Christmas Questions

My friend Sharon tagged me... So here you go.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire post and paste into a new post that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......'Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper- I have wrapping paper that matches my decor that I got from Costco last year and I love it.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real Tree- i love the smell. I'm tempted though to buy a pre-lit artificial one. So tempting...maybe later.

3. When do you put up the tree? We usually put it up at the beginning of December. I like to wait after Thanksgiving because I want to celebrate that holiday first.

4. When do you take the tree down? A couple days after Christmas. It's usually pretty dry by then and I'm ready for it to be gone.

5. Do you like eggnog? NO! I think it's disgusting and reminds me of lugies (sp?)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The funniest was a copy machine that I so desperately needed/wanted and then I played with it like 3 times. So bad of me. Remember that Mom?

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, several of them and I need more places to display them all.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Kyle and usually in-laws

9. Easiest person to buy for? Kate

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail them out. I like to get them in the mail. My parents get tons of them and every year I read all of them. Very fun and entertaining.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I really can't think of one.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation!!!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever there is a good sale- so always. :) No, probably before Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut clusters and yummy homemade cinnamon rolls with hot cocoa.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree ? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? O, Holy Night, The First Noel and Where are you Christmas sung by Faith Hill.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Always travel for now

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Almost all of them

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star made out of twigs and red stuff- it again matches my decor and I got it from Target.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? It's a big tradition to open a gift Christmas Eve which were pajamas and games. Then we'd play the games, which I loved since I'm a game person. Then we'd open all the presents Christmas morning after we saw what Santa brought.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The roads- since we travel we get to go over a pass and deal with snow, closed roads and such.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like my red and gold ornaments on my tree.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Stuffed pork roast.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Healthy children (unlike last Christmas)

I tag...Melanie, Heather and Kalei. You're welcome. :)

Transmission Toast

While Kate was cutting her hair and spilling water in her room (refer to previous post), Kyle called to say his car had broken down in a town 25 miles away. He called to say his car wouldn't go in drive. He called around and got it towed to a Honda dealership near us and that cost $200 (our insurance will only cover half of it). Then they did a diagnostic test on it for $100 to tell us the transmission is toast. What?!!! It is only a 2003 Honda Accord with 80,000 miles on it. That shouldn't happen. They quoted us $4,000 for a new transmission, but we called around and found somewhere else for a little bit cheaper. Stressful! Not a good time for this to happen around the holidays. Oh well, it's just money, right?! They have to order the parts and it won't be done until mid-next week. It's been a interesting only having one car. We have had to take Kyle to work one day and today my friends picked me, Kate and Preston up (in two different cars) so we could go to Jump Planet for a preschool field trip. Next week will even be more exciting with more days of juggling the car around for doctor appts, preschool, me working and kyle's work. It will be fine, but always something to keep us on our toes.

Girl on a Rampage

Last night, for family night we had a cookie party in Kate's room. She was so excited for all of us to be in her room and play. She taught us letters and then we played with dolls. Well, for our cookie party I had brought up some water in a water bottle to put in our tea cups. So this morning she wanted more water in her water bottle. She stayed in the kitchen for 2 seconds and then left to go upstairs. I was doing dishes and feeding Preston a snack. A few minutes later I could tell Kate was in the bathroom and could only assume she was doing something with water so I told her to get out of the bathroom. A few minutes later I venture on upstairs to find big water droplets from her bathroom to her bedroom and a HUGE spot in her bedroom that was drenched with water!!! What a mess!!! Kate said she was sorry and went downstairs. After cleaning up that mess I quickly put some makeup on and did my hair along with making the bed. By the time I got back downstairs I noticed clumps of hair on the kitchen floor. Kate had cut her hair!!!!!!! I was so not happy. I had her come show me her hair and then took a picture. I told her that was naughty and only Melanie cuts your hair. Kate said it was terrible that she cut her hair. She was crying, as you can see in the picture. Now she's going to have annoying bangs that will be in her face, great. Good thing she only cut the front part- it could have been worse, I guess. It's not even lunchtime yet so I'm nervous what more she'll think of doing today.

Welcome Race Fans!

The young men put on a pinewood derby for their combined mutual activity. The young women were invited as well as any ward members that wanted to come. Kyle was in charge of doing decorations and the prizes. With limited time (yes, they are men!) Kyle and I brainstormed for decoration ideas. I looked in a few stores to try to find black and white checkered flags, but couldn't find any. As I was driving around I noticed this truck dealership with multiple black and white flags on the trucks' antennas. I decided to go there and as them if I could borrow a few of their flags for our activity. I did and they said yes! I was excited. So notice the black and white flags in the pictures- I was excited to get them. Kyle gets the car and driver magazine so he cut out pictures from that and put them up. The refreshments were the pit stop (nachos, chocolate donettes- to look like tires- chocolate/cream cheese cupcakes, sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies). I think everyone had a good time.

