December 2010

December has been a very busy month over at our house. I love Christmas time and really wish that we could have fit even more into this month. Here are some pictures of a few of our "events":

December 4: We had our first garage sale. It was a lot of work and we had been hoping to do it two weeks sooner but because of the weather we moved it back. I am glad we did because the weather was great and it went really well. We earned just over $600 and I was able to replace my old green couch with the one I am sitting on. I've never held such a fat wad of cash in my hand so I made Justin take a picture of me with it sitting one my new couch. December 4: Ridding the Boulder City Santa Train with Daddy. The girls loved ridding the train and seeing Santa but it seems they were the most excited to see Mrs. Claus (and getting candy canes)

December 7: Buying and Decoration the Christmas Tree. I almost got a fake tree this year but just couldn't find one I loved and that's the only way I'll move to a fake tree. We did go a little smaller this year than my traditional gigantic tree which is sad for me but since we aren't going to be home for actual Christmas day this year we decided to save a little extra money and only get a 6 1/2 foot tree instead of a 9 foot one this year. I miss having a big tree but ours still looks pretty. They girls had a wonderful decoration it. I didn't even have to readjust a whole lot because they are getting big enough to understand spreading out the ornaments : )

December 9: Getting my new fireplace entertainment center. I love it!

December 11: Henderson Winter Fest

I started taking clogging again in September with Brenda Larsen and LOVE it! Both Brenda's Dancers and Miss Lori's dancer preformed at the winter fest this day so we all got to be on stage. : )

We rode lots of the free rides at winter fest but the ride the girls wanted most they called the bubble ride. It was literally this giant bubbles you are in. My only way to describe it is its like being in a hamster ball but playing bumper cars. We had to wait for 2 hours to ride this but the girls LOVED it!

December 13: Dance Recital @ the Whitney Ranch Rec Center. We always have to pose in front of this tree : ) Alexis and Rylee have been taking dance together since they were 3! We were a little sad that Savannah wasn't here this night too. We sure miss Savannah, having her live in Alabama is hard for Alexis.


December 18: Piano Recital @ the Church. I don't really like this picture of me but oh well. I was really proud of Alexis this month and how far her piano playing has come. This is us playing Away in a Manger as a duet. I was really proud of all my piano students this day. They all did a fantastic job!


Events with no picture : (

December 5: Going to see the First Presidency Christmas devotional at the stake center. The girls were so excited to see the prophet and listen to Christmas music. When we got to the stake center Ariana fell asleep in 10 minutes but Alexis stayed awake and was very aware of everything and had tons of questions and comments. Sorry anyone who sat by us but I was very impressed with her listening skills this night and her desire to hear and understand the prophet.

December 8: Miss Melissa's Jazz Recital- Alexis had a total melt down because she didn't know what to do during the free dance portion of her dance. I felt so bad for her. She does REALLY well with structure but take it away and add in an audience and she gets very unsure of herself.

December 18: Preschool Christmas Party. Once again a fun crazy messy party with lots of singing, gift exchange, and cookie decorating. I think this year was actually a little less messy than past years. Justin also was absolutely wonderful and made the downstairs sparkle both before and after the party. Thank you so much sweetie it looked beautiful.

Alexis is keeping a running total of how many candy canes she has been given this month I think we are up to 10 and its only December 20.

More to Come... : )

Bossy

I had to run a lot of errands tonight. While we were out I kept calling to Ariana and Alexis "come on, this way." Ariana apparently had enough of this by the time we made it to Wal-Mart and yelled at me in the middle of the store, "You are SOO BOSSY! You are ALWAYS bossy!" To continue on that idea in the car she told me she was tired of me always getting to be the boss and she wanted to be the boss now. I informed her that when she was a mom she could be the boss but for now I am. (I guess some lines really do get to be used generation after generation)

