On the Second Day of Christmas:

"A trip to the Provo Temple is what we'll do this day. Once again lay eyes upon that small, sacred family. Even the Christ child, Mary and Joseph. Remember to rush home in haste." 

It was once again so fun to take a quick trip to view the "life size" nativity at the Provo Temple.  I wish I would have taken more time to talk with the children about the Temple and the Savior.  But it always gets a little crazy when we get there.  Having 6 children is like herding cats.  They all have their own ideas as to what direction to go and what they consider fun.  If I get a few good photos the trip was a success.   


I think the reason I take them to the Temple so often is the great desire I have for each of them to make this their main goal in life.  The Temple is a sacred place no matter the season.  

Can I just say how much I LOVE this photo.  The reflection of the kids and Temple in the reflection pool is just awesome! 

On The First day of Christmas:

"As tradition continues, we begin the 12 Days of Christmas with a trip to Alleah's to celebrate her Birthday. Today we will wrap a few gifts and sing her that special song!"

It just so happens that Alleah's birthday falls on the first day of Christmas. And it just so happens that I didn't start this tradition until the year Alleah turned 1. I'm sure every year will start with a birthday celebration, which we are happy to participate in!

The Tale of Two Birds

Thanksgiving morning I decided to start a new tradition: Cinnamon Rolls!!! It sounded like a good idea until Thanksgiving Eve I remember that I was the one who was cooking the Turkey's and the oven needed to be free to do that. Thanksgiving morning I awoke at 6am so I could roll ,raise and cook my cinnamon rolls.  It's been a long time since I attempted cinnamon rolls and I think they turned out pretty good.  No, they aren't my Mother's cinnamon rolls, but it they were good. 

This is what the rolls looked like as they came out of the oven. I slathered them with cream cheese frosting. Hey, it's a holiday.

While the rolls cooked, the girls and I worked on the birds.  I decided to cook two smaller birds rather one really big one.  Hannah was fascinated by the organs of the bird.  She begged me to open the bag so she could inspect.  Inwardly I shook my head and let her have at it.  Disgusting if you ask me.  But she thoroughly enjoyed looking at the heart and liver and trying to figure out which organ was which.

We stuffed our birds with apples and onions.  We then slathered the birds with a mixture of olive oil and butter and salt and peppered under the skin and all over the entire things.

Hannah wanted to be right in the thick of things.  I am grateful that my girls have taken such an interest in helping out in the kitchen.  Earlier in the week Isabel and Hannah helped make the Cranberry Sauce from scratch.  It was quite tasty too.  I also made Jaren make the key lime pie.  He did a great job and didn't complain about it either.

After appropriately seasoning the birds we stuck them in cooking bags and into the oven.  According the package direction I put them in a little early allowing for both birds to cook at once. 

What's under the blankets?  My two turkeys.  They finished cooking 2 hours too soon.  I was in a little bit of a panic.  I remember Kelli, my sister in law, telling me about a method she heard on T.V.  So I wrapped the birds in tinfoil, and covered them with baby blankets in the hope that they would stay warm for dinner.  Well, it worked.  The birds were really well done, but they tasted good.  They made some pretty killer sandwiches the next day too.  

Thanksgiving dinner is not my favorite meal.  But what is my favorite are the sandwiches that follow the next day.  I crave those all year long!! 

All in all, it was a good Thanksgiving.  Brent's family came over and we spent the whole day cooking, talking, cleaning, playing games and enjoying each others company.  Oh did I forget to mention that we ate, a lot. 

First of Christmas Tradition: The Quilt

This year I successfully finished the Christmas Quilt a week after Halloween. I was pretty relieved to get it done in such a timely fashion.  This year I used fabrics from past years.  I had to only buy a few more colors to complete my umbre squares.  At first I didn't love it.  But after taking a photo of it, I think it's fun.  And it's not necessarily the quilt that makes the tradition.  It's what we do with the quilt that makes the tradition so special.  This year I am changing it up again.  Each person who receives the quilt also receives a special note from the previous recipient.  I want my kids to think of the reasons why they love each other and help them see the good qualities they each possess. 

The Christmas Quilt 2011

From light to dark.  It's a trend this year.  So I hear.

The Christmas Tree.
This year I trimmed the tree.  Being a fake tree it was a little tricky.  I managed to removed every other row of boughs.  I prefer it when the ornaments actually hang from the boughs and not just lay on them.  I don't think the husband was too happy with me.  Until he saw the end result.  Usually I put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving.  I didn't want to be rushed this year to get the lights and ribbon on.  I decided to do all of that the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  We didn't put the ornaments on until the day after Thanksgiving.  It was nice to actually focus on the ornaments, which are special to each of the kids.  Another tradition that started when Brent was just a baby with his Grandma making him 1 ornament every year.  Brent's Mom has continued on with this tradition.  It's one the kids look forward to every year. 

I love the reflection of the tree in the window.  One of my favorite things about the holiday season is seeing others trees through their homes.  Trees bring warmth and love into a home.  It's almost an instant change once those lights are lit. 

Crazy!?

