So many cookies...

I love my traditions.  This year I was able to make my traditional Santa cookies.  322 of them.  I always think that I can cut down the list, but who wants to be cut off.  The most I've ever made was 465.  A few years ago I timed myself to see just how long it really takes to make them.  It averaged out to about 10-11 minutes per cookie.  What a 'crazy labor of love' - as my SIL, Lindsay says.

Here are photos I took of the decorating process.

Santa- fresh baked and cooled.

Santa with his mouth and cheeks colored and hat with sprinkles.

Santa with beard frosted and coconuted.

Finally, piped frosting for the mustache, pompom, hat trim, and eyebrows.

Here's one of the batches I did.

And here's what I look like after finishing late one night.  Exhausted mommy.

This year I did a few variations.

The normal cookie with coconut beards.

Sprinkle beards for the kids' classroom treats.

Jesse's -end of the dough - tiny santa

And, by request our Auntie Megan wanted -- abominable Snowman.

Which, I might add, are delicious.  I had to sample one to make sure they were edible.

Happy Birthday Keeley!

Today is Keeley's 8th Birthday!

Keeley is my green eyed beauty. 

She is in second grade and is finally liking school.  She loves to read now, and often spends time laying on her bed absorbed in a book. She is a great helper when she wants to be.  She often asks me what she can do to help me.  I love that!  Keeley loves to sing, make up dances, read the scriptures by herself, and evidently she really likes to clean her room - because she spends a lot of time doing it.

Keeley shared her hair in January with Locks of Love and sports a short do.  She can't wait until it grows back in, and often tells me how much she misses her long hair.  I think that she is wonderful to have donated it to someone else who needed it more than she did.

Keeley is learning to play the piano.  She is really, quite good. She loves to sing while she plays.

Here she is at her recital this April.

She played T-ball on the same team this year and loved it. She can hardly wait until she can play machine pitch in the spring and was very upset that they raised the age for playing basketball to third grade and up in the city leagues.  There's always next year.

Her team won the best banner contest in the season's opening parade and got to have a pizza party.

Keeley is a very versatile girl who loves looking pretty, playing in dirt, wearing sparkly clothing, going camping, fishing and everything in between.

She had so much fun this summer with my cousin Emily.  They were fast friends.  Here they are in a driftwood fort they build together on the beach in Bandon, OR.

Keeley loves Andee.  She loves to take over the mothering of her and will spend time playing with her.

  Keeley got the Star Writer award earlier this year in school.  Her teachers love to have her in class because she is a model student.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Keeley.  Mommy and daddy are so proud of the girl you are.  You are so special to us.  We are so glad that you have decided to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and be baptized. 

Ok ~it has taken me too long to think of these...

My 100

Here are 100 things about me. 

List began 11-16-07...
Thanks for the Idea Linds!

