Family, Relaxing and Dreams of VACATION!

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Wow, I haven't posted anything since Wednesday! What have I been up to. Eric's brother and his wife are visiting. That has been so much fun. It is almost like having a live in nanny. The kids love having them around. Emilee said to me the other day,

" I wish Molly was my aunt."

I replied "She is your aunt".

"Well she doesn't live here, aunts are suppose to live here with us."

Cody insist on calling his Uncle Shawn "Shawny". Every thing is Shawny this and Shawny that. There is a whole lot of wrestling going on around here and never a quite moment. I love having a full house, there is never a dull moment!

Well we broke down and booked our vacation. We are headed off to sunny Hawaii the end of next month. So any of you loyal readers who are looking to adopt a child or two, or three, I am looking for a loving home for my rug rats for a few days. I was really excited until we officially booked it and then I started panicking. The thought of leaving my kids is sorta freaking me out, especially the baby. I know that a trip with just Eric and I will be really good for us. With three kids it is very hard to find any time for just us so. Hopefully, I will get over my separation anxiety and enjoy my time!

Christmas Pictures 2007

Caitlyn enjoying her first Christmas.

Grandpa's girl. Chewing on a rattle that she got from her Aunt Dawn.

Matching shirts for the grand boys. They say " What happens at grandmas, stays at grandmas".

The two youngest girls, getting to know each other.

Caitlyn gets a visit from the jolly old guy in red. She wasn't scared, she just stared in awe!

Click here for a few more.

A Christmas Quiz!

1. Will you have a boyfriend/girlfriend this Christmas?

Um no! Good thing, I don't think my husband would be too happy if I did.

2. Have you been naughty or nice this year?

I think I have been very nice.

3. What is the most expensive thing on your Christmas list ?

I tried to keep everything pretty equal. but things sure add up!

4. What do you want this year?

I don't really need anything, I have kinda been wanting a Nintendo DS.

5. Do you still believe in Santa?

Well.... As much as a grown up can. I want to keep the my kids believing in Santa as long as I can.

6. Which is your favorite reindeer?

Rudolph of course!

7.Big tree or small tree ?

Tall and skinny. We got a new one this year, I am not sure if I like it or not.

8. What do you leave for Santa?

Cookies and milk. We also leave reindeer snacks for his reindeer. (oatmeal with glitter mixed in)

9. Do you get a lot of presents?

I would say so, not as many as the kids but I prefer it that way, the holidays are mainly for them.

10. What is your favorite Christmas movie ?

Christmas Vacation, Elf, Santa Clause, Christmas Story, Miracle on 34Th Street, Its A Wonderful Life, I love them all!

11. What is your favorite Christmas song ?

Anything from the Polar Express soundtrack.

12. Red, Green, or White lights?

Multi colored lights. And lots of them!

13. What is your Christmas wish list?

I haven't really had time to think about my list. Probably just that everyone enjoys themselves.

14. How many days left until Christmas?

3 days, YIKES

15. How will you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve with Mother in Law and Eric and the kids. Santa and the Mrs. are stopping by.

Christmas morning my family, later lunch at my parents house. The next day Christmas with Shawn and Molly,Eric's Dad and step mom. And then Christmas with the friends some other day, we don't really know yet!

16. Do you still wake up early on Christmas morning?

Not too bad, probably 7am or so. Tthis Christmas may be a little differant though since I have to work until 3AM!

17. Do you still get presents from Santa?

yeah, he still delivers them personally. He has for the last three years!

18. Any Christmas traditions?

Mainly just trying to make equal time for all the family. Santa coming to visit is becoming a tradition.

19.How was last Christmas?

It was great. I would have changed Christmas Eve a little. My kids got too many presents (yes there is such a thing) and I wish I would have told a certain grandma to tone it down a bit.

20. Is your house decorated?

Oh yeah, just when I think we are done,Eric comes home with more stuff. Just today we added a couple of more things!

21. Do you get all dressed up ?

No, things are usually so hectic. Who has time?

22. Have you gone to any Christmas parties this year ?

No, I have been working too much!

23. Favorite Christmas memory?

I have had many great Christmas memories. I remember for some reason getting a color crayon/marker set one year. For some reason that present stuck with me. I got engaged on Christmas Eve. I told my family I was pregnant with Emilee on Christmas.

24.When I say Christmas what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Joy!

25.Ever get your heart broken on Christmas day?

Luckily no!

A Quick Update!

This is our poor kitty,Liberty. Emilee got a hold of her. This is quite common to see one of our pets with clothes on!

