Up To Date

So here is the post where I dump all the pictures taken recently in order to get caught up on the blog. So sorry. Is anyone else going crazy with how fast December is going by??? There's so much more I've been wanting to do, and it's halfway over!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaahhh!!!!


Side note: In an effort to do something fun with the kids each day, I stole Mindy's idea and made an advent calendar of activities/fun things. Not hard since my mom just gave me the one we used when I was little. I just put a message in each one that says things like "Read the Polar Express" or "make sugar cookies" or whatever. We don't always have time for the Message-of-the-Day, but the kids don't let me forget.


Monday: FHE. Decorate the tree. Decorate cookies. Audrey: Can we stop all this picture-taking nonsense and make some cookies!?!


Kierra: Mom, shouldn't you be paying attention to how many sprinkles I'm putting on my cookie instead of worrying about having pictures for your blog?


The result:


Tuesday: Dad and kids go to Cabella's to meet up with Grandpa and have fun looking around at the free (stuffed) zoo. Mom goes shopping by herself since it's her only chance of the week.

Wednesday: Go to Thanksgiving Point to look at the lights. We got a mailer coupon for $2 off, so it was only $5, and well worth it I thought. The kids had a lot of fun looking at the lights, and got to see real reindeer at the end. After the light portion they had a section of just pictures of the Nativity and a poem that went with it. I was SO glad they did that since we've been trying so hard to spend equal amounts of time talking about Baby Jesus as we have Santa.

You can sense in this picture what our ears went through during this trip. Audrey belting out Christmas carols (well, carol really, she only knows Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer well) at the top of her lungs. We love ya, sweety, but please just sing, thanks.


Looking at the reindeer.


Up close. (Factoid: only female reindeer still have their antlers during the winter. Hmmm.)


It was FREEZING! And none of us really came prepared (ok, the girls were, the guys weren't) to go outside since we didn't know the reindeer would be there. So we just had to stop at the cafe and get some hot cocoa.



Hot cocoa can be very thought provoking, don't you think?


My cutie.


Thursday: Debate all day as to whether or not to go to the crummy Enrichment party. I'm still undecided if it was a good idea or not. The activity: drive around to several sisters' homes and look at all their cool Christmas decorations, like Parade of Homes at Christmastime. Woohoo, that'll really invite the Spirit of the Season. Sign me up! I want to go to the sister's home worth 2 million dollars (actually it could be just 1 mil but what's the difference, really) and see how she can buy all new decorations every year and has her own movie theater in her basement and yada yada yada. That'll get me in the Christmas mood. I know, I'm bitter and clearly have issues. But what happened to the good ole' Enrichment Christmas dinner where there's such a great feeling of comraderie? Oh wait, wrong ward, my bad. Sometimes I feel like an outcast in my ward. I know 2 sisters fairly well (no make that 3 of late) and none of them came that night so I just wandered around pretending to be interested in this or that cool decoration (I wasn't feeling too out-going as you can tell). After introducing myself to a member of the R.S. presidency for the THIRD time since we've moved in, and hearing for the FOURTH time that night, "Oh, you've lived here for 7 months? And I'm just now meeting you? Oh I'm so bad!" all I want to say in response is "Ya, this ward isn't really big into welcoming people, are they?" I didn't say it out loud, mind you, I can mind my manners! Overall, there were some good treats that night (like fudge and chocolate frosted cream puffs!) and I got to know one of my neighbors a little better. So I guess it wasn't a total waste. Still. Okay, rant over.

(Oh, and since I was still in kind of a bitter mood from Thursday night, I thought it was interesting that our R.S. lesson on Sunday was on unity. I almost had to stifle a laugh. "What is unity?" "Um, the 11th ward? Pam Watson? Kaylynne Lhorke? I give up. What is unity?" Ok, ok, I'm really not as bitter as I'm making it seem (or am I?;), it's just that I'm really missing my friends right now, so it's hard to walk into a small R.S. gathering and not compare what I used to have with what I have now. I'll get better with time. I hope.) Wow, sorry I've tainted this happy Christmastime post with my shallow, petty, selfish issues. I'll try not to do that again! Yikes!

