Sweating the Small Stuff

I've been blog stalking.....again and lately. Some blogs that I've come across are handy-dandy and others cause me to want to be a better mom, wife, and friend. After I'm done reading these blogs - for hours at a time when the house is quiet and it's just me awake - I am overwhelmed with guilt. Is it the Adversary who makes us feel guilty for not doing a good enough job? Or, is it the Lord who uses guilt to help us become a better mother, wife, friend, neighbor, daughter of God, etc.? Either way, there is some serious improvement on my part that needs to happen.

Yesterday, I was having a really crappy day - pun intended, just read on. I just wanted to go and hide in my room and not come out. Or, to just go in my closet and cry 'til there were no more tears left. I was (and still am) overwhelmed with 3 kiddos who are sick, a Biology class, a much beloved dog that is turning 12 this year, whom we just spent hundreds of dollars - that we don't have - to find out that there are "shadows" on his x-rays and probably won't live out the rest of this year, an almost 3 year old girl who is potty training, not 'cause I was ready or wanted her to, but because SHE was ready and wanted to and then pooped in her pants and then figured it was okay to pee in them while she was at it. Oh yeah, she's one of the sick kiddos here at home, so you KNOW what kind of poop in her pants it was and then she proceeded to get it ALL OVER the bathroom - a really crappy day!

This was just in the first 2 hours that I was awake. I knew I should've crawled back into bed and not come out. I knew it was not going to be a fabulous day. Then, in the midst of my self-pity and self-loathing, my dear friend (who will remain anonymous, but knows who she is) asked if there was anything she could do and if I needed anything. What I really wanted, I knew I couldn't have or do - time to myself to feel sorry for me and my plight; to throw myself a pity party, even if I was the only one who attended.

I began to recall a conversation with my younger-but-ever-so-much-wiser sister. She had told me, when I felt like this before, than I needed to go serve someone. I looked around my house with toys strewn from one end to the other, dishes piled in the sink and on the counter, poop in the bathroom that now needed to be cleaned and disinfected, laundry piling up, and wondered "why isn't someone serving me!?" Then, I thought that since I had to clean one bathroom, I might as well clean ours as well, which probably needed it more than (or just as much as) the kids' bathroom. I figured I could also throw in some laundry and at the very least get that going while I was cleaning. In between transferring laundry to the different machines, I would clean. When the laundry was finished, I would fold, put away, transfer the load and start another one. But first, the bathrooms needed some serious attention. I cleaned and cleaned the kids' bathroom, disinfecting it with any and all kinds of cleaners I could find.

As I approach my bathroom, I became bound and determined to make the tub sparkle, like it had never before - literally. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, running out of one cleaner I found another and continued to scrub. In the middle of this scrubbing, Owen and Caroline came running in and said this dear friend was at the door and knocking. I opened the door and there she was with lunch in hand, knowing of my day, serving me, caring about me, thinking....of me. Once again, inspiring me to be and do better. What she doesn't know is that I wanted to burst into tears as soon as I saw her at the door. Instead, I spared myself and, quite frankly, her and accepted lunch gratefully and thanked her, though not able to truly express the emotions of my heart.

Remarkably, I was able to finish cleaning both bathrooms, complete to a spit-shine, could-see-yourself-in-the-reflection kind of a shine clean. With everything gleaming, and 3 kids sleeping, I decided to move on to the next project - the grout in the kitchen.

I have wanted to clean it and Adam has kept saying that he's gonna clean it. I figured I had the time right then and took matters into my own hands. I got the Kaboom, toothbrush, bowl of water, and towel and proceeded to start to clean the grout. No sooner had I started and just barely begun, when the youngest chilin' began to cry and wanted attention.....NOW! I left my cleaning post and paid attention to what really matters...one of my sick babies.

