Spirited kids....

Last night in bed I started laughing out loud as I thought about a little "incident" we had at church on Sunday. I wasn't laughing then though. I was a quite embarrassed!

The story starts with a darling little crochet scarf that my grandmother made for Annaliese a few years back. It is very popular among the girls but we only have one. On Sunday morning Adeline was the lucky girl who found it first and got to wear it. When we settled in our seats at church our coats and scarfs came off and were placed on the floorspace beside us. Just as the sacrament tray was coming our way Avrie decided to pick up "Adeline's" scarf from the ground. Oh dear. "NO MINE!" "MINE!" "No MIIIIINE!", "Ahhh, MINE!!!!" Full on tug of war breaks out! Annaliese starts yelling louder than the twins are yelling, "Let GO, LET GO! Avrie LET GO!" All this is happening while the poor deacon passing sacrament is trying to offer us the bread by placing it in front of my nose while at the same time trying not to get knocked over by the fight happening under his feet. Oh dear. It was tricky but Kermit and I were successful in breaking up the fight and in taking the sacrament. Talk about multi tasking! Everybody was calm by the time the water came around. Sigh... But it is really funny now! These girls during church can be a challenge at times. I know they are capable of whispering and playing quietly but getting them to whisper and play quietly is an interesting task!

Speaking of tricky....I got my 3 parenting books in the mail that I ordered from Amazon. The first one I've started to read is "Raising your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. So far I feel validated that I indeed have a spirited child on my hands. In fact there is a set of detailed questions to answer on how your child reacts to different situations. After the quiz you tally your points. If you score 9- 19 points you have a low-key cool child. If you score 19-28 you have a spunky child. If you score 29-45 you have a "spirited" child. My spirited child scored 85!!!! Off the charts spirited! I'll be reading on! This book got good reviews- we'll see if it helps us!

A new leaf....

I want to be a better blogger....I want to write more journal like entries so that someday when I put together my photo album/scrapbooks I will be able to remember what the heck was going on in my life.

So here's to a new leaf!

I need to do at LEAST one post a week! Can it be done? I still haven't posted my Christmas yet! Coming soon though (before Valentine's Day...)!

Other resolutions I don't want "forget" about:

• Be nicer to people/ reach out to others better


• Have regular Family Home Evenings


• Get ORGANIZED! (Desk & Closets)


• Gain more patience with twins (I just ordered 3 new parenting books...Anything that can help!)


• Find new "kid friendly" dinners to add to the rotation (hot dogs, chicken nuggets & grilled cheese just aren't cutting it)


• ExcerSIZE......(the word makes me tired)


• Weekly date nights with Kermit (xoxo)


• Visit my brother & his family in TX


• Say NO to Gymboree (only buy things we NEED)


• Catch up on photo albums/ scrapbooks


• Finish sewing my couch cushions


• Finish Annaliese's room (sew curtains, hang pictures)


• Be a better visiting teacher


• Be prepared for my AWESOME little primary class each week


• SEND out ALL my Christmas cards! (I only ended up mailing half this year! Is it too tacky to send the other half this late? )


• Remember Birthdays (even if belated...just remember!)

Go Team!

Support your embattled Republican Candidate!

GO MITT!

The scoop here is either

A) Kermit is dang good at photo shop or

B) the following story

In October Kermit & I went to a small Romney fundraising reception in Wilmette at a private residence. WOW is all I can say! It was such a great experience!

That night we were running a tad late (surprise). When we arrived people were just mingling around with their cocktails and hors d'Oeuvres (how ever that is spelled, but that's how Martha Stewart spells it) . We didn't see Gov. Romney anywhere. Luckily we asked! He was in the library for photos. We quickly headed to the library where we literally were the last couple to step in to get a photo before the photographer packed up. Whew! That actually timed out great though because it gave us a chance to chat with him a moment! Kermit actually knows Mitt from years ago back in college. Being the last gave them a chance to reminisce and get a brief update on the latest! That was pretty cool I must say.

After our nice little chat, Mitt was ushered to the gorgeous patio overlooking the lake to give a speech. I really truly came away impressed with what he had to say. I usually don't get worked up over politics because it is hard for me to follow and understand everything that happens and hard to know who is being truthful. But I really think that Mitt is a very smart person who would have more than a clue when it comes to dealing with the economy. I also think he has integrity. As far as I'm concerned, he could do a great job! I think he would be a great president, personally. We'll see what America thinks.

After his speech he opened it up for questions. The first person, an older woman asked "What about the big grizzly in the closet, the Mormon thing...." He gave his answer basically stating that if elected he would put his hand on the Holy Bible and promise to to HIS job for the country (not his church). His answer was great, but I can't remember all he said. I do remember him stating that he wouldn't ever change his faith because he was proud of his heritage and faith and if people can't get past it, so be it. (This was all before his big speech on Faith at the Bush Library.) A good answer, handled it well. I'm pretty sure we were the only other Mormons there, but it seemed to me like we weren't the only ones annoyed by the woman's question. People seemed very satisfied with the answer given and more than ready to get on to the questions relating to the issues on their minds. All of the following questions were more politically aimed rather than religion based, the real issues!

GO MITT! We're rooting for you!

(Answer - B)

'Twas the Night before Christmas....

Annaliese with her cookies for Santa.

We read and acted out the Christmas Story. Kermit was Joseph, Annaliese a wiseman, Addie a shepherd, Avrie the angel. I was Mary.
I love this photo! They really got into their roles for a moment.....

Then reality hit, everybody wanted to be Mary, so we all took turns holding baby Jesus.
It truly was a magical Christmas Eve and I think that the girls all understood that were were celebrating Jesus' birth.


This is about as good as a photo I got after we hung the stockings. They really liked those balloons!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Sick, sick & sick

We are sick. Coughing, fever, goopy nose sick! Worse every day and no school all week for Annaliese! I finally took the sickest to the doctor on Wednesday to find that Addie has pneumonia! Not what I was expecting! So needless to say I immediately took in the other two and good thing I did! Avrie, aside from the coughing has a double ear infection and Annaliese a lovely sinus infection. Blugh! All three are on antibiotics and we hope to be better for Christmas!

Did that keep us from making a snowman? NO WAY! These were taken the day before the doctor visit. Feeling a little guilty now! But they did have a great time!

Christkindlmarket

The kiddos enjoying some fresh waffles with sugar and whipped cream.

So after the visit to Santa at Macy's we headed west a few blocks to find the highlight of the evening! Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza! Very cool! Very fun! A new tradition born! From now on, we will be there every year! It was worth the struggle of bundling 3 little ones in all their gear! Little booths set up all over the plaza with stuff...great stuff from Germany. Kermit was in heaven! He promises to take us to a real one in Germany or Austria someday. This will do until then! Very fun night!

Oh Christmas Tree

Avrie & Addie gazing at their little tree

All three ready to pose by the tree before church


Kermit & I before the company holiday bash

You can never have too many pictures in front of the Christmas Tree!