1. I love being a wife.
2. I love being a mom.
3. I love nights that I don't have to cook. Ward party here we come!
4. I have naturally curly hair.
5. Being Primary President is the hardest calling I've ever loved. addendum... I am no longer Primary President, I'm YW President, but the comment now applies to this calling too.
6. I hate Sunday morning calls that teachers are sick, or out of town and don't have a sub.  Woo hoo-- don't get those anymore.
7. Getting up early to exercise has been my plan for months now, I'm just not very good at it.  Doing it now :)
8. Back me into a corner and I'll usually end up crying about something.
9. I love steak.
10. I hate finding boogers wiped anywhere.
11. I frequently find them on sheets, walls, carpet (saw Jesse wiping his nose like that last night), book shelves, and the leather sofas.
12. I love being gravid. (pregnant)
13. I love to learn new words and looking through the dictionary.
14. I love curling up with a good book.
15. Sometimes my kids have to repeat themselves three or four times if I'm into a book.
16. I'm not a great housekeeper, but a great house cleaner.
17. I think I need to be more organized. I'm not unorganized, but I could be better.
18. My hotspots are the top of my dresser and the top of the microwave. Things are frequently deposited there to be dealt with later.
19. I love fall and spring.
20. I love flowers, especially geraniums - I have 18 of them wintering over in Andee's room.  That was last year, but this year I'll be starting my seeds soon after Christmas.
21. I love nursing my babies.
22. Thunder makes me feel excited.
23. I love to bake.
24. I don't wear my wedding ring very much.
25. Computer time is my guilty pleasure.
26. I love caramel, Mrs. Richardson's to be exact, on my vanilla ice cream.
27. My favorite treat is the one I'm eating.
28. I try to read the Ensign each month before the end of the month and usually make it.
29. Last week was the first time I've printed any pictures for over three years.
30. I hate math, and I'm embarrassed to say that Aubrie is better at her mult. facts than I am.
31. I love my hair long, until it is so long that it gets caught behind my back when I sit down.
32. I only like to use red polish on my toenails and clear on my fingernails.
33. If something gets put into the diaper bag on Sunday, it is usually there until the next Saturday night when I'm preparing for the next use. Even if I use the bag during the week.
34. We have over 20,000 songs on a separate hard drive.
35. I hate cleaning up barf!  ~still :)
36. Green and pink are my favorite colors.
37. I start lots of things, like this list, and have lots of things waiting to finish. Like my kitchen cupboards.
38. I would sleep in every day if I could.
39. I love Designed to Sell on HGTV.
40. I am good at copying others bright ideas or adapting them for my needs!
41. I have a pillow fight every Monday morning with Jesse an Andee as we change the sheets on the beds.
42. I've lost 20 lbs. in the last year. 
43. I like to make jewelry for myself and others.
44. When I do laundry there are usually a few left over loads that wait, and wait to be folded.
45. I love nights when I sleep all night!
46. I like to try new recipes.
47. I do not like very much sea food.  Usually only eat it in Bandon.
48. I hate chopping onions.
49. I love to exercise and feel my body working from the inside out!  So why do I fall off of the band wagon so often?!  Good question.
50. I have had gum transplant surgery. 
51. I assisted in the delivery of 5 puppies by C-section.
52. I have lived in 5 cities, 3 apartments, and 4 homes since being married.
53. I go to the Temple at least once a month, but usually 2 or 3 times.
54. I only have 2 or 3 pairs of shoes I love.
55. Sometimes I still dream that I can fly.  I have to flap.  :)
56. I cut my husband's and boy's hair.
57. I cut my own hair too!
58. I admire those who can take good photos.  I am not skilled with a camera.
59. I love hand-me-downs.  Clothes, decorations, etc.
60. I love to give compliments.
61. I love listening to my kids -when they aren't fighting- as they interact with each other.
62. I love to look at old photos.
63. I like to read journals.
64. When I'm itchy, I scratch my head or my back.
65. My toenails curl (at the sides) like my dad's.
66. I dislike having hairy legs.
67. I don't like to admit when I can't do everything and be everything to everyone.
68. I had stitches A LOT as a child. And broken bones.
69. I have a chickenpox scar on my cheek, because I just couldn't leave the scab alone like my mom said I should!!!  YES, I was a picker.
70. I used to have a really nice tan every year.
71. I teach my kids swimming lessons every year and save myself over $400 every summer!
72. I love to swim.
73. I don't like to be in charge of things, tell me what to do and I can make it the best you've ever seen.
74. I enjoy sewing.
75. I am finally finishing my girl's bedspreads that I  began making over 5 years ago.  Yes, they have been sitting in a closet waiting...
76. The only magazines I subscribe to are The Ensign, The Friend, and LDS Living.
77. My favorite Primary songs are I Know My Father Lives, Child's Prayer, and Word of Wisdom.
78. I occasionally sing in the Ward choir.
79. It drives me nuts when the chorister leads a congregational hymn too slowly.  Maybe her arm won't go faster.
80. I am generally not a complainer.
81. I love making bread for my family.
82. I wear contacts, unless my eye allergies are acting up.
83. I haven't kept in contact with anyone from High School, and only one person from College.  I need to find people.
84. I finished my last final the day before Matt and I got Married.  Then He picked me up and we went through a live session at the SLC Temple. It was great.
85. I have been married to Matt for 14+ years and love him more than the day we wed.
86. I generally don't remember names of people very easily.
87. I don't follow the lives of Hollywood stars.  I've never been interested.
88. I have never smoked or had alcohol to drink -- never wanted to.
89. I waited until I was 16 to have my first date.
90. I love making cards.
91. I am terrible at scrap booking.
92. I love to listen to piano music, but can't play.
93. I love watching the light in my kids' eyes as they succeed at something and know that I am watching.
94. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.
95. I normally have a inny- but with my small hernia it looks like an outty.
96. I love looking at Christmas light with my family.
97. I am not afraid of spiders until they jump at me. EXCEPT black widows, I just can't stand them and sometimes have nightmares about them after thinking about them.
98. I love animals.
99. I have never caused or been involved in an car accident.
100. As a child I'm sure I wore out numberless pairs of pants pretending to be a horse.

Now you know all the things about me that you wish you never knew.  Now it is your turn, if you didn't do it like everyone else last year.

Puttin' my leafy babies to bed...

OK ~ so today I admit that winter is on it's way...

Today I pulled my geraniums from the ground.

Every year, for the past three, I've dug my geraniums from the ground and safely stored them in the crawl space of my home all winter.  (My Bishop's wife has done it for over 15 years- same geraniums- they look like small trees they are so huge) I've only had three fatalities, -if they are too small they may not have enough in them to hibernate all winter.  I took 20 out of the ground this year.

They are tucked safely in for the winter.  Some of them are getting so huge that I may have to place them into the crawl space individually next year instead of in my old bins.

A last look.  I'll show you what they look like in the spring.  I promise they wont look the same and you may think that I'm crazy for putting them back in my yard the way they look.  --You may just think I'm crazy... ;)

Proud as punch...

The other day Jesse came in carrying a bunch of grapes.  It has been weeks since I have payed any attention to the grapes in the yard. 

