Fun in the Snow...I mean Ice.

We went up to my brother Spencer's yesterday. They have an awesome sledding hill by their house. When we got there we noticed that the snow had melted a lot and we weren't sure there was enough to sled on.

Well what little snow that was left was packed down and was basically just sheets of ice. So we went ice sledding. The going down was fun. The coming up was slippery. Brett once got to the top of the hill and slipped and slid all the way down again. Funny!

This is a picture I took of Spencer and Gavin going off a jump. I had to slide down on my bum and stop in the middle of the icy hill. It wasn't easy, but the shot is awesome. Also notice Spencer's puffed out cheeks. He makes that face when he is bracing for impact. It is funny.

Spencer and Gavin

Brynn and Brynlee

Notice the grassy parts. It is funny that we were sledding and the grass was still showing.

This is Brett and the boys at the bottom of the hill after they slid all the way down after reaching the top and slipping.

We had a great time and love hanging out with Spencer, Kim, Brynlee, and baby Jace! Thanks for having us and playing with us! (Kim note that I have not put a picture of our Dr. Mario scores on my blog. I am still not happy about you kicking my butt over and over! Though I am pretty sure you cheated, so I am not sure the scores should count anyway!)

What we got for Christmas...

So I am finally getting around to posting about Christmas.

This year the big gift was Nintendo DS's for Gavin and Brynn.

Alec got a VSmile and he calls it his VS.

And of course he got his guitar that he has been wanting forever. He even does smooth moves when he plays it. I think he is a natural.

There was also lots of Star Wars Legos, and Littlest Pet Shop to be had.

Brett got the Indiana Jones Wii game, videos, and clothes. I got a new photography backpack and an mp3 player.

I think my favorite gift though I gave to myself. I found Dr. Mario for the Gameboy and bought it and have been playing on Gavin's old Gameboy all weekend. It is just like riding a bike, you never forget how to play. I still got it, baby!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

One of my favorite things

I have to admit one of my favorite days of the year is the day after Christmas. It is my favorite for several reasons:

1. Christmas is officially over. No more presents to buy, events to participate in, crazy (putting my life on the line) trips to Wal-Mart, insane lists of things to do.

2. The day after Christmas is usually a very relaxed day. We don't have much of an agenda. We stay in our pajamas, play with our toys, and eat food.

3. It is the furthest day away from the next Christmas!

The 12th day of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas things that I love:

Fun Christmas Eve traditions

Almost every year since we have been married we have gotten together with Brett's brother Steve's family for Christmas Eve. We only live a few minutes from each other, and every year we take turns hosting a meal and playing games on Christmas Eve.

Then the cousins get to open their PJ's together. And uncle Steve tracks Santa on the computer every year. It has become a fun tradition that we look forward to.

Alec, Gavin, Ryan, Brynn, and Emily in their Christmas jammies.

Alec and Gavin in their Mario jammies.

Brynn and her cousin Emily in their jammies with their new stuffed animals.



This year it was at our house. We had a fun night. Now the kids are snug in their beds and Santa is on his way.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The 11th day of Christmas

On the 11th day of Christmas things that I love:

Ornaments

Brett's mom started a tradition when her kids were little to give them an ornament every year and then when they got married she gave them all to them. We have kept up the tradition and every year we get our kids, and each other an ornament.

Usually the ornament represents something significant in our lives that year. This year, Christmas seemed to sneak up on us. So we got the kids generic ornaments. They are all little snowman with mini styrafoam balls inside.

Brett's mom also gives each of her Grandkids an ornament.

It it really fun to get the ornaments out every year and remember why we got that ornament that year, and what was going on in our lives. It has become a tradition we really look forward to every year.

In other news: Our van got rear-ended yesterday, and our other car has died and is in the shop. Cars are not our favorite thing at the moment!

The 10th day of Christmas

On the 10th day of Christmas things that I love:

My Santa collection.

For the past couple of years I have started collecting Santa figurines. I like the old fashioned looking Santa's (as opposed to the newer, jolly, rounder, version). Some of my favorite designs are by Jim Shore.

I love the concept of Santa. I remember when I was 6 years old. On Christmas eve I looked out the window of my bedroom and saw a blinking red light in the sky. I just knew it was Rudolph and I went to sleep so excited. I remember waking up the next morning and seeing "reindeer" hoof prints in the snow on the roof (my bedroom was on the second floor and I could see the first floor roof from my window). (It was probably just a cat prints, but I just knew in my 6 year old mind that they were reindeer). That is a magical moment that I will always remember. I like to think that my kids can also feel that same magic and wonderment of the season.

