Caleb cracks me up! He is sooo funny! Right now he wants to microwave everything! not only that he says he wants to do it to the melting point of the cheese! So he asks how many seconds for the melting point of cheese? I tell him about 10 and then he looks at it and it is not melted enough so I tell him to put it back in and he says how long ONLY to the melting point of the cheese mom? Where does he get this stuff?????????

Christmas Going-ons!!

Starship Catan one of Erics gifts!

Caleb making cookies using one of his gifts! A chefs set!

Elizabeth doing VERY well at opening her presents, for her first christmas!

Sorry for the long time between posts. Especially over the CHRISTMAS season. We had a wonderful Christmas and Christmas eve.

I avoided all the stores like the plague the week before Christmas. I DID NOT want to get caught in all the last minute shopping lines and stuff. I had all of my gifts so I did not need to go anywhere. And we had all the dinner food already purchased.

I did not work on my untalent until the day before and the morning of Christmas eve! How bad I am!! What is an untalent show you ask? My husband kept asking the same thing when he heard about it. Well it is a talent show of sorts that you do not have to be talented in anything to participate in. Everybody hears talent show and they all say well I am not talented in anything! Well for this you do not have to be talented! Now we have had our talented ones for sure! But the ones that mess up are cheered for more then the ones that are flawless!

Some good ones over the years... flossing your nose (missionary), playing the french horn and the trumpet at the same time different parts to the star wars song (Missionary, AWESOME!), the circus roll with two people (John and me), Rachel took a song from her music book flipped it upside down crossed her hands and played it while laying down so she couldn't see the keys flawlessly! Dad remembered he could play the guitar after forgetting for like 30 years! Dad telling the story of Sam Mcgee is always good. We made up our own version of the 12 days of Christmas with broken light bulbs 7 bags of garbage which was sooo true back then! Mel and Eric did their version of the airport tram voice, and then the things you had to do at the airport.

Anyway I can go on and on, but one more was added this year, Becky and her husband Ariel were the Grin chs band playing guitar hero with beckys one hand playing one half of the drums and the other hand strumming the guitar, while ariel fingered the guitar and played the other half of the drums! It was soooo hard and they weren't able to finish the song it was soo hard but they got 68% and true to form they were cheered all the harder for failing to finish. It was soo funny to see them play!

Mel sang the 12 days AFTER Christmas FUNNY! Eric played his missionary badge like a kazoo! Caleb did the Chinese finger traps which Becky promptly played up to her blond roots and got her fingers stuck! Dad told his politically correct speech about the Christmas season. Hilarious! I taught how to make a poinsettia flower out of ribbon, and a present bow that will come off with one pull from one hand and fall to the floor like it always does in the movies. COOL!

The best part of the whole show was Rach and Simon participating through skype all the way from Denmark!! COOL Simon did his one push up (first year for participation) which wasn't too bad because he is 6' 5" and they have a teeny tiny apartment. The fact that he was able to lay down in there was a feat of sorts! Rach played twinkle twinkle little star on the violin (Impressive and scratchy, more cheers!)

Then we all went through this Christ story that had been planned for a choir in sacrament. It went through like 8 songs and a story or narration between each one it was sooo fun to sing parts with my family again! Even though we didn't have tunes to follow we just sang our parts as best we could, We did well on most of them. Only one or two had places that needed work, and one I did not know at all so I stuck with the melody. That was the best ending to the untalent show! We all felt the spirit.

As far as food goes we all snacked all night. Mom did a pumpkin roll instead of pumpkin pie this time. I was soooo glad it was to DIE for!! It was all gone in one night except for one little piece which I stole later. It was soo good! I HAVE to learn to make it!

