A Christmas Story: Chapter One

We just returned from the best Christmas vacation ever! It was one big action packed coast to coast trip to Florida. (Florida's coast's) In fact, we crammed so much in I'm going to have to break this up into pieces!

We began the trip by flying into Jacksonville so John could do a little work while we were in town. It only took a few minutes for the hotel staff to realize that this was no ordinary family and that we were there to party! I think the decibel level was raised a few notches when we checked in.

While John attended meetings, I took the chitlins to the Jacksonville Zoo. We had a great time checking out the animals and even more fun seeing the locals dressed for a blizzard in 60 degree weather!
Here is my Max feeling right at home near the Monkey exhibit. Do you think he needs a haircut?

Lastly, I finally figured out firsthand why making bets is a stupid idea. I love to make silly yet safe bets with the boys like I bet you can't brush your teeth and put on your pj's in under a minute. Well this time my bad betting habits came back to bite me. I bet Jack $20 he couldn't catch this tiny little lizard. As this pic shows I owe him some Benjamin's and will not be placing any bets with him anytime soon. (note to self: remember that in FL, the wild animals think it is winter, so they move a million times slower this time of year.)

Next Chapter.....heading to Orlando where the real fun and excitement begin.

Jacks big night

My oldest had his first swim meet last week and performed brilliantly! I think I might have been more nervous than he was which is not normal. Jack is usually a big ball of nerves about anything and everything, but he did great. He competed in three event with kids ranging from 6 to 9. He took 5th in the 50 freestyle, 3rd in backstroke, and 3rd in the 100 freestyle.

Here is my boy brandishing one of his ribbons.



Enjoying some celebratory pizza with his proud Pops. Way to go Jack, we are proud of you!

This is for the grandparents:

(he is in lane 5)

Max for hire - 2.0

Last year Max specialized in home decor. This year he has branched out into the world of personal stylist. If you find yourself short on styling time this holiday season, give Max a call. He would be more than happy to shop and dress any little girl you have in your family. He specializes in matching bows and socks. He is excellent at making your baby feel beautiful and like a princess during the whole process.

Another cute ensemble brought to you by Maxwell Designs ltd.

Quote of the Week

Max never ceases to crack me up. And I quote: Satan is evil, he will get clothes for Christmas.

Doesn't that pretty much sum it up? Boys hate getting clothes for Christmas. So watch out, if you are naughty like Satan, you might find yourself opening up a bunch of clothes in a couple weeks!

The hazards of crawling backwards

I love that almost anytime I leave the room or take my eye off of this sweet little thing, she gets herself into the craziest spots! Today I was putting laundry away and heard a scared whimper from Sadie. I had to search for a minute because she had crawled under the bed and got stuck! (I actually had to lift up the blanket to find her and take the pic!) I have to admit that I ran to get the camera and made her wait there even though she was a little frightened. Bad, bad mommy!

This photo pretty much sums up Thanksgiving

We were glad to be in Utah and spend time with family, just saddened by why we decided to make the trip.

For those of you that don't know already, my Mom is battling Carcenoid Lung Cancer. Just before Thanksgiving, she had surgery to remove the tumor and half of her left lung. Feeling helpless in Minnesota, we figured out a way for all of my family to make it to Utah to try to show our love and support to my sweet Mom. Here is a list of the good and bad:

1. Good: Sadie and I got to fly. She was a perfect little angel and slept almost the entire flight.

Bad: John and the boys drove 19 hours through a snow storm...need I say more?

2. Good: I got to spend a lot of time with my two nieces Madison and Mackenzie.

Bad: I found out that they LOVE the twilight books. Barf

3. Good:We opened a few Christmas presents early (way early) from each other

Bad: Max initially hated his gift from the Vegas and said "this is not cool, I don't' like this" (who is his mom, she needs to teach him some manners) The picture above is him pouting over his gift!

4. Good: I got to see my favorite Dr. Nurse Friend, Emily Litt.

Bad: I got sick and didn't get to see my favorite red head Linds.

5. Good: Got a pedicure with Madison and Mackenzie

Bad: They wanted to put "team Jacob" on their toes

6. Good: Spending time with my family, most importantly my Mom.

Bad: Passing on the head cold I got to everyone....sorry guys!

All in all, I would say that the good outweighed the bad during our trip. A big shout out to John for making it possible. Thanks Mr. P!

Not to brag or anything.....

BUT!! The other night we went to a Timberwolves game and sat in the commissioner's seats. Yes, THE commish! John just happens to know a guy who knows a guy and we scored last minute ticks. Sadie got all dolled up for the occasion:

At the last minute we thought we didn't look distinguished enough to be in $200 a piece seats, so we came up with this to blend in with the richies:

Our disguise was working, and then those blasted cheerleaders came out. Max looked like this:

And this:

And then in a loud voice said this: Mom, I want those ladies to come back and Dance in their underpants again. Our cover was blown. We were asked to leave immediately.