He had eaten numerous grapes off of the bunch before I saw him, and I was a little shocked when I saw the state of the bunch...

Did you say eeew?  Me too.  I hope they weren't fermented yet.  I don't think I could be hungry enough to eat those.  I didn't even want to test them to see if they were still good.

 

Here's what we've been up to...

I have not been hibernating.  This is what I've been up to...

I have spent every waking and sleeping hour for the last three weeks designing a pattern for and making Aubrie's 'Queen Amidala' costume.  It turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself.

I was looking at these photos from  http://www.padawansguide.com/red_invasion_gallery.shtml   to make the pattern.

Keeley didn't want to be anything to do with Star Wars.  She loves the kimono I made for Aubrie a few years ago.

With a twist!

 

Chinese Vampire.

Henry wanted to be Anakin.  Easy, no sewing involved.

Accidentally bought one size too big, maybe I can convince him to wear it for the next few years.   I won't hold my breath.

Jesse the Storm Trooper.  Also no sewing involved.

Andee in her homemade, but not by this mom, Yoda outfit. Purchased on eBay for $5, thank you very much! 

The weather couldn't have been better for our annual trunk-or-treat.  Cool, slight breath of a breeze.  No coats required.

Of course this year Keeley went to bed with a tummy ache.  Hopefully she won't barf at 2 a.m. this year.   I won't hold my breath for that one either.

Picture Tag!

I've been tagged.

The rules are you go into your picture file and go to the fourth file and fourth picture.

Matt Feb 2006. On a fishing trip with Scott McBride --caught this beauty.

I tag Tera, Lindsay, Heather, and Lindsay.

It's FRIDAY ! ! !

I LOVE Fridays!  It is our weekly pizza and family movie night.  No cooking for mom!  Yahoo!  Tonight's movie is 'Now you see him, now you don't' -- the old Disney sequel to 'The Computer wore tennis shoes'.  If you haven't seen them I highly recommend them for good, clean family viewing. 

I have been sick this week with a bad cold.  Not just the sniffles and sinus stuff, this one has been bad.  By the end of the day it is all I can do to crawl into bed.   Terrible sinus pressure, coughing lung butter (sorry for that image), headaches, and all over body aches have been my fare this week.   Hopefully I will be doing better, soon.

Yesterday I went on a field trip with KEELEY.  It was the annual 2nd grade Country Mercantile Fall festival trip.  We rode the bus to the mercantile, rode a wagon sitting on straw bales, picked out the perfect pumpkin, climbed a straw pyramid, went thru the kid sized straw bale maze, pet numerous animals, and had a cookie with juice.  It was lots of fun and of course I didn't remember the camera until we were on our way.  DANG! 

On the way home I asked Keeley, "What was your favorite part?" -Trying mentally to think what she would pick, to my surprise she said, "Spending time with you, mommy."  What a happy mommy I was then. 

Times like these I just want to frame in my memory so I'll never forget them.  Especially the next time I look at the floor in Keeley's room. :)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Loved it...

Conference was wonderful.  Loved so many talks.  I can't wait to get the Conference Ensign issue.

We went out to Matt's parent's to watch conference.  So many cousins to play with.  The kids had a great time and are still so tired from constant playing for two days. 

I always love going to the in-law's to watch.  We have time to chat and relax.  We always have a great time.  Sharon & Marv, thanks for putting up with the many and various messes every 6 months.  Especially the chocolate muffins.

How much can you eat...

Last week we had the privilege of feeding the missionaries.  We were making hamburgers.

You may think oh, look - Just enough burgers to feed Sheri's family and the missionaries.  But, you are WRONG.

I called the missionaries to let them know what we were fixing for dinner and to ask them how many burgers they would each eat, thinking they would say 'two each'.  The elder I was speaking to said "My companion said he would eat THREE (at this point I'm thinking "boy, these guys are hungry and probably haven't eaten all day")... and I'll have FIVE"!!!  He also told me that they had a meeting from two until six and then another appointment right after that so they would just swing by and pick up the food and eat it on the way to their appointment. 

So all of these burgers are for the two elders.  Matt thought that it would be funny to give them really BIG burgers.  Take a look at how thick they were.

I wish I could have been there to see them eat it.  On Sunday the elders said thanks again but didn't even mention how huge the burgers were.  Maybe they were coming off a fast or incredibly hungry.

 

Here's the finished product.  I also sent a bag of chips, some carrots and 3 dozen choc. chip cookies.

BON APPETITE!

I guess I will need to be prepared for a gigantic grocery bill when my boys get bigger.

Even if you never wondered...

Aubrie told me the other day that she doesn't remember ever seeing me with straight hair.  Today I straightened my hair to surprise her. 

 

Here's what I look like.

...her first comment..."I see a gray hair -- see, look."

It feels very strange and only took me an HOUR!  I did it today thinking that I wouldn't go anywhere or see anyone.  I've been to the library, the school to pick up a sick Henry, my visiting teacher stopped by with veggies from her garden, and I have a VT appointment too.  So much for not seeing too many people.