Christmas Break

So the evening of the 26th we had Pam & Alan's family show up to stay for a few days.  We decided to take the kids out roller skating on Friday for something to do together and outside of my house. :)  It was the 2nd time Ella has been and she practices her roller blades outside the house all the time so she is pretty good at it.  It was Molly and Alissa's first time so they were pretty wobbly.  

 

Thankfully lots of big cousins were there to help.  Dustin didn't want me to skate.  "Only one fall and I'd be out a baby boy", he says.  :)  Makes me laugh.  I wasn't too disappointed to stand out and take pictures though.

 

We spent lots of time making Rainbow Loom bracelets while the dads were "nerding" in front of the computer.

 

Lots of Rainbow Loom bracelets.

 

Saturday the men went ice fishing in Mackay.  Thankfully Alan took a few pictures and sent to me. 

 

This crack in the ice under them was supposed to be "cool".  They said they watched it crack.  Would make me a little nervous I must admit.

 

Devin, Kirk, Ian, Alan, Andrew, Brian, Dustin and Christopher all went.  I am pretty sure they only brought home one fish which didn't make it to my house.  (thankfully) They said all the fish were little.

 

After returning from the doctor with Alissa and some amoxicillin for strep throat, we headed to West Piney where my side of the family was staying Monday to Wednesday.  There was a lot of play dough, games, jumping on bunk beds, watching movies and eating junk food. 

 

They have a big slide in the back on the cabin which everybody had a good time riding.  Ella was the first kid to attempt it and Alissa wasn't far behind.   

 

Pretty soon they were assisting all their other cousins in being brave. 

 

Alissa walked up those stairs probably 20 times with the carpet in hand and buzzed down that slide. 

 

Only one time uncle Kenny assisted her.   

 

I even convinced Dustin I would go really slowly down the slide with a smooth landing so I could take pictures from the bottom.

 

The most giant snow angel I have ever seen. 

 

Uncle Jeremy pulled the girls on the sled for a little bit behind the snow machine.  What a blast! 

 

We had a super good time, however after partying for that many days and all the stress leading up to that point we were pretty ready to come home and take a big nap.  We feel really blessed to have family close enough to enjoy and make these kind of memories with. 

New Years Resolutions

A review of last years goals:

2013 Goals Attend the temple 12 or more times.  I think we fell short, but not by much.
Read/Listen to the Doctrine & Covenants.  I don't think I even started. 
Do more physical activities individually and as a family.  I felt like we did more during the summer.
Finish 2011 and 2012 Blog Books  Haven't even started.
Continue to build Food Storage - 6 month storage by end of the year.  Yay!  I did pretty well here.  Continued to build food storage.  Not sure the exact amount I have, but it's a bigger amount than last year.

Alissa reading by the end of the year.  Another yay!  
Ella memorize Articles of Faith by baptism.  Nope, thinking of tackling this again though.

I debated whether or not I even wanted to bother with a new year resolution this year.  When I think about the upcoming year all I can think is "SURVIVE!"  It's a bad attitude, I know.  I just seem to be so overwhelmed by things.  However, I read the First Presidency Message today by President Uchtdorf and changed my mind about not setting goals.  He reminded us, "Setting goals is a worthy endeavor. We know that our Heavenly Father has goals because He has told us that His work and glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). 

"Another thing we need to remember when it comes to setting goals is this: We almost certainly will fail—at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged, we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now. It acknowledges from the beginning that at one time or another, we may fall short. Knowing this up front takes away much of the surprise and discouragement of failure.

When we approach our goals this way, failure doesn’t have to limit us. Remember, even if we fail to reach our ultimate, desired destination right away, we will have made progress along the road that will lead to it.

And that matters—it means a lot.

Even though we might fall short of our finish line, just continuing the journey will make us greater than we were before."

So I changed my mind and decided to set a few goals for 2014.

2014 Goals:

Increase personal prayer.

Do initiatory and an endowment once a month until April and then do my best after that.

Be a better mom by spending time teaching, disciplining and rewarding my kids more.

Get at least 1 year blog book done!  (Bonus points for all 3 years)

SURVIVE.

Here were Ella's 2013 Goals:
#1  My goal this year is to be a better piano player.
#2  My goal this year is to make the world a better place to live.
#3  My goal this year is to learn how to make cookies.
#4  My goal this year is to exercise more.
#5  My goal his year is to make better crafts.

It is my opinion that she met every one of these goals.  Good job Ella!

Here are the 2014 goals she wrote by herself:
Try to be nicer to my sisters.
Drink soda on weekends.  (this one makes me laugh)
Try harder in school.
Make one friend a month.
Take two vacations this summer.
Try to practice piano more. (she tried rip this one off before I saw it, but moms are so smart.  I found it and taped it back on her poster.)

Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve was pretty relaxed this year since I didn't really have any food preparations.  I pulled out the graham crackers and treats and let the kids make some gingerbread houses.  We had good intentions of doing this all year and as most things were done this holiday - late or not at all.  It was a year of simplicity in order for me to survive without a heart attack.  This anxiety is crazy!