Christmas is approaching FAST! I have a few things left to buy, a house to clean, gifts to wrap and wouldn't you know it the FLU!!!! I am on the mend though, I took one of work night off and felt incredibly guilty about it. If I am not there that means somebody else needs to be there in my place and I know nobody wants extra hours this close to Christmas. Anyways, I will go back tonight, Sunday and a few hours on Monday. I am looking forward to Christmas though. Such a happy time of the year. My kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement. Looks like this year we will do what was suppose to be a quite Christmas Eve at home, Ha! Well, my mother-in-law is coming so it will be everything but small and quite. Apparently she has not only arranged for Santa to stop by and see the kids but Mrs. Clause as well. Where does she find this stuff??? I was going to have it be just the kids and Eric's mom but since Santa is coming we invited a friend of ours who has a little girl who would get a kick out of seeing the jolly guy in red. Tuesday morning we will spend with my family. We decided to have Christmas at our house this year, I am pretty excited. I love having a full house. Wednesday, Shawn and Molly are coming into town so we are going to do yet another Christmas with them and Eric's dad and step mom. Finally, we will do a Christmas with our close knit group or friends, we haven't scheduled that yet, I thought we would wait to see how everything else pans out. Well instead of whining about how much I have to do I peel myself away from my laptop and actually do something! So goodbye for now and Merry Christmas if I don't blog again before the big day!

Christmas Tour of Homes

I stumble upon a blog called Boo Mama. She was doing something really fun and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! She was doing a Christmas Tour of Homes. Yeah ,the date says December 16Th,.I am late, but what a great idea. Too late to officially participate but its so much fun to browse through all the entries and see do many beautiful homes. There are some great ideas I am going to try to duplicate.



The stocking were hung by the chimney with care. Wait, there is no chimney! That fireplace is a fake!!!

My collection of little signs. There cute, there witty, the are so US!

I decked my chandelier out with Christmas balls hanging from ribbons. I saw the idea in a magazine and loved it.

I have a very large collection of snowman, these are a few of my favorites. I love the look, the uniqueness, the bright colors. Everything.

What is Christmas without a countdown. My kids love opening a door each day and finding a small ornament to hang.

And lastly AWWHHH! The tree. Not a designer tree by any means but so many special ornaments that have so many memories.

Cooties

I laughed when I saw this. Hope it makes your day!

Wenatchee Winter Wonderland

God's Answers

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For all the negative things we say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it.

You say: "It's impossible"

God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"

God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"

God says: I love you (John 3:16 and John 13:34)

You say: "I can't go on"

God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 and Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"

God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"

God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"

God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it"

God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28)

You say: "I can't forgive myself"

God says: I FORGIVE YOU (I John 1:9 and Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"

God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"

God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"

God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I don't have enough faith"

God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"

God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"

God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Why Do We Do These Every Year???

For some reason, I agreed to make a gingerbread house again this year. It was the usual messy, sticky, chaotic thing as last year. The roof kept slipping off, the candy fell off, there wasn't enough frosting and Emilee got bored after about 2 min and just ate the candy. But...Emilee enjoyed herself. I was able to spend a good hour with my special little girl hearing about her day at school, her friends, her class, what she wants for Christmas. She was proud of her work and we now have a beautiful house to display...... somewhere.

45 Little Facts About Cody....

Remember this post? Now it's Codys turn so sit back and relax and learn a little about my favorite little guy. ( I know Emilee's was 75 facts, but Cody is two years younger, give me two years and I will be able to come up with all 75)

1.Cody is so sensitive, caring, nurturing, and yes cries at the drop of a hat.
2.Cody burst into tears everytime that Emilee get her seat belt on before he does. ( It's a race????)
3.Everything is a race for Cody, he wears shoes with flames on them everyday now because he is convinced they make him faster.
4.He may want to be fast but when we are trying to get ready for school in the morning his speed is suddenly gone.
5.Cody goes to preschool three days a week, and LOVES it.
6.Cody can recognize most every letter and will point them out as we are driving.
7.Cody loves the fact that his name starts with C and so does his baby sister name. We hear about this most everyday!!!
8.Cody adores his baby sister.
9.First thing in the morning Cody goes into Caitlyn’s room and makes faces at his sister in her crib.
10.Cody calls his baby sister BooBoo.
11.Cody adores his older sister as well.
12.Cody picked out a Christmas present for Emilee, I have never had the kids get presents for each others, I was waiting until it was their idea.
13.Cody is my first kid to request buying a gift for somebody else.
14.Cody has had to buy Emilee something before. A coloring book in which he cut to pieces with his scissors.
15.He used his own money out of his piggy bank.
16.Cody really has no concept of money yet, he told me yesterday at Target that we could just get some more from the cash register.
17.Target is Cody's favorite store, he gets that from Mommy.
18.Cody will gladly shop with Mommy whenever, but like most men gets bored quickly.
19.Cody misbehaves when he starts to get bored.
20.By misbehaving he just gets extremely silly. Loud and restless.
21.Restaruants is a common place for this behavior.
22.His silliness will rub off on Emilee and then I have twice the naughtiness.
23.This is very common when we do lunch with Grandma.
24.Cody usually has lunch with Grandma once a week.
25.Cody is lucky to have three Grandmas in town.
26.His other Grandma recently bought him a Polar Express Train.
27.She keeps it at her house so everyday I hear "Can I go to Grandmas to play with the train?"
28.Today Cody is spending the afternoon with Grandma Cheryl.
29.Cheryl never makes him take naps.
30.Cody is a bear when he misses nap time.
31.Cody informed me yesterday "I don't take naps anymore"
32.This is soooo not true. Cody NEEDS naps.
33.Cody is my one child who requires a lot of sleep.
34.He gets that from mommy too!
35.Cody is most like mommy, so Daddy and him often clash in personalities.
36.Cody does adore is daddy though.
37.Cody loves to wrestle with daddy, he has a move called "the flamingo"
38.It's a karate kid kind of move, he learned from his Uncle Shawn.
39.Uncle Shawn took Cody shooting.
40.Cody at the age of three already has four pretend guns and two real ones.
41.Cody is a member of the NRA.
42.That was a gift from his Grandpa Stan.
43.Cody doesn't really know what it means to be a member, but likes getting stuff in the mail.
44.He recognizes his name on the letter and gets excited.
45."There is a C for Cody, Caitlyn’s name starts with C too!"

