Traditions

I've been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions in the past few weeks. In the 9 Christmas's we've celebrated together things seem to change every year. We spent our first Christmas with me working until late and then we went to Stuart's parents house pretty much to listen to the Christmas story by candle light. Every year after we haven't really had a set way of doing things. Stuart LOVES eating tamales for Christmas Eve dinner, reading the Christmas story by candle light and waiting until Christmas morning to open ANY presents.

I am all about having a big Christmas Eve dinner, going to look at Christmas lights then opening presents and after all the excitement reading the Christmas story (growing up it wasn't by candle light).

We have sort of tried to incorporate our traditions together. We've always, no matter where we've been read the Christmas story by candle light. I really do love this tradition. Somehow it makes it just that much better. As for presents, we've done it both ways. Food, well...we've had tamales on Christmas Eve. Last year my parents even brought up tamales for Stuart while the rest of us ate turkey. And, we've tried to go look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve as well.

This year again things are changing. I am having surgery on the 22nd on my wrist. They are doing both a carpal tunnel release and removing a "mass"...they aren't sure what it is. So, I'm probably not going to be up for a whole lot. After my surgery we have to go down to my parents as Phillip & Maija have dentist appointments in Ft. Collins...no one around here takes kids under 5. So, on the 22nd Stuart and my mom are going to take the kids to look at Christmas lights (not many people in Rawlins decorate...so sad!).

Stuart is cooking Christmas Eve dinner and we are having some friends over. After that we'll be opening presents and then of course our favorite part....reading the Christmas story by candle light! Then off to bed to await Santa's arrival. On Christmas morning we are getting everyone up early to open Santa presents and then at about 7:30 ish we are going to drive to Idaho Falls in order to make it for Christmas dinner.

I like the traditions that we have, but what I love even more about Christmas is spending time with our family and friends!

What are your traditions? Do you keep the same ones every year?

Santa &Concerts

Last Friday night we had our Ward Christmas party. I fully intended to have my kids all dressed up for pictures with Santa. Unfortunately (for dressing up) I was cooking a ham that had to be at the church at 5, which meant I was pulling it out of my oven at 4:30. Samuel had a birthday party at 4 and we hadn't had the opportunity to shop for a present so we left the house about 3:30 to get a present. I also had to go to the post office and run a couple other errands. My plan was to drop Samuel off a little before 4, pick up KatieJo from Boys and Girls club, run my errands really quickly get the ham and take it to the Church before 5 and then go home to change everyone but Samuel then head back to get Samuel and then on to the Church.

My plan would have worked, except we stood in line for over 20 minutes at Alco to pay. Which put us dropping Samuel off at 4:10 which meant I had to hurry and get KatieJo and run home to get the Ham. Oh, did I mention the birthday party was only ONE hour long...seriously, what's the point in having a party (and it was at McDonalds and all they fed him was a cupcake...maybe it's just me but if I throw a party at McDonalds at the very least they should have served ice cream)? So after getting the ham I ran to the post office and then went to get Samuel. I didn't get the ham to the Church until about 5:15 and had to run home for the diaper bag because somehow I managed to leave the house both times I was home before without it. At that point I didn't have enough time to get all 4 of them out of the van, into the house and changed. So, away we went in the clothing we had on. No cuteness for us...but we have pictures regardless. =
This is Ms. Maija and her "ornery" face. She freaked out when we put her on Santa's lap so I thought I'd post something besides her screaming.It was terribly chaotic trying to get pictures. People wouldn't stand back so I could get a better picture, and I didn't feel good so this is the best I have. Phillip had been on his lap right before this, but Santa didn't quite understand that we wanted a picture with all 4. We had a good time, I just wish Santa had asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Instead KatieJo was worried he wouldn't know what they wanted because he didn't ask and I didn't bring the letters they wrote (her plan after he didn't ask what she wanted was to hand him her letter..OOPS!). I assured her that I would mail the letters and that Santa would know what she wanted.
Tonight we went to KatieJo's Christmas Concert. She was SOOOOO excited to be up on stage, but also excited to not have to sing those songs anymore. This is a picture of her and her friend Isaac. We happen to be good friends with his parents and joked as we were taking the picture that we'd use it at their wedding someday. Isaac was baptized this last Saturday and KatieJo is TERRIBLY jealous that he got to be baptized before her. I think she's starting to count down, although she still has almost 4 months left. This was the only good picture I got. I was using my Video Camera to record the singing AND my regular camera just for pictures when they were on stage. However, my Video Camera does a much better job at zooming than my regular camera but it was already in use...so no pictures on stage.