 

These kids always make things more exciting.  I love how creative they were in their building.  Especially Ella - she had no help this year in the construction of her house.  The frosting recipe was a hit too.  I had to chisel the house off the plate after it had dried.

 

 

 

 

That night we changed things up a lot because our normal tradition of going to the Braithwaite's home for dinner and Christmas caroling was thrown off a bit.  Carol decided to leave to Boise for the holiday this year to help us all try to better cope with the loss of David last Christmas Eve.  So about 5pm we headed to grandma and grandpa Batemans for dinner and opening gifts from them. 

 

Then we headed to Dustin's brother Brian's house for some caroling, white elephant and sibling gift exchange.  They also showed a Mormon Message about the birth of Christ this year which was an excellent addition.

 

At about 10 we headed home to start our list of fun traditions - the kids got to wear their new PJs opened earlier in the day.  Alissa fell asleep on the way home from Braithwaites so we just carried her straight to bed.  Ella scattered "reindeer food" including orange peels all over the front drive way.

 

Dustin read the 2 awake girls "The Night Before Christmas".  Ella laid one of each type of cookie we had laying around on a plate for Santa (which was about 8!) as well as a cup of milk.

 

Dustin and I started a new tradition last year by taping newspaper at the end of the hallway so the kids get to run through and break the wall of paper as they come into the living room.  Not to mention it delays them from sneaking out into the living room during the night to peek at what Santa brought.

 

I am pretty sure Molly was the only one NOT disappointed when she saw what Santa had brought her.  The two older girls just kinda walked around acting a bit confused for a few minutes.  Makes my heart sad that my kids are so spoiled, but they did not get what they asked for.  Ella wanted an Ipad and as many times as I tried to tell her that Elves cannot just make it and have it magically appear in every kid's hands that asked for it - she still had her hopes up.  She got a new pink mountain bike and a nerf gun.  Alissa wanted a giant Santa doll.  Not just a teddy bear size, but her size or bigger Santa.  Instead she got an Easy Bake oven, some princess Polly Pockets and a nerf gun.  Molly was thrilled to see her Sophia microphone, movie and headphones.  I guess it serves you well to not have any expectations.

 

Eventually they warmed up and had a good time.

 

After playing with toys, taking a nap and eating breakfast we headed to my parents house for more Christmas fun.  We started off with our traditional breakfast casserole and the kids did the nativity. 

 

They are getting so big!

 

 

 

Look how much they have grown in 4 years.  Next year we will have at least 1 baby Jesus or Joseph to add to the mix. :)

 

All the girls in their matching PJs except Alissa who was thrilled to have her Hello Kitty ones she picked out while shopping with grandma.

 

Ella and Kailey in their matching hats and coats they picked out while shopping with grandma.

 

The next day was spent trying to find a place for all our new goodies and preparing for Dustin's brother Alan and family to come stay with us for a few days.  Like a good daddy, Dustin found some time to make cookies with Alissa using her new Easy Bake Oven.   She couldn't have been more happy about that.  We also met at Leos with our good friends the Hughes who just moved back to Utah!  We were happy to see them and excited to see them more often in the future.

Pre Christmas Festivities

We went out to Dustin's work party again and got our picture with Santa.  Molly was the only one afraid again this year.  The girls each got to pick a pretty nice gift that they were all excited about.

 

Since our lights were burned out we didn't get them up before it snowed so Dustin wrapped some around the trees which has been more than satisfactory for the kids.

 

We sent our hand me down Christmas tree to DI last year cause I hated it and I knew that if I didn't send it away while I remembered that - I would put it up again this year.  So we borrowed one of my mom and dad's trees.  As always it was fun to look at our old ornaments and get a new one.

 

 

I let the girls pick their ornament this year.  Alissa chose Ariel, probably because she was Ariel for Halloween.

 

Molly chose the penguin with letter M on it for Molly. :)

 

Ella chose Minnie Mouse cause she got to go to Disneyland this year.  She is making the silly face because she dropped Minnie as she was opening it and her nose broke right off.  We just drew on it with permanent marker and she was ok with that.

 

Super fun!  Love these girls.

 

Last minute we pulled together our annual neighbor Christmas caroling - Thanks to Mom & Dad being willing to drive us around again.  It actually really helped bring some Christmas spirit for me.  This year we had Jensens, Hansens, Laytons, Stakers and Kirk join us.

 

 

I burned a CD with a few Christmas songs on it and played them on a CD player to help us be a little more organized in our singing and add volume.  I think it helped, however I learned we need to add a few more songs to the track and probably better have words for those who don't know the words to all the songs.

 

We had Kirk and the kids over for dinner because Carol was out of town so they got to come with us.  

 

As always, we had a great time. 

Gymnastics Recital

Alissa has been in a gymnastics class since September this year.  It's held at a lady's home real close by to our house and has been absolutely perfect for Alissa.  She loves it and looks forward to it each week.  She gets to spend an hour and a half learning new tricks and hanging out with her friends.

 

They had a recital at a local gym so we could watch some of the things they are learning.  It was fun to watch her show off and act shy about it.

 

Good job Alissa!  She is such a natural with anything that involves coordination and a little bravery.   We are proud of her and happy to have something we know she loves. 

