Six Christmases

Wow! What a holiday adventure! It is quite the novel, but you will get the short, condensed version. :)

12/16
Christmas with the Neely/LaVoies... a loud and crowded event with all the brothers and sisters (except Jon and his family... party poopers). We met at Matt and Brandy's house to eat yummy chicken noodle stuff and exchange presents. Kids made out like bandits and went home with perma-smiles from all the excitment. Would not go to sleep for hours.


12/24
Christmas with Papa Steve on the houseboat... a quiet and calm event with food, fishing, rain, and pajamas. There were no gifts exchanged at this event as Papa Steve had already given us his present... a weeks stay on a huge houseboat. :) Thank heavens my kids were somewhat polite and did not ask for more. Caden and Calli both caught a big fish- Caden got a picture with his but Calli's got away before we could get the picture. :(

12/25
Christmas with just the fam... also a quiet event. Santa was unable to find us on the boat but the kids did have presents for each other that they were able to open along with some new pj's and sleeping bags. Had to pry children away from new toys to go to the next Christmas.

12/25
Christmas with the Candelaria's... Santa actually found the kids at this location but was only able to deliver filled stockings. Kids seemed content, but then the exctiment grew when Papa Ernie brought out actual presents for kids to open. Brian made breakfast with some of the best biscuts and gravy EVER! Best present of this event... a massive horse for Calli.

12/25
Christmas with Mima and the Munoz family... this event with Brian's mom was another loud and crazy one. Mima's husband's family was there with us and it was quite the house full. Children received way too many presents at this event and were spoiled rotten with a prime rib dinner (that Caden refused to eat) and many snacks. Aunts and cousins played with the kids non stop. An actual relaxing time for mom and dad. :)



12/29

Santa found us... After a long and painful trip we arrive home and Santa has managed to leave the kids thier stuff. After being in the car for so long, kids were more than excited to see toys that they actually got to play with, without having to pack them up and move on to the next location. Caden got a guitar, Calli got a Littlest Pet Shop castle, and Cienna got a vanity to do her hair and her dolls hair. I think she loves hers the absolute most.

All in all we had a really great time visiting with family and friends. Besides the 24 hour trip to California that is only supposed to take 12, we totally enjoyed ourselves. Brian's family and my Dad really spoiled us with all of their amazing cooking and child watching skills. It has been quite the adjustment to come home after 10 days and actually have to cook and clean. It was an awesome vacation but I really am happy to be home. We managed to make it home safe with all the storms and snow, which was a absolute blessing. Although 3 hours after arriving home, Brian sliced his thumb right open. There was blood all over my kitchen and I freaked out a little. The blood doesn't bother me at all, it was just the thought of Brian being hurt. He was bleeding so bad we couldn't even see how deep the cut was so we rushed him to the ER. We walked in and the triage nurse saw how much blood there was and just took us back. The doctor thought that he hit an artery and they had to cut off the blood flow with a blood pressure cuff. Anyway, everything turned out to be ok. He got four stitches and his hand is nasty bruised and swollen. So... that is my holiday in a nut shell. Hope you all had a great one! :)

Scary Night

Tonight I ran to Walmart to get a few things and on the way home I was pulled over. One of my headlights was out and the officer asked to see all of my stuff. I showed him my registration and insurance and then my licence. He said he was going to run it through the system and he would be right back. I was sitting in my car waiting for about 15 minutes. It has been a really long time since I was last pulled over so I couldn't remember if it really took this long. After about 20 minutes of waiting, I started to worry... after two more cop cars pulled up, I started panicking!!! I had no idea what was going on because the cops lights were blinding me. It seemed like forever until the cop came back. He said that he was sorry to keep me waiting but he had mixed up a number on my licence and it came back as a girl with 3 warrants out for her arrest! Ahhhhh! I think they were about to arrest me. Luckily, I got away with a fix it ticket and an apology. It could have been a really long night if he hadn't figured out his mistake. :)

Ah the Memories!

So... I was looking in my kids baby books, and I think I could write a book on the funny crap that comes out of my childrens mouths... But actually I think any mom could! Anyway, here are a few of my faves:

(Caden and Calli in bathtub... Caden 3- Calli 1)
Caden: Mom... where is Calli's pee pee?
Mom: Uhhh... Well.... Ummmm...
Caden: (examining Calli's parts) Oh... I see... she has two butts!

(Family in store doing some grocery shopping... walks past a man with one arm)
Caden: (as loud and as excited as a 4 year old can muster) Hey mom... look... it's Darth Vader!

(Cienna quite upstairs- I sneak up to see what she is up to. I see her head peeking above the counter with a shocked look on her face)
Mom: What are you doing Cienna?
Cienna: Nothing!
Mom: Are you getting in trouble?
Cienna: No!
Mom: Ok... I am coming to check on you then.
Cienna: Can you wait about one minute please?

(Cienna watching daddy intently as he is shaving his face)
Cienna: I will shave my face just like you when I grow up to be a daddy!
Dad: Honey, you are going to be a mommy not a daddy.
Cienna: Nooooooooooo! (Cienna then cries for what seems like 45 minutes because she is not going to be a daddy)

Anyway... I just thought I would share a little glimpse into my life with three very sassy and funny kids! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

It seems that every year my family has to work or has other plans on Thanksgiving. We don't want to give up that time together so we just do it earlier or later than the traditional date. This year we did our Thanksgiving the weekend before the actual holiday. It works for our family!

