Snow Day!!

We woke up to about 3 inches of the white stuff!! While Brooke went down for a nap, I let the older girls go outside and play in it. *I heard we were to have some rain later-so knew this might be their only chance.* Afterwards they came in all wet and enjoyed some hot chocolate followed by a nice warm bath. Loving today!

Christmas

Making the Cookies for Santa

I thought I'd put a picture of me in here-for once.

All Santa's Loot

All smiles-she knew I had the camera ofcourse and hammed it up as usual!If she could jump for Joy-she does!

My favorite gift to give out this year was Whitneys-she has been pleading with me all year to sign her up for basketball. We haven't been able to fit extras like this in the budget for quite some time but through a little christmas miracle-we were able to sign her up for winter basketball. So we bought her a basketball and some shorts that she we found on clearance and wrapped them up with the registration form on it.

She was so excited when she found out-can't you tell??

Gingerbread Girls and Boys

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to make cookies. Since Sunday we have been making Gingerbread boys and girls. This was my first time making these fun cookies and since I didn't have a cookie cutter I used a stencil and hand cut them all. I think they turned out pretty cute! Luckily for our tummies, none of them have run away yet. Tomorrow night we will be doing the traditional sugar cookies for Santa!

Wow I just noticed that this is my 300th post...crazy.

Today I feel so blessed

From my blogworld I have learned recently of a tragedy that has happened to someone I don't even know. But learning of it has made me even more deeply appreciate how much I have in my life. This friend of a blogger friend lost her husband and two children to a house fire-she was able to get out with her step daughter but the rest of her family did not survive. I can only imagine the heartbreak if that was to happen to me and have been teary eyed all morning thinking about this dear woman and the challenges that face her. You can read more about the story Here.

I feel everything happens for a reason and sometimes we are blessed to know the reasons and sometimes we don't ever know. I have seen many small miracles in my life and as I sat this morning holding my youngest (she isn't feeling well today) and rocking her I couldn't help but feel that being a mother is one of the greatest miracles I experience everyday. Too bad it takes sweet moments like when our children fall asleep on our laps or the laughter we hear from them and sadly, the loss of someone to help us remember that.

Everyone has new years resolutions-lose weight, do more acts of service, save up money for a vacation, etc. But my goal -and hopefully it is something that will stay as a habit with me, is to always remember the blessings that are mine and to do as Elder Bednar encouraged us in the last Oct conference ;"Express love and show it."

I never want to question whether my children and husband know how much I love them and how proud I am of them. They are so special to me and I hope that I will be able to show them that more than I do now-and also to find many ways to express it as well.

Say Cheese!

Can you tell this girl loves the Camera?? What a Ham!

Stretch Marks and Stuff

I am really excited about the changes to report so far-no more excessive saliva, sensitivity to smells have decreased (not totally gone-but way better than before), and my stomach isn't churning at all times of the day anymore. Almost 6 months along and I feel that I have made it over the hill and am on my way down. I am one that gains all baby weight up front in my stomach-not anywhere else. Most women have the lower tailbone pain that feels like your hips are being split in two. With each of my previous pregnancies I have ribs that slipped out of place in my middle back as well. Mostly due to hormones making everything more flexible to make room for baby-added to the months of being sick and laying in bed-no exercise, they just slide out and it's really painful -as my stomach is getting larger, there isn't much I can do to put them back in place. I do physical therapy exercises to help me lesson that.

Rigtht now-I have one out of place and it's affecting my right hip-which i think is out of place as well. I am going to try to get into a chiropracter to get adjusted as best as I can before it gets worse. My hip went out with Brooke and I remember after she was born it was still out (probably because she got stuck and the dr. literally twisted and yanked to get her shoulders out) Say OUCH. I remember at times I would put weight on my right leg-it would give out on me -which scared me knowing I was carrying an infant most the time. I always made sure I had something to lean on for support. It was horrible. I really don't want to deal with that again.

