Nikki's New Year Challenge

I have spent the week contemplating a challenge that Nikki threw out to everybody. The thought of choosing a personal theme instead of a bunch of New Years resolutions seemed both refreshing and exciting. What would my focus be? What did I need to improve on more than anything else? What do I want out of life? What am I willing to give up in order to achieve it? What would I be required to do?

All of these questions ran through my mind as I thought of the WORD that would become a part of my life this year. Many words came to mind. Real... Improve... Chill. All things that I need to do (and be) a little bit better, yet none of those words carried enough excitement or motivation to really cause me to want to focus on it for twelve whole months.

So here it is Nikki, and anyone else who choses to do this. My word for 2008 is SAVOR. Synonyms of this word include: appreciate, delight in, experience, feel, gloat, know, like, luxuriate in, partake, relish, revel in, sample.

As soon as I thought of this word it seemed to speak volumes for how I want to be. I want to be happier, play with my kids more, laugh, relish life and all the good things about my life. I want to like myself a little more. I want to be grateful. I want to slow down, and at times even stop...breathe...relax. Worry a little (or a lot) less about what others think about me. I want to sample new things, make new friends and take time to enjoy. But not just enjoy, that didn't seem like enough. I want to savor it all. My faith, my marriage, my kids, every memory I have, I plan to appreciate it all this year. Revel in it...SAVOR!

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, than a good marriage

Today John and I celebrated our six year anniversary. John's Dad, two of his brothers, their wives and two kids came over to babysit for us this evening. Now that may seem like overkill as far as babysitting goes, but they obviously know Sam. The more hands...the better eh;) We loved our semi-annual trip out without the kids. Thanks everyone who watched our little ones.

John and I have often reflected on this past year and we honestly don't know if we will ever have another year where we have experienced so much change. It has at times, been a wee bit stressful. A new baby, a move, a new career, (a VERY busy new career), as well as the purchase of our first home and all the work that entails. On top of that, we each experienced the death of one of our parents and the pain that comes along with that. This year has flown by, and at times we have felt like we were barely hanging on.
However I cannot think of another person on this earth that I would have wanted to go through this year (or eternity for that matter) with more than John.

I ordered a peice of art awhile back and it has not yet arrived, though I was hoping it would come in time for me to give it to John today. It is a simple print titled Bridge over Troubled Water (by Steven Mitchel) and I just love it. Isn't it just so soothing to look at. Perhaps that is why I felt so inclined to get it for John this year. That is what John has been to me. Strong, dependable, and he always manages to ensure that we are headed in the right direction in life. Thanks for being the "bridge" in our family; the one that keeps us warm and safe from whatever is going on around us ...oh yeah, and thank you for sometimes letting me walk all over you. I love you.

Happy Anniversary John. I can't WAIT for 6 more (X 8 or so)!!!!!!!!

For Christmas

santa brought us a new camera! How nice of him eh:) We've been snapping pics of everything since, trying to figure it out. Here is one of my favorite pics of sam so far.


Christmas was nice. We enjoyed seeing family, John's brother got married, and the best part of all...John has two weeks off. He is so fun to have around when he isn't worried about tests, and lessons to prepare, and marking. I sometimes find myself thinking about how much I love "Holiday John".

We sure are looking forward to a new year!!!

Abby's funnies for the day

It is a well known fact that Abby can say some pretty funny things. John and I are always crackin up at things she says. The best part is that she has no idea she has even said something funny, they are just normal thoughts and questions from her cute little brain. Two of these Abby moments from today:



Example 1: John was goofing around and was pretending that their was a guest at our front door. As soon as he closed the door, Abby asked:

ABBY: "who was it Dad?"
JOHN (pretending it was Santa): "Oh, just a little weird guy in a red coat."
Abby (after thinking for a bit): "well...why is Sam wearing a red coat?"

Example 2: After Abby's bath tonight she came out of her room (having gotten her jammies on) and I noticed her sock was bulging with things stuffed inside of it.
"Look mom! I filled my sock with these very special things...for good luck!" She took a couple of steps and then said, "But when I walk, it kinda hurts, ...so maybe I'll carry them in my hand for EXTRA good luck."

