Winter Blessings?

I have been dealing with a serious case of the winter blahs. Blah...blah...blah. The gloomy, gray, cold skies have been getting to me pretty big this year. I haven't even blogged in a while because there just haven't been much blog worthy going on and I didn't want to bore anyone with my average daily life of laundry, errands and doctors appointments. However, in an effort to fight away the winter blahs, I thought maybe I should "count my blessings" and list somethings about winter that I do enjoy.

1) Christmas


I LOVE Christmas. I would hate December if it wasn't for Christmas. Christmas is just not the same if it isn't cold. I prefer warm weather, but not at Christmas time. One year, early in our marriage, we went to Florida to visits Aaron's mom for Christmas time. It was a great trip and we had a great visit, but singing Christmas songs around palm trees while wearing shorts just doesn't fit (Sorry, Mom K! :)).

2) Snow Days!!!
It is always nice to wake up and realize schools are closed and you DON'T have to do that daily rush. You can lounge in your heated house and send the kids out to play in the snow!

3) Hot Chocolate.... Oh ya! And, it is even better after a tip from a friend. I buy the Swiss Miss diet (25 calories a pack), and mix in a little fat-free flavored Coffee-Mate...... Oh so good- and even with two packets of hot chocolate, all together it has 100 calories or less!

4) Big oversized comfy sweaters or hoodies.

5) New TV Shows: During the summer, all those good shows are reruns, but in the dead of winter, you can always count on new shows to pass the time when the kids go to bed. CSI, Flash Forward, The Good Wife, and of course..... LOST!!!
We stayed up waaaay too late last night watching the premier of this last season. The show ends this spring so they are telling the final story. It....is....intense. I sat down to watch the extended premier last night with 3 overloaded baskets of laundry to fold while I watched. The show was nearly over before I realized that the totally forgotten piles of laundry had not been touched.

6) Valentine's Day- so fun to make cookies and valentines to pass the time!

7) Special Birthdays-

My mom, my dad and Ellen & Meghan have winter birthdays- makes for lots of celebrating with presents, cake and family!

8- The countdown!!! Each day that passes bring us one day closer to April!

9- Balance- I suppose if it were 70-80 degrees every day, I would begin to take it for granted. There is nothing quite so glorious as putting your face in the sun on that first 60-70 degree day in spring! You can feel your whole spirit start to recharge. It probably wouldn't be the same if you hadn't endured the crappy weather to get there.


So, there you have it- a few reasons that winter is somewhat tolerable. Hopefully these things will help hold me through till April!!

It's all about Cheerios

See this sweet little girl?

Her favorite breakfast food is Cheerios. She eats them nearly every day. She enjoys several different varieties that many probably don't even realize exists.

Some days, she requests "Bumble Bee cheerios"

Other days, it is "Flower Cheerios"

Another favorite is "Color Cheerios"

And, of course, we must not forget "Yellow Cheerios."
Breakfast anyone?

On Tolerance

Disclaimer: my family will likely roll their eyes when they read this because I have been talking a lot about it, so they can feel free to skip this post. But, the fact that I have been talking a lot about it, tells me I need to write about it.

A couple weeks ago, a small and somewhat humorous & embarrassing event occurred that ended up becoming quite a controversy among some extended family members and really got me thinking.

We took our kids to the nearby science center for an evening of fun on New Year's Day. At one point, we passed by a group of Muslim women walking by with the complete head covering, with only their eyes showing. (I have since learned this head covering is called the niquab.) They were similar to the image below, except dark blue.

As the women walked by us, both girls cried out in fear and clung to my leg. Ellie yelled out, "Mommy, a ghost!" One lady for sure heard her. I was mortified! The lady was very nice, though, and just kept walking and said "It's okay, I'm just a mom too!" I realized this is one of those classic moments of an innocent child, who doesn't know any better, embarrassing their parents.

When I came home, I posted the brief story on my facebook page, figuring my "friends" would find it humorous and relate similar stories. One person did- relating the story of when his son first saw an African-American and asked "Daddy, who painted that man?" However, the next comment was a shocking one by a certain relative that I have always cared about. (Not saying specifically who, not wanting to embarrass any relatives who stalk my blog that I am unaware of). She basically said that she didn't blame Ellie for being scared- that Ellie knew when something wasn't quite right. I was shocked and almost deleted the whole thing, or at least her comment; partly because I have another distant relative who converted to the muslim faith several years ago and I feared she would see it. I ultimately decided to leave it though, figuring that she would have to deal with the consequences of saying what she did on a public page. I did however post a comment that I did not approve and that they lady was actually very nice.

