~Day 365: 3, 2, 1...Happy New Year! AND I Did It!!

I can't believe the number above says 365. I set out with a goal this year to post a picture a day for a year.  I am happy to say I acheived that goal. What an amazing feeling!  I am publishing this post early in the night just to make sure I don't miss the window because we are celebrating the new year and I do forget.  I don't want to fail on the last day lol it has been fun to go back and look over the older posts from the year.  You can tell things have evolved since I began on this journey. I went from one picture with a one line description, to multiple pictures with novels for the descriptions. It has been so much fun and I think I'm going to keep it up next year. 

Cailee was in her room trying to balance the Pokemon round thingy on her head. She was very diligent about practicing. I hope we have just as much fun celebrating the new year. 

Brookie and Ashton took over my bed while they wait to go play. Maybe we should have taken naps before going out.  Not sure everyone will last the night lol 

We are celebrating with my fabulous friend Stacy and her family later tonight. I'm going to update this post later with pictures of our fun night. I can't wait! Even tho it's going to be pretty cold. Yes, 50 degrees is a bit chilly for Arizona. 

UPDATE! 

I love Stacy so much! She is a wonderful friend. We met her and her family when we first moved into the ward 3 1/2 years ago. So glad we met them!  

We had a good time on new years'!  We met some new and fun people. Played games. Dance parties. Good food. Silly kids. 

The girls ended playing with petshops. Ashton ended up playing video games for awhile. I took nick home around 10:30. He couldn't stay awake. The top right picture was just before midnight hit. And the bottom right was right after. The picture with me and Stacy is the 'good pucture.'  I have the blackmail picture saved for later use. Just biding my time. 

It was such a fun night! 

~Day 364: Admit One

Today we went to the Sealife Aquarium. I think we were all going through tank withdrawals. Before we moved to Arizona, Nick had a really amazing salt water tank set up in our home. It was so beautiful and so therapeutic to sit and look at.  We decided it was going to be really hard to move it down here, so he sold it. Some day we will have another one. Probably sooner now that we were looking at some great set ups lately.  

There was a tide pool that would change the water level and have a wave shoot out and startle you. Cailee was funny to watch. And there as also a 'petting zoo' where you could touch different things. I as the only one who put my hand in the water. Wimps. 

There was a bunch of bubble windows you could stand up and look through. Pretty cool to look up into the tanks. Something Nick should incorporate into our next tank I think. 

The kids were a lot of fun. I Ioved seeing their interest and excitement. I think Nick had fun sharing this with them as well. 

Cailee and I were in a large bubble looking up at tons of fish. We also walked through a clear tube that was awesome. And we all stood under a sting ray that was kissing the glass. Brought back memories of when Nick and I kissed a sting ray years ago. I think I like them better kissing the glass. 

Some goofy shots of us having fun. 

And earlier today, Brookie had her 8 year old well check. She is quite the ham. Very much her own person with a big personality. She is a tall 47 inches and 51.4 pounds. These kids really need to stop growing for two reasons.  First, they are just growing up too quickly. 

Second, they are all going to be taller than me. 

~Day 363: Hold Still

She was on a roll tonight. She had it in her head that she was going to hold her feet pointed in and then try to walk. 

I think she had just as much fun falling down as she did trying to stand up. I tried to get her to hold still, but it was impossible. Silly monkey. 

~Day 362: Thank you for the laughter

We love Cailee's smile and laughter. She is usually always happy and singing. I've heard if a child sings a lot, they are happy kids. I'm glad I have happy kids. 

Cailee came to snuggle this morning with her new doll. Of course daddy was there to tease her to make her laugh. It was cute. 

And this is what a happy kid does. She sets up her ponies with Hershey kisses to thank them. She was telling them thank you for the Christmas ornaments. Thank you for playing. Anything. She usually has great manners. It's nice to see her practicing on her toys. 

~Day 361: I'm the Queen of the Beehives

We had pizza last night for dinner.  Of course the kids had it for breakfast, too.  This is how I found Cailee this morning. iPad and pizza. They know the food stays in the kitchen, and yet this happens. I know she is secretly sorry that she broke the rules.  Really. 

The girls were on a roll this morning. They were doing headstands, wheelbarrows, and other physical things in the front room where there is all this room to do it. (There really isn't room to do it) They have so much energy. 

I took the girls to the park today. It was a very warm 57 degrees. And yes, I was freezing. The warm Arizona climate has turned me into a wimp. The kids too. They didn't want to go outside this morning because it was too cold.  Nick also took Ashton to the driving range too. They had a good time.   

The girls had fun climbing all over. Cailee got up on the large round ball and declared that she "is the queen of the behives."  The things that come out of her mouth.... She sure does keep us laughing. 

The kids spent some of their Xmas money today. Ashton bought some video game downloads. Cailee got a doll like Brookie's.  I liked to sit and look at it before they played with it. Her hair was so pretty and contained. Tomorrow I can guarantee it won't be like that. Brookie picked out a couple of little ponies. They never will have enough. And the kids received gift cards in the mail from Grandma Connie and Grandpa Len. They were cards to McDonald's. Made their day. They received some on Xmas day from grandma Jocelyn and grandpa Mike  too.  The grandparents sure do know their grandkids. They are now in mcd heaven. 

