Christmas 2011

We decided to stay in Missouri for Christmas this year instead of going to Midway. David gets 30 days leave every year. The Dental clinic is only open every other day for the 3 weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years. So for 3 weeks David gets every other day off for free. Where as if we went out of town he'd have to take actual leave days. We've decided to maximize time off and stay in town. We don't mind celebrating Christmas on our own and Ben and Emily staying in town definitely helped us from missing family!
We tried to let them sleep under the tree one night. That lasted about 20 minutes. Then they went to their beds. Maybe we'll try again next year. On Christmas Eve we headed to Ben and Emily's. We did the traditional appetizer dinner (David's fam) and then David and the kids watched the Claymation Christmas. Every single one of the kids ate cheetos for dinner and we let them. You'll notice from now on cheeto faces in the rest of the pictures.

We then played Bingo with the money tree (my fam). Ben had tied up half dollars on the tree. Are you seeing a pattern here with Hannah's face during Ashton's happy moments?

Cute Christmas version of Bingo where Ben would call our "stocking, chimeny, snowman etc" instead of numbers.

It is not Christmas eve for me without the kids acting out the nativity. Ashton and Kate usually have a love/hate relationship but the minute we let them dress as Mary and Joseph and put baby Jesus in the manger they were united in a cause. They were perfect the entire time and just kept looking at him. Check out Kate's fingers.

Cutest thing of the night. They tied the stuff lamb to James so he could crawl around. This was genuis. I will take note so all crawling kids will have a prominent roll in every nativity.

Mallie played the one wiseman. Paying attention to the cheeto theme?

Here is the back of Angel Anna with her pipe cleaner halo. We made the mistake of letting Mary ride in on David the donkey consequently Hannah (the shepherd) cried through the entire show just b/c she didn't get to have a ride. Here is the youtube video.

Then it was new jammie time. I'm over trying to match Ashton to the girls. So now he gets WAY cooler pajamas - hence the superman outfit.

Christmas morning! The kids woke up at 8:20 for our 9am church so we kept them all upstairs while we got ready. We came home changed and then let them go check out their presents. We pushed out table to the side of our dinning room so they had room to ride their new plasma cars and trike. We originally were just going to get 1 plasma car but I knew Mallie would be old enough to care about being left out - thank goodness we did. She actually can ride that thing just as well as the older two.

Hannah got squinkies and was in heaven. She lined up all day long and put them in and out of her box and stayed occupied for hours.

Ashton didn't ask for anything this year but rubber ninjas. They are 1 inch tall and over the course of our time in Richardson we collected 16 of them from the quarter machines at Cici's pizza. When he asked for more for Christmas we almost sent some friends $10 in quarters to get some for us. Then I looked at the actualy vending machine distributor websites. 100 ninjas for $24. Score. We gave him half and he was thrilled. I love when kids do their awkward posed smiles that look nothing like their real smile.

It was a great day. It's been a better Christmas season than I could have imagined. We held a family Christmas talent show FHE with friends which was awesome especially when our 8 year old friend's daughter played Mary and plopped the doll in a manger from under her shirt. She had us all rolling. Then we went to a caroling party. We had Santa come through our neighborhood in a firetruck handing out candy canes. We made a big Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas day. Then we blinked and it was over!

In you didn't get a Christmas card...

It would look something like this.

David and I have talked a lot about how Christmas seems like the new year. As we celebrate the birth of Christ we can't help but reflect on how we've done spiritually. Have we learned, have we grown and what can we do better this year? I taught in YW and David in EQ today. Last night we ran through our lessons together. His topic was exaltation and mine was Christmas. The conclusion we came to is that every Christmas song we sing containing words of Joy, Hallelujah, Glory to God etc are not just words to describe the event of the birth. But the sheer elation we (and they) feel is because He came we can be exalted. I love Christmas time. We've learned a lot this year. A lot about the Lord's timing and patience. We've learned you can make a home anywhere and feel completely happy. We'll always miss great friends but I wouldn't trade the entire world for every new and amazing friend/experience we've made along the way.

I personally feel like Young Womens in the posh calling in the ward surrounded by such great youth. I know I can't stop gushing over them. All I have to say is that every 5:15am temple trip is totally worth it. I love it.

