Gingerbread Houses

I've had to work hard to get all of our traditions done before we fly to Utah Tuesday...cards out early, ornaments bought, and the gingerbread houses!!!!!

So, I had them all ready to go, and the kids were excited...for about ten minutes. Then, their friends came over and wanted to go to the fort, so they didn't want to finish at all...ughhh... So, I sat all the friends at the table and had them help!


Carter and Amelia were experts on making patterns on the roof. Evan was the expert on making sure the little people were standing up and making "Christmas lights" right under the roof on Mik's house. Lexie was the expert on checking everything out and Mikayla was the expert on tasting all the candy.

Here are the fabulous results (and then they were off to play!!!)

Gift Dilemma

Okay, I need some advice (from all three of you who read this)... I tried to be on top of things this year as far as teacher gifts. I sent out a letter a month ago asking for everyone to send in $5 or $10 to go toward a Visa gift card. I know as a teacher I thought this was the most thoughtful and useful gift, BUT not ONE person sent money, so I went ahead and picked up Wal Mart gift cards just from my girls. I can justify spending $20 each (to make the card worth it but would have only done $10 if everyone would have participated) for the teachers that are with my girls every day.

However, what do y'all do about all the extra teachers: science, Spanish, art, music, media center, computers, P.E., etc. I realized this morning that this is the last week they will see those teachers so I grabbed candles, ornaments, lotions, etc. off my "gift shelf" and hurried and put them together last night...NOT THE IDEAL. What do you do for all the "extra teachers?" I want to be better prepared in the future... I can't spend more than $5 because all together it is 8-9 different teachers....maybe a cookie mix and a cute Christmas dish towel? Nothing??? Plus two of the teachers are men, and I'm sure they don't want a candle or lotion!!! What do you do?

Marriage

Dave's parents are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary on the 19th. It has made me think a lot about marriage and how people make it that far. Divorce is plaguing the nation, and has especially hit home lately for me because of a few different friends that are struggling with the issue or have already divorced.

We had a long talk with our girls when they started asking questions. Dave explained to them that who they choose to marry will be the most important decision of their lives. I guess it's never too early for this discussion. I look back to 1993 when I met Dave at 19 years old, and it seems crazy that fifteen years later we have had two kids and moved across the country and now in a different state away from everyone and everything we knew growing up. We have had our down times and our bad times, but there is no one on earth I would rather be with.

It's been on my mind a lot lately and after Grey's Anatomy last night (love it), Barbara Walter's 10 Most Fascinating People came on, so I watched for a minute. Will Smith was first and I LOVED his view on marriage. I couldn't find the exact transcript, but it was similar to the one below:

"What I found is divorce just can't be an option," the actor explained. "It's really that simple. The secret to their success? "We're like listen, we're going to be together one way or the other so we might as well try to be happy," he said.

He also said something about how if you go into marriage thinking that divorce is always an option, you will end up divorced. Now, I don't consider Will Smith the expert on marriage, but I totally agree with what he's saying.

So, here's looking to our 50th Wedding Anniversary, 38 years from now. I know there will be more rough times, but I plan on having enough happy times to overshadow those. And, divorce is not an option. I think we can work on a lot of things...loving more, spending more time together, not letting kids be a priority over our relationship, but we're in this forever and I'm excited about the ride.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Last year Dave and I and the girls ate Thanksgiving dinner with just the four of us. We had fun, but after dinner, it was just a little lonely. We both grew up with big families and had never had a lonely Thanksgiving, so we packed up our desserts and walked over to our friends' house and shared desserts with them and their families in town.

So this year, we decided since we couldn't be with "family" we would be with our "family" in GA. Jen and Eric invited us down and after a six hour drive that should have been 3 1/2 hours, we arrived. I know I miss my friends every day, but I didn't realize how much until they were all standing on the porch when we got there. Seriously, I miss them. We had so much fun. Here are the highlights:

Getting to see Jen, Terah and Miki and all the husbands and kids except Tripp who was in bed for the festivities before the Morris clan left for Alabama.

Preparing the best Thankgiving Dinner I've ever had: Jen's fabulous strawberry salad, Eric's fried turkey, Dave's potatoes, Jen's recipe for the best broccoli cheese casserole ever, gravy from a jar (my contribution), rolls, Jen's homemade Dutch-apple pie and razzleberry pie.

We sat down to Jen's beautifully decorated table and Doug joined in the festivities.

