Sunday, December 27, 2009

Christmas again!

We had Christmas dinner at my parent's house this evening

Jeff and Henry playing

Oh, and did I mention that we reenacted the nativity scene? Here is my dad helping Jacob get dressed as a shepherd.


He looks pretty thrilled considering he spent the last 36 hours insisting that he was going to be dressed as a train (you can imagine how frantic that made Hannah). I chose not to publish any other pictures (except I didn't get one of Angel Hannah, blast), just picture a lot of towels draped about.




More Christmas

Helen with her baby bump!
Jacob really excited about his big nerf gun.

Stephanie helping Jacob open a train and Jason, uh, apparently right in the middle of saying something.



Jason and Jacob hanging out over a bowl of icecream mush


This is my favorite picture this season! Hannah and Nana looking festive!





Christmas!





Baba and Jacob putting together a Thomas puzzle


Checking out the stockings!


Some more pre-Christmas festivities

Amy and Eliza came over to decorate gingerbread houses with us and Hannah made a princess apron out of a coloring page. Huh.
Lucky for Amy and me, the kids tired quickly of the fun and began playing with princesses so that we could decorate how we wanted to! Yes, the houses are really just cubes but those peaked roofs are darn irritating to make!



Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Intervention!

I have a new addiction and it is remodeling/decorating blogs. It is so very very bad. I have always wanted to put up Christmas lights and in 6 years of marriage I have never done it. Until this year! I put a lit garland around the door and then colored lights in the tree which look very pathetic but will be easy to top next year. I figure I will do a little more each Christmas until I have it how I want it. I also planted ranunculus bulbs ( my favorite flowers) with pansies on top in the pots on my porch!
I don't think I had changed my mantle display in over a year or maybe even longer, not sure. I know it is Christmas time but I am waiting for the after Christmas sales to get things for next year. ( I may be an addict but I can still be sensible). Anyway, I love these colors and it still needs work because it doesn't feel quite right yet (I think I need to lower the sign a little, any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated) but it makes me smile everytime I look at it.

Here are the little buckets I made for Hannah's two teachers. A school themed bottle of hand cleaner, gingerbread candle, and a Christmas themed display tile. Oh and did I mention that I am redoing my bedroom and master bath? When I am finished I will post the before and after pics. I am willing to start a support group if there are any others out there with this same problem. we can take turns meeting at each other's houses ( and bring a paintbrush).



Ornament dinner

Ah, the Christmas tradition of pulling out Martin's baby swim trunks. These pictures have made me realize that I need to work on my photography skills. (Sorry about the missing heads). Usually I try to just take a lot of pictures and get lucky but I was having so much fun at our annual ornament dinner that I didn't take very many and I apologize to the innocent bystanders who may be inaccurately, blurryly, or incompletely portrayed on this blog.
Dad opening one of his ornaments.

Jacob passing an ornament to Uncle Brian while wearing his new Thomas pj's. My mom buys them new pj's to wear Christmas eve night but Hannah had a pj day at preschool coming up so the kids got them early.


Mexican food is always part of ornament night!
Thanks Mom and Dad!



"Not my gum drop buttons!"

Me and the kids made gingerbread cookies and then decorated them. Lots of fun despite how serious Hannah is looking
Ta-Dah! but really not very tasty. I tried a new recipe and it wasn't so hot and personally, I just don't think gingerbread cookies taste as good when they are not plain. (but where is the fun in that?)

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it, Vogue, vogue
Sorry, Madonna starts playing in my head when I see this picture. Jacob was hiding from the camera, then he wanted me to take a picture of his arm, then Hannah wanted me to take a picture of her arm too.



Sunday, December 13, 2009

Procrastinating with a blog

I really need to do some dishes but want to put it off so here is a funny/sad story from when we got the kids their first H1N1 shots.