I also love the story behind Santa. The fourth-century bishop Nicholas of Myra's acts of charity inspired the modern Santa legend. The legend came from someone giving to people. That is what Santa is to me: the spirit of giving.

The 9th day of Christmas

On the 9th day of Christmas (because I was too lazy yesterday it is a day behind) things that I love:
Well actually I am going to put something Brett really loves. I love it too, but it one of Brett's most favorite things about Christmas.

The church choir program on the Sunday before Christmas.

The choir sings beautiful Christmas Hymns that bring us closer to the real meaning of Christmas.

The 8th day of Christmas

On the 8th day of Christmas things that I love:

Excited Kids.

I love the excitement of my kids this time of year. It is contagious! (It can also be really annoying at the end of the day and they are still bouncing off the walls, but at the beginning of the day it is fun to see the joy in their eyes).

Here are some of Alec's pictures he drew:

A reindeer

A Christmas Tree

Santa

The 7th day of Christmas

On the 7th day of Christmas things that I love:

Santa Hats!

Come on, who doesn't smile when they see a Santa Hat? Especially on cute kids! (I just said, "Spongebob farts," it gets them smiling every time! Just a little trick of the trade.)

Brynn with her cousin Brynlee. These two are the best of friends and are so cute together.


In other news it is Friday Weigh in. I lost 3 pounds (finally my hard work paid off)! That is a total of 22.4 pounds.

The 6th day of Christmas

On the 6th day of Christmas things that I love:

Letters to Santa.

I love when my kids sit down and write their letters to Santa. They get so excited! We always tell them to write down a big list and then Santa will choose a couple of things off of it. (That way if Santa can't find things, then there is a backup plan)!

Here is Alec's list this year:

(Dear Santa Little DS, Guitar, DS games, Love Alec) (I love it when they are about 4 or 5 and start writing their letters to Santa themselves. Little kid writing is so cute!)

Brynn's list:

(Anyone know where to find an American Grill Doll?) :)

Gavin stopped believing in Santa last year and will not humor his mother and write a list anyway ):

The 5th day of Christmas

On the 5th day of Christmas things that I love:

Christmas Cards!

I am a very sentimental person and love keeping in touch with people. One way to do that is through Christmas Cards. I send a ton every year, and love getting them from people. It makes me stop for a minute and remember this person and some of the good memories in life.

I used to make my own cards, but it got to be too much work. I send out 60+ cards! I now make my own picture cards. Much easier to make in bulk.

It doesn't seem that Christmas cards are being sent so much this year. I have a couple of thoughts on this. I wonder if people are cutting this out of their budget this tight year. Or it could be that with e-mail, blogs, and facebook, people are already keeping in touch. Hmmm, something to wonder about.

Oh and P.S. cards with pictures and/or letters are much more fun!

On the 4th day of Christmas

On the 4th day of Christmas things that I love:

Our Lego Christmas train under our tree.

Brett has a great love for Legos and it has worn off on the rest of us. A couple of years ago we decided to buy a Lego train for the train around our tree. Every year we put it together as a family. Also every year we try and buy a new building for our Lego village under the tree.
The kids play with this train for hours (and they can't really hurt it because we can just build it again). It is a fun Christmas tradition.

In other news: Brynn was in a play last night. She was a penguin and was very cute!

On the 3rd day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas things that I love:

Our advent calendar.

My Grandma and Grandpa Spencer sent us an advent calendar a couple of years ago. It is a wooden house with little doors. Every year we have to find 24 little presents and treats to go in each door.
It is the highlight of my kids day. Every morning they wait for each other to wake up and then together they open the door and see what is inside. We love seeing the wonder and excitement on our kids faces every day in December until Christmas. This is a fun tradition at our house.

Today it was tootsie rolls, by the way.

On the 2nd day of Christmas...

On the 2nd day of Christmas things that I love:

Pandora Radio Christmas music.

I love the online radio station pandora.com. You can pick your favorite songs and then they play songs with similar qualities. It is like your own personal radio station. Well you can choose your own Christmas music and it plays Christmas music with the qualities that you like. While I am on my computer (which is pretty much all day), I can hear awesome Christmas music and this makes me happy.

