Jessica's Night

Before After
(Her before icing was quite the masterpiece even before she began decorating.)

Tonight Jess and I had a date at her school. A girls night out to make gingerbread houses. Mrs. Thompson (her teacher) had the class make the houses during the day and then the parents got to come to the school and help decorate them tonight with the kids. I just sat back and watched Jess create and say "ooh" and "ahh" at the appropriate moments. I snapped a million pictures trying to capture her amazing personality. She is such a hoot. I just love watching her grow into such a beautiful, wonderful girl.

Elf Yourself

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Polka Dots and Letters

Can I just tell you how nice it is to have our business out of the house? We are getting more "moved in" each week as we hang stuff up and get organized. Do you like the polka dots? In my room, they are everywhere, it started with a few and they have multiplied. We have a popular design that gets the center polka dot peeled out which resulted in our polka dot room. Then in the room where Camilla's works is our letter graveyard. When something goes wrong with a peel or a cut they will end up on her wall. (can you see the B behind the vinyl?)

Gingerbread Decorating 101

For Family Night we had the missionaries come over and decorate gingerbread cookies with us. Jessica conducted on her stool (whoever conducts FHE stands on the stool, they have done that since they were really little) Anyway, she played Jingle bells on the piano for our song...again. And the missionaries shared our scripture. Then for activity we decorated our gingerbread cookies. I love gingerbread cookies, so do the kids... Matt not so much. The kids and I made the cookies after school which was an adventure in itself. The boys turned the rolling pins into light sabers and we had severed gingerbread men limbs everywhere...but all in all they did a great job and it was very fun. We made gingerbread pirates, gingerbread men with underwear, and many men covered head to toe in candy. Fun night.

Kindergarten Woes

Do you want to know what breaks a mother heart. When your little kindergartener doesn't want to go to school. Ever since Logan started preschool it has been a problem. It caused him so much trouble and stress I took him to the doctor to ask him what to do. He told me to pull him out of preschool until he actually had to go to kindergarten. It wasn't worth the massive emotional and physical stress it caused him. He would ask me each morning, "mommy is today a pre-school day?" If it wasn't, this was a good thing. If it was, well get your ear plugs because the whining and crying fest would begin. Well now that he has started kindergarten he hasn't decided this is is a good thing yet. In fact it has gotten pretty bad. The stomach aches are frequent, the crying is often and it simply breaks my heart. Fortunately he loves his teacher, as do I, and together we are trying to work this through. This weekend he has broken down a couple of times mumbling through crocodile tears about being very upset that he has to work on the "goat in the boat" at school...ya, I don't have any idea what it is either...but apparently it is frightening to him. So the only way to calm him down was to tell him I would go in and talk to Mrs. Hahne about the goat in the boat and see what I could do to help him with it. Sigh. Tough times when you have to send your last little baby out the door when all you want to do is let him stay home and cuddle him up in your arms.

FIRST SNOW!

Finally it snowed! We have been waiting and waiting....and waiting. And then the storm came through and we woke up to lots of snow! The kids woke up, geared up and headed outside. I didn't see them again inside until they started turning more and more white. They came in warmed up with hot chocolate, candy canes and homemade cinnamon rolls. (yes...wait for it...I baked them myself) And then headed out again until almost dark. It really feels like Christmas now.

Pyro Problem

Oh dear...I sort of have a "in the closet" problem. I have a pyromaniac problem. Well...I don't do it on purpose like a real pyro would. But if there was a word that describe someone who seems to accidently start fires...that is what I would fall under. Tonight I had another episode. Okay...here is what happened... I was cooking hamburger for dinner and decided to change to the front burner so Jess could help me cook. Well I forgot that the back burner was still hot, even though I DID turn it off. Anyway, to make room for my big pan I shoved the margarine over...unfortunately right on top of the hot burner. I was busy doing other dinner stuff, that regular non-pyro moms do...anyway...Jess says calmly says to me,"mom, the butter is on fire." well the rest is history. I might add Matt didn't even look up during the fiasco and the battery removed smoke alarm didn't even go off...oh dear...fire and smoke from the kitchen is so ordinary around here now. (mental note: put battery in alarm)

Past Pyro Moments I have Learned From...

