All I Want For Christmas...

When I took Hudson to the dentist a few months back, he took some x-rays. From those he told us that Hudson's top teeth were coming in nicely. He thought that he might lose them by Christmas. They have been wiggling for a month now, but image my surpise when he lost them 7 & 5 days before Christmas. I couldn't resist getting him to sing me this great song.

Winner!!! Winner!!!

We are so excited at our house because both boys won in the coloring contest. Hudson won at Roadster's Grille II and Chevy at Kelly's Subway. He won't let me just say Subway, because that was the heading on his picture "Kelly's Subway." For those of you who live over the border, the community puts out a coloring book in the newspaper every year, with about fifty pictures in it. You color the pictures and turn them back to the stores. They then hang them up for all to admire for a few weeks. Each business picks a few winners and give them a small prize (Chevy got a firetruck and Hudson the game Operation) and their picture in the newspaper. Both boys were tickled pink, but especially Chevy since hudson's winning call came first. Chevy was discouraged because he didn't color as many as hudson did. It looks like he picked the right one to color though. What a great activity for the cold month.

Let It Snow!!!

I am sure there are some of you out there, that will disagree with my title heading. I on the other hand had no where to go this morning, and given that it is twelve days to Christmas, was very welcoming to see the snow. The boys were out in it first thing too, how amazing it is that the ground can be covered so quickly. Our home poses a problem similar to most that live in this small community, the very long driveway. I am a little envious, OK a lot, to those of you who have paved driveways and sidewalks to go for walks on. Thank goodness for the tractor, or I would have to wait for the spring thaw.

He Aint No Scrooge!

Chevy has definitely gotten the true Christmas spirit. He has enjoyed wrapping presents so much that he has started taking his own toys and wrapping them up to give away to others. The fact that he LOVES tape doesn't hurt either. He is so sweet that he decided to wrap up a pair of his sunglasses for Mitch's aunt Janet. She is going blind, and he thought that new glasses would help her see better. I promise, I have not prompted this new compassionate demeanor. I guess Christmas makes us all feel like helping others!!

I have a dream...

Yes, just as Martin Luther King Jr. said, I have a dream. When I was a younger, every Christmas we got to count down to Santa with an advent calendar. My mother, the craftiest of all I know, made this and every pocket held a tree ornament and a letter(around the tree it would spell out MERRY CHRISTMAS) for us to take turns putting on. I remember switching the ornaments to get the one that I wanted, and inevitable my siblings would switch them back. Well last year I asked my mom if I could use the old calendar. She gave me that look that only a mother can. "Do you remember what it looks like?" she asked. It had been about fifteen years since I had seen it so I will admit I was a little shocked when I pulled it out. I do not remember it being LIFE SIZE. Also, several of the ornaments were a little worse for wear and the letters were demolished. I have spent that last year contemplating how to revamp my own advent calendar to make such great memories for my kids. It has taken a lot of time, ideas, and unneeded materials to make the finished product. I must admit, I am happy with the results. It is much smaller and I made it magnetic. My mom' s had Velcro on every ornament which constantly was pulling off and she had to re glue. We have only been using it for two days(I put on all the ornaments so you could get the full effect) and so far the boys are doing the same things my brothers and sister did. I think that it will be a great memory maker.

Ward Party

Tuesday night was our ward party. The kids got to jump out of gift boxes with bows tied around their necks. There was a great turnout which I'm sure is beacuse the kids were doing the program. What parent doesn't like to see their child on stage. They sang the songs wonderfully. I must admit I stole this overall shot from Heidi. My pictures were quite dark. Thanks Heidi!!

Tis The Season

Well, I have been waiting since last Christmas to put up my new tree. I got it at K-mart for $15. Mitch and my first christmas we got a real tree, and during the removal process, I spilled a lot of water on my brand new carpet. I was distraught and the next week I went out and bought a fake tree on clearance which was still about fifty dollars. It was a big one, to say the least, which was great when I didn't have three kids playing in the front room during the month it was up. It also had to have each branch put in each year.
THIS IS THE OLD ONE...IT REACHES FROM THE COUCH ALMOST TO THE TV CENTER.
The branch holding device broke last year, but my creative husband hooked me up good. So last year I was in the market for a new tree. I found this one with a strand of lights out(it's prelit another bonus), which Mitch fixed in about five minutes and we are off and running. It is probably a third the size, but I think it will be great. (Charee, I can't wait to see your new tree and fancy pics.)

I've Been Tagged

Mary tagged me a little bit ago to post the fourth picture out of my fourth folder. What I found brings back a lot of memories. We are at my brother-in-laws wedding. I am five days away from delivering Chevy, I didn't know it would be so soon at the time of the picture. Hudson(2), who might I say looks quite dashing in his tux, is picking me "pretty flowers"(dandelions) in the middle of this big field. My father in law caught this photo without us knowing it. I added a couple more cute tux shots, just because I love them. Thanks Mary!!

Brotherly Love!!!

I had only been back to sleep for about an hour. (Ellie decided that 5:00 was morning time this morning. And it took a while to convince her to go back to sleep.) When I heard the boys wake up. Instead of turning on the TV they decided to read a story. We had been to the dinner and a book at the library a couple of nights ago, and Hudson was reading Chevy his pirate book. Oh how I love it when they get along!

Should I Be Worried???

I am looking for honest motherly advice here. Should I be concerned that my young child likes to put a bag over his head, and quite frankly, resemble a thief/stalker. This bag came with golf balls in it, and Mitch thought that it would be great for the boys to carry around their treasures. Not long after that Chevy figured out that it fit his head perfectly, and he could use it like a helmet. I must say I get a little frightened when he does. Oh to be four and enjoying life to the fullest.

