December 2012

Every year our ward has a church party. Breakfast with Santa. The night before Jason got a phone call asking him to fill in for Santa. Jordyn did a great job keeping the secret. Tessa had no idea. Asher wanted nothing to do with Mr. Claus.

 

 

 

Then, we went to Jason's work party and the "real" Santa came. The girls were thrilled, and he was amazing!

 

 

Our family got an Elf on the Shelf. This elf is a girl and Jordyn and Tessa named her Cutie, or Elfie, or Tootie, or something like that. It was fun to find her every morning. One morning she was making snow angles on the kitchen table in sugar, she roasted marshmallows over the Scentsy, and she made a mess with paper and scissors creating snow flakes.

 

We went to the Hunter Family Christmas Party. Pretty sure Asher had the best time, just check out that chocolate covered face. And of course, the yummy drink.

 

 

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional Halladay Family Party. We decorated gingerbread houses, exchanged white elephant gifts, and had a devotional. The kids watched a movie about the birth of Christ of Grandpa Day's computer.

 

We spent the night with Sue Sue and Grandpa Day. Somehow Santa found us and our kids were spoiled. Barbies and Scooters, new clothes and a barbie house. Asher got new shoes and a tool bag. It was fun...but once again, I didn't take any pictures. Luckily, the video camera recorded it all.

 

After a fun night and morning with my family we went up to the Hunter's. The girls were spoiled some more and loved every minute of it. Asher was fun to watch, as he played with all of the paper and boxes.

 

Christmas afternoon we packed our bags and headed up Provo Canyon for a few nights at the Warburton Cabin. Asher loved the spiral stairs. Jordyn and Tessa loved the snow, and late nights, and games. It was fun. We played games and ate yummy food. We celebrated Tessa's fourth birthday and rested our tired souls from all the crazy stresses of the season.

 

November 2012

November.

My favorite holiday. My favorite shopping day.

 

I love Thanksgiving. I love taking time to think about all the things I'm grateful for. I know that we should be mindful of our blessings everyday of our lives, but for some reason, in November, blessings seem to be highlighted. I love being with family. I love teaching my kids about gratitude. I love yummy food.

 

 We spent Thanksgiving with Jason's family this year. It was great. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, pie, and of course...no pictures. I'm good at stuff like that.

 

Black Friday. I love it! This year we headed to Wal-Mart and Kohl's. It was fun, and crazy. People are strange...and I'm one of them.

 

As for the rest of November, here are a few pictures:

Having three kids has made my laundry double. I can not keep up on it. I end up with huge piles, piles that sometimes take an hour to fold.

 

It snowed! The girls loved playing in it.

 

Even Hallie had fun for a little while.

 
 

Cute baby Harper got to hang out with us one day.

 

We created our own little stockpile of Hostess treats. Sadly we didn't get to the store fast enough to buy Twinkies after the announcement that the company had gone bankrupt. But our cupcakes and donuts were delicious, while they lasted.

 

 

We started reading chapter books to the girls at night. They love to listen to books, especially when Daddy is reading. I love listening to all of Jason's silly voices, and his laugh when it's a funny part. Our favorite books are Junie B. Jones. The girls really get into them, and so do we.

October 2012

As I look back on all of the pictures in my camera I am in awe at how much our kids have changed. October was fun, and busy. I was baby sitting my nephew, Carter. Poor kid was attacked by his cousins and a box of hair things. He was a good sport! And now, I have blackmail.

 

Asher and Carter are going to be best buddies.

 

These two kids get a hold of my camera and go to town taking pictures. This is 1 of about 100.

 

We spent a lot of time at the high school during October. We loved watching Jason's brothers, Hayden and Jake, play football for the Vikings.

 

 

 

In October, Asher started to stand up to furniture.

 

And Tessa...started wearing oven mitts and shoes.

 

Halloween was awesome. Julie planned an awesome party and Sue Sue and Grandpa Day's. Here are all the cousins. Jordyn (Witch) Cameron (Skeleton) Tessa ( Bumble Bee) Harper (Cute) Heber (Fire Man) Houston (Puppy) Carter (Lion) Jaxon (Monkey) and Asher (Tiger).

 

My kids are too cute!

 

Most of the time.

 

A Nun, a Priest, a Witch, a Bee, and a Tiger walk into a Bar.

Just Kidding.

 

The twinner cousins.

 

At the party we ate donuts off of strings, carved pumpkins, and had a costume contest. It was so much fun!

 

We had our own pumpkin carving party at home one night. The girls were really good sports. They did way better than I would have. Yuck!

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Thinking

I've been thinking about this blog for the past few weeks. Months, really. I think I get overwhelmed with the idea of being a perfect writer. I want to tell amazing stories about being a mother, about challenging moments, and about personal victories. I want to write like C Jane Kendrick, Nie Nie, and Shawni. I want to write about things that are important to me, but then I find myself backing down because I'm scared. Mostly about what other people will think, but also, I'm scared to be honest.

Does that happen to you? Do you want to share things about yourself that you know some people might not like?

One day I'm going to look back at my blog and be so sad that I didn't write anything for 5 months. I'm going to wonder what happened with my kids, and how I felt about my day, and what Jason and I did on our dates. I might even wonder what we argued about, and how many times I had to clean up after Asher, and what Jordyn was learning in school.

Time passes quickly. Much faster than I like.  I want to do better. I'm going to change. I just need to remember that my story is important to me. That I don't need to compare myself to anyone. I can write for me, and for my kids.

Here's to happy writing. May my days be filled with things to share.