Christmas 2008

we had a great christmas with our little family as well as our big family. on christmas eve we went over to mom and dad's and had dinner then played the wii for a bit. it was fun trying to teach ammon how to bowl and tierra did pretty good bowling a strike and a spare. the kids opened their traditional christmas eve pajamas: lucy had disney princess, tierra had hannah montana, and ammon of course had batman.

christmas morning started at 7:00 am when ammon woke up. i was actually pretty surprised, he has been waking up between 5 and 6am lately. it was the same as previous years as tierra pointed out what every one else got: "look ammon! you got a hot wheel track!", before noticing whatshe got from santa. to say she was excited about her nintendo ds is an understatement. it is all she has done and talked about for the last day and a half. we had her good and convinced that she wasn't getting one so she had started to ask santa for a turtle or a snowsuit. i think she was pretty surprised.

after we were all fed, dressed, and had some of our christmas mess cleaned up, we went back out to mom and dad's. we ate our traditional ham and cheesy potatoes then openned our christmas gifts to each other. landon had our family's name this year and surprised us with games: the office dvd game and hungry hippos for the kids. nick also go the seinfeld scene it game and we are excited to play that.

i think the best part of christmas this year was being with family and knowing the kids were excited about christmas and getting into the christmas spirit. every time ammon saw a star lit up with christmas lights he said, "look mom! it's the shape star that shows where baby jesus was born!" tierra got super excited about all the little gifts she picked out for the family and was sure we would all LOVE them.

we had a great christmas, hope all of you did too!

funny things...

just wanted to share some funny things that happened today:

nick and i had just picked up the kids from my parent's house after going to the mormon tabernacle choir "music and the spoken word" and christmas concert. it was pretty snowy and as we were just about getting into logan nick told me he saw a dog on the side of the road that was hurt and we needed to turn around (FAST!) and go help the dog. i was finding a spot to turn around thinking that i didn't see a dog, and if there WAS a dog, i didn't know the first thing about helping it. nick kept telling me that i needed to HURRY! as we were driving back the other direction, i saw what he was talking about and it didn't look anything like a dog to me. i told nick this and he told me i needed to hurry and turn around, it was a big sheep hearding dog and it was trying to stand but it's legs were hurt. when we pulled off the side of the road, i saw the poor dog: a black garbage bags full of leaves. i haven't laughed so hard in a long time!

the other funny was ammon. he was telling me that he needed to go get a pet (something he says a lot). i told him that cats make mommy sneeze. he is a very thoughtful and smart kid so he said: "mom, kitties can bring you tissues".

i have funny boys.

also, words that lucy has been saying:

momma, daddy, go, wow, night-night, ball, more, puppy, ammon

tagged...

i was actually tagged by my neighbor jessica a while ago, i'm a slacker and hadn't done it yet. so now i am replying to BOTH tags. here goes...

Rules:
1- Post the rules
2- Answer the 6 "8" items
3- Let each person know that they have been tagged


8 Favorite T.V. Shows
(in no particular order)
1- the office
2- the big bang theory
3- the new adventures of old christine
4- worst week
5- heroes
6- kath and kim
7- the pick up artist 2 (i know, i'm lame)
8- party of 5 (watching it every week on-demand)

8 Things I did yesterday
1- went black friday shopping (just 2 stores, was home by 6:30 am)
2- put up the christmas tree
3- took a nap to recover from early morning shopping
4- bought milk at the store
5- fed my neighbor's cat (and cleaned up it's tantrum with the toilet paper)
6- fell on the ice when walking into my home and got a fatty bruise on my elbow.
7- wrapped a couple of presents
8- explained to ammon about 10 times that, yes, it is christmas time, but that doesn't mean it is time to open christmas presents... no, not even after your nap.

