We got elfed!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9629388142

Happy Holidays people!

My happy helper

So last week I was contemplating sweeping the kitchen floor when I decided to have Julia do it (she needs the practice). ;) I figured she can sweep and then I'll mop. Well, I hadn't voiced that thought yet when she asked "Mom, can you teach me how to mop the floor?"

!!!!!!!!

Excuse me? She wants to learn? Well, who am I to disappoint? Holy cow. So she used the mop and I used a washcloth and we went strategically around the kitchen floor (doing it the same way mom taught me...a few squares at a time, rinse, a few squares, rinse, ect). She was getting frustrated with a few spots so we switched and she used the washcloth. "Oh, this is much better Mom!" ?!?! She preferred being on her hands and knees! Oh my gosh!!!

So guess what Julia's doing right now? Singing in the kitchen while on her hands and knees mopping. And guess what she just asked me? "Mom, does the bathroom floor need to be mopped? Can I do it?"

Um, Merry Christmas to me! Guess who seriously just made it on Santa's good list!!!!

I love Black Friday!

So earlier this week I hadn't ever heard of Black Friday. I've known for years that the Friday after Thanksgiving is a doozy--everyone getting up at the crack of dawn to go shopping for supposed great sales. Ryan's mom and I went together last year. We were entering the JCPenny parking lot at 5:15am (the store opened at 5am) and as we were parking there were already handfuls of customers walking out with full shopping bags. Insane!
Well, as you know, I've begun training to become an aerobics instructor. I've started subbing at church on Wednesday mornings and I get to try my hand at it at Chesterfield (the gym I belong to) Mondays and Fridays. Well, I'm getting enough practice in. I've been scoping out different associations to see which one I want to go through to get certified. One of my instructors recommended Fitour. So I went to their site and lo and behold they're having a sale on all certifications. Only $99 instead of the regular $299. Sweet, eh? Well, I didn't jump on it right away. In fact, I sat on it for a good 3 weeks. Then earlier this week I was thinking that I really need to get a move on and catch that sale so I went back to their site. At the top there were these blaring headlines: BLACK FRIDAY SALE! ALL CERTIFICATIONS ONLY $69.99!
What the heck is black Friday? I don't know, and quite frankly, don't care. All I really saw was that beginning Friday morning at 5am, they were going to have all certifications on sale--but only 500 were to be sold at that price. You better believe I set my alarm to wake me up by 6:30am! I infact woke up at 5:30 and went straight to my computer and promptly bought the study materials and practice tests (and then crawled right back into bed for another hour of sleep). They're being shipped as I write this. All I have to do now is study the manual and then get on my computer to take the test when I feel ready. I don't even have to leave the comfort of my home (All the other associations hold seminars that I would have to travel 3-4 hours just to attend and then take the test in some building). :) Yeah, yay for Black Friday. :)

One, two, three...JUMP!!!!

We had quite a bit of fun cleaning up the yard after school today. There's a huge sycamore tree in our front yard that is forever shedding these enormous leaves (in abundant amounts too). I decided that the kiddos and I could clean up the leaves and have a bit of fun with it too. They weren't so happy about the idea of picking up all the leaves...til Julia asked if they could jump in the pile afterwards. :)













Check out how big these leaves are:

First Dance Recital

Julia had her first dance recital tonight at church. A wonderful sister in our ward has been giving lessons to all girls who are interested (ages 3-6 in one group and 7-11 in another). She has an awesome dance background...and three sons with 0 daughters. She claims this is her personal outlet. :) We don't mind at all!


Julia has been practicing for about a month now and is loving class. She was sooooo excited about tonight. Here's some pix and clips from it.



Look closely and you can see Julia in the middle, all the way in the back, getting groovy.

Strike a pose people!

You can check out her dance video footage here:

Sorry about it being so blurry. I had to cut off a bit to make it fit for the blog and when I checked it afterwards it turned blurry. ??? Oh well. You can make out Julia on the left having a fun time up there.

Sweet Rewards

In my family (while growing up), we had a reward for every A we received on a report card. We were given a dollar. Truly, I don't ever remember receiving a single one. They went into a bank account my dad had set up for us. But we looked forward to telling Dad that he needed to add $5 to our account each semester.

Well, I don't have any accounts set up for my kiddos just yet. But for every A they receive (or for them it's an S (for Jacob and that means "secure") or an M (for Julia and that means "mastered") they will receive a free doughnut of their choice from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. In the past, Krispy Kreme has said that there is a 6 doughnut maximum and that they can only be glazed. Well, tonight when Julia and I went in with her report card, the girl behind the counter was counting up the numerous M's she had. I mentioned that I knew we only got six. Her reply?

"Oh, they always lie when they tell you that."

!!!!!!!!!

Julia had well over 20 M's! The girl asked how many doughnuts we wanted...and to just pick out what we liked. I kept it to 7. Then Jacob took his report card and went in with Ryan and they did the same thing. He had 15 S's! So Ryan and Jacob picked out another dozen. We are going to have a very yummy breakfast tomorrow!

