Christmas 2011

I need to do a re-cap of the last several weeks but that's not going to happen just yet.  Here's a few highlights from Christmas day that I want to remember:

Cami opening her Santa gift just enough to see it was a tote full of dress-up clothes.  Her reaction?  Jumping up and down shouting "I got a dress-up box! I got a dress-up box!"

Brie saying prayer at my parents' house before we ate Christmas dinner. "...bless that we'll have a good Christmas, bless that we will feel the Spirit, bless our food."

Maddie, after finding out the truth about Santa a couple weeks ago, has been less excited about all of the Christmas magic this month.  That has been hard for me, really hard for Aaron!  This morning when everything had settled down a little bit and the twins were busy with their gifts she mouthed "Thank you Mom and Dad!" Aaron smiled and said "I don't know what you're talking about, that is from Santa." Maddie smiled back.

Aaron's bright red shirt and green tie that he wore to church.  He's in the choir, so he was up front for everyone to see. 

Brie noticed that Aaron was crying during the song Away in a Manger.  She had to wipe her eyes.  So sweet. 

December

It's nearly half over!  Christmas is two weeks away.  The girls are so excited.  Aaron submitted the last of his assignments for this semester on Friday and he's so relieved to be on break for a bit.  I think he is finishing up the last of his hazmat tech classes this week and getting ready to take the certification test this week, then he will be able to enjoy some time off for a bit. 

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  I had to work that night but we were able to go to Tucanos with my family for dinner early in the afternoon.  It is so nice to go out and not have to worry about all of the prep and clean-up.  Aaron took a few days off early in December so that he wouldn't have to work on his birthday and we were able to take advantage of the time off together with the girls.  Unfortunately my back decided to give out on me and I was dealing with that for about a week, but I started a week of prednisone as soon as it happened and it really helped me get back to almost normal.  We were still able to go to the Festival of Trees, the new Muppets movie, the Taylorsville Symphony's Christmas concert and out for a nice dinner on Aaron's birthday.  We also took the girls to the Forgotten Carols.

The girls have been in a music performance class since August.  We've been busy with some extra rehearsals the last several weeks and they had their first performance on Thursday.  They did a great job.  I know Cami and Maddie enjoy it, but Brie loves it.  They all have such fun personalities and it is fun to watch them shine.  One of the many perks of being a mom.

Christmas is coming

Thanksgiving is first, but Christmas seems to be overshadowing it.  The girls have had extra practices to get ready for Christmas performances.  Yesterday they had one for 2 1/2 hours.  That is crazy.  I'm just glad I wasn't the one in charge of 25 girls from age 5-10.  Aaron and I went to do some Christmas shopping and browsing since we were close to everything in American Fork.  It was nice to have a couple hours without the kids. 

We have reservations for dinner at Tucanos on Thanksgiving.  I'm excited to try it there.  Aaron is off but I work Thursday and Friday night.  Aaron has a big group project due for his class this week so I think he'll be busy doing that on Friday.  He had a good experience shadowing the nurse administrator at his hospital the other day.  He was very complimentary of Aaron's job performance and work history and encouraged Aaron not to rule out management and administration as an option for his future career plans.  That is great news.  The fact that hospital administration knows who he is and that he is on their radar is exciting.  I'm so proud of him.

Grateful

Gratitude is the theme of November, and I have so much to be grateful for. It is overwhelming when I really spend time thinking of all the wonderful people, experiences, blessings and things that I have in my life.  

I love this quote from President Thomas S. Monson: 

This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.

We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that "gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

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It sounds kind of old.  I don't really feel old.  Except for when I talk about something that happened when I was a teenager - my knee surgery, for example - and I realize that was twenty years ago.  Yikes.   

This last week was really nice.  I had 5 days off in a row, which gave me a chance to catch up on sleep and get some cleaning done.  Monday was busy with Halloween parades, music class for the girls and trick-or-treating.  Tuesday my friend from down the street took me to lunch for my birthday.  Later that night she came over for our weekly movie night and girl talk.  It's one of my favorite things!  Wednesday was my birthday and Aaron took me out shopping while the girls were in school.  We bought a couple Christmas presents for the girls and I picked out some shoes.  When the girls were done with school we went up to Salt Lake for some more shopping and dinner.  I found a coat that I've been looking for, so that was nice.  We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and I was surprised to see my whole family there, that was fun.  The wait was ridiculously long, but we stuck around anyways.  The food was great and it was fun to hang out.  It was a late night out but the girls were really good.

