Thursday, December 26, 2013
Updates...
I spent the day updating my out-of-date blog, so there are five new posts! If you are one of those people who likes things in order, you may want to scroll down to the Thanksgiving post and work your way up from there. Or, it probably is much easier to start at the top and just read until you fall asleep get through Thanksgiving.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I can't believe that December has come and (almost) gone, along with Christmas! This month has been crazy, and busy, and fun. Like last year, we stayed home for Christmas. The kids were so excited and could hardly wait in those last few days.
Grandma and Grandpa Webb sent a present for Christmas Eve... new pajamas. The kids were over the top excited about the characters on their pajamas. Natalie had My Little Pony, Kelton had Sonic the Hedgehog, and Damon had Skylanders (we don't even have Skylanders, but he was thrilled). I was afraid they might not ever calm down and go to sleep. Arie got some too, but she is so small and they were so big. After pajamas were on, we loaded them in the car to go look at Christmas lights while I read Luke 2 to them.
Christmas morning... before letting the kids come down. And juggling that feeling of "is there enough? Is there too much?"
And here are some favorite pictures.
Each of the kids earned their own money over the past few months and used it to buy a present for whichever sibling they had this year. This Optimus Prime was from Kelton and Damon had been asking for it for a while.
Natalie has been endlessly talking about these Equestria Girls dolls (My Little Pony turned into humans) for months and months. And has been begging for one for just as long. (They aren't my favorite because they are made to look so much like Monster High dolls, but after much discussion and even making Natalie pray about it :) we decided she could have one.) Kelton bought her this one and she gave him the biggest hug after she opened it.
I made hats for the kids. Damon doesn't know what Ninjago is, but when he saw some others I was making he asked, "is that a ninja hat?!" He was so excited about it and told me that he wanted a black ninja hat. He was excited to open this.
I made an owl hat for something a few months back and ever since, Kelton has wanted an owl hat. Plus, he loves blue, his school mascot is an owl, and two of his uniform colors are blue and gray. So this hat was perfect. :) He's already worn it several times since he opened it, including this morning when he was cold after taking a shower.
Natalie also got a hat, but it was my first hat making fail. I tried to do a Princess Celestia hat. It was white with a few stripes of her hair colors and then I tried to make her eyes and put them on. The result was.... um... I have no words. I should have taken a picture so you could see what I mean. And because I don't take craft failure very well, I ended up going to JoAnn's to buy a new set of yarn--on Christmas Eve. I frantically made a whole new hat that ended up being plain with some colored stripes and nothing else on it. I told Natalie I could try to put Celestia's sun-shaped cutie mark on it, but I'm not real confident in how that might turn out. I felt bad I didn't have something equally as cute as the boys' hats for her. She was gracious and told me she loved both hats. I didn't even consider making one for Arie, who hates to even have her hooded bath towel on her head. Such a shame because these hats are adorable on babies.
Santa was smart enough this year to assemble the baby toys and then wrap them ready-to-use. (Actually, I believe it was his super smart wife who gave him the idea.) Arie got this car, a rocking giraffe, and a dinosaur toy with lots of ABC buttons. Each kept her plenty occupied (and away from everyone else's stuff) while the rest of us opened presents. She loved this car. She kept going back to it and would sit down and play and dance to the music.
We've been invaded... I think these three Furby's stole the show this Christmas. (This is one of the items Santa braved sending his poor elves in on Black Friday to retrieve.) They do all kinds of things, including interacting with each other and you can play/take care of them using your phone or tablet. Needless to say, my iPhone and Nate's iPad have been hijacked over the past two days.
We didn't go through and make sure the kids had all their stuff assembled, but here is each of them with their presents. You might notice all the blankets in the pictures... Grandma and Grandpa Webb made each of them a super soft blanket for their bed with their name embroidered on it.
Kelton had a lot of Legos and building stuff.
Damon got some Trio blocks and Imaginext planes and dragon.
Natalie was mostly dominated by My Little Pony. (You can see my stack in the background. Nate got me a new hand mixer to replace mine that died a few months back and has been sorely missed. There's a cute skirt on top. And a Nikon digital SLR camera, which I would love to learn how to use but am a little afraid of it. And while we are on the topic of the parents, I got Nate a Wii U and Disney Infinity.)
Stockings...
We also did FaceTime with my parents so they could see the kids unwrap their presents from them. They were cute stand alone fabric zipper pouches filled with candy, toys, and $10. The kids love them and have already found things to put in them. And since Wal Mart had problems with getting my order to me on time, I had the iPad mini at my house that all of my siblings and I bought for Mom and Dad. So we had our kids open it for them so they could see it.
We also did FaceTime with Nate's parents while they opened their present from us. We got them a generic tablet, which I hope holds up for them and I hope they enjoy. We pre-loaded apps like Gospel Library, Skype, Facebook, and Netflix on there for them--things they will hopefully find useful.
Christmas day went by so quickly. So quickly in fact that neither Nate or I showered or got out of our pajamas--which actually drives both of us crazy. But part of why that happened could also be due to the fact that neither one of us was feeling real great. I've been battling a sinus infection for about week and Nate's cold has morphed into something new too. We played with new toys with the kids, cleaned up, cleaned up some more, made a nice dinner, which half the family didn't eat (little stinkers), and were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day. But it was a good, fun day.