We all named three things we were thankful for:

Amelia: Friends, Family and Toys

Mikayla: Uncle Doug, Aunt Marla and Kaitlyn

Jack: Ho Ho (Santa)

This is why the dinner was so darn good....fried turkey!!! Seriously, I think it's a Southern thing because until I moved here, I had never even heard of it, but it is better than you can imagine. Dave and Amelia made the potatoes...so yummy, except for the fact that we decided Baby Grayson should get to try some of Thanksgiving Dinner and when he ate the potatoes, he gagged and threw them up!

It takes a minute for kids to warm up to us after being gone for so long, but when Jack fell head first into the fireplace and had blood streaming down his face, he wanted Aunt Chaun to hold him and calm him down and I loved EVERY MINUTE of it. From then on, he would walk around and say (with his binky in his mouth) "Aunt Sawn, Aunt Sawn."

And when it came time to clean up, Doug and Jen did all the dishes, Eric and I cleared and did the other stuff and Dave went to sleep on the chair. I went over and said (yelled), "DAVE, IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HELP, DON'T SIT HERE AND SLEEP ON THE CHAIR WHILE EVERYONE ELSE CLEANS!!!!" So, he went up to bed and slept. We'll blame it on the tryptophan or whatever it's called.




The next day we shopped till we dropped at the outlet mall that I miss SO MUCH that is only five minutes up the road. It was packed and crazy, but so much fun!!!!

I got to talk to a great friend who is going through a horrible situation and realized how strong and amazing she really is...it was inspiring.

I got to stay in a house that I felt so comfortable in, I stayed in the one pair of pajamas that I brought about 90% of the time and didn't realize it until now.

The downside? Amelia threw up all over the carpet (twice) and on Jack's beautiful down comforter.

The very best thing? I got to experience Thanksgiving the way I did growing up...with people I love.
I love my GA Family!!!!!

My Last Meal

Okay Jessi, I can't sleep, and I must be hungry, so I'm going to join you in your last meal with my meal plan:

Breakfast:

Diet Coke with crushed ice from Pure

My dad's crepes plain but add blueberry syrup

Dave's hash browns

English muffin with my Grandma Stout's apricot jam

Lunch:

Footlong Subway Sandwich with Turkey, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, onion, and white American cheese on wheat

Diet Coke

Banana Milkshake from Sonic

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

Turkey Foccacia sandwich from Marie Callenders (I don't think they make it anymore)

Five Guys French Fries

Diet Coke

Dinner:

Fish Tacos from Rubios in SLC

Chips and Salsa from Chili's

Southwestern egg rolls from Chili's

Tiramasu from the Italian restaurant I just went to in Ballantyne

Creme Brulee from The Mandarin in Bountiful

Diet Coke

Midnight Snack:

Cheeseburger from Five Guys with ketchup, mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion

Huge water

Dots

What would your last meal be?

Things That Make Me Happy

The sun anywhere, anytime. Lately I find myself wandering upstairs at 1:45, 20 minutes before the kids get home) and sitting on the edge of the bed where the sun comes in at the perfect angle. I seriously always pictured really old ladies sitting in the sun like I do almost every day, but I'm not old, I just love the sun. It makes me happy and relaxed.

What's better than Dots you might ask? Dots and popcorn. Together. (Thanks Glen for sharing this gem.)

When this truck is in my garage.

T-shirts without tags. I really, really dislike tags on anything. They especially drive me crazy rubbing against my skin at the base of my neck or on the side of my ribcage. I think one of the coolest inventions ever is t-shirts with the "tag" printed on the inside.

Watching my kids run wild...I mean, not completely wild, but when they all make a plan on the bus to meet up after homework and then go to their "fort." The fort is actually the empty lot behind my house. They were playing "hobos and Indians" yesterday. They come in the house with ruined clothes (ripped and stained), shivering and muddy, but so happy!

Campfires and camping with the family...everything about it, except for the packing and unloading, of course.

Oh, and just because today is the THE DAY....the Utes make me happy, really happy.

Happy Veterans' Day!

Today I am grateful for every man and woman and family who has served this country and is serving this country. Amelia made this star with my cousin's husband's name to hang in her classroom today. We are so grateful for his sacrifice (and also my cousin's who often time is home alone with four kids far away from family).

In Georgia we lived next door to a man who was a former POW in WWII and I could sit and listen to his stories for HOURS about his experiences and sacrifices he made. To this day, Mr. George suffers the pain of extreme frost bite to his feet and had to move to Phoenix to get out of the humidity and the cold that would cause his feet such pain...fifty years later. I am just so grateful for the people who serve this wonderful country.

