Christmas is

New warm jammies on Christmas Eve.

Leaving milk and cookies for Santa, has to be chocolate chip, his all time favorite.

All the kids sleeping together in a nest of blankets in the big room in the basement.
Doodle waking up at 2 am ready to open presents.

Mom saying half asleep, "Go back to bed!"

Mom and dad not sleeping a wink.

Doodle waking up again at 4 am, then again at 5 am.

Eating goodies out of the stockings at 5 am.

Finding the plate of half eaten Santa cookies.

Watching the kids dig through over stuffed stockings, wondering how on earth Santa got all those treasures in there.

Baby steeling goodies from everyone else's stockings at 5:15 am.

Kids finding the massive train set and falling over out of sheer joy.

Dad getting the first turn with the train.

Hearing that blasted train set ALL DAY LONG.

Baby's first Christmas gift.


The joy of a 3 year old finding a gift just for him.

Brand new remote controlled airplanes!

Footie jammies.

The smell of home made cinnamon rolls baking.

Beano showing Dubs the gift he made all by himself, just for Dubs.
Home make sock puppets and fuzzy felty frog puppets and noodle necklaces made by the kids, for each other.
My kids discovering the joy of giving.


Daddy half asleep at 6 am after all the gifts are open.

All the kids playing quietly and contentedly as mom and dad nap.

Trying to decide which new crisp book to read first.

Sitting down with one of those brand new Christmas books with all the kids on the couch with a big warm blanket.

Reading 50 pages cuz we just can't put it down, it's that good.

Watching Charlie Brown Christmas.

Visiting with family for Christmas brunch.

Talking to my missionary nephew at his mom and dad's house.

Staying at Christmas brunch until dinner time.

Listening to my nieces and nephews play piano and violin.

Holding my 5 week old nephew and remembering how tiny Baby Cakes was just last Christmas.

Singing Grandma got run over by a reindeer.

Cry remembering how grandma loved that song.

Wishing she could still be here.

Night time coming all too soon.

Not wanting to go to bed because that will mean Christmas will be over.

Waiting for next year to come!

Where oh Where have my Brain cells Gone?

Oh, where oh where could they be?

I have posted in the past about funny things I hear the kids say.

Well, in the past day or two I have turned the microscope on myself.

And what did I see, you ask?

It turns out motherhood makes you say some pretty funny things, taken out of context of course.

For instance, the other day I caught myself saying,

"broccoli tastes better than boogers."

Do any of your kids eat boogers?

Oh good, Mine either...

In my dreams.

You can't imagine how embarrassing it is to have your child digging and eating at the most inopportune times.

Family Christmas parties, while reciting a poem in front of her peers, on the stand during the Primary Sacrament Program and countless other times.

Sometimes I wish I could duct tape her hands to her sides.

It's just so, so, so...

*disgusting*

Anyway as you can imagine I looked over as we were eating dinner the other night to the familiar sight of the finger up the nose. I could not help myself. My eyes went to her plate full of good food to eat.

I could not help but wonder why on earth she would choose boogers over all that healthy delicious food.

Then the next day I was caught saying,

"Wake up, or you'll never get any sleep!"

Makes perfect sense, right?

Well, it does if you are saying it to a 3 year old that has fallen asleep on the floor at 5:30pm.

It makes even more sense if said 3 year old has been waking up before 6 am every morning and you are trying desperately to faze out naps so he'll sleep better at night.

And guess what?

It worked.

He slept in until 7:30 this morning.

*Hallelujah*

Don't worry, I'm really not losing all my brain cells,

I Hope!

It's Christmas Eve!

Go hug your kids and have some eggnog.

May all your dreams come true this joyous season!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Don't forget to make home made cookies for Santa, he'll love you forever!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I love all the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas! One of my favorite things to do is to go sit in the living room with Mr Bird after the kids go to bed and just be with the pretty Christmas tree. I love the stillness of the house and the closeness of my sweetheart.

Have you ever just sat and stared at the tree with squinty eyes so all the lights seem to blur into one mass of gleaming light?

No? Me neither.

I'm just saying when I was a kid I may have done it a few times.

OK, every time I passed the tree.

And I may have done it once in a while since I became an adult.

OK, I do it all the time.

Like I've said before, I'm just a kid at heart, I can't help it!

See the cute Ho, Ho, Ho sign?

I made that!