I attended to his needs and got him as happy as I could under the given cirsumstances - for the time being - and returned to my cleaning duties. As I sat on the kitchen floor scrubbing away, I found myself lost in my own thoughts and wondering if Adam would even notice the grout. I bet myself he wouldn't. In fact, I was sure he wouldn't. I was only able to clean about half of the grout before I ran out of cleaner. No matter, the other sick kiddos were beginning to emerge from their slumber and make their way towards me wanting attention....NOW!

I made peace with myself for serving, or at least attempting to serve, Adam by cleaning the bathrooms and starting on the kitchen grout. I waited anxiously and was bound and determined not to say a word about the grout. When Adam came in the door with the much beloved dog that is turning 12 this year, whom we just spent hundreds of dollars on - that we don't have - the first thing he said was, "It looks different in here. You cleaned the grout?!"

I guess I'm not so insignificant around here. I guess what I do around the house does get noticed, even if nothing is mentioned. I guess I am needed after all. I guess I shouldn't be sweating the small stuff. So, why can't I remember that the most important thing is that we are an eternal family, learning to serve one another, all the while drawing inspiration from others on how to be better. THAT'S what matters.

Wicked Weather

Here in Arizona we expect our weather to be the same....hot and dry. The monsoon season will bring an afternoon storm every now and again. But, for the most part it's 100+ degrees and dry. The winter will be bright sunny days with highs around 60-70. A great change and refreshing weather.

This winter has thrown just about everybody for a loop. It's been cold, cloudy, and very stormy. We have had days and weeks of rain, wind, cold, cloudy days. The other night as I was coming home from school and it was raining pretty hard. Streets were flooded, and it was coming down "like cats and dogs". Because this weather is so different for us, the kiddos have woken up each morning to see if it's raining. They have been pleasantly surprised to see that it is raining. Although, come afternoon time when they are tired of being cooped up all day due to said weather, they wish it would stop so they could go play.

I pulled into our subdivision and noticed there was a tree down across the road. As I drove up on the curb to move around the tree, there were several more down. I couldn't believe how destructive the wind had been while I was in class. Needless to say, our subdivision got hit really hard with downed trees throughout. Many people lost great big trees in their yards. Some, like us, just had big branches ripped from the tree. Fortunately other than the trees being damaged, there wasn't much other property damage.

When I pulled into our garage, Adam had come out to see what was going on. I grabbed the umbrella and we took a walk to survey the damage. I new then that I was going to grab my camera in the morning and take some pictures because people wouldn't believe me. So, without further ado, here's the proof of the damage of which I speak:


Yes, that is the mailbox under the tree in the picture.




We got so much rain that the greenbelt areas throughout our subdivision became makeshift ponds for ducks to swim in. (If you can't see the ducks, click on the picture to enlarge it, they're there.)



We have been blessed with this much needed rain. I am hoping it is an indication of a much cooler summer (meaning 105-110, instead of 115-120 - trust me there's a difference!) and maybe even a great wet monsoon season. Until then, I'll take this weather, love it, embrace it, cook for it, and even dance a little in it.

Owen's Birthday Party

For months now, Owen has been asking for a birthday party. He gets invited to a lot of them, which is why, I'm sure, he's been wondering when his party was coming up. He has been very specific with his party wishes too - chocolate cake with white frosting, party hats with streamers on the top and lots and lots of kids. What to do?! He would mention his party every few days the closer it got and how could I tell him no - especially when he's been very specific and has the same details each and every time he tells me about his party?

So, I ventured into uncharted territory for me and threw Owen a birthday party. We were suppose to go back to our favorite park where he cracked his head last week. But, due to the recent inclement weather, we had to quickly change gears and move it indoors....to our house! and invited a few friends. I was scrambling at the last minute to come up with games that 10 4 years old could/want to play. I made a dash to the dollar store and found a Bingo game. That was a huge hit. Those little kids sat and played Bingo for 40 minutes! We also played the classic pin the tail on the donkey. What was unusual was the other form of entertainment I was able to scrounge up. My neighbor across the street has an indoor inflatable bounce house. It's not very big, but big enough. Four kids were able to bounce at the same time. I set the timer for 5 minutes and kids got 5 minutes to bounce their little hearts out. It was so fun to see these big little kids bouncing and truly enjoying themselves.

