Christmas Report

Christmas eve was spent at my Mom and Dad's. Mom made the little girls aprons. They look darling! Thanks Mom. Brig and Lisa joined us via the internet and video, it wasn't quite the same as having them here, but it was better than nothing. Thanks Brig and Ty for working that out.







Christmas morning at our house. The girls with their webkinz. Santa definitely came! Grandma and Grandpa Jack came over that morning, along with Michelle and Reggie. That was fun to have them come to our house.

That night we went to the Jacksons for dinner.

The storm hit about an hour before we left Lewiston. Consequently, we had quite the drive home. It took us about 45 minutes to make it from Lewiston to North Logan. I had to take a photo of the Pilot to show how bad the storm was!

This was my favorite part of Christmas. Libby's little gift to Noelle. Isn't that what it is all about?

I'm raising Divas

After brushing her teeth tonight, Libby looks in the mirror and says, "I'm going to soon be a part-time pop star". I could only say, "Really?" and try my best not to laugh. What else is there to say to that? We don't even have cable, but she can still throw out a Hannah Montana line like nobody's business.

Better yet, was Libby's comment on Sunday. I was taking photos of the girls in their Christmas dresses and Libby was going all out. She was posing like a little model. Noelle, on the other hand, was not. I love my girls equally, but they are not equally photogenic. So, I was laughing and commenting on how I couldn't get a decent picture of Noelle, but had plenty of Libby. Libby says, "It's called stage presence Noelle." Well, well what kind of monster have I created?

Of course Noelle is cute enough that I managed to get some good photos of her, but I had to delete quite a few!

The Kindergarten Program

What a little dolly! Libby just LOVES to perform, so she really enjoyed her kindergarten Christmas program today. Notice the bows- I made them for the girls last night. Not my best work ever, but hey at least I got them done.Even Daddy was able to make it! Noelle was there too- causing trouble. The minute we enter North Park, Noelle starts saying she needs to go potty (even if she just went at home). She loves that the sinks in the bathroom are her height. We did make one token potty trip, after the performance.

Libby's grand entrance.

For the past couple of weeks, Libby has come home from school singing the songs they have been practicing for the program. She really likes singing Feliz Navidad (one of the worst Christmas songs ever, in my humble opinion). I helped her with the correct Spanish accent (since I was the V.P. of the Spanish Club in High School) and as you can see by this video she takes this song very seriously. Good Job Libby!

PS The person sitting in front of me and in front of Libby were a delight to work with as I attempted to document this event!

Grandpa Wally's Christmas Tree

For the second year in a row we were able to go and help Grandpa Wally decorate his Christmas tree. Libby even missed school for this special day. Since Grandma passed away I have realized the importance of taking advantage of the time we have to spend with our grandparents, so I don't feel bad about taking her out of school. Grandpa was happy we were there and we had fun decorating the tree with 50 year old candy canes and setting up the train (all while listening to Anne Murray's Christmas CD- Grandpa's favorite, not mine).

Did I mention how I'm just learning to be a mom?

I have no fun pictures to post, just a need to write. Just some random things I did today to make it through...

1. Dyed Noelles banana creme pie yogurt green (with food coloring). She wanted Key Lime Pie flavor and I didn't have any. I improvised and she ate it.
2. Let Noelle crack two of the four eggs required for the cookies I was making. Only about 1 1/2 eggs actually made it into the bowl.
3. Let Libby use MY scrapbook paper to do a "craft". This was a sacrifice.
4. Provided Libby with her own ribbon, so she could make bows too.
5. Put Noelle in zip up jammies and pinned them on her - prior to laying her down for her nap. This prevented her pooping in her crib and then spreading it around for my cleaning pleasure. (The child is potty trained!-I only put a diaper on her at bedtime and naptime).
6. Made Daren cookies for his clients.
7. Cleaned the bathrooms. Noelle kept telling me I needed to clean the toilets. Yes, my 2 1/2 year old complains when the toilets are not clean enough.
8. Showered (although it wasn't until about 1 pm). Noelle told me this morning that I was stinky and I need to shower. That was a real boost to my self esteem.
9. Took the girls to the ward Christmas party, without Daren. Daren is officiating b-ball tonight. I hate going to ward things without Daren, but Libby wanted to see Santa (to ask for a new bike) and her friends. Ellie wanted to see friends too, but NOT Santa. She told me she did not want to sit with Santa and she kept her distance from him tonight. Without me even asking her to, Libby went and told Santa what Noelle wants (a baby doll). After we got home tonight Ellie was asking where her baby doll was. I explained that Santa would come to our house Christmas Eve and leave it for her. You should have seen the look of pure terror on her face. She has no interest in Santa coming to our home. I had to tell her he wasn't coming at all to get her to calm down.
10. I know there are about 20 more things I did, but my mind is fried. I am thankful for my girls. I realized today that I probably wouldn't get out of bed if it wasn't for them. Don't get me wrong, I would love to sleep in every now and then, but it would get old after a while. Daren and the girls keep me motivated and that is a blessing. I guess I can do it again tomorrow....

The Tree is Up

Well, we've created a new tradition at the Jackson home. We now put the Christmas tree up on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I am thrilled to blog this event, especially because I found a Christmas song from my childhood to add to my playlist for this month (Barbra Streisand's "Jingle Bells"). Jess, Brig, Dave, and Ty- this song is for you!

Halloween 2008

The carved pumpkins aren't much to look at. I do the bare minimum when it comes to carving pumpkins. Just enough to make the kiddos happy. They aren't even clean enough to put a candle in. Next year I will have to do a better job or better yet I will have to enlist the help of Daren (ya, right- he hates slimy/sticky things on his hands!).

Noelle only wore the hat portion of her costume for this picture. I couldn't get her to wear it any other time. Libby loved being a cheerleader and wearing some make-up for the evening. Don't ask me why there is a stuffed dog in the photo. They insisted Ellie hold it in the photo and it had to come with us trick-or-treating.

Snow on October 13th!!!

We woke up to snow a couple of weeks ago, so I took the girls to the bus stop early and let them play in the snow. It's the simple things that make them happy.

Temple Square for UEA

We didn't go on any fantastic vacations for UEA weekend, but Jess, mom, and I decided to take the kids to Temple Square. It was a beautiful day and we had fun. We ate lunch at the Nauvoo cafe and went to the Church History museum. Isaak thought the organ music coming from the tabernacle was "vampire" music (it was pretty hard core organ).