Things We Love to Do Each Year for Christmas

I actually had it in mind to do this before I got the Christmas Traditions Tag, but we had

to wait on the gingerbread house :)
(Christmas overload, I know, I love the season though!)

How do you explain to your curious child how SANTA comes in the house when they say..."but we don't have a chimney."?

We have this "special" key that only works for SANTA to unlock our door.

CHOCOLATE calendars!!!! My kids LOVE these. Grandma usually makes sure we get them.

The Gingerbread House. Ah, that's always a story. This was actually the second attempt. Luke destroyed the first one and I couldn't go without one.

"I'll run and run as fast as I can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man." We love to make gingerbread cookies. The magic really begins when the children go to bed. They can't believe how the cookies come alive after they've gone to bed and hide somewhere in the house with foot-prints and a clue left behind.

The Polar Express. This is something we do multiple times through-out the week. And of course it wouldn't be The Polar Express without a cup of hot cocoa!

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS TAG


1. Egg nog or Hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate.....YUMMY!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wraps the presents unless it's too BIG to wrap.

3. Colored lights on a tree/house or white? White lights, but I know the kids really like COLORED.

4. Do I hang mistletoe? OOOHHH.... I haven't. Good idea, thanks!

5. When do I put up my decorations? When my dear hubby can pencil me in. Usually first week of December.

6. What is my favorite holiday dish? HAM.....love the ham. Actually pretty much all of it. Especially when I'm prego.....can't eat enough!!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Visiting with all the family. Wondering if Santa fulfilled my request and of course sleeping in the same room as my sisters.

8. When and how did I learn the truth about Santa? I honestly don't remember. Come to a surprise to some of you ;) !

9. Do we open a Christmas gift on Christmas Eve? PJ's on Christmas eve and gifts on Christmas morning.

10. How do I decorate our tree? I let the children and Scott take control. If anything needs to be adjusted I will do it later!

11. Can I ice skate? Yes, but I don't get to do it that often.

12. Can I remember my favorite gift? Probably my bike. I rode it to school for the first time, after my family and I moved from Provo to Kearns, and I came out to find that someone had stolen my handlebars. I was in second grade. I've had MANY wonderful gifts since then.

13. What is the most important thing about the holidays for me? FAMILY. Understanding the TRUE meaning and not getting caught up in all the hub-bub.

14. What is my favorite holiday dessert? If anyone serves up Strawberry Pie I'll eat it all up. Otherwise I really like sticky chex-mix and anything chocolate.

15. What is my favorite holiday tradition? Being with family and being able to pull off a surprise.

16. What tops my tree? An Angel holding a star.

17. What do I prefer - Giving or receiving? Definetely giving. I LOVE to see their faces when they get something they love and unexpected.
18. What is my favorite Christmas song? Silent Night. (used to be Silver Bells when I was a kid)

19. Candy Canes? Yummmm

I tag: Mom, Sarah Epps, Danielle and Joy

O Christmas Tree

Many people have the tradition of decorating their Christmas tree the weekend or day after Thanksgiving. We do not. We get it up and decorated when we can. Don't get me wrong, my motto is the sooner the better, but it can be a bit impossible at times. Since we've moved to Arizona we've been back to Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving every year but one. So, that usually means we are traveling the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then Scott is crazy-busy when we get home to catch up on anything he may have missed from the week before. He happened to store the christmas tree up in the attic and so yours truly had to climb up there and drag it out. It was not a pretty sight and I was not a happy camper. ALL the kids were happy to try to climb the ladder and hoist themselves up into the attic. I got it all set up and then we waited a few days when Scott had a night free so we could decorate the tree as a family. It is a precious memory....one that I truly love.

Last year Scott found a killer deal on a multiple color, pre-lit tree. I prefer all white lights, but who could resist a brand-new, $25, 7foot tree? Besides I decided if I don't like the colored lights I don't have to plug them in. I could wrap the white ones around.

.....and for the final touch......

I HATE...