I love her head.

Not our finest hour...

as far as Christmas Crafts go!




No worries though. Despite the awful mess this turned out to be, the kids enjoyed every sloppy second of it.

Here is a pic of some of the other baking we've done.
We decided to call these cupcakes "Holiday Lights" cupcakes!

Speaking of holiday lights we better start driving around to enjoy some of them in this town. Christmas is coming up FAST!!

Visit from the North Pole...

So Santa stopped in for a visit yesturday. Abigail was thrilled to go and see him, but the whole experience left me a little bewildered.

What is it about kids that makes them change their minds on you. Abby has had two things she has said she wants. 1) A horse with a feather on it. (sounds abstract...but I found one!) 2) A princess snow globe. (Abby LOVEs snowglobes). Not only has she wanted them but she has at times prayed for them, ... written to Santa asking for them, AND she's promised she'd be good forever if she got them... (you know how it is, you were like that once to:)

So here I am, having gotten her the two things she has consistently wanted more than anything else, and thinking I'm pretty darn amazing for doing so. I had high hopes of her being able to express her wish to Santa and then seeing on Christmas Day how "Santa" made that happen for her. That would have been fun. But she climbs up on Santa's knee and what does she ask for? ...A Rainbow Light. WHAT IS A RAINBOW LIGHT? Officially pulling my hair out here!! It's not looking like I'll make her wish come true this year. I'll have to wait until her ability to make decisions is a little more concrete, and she really knows what she wants:)


What was I thinking? A horse and a snowglobe! That was SOOO last week.

snowy day

Don't you just love when this happens. When your little one has been so busy she just can't stay awake for one second longer. (or perhaps she just got so bored of waiting for her mom to come and get her...whichever)
She's probably just exhausted from all the shovelling that I HAVE HAD to do. :) We got a major dump of snow yesturday. Hopefully it will make for some good snowmen later on.





Abby made this cute craft yesturday at pre-school. Where do people get these ideas? No Really...where do you get good ideas? I'd like to know.

DONE!!!!!!!

We are officially finished our Christmas shopping! Hurray!!! Right down to the kids stocking stuffers...it's all here. Aside from the baking we want to deliver still, the holidays are looking pretty laid back and easy. Feels good.

Another thing we completed yesturday: We watched our final episode of M*A*S*H- a personal favorite of mine. We have bought all 11 seasons, and for the past 5 1/2 years John and I have spent our spare time watching each episode that ever aired. We watched the final one yesturday and I'm wondering...now what will we do?

Santa School and other events of today

Tonight Abby and I went to watch one of my neices perform with the CES junior girls choir. Ava did such a great job and those girls were so stinkin cute singing Christmas songs, all dressed up. Nice work Ava! My favorite song was "Holiday Lights!!"

Other events of today was one of many Christmas parties that I get to attend this year. Sweet! I'm averaging 2 turkey dinners a week right now. Gotta love it.

Abby is fascinated with the whole "Santa" thing and seems to be a little fixated on his elves. She is very interested in what elves do exactly. I'm not sure what to tell her. The funny thing is though she keeps calling them "students." A typical conversation between us goes like...
Abby: "Mommy? Does santa's students know how to fix the toys?"
Me: "Abby remember they are Elves..."
Abby: "Oh ..yeah...right I forgot. Do they know how?" To which I proceed to explain to her that Santa has taught his elves very well. It just makes me laugh to hear her call them students.

Clearly, she is the daughter of a school teacher:)

The search...

Christmas shopping has begun!
This time last year I had all of the Christmas shopping done already. Not only done, but wrapped...signed (by Santa of course:)...and hidden away. Not this year. I wouldn't consider myself a scrooge in any way but this whole "gift" thing this year has been a tad more stressful then I thought it would be. What is wrong with me? Could it be that I'm not as obsessive compulsive as I once was? I sure hope not. I've always taken pride in my ability to be prepared...weeks and weeks in advance. Maybe I'm just learning, (now that I'm all grown up) that there is more to Christmas then just gifts. Maybe though, I've yet to find that perfect thing for those that I love. I feel a little lost as I search for that "Gift" that will make my kids' year.