Thursday and Friday night I was back to work.  I have been getting assignments with higher acuity the last couple months.  I love my job and I am so grateful for it! 

Saturday night we got a babysitter and went out with Brian and Wendy.  They suggested Indian food.  I am not super adventurous with my food choices and Aaron was worried I wouldn't like it, but I was willing to give it a try.  We went to the Bombay House in Provo and I really enjoyed it.  It was fun to do something different.  We went to see Tower Heist after dinner and finished up with ice cream at Cold Stone.  We don't do date nights like that very often, it was a nice treat!   

It seems like life gets crazy busy with holiday stuff from Halloween on.  We just got the girls' performance schedule for Christmas programs and they have some extra rehearsals the next several weeks.  Thanksgiving is only 2 1/2 weeks away! 

Fall update

Well, so much for updating this more regularly.  I have definitely been enjoying more "free time" now that the girls are all in school for a little bit every day.  I usually spend Monday doing laundry and getting the house tidy, Tuesdays on bigger cleaning/organizing projects around the house, and Wednesdays doing whatever I want.  I've been working on quilts for Cami and Brie for Christmas, I just finished those up the other day.  I've been cooking more dinners and just feel like life in general is a lot more organized.  It's been nice!  It's amazing how much I can get done in a few hours. 

Cami and Brie are loving Kindergarten.  When I picked them up the first day Brie was frustrated because the teacher hadn't taught them how to read.  She was frustrated again when they finished learning all the letters of the alphabet that she still didn't know how to read.  The twins have loved to pretend doing word searches like their big sister, circling random letters as words.  In the last few days they have been doing them by circling the words that are actually on the list.  They know several sight words, too.  They are so excited about learning.  They play school most of the morning before I take them in the afternoon.  Up until this week they were sitting next to each other, and they did really well with it.  They are now sitting at different tables, but they say they are still close to each other.  I have been having them help me put dinners together in the morning and they love helping in the kitchen.  It has helped them stop being so picky about food at dinner time.  They get really excited about trying what they made.  I signed all three girls up for music performance classes at a performing arts studio nearby and they are really enjoying it.  Brie absolutely loves it. 

Maddie is doing really well in 4th grade.  She was student of the month in her class this month.  Her teacher had nothing but great things to say about her at parent teacher conferences earlier this month.  In August she set a goal to read all of the Harry Potter books before she turned 13.  I told her I thought she'd be able to finish them all before that.  She started with book one at the end of August and is already on the fourth book!  She is constantly reading when we are driving from one place to another and spends half an hour or more reading every night.  She is loving taking piano lessons.  She went to a sewing class over the summer, but it was hard to find a place to fit that in with piano lessons, Activity Days and the music performance class.  Hopefully we can find a way to make that happen for the spring session of classes because she really enjoyed it. 

Aaron is busy with work, online classes through the University of Texas in Arlington and attending Hazmat tech certification classes through the fire department.  I think the Hazmat classes run through the end of the year and he has to take a test once he's done with them.  He's managing it all pretty well. 

August!

School starts in three weeks.  That is crazy!  The summer has gone by pretty quickly.  Maddie starts 4th grade on the 23rd, Cami and Brie start Kindergarten on the 29th.  They're all excited about the new school year. 

Last weekend the girls and I went up to Boise with my parents for my great- aunt and uncle's homecoming.  The girls were so excited to do something different and really enjoyed the time with Grandma, Grandpa, Chelsey and Andrew.  It was fun to see extended family we don't see very often.  On the way back home, we were talking about the girls' favorite memories.  Brie said hers was Disney World, and Cami told my mom "every memory I have with my family is my favorite."

Aaron started his classes through the University of Texas last month.  He's doing their online RN-BSN program and is scheduled to be done next August.  He's finished with his first class this weekend.  It's nice because they are all only 5 weeks long, but the coursework and material covered is what would typically be done in a 16 week semester so it's intense.  He is thinking about grad school to become a family nurse practitioner.  The BSN will allow him more opportunities and options, I'm glad he's getting it done. 

