Christmas

I will warn you in advance this is going to be a long post but it is for journaling purposes so bear with me, I guess you could always just stop reading;). Trust me, this is the super condensed version:)

We have so many annual activities and traditions each December.  They include doing ginger bread houses , seeing Christmas plays, sub-4-santa's, Magleby grandkids Christmas party, Temple square, Festival of trees, etc... I know, it's the same for every family! Some people hate all the hussle and bussle and running around but I love it.  This year it started with "Auntie Clause"; a character that Josh's aunt Rakelle began doing a few years back. She comes and showers gifts on her adoring, anxious nieces and nephews. the kids have grown to really love this. 

Christmas Eve for us begins at Mimi's cafe. We started going there for breakfast about four years ago and it has become one of the things my kids look forward to the most.  It kicks off all the mayhem and calorie-packed festivities that take place over the next four days! After Mimi's we went to my moms Christmas eve party, which started at one o'clock so that family who traveled far could get home at a decent time. We were still full from Mimi's but that didn't stop us from pigging out on delicious food! We also have all of the grandkids act out the Nativity in full costume (my mom goes to a lot of work for this and I love it!) 

Next it was on to visit Grandma Thorne for a bit and then on to Josh's aunt Shirleys food-fest, I mean Christmas eve party:). Santa himself always shows up but this year he hurt his knee and just couldn't make it so Darren stepped in as a personal helper and handed out gifts. Teagan stayed close to the olive bowl all night; funny how the little ones learn right off the bat to put those things on your fingers, And Sadie got to call all the Bingo cards during Christmas Bingo. It is always fun to be with this part of Josh's extended family... Then it was back home where we opened Christmas pajamas, left out the cookies and milk for Santa (oats for the Reindeer) and shared the true Christmas story with the kids. I always fear that this gets lost on them in all of the other Christmas activities.

Christmas morning was fun, of course. It is fun to see the kids get so excited. Then we headed over to Josh's parents where they always prepare an enormous brunch. We spent the rest of the day there with his family opening gifts, acting out the Nativity, and eating, eating and eating (See a theme here?). Then it was home to prepare for a couple of nights at my father-in-laws cabin.  We always have so much fun there in the winter. We snowmobile, sled, play games, crafts, watch movies etc. Josh gave me book for Christmas that I had been wanting and I was able to read the whole thing while  relaxing there. 

We got home and took Christmas down immediately! It was time. We have had it all up since before Thanksgiving. Christmas was fun and now it's time to lose some serious holiday weight, Bring on 2009!!        

Sadies dance recital

Sadie was able to perform at the Festival of trees last week and then got to perform again at her recital last night. This is for all you family who were not able to make it to watch her dance. She did such a great job, of course they all did! (To stop my music so you can hear the video go to my playlist at the bottom of this page and push pause.) It was a lot of fun watching her perform wish you could have made it:)  Thanks to those who did!

My first tagging!

So I guess I am just supposed to post the fourth photo from my fourth file ....

So Kristin this is funny because it is a photo from Cabo as well. It is of Alex and we were on a glass bottom boat ride with Josh's family! fun memories:) He was so cute, I think this was about five years ago.

Now I tag Lisa (gotta break you in right!), Michelle B. and Mary H.(if you ever check blogger!)

Coldplay!

Alright, so I was a big fan before but now I am a passionate fan! They were here on Saturday, and thanks to our great friend Dustin who works for Energy Solutions, we had great seats close to the stage. We went with our good friends The Wardles and had dinner at Tuchanos at Gateway first and caught most of the Utah game at Skybox (Yeah Utes!!)

It was a fun day!

Happy Birthday Josh

Josh is a wonderful husband, and most importantly, a wonderful father! this man has been peed on by all four kids at least once in their infancy, he has caught his babies poop in his bare hands mid diaper change, he has caught at least two of his childrens puke in his bare hands when they got sick unexpectedly , he has had his head barfed on while carrying his three year old into Disneyland and he can strip a carseat that has been puked, pooped, peed on with lightening speed! Oh, and he just finished scrubbing Sadies poop out of her bedroom carpet! He does it all as if he was born to do it:) Now that it sounds like we have some seriously disgusting kids; I am going to let them share some of their favorite, not gross things, that they love about their dad on his birthday

Teagan loves--That dad gets him up and feeds him breakfast every morning

Sadie loves--That dad hasn't rung her little neck yet (She is a professional three year old after all) and that dad always reads to her. He also makes a great jungle gym!

Alex loves--That he plays with him in the gym, and Lego Star wars, and that he is a nice dad

Maddy loves--That dad plays guitar and piano (her inspiration for doing both), and that he is fun!

Erika loves--His banana pancakes, that he always finishes the laundry when I just can't get the mountain of it to go down, that he puts up with me!, that he loves to have fun as much as I do, That he honors his parents, that he honors his priesthood, that he values his testimony, that he is patient, that he's not bad to look at;), that he treats being a husband and father as a both full-time job and an honor. I could go on and on........

We'd be lost without you babe!  I love you, Happy birthday

Lame flag football!