The week before Halloween was Red Ribbon Week. One of the days was Crazy Hair day. Generally in the past we collectively forget about such days. My kids would always go to school feeling left out. Sheesh, such a Mom am I. It was hard enough getting kids ready in the morning, let alone doing something CRAZY! Now that 2 of my 6 are off at 7:15am it's a lot easier to do fun things like this.


Annika surprised me by allowing for such Craziness.



The feathers didn't last very long at all.  Neither did the bows.
We put forth a great effort.



Isabel was NOT happy with me for insisting on doing her hair.  You have to understand Isabel.  She hates fly aways.  Half the time I do her hair she takes it out because it isn't "perfect".  I will spend a good 10 minutes of my life doing her hair all for her to undo it in 30 seconds.  When her hair is in a pony tail, it can't be too high, and there can be no bumps, or any little hairs out of place.  We go through a lot of hairspray, that is when we actually have it. 



Yep, I'm a mean Mom.  This hair-do took me quite a while to pull off.  It felt weird on her head, she cried and told me she was going to take it out as soon as she got to school.  I told her she wasn't going to be the only one at school with funky hair.  After looking at if for a while, she finally realized how awesome her hair was.  One of Isabel's greatest qualities is her quickness to apologize.  A quality that she has just recently polished. 

I find that as the kids get older some things become easier as other things become more difficult.  My time management in the mornings is so much better, for the most part.  Maybe that's due to the fact that my kids can actually pick out their outfits and get themselves dressed.  The difficult part comes with more fighting.  She didn't ask to wear this or that, She called me ugly, She was in my room, She called me this name or that name.  I have to admit, the fighting gets more difficult to endure.  When they were younger for some reason I had more patience with them.  Now that they are older they can express themselves with words and not just crying.  Words hurt a lot of the time.  Most of the time.  It's draining.  I try and talk them through each battle.  Everyone has their own tunnel vision and has a difficult time seeing the whole picture.  

I am grateful for the quiet moments at night with my husband.  Evening if we are just vegging out on the couch, watching our shows.  I find my time with him is even more valuable now then ever.  As the kids get older and more involved our time gets split up a lot more. 

As much as I like to complain about my life, I really wouldn't change it for anything.  Yes, it's hard even difficult at times.  But when your 3 year old says Guess what?  I respond What, she says, I LoVe you, or when my 13 yr old still asks for hugs, or we laugh around the dinner table as silly things we say and do, I remember that life wouldn't be as sweet without the hard times.  The quiet times wouldn't feel so refreshing without the crazy chaotic noise of the day. 

Chiggor-Cheat?

By the end of the night Grace had transformed the quintessential trick or treating phrase into "Chiggor Cheat". I laughed every time she said it.

Halloween was pretty much a breeze this year. All thanks to my Mom. She made the Alice, Red Riding and Tinker Bell Costumes. I was left with the Mummy/Skeleton and the Witch which I just decorated up a hat and threw on one of my dresses. Of course my favorite part of Halloween is the make-up part. There weren't too many faces to be done up this year. Still fun none the less. I had all sorts of stuff spread out on the table. That turned out to be far to tempting for the 3 year old. While my back was turned, she got into several of the eye shadows spreading  shimmeriness all over the table and her face. Good times.

Everyone looked great this year.


All lined up and waiting for the fun to begin.



Taking a different perspective.



My mummy.  No longer wanted to be twisted in shredded sheets.



Already for some School Haunting.



Alice.  The costume was perfection!!



Sometimes it feels as though our house has gone down the rabbit's hole.



Miss Riding Hood. 



Annika looked adorable!! 



Tinker Bell.



This one has a whole lotta 'tude!!



What can I say?  She's just that cute.







Miss Witch.



Her last year trick or treating. 






The whole gang before we set off.

We missed seeing our Grandparents.

We left Jaren the Zombie at home to pass out candy.  He "owned" that responsibility.  When we came back he told us to get out of the way, he had some trick or treaters coming.  He later left to go to a party.  It took a while for other people to show up so he ended up roaming the street and had a ton of fun scaring people and getting fun comments.  I don't think he missed the door to door gig.

The weather was phenomenal.  People were out on their porches handing out candy.  We didn't have to wear jackets the whole night.  I made a great new tortilla soup recipe.  It's definitely a keeper.

Is She Hot?

The other evening Beckham was hanging out with Brent and I in the basement. Some how the topic of "HOT" came up in reference to a person. Beckham brought it up so I tried to ask him what he thought it meant. He got a little shy and tried to veer from his knowledge by saying, "you know, your hot and buring up". I pried a little more, "is that really what you think 'hot' means?" Yes, came the reply. I said," I thought 'hot' meant that someone was really good looking." Blushing Beckham told me he knew that but didn't want to say. I asked him who he thought was"Hot".  Without hesitation he said, "YOU!" Awww, what a sweetheart to think his own Mom is "hot". I'm sure that will quickly change!  I turned to my husband and said, " You are one lucky man to be married to someone who is 'Hot'!". I'm constantly reminding him how lucky he is.

A few weeks ago Beckham came home from playing with a friend and out of no where he tells me this, " You know Mom, you are one of the nicest people I know. Luke's Mom is pretty nice too. But you are nice." What a relief to hear that at least one of my kids thinks that I'm nice. I know that being nice isn't the goal of being a Mother, but it sure felt good to hear it.




My Sweet Son.