Love these babies!

I found these cue skirts at Sams Club for less than $3 a piece so I got the girls each one to wear to church during the month of December.  They were all matching and cute so we took a picture for baby brothers baby book. :)

 

He is going to be one lucky boy sitting amongst these beautiful sisters. 

 

And I am sure he will fit right in. :) 

Baby Steps

I am 23 weeks pregnant this week!  It seems like the more kids I have the faster time goes and that is scary!  There have been a few things different this pregnancy than normal.  I'll share my favorite first.  I lost 14 pounds within the first 18 weeks and Dustin gained about that many.  There was never a craving - only food I could tolerate.  Dustin however would come home from work with a particular craving.  It made me laugh. 

My less favorite symptoms are that the placenta is in the front of my stomach so I am only barely starting to feel the baby move and it's pretty much all tiny movements.  I have also experienced some anxiety this pregnancy which lead me to believe something was wrong with me.  I would experience shortness of breath, rapid heart rate and dizziness and it happened often!  After having my blood sugar, blood pressure and iron checked they confirmed it was only anxiety.  I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I already have 3 kids and a husband..and a home to take care of.. and 2 callings.. and do hair one or more days a week.. or have 5 visiting teaching sisters to visit each month.. and teach Joy School.. and whatever other million things come up - like Christmas presents to buy?  I had some serious melt downs which led to a giant melt down and even a loss of temper and had to face reality that something had to change.  I received council from my Bishop during tithing settlement and had a blessing from my dad and Dustin and finally made a few choices.

I am preparedness coordinator for my ward and recently an assistant was called to help me so I asked to take the back burner for a while and let her run with things.  I also sent this email out to all 146 people I had on my client list from this year:

Friends,
After much thought, stress and tears I have decided to be done doing hair starting the first of January.  I anticipated taking a "maternity break" starting April however for whatever reason this pregnancy is throwing me for a loop and I can't handle the same workload I normally could.  Maybe it's due to the fact that I have 3 kids to take care of too - or just Molly.  Either way, it's pretty stressful.  :)  I have thought much about the Good, Better, Best talk by Elder Oaks and realize there are better and best things that are being neglected in my family's lives at this time due to the day/days each week I dedicate to doing hair.

I hope by the time school starts next year I can slowly get back into the swing of things, but no promises.  In the meantime, my younger sister has moved from Rexburg to Idaho Falls and has access to a small salon station in my parents basement (some of you have visited it).  She has a little higher prices but does a good job and can try to work something out with you if you'd like to start having her do your hair.  You can text or call her 208-881-6815 her name is Heidi Stanfield.  I would be happy to give you any color information to share with whoever you decide to take care of you for the it me being. 

Sorry for the inconvenience.  I know you will all understand as you are all my friends.  :) 

Thanks,

Jessica

PS  For those of you already scheduled with me - your appointment still stands. 

I just wanted to document this HUGE decision.  I have been so grateful for Dustin for helping give me kind reminders of the many good things I am doing that are only good things.  He encouraged me to be done doing hair sooner that I wanted but it really feels like the right decision.  It makes my heart so happy to think of the time opening up for me to be a better mom and still take care of myself during this baby growing mode. :)  He stayed home from work with me on Monday this week to help me catch up on so many neglected things around our house and that helped me so much!  So grateful for him and his support.  He is a good man.

Now.. we will see what adventures come our way in the next 17 weeks before baby boy joins our family.  Hopefully they are happy ones.

Power Outage!

Wednesday morning about 5:15 as Dustin was getting ready for work he commented that the power just went out.  Within about 2 minutes of his comment all of our fire alarms went off.   Because it was so dark in the house and we couldn't locate even 1 of about 10 flashlights in our drawer with working batteries Ella started screaming and yelling for Dustin and I, trying to convince us that she was downstairs.  It was quite hilarious and I wish I had a video of it.  Alissa just quietly walked around with her arms out until she found us and Molly didn't so much as turn over on her pillow. :)

 

Dustin quickly got the fire alarms turned off but within a couple more minutes they were all going off again.  It made us quite nervous that we had some gas detector or something and Dustin and the girls and I all dressed and heading out to my parents house while he called the Fire Department.  Luckily they had other calls with the same situation so they were able to confirm it was due to the power outage.  We quickly found our stash of batteries and changed out the flashlights and convinced Dustin he needed to stay home with us for a while because it was creepy dark outside.  :)  Wimp, I know.

 

We bundled everybody up in our room, lit a candle and fell back asleep for about an hour until we got up to find out that Ella's school had been closed because power had still not been restored.  The temperature was dropping in our house because of the below zero temperatures outside and a lack of electricity.  We bundled up in socks, sweatshirts and pajamas and tried to find nonelectric things to do like write letters to Santa and color.  Ella commented, "This is really hard without the TV."  Makes me realize how pathetically much we rely on electronics to entertain us.  Also makes me want to quickly get my blog books printed so I don't have to access the internet to get all these entries and pictures.

 

We made some good memories and were thankful it was just a "drill". 

Power was restored around 11:45am.  Love these kids and glad they make life such an adventure.