Wordless Wednesday--Some Favorites of 2008

Happy New Year everyone!! Hope your 2009 is full of many smiles and great memories!

Merry Christmas!

My parents arrived yesterday, and we are loving it. I think, for the most part, you won't see many posts from me in the next week or so. I'm going to save my energy and time for playing with the girls and Grandma and Grandpa. So, I thought I'd leave you with a little thought.

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful!"
--Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Season for Gratitude”

May your Christmas be filled with the love of Jesus Christ. Our Savior's love truly is the most powerful and beautiful thing in my life. It makes all other wonderful things in my life, such as family and friends like all of you, that much more meaningful. Merry Christmas!

Oooooh,oh,oh

We've been counting down the days, and now we're counting down the hours, until my parents arrive to spend Christmas with us. We've been planning menus and activities, doing crafts and cleaning. The twins thought it would be great to make Grandma and Grandpa their own stockings with initials, so they got to work. Cinderella let them do the creating while she e-mailed Grandma and Grandpa to tell them 'don't forget to forget your stockings.' I mean, why would they want their own stockings when they can use these beauties?
(I just love how hard Snow White is concentrating with her tongue hanging out.) Yesterday, King helped the girls clean up their rooms. I'm glad he helped; Cinderella needed serious help and possibly a backhoe. She has been saving things (like empty cereal boxes, shoe boxes, and candy wrappers) under her bed 'just in case she needs them for school or playing, or something' for months. I am afraid that this humongous bag of trash is only part of the evidence. SW and SB were much more efficient. Of course, their tendency toward "pack-rat" is much less severe. They blasted Daddy's 80's music, got to work, and were done in minutes. Now, their room is beautiful and the only thing I had to do was smile at their success. That and listen to them belt out these lyrics for the past two days:

"I was working as a waitress in a cocktailbar, that much is true....
Don't you want me, Baby? Don't you want me? Oooooh,oh,oh."

Totally worth it, don't you think? Grandma and Grandpa will love to hear them sing.

Swiped

...or wiped.
I am completely wiped out tonight, so I'm heading to bed early. There are three or four blog posts floating around in my head but I don't have the wherewithal to post them. So, I'm swiping a link from my friend, Lindsay, that she shared on her blog today. If you are a fan of Jane Austen (specifically Pride and Prejudice) and are even a little bit familiar with Facebook, you really have to check it out. Too clever. Click here.

Spy Tip

Just in case you want to be a spy someday, I'd like to let you know that using an iron to steam open envelopes really, really works. You could use this technique, too, if you wanted to get Christmas cards open that you forgot to put pictures in. Not that anyone would do that or anything. Because that would just be dumb. But, you know, just in case you did do that, it works to use an iron.

Dancing in the Dark

This past weekend, Snow White and her dance team danced at our local cultural center for the annual Luminary Walk. They danced outside, and the fact that it was about sixteen degrees with the wind chill didn't seem to phase them. They loved it, and were adorable to boot. If you'd like to see what it looks like to dance in the dark, in the snow, in below freezing temperatures, then you can click on over to our private blog and check it out. It's not great quality, but if you are a grandma, you might like it. I, for one, froze to death, and hope they are inside next year. Brrrr!

Sick

This morning, at 5:00 Snow White yells for me to come help her. She says she's going to throw up, and she needs a bowl because her legs are shaky. I blindly stumble into the kitchen to get the bowl, and when I get back to her room she says, "No,no! I don't want to be sick."

"I know Sweetie, I'm sorry. It's terrible."

"I can't! I can't!," she says, anguished. "I want to learn more about the Oregon Trail, and read my History Cards! I think maybe I can hold it in."

Too funny. I guess when I told her that she'd have to miss school anyway, it was okay to get it all out--for the next hour or so.

Then, Sleeping Beauty woke up with the chills. Somehow, she doesn't seem as sad to miss out on the History Cards, though. :)

So Many Choices

When Sleeping Beauty got her root canal after her dancing accident, the nice Endodontist gave her a $10 gift card to Target for being such a good patient. (King thought maybe if we had bought the gift card, then it may have cost us $90 less, but that's beside the point...) She was so excited to spend the money.

Now, if you know our Sleeping Beauty well, you know that making decisions is not her strong point. I was with her at the store for over an hour. I was very patient and let her roam the aisles to her heart's content. I didn't even beat my head against the wall when it took her ten minutes to decide between two stuffed animals. (Don't think it's because I'm nice, it's just that the image of her nearly jumping out of the dentist's chair when the dentist brushed her tooth nerve kept popping into my head, and I figured she deserved a little patience.)

In the end, she came away with a cute snow hat (yes, a practical purchase--that's my girl!) and Ziggity-Zag, the Zebra. (So named in memory of the condition of her broken off tooth.) I think she made some good choices.

Procrastination at it's Finest

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yes, I have loads to do.
Yes, I just wasted time uploading pictures to this dumb site.
Yes, I think it's pretty much the most hilarious thing I've seen today. The girls will love it.