...cell phones

Okay, to be honest, this phone (the LG env) wasn't a bad phone. The first time I thought I would have to bid farewell to it, I found it in the toilet. It had to have been in there for at least 20 minutes or so, courtesy of Luke. I took the battery out and let it air dry. It actually survived, but I had to learn a few ways around the keys that were FRIED. The second time I thought I would be parting with it, it was accompanying Luke in a nice warm bubble bath. I was beginning to think this phone had nine lives like a cat. It didn't die....AGAIN. The day before yesterday it gave up the ghost. I found it on the coffee table along with a bottle of cleaner. I actually didn't think twice about it until I picked it up and it was dripping wet. I have my old back-up razor that still semi-works. I've had my eye on this baby:

Unfortunately, at this point, my cellular plan won't give me any discounts on any new phones. Yep, that means I have to pay full retail price! $400.00!!!! Are you kidding me, on a cell phone??? So ridiculous.

I really wouldn't mind owning one of these babies, but don't want to see the sticker price:

...any ideas beyond ebay????

...Call Me Crazy...

Well, it's time to announce.....




that we are adding a fourth baby brownie to the bunch. Yup, you read it right....a fourth. I'm about 12 weeks along and due on the 1st of June. I'm quite content with the decision and know this little baby will make our little happy family complete. We will be sooo happy with whatever gender the baby is, but for Savana's sake I'm hoping it's a girl. In every prayer she asks for the baby to be a girl and in talking to her about it she is relentless that it is a girl. I have told her we don't get to pick and choose, that Heavenly Father gives us what we get. I would just hate to have to explain to her why it wasn't a girl when she was so persistant that it was. Anyway, we'll be happy with whichever and she'll be fine too!



I may be grody for posting this pic...but it's living proof!!!

Scottie's 7th Birthday!!

Scottie's birthday was packed with lots of things to do. We started off the day with a baseball game. I think all of the kids were still recovering from Halloween being the night before. Scottie is just like his father and very passionate about sports, it's a good thing he's coordinated and good at them too!

After the baseball game and a little bit of rest we celebrated Scottie's birthday at the bowling alley. The kids LOVED it. And I LOVED the bowling cake I got from Walmart. It turned out soooo cute!

Halloween Night

This post is a bit late.....but.....better late than never. Each year we have an annual pot-luck dinner on the KCT (our street name, Kit Carson Trail). One of our neighbors takes a turn to host and hold the dinner in their garages. It's so much fun because the weather is wonderful and our neighbors are the greatest. We put a table with about eight or so bowls of candy out so we don't miss out on handing candy to the 'trick-or-treaters.' All of our kids take off with a parent or two to make the rounds and come back with bulging bags of candy.
When we got our kids costumes on Luke wanted NOTHING to do with it. I got a matching get-up for him and Scottie...Darth Vader and Yoda, but when he saw it he ran away and wouldn't come near us. We cornered him and decided to try to throw it on him and see how long it would last. Ummmm ya, it didn't last. He was so angry I just told Scott to take it off because we don't want him to be sad. Savana was Sleeping Beauty (and a beauty she was) and Scottie was Darth Vader (he can fulfill that role pretty well). We ended up putting a Superman shirt on Luke and that in turn became his costume. Although, as they went up to the different door-steps and were asked what are you for Halloween, after Savana would say 'I'm Sleeping Beauty' Luke would follow her response with 'I Sleepin Beauty.' Love these memories!!! We dressed Koda up as a little devil because well, he is a little devil!

