Christmas Goodies

things have been crazy busy around here lately, but my shopping is 99% finished so i thought i'd take a few minutes to post some highlights. (ruby-lovers be warned there is NO ruby is this post!)


i know what you're thinking..."how on earth did they travel back in time and snap this awesome shot of a megaraptor in action and live to tell about it?" truth is, it's just a diorama. shocking, right? it was part of xan's first major school project...a report (written and oral on a dinosaur and a diorama.) alan totally saved my bacon on this one and it was a "guy project" for the better part of a week.

the finished product...i have no idea what he's doing or pointing at. we honestly could not get a good shot of the kid with the diorama...as evidenced in the following photo.

granted, it was late. the boy was TIRED!

now onto the girl....today hadley had ballet class with a special performance at the end! if you scroll to the post below this one, you can link to the exciting video clips, but for now, here are some stunning still shots.

the girl is a ham, but a lovely one.

hads and miss maya...sooo cute in the tutus for today's performance.

this next shot is my fave...

because it looks just like this drawing hadley did for miss susie last week.

see what i mean? i have no idea why she wrote "hadley" across her head, but i guess it's as good a place as any. it serves an an artist's signature and a decorative element.

last weekend was the P2 Christmas party (that's our ward party...princeton 2nd). as is tradition in our ward, we had a special visitor.

love the look on the kids faces here. but it doesn't even compare to hadley's face in the next photo, which i captured just as santa made his grand entrance:

priceless!

we also made and delivered a few Christmas goodies this past week. here's what most of you are missing out on.

toffee, peppermint sticks, and gingersnaps. doesn't get much more Christmas-y than THAT! and the bags were tied up with a cute, red, green, and white cord that you can JUST make out in the background.

and finally, a sneak peek inside. just pretend you've just found one on your doorstep and are anxiously peering inside. the peppermints look so festive! no match for what k. lyman left on my porch this morning though....i think it contained about 12 different cookie varieties. one-upper! :) j/k it's fantastic. hope the kids get some.

one last note...one of my favorite parts of my blog is the funny names i give the photos as i'm sizing and saving them, so i know which is which when i upload them, and no one has ever commented on that aspect. maybe no one noticed. i think you have to click on the pic to enlarge it and then you will see it in the page header. anyone find a fave?

we love and miss all our family and friends that are not a part of P2. (we love you guys too, but don't miss you, per se...)

merry christmas!

sugar plum fairy

hadley has been taking beginning ballet from miss susie since september. today, we enjoyed a mini-performance during class with 2 fabulous dances. the high squeaky voice you hear in the background is miss susie, who is dancing along with the girls and telling them each step...they were still all over the place, but soooo adorable.

www.dropshots.com/spyderette for both video clips

where did november go?

where did december go, for that matter? here are some thanksgiving pics for your perusal. granted, they are late, but seriously, where did the month go?

this was our first thanksgiving all on our own. i really tried to go all out even though it was just the five of us. the turkey turned out beautifully. (thanks alton brown!)

soooo yummy.

alan gives it the thumbs up. it tasted as good as it looked.

the full menu: thanksgiving punch, mashed potatoes and balsamic gravy, honey glazed carrots, green beans, turkey (duh), apricot-pecan stuffing, and homemade rolls. actually, no, there was yummy fruit salad too! luckily simon's invited us for pie, so i was spared that much work at least. cooking this much food for 2 adults and 2 kids is kinda not worth it.

my plate, ready for me to dive in. i'm getting hungry just remembering. :)

ruby opted to just have milk. (shout out to lauren and fam for the CUTEST dress! thanks again!)

me and my handiwork. tiny kitchen, huge feast. i rocked it, if i do say so myself. the kids actually bowed to me and chanted, "all hail mom" so that was cool. still not sure if they rehearsed that with their daddy prior to dinner.

ruby just smiled and had thirdsies on her milk. i think she really got the feast day thing.

xan man, needing a haircut and digging in.

had, using a knife like nobody's business. who taught her? we have no idea.

our little thanksgiving table.

me working some stuffing magic in the still-a-work-in-progress kitchen.

and finally, to get you into the Christmas spirit, another conversation with hadley.

aunt mindi (on the phone): so, haddles, what do you want santa to bring you for christmas?

had: a barbie and the diamond castle doll

aunt mindi: wow, that sounds awesome! what else do you want?

had: uh, i don't know....i'll have to watch more commercials.

Would you be offended?

Alan overheard this conversation at work between a marketing-type person on the phone (presumably with another marketing-type).

"Would it be offensive if someone was wearing Sushi Pajamas and that person was Japanese?"

"Yeah, me too, we'll change it."

(Alan informed me that the girl in question was Hawaiian.)

She drives a hard bargain

On the way home from dropping of X at school this morning, Miss Hadley said she was going to sing me a song she wrote. She told me it was "kind of a marrying song" and that it was called "I won't be your bride". I went like this:

I won’t be your bride.
I won’t be your bride.

Will you be my bride if I give you twenty-five boxes of flowes?