Hair Cares

Yesterday morning, as I was in bed having what I'll call a "migraine hangover" (not to be confused with a real hangover, mind you--just picture bed spinning, dry mouth, nausea, and pounding headache, without the alcohol, but headache medicine that didn't even work instead. Sorry to complain. Anyway, the story...), King was getting the girls ready for school. I heard him talking to Snow White.

King: Are you almost ready? You have your coat on, but you haven't brushed your hair or teeth yet, have you?

SW: Like I care about that!

King: Well, don't you want to look nice for school?

SW: No. I really don't care about that.

Well then. I was too sick to ever hear if he made her care or not. I'm pretending that he did. Because, sadly, I do care. I really, really do. Even when I'm sick. I mean, who would want to leave the house without brushing their hair and teeth? Blech. I just don't get it.

It Had to be Done

*Male reader discretion is advised. Unless you enjoy shopping for bras and can relate. And if you do, please don't tell me--okay?*
Yesterday, I was called in to sub for a teacher at the girls' elementary school. When I got there, they said the "sub-getter lady"(they didn't call her that, they called her by her nice name) had messed up. I wasn't supposed to be there, but since I had done my hair, dressed in something other than jeans and a t-shirt, and actually shown up on time on a wintry morning, they were going to pay me anyway. Not so bad. I helped Snow White and Sleeping Beauty's teacher, which I would have happily done without getting paid, but I won't tell them that. Then I had the afternoon free.

I knew what I needed to do; I'd been pushing it to the bottom of my list for too long. I knew it was fate. I knew I was dressed and out the door on a morning when Kohls had 50% off deals for a reason. I must go buy that bra that I have needed for longer than I am willing to admit. Oh, the agony!!

Shopping for bras ranks up there on the 'list of horrible things to do' with things such as trying on swim wear, jean shopping, and pulling your nose hairs out. Not fun, but must be done. I decided to jump right in. I grabbed about twelve bras that I thought were my size to start my torture. It turns out that only two of them sort of fit--imagine that. But, they all had fabulous features that looked great.

There were things that made them each unique and quite desirable. One was "the softest bra ever" while another was "the bra with the softest touch". Another promised to "conceal in all the right places" which was in direct competition with the one that offered "full coverage with a sexy look." There were also many that promised "the perfect fit--guaranteed" (they didn't fit, by the way--do I sue, or just write a formal complaint? Will they give me my money back if I never actually bought them? I mean, it says guaranteed. Hmmm...) and several that would look "great under a t-shirt". (Which is good, because I usually don't wear them over my t-shirts. I'm not supposed to, am I?) One was designed to "minimize by at least 1.5 inches" (which I didn't really understand in my size, but anyway...) and another promised to "smooth out back fat." (Could they not think of anything else to call it? Back fat? That just sounds...gross. The feature did work, by the way. Not that I have back fat or anything. Because that would just be...um, gross.) I think I went back and forth from the dressing room at least three times and was in the store about an hour and a half. (Yes, this is one of the reasons I didn't ever have a bra that fit me well while I had three little girls at home. Can you imagine this with three grouchy onlookers? No thanks!)

In the end, I settled on something boring and reliable. Much like the rest of my wardrobe. It does have a fancy name to try to get it to seem like more than it really is: "the feeling sexy push-up". But I suppose if having the girls up where they belong, instead of in their post-nursing, hovering near your waist position is sexy, then the name fits. Or maybe I should wear the bra over the top of my t-shirt after all. That might be really sexy. Perhaps I've just been doing things wrong all along.

Blessings

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and hope you did, too. We feasted with friends, I got out shopping, and on Saturday, King and I spent the day with Cinderella and ten other youth in our ward at the temple. It was great to be there and was a fabulous way to spend a Saturday. While we were there, I kept thinking of this quote I read recently :

“When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before. The temple is about families. As my wife, Karen, and I have increased our temple service, our love for each other and for our children has increased. And it doesn’t stop there. It extends to parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, forebears, and especially our grandchildren! This is the Spirit of Elijah, which is the spirit of family history work; and when inspired by the Holy Ghost, it prompts the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Because of the priesthood, husbands and wives are sealed together, children are sealed to their parents for eternity so the family is eternal and will not be separated at death.”

Richard H. Winkel, “The Temple Is about Families,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 9

There really is no other place on earth where I feel a deeper love for my family and feel God's love stronger. I love attending the temple and am grateful to friends who helped us out so we could go.

Speaking of those friends, they shared a story with us when we returned home to pick up Snow White and Sleeping Beauty who stayed with them for the day.

During dinner, Sleeping Beauty commented on how great the meatballs were. Snow White agreed, and added something like, "Sometimes the meatballs my mom makes are kind of gross."

K replied, "Well, these are the same thing, it's your mom's recipe."

"Oh."

I guess K's blessed with extra meatball ability, or something. Maybe if I start calling them K's Meatballs when I make them, they'll have that added measure of something special and the kids will eat them without complaining. Or maybe not. It's worth a try, though.