Thursday, January 6, 2011

The rest of the month

 

Here are some things we did, the rest of the month:

We went to a nativity/creche display that one of the LDS churches puts on here.  It’s one of my favorite things and I was SO HAPPY that Gabe wanted to read every word of the brochure and go slowly through the displays.  He was my buddy, willingly:

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Meanwhile, Seth was dressing up as a cow and bowing to baby Jesus in the children’s section:

 

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Some of us got more out the display than others. 

This is the “Sunday Christmas Outfit Picture”.  It’s only remarkable because, wait for it, this was the FIRST picture I took.  As in:  I took one picture and it was good and I didn’t have to take 276 more to get everyone to look at the camera.  Christmas miracle.

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And, even though I was admittedly grinchy and stressed out throughout much of December, here is evidence no one needs to call Child Protective Services:

We made and frosted Sugar Cookies

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and made and decorated Gingerbread Houses.

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(Although, whether adding MORE sugar to my diet made me a nice mom is definitely debatable.)

And here is Emma’s Christmas violin concert.  Is it even possible to take a useful picture at a kid’s concert?!

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This is when we went ice-skating walking.  Meaning: Emma, Gabe and Jane skated around the rink, while Ryan and I hobbled, bent over, desperately trying to keep two peoples’ balance for an hour.

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Ooh!  Here’s a highlight! Ryan’s work put on a fabulous Christmas party—lake cruise, buffet dinner, fun dinner companions, fabulous prizes.  And we won won of those fabulous prizes!  THE LAPTOP I AM CURRENTLY TYPING ON!  Yay, F5 Networks.

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We completely finished decorating and organizing our basement and kids #4 and 5 play for hours in our art corner.  Plus, it’s so cute.

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Faith and I visited the elementary school for the class parties.  Here are Jane and Faith and Gabe with his candy train:

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And Gabe and his neighborhood buddies didn’t let a little snow slow them down when it comes to playing “Dominoes” on the trampoline.

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And Seth got this ridiculous looking coat.  Because I was frustrated with his zipper on the old coat and ripped it off.  (See? bad mood all month.)  Luckily Gap was having a %40 off sale and I had Gap Rewards and it was clearanced, so my temper only cost me $10 for the new coat.  Plus he looks like he’s heading off to the Artic every time he puts it on…so it was pretty much worth it.

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And we had the best New Years Eve ever.  I’ll have to post sometime about the details of my Progressive Party.  Kids and adults mingling without hardly any crazy, plus yummy food, plus funny games, plus actually staying up till midnight equals a truly awesome evening.  (You’ll notice my kids aren’t in this picture.  We sent them home to bed early around 10.  Which made it even more fun…)

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I’m glad we only take pictures of the happy and light-hearted. No pictures of certain wrapping paper throwing instances or venting conversations to Ryan that prompted Seth to admonish me “When Heavenly Father gets stressed out, I don’t think He says ‘Stupid’ that many times.” or the 20 pieces of fudge that entered my face.

That way in 10 years, we’ll all forget that December 2010 was hard and only remember, hopefully, that despite it all, we did some fun stuff.

14 comments:

Lisa-Marie said...

Was that 20 pieces of fudge for the whole month? If so, you did GREAT!

I love Love LOVE your art corner. Someday. Someday. (I know...Thou shalt not covet.)

Congrats on the laptop. Bigger congrats on looking hot! I bet Ryan loves taking you to work parties. No doubt, your HIS prize! (Grinchy or not!)

the wrath of khandrea said...

congrats on the win! very nice.

you look great in that date picture. i want to see more of the red dress.

Lauren in GA said...

That art corner is a true thing of beauty!!! I love it.

I also love that you won a laptop. That is beyond incredible.

Also beyond incredible is the fact that your first Christmas Outfit Picture came out so amazing. I agree...Christmas miracle, indeed.

I laughed at your saying that, "Some of us got more out of the display than others." Concerning Seth's bowing cow impression. I love that kid.

Lauren in GA said...

Oh, and you look hot...That picture of you and Ryan made me think of that, "Lady in Red" song.

Annemarie said...

I ditto what Lisa Marie said about the fudge...impressive.

Great pics!

Nikki said...

I called the cat stupid this morning, and told it I hated it while chasing it up the stairs with a pool stick, which I broke trying to chase said cat. So there, you have stiff competition for mother of the year award! (In my defense the cat had just peed on a chair for the third time this month.) Anyone need a free cat?

Linsey said...

You are a fun mom! And, hooray for the laptop, how fun is that! And, I want to see more pictures of your playroom. The art corner looks super-duper fun!

Brooke said...

I wish we could have seen you guys despite all the grinchness. Your art corner is a fabulous idea. I hope January is alot more relaxed for all of you. You're date picture looks like fun and you are beautiful. love you guys and miss you lots! It seems like a way too long time since I've seen you guys.

Shopper Gal said...

You had a ton of fun. 20 pieces of fudge entered my mouth almost daily... I can't say no (sigh!)
Love that the kids love the art area. It turned out so great!!!
I LOVE the pic of you & Ryan from the party. So happy I got to spend some time with you :)

Adrianne said...

Only 20 pieces of fudge? I have this problem every year of making more "neighbor goody plates" than I actually deliver, and shoving the remains of the undelivered plates into my face hidden i na corner.

Yeah for the laptop! And I need more pictures of the basement.

Jake said...

Your family always manages to pack so much into a month! I love seeing the snow...it's so much more enjoyable on a computer screen.

Rochelleht said...

Way to look at the bright side. Thanks for eating so much fudge. Makes me feel better. Did you eat them all in one day, cause that would really make me feel better about the entire bag of white chocolate kettle corn I ate today.

Also, Grace told me today it hurts her feelings when I say 'freakin'. Not that she's ever heard me say it before today, but she really deserved it. Just sayin'.

Thanks for giving me a free forum to get all that off my chest.

Peace out.

Meridith said...

Fun and wish we could have seen you guys over the holidays! Love ya'll!!

Tammy said...

You, grouchy at Christmas? hard to believe this is really true? Everyone deserves to eat some goodies during the holidays because everything is so tasty. I have been making these crazy smoothies that are soooo amazing and healthy. I will post about them now!