Winter Fun.....

Today we went sledding and had a blast! Even Denver and I attempted a couple of turns down the hill....felt like being a kid again til I had to walk back up the hill! Oi..... Here are some pictures from our adventures in the snow. We were going to make a snowman today but the snow quality isnt so great....maybe this weekend since it is supposed to snow again. Also, check out the pictures of our backyard friend....apparently our snow seemed the perfect place to finish his meal!

Christmas Pictures......update follows slide

Going, going, GONE......

Well, we finally made it through Christmas...all the build up and then BOOM......its over, just like that. It starts Christmas Eve for us. First we went to Uncle Nate and Aunt Alisa's house for lunch and gift exchanging. We had pizza and treats and then exchanged gifts. The kids had a blast....any chance to be the center of attention. As you can see, they come by their goofiness naturally. Nathan (my brother) is clearly demonstrating our families' crazy gene! We had a great time!

That evening we continued our Christmas Eve tradition of making cookies for Santa. I decided to make them from scratch this time which was time consuming but fun. The kids enjoyed decorating their own and Im sure Santa enjoyed them..wink wink.

Next we opened our one Christmas Eve gift.....new PJ's. The kids actually love getting new jammies and were looking forward to putting them on.

This was a first for us this year in a lot of things. Number one was the fact that my 2 sons seemed to finally catch on that Christmas is really hard to wait for. This is the first year that they consistentely whined about Christmas coming too slow. I can remember that it was torture for me as a child also.....funny how when you are an adult, Christmas comes WAY too fast. The 2nd new thing for us was that our kids actually got up before us this Christmas. In the past we have had to wake them up...usually aroun 9am! Can you believe that? Finally, they woke up first and came to get us to open presents (at 7:30). Im guessing that in the future that time will get earlier and earlier each year.

Addison was also very excited but she only had the attention span for one toy at a time and was getting quite irritated at everyone who tried to get her to open something else. She even kicked one present away from her because she wasnt ready to open it yet. Still she is very happy with all of her gifts but especially loves her cabbage patch doll which she carries everywhere and feeds and kisses constantly. She is such a little girl and I LOVE it. We have all had a chance to play the Wii that we got Alec. I wanted to see what all the hype was for. All I can say is that we will probably own one ourselves very soon. It is a lot of fun and I have only played one game so far... bowling. It is interactive and amazingly accurate. Very cool technology. Oh did I mention it snowed about 6 inches on Christmas Eve! I love it when it does that.....makes it a perfect Christmas.

So tonight we tried to go see the lights on temple square despite the 17 degree temperature reading. Not a great idea. It was beautiful but after about 10 minutes we could no longer feel our noses or toes. We headed home and had some hot chocolate to thaw us out. Now we are all settling down for the night and are thankful for having such a wonderful Christmas. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and well wishes and for the gifts that we received from everyone. You are all so generous and we thank you and love you. On to a new year!

Tis the Season....

So, the one thing I hate the most about the Christmas season is shopping. It is sad really because most of the time it would seem like a good time.....actually being able to spend money instead of just window shopping, buying the perfect gift for someone that you care about, the excitement of finding the perfect gift. Unfortunately all of that potential fun gets ruined when you have the share the shopping experience with MANIAC's! I've decided that although the Christmas Season generally brings out the best in people as a whole, the Christmas "Shopping Season" almost always brings out their WORST. Case in point..... yesterday at work I read an ad for ToysRus that stated it was having a "doorbuster" sale that morning at 7am. There was one item on there that I wanted to buy for Ian and it was normally $40 but this Saturday morning at 7am it was only $15. Bargain right!~ So, I figured I would stop by and get one considering that I got off of work at 6:30 and it would be perfect timing to swing by on my way home. I got off early (luckily) and showed up in the parking lot at 6:45 and waited. Suddenly 5, 6, 7 cars start pulling in to the parking lot. I start getting nervous and anxious and as soon as one person got out of their car to stand in front of the door, the rest of us did the same. I was 2nd in line. Turns out they were all there for the same thing I was with the exception of a few who were checking for Nintendo Wii's.....I will get to that story in a minute. So, the door opens and suddenly Im being pushed out of the way by a mob of people literally running to get this toy! Ive never experienced anything like it. Grown adults running like little children for a toy! I am humiliated to admit it, but I ran too....I had to or I wouldnt have gotten one. Ugh.

