Twenty-Thirteen

I'm trying not to feel too overwhelmed with my resolutions this year. There's so much I want to do and accomplish. Lists make me nervous, especially those days I feel unmotivated... but here goes nothing.

This year, the focus is HOME. It's hard not to focus on this in the first place, since I'm a stay-at-home mom anyway. Nevertheless, I know there is so much good in our home, but so much that can change and be better. I need to be the one to step it up.

·I want to make my home more organized and less cluttered.
·I want to be happy with how it looks, and not focus too much on what I wish I could change about it.
·I want to make our side yard useful (playing, gardening).
·I want to be in the kitchen more, trying new recipes, and making more wholesome lunches (homemade lunches do not happen as often as I'd like).
·I want to make more homemade desserts, and eat less candy
·I want homemade pizza to be a weekly meal.
·I want to play more music and turn off the TV.
·I want to read more to myself and to June.
·I want to develop a better morning and bedtime routines, at least for the weekdays. I can already tell June thrives on routines.

There's so much more, but I need to stop myself because I feel my nerves tightening. I'm really looking forward to a great year.

P.S. We partied with the Porters on New Year's Eve, and of course it didn't disappoint. In fact, I suspect that's why I was sick all of New Year's Day. I guess the best parties take everything out of you. Anyway, while I was wallowing in "sicky self-pity", I received this video documenting the party, and of course my gloomy demeanor turned to udder delight. June and I watched this video all morning:
NEW YEARS EVE from David Nuttall on Vimeo.

June was so happy to see a dance floor that night... You better believe I plan on having one at her birthday party in March.

A very long (and possibly annoying) post about Christmas

This last Christmas was a little much, in the best possible way. I was going to break it down into three or four posts, but I know most people are sick of hearing about Christmas as it is.

So for those of you who aren't on Instagram or any type of social media (ahem... Dad), this post is for you. Otherwise you've probably seen most of these photos, and you could probably move on to doing more important things, like make New Year's resolutions or take a nap. 

Presenting 36 things about the month of December:

1. I made close to 13 batches of toffee this year. That's 13 cups of sugar, 26 cubes of butter, and waaaay too much stirring.

2. June's first time at the temple. She was pleased. VERY pleased.

3. William showing June the Christ statue. I think she was moved... well at least I was.

4. Our lights on our little home. C7 bulbs are the way to go.

5. I wish that hat wasn't so expensive.

6. Our advent calendar found here. (We got to about Day 14.)

7. Lots of time outside... Arizona has the best weather this time.

8. Stacking blocks, over and over and over and over and over again.

9. Fuzzy tree

10. Four suckers at once. It's how June gets things done.

11. My favorite handmade gift for Kent, from Tauna. All knitted... Tauna is so talented.

12. I heart sparkle.

13. Toffee plate constructing.

14. Bathtime.

15. I cut lots of tags while I was sick.

16. One of my favorite Sunday dresses.

17. Christmas shopping with Grandma.

18. Recording our Christmas song... Thanks for listening!

19. June found a plate of donuts. This pleased her very much.

20. Favorite Christmas dress on June.

21. A GORGEOUS setting at the Coombs Christmas party.

22. The kids table is getting so crowded... I love it.

23. Dance party that occurs every year after the talent show.

24. Santa (Dad) passing out gifts.

25. June laughing at Uncle Ryan and Aunt Sara... her new favorite comedians.

26. Merry Christmas from me.

27. Merry Christmas from William.

28. Merry Christmas from a girl who can wiggle out of your hands faster than you know.

29. June trying out her big gift this year, a new bike trailer. SHE. LOVES. IT. Can't wait to ride bikes more this year.

30. A shot of William taking June for a ride.

31. "Ho Ho Ho".

32. A hipster in the making. 

33. My handmade gift to June this year: an A-Frame Tent. She LOVES it.

34. My gift to William: a Nerf gun. I've been shot too many times, and therefore regret giving it to him.

35. Our ginger bread house... I'll let you decide if that's a British flag or a Confederate flag.

36. Hooray!! The End!!!

Here's our Christmas card this year. Shot by The Langs. Designed by me. Sent to you.

And that was our merriest Christmas! Thanks to everyone who made it magical!

Now on to Twenty-Thirteen!

World Premiere: "Christmas Club"

We decided for this year's song, we needed one that makes Santa want to stop in his tracks and dance until he's too tired to deliver toys. 