Update

It's been forever since I've posted. I'm not sure where Justin has been downloading all our pictures to so sorry for the lack of them. Things are really good here. Justin just barely got "access" (a government word for permission) to start working on some of his new companies top secret projects in CA. Don't ask I have no idea what it is and he can't tell me. But since its taken since July to get this "access" he's been home 24/7. Its been fun having Daddy home all the this time and I already miss him since until his NV access comes he has to work in Palmdale, CA. While he's been home we've gotten a few trees planted in the back yard, new planter beds, crown molding, chair rail and paint downstairs. Plus its been so much easier to deal with my crazy schedule with him here to help. He helps me set up and clean up preschool, keep an eye on the girls during piano lessons, pick Alexis up from school, go on family outings and just be here. Its been wonderful.

Crazy Hair

I've really gotten into making flowers and bows for the girls hair lately which means that I

have been MUCH better at actually doing their hair each day. One of the funny side effects is what their hair looks like at bedtime when they want all the pontail holders out. This night happened a couple weeks ago and Ariana and Alexis thought it was very silly to have this crazy hair. You can tell they had a lot of fun with their puffy locks.

1'st Day of 1'st Grade

(Eating her favorite oatmeal breakfast)

I was very torn about this new school year. I've seriously considered homeschooling and the debate went back and forth. Justin and I both decided we should let Alexis start again at Smalley and see how it goes. Alexis was REALLY excited for school. She was a little sad that we didn't let her get a new back pack but getting a lunch box made up for that.

The Saturday before school started my Mom, Catrina and I took the girls out to buy back to school out fits. We had lots of fun. Alexis found two outfits that were so cute that we let her buy both. The night before her first day Grandpa Frederick gave Alexis a blessing. Ariana not to be passed by immediately jumped up after Alexis and wanted her own. This was so sweet for me and two night later when Alexis said her prayers she thanked Heavenly Father for her back to school blessing from Grandpa I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

This year Alexis has Mrs. Mecham for her teacher. I love her. Mrs. Mecham is an

answer to prayer and I am glad that her good friend Hunter is in class with Alexis. Letting Alexis go to first grade has been really hard for me. I don't like that my little girl is gone all day. It is a constant reminder of how fast time is flying and I just want her with me. I was allowed to walk Alexis to her room for the first week and after the first day Alexis was ready to walk by herself but I just couldn't. I made her endure me walking her to the door every day the first week of school : )

(Ariana and Daddy waiting outside on the first day of school.

Ariana can't wait for her turn next year!)

Late Night

I love having my brother, sister-in-law, and little nephew live here. We've been doing family dinner on Sunday's. Its lots of fun. Last night we stayed up really late and Ariana tried to stay up late but this is how she ended up around 10:30pm.

My Rant on "Body Type"

I need to rant for a minute. I'm so frustrated with the world and in particular guys views of women's weight. I've watched the past few weeks the ABC show called dating in the dark (yes I know its not high quality TV) and I seriously want to beat the guys who after they see a girl who is maybe a size 6 or 8 say "well she's pretty but she doesn't have the body type I like." Seriously? Seriously! That is small!! I wish I was back in those sizes but guess what even when I'm not I'm still a beautiful women and so is everyone else. Not everyone can be a size 0 or 2. Being tiny doesn't make you beautiful. If you aren't it doesn't even mean that you don't exercise and take care of your body. I know this is just a show but this idea is everywhere! I don't want my girls to ingest this thought I don't want to let these thoughts in either. Please world stop feeding this idea to us, our girls and the men and boys out there!!!

Summer Rain

When we first moved to Las Vegas 5 years ago the summer rain was a new experience for us. The way rain just literally dumps for a few minutes, everything floods and then its gone. Tuesday we had a great storm, the first one like it, this summer.

It was blowing so hard away from our house that we could stand on the back porch and not get wet. Alexis LOVED the rain! Ariana was completely freaked out by it.

The view from the front of our house looking at the road.

Happy, Fun, Wet Day : )

The Fuzzy Truth

Sunday I looked down during church and realised that in my rush to get ready I had only shaved half of my left leg. Opps! I spent the rest of church trying to sit on my leg to hide the fuzzies : )

GREEN!