~Day 360: The Day Before Tomorrow

Jenna came to visit me today!  She and her family are moving to Texas, and head out tomorrow.  She is staying in Arizona this week and made some time to see me.  I don't know when I'll get to see her next. So it was great to see her today!

I think the kids all had fun together. The older boys played the Xbox. The girls had a tea party. And poor Jonah was all by his lonesome playing with Cars and Legos. It was cute to watch him play and be busy by himself. 

Even though I didn't get to see them very often since they lived in Utah, I think I'll get to see them less now that they are in Texas. But maybe I'll have to make an excuse to fly to Texas someday and visit. Sure love this family and love my friend!

~Day 359: The Real Meaning of Christmas...

BrookLynn received a white board and markers from Santa. She is always drawing on a board we have that is a half  board, half cork board. So she as excited to get this. She took it upon herself to write this. She was not prompted. This was a proud mommy moment, and it hits the nail in the head. She wrote: "The real meaning of Christmas is spending time with family and the birth of Jesus Christ."

It is a very special day. I'm glad the kids understand this. We took neighbor gifts around last night, and the kids brought that up a couple times today. They thought that was so fun to give things to other people. I'm glad they thought of that. 

I received a special box from my good friend, Carey. The box is full of items that represent Christmas, and the meanings behind them. After the gifts were all opened, we sat together and remembered why we have Christmas.  We each picked an item and talked about the Savior. We haven't always done this and I wanted this year to be different. It was a great start and I'm grateful for the gift from Carey to help us remember the gift of our Savior's birth. 

These are just a few shots from the morning. The kids had fun I think. They woke up early and came out and checked things out before they woke us up. I was a little annoyed. But they swore they didn't open the gifts. But they still cheated. The goofs. They just couldn't wait. 

I know Nick loves to be in my pictures. He had to take a picture of me taking his picture. He gave me a great gift. A large framed picture of my favorite Gilbert Temple photo he took this year. It is so beautiful, and more vibrant in person and will be displayed proudly in our home.  

We received a couple new games today and some Legos sets. We played the games and invited some neighbor kids to play Legos. It was a fun afternoon. 

I took the advice of the chocolate wrapper. It said to take time for myself. I took a nap. A long one, too. It was nice. And the kids did receive 'coal' from Santa. It was just candy coal. But I think he was trying to send them a message. My brother and I received coal in our stockings one year when we were young. That coal is the only thing I remember from that year. I told the kids this, but I don't think they believed me. They were not very surprised they got the coal. I told them I won't be afraid to tell Santa to bring them real coal next year. I hope they improve their attitudes this year. They really are good kids, but sometimes I forget the good things they do. Maybe I need to change my attitude toward them as well. 

I had to get one last hurrah in for the Christmas music. The 12 Pains of Christmas is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I tortured Nick tonight while I played it one last time on my phone. I also played Christmas music on the piano one last time. I love the music of this time of year.  I'm saying goodbye to it until next year. 

I'm grateful for the birth of my Savior and for the love and company of my family. I truly am blessed in my life. 

~Day 358: Zero Days Till Christmas

Christmas Eve. Already. I swear we just had Christmas last week. But what a fun time of year. Tonight we went to Alissa and John's house for a wonderful prime rib dinner.  Gathered together was John's parents, Chris and Jim. Bart and Stephanie and Nathan and Erica were there. And of course, the babies... JJ and Sophie. It was a fun night!

We started out eating dinner. The table decorations were beautiful. Alissa did a very nice job.  And the food was so yummy. 

After dinner we had a gift exchange.  Everyone received some nice gifts. The kids really enjoyed it, and were very excited with what they received. Cailee was caught hugging her lip smackers thingies. I think she was the most excited..... Until John's gift showed up. But more on that later. 

Stephanie made this absolutely beautiful blanket for JJ!! First of all, the shape of the owl is amazing. Second, the material she picked out was so great.  Every pattern had some meaning behind it. Like the cars for John. The outdoors pattern for JJ's grandparents. Cameras for Nick. And of course, pink for Stephanie herself. I have never seen a blanket like this. And third, it will be interesting to see if JJ ends up with the blanket, or if Alissa appropriates it for herself. Or if Aunt Shar visits and the blanket mysteriously disappears.  It's just so great! 

Now back to John. He received a Disney train set. His face says it all. He was so excited. It was like he was a little kid again. It was fun to watch him put it together and then threaten anyone with a screwdriver if they breathed on it wrong. It was very a fun way to end the night. 

After Nick and I left their house, we had every intention of getting the kids to bed. But we decided that we needed to go and take gifts throughout the neighborhood. So we jumped in the car and drove around and distributed our gifts. The kids had so much fun getting out of the car and running up to the door, and knocking giving them our small little gift.  The gift really wasn't anything special. But it was still fun to do. I'm so glad the kids had fun giving instead of receiving. 