Grandma and Grandpa Webb sent a present for Christmas Eve... new pajamas. The kids were over the top excited about the characters on their pajamas. Natalie had My Little Pony, Kelton had Sonic the Hedgehog, and Damon had Skylanders (we don't even have Skylanders, but he was thrilled). I was afraid they might not ever calm down and go to sleep. Arie got some too, but she is so small and they were so big. After pajamas were on, we loaded them in the car to go look at Christmas lights while I read Luke 2 to them.
Christmas morning... before letting the kids come down. And juggling that feeling of "is there enough? Is there too much?"
And here are some favorite pictures.
Each of the kids earned their own money over the past few months and used it to buy a present for whichever sibling they had this year. This Optimus Prime was from Kelton and Damon had been asking for it for a while.
Natalie has been endlessly talking about these Equestria Girls dolls (My Little Pony turned into humans) for months and months. And has been begging for one for just as long. (They aren't my favorite because they are made to look so much like Monster High dolls, but after much discussion and even making Natalie pray about it :) we decided she could have one.) Kelton bought her this one and she gave him the biggest hug after she opened it.
I made hats for the kids. Damon doesn't know what Ninjago is, but when he saw some others I was making he asked, "is that a ninja hat?!" He was so excited about it and told me that he wanted a black ninja hat. He was excited to open this.
I made an owl hat for something a few months back and ever since, Kelton has wanted an owl hat. Plus, he loves blue, his school mascot is an owl, and two of his uniform colors are blue and gray. So this hat was perfect. :) He's already worn it several times since he opened it, including this morning when he was cold after taking a shower.
Natalie also got a hat, but it was my first hat making fail. I tried to do a Princess Celestia hat. It was white with a few stripes of her hair colors and then I tried to make her eyes and put them on. The result was.... um... I have no words. I should have taken a picture so you could see what I mean. And because I don't take craft failure very well, I ended up going to JoAnn's to buy a new set of yarn--on Christmas Eve. I frantically made a whole new hat that ended up being plain with some colored stripes and nothing else on it. I told Natalie I could try to put Celestia's sun-shaped cutie mark on it, but I'm not real confident in how that might turn out. I felt bad I didn't have something equally as cute as the boys' hats for her. She was gracious and told me she loved both hats. I didn't even consider making one for Arie, who hates to even have her hooded bath towel on her head. Such a shame because these hats are adorable on babies.
Santa was smart enough this year to assemble the baby toys and then wrap them ready-to-use. (Actually, I believe it was his super smart wife who gave him the idea.) Arie got this car, a rocking giraffe, and a dinosaur toy with lots of ABC buttons. Each kept her plenty occupied (and away from everyone else's stuff) while the rest of us opened presents. She loved this car. She kept going back to it and would sit down and play and dance to the music.
We've been invaded... I think these three Furby's stole the show this Christmas. (This is one of the items Santa braved sending his poor elves in on Black Friday to retrieve.) They do all kinds of things, including interacting with each other and you can play/take care of them using your phone or tablet. Needless to say, my iPhone and Nate's iPad have been hijacked over the past two days.
We didn't go through and make sure the kids had all their stuff assembled, but here is each of them with their presents. You might notice all the blankets in the pictures... Grandma and Grandpa Webb made each of them a super soft blanket for their bed with their name embroidered on it.
Kelton had a lot of Legos and building stuff.
Damon got some Trio blocks and Imaginext planes and dragon.
Natalie was mostly dominated by My Little Pony. (You can see my stack in the background. Nate got me a new hand mixer to replace mine that died a few months back and has been sorely missed. There's a cute skirt on top. And a Nikon digital SLR camera, which I would love to learn how to use but am a little afraid of it. And while we are on the topic of the parents, I got Nate a Wii U and Disney Infinity.)
Stockings...
We also did FaceTime with my parents so they could see the kids unwrap their presents from them. They were cute stand alone fabric zipper pouches filled with candy, toys, and $10. The kids love them and have already found things to put in them. And since Wal Mart had problems with getting my order to me on time, I had the iPad mini at my house that all of my siblings and I bought for Mom and Dad. So we had our kids open it for them so they could see it.
We also did FaceTime with Nate's parents while they opened their present from us. We got them a generic tablet, which I hope holds up for them and I hope they enjoy. We pre-loaded apps like Gospel Library, Skype, Facebook, and Netflix on there for them--things they will hopefully find useful.
Christmas day went by so quickly. So quickly in fact that neither Nate or I showered or got out of our pajamas--which actually drives both of us crazy. But part of why that happened could also be due to the fact that neither one of us was feeling real great. I've been battling a sinus infection for about week and Nate's cold has morphed into something new too. We played with new toys with the kids, cleaned up, cleaned up some more, made a nice dinner, which half the family didn't eat (little stinkers), and were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day. But it was a good, fun day.
Caps, Caps for Sale! 50 Cents a Cap!
I love that book! Anyway, this has been the November/December of hat making for me. I made one for a service project, one for a birthday gift, one for Natalie, Kelton, and Damon for Christmas, and also decided to make them for my brother Chad's four kids, who we have for Christmas this year. I found out their kid's favorite characters and went from there. I was a bit worried on how they might turn out, because I didn't have a pattern and had to make them up.
Brayden and Trevor like Ninjago...
Kira is a princess lover, and her favorite is Ariel.
Brayden and Trevor like Ninjago...