Freezer....paper!

This may sound silly, and I'd divulge what I'm making but Samuel reads this on a regular basis. So all I'm going to say is that appliqueing and freezer paper is AWESOME! I've never appliqued before Saturday, and it went really well...I was a tad bit excited...except for the fact that I didn't have an heat and bond which means I pinned the fabric to what I was appliqueing it to and just sewed away. Then Stuart informed me that I could have used the freezer paper he just bought me for another project to keep the fabric sticking to my project. As it turns out he read the box...guess he was a little bored :0)

I also used the freezer paper to make a stencil for another project...I LOVE it! I think I might be using freezer paper for a lot more projects soon.

Christmas is in a few short weeks and then I'll share the projects that I did for Christmas. I had to limit my sewing this year as I have a cyst in my wrist that is causing me considerable pain. I've had it for about 3 years, however the pain has been unbearable in the last few months. I'll find out Tuesday what the plan is for my wrist. I'm hoping they just take the thing out since it is growing out of my joint, but we'll see.

Happy Birthday!

Before I start my post, I want to wish my FAVORITE (because he shares my birthday) Uncle Mark a Happy Happy Birthday!!!

I'm ONE! Can you believe it? My mom can't. She's a little sad about it really. Today mom says the bottle fairy is coming to take all my bottles. I'm getting a whole bunch of big girl sippy cups for my birthday....a couple of them even have princesses on them (that's because daddy says I'm a princess). Mom doesn't have my "stats" yet because my 1 year check-up isn't until next Wednesday. I sure hope I don't get too many shots!
I still only have 2 teeth...my bottom front. And I'm starting to wear 6-9 month clothes (mom's REALLY excited about that!).

Here are some of my favorites.....

Food: CHEESE!!! I will literally drop any other food I have for cheese. Oh, I like ANYTHING with cheese on it too.

Toy: My pacifier, sadly though mom and dad think I only need it at nap time and bed time. Although I do find pacifiers scattered in my room on occasion.

Parent: Now this may seem a little silly on my part, but I LOVE my Daddy! Whenever he comes home I get to him as fast as I can! I do however prefer my mom when I don't feel good or am tired.

Sleep: I am an awesome sleeper and prefer to just be put in my crib with my blanket and pacifier. But if someone is putting me to sleep, I want mom.

Oh, by the way...I am a HAPPY girl! I love to giggle and play and I think my big brothers and sister are the greatest people ever!

So here are my pictures from the last year...don't worry I only put one for each month.

Maija the day she was born.
December 2009 (1 month old)January 2009 (2 months old)
February 2009 (3 months)
In case you are wondering that is a fuzzy hat on her head.

March 2009 (4 months old)

April 2009 (5 months)May 2009 (6 months old)
June 2009 (7 months old)
July 2009 ( 8 months old)August (9 months)
September (10 months)
October (11 months)

And here I am, my 1 year-old pictures!! Aren't I just adorable!?!?

Thankful....

So far this week we have been Thankful for (by date)......

1st: Our Cousins! We called Stephen and Annie.

2nd: Music...we listened to MoTab....BEAUTIFUL!!!

3rd: Our MOM! They did nice things for me. KatieJo drew me a picture of a horse and Samuel opened my car door for me.

