It's a freaking Christmas miracle!

See the new family picture up there? That my friends, is a modern day Christmas miracle. 

My family loathes, hates, despises family pictures.  Why? Oh because I turn into She-Devil when photographing my own family.  I can get awesome pictures of anyone else's families. Any ones! Children? Done and DONE!  My own family? Night. mare.  I usually have some grand "idea" of how I want it to look.  That "idea" almost never works.(It's actually never worked on family pictures)  Someone is always closing their eyes, or looking the wrong way(SQUIRREL!) or pulling that one kind of smile.  You know.....the one where you wonder if they are getting their picture taken OR have unbelievable gas pains.  Paul will have his eyes closed 5 out of 10 pictures.  Allie stays so posed that she begins to look like a mannequin(bless her heart...she just wants the treat that I have bribed her with), Easton is just annoyed....and it shows and Olivia refuses to look at the camera.  It usually ends with someone in tears, swear words and silence-as in no one is speaking to anyone. hahahaha...


So the fact that we got ONE SINGLE SOLITARY picture makes me so happy.  We hopped out of the car-I gave my mom the camera and said, "GO!"  and it worked.  Holy crap....it worked! I had to use photo shop to remove about 25 piles of horse poop..welcome to the country..but it worked! I like this picture. I don't hate this picture. No children were harmed, no violence was used and swear words were kept to a minimum.(ha..)  White Family picture 2012.  Don't expect another one until 2014. ;)



PS-I'm wearing heels and Allie is not. She is going to pass me up anyday now. We can almost share shoes.  BONUS! No more guilt for expensive shoes-just divide by two.  Not so expensive anymore! haha...

The music in her

I can NOT believe that Christmas is next week.  Today I bought my very last gift. Can I get a Hallelujah?! I am done, wrapped and ready......and broke. I'm not walking into another store until after Christmas.  Really.  Well, okay I might go for milk and that kind of stuff-but nothing else.


Allie's TaVaci concert was this last weekend.  She sang the solo "I'll be home for Christmas"
and did such a good job! The fact that she can stand in front of a crowded auditorium and belt out a song boggles my mind.  I. could. NEVER.  EVER.  I went and recorded the dress rehearsal because I wanted to be able to watch the real thing without worrying about recording.  We were so proud of her! We kind of all bawled like babies.  haha...

I figured out that this is our 7th year in Tavaci.  I put her in when she was four years old.  She was once  one of the teeny-tiny ones on the front row and now she is in the back with the "big" kids and singing solos. I feel like it went by so fast! I can still see her and her short curly hair prancing across the stage in her red and white dress.:( 
  I'm so glad there is something like TaVaci around here....so many places don't have performing/singing groups and she has loved it from day one.  I really and truly believe that it is part of the reason we were supposed to live here.  The first concert we ever went to was like a baptism by fire for me and Paul.  We never did any kind of singing group when we were growing up and it was unlike anything we had ever experienced. haha. It was like watching the primary program on crack. Think jazz hands and sequins.;)...but now seven years later, it just wouldn't be Christmas without the TaVaci concert.  It has become part of our  me and Allie's Christmas tradition and hooray for us....Olivia starts next year. HAHA...(Paul wouldn't say "hooray" he might use another "word") I'm happy she found something she loves doing so much and because she loves it, I love it.

"Music can help you draw closer to your Heavenly Father. It can be used to educate,edify, inspire and unite" ~President Thomas S. Monson

Then we had her piano recital.  Piano, piano, piano.  Most days I would tell you to NEVER under any circumstances put your child in piano.  NEVER.....and then I go to the recital and come out of there with my feet not touching the ground and feeling like every single bit/money/yelling/crying/nagging is worth it.  And it is.  100% worth it.  Tonight I would tell you to absolutely put your child in music lessons.  Tonight I would.  Also, I would tell you to find a teacher like Brienna.  Oh. My. WORD!  I have never in all my life seen someone play the piano like she does.  I cry every single time she performs for us at the recitals.  She is sweet, Allie loves her and she is good.  My biggest fear is that some amazing man will sweep her away from here.  I will die.  I will drive at least an hour to have her keep teaching Allie.  Seriously.  I love the kind of people that Allie is surrounded by in her love of music and there is a bond between people that love the arts. I have seen it-I'm not part of it-but I have seen it and I couldn't ask for better people for her to look up to.

*All comments were written post-piano recital high.  I reserve the right to retract most of these statements tomorrow afternoon when I have to make her practice. ;)

A Birthday & a Baptism

I'm going to go on record and state: "I don't like doing birthday parties."  Like....at all.  BUT-they are a part of childhood and so I step up to the duty when they are 5 years old, 8 years old....and maybe 12?(still trying to decide on that.) If you are one of those people that have a party every year, then my hat is off to you.  Also, if you are one of those people that throw a party for your six year old that is nicer than my wedding was....well, you have more money and time and energy than I do.  Again....hats off. ;)

So Easton turned eight and since his birthday was ON Thanksgiving this year...we had the party the Saturday before.

Here is the recap: eight little boys, my house, party games, a pinata, birthday cake and LOUD.  Very, very, very.....LOUD.  It was awesome.:)  It was......exhausting.  At the end of two hours I turned to Paul and said, "I need a cigarette"  and I was kidding.  Kind of.  ha.....but really, I think he had a fun time, so I am calling this one a success. 
Later that night he started to get sick-As in a fever of 103 sick.  All I could think is that I had accidentally infected most of the neighborhood. It was BAD. I've never seen Easton sick like this before.  It lasted over a week...he spent several days out of school and laying on our couch. He was sick on Thanksgiving and his birthday and he was NOT happy about that. ("This is the worst birthday ever! This sucks! Who is sick on their birthday?!")  It was miserable.  10 days and one round of amoxicillin later-he was back to normal. 