The best part of the night for me was when some drunk man told his friend a little too loud that I had a nice rear end. Hmmm, maybe we did belong in that section. At least Max did anyway.

Sneak Peek

Here are a few of the photos my awesome friend Darci took this fall. I can't get over how talented she is. She has such a great eye and can make even our crazy family look beautiful! I would show you every single photo but then I wouldn't have anything to give all the Grandmas in our lives for Christmas! Enjoy!

Osom Jack

Jackson brought home some school work the other day that gave me a few chuckles. I love to see little kids phonetically spell words. For some reason it looks adorable. The assignment had him think of synonyms to overused words. Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed:


nice - spactactler

happy - osom

big - enormuse

sad - dredfel

pretty - glameres (my favorite)

friend - bff



I hope all of my glameres bff's out there have one enormuse, osom, spactactler day!

Another Day at the MOA

For those not living in the same state as I, the MOA is the Mall of America. It's enormous, overwhelming, exhausting, and my kids love it. This place is so big they have many of the same stores on every level. Yep, you can go to Bath and Body Works in three different places! Our little family has gotten into a little routine whenever we go. It starts out with a bribe: if you let mommy go to urban outfitters and you are good, then we will go to the Lego Store. After we have accomplished both, there is another bribe placed before them. If you let mommy go to H&M, and you are good, we will go get crepes. We make bribes like these until they are too grumpy and we need to go home. We usually save trips to the MOA for when family visits, but Max was out of school for a couple of rainy days, so we decided to take Sadie on her first trip to the MOA. Good times were had by all.

Here's Max with my favorite crepe filled with Nutella.

Max cozying up to Jengo Fett.

Sadie with a flying saucer on her head.

Bring it on

Sadie is all ready for winter! We like to call the pink stay-puffed marsh mellow lady! I bought this get up last winter on clearance. I think I might have guessed a little wrong on her size because she could get lost in this thing!

Notice those long, sleek legs behind me? Those are Jack's skinny minnies. It would do him a little good to pack on a few pounds to stay warm this winter, don't you think?

(photo courtesy of Max)

Obligatory Halloween Pics

I feel like since the Grandparents read this blog, I am pretty much required to put up some Halloween pictures. Here is the brood: Jack-ghost, Max-Bakugan, and Sadie-Yoda. Yes, Sadie is wearing Max's costume from two years ago. She will sadly have to go through what is known as "third kid syndrome." It's where the parent is over forking out the dough so their kids look super cute for Halloween so they opt for a hand me down. I think she looks cute anyway.

Max and his pumpkin before the annual sugar binge.

Jack with his impressive spider Jack o Lantern.

Now comes the hard part of Halloween for me....keeping out of my kids candy stash. I usually follow the one for you, one for me method of doling out candy. Wish me luck!

D&C 60:2

But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.

I will be afraid no more to open my mouth for a pie eating contest! Can I just say that I completely demolished my compitition which happened to be 7 burly men? Today I am not afraid to admit that I rock.....and have gained a couple pounds. It was worth e-v-e-r-y c-a-l-o-r-i-e!

Please Excuse my absence

I've been a little preoccupied.I've fallen in love with my new phone....my iphone. It's more like a elementary school/ jr. high crush really. I secretly liked and wanted it but didn't want to tell anyone. I threw a few hints out, but nothing too conspicuous. When John and I were at Best Buy looking at phones, I finally blurted out that I NEEDED one. It was intense, much like the do you like me, circle yes or no note you might pass. Well John circled yes, and I immediately fell head over heals over my iphone. If I had time to doodle, i heart the iphone and ip+jp would be all over my house. It's options are pretty much endless. You can download games, get personalized radio stations, scriptures, the list goes on and on. I was hooked, addicted really. But, just like my love for Cody Johnson at a 7th grade dance, it didn't last long. All good things must come to an end! I got my bill in the mail yesterday. This love affair is finished. I'm over you iphone, you are just not that cool.

IPhone, you will never be as cool as this cute little thing!
I think addiction to gadgets runs in the family!

Sister Sadie

I took Sadie to her four month check up this week. I know a little late, but who wants to take their kids in for shots anyways? Well, the stats are in and we just might have ourselves a future WNBA player on our hands. (if they don't go bankrupt beforehand)



Height - 97%+ 26 1/2 inches
Weight - 50% 14lbs 2 0z
Head size - 25% 40 cm



The Dr. gave me the go ahead to start her on cereal. I've fed her a couple times and she does not like the idea one bit. I'll get a pic of it up here sometime because she makes one of the funniest disgusted faces I've ever seen. It's a little hard to feed and take a pic at the same time, so here is one of her eating something else...

