Reading Material & 6 more days!

Ok, I'm finally ready for Christmas. I panicked when I realized that there was only one week to Christmas and that one mail day was knocked out by Christmas Eve being on Sunday. I hurriedly mailed out our Christmas cards yesterday. (I went for this look [left] for the handmade half of my 90 [!] cards. That's what happens when you move a lot.) Quite late for me, but I was comforted knowing that Stephanie, who is very on top of things, was addressing hers at the same time. I finished up the last gift yesterday and sent it off, and now I feel like I'm ready to go. Of course, I'm not ready for our post-Christmas trip to the snowy mountains of Sundance, but I'll wait until Christmas is over to think about that.

I had to make mention of the to-die-for gift that Natalie gave me the other night. We had discussed getting these fabulous Anne Taintor bags (which say, "I love not camping") for each other, since, like so many other things, we share a deep aversion to sleeping outside with bugs. "We" had decided to go for something a bit lower in price for each other this year, and maybe next year we could splurge and get the bags. Well, she ignored our agreement, much to my surprise and excitement. I can't wait to use it! It's the perfect size for primary, the library, and of course, Hawaii in June.

My Audrey will read anything. She's been reading since she was three years old, and has no prejudice in her reading material. I've always said that it's almost as though she remembered how to read, instead of learning. She just picked it up so quickly, and can sight read almost anything. She'll read chapter books, magazines, the Sunday comics, and has even been known to get a stack of baby board books for her reading pleasure. Well, yesterday, I was finishing up a few little handmade gifts on the sewing machine, and didn't have a chance to put it away. This morning while she ate her Frosted Mini Wheats, she read my sewing machine instruction manual. See picture for evidence. (I was in bed with sick Parker, thanks to my very sweet husband, who gets Audrey off to school each morning.)

Holiday Open House

I read this girl Nettie's fun blog sometimes. She's having a Christmas open house. You post pictures of your house all decked out for the holidays and then link to it on her blog. Loads of fun! Despite the fact that it is 77 degrees here today, and we are wearing flipflops and eating popsicles, it kind of feels like Christmas inside our house. Here are some of our simple decorations. The fireplace, above.

Welcome to our humble abode.

The entry way

Christmas tree #1, the small tree with presents for friends underneath.

Neal's sister Martha started a Nativity collection for us when she gave us this Fontanini set as a wedding gift.

Last year, I added this modern-ish silver one to the collection.

This one's for the kids.

The bigger tree, complete with presents! Luckily, most of them are books (my kids won't read this), so they fit under the very low bottom branches! We just added the tinsel yesterday.

We added a little holiday touch to Audrey and Parker's room, too. The garland lights are pretty bright at night, but they love it! These are the big green curtains I made in October. Ginger, I remember you wanted to see a picture of them.

Post some pictures of your holiday house, too! I'm always on the lookout for good decorating ideas, and you all have such good taste.

Photos from the Week

Here is a quick photo recap of our week, just for fun, and since I don't have a whole lot to say.

I braided Audrey's hair the other night for the Church Christmas party. She wanted it to look like Genevieve from the Barbie movie. I did my best. I had to take a picture so I could show her what it looked like. She couldn't quite get the hand-held mirror concept down. :) What I wouldn't give for that hair!

Miles would like some of it, too. His hair has gone missing, but he has plenty of drool to spare, as you can see.

Our old friend, Keith came into town from Iowa this week. He and Neal met their freshman year at BYU and then Keith ended up being companions with my brother during their missions in France. Keith is "the man without whom Neal and I would not have met." We had a lot of fun seeing him and reminiscing about old times.

This is one of those old times. I can't believe I'm posting this, but if Rachel (who went as a Hooters waitress that year [haha Rach!]) can pass this picture around at my wedding reception, I suppose I should have no shame posting it here. We're Bo, Daisy and Luke Duke, Halloween 1998. I won a prize for this costume. I can't believe I wore that! I was young and stupid. Anyway, Keith is such a fun guy, and we hadn't seen him in seven years! We miss you already, Keith!

I finally put something up behind the glider in Miles' room. Natalie gave me a great idea for a cheap wall piece. Ribbon, thumbtacks, and some Ikea postcards I got on Ebay when I was building the sailboat theme for Miles' room. See the rest of his cute room here!

