Oh Christmas Tree

My Christmas tree is not Pinterest-worthy.

It isn't very color coordinated.  There is no real theme.  But I like it.

It is a mish-mash of ornaments.  Some of the ornaments are mine from when I was a kid.  Some of them are keepsakes from my own kids: hand prints and baby pictures and fingerprint reindeer:

Some have been picked up in our travels, like the London bus or Minnie and Mickey from Disney world.  More and more of them are one-of-a-kind handmade ornaments made by preschoolers, kindergartners and second graders:

It is so much fun for me to put up the tree and remember where each ornament came from and the history behind it.  It might not be the most beautiful or stylish tree around, but it is ours, and I love it.  Especially on Christmas Eve when everything is quiet...you know, not a creature stirring and the stockings hung by the chimney with care.

Too bad it is time to take it down already!  (That is never as much fun as putting it up, is it?)

Pre-Christmas Catching Up - Christ in Christmas

Like many of you, I want my kids to remember the real reason that we celebrate Christmas.  It is sometimes a hard thing to do.  It seems they are just bombarded with Santa! Reindeer! Presents! Elves! pretty much 24-7.  They are on TV, they are at the store, they are at school, the library, everywhere!  Don't get me wrong, I love Santa and reindeer and presents (and well...you already know my thoughts on elves).  All I want is some sort of balance.  And let's face it, it's not just for the kids! 

This year, we took the kids to "Echoes of Christmas," which is a musical live nativity that they have at Liberty Park.  This was a our first time trying it, so we weren't quite sure what to expect.  We had to wait in line for about half an hour, but the kids had fun running around in the snow and playing with all of the other kids who were waiting in line too.  When we got to the front of the line, they put us in a small group and a shepherd led us around to the various stops on our journey.  At each stop, a part of the Christmas story was told.  The kids were SO good and so quiet as they listened to the shepherds, angels, wise men and innkeepers sing songs about the birth of the Savior and the parts they played.  The kids also (of course) loved that there were real live sheep, donkeys, and even a camel!  

Preston had his phone and took some pictures, but for some reason (maybe the cold) his camera was freaking out and putting weird lines through the pictures.  Here is one picture that wasn't too bad...it is one of the three wise men singing with the camel in the background. 

I thought that it was pretty good, especially since it was free!  I am not sure who the group is that puts it on, but they had heaters at each stop and had hay bales for the kids to sit on.  It was fun to hear the well-known story told in a new way.  We might try to make it a tradition.

On the ride home, Cora said her favorite part was " when I saw the baby Jesus, oh and the camel."  Arden liked the angel that sang to the shepherds, and thought the donkey was soooo cute!  Dax liked playing in the snow while waiting in line best.  *sigh*   Hopefully some of it soaked in a little.  I enjoyed myself at least.

We also braved the crowds one night and headed to Temple Square to see the lights, which is always awesome:

Here is Dax in front of my favorite red tree:

When Preston and I were first married, one of the guys in our neighborhood was the groundskeeper for the Ogden temple.  He told us once that the big red cedar tree on Temple Square has more than 75,000 lights on it, which is more Christmas lights than they have at the entire Ogden temple.  The lights generate so much heat that they only light the tree up every other year. I am glad it was a red year!

Awwwww:

We were lucky enough to have lots of helpers with the kids grandma and grandpa were there, but somehow escaped my camera.  Val and Josh weren't so lucky!  Aren't they pretty?

 Amanda and Matt also helped out.  Cora had a great time pointing things out to them:

The Monday before Christmas we always act out the nativity story for FHE.  We don't have real costumes, so we sort of wing it.  Every year the girls have a "discussion" about whose turn it is to be the angel and whose turn it is to be Mary.  We got it figured out and made it through without any major mishaps.  Here is the "after" picture.  Cora was the angel.  Dax was a shepherd, though he didn't want to wear a robe so he is a shepherd with a dinosaur skeleton shirt...oh well.  Preston was Joseph and Arden was Mary.  Baby Jesus was played by a doll, which is lucky since our Mary doesn't look like she should be trusted with the real thing.  I read the story from the bible and also acted as the wise men.  My costume, if you are curious, was a robe and a princess crown.