8 Favorite Restaurants
1- king wha's in washington
2- royal orchid in washington
3- olive garden
4- simply divine pastries
5- zoopas
6- red lobster
7- applebees
8- just about any greek place

8 things I am looking forward to
1- nick getting over mono... yes, he has mono now
2- nick being done with school
3- christmas
4- the summer
5- building snowmen
6- starting the book i got at the library today
7- watching "the gnome-mobile" with ammon
8- both kids being potty trained

8 things on my wish list
1- EVERYONE in my family healthy
2- a good christmas
3- for my friends and family to have happiness
4- no more car problems
5- sleep better at night
6- win a million dollars
7- have all my laundry done and neatly put away
8- gas prices to keep dropping

wow, that was surprisingly hard. okay, i'm tagging:

1- Crystal W.
2- Mindy P.
3- Lori C.
4- Kristin D.
5- Crystal B.
6- Melanie S.
7- Mom
8- Anna D.

bucket head

ammon and i were downstairs yesturday, while lucy was playing in her room upstairs. she came down the stairs with this bucket on her head just super casual, like it was no big deal. she is such a funny girl!

i know, i know...

so nick totally makes fun of me when i do this, but i LOVE a good deal and i get all excited and have to tell everyone when i make out like a bandit at the grocery store. today it was albertson's and smith's:

at albertsons:

• 5 dove shampoos
• 5 dove conditioners
• 6 sauve deoderants
• 6 sauve lotions
• 6 sauve kids shampoo
• 2 chex mix
• 2 swanson broth cartons
• 3 tuna helpers
• 2 betty crocker cookie pouches
• 2 knorr sides plus veggies
• 8 green giant frozen veggies

total: $23

(plus i have $20 to use at albertsons on my next trip!)

at smith's:

• 8 boxes of cereal
• 3 boxes granola bars
• 6 boxes fruit roll-ups / fruit snacks
• 2 canisters quaker oats
• 2 quakes rices cakes
• 5 power ade
• 5 vitamin water
• 1 7-up
• 1 frozen pizza

total: $28

i probably could have done better at smith's if i would have been more prepared. i had some coupons for some free items so i think all in all, i didn't come out too bad.

happy shopping!

buddies...

ammon and lucy were playing in the other room and all i could hear were some little giggles. i had to go see what was going on and this is what i found: my two kids sitting in my basket i keep for shoes, eating thier graham crackers. i liked that this was a team effort and they were having so much fun. i DIDN'T like that they were breaking my basket.

ammon got sent to time out (i think for being mean to lucy) and lucy followed him right to the time out corner and sat there with him. she wants to be big and do everything her brother does, even if it means sharing time-outs with him. they are wearing thier "yo gabba gabba" hoodies (ammon says who-dies).

ammon's friend aussie was over for a bit yesturday and they were eating snacks and ammon says they were playing "coo-coo" (?). i think it is so cute how they are total boys together and so funny. lucy wanted to go be with the boys since they were having so much fun.

ammon was doing is "school book" yesturday and he decided to "draw faces on the suckers so they could talk better". ha! isn't that so funny? he was so serious about it too. anyway, these are his suckers with faces... so they can talk better.

lucy is a big girl that goes in the potty so she got a potty sucker. it was a pretty big one, i need to get some more her size.

no one bites the duster...

we were listening to music today (pandora.com!) and "another one bites the dust" started playing. ammon really liked it and started singing along, "no one bites the duster!"

i didn't hear him right and i repeated, "another one bites the duster?" he said, "no, we don't bite. no one bites the duster."

it is nice to hear that after having some issues with biting his friends, it sounds like it is sinking in.

silly lucy girl

i have posted so much stuff about ammon lately, i thought i would post some pics and stories about my silly lucy girl. she is super silly and really starting to show her little personality. i think i could just watch her all day long and be completely entertained.

this is my "kanye west" rapper baby lucy. she just looks so cool and she isn't even trying. she loves to put on these glasses. when she first puts them on, she does her super funny, "i'm so cool face" but i was never fast enough to catch it with the camera.

i just love it when she plays with these glasses. they were a party favor from our buddy austin's birthday party, who would have thought they would be such a favorite.

she is very sweet with her friends and her brother and tries to help when they are sad. ammon was sad so she was giving him loves and kisses... then started pulling his hair. i guess she can't be sweet all the time. i got a shot of her "i'm so cool" face here, she's so silly and most of the time very sweet.