We took the girls to see Harry Potter 7.2 the other day.  I hesitated taking the twins, but we started watching all of the movies at home to get ready for the new one, and they begged to go.  We went to the first show of the day hoping for less people to disturb if we had to take them out, and there was only three other people there.  The girls did great and they loved it.  Right before it started I told Cami and Brie the secret: "I know this movie is going to be scary, but the good guys win in the end." They asked how I knew that and I told them it was because I'd read the book.  They thought it was awesome to have that kind of information.  Funny girls!

Yesterday we celebrated Pam's birthday by making a couple of her recipes.  The girls had looked through the book a few days earlier and picked hobo sandwiches and apple pudding.  I had suggested sending balloons up into the sky, but I worked Saturday and knew the helium in balloons probably wouldn't last for 24 hours.  The girls loved dinner and we talked about Grandma Pam for a while.  Maddie turned on the Wizard of Oz after dinner.  At the end of the night, Brie said "I was wondering if tomorrow we could go see Grandma Pam's gravy?" I had to hide my smile, it was so cute.

We took the girls to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant on June 24th.  We decided to head down earlier in the day so that we could visit the horses and other animals near my great-uncle's house.  I thought the girls would enjoy it, but they were overwhelmed by the smell of manure.  It was so funny, Cami and Brie plugged their noses and wouldn't let go until we moved away from the smelly animals.  They were much more interested in the kittens nearby.  We spent the afternoon and early evening relaxing at Uncle Cless' house while the girls played with my cousin's kids.  The pageant started about 9:30, and even though the girls were exhausted, they managed to stay awake for most of it.  At one point, when the pageant comes to 3rd Nephi, the twins were excited to see Jesus.  Aaron and I had been asking them "Who's that?" when different people came out.  When Aaron asked Cami during this part, she replied excitedly "Jesus!" *pause* "....but not the real one."

That weekend was the start of a week off for me and it was so nice!  The girls and I played a lot and I got caught up on housework that gets neglected the weeks that I work three shifts.  I also got a few bigger projects done. .  I have also been working on getting pictures on our computer put into albums. 
Yesterday we had our neighbors over for a BBQ and fireworks because I work tonight.  It was fun to hang out and the food was great!  I opted to skip my nap for work today so that we could take the kids to see a matinee of Mr. Popper's Penguins.  We finished up with an early dinner at Chili's.  Cami and Brie have really become big girls and going out is so much easier than it used to be.  I can't believe we're less than two months away from Kindergarten!

Bits and Pieces

A random sample of life at the Larson house the last month or so.

*The girls LOVE going to the movies.  I love taking them.  This has gotten so much easier the last year or so!
*Popcorn rules: no one can eat any popcorn until the movie starts.  Unless we have a large popcorn that comes with a free refill.  In that case you must divide the popcorn out and get a refill before the movie starts. 
*Early morning snuggles in bed - many mornings I wake up to all three girls in bed with us.  This is one of those things that drives me crazy but I love all at the same time. 
*Cami falling asleep next to me on the couch
*Cami and Brie both call me "Momma"
*The girls are so quick to try and comfort/console each other if one of them is hurt or sad. 
*Squeezy hugs
*Cami's laugh when she is tired is one of the best sounds in the world.  Love it!
*The twins helping me shop at the grocery store
*Maddie saying "nyet" - she's picking up a few Russian (Ukrainian?) words from the new neighbor kids. 
*Cami and Brie still sing "Sweet Caroline" at the top of their lungs in the car
*Brie singing "Book of Mormon Stories" in the shower.  Aaron also caught a glimpse of her dancing behind the shower curtain, but she doesn't want us to know about that. 
*Brie's enthusiasm to stand at the pulpit on fast Sunday 2 months in a row (actually 3, I didn't take her up this last time though). 
*Brie to Cami: "Whoa!  You look fabulous.  Fab-u-lous!"
*Brie told me she thinks I'm Super Mom. 
*Taco Tuesday tradition - this started a few months ago when I had worked a night shift on Monday night and I was totally unmotivated to make any kind of dinner.  I had to pick something up at Walgreens and drove through the Del Taco drive-thru for dinner.  This is when the girls were amazed that 12 tacos cost just $4.  And the Larson family "Taco Tuesday" was born.  The girls wake up excited about it every Tuesday!   Every once and awhile we break tradition and do something else, and one of the twins will say "It's okay if we don't have tacos on Tuesdays sometimes."
*Earlier this week I asked Maddie a question that made her a little uncomfortable.  I don't want to embarass her so I won't give any details.  A couple days later she came to me and said "Mom, you know that thing you asked me about the other day when I was filling up my water bottle?  I'm ready for it."
*Aaron started his online RN-BSN program through the University of Texas this week. 
*I showed Aaron a thank you note someone wrote to me.  He jokingly asked "Why aren't you like that at home?" Haha. (yeah, I didn't think it was funny either)
*Aaron is losing weight again and he's looking good!