I Wanna Go Somewhere

Last night, I dreamed that Neal and I were in Paris (sans les enfants) and I was showing him the sites. He's never been. I've had this dream probably three other times. We were on a boat on the Seine, and I remember saying in my dream, "Should we go see the Arc de Triomphe?" as we emerged from a Metro station, then "There's Notre Dame. Oh, they've turned off the lights. (huh?) And over there is Rue de Rivoli."

I haven't been to Paris in 10 years (!), but oh, how I want to go back! Anyway, as one of Neal's favorite songs says, "Nice Dream." Instead I get to take Miles for his 4 month immunizations today. :(

Thanks for the picture, Jooj. She has other pretty pictures here.

Christmassy Questions

My little Joojie tagged me. Here goes:

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate with whipped cream. Did I ever tell you about the time Neal drank egg substitute, thinking it was egg nog? Oh man, that was funny.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He puts them next to your stocking (in your spot on the couch), some wrapped, some unwrapped for shock value.

3. Colored lights or white lights? I love white lights everywhere, mixed in with garlands, preferably, but our house has colored lights. Very retro chic.


4. Do you hang mistletoe? I made a kissing ball last year.

5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as I can after Thanksgiving. Growing up, my mom always waited until after my birthday, which was so considerate.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? The yummy ham sandwiches Neal's family eats on Christmas Eve.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Going to my Grammy's house and acting out the Nativity, then waiting for the sleigh bells to magically ring so we could see what Santa left in our adorable little stockings.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I can't remember.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Neal's family always opened ALL of theirs on Christmas Eve. I just can't convert to that Southern way. We'll open one of our choosing.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights, star on top, ornaments collected over the years from travels and experiences that I want to remember.

11. Snow: love it or dread it? Don't ever have to deal with it, but when I did, I loved it. As long as I (or anyone I loved) didn't have to drive in it.

12. Can you ice skate? Let's put it this way: I can ice skate better than I can roller skate. That's not saying much. At all.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Probably my Degas dancer statue my parents gave me when I was about 18.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Being happy with my family doing memorable things, and teaching my kids about Christ's birth.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Gingerbread men. I have sustained myself on them for 4 days now. Neal's planning an intervention.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to look at Christmas lights, wrapping presents and looking at them all pretty under the tree.

17. What tops your tree? I have 2 trees this year! Our big tree has a star on top, the little one has an angel.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Come on, people, receiving. Of course. But I do like giving my kids things they never expected.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? With Wondering Awe or Silent Night

20. Candy canes: yuck or yum? I prefer Peppermint Ice Cream, the kind with the little bits of candy cane swirled in. Yummy.

Let's see, who hasn't played? I tag Annie and Heather.

Our Little Thinker

My little Parker talks. A lot. I love that he does that; it's so fun to get a little insight into how his brain is forming itself. The other day, he and I were in the car for about 20 minutes. He asked me so many questions, and so many of them were funny, that I decided to write them down. I'm so glad I have this blog or I would never have done something like that.

Here they are, in the order in which he asked them. And I quote:

"Is toothpaste sticky?
What does "gang up" mean? Do some girls "gang up" on boys? When me and Miles grow up, we're gonna do nice ganging.
Why do you have to wash off owies?
Are there any grocery stores in Egypt?
When can we go to a hotel and go swimming?
Why isn't it good to push on your eyeballs?
What's inside your bones? (I said blood-ish stuff) What's inside your blood? (me: cells) What are cells? What's inside those?
When will I be six?
How old will you be when I'm 73?
How many legs do you have to have to touch a cloud?
Can a birdie fly as high as a cloud?"

A couple more of his most recent questions, that I want to save for posterity:

"Why doesn't it ever rain or get cold in Egypt, but it gets cold at Mabel's house?" (in AZ, since both are deserts, this is confusing, obviously)
"Do Heavenly Father and Jesus have an age?"
"Mommy, where did Jesus go on his mission?"

Silly boy, what a little thinker he's turning out to be.



*photo credits: Natalie, again. :)

I Heart Miles

I thought I would do a little update post about our sweet little Miles, since he's turning the big 4 months old this week.

He's perfect, truth be told. We're all absolutely crazy over him and we're pretty sure he "hung the moon," as Neal's mama always said. He smiles all the time, even when I have to wake him to up to get kids from school; he's kind of starting to roll from back to tummy; he has the slightest little tufts of red hair that stick up in the front. Well, they sort of stick up. If you're looking at him with a light behind his head. :)

He sucks on his thumb and forefinger all the time.

