The Bucket List

My sister-in-law sent this to me in an email asking to put an X by all the things you have done and I thought it would be fun to post it on my blog so here goes!

(x)school
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robber
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only-fast food
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus - the kids this year said that we needed to all write Santa letters!
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x) Gone to the movies

1. Any nickname? No (Heather had some unusual ones for me but I am not putting them)
2. Mother's name? Joann
3. Favorite drink? Water (every once in awhile Dr. Pepper)
4. Body Piercing's? Just my ears
5. Tattoos? No
6. How much do you love your job? Motherhood is the best!
7. Birthplace? Bellflower, CA
8. Favorite vacation spot? We are really enjoying exploring Oregon right now
9. Ever been to Africa ? No
10. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? no
11. Ever been on TV? Yes, if a Seminary Video counts
12. Ever steal any traffic signs? no
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4
15. Can you drive manual? I can but I hate them
16. Favorite pie? Pumpkin
17 Favorite number? 6
18. Favorite movie? While You Were Sleeping & Sleeping Beauty (I guess I like movies about sleeping :)
19. Favorite holiday? Halloween & Christmas :)
20. Favorite dessert? Next Best Thing To Robert Redford is what our family calls it that was the name on the recipe in the newpaper others call it Missippi Mudcake Anything you call it, Yummy!
21. Favorite food? Chinese or Mexican
22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? Olay Body w/ body butter ribbons
24. Favorite toothpaste? Colgate with mouth wash strips
25. Favorite smells? Apple & Cinnamon
26. How do you relax? read, scrapbook, watch tv
27. Yourself in ten years? Enjoying my kids, husband, & life!

Please complete this list for yourselfs if you want!

A Call From Will's Teacher!

I got a message yesterday from Will's teacher asking me to call her back, she said it wasn't anything bad just something she had noticed at school and would like our help to reinforce at home. I thought what could it be? I know Will has been struggling with his letters and starting to read so I figured it had something to do with that. So I called her back and I was very surprised to hear it had nothing to do with anything academic, she had seen Will and a little girl in class kissing! So she told both of them a couple times it was not appropriate to do that at school and when they did it again yesterday she felt she needed to involve the parents. So we were called and the little girls parents were called and told, she assured us it was just innocent pecks on the lips. So we were asked to have a talk with him at home, so James and I sat him down to talk and he got very embarrassed and said I didn't want to but she and another girl told me too. So we talked some more about saying No when he doesn't want to do something, it just made us smile at his explanation.
So I called my mom to tell her about it and she laughed and said what is it with our family the little boys sure like to kiss little girls. For those of you who don't know my brother Brad, his son was kissing a little girl at school a while back!
So Will now knows he is too little to be kissing girls!

Getting Back On Track!

I feel like life went crazy for a month or so and I haven't been great at blogging lately. I still have been looking at every ones blogs but didn't feel like I had time to post on mine. So here goes I know I am way behind but I want to post about Christmas so here is our first activity: Letters to Santa!

We went to Macy's to mail letters in their cool red mailbox the kids loved it!

Snowy & Icy Everywhere

It snowed all day yesterday and by last night we had freezing rain, I have never been in freezing rain before and this is how things looked this morning.

This is our street, from far away it looks like it should
after about 6 or so inches of snow.

But if you get closer here is what it looks like after James
stepped in the snow coming home from work. You can see
the layer of ice on top of the snow, and how it cracked from his foot.

This is the tire track from the SUV this morning,
amazing how it cracked everywhere, looks like
broken glass.

The hood of our car covered in snow & ice I have

never seen it like this.

This is our tiny backyard but you can

see we got tons of snow.

James said it took him 20-30 minutes to scrap the windows this morning before he could come home from work. This is the time of year we wish we had a garage big enough that our SUV could fit in, but our garage is so tiny the SUV won't fit in. It sounds like we could have wintery weather thru the week hopefully we can finish last minute things for Christmas! Everyone in Oregon be safe on the ice.

Making Candy!!!

James' dad makes candy every holiday season and we love getting it, I have always wanted to try making some but have never attempted to. Until this year, while at my friend Sarah's house she showed me how she melts chocolate and dips different things. So I asked if I could borrow her fun pampered chef pot so I could try making candy with the kids. She said yes and gave me some melting chocolate also.(Thank You Sarah) So on one of the afternoons this past week that the kids have been home "snowed in" we made simple trail mix clusters. They have been a huge hit around here and I have determined I need one of these pots! We are experimenting with all kinds of things we can dip in chocolate. It has been very fun!


The kids making their own pieces of candy!

Olivia getting just the right amount for a piece of candy.

Will not caring how big the pieces are!

*Also a side note we are going onto a week of snow storms and school was cancelled all week and just got a call church is canceled for the 2nd Sunday in a row tomorrow.*

Snowy Day In Oregon!

When we moved to Oregon we thought we were leaving the snow behind us, but obviously we were wrong! We are enjoying a quiet day at home, we got a call that church was cancelled today. We had heard that when it does snow it is a big deal here and people get very worried about the snow. But the difference with this snow is we are not going to get above freezing all week so the ice under the snow is going to be awful. Part of our ward is up in the hills so church was cancelled so they didn't have to try to get down an icy hill to get to church. We let the kids go out for a little bit and Madalynn loved it, she wanted to be wherever Olivia & Will were. We didn't have snow boots for her so she wore her tennis shoes and they got solid ice on the bottom then snow packed. I have never seen shoes do that, when she came in the house she was slipping all over the floor in the kitchen like she was ice skating.(if you click on the picture for a close up I think you can see her shoes)


Madalynn all bundled up and loving the snow!


All 3 of them playing in the front yard.

Reindeer Dust!

Expecting a visit from Santa?
Here is a recipe I have found.
It is a special reindeer food
You sprinkle on the ground.
The oatmeal is for energy,
The sparkles are for flight,
So sprinkle the reindeer food
On Christmas Eve night!
All of Santa's reindeer
Love this healthy snack,
Next year Santa and his reindeer
Surely will be back!

My mother-in-law sent this cute poem and reindeer food for the kids to sprinkle on the ground on Christmas Eve night. I think it is such a cute idea I had to pass it along!