I am so happy! I have grass in my backyard. Justin promised that I could get grass this year and has worked really hard to make this happen for me. He dug the sprinkler system (I tired to help one afternoon and let me say OWW! My hands hurt for a week!) He also laid the grass barrier, leveled the ground, raked the rocks out which I've decided our back yard is a gravel pit, helped shovel the fill dirt in etc. I love how it turned out. Isn't it a beautiful thing to see green in the desert?

I need to also add how grateful I am to Brandon Bair for helping so much with our yard. He has done an amazing job with our new stamped concrete, retaining wall, helping shovel in dirt and to top it off the sod company told us they'd drop the sod off today anytime between 5-10am. I have no idea when the sod actually arrived. I slept right through it. Brandon showed up at 5:45am and just started laying it himself. Justin and I finally woke up around 6:30 and he had already laid about half of it himself. Sneaky guy ; )

After it was all in Justin and I sat out on the patio and just looked at it. AWWW..... green, you are a lovely color.

The windows go up AND down!!

My sweet husband decided to try and play mechanic and fix my van's windows that have been stuck down since December and guess what: HE DID IT! I'm a little shocked that it went as easily as it did. (at least from my perspective) Thank you soooo much honey! I love having my windows go up AND down. : )

Spring Piano Recital

Thursday I had my piano students preform a spring recital. Both Ariana and Alexis decided that they wanted to learn songs to play for the recital. Ariana's song doesn't really sound like anything its just an exercise at the front of the piano book to help new students get use to the black keys but it was cute to see her excited to play. Alexis Actually did really well. The video, if it ever loads, is of her playing her favorite song from the recital, Merrily We Roll Along.

Preschoolers Honesty

Teaching preschoolers I've heard lots of funny things but I've also learned that they are amazingly honest in their observations. That being said I'm not feeling so great today when a five year old started laughing and saying that I have a mustache!

First Family Photo Shoot Since 2006!

We haven't had a family photo shoot since February 2006 (3 weeks before Ariana was born!)Yes we've had a few random shots here and there but no real family picture day. Isn't that sad? Two weeks ago the amazingly talented Angela Salazar took our family pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

My Trip to Ohio

March 12-19 I was able to take a trip to Ohio all by myself. What's in Ohio? My best friend that I've known for over 20 years, Sarah. Sarah lived in San Diego close to my parents with her husband Dan. I've been able to visit them frequently over the past few years until last summer when Dan started his first semester at Case Western Medical School. When Dan and Sarah moved Justin promised that I could go and visit Sarah out in Ohio. I asked him if he understood what that meant, a week long trip without the girls for me and a week off work for him to watch them. He said he did so Sarah and I made our plans for my trip during her spring break. I'm so glad I was able to go and that my sweet husband was up for the challenge of me being gone for a week. I had such a great time! The weather was really nice while I was there although it was a little funny because I got to Ohio right in between seasons. Everything was getting ready for spring but it wasn't there yet so Vegas was greener than Ohio! Here are some pictures of my trip:

My First Night in Ohio, eating at Aladdin's.

Johnson Farm

I loved going out to the Johnson Farm. The history, stories, beauty were amazing. It also made me grateful that I don't have to spend all day cooking!

Kirtland Temple

Sarah and I were also able to go visit the Kirtland Temple during our trip. I loved being able to go inside this first temple and see with my own eyes the work of my ancestors.

Lake Erie

The craziest thing I saw while in Ohio was Lake Erie. It seriously can not be a lake! Its huge!!! It was still covered in snow and ice and looked like Antartica. I couldn't resists throwing rocks at it. : )

Ariana is 4!

My baby turned 4 on March 4! Its just so hard to believe how fast time has flown by with her.

This is Ariana right when she woke up on her birthday. I was really worried about her turning four because she's been obsessed with turning five so she can go to school. I want her to be happy about her current birthday so I was really relieved when she seemed happy about being 4.

