What do you want for Christmas????

This year may be the last year my children love Santa -- because after He comes they are going to be very disappointed.  This year they both sat on Santa's lap and proceeded to ask him for live animals.  Addie REALLY wants a turtle -- or as she called it a turd-us (combo of turtle and tortoise - don't tease her about it - she's sensitive). And Gwen REALLY  wants a cat.  So as you can see -- they will be very disappointed because neither of them will be receiving their Christmas wish.  It makes me sad -- I even considered it for about a minute - but we don't even have enough room in our house for all of our kids. :)

I am actively trying to help them think of other ideas -- non-living ideas. We will see and hopefully they will not remember this year as the worst Christmas of their lives. :)

What the..?????

So as I blogged before - I had a little problem with a certain sneaky slug that hid during the day and came out at night and made a slug trail all under my dining room table.  Well we caught it a couple of weeks ago and I was very happy.  So you could imagine my surprise when after church on this last Sunday I came home and found another one!!  I went to open the curtains next to the table and looked down and thought - "oh crap, Peazy crapped" -- but then I realized it was not my dogs poo -- it was another - bigger slug!!!!!  It realized I was there and started to "book it" back to the heater vent -- where it hides.  I ran outside screaming for Sam to come and get it - because again, I was not going to touch it.  Well as Sam took his sweet time to get there the slug had got almost half way down the vent.  Sam tried to pick it out but it didn't work so he had to lift the vent out and shake the slug loose. (gross!!)  Anyways -- this time Sam didn't let it have a chance to come back or live - he flushed it down our toilet. (gross again!!)  So unless it has any more sneaky little relatives hiding out -- I hope that this will be the last of my blogging about nasty slugs crawling around my floor.   *** this time I got the camera in time to document :)

YAY Addie!!!!

Addie earned the Terrific Kid Award for Honesty this week.  It is like Student of the Month.  We are so proud of her and what an awesome little lady she is.  From the pictures she looks as if she was very happy about this -- which she was.  However - if you view the video below that - it shows how extremely shy Addie is.  We were told that she was receiving this award but were also asked to keep it a secret.  Well - the sudden attention from a large audience proved to be a little too much attention for Addie.  She almost didn't even stand up and when she did, she was very close to tears.  It made me almost cry. I felt so bad for her. But she recovered and is now very excited and proud of her honor. Yay Addie!!

Gwenny was a very proud sister

Sitting up and New Teethies!!

Jackson continues to grow.  He now has 2 teeth on the bottom.  I am glad they finally broke thru because he didn't sleep too well before then.  He will chomp down on anything that enters his mouth.

He also is sitting up on his own.  I actually don't think he has a choice.  His belly is so big that when I sit him up he just stays. :)

It's Time....................

Ding Dong the Slug is Gone!

I don't know if you can tell from the picture below -- but there has been a silver trail under my dining room table every morning for the past few months!  Every morning I would wake up to a new design made by some sneaky slug that mooched our fallen crumbs from the previous day.  Every day I would vacuum it up and every morning there would be new trails.  It drove me INSANE!!  But I could not find the stupid thing.  My sister Jessica offered to give me some of her snail bait -- but I only would do that if Sam would agree to be there in the morning to clean up the mess -- because that is DISGUSTING!!  Sam however would not agree because he decided if the slug was that good at hiding he deserved to live.  So I have bee living in constant frustration until this morning.  I heard Addie squeal.  And then gag. And THERE was the SLUG!!! I ran and woke Sam up and made him pick it up and throw it outside.  Hurray!! I am so happy to have that thing out of here...but will miss it in a way ;)

Meet Miley.......

Gwendylan loves hair!  She has loved hair since she was a new born. I used to lay her down on the floor and rub my hair over her face and she would smile and laugh.  Unfortunately Gwenny has not YET been blessed with a full head of flowing locks.  So she makes the best out of what she has.  Currently (as seen above) she is sporting her "Miley" hair - which is actually a pink hula skirt.  She never takes it off -- except for the 2 places I won't allow - church and school.  Other than that - it seems to be permanently attached.  While it is on her she also will not respond to Gwen -- she will correct you and say "you mean Miley?"  She used to wear "hair" all the time when she was younger which was usually some tights of hers (pictured below) -- but for a while she didn't feel the need to --  but current events -  her cutting her own hair - has brought the need back.  The pictures below are from about a year ago taken by Keith -- I love these pictures. And I love my Miley-Gwen!!!! 

good sport...

Addie got a new head set that plays Hannah Montana songs for her birthday. She loves it and loves to sing.  She also loves Jackson.  I was doing the dishes the other day and when I walked out of the kitchen this is what I saw......

..

My Lil Stinkers

We had a very fun Halloween this year.  Here is my stinkin' family.........

the trick or treating crew......... 
funny story about this picture -- our ward had it's annual chili cook off during our Halloween party.  Sam entered again this year (last year he won for most spicy chili). This year he whipped up a concoction and I tried it before we left and I thought it was really gross and told him not to bring it because it was embarrassing that it was so gross.  He brought it any way and turns out --he won 1st place over-all.  I couldn't believe it -- I was laughing so hard when they called his name.  It was a proud moment for Sam :)

Addie's 6th Birthday

Addie May turned 6 this year.  I can't believe it - she is growing up so fast.  She is always very specific about what kind of party she wants, what kind of cake and what presents she wants. She has been that way since her 2nd birthday and this year was no exception.  She wanted a tea party this year and she wanted her cake to be a bunt cake with a baby popping out of the middle.  For presents she REALLY wanted over-all's - not sure why??? She also wanted a baby duck and some Hannah Montana books.  She received all of the above plus much more.