We went to my mom's house in Evanston on Saturday morning. We ate ALL day that day and most of the day Sunday too. We had all the normal Thanksgiving food except pumpkin pie... Can you imagine that? My awesome sister in law came to the rescue with some amazing banana pudding (I really need to get that recipe). Thank You Brandy!!! We played games, chatted, and made fun of the whole family. I think everyone got a turn to be made fun of... isn't that how all family gatherings go? I made a comment to my brother wondering how mormons get through holidays because we don't drink. Most people get the luxury of having a few too many glasses of wine when family times get tough... not us. :) However, I did make it with very few incidents... we will see how Christmas goes.

Here are some pictures of our awesome day!!!

The "work band aid"

So, as you all know, Brian works in construction and he gets small cuts on his hands regularly. They have a first aid kit at work, but most of the time they are out of band aids. Brian, along with his buddies have found a solution... Gauze (or toilet paper) wrapped around the cut with tape. Painters tape seems to work the best. It works for them until they get home or until the cut feels a little better.

Brian has brought his "work band aid" home to the kids. First of all, my kids are OBSESSED with band aids. They have to have one on if they get the slightest scrape/scratch/cut. Cienna even finds places that she needs a band aid if one of her siblings gets one. :) Anyway, one time when we were out of band aids, Brian showed the kids his "work band aid". They thought that this was even cooler than the regular ones... imagine that! So now if my kids need a band aid, they request daddy's "work band aid".

A few days ago Calli got a scratch on her arm and requested a work band aid. We were busy so dad gave her the roll of tape and told her how to do it. This was the result...

ME... ME... ME

Is it really weird that I am writing a blog about myself... I feel weird. Anyway, in honor of my 25th birthday, I am sharing 25 semi-interesting things about me!

1. I am a little OCD... I really like things my way
2. I was married when I was 17 years old
3. I am obsessed with trashy teen TV dramas (The OC, One Tree Hill)
4. I have more black shirts then I do any other colored shirts combined
5. I have 3 jobs not including being a mom or church volunteer- preschool teacher, cheer coach, partner in a tile business
6. I love the color yellow
7. I crave chocolate on a very regular basis
8. I still feel like I am 20 years old :)
9. I drastically change the color of my hair 2-3 times a year
10. I wish I knew how to cut my kids hair
11. I love baths
12. I can still do the splits
13. When I grow up, I want to be a party planner or work in the med field
14. I love to read... anything... newspaper, instruction manuals, directions, books...
15. I really, really hate to cook
16. I still occasionally jump on the bed with my kids
17. My favorite thing to do in the winter is go puddle splashing
18. I am learning to enjoy running
19. I like to read books in the car
20. I am a list writing freak... I write one for EVERYTHING
21. I am still not very good at math
22. I hate the saying "we will cross that bridge when we get there"
23. I think I have the most amazing, beautiful kids ever
24. I love history and sometimes politics
25. I have the greatest family, friends, ward, and group of acquaintances in the world!

Updates

Ok, lets see... Today Cienna had her post op appointment with the ENT. He said that she looks great and that he thinks this will fix her recurrent croup/strider. I really hope so... when she gets sick, it is like the whole world is falling apart. :) Her nasty, horrific, deadly breath is about gone. I was so freaked out when she breathed on me for the first time. I thought something was so wrong with her insides that it was making her breath reek of death. Seriously, it was THAT bad. She seems to be herself again.... rowdy, hyper, sassy, and an all around stinker.
My birthday was fun. The day was pretty normal. The kids had school, I had to coach the cheer team, I had a million errands to run, but that evening Brian and I went to dinner and a movie. We went to Olive Garden because I wanted soup really bad. They have a new soup that is like a chicken and dumpling soup, but I was pretty disappointed. I will just stick with the zuppa from now on. Brian brought me home some of the most amazing chocolates ever! They are local and Brian gets a pretty good deal since his buddy's dad owns the store. The have these amazing peanut butter cups that are like three times the size of regular ones and 20 times better tasting. The kids were pretty cute too. All day they kept singing Happy Birthday to me and then they would ask if I would sing it to them. :) Funny kids! They also insisted on telling everyone that it was my "very special day". All in all... it was a great day!
Calli, Cienna, and I are all getting ready for the Christmas performances. There is a slow time right now with the studio and I am totally loving it! I love coaching and watching the girls, but the Halloween season was a pain in my rear. I am glad we get a little time to recuperate. Caden is doing amazing in school. I ran into his teacher the other day and she is just so impressed with him. She thinks he is one of the best behaved kids she has ever met. That makes me proud, but I just told her to wait until she meets Cienna. :) Brian continues to work all the time. They are so busy, but at this point we are so grateful for any work. With all the building that has stopped, it really has had us worried. For now, things look good... at least until next summer.
Other than that, nothing else is really new. I have some cute pics that I will post later. :)