Friday: Wait for friends from Canada to visit, only to be interrupted by a storm. Rotten luck! I hope you guys have fun at Disneyland! And hope you can stop by on your way back through!

Saturday: Brave the mobs at Costco (for what? milk? we're crazy!), and have a McDonald's picnic in the living room and watch a rental movie. Oh, but first, help Daddy shovel the driveway. Too cute!



Can't forget our messy little boy!


Sunday: Only Mom and Audrey made it to church just in case the rest were still contagious from our little cold. Audrey sang a couple of songs with the Primary during Sacrament meeting, but she decided too late to change where she stood and ended up behind all the big kids. I couldn't see her at all except for the couple of times she leaned out really far just to make sure I was still looking. So cute.

Monday: Drive around and look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. Kids went ape over this idea. We might have to do it again before Christmas.

Wow, you're an allstar friend if you made it through this whole post. Just wait for the Thanksgiving one that's bound to show up soon! :)

Joy to Everyone

Have you seen this Joy to Everyone song from BYU? Pretty cool.

Toddling Jacob

As promised, here are some of Jacob's first toddling steps. And yes, my girls don't have shirts on. They're getting much better, this just happened to be in the middle of getting ready for bed. But isn't my little guy such a cutie!!

Candycane Cocoa

On a lighter note, have you tried Stephen's Candycane Cocoa? It has real bits of candy canes in it. Sooooo yummy!!!!!!!

Making Room

This morning as I was opening my fast with a prayer, I asked for an added measure of the Spirit, as I so desperately need it right now to be a good mother. The answer came: You know, Hilary, one of the best ways to fill yourself with the Spirit is to share your testimony. My begrudging reply: Ya, I know. So I fought it somewhat rebelliously all day until finally in church I realized I wasn't doing this small thing He asked of me, and yet I still wanted the blessings. If I really wanted an extra dose of the Spirit, I would do what was asked of me. Ugh. I gave in and shared a minute or two of my testimony (for the first time in over 3 years I might add).

Now, after listening to President Monson's message in the Christmas Devotional about the innkeeper that might've found Mary and Joseph some room had he known who they really were, I'm rethinking my attitude earlier today. Pres. Monson urged us all to find time in our lives and room in our hearts for our Savior. And here I was not willing to do that this morning because of petty insecurities and a hard heart. It's so hard for me to stay strong in my discipline with my children and be courteous and kind to them if I'm not in tune with the Spirit. And it's so hard not to get mad at Jeromy for trifle little things and get frustrated really easily when I'm not in tune with the Spirit. (Not to mention how I tend to get really down on myself and think I'm inadequate in everything when I'm not working to have the Spirit with me all the time.) I know these things. So why am I not working harder to have the Spirit in my life? That's the million dollar question.

I was blessed by the Spirit today as we went to our meetings, no doubt because I did do my end of the bargain and shared my testimony. But I can't help but think how different it would've been if I had done it with a glad and willing heart. So here's to my new goals of being willing to soften my heart and make room for the Savior and His Spirit in my life. Here's to reading and studying my scriptures even if I think I'll never be a scholar scriptorian. And here's to having more meaningful and sincere prayers, even if it means my kids are running amok downstairs while I lock myself in my closet. I NEED the Spirit if I want to be a good mother, wife, and person. So I'm promising now to try a lot harder.

Festival of the Trees

We went to the Festival of the Trees last night for the very first time. What fun! Okay, it was really hard to maneuver a stroller and 2 little ones in that crowd, but it was still very festive and fun, and hey we were in a way supporting Crew at Primary's, right?

I apologize in advance for the blurriness of the pictures. We forgot to bring our camera and had to rely on the cameras on our phones. And I'm sorry to say we failed to get a picture of Audrey with eyes glued to the children dancers performing. She was totally enthralled watching them. We have got to get her into some lessons!

Here's a cute pic of Jacob actually cuddling with mamama (how he says my name). It doesn't happen often, so it was nice to get a picture of it! Poor guy, he isn't feeling very well, so one of us had to hold him most of the time. I didn't mind, especially since I got so many cuddles!


He's totally mine, is he not? Ooh, I could just squeeze the packin's out of him (as my Nana would say).


