Now what?

So this is the part in the blog when I'm supposed to say, "Wow! what a busy holiday season this has been. I can't believe how long it's been since I've written. Let me just post all the pictures of the holidays and get caught up quickly."

That's what I should be writing right now, except for one problem: I have absolutely no pictures. I spent the past couple hours reading everyone's blogs and then went to my photo folders to see what I could post, only to find Banana Girl's tooth as the last and final picture on my computer. Then of course I remembered: my camera is broken (not recognizing the memory card anyway, so it might as well be broken, since I can't take a picture.) So yeah, snow...no pictures. Christmas...no pictures. My entire (almost) family gathering for the holidays...no pictures, New Years...you guessed it...no pictures.

How do you blog without pictures? How am I supposed to think of something to write without some sort of visual cue? You mean I actually have to think now? I don't know if I can handle this.

And yet, I made a resolution this year to write in my blog every Sunday (Happy New Year Everyone!!!; and yes, I do want you to hold me accountable for this) since this blog is really my only venue of journal writing anymore (hey take what you can get; I was even worse at writing in an actual journal.) So think of something I must.

You know, it really is a shame that we don't have a single picture of this Christmas and New Years. My parents and maternal grandmother came out to Colorado and stayed with us in our home; as well as my brother and sister's families from out of state (although they stayed at my other 2 brother's homes here in the Springs.) We had a blast with everyone and really had a fantastic Christmas.

You know I take that back, almost my entire family was not here. It seemed that way, because there were so many people around, but in actuality only 3 of my 6 brothers, and 1 of my 2 sisters were accounted for. That's only slightly over half. Although, I guess it's not improbable that Marty and Scott could have dropped by in spirit to say Merry Christmas as well. So we'll say 7 of 9. Still, Art & family & Mike, we wish you could have come as well. Hopefully we'll see you soon.

You know, that is really the best part of Christmas. I didn't hardly bake anything this year. I didn't send out goodie plates. I didn't send out Christmas cards; I did very little present shopping (thanks to couponing and such, I was done shopping waaayyyy early this year.) Heck, I didn't even put all the decorations completely up; the top half of my tree still doesn't have working lights on it. You know, I can't even really think of what we DID do; all I remember is being busy all December. However, we did have LOTS of family around, we talked, and laughed, and ate, and played a lot of games; and that made Christmas great! I loved it!

Oh, I remember a few things I did! I did make our Christmas pjs this year. Princess M and Alex picked out the pattern after Thanksgiving; and now we're all sporting new flannel skeleton pjs. Yep, skeletons. They're pretty cool, if I must say so myself. (Although I only finished the pants in time for Christmas; the shirts are still pending.)

And I did color my hair again. The roots were getting pretty long against the nice orange/blond color, so I went dark again. Now, I'm a nice, dark Burgundy. I'll post a picture when I get a working camera again. I like it a lot better than the orange. Thanks for your help, Maryle!

Oh, and one more thing: while in the sewing groove, I made myself a new purse! I found the pattern while waiting to cut my pj fabric on black friday (madness)and was able to find everything I needed to make it before my number was called. I made some modifications to the pattern to make it perfect for me (I LOVE pockets and compartments) and it actually turned out great! I love it! It's strong, functional, really cute, and just everything I've ever wanted. I'll see if I can get a picture to put up as well. Who needs Gucci?

One highlight of Christmas was reading the new chapter in my brother Don's book about our childhood here in the Springs. He's been collecting memories from everyone in the family and spinning them all into a biographical tale that has just been hilarious and fantastic to read. I've only read two chapters so far, and I understand it's still a work in progress, but I find myself looking forward to the next one like a Harry Potter novel.

It's dawned on me that our childhood, growing up in Palmer Park with 9 kids in the house was really NOT the normal childhood. Every American boy or girl did not have a state park at their disposal to play in; a pig-spitting, marijuana growing neighbor, take regular trips to the ER as a normal course of childhood frolicking, or even simply have 8 other brothers and sisters to entertain, annoy, and even endanger each other. Heck, I lived it; and I still love reading about it. Of course it doesn't hurt that Don is a great story teller. Even so, I think it's going to be a great book. Keep up the good work, Don.

New Years was a lot of fun too. Some of our friends in the ward (with a girl Princess M's age to boot) invited us to a New years party. Actually we were thrilled to get a couple invites this year; thank you everyone; and were sad to have to choose just one. But Princess M actually stayed up all the way until midnight and beyond. Banana Girl thankfully was able to sleep the night away in an unused room. The food was really good, the friends fantastic; and we stayed up way to late laughing into the night. Who knew that catch phrase could be so hilarious?! I learned a lot of things I never knew before about these people. Perhaps it was better that way. ;) It makes me smile to think about it now.