It isn't perfect, but the kids had fun and for at least 5 minutes they weren't thinking of Rudolph.

I will try and finish up the Christmas posts before New Years!

Christmas Photo Wishes

Happy Christmas Eve!  I am way behind on my blogging, but here is a short one full of pictures for you.  I will catch up after Christmas, but right now I am in a wrapping frenzy with less than one day to go!

Short background:  the kids love to do crafts.  I bought a Christmas craft book on a whim last time we went up to the cabin.  My awesome sister in law Alison came with us that time and saw that one of the crafts was some silly Christmas photo props.  There was a Santa, a Rudolph the reindeer and some funny glasses.  She thought it would be fun to set up a picture area at the Zaugg family party last weekend, and I was in charge of the props.  I had to add a couple more, but it was fun to see how the pictures turned out.  Here are some of our little family:

I love this one of Arden the red nosed reindeer and Cora-Claus:

Dax (Buddy the Elf) and Cora (Frosty the Snowman):

 Me (Rudolph) and Santa Arden with Cora elf:

The whole weird bunch of us:

 Grandma Zaugg and Aunt Colette (I had to put those one in because Grandma NAILED IT):

 Cora and Preston...Cora's face is too small and she can barely see past most of the props:

 See what I mean?  Rudolph's nose takes up her whole face!

Santa made another appearance too:

Giggly girls on Santa's lap:

With that, my break time is over and I have a zillion things to do before Christmas morning!  Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Santa and his Elves

Here is a little reminder for all you kids out there (sorry it is blurry at first):

My kids seem to do their best singing in the car.  They got that from me, I guess.  What cute little friends they are when they are not trying to maim each other!

We have been pretty much living and breathing the Christmas stuff around here lately.  The kids get at LEAST one reminder a day that they better shape up or risk getting on Santa's dreaded NaUgHtY LiSt.  

Arden asked me the other day why we don't have an Elf on the Shelf.  There are a number of reasons.  First, and most important...the Elf CREEPS me out to no end.

For reals.

Even the big man is with me:

And reason #2,  I will mess it up.  I am busy, I am forgetful, I am lazy.  It is only a matter of time before I broke one of the 247 Elf of the Shelf rules and ruined Christmas for my kids forever.  (But mostly, its because of the creepy thing.  You can tell by just looking at them that they are plotting something truly horrible for the minute you close your eyes.)

So, at my house we just are sticking to the "Santa knows if you are naughty or nice because he is MAGIC" thing that worked for me when I was a kid.  Also, I know his phone number, so in serious naughty emergencies (see above statement about Dax and Cora trying to maim each other), I just reach for the phone and start dialing some numbers and I get an immediate response.  Even if that response is for Dax and Cora to stop screaming at each other and start screaming at me "NOOOOOONOOOOOO PLEASE DON'T CALL SANTA PLEEEEASE NOOOOOOOO!" at the top of their lungs.  The decibel level hasn't decreased, but at least it has been redirected a little.

We actually got some face time with St. Nick at the annual Haun family Christmas party.  All the kids were excited to see Santa this year:

We've been gooood, but weee can't last!  Hurry Christmas, Hurry Fast!

The Desolation of Smog

Here is what it looked like from my house this afternoon:

Ew.

Every day it creeps up higher and higher and soon it will engulf everything.  The weatherman tells me there is no hope in sight.

But I am still hoping for a Christmas miracle.

(Can somebody quickly invent some really REALLY large fans or something?)

2-4-6-8-In-Out-On!

Does anyone know from the title what this post is about?  10 extra points if you do!

Arden is now in second grade.  The other day she caused me some MAJOR elementary school flashbacks when she told me that at recess her and her friends played "Chinese jump rope."  When I was in second grade, I spent every single second of every single recess the same way.

