Christmas Memories

Happy Holidays!

Sigh (of relief and sadness). Christmas is over. I managed to finish my annual Christmas project. Guidelines for this project include: 1. Waiting until 2 weeks before Christmas 2. Using a sewing machine that only sees use once a year 3. Attempting things that I have no experience with. 4.Thinking it will only take a few hours to complete.
This year I chose to do quiet books for my niece and nephew.
It always starts with an innocent desire to create something fabulous and to save a little money. By the time the dust settles I have usually spent way more money than I intended plus acquired a lot of supplies like fabric, eyelets, special tools and ribbons that I will probably never use again.
My sewing machine (on loan from my mom), was actually pretty friendly this year. Dare I say that I enjoyed sewing this year? I only ended up with one unpicking scissor stab wound, and it didn't bleed all over either.
The books turned out well! I found my patterns (on sale) at ldsquietbooks.com
They are so cute! I will make one for Mckenzie for her birthday. I'm going to have a party, because the lady who makes the patterns lives in West Jordan and that way I won't have to drive down there to get them or mail in an order form.
Christmas was so fun! The swingset was a hit (despite the foot of snow sitting on top of it), and Mckenzie pretended that she hadn't seen it back there yet. Hannah loved her wrapping paper and some of the other things she got. Mike was pleased with his new clothes and Xbox. Mike always buys me exactly what I want! Keyless entry to the car, which might take a few days (literally) to install, running clothes, which might get some use, and a new band for my wedding ring! How sweet. I have to say that he definitely out-presented me this year.
My brother Jared is visiting from Nebraska and it was really fun to have him there on Christmas morning. It was also nice to have someone else taking pictures. I definitely recommend hiring a photographer to be there Christmas morning. :)
I think Mckenzie's favorite thing was a shirt from Uncle Jared-- "Mom, I am so happy I got a new shirt!" She also really loved Hannah's toys. Go figure. It was a good day and we were more than spoiled! We love our family and were glad that we got to see most of them! (see slideshow coming soon)

Preschool Santas

We had our Christmas party on Tuesday, and once again my photography skills dominated.

Not really, but look at these cute kids. They may not all be looking, but at least they are all in the picture. I've posted most the pictures I took, not because they are particularly fabulous, but so everyone's mom can see them.

We decorated sugar cookies, made a little craft and exchanged presents. Mckenzie is delighted with her new chef hat. She likes to wear it while we make cookies. Mmm. . . cookies.

Cuteness at last, or something like it anyway

I did it! I changed the background without deleting things, thanks to Holly's fabulous and easy to use instructions!
Hooray! Thanks Holly.

Non-cuteness

I am not smart enough to figure out how to get a cute background with a cute header on this blog. I never was good at crafting cute tangible things and now it spills over into the electronic world. Sigh. I am doomed to be non-cute.
In my effort to be cute I deleted my quotes and my slideshow and my friends list and my counter. Farewell to them. I will repost them soon, but I feel so demoralized. I always feel like that when I delete something.
It could be worse. We are all at least feeling a little bit less snotty. Mike's superior immune system has triumphed once again (you'll have to ask him about his superiority in matters of disease), and he defied my prediction of becoming ill. Mckenzie is feeling better-- well enough to tell me that it is fruit that hurts her tummy and she needs to eat more candy canes and cookies to help her feel better, and Hannah is doing much better too. I debated taking her to the doctor, but it always seems so futile. Whenever I take one of the girls to the doctor it seems as if they are just on the verge of getting sick (read: not sick enough for the doctor to do anything yet) or almost better. I can't seem to hit the window of sickness. So there goes a co-pay (and at least 2 hours of my time).
Anyway, Hannah seems to be just fine now, despite the fact that she is trying to get a first tooth. I think teething is a design flaw in babies. If I make it to Heaven, this will be on my list of discussions to have with God. (Not to mention the special women-only design flaws and mosquito bites)
Onward and upward. Christmas is coming! Mike is at the store right now buying Worcestshire Sauce (I can't spell things I can't pronounce) so we can make Chex mix for our neighbor presents. I had a grand vision of making fudge and caramel for them too, but now I will probably end up just making it for myself and eating it all by myself in one day because I am lazy and hungry. This is a bad combination.
Here is my debate about chex mix and the labels we put on our little gifts. As funny as it is I have thought about this awhile. Can I say, "Merry Chex-mas" or will I be sending the wrong impression? You know, the whole "taking the Christ out of Christmas" debate. These are the sorts of thoughts that occupy my mind.

I think I will just not put any sort of tag. I will just hand it to them and say, "Merry Christmas," this will simplify my life in many ways. (This reminds me of a Jack Handy deep thought, "Instead of a bicycle built for two, what about no kinds of bicycles at all for anybody anymore? There, are you happy now?")

Tis the season to be sick

Poor little family. Everyone is sick to one degree or another. My prediction is that Mike will get the worst of it due to his two all-nighters this week, but Hannah is pretty croupy right now. Croup scares me very much with little Hannah. Kenzie and I have a touch of it, but we can clear our throats or cough violently and disgustingly. Hannah just cries when she coughs, and they're these sad, pitiful non-productive coughs. My parents bought a humidifier for her room and last night I ran the hot water until the bathroom was a steam room. It didn't seem to help much. During the day she is still happy though. Such a happy child.

Mike is taking a nap along with the girls right now. I don't think an earthquake could wake him. We are sooooooo happy finals are over. Mike really did spend the night at the school last night. It was awful, and to keep from angry outburts that's all I'm going to say about it.

We celebrated him being done with a sleepy lunch of our favorite sandwiches, subs with Laughing Cow cheese spread. If you haven't had Laughing Cow cheese on a sandwich, you should try it. Mmmmm. Mike will go back to work on Monday, and I will continue to work 24/7 because being a mom never ends. I should stop writing before I go into some feminist rant about the discrepancies in our culture. Okay. I'm done.

I'll end with these cute pictures of Hannah helping me do the laundry (yeah, my bed is not made) and learning to be a dentist, and of Kenzie playing with her best friend and cousin, Kandelyn.

Some people think it's funny, but it's snot

Hannah has been experiencing Niagra falls through her poor little nose these last few days. I will spare you an actual picture, but I'm sure your imagination can do the trick.

This is the first time in her life she has been sick. Poor girl. Since it's been awhile since I've had a sick baby, I pulled out my biblical-sized "What To Expect the First Year" book and looked up helpful remedies and suggestions for what to do.

Here is a picture from my book. The blindly optimistic text underneath it reads, "For a baby who's having trouble breathing through a stuffy nose, saline drops to soften the mucus and aspiration to suction it out will bring welcome relief."

I like this book. I think it is very helpful, and I like the idea of bringing "welcome relief" to my child, so I decided to try aspirating Hannah's nose.

If I were drawing pictures for this book the baby would be flailing, bright red and screaming, while a bulb-sucky-thing (that's what we call them around here) is accidentally jabbing her cheek or even an eye.

The book failed to mention that suctioning a baby's nose causes them to cry even harder, producing more snot than you managed to suck out, if you managed to find her nose, so it's pretty much futile. I don't remember Kenzie hating it so much. Wait, maybe I've just suppressed those memories.

Poor Hannah.