On the 1st day of Christmas...

As many of you know I am not the biggest fan of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I am all for celebrating the birth of Christ. However, I personally don't feel like that is what Christmas is about anymore. I also have a lot of personal reasons for my dislike, but we won't get into those.

This year I have been trying really hard to be more positive about the Christmas season. I have been looking for the good things. Guess what? I found some, and my heart has grown about two sizes (just like the Grinch).

So I have decided since there is 12 more days until Christmas, I am going to post 12 things I like about Christmas. One each day. (Yeah I know I am very clever!)

On the 1st day of Christmas things that I love:

Snow! It finally snowed today. And for me personally I don't like Christmas without snow. It just doesn't feel right. (Brynn just informed me that it snows because the clouds are filled with joy! Cute!)

Friday weigh in

I gained 1.2 pounds this week. Makes a lot of sense since I have been going to the gym for 2 hours a day and have been eating good this week! Losing weight is very frustrating!

Reason #152 of why I don't love this time of year

Warning: Complaining coming up!

Life has been hard for me for the last 4 months. Because of this I haven't really thought about Christmas until now. Usually I have all my Christmas shopping done in September so that I do not stress about it in November and December. Well that didn't happen this year, and the result is making me grumpy!

I can't find anything on my kids Christmas lists. I have gone to every store imaginable and can't find the things I need! So then I go online and I either can't find them there, or major price gouging is going on. Last week I checked the price of something that Brynn wanted and it was $19.99. This week it is $57.99!

I don't like the fact that a big part of Christmas is all about money and stress! BA HUMBUG!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Last week I totally cleaned out Brynn's room. Brynn loves to create and can make anything out of construction paper and tape. However, after Brynn is done creating she just leaves her creation, tools for creating, and scraps lying around. She never puts anything away where it belongs.

So when I cleaned out Brynn's room I filled 3 garbage bags of junk from her room. It took me most of the day and by the end her room looked awesome.

Three days later, however, her desk started to pile up and become messy again. I voiced my dissapointment in her messy desk:

She promptly pointed out my desk:

Touche!

Fun Weekend

We had a fun weekend this past weekend. On Saturday we went to Salt Lake and dropped the kids off at my brother's house (thanks again Matt and Traci!). Then Brett and I went to the Festival of the Trees. Of course I forgot to bring my camera and the whole time I kept saying, "I wish I had my camera." (For someone who loves to take pictures of everything, I sure do forget my camera a lot).

After that we went to lunch and did some shopping. I love my kids very much, but having a kid free day is heaven! Actually eating your lunch while it is still warm, and talking in a normal voice in the car because you don't have to shout over the noise of children, and only going to the bathroom when you need to, and not having to appologize to everyone in the resturant because your child spills their drink on every surface of the table and floor...is really nice!

Later that night we went to the USU/BYU basketball game. We lost, but it was a very fun game to watch. My favorite part of the game was the BYU fans sitting behind us who would swear! If you knew my feelings about BYU, you would understand why this was my favorite part!

After the game we went to dinner and then to our hotel room. It was wonderful to have a night away just the two of us.

On Sunday we had the Hill family Christmas party with my brothers. Some of my neices and nephews are taller then me! I can't believe how fast they are growing. I swear it was just yesterday that they were my kids ages. It was a fun get together.

We tried to see the lights at Temple Square before going home, but there was a concert or something and NO parking anywhere. So we headed home with Brynn sobbing because we couldn't see the lights.

We packed a lot in, and had a good time. Sorry no pictures. Blogs without pictures are boring, but I never remember my camera!

Pretty Scary

A couple of days ago I was at my lovely local Wal-mart with Alec. We were at the toy isle and Alec asked me if he could look at something a couple of feet down the isle from me. I told him it was okay and promptly started staring intently at the Littlest Pet Shop display (not for me people, for Brynn!).
30 seconds later I look over and Alec is gone. I start going up and down the toy isles and can't see him anywhere. I go over by the fish and Christmas stuff...no Alec. At this point I start to panic. I saw a employee and told them I can't find my son. They have a cool little system in place where they practically shut down the store until the kid is found (you know the "Code Adam.") For five minutes my heart was pounding out of my chest and tears were in my eyes and feelings I have never felt before were running through me.
Thankfully they found him over by the jewerly counter and after I hugged him I lectured him about wandering away from me. He looked right at me and said, "I wasn't lost mom, I knew exactly where you were. You shouldn't have left the place you said you were going to be!" Little stinker. At that moment you are torn between hugging them forever, and smacking them forever!