We'll have to save New Years for all of our resolutions about budgeting, exercise, brushing teeth etc

It was a great Sunday and I'd like to leave it at that.

The Sweet Life

On Saturday I looked at this girl as she came to the stairs to get in the car and she just looked so old. In fact at dinner the other night she was in her booster seat and wouldn't eat her chicken which she normally loves. She kept whining and reaching towards Hannah. We switched sippy cups, bowls and gave her everything we could think of that was a quick fix. I was about to pull her out and put her to bed when I decided to try and give her Hannah's fork. Sure enough this little girl didn't want to eat dinner without a fork. She stabs all of her food perfectly and wont eat dinner any other way. Then there is Ashton who wakes up every morning and heads straight to the playroom half awake with bedhead to play with his Batcave he got for his birthday. It is a home to army men, GI Joes, HeMan and stray plastic animals. For anyone with boys out there it doesn't get better than this.

Then there is my guy. Who got so into making Sugar Cookies with me this year that he even said, "you should blog this!" David reads my blog once every couple of months and never suggests a blog post. He was THAT into it. Then last night we sat down to watch (our 1st week of Dec tradition) the Forgotten Carols and we both may or may not have cried like we do every year.

Hannah is still our sensitive soul. But in the last 6 months she has gone from uttering only a few stray words at her 2nd birthday to full on paragraphs. We love that she can express her emotions and never lets any of us leave the house without a "big" hug. She was worth every non-verbal emotional melt down we've dealt with from 18 months to 2 yrs old.

Mallie apparently decided to do her best to avoid having to eat any part of the actual cookie. The Christmas countdown is in full swing. We're so excited to celebrate at home this year. And when the flag on our mailbox goes up our kids get to find out the Christmas activity we'll be doing that day.

As I was driving to the commissary the other day I felt overwhelmed with gratitude to be exactly where we are right now. This army life may not be ours for the long haul but we love it so much for right now. I love when the trumpets play reveille at noon and 5pm we can hear it faintly in our house and the kids all stop to salute and yell "I hear army music!" I love living on post, our amazing ward and the incredible friends we've made in just a few months. I love David and the kids and this stage of life. Life is so sweet.

Thanksgiving Week

First up this little guy turned 4 the day before Thanksgiving! He so badly wanted a batman cake and for his friends to come over for a party. So, what does any good Mom do? Finds out whose hosting preschool that week and asks if we can crash it for the last hour. Emily graciously let us take over her house. Ashton was thrilled. I tried my hand at marshmellow foundant to cut out the bat. David was so kind to inform me that the bat should be black and the cake yellow but black fondant is gross so yellow it was. Did you see how happy Hannah is for Ashton? Priceless.

Ashton and his buddy Parker wearing silly glasses from their goodie bags. Yes, goodie bags. I'm trying to earn some Mom points back.

On to Thanksgiving. David and I are now smack dab in the middle of the Jacobson family in Dallas and Wisconsin. We volunteered to host and save ourselves the drive. Everyone thought hosting was a big deal. Shh...no one needs to know we'd host any day and sleep in our own beds over having to pack up and travel. I was sick the entire week and was so grateful for help. I realized one life skill I've already mastered is delegation. I hosted Thanksgiving here but hardly had to do anything. I was in charge of a few things including the Turkey but I didn't ever have to touch it. David's dad did all the prep work and put it in the oven. I kept an eye on it and called Ben over to take it out and make the gravy.

So this Thanksgiving I was VERY grateful for lots of help and reminded again of how grateful I am for good health. Here is our little grateful tree we made all month with the kids. All of our leaves kept sliding down to the bottom of our branches. Next year we'll try something different.

I didn't take many pictures but I didn't miss this photo-op. Cody got all the brothers ninja turtle shirts as a parting gift before he leaves next month on his mission. Apparently each turtle coincides directly with that brother's personality. If David were here he'd make me name them all... but you get it.

The whole Jacobson clan together.

It was a great week. I stayed up way too late many nights even after taking Nyquil. I'm pretty sure if I had to be sick over a vacation this was the perfect way to do it. Thanks for coming everyone!