So Josh was playing flag football this morning and while jumping up for the ball landed right on his shoulder and separated the ligament. Now his shoulder is all deformed and he will probably need sports therapy on it. I realize that it could always be worse and I am so grateful that this is the only crisis we have had to deal with this week but  lets face it; when Josh is my right hand man around here it is real inconvenience for the whole family when one of the parents get injured.  So being the mean wife that I am, but also a loving wife 'cause I do hate seeing him injured, I have forbidden Josh from playing flag football again. He already decided that he is ready to retire anyway, so at least we are in agreement.

Halloween fun!

Last weekend we went to my brother Todd's house in Layton for their annual Halloween party. It is always so much fun. We carved pumpkins and ate Krista's delicious soup out of fun "pumpkin" bread bowls. They also have an adorable dog that Teagan would not leave alone! I had ordered costumes for Maddy and Alex and they hadn't arrived by the time of the party so we were able to improvise with other clothes and costumes we had around the house. two days before halloween their costumes made it to us and they were able to wear them on trick -or-treat day( they were just from Target and for some reason way cheaper than buying them from the store). Anyway, Maddy was a Spider geisha, Sadie was a ladybug fairy, Teagan was a bumble bee and Alex would not go with my bug theme and insisted on being something scary (I miss my little super hero of past years) He wanted guts and gore but I settled on the Grim Reaper. He really did look kinda scary with his mask on. Sadie really got into the spirit of trick-or-treating and she just couldn't get to the next door fast enough! When she woke up the next day I said "Sadie, Halloween is over now we get to look forward to Thanksgiving when we get to eat a big turkey and tons of pie!" and she just screamed "Yay, I looove Thanksgiving!" I love spending this fun time with my kids. Bring on the Turkey!!! 

Well, that's a first

So I'm at Walmart yesterday doing a little grocery shopping and I find myself at the dairy case looking for whipping cream when a kind elderly gentleman asks me if I'd like to sample the soymilk he is handing out. I try some and even decide to grab the last 1/2 gallon on the shelf. As I 'm thanking him for the sample he starts to compliment me on how I was sure a "cute little thing" and I couldn't be more than 16. I just laugh and tell him thanks and start to walk off when he says he knows that I must be older than 16, I tell him that indeed I am and he then asks if I'm married. I tell him that I am married and he kind of hangs his head and says "awww". So I just laugh and say  "you must have had someone in mind huh?" I'm thinking a grandson or great grandson....

But he then tells me that his wife had just passed away and that he is too old for the young girls and too young for the old gals. It took a second before I realized that he was about to ask me out! He starts telling me that he is 83 years old and begins pulling out photos of his great grandson. All I could feel for this poor old man was sympathy. I can't imagine feeling young but knowing that you aren't and being lonely at the same time and unsure how many more years you will live alone (5,20?). I hope this sweet man finds him self a vibrant soul to share the rest of his life with but I think I would advise him from hitting on anyone under the age of 50.  

!!!!!!!

I was reading through my posts and realized that I use the exclamation key a bit too generously!!!! So sorry, I really don't shout that much when I speak to people:) I'll try to hold back a bit....

Maui favorites!

These are 10 of our favorite things from our Maui vacation but not necessarily in that order...

1. Shave ice--Yum!

2. The Beach, of course

3. Hyatt Regency luau--it's the best show and the food?Yummy......

4. Going for an early morning run along the beach when the moon is still high and all you hear is the ocean and the birds--then running back, the horizon to the east is all shades of pink while the sun is rising..love it! Makes the treadmill at home seem soooo droll!!!

5. Being with family! Nothing beats a great vacation with cousins

6. Not knowing or caring what time it is or day of the week...We really adopt the aloha spirit. Our only concern each day was 'should we start at the pool or the beach?'

7. Surf lessons--I didn't this time but next time me, Maddy and Alex are all doing it! Josh rented a board and got to ride a few.

8. Paia, a cool town with some great surfing ( we only watched, the waves were too big) and even greater food!

9. Marriott oceanclub resort (where we stayed) amazing pools and a bonus pirate wading pool area for the little ones. There were kids activities everyday.

10. The Gazebo, Jake and Tas told us about this cool little beachside breakfast place the banana/macadamia pancakes and omelets were insane! I highly recommend

What are the chances?

So We are at my nephew Tommy's baptism a few weeks ago and Teagan is trying to wrestle out of Josh's arms during the talk and throws his back and hits the hard armrest of the bench and totally jacks his ear--it started swelling and bleeding and of course he is in a lot of pain and crying really hard. Poor little thing....then two weeks later we are at his cousin Gracies baptism and again during the talk he does the exact same thing to the same ear( It is still black and blue from the previous bonk) and reopens the same wound and comes completely unglued (I don't blame him!). I felt his pain..anyway here is a photo--I hope the poor little thing has learned his lesson!  