I never go Christmas shopping without thinking about my favorite Christmas 23 years ago. My siblings remember this year well. My mom was ill. Together her and my Dad had decided that they would not purchase a single thing for us but instead, they each would make us something. My mom made us all matching pajamas. My Dad set to work building something. ...something big. For weeks and weeks our basement was "off limits", while my Dad labored on our gifts. We could hardly wait to see what it was. On Christmas morning we woke up and went downstairs to find the most beautiful playset I had ever seen. I still have not found a playset that would match this one. It took up an entire room. This playset was big, it had everything, real dials, faucets, a dishwasher, food...the works! My sisters and I played in that room for years, (with the odd invation from my brother and some of his He-Man.)

I recall very little about that time in my life...but I do remember the hours spent with my sisters in that little room. Perhaps that is the gift my Dad wanted to give most of all. As he knew we would be losing our mother, perhaps what he wanted to give us, more than anything else, was the ability to just...play. To be kids. Even now this playset occupies a room at my sisters house and all our girls love it and use it as much as we did. Now that was a gift.

So as I contemplate what to give my own kids now, and when I get tempted to just buy "anything" off the shelf or think it doesn't matter, because Christmas isn't about presents anyways; I'm reminded of that year, and I'm inclined to think that maybe Christmas can be a little bit about "presents", IF we find the right one.

So my search continues. Luckily, if I fail to find something great for my precious three, I can always take comfort that they do know about the greatest gift of all. Yes, the real meaning of Christmas. Thank goodness for that.

The best half of "US"

I recently got tagged. Since I failed to respond the last time I was "tagged" and seeing that these questions are mostly about my "better half" I figured I'd give it a go.



What is your husband's name: John

How long have you been married: 6 years in December

How long did you date before you got married: 9 months (engaged 2 months)

Who eats more: John by a long shot. He tends to LOAD up his plate and then before beginning to eat he sits there and marvels that "ALL THAT food" is about to fit into HIS stomach.

Who said I love you first: John

Who is taller: John is a bit taller.

Who sings better: John by a long shot. Hopefully there are no more questions about who does what better. John trumps me every time.

Who is smarter: Drat! see above.

Whose temper is worse: Oh here, finally something I'm better at.

Who does the laundry: Me...

Who does the dishes: Me...

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: With three kids, under the age of 5, I really can't say. By morning, none of us wake up where we started.

Who pays the bills: Me...

Who cooks dinner: Me...

Who drives when you are together: John. But I'm great at telling him HOW to drive.

Who is more stubborn: I'm sure it is definitely without a doubt...John. That's not even up for debate.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: I have yet to be wrong, so, hard to say.


Whose parents do you see the most: john's dad is the only one of our parents who is still living. We love him tonnes, and try to see/speak to him daily.

Who kissed who first: John kissed me. ON the FIRST DATE!! (scandalous)

Who asked who out first: John asked me out

Who proposed: John

Who is more sensitive: I'm not very sentimental but I am the most emotional. lol. John is pretty sensitive and he definitely is the one who has the most "tact."

Who has more friends: There is not a person alive who doesn't love John as soon as they meet him.

Who wears the pants in the family: I think that is a nice way of asking "who is the most bossy." In that case...me.

Where did you meet your husband: I was YSA President in Edmonton. John moved up from BYU and to put it mildly he had a few "recommendations for improving the dances." He drafted a VERY lengthy letter addressed to the YSA committee, sighting several concerns along with many suggestions as to what we could do about it. I thought his ideas were lame-o until I actually met him. His dimples sucked me in big time. Suddenly his ideas were amazing. And of course, I would need his help implementing every one of them. Ha ha probably the only year when the YSA held structured dance classes prior to the dances.

What was the first thing you said to your husband: I don't recall. Nothing memorable obviously.

Where was your first date: At his house. John had to introduce me to the Star Wars Trilogy.

Where was your first kiss: At his house. First date...star wars...well before Luke Skywalker even joined up with Hans Solo and Chewbaca!

Where did you get engaged: At my favorite fishing spot along the North Saskatchewan River.

