Make sure you watch what you eat tomorrow!

Tomorrow's New Year's Day, so start off right by watching what you eat! Personally, I will be watching myself eat treats and absolutely no poultry of any kind. Wanna know why? Just check out my New Year's Day Survival Guide. Stick to that and you can't go wrong. Happy New Year!!

Adventures in the snow

My father-in-law and I took the kids sledding yesterday. It was so much fun. Here are some cute pictures from our adventure!

Noah didn't like the snow too much, so he didn't stay out very long.

It's great when the kids are old enough to bring the sled back up the hill with them.

Leah stops for a little snack. MMMM......snow!

I went to the coolest rave the other night!

It was really dark. Cool music was playing. There were glow sticks everywhere. All the people there were really cute! The only thing that was missing was the illicit drugs. And that's not a bad thing because the rave was in my living room.


The kids each got some glow sticks in their stockings for Christmas and we wanted to use them Tuesday night. So, right after dinner, we turned off all the lights, activated all the glow sticks and played for the rest of the evening. It was so much fun!!! We all enjoyed it! It was a cheap, fun way to spend the evening together.


It even made me feel a little nostalgic. No, I've never been to a rave, but I loved glow sticks when I was little and I always wanted some. When I'd go to birthday party sleepovers, there were always glow sticks given as presents and I always wanted one. I never did get one, but that's okay. Now, I can just go to the Dollar Store and buy some for myself. Or I can buy a bunch for my kids and we can all play with them.


Here's a picture of what was left the morning after:



That big glow stick came with a removable hilt. So it could be a giant glow stick or a glow sword. Super cool!

I love to see the temple

Before Christmas, we got to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the lights. It was great! It felt good just to be walking around there. It was even better that two of my brothers and their families were with us as well. Unfortunately, not everyone had a good time (as you can see from the family picture). I feel happy when I look at the temple, especially knowing that my sweetheart and I got married there 6 1/2 years ago. Wow, that's a long time! I'm grateful I get to be with Mike, Eli, Leah, and Noah forever because I was married in the temple!

I'm a bit worried about Noah

I think he's gone emo.

Just kidding; he's just as happy as ever. However, I am worried about the fact that he likes to suck on markers. It's a good thing I gave him the washable ones!

What haven't I dipped in chocolate?

Well, this past week or so I've made chocolate-dipped pretzels, cake, Mike, brownies, Oreos....okay, maybe not Mike. He's the only thing that I'm not allowed to dip in chocolate. It's too bad really. I think he would taste pretty good!

Merry Christmas!!

Amid coughing, sneezing, buggers, and puke we managed to have a great Christmas. We hope you did too!

Question

Do you ever feel like throwing aways all your kids' toys because your sick of seeing them all over the floor, picking them up, stepping on them, not being able to cross a room without risking life and limb because of all the little landmines all over the floor?

We have a very strict rule in our house...

If you help Mommy cook or bake, you have to help clean up!

And sometimes, that's the best part!

What would Becca do?

It seems lately that I just can't help, but get myself right into the middle of a fight. "What?!" you ask, "Another fight?!" Well, yeah, sort of. Let me just tell you what happened two days ago.

I was standing outside in the freezing cold, waiting for Eli to come off the bus. I might be a bit overprotective, but I feel better knowing he's safe. So, I see him hop off the bus and come walking slowly toward me. As I'm watching him, I'm also watching the rest of the kids get off the bus. I thought it was strange that quite a few of them were waiting right by the bus door after getting off and not going home right away. It seemed as though they were waiting for something. I continued to watch them, interested in what they were doing, while I was still waiting for Eli to get to me. Finally, Eli was by me. I would have turned to go then, but the object of the children's attention had finally made it to the bus door and I wanted to know what it was.

Well, it was another kid. There were about a dozen kids waiting for this one kid and what happened next was not what I was expecting. One of the kids outside grabbed the kid inside the bus and pulled him out. From there, that solitary kid ended up in the middle of the dozen kids and all I could see at that point were arms flying all over the place and it looked to me like the kid was getting beat up. So, since I was the only adult outside and I didn't think the bus driver could just leave the bus to do something, I ran over there yelling, "HEY!! What's going on?! KNOCK IT OFF!!" My heart was pounding while I was running in the snow the 30 yards or so to break up what was going on. Someone in a car honked their horn at the kids too. They probably thought the same thing I did. "That kid is getting the crap kicked out of him by 12 other kids!"