Anyway....here are some pictures from his birthday:

Cheap, easy......and he loved it. Even Paul was impressed. Sure beats paying $20 for a grocery store cake.

Set up and waiting on the guests.  Now looking back at these pictures he does appear to be very pale.:/

Pizza!

 

The flour tower game....always a hit!

 I have video of the pinata.  I swear....it's a miracle someone didn't get their head bashed in.  It was crazy!

The birthday gang!

 

Paul decided to give him his gift early.  The next few pictures speak for themselves. haha...

 

Then it was on to the baptism. This is the one and only picture I got all day. ha.....and this is courtesy of Paul's cell phone.  Oops.  It was an awesome day though. Both of his grandma's talked,Allie sang, both grandpa's were witnesses and we all got together at our house for lunch when it was over.  I think he felt special and I think he felt the occasion was special.  Again, I'm calling this one a success.

 

Just for fun, I thought I would put up Easton and Allie's baptism pictures together.  Man....I love their faces.  You can't tell they are related or anything, right? ha..;) 

 

 

A tale of sell.ksl

The last few weeks have felt like someone turned up the switch on life to high. We have all been running around like crazy-barely seeing each other, eating quickly, getting here and there at this time and that.  I hate when its like that....hate it!....and this weekend seemed to be the grand finale of choas.  Honestly, last night me and Paul collapsed into bed and just stared at the ceiling...debating if it was feasible for him to take the day off work.  It wasn't. Ha...

We had Easton's baptism(post to come), his birthday the week before(post to come) and all that those events entail....and somewhere in the middle of all of this, Paul became determined to find us a new bedroom set.  We have been sleeping on my bedroom set and matress(a queen..or full...we are still debating it.  Yes, we can't tell. ha...) from high school.  I never thought it was terrible...I really didn't...but I am also 5'2 and could easily sleep in a twin bed, but my six foot husband has been cramped and is now getting old(ha!) and needs more "support" hahaha.....

So-he found this set on ksl.com-the girl was going through a divorce and was basically just getting rid of everything in her house.(yay for divorce! oops....I mean, how sad.) I should pause here to tell everyone how I feel about ksl.com:
  I hate it.  ALMOST as much as I hate ebay.  Call me a snob.....elitist......(although I'm pretty sure if I were those things...I wouldn't have tolerated my old bedroom set for so long. Touche?) Anyway, I don't like it. I hate that you have to call, THEN go see it, THEN decide, THEN go back and THEN(and this is the worst part)YOU HAVE TO MOVE IT YOURSELF.
Also, I'm pretty picky(as in I like things immaculate, no dings, dents, chips.....alright, that sounded a little bratty-I'll give you that one) and usually people's ideas of "barely used!", "like brand-new!" "Spotless!" is not my idea of those things.  Not. at. all. I must interject here to tell a story about when we were house hunting:  Our realtor told us about a "beautiful,immaculate,like-new" home that we had to see-just HAD to see it!  That very house had a un-flushed turd in the toilet and boogers on the wall in the kids room.  (did you like that visual?) 


Wait...Where was I?


Oh!--So you get the idea. I like RC Willey.  I like showrooms. I like delivery men.  I. like. brand. new! (again with the snotty...)

The problem?....Our budget doesn't like brand new.  It likes boogers on the wall.

SO-sell.ksl.com it was.  Paul goes and looks at it. Says it's perfect(I actually trust him when he says this.  He's lived with me for 13 years people...he KNOWS what he is dealing with.)
The problem? He had to go pick it up right after Easton's baptism.  While he was gone, I had to tear apart our bedroom. I had 48 Wal-mart sacks full of underwear,socks and swimsuits.  At some point I wondered if it would have been easier to move.  (ps-for someone who claims to be SO clean...you should have seen the dust under my bed. Dust bunnies doesn't do it justice......Dust T-Rex's.....Rex's?)

Anyway....THEN-Paul finds new tires on ksl(wait? you can buy tires on there? apparently...) and he needs new tires on his car. He needs to register his car and needs new tires for the inspection(I should stop here and tell you to never buy new cars this time of year. Two registrations due...in December. Ow.)  So he buys tires. Changes his tires.  Now his old ones are for sale-in my garage  (wait....you can sell old tires on ksl? apparently..)

We decide to give Allie our old matress and box-springs because it's newer than the one she is sleeping on.  We haul her old matress and boxsprings out of her room(in the basement) and then take down our old ones. Once they are both in the room, we realize.....It doesn't fit.  Her bed is a Full.....and that means ours was a Queen. (that settled that one...)  So back up the stairs with our old matress and boxsprings and then back down with her old mattress and boxsprings.

I'm not going to lie.  I said some swear words.

By Sunday night, this is what our garage looked like.

HAHAHAHAHA......and it is ALL still there.  Do you want any of it? Well, go to sell.ksl.com and you can buy it! hahaha.....it's like the great circle of junk.

....and HERE is the new bedroom set:

and guess what? I LOVE IT!-it was knick/dent/scratch free AND it's a California King-so the old man's back is "supported" and I can assume my "sideways, fetal position" and touch no one. (that was the first time I've ever referred to Paul as "old man"...I like it.)


So the moral of this story is........well, there isnt' one, except for maybe I am now a converted fan of sell.ksl.com......but still not of boogers on the wall. ;)