Ode to My Chair

Do you see this chair right here?...



And this foot stool right here?



Well, they are totally gross. They are made out of that fake leather stuff that shows EVERYTHING. Which wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have dogs and cats constantly rubbing up against them, the stool seems to be just the perfect place for kids to set food on, and I've even caught London wiping her mouth off on the arm of the chair. All totally gross stuff right? But the thing is, is that I still just love it so much (actually, I could do without the foot stool because EVERY toddler that enters my house leans on that thing and tips it over within seconds which drives me crazy) but the chair means so much to me because of all the many hours I have spent rocking and rocking my babies in it. I seem to bring home babies that need to be nursed about every hour for about three months so I rock and rock and rock and rock them. It can be annoying at times, but mostly I love it because I've learned they won't be small enough to rock forever. Although Roman still grabs a cracker and the remote and then insists that I rock him. It's a daily thing. But it's so cute, so even though this chair is gross no matter how many times I clean it, I still can't part with it because of all the great memories. I even caught London rocking Roman this week when he was so super sick. It was darling!



On another note, we shaved our cat this week. Isn't she so sweet!!! Ok, so she looks like a rat, but I love her. :)

Switch-A-Roo

Tim told me he was taking the kids upstairs to get them in their jammies and they came down like this. Good old dad! I guess Roman makes a pretty cute baby girl and London makes a cute long haired boy. (Please excuse the thousands of toys in the background, I wasn't planning on a picture moment.)



Roman was laughing so hard!


Here's another one of dad's ideas. Giving our chocolateaholic (not me, the other one) two spoons and a jar of nutella. He was loving life!

Now THIS is a Bucket List

So I've always thought Bucket Lists, or things you want to do before you die, are so funny because as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and having a vast knowledge of the after life, I know that none of the things on a bucket list are going to benefit you once you get to the other side. Maybe some of them might teach you a little self discipline, but really it's just a great big selfish thing and just another venue to brag about yourself. Neither of which will help you out on the other side. So when I got this list, written by Julie B. Beck, I was so happy to finally see a list with some real purpose. I mean don't you think there are spirits up there going, "I wish she'd clock a few less miles on that treadmill and a few more hours in the temple so I could have my ordinances done for me." So here's the list and it's also painted on the wall of the Relief Society Display in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City.


Essential to have on your list: The things that must be taken care of and if I don't take care of them, the blessings of eternal life won't be mine nor will they be the blessings of my family.

1. Revelation
2. Pray always
3. Daily Scripture Study
4. Time to ponder and fast
5. Making and keeping covenants (sacrament and temple)
6. Love one another

Necessary: Things we have to do as a part of mortal life in order to be self-reliant and be of service to our families and the Lord.

1. Marriage and Family relationships
2. Homemaking (cooking, cleaning, working)
3. Self-reliance and provident living
4. Temple and family history
5. Sharing the gospel
6. Church service
7. Compassionate Service

Nice-To-Do: These add variety to our lives, but they won't save us.

1. Hobbies/crafts
2. Recreational reading
3. Lunch with friends
4. Movies
5. Travel
6. Blogging and recreational computer time

Then she asks "What's on your list?"

I just thought this was so great in a world where priorities are so messed up. Even nice things start to take us away from what's important. I've always said, that's how Satan gets the righteous people, he just gets us to focus on silly hobbies a little too hard. Anyway, just thought I would share because I know this woke me up a little bit.

Christmas Morning!!

I found the angel, now where's Mary?

I like to collect Nativity Scenes and thanks to some great gifts each year from my sister-in-laws and my mom I've got a good little collection going. I try to get a new one each year even if it's just a small one.



Well this year there has been one character in particular who has been quite popular. Can you guess?