It was a Saturday at the health department and fortunately I had called two of my friends who had gone earlier than me and found out that the line was all the way out of the building and it was a couple hours worth of wait. (They were still there when I got there). Jeff was helping paint a woman's living room but I pulled rank and told him that I needed him. I don't think he understood why until we pulled into the parking lot and saw all the people. The kids thought it was great fun because the line of parents made a big oval space in the parking lot where the kids could play and their friends were there. 2 hours and 45minutes later it was time for the kids to get their shots and Jacob saw the nurse preparing the injections which he was a little interested in. I had Hannah go first and told her to blow out when she got the shot (it is supposed to help keep their mind busy and not think as much about the pain- I think it is probably more effective for older kids) She was a little scared because she knew what was going on and instead of blowing she made a little barking sound. I burst out laughing and then she started laughing too. It wasn't until I handed her off to Jeff that she started to cry a little. Jacob didn't notice that part and was ready for his turn at fun. He turns to me and lifts up his arms saying: My turn! My turn! I put him on the table and start to hold him down and he is just smiling and giggling. I felt so guilty knowing that he had completely misread the situation. Smiles and giggles until he feels the sting of the shot and he makes a big O with his mouth and says this really drawn out OWWWWW.

For future reference little guy: if you are being held down, it can't be good.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Learning to spell

Hannah has been improving in her spelling which is nice because I don't have to dictate letters for her all the time. (Like when she wants to write the grocery list for me, if I am not feeling like mom of the year I tell her to draw it with pictures). There is also the downside. The other day she asked for some tape so that she could hang a sign on her door and this is what I found.
Not one, but two No Jacob signs. The lower one also has numbers (kind of) which I thought might be a room number but she informed me it was her bed time (9:45? you wish girlie) and then demanded to know when she could have an alarm clock. For such a smart girl there was a glaring oversight in forgetting that: 1. Jacob can't read and 2. Even if he could, he doesn't feel too restricted by rules, laws, or forces of gravity.
For those of you with inquiring minds, the other sign is a pictural representation of what she wants for Christmas with the curve dictating the level of desirableness. (We got the cat that's numero uno and the thing meows when it senses people near. um, even through wrapping paper). It will meow and Hannah will go over to it and say: that sounded like a sad meow. Jeff told her that it was because it hasn't eaten in months. Nice. I am putting another dollar in the therapy jar as I type.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

What?

It doesn't take too long after having a kid that you come to realize that your home is no longer just your own. Not only do kids need a lot of stuff but as they grow they start moving things, using things which they don't put back, and decorating. Sometimes this is very frusterating and other times it makes me smile. Like the time I came across this pleasant care bear lounging on my sofa reading... a care bear book.

The Safari

As a thank-you for watching her cat while on vacation, Natalie invited me and the kids to a safari at her house! The pictures are a little out of order but when we first got there, there was a big tent set up in the living room with animal coloring pages for the kids while me and Nat finished up lunch.
Then we had a picnic on the floor and Hannah hid animals around the house that we then gathered and brought back to the base camp.

Sweet Henry being adorable.
Then the kids made animal shaped cookies and frosted them.


Taking a well deserved rest at Base camp. Thanks Nat!




Walking off the feast

The day after Thanksgiving we ate at my parent's house and then went for a good walk (ride, for some). Hannah and Jacob are at a really good stage together where they both can play make-believe and Jacob is verbal enough to be able to communicate about it. Which makes for two happy play mates and a very happy mom.

The Fomby Family

This isn't a very good picture but in the other one I took Hannah looked bored and my dad looked mad.



New tradition

I decided to start a tradition of buying a new game each Thanksgiving because I love playing games. I wanted to get a grown-up game too but decided to wait until after Christmas for that as the one I was interested in was rather pricey. I picked operation. Jacob looks like he is practicing ballet but he would throw himself on the floor every time someone hit the edge of the game.
Hannah and Jeff

Pretty sure that using your fingers is cheating. I don't know the last time I played operation but my motor skills have come a long way since then because I was rocking that game!



Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

I am feeling a little lazy after our big lunch so no pictures for right now but wanted to post some happenings this morning. I was sleeping in and Jeff had turned on the Macy's parade for the kids to watch. when the energizer bunny float came on Hannah says: "You sure don't see that everyday!" Sure don't kiddo. Where do they hear this stuff? I don't talk like that! Do I? It makes me think of an old geezer with suspenders.

