Christmas is Coming!!!

Well, Christmas Eve is tomorrow!!! I hope everyone is ready for the big day! I have one more project to finish up and then, of course, the wrapping! But I'm pretty excited that I did so much. After Christmas, I will post pictures of all my projects. It would be quite pointless to do it before Christmas since some of you may be getting something from me. But, since we are so poor this year, I made all the gifts myself. And I'm nearly done!
I am very excited about Christmas and one thing I love to do every year is make candy. So my girls usually help. Here's a picture of Seryn helping me this year. We were making carmel for the pecan turtles. YUM!!!
(Right here, she's saying 'hot.') And here she is, just being too darn cute!
I also got my hair cut and colored it. It's always fun to have new styles from time to time. I asked Shane what I should do (because my hair was getting quite long. I think we cut off 4-5" from the bottom layer.) He said, "Something sexy, but not too short." So this is what I did. Here's a picture of it flipped out...

...and curled under. Although, the first time I did this, it startled me to realize how much my hair styled this way made me look like my mom. But in a good way. It was just a little shocking at first. Perhaps, if she flipped hers out, she'd look like me? (By the way, for this picture, I was getting ready for my company party. So, no. I don't normally get this dolled up.)

And Lylli has finally made it to the next stage of her quilt!!! If you remember, she started it over the summer. She cut up her favorite blanket so she would quit sucking her fingers and built a quilt. It has taken us a while but now we need to put it on the quilting frame and tie it! She's soooo excited!!! And she did most of the sewing herself! It looks so cute! And she did a great job!

Well, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!! (Oh...and I put up a new scene from my latest book!)

Lylli's Test Results

For those of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seats - because I know how you follow my life with a vengeance - we learned Lylli's test results today. For those of you who don't know, a couple weeks ago, Lylli was tested for the gifted and talented program here in the school district. She is very bright, doesn't like repetitiveness, and always has to know how everything works. The program here in town is geared toward these issues. They work on projects of their interest and they move at their own pace within their class. We thought Lylli would do really well here, so we had her tested.
This morning, Shane met with the lady in charge and she says that Lylli was very nervous and she thinks that affected her score negatively but she still was kind of on the line. The gal thinks Lylli would do really well in this program, though. Unfortunately, they have a waiting list and we won't be able to get her in until at least next school year.
So, what do we do now? After all, she is bored and frustrated in school because she is never learning anything new. If she wants to know about it, she comes home and learns it and she has a memory like I've never seen. So, we've tossed around a few ideas. There is one private school here in town (St. Anthony's). They have smaller classes and so she'd probably be able to move at a faster pace if she wanted to. However, Lylli is not big on change, so she's not a fan of that idea. She is going back and forth between two others. A: I could home school her. (I'm not excited about that, but if it will keep her interest in school, I'll do it.) or B: We visit with the lady from the G & T program, Lylli's teacher, and principal (who, by the way, is very upset that we asked to have Lylli tested after he said 'no') and try to implement some extra projects into Lylli's curriculum that will help push her and keep her interested a little more but keep her in the same class. Basically, those are our options. Or do nothing. But she comes home frustrated and grumpy every day. So pray for us, and hopefully we'll do the right thing for her.

Seryn's First Hair Cut!

Seryn got her first haircut yesterday!! (Yes, I take my kids in to get their hair cut. Believe me when I tell you, they behave better for Cindy than for me!) For the girls' first hair cuts, I usually sit with them so they feel more comfortable. But, Seryn was having a rough time even on my lap. This first picture is a little fuzzy (Lylli was taking pictures) but it shows you how upset she was at first. Look! Those are REAL tears!

But, after Cindy gave her a little stuffed ostrich, she cheered right up and was even a little bit of a ham for the camera. And the best part about her hair cut... Their first one is free!!!!!!!

COLD!

It has been so cold the last couple days and isn't supposed to warm up for a while. Today was rough. The pipes in the kitchen froze and so I put heaters up in the cupboard and downstairs too to thaw out the pipes. Great idea, except that they decided to unthaw while I drove across town to pick up Lylli from school. I was gone for an hour and when I came home, the sink was overflowing. For some reason, the sink was having difficulties draining (it was zero degrees throughout most of the day today) and so the sink simply overflowed. After I finally got the kitchen cleaned up, Shane went downstairs and discovered the pipes had broken and there was a ton of water downstairs too!!! ACH!!!! But now, as I right this, the adventure is mostly over. My dad came over and helped Shane fix the pipes and everything is warm and draining once more. (Except outside it is still quite fridged.) So that is my adventure for today.
On to happier things! Over the weekend, we had Mandy over. (For those of you who don't have my family tree memorized, Mandy is my cousin's daughter, who happens to be six months older than Lylli.) On Friday afternoon, the girls made gingerbread houses, which they loved, and then we went to dinner with my parents to celebrate my birthday! On Saturday, we went shopping! (Don't worry, Alicia joined us!) My girls each chose a sister's name from a hat and bought one present this year. They had a great time! And now they keep asking when they can do it again!