I didn't realize that they had gingerbread houses there too. They had some really cool looking ones, like this GINORMOUS castle, complete with a big W on it. He he he.


And of course I had to take a picture of this gingerbread house. It's Chief Swan's house, complete with mossy trees, a red truck, and a dark figure (hmmm, who could that be?) in the tree outside one of the bedroom windows. What fun! There were also a few Twilight inspired Christmas trees, but I didn't really like any of them enough to stop the crew to take a picture.


There were also a ton of cheap little crafts for the kids to do. They made some little stained glass window drawings, a jingle monster thingy, some other things, and these cute reindeer hats. They had a blast.


We had so much fun, that I think this might become a tradition. Oh, and I forgot to tell you about the fudge! Mmmm. I think my favorite part was listening to the bag pipe parade at the end. There's something about that instrument that gives me chills. Good chills, that is. Anyway, we had fun and hope all the rest of you are enjoying this wonderful time of year!

First Steps

Jacob took his first steps tonight!! He only took a few, and then got really frustrated that we weren't giving him his toys and putting them farther and farther away from him, so he quit trying. So, I'm off to give him his milk and his bed, I'll keep you posted (hopefully with video). Thanks cousin Parker for showing him how it's done!

Trip

Great. Jeromy just found out (minutes ago) that he has to leave in the morning for a business trip and will be gone for a couple of days. Yuck. Well, at least we had a nice 6 month break from business trips, I just hate it when they're so sudden.

Anyway, all our company is gone now :( so once I tackle the rest of the mountain of laundry (seriously, a mountain- I've done 8 of the 12 loads I need to do- that's what 20 guests for Thanksgiving will do to you- and we loved every minute of it!) and get the house a little more ready for Christmas, I'll be able to really blog. Heck, I might even post our Halloween pictures! I know, I know, don't get ahead of yourself, Hilary. First things first, get Jeromy packed and laundry finished. Oh, and don't forget to feed the kids. Then, maybe, just maybe, I can really blog for the first time in over a month! Ok, kids, coming....

Jacob's First Birthday

Our rambunctious little boy turned one! (Actually it was 2 weeks ago- on the 7th) The first birthday is always a little bittersweet for me: it's a very exciting time, yet it's so sad to say goodbye to the baby days and look back and see if I paid attention enough to remember 20 years from now what he was like when he was a bouncing baby boy. Thank goodness for blogs!!

Both Grandmas came down for the festivities (and Aunt Laurel too!). Boy, did he LOVE all the attention!!! Whenever we were all looking at him (which was a lot as you can imagine) he would bounce up and down and do this little jig, all with his scrunched-up-breathing-out-of-his-nose face he does whenever he's happy, which is quite often, thankfully. So fun. I have GOT to get that on tape!

He's still not walking, but that's totally fine with this mama! He's already getting into everything, I don't need his extra mobility to add to that. But he's such a fast furniture walker (for the past 2 months!), and the other day I caught him crawling onto the top of the couch. And whenever we change his diaper we have to make sure the gate is up otherwise he's all the way upstairs before we're finished taking the diaper out to the garage. That boy is fast.


He had his arms up in the air for awhile. Silly guy.


Jacob LOVED his cake! He went to town! I tried to upload the video cuz it was so cute, but oh well.


Grandpa Wilson gave Jacob his very own football from Jeromy's high school. I think it was Jacob's and Jeromy's favorite gift.


He makes some really funny girgley kind of noises (sounds like "golly-golly-golly-golly" really fast) that nobody can imitate, and we tried to get it on video, but he was enjoying his spoon too much.



Well, little guy, it's been an exciting year. We're starting to see how everyone says boys are rambunctious yet so delightful. We love you! Happy Birthday!!

Thoughts

I've been trying for the last few days to put into words my thoughts and feelings of the sweet funeral I attended on Saturday. But, alas, I am not good with words, and much of it is too personal to share anways. Suffice it to say, that I am constantly amazed by my dear friend, Megan, who is going through some unexpected trials right now, and yet she has such great perspective. I think we all (myself very much included) could use a little more perspective in our lives, as we go about our daily tasks, to remember that we have a loving Heavenly Father who's looking out for us and our families because he wants us to come back. He places such great special love in the hearts of mothers for a reason, and he won't take that away, but will make it last forever. May God be with you and your family always Megan, and may the Lord continue to bless both your precious twins through their missions, here and there.