4th: Computers...we sang "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" and sent it to our Grandparents.

5th: Our Teeth! We brushed and flossed for good measure.

Inspiration

Chocolate on the Cranium's Wordful Wednesday this week is a tad bit more challenging for me. I have thought for over a week about who are the 10 people who I feel have influenced me the most. Of course the first people that popped into my head were my parents and other family members. Those are kind of a given, however Cocoa said not to use them. So the question is, besides those people who really did influence me?

There is a Science teacher that comes to mind. I took almost every class taught in High School. Mr. Borinski. I've talked about him in a previous Wordful Wednesday post (click HERE), however I LOVED his classes! He made me want to be better and he made me want to learn.

My best friend growing up was another big influence on my life. Melanie has always been there for me when I needed her, and she answered all the questions I ever had about the church and even stood strong when I chose to ridicule what she believed. She even flew from Utah to Colorado so she could be at my baptism. I only have one biological sister, but I consider Melanie a sister and I'm glad that she's been part of my life!

This one is a little bit silly, but when we had tv reception I LOVED to watch his show. Emeril is an inspiration to me because of his love for cooking. I spend a lot more time planning meals for our family than I care to admit. I try very hard to make the meals fun and exciting for my kids. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. However, Emeril made cooking a lot more fun for me!

My Great Aunt Ila...technically we aren't related, however that has NEVER stopped her from treating us like family. I love her more than I could ever show or tell her, and I have always felt unconditional love from her. How wonderful it is to have that! (I have blogged about her before as well. If you'd like to read more about her click HERE.)

Gerald Lund. Before I ever joined the Church I had read the entire Work and the Glory series. A little strange I know, but even though the characters are not real I learned a lot from these books.

Thomas S. Monson. From the day I joined the Church I have LOVED to hear him speak! He is an inspiring man, and I love the story that he retold A Christmas Dress for Ellen. He is a Wonderful Man!

Josh Groban...have you heard that boy (I say boy because he is younger than me) sing? HOLY COW! His music is wonderful and peaceful! (I'd put my husband in this spot because he has a beautiful voice, but since that's not allowed today I'll have to settle for Josh.)

Michael McLean...he writes just for me, I'm sure of it. His songs are always what I need to hear.

Elders (well they aren't Elders anymore) Wade Poulson and John Long. They are the missionaries who showed up at my door after I called them. They taught me the discussions, and we're just plain nice guys.

Sister Beck, I LOVED her talk that she gave at the General Relief Society Broadcast.

Publish Post

This is how we do it!

We're shaking things up this year in our house. In previous years we've made a Thankful Turkey see here for last year's Turkey. We will do a Thankful Turkey again this year, partially because I love doing it and partially because it is a great FHE right before Thanksgiving.This year though we're doing a "Thanksgiving Thankful Countdown". I ran across someone talking about it on their blog, and although I can't remember what blog, whoever it was got it from SugarDoodle. It's kind of like a Journal Jar with 26 slips of paper that you start on Nov. 1 and end on Thanksgiving. Each one has something they are (or should be) thankful for and an activity to go with it. For example...I am Thankful for my Family, I am Thankful for Pies (this one involves making a pie for someone....we exchanged it for brownies since it is a more kid friendly dessert...to make anyway), I am Thankful for Teachers, I am Thankful for our Car (this is my favorite because it says to go clean the car!), I am Thankful for the Scriptures, I am Thankful for my hands....etc.

I was really impressed by these because some are geared toward KatieJo and Samuel's age and some are geared toward Phillip although the others will have fun with them too...like the I am Thankful for my hands it says to do an Art project involving finger painting or drawing.

Last night KatieJo drew "I am Thankful for my Cousins" with the instructions to call one of your cousins. We killed 2 birds with one stone and called James & Aimees son Stephen (Samuel's choice) and daughter Anne (KatieJo's choice). We wish we would have had time to call more cousins, but we started a little late last night.

It's fun to see the kids get so excited about being Thankful!