Christmas morning I am not crazy and let Caleb sleep in as long as he wanted. He is not old enough to wake himself up early in the morning yet. So we got up at 9 30 and then opened presents! Caleb got sooo many presents it is not funny! He got one from Santa, one from us, and then one from Janie and one from Grandma and Grandpa, One from Mel, one from Beck and Ariel. And to top it all off he got 7-8 from Grandma and Opa! Caleb made out exceptionally well this Christmas. And then We all lounged and played with toys, well Eric and I put them together for HOURS and then Caleb played with them! We had a Christmas walk to gather samples for Caleb to see on his big screen microscope. Jeanne cooked a good dinner, and then we all lounged and snacked some More!

The day after Christmas was just as fun. Mom called out to Tyler and managed to get a room! So we drove out there and had a great time! We played Catan and had good left overs and went to the water park out there for free. Mom got some free tickets and we used our previous free tickets. Lizzie went in the water for the first time! She did not like the shallower colder water, but she did not mind the warmer lazy river. Cute in her little pink bathing suit I found on sale for a couple bucks! When we went out to Tyler we were in the middle of a heat wave! It was sooo unfair!! Well we started at the water park in the morning and then it started to rain. No big deal right? WRONG!! The rain brought on the cold front! It went from hot to cold! We had to run for home we were not dressed for the cold weather! None of us had brought cold weather clothes to Tyler! Caleb had to wear an extra shirt of mine for a coat! That night Tyler had a live band that was fun. We played some pool, mini golf in the cold, and got lots of new years stuff they were handing out. Plus some free nachos which are always good, and some root beer floats! YUMMY YUMMY!!!

We had to leave after that so we could get home at a decent time. I still had to plan my lesson. And Caleb had to get enough sleep. All in All it was sooo fun and a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Okay some pictures. Dad has the Christmas eve pictures. And we did not get Tyler pictures this time. But I do have Christmas photos and a photo from tonight.

Round of Sickness!

So we have had the round of sickness again! We are all pretty sick with runny stuffy noses and coughing, and just feeling bad. Lizzie has chest congestion, Caleb and Eric have thrown up a few times. I had to drive Eric home from work today he felt so ill.
I have most of the gifts made and wrapped. Just a few more finishing touches on a couple of them. Can't wait. Have lots of plans. Hope all goes well.
I still need to learn to tie a bow for the untalent show (Family tradition). I just can't wait. Can't wait to feel better, can't wait to eat good food, can't wait to see smiles on faces for the gifts I have given, can't wait to be with family, can't wait to play games, can't wait to participate in traditions. JUST CAN'T WAIT!

Christmas Lights!!

We went and saw the Christmas lights show last night. It is this huge neighborhood and they all put up a bunch of lights. Mel, Beck, Ariel, Caleb, Eric, Lizzie, and I all went in the van. We made some hot chocolate to drink on the way. We had a little problem getting in. There was along line of cars that looked like they were turning and so we got in the other lane to pass them all and then the line kept on going past the light, so when we got closer to the neighborhood where it starts we realized we had cut in front of a WHOLE bunch of people. We had no choice but to get over as soon as possible but we still passed a bunch of people. Oh Well! I'm not complaining too much. LOL So then when we got to the neighborhood we popped the trunk and Caleb and I sat in the back and looked at all the lights. It was fun. Then Caleb went and sat in the front and Mel joined me in the back. We drove around some more. At one point there was a blow up that was tipped over and we wanted to see what it was. We were going slow so Mel jumped out and went and pulled it down and fixed it! Then she jumped back in. That was her good deed of the day! lol
All in all we had a great time!
Sunday was fine at church. Lizzie did her typical exploding and I had to take her tights off. And when we got home we went about our day until Eric asked where his shoes were, I asked what for and he said because the house down the street is on fire. I was like WHAT! sure enough the house was on FIRE! Eric ran over there and got the neighbors hose and started spraying the side of the house not on fire and the house on fire! It is a good thing he did so the fire did not spread to another house. There was a MAN on the roof of the house. Crazy Man! Everybody told him to get off the roof several times! He finally did. The fire department came and it took them 20 mins. Then they spent ten minutes setting everything up before they actually turned on the water. I don't know how it runs and all the prep work required but that seems like a long time! They got it out eventually but that delayed the rest of our day. Our Home teachers could not come down the street the police stopped them. So that delayed me from going on my visiting teaching. And I got home late and delayed Eric getting to his scout meeting!
Today I get to pay more bills and some tithing. Finally! I hate waiting for paychecks to come in! We have a plan and it will take a while but we will see through and be clear eventually!

