I heard the bells

I promise this incredible video will be worth your eight and a half minutes.
This is both amazingly beautiful and incredibly powerful. I love Christmas.

Enchanted Village

Getting to know us

I was thinking today about some funny things about our family. Well, maybe not funny, more like quirky. Or crazy. Or certifiable. Something like that. And I thought that I really should share because who doesn't want to get to know us better? Hands just raised across the world. I could feel it. Or maybe that was just one of my kids jumping off the couch again. Blast, when will they ever listen to me about not jumping on the couch? Where was I? Oh yeah, us.

When Annie wakes up in the morning she always (seriously, like at least six days out of seven) sneezes twice. I'm not kidding. Every morning. The minute she gets up. It is crazy. It is like a little warning bell telling us she is awake. Maybe she is allergic to the twenty-seven horses she has around her room (no, they are not real for you smart alecs out there). Actually that is not even funny. It would be the end of Annie's life is she was allergic to horses. She has a tad bit of an obsession.

I told the kids a couple of weeks ago (not sure why this came up, but welcome to my life) that when my little sister was really young, the word she used for your bottom was bama. Matt is now obsessed with this fact. He thinks it is so hilarious he can hardly stand it. That is now the only way he will refer to it. And seriously, the day he put that together with our current president's last night... *sigh*

Jacob runs really fast. He ran ten miles Saturday and although he has forbidden me to tell you his time (apparently he is not a fan of having his times up for the whole world to see—because we all know everyone reads our blog), it was three minutes faster than the last time he ran ten miles. Three minutes? What is the matter with him and his over-achieving? Doesn't he know how much food can be consumed in the-time-that-I-have-been-forbidden to mention? I think the man needs a priority check. And that great time on top of the fact that he doesn't sleep. Lately, he has been staying up very late to meet some deadlines at work. Wait a minute, maybe he is a vampire. Weird, I thought he was supposed to be a werewolf.

Did I tell you Cam is in a school play? He most certainly is. He auditioned months ago and was chosen to play John in Peter Pan. Can you stand that thought of how cute that is? Can you stand how many question marks I am using in this post? He has play practice twice a week and I am so excited to see him perform. It is a big deal in our town and the play is on my birthday. My birthday I say. Now that is the best gift I could think of.

When you ask Ben a question, he answers "Nah." Which actually means yeah. But it took me about 283 times to remember this, even after I figured it out. He is also obsessed with taking roll call in the family, but not as one would usually take it. Several times a day, he asks people if they are happy. "Mama, happy? Matt, happy? Annie, happy?" You get the picture. Oh, and you have to imagine the word happy being said with the first syllable being drawn out and the last syllable said in a very high, enthusiastic voice.

I have taken to walking on the treadmill (it is freezing here) while listening to conference talks or watching movies on our portable DVD player. I have to walk incredibly slowly (at least it feels like it) in order to keep my femur from fracturing again. It is almost more painful to walk that slowly, than it is to have a stress fracture in my leg. But maybe having your pride feel painful doesn't count.

Sometimes I am so riveting even I can't get over it.

Here comes Santa Claus...

Oh my word, you should have seen my kids' faces. If you are a
Santa-believing family, you might want to head over here quickly.
And then sit back and watch how your kids react. I absolutely love it.
And have no question what we will be watching at
least 32 times tomorrow—times four.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

Our kids like to draw during the first hour of church, and this past Sunday was no exception.
During the final talk, I turned to look at what Cam was drawing, as he was sitting
closest to me. I thought you would appreciate me sharing his picture with you.

I thought you would appreciate even more, the fact that the talk being given was on humility.

My brother

Just about an hour ago I learned that my brother was hurt in an accident. He is okay, but does not yet know if he is going to lose his thumb. For now, they have been able to reattach it with surgery, and we are hopeful that with fasting and prayer it will be fine, but it looks as though we won't know for a while.

I'm emotional about it, which will surprise no one, but not just because my brother is going through this incredibly difficult and incredible painful situation, but because he is alone. He lives several states away from any family. My oldest sister is headed to be with him in the morning and another sister is just waiting to hear where he will be so that they can take care of him toward the end of the week. Jacob, with absolute sincerity, told me if I needed to go, he would take care of things at home. I'm going to wait to see if I am needed after my other sisters, as I don't want to intrude on what they are doing.

I was just able to talk to him and he sounded incredibly upbeat. I feel better now that I've heard his voice. He was joking around as always, but the amount of pain he is in is unreal (and this coming from a man that had major shoulder surgery and never took a single pain pill).