These are cars made out of mini snickers and kissables stuck into them with frosting to hold them in. I found this idea online and loved it.

The decorations. Love the shop towels and quarts of car oil as the centerpiece. There was a white balloon with the red and black, but Kate popped it at home. I wasn't happy about that. Oh well. For the napkins we used shop towels. ha!

Kyle with Preston and the other folks. The prizes were: the overall winner got the "100 grand" purse (candybar), the overall youth winner got starburst candy for being the "star", the winner following the scout rules got trail mix for his next big hike (that was Kyle's idea and I thought it was clever) and the most creative got some Cars chalk and holder to be creative at home. :) All the winners also got a small cup trophy as well.

Cousin Time!

Kyle's mom, Dee Ann, and his sister, Melanie, and her family were able to come this weekend. Kate and Preston were feeling better, phew, except Kate ended up throwing up Saturday night so I hope Melanie's kids don't get sick! We ended up going to the Children's Museum in the morning. All the kids LOVED it and it wore them out, which is always nice. Then Dee Ann, Melanie and I had a fun shopping spree (books, clothes and more books!) while the kids napped and the men watched an exciting football game. Then, we ventured to Old Spaghetti Factory which is usually kid friendly, but after waiting for almost an hour we wanted to scream! It wasn't a pleasant experience so we were all wondering why we chose to go out for dinner. :) After tucking all the kids in various rooms throughout our house Melanie did my hair, Dee Ann did her homework (ha!) and the men watched a movie.

Melanie and I at the musuem in the "glow room". I was scared by how my blonde hair looked and our teeth were horrific looking.

Kathryn and Kate "acting" in the theater. You all missed the performance, maybe next time. It was sold out. :)

The kids driving a metro bus- scary!

Preston backing up the good ol' tractor (it's not green, I know!)

Kate doing a funny cross-eyed face

Preston was about to fall asleep during lunch after the museum. It was cute how he rested his head on his tray, but kept eating his lunch.

I thought Kate liked pickles, but I saw Melanie drinking this tinted water and found out it was pickle juice!!! I have never seen anyone DRINK pickle juice so I had to take a picture. Ewwww! Melanie was surprised I had never seen anyone drink it before and so we had a good laugh about it.

Sickly

The kids and I stayed home today. I cleaned bathrooms, which is my least favorite housecleaning job ever. Preston and Kate are sick with colds, well we all have colds, but of course Preston has it the worst. He coughs and throws up his food so yesterday he hardly kept anything down. This morning he woke up SO thirsty it was sad to see him gulping the milk down and then shaking and crying when I tried taking it away. He ate saltines and applesauce for breakfast and then took a long nap (he didn't sleep good at all the night before). But during lunch he threw everything up again. Lovely. He finally kept a snack down this afternoon and his little dinner he ate. I don't know if it's a stomach bug or just that he coughs and it's so "natural" for him to throw up. He's lost weight and he doesn't have much to spare! We have Kyle's mom, sister and her family coming into town this weekend (quick and sudden plans- we're excited) so I hope that we are all better so they can come. The last time Kyle's mom saw Preston he was sick and was not himself so I really hope he gets better so she can see what he's really like.

P.S. Don't forget to vote!

Happy Halloween!

On Halloween night, we went with our friends, Mat and Darbi and their kids, to an outdoor shopping area to go trick-or-treating. It was fun and Kate loved finding other Dorothy's like her (she became instant friends with them). She also liked seeing all the other people dressed up and when she would go up to get candy she would ask them what they were and then proceed to tell them "I'm a Dorothy doll" and then tell them what each of her friends were too. It was funny. I had to keep pushing her along to keep her going. She also wasn't shy about going up and getting candy from them. It was fun to see her having fun. We came home and then had some trick-or-treaters come to our house. Kate liked answering the door and seeing what the costumes were. The night was rough though... Kate and Preston both threw up in the night. Kate came to us at 3:30 am saying she had thrown up, but I couldn't understand what she was saying and finally she said " I. THREW. UP!" Then I understood. :) I'm not sure if it was too much candy or what. Today, they seem fine.

It was ironic because both times I had to get Kate dressed as Dorothy (last week for our ward halloween party and then last night) she loved getting into her costume and wig. However, Preston cried the entire time and would gag and throw up while getting him ready. It was crazy that he acted the same way both times. The minute I started getting Kate ready he would start to cry. What's with that?!