Kids loved playing bingo!

and playing "Pin the Tail"

even Howie was even having a good time & had the best vantage point in the house!

I also decided to do a pinata for the kids as well. Some of the kids (girls) were pretty dainty at hitting the pinata. Others All of the stuffing of the pinata went to the party favor bags and that way I wasn't spending double money on pinata and party favors. let me tell you, that darn pinata was so tough to break, even after "helping it along". Adam just finally tore the dumb thing open so the kids could scramble to pick up the candy and put it in the bowl. They were all excited to learn that they would each be going home with a bag. I was excited to give it to them.

Owen M. (a.k.a "the other Owen" in our house) hitting the pinata.

Owen was winding up to take his turn. (Yes, he hits or bats left-handed. any sport that involves hitting, he does it left handed. Silly boy!)

Tessa gave the pinata a few taps.

Sydney gave the pinata some really good hits, too.

Caroline taking her turn at whacking the pinata.

Paige - one of the more "dainty" hitters.

I think all the kids had a great time and enjoyed the games, pinata, and the bounce house. It's too bad we couldn't have done it outside. Who would've thunk that a week of rainy, cold, windy weather would have to have been taken into consideration here in Arizona. Certainly not me!

I hope you enjoyed your birthday party Owen. It was fun to do it with you and for you. We love you, Mom & Dad.

A Different Perspective

I've been in a funk lately and can't figure out why. It's one of the reasons why I've really enjoyed running again. It helps straighten out my head. Everything seems manageable after I go running or just workout at the gym for that matter.

One night last week I was really in the funk. It wasn't necessarily anything in particular that had me down, it was just......I don't know. The kids needed baths and I wasn't in the mood to do it. Howie desperately needed a bath so I decided to tackle him.

I switched his baby bath to have him sitting up, rather than laying down. It wasn't long after having him in the bath that my mood was quickly starting to change. How could it not, when I was so close to this sweet baby.

(I can't figure out why he won't smile as soon as the camera come out. This always smiley baby goes poker face on me once he sees the camera.) He was splashing around and having a grand ole time in what he thought was his new bath. A new way to be seeing things sitting up versus laying on your back. I guess perspective truly is everything.

When bath time was over, I kept the camera with me and snapped a few more picture of my baby who seems to be growing and be bigger every time I look at him. I feel like he is a set of magic beans, like "Jack and the Bean Stalk". His babyhood seems to be slipping by so quickly. Much more quickly than either Owen or Caroline. I'm already finding myself missing him from just a couple of months ago. I am really enjoying this babyhood and and soaking up every living minute of this guy.

My Own Handy Manny

While Adam has been on vacation and now this past week was a furlough week (read: week of vacation without the pay). I'm so glad that Adam has had this time off. He has been needing to get things done around the house and on the cars that he just simply has not had time to do.

I'm glad things on his to do list have been getting done.....but the things on my to do list are still piling up. Maybe now that his list is done, or at the very least in a whole lot better shape than my list, we can start to tackle my list.

Our kitchen faucet has been leaking for months now. In fact, I can't remember the last time it didn't leak! Adam tackled that project today. In the process of taking the faucet out, he quickly realized that the nut holding the bolt in place was rusted and that it wasn't going anywhere. I jokingly said to him, "Is it wrong for me to hope and wish that you break the sink in trying to fix the faucet so we can get a new sink?"

I hate our sink. It's the typical cheap stainless steel sink. I loathe it. I shows all the water stains and never, ever seems to be clean, no matter how often I clean the sink - which is multiple times a day. I want a fancy shmancy composite sink in black. So, when I went about my business of laundry and then cam back into the kitchen to find this:



I started to feel a little guilty about my hope and wish of breaking the sink. Adam was out back perplexed about how to get the bolt off, short of cutting the thing. You see, the original intent was to fix the faucet, not replace the faucet. When I walked out to the backyard, he took one look at me and said, "We're replacing the faucet, I'm not fixing this." I was okay with that. I told him I was slightly kidding about wanting to get a new sink - they are well over $200 - money we don't have right now for this kind of thing.