We are done!

The insanity is over. We have put the finishing touches on the house and I do believe we are done! It won't make the Wenatchee World's list of houses to drive-by but it's a decent display of holiday festivities. I mentioned before we are having a little competition between friends. Judging is December 26. I think we stand a chance of winning this year. I will let you know.

Oh So Naughty!!!! But Oh So Cute.

Cody sent to clean his ears out.

Cody suppose to be taking a nap.

This one is a while back, Cody getting ready to go to the beach??? In November.

Original Chia Pet Commercal

This is what Emilee keeps asking for this Christmas, do they even still make these?

Family....

Cody's Christmas Program

Cody's preschool put on a wonderful Christmas program last night. I truly felt the joy of Christmas watching those adorable children reenact the story of Christ birth. Cody played the role of Joseph. He had one line. He didn't remember it so he was prompted by his teacher. She whispered the line in his ear, he repeated it in a whisper, she said "say it louder", so he yelled in into the microphone. It was cute. One of the three kings fell of the stage. The angel refused to go on stage at all and ran off crying.
Cody was a little disappointed his daddy couldn't make it to his acting debut. However, he had Grandma Cheryl, Devon and Karrie, mommy and his sisters cheering him on. Good job Cody!

P.S. I tryed to download the actual video from the performance, but I haven't quite figured out my new camcorder. I will post it when I figure it out!

Wentworth Family Elfed

We have been elfed, Check this out. Somebody emailed me this link and I know Twintastic had this on her post as well, I guess I am a big copy cat. It's pretty funny though.

Baby Aubrey

Here is a few pictures I took of a very special little girl. Let me know what you think.

Storms, Gratitude and Hope

What a week! I posted earlier in the week that Eric was over on the coast helping to restore power after a big wind storm. Well, its Sunday night and he is STILL GONE. I am going crazy. Three kids, by myself and on top of that it's my long work week so 50+ hours of childcare to arrange. It's not easy pawning off three young kids during my graveyard shift, one which barely is sleeping through the night. Luckily, my friends and family have come through for me again. Many have offered there homes to my kids, I am so grateful. The kids ended up staying with my parents four nights in a row. I thought it was best to try keep them in one spot as much as possible. Consistency in this time of chaos is vital! So my parents have been reliving life as it was for them 27 years ago. My kids are the same age difference as my brother, sister and I. Anyways, I am extremely grateful. Grateful and exhausted. God bless the single moms out there, I don't know how they do it. There is hope, Eric said there is about 3000 people still without power and 21 crews working on the situation. Hopefully just a day or two more.

Thanks mom and dad, I owe you!

A Little Good Reading

art work by Cody

The NativityLuke 2:1-20
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Christmas 2007

Funniest Gift Ever!

My blogging friend Meleah at Twintastic had this posted on her site. Too funny. I know you all want one in your living room, especially you Dawn :) !!!! Well here is the link if you interested.

My Life As a Lineman Widow....

This is a photo taken in Chehalis, Washington. They were hit pretty hard with windstorms and then flooding. Eric has been over on the coast since Monday night attempting to get power to these poor people. They predict no power for many households for several more days. Eric's crew is quickly tiring out so he probably will only last a few more days over there before they head home. They work the lineman 40 hours on with a 8 hour break. He is currently in his second 40 hr stretch and thinks his crew will try to make it through one more. Pray for him, his crew and also the many families who have lost homes or are without electricity.

Hee Hee!

I got this comment from MyCommentCodes.com