Santa came!!!

Oh my Goodness! If you could have seen the look on my kids face when they came into the front room - pure excitement and bliss! Although, Jace was very concerned about not getting the Spiderman web shooter he had asked for. I assured him that it was probably wrapped - which it was. He had asked for a Rocky Robot Truck, and a Spiderman Web Shooter that shoots 'real' webs. Just what every mother dreams about - her child playing with a something that shoots 'real' webs. Nani & Grandpa were nice enough to get it for him and he had a blast in the back yard for an hour until he used up all the Web fluid. Then he really wanted to set up the "Riki Diki Ipod" that my parents sent him. Really it was a Karaoke machine but he had a difficult time remembering the name of it. We all had a blast singing Karaoke to Disney songs. We also watched The Swan Princess that Brooke got in her stalking, ate lots of good food, took naps (at least Craig and I did), and played Hungry Hungry Hippos until bedtime. Brooke wanted Bootsie the monkey from Dora the Explorer. Santa brought her some puzzles, books, and a Dora & Boots doll. She was very happy!

Jace was very cute with the gifts that he had gotten for everyone at the dollar store. He was most excited about the gift bag that he got for me. As you can see in the picture with the Christmas tree he picked one out that had a huge piece of cake on it. I think it was a wedding bag but it was very thoughtful of him. He and I both love cake. Craig said that while they were in the store he saw it and enthusiastically said "Wow, I just have to get this for mom . .she'll love it!" He's such a cutie! Brooke was just so happy with everything that happened that day. She just kept saying "I lub ew a million!" and "I jest lub missmas!"

Thank you to all who sent gifts. We enjoyed them all. We had a wonderful Christmas!

I took this picture of the kids couches with their stalkings from Santa right before they came in:

After . .busy unwrapping presents.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve Skiing

Craig has been talking about getting Jace on the slopes since he was born. Skiing used to be a HUGE part of Craig's life. He used to be a ski instructor/racer and spent a lot of time on the slopes during the long Utah winters. He decided to take Jace for the first time on Christmas Eve. We planned to go as a family. Brooke and I were going to hang out in lodge and I wanted to take some pictures of my boy skiing for the first time. However, the road was a little too squiggly and both kids got car sick and barfed all over their car seats. (They must get that from me . .I have a really weak stomach. I even had a road named after me by my parents . .Heather's squiggly road because I would throw up every time we drove on it.) We turned around and quickly put the kids in the shower when we got home. I washed out the car seats as best I could then Craig and Jace headed up to Mt. Hood Meadows by themselves. I did send my little camera with them and they brought me back these photos:









Boys will be boys! Jace had a fun time but got a little too cold. We need to get better gloves for him. Craig was a great teacher and showed him how to do french fries and pizza with his skis. I love my boys. They had a great time bonding together.

When they returned I had Christmas Eve dinner ready. We have a little family tradition of having king crab legs, cheddar biscuits, salad, and smoothies. It was awesome! After dinner Craig read about Christ's Birth and the real meaning of Christmas. The kids opened up their new pajamas, put out cookies for Santa, laid out their socks and went to bed. Poor Jace was just so excited that he couldn't sleep. After 2 hours of just lying in his bed filled with excitement I went in and laid down with him. Usually he listens to music but he refused tonight stating that he was listening for reindeer hooves. We sat in silence for a moment then heard a thump thump thump on top of the roof. We looked at each other wide eyed and I told him he better go to sleep QUICK! He pressed his eyes closed and wouldn't open them after that but he yelled at me to get to bed too and to tell daddy to hurry and go to sleep because he was pretty sure Santa was here. It was very cute. Later, I found out that Craig had tossed a pebble on the roof and it had bounced down the side and off the other side. I enjoyed watching It's a Wonderful Life with Craig as I wrapped presents.

Previously, on Monday, we had our special family night where we celebrated Christ. We had a birthday party for Jesus. The kids helped me make a birthday cake for him, and we gave him 'presents' . .things we can work on . . and put them back into the birthday box. Then we looked at the gifts we gave last year to see if we had fulfilled our gifts. We had a puppet show of the manger scene and talked about Christ in all stages of life and death.