today i went to check on lucy because she had gone upstairs. i walked in her room and found her inside tierra's barbie tent. the tent wasn't set up, just laying on the floor, but she wiggled in through the door with her monkies and was quite content to stay there for a while. she is just so cute. she also went poop on the potty today. that may be too much information for some of you, but we were pretty excited here at our house. i marked it on the calendar. no, she is NOT potty trained, but i'm thinking she will be a lot easier than her brother.

my new obsession...

i was searching yesturday for an online radio station to play while i was cleaning my house and i stumbled across pandora.com. it was so much fun, i wanted to spread the word. it's free to use and pretty simple to figure out. all you do is type in the name of a song or artist you like and it will play stuff from that artist plus others that are similar that they think you may like. you can also add more songs and artists to give your "station" more variety. with each song you can see info on the artist, album, and song and you can either rate it thumbs up or thumbs down. if you rate it thumbs down, they won't play that kind of music anymore on your "station". it was fun to hear new stuff that i totally loved and old stuff that i had forgotten about. just wanted to share my new obsession with you all. click here to go there!

i have one of THOSE kids...

ammon got his halloween costume yesturday. he is going to be batman, and he LOVES his new "hock-sume" (translation: costume). he put it on last night and nick took him to austin's and faye's houses to show them how cool he looked as batman. ammon insisted that i put his costume back on him this morning. i'm wondering how long this is going to last. is he going to be one of those kids going to the grocery store and around town dressed as a super-hero? yep, i think i have one of THOSE kids. we went on our walk this morning and he rode his big-wheel in his batman costume singing: na-na-na-na na-na-na-na BATMAN!

happy with what i've got...

with life going by full speed and sometimes just trying to get through the day, it's easy to forget all that we have. i was thinking about it this morning and i have so much to be greatful for. i really am living the life i want to live.

i am married to a man who works super hard in school and work to support our family so i can be a stay at home mom. i have two beautiful, healthy children that fill my days with so much happiness it is amazing. i have friends and neighbors who add sanity with adult conversation and offer help when i need it. i have a calling in our ward that i love and lets me get to know more people and do service often. i get to spend time doing things i enjoy like: baking, cooking, and trying new recipes.

our family truly is blessed. it's like my mom's saying: "we may not have it all together, but together we have it all". it may not be glamorous, or at times very "rockstar-ish", but i'm just so happy that i am able to live the life i want to live!

it's sarvi's turn!

sarvi is the last one in the group to turn 28, congrats on that! i'm doing my list of 28 things that remind me of you. here goes...

1. monkeys
2. inxs
3. photo shoots
4. ann taylor
5. neil diamond
6. trent reznor
7. greg
8. slot machines
9. disneyland
10. baskin robbins
11. tequila lime chicken
12. scuba diving
13. water aerobics
14. san francisco
15. honda civic
16. macey's
17. cheesecake
18. snowboarding
19. christian dior
20. diamonds
21. the guy from the killers
22. nachos
23. cheetos
24. BASH
25. waterfall canyon
26. tai chi
27. multicultural nights
28. trader joes

happy birthday sarvi! hope you had a great time in bonaire!

Tag...

I search: for good deals
I wonder: where old friends have gone
I regret: the things i did not do
I love: my little family
I care: for my friends who keep me sane and understand my days
I always: prefer chocolate
I worry: i will never potty train ammon
I am not: a super model
I remember: family trips when i was a kid
I believe: the gospel is what makes us truly happy
I sing: twinkle little star to ammon to make him happy again
I dance: in the livingroom with ammon and lucy
I don’t always: keep my house clean
I argue: to keep what's mine
I write: on my blog and in my kids' journals to preserve memories
I win: small battles with the kids everyday
I lose: at scrabble when playing nick
I wish: i could be young forever
I listen: to ammon say "gums" instead of thumbs and don't correct him because i think it is so cute!
I don't understand: why people don't play by the rules
I can usually be found: at home or outside with the kids
I am scared: of spiders and mice
I need: to be appreciated
I forget: there's really a plan
I am happy: i have healthy children
I tag: you if you are: a friend

football and cake...