I intended it for a white elephant gift. I thought I'd just put in up with all my Santa stuff just until the party. Well, turns out after a few days I could not part with it and it found a new home. I ended up bringing a mostly full box of Otter Pops I found in the barn for a white elephant gift instead. My teenage nephew who ended up with it was very pleased, I don't think he would have liked my sign much anyway, I'm glad I kept it!

I also made all of our stockings. I started when we just had Doodle. I have had to make a new one almost every year since.

I think they just keep getting cuter and cuter. I may just have to have more babies just so I can make more stockings, I did not have to make any this year.

*Weird*

Here are more of my favorite Santa things. You can not see them very well in this picture but the tin is a Norman Rockwell picture of Santa peeking around the back of a chair with two sleeping kids in it. I just love that for some reason!

Last but not least,

My Nesting Dolls

I have the biggest fascination with nesting dolls.

It must be that kid at heart thing again.

I just love playing with them and looking at the tiniest doll.

They are not much bigger than a small Christmas light bulb.

I just can't handle all the cuteness!

My favorite thing about nesting dolls is watching my babies start to figure out how to put the pieces back together. They have all done it at this age. They get such an intent look on their face. It makes me want to just squish those cute little smart cheeks!

So there is a peek into our Christmasy home.

Merry Christmas!

To see what others are talking about visit the Lazy Organizer.

So Many Parties, so Little Time!

I love this time of year!

Have you all been as busy as we have?

We have had 4 Christmas parties in the last 3 days.

I love visiting with my family and friends, and boy do we have a lot of family and friends!

It all started on Friday. It was the first anniversary of Mr Bird's mom's death.

We wanted to all be together and remember mom and have fun at the same time. She was quite the party animal, you know. We decided to meet at her grave and then head over to our house and decorate gingerbread houses in her honor.

Lisa, my crazy sister in law made her the perfect snow angel for our angel mother! Did I mention she had just come from the temple and was in her nice dress!

She's crazy!

She looks so prim and proper, don't you think? Don't let the outer exterior fool you, she is up there with the craziest of crazies. Just ask her sisters, they'll tell you.

Mom loved getting together with all the grand kids at Christmas time. We decided to have the festivities in the barn since it can get quite messy.

Thank heavens for our wood burning stove out there. It was about 20 degrees that evening and we would have froze without it. We cleared out the ground level of the barn and set up tables and had hot chocolate and soup with yummy home made rolls. Not to mention candy galore! I think my kids ate more candy than ended up on their ginger bread houses.

Good times were had by all. I would post pictures of that too, but our battery died in the camera (the one that is on loan to us thanks to Josh and Tiff since we are too poor to buy a new one right now, Thanks Guys!). Sadly we did not get any pictures at any of the other parties this week end.

Saturday was party marathon. We woke up and started getting ready for my family party. Now all 4 of my sisters live within 60 miles of each other. When we get all of us and our spouses and all the kids together it is quite the group. Some of my oldest nieces and nephews are getting married and having babies so we really are a huge group.

We played our traditional White elephant game and ate and talked and ate some more.

When that was over we took one of my nieces home with us and dropped her and the kids off and Mr Bird and I were off to his company party. After a quick wardrobe change, that is.

This party was held in the Imperial Ball Room at the Grand America Hotel in down town Salt Lake City.

Sound fancy?

It was.

We put on our fanciest clothes and I wore my highest heals and we were ready to party.

They had a live band, juicy prime rib and a dessert buffet. You know what that means, don't you?

All the chocolate dessert I could hold, without looking like a pig of course!

After they did the company awards they opened up the dance floor for those who wanted to dance. I finally talked Mr Bird into dancing with me. You'll never guess what song we danced to.

The hokey Poky

I kid you not. There I was in my fanciest clothes and my highest heals and my nicely curled hair in a gorgeous ball room with lots of chocolate in my tummy, playing the hokey poky. But hey, for a guy that has not danced with his wife since his wedding, it was improvement.

The next song was Wonderful Tonight and I made him dance with me. Then they played another slow one and we danced again. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, I had such a good time. After 3 songs in a row I counted myself lucky and we headed for home. It was a nice long drive, with lots of nice long conversations. Have I mentioned that I love my man?

*sigh*

Our 4th and final party was Mr Bird's family party hosted by that crazy lady, Lisa.

His family is just as big, if not bigger than my family. His parents have 6 kids, plus spouses and grand kids (around 30) and now even a great grandchild. We played the traditional sock game and sang carols and ate and acted out the nativity. My kids were in the middle of melt downs during the nativity so it was a little interesting. We came home around bed time with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

Today has been catch up day around here. It's amazing how messy our house gets, even when we are not here for 3 days straight.