7 Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today I was relaxing in my bed enjoying my last few days of being lazy and getting decent sleep. Decent in comparison to what was to come. Scott and I were living in a house in Provo-Utah and he was working in Park City-Utah (which was an hour away). I was nine months along with Scottie and waiting for his arrival. As I lay in bed I felt a very strong 'kick', very different from any of the kicks I felt before. A little time went by and I started not feeling very well. When I got out of bed I discovered my water broke. Of course, being a first time mother I was a bit confused if this is what really happened and not sure what the next step should be. So.... I called my mother. She informed me, 'Yes, my water did break and I needed to get myself to the hospital.' I called Scott and told him we were having a baby he better make his way to the hospital. Well, with Scott being an hour away, my mom was an hour and a half away, my mother-in-law & father-in-law were at work I decided to drive myself to the hospital. My contractions weren't painful and I was already packed and ready to go. Driving to the hospital I was smiling, happy, and nervous. When I got to the hospital the nurses looked at me rolling my suitcase in and said 'Well, it looks like you'll be staying for awhile.' Scott got to the hospital in 45 min's. He said he drove as fast as he could. I arrived at the hospital at 9:30 am and waited the day out until my body and baby were ready for delivery. I actually started pushing at 3pm and continued pushing for a full two hours until finally my doctor informed me that the baby was pretty big. Finally at 5:30 with little bit of extra help our first born son had arrived and the moment I saw him I fell in love! He was so beautiful and I was the happiest woman on earth! I was so extremely tired, but relieved and content. Scottie's cowlick was very prominent and he looked like a little man. He was so handsome. Scott loved his little guy too and couldn't get enough of him. The few days he had work off he would hold little Scottie every moment he could. Scottie became very attached to his mommy. He obviously loved me very much because he couldn't be soothed or comforted unless he was in my arms. If anyone else wanted to hold him he didn't want anything to do with it. As the years went on he became the extreme opposite. He didn't want anyone to hold him down. All he wanted was independence and freedom. He was a very busy and happy little guy. As he grew he became more and more active. The first year we moved to Arizona all he wanted to do was to have friends to play with all day-everyday. He would unlock the door and escape outside. I would find him knocking on a neighbors door looking for a playmate. He was persistant on getting outside and would go to the extreme of climbing our 6 foot cinderblock wall and dropping down the other side to find friends. I had to buy a door lock that we could lock with a key from the inside and outside. Now, don't get me wrong, it sounds like this kid just needed to be able to play. I made sure he had time with friends, but the 1 1/2 hour wasn't enough. On top of that we had him in sports and pre-school. I have always thought he's just too big for his britches. Well, he is still very active, but he's also a bit more mature. He is sooo intelligent. Scottie could read before he started kindergarten and now all of the conferences with his teachers have shown he excells in all he does. One thing they count against him is he is a little too social (hmmm surprise, surprise). He does well with making friends with anyone and he has such a big heart. Scottie also has a special spirit. I see nothing but big things in his future and I'm proud to be his mother. He is such a wonderful blessing in our lives and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father entrusted him in our care. Scottie WE LOVE YOU!!!! Happy Birthday LOVE MOM AND DAD!

Carving pumpkins with my PUMPKINS!

I usually get my pumpkins way too far in advance and then they're rotten before Halloween. So, I decided to wait a bit later this year. I do wish we would have gotten them two nights or so before so we could have them a bit longer. We went to a 'pumpkin patch' that was along side the road to pick our very own special pumpkin. It really wasn't a pumpkin patch though that's what they called themselves. It was like one of those lots where you can go get an xmas tree. It worked well enough for us. And the pumpkins were pretty nice too. We also had fun carving them. All three of the kids joined in on the fun and were not afraid to get their hands dirty. Savana kept calling the seeds 'beans' and I didn't want to correct her because I thought it was soooo cute. Scottie made sure he let her know the correct term! Luke got one of his little plastic spoons to try to dig in with. Scottie is going to be Darth Vader so ideally I wanted to carve that for him, but it looked pretty difficult. I thought I'd take the easy road and do Spongebob, but that was actually pretty hard. The one in the middle is Lukes. It may not look like it, but if you peer closely you can see that it's Yoda. That's what he is going to be for Halloween. And last but not least we carved Sleeping Beauty for Savana. I thought that one turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! She, obviously, is going to be Sleeping Beauty. More pic's to post after the big events. Scottie's b-day is tomorrow and we are having a party so I'll be putting stuff up from that too.

