What is it about Winter?

As I am sitting down to write my weekly blog update, I have been going through the last week in my head,I have looked through my pictures and despite being busy and definitely doing stuff, I can't say that I have lots to show for it. In the summer, even in the slower weeks, I still have lots of pictures and it seems like we do a lot more. I definitely enjoy the warmer weather much more than the cooler weather...good thing I live where I live. It definitely has something to do with winter! Here is what we DID do this last week.

The girls have started back to dance. They both still very much enjoy taking dance and are looking forward to another semester. Bayley also has started swimming once a week. It is just enough to keep her excited, but not burnt out about swimming. And starting next month all three kids will be playing in a local church basketball league. Kendal is especially excited and hopefully the other two have a good experience. It should be fun to watch!

The kids and I spent the weekend in Georgia helping my parents paint. Jeff stayed home and spent the weekend participating in church activities. We all met back up Sunday just in time to get ready for another week...a lot more of the same!

Celine, Skating, Training & Foam

So we enjoyed a few "firsts" this week. After over a year wait, Jeff and I were finally able to see Celine Dion in concert for the first time. I have wanted to see Celine in concert since she started her shows in Vegas many years ago. I was very disappointed that I was never able to catch her in concert during my trips to Vegas. So when I found out that she would be touring, I asked Jeff for tickets to her concert last year for Christmas. He obliged and after hiding the tickets in my sock drawer for the last year, we were finally able to use them on Saturday. The concert was great! I would definitely go to see her concert again...a good indicator on my value scale.

The view from our seats in Phillips Arena

Kendal experienced a first this week as well. Yesterday for MLK day, she accompanied Bayley and her friend to the local skating rink to give rollerskating a try. I prepped her the entire day leading up to going that she WAS going to fall and that it might hurt. She did awesome for her first time. She did not complain once and she really seemed to enjoy it! She was fine going off on her own and was very patient with herself as she learned a new skill. It probably wasn't the best day to be learning how to skate, as every other kid off school decided that the skating rink was the place to be...it was so crowded! I definitely think that she will want to go back!

Trey was our other child to experience a "first". For the first time ever he did something other than #1 in the potty...if you know what I mean. We have slowly begun the potty-training process with our youngest son. It is going to take a while, but hopefully by the time he is 3 years old, we will have it down. Until then, we just talk about it a whole bunch and celebrate any little milestones that we make!

Trey with his Foam airplane (he loved the foam)

Finally this week, the kids played with play foam for the first time. For those of you that may not be familiar with foam, it is wonderful. It is similar to play-doh in that you can shape it and store it, but better than play-doh in that it never dries out and seems to stay together much better. The kids loved it and all three played for over an hour with their foam. I will have no problem pulling out our foam again!

Kendal's creations

Routine is a Good Thing

I love routine...always have. My kids have always been very scheduled...I work around their schedules most of the time to ensure that they hit their nap times and that we get to bed around 7:30 pm. Not only are my kids happier and more well-behaved, but it sure makes my life as a mom much more enjoyable. The only time that our schedules get way out of whack seem to be over vacations, which I know comes with vacations and allows us to get more done and spend more quality time with family and friends. However, by the end of a vacation my kids are usually fried! And it takes a couple of days at least to get back on schedule. Last week we did much better and guess what?? I yelled a lot less, enjoyed my kids a lot more and they were much happier! Ta-da.

Happy Kids = Happy Mom

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Her Webkinz named Tiger

It is hard to believe that Christmas is over and we have already started the New Year. I can't believe how quickly Christmas came and went...I guess when you are having fun that is when time seems to move very quickly. We had a great Christmas. It was fun spending lots of time in Georgia with the Griffeth's, but it was also nice to be able to run back to Alabama for a good nights rest in our own beds and to still get a few things done over the break. The kids I think have had a great couple of weeks. For the most part they stayed healthy over the break, which made things not only more enjoyable for them but also for me. We did however have a one-day health scare with Trey who had some sort of asthma/bronchial attack last Sunday. He woke up Sunday morning with what I thought was the beginning of a cold with a cough. By Sunday afternoon he was coughing continously and having a hard time catching his breath. I took him to Urgent care where they quickly took us back and took his oxygen levels. Based upon his initial readings the doctor came in and said that they were going to start a breathing treatment and were calling the ambulance to have Trey transported to the Children's Hospital. Trey has had one of these "attacks" once before and after a breathing treatment quickly recovered...so I begged the doctor to wait on the ambulance and give the breathing treatment a try. To my relief, he responded very quickly and very well to the breathing treatment so the doctor let us proceed home on our own with a couple of prescriptions and orders to take him directly to the ER if he started having problems breathing again. By the next day you would have never had known that he had cough the day before.