Callie likes white tigers. This one was tricky and took the most time. I looked at several pictures of what others had made, and most of them didn't look real great. That is never very encouraging. I wanted it to be cute, or at very least, not look dumb. I think I made three different sets of ears, and two or three sets of eyes before coming to the final result. At one point, our white tiger was in serious danger of looking like a house cat... But I was happy with the end result.
Kira is a princess lover, and her favorite is Ariel.
I had to wait to post this until after Christmas because I couldn't give away the surprise! Plus I wanted to steal this picture from Erica's blog. :)
I hope they liked them! I had fun making them. And in case you are wondering--I would never in a million years sell crocheted hats for 50 cents. So don't ask. :) But apparently I will give them away for free... Hahaha! Merry Christmas!
You know what they say about "all good things..."
I'm playing catch up here... back in October we received a letter (dated on the 27th) from the Stake Presidency stating that we were to attend a special meeting with them the following Sunday (November 3rd) to discuss some important changes that would affect our family. I knew almost immediately what this was about--boundary realignment. Over the next few days, and in talking to a few other people in our ward, we figured out exactly what was happening.
Sahuarita has been steadily growing since we moved here. When we came, there were two wards, which were bursting at the seams. Now, eight years later, we have five wards and our own stake (which includes a ward from Tucson and two branches). But boundaries have been moved a bit here and there, especially when new wards have been formed. About two years ago, (I think) the newest ward was made--the Madera Ward. I think it has always been kind of small and has struggled a bit. The boundaries are actually only in Green Valley, which is for most intents and purposes, a retirement community. So the Madera Ward is mostly made up of older people. To my understanding, there are really only two areas in the ward where young families live.
So, as all of us who received the letter figured out, the meeting was to inform us that our neighborhood, and only our neighborhood, was being moved out of 3rd Ward and put in Madera Ward. There are only about five other active families, in addition to us, in our neighborhood. I of course, feel like 3rd Ward is the best ward in Sahuarita, and it is full of very good friends and people we have known since we moved here. When we bought our bigger house a little more than a year and a half ago, we didn't even look at houses in other ward boundaries, even though we knew we might find something better. That is how much we loved our ward, and how much we hate big changes. So I probably don't need to tell you how we felt about this boundary change. And I don't want to go on about it too much, but it was hard. Two months later it is still hard. And I suppose it will be hard for a while. We really don't know anyone and it takes a long time to build friendships. And the whole dynamic of the ward is different, which is to be expected when you go from a large ward where almost everyone has a bunch of kids to a small ward full of retirees and only one nursery (I don't think we've ever had less than three). For example, the ward Christmas party was a dinner and a spiritual program with scriptures, speaking parts, musical numbers--similar to what you would expect from a sacrament program. And there was no Santa. I get it, I do. But it was anything but kid-friendly. I went to play the piano for the musical numbers and actually left the rest of my family at home.
I was asked (an assignment, not a calling) at the end of November if I could put together the music for the Christmas program, including a choir. Their ward had never had a choir before. I said yes, and then got somewhat worried. I only had four Sundays, including Christmas Sunday to get a choir and then get them ready to sing. I was the choir director in 3rd Ward, which is why I think they asked me to do this, and last year it took me two and a half months to get the choir ready to sing two songs for Christmas. Fortunately, a decent amount of people showed up to be in the choir and a friend from 3rd Ward agreed to be our accompanist. We really only had two good practices, and a 20 minute now-or-never-learn-your-parts crash course before sacrament meeting started. But somehow, it ended up okay and I think people enjoyed it. I also played Sally DeFord's piano/organ duet of "Angels We Have Heard On High" with the ward organist. And I had Natalie and another girl sing the first verse of "Silent Night" before the choir then congregation joined in on verses 2 and 3. I think it went pretty well.
Nate and I do not have callings yet. But after being told that they are "musical talent starved" by several different people, I think my 8 year banishment to music callings is not going to end any time soon. It's not that I mind doing music (however, the choir thing is not my thing), but I would like the chance to do something different. Who knows, maybe I will be surprised.
So we will see how the new year goes in our new ward. :)
Sahuarita has been steadily growing since we moved here. When we came, there were two wards, which were bursting at the seams. Now, eight years later, we have five wards and our own stake (which includes a ward from Tucson and two branches). But boundaries have been moved a bit here and there, especially when new wards have been formed. About two years ago, (I think) the newest ward was made--the Madera Ward. I think it has always been kind of small and has struggled a bit. The boundaries are actually only in Green Valley, which is for most intents and purposes, a retirement community. So the Madera Ward is mostly made up of older people. To my understanding, there are really only two areas in the ward where young families live.
So, as all of us who received the letter figured out, the meeting was to inform us that our neighborhood, and only our neighborhood, was being moved out of 3rd Ward and put in Madera Ward. There are only about five other active families, in addition to us, in our neighborhood. I of course, feel like 3rd Ward is the best ward in Sahuarita, and it is full of very good friends and people we have known since we moved here. When we bought our bigger house a little more than a year and a half ago, we didn't even look at houses in other ward boundaries, even though we knew we might find something better. That is how much we loved our ward, and how much we hate big changes. So I probably don't need to tell you how we felt about this boundary change. And I don't want to go on about it too much, but it was hard. Two months later it is still hard. And I suppose it will be hard for a while. We really don't know anyone and it takes a long time to build friendships. And the whole dynamic of the ward is different, which is to be expected when you go from a large ward where almost everyone has a bunch of kids to a small ward full of retirees and only one nursery (I don't think we've ever had less than three). For example, the ward Christmas party was a dinner and a spiritual program with scriptures, speaking parts, musical numbers--similar to what you would expect from a sacrament program. And there was no Santa. I get it, I do. But it was anything but kid-friendly. I went to play the piano for the musical numbers and actually left the rest of my family at home.