His little legs kick uncontrollably whenever he's talked to. He absolutely LOVES attention. I spend a lot of time laying next to him on the bed just cooing and singing little songs while he tries to mimic the sounds. Now I know all babies do these things, but he's MY baby. And probably my last baby, so I'm revelling in it. Plus, it's freakin' cute, people.

Here in our house, no one is called by their real name. My husband is a nick-namer, always has been. He has nicknames for my friends' kids, for heaven's sake. Audrey is Auda, Parker is Parkie or Parks, I won't divulge mine and Neal's completely nonsensical names for each other, but here is the evolution of Miles' nicknames:

Miles begat Mooiss.
Mooiss begat Moo.
Moo begat Moozycooge.
Moozycooge begat Moezie.
Moezie begat Moe.

He is currently called MOE, poor kid. This is just the beginning.

Anyway, little Moe has the craziest little sense of humor. The first time he laughed, we were sitting at the dinner table and I had just twisted the pepper grinder onto Neal's dinner. Miles giggled. We don't know why. I ran to get the camera and we couldn't replicate whatever the heck was so funny.

The next time he laughed at Parker while he jumped in the air trying to hit something with his gamenent dote. That one we have been able to replicate. Then he laughed at Parker freaking out over a toy he saw on TV. Today, I ticked his little ribs and he laughed.

But tonight, we caught it on camera. I was telling the kids to hush so I could say the family prayer. I said to them, "Pssst Pssst," to get their attention. Oh man, did Miles ever think THAT was funny! We got it on tape. Click here if you want to see it.

We're not the Griswolds,

But that is a good thing. Yesterday, Neal put Christmas lights on the house. It's our first time attempting this perilous holiday tradition. I'm a huge fan of houses with evenly-spaced white lights lining the rooftop and outlining the windows. I've always wanted paned windows with those little candles in the center of each one, and maybe a wreath hanging on every window, too. Well, that dream will have to wait. The only lights they had at Big Lots, where Neal and the kids ended up buying them, were the big, multi-colored lights, so big multi-colored lights it is!

Neal enlisted Audrey's help. She passed him the little clippy-things.

Soon, the job required scaling the roof.

It was hard to watch. My future flashed before my eyes as I pictured Neal going "doosh on the ground" (Parker's words), and therefore unable to perform root canals because of injuries to his hands and wrists (not to mention his head and back, etc.) In fact, Audrey and Parker were so nervous, that they took off around the corner. They just couldn't stand to see Daddy risking his life for such a silly reason.

At the end of it all, it looks quite charming, our little multi-colored house.

Quotes from the evening:

Neal, "This is kinda hard." and "Baby, come hold the ladder so I don't die."

Audrey, "Daddy, don't die!"

Me, "This isn't worth it. Come down, we'll just outline the windows!"

I'm in my Twenties

In real life, I would never just waltz up to a group of friends (or strangers) and announce that today is my birthday, but somehow, on a blog, it's not so weird.

Today I turn twenty-nine. It's very strange to me, that I'm approaching thirty. I remember the year my parents turned thirty. And my mom has warned me that turning 30 is pretty weird. But I'm not thirty yet, much to Neal's, (age 31 11/12) frustration. I've got one more year in my twenties and I'm going to LOVE it. :)

Today, as I get sentimental and look back on my twenty-nine years, I am quite satisfied with what I have accomplished and who I have become. I've earned a college degree, worked long enough to know that I don't want to do that for the rest of my life, found a lovely man to marry me and let me stop working, and I am on my way to raising three hopefully positive, happy children. I've gained many more friends than I've lost and grown closer to my family as each year passes. I can't think of a single regret. My life is lovely and incomprehensibly blessed and I don't know why, but I'm trying to live up to it, if there is such a thing.

We went to the Doctor . . .

Final Diagnoses:

Me: Sinus Infection
Audrey: Strep
Parker: Pink eye + double ear infections
Miles: too cute for his own good

one word meme

You can only type one word. No explanations.

Yourself: blessed
Your Partner: responsible
Your Hair: blonde
Your Mother: brilliant
Your Father: tender
Your Favorite Item: chocolatey
Your Dream Last Night: none
Your Favorite Drink: Orangina
Your Dream Car: Cayenne
Your Dream Home: French
The Room You Are In: festive
Your Ex: weird
Your Fear: alone
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: university
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Miles
What You’re Not: pregnant :)
Muffins: cornbread
One of Your Wish List Items: housekeeper
Time: 6:16
The Last Thing You Did: bake
What You Are Wearing: usual
Your Favorite Weather: SoCal
Your Favorite Book: Wharton
Last Thing You Ate: cookie
Your Life: ideal
Your Mood: content
Your Best Friends: loving
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: bedtime
Your Car: dirty
What Are You Doing At The Moment: resting
Your Summer: humid
Relationship Status: blissful
What Is On Your TV: nada
What Is The Weather Like: chilly
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: afternoon

I'm tagging, people. Get ready.