Well, sure enough, a long debate occurred on my page between several family members- mostly speaking of how we should all be more tolerant to other faiths, and that this relative should not have said what she did. Eventually, the cousin who is of the Muslim faith chimed in as well, with her opinion on things- but she kept it informational- trying to teach why she feels as she does. I found it interesting, since I do not know about the Muslim faith at all. I have no desire to be apart of it, but I respect it and realize that their faith goes very deep. Despite all of this, the negative relative stood her ground and said other things that just weren't very nice.

This got me thinking about the lack of tolerance in this country sometimes. Especially with the many forwarded e-mails I get that basically blame the Muslims for the 9/11 attacks. I think it is important to remember it wasn't the Muslims that attacked us, but evil extremists with their own adgenda. The majority of Muslims are normal people, simply trying to practice their faith as they believe. There has certainly been many Christians in history who have done evil things in the name of Christianity- Should we assume then that all Christians are bad and not to be trusted? Of course not! As a Christian myself, I know this is rediculous. And, so it is also rediculous to criticise others because their faith is different than ours.

I feel that maybe it is a little easier for me to be accepting of others faiths because, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, I know what it is like to be persecuted, misunderstood, and treated differently because of my religion. I don't expect others to believe what I do, just to respect it and try to understand that I believe what I do for a reason.

My church has published a set of "Articles of Faith," (click to read them all) which is a most basic description of what we believe. I really appreciate the 11th one, which states:

"We claim the priviledge of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same priviledge, let them worship how, where, and what they may."

As citizens of this country, we claim to be the land of the free. If we are going to claim that, we need to practice it. If we claim freedom of religion, then we need to let others worship freely, despite the fact that we disagree. We will never move forward as a country, or as humans if the hate does not stop.

Thanks for listening.

Another First

Yesterday, Ellen and Meghan went to the dentist for their first cleaning now that they are big 3-year-olds!!!

I was really nervous about it- especially whether or not I would be able to handle it on my own. I almost wimped out and asked someone from my family to go with me, but I convinced myself they would be alright. I talked to them about it a lot the day before (I forgot until it was too late that I should have gotten a book or something from the library....) about how fun the dentist was! They would get to sit in the big chair that moves, wear sunglasses (our pediatric dentist gives them for during the cleaning to shield their eyes), get their teeth cleaned with a big noisy,funny toothbrush and more! I think I was especially nervous because Kenny did NOT do well at the dentist when he was little- kicking, screaming, the whole time!

I have to say I am one proud momma! They did so good!

As we pulled in the lot, Ellie started whining that she didn't want to go. So, again, I did my best to talk it up. While we waited, they had a ball playing in the waiting room full of toys.

When we got called back, Ellie was up first. She wasn't too interested in getting in the chair- she stayed plastered to me. So, I carried her to the chair and gently placed her in and told her I would stay right beside her. (If that didn't work I was going to sit in the chair with her in my lap- which I didn't want to do unless I had to since Meghan was there too and could run off anytime....) Luckily, that worked, and though she was nervous, she let the lady do her job. The hygienist was great! She went slow and explained all the tools and let Ellie touch them. After a few minutes, she relaxed and did great!
When it was Meghan's turn, she was so excited and just jumped right up there! Actually, this wasn't Meghan's first trip to the dentist. Her first trip was when she was 7 months old! One of her bottom baby teeth came in bad. As it broke through, her gums were really red, and then as the tooth emerged- it was misshaped, as if it had already been chipped. Then, a few days later, it turned black down in the gum. So, we took her to the dentist who said that, for whatever reason (there could be many she said...) that tooth just formed wrong in the gum, so it rotted quickly as it came out. So, it had to be pulled. It was quite traumatic for her and I! The tooth was really quite stuck and it took lots of screaming (from her.... nearly crying from me) and both dentists to finally be able to get it. I was worried, though of course she wouldn't remember it, that there would be an "unexplained" fear of the dentist. But, no- she was just excited!!! It was the same dentist who pulled her tooth 2 1/2 years ago, so she liked seeing her again.
Both girls were cavity free, so they got to stand on the star and get their picture taken for the cavity free club on the wall!

And, just for fun- here are some pictures of the girls enjoying one of their gifts from Santa!

Two Big Girls!

Unbelievably, my sweet girls, Ellen and Meghan are now officially three years old!!! I absolutely can not believe they are 3. Really, I thought it was just last week that I was panicking about the upcoming birth of two babies at once and then enduring the grueling sleepless nights. But, no, they are three. They are not even toddlers anymore, but preschoolers!