This one's for you Sidney....

My niece Sidney LOVES mushrooms. And that capitalized, larger font, bold 'love' is an under-statement. Whenever my mom would take Sidney to the grocery store, the treat of her choice would be a carton of mushrooms. This pretty much grosses everyone out because they don't have the same 'love'. But..... I would have to side with you Sidney. I love them too. I love them in spaghetti, on pizza in a salad. I probably wouldn't just eat them as a snack, but put them on any of the previously stated items and I'll enjoy them. I just wanted to tell you, Sidney, that you're getting sooo big. I'm very proud of you and think you are such a good person!! Keep up the good work. We have a few other things in common, you know.
PS.... I love it when you send me the texts you send so don't stop!

remEmber thIs??

Yeah .... baby!

SCORE!!! Do you know how long I've wanted one of these? My AWESOME husband, whom I love VERY much and works SO hard, was offered this air hockey table from a person he was doing a side-job for. They had no need for it anymore since their children where grown and left home. Air hockey has a history with Scott and me. It was something we would play all the time when we were first dating and married. I would challenge him and be convinced that I would WOOP him. Ummmm no, I think I've beat him maybe once out of the countless numbers of times we've competed. I would get so into it after a handful of games, that the next day I would be so sore.

Now, the challenge is finding where to put this thing. It will be stored in our garage until we figure it out!! Thanks Honey for all your hard work....... Like you say "Good things come to those who wait."

{Splish-Splash}

Yeah, I guess you could say my kids are independent....all of them. I was in the other room paying bills when I heard the water running in the kitchen. Savana came into my room and I said "Who's in the water?" She said "Not me." So, as I go into the kitchen I see Luke lounging in the sink giving himself a bath. I had filled the sink earlier with a teeny bit of dish water to wash off the countertops. He decided to jump in, fill it up, and give himself a bubble bath. As much as I wanted to be angry that there was water everywhere, I couldn't. I decided to take up this opportunity to capture this moment and be able to really laugh at what he had done. Thankfully he hasn't done it since and everytime I hear that kitchen water running I dash into the kitchen to make sure he's not watering the counters and floors.

"Little Girls..................."

Little girls are made of daisies and butterflies and soft kitty cat purrs
And all the precious memories of times that once were.

Little girls are made of angel's wings and giggles and a firefly's glow
And all the happy feelings deep inside that we all know.

Little girls are made of cinnamon and bubbles and fancy white pearls
And snowflakes and rainbows and ballerina twirls.

Author: Karen Barnes

Scattegories.....TAG

Well, Here's another TAG. I know you love 'em

The RULES:

You are supposed to come up with a word for each of these scattergories that begins with the same letter as our first name....

Your name: Megan
4-letter word: Moon
Pro sports team: Mets
Celebrity/band: Metallica
Vehicle: Malibu
TV shows: Matlock
City: Maui
Boy name: Max
Girl name: Makayla
Occupation: Musician
Something you wear: Moo-Moo
Something you throw away: Milk jug
Food: Meatballs
Something you find in a bathroom: Mirror
Reason for being late: Mad
Something you shout: MOVE


I tag:
Mom
Amy
Jen
Shayla

TAG for FIVE

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was getting ready to go to New York to be a nanny.
2. Getting really sick of my Quantitative Business Analysis class in college.
3. I decided to get my patriarchal blessing because I had not received it yet.
4. I was worrying about boys......too much.
5. Lovin' the college life.

Five things to do on my list today:
1. Clean.
2. Take and pick up kids from school.
3. Edit photos.
4. Stop being tired.
5. Try to get my kids to bed on time tonight.

Five snacks I enjoy:

1. any kind of sweetened nuts.
2. caramel corn mini rice cakes.
3. fruit leather strips.
4. juice.
5. deli style pretzel crisps.

