Last Week's Preschool

Last week for preschool, we did the letter R. I took a couple pictures of some of the projects they did. The little tinfoily things are robots (if you couldn't tell). :)

January Give It Up Update

Carbonation wasn't really a hard challenge for me. And because of that, sometimes I would forget entirely that I was giving it up and end up drinking it at someone else's house or something like that. So, I actually think that I slipped up more this month than last. When I'm doing something harder, it takes more effort so I feel more inclined to do it to prove to myself that I can. Maybe I'm weird.
Anyway, so I decided for next month that I need to do something that's more difficult. So, I'm going to give up eating out for February. This will probably be my hardest challenge of all. But, I'm ready for it. (Plus February is the shortest month, so I purposely picked it for this month)

Frugality

I really want to be frugal. I really respect anyone that is frugal and good at not wasting money and other things. But, it is so hard for me. It seems like our whole life is so wasteful. When I think of frugality, I think of both of my sets of grandparents. They were all so good at being frugal and not "needing" all the luxuries in life even if they could afford them. I hope for my sake that some of that skill is genetic.
For one of my frugal pursuits for the year, I'm going to go to some gardening classes offered in my stake. It's an 8 week course taught by a professor of gardening. We had a garden two years ago and I loved having all the vegetables from it, but we weren't so good at weeding or harvesting and I think a lot was still wasted. But, I did can tomatoes and they lasted me all winter. So, if I could learn a bit more I think I can really maximize our yard's potential and really plant things that I know we'll use. I think just by going to the classes, it will get me thinking and planning for it long before we need to plant, so we won't miss it like we did last year. Plus if I could learn how to take care of our fruit trees, they could be doing a lot better too.
I'm really excited. It always makes me happy to do frugal things. But, not just for the money that it saves. I think there's a sense of pride that comes when eating food you grew yourself. Or using furniture you built yourself. Or fixing something that could be thrown out. Or finding a new use for something.
Hopefully I'll get better at it over the years.

Family Pictures

The last time we were together with everyone, we took a bunch of pictures at my mom's house. I'll just post a few. I had to be gone all that morning and when I got home, Jason had dressed himself and the kids in matching blue shirts and he had one waiting for me. Plus he had done Haley's hair. It's not exactly how I would pick for us to look for a picture but I thought it was so cute that he was trying so hard.

Makeup

I let Britton put makeup on me today. He had so much fun. He actually was very careful and took his time, carefully planning out what he wanted. It was pretty funny. He especially liked the pink lipstick and he applied it about 20 different times. Then he took this picture of me.

Too Early

I woke up at 5:00 this morning. Now, I'm used to getting up early (about 5:45) but this is a little much. When I get up at 5:45, I do it for a reason (to go walking with my neighbor) and then I have a pretty consistent routine that I follow when I get home. But this week has been so cold that we haven't been walking, plus Jason has started playing volleyball for UVSC (not the A team). The volleyball practices are at 5:30 so he gets up at 5 which is why I was also awakened at 5. Haley was in bed with me because her bed got wet in the night (her first nighttime accident in a REALLY long time). So, when Jason got up, she immediately popped right up. I tried just going back to sleep, hoping that she would too, but that really wasn't happening after Jason had to turn on the light to find something. He turned it off again so I tried just ignoring Haley so she'd go back to sleep, but then she just started singing in the dark, "...along comes Mr. Alligator quiet as can be and SNAPS those monkeys right out of the tree." It was too cute and she was in such a good mood. So, when she asked me to get up with her, I just couldn't refuse.

Chloie!

Haley and Britton are having so much fun being able to play with their cousin, Chloie. It's fun to have her nearby for a while. They will be here until the end of the month.

Grandma's Viewing and Funeral

My grandma's viewing and funeral both went really well. I'm just going to write a few things about them.

Friday night, after we got home from the viewing, I thanked my kids for being so good the whole time because it was a really special night for me. Britton looked at me and said, "It was a really special night for all of us."

After the family prayer, we got to go up and look at my grandma one last time before they closed the casket. As we stepped aside and they closed the casket, Haley started crying and screaming, "I want to see Great-Grandma! I want to see Great-Grandma!" It just broke my heart. She continued saying it as we were walking into the funeral, so Jason missed the beginning as he was trying to calm her down. Then when they came in, everytime she spotted the casket, she would start crying again.

My siblings and I all gave brief talks just about our favorites memories. It turned out to be so good. I got choked up from my sister's talk right before me, so I started mine already choked up which is never a good thing. So for my talk, I was far less composed than I would have wanted to be. But, it still turned out okay.

After the funeral, a lot of people came up to say what a nice tribute it was and there were so many people who said, "I need to be a better grandma" or "Now I have ideas of things to do with my grandkids". I think she would have been happy to be a good example to all these people.

As we drove to the cemetery, Jason and I were just talking and reminiscing and Jason said, "She was the ultimate grandma". And it's true. With my dad being an only child and us being the only grandkids, we were really spoiled by her. I feel very privileged and bless to be her granddaughter.

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, we went up to Desiree and Nate's house for a dinner party. It was so much fun just hanging out. The boys watched football as we ate and the kids just entertained each other almost the whole time. The adults had a Dr. Mario competition and played 20 Q. Surprisingly, we all made it up until midnight. We staged our own "midnight" around 11:15 for the kids, thinking that they were getting tired. So, we counted down and then blew horns and these confetti popper things. But, then the kids managed to keep energy and we did it all again at midnight. It was so much fun just being with friends.