I am officially partied out! I am ready for Christmas and I can't wait.

I feel just like a kid again.

In Memorandum

Dear Mom,

Has it really been a year since you left us? That does not even seem possible. It feels like this last year has passed by in a fog. Every month that passed I was left thinking of all the things we had done with you the year before. Has it really been a year since we brought our family to your house for a Sunday evening with Grandma and Grandpa? Has it really been a year since my kids piled on your lap for a story...or ten? Has it been more than a year since Moab in the Motor home? Have you really missed a whole year of watching my children grow and change? Can it be true that you only got to hold my sweet baby one time? He is getting so big, if you thought he was so cute then, I can only imagine what you'd think now. He would just melt your heart when he smiles at you, like he does mine. You would be so in love with that cute baby. I can just imagine you holding him and smiling and laughing with him. We miss you so much. There is not a day that passes that we don't think of you, and want you back. There is not a day that goes by that we don't thank Heavenly Father for His plan of Happiness and the knowledge that we will be with you one day soon. Sometimes I think about the worn out body you had and all the pain you had to endure in it for the last year of your life. I remember your positive "just keep swimming attitude" and it gives me peace to know that your spirit is freed from all that pain. You are no longer hindered by your physical limitations, for you, the sky's the limit, literally! When I think of the peace you must feel I am so happy for you. I am so thankful for all you taught me about being a mom. I know from you that I don't have to be perfect, but that if I love my kids and really show them my love, it will all be OK. You have such a love for your children, even the grave could not dull the love we all feel from you. You truly have left us with a legacy of love that will penetrate generations. Even if my children grow up with no memory of you, they will know you through the stories we tell them of you and your love for them. I can hardly believe we are fast approaching our second Christmas without you. My favorite thing about Christmas was loading up all the kids and all the gifts and stockings and spending the night with you and Grandpa. I loved it when Grandpa would wake up the whole house with a cheery "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!" at 4am because he just could not sleep any more. Christmas morning will never be the same for me. I am trying really hard to make new, happy traditions for my kids. I bet you have the best Christmases of all where you are. You get to spend it with our Savior. That must be breath taking, I can only imagine what that is like, what love you must feel from Him. I bet anything you are dancing with diamonds on the soles of your shoes! Well, my guess is that you are really busy and don't have time to read my novel. I just want more than anything to tell you that I love you and I miss you so much. Merry Christmas!

Love, Me

Let Them Eat Cake!

I know we already planted donut seeds for Baby's First Birthday, but I just could not let it pass without a face full of cake!

It's tradition!

We opted for homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

My favorite!

He thought it was a cute cake! I had to show him what to do, he did not want to touch it at first.

What a well behaved child!
After he touched it he did not quite know what to do with it. He was a little annoyed by his sticky fingers.



Ok, I'll take just one little taste.

Oh, ya, that's good stuff!

It wasn't long before all the kids got a fork and they just all went at it.
Hey, less dishes for me to wash, right!

Over at the Lazy Organizer she is talking about stuff today.

About how much of it we have and how it wastes our time and money and space.

She'll love what we did for gifts for Baby Cakes. A few weeks before his big day I got to thinking about what to get him for his birthday. The thought of buying more "stuff" just did not sound appealing to me. We have storage FULL of toys that the kids rotate through. We usually only have 1 or 2 bins out at a time so it all stays organized and easy to find all the parts and pieces to certain sets. When they are done with a bin and want to trade it for a new one they have to get all the pieces and clean up the bin they have. Then I put it away and get out a new one. It seems I waste far too much time putting "stuff" away in this house and I could not stand the thought of more of it!

I have heard of people wrapping up toys they already had for their tiny kids.

After all, they'll never know the difference, right?

But then I thought, Doodle and Beano will know. They will rat me out to the Baby.

Unless...

Unless I get them in on it with me.

So that's just what I did. I pulled them aside and asked them what they were going to get Baby Cakes for his Birthday. They came up with things like my stuffed frog, or a paper airplane

(Beano loves making paper airplanes, that's another post for another day).

Then I piped up.

"I know! What about all those baby toys under the stairs that you never play with anymore. We could go through them while he's napping and find some to give to him. He would LOVE that!"

I was met with a chorus of "Oh, YA!", "Great idea", "Can we do it RIGHT NOW?"

Needless to say they loved the idea.