Sometimes . . .

. . . throwing a tantrum can tucker a girl right out.

I noticed Brooke making a mad dash from my closet and knew she up to trouble. She was playing in my shoes and had taken off with my brand new strappy high heels. I prefer to not have bite marks and coloring all over my shoes so they were taken away and put back in my closet. She was very upset . .and decided to make it known to the world by wailing at the top of her lungs in the hallway. This was also accompanied by throwing herself to the floor, kicking her legs, and flailing her arms. I did nothing - I just let her cry it out. After a while all was quiet which is very unusual in my house. I checked on Jace, who was downstairs busy working on his school work. She wasn't with him, so I decided to check to see if she was playing quietly in her room. I stumbled upon her in the hallway . . .she wore herself right out and fell asleep in the hallway where she had began the tantrum. Those tantrums must be really exhausting. I suppose we both enjoyed a small break.

Even though she is still throwing tantrums she HAS transitioned to a big girl bed. A few weeks ago Brooke started climbing out of her crib. It was quite funny the first time it happened. We had stories, family prayer, and we tucked her in her crib. A few minutes later we were talking in our room and Brooke wandered in. We looked at each other shocked . .how did she get out? We tucked her back in and told her to go to sleep. She was back within a few minutes. We were very frustrated after we tucked her into her crib for the 5th time. What do we do? We can't be putting her back in bed all night long. This happened for a few nights in a row. Finally we relented and transitioned her crib into a big girl bed. She loves it! She can get out whenever she wants but she can also climb back in too. We also put a lock on her door. I know this sounds horrible but really I only lock it for the first 20 minutes after I tuck her in and when she knows that she can't get out she doesn't try. She just goes to sleep. Then I check on her again, put the covers on and leave the door unlocked as I leave.

When I took this picture we hadn't put the bed rail on yet. She fell out the first night so we installed a bed rail for her. It's perfect now.

I also put rags in her hair the other night. She looked so cute! My mom used to put 'rags' or rag curlers in my hair all the time when I was little. I realized she is probably too little and her hair really isn't long enough when she woke up with an afro. I tamed it down for a few pictures but I probably won't try this again for a few years. Enjoy the pics.

Before:

After:

I LOVE my little girl! Even when she's naughty.

Be a Healthier You!

I have created a new blog called Healthy Livin' Challenge. The link is http://www.healthylivinchallenge.blogspot.com/. This blog is for those of us that just want to get a little healthier- both body and spirit but need some motivation - maybe a little healthy competition or just to know that they are working towards a common goal with someone else.

The holidays have not been kind to me. I've been eating whatever I want, whenever I want and I haven't been getting enough exercise so I have devised a plan. Actually, I stole the idea from one of my relatives that participated in this last yr (thanks to Sarah & the creator of 6aday). Here is how it works. You acquire points each day; the person with the most points at the end of the challenge wins. The challenge will start on January 1st and end on February 28th.

The daily point system:

*1 point for reading your scriptures each day.
*1 point for eating 5 servings of fruits/veggies each day.
*1 point for exercising 30 min. each day (on Sunday you rest 30 min)
*1 point for not eating any junk food per day.
*1 point for drinking 64oz. of water each day.
*1 point for praying each day.

There are a few exceptions. The weekly (Mon-Sun) total you can get is 40 pts. You get 2 free pts. each week. Ideally, you use your pts. on junk food. This means you can eat 2 servings of sweets or 2 servings of junk food sometime during the week. You pick the day, what food you want and enjoy 1 serving. You can use your 2 free pts. on whatever category you want. If you forget to read or aren't able to exercise, so on etc . . . you pick what you want to use them on.

You will report how many pts. you earned privately to me on each Monday (Sun-Mon) by emailing me at healthylivinchallenge@gmail.com. Sometimes reporting how you have done to someone else helps you keep to your plan. I will randomly post the winners of a single week but will keep the rest a secret so as to keep you motivated. On March 1st I will announce the winner of the Healthy Livin' Challenge.

