2 Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas Eve morning we took the girls to the Mall to see Santa Clause. Yes, it was totally last min! It turned out to be a good thing, though. We went first thing in the morning and the mall was almost empty. There wasn't anyone in line, so we got to walk right up to the big guy...who was asleep & his hat was falling off. He was a mellow Santa & didn't say much - not that our girls would have been intimidated. We plopped the girls on his lap, got this scrapbook shot, & went home. Mission accomplished.

Christmas Eve evening was spent at Nate's parent's home. We ate our traditional Papa Murphy's pizza & played the card game 'Can Field'.

The teenage cousins couldn't get enough of Kylie's "baby bird" grins. I think they took about 1,000 photos of her.

Nate's older brother, Layne, slipped this sweatshirt on Allie while we weren't watching. He had it made especially for her. The front simply says "BUSINESS". The back boasts "NO DEAL TOO BIG TOO SEAL". We know that Layne didn't have any help on this one; just check the spelling.

A week before, I picked up this little dinosaur pinata for the kids. Allie was so excited to get the candy, bouncy balls, & toy necklaces she helped pick to stuff it with, but when it came time to begin the festivities, Allie (youngest competitor designated to go first) refused to hit poor dino. We'd been explaining all week about breaking him open to get the goodies, but when came down to it, she just couldn't do it. She just laid down her weapon of war & backed away. We had to calm her as tears flowed when the cousins took their turns. I just prayed for a quick ending, but that wasn't to come. Not only was dino a strong guy, but Nate & Layne wraped him in DUCT TAPE (to keep the innards from popping out)! The little kids weren't having any luck, so we let the teenagers take turns...still no sign of damage. Nate even had a go, but the stick broke & the end hit his brother Paul in the foot. Finally, uncle Layne got out his pocket knife, which upset poor Allie further. The worst came when the head finally gave way & went flying across the garage. Allie wailed! There was no stopping the tears now. Aunt Julie scooped her up to give her some therapy.

Finally dino gave way & the treats spilled on the floor. Allie wipe her tears & ran to get her share of the good. Whooh! For days she recited what had happened to the "pin-in-ah-ta," always ending with "get another one...at the grocery store." Well, we will see about that.

Note to self: Smarties are NOT good fill for a pinata. Too delicate. Next time we'll go for batter resistant treats, like tootsie rolls.

5 Christmas Craft

Today my sister Abby came up from Clearfield to spend the day. Her girls are each a year older than mine & boy did they have a good time together. They were so well behaved! Abby & I were able to finish our goal: create a set of paper dolls for quiet play at church.


We used my new Cricut cartridge & made them extra sturdy with many layers. Next we will laminate them & add velcro so that the girls can change their clothes. What a fun project.

4 Christmas Traditions

Saturday: Temple Square LIGHTS
Both Nate & I have wonderful childhood memories of the lights on Temple Square. So, this year we decided to take our little family. We spent the day in Layton visiting Nate's bother, Troy, and went to dinner with him and his date. I have to comment that Allie was very well behaved in the upscale restaurant (minus falling off her booster chair & who can blame her for crying then). Nate found us a great parking spot in downtown Salt Lake City which is amazing considering that it was the weekend before the big day, the Jazz were playing at home, & the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was in town. I am thankful it was a balmy 32 degrees since I've been there when its been much colder. Both girls were big eyes the whole time. Nate & I reminisced how EVERY tree was lite & there was 6 feet of snow when we were kids. It was so fun to watch the girls take it in. I wonder what they will remember?
Before we left, we stopped by the North visitor's center to view the Christus. I was explaining to Allie that it was a statue of Jesus & how much he loved her, when she made two comments. First, she noticed that his feet were bare (cute), but second, she proclaimed that his hands were 'dirty', referring to the nail prints. I have been thinking about this comment quite a bit today. I am so greatful for my little angles and how pure they are. I hope that we can we the teach them & raise them the way they deserve.





