Drew's 4th birthday party

I can't believe my baby is already 4! He's such a good boy, and we love him. We had his birthday party today, and he had a great time. We went shopping for his party supplies, but had a hard time deciding which theme to do until we found the Disney Cars party kit. He thought that would be fun so we got it. We sent out Cars invitations to his friends at preschool, and a few boys from the neighborhood. We had everyone bring their bike/Big Wheel/trike/scooter so they would be able to have "car" races. Everyone that Drew invited was able to come... so we had 10 friends here! My next door neighbor, Voni, stayed here to help. It was such a huge help!

When everyone arrived they colored a Cars picture. I found several different pictures on the Internet, and printed them up. I expected that there might be some fights over who got which picture, but it seemed that everyone did just fine.

When they were done coloring we had some "car" races. Kent put two lanes of blue painters tape on the driveway before everyone arrived. We started at the end of the driveway, and 2 boys raced at a time.

After that everyone came back in to make license plates. They used box flaps that I cut from various boxes, then used foam stickers to decorate. My original idea was to have them use the alphabet stickers to put their name in the front, and then decorate with the other foam stickers. However, that idea was quickly scrapped and they just decorated however they wanted to. After they were done I took a picture of each boy with his license plate for their "driver's licence." (To the moms of the boys who came I will get them printed and delivered to you soon.)

We ate pizza after that and then went out to the front yard to drop beanbags into a wheel while they boys had their eyes closed.

When we were done with that it was pretty warm outside so we went inside to open the birthday gifts. Drew was very excited, and so were his little friends. A couple of the boys tried to open the gifts for him. (Understandable considering that 4 of his friends at the party have birthdays within 2 weeks of his.)

Then we went back outside for Cars cupcakes. (This was probably the most stressful part for me. I had made a chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting, but for some reason the cake was crumbling apart, and I couldn't frost it without getting pieces of the cake mixed into the frosting. I have no idea what I did differently because I've made this cake so many times before without problems. So about an hour before the party I ran to Albertson's to try to find a birthday cake. I finally found a platter of cupcakes that had little Cars rings on them. Whew! What a relief!) They were perfect!

While the boys were finishing up their cupcakes their moms came to get them. I had to leave immediately after the party to go to the doctor's office because we're leaving for a cruise of the Mexican Riviera tomorrow, and I'm still having issues with my voice and sinuses. I really don't want to be sick while I'm on vacation!

When I got back home we spent quite a while opening up the gifts and playing with the cool new toys Drew got. He's letting everyone play with them, and is having dinosaur wars with his new toys.

If you want to see the decorations I made for the party go to my craft blog!

My doctor's appointment

Some of you may know that I've been having some problems with my back/sacral nerves again. I started having a tremendous amount of pain in my lower back and left hip starting in early September. I started getting deep tissue massages to help out, changed my workout up and hoped that it would get better. Things didn't improve so I finally called my neurosurgeon to schedule an appointment. I was concerned that I would have to have another surgery.
I had my appointment this morning. I took my MRI films from December, and was prepared for just about anything. He looked at them, compared them to my old films from July 2007, and then did a physical exam. He did several range of motion tests, had me walk (my gimpy limp is back), then on my tip toes, and then on my heels. He then pushed on my right buttock, and while it wasn't comfortable, it wasn't horrible. Then he pushed on my left buttock and I immediately rose up on my tip toes and had to stifle a yelp. (It's been almost 1 1/2 hours and it still hurts from that little push... seriously, that's messed up!) He was very concerned about my reaction. Because I have already had back surgery, have seriously degenerated discs in my lumbar spine, bulging and protruding discs in my lumbar spine/sacrum AND a mild form of lupus he thinks that I have a condition called sacroiliitis. (Mom, Julie- click on the word for a link to the diagnosis, symptoms and treatment.)
The treatment for this is a cortisone injection into the joint in the buttock. Fun. I was just saying how much I missed having those horrible epidural injections with the 10" needle, so now I get to have another shot. This won't be into the spine, though, so Dr. Thomas says that this will be a much easier procedure and recovery. He's sending me to a pain specialist for treatment. If it works I should know within hours (or up to 2 days) because the pain will subside quickly. If it works the injection will treat the pain and the problem. (Yay! I love two-fers!) I really hope that it works! I'll find out soon when I can get this taken care of. As far as I'm concerned it cannot happen soon enough. The pain is terrible, but if a simple injection can take care of it I will be thrilled. If it doesn't work then I'll go back to Dr. Thomas, have some more tests and come up with a new treatment plan. It's pretty straightforward so I like that!

Happy birthday, Mom!

Hi Mom,
I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I love you, and I appreciate all that you do for me and my family. Thank you for the love you give me. Thank you for teaching me how to be a mother, how to cook for a large family, do massive amounts of laundry and how to use CHORE CHARTS! (BTW, my boys do not like that part! I had to show them mine from when I was Natalie's age before they believed that you could be that mean. I told them I learned from the best... They'll thank me later.) I hope you have a wonderful day.
Love, Maryann

I still love this expression. It's one of my favorites. Tee hee!

More reading and other ramblings...

I finished Amazing Grace last night. I thought that I was going to read some sort of romance novel, but it wasn't... although there was a bit of love found and love lost in the book. But that's not what the core of the story was about. It was a really good book. It was about the trials we face, and how we can face and overcome them with grace. (Didn't mean to rhyme there...) I guess I might read some more books by Danielle Steele now. It was a pretty quick and easy read.

Now I'm starting on a new book. It's called Pride and Prescience (Or A Truth Universally Acknowledged) A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery by Carrie Bebris. It starts right after Pride and Prejudice ends. I've only just begun it, but I LOVE Jane Austen books so much that I am already predisposed to enjoying this book. So far there are 4 books in the series and this is the first book. I'll give you my review when I'm done.
I didn't finish the bookcase yesterday as planned. I was overcome by sleepiness and had to take a nap. I was down for the count for 2 hours. When I woke up it was several minutes after my alarm went off, with Natalie asking me if she could play with her friend here or at her friend's house. I was really confused for a while, but I must have said to play here because when I gathered my wits a few minutes later and made it downstairs Natalie, Drew and her friend had Moon Sand all over my table, the chairs and the surrounding floor. Who let Santa bring that anyway? I think Moon Sand is going the way of Play Doh in my house--- and that's out. I HATE Play Doh because, as fun as my children find it, I find it equally irksome because it is so messy! And I'm the one that ends up picking it out of the carpet, off the tile and grout, scraping it off the table, chairs and usually clothes. Contrary to popular belief by my children, I do not wish to spend any more time cleaning than I currently do.
On another note Trevor has had Kent update his iPod recently. One of the songs he wanted on his playlist was Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. So as Justin was trying to study last night Trevor was singing it. Over and over. And over. And over. It went on for a while so I finally asked him to stop. Today I know for sure that he sang it a lot because as Drew is sitting next to me while I type he starts singing, "Keep leaving, keep leaving wub (love)." So I pull up playlist.com, pull up the song and play it. I played it once, and when it was over Drew *briefly* glanced at me to say, "Mom, I hope you keep bleeding love." I'm not sure what he meant by that comment, but it had me laughing out loud.
I just hope that Trevor doesn't start singing one of the other songs he asked Kent add to his playlist. It's White and Nerdy by Weird Al. I have to thank Allan for that. And I also have him to thank for introducing the CD with fart songs. Who wouldn't want that in their house? Especially when said person has sons (and friends) who find farting funny... and when said person also has to deal with those sons emulating the music... farts and their smells... yummy! Just wait 'til you have kids, Allan. You know what they say about payback... (And I'll have several children that can participate in said payback!)

My voice is back! Yay!

My voice is back, and I'm so grateful. It came back in the middle of the morning on Monday. It isn't totally back all the time, but it's so much better than it was! I think I've been talking too much, though because my throat is sore again. Drew is especially happy that it's back because he and I have been home together a lot lately, and it was driving him a little crazy not being able to hear me. I'm always happy to make a child happy.
On another note I have been able to get a lot of reading done. I've been reading a historical book about Queen Elizabeth I. It's the second one I've read recently. I also have a historical book about Mary Tudor that I'll read after I finish a few other library books. I tried to read one about Marie Antoinette, but all the French names drove me crazy. I took a year of French in addition to my 5 years of Spanish, but not enough to be able to muddle through it. I finally gave up on that one. This book I'm reading about Elizabeth, though, is pretty interesting. I have to admire her strength and ability to hold her tongue as her council talked about women being the weaker sex. I couldn't have done that. It would have driven me crazy!
I'm also reading a book called Amazing Grace. It's by Danielle Steele. I've never read anything by her before, but there were several recommendations in different magazines and websites. It's pretty interesting, and totally different than I expected a book written by her to be.
I have to put some furniture together today, do some more organizing, and then I'll be able to get back to my reading.

My sweet Drew

I mentioned in a previous post (about 30 minutes ago) that Drew was wide awake and not interested in going to sleep. It's still true. He's still up. W-I-D-E A-W-A-K-E. Well, I'll try to not hold it against him. He is a cute boy.

Did I mention that he's starting Sunbeams tomorrow? He's so excited. This morning, well, technically yesterday morning, he, Natalie and Trevor went to the Primary Pajama Pancake Party. They go to the church in their PJ's and slippers, sit with their new classes and teachers, and then eat pancakes. It's a lot of fun for the kids. We (meaning the primary presidency that I was in last year) did this activity, and it turned out well so they did it again this year.

Drew is really excited for his new class and teacher. His teacher is Sis. Fuller. She and her husband just moved down the street from us. Her daughter just had a baby and she went to help out for a few weeks last month so I haven't gotten to know her really well yet, but she seems so fun. Anyway, Drew is in her class, and is so excited to start primary tomorrow.

Trevor has the Cottles for his teachers. Their family is very musically talented, and I think Trevor is very excited because of that. I think they'll be able to appreciate his special personality.

Natalie has Milea Hall again, but she said that Bro. Hall isn't teaching with her this time... it's someone else. IDK if that's true or not, but she had them for the last few months of 2008, and LOVED being in their class so she's excited about it again.

And Justin... the kid's making me feel older than my 21 (again) years. He's going to Young Men's. Kent's his teacher. I don't remember what my brother Allan was like at Justin's age (it was about the same time I was pregnant with and having Justin, and I don't remember much when I'm sleep deprived), but Justin and Kent seem to butt heads a lot lately. They'll be getting along just fine, and then Kent will say or do something that seems like nothing to the rest of us, and Justin gets so mad. I think (hope) it's only hormones, and he'll grow out of it. I am the oldest daughter from a family with 5 girls and 1 boy (who was #5) so I don't have a lot of experience with these preteen boy hormones. Will I survive?!

Back to my sweet Drew... trying to get him sleepy a while ago we played some games on the Wii. He didn't want me to beat him, so he would turn to me and say, "Mom, if you stop moving your guy right now I will give you a big kiss." And, "Mom, you're so bootful (beautiful) and wondful (wonderful) and I wub (love) you." And, "Mom, you're so funny. I wub (love) you." He kept giving me kisses on the cheek and telling me how much he loved me. What a sweetie. I really hope that sweetie will go to sleep soon. I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. Oh, now he's hungry... starving, in fact. Oh, Heaven help me if this baby boy won't go to sleep soon! This is not going to help me feel better or get my voice back.

Sisters' (and Mom's) Birthday Lunch

For the last several years my mom, sisters and I get together for lunch to celebrate our birthdays. Amy's birthday is December 29, mine is December 31, Mom's (Susan) is January 13, and Christine's is January 20. Michelle's birthday is on Halloween, and Katie's is Tax Day (my parents had a thing about their kids having birthdays on holidays so it would seem). Michelle and Katie are always invited to come along on these lunches because we go with them to celebrate theirs when they're here.
Sidenote- It was at one such lunch 13 years ago that I told my mother that I was pregnant with my first baby. She was very unhappy with that news as I was supposed to wait until I was done with school and had a few years of work experience under my belt before I even thought about becoming pregnant. (Tried as best I could, but he came despite our efforts to prevent him from coming so soon!) I won't post any more about that particular day, one in which I find a great deal of humor, but of which day my mother isn't so fond of. (BTW, Mom, I am ROFLMBO thinking about it right now. Amy might be doing the same thing.)
Back to the posting- We are going to Olive Garden this year. Christine, who is pregnant with baby number two, chose it. I believe that the pregnant person's preferences should be priority... unless, of course, they want to eat at a seafood restaurant. I won't go there (or any other fishy place) for anyone. Some things are just wrong, and you should never make concessions for. Seafood restaurants are one such thing for me. Anyway, we have gone for pedicures and manicures in the past, but because I just got one on Tuesday I am not going to participate this time. I have purchased the gifts for Christine and Mom. I can't wait to see my mother's face when she sees what it is. And reads it out loud. Thanks, Jenn, for the great idea.
I am curious to see how this all turns out as I still have NO VOICE whatsoever. An occasional squeak still manages to come out, but to be heard at all it must be silent, and I must "yell" to get even close to the decibel that a whisper would equal. I think I'm going to take either a notebook to "talk" or a wipe board. This is so embarrassing! Forced silence, I suppose. And isn't it funny that when a person loses their voice that everyone else feels the need to whisper to them? It happened last night at the urgent care, Target pharmacy, the Target check-out line, and Starbucks (where I stopped after I got my Rx filled- love their peppermint hot cocoa). My kids are whispering to me, and so are people that I run into. I think I do this too... I guess we're taught to match voice levels with the people with whom we converse.
I'll post pictures of our lunch after I come home, and probably even post pictures from New Year's Eve then. What a special treat, no?

Katie and I. There was something behind her head... she did not suddenly sprout horns!

UPDATE- Okay so here's what happened. I got to the restaurant last. It always seems that something comes up as soon as I need to leave. Today it was that Kent had fallen asleep, and as I had no voice I couldn't get him to wake up. So I left all of the kids here while he slept soundly. I did come prepared with my notebook to write notes so I could participate in the conversation. I must be a really big loudmouth because this lunch was one of the quietest ones we've ever had. It's just not the same when you add your two cents after everyone else has had their say- and you've just finished writing. And, Amy, we certainly missed you there. Hopefully you can be at our next one! You too, Michelle!

The gift I gave my mom that I wanted to see her reaction on was Sexy Motherpucker lip gloss. Her reaction did not disappoint.

This is when she first opened it up and read the name. I tried to get her to say the name 3X in a row out loud, but she wouldn't do it. I think she was afraid she'd slip. Naughty!

Katie reading the package about making your lips 10X their normal size. Don't believe everything you read...

Mom (trying to) read the description on the back. She forgot her spectacles. Did I mention she likes to say, "Oh, Sissy!" when I do or say something that shocks her? I think she said that a few times today.

Christine enjoyed Mom's reaction.

Melia and Katie. Melia would not look at the camera for me. She also thinks that Ursula the Sea Witch from the Little Mermaid stole my voice.

After lunch we ordered a chocolate cake that had hot chocolate in the center of it. There was a cream on the plate and sliced strawberries. I took the very first bite (with a clean spoon) and the very last bite so I wouldn't get anyone sick. It was pretty yummy.

When I came home Kent, Justin, Trevor, Katie and John (Katie's boyfriend) went riding out at Box Canyon. Kent and Trevor have quads, and I think the other 3 have dirt bikes. Drew and Natalie usually get quite upset when the boys go riding without them so I usually take them to do something fun. Today I was too pooped after the lunch so I changed to comfy clothes, got my pillow and blanket and fell asleep on my recliner for about 2 1/2 hours while Natalie and Drew played the Wii. Then Drew hit his head on the coffee table, got mad, then went upstairs and took a 5 1/2 hour nap. When I got up I made salsa chicken, Spanish rice, refried beans and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I didn't feel so guilty for taking that nap after doing all that.

It's now 1:09 a.m. and he's still WIDE awake. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to stay awake. At least he's not mad at me anymore for not having a voice.

My poor Broncos

My poor Broncos played so poorly this season. Things looked good initially, but then with all the players on the IRL it made it pretty difficult. But then some of the plays were just not good, the defense was almost non-existent, and I started to lose faith in their ability to have a decent season. We played the Chargers on Sunday (whose QB, BTW, is a complete dolt- sorry, nicest word I could think of without cussing), and we were BLOWN out. It was embarrassing to say the least. 52-21 loss... Coach Mike Shanahan was fired 2 days after. He's been a good coach, but it wasn't enough to save his job. I hope whoever replaces him can rebuild our defense and get the team back to where it needs to be. Heaven forbid we end up like the Raiders!

Happy New Year 2009!

New Year's Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. I think I'd love it even if it wasn't my birthday. I don't feel the need to celebrate my getting older (because, as I've told my kids, I'm 21 again until Justin is 21), but I do want to do something fun that night.

This year my mom came over around noon with a German Chocolate Cake and a gift. When she handed it to me she said she bet I couldn't guess what it was. I took it out of the bag, and it was wrapped in tissue paper. I felt it, and said, "I know what it is." Natalie was sitting next to me, totally excited that I was opening my present and about to guess at its contents. I said, "It's a box! Oh, it's just what I wanted!" Natalie looked at me, rolled her eyes and sighed. (Yes, she already does this, and well, at age 5. I just wish Kent had snapped a picture of that moment. It was hilarious!) She didn't appreciate my humor, apparently. So I finished opening it, and it was a lighted mirror with 2 mirrors, one of them 8X magnification. It's great for plucking my eyebrows, but it's a little too much honesty when you're not looking your best.

After my mom gave me my gift, the kids were chomping at the bit for Kent to give me my gift from him. He gave me Guitar Hero- Aerosmith. Yay! He thinks it's the dumbest thing ever, but he doesn't have to play it. He can go on upstairs and play Rock Band. After I opened that gift, Trevor ran to his room and came out with a book he'd written a couple of years ago and his light-up fan thing... best description I can come up with right now. It's kind of like a lava lamp with a bunch of "bristles" sticking out of it. Then Drew joined us, saw me open Trevor's gift, and he ran upstairs. He got a travel game that he'd just got at a fast food restaurant and a golf ball, wrapped them in a blanket and brought me my gift. To make it extra special he put the golf ball in his mouth just before giving it to me. What a thoughtful young man he is.That night we hosted our annual New Year's Eve party. I did a terrible job getting invitations out this year. I started passing them out on Sunday. I meant to give them out at least a week earlier, but got busy and forgot about it until it was too late. Whoops! Anyway... We started at Arriba's Mexican Grill, and after we were done there we came back to the house to play board games and have dessert. I served my famous homemade Perfect Chocolate Cake. I also made salsa, but we were all stuffed from dinner so didn't end up eating any of that. We played Apples to Apples and Imaginif. Here are the people that came to the house... Marie and Kevin Willis had to head home after dinner, but it was fun to visit with them at dinner. Kent and ILori and Kris BreonJenn and Derek DeTemple Joseph and Shanna Johnson

After everyone left I got out my new game from Kent and played that for a while. Then I played Rayman Raving Rabbids TV game. Before I knew it it was almost 3 a.m.! Wow! Time flies...

I slept in the next morning for obvious reasons. Then I started cleaning and reorganizing my office. I made a trip to Target and got some storage boxes so that I could get that all done. Things were going well until about dinnertime last night. That's when my voice decided to take a vacation from me. Natalie kept telling me to clear my throat so that I could talk. When it didn't work she got pretty upset at me. I kept taking my Mucinex and saline nasal spray to see if that would help, and we even slept with a humidifier. However, this morning my voice was still gone, and now my lungs were starting to hurt... not a good sign for an asthmatic.

Nevertheless I took Justin to his doctor's appointment (follow up with his podiatrist for his Sever's disease and plantar fasciitis), then to Target to get some more storage boxes, and birthday gifts for one of my sisters, my mom and a niece. On the way back home we stopped at Arby's for a roast beef sandwich, and I decided I'd better stop at urgent care so I could get a hold on this as my lungs were really starting to hurt. I'd brought a book with me (good thing because the wait was over an hour and a half), Justin walked over to the gym, and when he was done Kent came to get him. When I was finally able to see the doctor he diagnosed me with acute laryngitis (no big surprise) and bronchitis, which given the sore lungs, wasn't a surprise either. I'm supposed to not talk for 2-3 days, rest and drink lots of fluids. I guess he missed the part about me having 4 kids. The older 2 can read, but the younger 2 can't. He gave me a couple of prescriptions, which meant I had to make another trip to Target. Hopefully I'll start to get my voice back soon. I literally make no sound. There is an occasional squeak, so I know my voice will eventually come back. But it's frustrating to "yell" at the kids and have almost no sound come out.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was as busy as usual. I had so many things to do at the last minute that I didn't get started on the brunch until about 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. I hosted Christmas at our house again this year, and I think everyone had a fun time. I made 2 pans of Creme Brulee French Toast, 2 pans of Hash Brown Casserole, and one pan of "cheese wad". That last one sounds kind of nasty to me, but it really isn't. You get a package of refrigerated crescent rolls and spread it on the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan. Then you get some softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and mix those together then spread on the crescent rolls. Then you get another package of crescent rolls and put that on top of everything. Pour some melted butter on top of that, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. I was glad that I was able to make everything the night before then put it in the oven in the morning! (If you want the recipe just LMK and I'll post it here.)

We didn't let the kids come down until everyone was dressed and ready. Because I'd been up so late the night before we slept in until almost 8:30, got everyone up, dressed and ready. Then I let them all come downstairs after snapping a few pictures of them. (Kent came down at 8:30 to put the food in the oven since it would need at least 1 1/2 hours to cook... perfect since everyone was coming at 10.)

The kids got to open the gifts from Santa, Mom and Dad and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Jacobson. Santa brought them Rock Band 2 so they were pretty excited about that. We got them new clothes, all of which they really liked. The family got a carpet cleaner. That's been on my list for the last 4 years so I was pretty excited to get that. We've used it already and it works well. I love that amazon.com has so many user reviews to help you know which items to buy! It was going to be my Santa gift, but Santa forgot to mark it as a gift when he ordered it so it was delivered on a Saturday and Trevor asked if he could open the new vacuum cleaner. Santa will need to be more careful next time! LOL!

Kent's mom and step-dad, my mom, my dad and step-mom, Christine, Cody and Evelyn Birch, Katie and Melia Jacobson, John and Sydney Flores, my little brother Allan, and Curtis, Ruth, Heaven, Austin, Ethan, Nick and Vince Noorda all came. Kent's dad was sick, and my other 2 sisters are in CT, and Kent's sister is in CA so they didn't come. We wish they could have come, though! We opened gifts from each other and had a yummy breakfast. In addition to all the food I made, Kent's SIL, Ruth, got juice for us, Katie brought yummy almonds, Julie made a really good fruit ambrosia salad, my mom made cinnamon rolls, fudge and chocolate cookies all from scratch, and my dad and his wife brought a pumpkin pie. I think everyone was completely stuffed.

After we were done opening gifts many of the people had to go to their other relatives' homes so the rest of us went to see a movie. That family tradition started when we moved here from Utah and didn't have family to visit on Thanksgiving or Christmas. It continues to this day. My mom and brother went to see Valkyrie, and we took the kids to see Bedtime Stories with the DeTemples. It was a lot of fun. After we were done I was so pooped from being up late, and getting up early that I couldn't imagine cooking anything. There weren't any leftovers so that wasn't an option. We finally found that Sonic was open so we got that and brought it home. Kent hooked up Rock Band, and the kids played that for a while.

Crafting with Maryann and Katie

Katie and Melia came over tonight so we could finish up some Christmas presents. We didn't quite finish them, but they are well on their way. Actually she's the only one doing a project, but since I'm the "crafting queen" with all the supplies she came over so I could help her. I was so excited! I haven't had the time to do any of my own projects lately, including the Christmas cards (I still feel guilty about this!), so this was a great excuse for me to get my crafting fix. *I can't post pictures of the projects because these are Christmas presents. I'll post the finished products after the gifts have been given.*

Here's Katie busy at work on part of the project.
I am happy to get my crafting fix. And I promise to post the pictures.

Sunday Christmas Outfits

Today we had our Christmas program in church. I played "Baby, What You Goin' to Be" and got to sing "Joy to the World" with the rest of the choir. I got this shirt earlier in the week. I asked Kent what he thought about it, and he said, "Eh." I asked him why he didn't like it and he said, "It's sparkly." As if that answered my question. The kids loved it, I loved it, so he was overruled. It's Christmastime, I'm a girl, and if I want to sparkle I can sparkle! Kent wore his Santa tie to show his Christmas spirit.

Maryann and Kent. I could not open my eyes more than this. It was so bright, and even though we were not facing the sun it was so bright! Really, my eyes are not that squinty!

This is one of the only pictures I could get the kids to all look at me. Trevor thought it was funny to close his eyes for the pictures, and I think this one actually had his eyes open. Stinker! Justin in his favorite pose. He's so handsome, and he doesn't believe me. Here's Trevor. He took his tie off and decided he didn't need to wear it for the pictures. What am I going to do with that kid?!
Natalie told me she wanted to be a model, and show some attitude. So these are her "attitude poses." (I didn't name them that. She did when I was pulling the pictures from my camera she asked to see her attitude poses.)
Little Drew Dog. So silly. He decided to give me lots to choose from. He's a total camera hog, and when the camera comes out so does his personality. He cracks me up. His shirt was supposed to be tucked in, but he refused to leave it that way so it's out. I pick my battles, and that wasn't one I thought I needed to worry about.

Kids' Christmas Parties

Natalie and Drew had their class Christmas parties yesterday, and Trevor had his today. Here are some of the pictures I took from each party.

Maryann and Andrew at his party. I got to take all the pictures for the party for his teacher.

Here is Drew on Santa's lap. He had a nice little chat with him. He told Natalie later that he got to talk to the "real" Santa at his party.Natalie with her Rudolph nose.This is Natalie's table. They were eating their snacks, having a ton of fun.This is the craft I came up with for Trevor's class. I'll post instructions on my craft blog in case you want to duplicate it. Natalie made the first one, I made the second one, Drew made the third one.Drew, Natalie and me at Trevor's class party. They were my assistants for the craft... when they weren't too busy playing with Trevor and his classmates. Brooke, Rachel and Cheyenne... some of Trevor's cute classmates.

Trevor, Mercedes and Tristan during the Left-Right gift exchange.

Whew!

It's over. What a relief. I didn't feel drugged or sleepy by the Valium during the exam, but I didn't freak out like I had before. It helped calm my nerves, and my heart didn't race like it had in previous exams. I did have to have the lady pull me back out for a couple minutes because it felt like I was lying in a coffin. But once I talked to her for a minute, I was able to go back in and was fine for the duration of the exam.
When I was done I went back out to the waiting room to await Kent's arrival. During the 30-40 minute wait I read my library book, and until I couldn't concentrate any more. Then when Drew came running in I stood up I realized that my legs felt as heavy as rocks. I felt okay other than that.
I realized that needed a jolt of sugar to wake up enough to get home and get myself into the house. (I'm probably a little too big for Kent to get out of the car and into the house while I'm unconscious.) We stopped at Starbucks where I got a peppermint hot chocolate with whipped cream (again the one and only time I will actually ingest whipped cream- yuck), and got Drew a child's hot cocoa. He was happy. I was happy because I made it home still awake, and I was able to make it to my bed before I crashed for an hour and a half. My head still feels HUGE, but I think I'll be okay in a couple hours.
I'm glad that I had the foresight to make tonight's dinner last night. I made a freezer meal for a family in our ward, and since I was making one for them I thought it would be a good idea to double the recipe and put one in the fridge for us for tonight. Dinner's done! Yay!

Sleep?

Here it is, nearly 1:00 a.m., and I'm still awake.
Why, you ask?
2 reasons...
First, Justin's school project that is due tomorrow isn't quite dry yet. He had to make a clay tablet using cunieform writing. It's the second one we've made because the first one didn't turn out after he added too much flour while trying to make it not be so sticky. We used bristle brushes to remove the excess flour, but the images started flaking off while we brushed off the flour. The second one looks a lot better, but it won't dry! Yikes! I'm doing my best to get it dry in the oven, but it's taking a lot longer than I expected. So far it's going on 35 minutes at 350 degrees. According to what I've read online it's only supposed to take 20 minutes at 250 degrees so I don't know why it doesn't want to dry! Second, I'm worried about tomorrow. I'm trying really hard not to think about it by keeping busy. Wanna know what I've done? I'll tell you because I'm sure you're dying to know. I've started reading a library book, tried to learn new songs on the piano for next Sunday's Christmas program; I finished editing our Christmas letter, and am ready to print it. It will take a while to print all the copies I need so I won't start tonight, but it's ready to go as soon as I get to it tomorrow. I officially and reluctantly decided that for the first time in many years I am not sending out homemade cards this year. Since I bought all of the stuff to make them I have a great head start on next year's cards, right?! I'm sending out a newsletter and family picture. I'm hoping that I'll find time to make treats to take to the neighbors this week. I purchased the ingredients that I need to make the treats so that's my motivation.
The other thing I'm doing is trying to convince myself that I will have "me" time during my MRI tomorrow. Now this is not the kind of "me" time that I typically enjoy, but that doesn't mean I can't make the most of it, right? If the MRI machine cooperates and doesn't pound the eardrums too loudly, and my Valium really renders me nearly unconscious (as the Target pharmacist promised me), it might work! LOL!
Okay... I think the clay is dry! Yay! I can finally go to bed! Tomorrow is going to be fun! I'll post a picture tomorrow... assuming that I'm conscious enough to do so.

Sunday ramblings...

This morning we got up and ready for church. Natalie insisted on having sparkles put in her hair. (Her dance party was last night and she got a few gifts from her Big Sis. Among the gifts was 3 colors of sparkle hair mascara.) It wasn't worth the fight so I put it in her hair, and made her very happy. It did look pretty cute, actually.
We got to church, and Drew was a boogery mess. He went through an entire package of Kleenex so after sacrament I took him home so he wouldn't get anyone else sick. He was fine for about an hour. Then he got really dizzy, started crying and freaking out a bit about that. He put down what he was holding and said he was going to go to sleep on the couch. He said he didn't want anything so I went back to baking in the kitchen, then he started crying again. He threw up all over the couch and my pile of clean laundry. As gross as that was, it would have been so much worse at church. I cleaned him up, put the whole pile that had vomit on it directly into the washing machine. I got him a new pillow and blanket, and he slept for 3 1/2 hours straight. He just woke up a few minutes ago, and he still doesn't feel right, but he's feeling a little better than earlier. Hopefully this is only a 24 hour bug.
During Drew's nap I went to choir practice. Our choir pianist didn't come so I played the piano. I wish I would have had time to practice the other song. I'm playing "Baby, What You Goin' to Be?" and I sight read "Joy to the World." It's a really pretty arrangement, but it has 4 key changes so it was a little tricky to play. After choir was over I was asked to stay after and practice a song with a man in our ward who was asked to learn a song for next Sunday. He's a bass, and the song was a little high for him so we tried another song. The music director really wants this particular song to be sung by a man, so she called another man in the ward who can sightread. I ran over to his house to practice with him, but the song was too high for him too so I'm not sure if I'll be playing that song after all. I guess I'll have to wait and see if she can find someone else.
Lastly, I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight because first thing tomorrow I have to get a new MRI on my lumbar spine. I've been having problems with my back for the last 3 1/2 months so I hope to get some answers. Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic and really hate getting MRI's? If not, now you know. I nearly had a panic attack the last time because I was so freaked out. This time I'm have some Valium to take beforehand, so I hope it works. I really, really hope it works. The pharmacist seems to think that if it doesn't knock me out that it will relax me enough that I just won't care. I hope he's right! Yikes!

Natalie's Dancing

Natalie is part of a dance company near our house. She goes 3 hours each week. She takes tap, ballet and jazz. Then on the times that she misses class she can go to any make-up class that she chooses. For those times she's gone to tumbling, musical theater and hip hop. She likes jazz the most because she has a lot of fun there. She was in a parade last week, but my back wasn't feeling well enough to sit on a chair and watch it because of the ward Christmas party the night before so one of our friends whose daughter is in company with Natalie took her for us. They had to dress up in Christmas pajamas because they rode on a float decorated with wrapped Christmas gifts.

Here are a few pictures of her all dressed up for dance followed by pictures of her dressed for the parade.