Trick or Treat and Girl Scout Camp

We ended up having an impromptu street get-together in our driveway before the trick or treating began. We roasted hot dogs and shared potato chips!

Thanks Aunt Chellie for Amelia's costume...you can see how much she loved it...even though she wouldn't wear the wig! The girls love it when we dress up! The girls got SO MUCH candy. And yes, I've been digging through it to find all the Almond Joys, Peanut M& M's and Butterfingers...and eating them daily.

We woke up so early the next morning and headed up to the mountains of NC to go to Girl Scout camp.

S'mores, Troop 42 cheers at roll call (I let the girls make up their own and it went something like "TROOP 42! AH CHOO!!!!", 48 Daisies and Brownies in a cabin...including one who threw up in the middle of the night....equals a lot of nighttime fun!

During the day we hiked and went to workshops. This camp was the home of the REAL Terabithia...you know, the land where fairies live...shhhhh!!!!! We were pretty sure we saw a fairy with pink wings fly over us. Amelia was sure that Tinkerbell that actually LIVES in Disney World must have just had a cabin here.

And my fabulous husband cooked EVERY meal and snack...I mean, prepared, served and cleaned up, just in time to start the next one, for 250 girls and 50 leaders, with only five other dads. Man, I love this guy.
We also went to Science and Arts and Crafts workshops...they were too little for canoeing and rock climbing, but it was still fun.







The balloon races in science were cool, but the greatest was watching the Diet Coke shoot out of the plastic bottle if you drop a Mentos in there...there was some real scientific reason, but we missed that part... the explosion was really cool though!

My brave little Daisies...only 4 out of 10 were strong enough to brave the cold (at least at night), the hiking, a night away from their bed and lots of bugs....

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

We are going to trick or treat and then get up super early and head to Girl Scout Camp on Saturday morning and stay over night. Even Dave is coming along to cook and stay in the "kitchen-help" cabin....man, I love that guy!

Amelia is Hannah Montana and Mikayla is "a cooker!" Aunt Chellie made Amelia's costume and she was so fashion! Nana made Mikayla's costume. Both girls chose what they wanted to be...so different from each other...I love it!

Order in the House

"Mom, is it tomorrow yet today?"

Mikayla is always keeping track of everything (like the days of the week). She doesn't lose stuff and is tidy! I always find things put in patterns...like in this photo it was tomatoes and soda can tabs!

"Mom I'm sure cotton is made from clouds, not from t-shirts."

And for you Aunt D (and anyone else who cares): Amelia got to wear jeans to school yesterday for her field trip, but had to wear a dress code shirt. She totally spiced it up with the scarf you made her a few years ago and the snazzy boots and belt. I told her that it said "WEAR SNEAKERS" but she didn't care and I didn't have the energy to fight it.

"But it's still night time!"

And finally, here is a shout out to all of my friends who get their kids off to day care and school before 7:00 in the morning. IT IS SO HARD! We leave the house at 6:55, and it just seems cruel to pull kids out of bed at 6, especially when it's freezing. Dave has started going to the gym in the morning instead of the night so he helps with ponytails and shoes...yes, that is service...Mik is laying down watching "Arthur" while Daddy put on her shoes.

A Tribute to D

D, You asked for it...here is just a sample of Amelia's outfit yesterday after school and this morning before school:

Amelia is sporting last year's white cheer shoes, knee high socks, plaid shorts in all shades of blue, a red and black striped tank top with a navy blue t underneath and a turquoise head band. She is SO FASHION!!!!

And in case you were worried..wearing a uniform hasn't cramped her fashion sense much...she figures out a way around it. I'm bummed you can't see the belt...it was hilarious. It's actually a scarf.

Ballet

It's a long story how this whole ballet teaching thing came about, but the HOA had contacted me about teaching lessons. My kids were NOT HAPPY at the studio I found here and so I decided to pull them out if I could get ten girls to take lessons. I ended up getting 16 girls, so I split them up into two classes and got it running. I got a call the day of our first class saying that the clubhouse was no longer available for use...long story. I couldn't cancel...moms had been buying ballet shoes and were totally planning on it, so after vacuuming the house that day, I thought, "Hey, I think there is room in here for eight girls. I had to call my mom a million times and take pictures with my phone to see if I was crazy, but I decided to run with it...

And guess what?

I love it!