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Definetely pay off all my debt.
2. Pay off my parents debt and a few bills for siblings.
3. Buy a few homes.
4. Disappear for awhile.
5. Donate to my neighbor who has twin ten year old boys and lost her husband a few months ago.

Five places I've lived:
1. Kearns, UT
2. Provo, UT
3. Huntington-Long Island, New York
4. Park City, UT
5. Anthem, AZ

Five jobs I've had:
1. Francesco's Italian Restaurant
2. Hogi Yogi
3. Food 4 Less
4. Timp Rental
5. Nighttime Pediatrics

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog

Five People I'm tagging:

1. Chelsea Brown
2. Sarah Brown
3. Sally Wright
4. Sarah Epps
5. Mom

When it's a 106 degrees outside, we GET to stay in and be creative!

<

"Blantet".....formerly known as "ba-ba"

We received this blanket as a gift at my baby-shower for Luke when he was still in my belly. For some reason I got 'gads' of blankets for this baby, who was due in July. It's all good, we loved EVERYONE of them. So, as the days went on and Luke became older he became attached to this blanket in particular. My niece was a HUGE blanket baby too. She was also only interested in one blanket. My older sister, the wise woman she is, gave me the advice to stock up on the blankets while you can. She had to go on a gargantuan hunt for another blanket when her daughters became a bit destroyed. She had a pretty hard time finding one because there were many criteria that needed to be met.
Anyway, I took her up on her advice and bought a blanket here and there. I ended up with four blankets total. I tried very hard to keep them up on the top shelf in his closet for safe keeping and "emergency" situations. Well, that didn't last. If he even got a peek of one up there he had to have it. Even if he already had two in hand. He's not so completely addicted that it has to go everywhere with him or that he wouldn't be able to sleep without it. The times that make me laugh though are when in the very early a.m. hours he comes into our bed and my squinty tired eyes barely open to see him struggling to carry all four blankets. Then, one by one he throws each blanket up on the bed as his little stumpy body follows behind.
They're all born with their own personalities, that's for sure. I love that he's just him and no one can ever take that away. He's so sweet and innocent and I wish they would stay that way forever!

Don't Blink!!!

I came across this while looking for all the pictures I need to get printed. We went to the Hinckley Rodeo in Utah while we were up there in July. We wanted to get there early because we wanted to sign Scottie up for the calf run. Well, I think anyone would pay a million dollars to see the look on my face when I found out exactly what it was. I had never seen it before, but I guess I had imagined it to be something like the mutton chase, like I had seen in the past. You know, that cute little portion of the rodeo they do to pass the time. The little kids jump on the back of the sheep and see how far they can ride. Well, Savana got her name drawn to do that, but Scottie's name got pulled for a calf. The first rider, who was at least 11 or 12, got bucked off, limped away and started crying. The second one also got bucked and just about got the wind knocked out of him. With a look of terror I looked at my mom and said "I didn't know this was what he'd be doing." She then replied, "well, if you don't want him to do it you can pull him out." My response was "you know, Scottie's a tough kid. He can see what's going on here and if he doesn't want to do it then he'll come running over to me." He didn't let his place in line get lost. He stayed with the other boys and patiently waited for his turn. I only had my point and shoot camera with me and so in turn this is the footage I captured. Don't blink it goes by fast:


He cried about as hard as he could when he found his way over to me. I'm not sure what was hurt more....his pride or his backside. He didn't complain much about his body, more about the announcer who said " Let's see that one in slow motion."

Yes, that is Scottie flying in the air
&
No, I don't abuse my children

{F-A-M-I-L-Y}

Can I tell you how much I love this photo? I had been going around the yard taking pictures of my mom. Previously my dad had my mom jump up in the swather to cut some weeds around the yard. As I was doing something else they all gathered around my dads tanker & pup. I turned around and saw this...and in my mind it translated as a beautiful photograph. No one was posed, it was all natural. I thought 'what a keepsake.' My children love their grandparents and cherish every moment they have with them. We had so much fun this last July with them in Utah. Thanks mom and dad!!