A Favor

I really should be cleaning instead of posting this, but I thought it was so funny.

Audrey: Mom, can you do a really important thing that I'd like? A really important favor for me?

Mom: What is it?

Audrey: Um, could you clean the whole house before Grandma gets here? Because I really don't want her stepping on all our stuff.

Mom: Well why can't you help me clean?

Audrey: Oh, cuz I'm very busy.

Uh huh. Coloring is so much more important than cleaning the house to a presentable level for company. Uh huh. Whatever.

Eternal Beauty Makeup

My sister came across this while shopping for makeup:

http://www.beautifulgirlminerals.com/item_195/Eternal-Beauty-Kit.htm

So cool!

Our Beautiful Basement

Ah, the spoils of my labors with coupons!

This is how our food storage side of our basement looks. I tried to get everything in these shots, left to right. It's just so nice to have everything organized and waiting for use!!

This Coupon Gal Is Back!

I took a break from couponing when we moved, and it was really hard for me to get back into it. I know, shocker!! I'm not totally back up and running (i.e. cutting coupons monthly if I'm lucky instead of weekly), but I have done some coupon shopping lately. I forgot what a high it can be!!

My favorite shopping trip was Rite Aid's freebie deals last month: they had a bunch of cold medicines, etc. for free after rebate. So I got about $70 worth of medicine for free, I just paid $5 in tax. Awe-some! Even more awesome that we had to use some of this the following week when we all got colds, and I didn't have to venture out and get medicine. Yipee!

Of course, all the case lot sales were way fun. We were down to our last dozen boxes of cereal (wow for us), so it was nice to be able to stock up (80 boxes) on our favorite healthy cereals for .50 to 1.20 a box. I'll post pictures soon. (I know, you can't wait;)

And Walgreens last month had some fun stuff too. I got:

Loreal facial cleanser
Nivea body wash for men
Halloween stickers and puzzles and pencils to keep kids busy
3 things of Pepto (including for kids)
3 name brand toothbrushes
2 Puffs tissues
2 boxes of envelopes
4 small notebooks
4 things of Trident gum
3 Children's Tylenol
3 Infusium shampoos
Huggies big refill wipes
2 small Huggies diapers
5 Softsoap bodywashes
3 Tylenol cold medicines
3 Herbal Essences shampoos

All for $60 (after $95 in coupons and $35 in rebates)!!! It should have been about $190 normally (or about $150 if bought at Wal-Mart), so I figure I saved about 60-70%!!

Woohoo! I'm back in the game! And loving it!!!

Mom Tricks

Thank you, Bethany, for giving me something to blog about:) My friend put some great tips and tricks for Moms on her blog, and I highly recommend checking it out! Awesome!!!

Nothing

Maybe it's just me. But do you ever feel like there's nothing really to blog about? Nothing going on that's blog-worthy? The longer I go between posting something, the higher my standards get about bloggable stuff in my life. I guess I could post old pictures that I never got around to posting, or (shoot) Halloween pictures. I just hate uploading photos. Maybe it's good that nothing's going on right now, no drama. I'll come up with something. Jeromy's gone all week, so some drama is bound to happen.

Which Twilight Character Would You Be?

I happened upon this on someone's blog. So fun!


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

And if I were a guy, I'd be an Edward. Awkward...


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

So speaking of Twilight, anyone have plans for opening night???

Surprise Family Adventure

On Saturday, in an effort to get the kids to help out with the chores, we said we were going to do something really fun together once the house was all clean. Boy, did it work! But then we had to come up with a fun idea. Urg.

With only 5 minutes to go before we all got into the car, Jeromy came up with a Surprise Adventure! Nobody knew (except Daddy) what we were doing until we got there. So exciting!!


Surprise #1: A ride on Uta Trax! The kids went nuts. They absolutely loved it! And best of all, the kids rode free! (It probably cost us the same amount in gas and parking fees: $9. Awesome!)