Frightful October....Be afraid be very afraid

Boo! Ghosts, Goblins, Ghouls.......and Snow! That's right, the scariest thing this October is that Mother Nature decided to bring us a early dose of winter. I'm shaking in my boots.....my snow boots. It's just not right I tell you, not right.

Max woke up wanting to "rake" the snow. You can tell it is suppose to be fall and they have been talking about raking the leaves at school, so naturally you should rake the snow in autumn as well. Jackson, ever the optimist, had a better idea. He decided to celebrate the snow Halloween style and carved out a pumpkin with the shovel!

Milestones

I thought I'd mention a couple good things that have happened lately instead of blogging about the flu we have all had for about a week!

Look what Sadie found today....her feet!!

She has also been rolling over from her back to tummy for a while now, and she gets mad just about every time she does. (she hates tummy time!) Check it out:

I told you so

When asked by many why I have always wanted to have a girl, I always reply "because my boys will obviously grow up and leave me for another woman." I usually receive a little chuckle, but seriously, SERIOUSLY, i am dead serious. I was hoping that "our breakup of sorts" would be in oh I don't know, another 15-20 years down the road. So, by saying I was caught off gaurd by what happened this weekend would be an understatement. Let me fill you in on the juicy details:



Saturday - I drag the boys to their primary practice. They are less than thrilled to be heading to church on a Saturday where they will have to sit and be reverent and sing songs. Taking a cue from my Mom, I make up something about having a good attitude and ask them what Jesus would want them to do. For some reason this lecture doesn't work and during the practice Max bangs his head on the pew and Jackson rolls his eyes and looks entirely too pre-teen for his 7 years of life.



Sunday- The day of dread for my boys rolls around. (they will grow out of this right?) Meanwhile I have been silently praying that they will get through it without any "special" moments that will be remembered by all and retold the following year. Low and behold Max was a trooper and said his line and was void of any head banging! Jackson actually sang the songs and can you believe he had a smile on his face. I was so impressed!! Prayer does work. :D

Well have you ever heard that prayers are answered through other people? Grrrr.



Here is the dread: Upon arriving home from church, I told Jackson how proud I was of him and that I was so glad he decided to have fun with it instead of being so grumpy. He simply replied "well it's because I saw my Cheryl the whole time." What? I thought the word My was reserved for me, as in My Mom. I can't believe he is already referring to some lady at church as his! What does she have that I don't have? Ok, so maybe she is a geologist and can talk about hot lava and volcanoes with you. Or maybe she is fun and likable, but really??? Your Cheryl already? I am so jealous it hurts. Does she know what your secret favorite color is or how to make your favorite dinner? Will she play legos with you or rub your back while you are hurling in a bowl? I think not!



Needless to say, when the real day comes that Jackson brings home a girlfriend or heaven forbid his fiance, I may need a straight jacket.

At least I have one child that I know will never grow up and leave me for another woman....

10 long years and 10 long reasons

So let me make one thing clear. I am uncomfortable with cheese. Not the dairy kind, but the oozing of love kind that you find in lyrics in a slow song at a eighth grade dance or a hallmark anniversary card. However, on this occasion I feel like cheese needs to prevail so I will willingly step out of my no cheese policy just this once. John and I have been married for 10 years!! Woot Woot! One time when we were engaged, John's mom Lois asked me when was the first time I knew I loved John. Feeling extremely squeamish about the situation, I told her I still wasn't sure and I would let her know when I figured it out. I've grown a lot in the past ten years and thought it wouldn't hurt too severely to let it be known why I love my man........

1. His taste in music - hear the song playing in the background? Well that is "our song." We both decided that Whitney Houston's I will Always love You and Shania Twain's Looks like we Made It was already taken by way too many people so we should go with something a little outside the norm. Go Carry on my Wayward Son!!!

2. He is the yin to my yang. I know sometimes I poke fun at his frugality, but it is good for me, for the both of us. We are slowly rubbing off on each other and eventually will meet somewhere in the middle and that is a good thing.

3. He loves to travel as much as I do. It doesn't matter if we are camping at the bottom of the canyon or on a cruise ship in the Hawaiian islands, we manage to have fun.

4. He loves to pose for pictures. Need I say more?

5. He's not afraid to let his "freak flag" fly in front of me, I in turn do the same.

6. He is the perfect father for our kids, even if he once almost drowned Jackson by capsizing their canoe.

7. He supports me in everything I do/want to do. Well, except for wanting a dog, oh and my love for coca-cola classic.



8. His work ethic rivals the best. You know he is three times the normal athlete, right? He is a great example to me and the kids.



9. This guy is smart. I pretty sure the only thing I've ever taught him is how to check the oil on his car.



10. He is pretty hot. I love me some coke, but I would choose him over caffeine any day. (if you don't know me, that says a lot)





happy anniversary, an thus concludes the cheese portion of my blog.