My dr will induce me early with this one-no matter how much I don't want to. My kids have jumped 1 1/2 pounds with each one and that would make this baby roughly 11 1/2 lbs-no thanks, I'll pass. For those of you who wonder if it's because I gain alot during my pregnancies, this is what I have gained with each of my pregnancies and how big each of the babies were:
Whitney gained 17 lbs she weighed 6 lb 14 oz (lost 20 to begin with gained that back +the 17)
Amber gained 17 lbs she weighed 8 lbs 1 oz (lost 10 " ")
Brooke gained 26 lbs she weighed 9lbs 9 oz. (lost 8 to begin with, gained it back + the 26)
Baby 4 so far 15 lbs gained (none lost-i'm scared already)

My sisters used to say that I was lucky to get morning sickness because I didn't ever gain much and didn't get any stretchmarks like them. Well I can now brag that I have my very first stretchmark ever on my stomach-right above my belly button. Not something any pregnant woman would boast of-but for me I feel with my last pregnancy it's nice to say that I have had at least one- I am sure I will get more, since I have 3 more months of stomach stretching that will occur-so sisters beware-you might get sick with your next babies...ha ha. Just kidding. I would never wish this on anyone.

My Opinion SYTYCD

The routines from my favorite to least favorite:
1. Jakob and Kathryn's contemporary piece-loved this -My favorite for the season-I couldn't wait until these two got to dance together and I was totally left satisfied and in awe afterward. These two should get married and have kids-don't you think??? ha ha.
2. Ashleigh and Ryan's contemp.-I was so moved by them dancing as a married couple and I don't agreee with Nigel at all about Ashleigh having more chemistry with her former partner than her own husband-this was just so special to watch-I was close to tears.
3. Ryan and Kathryn's Samba-brave for Ryan to go shoeless with Kathryn in those heels-this is one my favorite sambas on this show ever -that ending was crazy awesome!
3. Ashleigh and Russels' lyrical jazz-so many beautiful parts in the choreography-loved the story.

4. Jakob and Ashleighs Foxtrot-so fun and lively-loved seeing these guys back together.
5. Jakob and Ellenore's broadway-both fantastic in this-both so technically on.
6. Russel and Kathryn's krump/hip hop routine-it was okay-I am not a big krump fan..sorry.
6. Ellinore and Ryans wierd jazz routine-i thought both did a great job and I liked it-felt it showed ryan's growth alot.
6. Ellenore and Russels Paso doble-Finally ellenore came alive to me as an audienc in this.

If Jakob doesn't win-Kathryn should. I would be disappointed in Elinore or Russell won and just a bit shocked if Ashleigh or Ryan did..

Oranges

Because I don't really get to eat too many acidic things when I'm sick to my stomach during pregnancy-it is really awesome when I am able to eat an orange or drink orange juice. Even when I can't eat them-just smelling a fresh orange brings joy. And lately-since I have been able to eat an orange here and there, it has me thinking "tis the season"!!! Yeah-I've been eating at least 2 a day since I am feeling much better.

What is it about oranges that makes me think of Christmas??

1. The Christmas Oranges Story

2. The fun decorations

3. Orange Slice Candy

4. Traditional orange at the bottom of my stocking

5. Orange Rolls Baking

6. Hot Wassail

Whenever I smell an orange-it's got me thinking Christmas.

Laundry Soap on the Cheap

Arm and Hammar 2x concentrated Laundry soap is on sale at Walgreens for $2.49 they have three kinds 26-32 loads (w/bleach, original, sensitive skin). This is the brand I usually use and it's around $4.50 usually at Walmart so this is a really good deal-I am stocking up!! There is a coupon at ArmandHammer.com save $1 on 2..you can print two of these-just click your browser back button. SO you can get these for $2 each.

Recent Family Activities

So we have had a few busy weeks. Amber had a Thanksgiving Feast for Kindergarten before the Break and Whitney had her Thanksgiving Program.

For Thanksgiving we headed out of town to visit Joe's brother and his family. It was nice to visit-we hadn't seen them for a while and the cousins were so excited to see eachother! Well for the most part anyway-Brooke like to say "no" alot and scared her cousin of the same age quite frequently with the use of it. Oh well. It was a nice break for all of us. The girls loved playing with this baby and it's bathtub-especially Brooke.

Next it was Brooke's 2 year Birthday-this last Monday-we just did something small as a family-cake and presents. It was so funny watching her try to blow out the candles-she was kind of scared and when we put the candles closer to her she would shut her eyes and blow. We finally had to help her extinguish them.Two Ponies she got from Dad.A baby doll and bottle that makes Miss Brooke feel like Mommy.