I was asked (an assignment, not a calling) at the end of November if I could put together the music for the Christmas program, including a choir. Their ward had never had a choir before. I said yes, and then got somewhat worried. I only had four Sundays, including Christmas Sunday to get a choir and then get them ready to sing. I was the choir director in 3rd Ward, which is why I think they asked me to do this, and last year it took me two and a half months to get the choir ready to sing two songs for Christmas. Fortunately, a decent amount of people showed up to be in the choir and a friend from 3rd Ward agreed to be our accompanist. We really only had two good practices, and a 20 minute now-or-never-learn-your-parts crash course before sacrament meeting started. But somehow, it ended up okay and I think people enjoyed it. I also played Sally DeFord's piano/organ duet of "Angels We Have Heard On High" with the ward organist. And I had Natalie and another girl sing the first verse of "Silent Night" before the choir then congregation joined in on verses 2 and 3. I think it went pretty well.
Nate and I do not have callings yet. But after being told that they are "musical talent starved" by several different people, I think my 8 year banishment to music callings is not going to end any time soon. It's not that I mind doing music (however, the choir thing is not my thing), but I would like the chance to do something different. Who knows, maybe I will be surprised.
So we will see how the new year goes in our new ward. :)
Milestone Birthday
I recently celebrated my 30th birthday! It seems like people get a bit depressed by turning 30, but I can't say I'm one of them. First off, thanks to a year of training for that triathlon, and continuing to run afterward, I'm in way better physical shape than I have ever been. I've lost all of my "baby weight" and I could potentially be done, or close to it, with pregnancy and newborns keeping me up all night. Plus, I have a wonderful husband and four awesome kids. I think 30 is not so bad.
My birthday was on a Saturday, so Nate was able to be home. And I have a husband who thinks birthdays are a really big deal, so he made sure I had a great day. In the morning, everyone came in to my room to wake me with singing "Happy Birthday." Then, in honor of turning 30, Nate had the kids bring in my presents--all 30 of them! This is not a normal thing at our house, so it was quite a surprise! Let's see if I can remember all 30...
1) Kindle Fire HDX 7" (this was actually from both of our parents, plus some of our credit card rewards). 2) case for the Kindle. 3) OXO can opener. 4) PedEgg. 5) small zippered bag for my bike. 6) coat. 7) Red dress. 8-10) three shirts. 11) U of A shirt. 12-16) Bath and Body Works- 2 body washes, 2 hand soaps, 1 lotion. 17) running capris. 18) phone arm band. 19) phone case. 20) long sleeve running shirt. 21) loofa. 22) Payday candy bar. 23) Reece's minis. 24) Oreo's. 25) U of A basketball tickets. 26) a book called "Divergent." 27) another U of A shirt. 28) Olive Garden gift card. 29) fuzzy socks. And... 30) iPhone 5s, which I had actually already had for a few days, but Nate was running out of ideas and counted that one.
Just as Nate warned me beforehand, a lot of this stuff got returned because either it wasn't quite the right thing, or because he wasn't able to shop around for deals and what he got was too expensive. For example, all of the clothing got returned, except for the red dress. It was perfect and very pretty. And Natalie actually picked it out! But most of everything else that got returned has since been repurchased at a much more budget friendly price. :) The only things I returned and didn't repurchase are the coat, the shirts (not including running shirt--I got one of those), the fuzzy socks, the phone case and armband. But I will buy an armband for my phone so I can run with it without having to hold it.
But enough about presents. We then had breakfast and then I went for a two mile run. Then I took Natalie to see Disney's "Frozen" in 3D in the theater just down the street. I had one free ticket, so I only had to pay for one of us, and I got free popcorn because it was my birthday. It was great. We enjoyed the movie. I'd heard too many rave reviews about it though, and that's never a good thing... I didn't think it was "rave-worthy." But we will buy it when it comes out.
Then in the late afternoon, Nate and I went to a U of A basketball game. A friend of ours was kind enough to volunteer at the last moment to watch our kids so we could go. We had been unsuccessful at finding a babysitter and our backup plan was for me to take Kelton. But I was a bit bummed by that because I really wanted to go with Nate. So, I was very thankful for this friend taking our kids. And she wouldn't even let us pay her when I tried. U of A won the basketball game, though it was a close one. And this game put us into first place in the nation, and we are still sitting there to this day.
We had planned to go to dinner at Olive Garden and use my gift card, but it was too late by the time the game ended. (We took the whole family on Monday night for FHE instead.) So we drove back home, got the kids, made mac and cheese for the kids and biscuits and gravy for us, and had cake. I made the cake and frosted it, but I let the kids decorate it. That was fun. I think I might make that a tradition and let them decorate it every year.
The finished product. Natalie tried to write "Happy Birthday Mom" but the frosting had been in the fridge and was super hard to squeeze and wasn't cooperating.
I had a great birthday with the people I love!