Friday: Ward Christmas party
As soon as we walked in to the stake center, Allie took off took off in search of her best friend, "Lou"(aka Alysa). After we found a place to sit & got Kylie out of the infant carrier, I went to see what Allie was up to. Even from the vantage point of the stage, it took me several minutes to spy her. A neighbor was trying to console her. Poor girl couldn't find her family. It was nice though, since she stayed right by us for most of the night. By the end of the evening, she was back to her "business" self. I caught this great candid shot of her getting into the leftover salads during the nativity program. When she saw I'd gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she proclaimed, "Mommy, I LOVE lettuce." I just had to laugh, since just the opposite is true. On the right is a picture of Kylie being held by Kendall, one of our favorite gals. It was Kendall we called at 4am to come watch Allie when Kylie was born (see May posts). We feel so blessed to have so many great ward members. They truly are our family.


(Allie & Lou eating popcorn - a new favorite)

3 Grades are in...time to play, FINALLY!

I L-O-V-E my Cricut!

I saved up & got it for my birthday last year & haven't regretted it one bit. If you're in the dark, it is a machine that cuts out letters and shapes. You can buy all sorts of font or shape cartridges for scrapbooking, cardmaking, ect. Check out the webpage for more info.

I pre-ordered the coolest cartridge about 3 months ago:
"Paper Doll Dress-Up"
& it came a week ago, but I didn't let myself open it till tonight...after I got all my final grades enter for the USU Stat 1040 class I've been teaching. It took a great deal of self-control, the fact that I waited so long impresses myself! Way to go me!


So tonight Allie & I made 3 little dollies. They aren't very impressive, but it was fun.
What do you think?

I can see that this cartridge is going to be one of my favorites! It has so many extras. I'm hoping to make a set & laminate them for Allie to play with. I might have to wait till after Christmas.

5 A is for Allie

I found a moment today to add the initials to our stockings. What do you think?

Allie loves to have her hair done nowadays. She comes to me requesting 'curlies' in her hair. Poor girl doesn't have a curl on her head. Yesterday I even tried hot-set, steam rollers. Not successful, but it was fun anyway.

6 The stockings are hung

Between Saturday's Jazz game (poor Jazz) & Sunday afternoon, I crocheted 3 more stockings. I was getting fairly dizzy by the time I was finishing up the last one, but I'm glad I pushed through the pain (LOL) & got them done. I LOVE how they turned out; nice & hand-made!

Questions #1) Do I add an initial to each stocking to designate who they are for? It would be easy, but Santa is not filling these (I don't want them to get stretched out). Yes, we have other stockings for gifts.
Question #2) Do I go ahead and make a few extra for future additions to our family? NO! We are not expecting, but I'm fairly sure we will have at least one more kid & I'd like them to all match.

5 I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Last night a wonderful winter storm rolled in. We got a good deal of rain, but woke up to several inches of fluffy snow. After a yummy waffle breakfast, we dawned the snow-wear & the whole family ventured out. BOTH girls loved it. I got my morning workout pulling them around in the little sled. No treadmill for me today!

Here is our snowman: "Frosty," a.k.a Frosting.
Allie was business, as usual & helped Nate scrape the skiff of snow off the driveway.

3 Tender Moment

This morning Kylie fussed at 5am. Unable to sleep after getting up to give her the pacifier & tuck her back in, I got up to work on writing the final for my Stat 1040 class. (I'm not letting myself play with my new toy that came in the mail 2 days ago -the Cricut Paper Doll Cartridge- till I finish the exam I'm giving next Wednesday.) Anyway, while sitting at the kitchen table two hours later, I heard Kylie start to fuss again. Just as I was about to get up to check on her I heard the sweetest thing to my mommy ears. Allie was talking to her; "it's 'K' Ky-wee". So sweet! Allie kept chatting with her for a bit before coming to get me. Ah, I love witnessing my girls interact.