Friday weigh in

This week I lost 0.6 pounds. That is a total of 20.6 pounds.

I have personally learned something this week. Of course I have heard it before, but I saw it in action for myself this week. I learned that slow and steady wins the race.

I ate like crap last week and weekend (It was Thanksgiving and I just didn't care that much) I also didn't exercise that whole week either. So on Monday I was curious to see how much I had gained over the weekend. I had gained 2 pounds since Friday! It bugged me a little bit, but I got back to work this week. I have been excersising in the morning and eating a lot better.

You know what, not only did I lose those 2 pounds, I also lost 0.6 more! It show me that if I take this weight loss thing slowly (up to 2 pounds a week) then when I do have a bad week I can bounce right back. Losing a lot of weight at once sounds ideal, but I don't think it is really permanent. Losing a little weight each week makes it much more permanent. While a 10 pound weight loss would be awesome each week, it is more awesome to know that my hard work will stick around for awhile.

Joker

Brynn's new favorite joke:

"Why do pilgrims pants always fall down?"
"Because their buckles are on their hats!"

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Friday weigh in

I wasn't going to weigh myself this morning, but I decided I need to be honest about my weight loss and weight gains.

This has been a tough week for me on many levels. I have also been extremely busy. So I didn't get to the gym at all this week. Add in Thanksgiving eating, and a weight gain is sure to happen.

I did gain this week, but not as bad as I thought I would. I only gained 0.4 pounds. I plan on making next week better.

My little Alec (and the terrible 4's)

Sometimes your kids go through hard stages. We are experiencing that with Alec right now. I also find it helps when going through frustrations with your kids to remember the good things:

Alec loves to cook with me. My other kids never showed an interest in it like he has. Every day he asks what we can make. Last week at preschool they made these bakers hats. He now has to wear it every time we cook together. How cute is that!
Alec and I have an inside joke. Whenever I give him a kiss, he quickly wipes it off and laughs his head off. I tell him he is not supposed to wipe off "Mommy kisses," and this just makes him laugh more. Lately he has been pretending not to wipe it off and then will go in the next room and wipe it off, and laughs when I tell him he is being sneaky.

Finally!

After working on it for a couple of weeks I have finally updated my photo blog www.sarahsfotogallery.blogspot.com

Friday Weigh In

This week I lost 1.2 pounds. That is a total of 20.4 pounds lost.

Continuing my never ending journey

I have started exercising again. I have been going to the gym for 2 1/2 hours every day. I have been walking, biking, and strength training.

While I really want to continue to lose weight, right now my focus is a little different. Apparently after a miscarriage you can experience post-pardom depression. I didn't know this. Now I do, and it is hitting fairly hard. I have had this after each of my children, so I do know what to expect. I don't want to go back on medication, so I am trying to exercise to help me feel better.

I do hope results will be positive, and I would also like some more of the weight to come off. I am thinking of still posting my loss each Friday. This helps keep me motivated if I know others out there are watching.

I got on the scale today and I am exactly the same weight that I was in October when our biggest loser competition ended. This makes me happy that I can start from here and don't have to backtrack any. So from now on I am going to continue to post my Friday weigh ins. Hopefully this can help me to stay motivated to reach my goals.

Tagged

In light of anything better to post, and because I don't want my sister-in-law Kim to have all the fun, I am finally posting a tag I got from my friend Josie.

Tell 7 of my many quirks:

1. I don't like Christmas. Yeah I have been called many times a scrooge for this, but come on people everyone has a holiday they don't enjoy that much, mine just happens to be Christmas. I have been told since I was a girl that someday I will find the joy and enjoy Christmas, and I just don't. While not everything about Christmas is bad, it is just too much work for 20 minutes of enjoyment. I would rather do Halloween and Thanksgiving any day over Christmas.

2. I can't stand dirty kids. It literally drives me crazy when kids have dirty fingernails or hands or clothes. I am a little OCD about it, and my kids have stopped asking me why when I ask them to wash up a few hundred times a day. They also need to always have clean clothes on that fit and are cute and their hair must be combed at all hours. I have tried to lighten up on this, but it is almost impossible for me.