Where were you married: In Vegas! Jokes

Where was the Honeymoon: a ritzy resort on a deserted island. :)

Tag to: Crystal Payne, Laura Leavitt, Shauna Salmon, and Heather Rausch, and Jewel Hardy (because I know how much Kendall would appreciate this one;)

'Tis the season

There has been a lot going on this past week. We seem to be getting back into the swing of things. With a fresh new snowfall and the fact that various neighbors are getting into the spirit of christmas, we decided we'd better get on the band wagon as well.

On Monday night, we broke out the Christmas decorations and the kids had a blast setting up the tree and hanging up santa etc. We still have to put lights up outside but John and I are debating what to do. Icicle lights, or just multi-colored bulbs? Reindeer on the lawn? Santa on the roof? How will we decide?:)



I went down to Sears and picked up the famous Christmas wishbook. Abby has spent many afternoons (while sam and jess sleep) cutting out things she'd like and glueing them onto her own "Wish list" for Santa. She wrote a letter today for us to mail to Santa and asked me if she could mail all the pictures of what she wants with it. Something tells me we will have to narrow this list down a bit, AND perhaps teach her a little bit about money because let's face it, I love her daddy, but I didn't marry him for his money!


For Family Home Evening I brought out our newly purchased Nativity set and tried to teach Abby about the true meaning of Christmas. Why we "really" celebrate it. She had fun holding all the peices but she clearly didn't hear a thing. That night before bed I couldn't help but laugh as she was praying and actually had the nerve to sincerely say, "we are thankful for....Santa Claus." Yes Abby, we are thankful for Santa, and many MANY other things as well:))











Sam is keeping us busy. We took the kids swimming this past week and it was such fun. Sam however was content to just sit on the edge or better yet, "leapfrog" all around the deck of the pool.
Oh well, atleast he was saying "rriibbitt" which helped ease any fears I had that he doesn't talk. Plus, I think the little amount of Chlorine he did come in contact with helped wash some of this mess off of him.












I had to post these two pictures as well. Both are of the kids' bedroom door. Abby has been doing so much art work, at home and school that she has begun taping her best work to her door. I personally think she just enjoys using the tape all by herself, but whatever. It made us laugh though as we went to bed the other night, we glanced at the door and something caught our eye. She had actualy taped the roll of TAPE onto the door. Goof.



This second picture shows what has become a daily routine in our home. Because there is a good inch or two of a gap between the door and the floor, this is now what happens. Every afternoon when Sam wakes up from his nap he crawls out of bed, onto the floor and lies there watching us all until we notice that he is awake. Sometimes he will stick an arm or a leg out when he really wants to be noticed. For the most part though, he just lays there...watching. Creepy.




Oh yeah, this is a terrible picture but I'm very proud of this quilt that I made. I don't sew, (if you don't believe me just ask my seamstress/sister, jewel). But I did do this quilt for my Mother-in-law. It has all the handprints of her kids, their spouses, and her grandkids on it. I had hoped she'd get to use it lots before she passed away, but I barely got it done in time for her to use it for a few days. Still, it meant a lot to me to do this. Probably the one and only time I'll sew in my entire life:))












Well that is about it for now. The tree is up. decorations up? ...check. Nativity out? ...check. Stockings hung?...check. Christmas is comin' fast. Am I ready for it?...not even close!

I had posted an entry yesterday about the recent passing of my Mother-in law, but I deleted it last night. I guess I feel like I cannot adequately express my feelings, nor the love and admiration I have for this woman. For the past year she battled pancreatic cancer in, at times, an almost heroic way. Now that she is gone it seems a little bit weird to just pick up and carry on with things. John is back at work. All of the famiy have returned to their homes, and now we are trying to get back into our normal routine. The only thing is that Marilyn was such a part of our daily routine. This amazing woman meant the world to us. I will miss her very much. My heart goes out to John, his Dad and all of the family. Love you all.

Congratulations!!

John's brother just called and told us that he's engaged and we are thrilled thrilled thrilled. Congratulations you two. Another amazing sister-in-law!!! AHHHHHH!! Yippppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Did we mention how excited we are?)