And right before bed, the girls had to go out and distribute the reindeer food all over the front yard.  The food is made up of dried oatmeal and glitter.  The food was supposed to guide the reindeer to find our house. And the glitter was supposed to shine in the moonlight. The glitter did actually shine, but the picture I took does not show it shining very good. Then the kids promptly got into bed and fell asleep within just a few minutes. I had to play a few more Christmas songs on the piano before the night was over. After tomorrow I'm not going to allow myself to play it until after Thanksgiving next year. 

What a special time of year it is. I hope the kids don't wake up at 5 AM in the morning. Because they will be disappointed when I'm still asleep. Goodnight. I hope Santa finds his way tonight. 

~Day 357: Gas and Spice and Everything Nice

Tonight we got a call from Nick's brother-in-law, John, letting us know he just filled up his car for $1.12 a gallon! Of course Nick and I had to take our vehicle down to fill up. To top it off, we had $.10 off a gallon, so we filled up for $1.02 a gallon! The last time I remember seeing gas prices like this was when I first started driving. Gas was $.92 a gallon... Never again. I'm sure. 

Too bad Nick filled his car up last night. He didn't get a view like this while filling his car.  The gallons almost match the dollars! Fabulous!

Since we were in the neighborhood, I had to try to find some. I found some. I have heard about it now for weeks. It was worth the wait! The spiced kind is good! I think I might be hooked. Thanks Alissa for posting your own picture so I could see it. And thanks to Brad Hall for bringing it up in church on Sunday. Yup. Southern Comfort in church. Worth it! Haha try it!

~Day 356: Can you hear the giggles?

Quite often you will be able to see this view. Ashton and Cailee love to play video games together. Tonight they were playing one of the Legos games. Cailee just loves to drive around and crash into things. Ashton likes to blow things up. But they are both laughing and laughing and giggling. It's the greatest sound. I love that they can play so well together.  

~Day 355: At Last

Today there are floors that can be seen in the girls' rooms. We started the project yesterday. And at last, we finished today. I know it is supposed to be a day of rest on Sundays, but we had to finish their rooms today because it was driving me absolutely crazy. 

Yesterday we went through all their stuff and sorted out things to keep and things to donate. I'm happy to say we donated two large baskets full of stuff. 

We then went through and organized the toys into different bins according to types. Like ponies or petshops or barbies. They each have a place of their own on a shelf in brookie's room. Cailee has no toys in her closet, but she has the toys' houses in hers. We have consolidated. We have organized. We better keep things clean or mom won't be so nice next time. I will help clean up, but things won't end up back I their bedrooms. We will see how things go. 

And at last, they got to see them. After the rooms were clean, the girls asked me if I would show them my dolls. They are my porcelain dolls that my grandma Beth (who has passed away) gave me over the years when I was younger. I love them and can't part with them, even though they stay in their boxes for now in the top of BrookLynn's closet. I don't trust my girls with them just yet. But it was fun to bring them out and see the girls' reactions to each one. Sometimes they were almost reverent with them lol It was cute. 

I have 11 porcelain dolls and three small Madame Alexander dolls. The Madame Alexander dolls are from my mom to my girls. My mom had a bunch of them and I remember playing with them when I was little.  

The doll on the left that Cailee is holding is one of my favorites. The doll on the right is my very FIRST doll I ever received. She has a music box inside. Just holding them and playing the music box brought back so many memories. Someday I will get them all out and display them again. 

Of course Brookie had to have her doll, Kiana, be in the pictures too. She liked being included. Kiana is wearing a crocheted dress from Aunt Chandra.  I know they wish I would let them play with my dolls... But nope. 

~Day 354: He Has No Eyebrows

We are watching the movie 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' Good movie. I'm all for the me Marvel movies. The only thing Cailee got out of it was that the raccoon didn't have any eyebrows. Very observant. 

And this picture just makes me laugh lol

Ashton went with Nick down to the park earlier and practiced hitting golf balls. The girls went down too. You can see Cailee flying by on her scooter.  Ashton and nick were watching her go by. The girls love to be outside. 

He loves his new clubs!

~Day 353: A Moose Once Bit My Sister

No. There were no moose present at the ward Christmas party tonight. Santa was there though. The kids were all excited to see him. Except, I don't think JJ quite knew what to think of him. 

The kids and I face timed with my parents tonight. The kids were acting goofy. They were happy to talk to their grandparents for a little bit. 

I talked to my parents for a while when the kids left. Somehow we got on the subject of moose. My dad, for the longest time, would get a moose for Christmas. I don't know how it started, but in some form or another, a moose would appear each year. It has kind of been a joke in our family. They have a moose hanging on the lamp. It has magnets in its limbs to hold it up. So of course I was thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Who doesn't think about that movie? And the phrase "A moose once bit my sister" got stuck in my head.  It's ok. It's just a flesh wound. I think I'm going to bed now.