keys. The memories are just that, and they will keep getting farther and farther back behind me. I will never live in this place again.  I know this is all rather silly, because really we are just moving down the street. No change of zip code, we don't even have to change our phone number. People who drive to our house will come the same way they have always come with a slight change at the very end of the journey. It's that last slight right that makes all the difference I guess. New neighbors, new parking spot, new post box, what else will be new? What lessons will I learn, or relearn there? How will I have to change? 

Heavy stuff I know. But since it's after 10pm and Steven is making one last trip to our new place to take stuff before tomorrow and I can't go to bed until he gets back you all get to profit from my musings. So a few more of my questions are; will I ever get to stay in one place for more than 16 months? Is there something I am supposed to learn and haven't yet? Does it ever get easy? (By this I don't mean the actual act of moving, because packing everything you own into boxes will never be fun or easy.) Will we ever get to choose our own couch? I threw that one in because we really have never chosen our couch, they have always chosen us, through the generosity of others, and while I am grateful, someday I would like to chose my own. So there you have it. All my unorganized thoughts that have been running in and out of my head while our house has been slowly emptying out for the past few days. 

BTW since we have moved a lot we have lots of friends out there, so don't make yourselves strangers. Any time you need a vacation, Nashville is pretty fun. YEEHAW!

Aebleskiver

In case you are wondering, that is a real word. I have been told that it is Danish. Whatever the origins, I am very happy that they were invented. To start at the beginning, which as we know, is a very good place to start...on Christmas morning one of the gifts I opened looked like this-------->
Steven explained that it was for making aebleskiver, which are Danish pancakes. I was a little skeptical, but excited to try something new. As a little side note, since receiving this gift I have discovered that my family has known about, and been enjoying this type of delectable cuisine for some time now without sharing it with me! Anyways, back to my story, Steven had not only found the pan, but of course he had found the ultimate recipe, or the closest he could to make the ideal aebleskiver. (He is a librarian and he can't leave any stone unturned) Well we finally got the chance to make the danish pancakes on Friday night. They turned out very good, and I ate way too many. The next time you come to visit we will make you some. I am hoping that a bribe might tempt at least one of you enough to actually come and see us! Here are a few pictures of our aebleskiver meal and preparation. If you are interested in making them, you first must find the pan, then I will be happy to share our recipe!

Christmas

So I am finally going to share some of our Christmas pictures. So I hope you enjoy them. We had a really fun Christmas. The girls are at the perfect age. They didn't wake up too early, but they couldn't wait to see what Santa brought.

New PJ's on Christmas Eve. Juliana, Me, Kathryn

Making Santa's cookies

So they aren't the most attractive cookies, but Santa must have liked them, because they disappeared! The carrots are for his reindeer.

My mom sent this to us and we added a different piece each night so on Christmas Eve we finally got to add Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

Santa found our house and brought the girls a scooter.

Our day was pretty much smiles and fun.
Hope you had a great Christmas too!

Christmas Stuff

We have been very busy this month doing all sorts of fun Christmas things so I thought I would share a few pictures to catch you all up on what we're doing.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Steve's co-workers wedding. The girls were very excited to get all dressed up and see our friend Sarah in her wedding dress. Kathryn is on the left and Juliana is next to me.

Of course, we had to get the house ready for Christmas too. The girls loved it, but they were a little sad when we told them that Santa wasn't coming for a while!
Juliana and Kathryn

On Sunday we made a gingerbread house. It was a lot of fun, and we have some good ideas already for next year! There you have it. I do have more to post, but I have run out of time today. Enjoy your day and Happy Holidays.

I just had a "moment..."

You know, one of those when realization hits harder than normal and you wonder, "How did I get here?" I was just hustling around getting a few things done. Loading breakfast dishes into the washer, taking trash out. The girls bathroom mirror was all gross with hand prints, I had meant to clean it yesterday but somehow I got distracted, imagine that, and didn't do it. So I was in there cleaning and Juliana came to see what I was doing. I said, "I wonder who got this mirror all dirty?"
"Not me." was the reply.
"Oh really! You didn't put your hands all over it and make it messy?"
"No"
"I think you did. Mommy didn't do it."
At this moment I happened to glance in the mirror I was cleaning. All at once several things hit me. The first being you still look like you're 21. Then, you have two kids that are 4 1/2 and YOU are the mom. Running through these thoughts was that I had just sounded exactly like my mom, and I could totaly picture myself as Juliana and my mom as me. Wierd, scary, and maybe a little overwhelming. Just this morning I was thinking back to Christmases past, and remembering how my mom had it all together. She worked full time, and still the house was decked out, neighbors got some amazing delecacy from her kitchen each year, and prensents appreared magically under the tree. I was trying to figure out where I was going wrong, because I am home all day, and I am still not on top of everything. Now I realize that my vision of these events are slightly skewed at best. I know that my mom was probably stressed and overwhelmed just like I am. I am just wondering how she kept it under her hat, because mine all seems to leak out. In fact, I think that at this moment just around the corner my children are dismanteling the beautiful tree. I hear things dropping and I just don't have the courage to look and see what is going on. Maybe that is what I lack courage. So enough of my musings back to my hectick Holiday schedule and trying to keep up. May yours be wonderful and slow!