He told me he could save the sink if he was able to cut the bolt off. Adam promised me that if I allowed him to salvage the sink now, as soon as we could, we would replace the sink later with the one that I want. I compromised and said okay.

Now, we have a nice new faucet which cost us half an arm and the same ole crappy stainless steel sink. But, at least we have running water in our house and a sink in which to do our dishes. I am grateful Adam is willing to fix things in our house and do what he can to save us the money of fixing what he can.

Owen Turns 4!

It still boggles my mind that I have 3 kiddos. But what really blows me away is when it comes time for Owen's birthday. I am shocked every year he turns older. I can't believe Owen turned 4 this year. Where has the time gone?!

Owen is a great kid and definitely keeps me on my toes everyday. He'll say the darnest things and then want to cuddle with me as he's waking up in the morning or from his nap. (Yes, he still naps, I know I'm lucky and I love it!) He loves to play with his friends in the neighborhood, at school and at church. I'm so excited to watch him grow into such a wonderful boy. I am blessed and honored to have him for my son and don't know what I would do without him.

Adam and I decorated his room for his birthday (I think it's gonna be a yearly tradition). He woke up to balloons and streamers. He called the streamers that were hung a spider (it kind of does look like a spider). When he woke up, he just laid in bed very quietly and looked around at everything.



We went to a favorite park of ours and met up with my s-i-l, Karina, and her 2 kids that weren't in school at that time of day. I brought pizza for the kids and she brought me In-N-Out. The kids had a grand time on the swings, the tire swing, slides, fire trucks, etc. etc. etc. Then, just as we are getting ready to go, Owen was running from the fire truck, tripped over the curb and smacked his forehead. He smacked it so hard, moms and dads 20 yards away heard the sound. He ended up with this for his 4th birthday, given to him by him:



(I was taking these pictures as he was eating his birthday cake - hence the weird faces and frosting all over his mouth. Although, he does have an innate ability to close his eyes in every picture we take of him, or so it seems anyway).

Now, if you imagine an extra large or jumbo sized chicken egg, this is approximately how large the lump on him head was (and still is) and about how far out from his forehead it was sticking out. Fortunately, there were some ladies in the pavilion next to me who had a cooler with ice in it. I was given some ice and a zip lock bag and was able to get ice on the lump right away. That was how we ended our trip to the park.

Later, we took cupcakes around to our friends to have them help us celebrate Owen's birthday. He loves doing this kind of thing and gets to excited to go "make the deliveries". I enjoy watching him share with his friends and seeing the excitement in his eyes.

This year, Owen wanted to blow out the candles on his cake and managed to do them all in one big breath. We love you Onie B. Happy birthday!!!!

Disney on Ice - World of Fantasy

My very kind neighbor (and good friend) mentioned to me one day as we were sitting outside watching our kids play that she was taking her kids to Disney on Ice. She also happened to mention that if you went on opening night and had a special code the tickets were 50% off! I asked her for the code - not knowing if it would work or not - and bought ourselves tickets for this event. We did this as part of Owen's birthday and the rest of us were lucky enough to "have to go" with him to help celebrate his day.

I was a little nervous to take the kids not knowing if they would sit through this show for 2 hours or not. It started Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy making an appearance and getting the show under way. It quickly lead way to Lightning McQueen and Cars, then moved to Little Mermaid, then Lion King. There was a 10 minute intermission and then the last 45 minutes to 1 hour was Tinkerbell. I knew the kids would love it, but just didn't think they'd be able to last for 2 hours starting at 7:30 at night. It was really cute to see a lot of the little girls there dressed up as their favorite princess or fairy. We let Caroline dig out one of her fairy costume dress-ups and she wore that to the show.