For those of you who do not know...(duh?)...a Chinese jump rope is pretty much a great big glorified rubber band wrapped in fabric.  In order to play the game, you must have two friends who are willing to stand about three feet apart and wrap said giant rubber band (which may or may not have anything to do with China...does anyone know?) around their ankles so that it forms a rectangle.  Then, you jump around in a certain pattern without making any mistakes.  Sometimes you have with one foot inside the rectangle (two, four, six, eight are alternating which foot), sometimes with both feet inside, both feet outside, or both feet on top of the rope.

If you succeed on your first try ("reg-gies," in my old 2nd grade lingo), you progress to different and harder rope positions.  "Skinnies," "Fatsies," "Kneesies," "Triangles," "Crossies," "Bunnies," it could go on and on and on (and on).  Eventually you run into madness like "Kneesie-Skinnies" if you have mad skills.  If you mess up, you are out and one of the rope holders gets a turn.

Arden is totally addicted.  Last weekend she crafted her own Chinese jump rope out of Rainbow Loops with the help of her awesome aunt Alison and some helpful cousins.  Maybe Santa will bring her the real thing, but in the mean time, she is happily jumping around, and is always in need of an extra person or two to lend her their legs.

And what if you are at home, and your mean mom can't spend all day in one place with a rubber band wrapped around her legs? You improvise:

Chairs have legs too!  This made me laugh out loud because I clearly remember doing the EXACT SAME THING.  It is like Arden is living my second grade life all over again.  Blast from the past, big time.

Does anyone else remember these things?

Thankful...

I am thankful that my kids are no longer barfing.

On Monday night it started.  It started as it always seems to start...in the middle of the night.  Like 30 minutes after I fall asleep.  My kids have NEVER started throwing up at like 3 in the afternoon.  No, it has to be the dead of night.  I am not sure if there is some scientific reason for this, but it is how it goes around here.

Anyways, Cora started the fun about 12:30 a.m. Arden started up about 45 minutes later.  Dax held out until about 2:00 a.m. but then he started too.  Someone was going at least every 20 minutes, and sometimes more than one person was hurling at the time.  We ended up with Cora and Arden in bed with me, bowls at the ready.  Preston was sleeping in Cora's room, listening for Dax to call.

It was a loooooong, disgusting night.

And a long day afterwards.  All three kids were still at it for most of the day.  And I had forgotten how it feels to stay up allll night.

Poor Dax missed his Kindergarten Thanksgiving party, which they have been building up to for the entire month of November.  Seriously.  They created headbands with feathers, fringed vests made from brown paper bags.  They created their own bowls from clay and painted them.  (I LOVE how political correctness does not apply to kindergarten.)  He was so bummed to miss it.  

Luckily, it was only a 24-hour bug, and the next night was much better.  We were still pretty tired Wednesday, so we laid low and I just made pies and stuff to get ready for Thanksgiving.  I only had to bring one pie to the actual dinner, but I made two so we would have one to eat all by ourselves.  Raspberry Creme Pie...mmmmmmmm

Everyone was feeling better by Thursday so we were luckily able to go to Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's house. I still wasn't thinking too clearly I guess because no pictures were taken.  No pictures on Thanksgiving or for the entire week.  That's got to be some sort of record for me.

Friday was still a little weird.  Arden took a nap.  For like 3 or 4 hours.  Dax took a good long nap too. Only Cora stayed awake to "help" Preston put up the Christmas lights.  She threw a gigantic fit when we wouldn't let her get on the roof.  Seriously?

We did get out and took the kids to see Frozen on Saturday night.  I LoVeD it, and so did the kids.  So go out and spend your money, it was worth it!

But seriously, I have so much to be thankful for.  Family, Friends, my warm house, online shopping, the gospel, my country, pie, my awesome husband....I could go on and on.  But right now....

...I am thankful for the absence of vomit.

And hopefully a good night's sleep!  

Winter Wonderland

I know you guys are sick of hearing about Bear Lake.  Sorry.  This is going to be all the adventure we are going to be able to afford for the next year or so, so get used to it people.  The kids are still excited to go, I am still excited to go, so try to be excited to hear about it (or, you know, just skip this post).   Hey, at least the scenery keeps changing so you have different pictures to look at!