Yep, it's Mary. (This one looks pretty good considering Roman sent her flying with a sword) London is very interested in her, not because she's a girl, but because she is pregnant. London is OBSESSED with pregnancy. She makes me watch that TLC show, A Baby Story, all the time. She is constantly shoving towels up her and Roman's shirts to make them look pregnant. Pretty much if she ever hears the word she's all ears. But the funny thing is, is that she doesn't care for the finished product AT ALL. As soon as they give birth on The Baby Story, she tells me she is through watching it. When I bring up the idea of having another baby she just tells me that they are loud and they cry all the time and if I bring another home she will just go up to her room and lock the door. Which is probably why I find the Manger Scenes looking like this a lot.


Marys on one side.


And the baby Jesus' lined up and off by themselves somewhere.


One time I found this and I thought that was pretty funny too.






Her and the other little girls in Primary got to dress up as angels for the Nativity Scene at the ward party and she was super excited for that. They all looked so cute and had tons of fun spreading their angel dust around......and speaking of angel dust, we all know these right?



I always thought they were okay, but nothing great. I could take or leave them. If I'm going to indulge in a treat I usually want it homemade and involving chocolate somehow, but I read on a friend's blog about how her mom used to buy these when she was younger and put them in the freezer for all the kids to have as an after school snack. I thought I'd buy a bag and maybe London and Roman would like them frozen too, but I did sneak a frozen one for myself and it was soooo super good. I highly recommend it once all of the hundreds of plates of Christmas cookies lying around everyone's kitchen are gone. Happy Holidays!

Spain Table

We had this fabulous dinner for our Relief Society and the theme was Christmas Around the World. Each table was decorated like a different country and I signed up to do Spain since Tim served his mission there and we have lots of cool stuff. All the tables looked so beautiful and I was really bummed that I had forgotten my camera so I decided to recreate the Spain table at our house. And since the table looked so great I HAD to cook the cuisine to go with it. We had our appetizer platter of manchego cheese, kalamata olives, breads, and of course the meats of salchichon, jamon serrano, and chorizo cantimpalo. Then there was the tomato salad and last but not least lentil bean soup that cooked all day and made my house smell so great. If you've never had lentil bean soup there is a fabulous recipe on allrecipes.com under sausage lentil soup and be sure to add a splash of balsamic vinegar to your bowl before eating. It adds a great zip.

So here's the table





Here's the appetizer platter



Here's me and my little sous chef in our matching aprons.


And pretty much every time I turned around this little dude was digging this bowl out of the cupboard and putting it on his head. I thought it was a great contribution. :)

Teddy Bear Toss!

We are regulars at the Wrangler's hockey games here in town. We have been big hockey fans ever since we lived in Boise and my Canadian brother-in-law got us hooked on it. Every year at Christmas time the Wranglers host a teddy bear toss. The fans bring teddy bears and as soon as the Wranglers score their first goal everyone tosses the bears onto the ice. The players round them all up real fast and then the bears are given to needy children in the area. What a great idea!! Don't you just love how Christmastime is full of opportunities to give like this? I'm also grateful to other programs like Toys for Tots, Letters to Santa, and Giving Trees so that even if you may not know anyone in need you still can give to them amongst all your other shopping. Sprout T.V. does this really cute thing where you can go online and choose a book and some jammies for certain kids. There's also this great thing here called Baby's Bounty. My New Year's resolution is to donate to them monthly. What they do is pack diaper bags full of all sorts of baby stuff and give it to the mother's here in Vegas who really need them. But EVERYTHING has to be new, even the diaper bags, and each diaper bag has to be a certain size and contain a certain amount of all the necessary goods. I guess they spend hours and hours putting diaper bags together each week. Right now I can't really volunteer to put the bags together (although I think that sounds super fun) but I can pick up an item each time I'm at Wal-mart. Anyway, we had a great time tossing our bears (we actually threw a zebra and a giraffe) and since Tim's company is now the official sponsor of the Wrangler's they had a company deal where we all got to sit in the ice box right up next to the glass and eat some goodies. The players smashed into the glass so hard that they spilled all the drinks of the table next to us. But it was fun being that close!