The Game

Ellie' got a brand new game. Her favorite new activity is to get a blanket for every baby. She then spread it out and puts the baby in it. The first few times it was adorable. You could tell that she had a mission in mind as she ran up and down the hall getting out a new blanket for everything that can be considered a baby. At my mom's she even got them all pillows to lay on. Now that I have folded twelve blankets twenty times, it is getting a little old. I am going to have to hide all of the extra blankets. I originally only had the first two pictures on this post, but as I was downstairs posting, she was upstairs spreading the love. I couldn't resist giving you one more shot.

AR Reading!!

Hudson is in the first grade now, and we have been welcomed to the world of AR reading. I must admit so far our experience has been a good one. I can certainly see the potential for problems to come. For now, Hudson is relishing in making it to 50 points (the first in his class) and the free donut that he got as the reward. He told me, as he was eating the donut, that he was "really proud of himself." I don't know where he gets this stuff.

My Biscuits are Burning!

I had decided to cook a ham last night. I had some buttermilk in the fridge that I needed to use so I went to work making my grandma's famous rolls. She passed away several years ago and no holiday has been quite the same since. My mother makes a very good version of these rolls, but as you all know with anything homemade, each person leaves their special touch. Without trying to brag I must say this batch turned out exceptional. No I don't think they are comparable to either of the great cooks I have to follow, but delicious to say in the least. I had to take a picture before I tasted them. So if they tasted nasty, atleast I had proof that they looked right. The pictures of Ellie are just an added perk of my great helper.

Happy Halloween

Prepare to be amazed by three totally non-related costumes.

Here is a picture of all three kids ready to go and get some candy. Ellie's excitement quickly fizzled out with about four trips in and out of the car. We took her and dad home while the boys and I hit the town hard. Hudson kept saying this is the best halloween ever, until the car began smoking. Chevy was certain that it was on fire and after the three of us were safely evacuated, Hudson turned to me with a look of horror on his face. "GET ELLIE'S BAG" he yelled. Yes no need to worry about the fact that we can't make it home, or mom's personal safety, no, we must save the candy. Everythings fine, just a leaking coolant hose.

Licking the batter!!

So I am finding that I am not good at blogging as things happen. I seem to save them up and then do a few entries at once. I need to be better. Here are two of my kids helping "do the dishes" shall we say, after a cookie making session. Even at a young age, there is something irresistable about raw cookie dough.

Hudson had the day off of school for teacher preparation. I decided to take the opportunity to go and check out the pumpkin walk. As we came in the parking lot, I was very nervous about all of the buses that were there. Luckily, most of the kids were leaving as we were coming. We saw some amazing things made out of pumpkins. My favorite had to be the emergency room display. They were operating on a pumpkin that was cut open with pumpkin guts spread all over. Very impressive, just like every year.

Mitch has made a couple of late night fishing trips to Bear Lake. They fish at night for the mac's. He hasn't gotten home until about 4 in the morning. The fishing has been great, except for the chilly weather. You have to be impressed by his hat flashlight.

Well, it is that time of the year. Halloween is just around the corner, and we've been waiting to carve our pumpkins. Hudson made me pencil it in, on the calendar, so I wouldn't forget. He has been wanting to carve them for three weeks now. I kept telling him "they won't last if we carve them too early". Ellie's experience was interesting to say the least. First she wouldn't touch the inside of the pumpkin. Then I couldn't get her to let me help clean it out. Once I coaxed it away from her, she tried a taste of the pieces that we had already cut out of the boy's. Amazingly, she decided that raw pumpkin does not taste good. Who would have guessed.

Mitch has got his deer for the year. No, it isn't big and fancy, but it did taste amazingly better than the last deer that I ate. It will also supply us with an abundance of jerky to enjoy over the long winter. What great food storage, right? The boys were a little nervous to get to close. We have lots of deer around the house and they have been told not to play with them. They have tried on several occasions to shoot them with their pretend bows. Unfortunately, as they run through the field yelling "we're gonna shoot you" the deer seem to run away.

We decided that there were probably not going to be many more good days to go on rides, so we loaded up the ranger on Saturday. We made our way up to Franklin basin and enjoyed a picnic in the dirt.

We continued on our jurney to the "hollow tree". There are a couple of different stories about it. One is that the post office used to use it to store mail that was coming from one state to the other. Another story is that butch cassidy would hide his bank robbery money in it. The third story that I've heard is that the bootleggers used to use it to hide moonshine. Whatever the story, it is pretty cool to see. There is a blackened upper branch on it that Mitch said was struck by lightning last year. We had a great time, and ended the season perfectly.

Ellie got to enjoy her first ever oreo cookie. I had bought the special Halloween addition so the frosting in the middle is orange. I'm not sure, but I think she liked it!! Her brothers have taught her that she has to dip her cookies in milk. So I have to take the lid off of her sippy cup. The bad thing now is, she wants to dip everything: bread, chicken, noodles it all needs milk.

I am sure as many of you did I awoke to snow this morning. I got a sweet wake-up call from Chevy, who came in and told me that there was snow everywhere!! He said that he went in the front room to look and see if we had a christmas tree and presents. I told him that it was a little early for that yet. We had to use his Halloween costume first. We did have more than is in the pictures, but it melted during church. I didn't take any until the afternoon when it started up again. I told Mitch that I did feel like going Christmas shopping though. It seems I need the weather to get me in that state of mind.