help

Okay so if you read my blog you have heard me complain about my calling. Not this year but I need some help. I am the enrichmetn leader and we are meeting next week to plan the year. I am completely blank. I have no idea what to do. They want me to have a mother/daughter one or one focusing on family relationships. I need at least 3 others. Please tell me any idea you have heard of or participated in. I am a pretty good copy cat so give me the details please.

Christmas

We had a great holiday season. We got to spend time with family and friends (we missed the ones we couldn't see) and some time playing in the snow. Nobody got sick and we didn't die while traveling so I call it successful. We opted to do all of Christmas down there this year. Sometimes we have Santa come to our house early but not this time. Abby was the main pusher behind this and then her Santa gift got left in Boise for her. Santa explained that he didn't want her microscope to get scratched or broken. She thought that was brilliant, of course. Then Daren strategically packed the car so we brought it all back with us and it doesn't get much better than that.

Disneyland

Okay I am way behind surprise surprise. We went to Disneyland the week before Thanksgiving and it was incredible! First we drove, which I was a little nervous about but everyone did really well. We made it there and back with out a complete melt down by anyone. I think that means success. So on our first day there we had only been in the park for a little while when Meg got picked as a winner in their year of a million dreams. There are several gifts given away each day and it is picked totally randomly. It is a certain ride,time, seat, and seat position. Meg happened to be in it! I was with my mom waiting in line to see Tinker Bell at the time. Daren called me just as we were getting to the front and told me Megan won something and I needed to meet them. I was a little annoyed because I had just waited 20 minutes in line. So I asked is this worth getting out of line for? Daren had already asked the dream team member who picked Meg. She said YES! So they took us into this little office on main street and showed us a short video which said we won a night at the dream suite in Disneyland! We couldn't believe it. So they had us meet them a while later (after Daren had gone to our hotel and gotten an overnight bag) in a "special" parking lot. We got into one of their cars and they drove us around back stage and we entered though some side door into Disneyland. We met Queenie our "neighbor" and there was a band and they gave us all noise makers to be a part of the band. After that we got a tour of the suite. It is a 2200 square foot suite with a court yard. It was incredible. Completely magical. Inside there was a fire place that was digital and little sparks would fly out every once in a while and turn into a firework. Every hour when the clock struck a picture appeared on the face of the clock and something magical happened in the room. there was a good night button in each bedroom. We could push it 3 times in each room and when we did magic happened. In one room this train that looks encased come to life and travels around the room. As is passes things they come alive as well. In the other room when you push it the room turns in to a jungle. There were jungle sounds and images projected. A picture over the bed changes and mermaids appear. In the master bath the bathtub was huge and encased like a cathedral. When you push a button classical music plays, the lights dim, and Mickey mouse appears in stars above your head. The closet in that room is almost the size of my kids bedrooms at home! So after the tour they sent us to dinner at the blue bayou. We each had $75 dollars to spend. We didn't use it. We tried, we order extra desserts for the light show but we didn't make it. Then we were in a parade where they announced us as the winners of the dream suite. After which we hurried back to see the light show which was right in front of us. Before it started they shined a spotlight on us announcing us again. So then after the park closed they took us on a after hour tour. We weren't allowed to take pictures because there were trucks, landscapers, and cleaning crews all over. It was crazy. But we got to learn some of the inside info about Disneyland. So that night they locked us in our suite, there was a concierge right out side in a little office whom we could call anytime for hot chocolate, juice, water, or fruit. By the time we left had like 7 random half drunk cups of cocoa laying around. She just had to pick up the phone and ask for it and they brought it. She ordered for everyone all night. In the morning we got to go to the rides before it officially opened. We were the first ones on peter pan so we got to go twice. Then they treated us to breakfast with the characters. It was fun and delicious. As we were bid farewell we were reminded that we had dream fast passes. Anyone can get a fast pass but those give you a time to return. Our passes sent us directly to the front of the line. It wasn't even busy enough to have to use those is another great part of the vacation. It was such a wonderful time for our whole family. My girls were absolutely mesmerized by all of it. It was magical as far as they are concerned. My brother and sister in law and their 2 boys live in Mesa (which is 20 minutes from Disneyland). So we got to spend time with them as well. We went to the beach on one of the evening. The weather was fantastic the entire time we were there. There is a pictures of meg running from a wave in her swimming suite. Funny thing is we has an identical picture of Abby doing the same thing on a beach in California when she was that age. 4 year olds don't care about the tempature they just want to play in the water! I am sure I left out things and Honestly I tried to slim down the photos-sorry. Watch what you dare. Maybe I'll remember more after a good nights sleep.

