Sister Adoration

Warning: this post is really just an excuse to post pictures of my kids who I think are adorable!

Sara has finally gotten old enough that she and Laura have become fast friends. They are always playing and hanging out together.

Sara worships Laura. Fortunately, Laura is the sweetest girl ever and includes Sara in everything while being tirelessly patient.

I find them all over the house together imagining, playing, and just being wonderful silly sisters.

These girls are the greatest blessing in my life. I am so grateful for the choice Jason and I made to follow the prophet and have me stay home each day with my girls. Look what I get to participate in every day! The blessings for following this commandment are immeasurable compared to the few sacrifices we make...God is Great!

Stating the Obvious

As much as I wish I could, I just can't hide it. It's way too soon to announce, but it is way too obvious not to say anything. Wouldn't you agree?
Yep, we are expecting kiddo #3. We are super excited to have another little spirit coming to our family. And so far this pregnancy is going better than I could've expected. Bless phenergan.

I'll be going to the doctor on Friday and have more info then. But, for now, my Young Women would like to let you know that "No one gains weight just right there; so you might as well tell us." Well, now everyone has been told!

Beating the January Blues

My goodness January drags on when you're stuck inside and dealing with morning sickness. The countdown to my big family Disney trip is 9 days according to Laura's chain. Yes, I'm counting it down too. Fortunately, we have found a few things to help beat the winter blues.

Dressing up is definitely one of the favorites!
We went to Jungle Jim's with Steph's family.
Laura had a school fieldtrip to Albertson's. I loved seeing the back of the bakery, and was very VERY grateful we didn't see the back of the butcher shop. And Sara enjoyed her free cookie.
New foods are fun! Sara is really into olives.
Climbing is not one of mommy's favorites, but Sara sure seems to occupy her time this way when I'm not paying attention. Deb has taken pity on me and brought her kids over to play. Laura loves playing with Jacob.
What are you doing to combat the January blah's?

Ducks and Geese

Guess what has taken up residence just behind our house?  Yes a huge flock of ducks and geese are enjoying the pond right behind our home.  The girls and I have been loving listening to them out the back door and taking walks to check them out.

I think it is so awesome that we can live so close to shops, freeways, schools, etc. but still get real touches of the natural world.  

Why Didn't I Think of This Sooner?!

I've had a few epiphanies lately that have made my life as a WAHM much easier. I thought I'd share.

Clothing
Laura is skinny. Therefore, we buy adjustable waist pants and stretch those tabs to the limit. Unfortunately, this meant she was always fiddling with the length of elastic left on the inside of her pants. Finally, I realized I should loop the elastic so it didn't get in her way as shown below.
Before

After

Food
Did you know they sell pre-diced frozen onions? How about pre-sliced frozen bell peppers? I hate chopping onions, and fresh peppers are $$. With these, I can use only the amount I want and it makes prep time much less on many of my favorite dishes.
Also, I got really sick of getting Laura juice just because she couldn't reach the pitchers in the fridge. So, I got a different pitcher and put it where she can reach it. She loves the independence and I love less nagging! FYI: it is usually filled with Crystal Light.
Playtime
Sara is not a huge fan of playing in the snow. Unless she gets to play with the kitchen utensils while in the snow. My mom is awesome for thinking of kitchen in the snow. Muffin tins and cooking spoons are the favorites. Just make sure they are indestructible and dishwasher safe.
The laundry tubs from IKEA have been wonderful in keeping all the toys picked up, organized, and put away. Alas, I'm having trouble with books. I am looking for some help on this one. I have not found a good way to organize the girls' paperback books. They are just shoved on the shelf and it's difficult to find the one they want without sorting through ALL of them. Suggestions?
Cleaning
When I've accidentally put too much soap on my loofa in the shower, I take an extra second and use the loofa to wipe down the walls/bench.

We don't keep the girls' shoes in their closets. They are still small enough that they all live in shoe buckets by the door. This way, they take them off on their way inside and mates don't get lost.
I also have a fast way for me to clean the sinks and tubs around the house. I start them filling, put in some bleach and oxi-clean and fill to the top. I let them sit for a while, drain them and wipe them down.

Murphy's Law: Alive and Well

Why does it always snow here more the week Jason is gone than any other week of the year? (I am pretty sure we have gotten at least a foot of snow in the past 48 hours)? Why is at least one member of the family sick this same week each year? (Sara has let me know that the runs are miserable by crying in several hour long stints)
My sanity and physical well being are surviving quite well all things considered. But, I can't quite say the same for the house and the driveway. Sara said that plowing it 3 times in 2 days was enough and that I should wait until morning to plow again. I agree with her. Don't you?
My salvation has been help from my awesome folks, phone calls from my friends, a good book, tv dinners, a snow plow, and, most of all, my angel girl, Laura. She is truly the coolest 5 year old in existence! And, I'm sure glad Jason only travels rarely! We miss you, honey!

Welcome Home Elder Ben!

My nephew returned with honor from his mission in Tokyo, Japan on New Year's Eve. We had a big group of family (26 including the 3 who picked him up over there) come and meet him at the airport (somehow I didn't get a picture of everyone, just most).

It was great to see Ben again. We are so grateful for his example of missionary service. Laura told me how strange it is to not pray for any missionaries from our family; she's been praying for either my folks or Ben since she was only 2 yrs old. What a marvelous thing to have in her life!! Thanks, guys! You can tell Ben was a good missionary by the state of his shoes.

We had a great party to welcome him home at Jordan and Heather's house that night. Their house looked beautiful, the food was yummy, and it was wonderful to hear all Ben's stories. What a great way to ring in the new year! And I have to throw in this adorable picture of Garrett here. Yes, snuggling him while he's sleeping is so yummy!

Christmas

Now that most of the Christmas decorations are down, I guess I have time to post about our Christmas festivities. Christmas morning the girls slept in until 8:15 (weirdos) and then we had a great time unwrapping presents. Sara's favorite was her ride-on bus. Laura's favorite was new board games and her tent. Jason's favorite was either his new watch or suit. My favorite was a new pair of earrings. As always, it was all about the girls.

Jason's folks joined us for our traditional Christmas Morning breakfast. Since the girls got up so late, they even joined us for some unwrapping fun. At this time we gave the folks their surprise stockings.

This year we tried something new for breakfast as inspired by my YW, buttermilk syrup. It was fantastic on Jason's wonderful French Toast. And the girls were adorable in the fairy outfits J's folks gave to them.

That afternoon we went to my parents house for their Christmas Lunch. It was a great time. And, Sara remembered how much she loves Uncle Steve. The kids had so much fun together. Unfortunately, Laura's flower tent was ruined in the crazy kid chaos. But, fortunately, we found another tent (princess this time) at Sears for $15.

That night, J and Danny helped me get set up for the HUGE (27 people) party that I was hosting on the 26th. It all came together well and without much stress. Though I didn't get any of my own pictures of the event. (All pictures here are courtesy of Heidi)

We were able to seat all 27 people comfortably in our great room (yay, it did what we designed it to do) and be all together. My family was only missing the 4 picking up Ben in Japan. And we could have fit them as well. It was great to have both Danny and Dave's family together!

We opened $5 gifts downstairs. And the kids had a blast playing in the kids space room there as well. The house was truly broken in to be the fun gathering place we wanted it to be!

Also, the kids made gingerbread men. It looked like so much fun! All in all, I think the huge party was a success. I know I sure had fun!