1. Lots of oven fires...baking soda is usually on stand by...I AM getting better at that one though.
2. A handful of oven mitts have hit the dust...but WHO hasn't had THAT happen!
3. A couple of times a candle has once again...accidentally...been too close to something else.
4. Maybe twice I have learned that it is NOT a good idea to drape something over a lamp to make it dimmer in a room...really, don't ever do this one.
5. And finally, I have learned once...okay maybe more...that you should always, always make sure you are not cooking something on the stove before busing yourself elsewhere. Even to talk to the neighbor outside for a couple of minutes, you will come back to a nasty smoky surprise or worse.

For those who comment...I am sensitive over my problem so please be kind...


SIDE NOTE: I know it MUST be in my genes because I have memories of crispy oven mitts growing up. And just in case we forget, Hunters science experiment with a light socket and a fork that resulted in my new black wall. I am not alone.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

2007 Logan Skiing 4 years old
Lessons Learned:
1. When he is ready to ski...race down just to keep up, he doesn't turn.
2. When he is tired...he's done.
3. When he is ready to go...he's packing up and forgetting all of you people.

Harvest Time

For Christmas last year I gave my sweetheart a lemon tree. For most that would be weird, but for him...he loves that sort of thing. So we paitently waited all year for this little guy to grow. Trying to protect it from flying balls and light sabers. He looked like he was growing limes for 11 months and then finally he started to turn yellow! We harvested and Matt made lemon cheesecake. It was a special event. Now a year later we can make another cheescake.

Christmas 2007

Trimming the Tree!

The kids have been DYING to decorate the tree. We got the tree on Saturday and everyday since then they have begged to decorate it. We have been busy! Last night was Scouts so we told them they had to wait one more night... they protested so we told them they could put up one ornament before bed. This morning before school our neighbor Hayden looked at the 3 lonely ornaments and said, "Dude, is that all the ornaments you guys have?" I laughed hard.

Anyway, we thought we should add the rest tonight. I just love opening each carefully wrapped ornament, it's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. I love going down memory lane. When I look at the ornament from years past it puts me back when the kids were that age. Each year they receive a new ornament, each special place we get an ornament and Matt and I started collecting love dovey type ornaments (ex: cinderella/prince charming, two chubby love bears etc...) when the kids suggested that it looked like mommy and daddy, we thought good idea. (corny I know but I love it)
It is also tradition, since they were all born, to put up the star 3 times so that each person has a chance to put the star up on the tree. Daddy says they are getting too heavy to do it much longer.

Now we are all ready for Santa to come.

In Comes Melanie

I remember when we jumped for joy over our one order a month. Now we are getting a little busier and we can't do it alone anymore...so in comes Melanie! Thank goodness. We have her working right along with us just to be able to get our orders out. Today we cut, peeled and masked 73 orders. Whew. Camilla and I are trying to get organized in the office and still get the orders out which becomes a big task. However, I absolutely love it. It is true that when you are doing what you love for work you really aren't working. It has been hard work, but I feel like I need to be pinched sometimes. It is a dream that I can finally have my own business. And even better along side my best friend.

Lights!!

Matt is getting better and better each year! He went from HATING to put up any kind of lights, then when we moved here and he hung a feeble string across the garage, and THEN he came up with the wisteria lighted cones last year... and THIS year he climbed the roof and hung our lights from our peek. It is beautiful! I am so proud of him. We live in one of those cul de sac neighborhoods where everyone goes all out and people drive around our houses to see it. The people we bought the house from even told us how crazy they went and how the neighborhood counted on it. We kindof dropped the ball these past years with our measly string across the garage. I think we are MUCH better now.