Ariana's Birthday Celebration!

Alexis and Ariana decided that they wanted a joint birthday party this year so for Ariana's actually birthday celebration we let her take one of her best buddies from preschool, Isaac on a lunch play date to McDonald's.

Aren't they so cute? Ariana absolutely LOVES Isaac!

Alexis enjoyed Ariana's birthday celebration too!

BIRTHDAY CAKE AND PRESENTS!

Ariana still loves giraffes and her Aunt Catrina crocheted two cute little polka dot giraffe's for her. We also gave Ariana a new shirt, piggy bank, and game.

I love you Nana Bear, Happy Birthday!

Melt Down

Today I attempted my first freezer meal baking day with my sister-in-law Catrina. It went really well except for a little "melt down". Tuesday was Alexis and Ariana's birthday party and Justin got to stay home from work and helped in the clean up process. He warned me once not to turn on the oven because he put the dirty big plastic serving trays in the oven that I had used on Saturday for Catrina's baby shower. I remembered on Tuesday but today when I went to preheat the oven for baking wheat banana mini muffins I totally forgot until the oven started smooking! Ariana started off yelling an emergency song I taught in preschool "Emergency, Emergency, 911!" and when Justin got home and saw the melted trays stuck to the oven rack in the back yard told him, "Mommy baked it." Opps : )

Grocery Smarts Class Tonight @ Heather Gabaldons

Tonight (Wednesday March 3) I am going to be teaching a Grocery Smarts class at Heather Galbaldon's house in Henderson @ 6:45pm. If you would like to come we'd love to have you. If you need directions give me a call or send me an e-mail. 553-2080 or lvsavingmadesimple@gmail.com

I'll be teaching how to shop smart by understanding the stores sales cycles, using coupons the right way so you are spending the least amount of money possible at the store, how to organize your coupons in 5 minutes or less a week, and how to use the free website grocery smarts that takes all the work out of finding the best sales and matching up your coupons to the sales items.

Our Little Princess

Ariana is a little princess. She can be soo cute and charming but her she has a royal attitude that really comes through at times. Ariana has been sick for about a week and she is finally almost over it but I didn't want to risk her getting anyone sick at church so she stayed home with Justin. While she was downstairs playing PBS kids.org she yelled up to Justin:

"Daddy I've decided that I'm ready for you to make me lunch."

Toy Monster

I wish I had before and after pictures of my girl's room. It has been a total disaster, ridiculously messy for a long time. We'll help them get it clean and then its messy again in a day. We have a toy monster that comes and takes toys that don't get cleaned up. Justin has been warning the girls for days now that the toy monster is coming soon and that they better pick up. Well the toy monster came today while we were at church. Their room looks awesome I can't believe how clean and toy free it is. While I took a nap Justin and my sister-in-law Catrina heard quite the funny conversation between Alexis and Ariana. This is how it went:

Alexis: "Our room is so clean! I like it when its clean!"
Ariana: "That's because we didn't have to do it!"

(They hadn't realised yet that toys disappeared)

Confession...

I have to confess that I love to read but I often don't because my style of reading is not very responsible. If I get into a book I just can't put it down. I will read all night long, neglect my kids, house (ok I already neglect that but it gets worse when I read) and poor husband. I've done a little better recently. I have been able to read just a little before bed and than turn off the light and go to sleep. Justin even complimented my new found self control but it came a little too soon. Sunday night I picked up a book I checked out from the library; Promises to Keep by Dean Hughes. I started reading page 1 around 10:30pm. 4am I finally set the book down after I had finished the entire book! I spent Monday walking around in a daze. My eyes couldn't see far away after reading up close all night and needless to say I was exhausted! Why do I do this to myself?

Oh I should also add that Sunday morning I read a conference talk on "temperance". Apparently I should go back and read THAT again because the whole moderation bit of temperance hasn't sunk in.