I get over there and all the kids just stop and stare at me. The solitary kid just looks up at me in surprise and says, "We were just fooling around." I replied, after catching my breath and trying to calm down, " WELL IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE IT!" After another second or two of all the kids just standing there, staring at me, I yelled to all of them, "GO HOME!" and they all quickly turned and went.

Then I walked back to where Eli was standing, waiting for me and I was shaking due to the rush of adrenaline. I hate that feeling! I know I did the right thing, even if they were really just fooling around and I made myself look stupid. I was not going to just stand there while some kid got beat up by a bunch of other kids.

I tell you this story not to toot my own horn, but more to remind myself to not be afraid to get involved when it's appropriate to do so. So, the next time you happen to be presented with a situation like this one, you can just think to yourself, "What would Becca do? Oh yeah, that's right. She would jump in head first! She's crazy!" Maybe I am, but at least my craziness makes for interesting reading.

I have to brag a bit

I got the best surprise today. After I was done drying my hair this morning, Eli came in the bathroom and said, "Close your eyes and follow me." I had no idea what to expect. To my huge surprise, Eli and Leah had picked up all their toys in the living room and put them away. The best part is I didn't even ask them to!!! I don't often brag about my kids, but I just had to share this because this never happens. I have the best kids!

The true meaning of the Christmas tree

Last night for Family Home Evening, we set up our little Christmas tree. For the lesson, we talked about the different parts of the tree and the decorations and what they symbolize. We did this in the hopes that when the kids look at the tree, instead of thinking of presents, they would think about Christ, His birth, life and death.

One of the things we talked about was the kind of tree we use. We talked about how it's an evergreen tree (ours is actually a 3 foot, fiber optic, evergreen tree). An evergreen tree is always green and alive and symbolizes how we can live forever in heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus.

This morning, as we were eating breakfast, I could tell Eli was thinking hard about what we talked about the night before and trying to work something out in his mind. We were talking about the tree and its greenness and all. And he turned to me and said in his cute, little Eli voice, "The Hulk is evergreen."

Eli was right about one thing. The Hulk is always green, but I'm not sure I want to live with him for eternity.

Oh the HORROR!!!

The other day, I put Noah down for a nap. When I went to get him up after, Noah was gone and in his place was.....

Toilet Paper Roll Hand Boy

Okay, that might not be exactly true. I might have exaggerated a bit. Here's what really happened. I was going to the bathroom. Noah decided to pay me a visit. While he was in the bathroom with me, he discovered these toilet paper rolls in the garbage and managed to shove his big, chubby hands in them. I didn't help him at all. He's a smart cookie. He put his hands in them while they were propped up in the garbage can so he didn't have to use his fingers and could get both of them on. The funniest part is he really liked it. He kept them on for a while and didn't fuss one bit. He's a bit weird, but he does get brownie points for being creative!

A little mismatched, but wonderful

Leah dressed herself today. By that I mean......she picked out what she wanted to wear, put it all on herself, and did it the first time I asked. It was wonderful. She's been hit by the independence bug and I love it!!! She even let me praise her afterward too. (She doesn't usually let me smile at her, tell her she's cute, give her a high-five, etc. after she gets dressed. I don't know why.) The only down side to this whole thing is that it was in the mid 20's and snowy today and she chose a thin, sleeveless top to wear with some weird pants. I didn't make her change. We didn't go anywhere, so she wasn't cold and it's more important to me that she gets herself dressed than it is for her to have a matching outfit. And just so you don't think I'm a bad mom, if we were going to be outside a bunch, I would have had her put on a warmer shirt.

The Newest Blockbuster Movie

It's more intense then 2012. It's bigger than New Moon. It's.....

Tomorrow After Tomorrow

The latest action--sci-fi--thriller follows three small children as they try to make it through Thanksgiving weekend when their Grammy comes to visit. It's an epic adventure exploring the struggles of being sung to sleep; the horror of being read many story books; and the action-packed sequences of helping make cookies. You will be on the edge of your seat! You have to see:

Tomorrow After Tomorrow.......Today!