On her actual birthday me, Gwen and Jackson brought cupcakes to kindergarten and we celebrated there.  Then for lunch she chose to go to Burger King and her aunt Alicia and cousin Maci met us there.  For dinner she chose Red Robin.  Her Papa Tad, Grandma Shirley, Aunt Jessica, cousin Dallin all joined us for dinner.  It was a fun day.  Her party was the Sat. after -- which was also a lot of fun -- with the tea party, dress-up, make-up and a rockin' dance party. :)

actual birthday day...

The Red Robin crew came and sang and gave her ice cream - very exciting!!
Addie and her Grandma who she likes just a little
Addie with Jessica and Dallin
Addie's new Bike!!

Party Day

the guests........
Jackson
      Alyvia
Dallin -- our Prince Charming
Gwendylan June
Bella
        Alyssa
the poser - Mercedes
                     Maci

the cake....

gifts...
this is a special robe that Addie's Aunt Alicia made - Addie loves it and has been sleeping in it every night

Celine Dion vs. Ghostland Observatory

So last week I had a busy week. Two of the nights - Thursday and Saturday I went to concerts.  Thursday night was a Celine Dion concert in Portland.  I went with my Mom, Alicia, Misty and Jessica.  We started the night by going to dinner at Claim Jumper and stuffing ourselves with food and dessert -- which was great.  Then we sat in traffic for forever trying to get to Celine, which was a little stressful but we made it before the opening act was done.  So then Celine came out and she was awesome!!!!!  So good.  I wish that some day -- it will have to be in the after life - if ever -- that I could come close to singing like that.  We were pretty far away - but it didn't matter -- it was still great.  She put on a very fun show and her voice is just as good live as it is recorded.  It was a fun night.  The down fall was we left the children with all the boys at home and when I returned to my house -- I found that my chandelier over my dining room

 table had been ripped from the ceiling and also made a nice hole in my table on it's way down.  But no one got hurt - so that's all that matters.   Sam still hasn't put it back up.  Anyways it was a great night and I thank my mom for the tickets -- they were given to all of us girls for our Christmas present from the previous year.  Poor Amber --  she went and had a baby so she couldn't go with us in the end.  :)

The next concert I went to was on Sat. night with Sam.  I had never heard of the band before Sam told me about them - so I wasn't hecka excited about going.  What I was excited about was going out with Sam.  Unfortunately Sam had to work late that day and barely got home in enough time to pick me up and drive straight there.  So there was no fun dinner before hand - except for the drive-thru at Carl's Jr. and eating while we drove.  Wasn't exactly what I had in mind for our date night.  Then when we got to the concert instead of having an opening band playing - they had a DJ playing rave music - forever!!  He played for over an hour and a half - way too long for an opener.  Anyways -- the band - Ghostland Observatory -- they were pretty good -- the lead singer had some dance moves and he was very amusing to watch.  The down fall was the crowd around us smelled like straight B.O.  It was so nasty!!  I kept my hand over my nose for most of the concert.  In the end -- I did get to spend time with Sam -- and that is always fun.   Although the concerts were very different - they both were good in their own way :)

Ghostland Observatory Concert

        Celine Dion Concert

cereal

I gave Jackson his first rice cereal today and you would think I was torturing him.  He resisted every bite and gagged and spit up most of it.  You would think that a boy of his size would jump at the chance  of any food entering his mouth - but no.  Gwenny was right by my side for every bite -- just as she is with every bath -- she's mommy's big helper. 

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday.  When I picked Sam up from school to head over there - it was nice and sunny.  Even for the first 15 minutes we were there playing and waiting for the hay ride - it was nice and sunny.  However, once the hayride began the sky turned a dark grey color (not a good sign) and by the time we got out to pick our pumpkins the rain had begun and only got heavier the longer we were out there. But we didn't let that ruin our fun. The girls chased after chickens -- tried SO hard to catch them. They ran through a hay maze, played with corn kernels, and race rubber ducks in a water pump thing. Sam joined in the fun of the chasing chickens and corn kernels.  He also found a sling shot that he shot apples at targets -- which I am pretty sure he was supposed to pay for - but he did it anyway.  I walked far away from him and pretended I wasn't with him. :)   

The girls picked their perfect pumpkins and then we went home.  Sam and I didn't get pumpkins for a few reasons.  For one - it was hecka expensive and for two -- we will already be carving enough. :) 

This is Gwen's new "smile" - she does it in almost every picture lately :)
ahhhhhh  Sam with his SWEET hair ;)
Addie having fun with the corn
    As much I as tried to get them all to cooperate and look at me - this is the best I could do.

          The Hay Maze.  There is Gwenny's "smile" again. 
  Notice the grey sky behind us. Storms a brewing!!
                                                    Gwenny really wanted a green pumpkin
      Only took Addie about 1 hour to pick hers :)
Sam - my oldest child - playing with the corn