So, Ninendo Wii. For those that dont know this....because until I tried to buy one I didnt know it either.... this video game system is THE THING to buy this season. So much so that Nintendo cant keep up with demand and people are buying them and selling them on ebay for $200 more than they bought them for. This makes it impossible for the average consumer/parent to purchase one for their kids. My step-son Alec wants one for Christmas....in fact it is ALL he wants. So everyone in the family pooled their money together and sent it to us to help out with the hefty price tag. That was 2 weeks ago and I cannot find one. People are showing up at stores at 4am to stand in line in hopes of getting one but the stores are only getting shipments in of 6-10 machines at a time again making it impossible for the average parent to get a hold of one. I had intended on buying Alec a giftcard and wrapping it with a picutre of the Wii so that he would know that I tried because I refused to participate in the game... We would just have to buy it after Christmas. However, it was rumored that a lot of the stores got large shipments in (by large I mean about 20 of them) and were holding them until Sunday to sell. Ding Ding Ding.....I get off work early on Sunday morning, so I could stop by and wait in line for a little bit right? Something I swore I would never do for a toy......but I did it. I got off work at 4:30 this morning. First I went to Kmart and the people that were already there told me that they only got 6 of them in (one of the people waiting works there) So, then I went to Shopko and the 15 people standing there said Shopko only got 10 (again an employee was there) but they heard Best Buy had the largest shipment. So, I went down to Best Buy and got in line because someone said they heard Best Buy got 80 of them! So, I grabbed my blanket and my extra coat and got in line at 5am...I was number 36 in line and I stood there for 3 hours (they opened at 8am) in 16 degree weather! It was the longest 3 hours of my life but...... I GOT ONE! We are now the proud owners of a Nintendo Wii.....that is until Alec opens it and takes it back to Phoenix with him. It's bittersweet really, although we dont have a "gaming system" at our home and probably wont for a while, I feel like I deserve to at least play with it considering the sacrifice I made to get it. Oh well, Im just glad that Alec will get to open it on Christmas. Im excited to give it to him. Thankfully there were no news reporters there to capture my stupidity on film. Today, now that it is over, I swear never to do it again......never say never.

Merry Christmas

My Big Little Girl.....

Well it has just been a week of growing up. Tonight we officially converted Addison's crib into a toddler bed. I know it seems early since she is only 20 months but due to the fact that she can climb like a monkey, I felt that it was safer for her this way. Not to mention that she was taking a nap today and I was downstairs so when she woke up and couldnt get out she started screaming and I really couldnt hear her. She was pretty mad at me once I got to her. This way, she can just get up and come to me.....which is what she does if I lay her in my bed anyway. So, she is very excited about her "new" bed and here are the pictures to prove it. They are taken with her newest "baby".....her pink bear. She rocks it, sings to it, and lays it down to sleep. And, this week has been showering it with major SNOT kisses.......yum. I attached a video below demonstrating her delicious kiss. Please ignore the cheezy mom talking in the background! Now that I have figured out how to attach video with my camera, I will be sure to take some more soon!

Lazy Friday.....

I am sooooooo lazy today. It is rainy and overcast and I just dont feel like doing anything. So, I am typing a post instead of cleaning. I found a new website that I love and am passing along. It is www.momadvice.com and has lots of great articles and recipes/dinner ideas etc. I am always looking for good ideas for dinner since I have a really finicky eater in my house (IAN) ...and I stumbled across this one. I also need lots of advice on organization which I feel has really gone to pot around this house. I swear, there are days when I dont think my head is attached right anymore. I forget things and lose things......my mom says that is just a sign of aging but sometimes I think it is worse than that. I literally forget something 10 minutes after thinking about it. It is crazy. Or maybe I am. Anyway, Ive got to organize my life. I need a good "office" for paying bills. A good calendar on my wall to help me remember important dates. A good "Chore Board" for my cleaning projects and for the rest of the families cleaning jobs. Then a good "General Board" to write important notes down for remembering. All of this needs to be in a place that I see EVERYDAY. I tried using the Palm Pilot and as much as I love gadgets, I could just never remember to check it or even carry it with me all the time. The only place I have ever felt like I had a grip on things was at work.....I kept immaculate files and was totally organized so I feel like if I can recreate an office setting maybe that will help me. Pottery Barn has the COOLEST stuff for this.....unfortunately it comes with a very UNCOOL price tag. But at least I can get the idea from there and try to recreate it.