This last week has been rough

My work schedule has been a little wacky and it really has messed me up!  I usually work Thursday and Friday nights and every other Monday night.  For some reason my Friday shift got bumped to a Saturday shift so I worked Thursday, Saturday and Monday night.  That made for 5 days of exhaustion.  Tuesday I only slept for a couple hours when I got home, then I crashed as soon as I put the girls to bed at 8:00 that night. 

Father's Day was really nice, I think.  I felt bad because I was so tired, but I tried to help the girls make it a special day for Aaron.  I made a cake that morning when I got home from work and Maddie helped make the ganache later in the day.  The girls and I brainstormed and made a candy bar poster for him and they also answered a questionnaire about him that they gave to him.  We went to my grandparents' house for dinner and a visit with my family.  When we got home we had the cake - it was so good!  It was a triple chocolate peanut butter cake.  Yum.  Aaron said it's the best dessert I've ever made.

I've been trying to get caught up on housework, again.  It's never-ending.  Maddie is really enjoying piano lessons and her sewing class.  Cami and Brie have several friends on our street that they love to play with.  I took them for their Kindergarten check-up and shots on Wednesday, they did pretty well.  Brie had her shots first and didn't cry, but Cami watched them do it and it made her really anxious.  I had to hold her down and she cried the whole time she was getting hers.  I felt really bad.  We made up for it with ice cream at the new place near our house and a Redbox DVD.

We're headed to Manti for the pageant tonight, the girls don't really know what we're doing.  We're leaving about noon so we spend some time in Ephraim with my cousin and her kids.  We are planning on visiting the farm so that the girls can see the horses and collect eggs from the chickens.  They will love it!  I'm looking forward to it, it's the start of a whole week off of work!

The last couple days...

I worked Thursday night.  Aaron and the other guys in my family had tickets to a private showing of the Green Lantern last night, so I met my mom, grandma and sister for dinner with the girls at Hires.  

This morning Aaron wanted to try the french toast at Kneaders.  We got up and going early (for us) to have breakfast.  We stopped at Costco to look at a watch for Aaron, then went to World Market to look at their tables.  Aaron really wanted to go get this watch he's been wanting since he first saw it in Las Vegas last September, so we made the trip up there for that.  On the way back home we went to Ikea to look at the dining tables there.  I think we found the one we're going to get.  We got home a little after 3, just in time for me to take a quick nap before my shift tonight.  I was amazed at all we got done in the 5 1/2 hours we were gone!  

It's after midnight now so it's Father's Day.  Aaron will take the girls to church in the morning while I sleep for a bit.  I have a project to work on with the girls when they get home (hopefully Aaron can take a nap while we're working on it) and then we're going to my grandpa's house for dinner.  

Mommy/Daughter days

Aaron and I both worked Sunday night so the girls slept at Adam and Jodi's.  I picked them up after sleeping at my mom's for a few hours Monday morning.  I decided to take the girls to a $1 movie since we were close to the theater and we invited Lora to come along.  They all decided on seeing Soul Surfer even though we'd seen it before.  I really love that movie.  I bought everyone a twist cone before we took Lora home.  The girls had all been up late the night before so I had them all in bed by 8:00.

