Christmas

I'm missing many photos of this Christmas! But just believe me, it was a wonderful time. We spent LOTS of time with family, which I have discovered over the years of my life to be THE most important thing in the WORLD. So, even though my pictures don't reflect it, we enjoyed cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas and had a lovely time. I am very blessed to have lots of family, I am very blessed that the family I have consists of solidly good people.

We did our usual traditions of sleeping under the Christmas tree, a Christmas puzzle, going to the Nativity pageant, building gingerbread houses, reading the Night before Christmas on Christmas Eve, getting Santa pictures at the mall, opening pajamas on Christmas Eve, and that was all before the real party began!

 My sister and her family came up from Texas and my Grandma and Granddad came from Pincher Creek. We also had two new babies in our family this Christmas, Christian and Jacob. I will never forget this year's talent show- we had lots of great talents, but I'd have to say my sister Candace's took the cake. I'll just say, glow sticks, dancing and What does the Fox say? My talent was lame for everyone else but pretty dang awesome for me...I have wanted to be able to do a pull-up for years, and I made a goal to do one for the family talent show and I did it. I was SO excited when I finally did one (my body composition makes it very difficult for me). I ran around the house cheering and jumping up and down. My kids were witnesses and they were excited too. Here's a bit of what we did!

Gingerbread Houses

The tree fell down a few times before we finally got a new stand. The first time it fell you would think someone had died with how the kids cried! haha

Breanna and I went to the Nutcracker, yay! I had to post this because I love my outfit and my lipstick (even though you can't see my boots they're awesome)

Sleeping under the Christmas Tree after the Nativity-favorite tradition!

 Christmas Eve night! The excitement builds!

Afton got a new bear. We were a tad worried about her loyalty when she had this conversation with her old bear:

Afton (to old bear): "you're not my favourite anymore"

Old Bear: "Why?"

Afton: "Because"

Old Bear: "oh"

Thankfully, while she loves them both very much, I think she still prefers the old one :)

Sibling Love

One of Jesse's favourite presents came from Breanna-he got to excavate real gems. He loved it. He really is SO into gems and archaeology and mining. I'm so curious to see where this kid ends up in life. I hope his dreams come true!!

 The Christmas puzzle: 1000 pieces-we don't joke around!

After Christmas we all got sick for about 2 weeks-colds and ear infections all around, which brings us to about now. 

Birthdays

First, I forgot to say in the last post-we said good-bye to our trusty blue van. It literally gave us no trouble at all-until it finally decided it was time to go and died a quick and painless death. We bought a brand new Honda Odyssey, but my kids keep asking why we had to get rid of the Mazda. Looking at this picture makes me sad!

My sweet girls had birthday parties this year. I hope they know how much I love them and how special they are. 

Breanna turned 6. Six! Wow.

If there's one thing I think represents Breanna, it's hearts, and a sweet cake covered in hearts too!

They made sugar castles and headbands, played charades and who's got the button, but the game that was the MOST fun was the limbo. Who knew?

Breanna with one of her friends.

Afton turned 3 and I think this is her first *real* party. Oh Afton the joy you bring to us! What an unexpected twist you are in our family. We had a North Pole party for Afton and she loved it.

Uhm this snowman is the best...thanks to Brad!

And a snowflake cake-or are they blue flowers?

They were supposed to go outside to spray the snow but it was so cold that day, so we brought the snow inside. 3 year old parties never quite go as planned anyway.

Snowflake quesadillas!

Presents and Friends

Bye-bye snowman!!

Anyways, do I ever love my girls! I hope they felt special!

Time

My blog has evolved into a bit of a family photo album. Someday I will print it out for my wonderful kids to look at and feel good about.  It no longer feels like a creative outlet, though. I think that's why it's become hard for me to keep my blog up. It feels a bit chore-ish. I think if I wrote more often I could write about the details and get a bit more satisfaction from it. That's okay, this blog has evolved, my life has evolved. 

Gone are long days when going for walks,  going to the park or going to the library were the main-or the only- events of the day. I would clean and clean and clean to pass time. It was hard figuring out how on earth to entertain these kids for the next 10 hours!  Outings were meant to take up time.  Time, please move along! From the moment lunch was over I would count down the hours, minutes, seconds until Brad walked in the door. It was so, so hard, but so peaceful and intimate. 

 I still count down the minutes until Brad gets home, but not until about 4:30. And if he's late, no biggie. Oh man I used to think I would die if he said he'd be even half an hour late. I don't try to pass the time anymore. I'm trying to figure out how to make more time. More time to clean and go for walks and go to the park and go to the library. More time to enjoy the fleeting moments of my children's lives. More time to develop my own talents. I feel like we are constantly doing things. I'm a drill sergeant. Church, sports, doctor, ballet, piano, homework, shopping, playdates, parties-(so many parties!) I can't keep up with the housework anymore. I'm always scheduling and re-scheduling. I'm constantly rushing kids out the door. 

I'm in the in-between phase where I wonder: have I done anything with my life? Or do I just exist to make other people's lives possible?

Time just moves along.

                                                      General Conference/Thanksgiving October 2013

                                                                            Halloween October 2013

                                                     Afton in a  Pumpkin Patch October 2013

Lunches. Daily.