Restored Faith

For a few months now I've been thinking a lot about raising teenagers someday. I've been thinking about what they'll face at school. Then started contemplating homeschooling to keep them away from all of it. I can remember the drugs, profanity and immorality that I was surrounded in highschool and I can only imagine how bad it is now.

Then last night we had our ward's Young Women in Excellence. It was well planned with the theme "Come See The Light". The girls read and related experiences from 3Nephi11 and focused on the Savior's teachings. As I listened to each girl share their testimonies of Christ it brought me to tears over and over again. They are doing just fine. They are doing more than just fine. They are thriving. They know who Jesus Christ is and they love Him.

I was so very wrong. I'm so grateful to these young women for teaching me last night that amidst all the filth going on around them they are still standing tall for what is right. I didn't ever need to worry because as long as our kids are learning the restored gospel of Jesus Christ they can handle anything.

Here is the video that was shown last night called Come See The Light.

Great Weekend

I had been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. My sis-in-law Emily and I went to Time Out for Women in Kansas City. It was wonderful, spiritual and not cheesey at all. I was grateful for a day and a half just to focus on how I can better myself.

On Saturday when it finished Emily and I drove straight to Independence, MO where we would meet David, Ben and all of our kids. Did I mention a couple weeks earlier we convinced them to meet us up there so we could see some church history sites that were close by? So Emily (and James their baby) and I drove up on Friday afternoon. On Saturday David and Ben with the 5 other kids drove up and met us Independce. We went through the visitor's center.
Here's the replica log cabin where 10 families would have stayed.
They've added a little pionner playroom for the kids. Here's Hannah driving Anna and Kate.

Mallie inside the little kid's cabin. She was so thrilled to be out of the car after crying almost the entire 4 hour drive up. Sorry Ben (and David)! She seriously ran laps around everyone for the first 20 mins after being out of the car.

From Indepence we picked up some Little Caesars all ate in the car and drove 20 mins to our hotel that I got for $55 on priceline. It was an Embassy Suites and really nice we took the kids swimming and then they crashed. They are getting really good at sleeping in hotels. Mallie's mini pack n play fit in the closet so everyone slept soundly. After we put them down we went and played Spades in the hallway with Ben & Em.

Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith and 4 other men were locked up for 5 months because they were mormons. The sister missonary here got the kids really involved so it was special to them and then we sang Praise to the Man because that was a hymn the older kids knew from primary. It truly was a sacred place and the Spirit testified of that.

Then we made the hour drive up to Adam-ondi-ahman. The kids were thrilled to be out of the car again.

To document where we were.
It was so fun to take David to all these places I remember from when I was 15. The entire time we drove I read to him out of my Church History Trip book so we knew all about the places we were visiting. We both were reminded of how blessed we are and grateful for those early pioneers and Joseph Smith. I feel like seeing all these places will mark the times of my life. Going as a teenager, as a young mother and we're planning on taking our teenagers back and then David and I will go again someday when we're older by ourselves. Even with all the driving it was a perfect weekend. The kids were great, we loved going with family. Who knew so many fun and wonderful things would come out of living in the middle of nowhere Missouri!?

Halloween 2011

My parents came to town this week and it was just what the doctor ordered. We're staying here for the holidays instead of going to Utah and the kids and I were more than excited to see them. We had a wonderful week of eating out, cooking and bowling. I finally learned how to make delicious roast gravy and David even paid attention to our cooking lesson. Not to mention my Mom keeps my house spotless all the time. So when someone e-mailed saying they'd like to come see our house last minute to rent I almost panicked until I looked up and realized it was ready to go. What a luxury. Best house guests ever.

Here are the kids before trunk or treat. Mallie was exhausted already and gave up walking because she knew Nana and Papa were there to hold her. Supergirl. This costume was $1 at the thrift store. I'm glad I got her a costume with a cape this year she can put on when Ashton gets dressed up as a super hero.

Mom and Mallie.

The little ladybug. She looked darling.

Batman. He loved seeing all the other superheroes out tonight. The little kids walking down the street would say "Hey Captain America" "Hey Batman"... Halloween is starting to feel really fun for him.

The neighbors came over dressed as zombies right as we were starting out. Hannah freaked and decided to stay with Papa to hand out the candy. Totally traumatized... not to mention hilarious.

The kids practicing trick or treating with my Dad before going out.