And we got our Christmas tree this week and have been decorating it the last two days. I will post pictures when it's all done.

SYTYCD

As usual here is my take on the routines of last night-I've listed them in order of favorite to least favorite:
1. Ryan and Kathryns' cha cha (executed perfectly)
2. Molee and Jakobs Broadway (loved this for so many reasons)
3. Molee and Jakob's V. Waltz (Just wonderful to watch-so fluid through-out)
4. Ryan and kathryn's Disco ( Very fun and would have liked Ryan in a lighter-colored shirt)
5. Russel's Baliwood routine (He is doing so great with every style given him!!)
6. Ellenore and Legacy's contemporary (I think I didn't like the musicality in the beginning)
7. Russel's Hip Hop (I would have really enjoyed seeing Ashleigh in this routine but liked it)
8. Ellenore and Legacy's hip hop (There were some good moments in here that I thought were cool-but Ellenore for some reason-just kind of felt to me that she was trying to keep up with Legacy and was getting left behind)

Based on Last nights' performances I think Legacy is the guy to go home and a toss up between Ellenore and Ashleigh-only because I think her injury may limit her in the finale.

You would expect this from a four year old.....

I am really one that loves surprises-mostly because the good ones come around fairly rarely. Today I got one of the other surprises that sometimes takes place when you have daughters. It has finally happened to me, at least worse than it has before. Whitney cut the front portion of her bangs close to her head on the left side. At least when amber cut hers it was chin length and I could salvage it well. My first reaction was-"why?" I mean she's 7 1/2 years old-you would think she would know better right? Well Whitney has hair that tangles massively. And she was brushing her hair last night and couldn't get a tangle out so she decided to cut it out. Brilliant -attack the problem head on (nice choice of words huh?) and go with the easy fix. Unfortunately I had to explain to her that because she cut it so short, it's going to be a long time before it grows out and now she won't be able to do her own hair anymore. And if she ever cuts her hair again-i threatened to cut it short like a boys. OH the consequences. So with some hair gel and using the comb over technique-i had her sporting a side part style to school, that hopefully will hide her spikeys enough that will eliminate any teasing. Kids can be cruel and I only hope that her hair grows faster than I think it will.

All about Dance!!

So here is what I thought about the routines:

Nathan and Kathryn I liked their broadway routine-so sweet and who doesn't love White Christmas. IT was really sweet but I think Kathryn outperformed Nathan and maybe that is why Nigel didn't see the chemistry between the two. Their Rumba was okay-I think Kathryn again did a wonderful job but Nathan just is fading out. He wasn't very strong in this.

Legacy and Ashleigh Their contemporary was so good. I loved the mirroring sequence and also when legacy jumped off of Ashleighs leg-the the energy was there through the entire strenuous routine. I was really afraid of this pairing when I found out they were together and my feelings were justified in their second routine. The hip hop was so boring...arhh. No substance whatsoever.

Russel and Mollee Their first routine,by Mandi Moore was wonderful. The beginning lift was amazing as well as the link of arm throw that Nigel mentioned-it was so awesome. Loved It tremendously!!! And their last routine- the Jive was so fun to watch...love these two together.

Jakob and Ellinore Their quickstep was fun-i liked the part they came apart and kept their frame. All in all-it looked effortless.
Their contemporary peice had Sonja written all over it. It was so weird and funky and showcased both dancers' technique. I was intrigued enough by it because of how odd it was the movement-Jakobs flexibility and strength is amazing. He deifinitely is the best dancer on this show hands down. Ellinore showcases her partner really well and I am always drawn away from her because of it. I want her to stand out just a bit more. This is one power team.

Ryan and Noelle hip hop-didn't necessarily love this one. I think it was because the desk hid Ryan alot and maybe his inability to do more. Would have liked to see more side by side work with them. Noelle was just workin it and Ryan played the character well.
I really loved their Waltz-so captivating and soft and romantic. The only thing I would have changed was to pulle Noelle's hair back in some fashion.

Who I think will go based on the performances: Nathan or Legacy for the men and Noelle or Ashleigh -though I really hate to see any of the girls go-they are really all very close.

Who I would like to see go first: Nathan and Mollee