Now we are all happy. I got a chance to go through and get rid of some baby toys, the kids felt the joy of giving to their baby, Baby Cakes got cool and exciting toys to slobber on and the kids were thrilled to see some of their old things again.

And best of all, it did not cost me a dime!

To see what others are talking about visit The Lazy Organizer!

Baby's First...

Can you guess what 'first' I am referring to?

First step?

Nope.

First words.

Not yet.

First Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich perhaps?

Wrong again.

Baby Cakes got his very first stomach virus last night. Since he is technically one year old I could feed him our family lunchtime favorite, but alas, he is sick-o.

Dubs started off the puke fest around 11 pm and Baby Cakes joined in the party around midnight.

Poor baby, he puked every 10-15 minutes until almost 2am. Here is something how our night went. Puke sounds, mom and dad come running, one cleans kid, the other cleans bed. Put baby back to bed, Lysol everything we touched, wash hands, go back to bed, repeat, again and again and again.

The washer was running non stop all night, and I still have a load waiting for me to rinse so I can start it.

Do I have to? Why me?

Oh ya, I almost forgot, cuz I'm the mom.

* yipee for me*

Why does it seem we end up with the stomach virus every December? I am always hoping it will leave as soon as possible so none of us have to be sick on Christmas. Now that we have so many people living here one of these years I know it will last the whole month and Christmas will be ruined.

I don't want to clean up puke on Christmas!!!

I want to be busy opening presents and eating fresh baked cinnamon rolls and taking a nice peaceful nap and visiting family and singing Christmas songs and eating fudge, without having to scrub it out of the carpet at 2 am!

Is that too much to ask for? I almost want to let the other kids drink from their cups so they'll hurry up and get it before Christmas comes. Is that mean? Or just plain disgusting?

Hey, I never said I was going to, it was just a temptation.

Temptations are only sins if you act on them.

I won't, I won't that is just gross and wrong.

...Maybe

When Your Birthday is in December

When your birthday is in December people say it kind of gets skipped over.
We would not know, it's the first Birthday we've ever celebrated in December and as far as I can tell it was a blast. Whenever baby cakes entered a room he was greeted by spontaneous renditions of Happy Birthday.
The kids were so excited about his Birthday. Dubs could not understand why he is one now, but he still can't speak. I guess he figured something magical happens when babies turn one and suddenly they wake up with the ability to speak. But alas, he was disappointed, no speaking, yet.

We were not sure our donut seeds would grow. We went out early in the morning to plant them and the ground was frozen solid. We finally settled on sprinkling the cold hard dirt with donut seeds and magic sprinkles. We added extra magic since the ground was so cold.

We were hopeful they would grow, but we just could not be sure.

Low and behold when daddy came home from work he found full grown donuts all ready to be harvested!

*yipee*

Apparently, when you plant donut seeds in December, on the cold hard dirt, that makes them grow red and white, just the colors of candy canes. He's so lucky!

(that was Doodle's observation, by the way!)

Even after a big dinner that cutie patootie finished off a whole donut. If that will not make him gain weight I don't know what will. Some how this baby ended up way smaller than all the others. At his one year check up he is still in the -5% (he's classified as failure to thrive, whatever that means) for weight and went from 20% to 10% in height. He just does not want to grow. He is about the size of most 7 month olds. He weighs in at a whopping 17 pounds and 10 ounces. All of my other babies were over 20 pounds by the time they turned one.

When your birthday is in December you are pretty much doomed to

Christmas wrapping paper

for the rest of your life. And when your the 4th child you have lots of help unwrapping gifts. Not to mention lots of help playing with your toys!

Happy Birthday, baby.

We sure do love having you and your dirty clothes around!

A Poopy Commentary

Warning: You are about to get WAY more information than you probably wanted about my boys. If this type of information is offensive to you in any way feel free to not read this post! If you do chose to read, you've been warned. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I awoke this morning to the funniest little conversation happening in the bathroom.

Beano and Dubs always wake up and go potty together, every morning, it's tradition.

Sometimes they even pee simultaneously standing up. I hate it when they go that, as you can imagine it ends up spraying most of the bathroom.

Anyway, back to this morning.

Recently Beano has discovered what the "hole" in boys unders is really intended for.

So this morning he was showing Dubs how to use it. When he was done he said,

"See now I just zip up and I'm done."

Now, I was not in the bathroom, I was listening from the comfort of my nice warm flannel sheets and thick blankets, still wiping the goop from my eyes. None the less I could imagine the look of wonder on Dubs's face at this new information. He began to ask Beano all about it. Here is a little of what followed:

Dubs: Is your butt in there?