If you want to join this challenge then please leave a comment letting me know you are in then send an email to me at healthylivinchallenge@gmail.com with your name, address, and email so I can get everyone on a spreadsheet. If you have a blog it might be a good idea to post a temporary notification on there letting your friends know about it or by emailing those you think might be interested. It's always fun to have a little competition with friends! However, if people are joining through you just make sure they are trustworthy because this is all based on honesty. Save the link for the new blog www.healthylivinchallenge.blogspot.com because all new updates regarding this will be put on that blog. Thanks.

Prize?? Once we figure out who will be involved we can decide on a prize. At first I was thinking that everyone participating would just put in $10.00 then whoever had the most points at the end of the challenge would win the pot of money. Some thought that might be considered gambling so I guess we could vote on what everyone wants to do. Some ideas could be to put money together for a gift certificate to Massage Envy for the winner or just have the prize be the satisfaction of being the healthiest person.

I hope you are all ready to become a healthier you. I know I sure am. The challenge begins January 1st!

Oh What do you do in the Winter time . . .

. . . When it's Too Cold to Play Outside?

You go swimming! Indoors of course. Thank goodness for a clubhouse with an indoor swimming pool. I feel like I've been going berserk lately and I'm pretty sure the culprit is cabin fever. We just needed to get out today. The kids had so much fun and I decided that I need to start taking them at least once a week. I might as well - it's a free, fun activity available no matter what the weather is like.

Happy December - poolside! :)

Merry Christmas to me!

I have been waiting for this moment for a LONG time. My very first Dslr - the Canon Xsi! I LOVE it!!

I have loved photography for a long time. I was always the picture taker out of my family . . .well, along with dad. Now, I have my own family and I love documenting life's moments with photographs. I am just so excited. I will definitely be playing with this toy for a long time to come. In fact, next time you see me it will probably be behind my new baby. Thanks for letting me splurge, Craig. I love you!
Next on my wish list . . . some new lenses and cs3 photoshop.

Gingerbread House & Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments

The kids and I had a blast creating Christmas decorations yesterday evening. We started with a gingerbread house. I thought about doing the whole thing from scratch. 'Thought' being the key word - I opted for a gingerbread house kit I found at Michaels while picking up Christmas ribbon for the tree ornaments I wanted to make. It was so much fun and Jace was an excellent helper. We put on all the candy together and he helped hold everything together while I glued the walls together with the frosting glue. He loved the fact that the glue we were using was special frosting glue that you could taste. Both the kids sampled bits of everything we put on our house. It turned out super cute in the end. Although, Brooke wanted to eat it afterwords so we had to put it out of reach. She sure tried hard to get it though.

Our Gingerbread House!

Excited kids!

Really excited kids! I mean come on there is a house made out of cookies, frosting, and candy right within their reach.

Brooke trying to reach the gingerbread house after Craig put it above the kitchen cabinets out of her reach. She put in a valiant effort though.

Jace showing off some of our Christmas decorations. The kids have LOVED having everything up. Brooke keeps saying

"I lub Missmas!"

Daddy & Brookie

Jace eating a Christmas orange. I don't know what it is about these little clementine oranges but both my kids just gobble them up. I think they each have at least 3 a day. I love it.

After the gingerbread house we started making some homemade Christmas tree ornaments. A friend had given me some circular wood pieces already complete with holes for hanging. We took some of our favorite family photos and some pretty red, green, silver and gold ribbon and whalaa . . . very cute, original, homemade ornaments that will remind us of Christmases past.

Here are a few of the completed projects. What do you think?

My older sister Becky and I in 1987 . . I think? Aren't we adorable!

Jace & Brooke on Santa's lap December 2007

I hope you're not mad mom but I found this with my pictures and just had to use it. Looks like dad to me . . . or I mean Santa. :)

Jace snuggling Grandpa Brammer.

Jace Christmas 2006

Jace & Brooke on Santa's lap December 2008.

Jace helped me put all the ornaments on the tree after Brookie went to bed. They looked great on the tree too!

I hope you are all having a great December and enjoying all of the holiday festivities!