It hadn't snowed at our house, but once we headed up some canyons we left fall and entered winter.  And it was beautiful:

(or at least it seemed beautiful to me in late November.  Ask me again in March, and I probably won't feel quite as rapturous about the snowy landscapes.)

Here is the view from the cabin deck as soon as we got there Friday evening, as the sun was going down:

The kids were just a little excited to finally be out of the car:

After turned the heater up (brrrrr!) and unpacked, we decided we were hungry.  We headed out to one of the local restaurants that was still operating (they are getting fewer and fewer).  It was a Mexican place and was all decorated for Christmas.  We ate chips and salsa until we thought we would burst.  After dinner we headed back to the cabin and just hung out in our jammies and then went to bed.  The first night away from home is always a rough bedtime.  The kids all started out together in the "kids room" downstairs.  After a few trips down the stairs reminding the kids that it is hard to sleep unless you are actually IN the beds had no effect, Arden ended up in the loft bedroom, and Dax in "Harry Potter's Room" under the stairs.  After that things quieted down pretty quick.  Ah, the joy.

The next day we woke up to a snowy morning.  We snuggled down in the warm cabin all morning, watching movies and doing crafts. (Crafts are Arden's favorite cabin activity, and she now expects me to provide at least one or two crafty activities per trip. Oriental Trading Company is sure making their $$ off of me lately). After lunch, we headed out to see if we could find anywhere to sled nearby.

Preston is ready to go!

Me and Cora are ready to go!

 We had to stop along the way and make a snow angel or two:

 And finally, we found a small hill and we were sledding!  Woooo!

 Cora has a hard time staying on her sled, but she has fun anyway:

 Arden and Dax started making "choo-choo trains":

Arden and Dax like to go down the hill on their own sleds, but Cora still likes to go down with Preston or me sometimes:

Maybe it is because we are easier to hold onto and keep the sled facing forwards, which is another thing Cora has trouble with.  

After we were all sledded out, we headed back to the cabin and took off our zillion layers of snow clothes. Soon the wind started blowing and the snow started falling pretty hard, so we settled in for a quiet evening.  Back to the crafts!  Me and the girls put together some elves we can use for Christmas ornaments or decorations later:

 The boys had fun playing "Star Wars Angry Birds" on my phone:

 The elves looked cute and cozy all lined up in the window as the storm blew outside:

We had some nice warm soup for dinner, then played some games.  Preston did "tickle monster" for a while, which makes the kids scream so loud that I am always worried someone is going to hear them and call the po-po.  Then we tried to settle down and watch another movie.  When bedtime rolled around, we decided to just let the kids be downstairs in the kids room together, and as long as no one was crying we would just let them do their thing and hopefully they would fall asleep eventually.  It took them quite a while.

After they were finally quiet, I snuck down the stairs to check on them.  In the kids' room there is a twin bed and a twin-over-full bunk bed.  Cora had been on the top bunk, Dax on the bottom and Arden in the twin when I tucked them in.  Somehow they all ended up falling asleep in the big bottom bunk bed together. Awwwwwww.  How adorable are these little stinkers?  I love it.

 Morning glory:

 We had breakfast, and played some more Old Maid:

After a lazy morning, we got all dressed up and headed to church in a nearby town.  The roads weren't plowed, but they weren't too bad (lucky for us the roads by our cabin are dirt, and dirt melts snow).  After we got back, it was time for me to clean up while the kids played some more and Preston packed up the car.  

We didn't do much but relax, but it is nice have a place to go for a change of scenery.  Who wants to come along next time?  And do you have a snowmobile?  

Best Report Card Ever

So guys....let's be truthful.  When I was in elementary school, I was a "good kid."  I got good grades, I was very quiet, I was pretty much teacher's pet.  I never got in any serious or even any non-serious trouble.  My sweet Arden has pretty much followed in my footsteps.  I am SO incredibly lucky that she is such a good kid.  I can trust that Arden is going to be good in school and bring home awesome report cards every quarter.