Santa's Little Helpers

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Trimming the Tree

We love the smell of a fresh tree and get one every year. And, like every year, we got our tree from Brian Bowan's (aka Santa's) tree lot over by Discount Sports over the weekend. Then on Monday, we decorated the tree for FHE. The girls had a great time! Especially Seryn. And she only dropped and broke one ball! (That's great odds! I think last year Layla dropped 3 or 4.) And so far, most of the ornaments are still in the same place as they were on Monday! Needless to say, we are very excited for Christmas now!

Night Terrors

I know, this sounds like something I should post about during October. Sorry. This wasn't in our house during October. We'll call it, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Oh, wait! That one's been used. So, we'll stick with what we've got.

"A night terror is characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can rarely be recalled by the subject. They typically occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep.
Night terrors are distinct from nightmares in several key ways. First, the subject is not fully asleep when the night terror occurs. Unlike nightmares, which are frequently dreams of a frightening nature, night terrors are not recalled dreams. Usually there is no situation or event (scary or otherwise) that is dreamed, but rather the emotion of fear itself is felt. Often, this is coupled with tension and apprehension without any distinct sounds or visual imagery, although sometimes a vague object of fear is identified by the sufferer. These emotions, generally without a focusing event or scenario, increase emotions in a cumulative effect. The lack of a dream itself leaves those awakened from a night terror in a state of disorientation much more severe than that caused by a normal nightmare."

So, for those of you wondering why I would post such a definition, I'll let you know that Layla has been having 'night terrors.' Lovely, I know. She's experienced them nearly five times in the past couple weeks. She starts screaming and will often make it out into the hall and just stand there. The other night I actually had to take her face in my hands and, speaking VERY loudly, tell her to wake up and that it would be all right. Her eyes were glazed over, so I knew she didn't really see me and my comforting wasn't doing any good. Once she finally woke up, she didn't remember what happened to get her in my arms. And when she woke the next morning, she didn't remember it at all. It was fairly bizzar. But night terrors are typically genetic, (Shane's mom and her siblings have them) and most people grow out of them by the time they're 12. So I guess we'll just wait and see. Until then, I'll plan to wait until after 10 to go to bed!

Spending time with Family

We stayed in town over Thanksgiving. We had a nice time visiting with much of our family. My brother and sister were both in town, so that was lots of fun. Michelle's kids even came over on Black Friday while she and her hubby went shopping! The kids had a great time. But by the end of the weekend, everyone was very tired and ready to get back to a normal schedule again. Of course, now the big excitement is Christmas and when Daddy will let us get a tree!

Lylli did some work on her quilt. (A very slow project. This is the same one she's been working on for months.) Seryn kept climbing on the chair behind her to hold her on the chair and offer any other help she might be in need of!

Seryn loved to mother her cousin Natalie. See, she's even holding Natalie's binkie! She was a little too much help at times. But don't worry, Michelle, Natalie came out of it just fine! You can still bring her over next time your in town.

Layla, Carson, and Lylli building 'something' with the linkin-logs. They had so much fun! I mean, just look at that room! And they spent most of their time in the toy room in the basement. Be grateful I didn't get a picture of that!

Layla's Program

Today Layla had her preschool program. The kids did a great job! Of course, they are all 3 & 4, so it's kind of like doing a mini Primary Program with Sunbeams. But it was lots of fun! Since I've been gone for so long, one of the other teachers stepped in and directed the kids. (As the music teacher, it was supposed to be my job.) But just watching has it's advantages. They will have two more programs this year, and I will know what to expect! Brilliant!
Layla had a great time! She's made lots of new friends and loves to be in the action! Her teacher asked me if I had gotten any pictures of her front. I said, yes, but that most of them were blurry. Layla was turned around half the time. She just had to see what the kids behind her were doing. And when she was facing forward, she was in constant motion! Her teacher also told me that from time to time, she could hear Layla whispering to the kids around her, "Hands in your lap. Turn around and be quiet. Don't forget to smile." She is such a breath of fresh air! And she was pretty darn cute today!
So they had their program and then we had a Thanksgiving Feast! The kids had a great time, and Layla was completely in her element. You don't suppose she has theater in her blood, do you?
And, the other day, after the rehearsal, I was visiting with the pianist, Bev Reese, and she asked if I knew Bevery Lorimer. Well, what do you know? As a matter-of-fact, it turns out I know her pretty well. I thought it was pretty funny.
This is Layla and her friend, Kai Wolz. They are in nursrey together at church too and love having a friend at school too. She refers to him as her best Kai friend.
This was "God Bless America!"