2 Play Date

Allie has a best buddy right next door! Alyssa Buttars (a.k.a. Lou) is just a few weeks younger & they are like two peas in a pod. Every Monday we have a play date here & Wednesday they go to her house. I don't know who loves it more; the girls or the mommies. Here is the craft that she came home with today.

4 Old Navy anyone?

I can't take credit for finding this...but I sure am going to try to use it!
Just click HERE for a printable coupon for 20% off in-store purchases through Dec 6th!

0 Merry Christmas, Darling

I took this great footage at Thanksgiving.

"Merry Christmas, Darling", by the Carpenters, is my parent's song.



My Mom left this comment, so I added this picture:

"Hey Sarah, thanks for the memories. I was just thinking about the dance on thanksgiving morning. Remember how Bailey stood watching until finally, with tears in her eyes, she asked to dance between us? I don't know if she was moved by the poignant sight of her aged grandparents still dancing after all these years or if she thought she could keep us from falling and breaking a hip. Either way, Merry Christmas Darlings."
-Martha

3 Sunday afternoon project

My sister, Maren, made me this great sign at her super Saturday craft day (she designed it, too). I LOVE IT! But...our old Christmas stockings are bright red, store bought ones that clashed terribly with it. So, this afternoon I tried out a crochet pattern I found on the internet using some leftover yarn. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I think that this week I'll have to pick up a few more colors to make some coordinating ones for the rest of the family. Ah, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is all the crafting projects.

2 Dolls that I love

LI'L ME DOLLS


I've been trying to collect these very hard to find dolls for years. My sisters & I each had one. I ended up with my red head & Maren's brunette, plus some clothes. Last year I was finally able to buy a copy of Abby's lost blond on E-bay. I'm still looking for more; they are very hard to come by. They were called "Li'l Me Dolls" & were only sold for a year or two in the 1980's. Have you seen them or played with them? Click HERE and HERE and HERE to read more.
(Note: the pictures above came from the links above. I will have to take a picture of my collection)

SNAP 'N STYLE DOLLS


It was last year during my weekly search for Me Dolls that I ran across the "Snap 'n Style Dolls" that Santa brought to Allie & all her cousins last year. They are a similar concept to the Me Dolls, but larger. Allie now has the 4 dolls above & several other outfits. I bought the snowboarding outfit for me, but it has turned out to be her favorite. Last week I was lucky enough to get one of the newest additions, the princess (below right), which sold out in one day. I'm sure Allie will love it Christmas morning! She plays with them everyday & has to sleep with all 4 of hers every night. The fairy (below left) is not available, yet.

2 2-weeks worth of posts in one!

We had our first snow a few days ago, but it melted. We were all so excited to see a skiff of fresh powder on the lawn this morning. Allie had to get all bundled up AGAIN to go out to play.

After returning from Thanksgiving, we decorated the tree. After some time in COLD Idaho & Black Friday shopping it is starting to feel like the HOLIDAYS are really approaching.

We spent a wonderful long weekend in "ICEBURG" (i.e. Rexburg) with my family. Everyone was there: my parents, all 3 of my sisters & their respective spouses, & all SEVEN granddaughters. What a gaggle of girls! My sister Maren made these great turkey hats. Allie is still wearing hers. See the Jemmett family blog for more cool pics.

I turned the BIG THREE - O last month. Nate got me a neat STONE BAKING DISH (in which I made my own cake) and a cool STIR PITCHER. He is such an awesome gift giver. I never tell him what I want, and yet he always takes my breath away.

Allie loves to sit on the potty, flushing, washing, & wearing panties, but she hasn't been much for actually 'going' in the potty. She did once about a week ago - HURRAY! So, we went to town for an ice cream...her choice! I was tickled & thought that a long Thanksgiving weekend at Grandma's with all the "big" girl cousins would be just the ticket to getting her trained. No such luck. After wearing the panties proudly for 15 min, she asked for her diaper back.