cean up, cean up

A funny moment from today.

As I went to get in the shower I heard Kelsey singing from the other room.

"Cean up. Cean up. Cean up. Cean up. (repeated as many times as she desired)
"Ebody do ss hare.
"Cean up. Cean up. Cean up. Cean up. Cean up...
"Ebody do ss hare."
repeated over and over

Translation:
Clean up. Clean up. (Should have only been 2 times)
Everybody do their share. (actual lines "Everybody everywhere")
Clean up. Clean up.
Everybody do their share.

It was funny. The girls were cleaning the family room for me. Kelsey was picking toys up from the ground and moving them to the coffee table or to another place on the floor. Macy had removed my couch cushions and was using her play vacuum to clean the couch. The cushions are still on the floor because she wouldn't let me put them back on because they were still drying. The vacuum has been put away in my pantry and the toys are still all over.

Can the Holidays get any better?

Eggnog, chocolates, the smell of spices and pine trees, shopping, Christmas music, parties. One more plus, I don't have to go out in the miserable cold to do all my errands that creep up this time of year.

Today the girls and I spent quite a bit of time at Walmart. Not my store of choice, but I had a return and needed a few items. Macy and Kelsey had a great time seeing all the Christmas items. They were enthralled with the dancing/singing stuffed animals. Their eyes grew big seeing the blow up yard decorations. Macy found a misplaced basketball and believing she could dribble chased it down the aisle. Then came the bikes. They were in heaven. Of course there was the motorized jeep out for display that they had to play in along with the little kid 4-wheeler/quad. I couldn't get them to leave. Their smiles and enthusiasm brought a grin to my face. I always thought that Christmas was the best when you were child and still believed in Santa. I was wrong. It is the best when you get to play Santa. I just want to get them everything and I can't wait for them to open up what I did buy. If I was to actually write out the list Macy keeps mentioning (she has asked if I will write a list for Santa for her) it would be 20 pages long. The gift giving isn't the only great part. One of the neatest experiences is teaching my kids about Christ and the reason for Christmas. I get just as excited to plan FHE this time of year and to take my girls to the temple lights. Last Monday we talked about His birth and when we passed a yard nativity Macy exclaimed "We talked about that the other day." I wanted to hug her and say "you were listening".

About the motorized vehicles. Brian is dying to get the girls one of these things. I have to admit I almost bought one last night and today (especially when they were happy playing with one that didn't run). They are a little more expensive than a regular bike and I want Macy to learn to actually ride her bike before I let her become lazy. I told him maybe next year and I had to remind myself that they will be excited for whatever they get this year.

And so the season begins

Turkey day has come and gone already. I proud to say that I did not come home 10 pounds heavier. I believe I ate the feast in good moderation. I was still feeling quite full after the meal so maybe my idea of moderation isn't exactly in line with experts, but oh well. At least I didn't gorge myself like some past holidays. Actually the moderation thing went down hill on the last 2 days of the trip. Vacations always kill me when it comes to eating.

Besides the eating I did a lot of relaxing. I spent some time visiting Brian's grandma, playing lots of card, and reading my current novel (Duty and Desire by Pamela Aiden). The girls did some swimming and lots of playing with their cousins. Brian played some golf. He and his friend thought about cancelling their 8:30 AM tee time because it was so cold in the mornings, but they would still have had to pay. So he sucked it up and played. We also did some cheering during the Utah/BYU football game. There was some consoling and mourning to be done afterwards but I think we are all on the up and up again. Of course I did some shopping. Not as much as I would have liked but I already had planned most of the Christmas gifts I need and none of them were on sale. I would have gone with the crowds but I am always tempted to buy myself a gift and I am just plain over spent in my personal spending account.

Now that I am home I have had to reacquaint myself with work. I feel like I have laundry coming out my ears. I have been slowly whittling away the mound today. Soon I will have to get to folding it. For some reason laundry is one of my least favorite chores. Maybe because there is no real way to cut corners. I have also been wondering why this week I have more than usual to do. It has only been a week since last laundry day.

Besides laundry the girls and I frosted some sugar cookies. They were supposed to be for family home evening but Macy got in trouble and treats were cancelled for the night. They are not the best cookie frosters. Macy licks her knife and fingers when I am not looking (I don't let her dip her knife in the big bowl). Kelsey likes to put the sprinkles on her half frosted cookie. Then she picks them off covered in frosting to eat them. She then wants more sprinkles and soon there is hardly any frosting left. I wasn't as picky about them licking fingers and utensils because we all have colds so we won't be sharing these cookies with anyone but our family. Besides this was store bought dough and doesn't even compare to homemade sugar cookies.

Sweet Caroline

I know that I have a couple of friends that are Neil Diamond fans so I wanted to share some info I just saw on Yahoo. Neil Diamond officially said the Caroline Kennedy was the Caroline in his hit song "Sweet Caroline". Just a little fun trivia.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

Our stockings are hung on their hooks with care
and all six Christmas tubs are bare.