My boy, though...I didn't know what to expect.  Dax is so sweet.  He tells me 10 times a day that he loves me (awesome).  But my sweet is not always quiet, my boy is not always good at sitting still, and....let's just face it, he is not always gentle.  

I knew I might be in trouble when it was the second or third day of kindergarten and I walked Dax to his "line" in front of the school.  The kindergartners all stand in a line until the bell rings and their teacher brings them in to the school.  Dax saw that nice, long, straight line and got a big smile on his face.  Before I knew what he was doing he ran into the back of the line (lit-er-al-ly), resulting in what I would call "kindergarten dominoes."  Nice.  Sorry, 12 other moms standing next to me.

I decided I'd better check in with his teacher every couple of days to see how things were going.  She told me that Dax was having a hard time staying on task, and was also being too rough with the kids on the playground:  he was pushing, not looking where he was going and running over people, stuff like that.  

Not good.  

Every day I wold talk to my boy and remind him he needed to be careful and kind.  About two weeks after school started it was picture day! The kids were in a line again, waiting their turn to get their pictures taken.  The girl behind Dax ran into him for whatever reason.  Dax turned around and pushed her, knocking her and another girl to the ground.  Result:  Two crying girls at picture time, and Dax in the Principal's office.

The Principal's office.  Two weeks into kindergarten.  It was a dark day, people. (Remember?)

After I got finished freaking out (which took a while), I had Daxton sit down and write apology notes to the girls.  We talked and talked and talked about it.  I couldn't understand what was going on.  Dax had never hurt anyone on purpose in preschool.  Sure, he bounces off people and playfully tackles them, but this was different.  Each day for the next week I checked with Dax's teacher to see how things were going.  She said he was doing better, but I never knew if and when there might be another "incident."  

One night his teacher called me to ask if I could help her cut some things out for the kids, which I had volunteered to do.  When she called and said, "Hi, this is Mrs. XXXX," my stomach seriously dropped to my toes faster than you would believe.  I was so relieved when I found out she wasn't calling to tell me about something bad Dax had done.  

I knew report card time was coming, and I was slightly apprehensive (or maybe downright scared).  I know it is KINDERGARTEN and who cares about kindergarten report cards, right?  I do, I guess.  I was worried that if Dax wasn't able to do well in kindergarten, first grade would only be worse.  I was worried Dax might get a "rep" as the bad kid at school.  I was worried about ALLL sorts of things.

Finally, the day arrived.  When I opened up that manila envelope I really had no idea what to expect.  I gathered my courage and unfolded it.  It was almost all 3s!  (That is best you can get on the weird system they use at that school).  SQUEEEE!  And his teacher also put comments on the bottom that I want to frame and/or possibly get tattooed on my body.  Here we go:

"Daxton is doing a great job in Kindergarten!  He has been working so hard and staying on task!"  (I didn't even add the exclamation points!!  (I know that I am a habitual over-user of the exclamation point, so obviously she is a woman after my own heart.)  

"His behavior has improved drastically"  YAY!  "Academically, he is excelling in all areas."  WAAA!?!  If I had the ability to do a back flip, this is when I would have busted it out.  "I love having him in my class."   

Daxton's teacher, I love YOU!

Poor Dax got lifted off the ground and hugged until he told me he couldn't breathe.  I felt so light, it seemed like I would float right off the ground.  Since Dax told me I couldn't hug him anymore, I told him I would take him out to lunch anywhere he wanted to go.  He chose Wingers a.k.a. "The Popcorn Place," and he wanted to go "with just mom." Preston was luckily working from home that day, and was so pleased with our boy that he offered to watch Cora while I took Dax to lunch.  We had a great time:

Want some ice cream, boy?  Then ice cream you shall have:

Arden did awesome too!  YAAAAAAAAY Arden!  I am so proud of her.  Lest you think we are playing favorites, she got to pick any place she wanted to go for dinner.  She chose McDonalds.  *sigh*   I really need to talk to her about aiming a little higher in the restaurant department.  I guess if you are seven, chicken nuggets, a meal with a TOY and a play land is the ultimate dining experience.  :)

Parent-teacher conferences were this week, and they were awesome!  I am such a lucky girl to have two such smart, good kids.  I can only guess that Dax was stressed while getting used to kindergarten those first couple of weeks, and now that he is all settled in it will be smooth(er) sailing.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

(phew!)