Poor Teagan

I decided to write this post while it is fresh on my mind because the reason I became a blogger was because I am terrible at journaling and I want to remember all of our precious moments vividly as soon as they happen. This incident, however was not very precious, in fact it was a nightmare! We just got home from a really great vacation to Maui with Josh's family and I am so grateful that my father-in-law treats us to these fun trips ( I will be be posting more about the trip later) but when I found out that the only flight that we could arrange to come home on was a red-eye to L.A. I got really scared. 

If it had been just Josh and I or Josh, I and the older two it would have been ok but my Teagan does not take a binky and will only take a bottle if the mood suits him.  He is also a finnicky sleeper and needs to be in a crib of some type to fall asleep otherwise he doesn't know what to do with himself and just comes unglued! So when he is in the middle of a tantrum there is nothing to do but let him throw it and hope for the best. At home this is no problem because we can use distraction or a little crib time but on an airplane with passengers who are trying to sleep? Anyway for the first hour and a half of the flight Josh and I shuffled him back and forth to each other while he squirmed and cried (Meanwhile Josh and Maddy are each sitting split up from me, Alex and Sadie). For the next 45 minutes I take my screaming baby into the bathroom and let him play (GROSS!!) so he won't wake up more people and I won't have to see the dirty looks being thrown our way. There was an older couple sitting next to Josh who were really hating their lives. I finally come out of the bathroom to a line of people that suddenly formed and they were all just staring me down and now Teagan has started crying again! I am feeling more helpless than I have ever felt and then a sweet woman asks me if she thought Teagan would let her hold him for a bit. I knew he would freak so I told her thank you but no. She then told me that she had babies who did the same thing on airplanes and not to worry it is OK. So now I just start bawling, I didn't realize how much I needed some compassion just then. I took Teagan to Josh and sat in my seat and just sobbed and said a small prayer for my baby( I knew the only one with a real problem to deal with was him) for a good 10 minutes. Within moments Teagan was asleep and my Sadie woke up uncomfortable and crying but we got her comfy again and she went right back to sleep. Meanwhile Maddy is sleeping on a strange mans shoulder and doesn't even realize it! I don't think he appreciated it very much, I know he was uncomfortable but there was nothing I could do.  But on a positive note, the flight from L.A. was only an hour and twenty min. and both my babies slept soundly! Josh and I... not much at all, but we are hoping for a nap  but not for a while because all four of the kids are wired and running all over the house as we speak! 

Sadie's bottle battle!

My silly Sadie has finally reached a major milestone (at least as far as I'm concerned) and has decided to be potty-trained. I say SHE decided because it really was ALL her, I just stood by and refused to hope that I might be one child less in diapers. 

Now we have a new battle with Sadie. ...the bottle! It is more of a problem for Josh than it is for me. I know she is too old for it and I NEVER would have allowed Maddy to have a bottle at this age (she actually never had a bottle, we went straight to sippy cups) but I feel like we finally kicked the binky and diapers (neither one an easy task) so I'll let this slide for just a little longer.

My weapon!

So  I took a picture of my vacuum because I thought it was a funny insight into my day to day.  It is pretty much plugged into the wall all day long because I know that when I roll it up and put it away Sadie will spill beads all over the the family room or Teagan will dump out a box of cereal in the kitchen, it never fails. It's like having my weapon drawn at all times and not nestled useless in my holster! Whenever Josh gets home he lets out a big sigh and winds it back up and puts it away and then I smile when I hear "uh-oh" ........ 

Pumpkin Patch!

For family night this week we took the kids to a cute little pumpkin patch near our house. the kids each got to pick any pumpkin that they wanted. Alex and Maddy decided to go all the way to the opposite end of the patch,(even thought there were plenty right by us) to find theirs. Alex could only carry his for a few paces and then he had to stop and roll it for a while. Sadie was happy filling the wheelbarrow with  a bunch of "babies". There was also a mini corn maze for the kids. We had so much fun!

I still haven't decided if we are going to carve them or paint them next family night so for now they will just sit on our porch until some vandal decides to smash them across the street..... 

Maddy's first piano recital!

So Maddy had her first piano recital yesterday and we are so proud of her, she did such a great job. Sadly, however, she thought that she did a terrible job and spent the rest of the recital out in the hall sobbing. I blame myself for riding her all afternoon to slow down on her piece because I didn't want her to race through it and then get nervous  and then really get lost. She also had her piece memorized but decided at the last minute that she wanted to take her music up with her as a comfort. When she got done she was mad at herself for taking her music up because she wanted everyone to know that she had worked hard to memorize it. Also when we got to the recital she learned that she would have to introduce herself and the name of the piece she was playing, now she was really horrified which really surprised me because she isn't one to get that nervous if she is performing for a crowd. She was the third to play and she spent the first 15 min. shaking. Then it was her turn and she did  a fantastic job! I didn't hear one mistake neither did her teacher or anyone else. I just made her an emotional mess so bad mom award goes to me! Thank goodness for her grandma Pam and grandpa Dale! They knew just what to say to console her and they really helped her to feel so special. And of course they thought that she was the most beautiful, talented one in the room...Thanks so much mom and dad you saved the day!