My birthday was on a Saturday, so Nate was able to be home. And I have a husband who thinks birthdays are a really big deal, so he made sure I had a great day. In the morning, everyone came in to my room to wake me with singing "Happy Birthday." Then, in honor of turning 30, Nate had the kids bring in my presents--all 30 of them! This is not a normal thing at our house, so it was quite a surprise! Let's see if I can remember all 30...
1) Kindle Fire HDX 7" (this was actually from both of our parents, plus some of our credit card rewards). 2) case for the Kindle. 3) OXO can opener. 4) PedEgg. 5) small zippered bag for my bike. 6) coat. 7) Red dress. 8-10) three shirts. 11) U of A shirt. 12-16) Bath and Body Works- 2 body washes, 2 hand soaps, 1 lotion. 17) running capris. 18) phone arm band. 19) phone case. 20) long sleeve running shirt. 21) loofa. 22) Payday candy bar. 23) Reece's minis. 24) Oreo's. 25) U of A basketball tickets. 26) a book called "Divergent." 27) another U of A shirt. 28) Olive Garden gift card. 29) fuzzy socks. And... 30) iPhone 5s, which I had actually already had for a few days, but Nate was running out of ideas and counted that one.
Just as Nate warned me beforehand, a lot of this stuff got returned because either it wasn't quite the right thing, or because he wasn't able to shop around for deals and what he got was too expensive. For example, all of the clothing got returned, except for the red dress. It was perfect and very pretty. And Natalie actually picked it out! But most of everything else that got returned has since been repurchased at a much more budget friendly price. :) The only things I returned and didn't repurchase are the coat, the shirts (not including running shirt--I got one of those), the fuzzy socks, the phone case and armband. But I will buy an armband for my phone so I can run with it without having to hold it.
But enough about presents. We then had breakfast and then I went for a two mile run. Then I took Natalie to see Disney's "Frozen" in 3D in the theater just down the street. I had one free ticket, so I only had to pay for one of us, and I got free popcorn because it was my birthday. It was great. We enjoyed the movie. I'd heard too many rave reviews about it though, and that's never a good thing... I didn't think it was "rave-worthy." But we will buy it when it comes out.
Then in the late afternoon, Nate and I went to a U of A basketball game. A friend of ours was kind enough to volunteer at the last moment to watch our kids so we could go. We had been unsuccessful at finding a babysitter and our backup plan was for me to take Kelton. But I was a bit bummed by that because I really wanted to go with Nate. So, I was very thankful for this friend taking our kids. And she wouldn't even let us pay her when I tried. U of A won the basketball game, though it was a close one. And this game put us into first place in the nation, and we are still sitting there to this day.
We had planned to go to dinner at Olive Garden and use my gift card, but it was too late by the time the game ended. (We took the whole family on Monday night for FHE instead.) So we drove back home, got the kids, made mac and cheese for the kids and biscuits and gravy for us, and had cake. I made the cake and frosted it, but I let the kids decorate it. That was fun. I think I might make that a tradition and let them decorate it every year.
The finished product. Natalie tried to write "Happy Birthday Mom" but the frosting had been in the fridge and was super hard to squeeze and wasn't cooperating.
I had a great birthday with the people I love!
Thanksgiving
We headed to Snowflake for Thanksgiving, like we always do. This year we stayed with my parents, and Rob, Tina, and Christian--along with my niece (Rob's daughter) Shalae and her husband Porter, and Melanie, Tyler, and Jade were there too. It was fun to take a break from life and get away for a few days. Nate and I got to go to the temple while we were there and do a session. It was very nice to go, especially because it was the first time we had been able to go since the church changed the video.
I had previously rounded everyone up and got them in on a 5K Turkey Trot run. So on Thanksgiving morning, Dad, Rob, Tina, Mel, Tyler and I headed out to burn off our day's calories in advance. When I decided to do the run and get everyone involved, it didn't occur to me how cold it would be in Snowflake at 8 a.m. at the end of November. It was 34 degrees. It was cold. But really, it wasn't too bad and I think all of us actually wanted to take layers off during the run. This picture is from afterwards.
A turkey hat, that's what! I've never been so happy in all of my life to lose at something. It was so funny watching all of the winners trudge up to claim their prize... It still makes me laugh to think about it. A turkey hat..... (which our kids absolutely loved and played with for the rest of the day)
We had a nice Thanksgiving meal a bit later. Then in the evening, I went with Melanie and Tyler to Walmart to do some Black Friday shopping. Rob and Tina went too, but it was a complete madhouse there and I'm not sure I ever saw them. Moving through the store was so impossible (I'm not kidding...) and frustrating that I abandoned almost everything on my list because it just wasn't worth it. I got the stuff I really wanted and was ready to get out. After the really good experience I had last year at the very same store, this one was maddening. I think they must have changed management or something.
But to end on a good note, we had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed being with family.
I had previously rounded everyone up and got them in on a 5K Turkey Trot run. So on Thanksgiving morning, Dad, Rob, Tina, Mel, Tyler and I headed out to burn off our day's calories in advance. When I decided to do the run and get everyone involved, it didn't occur to me how cold it would be in Snowflake at 8 a.m. at the end of November. It was 34 degrees. It was cold. But really, it wasn't too bad and I think all of us actually wanted to take layers off during the run. This picture is from afterwards.