Extra Post

I just looked at my blog and one of my newer posts got bumped to the next page. Be sure to check it out!

Garland

http://j-a-girl.blogspot.com/2008/12/and-herewego.html

There it is. The most GORGEOUS garland I have ever seen! I want one! check it out!

Finally Pictures!

Lizzie 2 days ago! With the outfit I got at JCPenneys for 1.97! I just had to bring that up AGAIN!

Mike and Linda when we went to Lunch.

Look how thin I look!!!!!!!!! I havent looked this thin since HIGH SCHOOL!

All of us sisters at the Temple!

Eric and Lizzie a month ago or so.

Caleb loves to dance! Check out my Cool Moves he says! He is such a character!

Rachel and Simon when Mom flew him out here to surprise her!

Caleb Opening presents for his birthday at Tyler timeshare

This is Caleb and the cake I made for his birthday. He wanted a pirate party. We didn't get to have a party with friends but we were at Tyler so he had a Great time anyway! Now it looks a little bad but I am Extremely proud of this cake! I cooked it at a Timeshare and not in my own kitchen and it came out this well! I had a SMALL oven a 13x9 pan would have a hard time fitting. I had to bring my own pans, and then use their crummy knives to cut it. I had to cook in their outrageously small and definitely Unevenly heating oven. With the ingredients I brought which were not quite enough of a few items. I had to improvise. That turned out the cakes worse then normal! and then I found a bag that I could use to pipe the frosting out and so an uneven bag mixed in with my bad skills at piping (I never pretended to be good at frosting) made it look like this. But it was harder putting it on when it was already standing up.

Anyway this cake was just supposed to be the part with white frosting on it, but I wanted to make a 3-d pirate hat so I kind of copied the front and made up the rest of it! THAT is why I am EXTREMELY proud of this cake! And Caleb loved it anyway! Note this is a good cake for LOTS of kids. If you don't have a lot stick with the front section or you could end up with 10 lb on your hips instead! or cake in the trash.

Finally Pictures!

Okay so I got a little distracted between my last post and my photo post I was supposed to be doing. But I did it! These are Elizabeth befoer Halloween, and then all of us for Halloween.

Love it/ Hate it!!

I have been in a love hate relationship. My mother had a dear friend go with her to Denmark to help with Rachel, do the hair and the bridal bouquet and the cake and the centerpieces and the chair backs and the table clothes and all that stuff. She is sooo good at that kind of stuff, she has done it all before. She did my whole reception and made my cake, she helped with Becky's and made Becky's cake, and she traveled to Denmark to do Rachel's and I'm sure she will be around to do Melanie's too! Anyway Mom wanted to do something nice for her friend after it was all said and done. So she decided to do a scrapbook.

Okay you have to understand my Mother, she does not DO crafty! She hates to do anything crafty unless it involves a power tool like a band saw. She can do those ones just not the ribbons, the scrapbooks, the flowers, the painting and all that. So she asked for my help. Not only does she not do the crafty stuff she hates to shop so when we went to go shopping at Micheals she almost had a heart attack. She got sooo stressed at doing this book. I had to reevaluate my approach to this book. Peel and stick were all we could go with. She found a premade book and I made her get some friend stickers and some wedding embellishments. I MADE HER get them! I promise you will use them and it Will be easy I said! It is a good thing she trusted me! She got them and she used them a lot! So yesterday after shopping she pulled them out and was going through the pictures and trying to put them in place and it was becoming messy and she slammed the book shut and said she had reached her breaking point after only 5 minutes. I did not give up on her! She came over today and we took just the pictures and separated them to the pages that we wanted and stuck them directly in the protector so we did not ave to rethink it all over again. That was not so hard for her. Then we started at the front. She would have been soooo stressed out if I had not had the glue the scissors and the creative thinking (she only needed on the first page or so and then she got going) right at my fingertips. I did give her some extra creative suggestions and she took the ones she could do and let me know which ones were over her head. She got going and she did real good.