Well, I think that's enough rambling for one night. I know it's pretty daunting to read without pictures. I'll see what we can do about this problem. Till then, Happy reading!

It took a while but...

Why did I run and grab a camera when Banana Girl started screaming in anger? (I think I like that name better than "Toddler A"; it sounds much less clinical) Anyway, back to my screaming girl...

Because it's a perfect view of her new tooth!!! Yes, she finally cut her first tooth after 14 months of life. Isn't it cute?

Christmas Around the World

Not too long ago, our ward had its Christmas Party; themed "Christmas Around the World." We enjoyed ethnic dishes from all over and various families entertained us with songs, dances, and stories from their missions or native countries. I was asked to present something from the Czech Republic for about 5 minutes.

Well, it just so happens that our party was held on December 5th, which is the eve of Mikulas (St. Nicholas Day) in the Czech Republic a very big holiday, and what seemed to me the beginning of Christmas there. So I told the story of St. Nicholas and the holiday traditions associated with it in CZ while Alex, Princess M, my brother John, and 3 of his kids acted it out for us.
In short, on the eve of Mikulas, the Angel brings down St. Nicholas from heaven by a golden chord, and he goes about looking for little girls and boys. If they've been good that year, they get candy or toys in their boots when they wake up; if they've been bad, they get rocks or rotten potatoes; and if they've been REALY bad, then the Chert (devil) will snatch them up in his sack and take them down to hell. "You better watch out... you better not cry..." Seriously

It was short, sweet, and kinda fun I thought. M made a fantastic Angel; and she loved doing it! My nephews remembered their parts perfectly. And I was so proud of how my St. Nicholas costume turned out (I threw it together that morning. Santa let us borrow his beard for the play.)

Speaking of Santa, he, of course, made an appearance at the party. He told a story explaining the symbols of Christmas and how they all teach of Christ. It was really cool. And can you tell how excited M was to see him there?


He came bearing gifts too. Not only did each child get a candy cane after sitting on his lap, they each got a large plush teddy bear as well. It was a huge hit!


Bribed with candy and a bear, we even got a decent picture of Toddler A on Santa's lap without any tears.

Tuesday Traditions in the Making

Ever since a little before Thanksgiving, we were visiting family here in town (2 of my brothers live here in the Springs as well) and saying what a shame it was that we all live 30min or less away from each other, and never take the time to hang out. We decided to start making an effort to get together every Tuesday afternoon/evening for games and simply getting together. Although we've missed a couple, for the most part, we have kept to our weekly date. And now rather than catching us by surprise, we're now looking forward to it all week.

At some point in one of these evenings, I walked into the livingroom to find Princess M and 3 of her cousins sitting around a card table playing cards.

I think it was supposed to be a version of Go Fish, but it struck me as very funny, because I swear they looked like they were hussling each other in a game of poker. My mind's eye saw this:


Aren't they a little young for that? Yes, yes they are.

Mud Hike & Thanksgiving

The weather warmed up mid-November so we all went out for a hike in Palmer Park. We didn't anticipate that the trail would be completely muddied up from the melting of the snow. We still had a bunch of fun, picnicing on the rocks and slip sliding on the trail.





Due to scheduling conflicts, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Tuesday this year with my brothers' families. The food was fantastic; the family was even better; and we were able to just relax and eat leftovers on Thursday. It was really nice. More time to prepare for Black Friday, right?

My Princess is now 4 years old!

Princess M turned 4 in November. Her daddy came home from a business trip on the morning of her birthday and we spent the day in Denver at the zoo and doing things as a family (with a few surprise gifts for her when she got home.) She had a party with a few of her friends a couple days later. They all got to dress up in tiarras and tutus, and be princesses for a couple hours together. It went really well I thought. And M had a blast! Here's a slideshow of the events.

October Wrap Up

Notice anything different?


We had a little fun with hair dye/bleach. Princess M was thrilled because now we both have "matching" blond hair. Personally I think it looks more orange; which inspired my Halloween costume for this year:


For Halloween we spent the evening across town with Kurt's family. Princess M had a blast trick or treating. She ran so fast (and hard)between houses that she broke the heel off her glass slipper. Oh that didn't stop her in anyway though. She just ran barefoot house to house. (It's a good thing the weather was quite warm this year.)


Toddler A was just thrilled to be able to run free outside. She made a much cuter pumpkin than I did, I must say.