I felt like my run went really well. I didn't feel like I was struggling at all and it felt easy overall. It was also nice because Tyler happens to run at exactly the same pace as I do, so we ended up running the whole thing side by side. We ran it in about 30 minutes. The timing got messed up, so we don't really have exact numbers. Now here's the deal, when you run races with Melanie, you usually have to wait around for the awards. :) Melanie was the women's second place winner. After the race, we waited, and waited, and waited. Everything was finished and we weren't sure what the holdup was. It was at least an hour since the last of us had finished and it was still very cold outside and we really wanted to go home. Finally, they got to the awards. Melanie may disagree, but for the rest of us, it was worth the wait. So what exactly do you get for getting out of bed on Thanksgiving morning, running over three miles in freezing weather, and winning??
We had a nice Thanksgiving meal a bit later. Then in the evening, I went with Melanie and Tyler to Walmart to do some Black Friday shopping. Rob and Tina went too, but it was a complete madhouse there and I'm not sure I ever saw them. Moving through the store was so impossible (I'm not kidding...) and frustrating that I abandoned almost everything on my list because it just wasn't worth it. I got the stuff I really wanted and was ready to get out. After the really good experience I had last year at the very same store, this one was maddening. I think they must have changed management or something.
But to end on a good note, we had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed being with family.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Funny kids
A few minutes after Kelton came home from school, he sighed and said:
"I just don't know what we will be eating for Thanksgiving!"
Me: "Well, I can tell you what we will eat."
Kelton, very excited: "Stir Fry?!"
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that won't make the menu. That has been his favorite meal for a while, and I guess he just dared hope for a minute that maybe the biggest, best, maybe even most American meal of the year would be... stir fry.
Natalie was assigned a school project involving pilgrims. She was doing some research after school and afterward, she asked me how long ago plastic was invented. I told her I didn't know and would have to look it up, but that the pilgrims didn't have it (I don't think...). She then asked about metal. I told her they had metal, and that the difference between the two is that metal is naturally found on the earth and plastic isn't. Plastic is man-made. To which Natalie replies:
"You mean this... (holding up a My Little Pony) was made by boys?"
Me, laughing: "Natalie, 'man-made' means it was made by people. Not necessarily by boys."
Natalie, now also laughing and feeling a bit silly: "Oh, please tell me you aren't going to post that on the blog!"
"I just don't know what we will be eating for Thanksgiving!"
Me: "Well, I can tell you what we will eat."
Kelton, very excited: "Stir Fry?!"
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that won't make the menu. That has been his favorite meal for a while, and I guess he just dared hope for a minute that maybe the biggest, best, maybe even most American meal of the year would be... stir fry.
Kelton--Kindergarten
"You mean this... (holding up a My Little Pony) was made by boys?"
Me, laughing: "Natalie, 'man-made' means it was made by people. Not necessarily by boys."
Natalie, now also laughing and feeling a bit silly: "Oh, please tell me you aren't going to post that on the blog!"
Natalie--3rd Grade
Friday, November 15, 2013
Favorite quotes of the day
This morning while the kids were getting ready for school, we heard Natalie (8 years old) say this to Kelton. They were talking about these people who come in and read to Kelton's class. Kelton thought they were adults and Natalie was correcting him.
[said very matter-of-factly] "Kelton, those people who come and read to you in your class aren't big. They are in high school. They are just teenagers. They don't know everything yet."
I'm going to have to save that one for a few years down the road. I love how her statement that teenagers don't know everything yet also implies that she thinks that I, as a grown up, do. I wish she were right on both accounts.
And Kelton (almost 6 years old) made me laugh last night. We were listening to the radio and some ad or something was on. I wasn't really paying attention. All of a sudden, Kelton got really excited and said,
"Work! They said 'work!' That's where Dad lives!!"
I thought it was funny, but in case that comes across as sad to anyone, I did clarify and ask, "Dad lives at work?" He kind of rolled his eyes, like he had realized his mistake, and said, "No, Dad lives here." I think what he meant to say instead of lives, was "goes." It was funny though because I'm sure dads and families alike kind of feel like dad lives at work sometimes. But we are very grateful that they do. Even though they would much rather "live" at home. :)
[said very matter-of-factly] "Kelton, those people who come and read to you in your class aren't big. They are in high school. They are just teenagers. They don't know everything yet."
I'm going to have to save that one for a few years down the road. I love how her statement that teenagers don't know everything yet also implies that she thinks that I, as a grown up, do. I wish she were right on both accounts.
And Kelton (almost 6 years old) made me laugh last night. We were listening to the radio and some ad or something was on. I wasn't really paying attention. All of a sudden, Kelton got really excited and said,
"Work! They said 'work!' That's where Dad lives!!"
I thought it was funny, but in case that comes across as sad to anyone, I did clarify and ask, "Dad lives at work?" He kind of rolled his eyes, like he had realized his mistake, and said, "No, Dad lives here." I think what he meant to say instead of lives, was "goes." It was funny though because I'm sure dads and families alike kind of feel like dad lives at work sometimes. But we are very grateful that they do. Even though they would much rather "live" at home. :)
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Time Out for Women
Time Out for Women was yesterday and the night before. This year I went with my Mom, Christy, Melanie, and Tina. We missed not having Erica there, but she just lives a little too far away to make it work. Since Melanie lives in Gilbert now, we all stayed with her and didn't have to get a hotel. And we stayed up way too late, of course.