(That's Ariel's "human" dress behind Caroline.)

Lo and behold, they did last and they absolutely loved the show! They sat there the entire time with their eyes like deers caught in the headlights and with their jaws on the floor. They screamed and laughed and clapped and just all around had a fabulous time. Frankly speaking, so did Adam and I. We loved the show just as much as they did. I thought for the Cars segment that they would have cardboard or stationary cars. Oh no, they had real cars on the ice! Bubbles were blowing during Little Mermaid; the costumes in Lion King were spectacular; and, Tinkerbell and Queen fairy (drawing a blank on her name at the moment) flew threw the air.


I told Adam after the show that I would happily spend the money again (and then some) to see a show like this again. It was just all around well worth the money and the best family event we have been to in a really long time. It'll be hard to top this one.

Here are some pics of the event:

Jesus' Little Sunbeam

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam to shine for him each day.
And in every way try to please Him, at home at school at play.
A sunbeam, a sunbeam. Jesus wants me for a sunbeam.
A sunbeam a sunbeam. One day I'll be a sunbeam for Him.

Today was Owen's first day of Primary. I think I was more nervous for him and than he was for himself. I carried Howie with me and took Owen into the Primary room - along with what seemed like the rest of the entire ward - so he could find his class. (Our ward has an enormous primary - there are 30 new Sunbeams alone! I think between Primary and the 2 Nursery classes there are approximately 225 kiddos. It's huge!) Owen sat right down and even had a school classmate in his class, Eli! Eli was kind of having a hard time and Owen was the good little friend and sat down next to Eli so Eli would feel better. Those two get along great and when both myself and Eli's mom went to check on the two boys, yes, they were antsy in their chairs, but they were behaving themselves (for the most part) during Sharing Time.

This brings mixed feelings to me. I, on one hand, can't believe he is almost 4 years old. It seems like just yesterday he was my new little baby. On the other hand, I can't believe he's only 4 years old. Owen is a fabulous big brother and is usually willing to help me with whatever I need. He offers to feed Howie for me; he'll let Baxter out when the need arises without having to be asked and then will let Baxter back in when he's at the back door.

I'm so proud of Owen and what a great person he is growing up to be. He has his moments when he fights with Caroline or doesn't listen to what Adam or I say and, especially as of late, has become pretty mouthy and sassy with both Adam and I. But what kid doesn't, right? I'm not fooling myself in thinking that he's never disobedient or never gets into trouble, but my heart literally melts for him when he does just the right thing, helps his sister, or says, "Mom will you play video games with me?"

There's something special about Owen that I'm just head over heels for. I don't know if it's because he is the first born and he's the reason I am a mom. Or, if it's because he reminds me a lot of me; or, if it's because he came to me after many years of prayers, tears, phone calls, blessings, and infertility treatments that FINALLY I was going to have a baby. He has a special place in my heart and will always be over the moon for this little boy - regardless of how old he is he will always be MY baby.

I know there will come a day when he won't want me around as much and would rather be with his friends. But, for now, I am trying to soak up all of these moments, regardless of how crazy he can make me, and just take it all in.

I wonder if this is how Heavenly Father and Jesus feel? Aren't all of us Sunbeams?

Getting Red-Educated

About 2 years ago I took a Psychology class online in hopes of continuing my education that could get me just one step closer to realizing a new dream of mine - to become a nurse. My undergrad degree is in nothing even close to be related to nursing so I have to go back to school and get red-educated on a lot of things.

Approximately 18 months ago I registered for a Chemistry class and lab as the next step in this nursing progression. At the time, I just didn't think I was going to be able to do it, so I dropped the class. Four weeks later, I got pregnant with Howie. Looking back, I realize why I had those feelings that I wasn't going to be able to handle it. I was sick, grumpy, tired and really in no frame of mind to be able to handle going back to school, let alone taking a Chemistry class and lab, regardless of how much help my brother (who got his PhD in Chemistry) would have been.