Saturday we plunged into the holiday season with the retail world. I was just too excited with posts of friends talking of Christmas cards and putting up their trees. I also thought it would start off the season with less stress. We could enjoy Thanksgiving and start the next week without the rush of decorating. Plus I could pull out our Christmas music. I also did it because I could because this is my house.

This year I think the decorating was done in record time, about 4.5 to 5 hours. In past years in seemed to take forever. Maybe the reason for the quickness is my kids are older and there were no arguments about who had to put the lights on the tree. Brian did it.

My favorite decorations are the ornaments that my Grandma Lue has given every year since I was born. By now that number is quite a few, plus she give Macy and Kelsey each one and my mom has started this tradition for her grandkids. My mom gives me one too because she is sad that all the ornaments on her kids tree disappear when we get married. She always wanted a set of her own to keep.

I bore Brian every year as I reminisce about each ornament given and all the good times I had decorating my home when I was little and helping my Grandma Lue decorate for the holidays. I had to laugh during this speech because of a glimpse I had into the future. As background I used to put my ornament on little pine trees when I lived in Utah. I had 5 of them; a 4', two 3', and two 2'. When I moved I thought pine trees just didn't fit with the desert so I only kept 3 of the smallest trees. Well there isn't room for all these ornaments on my memory trees so they have had to extend into some garland that my Grandma Lue gave to me when I was in my first year of college. I have used it ever since to decorate each Christmas. Anyways I was laughing because I could just see myself in 30-40 years decorating and rambling on to my grandchildren about how I acquired this garland and how I have always used and about how I came to have a memory garland and memory trees; blah, blah, blah (this is when my future grandchildren might start to roll their eyes because they have heard this many times before). Then I started to think that then I would go into the history of each of these ornaments from their great-great grandma and great-grandma, giving them a glimpse of their ancestry. Hopefully I will have raised respectful children which will then teach their children to take in this treasure and not roll their eyes and snicker as an old woman takes a trip down memory lane.

Macy and Kelsey got into the action too. They helped place the ornaments on the tree. I was going to re-position some of the ornaments after they were in bed, but decided against it because the tree doesn't need to be perfect and it is a reminder that they helped.

Above was one of their contributions to the tree. I am not sure if you can see it but there are 3 ornaments on one tiny limb.

This is a quick shot of 2 my memory trees and a small portion of the memory garland. These are high up so I couldn't get the best picture.

Friday

Yesterday Macy received her pay back for all the children she has bitten. At the gym daycare a little boy bit her finger hard enough to leave bite marks for the rest of the day. How her finger wound up in this little 2 year old's mouth, I don't know? All I know is the embarrassment the other mother was feeling. The other mother and I happened to pick up our kids at the same time (the staff couldn't find her earlier). I guess this is the second time the boy has done this and so he cannot come back for awhile. I know the feeling. I tried to discreetly tell her that it is okay because Macy used to be a biter and that I was not upset. I think Macy may have to be bitten a few more times before all the little kids she harmed are revenged.

The best thing the girls and I found was the playground at the new outdoor mall by our house. I think the girls and I were there for at least an hour and a half. The weather was so nice. However, Macy and Kelsey were in the minority when it came to wearing shorts. Most of the kids were in long pants. It was 80 something! I brought along a book and buried my nose in it. It was a wonderful, leisurely afternoon and I felt like a good mom because we went to a playground.

One of the best advantages to the playground is that all the children's stores surround the playground. This makes returns/exchanges/shopping convenient. The kids would play and then they would tell me they were ready to go into a store. We would browse and then go back and play. In the summer I believe there is a splash fountain too. Right now Santa's little both is being set up in that area so we couldn't check it out.

What a Wonderful Feeling, What a Wonderful Day

Today has been a wonderful day so far. This morning a lady in my ward watched my kids so I could go to the temple. I love that place. The minute I step on to the grounds I have the the most wonderful feeling course through me. Nothing makes me happier (eating all the dessert I want comes close). It was our stake temple day and I happened to pick the busiest session. Every seat was filled for the 9:30 AM time. I was amazed.

The next best thing to happen was when I walked out of the temple the sky was still overcast from the morning. Some may be puzzled but when you live in a place where the sun shines 360 days out of the year this kind of change is does wonders for the spirit. I didn't even mind the dirty water spots that were on the windshield (my car was dirtier than I thought). These water spots told me that there was a tiny, minuscule leak from above. With the cloud cover we could continue with the option of long pants for the day. It is still mid-70s but we would look weird wearing shorts. I am sure most Arizonians are wearing sweaters and long pants because it is so cold. Also I am in need of a wardrobe change right now.

When I picked up my children this wonderful friend had Macy and Kelsey all fed. I didn't have to worry about lunch and now they are down for a nap. The two of them refused the nap thing yesterday, went to bed later than planned last night and Kelsey woke up at 6:30. They needed this sleep.