This morning I worked on cleaning out our kitchen drawers.  Maddie had piano at 9 and her sewing class at noon.  We had kids hanging out around the house all afternoon.  Cami for a good chunk of the day and was super funny today, here's a few things that had me laughing:

(a one-sided conversation) Cami: "Maddie is the smartest.  Well, me and Brie are a little smart.  We are getting smarter.  You know those candies called smarties?  They are yummy.  You can eat them, right, Mom?  What's for dinner tonight?  Oh yeah, it's Tuesday.  Tacos!  Yay!  How old was Maddie when she started taking piano lessons, seven or eight?  She got baptized when she was 8.  I'm going to take my ponytail out so I can wear my helmet cuz I'm riding my bike.  I'll be home at 11:30 like you said.  Bye Mama!"

I found a set of keys while I was cleaning out the drawers this morning.  I asked Aaron what they were for, he said one of the keys was the old key to his mom's house.

Cami: "We should keep them and give them to Grandma Pam when she comes back to life."

When I put the girls to bed tonight I mentioned that the twins' room was already getting messy again (they had cleaned it up this morning).  Cami said "How rude of our room to get messy again!"

I had an eye exam this afternoon and then we went to Chili's for dinner.  Brie and Cami wanted to watch a movie, but Maddie wanted to play with friends.  I turned on Father of the Bride and snuggled on the couch with the little girls while Maddie went to our neighbor's house to play.  It was a pretty late night for them, but they were being really good (and it's summer time!).  

If you can't see the video, go here.  

First week of summer is over

We didn't do much in the way of activities this week, but the girls have been spending their days playing in the pool and riding their bikes.  They already have sun-bleached blonde hair and summer brown skin.  They come in at the end of the day smelling like a combination of the outside air, sunscreen and sweat.  Usually the smell is not something I enjoy and I send them straight to the tub as soon as they're done for the day, but the other night I took a deep breath in and thought it was a smell I wanted to remember forever.  My little girls are growing up so fast. 

Last Saturday Aaron took the girls to the Pony Express Days parade while I slept after my night shift.  I woke up when they got home and we got ready to go to the carnival.  The girls had a great time on the rides, we shared a big bag of kettle corn and then went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Aaron had promised ice cream so we grabbed a treat at Artic Circle on the way home. 

Monday Aaron made dinner for our friends/neighbors down the street, Wendy had knee surgery last week.  When I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she jokingly said that they wanted a leg-shaped meatloaf.  Aaron has become famous among friends and family for his holiday shaped meatloafs and he was up for the challenge.  It turned out pretty well! 

Later in the week I was able to sneak a night out for myself with my cousin Jessica.  We went to dinner at Cafe Rio and met up with Julia to see a movie.  We spent the night in my parents' living room (just like old times) and then went to breakfast the next morning with our friend Amy.  It was fun to get away and laugh like you do only with your closest girlfriends.  I loved it! 

Saturday I tackled a major project, cleaning out and organizing the playroom.  The room has been behind lock and key for several months because I was tired of the stuff coming out of there and the messes that kept creeping up in the room.  I made a pretty good dent in it on my own and the girls were so excited about it that they helped me for a little over an hour.  We're just about done. 

Sunday morning I woke up with a headache and I was moving in slow motion.  We missed Sacrament meeting but made it for the last two hours of the block.  I took a nap after lunch and then we got ready for the night, Aaron and I were both scheduled to work and the girls went to Adam and Jodi's for a sleepover with Lora. 

Nothing terribly exciting, but that's what has been going on the last several days.   

What we've been up to

The family went to Disney World in April 2010.  We had tons of fun!  

Cami and Brie turned 4. 

Maddie started (and finished) 3rd grade.

Brie and Cami started preschool.

Maddie turned 8 and got baptized!

Aaron found his alter ego.

We surprised the girls with a Christmas trip to Disneyland thanks to the Give a Day, Get a Day program as well as Aaron winning a Disney ticket on a Facebook contest. 

I have been able to do fun things with my spare time now that I'm done with school.  Crafting, sewing, cricut-ing.   

Aaron and I tagged along as chaperones on Adam's music department tour to Orlando in April 2011.

Easter 2011 - I made their outfits.  (Free time is great!)

Brie and Cami graduated from preschool!

Cami turned 5!

Brie turned 5!

Did you miss me?

I've been absent.  I stopped blogging because I felt like it was all just one big "ME! ME!" And then I realized I've done a not-so-great job at documenting our lives in general...so if you don't want to read my "ME! ME!" you don't have to.  I need to document.  

To be continued....