Surprise #2: The Clark Planetarium in downtown SLC!! It was so much fun! They have all these cool exhibits to look at and the best part was it was all free!




They have one section where you can pretend to be the weatherman/woman. Notice the TVs on the sides:)







Surprise #3: After getting some dinner and cookies (Ben's Cookies: INCREDIBLE!) across the street at The Gateway, we went to get tickets for a star show (Psych fans, imagine the Planetarium episode: hee hee hee!). To our surprise, the cashier lady handed us a coupon for free tickets! Woohoo! Oh, and the show was cool too.



Alas, all great adventures must come to an end. Here are the girls waiting in the cold for the bus to come.

Pumpkinland

We visited the Wilson's last week at Pumpkinland. Thanks, Wendy, we had so much fun! Audrey kept asking on the way home, very sadly, "When are we going to see the boys again?"

First Snow in New House

Did anyone else wake up to snow yesterday? We sure did. I can't believe how EXCITED the kids were to see it out their windows as soon as they woke up, and then how DISAPPOINTED they were to have it melt by the time we got home from church:( Still, it's exciting to start a new season in our new home!

More Preschool Pix

I forgot my camera on the first day of preschool {gasp!} so another mom in the class was kind enough to email us pictures she took with her camera. Here they are:

Priesthood Session Miracle

Jeromy told me yesterday that he wanted to go to the Priesthood Session at the Conference Center instead of the Stake Center. He thought he'd have a better chance at Standby of getting in because it was rainy. So I thought I'd take the kids to the Deseret Book next to Temple Square to take advantage of the Ladies' Night Out sales.

After an hour of trying to find parking, the kids had so much energy. So I bagged the shopping idea and we went exploring. We went to the Church History Museum, which has a fun children's area appropriately named "I Am a Child of God." (Audrey recognized a depiction of the First Vision and said excitedly, "Oh, Mommy! That's when Joseph Smith got his prayers answered!" It's nice to know some things are sinking in:) ) We went to the old pioneer cabin right next to the museum, and it had a cool vegetable garden that the girls enjoyed comparing to ours. We went through temple square, noting the Tabernacle, the Temple, Moroni, the Assembly Hall, a couple of water features, a few statues, and various "itty bitty baby flowers."

After all this, we still had some time to kill before Daddy was done, so we went into the big Conference Sale inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building only to get mauled by the crowds (I had a stroller, need I say more?). So we ate our free cookies while exploring the building via elevator. After 5 minutes of that, Mommy's head wasn't going to take anymore elevators, so we went over to the Deseret Book across the street. The store was only halfway full, not all of the way! I asked the girls to stay put in the children's book aisle, and they dutifully obeyed (wow) so I could shop. Through all this, Jacob was so good! Even though it was past his dinnertime and he only had a few crackers to eat and it was nearing his bedtime.

Mommy had a few minutes to look around and get a few great books before Daddy walked in and announced it was time to buy some tacos from the street vendors. Then to cool our tongues after all those spices, we went to Dee's to get some ice cream. By the time we got home and the kids in bed it was 10:30! 2 hours past the girls bedtime and 3 1/2 past Jacob's!

What was the miracle? Everyone had a fabulous time: the kid's got to go on an adventure, Mommy enjoyed looking at and buying books at an awesome sale, Daddy went to Priesthood session in the conference center, and everyone was so happy at the same time! Everyone was polite, non-whiny and non-cranky, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. That, my friends, constitutes a miracle in my book. Hurray!

Audrey's First Day of Preschool

Friday was Audrey's first day of preschool. She's growing up so fast! We've been looking forward to her preschool starting for some time now. It wasn't till she actually went till she understood why we were so excited for her. She had a TON of fun. You can tell by all the loot she brought home: a headband she decorated, a tracing page of her name and an Expo pen to practice with, a file folder game (laminated and everything), a schoolhouse picture/calendar, and some Bio Dough (it's like Gak). Anyway, she can hardly wait to go back!!