Layla, the pilgrim.

Layla's class doing their Turkey poem.

Perhaps the one time Layla was facing forward.

Where's Seryn?

I have a small cupboard where I keep my dirty towels and wash clothes from the kitchen. The cupboard is thin and fits a small garbage can. So, I took the garbage can full of dirty towels downstairs to be washed today. When I came upstairs, I heard Seryn calling for me, "Mama!" but I couldn't see her anywhere. This is where I finally found her! Silly goose!

FHE - Obedience

I wanted to share our Family Home Evening we had tonight because I thought it was a very clever idea Shane had. I don't remember having tons of FHEs when I was younger but we always did things together as a family, just not always structured. And Shane seldom had FHE at his house either. I've tried off and on over the years but have struggled since Shane has always been gone. We always do things together and it's sometimes just easier to visit about various aspects of the gospel on the way to school or something. But a couple months back, Lylli really started hounding us to have FHE. I did it a couple times and it just seems like Shane has really taken it and flown with it. I don't think we've missed a week in a couple months!!! (And for us, that's a real accomplishment.) Last week, Lylli even gave us a great lesson on writing letters to people we love.
Since I have had my tonsils out, I have stocked the freezer with all sorts of frozen treats. This afternoon, I was eating a tiny 3.5 oz. of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. (They are the tiny ones with the little spoon things on the tops for less than a dollar.) Shane asked if I had any more he could use for FHE. I did, so he gave a lesson on obedience.
We talked about Nephi and his faith and obedience in the Lord and then he blindfolded each of the girls. He then gave them instructions and helped guide them through the house to the kitchen where they found something hard and irregularly shaped and he told them it was very important. He told them to hang onto it and then he took them into the bathroom. He asked them if they knew where they were, and they did, and he explained that sometimes the Lord takes us places we don't understand. But He always knows what we need. There, they found something cold and round. Shane then led them back to the kitchen, still blindfolded, where they were able to finally 'see' their blessings (the ice cream) and enjoy them!
Along their journey, every time someone would trip or fall or run into a couch, Shane would use that as an example of how the Lord guides our lives and we need to listen and obey so we can reap the rewards!
I thought it was a great lesson and the girls loved it!! Of course, when it came time for bed, it was hard to actually apply the principle into their actions. But I think they will remember the lesson for a long time! Thanks Shane! You did a great job!

I'm doing well

Just a quick note. I got my tonsils out yesterday. YUCK! But I'm doing well. I was a touch (okay, very) nervous going into the the ordeal but everything went well. I had a really good doctor and a wonderful anesthesiologist (of course, he's in my parents' ward.) Tuesday night, Shane and my dad gave me a nice blessing which calmed my nerves somewhat. Then, the anesthesiologist slipped me something to help me relax too. This surgery was a much less traumatising experience than my DNC four years ago. (Perhaps that has something to do with hormone levels too.) So, I'm pretty doped up. And with the exception of being tired and having a sore throat, I'm doing pretty well. Thank you for all of you who have been praying for me and my doctors. Also, a special thank you to my parents who have been sooo very helpful and everyone else who has helped me and my family out throughout this slight challenge. Your love is appreciated.

Halloween!

Halloween was a crazy day!!! Layla and I had our preschool party all morning and then Lylli had hers in the afternoon. Then we had a ward party with trunk-or-treating and then a party at my mom's house. It was crazy, but a ton of fun!!! I don't remember a Halloween where we didn't at least need a jacket but most of the time a coat and snowpants. This year was truly a fall Halloween and required no additional padding with our costumes. That was kind of cool! Lylli was a pretty witch, Layla was a fairy (who occasionally turned into a princess, depending on what was going on) and Seryn was a bumble bee. I was an egyptian princess. (The kids at preschool hardly even recognized me!) We had a fun day!

October Activities

I need to get these pictures up before Thanksgiving! (hahaha!) We had some fun in October. We made Halloween cookies at the beginning of the month but we also made carmel apples and carved pumpkins. We tried to go to the pumpkin patch but were too late and they were all out of pumpkins. So we used ones we grew in our garden. They worked great, they just weren't very big. But the girls did their own and had lots of fun! (I helped Seryn.)