I thought all the music and the speakers were great. The overall theme was "Higher." On Friday night, Hilary Weeks did the music (and also talked about the power of kind words) and the speakers were Brad Wilcox (spoke about conversion and improving ourselves) and Sheri Dew (who spoke about something really awesome, but I can't remember what! Someone help remind me...). On Saturday, Mercy River did the music and the speakers were Mary Ellen Edmunds (spoke about our thoughts and changing them), Sandra Turley (spoke about our ability and desire to create), Richie Norton (spoke about being our authentic selves), Michael Wilcox (spoke about different kinds of prayer), and Laurel Christensen Day (spoke about overcoming our fears).
It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun!
Oh, and in that room of 5500 women, I ended up sitting right in front of my best friend from high school, Rebecca (Baldwin) Norton. We were able to talk and catch up during the breaks and it was so fun to see her!
I thought all the music and the speakers were great. The overall theme was "Higher." On Friday night, Hilary Weeks did the music (and also talked about the power of kind words) and the speakers were Brad Wilcox (spoke about conversion and improving ourselves) and Sheri Dew (who spoke about something really awesome, but I can't remember what! Someone help remind me...). On Saturday, Mercy River did the music and the speakers were Mary Ellen Edmunds (spoke about our thoughts and changing them), Sandra Turley (spoke about our ability and desire to create), Richie Norton (spoke about being our authentic selves), Michael Wilcox (spoke about different kinds of prayer), and Laurel Christensen Day (spoke about overcoming our fears).
It was a great weekend and I had a lot of fun!
Oh, and in that room of 5500 women, I ended up sitting right in front of my best friend from high school, Rebecca (Baldwin) Norton. We were able to talk and catch up during the breaks and it was so fun to see her!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Halloween stuff
We had lots of Halloween festivities this year. On Saturday, the 26th, we went to a neighborhood BBQ in the afternoon, followed by our Stake BBQ in the evening. (Gotta love AZ in late October. We had snow cones at the Stake BBQ.) Right after the last BBQ we went to the town Halloween celebration. We didn't do a whole lot there, but there was a trunk-or-treat set up by a local church. We only went through part of it, because it was getting late and we were all tired. I wish we would have got there sooner so we could have done the whole thing because the trunks were all decorated so cleverly. It was fun to walk through.
Then on the 30th we had our ward trunk-or-treat. There's not much else to say about that. We all showed up, passed out candy, took kids around to get candy, and were done in about a half hour.
We didn't do to well at getting pictures this year. I forgot to take them before the trunk-or-treat. Or rather, I didn't have time to take any before. So, the only pictures I have of kids in costumes are from after the trunk or treat.
Natalie was Hermoine from Harry Potter.
I don't think we need much explanation here, but Kelton was a pumpkin. I wish you could see his hat better. It has a stem, leaf, and curly vine on it. He originally wanted to be Sonic the Hedgehog, but I couldn't find what I needed to make the costume and didn't want to spend $30 on the stupid looking store bought one I saw. It's funny because after Kelton told me he wanted to be a pumpkin and knew I was going to be making his costume, he said, "And I don't even care if it's kind of horrible!" Wow. Such faith in his mother's crafting abilities. I assured him it wouldn't be horrible at all. A pumpkin was about the easiest costume ever to make.
Damon was a monkey. We bought this costume years ago for Natalie. I love how ever since, we have somehow easily convinced each of our children to wear it, not only once, but two years in a row! I think it may become a new Webb rule. Arie better be on board. And it's great because by this point, no one else who bought this costume is still using it. When Natalie wore it, (and even somewhat with Kelton) there were handfuls of other kids wearing it too. Damon got to be unique. We got so many compliments on how cute he was. But, as you can see, we didn't do a very good job of throwing it back on him to take a picture.
And here is my absolute favorite picture to take of my kids in this costume. It cracks me up every time.
Arie was a kitty. Nate and I thought she looked like a skunk. A lot of people guessed she was a bear. It just now occurred to me, as I am sitting here typing, that we should have painted a nose and whiskers on her. Oops. That might have helped. Sorry fourth child. Arie absolutely refused to wear the hat, which Velcro-ed under her chin. Each time we tried, she screamed and pulled until we took it off. The only reason we got a picture of it on her (and we didn't even attempt to Velcro it) is because we distracted her with the Kit Kat we had previously taken away.
Here they are checking to see what they got. I didn't let them dump everything out because it was bedtime. It got adequately sorted the next day. I had to laugh at Natalie's sorting. She had a pile of suckers, chocolate, gum, etc... and Reese's. I informed her that Reese's are chocolate. She replied with "yeah, I know." It's not that she had that many of them that they needed their own pile. I'm sure it's because she thinks they are just that good--they get their own category. I can agree with that.
While we were at the trunk-or-treat, Arie reached into her bucket, found a Kit Kat, bit through the wrapper, and started eating it. I took it away because I didn't want the mess all over the costume. This goes without saying, but... she was mad. We let her have it when we got home. She thoroughly enjoyed it.
Last night, on Halloween, I took the kids trick-or-treating on our street. They always get at least as much candy on just our street as they do at the trunk-or-treat. We had a lot of fun going around to our neighbors. And I think we now have a year's supply of candy... which will probably be gone in about a week. :) Happy Halloween! Now on to Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Pumpkin Carving
Tonight was our pumpkin carving night. We had a small pumpkin for each of the three oldest kids. Nate even came home from work early to join in the fun.
Step One: Getting out the pumpkin guts. Natalie is a hand scooper. Kelton used a spoon, but at one point decided to try his hand. I think I feel the same way about it as he did.