It is seriously so much fun teaching these little girls. The age difference is crazy (3-7 in one class) but no one seems to mind. We do ballet for about 15 minutes and then spend 45 minutes doing the chicken dance, twirling like princesses, dancing with kleenex to snowflake songs and doing "'cross the floors to Hannah Montana."

Tonight Mikayla said to me, "Mom, your ballet is WAY BETTER than that other ballet." I'm not sure about that, but we have a lot more fun and I feel like I'm back in my element. I've missed dancing. I find myself pirouetting (or trying to) while stirring, kicking while doing dishes and getting on itunes every hour to upload some fun song that I had just thought of. It's great! It's good exercise; it's extra money, and my kids aren't sitting for two hours a week for $200 a month in a place that they don't love.

The Joys of Facebook...

My mom is the one who introduced me to Facebook, and I'm loving it. I have been able to re-connect with over 50 high school friends and two college roommates. I love to see pictures of their families and hear what has happened in their lives in the last 15 years! I have 20 cousins on one side, and it's hard to stay in touch with everyone, and it's fabulous for that reason too. I also have my Georgia friends that I like to keep up to date on. It's faster than blogging and is fun! So, for all of my friends not on Facebook, please join! You can set your profile to private and only the people that you confirm as friends can see your profile.

Happy Facebook Posting! Let me know if you join so we can connect!

Jessi's Tag

FIVE JOYS
Having a clean, tidy house.

Having a messy house for a good reason...like a bunch of kids running around while the girls are having fun.

Snuggling with my girls and playing with their hair.

Hearing Dave laugh really loudly.

Talking on the phone to D or my mom.

FIVE FEARS
The economy.

Our savings.

Our investments.

Our retirement.

The girls' college funds.

FIVE OBSESSIONS
Towels being clean and hung straight.

Checking off everything on my to-do list.

Saving money.

Picking the skin off my thumbs (gross, I know).

Staying caught up on everything.

FIVE SURPRISING FACTS
I think lifting weights is better for the body than anything cardio.

I am starting my own dance school after not dancing for ten years.

I try to wear cute shoes, but I usually just think about it and then put on my flip flops.

I would rather have a box of Dots than pretty much any other food on the planet.

I guess the one I had on before wasn't about me...anyway, I like to stay up really late and have to wake up early so I don't like the afternoons and I'm always tired from 2-5.

FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG
Jamie

Nan

Robin

Christy

Jenny

Tagged

I was tagged by Jenn D., so here I go (and Jessi, I'm doing your next!):



Six Quirky Things About Me:



1. I like piles. There can be clutter as long as the clutter is in piles and I know what each pile is.



2. I can drink Diet Coke all day long and have to try hard to only have four a day. I love to drink it in bed too.



3. I hate to be patted. I love to be rubbed and hugged, but I hate to be patted.



4. I absolutely hate when people "clink" silverware on their teeth when they eat. It will drive me so crazy that I can't even concentrate on anything else.



5. I hate silence, but I like things quiet. When I'm home during the day I almost always have Fox News on just for the noise.



6. I have to delete things immediately...if I've read an email and answered it, it is deleted. If I have listened to the message on the machine, I delete it.

I tag Robin, Nan, Jamie, Christy, Jessi, Kate, and everyone else who wants to play!

Southern Sisters

I ran in with my camera this morning to take a photo of the girls all snuggled together....so sweet how much they love each other.

On another note....Mikayla had picked out a darling book called "Pinkalicious" at the book fair yesterday. We were reading it and it had this phrase in it: "You get what you get and you don't get upset." My girls looked at me and with disgust said, "MOM, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, IT'S 'YOU GIT WHAT YOU GIT AND YOU DON'T PITCH A FIT!'" Only in the South does "get" rhyme with "fit." And if you're not in the South, you may not even understand this, but it was hilarious! They may have been born in Utah, but they were definitely raised in Georgia!

Health and Shared Bedrooms...

Today I am grateful for good health. The girls were able to honor someone who has survived Breast Cancer and they were very excited to put Grandma's name up in the hallway of their school. They also got to wear jeans that day (I'm not sure what the connection was...something about Lee Denim Day for Cancer, but they were very happy not to wear their uniforms!)

We also took a moment to reflect on our dear little friend Kristen who still has chemo every few months but is doing GREAT!!!

Now for those bedrooms that we so painstakingly decorated and chose paint colors and bedspreads and everything...it lasted until last week. Now they sleep together every night. AND...you may notice the trundles under each of their beds...does one of them sleep on it each night next to the sister???? NO! They sleep together in the same twin bed. It warms my heart though, so I can't get mad.