Now that Howie is 7 1/2 months old, Adam has survived 2 layoffs at his place of employment, mandatory furloughs, and having his pay reduced involuntarily by 10%, it was a wake up call for both of us, mainly me, about my re-education. What really opened my eyes were the 2 survivals of layoffs. I was anxious, a ball of nerves, frustration and worry. I wasn't pleasant to be around not knowing if Adam was still going to have a job. Then, I was left to wondering and worrying if I was prepared enough to pick up the slack, if needs be, to find a job to help provide for our family. I applied for jobs here and there in many different places for all kinds of shifts, just to help make up for the reduced income. Nothing, zip, zero, nada came my way. Not even phone calls, letters, or an e-mail. I got bupkiss.

I've learned lessons over the years, the hard way. One of those lessons is that the harder I push for what I want and what I think I need at the moment, it very rarely has a way of working out. Once again, I learned that lesson with these jobs that I was applying for. I knew it wasn't right for me to be going back to work and that everything would be okay, regardless of whether or not Adam got laid off. I knew (and know) that, as promised in my Patriarchal Blessing, that if I am honest with the Lord, He will bless me and my family with enough to provide for my family. So, I put my shaky, anxiety-ridden faith in Him and held on for the journey He has me on.

With the desire to return to school and the need to better prepare myself and our family for a better future, I asked Adam if there would be any money leftover so I could go back to school and pursue this dream of mine in becoming a nurse. He graciously and unselfishly said, "Yes. You register for the classes and we'll find the money."

Yesterday, I went to the local community college where I will be taking the nursing pre-requisite courses, to inquire of just how many I will need to take before I can apply for the program. I spoke to an adviser and after about 45 minutes walked out of there even more determined than when I went in to get this degree done. When I walked in, I thought I would need to take about 4 or 5 classes before I could apply. When I walked out of the little meeting, armed with all of the information, I will only need 2 classes - if I want to jump in "flat footed" and not having been in school for the last 13 years - or 3 if I want to take a refresher Biology class before I can apply for the program. In total, I will only need to take 5 classes and one exemption test and I will be waiting to do the clinical work!!!!

I'll take the 3 pre-requisite classes, apply for the program (which there's about an 18 month waiting period before the clinicals start) and then take the remaining 2 classes while I'm waiting. Once I am "in" then the 18 months starts to tick off. Assuming I can get into all of the classes that I need (I'm currently on a wait list for the Biology refresher course), then I will be able to apply for the program one year from this May. That means that by the time Howie is 3 1/2 i will be starting the clinical work, which I believe is just a mere 6 months. So, by the time he is 4, Caroline will be 6 and Owen will be 7, I will be working as a nurse. I want to work at night so Adam can stay home with the kids. At the risk of sounding even wierder and stranger, I want to work in the ER. I want to see the gore, blood, guts, and trauma of an ER. I have always loved and even thrived on the fast-paced, high pressure atmosphere that an ER would provide. Yes, I know there are the typical "revolving door" patients, and that the ER can be either feast or famine, but that's ok. Eventually, and many years down the road, I'd love to be a life flight nurse. THAT is my ultimate goal.

I know the best laid plans usually never work out that way and there's always something to get in the way. But, I figure it's better to have some sort of plan, than to have nothing at all.

Run, Run As Fast As You Can

I have once again decided to enter a few races. The first one I am doing is Ethan's Run. This run will be a great one to do since it will directly benefit those families who are dealing with a very difficult situation with their children. A friend of mine, Liz Dennison, lost her little boy to HLHS and has done a great job in getting the word out about this run. It will be a run that I will be proud to do. This run is a 10k and is at the end of February.

The second run I plan on doing is at the end of April, and it is Pat Tillman's Run. It is only 4.2 miles and it is a way that I can show my support for the brave men and women in uniform who are fighting or have fought for our country. I'm excited to do this one as well.