Christmas Quiz

So I borrowed this little quiz from Chloe. I thought it was fun. Hope you all enjoy.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper all the way, with lots of bows.
2. Real tree or artificial? Real. It's one thing that really makes it feel like Christmas for me. Growing up we always went and cut our own.
3. When do you put up the tree? In the week after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Day after Christmas
5. Hot chocolate or apple cider? Is this even a valid question?
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I am not sure this was my favorite but I have always remember getting my kaboodle (sp?) one year. They were so it, and I was so glad to finally have one.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but I will have some day, one of my favorite decor items for Christmas.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Parents
9. Easiest person to buy for? Kathryn and Juliana (I know I cheated by giving two, but they are twins, what did you expect?)
10 Worst Christmas gift ever received? I honestly can't think of anything that I've hated. Surely there have been things that didn't fit, but other than that nothing terrible.
11. Mail or email Christmas card? I love getting mail, but I would rather get e-letters rather than nothing. It's wonderful we can all communicate so easily now.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? For sure, Holiday Inn
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I don't have a set time, it just happens.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? This is a loaded question. One I can't really answer. Can you really pick just one thing??
16. Clear lights or colored? Colored
17. Favorite Christmas song? Again, there is no way I could pick just one, but I have to say the song Mistle Toe sung by BYU Men's Chorus always makes me smile.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I like being home with my kids, but I am not against traveling either.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph
20. Angel or star on top of the tree? Star, we still need to find one for our family.

Wordless Thanksgiving

Dance Recital

The Girls had their little dance recital last Tuesday. They did such a great job here is a clip for you all to enjoy.

Something is roasting...but not the turkey!

This last Wednesday night, I was putting the girls to bed. Kathryn was already asleep and I was trying to get Juliana settled in. Out of no where she said, "Mom, my tummy's roasting." My first reaction was to laugh, and I have to admit that I did chuckle. So I asked her if her tummy was hot. She said, "No, it's roasting." So I tried again and asked if it hurt, it did. So I thought probably a little too much candy. I told her to go to sleep and it would get better. In the morning all was well. Later in the day she brought up that her tummy was roasting a few times. Well she did end up tossing her cookies this morning at the breakfast table. Lovely, I know. At least I now know what to expect when her tummy is roasting! I have no idea where she got the idea that pain went with roasting. I am sure a lot of turkeys would agree with her! Since this morning she has been able to hold some crackers down, and now is acting normal again, so I think that it has passed. I just thought I would share this before I forget it, which will inevitably happen.

Halloween Pictures

Halloween was a lot of fun. Our ward had a Trunk-or-Treat on Tuesday and then we took cookies around to people on Wednesday. The girls had a blast. I am just going to post a bunch of pictures because I couldn't just pick two or three. So I hope you enjoy them. Steve was "dressed up" for the ward party in his bicking gear since he rode to the party from work. I didn't dress up so that's why I'm not in any of the pictures. We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. Enjoy! BTW Juliana is the blue princess and Kathryn is the purple princess.

Candy Making

Last week my mom sent us a great package in the mail. It was a halloween themed candy making kit. So we broke it out last Sunday and the girls had a blast. I have to say that Steve and I had fun too. Our Sunday afternnon couldn't have been spent better. Althought making the candy was fun, the best part was licking the plate afterward.

So I really can't believe that it's almost Halloween. It dosen't seem possible. Our first year in Nashville is quickly coming to a close. What I really don't like to think about is that we are yet again contemplating a move. Our rent will be going up, and we really can't afford to stay here, so we are even now looking for something cheaper. I am in complete denial that in less that 3 months I will have to be packing all we own once more to relocate it in some other place. It will never end.

Other than the impending move, we are doing well. Yesterday we had a big milestone. The girls have started reading a little bit. It is so exciting to watch them learn. Their litlle brains are so smart, and I love being able to help them see that they can do it. It's very rewarding. Well I need to get going. Have a wonderful day.

Dance Class

It seems nearlly impossible, but Kathryn and Juliana are now old enough to go to dance. Where the last 4 years went don't ask, becuase I just might tell you. Last Tuedsay we suited up took a few pics and headed to the community center for their first little dance class. You must know that both my children love to dance. They watch different dancing movies and will pick up moves they see and learn them. So when I heard of a free dance class I couldn't resist. I thought it would be something they would absolutly love, and I would get a little free time, however short it might be.

Well last week we ventured into the unkown and really I should have taken after photos of all of us. I came home with a few tears on my face as did the girls. Without going into too much detail, they didn't want to unglue themselevs from me, and I really wanted them to have a good time, and in the process not make me look too silly. It was not a pretty thing. Steve came home and had several strategies already in mind for how to attack this weeks class. I have to say I am extremely grateful for a husband who cares enough to solve the problems that I have, in part, created. So yesterday was dance class and everyone came home with smiles. I think it's the beginning of a beautiful thing.

Still Alive

I know many of you have wondered if we are actually still alive. Well we are and I am now trying to get back into a good routine. Somehow are vacation to North Carolina really threw me off. I really got used to having someone to talk to at any time during the day and not really worring about much else. We had a great time. There was one thing that wasn't great, Steven's Granny got really sick and ended up in the hospital. We only got to spend one day with her, and she is actually still in the hospital. She somehow got pnemonia and has had a very hard time trying to get rid of it. We are hoping that she in on the mend and will be home soon. So I am just going to post a bunch of pictures and write a short line about them. I hope you enjoy and that you are doing well.

This is our little family photo. Megan, Juliana, Kathryn, Steven

The Three Musketeers, Kathryn, Carly, Juliana

Playing Canasta: Cami, Mom, Dad, Becki, Me, Bobbi

Kathryn at the beach

I know it's not the most flattering picture, but I thought it was cute, and besides in a couple of years she would probably hate me for posting something like this! BTW it's Juliana

Our last night in North Carolina. We actually all managed to sit at the table together to eat dinner.