Just a bowl of Cherries - Catch Up

During the last few weeks of summer, Brett and I both, worked Cherries. Usually Brett is the only one that works Cherries and I stay home with the kids.....

Not THIS YEAR.....

Brett heard the company was short Cherrie workers and had the Bright Idea that I should do it too. Lets just say it made the TOP of my Things I wish I had never done.

Brett worked the Day shift as a fork lift driver and I worked the Night shift sorting through the cherries. Basically, the cherries work their way down the conveyer belt and I would pick out any cherries with blemishes, stems, strange colors and such. The worst thing that I picked out was a baby bird. It was terrible. 

But in the end... I made a few new friends, had a lot of thinking time, learned that I could do more than I thought I could, and made some extra spending money. 

One thing I wanted to do was make a Cherrie Pie. There had to be something good and delicious right????

I don't know what I was thinking.... WE Hate cherrie.

But it looked Good.   

Christmas Magic

Christmas is my FAVORITE DAY. It is a day full of excitement, Magic and PURE JOY. The kids play all day long, there is no fighting and it is just JOY, JOY, JOY for everyone.

Brett is a total sweetheart and spoils me for Christmas. Here's a funny story. For about a year, I've been wanting a Walking Foot for my sewing machine. They are kind of expensive, so I've been hinting for a while. Brett braved the black friday sales and headed to the Bernina store and bought one for me for Christmas. While he was there, they had a Black Friday Giveaway. They were giving away a Bernina Serger. He entered me into the drawing and to our surprise I WON!!!!!!! I got the call a week before Christmas. It was a woman calling to tell me that I had won the Black Friday Giveaway. At first I thought she was a scam..... But then thought what could it hurt and said that I would be in later that day to pick it up. I immediately called Brett and asked him if it was real. It was. The sweetheart could have totally given me it for Christmas with no need to do anything else. I was so excited... Then decided to make Pajama pants for the boys for Christmas Eve. 

I never thought I would ever NEED a Serger. Now, I can't believe how much I use it. It makes mending cloths a snap. I've had so much fun. 

I think that I have FINALLY - after 11 years of trying - MASTERED my Cinnamon Roll Recipe. They have always been delicious and the most requested recipe from Brett's Brothers. I think the secret is using Bread Flour. We made a HUGE double batch - 24 cups of flour - and delivered a sweet treat to our neighbors.

We defiantly had a Merry Christmas 

Oh Christmas Tree

This year was our FIRST year with a real tree. Honestly it's been about 20 years since I've had a real tree for Christmas. I absolutely thought that artificial tree's were the only way to go and very much enjoyed our artificial christmas tree for years.

Brett's family has always gone the Friday after Thanksgiving to cut down their own Christmas Trees. Me being what I now call, dumb, never gave cutting down our own tree a thought all 10 years of our Marriage. Until.... the year 2011. Brett and I were in Texas the Friday after Thanksgiving Picking up our sweet little Todd. So, Ethan went with Brett's family tree hunting. I remember calling Ethan the night of the Tree Cutting. I asked him if the Tree's smelled good. He said 

"No, They smell Pokey". 

He was getting too close to the tree and it was poking him in the face. 

Last year, November 2012, I was still a little crazy and dumb.... We just went with Brett's family and didn't purchase a tag. I was still convinced that I enjoyed my artificial tree. We had a blast. Ethan rode on the four wheeler with Grandpa the entire time. 

Later... Ethan came to me and said "Mom, I found the most BEAUTIFUL Tree." He took me on a little hike that led me to this tree.

"IT'S ORANGE" He said. :)

I would have given anything for a tag and be able to take this beauty home with us. 

So, We vowed to get a tree tag each year.

THIS YEAR November 2013, we purchased our tag and headed out the Friday after Thanksgiving in search of our very own REAL Christmas Tree. 

 It didn't take us long, but we found her.

ALL 12 FEET 

We ended up cutting an extra 2 feet off and saved the log to burn on Christmas Eve,

She barely fit, even with our vaulted ceiling. I learned a lot about real tree's: The branches could not hold my "Pretty" Ornaments - they were too heavy. So, I headed to the store and bought these ornaments. It did not take long for every ornament placed on the bottom three feet of the tree to move up to higher heights. Todd would not leave them alone. 

My favorite part was the aroma of a real Christmas Tree. My not so favorite part is.... I'm still finding needles and its the end of January :)

Note: I did end up putting up half of my artificial tree, with my pretty ornaments :)

You've got to have a tree in the front window :)

Bribery ;)

I hate to say this.... But, Sunday's my least favorite day of the week. For us, We're not the quietest family during Sacrament Meeting. An hour and ten minutes feels like a lot longer than an hour and ten minutes and to my boys it feels like ETERNITY.

Last month, the Primary performed their year end program.  Let's just say that last year's Primary Program did not go very well. Ethan was all over the place. ..... :)

So this year, we practiced over and over. Ethan memorized his part the first day. The kid has amazing memorizing skills. We Practiced the songs that would be sung. Our hardest was learning how to sit still. We're still working on that one. :) We even told Ethan that if he was extra good - (sitting still was our only request) He would get his very own CTR ring and the movie Turbo.

He NAILED IT!!!!!!!!

We were the proudest parents in the whole room. He sang his songs Perfectly - and much better than the other kids in his class. He made sure that his teacher knew he didn't need help with his part and said

"I don't need any help" 

and said his part perfectly.

We made sure that we sat close to the front and on the side where he sat. I could not get enough of his waves, "Hi Moms", or the frequent Thumbs up.

This little man of mine is amazing and I can't wait to see next years program. 

One of my Favorite Things....

One of my favorite bedtime books I like to read is

Its a book about a Boy who grows up and every night his Mother crawls across the floor picks him up, rocks him back and forth and says

I'll love you Forever

I'll like you for Always

as long as I'm living, my Baby you'll be.

Each night, I open the door to check on my two little ones. Make sure they are asleep in their warm beds and not awkwardly asleep on the floor. Embrace how lucky I am to have them as mine and then whisper my own little rendition of the book....

I'll love you Forever

I'll like you for Always

As long as FOREVER, my Baby you'll be. 

Hello Again

Yes......  I know..... It's been awhile.

I'm not one for making New Years Resolutions. But, I have one resolution that I'd really like to work on for the next year. It is (drum roll) ..........

Writing on my blog. 

I've not been really good at it so far, especially considering that it is the 20th of January. On the contrary, I have good intentions to appear here more frequently.

Recently, I've been quite busy. About the time I stopped posting on my blog, I started making "Growth Rulers" and selling them to amazon.com, etsy.com and to a few boutique sellers around the area.

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006U8X0OE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3TSLSRWPRE0HY&coliid=I16D27SM899UW3

I would guess that I've made and sold 500 of them in the past Five Months. Thankfully, I've been able to make them while Ethan is at Kindergarten and Todd is down for his nap. These rulers have been a huge financial help to us as we're working on paying off bills. :) It sure beets a job away from home.

One thing that I would have loved to do to day is.... Go to the Pink Concert. I am a huge fan of Pink and love her music: Glitter in the Air, Just Give Me A Reason, and Oh so many more.

Until ..... Next time :)