We had to stop for lunch when this oil company guy came over to talk to Jeanne and George. We went to Charlies hamburger grill. It was pretty good. They had the hugest portion of chili cheese fries I have ever seen. They came out in their own mixing bowl it was so huge! And they were good! Then when we came back she went to work again. she got it all done that she could, there was a page that needed some photos that didn't print when she ordered them. So she will finish those after she has printed them out.
She did it! She did the thing she HATED, and I helped her do the thing I LOVE!

Other news: I Have PICTURES! The ones from my camera anyway. The ones on my cell phone cannot be downloaded yet. The phone is not syncing to the computer. I know I know lots and lots of excuses. I can't help it!
We are going to Tyler this weekend. We have some water park tickets we need to use before they expire.
Caleb is starting to have more trouble in school. His regular teacher is out on maternity leave and the substitute and the assistant teacher do not handle him the same. Either that or his cute behavior no longer balances out his more annoying behavior.
Lizzie is Good. Still growing, still head butting me.
Eric is good and still in training. He has some tests he is taking soon. He will pass of course but he is sure that some of the people will not and they will be let go then.
I am good. Still losing weight even though it is slowing down. I am keeping up on the house. Mostly because of the oil company guy coming over today! And Christmas decorations are coming along. I found this site that has the most gorgeous garland on it. And she made it out of all these items that were on sale! I will have to find it again I found it on the other computer that will not turn on reliably. When I find it again I will tell you.

Christmas Spirit

I have been in the Christmas spirit for a while now. I actually have almost all of my gifts bought and wrapped and given to the recipients. I had to with Rach in Denmark my window for giving her a gift through mom who was going there for Rach wedding was the 3rd. An then I did an advent calender in a nice box thing with drawers for each day before the 1st for my Mother in Law. I then had Calebs. I thought it would be a good idea and fun for Caleb to give it to him early. But he keeps getting frustrated he cant open his gift yet. I should have waited. I am working on my sisters gift. Yes I have to make it. I like to make things and I saw the perfect gift for her but it was WAY too expensive for the concept. I can make it much cheaper. I think anyway! You know how these projects turn out!
So Rachel is married and living in Denmark. Eric is working and still going through training at his new job. We are still trying to make ends meet. We are almost out of the woods, I can't wait! But the Christmas season is a little more expensive then all the rest so it delayed our financial plans for a few paychecks.
We finally found the Christmas tree. It has been shuffled here and there with all the moving and cleaning. it had been MIA for a while. We even made a trip all the way to corsicana to look in the storage sheds of my In-laws to see if it was there. But we ended up finding it in our spa room.
We have been decorating the house with all of Jeannes decorations and it looks cute. And now that we have the tree we can finally put it up. The only thing we haven't done is put up the outside lights. we have started and have been planning on finishing it for a week. It just has not been done yet! OOPS! We will get it done soon though.
We went to a Nativity special event that Arlington Stake is holding. They took hundreds of different nativity sets and set them up all over the different rooms and then people come in and look at them all. They have a choir and some movies and different things. It was fun. They had a scavenger hunt for the little kids to find a certain set in each room to keep them entertained. And then they had a live set where you could dress up and get your picture taken as the different people. Cale was Joseph, I was Mary, Eric was a wise man, Jeanne was an angel, and Little Lizzie was Jesus! pretend of course. It was a good picture! They print one out for you and everything. I liked it it was fun.
I had a fun time a while back decorating for Christmas with Melanie. And playing games with my family. I read the one trip report my mother sent from Denmark. I hope she sends more. I am anxious to see more pictures of Rachs wedding. I cant believe she is married and mel is the only one left at home!