Winding Down

How was Halloween for us? Picture this. A beautiful little "Dorothy", a "scarecrow", a "very cute witch", a "tin-man", and ...a Frog? Yes a frog. After working endlessly on these costumes, and then spending a week trying to get sam to wear his...Sam refused to be the lion and instead dressed up as a frog. There is no FROG in the wizard of oz!! Ruined! My theme...was ruined:)) Perhaps I may have tried too hard:) Note to self: Next year...don't sweat it as much. (Luckily I did get some photos last week of everyone dressed up so scroll down to see them.) Notice i'm NOT posting pics of my little frog today. grrrr.

Having said that, it was definately a fun night. John celebrated his 32 birthday as well which made festivities extra great. Gotta love the moments when ya get to celebrate "John"!! I think I have the best husband in the WORLD! His parents came over for crepes and of course the tradional 32nd annual "Ghost cake with flaming eyes".

After dinner...time to Trick or Treat.
Abby...and I had been looking forward to this for weeks. Infact there may have been moments when I might have been skipping right alongside her I could hardly contain myself. Sam and John joined us for a bit of the evening. By the end of the night I think Sam started to grasp the concept of Trick or Treating. For the most part though he wanted only to hold his little chocolate bar (his first of the night) tigthly in his little fist, and heaven help the person who tried to pry that little candy away from him. When it came time to taking more candy he wouldn't because he refused to loosen his grip on the one he already had. Talk about missing the forest for the trees! Oh well. Sam is content.

Today has been much quieter. (is that a word) Took down the decorations because let's face it, after the holidays... decorations just look bad. Died my hair...dark. Bought some of these from Bellababies , Ate the last peice of John's birthday cake, but mostly just tried to get back to a normal routine.

Noticed some Christmas commercials today. Already? ... Can't wait.





John- Happy Birthday! XOXOX

Halloween Week!!!!!

K as a premise to this very long post, I must say, I LOVE Halloween. Christmas is nice, valentines is ok but Halloween, is my favorite day of the year. I love every thing about it- the pumpkins, trick or treating, dressing up... I am really quite over-the-top about this holiday and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Our costumes are ready, with some of us having two costumes. (seperate events of course:)) The house is decorated and we've been baking up some goulish recipes. Most of them have tasted as scary as they've looked but hey it's all good.

Perhaps my love for this holiday has something to do with the fond memories I have of halloween as a child. When it came to celebrating holidays, nobody did it better than my Dad. We'd almost always help him make a homemade pizza, then we would get into our costumes an hour before leaving the house (thus becoming overheated and cranky) and then ...finally...it would be time to go trick or treating. Dad thought through this outing carefully making sure that we stopped at the local dentist (for a toothbrush) the milkman (who gave away chocolate milk), and the Cooks (who always gave away the big chocolate bars.) We cleaned up. When we got tired, and no sooner than that, we would head home and dump all of our "loot" into a giant roaster and then the four of us kids, wide eyed and brimming with excitement would just sit and marvel at all we got. Of course it was an unspoken rule that the coffee crisp bars were off limits. They belonged to Dad! Even after we grew up and had kids of our own he would still buy a ridiculous amount of candy, WEEKS in advance and dump it all into that same vat of a roaster, and just wait for the moment that he could divide it up and deliver it to each of his grandkids.

I've often thought about how much more enjoyable holidays have become to me since having kids. It is fun to be able to go back and experience that excitement all over again through the eyes of our little ones. That said we've been busy celebrating already! Here is some of the scary things we've brewed so far.



My sister Jewel sewed this Dorothy dress for Abby! She's amazing.



John is so patient. He's willing to go along with whatever silly things I try to orchestrate. He'd probably be fine with not dressing up at all!!!



Lovely. Doesn't he play the part of the cowardly lion well. Personally, I think he is crying because he has no c -c- c- courage:)


I made this costume up for John last minute because I knew he really didn't want to show up at the High school on Wednesday and teach a bunch of high school students, dressed as the tin man. (We likely will all wear different costumes at different times throughout the week.)

We've got a lot planned! "Boo at the zoo" in Calgary...Halloween party on Tuesday...pumpkin carving...trick or treating on Wednesday...Johns Birthday (on halloween day).... The next 7 days will be a lot of FUN!


Monster toes and fingers.