Here they are with their carved pumpkins behind them. Have I ever mentioned that my kids are crazy?
Here's Natalie's creation. It's Nightmare Moon. (bonus points to anyone who actually knows who that is) It doesn't quite look like her, but it was the best Natalie could come up with after I explained why her detailed drawing wouldn't work carved into a pumpkin.
Here's Kelton's. We told him he could draw anything he wanted, but he wanted it to look like his Halloween costume. More on that tomorrow...
Here's Damon's. For a three year old, he has mad pumpkin carving skills.
A week or two ago, I gave the kids a bunch of random materials and some glue to make a picture. I didn't help them at all. They did a really great job. I thought it was funny how Natalie and Kelton's ideas for their pictures and their pumpkins were about the same.
Kelton's picture.
Natalie's picture. (My Little Pony)
Damon's picture. Notice all the D's he drew on the picture. :)
And during our pumpkin carving, Arie found a Dum Dum sucker and got it open. We let her keep it, but since she walks around everywhere, we confined her to her chair.
She couldn't decide which end she liked better.
Oh, it goes this way! Silly girl.
Step One: Getting out the pumpkin guts. Natalie is a hand scooper. Kelton used a spoon, but at one point decided to try his hand. I think I feel the same way about it as he did.
Here they are with their carved pumpkins behind them. Have I ever mentioned that my kids are crazy?
Here's Natalie's creation. It's Nightmare Moon. (bonus points to anyone who actually knows who that is) It doesn't quite look like her, but it was the best Natalie could come up with after I explained why her detailed drawing wouldn't work carved into a pumpkin.
Here's Kelton's. We told him he could draw anything he wanted, but he wanted it to look like his Halloween costume. More on that tomorrow...
Here's Damon's. For a three year old, he has mad pumpkin carving skills.
A week or two ago, I gave the kids a bunch of random materials and some glue to make a picture. I didn't help them at all. They did a really great job. I thought it was funny how Natalie and Kelton's ideas for their pictures and their pumpkins were about the same.
Kelton's picture.
Natalie's picture. (My Little Pony)
Damon's picture. Notice all the D's he drew on the picture. :)
And during our pumpkin carving, Arie found a Dum Dum sucker and got it open. We let her keep it, but since she walks around everywhere, we confined her to her chair.
She couldn't decide which end she liked better.
Oh, it goes this way! Silly girl.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Grandpa Burgess
This post is a little late in coming, but my grandpa, George Dale Burgess, passed away on September 14th, at 94 years old. He had a stroke, and then got pneumonia and was never able to recover. My whole family made the trip to Lehi, Utah for the funeral. The funeral was on Saturday, the 21st. So we left on Wednesday night after school and work and drove part way to Flagstaff. The motel we stayed in was a Super 8 and was way better than the previous motels we've stayed at there. We will have to remember that for future reference. Doing that took about four hours off our trip, but we still had a lot of driving to do on Thursday. We found a vacation rental house in the Lehi area, and stayed there with Christy, Rob, Chad and Melanie's families. It ended up being cheaper than a hotel and much more convenient for everyone. We spent the day on Friday with family and at the fun center we visited a few months ago when we were in Utah. The funeral on Saturday was very nice. It made me a little sad to see my grandma. I can only imagine how hard it would be to be separated from someone you've spent the last 70 or so years with. I have such great memories of visiting my grandparents. I will miss my grandpa, but I am happy that he has been able to move on to something far better.
My grandpa was an officer in the Navy during World War II. So he had military honors at his burial. After we were done at the grave side, I overheard someone behind me say that everyone should experience a military burial at least once. I would have to agree. It was very neat experience. You feel a sense of pride in the person who served, and also for your country. We should have prepared the little kids for the guns though. But I'm not sure I realized that the several men with guns about twenty yards away were going to actually fire shots. Not real shots... but the kids didn't know that and they were plenty loud and pointed at us. The kids were pretty scared and very hesitant to uncover their ears afterwards.
Giving the precisely folded flag to my grandma, with Aunt Deonne and Dad at her sides.
On Sunday we woke up and headed out and drove the whole way back home without stopping overnight. It was a long, all day trip that took about 12 hours, not including stops. But the kids were really good and it didn't end up being too bad. It was a quick trip to Utah, but it was worth going.
Here's grandpa's obituary, though I've already mentioned some of the info in it. I wanted it posted here so it ends up printed in my blog book.
My Mom and Dad with all of their children.
My family
My grandpa was an officer in the Navy during World War II. So he had military honors at his burial. After we were done at the grave side, I overheard someone behind me say that everyone should experience a military burial at least once. I would have to agree. It was very neat experience. You feel a sense of pride in the person who served, and also for your country. We should have prepared the little kids for the guns though. But I'm not sure I realized that the several men with guns about twenty yards away were going to actually fire shots. Not real shots... but the kids didn't know that and they were plenty loud and pointed at us. The kids were pretty scared and very hesitant to uncover their ears afterwards.
Giving the precisely folded flag to my grandma, with Aunt Deonne and Dad at her sides.
On Sunday we woke up and headed out and drove the whole way back home without stopping overnight. It was a long, all day trip that took about 12 hours, not including stops. But the kids were really good and it didn't end up being too bad. It was a quick trip to Utah, but it was worth going.
Here's grandpa's obituary, though I've already mentioned some of the info in it. I wanted it posted here so it ends up printed in my blog book.
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