Friday, December 31, 2010

Drowning in Clothes!!

I just finished organizing ALL of the boy clothes that we own. Since we get hand-me-downs from a cousin 3 years older than my oldest boy, I have clothes from size 20 (like stuff too big for me) down to size 2T. That's a LOT of clothes!!!! Glad to have that done. The best thing is that everything from size 2T down, I can now get rid of. Ahh clothes actually leaving the house. Only Lydia's clothes left to do.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

A Few Pictures

Lydia went caroling dressed as Buddy the Elf.
One of those sleep pictures that you just can't help taking

Umm... She tried to get out of the van backwards and hands first.
It didn't really work out.


Sorry Bruce, but it was too funny not to laugh.
Yeah, he just sat down... a bit farther than he had intended.




Monday, December 20, 2010

Busy Lydia

I guess I'm finding out what one part of life with teenagers is going to be like. Lydia has to go to school early twice a week for choir. She has to say two hours and fifteen minutes late 4 days a week for volleyball, and she's a band officer, which has responsibilities as well.

Today was an early choir day, plus volleyball practice, plus the Christmas concert tonight. Being a band officer, she is supposed to be there early to set up. With all of this, she was scheduled to be at school from 7:30 a.m. till about 8:30 p.m.

I emailed her coach and her band director and they are being very nice and letting her have about an hour and a half break between them to do her homework and to eat some dinner.

She is such a great gal! I love my Lydia.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Parenting Frequently Takes More Patience Than I Have At My Disposal

Tree knocked over, water, pine needles, broken glass, ornaments and cereal all over the place. I hope none of these presents are damaged. Ugh!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Preview


I'm Different
2010 Year End Video I

Justice and Clayton in the Shower

Justice: "Don't pee on me ... Gosh Darn it!! When you have to pee, pee in the potty!"

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Snow Day and Laundry

Our Stake Christmas Cantata was supposed to be held on Sunday night, but it got postponed due to the snow. So instead we spent a most enjoyable evening listening to Christmas music from ranging from "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" performed by Twisted Sister to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Cambridge Singers, etc. We FINALLY had time to get out our Christmas decorations. Now our Christmas tree is beautiful and I even put some lights up. (I cheat and hang them on the insides of the windows. They look just as beautiful from outside, but I don't have to go out in the cold to put them up.) Then my parents came over and hung out with us. It was a very enjoyable, unrushed evening.

Yesterday the kids had the day off from school. I did a lot of farting around on the computer organizing pictures for my end of the year slideshow, and looking for the perfect song. Alas, I have not a single clue this year. Anyway, but I did get my lazy rear up and make pretzels with the kids, courtesy of our pixie who sent us a kit.

Lydia made hers beautifully in the conventional way.

Ross and Mark created abstract shapes for theirs.
(After Clayton ruined one of Ross' by stepping on it, Ross changed it to an "M for MAD!"

Ross kept interfering in Mark's picture

Justice and Clayton had yet more unconventional ways of making their pretzels.


On another completely unrelated note, my husband asked me not too long ago if, when we remodel the bathrooms, I would like to have the laundry moved to the main floor, as it seems a lot of people prefer. I said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!" I need a LARGE space in which to hide my multitude of sins from the world. Prepare yourselves to be let in on one of my dirty little secrets sssshhhhh!:

Here's a thing I meant to post last week, on one of those RARE days when you can actually see the laundry room floor because I had washed all of the laundry. (Well all of the clothes anyway. There still was a huge stack of blankets and sheets that needed washing piled up on a table just out of range of the camera.
However, here is the laundry that needed to be folded and put away (que the scary, screechy Friday the 13th violin music):
On top of this add two sets of washers and dryers full of clothes. That day was some time last week, so I now have more dirty clothes to wash and less clean clothes to fold (but only because they have been worn straight out of the baskets.) Do I hear Neicey Nash knocking on my door?

Saturday, December 11, 2010

For a Change

It's nice to hear happy screaming laughter coming from the other room and to go and peek my head around the corner to find that the two littlest boys are doing something neither too dangerous or too destructive.

On the other hand, it sounds like Clayton got hurt after all. Darn, I'd better go and check.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

O Christmas Tree

Well, we've had our Christmas tree up for most of the week. The trouble is that we can't seem to find the time to decorate it as a family. We just keep being too busy. Darn busyness! Ally (the puppy) seems to think that the Christmas tree is a wonderful thing made entirely of chewy sticks for her... in the house! "How great is that!" I would think the pine needles would poke her in the mouth, but she doesn't seem to mind. She keeps pulling off little bits of the tree to chew on. (As if the needles won't get all over the place fast enough.) Plus she gets in there and drinks the tree's water. I wonder if the pine makes it all taste better. Silly little doggy! She is turning out to be a nice little addition to the family though.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Pickle Juice

I came downstairs to find Justice doing this:



I added the mattress under him.


One of Clayton's current bedtime stories is "If you give a Moose a Muffin." But every time we get to this page, he says "He pooping!" which cracks me up.
Last night I was going to the store and Ross begged me to buy something with his own dollar for him, but he didn't know what. So I bought him a Disney princess game. I tried to video his reaction, but I had the camera aimed wrong and didn't get it. I made him give me his dollar, then I handed him the pink Disney thing. He said "I hate you!" It was pretty funny. I did of course buy him something that he would actually like, but for one dollar I could afford to make a little joke.