That is February and April. What to do for January and March? January will be spent getting back into shape after taking a month off - complicated by my tonsillectomy, the holidays, and my laziness. March, well, there is talk about hiking either Squaw Peak or Camelback Mountain. Either way, I will need to be in much better shape than what I am in now. I love being physical and exercising - it's a way to keep my sanity.

Life will be busy, but it's a good kind of busy! Better put on my running shoes to keep up so life doesn't pass me by.

New Year's 2010

As like years past, Adam and I took the kids to California to see my parents for New Year's. It was really fun and relaxing. We didn't do anything especially exciting and didn't really go anywhere either. It was just fun to get away and spend time with my mom and dad.

When we got there, we had round 2 of Christmas. Instead of spending the money to ship our gifts, we saved them the expense and opened them when we got there. They bought Owen a really nice Buzz Lightyear and Caroline received a really nice Little People doll/picnic scene to play with. Howie received his blanket that my mom knitted for him (like she has knitted every other grandchild).

Movies were watched by the kids, buttons were pushed (literally and figuratively) by the kids and the ducks even got fed by the kids. Adam helped my dad with my dad's car in replacing the idler pulley and changing the serpentine belt. That was neat, from my perspective, to see my husband and dad working on the car together.

Adam and I escaped and went to the movies really late one night and saw Sherlock Holmes. Great movie and one that I want to see again! We caught up with my brother and his wife and little boy. We are all so excited for Kristen to have her baby girl and see who she looks like and just how much dark hair she will have (Heaven knows she'll have a whole lot more than what Caroline has now!) - 4 more weeks to go and we can hardly wait.







The kids did really well in the car both on the way to California and on the way home. Howie only screamed for 40 minutes in the car on the way to California and it was the very last 40 minutes so that was tolerable. None of the kids cried, screamed or threw a tantrum on the way home. That was heaven - I was even able to catch a few winks in the car, too.

It was really fun and we can't wait to get back to California.

Christmas '09

This Christmas was a small one for us. Adam and I decided not to exchange gifts this year and the kids had just a few presents under the tree. The few that they did have, though, they loved!!

Grandma and Grandpa Grimsley got each of the older kids a brand new scooter. Owen's scooter is a Razor and Caroline's is a Huffy brand Tinkerbell. They bough Howie a really neat ball that rolls and vibrates and encourages him to crawl and move. Howie immediately rolls over for the ball and once on his belly starts "swimming" because he's so excited. They also bought him a neat helicopter which has a string attached to it that I'm sure before I know it, he'll be dragging it behind him as he's walking or crawling.

Their scooters and ball from Grandpa and Grandma Grimsley




Santa brought Owen a new VTech VSmile video game system. He brought Caroline a new baby doll set that came with a highchair, bassinet, and stroller. She pushes that around all the time and insists the baby sleep her either the bassinet or Caroline's bed whenever she is asleep to.

Caroline with her baby doll set and Owen looking at his video game system from Santa


This year we also started a new tradition. We figured Owen and Caroline were old enough to start to learn what it means to give gifts and not just receive them. We set a $5.00 limit for each of the older kids. So, Owen bought Caroline a $5.00 Tinkerbell coloring pad. Caroline bought Owen a $5.00 Tonka trash truck (he's fascinated by the trash trucks and fire trucks). Owen and Caroline then bought Howie a $10.00 turtle that has shapes and numbers on him that eventually he'll be dragging that behind him as well as the helicopter. This is definitely a tradition that we will keep going from here on out. It is a tradition that my mom and dad started with me and my siblings and to this day, we still do it. It's a lot of fun.



There were a few new winter outfits, candy, a couple of movies a few toys and games and that was it. it may sound like a lot, but promises to everyone, there really wasn't much under the tree. It made me kind of sad in some ways, but in others I was - and am- extremely grateful that Adam still has a job (despite 2 rounds of layoffs and an involuntary 10% pay reduction) and that there was something under the tree for the kids. I can't complain because what little we had was an awful lot more than what many people had for Christmas.