So, enough about that. Big news at the Shannon household.....the boys have graduated to self cleaning. By that I mean they are taking showers! The other day I was running a bath for Ian. Im sitting there thinking that he is too old for mom to be washing him up so I tell him Im going to show him how to wash really good and then from now on he can bathe himself. He says "mom do I have to be 9 years old to take a shower?" I said NO you can start now if you want (I thought he hated the shower). So, thats what he did and of course that created major tears from Evan who also wanted to take showers and hates being left out of "big boy" things. Anyway, it feels very strange to have moved on to showers. I know that must sound strange to some of you but little kids always take baths and I guess my boys just arent little anymore.

As for Addison. She has turned in to quite the little climber. She will try and climb up ANYTHING. She is 19 months old and climbs up the boys' bunkbed ladder without hesitation. She carefully places her little foot on any kind of "foothold" she can find, such as the desk drawer rungs. She can climb in and out of her crib now too which means Im going to transform it into a toddler bed soon. I really cant believe how agile she is. Maybe I should skip Ballet and put her in a rock climbing course!

Well, Ive put it off for too long now. Must clean house.......

The 5th Food Group......

Occasionally in our house (Ok maybe more frequently than that) we partake in the 5th food group.......Chocolate!! Last night Addie had her first taste of mama's chocolate frosting and needless to say, I wont have any trouble getting her to eat this instead of Broccoli~ She really didnt even care about the brownies that it came with she just wanted the frosting. So, I did what any responsible mother would do and gave her the beater to lick clean! Thats the best part about being a kid, isnt it?

Our Elfin Family....minus Denver

I found something so funny! I was "browsing" the Felsing Blog and found a link that turned out so hilarious! You must watch our little Elf Family. Sorry Denver, it would only let me upload 4 pictures and I couldnt find a good one of your head anyway so its just me and the kids..

Here is the link....enjoy, then make your own! Thanks Felsings!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1157972132

Winter Wonderland.....

Well Winter has finally arrived in the Salt Lake valley! It took its time but I think it is offical now. It started snowing at about 2am (I was at work....) and didnt stop until about noon today. We measured it on top of our garbage can and it was nearly 9 inches! I'm sure the Ski resorts are skipping about right now as the people are pouring in to get their ski (or board) on. Im sure Jeff is up there right now....that is if the canyons are even open to cars. Anyway, this is the part about winter that I love. That first big snow storm that leaves everything fluffy and white. Nevermind that I couldnt even get up my driveway this morning....driving home from work was very frightening. I didnt go above 30mph the whole way home. It was soooooo slick! The kids are thrilled of course. They are outside as I type with their sleds in hand. Its good to have them out of the house actually. I made Cream of Broccoli & Potato Soup for dinner last night and that made a nice Snow Day meal today.....Yummo. This is a recipe from Aunt Sally in Kentucky and Im telling you I hate Broccoli but I could eat this soup all day long. It is so dang good! I took a picture of it (thanks for the idea Melanie).....if you want the recipe you will have to ask me for it since I dont technically have the rights to "publish" it on my blog. Sally is pretty protective of her recipes....in fact Im not sure how I managed to get it from her except maybe she was worried about poor Denver starving to death out in Utah without her cooking! She really is a great cook...

Well, thats it for now. Just wanted to share our Winter Wonderland with you. For all our relatives in Kentucky, THIS is what you call a snow storm!! :) .....and the schools would still be open if it were during the week! Can you imagine this much snow falling in Drift? You all would be "snowed in" for days!

Oh, and here is a link to the most beautiful christmas song EVER. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but it is one that I love and have heard since I was a child. It is by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and is no longer available to purchase unfortunately but I found an mp3 online so you can hear it on your computer......Merry Christmas. http://www.josephsons.org/slmtc/baby.mp3

Ok I keep adding to this post after the fact but the boys just came in from sledding and look so cute and red faced, I had to post a picture. They walked to a little park just around the corner from our house to go sledding and had a ball!