Savana Starts School

Savana has been soooo anxious to start school. She has been begging to go since Scottie started school. I put her in one of my good friends preschool here in Anthem. Savana's first day was about a week after Scottie's first day and it was pure torture for her. Everyday she would ask 'So, am I going to school today mom?' and I would have to say to her 'not today it starts on Wednesday.' When the next day would come the same conversation would repeat itself. She would get a little upset and say 'you told me it was starting today.' I would reply 'no, not today. Remember I said it starts on Wednesday?' She had no patience the poor thing. On her first day we pulled up and had about five minutes before school started and she says to me 'hurry mom, I don't want to be late.' My friend conducts her preschool in her house so it was just a matter of walking up the driveway and to the door. Her new choice of hairstyle HAS to be the same EVERYDAY with absolutely NO modifications. She wants it in a ponytail at the base of her neck. If I put it even an inch or two above that....well, watch out. So of course on her first day of school this was how her hair HAD to be done. She's never been so paticular and always let me do whatever to her hair until about a month ago when the pony-tail curse started.
School will be really good for her. A couple of her little classmates are really good friends of hers. Each day I see her wanting to just be bigger and I want her to stay little forever. I love her little voice and her big attitude. She is such a sweetheart and just adores her big brother. We love Savana SO much and are SO blessed to have her in our family!!

FIRST Grade

Will they ever stop growing? Nah, I don't think so nor do I want them to. Scottie started first grade this last Monday. There really wasn't any signs of him having the first day jitters until we got there. He didn't say anything, but I could see in his face he was a bit nervous. The only other thing he had a main concern about was his backpack. This is the one he bought himself from Target over the internet a few months ago. He says to me "Mom, I don't want that Transformer back-pack. I'm in first grade now and if I take it to school everyone will think I'm a baby. I just want a plain one. Like a red plain bag." I told him the funny thing was that he was the one who picked out that back-pack and that I thought it was rather cool. He wasn't so sure and tried to convince me to get him a new one. I told him it would be a good idea to just keep that one and use it. If he still wanted a new one he would have to do chores and be on his best behavior for two weeks. I actually haven't heard anything since. After his first day of school I asked him if he made any new friends and with a frown on his face he responded "no." It made me a little sad, but I knew it would only be a matter of time. He has now finished his first week and I think he'll be just fine. The good thing about Scottie is that he adjusts very easily and he's out-going. By the second day of school he had made friends with a few different boys. This is when the time really starts flying by. I can't believe I was pregnant seven years ago with my first baby and he's now in first grade.

Contemplation

What a great journey. My father carried on a dream his father also had. He's a good 'ol country boy with wranglers, carhart, boots, cowboy hat the whole kit n' kaboodle. He was raised in Oasis, Utah. Not many have probably heard of it and the population is quite small. In fact, most of the people who populate Oasis are his relatives. But to them it has been exactly what the name states....an Oasis. As probably more of a passion, you could say, he has raised cows and farmed many acres of alfalfa hay and other types of crops. This has been something he has done for all of his life. And that's just what it had become, a way of life. Now that chapter has come to a close. It's definitely something that is bitter-sweet. With all the joy of accomplishment there has also come the agony of long nights and long hard working days. It has also been something that my mom has put a lot of sweat, tears and blood into. I would have to say she is definitely not your "typical" wife when it comes to farmwork. She would spend many mornings driving the swather and cutting hay while my dad was out on the road in the truck. They had a well that they would water the cows with but after many years it finally dried up. They came up with a solution to haul water from the house down to the farm. This would be something that would be very time-consuming, but hopefully a temporary solution. All of the grandchildren LOVE to help grandma and grandpa at the farm and you don't have to ask any of them twice if they want to go. So, as a team my mom and dad held onto something, nurtured it, cared for it and grew close to it. As they've gotten older they've become tired and it's become too much. While it's something they've loved it's now time to let it go. As I said before it's bitter-sweet, but there are many irreplaceable memories and experiences that will never be forgotten.