They are so much fun and literally make me laugh every single day! In the past year, we have enjoyed countless trips to the zoo, library and more, they have learned they love singing, love playing with friends, love going to church and playing in the nursery. They are good at telling stories and love to "read" their books that we have read so many times, they have them memorized! They have been potty trained so we have been diaper free for several months now, and they are figuring out which type of clothes they like and don't like and are getting a little more demanding in that respect and many others.

For their birthday yesterday, we hosted a party for the family at my parents house (since mine is too small....) Here are some fun pictures:
Luckily, it hasn't really occurred to my children to ask for a specific shape of cake- and since I have no talent for cake decorating, I haven't encouraged them to either. They always seem to ask for a certain color- which is easy enough with white cake mix and food coloring. Ellie wanted purple cake and Meghan wanted orange cake, so this was my solution.


Ellie loves to cuddle with Aunt Julie! She always smells like her perfume when we come home after visiting with Aunt Julie!

And of course, there were lots of fun presents!

Of course, the balloons from Auntie Em were a HUGE hit!

I found this cool "My little Pony" castle with all of the accessories used from another twin mom. They LOVE it!

When the party was over and all cleaned up, they didn't want to leave. I got their coats on and Ellie disappeared and I couldn't find her. I searched through the house and finally found her as content as can be! (Again, note the balloon string right next to her- they wouldn't let them go!)

Then, today for their birthday, we had a play date with their friends Sophia and Amelia (and my friend, Amy!) We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and played in their play place. What a blast!
Here is Sophia and Meghan (my only somewhat successful picture of Amy's kids for the day....)





And, much to my girls delight, Aunt Julie got to join us for lunch too!!!
The girls were sure to model their adorable new outfits that Aunt Julie bought for them!
She bought them "pretty pants"- pants with a girlie design on them. We only had a couple pairs before and Ellie is really into seeing what is on her pants everyday and is very disappointed if they are plain, so these were just their style! And, the sweaters with the T's under them are just adorable on them!

So, tonight, we will have one of their favorite meals for dinner- waffles! They don't eat dinner well, but they eat breakfast, so we will go that route! And, we will no doubt enjoy some left over cupcakes from yesterday!

Not sure if I have said this before on this blog or not, but when Kenny (my oldest) was a baby, I babysat another baby his age. I remember saying "Wow- this is what it would be like to have twins- I am so glad one goes home at the end of the day! I hope I never have twins!" So, it was ironic that I ended up with twins. However, I can correct my statement by saying "I never knew I wanted twins!" It has seriously been one of the more challenging and yet rewarding and fun experiences of my life!

Happy Birthday, Ellen and Meghan!! You are so loved!

Happy New Year!!

New Year's Eve Family Pajama Party 2009/2010
The best pajama wearing, movie watching, monopoly playing, popcorn-m&m-chips eating, soda drinking, ball dropping, laughing crazy, up till 1 am, most awesomely fun time EVER!

Happy 2010!!!!!!

Snow Princesses!!

So, we finally got a few inches of the fluffy white stuff...... of course, it was 2 days AFTER Christmas, but- that is okay. The first snowfall is always fun no matter when it is, but after that- I long for April. Of course, the girls were aching to go outside and play in it. So, we all (boys and girls) went out to play. The boys played a few minutes and went inside because they were cold. (They probably wouldn't have been so cold if they had not lost their gloves already!)
Ellen & Meghan LOVED the snow!!!! They outlasted us all and probably would have stayed out there longer if I hadn't wimped out and had them come in because I was cold!!!

And, as always, Christmas was an absolutely wonderful day. We spent time reflecting on the best Christmas gift of all- the Savior- as well as giving each other gifts, spending time with family and each other. Santa was good to them this year! I was so busy giving out gifts and watching their joy, that I left Aaron in charge of pictures. He didn't take a whole ton, but here are a few good ones of Christmas day and the day after.


Ellen & Meghan are into dress up now. Santa was smart and visited Walmart a few days after Halloween and loaded up on "dress up" clothes for all 4 kids!
Santa also found this awesome train table used for a great deal! The boys are always setting up their train tracks around the basement- maybe this will keep them more contained! (Santa was good to me as well..... see the Wii Fit box?? I have no excuse not to exercise now, huh?)

Both girls are very into pretend play, which makes the costumes, as well as the Raggedy Ann dolls from Grandma Janet a hit. Meghan enjoyed feeding her doll breakfast!

So, once again, it was a wonderful holiday. I am truly grateful for my family and all that we have been blessed with. We are so so very fortunate.