Photos for the Folks

I'm hoping Mom and Dad are back to Internet access soon, since I am putting these pictures up mainly for their benefit! I have decided I need more pictures of Joshua, but he is now old enough to protest, and to ensure I get nothing usable from him. I'll have to be more sneaky! In the meantime, here are shots of the girls who shout, "Come take my picture!!"

They really wanted a picture of their "cushion sandwich". I love it when they get along well and play nicely. Of course, that seems to come right before the NOT playing nicely!

Somebody learned a new trick! Rylee discovered that she can climb up on the shoe shelf and reach the light switch. She is so proud of herself and the room is not perpetually dark, because the second she sees that light no, she races to turn it off!

She's all fresh and clean after the bath and looking so cute here on the stairs.

Total future blackmail shot here. The kid has no shame. "Take my picture!!"

"Take a picture with my funny face!" "And another one." "Take a picture of this one....."

She sure is cute. I just wish I could get a picture of her not posing. this is as close as I got.

Same with this kid. And to totally depart topics, do you have any idea how many apples my girls eat?!! Delaney and Callie alone eat through a 3 pound bag of the little ones in about 3 days. I like it, but sheesh!

Joshua was doing homework in his room, and I was hunting down Rylee to make sure she wasn't disturbing him or the girls who were suppose to be in bed (and weren't). This is where I found Rylee! (Note the ear rubbing. That's her thing when she's tired; she rubs her ears. Very cute, but hard to snuggle her to sleep since she needs full ear access.)

That's my boy! He's a great kid. He does his homework by himself without needing anything other than a reminder. And he's a cutie!

Marian was in rare form and made me laugh. Here is her silly face.

This was her getting ready to be a cheetah.

This is her as a cheetah in a mellow mood. Life is never dull around Marian!

And this is me. I have officially decided that I love my short hair. I like it enough that I am actually considering regular maintenance to keep it this way.

The End!

Dear Me?

My friend Sylvia introduced me to a blog: Dear Me

This blog is people writing letters to themselves when they were younger. It is strangely compelling and somehow riveting reading for me! I am fascinated by it. What would I say to myself? What would I try to change? What nuggets of wisdom would I impart?! And then I think it is a silly exercise, because I already know how it turned out!

I am a person who would never, ever chose to go back and relive any part of my life. I had some really rotten times, and I had some really awesome times, but I would not want to go back and do them over again. Well, some parts I wouldn't mind having a second shot at and doing right, but how would it impact me now? What difference would it make in my life? If I were to go back and choose not to date someone, or choose not to make a dumb choice, how would my life be different now?

I have a pretty sweet life. I have a fabulous husband. He's not perfect and he makes me crazy sometimes, but we're in this together and we're going to work it out. And he is perfect for me. There is no one I would rather be with for eternity. I have great kids who brighten my life, and I love being a mom more than I ever thought possible. I mostly like me. I like my life. If changing anything in my past would change this as my future, then I would choose to do the dumb thing. I would not change anything that it took to get me to where I am right now. The trials and difficulties that resulted from being stupid made me who I am. Do I wish I hadn't done some things I did? I sure do! But would I change me now? Nope. Okay, that's not entirely true. I would totally change a hundred things about me, but I would not be as far along in my work in progress had I not done dumb things and suffered the consequences.

I guess if I were to write to myself, I think I would tell me to hang in there, and hang onto my family and I will be happy and have a better life than I ever expected. I wouldn't give me any advice, because we both know I wouldn't (and didn't!) take it.

I maybe shouldn't blog when I'm tired. I think I have forgotten my point. Would you change anything in your life? Is there any advice you might have for your younger self? If there is, you should visit this blog and submit your letter!

Rylee is adorable!

This is all about Rylee. Just Rylee. She is growing up so fast and is learning so many new things. I love this age, as their little minds are in overdrive and they are checking out everything and figuring out how it all works. It is so fun! More fun when they are not making huge messes, but messes seem to be a big part of it all! We took some super-cute pictures of Rylee, and here they are:

She was so funny with Dan's hat here. She totally hammed it up and posed for me to take her picture.

Love the static hair!

I brought lollypops home for the kids yesterday. Rylee knew exactly what it was and demanded hers too. I did get 5! Here she thinks I am going to take it away from her. See that suspicious look?!

Rylee can now climb up on the rocking horse all by herself. Yes, she has fallen off a few times, but mostly, she gets up and rides like a pro! I hope the video works for you. (And pardon the mess, we were in the middle of putting Christmas stuff around.)

Before and After!

I hate to get my hair cut. I hate to pay someone to cut it. And in this area, there is no stinking way I'm paying someone $60+ to cut my hair! Usually I just need a straight trim across the back, and it galls me to pay someone so much to do so little. Thus, I try to have my mom do it whenever I see her. This means I get my hair cut every few years. And every so often, I get it cut short. And then I hate it and say I'm never going to do that again!