Mrs. Dub :)
Elliott
Jooj

Retail Therapy

Tonight, Miles and I ran away. We decided a little retail therapy was in order so that I wouldn't go crazy. We met Natalie and headed over to Anthropologie to spend a bit of my gift card stash. (thanks Mom and Dad!)

After a bit of shopping around and some time trying on items which turned out to look silly, I settled on this cute (but unfortunately summery) top, which I won't be wearing until March,

and these very pretty earrings, which I just might wear tomorrow.

I'm saving the rest of my money for Springtime, when I can find things that I can actually wear in Texas. Sweaters are hardly ever necessary; it's hard to justify buying another.

After a delicious dinner at La Madeleine, courtesy of my dear friend, we headed home to face the world again. Oh, what a little shopping won't cure. Well, it won't cure a sinus infection, but cabin fever: all gone. Thanks Natalie for sharing a wonderful night with us!

It'll Hurt if I Swallow!

I hate this part of my job. Four out of the five people in my family are sick at the moment and one of them is me. Usually, when I'm sick as the mom, I just have to suck it up and move on through the day, but this time I honestly feel terrible. I've woken up the past few mornings wondering what in the world am I going to do with my kids today? Who can take them so I can get some sleep and get over this nastiness of a head cold? And then they got sick, so I didn't have to worry about that. Audrey has had a fever and a strange rash, which has caused her face to be all pink and puffy and Miles has a stuffy nose and won't sleep longer than 25 minutes at a time. We've all been stuck in our house for almost 3 days with nothing to do but feel miserable, and I'm just plain sick of being sick!

Parker fell asleep on a heating pad this evening around 530. (His ear was hurting; he was blissfully un-sick until then). I assumed he would just stay asleep all night, but oh no, he woke up around 9 o'clock and announced, "I'm ready for breakfast."

Oh boy. Thank heavens for my husband, who has the very convenient ability to *write prescriptions, since we always seem to get sick on Friday afternoon, when the Doctor's office is closed.

This is from the day Miles was born. I love this picture of Neal. I can just see true pride and love in his eyes, since the rest of his face is covered up. :) When I've had my three babies, Neal has had to change out of his own scrubs to put on the set they give him at the hospital. I always thought that was so silly.

* But don't come a-callin' asking for drugs. He only does it if I beg him to. It's not quite super-kosher.

Santa-Update

Thank you all for your wise words on the topic of Santa Claus. After much consideration and conversation with my dear hubby, I have determined that I am way over-thinking this whole thing.

As he put it, "How many people do you know, that when they've figured out who Santa really is, say, 'All this time my parents have been lying to me! I'm ruined forever!'"

None. That's how many. On to the next topic.

Conflicted about Mr. Claus

When I was little, I totally believed in Santa Claus. I still don't know to this day how my Grammy and Grampy got those stockings filled and rang the sleigh bells in their little house without us knowing what was going on. I could have sworn I saw Santa's sleigh up in the sky when I was about 6. I don't remember when I figured "it" out, and I also don't remember being terribly disappointed about the whole thing, but I know that my mom kind of wishes they hadn't perpetuated the whole idea of Santa Claus with us.

I just don't know what to think. I feel weird telling my kids all the traditional stories about him, but I want them to feel the magic of it all too. I don't really like decorating with Santa items, because I want my kids to appreciate the nativity and the life of Jesus Christ as the "reason for the season," so to speak. The past few years, we haven't made a big deal of the Santa thing. We hurry them off to bed Christmas Eve, but we don't tell them to listen for reindeer on the roof. We don't leave cookies out for him, and I don't think they even know about the chimney thing. Just a couple of days ago, Audrey said, "Mommy, is Santa REALLY real?" I just shrugged my shoulders, said, "I don't know!" and looked back down at the dish I was scrubbing. Have I ruined them? It's too late to start talking about it now! I'm conflicted.

What have you told your kids? How do you deal with the Santa Claus issue? Help! Comment or post away . . .