for his birthday, nick wanted to go to the USU vs. UofU football game. jess watched the kids (thanks jess!) and we headed up to the game wearing our matching USU t-shirts. it was fun going to the game and feeling all full of school pride with nick. he knew they weren't going to do well against the utes... he must have told me about 6 times that the utes were ranked 22nd in the nation and the aggies weren't projected to win a game the entire season, but we cheered them on 'till the end of the game. i felt kind of old at the game when i started thinking that a lot of the kids in the student section were probably new freshman and that was me...10 years ago! i had to fight the urge to blow raspberries on the bellies of the bare-chested boys with "U", "S", and "U" painted on them as they walked up and down the isle i was sitting on. i also had the strangest urge to start pinching people's bums as they walked up and down the stairs by me. when i mentioned this to nick, he didn't think it was very funny. i think it was the me from 10 years ago coming out, i loved being 18 and starting college.

the only other request nick had for his birthday was the type of cake he wanted (after i bugged him to tell me). he requested a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting that was kind of like a cupcake, but not a cupcake. after trying to decipher that for a while, i found a recipe on line and went to work. so here is a picture of his cake, i know how much he likes sprinkles so i made sure it had a lot of those on top!

one more year...

today nick is 29, that means one more year until he is 30 and has to start acting like an adult. doesn't it seem like when you turn 30 you no longer have the freedom to be as frivilous as when you were in your 20's? i'm not sure, i haven't gotten there yet... but i imagine it to be this way. so i guess nick has one more year to be frivilous before he turns 30 and becomes an old man.

as a tribute to him on his birthday: 29 things we couldn't do without, some of them frivilous...

1. his crazy chants that get ammon riled up
2. his dedication to his school work... hours of studying italian
3. his excitement about writing for the campus paper
4. his excitement about coming up with his own story ideas for the campus paper
5. his hours he puts in at work and STILL finds time to do a good job in school
6. his facination with fantasy football... and baseball... and basketball... and sometimes hockey
7. his willingness to learn new things, like fixing body damage on our car
8. his love for animals
9. his willingness to get cheese for our family and friends with his awesome hook-up
10. his service in helping people move
11. his love for the gospel
12. his love for his family
13. his giving to those in need (i have seen him give food and even his own coat to another)
14. his drive to be healthy
15. his need to give his children toys... sometimes too many...
16. his love of music
17. his worry for his family that is not with him
18. his desire to take ammon with him to run errands, just to spend time with him
19. his wanting to share everything sports with ammon and take him to games
20. his addiction to ice cream, and not the cheap stuff
21. his love of things with sprinkles
22. his obsession with "the office", that we both share
23. his missing the seattle rain
24. his love of books, especially biographies
25. his love for anything vanilla
26. his laugh while watching something funny, even if it is the 3rd time he has seen it
27. his amazing artistic abilities
28. his love of cupcakes
29. his love for me

happy birthday sweety-butt! make this year count!

i've got a golden ticket!

last night i watched willy wonka and the chocolate factory with ammon and lucy. ammon is not one to sit and watch a whole movie, but he was in a trance. he sat and watched the whole movie with eyes big and mouth open in awe. he was so excited when charlie "won" and got the golden ticket. this morning he found something with a foil sticker on it and he said, "i found a golden ticket!" so cute! i can't wait to share more movie classics with him.

bike wash!

saturday i had kept ammon inside most of the day and he was itching to get out. lucy walked outside and smeared peanut butter from her sandwhich on ammon's bike so he decided that we needed to wash it. we got a bucket of soapy water and some old rags and went to see if his friends austin and faye wanted to wash bikes with us. it was a lot of fun! the kids thought it was fun to clean their own bikes and lucy and lydia tried to eat the soapy bubbles, yuk!

ammon thinks he is a cat

this has been going on for a while, ammon pretending to be a kitty cat. he likes to curl up in my lap and ask me to pet him. sometimes he insists that i give him food in a bowl on the floor so he can eat it like a kitty. if i ask him to do something and he doesn't want to do it, or doesn't think he can, he says, "i can't, i'm just a little kitty cat".

so the other day he was out with nick at the grocery store and he was trying to talk nick into buying him kitty food, yes, real cat food! i may have to put a stop to this...