Beano: My button?

Dubs: No, is you butt in there?

At this point I am giggling to myself, knowing what Duds was referring to.

Beano: Which button, the button to my pants, ya, it's right here.

Dubs: (getting frustrated) NO, YOUR BUTT!!!

Beano: Oh, my bum?

Dubs: Ya, is your bum in there?

Beano: My bum where the poo comes out (apparently not sure as to which bum he was refering)?

Dubs: Ya, your bum where poo comes out, is it still in there?

Beano: Ya, I don't have to pull my bum out, just my pee part!

Dubs: Oh.

Now isn't that nifty information for a 3 year old to have? I can just imagine the loads of laundry in my future as this dear sweet angel tries to hone this new found skill.

Oh, joyous me!

To see what others are talking anout this wonderful Tuesday visit The Lazy Organizer.

Inside Out Chicken Cordon Bleu

Have you noticed I have not blogged in a while? I am having a hard time without my camera. So I decided to look back through my pictures and blog about things I meant to blog about long ago but never did. Guess what I found in there? Yummy memories of this delectable dish.

Have you ever made Chicken Cordon Blue?

It is soooo yummy, but such a pain in tookas.

Whenever I make it, no matter how tightly I tie the chicken breasts around the ham and Swiss I always end up with all the cheese melting out and sticking in a burned mass under the chicken.

*Frustrating*

So here is my new invention.

Inside Out Chicken Cordon Blue.

I will attempt to write the recipe, but since I never follow a recipe this could prove a little difficult. If I say things like a little of this and some of that you'll just have to go with what tastes good to you. And honestly I don't remember everything I put in this particular recipe, I can just tell you what I would do if I were going to make it today. So good luck understanding and duplicating this wonderfully succulent chicken "recipe"!

Inside Out Chicken Cordon Blue

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 Cup flour plus a little salt

1 large egg, scrambled

1 Cup bread crumbs

some salt and pepper and garlic powder and whatever other seasonings you want for your breading.

Olive oil

4 Slices Black Forrest Ham

4 Slices Swiss cheese

1. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Scramble the egg in a separate bowl. In a third bowl mix the bread crumbs with all desired seasonings.

2. Pound the chicken breasts until they are about 1/2 thick. Dredge in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Saute in a little oil just until they are golden brown on both sides. This will not cook the chicken breasts all the way through, so don't eat them yet!

3. Place browned chicken on a foil lined baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Take the chicken out and place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss on each breast. Place back in the oven just until the cheese melts.

And voila! All the wonderful taste and aroma of Chicken Cordon Blue with no burnt Swiss on the bottoms!

Bon Apetit!

Magic

The holidays are here!

Let the traditions begin!

Starting with homemade snowflakes of course. The kids and I got busy last week before the tragic accident with my beloved Cannon, may he rest in peace.
*cry*
*sniff*


I'm OK, really!
I'll get over it soon, I promise.
Anyway, back to my snowflakes. Aren't they pretty?

We started snipping away one day and I literally could not stop. Something magical happens when you open the folded up paper and the beautifully lacy shape reveals itself for the first time.
The kids all lost interest after 2 hours and there I was still snipping. They got hungry for lunch and I was like, "Go away, can't you see I'm cutting paper here!" They kept pestering me so finally I said, "OK, just ONE more and then I'll make lunch." That was music to their little ears.
I have figured out why I love home school so much. I get to play all day and act like a kid and I have a good excuse. I do it in the name of school. And I love every minute of it, most days even after the kids have gone their own ways I am still there doing our activities.
I'm just a big kid at heart, I can't help it.


So here are some of them hanging in the dinning room. I just love snowflakes. And don't go getting smart with me, It's not because I'm a flake. It's because some of my dearest friends are flakes! HA! I just had to put that in there!

I also have a thing about hanging stuff from the ceilings. It goes back to my mission days. In my first area my companion and I had no money and our apartment did not have a Christmas tree in the storage closet, but it did have a huge box of ornaments. Since we could not afford a tree we hung all the ornaments from the ceiling. Then we bought a roll of green cellophane and cut out a tree shape and hung it to the wall. It was pretty pathetic, but the hanging stuff on the ceiling part has stayed with me. For valentine's Day it is paper hearts, for Halloween it's ghosts and bats. Mr Bird never knows what he'll find when he comes home.

What holiday traditions are you busy doing this week?

To see what everyone else is talking about this beautiful Tuesday visit
The Lazy Organizer