Twas the night before Christmas...

And these kids were excited!

They looked over the presents with care

being sure to decorate the ones that were bare.

When all of the sudden, an elf came to see!

The kids were excited and to find where he might be.

They ran out the door hoping to find that elf,

but instead found three presents stacked high on the shelf.

With wonder and excitement oh what could it be, the paper they ripped revealing special Christmas jammies for three.

Happily they sat by the Christmas tree

for Mama to take their picture in their new Christmas jammies.

Then stories about Jesus were read by their Dad

and reverently they listen about where Jesus laid his head.

The stockings were hung and the cookies were left,

then sweet little children danced off to their beds.

Soon all was quiet in our cozy little house,

the children were dreaming of Star Wars and cars,

make-up and jewelery and a new sparkly blouse.

That Santa we love slid down the chimney real quick,

and left presents for all, that good St. Nick.

"Merry Christmas" he laughed as went back to his sleigh,

and before we knew it, it was soon Christmas day.

The children were happy as they found their new loot,

and that Sammy we love was too darn cute.

Star Wars and treats found by our oldest boy,

cars and books for our baby boy.

Make-up and jewelry made this princess happy

and Santa even gave us our own Guitar Hero!

Then off to Grandma's we went through the snow,

for more Christmas presents and warm breakfast too.

More family we visited, we think they are nice,

then home to play Guitar Hero more than twice.

A Merry Christmas it was with our little friends,

but before we knew it, the day came to an end.

One by one we went off to bed,

with smiles and kisses on each little head.

Then Mama and Daddy crawled into their bed,

"A very Merry Christmas it was!" we each had said.

And a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Snowmen At Night

We made our cute snowmen neighbor gifts today. Why not earlier? Procrastination? Possibly. I have had the items needed to do these for a few weeks now. But even then, I really think it's because every year, we delivered our neighbor gifts for my Mom a day or two before Christmas. So I have to say it's tradition!

These snowmen are simple to make and look so cute. So, if you haven't done any neighbor gifts this year and you are feeling guilty for not getting them done, here's a simple idea that is sure to please.

Snowman ready to march out at night.

The note says:

"Use me for a decoration

'til the time is just right

then pull off my hat and

I'm a cold drink of Sprite!"

How to Make a Soda Snowman:

• 2 liter Sprite
• Package of size medium boys, white socks
• Festive material (one yard did 12 snowmen)
• Googly eyes
• Orange foam for noses
• Your brightest blush

Simply slip the sock over the soda to make the body. Cut a strip of festive material roughly 9 x15" and glue short ends together and slip over top of bottle to make the hat. Tie a ribbon around the top of the bottle attaching your note then cut slits at the top of the material to make fringe. Tear a 1"-2" piece and tie around the snowman's neck. Next, simply glue on the googly eyes and carrot nose and give your snowman a quick dusting of blush and it's good to go!

And if you are feeling extra festive, the book "Snowmen at Night" is one of my kids favorite books and would make a cute addition to this simple gift.

Happy Holidays!

Monkeys' Party

This little monkey had a monkey party. See, monkey cupcakes? That's it for the monkey theme. I am elaborate! And this little monkey was silly happy at his party. He was so excited over having Grandma, Gramps, Auntie Dee! Dee! and li'l ol Matt over at his house, he did what any good host would do. He entertained. He'd yell "DANCE!" and then spin himself silly falling over in laughter then get right back up and do it again. It took some convincing to get him over to open his presents but Ry won him over. After opening his first present (a cute wooden ring toss clown - Thanks Teryn!), he ran and threw away all the paper. Several trips in fact until he decided it was more fun to throw it over his shoulder. This present opening was serious business. First, he had to get all that paper off and then he had to hold it over his head to show everyone.

And he happily played with every present after opening them. I bet it took the better part of an hour for him to get them all opened. Mia just about couldn't contain herself.

He wasn't so sure of the candles on the cupcakes so he ran to Dad for comfort and help. That didn't stop him from doing it several times and then eating several tops of several cupcakes. He's been so happy and has played all day with his new toys. He's a lucky boy!

Then this little one turned two.

Today, two years ago, little Sam joined our family. Actually, he wasn't little. 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long. Every nurse that came into check on us always exclaimed "Well, he's a BIG one isn't he!".

Ryan was so very proud of us. He loved Sammy's crazy toes! He took pictures of them in the nursery and kept tickling them and laughing to himself.

And Papa and Grandma bought Sam a stuffed dog because he had the furrowed brow just like Sam's. And they laughed and laughed feeling quite pleased with their cleverness.

And the kids were excited to meet him too.

And after two years, he is still loved, he is still fat, Ryan is still proud of him, Papa and Grandma still laugh over him and the kids still get excited over him.

Happy Birthday my Samalicious!

Watch me grow and grow and grow! I've got style!

Two years ago....

I looked like this:

Li'l Nutcracker

Today, the parents were invited the last 15 minutes of dance class to watch their performance of the Nutcracker. Needless to say, I loved it! What's not to love about watching a room full of five-year old girls feeling pretty as they danced? Mia's face was just priceless. She loved every minute of it and I couldn't stop feeling so proud of her.

Mia's dance teacher is amazing with the girls. All of her girls love and respect her. They listen to what she says and follow her along sweetly. I am thankful that she is such a loving and positive teacher. She let's the girls be little girls encouraging them to do their best.

I was so, so sad when my batteries died. I had only gotten a minute of the dance. (Thank goodness for friends! My friend took pictures of Mia for me. I can't wait to get them!)

