Christmas Eve!

It's hard to not reflect on all the past Christmas Eve's I have had in my life. This year will be different. I have never not been with my parents. Brooklyn told me today that her favorite part about Christmas was being with family and that she was sad that this year we were all broken apart. I suppose I'm not the only one affected. Regardless the kids are beside themselves with excitement! I'm so glad everything is ready to go so Jason and I can enjoy a relaxing evening together. Poor guy is going to need it after working graveyard the last two nights.
On Tuesday we got about 4in of snow and took the kids sledding, they had a blast! I had fun watching with Addalyn from inside the car! Addalyn does not like to be cold and I graciously volunteered to keep her in the the car. Unfortunately it warmed up later and the majority of it melted away which is really a shame since the rest of the week it's been and will be freezing and clear. It would've been so nice to have a white Christmas. I also didn't get a chance to post about my sweet little girl turning two last week. We decorated gingerbread house and although next year we'll make actual gingerbread, the kids still had fun. So after the festivities of tomorrow and next week it will be time to really start getting ready for our next baby girl to be here. It's been hard to really focus on that until the holidays are past us. Although the huge bulge I'm carrying around as well as the lack of flexibility make it pretty hard to ignore! So Merry Christmas to anyone that is out there still reading blogs!

Let it Snow?

Below is the forcast for the next 5 days. It should be really interesting to see how much so my town actually gets. So far we've only had some dustings. On Friday we went and got our Christmas tree and finally decorated the house for Christmas. We then went and watched our town's Christmas parade. It was actually pretty good but the fact that it was 23 degrees before the windchill should tell you we were FREEZING! We couldn't make it to the tree lighting or visit with Santa, even the lure of free hot chocolate couldn't entice us. As soon as the parade ended we ran to the car cranked up the heat and drove the 4 blocks home. Jason worked the weekend so the kids and I spent a lot of time cleaning. He also starts graveyard tomorrow, ughh, but at least he is only working 3 days a week and it will only be for this month.
Dec 7
Hi: 23° Snow Showers
Lo: 7°

Dec 8
Hi: 24° Snow Showers
Lo: 2°

Dec 9
Hi: 27° Snow Showers
Lo: 1°

Dec 10
Hi: 30° Snow Showers
Lo: 4°

Dec 11
Hi: 36° Snow Showers
Lo: 14°

Christmas craft ideas!

So I feel really motivated this year to make presents, might be nesting! Anyway here are some great websites that I've been looking at. http://andreascrafts.com/newitems.html I might be partial to that one for the name and all!Another great idea is the vellum proclamation look at it here http://www.sugardoodle.net/Family/Family%20Proclamation%20Picture.shtml
I also have some ideas for kids. For my girls I am going to make necklace holders, I had one when I was little, here are the directions http://crafts.kaboose.com/necklace-hanger.html
and then there are the LDS Quiet books. I did an apostle one at Super Saturday but here are some other ideas for some http://www.sugardoodle.net/Home_Family_and_Personal_Enrichment/Some%20Quiet%20Book%20Ideas.shtml
and here is an ABC one that is pretty cute http://www.enrichmentcottage.com/crafts/abc_quiet_book.htm
Hope everyone enjoys these ideas as much as I did!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Sunday is my Mom's birthday. It is only the second one in my life that I've missed. My mom is the best. IF you know her you will agree that she is the most selfless loving person. So Happy Birthday Mom I love and appreciate all that you have done and do for me and all of our family.

A MOTHER'S LOVE
There are times when only a Mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappoints
And calm all of our fears.
There are times when only a Mother's love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.
There are times when only a Mother's faith
Can help us on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.
For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith
And a Mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above.

My Mountain Home

Well we're starting to settle into this life. My mom came for a 6 day visit and my dad was here the last two days, he was hunting with friends along the border. It was nice to have my mom to hang out with and go shopping with! I felt bad that this town is not the most exciting place to visit though. Now that the move is over I have to start focusing on Christmas. I am planning on starting some craft projects that will probably take me awhile so I have to start soon. We have decided that as long as the weather is descent will go to WA for Thanksgiving. It will be nice to see our families one more time this year and get in some serious shopping! There are just no thrift stores as good as the ones in WA and OR. I don't buy all our Christmas stuff second hand just as much as I can find! My Grandma's health is also declining so I'm very eager to go and see her which might be the last time.
I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is in two weeks where did this year go? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was gearing up to go see the release of Twilight and here we are with New Moon opening next week! I can't even fathom what and where I'll be next year at this time. Anyway as soon as I find my cords I'll post pics of our new life here.

Just Me and My Self Doubt

While preparing for the move I became really stressed out and made a somewhat rash decision to put the kids in school once we got here. I rationalized it by saying that it would just be to try out until Christmas. The kids have been pretty excited about trying the schools out. Today was their first day. They all had pretty good days and loved buying hot lunch. I must admit that I had hoped that I would be more at peace with this decision once today came, but I am not. The day felt so wrong without my kids home with me, and I felt misplaced not preparing for their lessons. Unless you have homeschooled I don't think you can truly understand how empty you can feel when not doing it. I honestly just needed a break from everything but forgot about how lost I might feel while taking it. Homeschooling is really tough and there is still part of me that feels like this was the right choice for right now given the amount of stress I've been under but second guessing myself and my decisions is something that I never seem to get away from. So for now this is how it's going to be. I'm not sure what the future holds for us or where we'll be in a year but for now this is the life we're going to lead. Have I mentioned how much I miss my kitchen=( I miss my gas stove, my convection oven, my pantry, all my cupboards and good water. Have I mentioned how hard it is to go back to renting for the 2nd time! It was easier the first time around, but after we bought our last house I really thought we'd never have to do it again. I'm really grateful that Jason is employed and we are working towards a nice stable life, but I just forgot once all the moving was over how hard it would be to let go of the memories of all I had to sacrifice to be here. I know that I have much to be thankful for and really I am but it just takes me a little bit to adjust my perspective and seek out the joys of this new life. Let's just face it moving is tough and the more settled you are the bigger the adjustment, and if you throw some fun pregnancy hormones into the mix it makes for quite the rollarcoaster ride. How grateful I am to be part of a church that brings such stability in my life no matter where we go I have always been able to count on the church for true consistency. We have a really good ward here and the kids all made friends. So for now Mountain Home, ID is where we call home and I'm going to do my best to make our time here enjoyable. I guess it's just good to realize that life can be hard and the only thing that you can control is your attitude.

Moving Day

My bags are packed I'm ready to go... unfortunately this time there will be no jet plane. The truck will be here at 4pm and hopefully lots of people will show up to help after that. My fingers are crossed that everything will fit. Jackson has a high fever so that should be fun, I have no doubt we'll all get it soon enough. As long as it stays just a fever and I don't have to clean up any bodily fluids it should all be ok. I am so ready to be done with this move though, I'm also ready to have a husband back! I'm hoping I'll be able to start sleeping again by next week. I am so ready to be settled but I have a feeling that I shouldn't get to comfortable. I don't think the Lord intends for our moving adventures to end with this move. I just pray that my kids can adjust quickly. They are such resilient kids and I just truly want them to be happy. Well I'm off to prepare myself for all that today has to offer.