In November, we had a Relief Society activity that was a service auction. I spent every single pretend dollar I had on a set of family haircuts. And it was worth it! A lovely and fabulous lady in the ward came over yesterday and cut my hair. She also trimmed all 3 girls tresses to an even and dead-end free length. There was much rejoicing by me!

And I know, I know, I say every time that I'm never going so short again. And I did not really mean to go so short this time. I meant to have it down past my shoulders. But I let her have her way with me and I let her do something totally new! Its only hair, right? And if I hate it, it will grow back. Plus, if I wait my usual 2 years before cutting it again, it will be right where I want it!

I do like it. I love the way it feels and love that I'm not always shoving hair out of the way. I just don't know if I like the way I look with it. I realized that I want sleek, straight short hair. If you have seen my hair, you know that sleek and straight, it aint! So, do I like unruly short hair? I need to think on that. She did a great job though and left the front sides a little longer than the back so I can still pull it out of my face. (I love it when someone knows me!) I am excited to have it shorter and I had 2 ulterior motives. 1. I wanted something easier to do for the upcoming trip to Africa, and 2. I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love. (I have about 15 inches of ponytail to donate!)

I want to preface the pictures with the fact that the kids took them of me. I didn't realize what an unflattering perspective they have! Aack! That, the shirt with a collar, and the lighting are not making me really happy with these shots, so rest assured, that I am much more attractive in real life. And if you see me in real life, pretend that it is true!!

BEFORE:

And, AFTER:

A Merry Christmas for Us!

This is the obligatory Christmas posting. I realize that no one really cares about pictures of my kids opening presents as much as I do, but I figured I was due for some pictures and I took a bunch yesterday. So, here you go!

This is our little tree. I bought this tree 5 years ago when Dan was deployed and I had to actually purchase our first tree. It was the first Christmas that we would not be going away to spend it with family, so I had to get a tree. I couldn't make myself spend a fortune on one, so I got the cheap-o Walmart tree. And look! 5 years later, its still working. A bit saggy on the bottom, where 5 years of small children have pulled and bent the "branches" and it does lean a little. We put it on the table to make it look bigger, and to keep it a bit more out of Rylee's reach. We still ended up with random ornaments in odd places and Rylee managed to get more than I had expected. While we do have a few breakable ornaments, we do make sure they are at the top!

Here are all the kids, lined up, all ready to open their first present. I love this picture because no one looks excited, and that cracks me up! They really were excited, they were just tired of having to wait and wait. Hee hee hee, I am so my father's daughter sometimes!

Marian made this adorable "Wii Remote" for Joshua. She taped it together out of paper and the back is a real dollar bill. It was quite cute, and Marian had such a blast making presents for each family member. I love that Joshua is thrilled with it!

Marian got this snow hood and wanted to wear it the rest of the morning. Such a funny girl! My little Merry-Ninja!

Rylee thought this bike horn was the best toy ever. It was very loud and such fun for her. Not so fun for my ears.

Callie was adorable and happily posed for pictures. She was happy to get several items off her list. Of course, her list was a mile long, so she would have been delighted with anything she was given!

Joshua chose this hat for Dan for Christmas. Joshua thought it was so clever that it was a Baseball Cap. Get it?! A baseball and a cap. He found it hysterical, and Dan found it funny, so it was a great gift.

Delaney was adorable. She had such a good time and enjoyed opening her presents. She also enjoyed opening other people's presents too. If you ask her, the first thing she will tell you is that she opened her gift to Joshua. (We took the kids shopping to buy simple gifts for each other, and she chose a Christmas tie from Target's fabulous $1 section.) She was just so excited to give it to him that she couldn't wait and opened it for him. So cute!

After the festivities, we cleaned up the carnage and I made the kids put their candy and loot in zip lock bags. Callie did not monitor her stuff very well. This is Rylee, raiding Callie's stash!

And on the subject of Rylee..... Here she has pushed her chair up to the shelf so she can reach the phone. She can also reach the car keys and Dan's wallet there and this has become a problem. See, she's got the phone base in one hand, and Dan's keys in the other. Such a troublemaker!

We had a marvelous Christmas. Joshua declares it was the best ever, and I am happy to hear that because I put fewer presents under the tree this year. I decided we didn't need so much stuff, and even now, after opening what they did, I'm not sure they needed what they got either! Ah well. They had a great time, and are still having a lot of fun with their new loot. I did try to focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas, and they can at least parrot the words back to me, so I have high hopes that they understand we are celebrating the birth of our Saviour. Merry Christmas to you!