Ahh, sweet rewards for working hard in school. *munch munch* Keep up the good work kiddos!

Hair cuts

And so it begins....we had our family portraits done today (those pics to come later) and when we got home Ryan let the kids cut his hair. Why not? He reports to Basic in January anyway. And since he needed to shave his head...well, why not let the kids do it? :) He put a #2 clip on and let the kids take two turns each with the razor. They thought it was great fun. After their turns, I took over and did a more thorough job. :) Ryan likes it (I'm getting used to it). We are quite excited about him being able to join the military. The first bit with basic and then officers basic won't be so fun (for the family since we won't be able to see him), but we know that awesome adventures are in store for us. Ryan will be doing a job he loves (with the opportunity to join the PA program in 3 years) and we'll get to see a bit more of the country/world. The kiddos are even excited about it. And the latest step toward all this: shaving his head. :)

Mississippi

Jessica arriving in her Hummer/limo! Wow! It was my first time ever seeing one of those. Nice.

Here's the part where I about cried: seeing Gasper fighting tears as he's unveiling Jessica to give her away. I can't imagine how hard that had to have been. I'm so glad that we have at least a decade or more til any of ours gets married!

Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Nate and Jessica!

We arrived at the church about three hours early (there were photos to be taken with the photographer). All the parents were surpressing groans at the thought of entertaining our children for that amount of time. Thank goodness for cousins though! They pretty much entertained each other!

Katie looked so cute in her darling princess dress. Evelyn couldn't get enough of Katie (I think she's missed her or something! ;) ).

So solemn...I harped on them for not smiling til I found out that I guess when in the military they aren't supposed to smile. So weird....

And even weirder--we didn't plan it in the slightest, but Joycelyn and I showed up looking like twinkies! I had to laugh at this. When she and I attended the same ward, we'd always have to see what the other was wearing so that we wouldn't have this happen at church. Some things never change huh?

Mr. Marcus is playing with his cousin Grant. I think he enjoyed having someone about his size to crawl/walk around with.

Well, we weren't about to see Katie and not have a sleepover! After the reception, Joycelyn and Randy dropped Katie off in our room so that the cousins could have the chance to play with each other throughout the night. The next morning everyone headed their separate ways to go home.

Line up ladies!!!!

So when it came time to throw the bouquet, Julia joined in the queue. She is, afterall, a single young woman/girl. However, what I wasn't expecting was the bouquet to hit the ceiling, bounce off and hit the ground....and not a single girl made any movement to pick it up. Literally, they just stood there--didn't even bend or stoop down. It was a foot or two in front of Julia's feet so when no one moved she bent down and picked the flowers up! She was so excited when she found out that she got to keep the flowers (meanwhile Ryan and I were hyperventilating saying "no way you're getting married!")




Julia doing her dance of "yay I get to keep the flowers!!!!!"

The Wedding Reception

Jessica and Nate's reception was very beautiful. It was held at the hotel we were staying in (very convenient for when it was time to take the kids and put them to bed...just down the hall!). There was a buffet laid out with oriental food (there was even a roasted pig--Ryan was very excited about that). Except for the wedding party, it was pretty much wherever we wanted to sit. Our table was closest to the dance area. :) Julia and Jacob enjoyed that very much!



These two were soooo cute together! I was able to catch just one of the many times that they were slow dancing together that night.


Then Katie was boogying down with Uncle Gasper. He's actually quite a good dancer. Katie was more hanging of for dear life but loving every minute of it!


Our corner/table of the reception area (notice the exit doors right next to our table? Yes, we are seasoned parents...we always look for the quick getaway when we know our children won't always be perfect angels). ;)


A rare picture indeed! Here's Sheila (my sister-in-law) and Gasper dancing together. Her knees aren't so great (knee replacement is what should be in order, but I don't think it's going to happen). Anyway, when they started dancing (and I think it was only this once all night), I started clicking away.

My dance

Gasper had promised me a dance and right before I was about to take the kids back to the hotel room with Ryan I was able to get that dance. Sheila recorded it for me (which I'll treasure forever). It's dark...but I'm still enjoying it. :)

The rehearsal dinner

THis past weekend my family (except for Jon and his family) met up in Mississippi for my nieces's wedding. The night before we attended a rehearsal dinner...we enjoyed the company more than the food (it took FOREVER to get)--but we still had a lot of fun though. As Joycelyn mentions on her blog, the groom's parents had provided goody bags for each child (filled with toys, crayons, and coloring books). The kids were in heaven! All the adults were able to just relax and enjoy one anothers company. It was very nice...not rushed but very relaxing. While the poor cooks in the back were trying to cook up about 50 individual meals for our party, the waiters kept bringing out yummy dishes like cheese fries, fried jalepenos, fried shrimp and lobster, ect. And while all that was going on, I was trying to make sure that I got plenty of pictures. I hadn't seen Gasper and his family since, um...I think when Jacob was about a year old. In other words--way too long.



My brother, Gasper, and I




And the bride to be (not me): Jessica

Jason and Gasper