Sorry that Santa is too busy in da' club. 

(Obviously the best part is June's "It's a Ball" line. My baby girl's gots da beatz!)

And here's a list of our previous hits:

2011: "Frosting" - This song is like that feeling you get when you love someone and then you find out they have a 'Thug Life' tattoo, so you love them even more.

2010: "Baby It's NOT that Cold Outside" - This song is like that feeling you get when you love someone, but they had really bad breath, so now you want them to leave.

2009: "Gather Around (It's a Campfire Christmas)": This song is like that feeling you get when all your holiday to-do list is done, and you sit by the fire with a hot cocoa, and you stare at your beautiful Christmas tree, and wait for Christmas morning to arrive.

(video by Robz)

Bonus track from 2009: "Campfire Christmas"  Remix, called "Christmas Eve" - This song is like that extra cookie plate you unexpectedly get from a friend, and that amazing feeling you get eating the entire thing.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our early Christmas present...

Recently I won a giveaway from 'The Photog Hotties', also called the Langs.

I love their style, especially the candid shots and their locations. June wasn't completely into it like I wanted her to be, but Stacie managed to get some really great ones. I'll try to refrain from sharing every single shot, but these were just SOME of my favorite:

 

And apparently The Langs are also miracle workers. In the (almost) 5 years that William and I have been married, we've only taken maybe one or two GOOD photos together. Of course, Mrs. Lang happens to get like TEN GOOD ONES in one photo session. 

These were my favorite:

Believe me, I have MANY others to share, but I must refrain and save for future posts, for Christmas Cards, etc.

Thank you again, Langs, for the free photo session. Merry Christmas to us!

Counting

I wish that I can film June for the ENTIRE month of December. 

Last night, we went to the temple lights, and she practically danced around "Ooooing", and "WOAHing" at every turn. It's so magical to have a little one discovering everything about Christmas. Her reactions are so priceless.

Our Advent Calendar bags are filled with suckers (for June), chocolate (for me and William), a scripture about Christ, and a picture of Christ (which will eventually become a photo album for June). I'm trying to do as much Christmas things as I can, but I also know I need to continue to stay focused. All the christmas movies, hot chocolate nights, delivering treats, singing Christmas songs, etc. will come as we countdown.

24 more days!! (Yikes?)

(The 'JOY' Marquee sign was inspired by this project.)

Eat, Eat, Eat, Full, Eat more anyway...

We had the kind of Thanksgiving that makes me feel full for days, but it doesn't matter because I still eat as much as possible anyway.


























We prepared two turkeys (one cooked in a Dutch Oven), one ham, rolls, pies, 5-sticks of butter stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, fruit salad, and a cheesecake. It was enough to have at least 4 meals of leftovers. 

And on top of all that, June got an early Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa. As Alan would say, "Practicing for Black Friday": 

Thanks to my parents for letting us invade their house so we could have room to cook and eat. Thanks to William's parents for being generous and getting June some awesome gifts. Thanks to everyone else for the laughs and good times. Oh and we saw 'Lincoln', so thanks to Lincoln for being the best president ever.

Oh and speaking of Christmas, who's excited?

I guess I am.

I guess June likes talking on the phone.

June has been all kinds of wonderful lately. I keep thinking, "this is the best age", and then it just gets better and better.

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Planning: my handmade Christmas. This is the first Christmas that I'm going to try to make most of my gifts (we'll see).  I've got about ten decorations and presents to make just in the next few weeks.
Also planning: our annual Christmas Song. I feel like we just got done writing this one... I guess this year flew by.
Eating: Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream. These Ice Cream recipes are blowing my mind (and my diet).
Hoping: to win these Christmas Cards (It's definitely a long shot).  But if not, I'm trying to design our own. It's kind of fun designing, but kind of (extremely, horrifyingly) difficult.
YEARNING: for Thanksgiving. Even though it seems like I'm already planning all things Christmas, my favorite holiday hands down is Turkey Day. (I'm crossing my fingers for a deep fried turkey.)

Tricky Treat

As much as I love the month of October, I'm always a little glad it's over. 

Last night we made two kinds of delicious soups, baked four batches of cornbread, drank ginger ale, cream soda and Yoohoo, and ate two chocolate pumpkin pies.

It turns out, June was born to Trick or Treat. After about the second house, she knew exactly what to do: knock on the door, hold out her bucket, followed by an "ooooOOOOOO" when candy was given, then on to the next house. (As a former teacher, I really do believe children learn quickly when candy is involved.)