Kendal and her dogs!

We really did have a great Christmas break. The kids loved how Santa new exactly what they wanted without them even having asked him for certain things. It was AMAZING! Our big family gift this year was the Wii...we have had a great time playing together as a family. I love how interactive it is and how the girls can compete with the Big Kids (Jeff and I). Jeff surprised me this year with a great present...one of those big Food Storage shelves that holds up to 600 cans and helps you rotate your food storage. Not only is it a very practical gift, but he also got a great deal (you know I was super Happy, not only with the practicality of the gift but also that he saved some $). My parents also gave us some money for Christmas to put towards increasing our food storage...it is one of our goals this year to organize and ensure that we have our years supply. Another gift I am really excited about is our new Flip camera...I am still testing it out, but so far I think it is going to be AWESOME. The blog will definitely be featuring more video in the near future!

Trey filling up his new dump truck with Barbies!

Bayley doesn't go back to school until Wednesday of this week, so we still have a couple of more days to go in our Christmas break. I am sure the next two days will be busy and fun...then it is back to the routine, which I think we all may be ready for!

Tis' the season to be busy...but we are loving it!

Last week I began a post with an update of what our family has been up to this year, but I guess that post is going to have to wait, because December has been a fun and exciting month. I've got lots to post about.

Last weekend was Bayley's and Kendal's Christmas Dance Recital. The recital in and of itself takes up a good portion of our week. They rehearse on Thursday and Friday nights and then the performance is on a Saturday night. It is always a crazy time of year to try to devote that much time to dance, however the girls love it and somehow we always make it work. This year Bayley performed the Christmas Waltz and Kendal the Christmas Polka. Both girls did a wonderful job and looked beautiful. Grandpa and Grandma "G" were able to come and enjoy the performances with us...the girls have loved their yellow roses all week!

While I headed to rehearsal with the girls on Friday night, Jeff and Trey joined the branch for some caroling...yes, we sent our best singers! It was a cold night and we quickly realized the Trey does not have any gloves or a warm hat the fits...so rather than dressing him in pink hat and gloves, which we do have in abundance, Jeff grabbed one of his hats and some random gloves...aren't my boys so cute!

The girls and I met up with the boys for hot chocolate and donuts afterwards...which is always a hit around here.

I finally made it the mall for the first time this holiday season last week. Kendal quickly jumped up on Santas lap and told him she wanted 3 puppy dogs...a far cry from a couple of years ago when she would only shout her wishes for "boots" to Santa. Kendal has trully caught the Christmas spirit this year. As I was preparing my Christmas cards, she decided that she wanted to write her own set of Christmas cards. She took it upon herself to write a Christmas card to each of our neighborhood dogs. I have to say that she really got into it. She had me write down what she wanted each card to say and then she copied it onto the card in her own handwriting. Then of course, she hand delivered each and every one. It really was so cute!

Trey on the other hand is still a little weary of Santa. On our first visit to see Santa he refused to even get out of the stroller. But by the second visit, he was ready to sit on his lap. He still walks around telling everyone who asks that he wants a Barbie...you should see the funny looks we get from strangers who have asked, but recently we have gotten him to add on that he wants a boy Barbie. It should be an interesting Christmas morning to see if the Boy Barbie is really what he wanted. Last night was our Branch Christmas Party. I asked him if he wanted to wear his Christmas hat to the party and he ended up wearing about half of the time. He is such a funny kid.

Bayley is excited to be out of school for the next couple of weeks. Besides being out of school she doesn't have any dance or swim practices, making it a true vacation. She loves breaks, but by the end she is usually ready to get back into the swing of things. This year her Christmas list includes Pixos, shoes and clothes. It is going to be so nice to be able to spend Christmas morning at our house this year. As much as me LOVE seeing our families and spending Christmas with them, the hauling of kids and presents over Christmas can be a bit exhausting. This year we get the best of both worlds. We get to spend Christmas morning at our house, then head off for hot cinnamon rolls and Christmas Day with the Griffeths. Believe me, Bayley is looking forward to those cinnamon rolls...she has listed them on every assignment that had to do with Christmas at school!