We brought down the little christmas trees for the kids' rooms and let them decorate them this morning (well, Jacob's is little but Hannah's is actually a scrawny 5 footer). Jacob put about two ornaments on his and Hannah's was so decked out it toppled and she had to remove some. Oh yeah, I just remembered a funny one. Hannah is such a girly girl and her two favorite book characters are Angelina ballerina and Fancy Nancy (a little girl who likes to make everything fancy). Hannah will dress up and accessorize and say "Fancy Nancy would like this outfit," etc. etc. The other day Hannah got home from school and said
"I need to Fancy-Nancy-up!" Didn't think that could be made into a verb.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

My new favorite thing: Ta-da lists


This is not my list featured above. Mine is way cooler. I found this site that lets you make lists for free and I am in OCD heaven. I love that you can make seperate lists and it has little boxes on the side for you to check them off which then moves them to the bottom of your list without a box and in a smaller font. I love that I can use the laptop on the counter and look at it throughout the day. I love that I will never again have scraps of paper with scrawled to do lists hidden throughout my house and purse. I love that it is called Ta Da and not To Do. I love that with one click I can see what I wanted to change in my bedroom, or what the next thing we need to do to for house maintainance is, or what my next step for emergency preparedness is.
The joy I get out of this has confirmed for Jeff that I am crazy. What is even funnier is the site http://cdo.tadalist.com/lists is called cdo.tadalist. CDO is OCD only in alaphabetical order, as it should be. (Jeff really loved that joke as he thought it applied to me)
Something may very well be wrong with me but I am not alone!

More on the balloon animals

Doesn't he just look so excited!

Doesn't she look fascinated!

I think it goes without saying that Jeff is the more fun one in our house. My role was made more apparent two sundays ago when Hannah was sick and Jeff was going to stay home from church with her. We don't watch t.v. or movies on Sunday but when the kids are sick we make an exception. Jeff told Hannah that she could watch a movie but Hannah kept saying: "But what will Mom say, shouldn't we ask Mom first, etc. etc." Which makes Jeff fume especially since we show a united front with the kids - i.e. Your dad and I both give the same answers. She finally relaxes a little and chills out on the sofa with Jeff and some movies.
Three hours later she hears me pull into the driveway and jumps up to look out the door, then darts back to the t.v. and turns it off
Jeff: Hannah, what are you doing?
Hannah: I am just done! Frantically opens the dvd player and pulls out the dvd
Jeff again: Hannah, why are you taking out the dvd?
Hannah: I am just done watching! Quickly puts the dvd back in the case and puts it away in the drawer. -a little side note, they never do that when they are done.
Oh what a tangled web we weave.
And apparently I am THE BOSS. Or maybe just the mean one. hmmm.

Friends

Here is a not very great picture of Katy, my great friend, who works a lot, talks to me about being a more responsible consumer and to be more green, causes me to reseach what the heck she is blogging about ( Friedrich Neitzshe and P. G. Wodehouse lunching in the after life, come again?), gives me hope (Iran has a "if we decide to make nice" plan for tourism on the backburner- cool), makes me laugh, is a great mom, and is now living very close to me! Unfortunately for the second attribute of working a lot we don't get to hang out as much as I would like but this day we made it to the zoo with our boys.
Jacob likes Reuben and is sharing his Banana nut cheerios with him as we are riding the tram. The weather was beautiful and it was such a fun day.


Jeff is 29!!!

Really weird picture. I don't know why he decided to bite the balloon but that is one of the reasons I love him so much is because he makes me laugh. when you are married, and have children that is a very very beautiful skill.

Here is Jeff making balloon animals for our family home evening activity that he was in charge of.

He heard Hannah coming down the stairs and decided to scare her. (How cool is it that there happens to be a UFO on the tv right then)! These are random pictures because his actual birthday was not quite as peachy as I had hoped. I had volunteered to help with a taster's table for a Relief Society night that ended up being scheduled that night so I was trying to do his birthday dinner, wake up the kids from their naps so they would go to bed nicely for Jeff since I would be leaving for the afore mentioned meeting, (they were screaming like banshees), and then make soup for the now twice afore mentioned meeting. Not fabulous and did not need any pictures to remember that evening. We are planning on going to dinner together without kids sometime this week and I am very excited for that.

I love you Jeff.



Monday, November 2, 2009

The Halloween Candy personality profile

Here is the official report on what the kids did with their candy:

Hannah promptly gave some to Mimi, Baba, and Jacob. Made a baggie of candy for Nana and Baba, and then made a treasure hunt for Jeff for when he got home. She used all her candy bars to make a trail from the front door up to his pillow.

Jacob opened up M&Ms and tootsie rolls to use as tender in his trains, then made a pile out of the rest of the stash for Percy to plow through.



More spookiness

My parents and Nat, Brian, and Henry came over for dinner and trick-or-treating.
Does my lipstick look weird to anyone else? Why didn't anyone say something!

Nat and spooky Henry, before Brian arrived. Check out my new table in the background!