When we dumped her candy on the floor, she only grabbed the suckers. She'd suck on one for about a minute, then find another one. We ended up with about six uneaten suckers, but at least my girl was happy.

October was amazing, but let's move on to more important holidays, shall we?

A useful list of "Last Minute Cat Puns Halloween Costumes"

So this year for Halloween, I chose to be a...

... because really, without the cat ears I'm just a plain old cat burglar.

But then I started brainstorming all of the other Halloween costumes you can do with a set of cat ears. My pals, Natalie and Daphne, gave some excellent ideas as well. We came up with the greatest "Last-Minute-Cat-Puns-Halloween-Costumes" collection you've ever seen.

I mean really, have you ever seen those articles for "Last Minute Halloween Costumes", only to find that their definition of "last minute" is 2-3 hours? In addition, you better have an entire craft store in your closet?

These seriously only take a couple of minutes... you just need a set of cat ears and one or two other supplies.

Oh and sorry but there are no sexy cat costumes here (I would probably break the internet posting such pictures of myself). 

This is just good ol' fashion cat puns. 

Cat ears + Trash =






































Cat ears + 'TOM' name tag =






































Cat ears + Pajamas + optional "Jazz Hands" or cool dance moves =






































Cat ears + Pajamas + Sleeping after partyin' =






































Cat ears + Looking like you're scared all the time =






































Cat Ears + "STEVENS" name tag + optional guitar =






































Cat ears + A friend who likes cat puns and is also wearing cat ears =

Other possible costumes:

Cat Ears + A scratch across your face + a thermometer = "Cat Scratch Fever".

Cat Ears + Walk around the party grabbing other people's tongues = Cat got your tongue.

Cat Ears + Bum clothes = Feral Cat

Cat Ears + Carry around a fish = Cat Fish

Cat Ears + Steal stuff from the party = A REAL Cat Burglar

There you have it. Have a happy and lazy Halloween.

They say it's your Birthday

I planned on going to a quiet breakfast, getting the house cleaned, then going out to dinner with my family.

That morning, William had already left for work, when I got a text from him: "Dang it sorry I think I left my lunch on the little space out on our patio could you check to see if it's there". I didn't fall for it... I knew something good was about to happen.

I opened the front door and a wall of balloons came down on me, while "Birthday" by the Beatles suddenly blasted on our stereo. 
















William danced into the house and handed me a flyer of Birthday Activities we were to begin right away. 

So that's what we did. (Minus the dance party, we took a nap instead.)


Let me just end by recommending the Griddled Bread Pudding from Liberty Market... and the sweet potato fries from Joe's Farm Grill... and having relatives close by to babysit so you and your husband can go see a mid-morning movie... and having your spouse take work off so you can have the best birthday ever.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me. 28 is good to me.

And so, without further ado, I give you...

Remember on Seinfeld when George makes a candy lineup to catch the mechanic because he ate his Twix bar, and when he walked in the Dealership staff was eating his Twix Candy Lineup and he screams "TWIX!" while the camera pans out? I love Seinfeld for his candy references. ("I know the Chunky who ate this Chunky... NEWMAN!")

My parents found out that I have never tried a Clark bar, so what did they do? They went out and and bought every single old-fashioned candy bar they could find, and gave it to me for my birthday.

Hey mom and dad, I've never driven a BMW 2002.

P.S. That Clark Bar was delicious. 

A Day of Laziness and Close Calls.

(My Dback hot dog (they lost) and the only Fourth of July decor in my house was a drawing of fireworks on our chalkboard.)

Our 4th was pretty spectacular, to say the least. Of course, I planned several things to do on William's day off. But plans changed after we went to Walmart and Barros, then took a very long nap (because nothing says 'America' like Walmart, pizza, and laziness). 


This was probably the most exciting thing that happened for June:

Probably the best fifty cents we've ever spent.

Lucky for us, my mom planned a great evening of hot dogs, chips and salsa, pies, cupcakes, neighborhood rides (the weather was a m a z i n g, right?), and of course fireworks. 

June clapped after each firework. It was the best. 


We also had a horrifying moment when we lit what was supposed to be a "tame" firework. Instead of peacefully spinning itself on the ground, it flew up, barely missing the top of our heads, and went over the neighbor's house. 


My life flashed before my eyes and all I saw were delicious hot dogs.


And of course, June applauded.