All the cousins. So sad it's blurry.

It was so fun to Trick or Treat with cousins this year. And we're getting even more excited that soon we'll be living just 7 doors down the street from them!

For the love of chocolate

A few weeks ago for Family Home Evening we helped the kids learn the first article of faith. Ashton still remembered it yesterday so we asked him if he wanted to move on to number 2. He said "So then when I learn all of them I can get a huge chocolate bar!" We thought he was making his own reward so we said, "sure". Then he went on to tell us in primary when someone memorizes all 13 then they get that coveted chocolate bar. That was motivation enough. Only 11 more to go!

Welcome Fall

We've had perfect 70 degrees for the last 2 months. Then out of nowhere yesterday it was FORTY degrees. So aside from being freezing this day informed me I have insufficient winter wear for a couple of the kids. Poor Mallie's feet aren't big enough yet to fit in Hannah's winter shoes. The only pair of shoes she owns are a pair of sandal robeez. Ashton doesn't own one zip up hoodie that is actually 4T. When he stood up wearing this one it fell right under his belly button. Definitely need to get these kids outfitted for a cold winter. This picture was taken before our outting to WalMart. I must say the toy aisles have become the kids second playground. And because of their many trips they know we don't get to buy anything but they can come back and play with that very same toy soon. I'm starting to think the plan is a bit genius. So welcome Fall glad to have you. Although November with the greatness of Thanksgiving also brings the end of our grace period on our student loans. Ahhh. We're doing the best we can to still live like students. So far so good. The longer we can keep this up the better. Dave Ramsey here we come!

Happy Hollows Pumpkin Patch

Once again I'm reminded why this small town stuff is so fun. We went to the pumpkin patch ran out out of the front yard of someone's home. We originally thought we were going to go on a hay ride and pick up some cheap pumpkins. Then we got there and didn't want to leave. There was a sandbox full of CORN! Genius. I hate cleaning sand out of the kids clothes, socks, mouths diapers etc so sand is off limits for my kids. Seriously, I'm the mean mom at the park that tells my kids we have to go home the minute they step foot in the sand. Needless to say they were so thrilled to get to play in a sandbox. Mallie had a good time eating it and you know what? I let her because it wasn't gross sand. If this doesn't tell you know one worries about liability I don't know what does. So awesome!

Then they had an entire fort built out of hay with a plank of wood going across the top. Underneath was a mattress covered in ducktape so it didn't matter if the kids fell.

Ashton (and David) thought it was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Feeding the animals.

Hay ride. Apparently we were doing a serious pose and they all got the memo.

I promise I wasn't trying to claw her only meant to get her to giggle and it worked!

Then we picked out our pumpkins. Mind you this wasn't a real "patch". They brought pumkins in by the truckload and scattered them on this field. The kids didn't care and neither did we.

What a fun day. I'm excited to know we'll get to go again for the next 2 years. Next time we'll pack lunch and hang out for much longer!

Best Field Trip Ever

I used to say I missed the zoo and museums for the kids. Well, preschool's letter this week was "F" so Emily called up a ward member and we went to their full on farm! Who needs a zoo or a petting zoo? This was so much better!

The kids all got to climb the fence and run around with the sheep and even hold the little baby one. Mallie even got to come and loved standing at the fence. She was enthralled watching the kids throw the feed to the chickens.

Anyone knows me knows I am a self professed non animal lover. But as the girls and I went to go pet the pony this dog kept coming up to the fence looking for some love. So I gave in. I think I found that I prefer farm animals. I'll come to you and pet you outside... just stay off my lap during dinner.

The baby chicks! Hannah was in HEAVEN. We spent 15 minutes holding them. She kept trying to squeeze them though and I had serious flashes of Lenny going though my head.

All the kids that came. Really only 4 from preschool 1 was gone.

Back to the chics. I'm pretty sure they were my favorite too. Those feathers you see in the corner are from the gigantic turkey! The kids thought the feathers were the greatest things ever.

So after seeing a fully functional farm run by just normal people and not really farmers I can't figure out if my dream has been revived or if I'm scared about all the work raising animals takes. Either way we're going to have to visit our "local" zoo again. There are some definite perks to living in the backwoods. I can't wait to explore even more!