HALLOWEEN

I just need to get this out there. The wording is pretty strong and maybe I should cut back but I hate Halloween. Now I know any of you who knew me as a child are shocked right now and thinking I have finally taken that step over the edge of my life as you knew it and have turned into that grumpy adult we all avoided being around. Well I can tell you the good part first. I truly enjoyed walking around our neighborhood and seeing and talking to all of our neighbors. Most don't have small children any more and they were all thrilled to see little kids in costume. They were very kind to us and that was fun. I wish we could come up with more holidays where I could go around and talk to all of them. That said even as we were walking around I was thinking why are we doing this! We just went to our trunk-or-treat for our ward and now we are continuing to collect candy. Do we each need a bag full of candy, seriously?

To settle my nerves just a little(though I still think it is stupid that they are getting something for their candy) we have found a "good witch" who comes to our home Halloween night. So they get to pick out 20 pieces of candy (crazy amount still) and they leave the rest on our back step for the good witch. She in return leaves them a book. At least, so far that is what we have gotten. Everyone so far loves her and is excited to participate. If she ever gets uninvited to our house I don't know what we'll do. Someone just told me you can dry-pack can your candy and it stays fresh. Maybe that will me my next step.

I was focusing so much on not being late for the trunk-or-treat that I forgot to take a group shot before we left. So here are just some snap shots of the night to help you get a feel for it. Max knew exactly how this worked. Before we even left the house we took is little haunted house box (meg made it for him) to Daren and said, candy, sucker,sucker, sucker, sucker, sucker until Daren put something in is box. He thought it was the best day of his life. Every piece of candy that went into his box he had to take out and just handle for a minute. On the drive home he kept saying candy please candy please! So cute and he said please which is still getting ingrained in him so I have to give him the candy right? He still keeps finding the girls candy bags and getting into them.

My sweet Lizza put her candy in a bowl on Saturday because some of our cousins came over (both younger than her) and some neighbors and took it out to her "fort" she was building. Partly I think that is was got the little kids to come out and that is what kept them there but she can be so giving. So everyone ate her candy on Saturday and she hasn't complained as Meg and Abby keep pulling out little pieces to eat. Of course Meg has shared some of hers with Liz because that is what Meg does.

Abby was a vampire

Lizza was Gabriella from High School Musical. She insisted that she had to have a brown wig or nobody would know who she was. (Even though the dress says HSM) on the front.) So I got a very cheap on half off at Shopko. She wore it for maybe 5 minutes and then took it off. Oh well at least she felt good about her self right?

Meg was a lady bug

Max was our standard 18 month elephant that every child has been. But still cute.

CANDY!!!!!

Meg and her "best" friend Madison/strawberry shortcake

Max and his buddy Quinn

trick or treating our neighborhood.

Halloween is over and we are on to bigger and better things. We are going to Disneyland this month YAHOO! We are all excited and planning what we want to do. We have also started talking about what we are grateful for. We do have so much to be grateful for I hope I am teaching my children to see all the goodness around us and to have a grateful heart.

moving on

Now for the real updates.

We have had another great month. Soccer has finally come to an end YAHOO!!! It was fun, I think, but it is so nice not to have to hurry after school to get everything done before soccer. Both girls improved and say they want to play again. I ask; are you sure? I know I am a lazy mom but I do enjoy having them around and not running all over the place with them.

Yep they still played and actually it stopped raining just as they got there.

Lizza loved to run fast to get to the ball.

Next we started something new in our family we started a parents kid date night. I have been stewing over this for a few years but just couldn't' figure out the logistics of how to do it. So With Daren's job change and no travel and less hours I asked someone else about it. Now the person I asked I absolutely worship and seem to ask her something about parenting monthly. She said that dates with their kids was probably the number one most important thing they do with their kids. I am reading 5 love languages of children and in the beginning (which is where I am) he list the 5 languages. One was quality time and it hit me that my kids don't really have any quality time with me. If we are together alone I am running errands, cleaning the kitchen, or helping them do homework, even when I read to them I am usually directing someone else to get something donw. So very rarely do I just stop everything I'm doing and give them 100% of my attention. That obviously made me feel bad hence starting the dialog about date nights. So we have moved family home evening to Sunday nights and every Monday either Daren or I go with one of the girls (Max is still to young) on a date. We have a rotating schedule to follow to keep it fair and it gives the girls consistency and they know what to expect. We go for 1 1/2 hours and we can only spend $3. Also it has to be all about what the child wants to do. We don't' run errands or run really quick to Albertsons for milk. We are trying to show them we love them enough to give them our complete attention and time. Well we started with Meg and since she was the first she could choose which parent to go with. She picked Daren. All day she was so excited about the date. She kept telling me they were going to dress up in their nicest cloths, go get ice cream, and find someplace to just chit-chat all night. So when Daren got home from work she made him put on a tie and she picked out her "prettiest" dress and added jewelry and a shiny purse and off they went. Daren said she just talked the entire time about everything.