(Rated G: For intense snuggling, grandmotherly affection and loving images)

Movie Title inspired by Eli Bell when asked the question, "When is Grammy coming to visit?"

Apparently, I don't know my history very well

While we were eating lunch today, the kids and I were playing an alphabet game. We would pick a letter and then we would say all the words we could think of beginning with that letter. The letter A came up and this is what was said:

Me: A.....apricot

Eli: Yeah, like Apricot Lincoln!

Official New Moon Review

My good friend Brittney brought me along to a really fun pre-movie party for New Moon. It was complete with themed food, a book trivial quiz with prizes and a dress code. I actually won a prize! I'm pretty proud of myself since I haven't read the book in about a year. I also got to wear my "Real Men Sparkle" shirt and a fake tattoo of the flower on the cover of New Moon.

We all went to the movie and had a great time! The movie was awesome. It did have an interesting affect on me though. Before the movie, I was a hard core member of TEAM EDWARD.

Now, I'm seriously considering switching teams!

New Moon

So, I literally just got home from the theater after seeing New Moon. The very first thing I said to Mike after walking in the door was, "BBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" (that means I really liked it). It was great!!! It was funny and the acting was much better and there were special affects. Wow. I wanted to see it again right then, but the theater people said no. Oh well, I'll just have to see it again next week or something. Now, since it is almost 1am, I will go to bed, but watch out for another post about New Moon some time soon. I don't have the pictures from the pre-movie party yet. Oh yeah, that's right. There was a pre-party with themed goodies and a dress code!

Pics of the Faves

Important topics and pearls of wisdom from Leah

Last night, Leah wanted to try a taste of the Tapatio that was on the table at dinner time. (For those who might not know, Tapatio is a spicy sauce like Tabasco) Mike told her to just touch the top of the bottle and lick her finger to get a small taste. She touched the bottle and immediately started to cry. That's when I remembered she had a paper cut on the finger she just happened to use. So, I rushed her into the bathroom to run her finger under the water to try to get rid of the burning. After, I sat her on my lap and tried to calm her down. Amid tears and sniffles, Leah quietly asked, "Mommy, is it my birthday?"

We had this conversation just about an hour ago:

L: I want to read a princess story book.

M: Which princess story book?

L: My princess story book.

M: Oh, you mean the one from the library?

L: Yeah

M: Oh, we don't have that one any more. I took it back.

L: Why did you take it back?

M: It was due.

L: No Mommy, it's not due; it's pink!

Here are two things Leah likes to say to us:

You're ass-a-loopy re-re-dicilous! (Translation: You're absolutely ridiculous)

You're wiggly whack!

Halloween: Part 3

Okay, this is it...the last post. I promise. Finally, I'm posting the best pictures of the kids in their costumes doing their thing. Here are the costumes:

Here are the kids in action:

Along our route, we ran into a celebrity who was kind enough to pose for a picture. Look at the expression on Leah's face:


The inevitable post-trick-or-treating candy consumption:

Halloween is one of the most fun holidays, but it sure is tiring!

Halloween: Part 2

This post is about the pre-trick-or-treating activities. First, we went to Mike's work to get candy. The employees were dressed up and gave out candy at their desks. There were some really great costumes. One of the best was my brother's costume. Can you guess what he is?

After getting some good candy, Eli went to school all dressed up. I got to go along later and help with the Halloween party. I read scary poems to the kids. I think they got a kick out of it. The best part of the party was when one of the other moms asked me if I was a college student there to help the teacher. I definitely took that as a complement. When I told her that I was actually a mom, she apologized and said that I just looked so young. Okay, enough of that, back to the kids...

I stayed after the party to watch the costume parade. I loved it, but it was too loud for Eli.

Halloween: Part 1

I'm not sure how many parts there will be to the Halloween posts, but I acknowledge the fact that there needs to be more than one so that enough attention can be given to each activity we participated in this week.

So, we'll start with pumpkin carving/painting on Monday.

Noah's experience and finished product:

Leah's experience and finished product: (she made a unicorn pumpkin, see the horn?)

Eli's experience and finished product: