Fab-tab-ulous weekend on the cheap

I know this is out of chronological order, but if I don't post this now, then I know that I will forget and it will never get posted. Nonetheless, this past weekend we had GREAT fantastic weather, it was sunny and 70 degrees. Here is a run down of our weekend:

FRIDAY:

- Went to the gym and played racket ball with Donald.

- Headed to WalMart and stayed within my budget, GO ME!

- Took Tanner and Brooklyne to the Bonita Lakes Park and chased them around and laughed a lot.

- Had a picnic at the park with the little ones.

- After Trent and Kolby got home from school, we headed over to the church and road bikes, ran races, played kick balll, and played roller hockey as a family.

- After putting kids to bed Don and I got to relax and watch a movie.

SATURDAY:

- Got to sleep in until 7:45 a.m.

- Made and ate a yummy breakfast of Hootnanny Pancakes and a spread of fresh fruit.

- Headed to Bonita Lakes at 10:30 a.m. Don took the kids over to the park to play while I got to run a couple miles. Running outside felt so dang good, and it was the first time I have gone running in over 3 months and it was AWESOME.

- Took the kids hiking on the trails. We hiked a little more than 3 miles. Tanner and Brook were carried about 50% of the time, but over all they did pretty good. Trent didn't want to stop, he was determined to do 5 miles.

- Made it home in time for Tanner and Brook to get a 2 hour, MUCH NEEDED, nap.

- Took the kids to the roller rank because we had some free passes. Kolby got to bring a friend and we had a nice time.

- Went to the Elders Quorum bon fire hot dog roast as a family.

- I resisted the package of Oreo cookies sitting on the table!

- Got the kids home and showered and in bed by 8:30 p.m.

- Snuggled up to my husband and watched a movie before bed.

SUNDAY:

- Made it to church ON TIME.

- Enjoyed church.

- Had a nice lunch of left over OUR BEST BITES Chicken and Dumplings.

- Helped my kids learn what giving to others is about. I wish I could take the credit, but really it it was instigated by Trent and Kolby. The 4 kids collected and donated $10 for Haiti relief then Donald and I added to that to make it an even $50.00. The time we spent discussing how we can contribute to the Haiti relief and the blessings in life was an unforgettable teaching moment that melted my heart.

- Had a great dinner as a family with lots of laughs.

- Put the kids to bed and played card games with Donald.

Overall, our weekend was the perfect way to spend our time together.

EYE POPPING -- SIZZLING HOT

. . . HEELS!!!

My girlfriend Sarah and I went to Birmingham and did some shopping. We of course are clearance shoppers and both fell in love with these hot shoes. Originally $100, and I got them for $35. I don't have anything like them and seriously they are so HOT!!!!! I decided to use my birthday money to buy them guilt free!!!!

9 year old TUDE

My perfect little angle of a son has turned 9 years old. Ahhhh, he really was, and is an awesome kid. Seriously, he was a nearly perfect pregnancy, an easy delivery, a picture perfect baby, toddler, and preschooler, and now, now her has hit the age of ATTITUDE! I suppose I had a glory ride for quite some time, and honestly, his TUDE isn't nearly as bad as some I witness from other 9 year old boys. Nonetheless, he is declaring his independence and trying to establish and figure out the boundaries and line to cross. Yes, I think it will be a work in progress, but thankfully, he is a dang good kid, who is smart, caring, hard working, people pleasing, assertive, critical thinking, caring heart, fun, silly, and much much more. All of these qualities help to out weigh his deliverance of TUDE.

Anyway, enough of that, Trent was able to have a birthday party this year. For the past 3 years he has not had a "friend" party. One year he chose having a friend sleep over, another year he chose building a go cart with dad, and last year was all about getting baptized. So this year he got to have a fun FRIEND party. For several months he was persistant in his desire to have a football and soccer party. This idea was a difficult one to pull off seeings how his birthday is in January. Thankfully Trent was open for suggestions and changed his party plans to a Roller Skating party!!! When Saturday rolled around we were even more grateful for Trent's party plan change due to the 35 degree temp. that day.

Trenton, Bo, and Cooper roller skating

JT, Adam, Trent and Max getting ready to do some Hokey Pokey.

Max, Trent and Adam

Jessica, our babysitter, was helping Brooklyne roller skate

Time for some birthday cake

Party Time!

This picture is the BEST! Seriously, check out the expression on Tanner's face and Jessica's face!

Daddy helping Brooklyne roller skate.

Tanner and I cruising on our wheels while David and Bo laugh in front of us.

"Look Mom, I am miss independent!"

Christmas 2009

I know I am a month behind on my posts, but at least I am posting, ha ha ha.

We had a nice Christmas this year. My parents were here and were blessed with the opportunity to share in our holiday joy, work, stress, and craziness.

In our home we do a nice Christmas Eve dinner. I serve raspberry pork loin, sour cream potato casserole, lemon pepper green beans, strawberry pretzel squares, rolls, and a sparkling cranberry drink. For dessert we had chocolate pie and pumpkin cheese cake in a pecan gingersnap crust. Sadly, though, we never even touched the dessert that night because we were too full.

After the kids went to bed, we finished up a few things and headed to bed as well. While we were all snoozing away, Santa paid a visit to our home and was very generous this year.

The kids waiting at the top of the stairs Christmas morning. They are really excited to see if Santa brought them anything. At this point, they had already established that Santa did not bring a dog because there was not a fence in the back yard (we told the kids Santa would not bring a dog to our house because we did not have a fenced back yard, so they determined that if Christmas morning there was a fence, then they would know they were getting a dog, ha ha ha).

The kids checking out their Santa Loot!

Here's Trent reading the first clue that Santa left. Santa sends the kids on a scavenger hunt every year and puts little clues in my little gingerbread houses (I have 5 of them) and hides them in different places in the house.

This year, Santa brought a guinea pig. We named him Diego!

Trent was so excited to get a jar of pickles from Santa.

Daddy helping Brooklyne open her Santa present.

Star Wars lazer dart gun = ready for action any time!
Brooklyne loves baby dolls and was thrilled she got one for Christmas.

After we opened all our presents, we chowed down on some oven baked french toast and chilled the rest of the day. We watched 2 basketball games and enjoyed left overs for dinner. Ahhhh, what a great Christmas day!

Christmas cuties

Yup, I am THAT mom who dressed her children in matching Christmas attire. We have only had matching Christmas clothes one other time (mother in law sent outfits for the 3 boys a few years ago) but this year I found these cute outfits for the boys - at WAL MART of all places - and then a matching girly girl dress for Brook at another store and was in love. So here ya go, my cute kiddo's in their Christmas outfits the Sunday before Christmas. Oh, and a picture with me in it too - my parents kinda insisted, lol.

In the Spot Light

Kobly has really started to come alive and love the spot light! He is a natural performer and very attentive to detail and style on the stage. This December Kolby was front and center in his First Grade Christmas Program and loved every second of it. He didn't miss a beat and never missed a move. he was spot on AWESOME! It was kinda "funny", if I dare say that, but after the program we took the kids to Ci-Ci's Pizza and on the way Trent was kinda bummed out. I was asking him why he was down and his reply was that he was kinda sad because he thinks Kolby is better on stage than he is. Trent wasn't sure how to feel about these emotions so we talked about different talents, skills, abilities, and struggles. After our conversation Trent was able to be happy and excited for his brother and that success.

Kolby also loved having his mom come to his class Christmas party. When Trent was in 1st grade I came in made taught the kids how to make marshmallow snowmen and they absolutely loved it, so this year, it was Kolby's turn to have his mom teach HIS class. Kolby was lit up like a Christmas tree the entire time, totally relishing in the knowledge that HIS MOM was there and HE was the hot stuff in class for that hour. All in all, his class loved making the snowmen, and if I dare say so, Kolby's class did better at listening and following directions than Trent's class had down a couple years prior.

Ginger Bread House

Can you believe it, this is the first ginger bread house we have ever made in this family. My inlaws sent us a family Christmas gift and it was ginger bread house making kit, so for FHE a few weeks ago, we put it together with the help of my parents. The kids had a lot of fun doing it and really loved putting all the candy on it. Brooklyne however, just wanted to eat all the candy and lick the frosting.