Jeff is taking this week off from work. We are so excited about spending this great time of year together as a family. Despite how busy we have been, we have loved the opportunities we have had to think about our Savior, his life and miraculous birth.

Another 1/2?

Chief Ladiga Trail 1/2 Marathon

So my "retirement" from long races was short-lived. On Saturday I ran my third 1/2 marathon. My sister-in-law Leigh who hadn't really trained for the race, ran with me and totally kicked my behind. She is an awesome runner, so despite my lackluster training she pushed me to finish in 2 hours and 18 minutes (only 9 minutes off my best time, when I did train hard). It was a lot of fun, but I could barely move by Saturday night. I am much better today. I also want to give a quick shout out to my friend Corrie, who also trained and completed the race. Great job...how about Nashville in April?

An Indiana Thanksgiving 2008

This year we had the opportunity of spending our Thanksgiving break with Jeff's family. We left last Tuesday around noon and arrived at our first stop about 9 p.m. The kids did pretty well in the car...what did we do before portable DVD players? On the way there they were able to watch 6 movies...instead of gauging distance by time we now gauge distance to destination by the amount of movies that will be watched.

Wednesday we spent the day with Jeff's dad, Terri, Erin and Great Grandma and Grandpa Thornton. We had a great time and Grandpa Thornton did a great job picking out the kids Christmas presents. Bayley got the Christmas Barbie that she has been wanting, Kendal got an adorable Tinker Bell outfit, and Trey got an AWESOME Black and Decker Tool Set. Trey loved the set, but he also really liked the girls gifts...he took his turns playing with Barbie and wearing Tinker Bell....what are we going to do with this boy? It was so nice to be able to see them and spend time with them.

Trey posing as a toy in a boxTrey and Daddy workingKendal as "Tinker Bell"Bayley with her new Barbie

The Thornton's

Thursday we were blessed to be able to enjoy two Thanksgiving dinners. The first go around was at Jeff's Aunt Joanne's house. The food was great and it was fun getting to see that side of the family. The kids had a great time playing with Joanne's boys, Alex and Ben and they definitely put on a show. Trey was as wound up as I have seen him...by the end of the afternoon he was sweating. Next we headed to Jody and Marty's (Jeff's sister and brother-in-law) for another round of eating and fun. For the first time ever we were able to enjoy our turkey, deep-fried. It was actually very good and very moist. By the end of the evening we were stuffed and tired...isn't that the way the a good Thanksgiving is supposed to end?

Friday was "Black Friday"...probably one of my most favorite non-holiday days of the year. It has been a tradition in my family for many years, to get up early and hit the after Thanksgiving sales. I LOVE IT! It is crazy...tons of people battling it out to find and get the best deals...it could almost be a sport. This year I left the house at 4:30 a.m. I arrived at the closest Wal-Mart and 4:45 a.m. and there were ZERO parking spots available...it was the busiest I have ever seen it. After parking illegally along a curb I raced into the store to vie for the best position and to stake out the items on my list. The madness started at 5:00 a.m. and I exited the store with everything on my list at 5:22 a.m....SUCCESS! I also hit the mall and a couple other stores and was back home before 10:00 a.m. I got a big chunk of my Christmas shopping done and saved a bunch of money. The rest of Friday we were able to spend with Jeff's mom at the house. The kids played with their cousin Sydney, did crafts and for the first time that week Kendal and Trey took a nap. Sleep was not a major priority during the trip, but by the end of the week we were feeling the effects. It is going to take a couple of days to truly feel like the kids are caught up and back to normal.

Trey smiling because he got to touch the Polly Pocks

The kids also got loaded up with fun stuff at Grandma Nancy's house. Not only did they get to paint plates and figurines, but they also go their Christmas presents. As much as Trey loved his Elmo doctor kit, he really was digging the girls Polly Pockets (or polly pocks as Trey called them). They also all got cool new pajamas and some really nice Sunday clothes. The looked very sharp today at church. An added bonus this time around was that Saturday was Grandma Nancy's birthday. The kids were excited that they were able to spend some time with her on her actual birthday. She is a great Grandma who as usual was a wonderful host!

Grandma Nancy with grand kids on her Birthday

We had a great trip and feel so lucky to be blessed with such wonderful families. We truly have a lot to be grateful for again this year and family is definitely on the top of the list!