I still won’t be your bride.
I still won’t be your bride.

halloween update/thankful for...

happy november! before we get to the halloween stuff, i wanted to do a quick post of things i am so thankful for right now. with thanksgiving coming up, i thought it might be nice to do this every day, but i don't know if i can commit to that. i will, however, try to do it frequently throughout the month.

i am so thankful that i wake up to this each morning:

this is the view from our bedroom window. i'm thankful for a great yard and great house!

i'm thankful that ruby is pretty much like this all day long. she sleeps through the night most of the time and is generally a happy, content little bundle of love! (shout out to aaron & kristina for the cute halloween outfit!)

i'm thankful that i have these 3 to keep life interesting...and that they love each other...most of the time. :)

okay, on with halloween!

miss ruby was a fat little witch who pretty much slept through all the excitement. i actually changed her diaper and got her into this get-up without her waking up at all.

mitch was king triton to lucy's little mermaid, but she ditched the wig within about 5 houses. alan makes a lovely ariel, don't you think?

happy kids with buckets full of loot.

another view of the robo-boy. and in honor of flight of the conchords:

There are no more humans

Finally, robotic beings rule the world

The humans are dead

The humans are dead

We used poisonous gases

And we poisoned their asses

The humans are dead (he's right they are dead)

The humans are dead (look at that one it's dead)

It had to be done (I'll just confirm that they're dead)

So that we could have fun (affirmative, I poked one, it was dead)

halloween slacker

on friday, the kids and i all dressed up and went to our ward's "trunk or treat" activity. alan was out of town so getting myself and 3 kids there, all in costume, was quite a feat. however, my super-mom powers failed me miserably when i realized i had left the camera at home. :(

and there were some awesome photo-ops!

alexander's robot costume won 1 of 2 coveted prizes in the kid's costume category.

hadley lit up every time someone called her "snow white".

ruby looked adorable sleeping in her witchy-poo costume, complete with hat.

and i won 1 of 2 coveted prizes in the adult costume category. (uh, that's adult as in "grown-up", not as in "adult" ;) )

i had already taken off some of my jewerly and was about to lose the eyebrows when i decided i should snap a couple halloween self-portraits since i do it every year and will not be dressing up this friday. (so pathetic, i know)

i went as frieda kahlo

the real deal

lil me

and the mugshot.

updates and pics of the kids after halloween!

taggeed by my SIS

10 years ago I was:
1. childless
2. living in the tiniest one bedroom apartment
3. blissfully happy
4. up for a late night (any time) outing to Bill & Nada's
5. super skinny

5 things on today's to do list:
1. wash all my sheets and duvet cover (ruby spit up)
2. take out the garbage
3. bathe 3 children
4. crochet a hat for ruby
5. eat yummy chicken tikka masala

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. pay off both my houses
2. share the money with a certain sis and brother
3. go to disneyland
4. go on a dream vacay to london, paris, and rome
5. save some for a rainy day

5 places I have lived:
1. salem
2. provo
3. salt lake city
4. springville
5. new freaking jersey

5 places I have worked:
1. sno shack
2. Nu Skin
3. Churchill Jr. High
4. DSW advertising
5. Franklin Covey

(added by me for seasonal flair)
5 things I have been for halloween:
1. some kind of a cat or something ;)
2. magenta
3. cleopatra
4. sally
5. frieda

i tag alan, marina, , aubrey, lori, marisa, and all my girls from P2. :)

ruby o' rama

ruby has been growing (mostly wider) and learning important life skills like smiling.

she has a sweet hammock tub. i wish i had a sweet hammock tub. so does my dad. i don't think they come in king size.

this pic looks weird sideways, which is how it was taken, but even weirder upright.

i LOVE this photo...the stripey blankey...the lone didi (pacifier)...the calm sleeping baby with the wavey little hand...

another conundrum as to which way the photo should go.

grandpa and ruby both looking sleepy. grandpa worked a lot while he was here. ruby pooped and ate a lot. all of those things are exhausting.

another cutie with her grampie shot.
polka-dotty princess. shout out to jenn for the cute jammies! thanks jenn! (she looks extra cute and funny in this outfit with her round blue didi in her mouth. it adds another little turquoise circle to the mix)

gotta love the big baby stretch.
ruby's first attempt at a bottle (just in case we are lucky enough to ever go on a date, which i doubt) -- she doesn't care about the receptacle...as long as it's filled with the good stuff! (another shout out to jenn -- thanks jenn!) oh, just an fyi, she downed the whole bottle in about 5 minutes flat.

great shot of fat rolls. count them if you can.

happy bathtime baby.

and again.

smooches to all of you!

Baby Blessing

in our church, it is customary to give the baby a name and a blessing in a semi-formal ordinance. it is usually held in the church building, but can be held elsewhere if you make prior arrangements, which we did. ruby was blessed at home on october, 5th surrounded by friends from our ward family and we were fortunate enough to have my parents be able to come as well.

ruby was happy to be the center of attention on her special day.

super happy.
most of the time.

she is wearing a vintage christening dress. :) my mother made it for me when i was a baby. she is also wearing a tiny gold ring that has been worn by me and all of my siblings and nieces and nephews. family tradition and all that. we were outside so we tied a ribbon on the ring to secure it on her finger, just in case. truth be told, her lil finger was so fat, i had a hard time getting the lil ring off. :)
another cute pic.
with proud grandparents. it was bright. everyone was squinty. :)

new family photo. and everyone looks pretty darn good. it was, overall, a lovely day. friends came from near and far. none of them got photographed for some odd reason. but we still love them anyway. i think the reason was that i was too busy stuffing my face with all the good food my mom made to snap any pics.

now for some fun:

i have no idea why this photo was taken, or what is going on exactly, but there seems to be a lot of backstory happening.
ditto. i don't know if i'm giving the thumbs up or using another finger to try to get something off her face. i just thought it was funny.