Haunted Half Marathon

Yes, it is nearly mid-November, and I am finally getting around to blogging about something that happened October 26th...the Haunted Half.  I know, bad blogger.

This was my third half marathon this year.  I had a PR in the Dino Half back in May (1:56:49), and it was HARD.  I am just not that fast, and I was a-sufferin' the last 3 miles of that race.  Since I don't like to suffer, I am thinking that time might stand as my all-time PR forever and ever.  I was planning on just having a good time at this race, and trotting along at a comfortable pace and who cares how fast I went.

My dad and my sister Val signed up to do the race with me.  I liked the fact that this race didn't start until 9 a.m., so we just had to catch the bus by 7:30 a.m.  It still seemed early when my dad came down to carpool to the start.  My mom came too, and took this picture of us at my house pre-race:

It was a Halloween race, so we were encouraged to dress up.  I decided to be Wonder Woman!  I found a t-shirt with an attached cape that I thought would be fun, and actually found a running skirt with stars on it too.  I even found some awesome Wonder Woman socks that each had their own little cape.  My dad had a Halloween shirt (which was more than I expected) so we were pretty festive as we headed off to meet Val at the bus.

The race started up Emigration Canyon. It was COLD at the starting line!  We found Val (who wore devil horns for her costume) pretty quickly and it was nice to have her and my dad to talk to while we waited the hour or so for the race to start:

It was fun to see all of the different costumes, and there was even a guy riding around dressed up as the Headless Horseman on an actual horse!  Once it was nearly race time, I had to put my sweatshirt in the bag drop to make the trip down to the finish line, and then I was REALLY cold.  I was trying to get my iPod going and I was shivering so hard I was having a hard time pushing the buttons.

By the time the race actually started, I decided I would start running at a pretty good pace to ward off hypothermia.  Plus, the beginning of the race was a gradual downhill down the canyon, and I likes me some down hill.  Weeeee!

After a mile or two I finally started to get warmed up.  Also, my competitive juices started flowing and I started playing the "who can I pass next" game.  The canyon was beautiful and the weather was perfection. I noticed as I went along that there were quite a few other Wonder Womans (Wonder Women?) in the race.  However, not very many had 3 capes like me!  (My nephew informed me at our Halloween party that the real Wonder Woman doesn't actually wear a cape.  Cuz really, where is she going to attach it while wearing her bustier?  Good point, but back to the story).

I was bopping along pretty good, and when I was around mile 5 I checked my watch, and my pace was around 8:30 per mile.  I started thinking....Well.....I might as well try to see if I can finish in less than 2 hours. It sounded like a good idea until mile 7 when the UP-hills started.  There were a couple of brutal hills around mile 8 (and 9 and 10) when running around research park and the avenues.  I HATE running up hills more than I like running down hills, so pretty much any hill is brutal for me.  A couple of them were so steep that I had to pull out my "I am not trying to kill myself" mantra and walk for a bit.  The last couple of miles were through Memory Grove park, and that was my favorite part of the race.  The leaves were so beautiful, the sun was shining, and I was going downhill again!  Yay!

The finish line looked like a great big Jack O' Lantern, and we ran through the mouth.  My official chip time was 1:58:28.  It was a minute or two slower than my PR, but I felt MUCH better during and after this race, so I call it a win.  I couldn't stick around and watch Val and my dad cross the finish line since I had three back-to-back soccer games to get to, but they both had good races too.  It was a fun race!  

Now I am going to take it easy for a couple months...my next half marathon isn't until mid-May.  I am going to run the Ogden Half Marathon.  Should I try to beat that PR??

Hmmmmm...