The dance starts out with the girls going to the party in their coats. When they get to the party, the coats switch to party dresses for the dancing. Next, they were the mice running around like mice do and they fought the Mouse King with sticks and won of course. The girls giggled while the faught. So cute!! They dashed off stage and each got a tiara and a sparkly wand and finished off being the sweetest Sugar Plum Fairies I have ever seen! I loved every minute of it! I am so sad that I didn't have it all on video.

So, without further ado, "How Did I Get Here?" presents Mia's performance in the Nutcracker.

Snow!!

Finally! Snow! Sammy was determined to go outside and enjoy it. He brought me his vest, smushed on his hat, handed me his gloves and put on my shoes and ran out the door. As you can see, we didn't follow him. We all stayed happily taking pictures from inside as he threw snow and trudged around making tracks. Happy and rosy cheeked until a trooper came to attack.

Flautisimo

This year, the flute choir that I play in, Flautisimo, Christmas schedule was nice and light. I am very thankful for that! Last year it was so crazy!

Our first performance was at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It's such a pretty place to be and fun to play at. We played from the balcony to the visitors below as they came and went.

Do you see me?? Second from the right, bottom row.

The building was decorated beautifully. The tree was amazing! Thanks to Nicole for having the foresight to take a few pictures of the performance. It's nice to have.

That night, we played at the local Nativity celebration. It was quick and easy and I was fortunate to have my mother-in-law Sharon and Aunt Megan (Dee! Dee!) come and help with my kids. It's always helpful to not have to pay for a babysitter. I snuck little peaks at my kids while we were playing. It's hard not to laugh! It's not something that they really, um, enjoy. Thank goodness for Gram, Dee! Dee! and snacks!

Afterwards, we enjoyed the displays and craft projects they had to offer. Then it was time for the lighting parade. The Christmas parade is such a crack up!! I think it might be the worlds shortest parade yet. The parade got to us at 6:13pm and we were home by 6:27pm. All of the cars and fire engines and what nots are all lit up. My favorite by far is the V-Dub club. They were decked out in lights complete with trees on top of the bugs and buses. (I drove a VW bus in High School and college and it was an absolute blast! I do miss it.) Of course the Grinch on top of a little beater car with a snow shovel strapped to the front that had a stuffed dog on it made me laugh. I sure wish that I would remember my camera for this stuff. It's a priceless tradition that we have enjoyed for the past two years.

Just one more flute performance and we will be done for the holiday. I can't believe how fast it all is flying by. Sammy's birthday is next week!

A little story about gum.

As an incentive for the kids, I bought a gumball machine with a refill of gumballs from the Dollar Store. Seriously, best two bucks I have ever spent. (That week.) Who doesn't love a sugary gumball?? I personally enjoy having one after another after another until I am in sugary daze while working on projects. Helps the creativity. One night, Sam walked in to see me chewing my sugary delight in which he stopped in his tracks and excitedly gasped "BUM!!". And that's the story about how "gum" will never, ever be called "gum" in our household again. The End.

Raggamuffin Sammers enjoying some "bum".

I like her style

When Mia was little, I worried that she wouldn't want to be a girly-girl. She had Jake all up in her face with non-stop boy stuff. Star Wars, battles, general boy awesomeness. Our house was saturated with it. Somehow, she grew into that girly-girl that I always wanted loving to dress up, want to wear make-up, playing Princess Leia along side Jake's battles. She loves and has loved all things girly since she was little. She especially loves jewelry! Every Sunday, she begs Grandma Sharon and Auntie Meg (Dee! Dee!) to go through their boxes of jewelry and give her something special out of it and somehow every week, she comes home with something special.

She often has some sort of combination of necklaces on and this is one of my favorites. A layer of a plastic dress up beaded necklace, a sweet little silver and white bead necklace and a old silver necklace of mine. She's my girl and I like her style.

Thanksgiving 2008

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving at Teryn's house. I would say that she is quite the trooper since she is still dealing with her back injury. By the end of the night, she was quite sore and very happy. She just loves to be surrounded by family and enjoys hosting parties.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with all of our family favorites. Throughout the dinner, random family members stood up and told silly Thanksgiving jokes. Afterwards, we had a basketball tournament, a pool tournament and a Guitar Hero tournament complete with prizes worth up to dollars for the winner! I came in a close 2nd place at the basketball tournament with 5 out of 10 shots made only to be outdone by Brianne at the last minute with her amazing 6 out of 10.

Mom and Dad weren't with us this year. They went to North Carolina to surprise Sharmyn. Her husband Jon put the whole thing together for her. Isn't he thoughtful?? Mom and Dad flew in late Monday night. Sharmyn was sound asleep when M&D woke her up. She was so stunned, she couldn't even register what they were doing there. We missed M&D and I can't help but be a bit jealous that they got to go see her. Sure miss Sharm and Jon.

I found a few random photos on my camera at the end of the night. Not surprised to see the photo of Chelsea and Lauren biting Jake's head.

Teryn has a small ride on four wheeler that she lets the kids ride in the house. It was the hit of the day for the Little's. Sam even understood how to push the button to make it run. He spent the better part of the day running into walls and doors with it. Fun times!

There was even a picture of me playing Guitar Hero and how I loved playing Guitar Hero even though Ryan was ruthlessly making fun of me. However, this photo was taken from Mia's height showing really only my ample backside. We won't be sharing that photo anytime soon.

Not only did we get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family, we got to have dinner with Ryan's family on Sunday. It was delicious! Sharon makes the best turkey ever. Yum-o! Lucky us!