This past Monday was Lizza's and my turn. I was all excited because Liz is usually our play it up girl but it wasn't as climatic as Megs. We had fun and she was happy for sure. She chose to go to Boondocks which is a video arcade place where you earn tickets to get a prize. She was excited to go my complaint was that it was so loud we really couldn't talk to each other. After that we went to the library to read books. That was fun and she just snuggled up and helped me read. I am excited about doing these and if nothing else it takes away some of my guilt about no quality time.

Lastly Abby Finally got baptized! I cannot believe she is old enough for this. Driving to the church I was saying this is it. Now everything counts. I hope we have taught her well enough. She was so excited and nervous about the whole thing. It was great though. We had family come for the weekend, which was great and really made her feel good. I am proud of Abby. She is a good girl and I hope she stays that way. We are grateful to have her in our family.

I've been tagged

So I was tagged before we went to Tahoe and I just didn't get around to it until now. I took the pictures right after we got home and then never got to downloading and writing about it all so here it is.... A self portrait of me. Serious anyone have any tips on eyebrows? I cannot control mine. I have them professionally waxed every once in a while then I think I can do this myself and just follow their lines but after a while they get like this. Pictures of the outside and inside of my fridge. You never know what your going to find in there. I thought you all would enjoy a close up of Abby's cultures she was growing in our fridge!! Is that safe to mix dinner with science projects? the kitchen sink. My favorite room in the house? This one stumped me for days. I compromised and found the 2 I dislike the least. The family room because it is the most likely to be clean and my food storage room because I love having a place to store all the food and looking in there makes me happy (even though it's unorganized.) The bathroom (s). Funny thing the person we bought the house from considered this a selling point that the bathrooms were connected and we shared on bathtub/shower combo. Yeah real great. No Lizza is not going to the bathroom I have no idea what she is doing. My favorite shoes. If you've haven't caught onto me yet I am a white-meaning indecisive. I don't' know of very many things I have a definite favorite of. Laundry Room. Okay so this is a place no one ever goes into but me so it get no attention in way of cleaning. My mom has taught me to never show or admit this type of stuff in public and I am sure if she looks at this I will get a phone call. My closet. What are my kids up to? Who knows!! Actually Abby and Lizza are getting ready for bed which means being extremely loud, laughing, teasing, and running around the house until one of them cries. Meg is obviously helping me and Max is already sleeping. My dream vacation.. (remember the white) I think it would be a service trip to an orphanage with my family. Or to a tropical beach with Daren. 6 quirks about me 1. I just cannot let my kids unbuckle their seat belts. Even ride without a booster. Abby is 8 and I try every once in a while when I am taking Daren's car and only some of them, thinking we're just going around the corner less than a mile. Then I always stop in the drive way and switch the seats. I just can't do it. I would never be able to live with the guilt if something happened to them. 2. I cannot feed my children white bread. I don't know why again I've bought it before because they asked for it and I just can't make sandwiches with it. I think of the waste in eating something that has no value. It's does and it's fortified but I can't willing do it. 3. I pretty much drink hot cocoa every morning-even in the summer. I love chocolate and it's my quick and easy fix in the morning I suppose. 4. My pinkie toes basically have no toenail because they are such small toes. My sister has made fun of me my whole life because of it. She still just has to look at it when we see each other. 5. I love to read but once I am done with the book I rarely can tell you the author or even the complete title. 6. I take food with me where ever I go. I cannot leave the house with out a package of Ritz, pretzels, grapes, cheese sticks, craisins, etc. I am so afraid of being stranded somewhere and my kids being hungry. Finally this is off my back! I tag anyone who wants to play but you have to leave me a comment so I can go look at yours and not feel so exposed myself.

On our way up to the gondola Meg loved the bear waving at us.

Climbing aboard our ride. Some how Aaron and Stephanie with no kids ended up in one with 4 kids!

Ty-Ty loved the hike can't you tell.

After it was all said and done they could still smile. Doesn't that mean it was successful?