I thought I'd mention how excited I am for preschool. Not only will I get a slight break twice a week, but Audrey will have a creative outlet for her energy that she can call her own. She has desperately needed this for some time now, so I'm thrilled. Also, they invited one parent to come on the first day to get a better idea of what they signed up for. It's at the high school, and it's part of their child development program. So that means that there's the 1 normal adult teacher, and then about 8 high school teachers/students (which means it's about a 2:1 ratio- yeah!). It also means that the district pays the main teacher, so most of the money we pay (which is the cheapest preschool I found too) goes to awesome supplies! I was very impressed when we went and am so glad that Audrey will be a part of this. Woohoo!

First Haircut

A few days ago, Audrey got into the scissors. You know what that means, haircut time!! I've been trying to talk her into letting me cut it for awhile now, so I guess she just saw the scissors and wanted to do it by herself first (so Audrey). After she cut a little lock off the side (and not telling me, of course, until I found the hair on the ground in her room!) I tried to convince her again about the benefits of cutting her hair (making an even length now that she made it uneven, less tangly, grows faster and better...) but she wouldn't have it.

So last night after baths, I was combing her hair and she was getting upset about the tangles, so I tried again. I told her she wouldn't have that many tangles if she let me cut it. She said okay! Well I wasn't going to waste any time (even though I was in a hurry to get out the door to get some groceries) and grabbed the nearest scissors and started cutting. Jeromy barely had time to whip out his phone and take a pic. So there you have it, she finally got her first haircut! My mom will be so happy to hear that; she's been dying to cut Audrey's mullet off for ages!



Until yesterday, I had never cut any of my kids' hair! I don't know what it was, but it was really hard for me to let go of Audrey's hair. Probably because it took SUCH a long time to grow and partly because the ends are her baby hair:( You can't get rid of that! Plus, the girls in my family have cute little baby curls until their first haircut. So now I'm kind of in a predicament because she still has those baby soft curls on the sides because they weren't long enough to cut, but it's straight in the back. Plus she hardly has any hair in the front (anybody know what I can feed her to make her hair grow?) And don't even get me started on her many cowlicks!! Poor thing, I'm sorry I passed those on to you.

Here's Audrey showing off her new do. She is loving it!

Alone at the Temple

Jeromy and I have been trying to find ways to be more spiritual. So for the last month, Jeromy has been waking up at 4am every Tuesday to go to the early morning session at the temple. What an example he is to me! So I decided that maybe I should go alone too; after all, we don't have a babysitting co-op anymore and haven't been for awhile. Last night I went to the temple alone for the very first time. Let me remind you that I got married the day after going for my own endowment, and have gone with my sweet husband ever since (7.5 years). I don't know why I never did it alone, maybe a little bit of fear that it would be weird or lonesome or something. But let me tell you, it was very refreshing! I don't get a whole lot of chances to be alone these days, and to do something as spiritually rejuvenating as attending the temple and all by myself, it was just that: spiritually rejuvenating! I didn't have any distractions (except those people that apparently don't know how to whisper!) and so I could focus a lot better. I'm not saying that I'll never go with Jeromy again, just that it's great to go by myself every once in awhile. Anyway, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Now I've got plans to go there every other Wednesday (that's my self-appointed night off each week- love it!). It's times like these that remind us what days are to come and how we all could use all the help we can get to make it through these tough times, when the adversary is working overtime and getting more and more desperate. Anyways, I'm so happy I finally went by myself and so excited for next time!!

Audrey's Sign

Audrey drew this sign quite awhile ago, and I'm just now getting around to scanning it in. Oh well. It's still a funny story.

Jeromy and I were working on some household projects and the girls were coloring happily. Audrey came to show me her picture:



Yes, that is a yellow line coming down from her crotch with a yellow puddle underneath her feet (you might want to pull up the picture so you can see it better). Um, ya, shocking. She calmly explained her drawing as, "This is me peeing in the garden." So I tried to mask my shocked face and ask her if she drew that because she had done it before. All shifty eyed, "Um, no, Mommy." Whatever. I totally don't believe you. I didn't think this would happen with my daughter!!! I thought that was a boy thing to do! Gross. I gave up pressing her for more information, opting to just not think about it. Ew.

Well she was so proud of her drawing that she asked to make it a necklace and then she and Kierra pretended it was a gold medal and awarded it to each other.

Audrey's Fish

Not bad for 4 and a 1/2.