I'm grateful for my brother. I'm grateful for prayer. I'm grateful to be joining my siblings in fasting for him tomorrow. Tonight I'm emotional and worried, but considering all that has happened, I'm just feeling intensely grateful.

Nine months

Sore afraid

Awesome, times a lot

I showered for the day at 7:22 pm tonight.

Awesome.

That little piece of information is for those of you who who have conveyed your unreal idea of how I really am. Those that think I am always on top of things and always a good mother. Ha, I say. I laugh in your face. But not technically because I am at my computer and you at yours.

Campbell has pneumonia. Awesome eh? I kept him home from school, just because I am that kind of nice. And threw the other two kids in the mix also. I will not be blamed for the 2009 pneumonia epidemic at our nearby elementary school. Someone else can take the fall.

So here we sat, in all our pajama glory. At some point in the day I told the kids that they could put back on pajamas, but that they had to take a bath. And all four kids did. Seriously, I am an amazing mother.

Annie decided she wanted to tend Ben while he was in the bath. It was so nice of her considering I was working on a Christmas project that I was obsessed with and decided I had to finish today. Man, I could use that motivation in other areas of my life. Like showering before 7:00 pm or something.

After a few minutes, Matt joined the bath-tending group while Cam remained resting on the couch, looking thrilled out of his mind to watch hours of mindless television. Says the women who spent untold, mindless hours on the computer.

Suddenly Cam stood up and told me his stomach hurt a lot. And then did what every mother loves, starting heaving. He made it to the sink in time. I'll stop there for the sake of everyone.

In the middle of me helping him, Annie yelled out, "Mom, I think we need you in here."

"Um, I'm kind of in the middle of something," I replied (fancy word for loudly answered, also known as yelling).

When Cam was done with the unmentioned and was settled back down, I took a trip to the bathroom. Or as I liked to refer to it at that moment, the Nile River. Double awesome.

After everything and everyone was cleaned up, I headed back to the family room where a huge mess greeted me. A mess that looked a whole lot like a Fisher Price nativity being wrapped in old Christmas wrapping paper, one tiny piece at a time. I'm sure it had been there for a while, but the glow of the computer might have distracted me from it. In addition, there was actually a bag of Fruit Harvest bagels in the middle of the family floor. Just sitting there. Like they belonged. I picked them up and put them on the computer desk, which is obviously their rightful home.

The rest of the day passed as kind of a blur. I remember giving at least half of the kids some lunch. I remember announcing at some point that I needed five minutes of the kids' time to help me clean up. I remember getting excited as the Christmas project neared its end. I remember making several Relief Society phone calls, as well as talking to my cute mother-in-law and a darling friend of mine who called. I don't remember thinking I should have a shower. Maybe I did and I told my mind to be quiet.

But finally, after dinner was served and mostly cleaned up, I took a shower. And now I sit at the computer again (just because I didn't spend enough time here earlier) to share with you my day.

Really, could you be any luckier? I didn't think so.

And neither could I. I spent the day with my kids, doing pretty much nothing. Well, at least nothing that the eye could easily see. But quite frankly, it was just what we all needed on this sick-children-snowy-weather-pajama-loving day.

Awesome.

Name this emotion

Although, I hope you aren't looking for an answer. I frankly have no idea.

Makes me so happy

And so it begins

Cleaning, bills and motherhood

One of our kids' chores everyday is to clean their room. And I may be alone on this one, but sometimes (read very often) my kids do not clean their rooms before they head off to school in the morning. And it drives me a little more than crazy. I have begged and bribed and threatened--you name it, we have tried it. And finally I decided no more of pushing it, it had to come from them. And if it wasn't going to come from them, then why couldn't it be a financial benefit to me?

I know what you are all thinking, "Goodness she is a fabulous mother."

Thanks.

So last week I let the kids know that yes, I cannot stand the rooms to be dirty all day and so if they left their room less than lovely when they went to school, I would clean it for them. They looked like Christmas had just showed up early.

"For a fee," I added.

They looked like their next round of malaria shots had come early. (Okay, my kids don't have malaria and don't need shots, but that is indeed what their faces looked like.)

I told them that if their left their room messy, or parts of it messy, our home cleaning service would gladly pick it up and would then be leaving them a bill on their bed. It was due the same day they received it and the interest on these bills was astronomical, so they might want to skip on late payments.

The next morning when they all went to school, their rooms were clean. Rock on. "I hope this lasts forever," my happy heart sung. And it did. Or until the next morning.

Off they went to school and while their rooms were not completely messy, there a few things left out or thrown on the floor. I could not have been more happy to put those things away for them--I might have even whistled a little. And on their bed, they were gifted one of the bills you see pictured below. But with an amount and a due date written in. I am now the proud owner of seventy-seven more cents (okay, so I didn't clean up much of a mess obviously).