Yeah!

My brother is coming tonight with his family! I finally get to meet my niece Chloie! I can't wait! If only this storm will let up so their plane can come in.

100 Things About Me

I saw this on several other blogs and thought I'd give it a try. It's just a random list of 100 things about me.

1. I love having 4 different seasons, when each new one comes I always think it's my favorite.
2. I love the mountains.
3. I love to travel.
4. I get up at 5:45 every morning, except weekends.
5. My kids are my favorite people in the world.
6. Being a stay-at-home mom is hard for me, but I absolutely love it.
7. I wish I could take really good pictures.
8. I wish I was more organized.
9. If I went back to school, I'd want to study genetics.
10. All of our furniture in our house was given to us or is hand-me-downs, I can't wait until I can pick out my own furniture.
11. I love to write.
12. I'm a closed person.
13. I love people watching.
14. I love learning about people.
15. I love watching my kids play together.
16. I love tulips, especially yellow ones.
17. I wish I was more artistic.
18. I love chocolate.
19. It's hard for me to spend money on myself.
20. I had a great childhood.
21. I have a great group of friends from high school and college that are still my best friends.
22. I like to sing but don't sing very well.
23. I always sing in the car.
24. It makes me smile when Britton sings along with me in the car.
25. I like writing poetry, but haven't for a while.
26. I love making lists.
27. I would eat spaghetti and brownies everyday if I could.
28. I think my parents are the greatest.
29. I love all my siblings and their spouses. I wish we all lived in the same neighborhood.
30. I like to reminisce.
31. I like to read, but don't find a lot of time too.
32. I love reading the scriptures and having doctrinal discussions.
33. I love teaching.
34. I think all people are fascinating.
35. I really like watching TV.
36. I wish I would've taken some interior design classes, but I never would have thought of it when I was in school because it doesn't sound very "smart".
37. I think Haley is one of the funniest people I've ever met.
38. I like watching the Gilmore Girls.
39. It's hard for me to share my feelings with other people.
40. Jason is my best friend.
41. I used to play the violin.
42. I speak French.
43. I want to visit all the continents in the world.
44. I want to visit all 50 states.
45. I used to HATE vegetables and now they're not so bad.
46. I wear the same pair of shoes everyday, even though I have a lot of shoes.
47. In the past month I started lifting weights again everyday and my body loves it.
48. I love camping.
49. I miss being able to jog forever.
50. I would like to learn to play the guitar and the piano.
51. I've gotten shy in my old age.
52. I used to love to act.
53. I like to make people laugh.
54. I like playing Dr. Mario and Tetris.
55. I miss playing basketball.
56. I would like to be able to play volleyball better.
57. I'm not a pet person.
58. I don't like calling people that I don't know.
59. I'm very competitive when I play games, but I'm getting better.
60. I love playing cards.
61. I love eating out, even fast food.
62. I am hard on myself, but easy on others.
63. I love roller coasters.
64. My favorite thing is making my kids laugh so hard they can't stop.
65. I love the rain.
66. I like reading celebrity gossip and trivia even though it's unimportant.
67. I spend too much time on the computer.
68. I have really thin hair.
69. I like living close to my parents.
70. I like tan feet.
71. I don't like shopping.
72. I love learning new things.
73. I like my eyes.
74. I want to be my kid's best friend.
75. Even though I've lived in Utah my whole life, I've never been skiing. And now I feel like I'm too old to learn.
76. I can't sleep in past 7.
77. I love having a DVR.
78. I've broken the same arm in the same place twice.
79. I like playing games.
80. I like doing things late at night.
81. I want to build a treehouse.
82. I have big plans for my yard, but right now we struggle even to keep it watered.
83. I've learned so much about myself since I've become a mom.
84. I like to make things up when I'm cooking instead of using a recipe.
85. I'm bad at keeping in touch with people, but I still think about them all the time.
86. I love dreams.
87. I've been very blessed.
88. I'm bad at making friends, so I'm grateful for those who have made me their friend.
89. I have a hard time saying no.
90. I'm excited about the future.
91. I don't need/want to have a big house.
92. I like going to the movies.
93. I love popcorn.
94. I love roadtrips.
95. I like waverunners.
96. I don't like shaving my legs.
97. Even though I get up really early, I'm usually not dressed until about 10.
98. My kids love being naked.
99. I don't like change.
100. I want to be a better mom and wife.

Give It Up for January

For January, I am going to give up drinking carbonation. Jason hasn't had carbonation for over 10 years, so we never really have it at home, but I do tend to drink it when we're eating out or things like that. It won't be as hard for me as dessert was, but I will still need to make a conscious effort to give it up.

The dessert giving up went really well and I am going to try to continue doing it now that I am no longer accustomed to eating something sweet everyday.

My Grandma

Early Sunday morning, my grandma passed away. Right before Thanksgiving we found out that she had a rather large tumor in her abdomen that they couldn't do anything about. So, she has been going down hill since then as the tumor crowded out her organs. So, it wasn't necessarily unexpected, but it's sad nonetheless. She will be missed. But, I know she is much happier now that she can be with my grandpa again.
All of the grandkids are going to be speaking briefly at the funeral--sharing our favorite memories of her. So, I will post my tribute to her later.