I have big plans for next year.

Pleasant Surprise

You know when you are excited about something and it doesn't turn out as great as you had hoped in your mind. It stinks. And then there are the times when you expect something ordinary and it turns out simply wonderful. That is the best. That is what happened when we went to get our tree this Saturday. Last year we bought our tree from a family owned business who told us next year they would have a tree farm. So we called them up and sure enough they told us to where to go to find it. We were greeted with a tractor hay ride that led us up the mountain up to the tree farm. All along the way were cute little signs and a beautiful landscape of the river below. Once we arrived to all the trees they handed us our saw and told us to go ahead and pick. I have learned over the years it takes Matt awhile to pick anything so I let him roam and we all followed like little ducks. We had a blast. Laughing all the way. After you pick your tree and cut it down they help you lug it out and then you can sit by a big bon fire and roast marshmallows. Then they gave us apple cider and candy canes. It was just wonderful, like right out of the movies. We then bought some kettle popcorn and headed back down the mountain on our hay ride. What fun! We loved it. I am so grateful for this family taking the time to make their Christmas tree business really special for their customers. I just love Wenatchee.

Nativity Exhibit

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(Linda, Me, and Jill)

We are finished. It was beautiful. It was worth it even if it touched just one person. In fact all day at church today I heard little stories of how it touched peoples lives. I hated not having it last year. I think during the Christmas season there is nothing better than being able to quietly and reverently walk through and experience the Saviors birth through hundreds of different nativities. I am proud of our Presidency being able to pull it all together in such a short time.

Sleeping at the church

Weeks ago at a RS pres meeting we discussed that we needed security...I piped up we could do it, thinking that was weeks away and surely things will change before then. Until a couple Sundays later Matt is sitting in ward council meeting and they announce that the West family will be sleeping in the church during the nativity. Oh dear, this was news to Matt. The night came, we grabbed all our stuff and hunkered down in a classroom. The kids were WILD and thought it was the coolest thing. (Hunter stayed at his friends which was cooler for him as it was a school night.) We borrowed my friends air mattress who insisted it was wonderful and wouldn't go flat. We pumped it up and 5 minutes later we are flat on our back like a pancake. I had to laugh. We made it on about 1 hour of consecutive sleep. No prob, but I must say I will think twice before offering anything so quick.


Side note: I am unsure what they think our family will do if there happens to be a break in. I say run...

Nativity Prep

I think it is a Nativity Exhibit record. It took all day Wednesday to just bring in all the stuff and put up the dozens and dozens of trees. Than all day and night Thursday to turn it into a wonderland of lights...but now it looks beautiful. It usually takes the stake weeks to get it up. It has been quite the controversy whether or not the stake should continue with this Wenatchee tradition. When they decided against it, Jill (RS pres, above left picture) and I decided...let's do it ourselves! We made it simple and still accomplished amazing results. It is a community favorite and we are excited to bring it back.

Burnt Out

I am burnt out today. For the last several weeks I have gone to bed late and awoken early, worked a little more than usual, pushed myself past being tired, and now...well I am beat. I got sick during Thanksgiving and I can't seem to shake it. Tonight I feel like poop. I have a fever and my throat hurts so bad I need some strong meds intervention...the stinky part is I start my big couple days of all day nativity prep. I wish I could just keep going and going but sometimes my body says otherwise. Sigh....Left foot, right foot...

Wrestle Mania

I never had any brothers, just two sisters. So now that I have two boys that are close in age....well...you might as well just install a wrestling ring in our living room. It doesn't matter if you tell them to stop until you are blue in the face. BOYS WILL ALWAYS WRESTLE! It is like they have an invisible magnet to pounce on each other. So as long as it doesn't end in blood shed, they are both having fun, and they don't break any of my stuff, I let it happen in small doses. And once and awhile I join in as kung foo mommy.