3. I have major anxiety about the phone, and swear who ever invented e-mail invented it for me. I hate calling people, even people I know and am comfortable talking to. I never know what to say, or how to end a call, or if I am disturbing them, or if we can yell over my kids in the background, or if I can somehow politely get off the phone after hours of talking and I know they don't want to stop. Honestly I think it over was too much and it just makes me anxious. This is why my cell phone is only $7 a month. I don't ever use it! I would rather e-mail any day!

4. Speaking of cell phones...they drive me crazy! Honestly people who do you need to talk to 24 hours of the day? Get off your cell phone and read a book at the doctor's office, or learn to drive! I really don't want to hear how much you love your girlfriend while waiting for the dentist, or how so-and-so offended you while I am in the cereal isle. I am not totally against cell phones, I have one. But it is only for emergencies such as checking on my baby sitter, or letting someone know I am running late. I hardly ever talk more then 5 minutes on the thing.

5. I love going on vacation, and I don't do it often enough. If I could I would go somewhere away from home every month. Being away from the day-to-day makes me happy. I really wish I could afford a summer home or cabin or something and just go there every once in a while. I love the planning and the being away from the normal. However, I hate the coming home and unpacking part.

6. I love winter. However, no one believes me and tries to talk me out of this thought, or tell me how irrational this is. I honestly have never met anyone who also likes winter. I like being cold over being hot any day! (I really hate being hot, it makes me so grumpy). I like snuggling up in blankets, drinking hot beverages, and not having many places to be. We all slow down a little in the winter, and I like that. I also like not having to worry about my yard and gardening, or my kids being outside and getting dirty (:

7. I love breakfast. I swear if I could eat breakfast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I would. My husband is not a big fan of breakfast, so we only make breakfast for dinner when he is out of town. Most days I eat scrambled eggs or cereal for lunch. One of my many favorite things to do is go out to breakfast. Though with kids, and a husband who doesn't enjoy it, I usually only get this pleasure for Mother's Day every year.

I have many more quirks...trust me! But these are some of the ones I feel comfortable writing about (:
Kim if you haven't been tagged with this one yet, then I tag you! (and anyone else who wants to be)

Under-age Voting

Alec just asked me if he could vote. I told him you can't vote until you are 18. He started sobbing is right now crying in his room saying, "I want to vote!" I am pretty sure he doesn't even know what voting is. Huh. (Have I ever mentioned before how dramatic my kids are?)

Big Bites

Alec is our picky non-eater at our house. After years of trying and bribing and other stuff (yeah sometimes I threaten no cookies) we have finally gotten him to eat at least a few bites of everything on his plate.
One of the ways we were able to pull this off was playing to his strengths. Alec has some OCD in him. He likes to count things and put numbers on things. So in order to get him to eat we always tell him a number of bites he has to take. He hardly ever eats anything (besides candy and cookies) without asking us how many bites he has to take. And usually what ever amount we say he will do it.
Well he doesn't love potatoes. We had mashed potatoes the other day. He asked how many bites he had to take. I told him 5 BIG bites. A couple of seconds later I look over at him and he has a tiny piece of potato on his fork and his mouth is open as wide as it can go.

Mom: "Alec a big bite means a lot of potatoes, not opening your mouth to take a big bite."
Alec: "Mom that is what a big bite is!"

He was not happy with me when I showed him how much potatoes actually need to be on your fork to make a big bite. It was a funny moment though!

Happy Halloween!

Some good things about this October

Jack-o-latern Smile!

Brynn lost her two top teeth.

Crazy Hair Day!

Gavin and Brynn had a "crazy hair day" at their school. They really enjoyed it.

The Haunted Mill!

My sister-in-law's family owns a haunted house. It is really an old creepy mill. We usually go up to it every year and Brett helps work at it by scaring people. Gavin was old enough this year to scare for a couple of hours. They had a good time. Thanks to Holly's parents for letting us come and crash thier place for a couple of days.

Carving Pumpkins!
We carved pumpkins that we actually got out of our garden this year!

Preschool Dress up Halloween Parade!
Alec was able to dress up in his costume for preschool. They had a little parade to show off their costumes. Cute little kids. Gavin and Brynn had parent teacher conferences on Halloween so they didn't get to wear their costumes to school.

Gavin played Basketball!
Gavin played basketball this year. He has wanted to play for a couple of years now. He just finished and had a great time learning some awesome basketball skills.

Enjoying the fall leaves!