And today, three clean rooms. Happy day. My heart is going to skip on the singing though, as least for 24 hours or something.

Oh, and for those of you thinking I am mean. You are correct. I am. But this mean lady has kids who are cleaning their room...for the most part. And when they don't, she takes their money.

What isn't lovely about this situation?

Brought tears to my eyes

With Christmas music playing in the background, my Matt turned to me and asked,

"Mom, did you know that Mary and Joseph are so, so lucky?"

"Why is that Matt?"

"Because they got to have Jesus as their baby."

Yes indeed, sweet boy.

Yes indeed.

Annie's special day

Our sweet Annie was baptized one week ago this past Sunday and it was such a wonderful
experience for her and for all of us. We were so grateful to be able to have her baptism in
Virginia with many family members and friends. We are so thankful they would come from
near, and not so near, to be with us and to support her. Annie was very prepared and very
excited. She truly has such an amazing and pure spirit about her and being her mom
is my absolute privilege. Her baptism will remain one of my happiest memories ever.

We sure love you sweet Annie!

Looking for a photo or two?

Well my friends, you have come to the right place. Because I might have just posted approximately 50 photos from our vacation for your viewing enjoyment. You're welcome.

Okay, I know that is quite out of control, but it is down from 1500 photos I took. And they are super cute. And we all look quite lovely and seem to be enjoying ourselves. And I didn't want to forget a single moment. Am I justifying this at all in anyone's mind? I didn't think so.

But just in case you are interested, here is a super quick summary to go along with the photos below.

My absolute favorite photo of our vacation
Not sure this one needs an explanation. But when did that ever stop me? There were so many people at the Lincoln Memorial that day. It was insane. And as I set the kids up for this shot, the people were everywhere around them. And then for five brief seconds, everybody disappeared. And my camera-clicking finger went crazy. I know it is my pride speaking, but c'mon, please tell me it is as darling/cool/awesome/amazing/ingenious as I think it is. Why thank you.

Nice place, that New Jersey
In case you are geographically challenged (like myself), you might not realize you have to pass through New Jersey to get from Massachusetts to Virginia. But I can't in good conscience recommend you do it after our experience. The first two photos were taken (yes, by me and yes, I know I need help with my camera obsession) on our way through New Jersey. Those little shiny guns you see were pointed at a very, large black van. We have no idea why, but it was something to behold. We were just extra grateful to be on the other side of the highway, instead of behind it. I can't even imagine how long those people waited. And the second two photos are on the way home. Once again, we were lucky to be opposite the fiery mess. My advice...skip on New Jersey if you can.

The Memorials
DC is amazing! And while it was freezing cold on the day we visited the memorials, the weather made for some incredible photos. I am so grateful for our country and those that have served it with such humble, good, courageous hearts.

Thanksgiving Day
Williamsburg truly is the perfect place to spend Thanksgiving. And I'm pretty sure it is the perfect place to take pictures. Have you seen better lighting? I don't think I have. I love all of the photos, but the ones of Ben and his darling little cousin his age make me laugh every time I look at them. We didn't realize both boys had the same shirt and definitely didn't dress them alike on purpose. Too cute for sure.

Thanksgiving 5K
Jacob, his dad, his mom and his two brothers ran the Blue Talon Bistro Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. And while I was a bit bitter about missing it (blasted fractured femur of mine), I still loved watching them all run. How cool are Jacob's parents? Really cool is the answer. And just so you know, all five running times were mighty impressive too.

Williamsburg
Again, Williamsburg really is as amazing as everyone says. It almost seems unreal it is that wonderful. The sunsets are gorgeous, the parades are exciting, it is just plainwonderful . I loved this place.

The Smithsonian Museums
Washington, DC is a mighty cool place. Have I mentioned that before? It was so fun to visit several of the museums and see some amazing things. And being with Jacob's family just made it that much better. Our kids loved being with their cousins and spending time with grandparents, uncles and an aunt was wonderful!

Okay, so much for my short summary. But before I sign off, I just have to thank Jacob's parents so very much for making the trip possible. It was a wonderful, wonderful week and we were so grateful to be with some of Jacob's family for Thanksgiving (even though we missed everyone else a lot!). And thanks to Jacob's brothers and Taunya and those cute nieces and nephew of ours. We miss them already and think they should move next door.

Alrighty then, I really am finished. At least for today. Hope your Thanksgiving was as happy as ours!

My absolute favorite photo of our vacation

Nice place, that New Jersey

The Memorials

Thanksgiving Day