I Love Christmas

I look forward to laying by the fireplace each night.  When it's snowing outside it's my favorite place to be.  So cozy.

Of course I love the Christmas tree and I keep the lights on constantly.  The ambiance created by the tree adds so much to our home.

Christmas cards from friends and family near and far make me smile.

The beautiful story of our Savior's birth.

My absolute favorite thing I love about Christmas are these little gifts under the tree. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a really good boy.  I help my mom with my baby sister.  In fact, just yesterday my baby sister pushed me so I sat her on the stairs for time out.  To make sure she wouldn't fall I placed lots of pillows around her.  I gave her a five minute time out.  I know she is only 7 months old but she pushed me so she deserved an extra long time. 

For Christmas I would like a big football, a big candy cane and a blue ruler.  I would also like another turkey baster.  My dad already bought me one but I figure you can never have too many turkey basters as a three year old.

Love,

Easton

Dear Santa,

I've been a really good girl.  The last few weeks have been kind of hard on my mom because I've been getting my two front teeth in.  I know I get up a lot at night but I just don't feel well.  Other than that I've been good.  Oh, except for when I pooed on my moms bath rug today while she was getting me ready for the tub.

For Christmas I would like a nice beard like yours and some knee pads.  I've been slithering around the house for a couple weeks now.  I forgot to mention that I keep pulling ornaments off the tree and ripping the wrapping paper on the presents under the tree.  I'm just so cute that maybe you could overlook that.  I can almost crawl on my hands and knees.  I get up and rock back and forth, take one crawl forward and then go down to my tummy to do the army crawl.  I really think a pair of knee pads would come in handy as I crawl around.

Love,

Marielle

Finally Finished

I finally finished decorating Marielle's nursery.  I was waiting for the dresser and nightstand before I could complete everything.  I originally purchased the dresser and nightstand at a consignment shop about two months prior to Marielle's birth.  The consignment store owner told me she would paint them and have them ready for me within three weeks.  Well, three months went by, I had Marielle and still no furniture.  I called the owner who informed me my items had been stolen by the consigner.   She said she would find something similiar to replace them with.  I waited and waited and seven months later the consigner finally delivered my dresser and nightstand which she said she had "painted."  Turns out she sprayed a few coats of spray paint on them and called it good.  Apparently she didn't have her glasses on when she was spraying because she missed the whole bottom portion of the dresser.   I can't complain though.  I received a great deal on the set.  I plan on repainting them in the Spring and spraying all of the knobs pink. 

Almost all of the accessories have been spray painted to match the colors of the room.  I mostly focused on a pink and cream palette and added a splash of seafoam green.  I purchased accessories from the thrift store, Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx.

As I mentioned in a previous post awhile back, I was able to get the chandelier for free because they no longer carried the crystals that went with it.  They gave me my money back and I went to Home Depot and purchased my own crystals.  The medallion was purchased at a yard sale for $3.  It's actually an umbrella stand but for $3 it became a very heavy medallion which Clint nailed to the ceiling.

The crib is from Babies R Us, as well as the rocking chair and ottomen.  Originally the chair was purchased when I had Easton and so I just moved it into Marielle's room.  It has held up really well and I love rocking my babies to sleep in it.   

Christmas Spirit

The Festival of Trees is not only brimming with the most beautiful, amazing trees you have ever seen, the stories behind each tree are so touching.  My eyes always well up with tears as I see the faces and hear a little about the life each tree is dedicated to. 

If you notice Easton has his snow boots on.  Even though the boots are two sizes too big he insists upon clomping around in them wherever he goes.  He also insists upon bringing his giant plastic candy cane with him as well.  The candy cane was purchased at the dollar store recently.  It was a tough decision between a turkey baster and the candy cane but in the end the candy cane won out.  Those turkey basters can be a lot of fun though.

Over the weekend we had the chance to get together with our friends from Utah State for a little Christmas party.  Clint lived with these fellows his senior year and daresay the fun never stopped at the Chateau. 

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Coupon Happy

I know Clint is really going to like this post. 

For $10.07 at Target you would be able to purchase the below items.

However, if use coupons you can get all of this for the same amount of $.

10 boxes of cereal

4 boxes of crackers

12 cans of vegetables

8 cream soups

2 tubs of butter

7 wipes

10 rolaids

2 marshmallows

=

Coupons and Target make me happy!!

First Thanksgiving

Marielle and I both celebrated firsts- her first Thanksgiving and my first time hosting the event.  We had my family as well as Clint's family over for the traditional meal.  I had a rough start as I grabbed my turkey out of the fridge it had been residing in for 4 days only to find the dumb bird still frozen.  I soaked it in cool water and it thawed out just in time to be placed in the oven on schedule.  Everyone helped out by bringing side dishes.

 

I made little bags filled with treats for each guest that also served as the name cards.  I wrote each persons name on a leaf that I stamped, cut out and placed on the center of the bag.

Everything turned out fabulous and I appreciated all of the great help I received.  I could not have done it without everyone.   To finish the Thanksgiving Day we had a rousing game of Settlers, my favorite.

Easton also had a Thanksgiving celebration at his preschool a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving.  He has the best teacher, Miss Mandy.  ( He used to call her Handy Mandy for some reason.)  The children  sang a few songs and then we enjoyed a turkey dinner.  It was so cute to watch the children sing.  They did a fabulous job!

Although Marielle was not able to eat turkey at her first Thanksgiving she did enjoy delicious rice cereal with harvest vegetables.  Marielle is 6 months old now and she adores food.  There has not been anything she will not eat.  I started her on the rice cereal at 5 months and she didn't like that as much but I started adding a little fruit or vegies to it and she enjoyed it much more.

Little Miss also had her incisor teeth grow in just in time for the release of New Moon. 

Marielle weighs in at 16 lbs (51%) and is 27 inches long (85%).  She can sit up and enjoys playing with toys.  Her favorite activity is to chase brother around.  She giggles and giggles as you hold her and run after Easton.  Little Miss loves to sleep as long as she can be in her crib otherwise sleep is not happening.  She goes to bed every night around 6 p.m. and is up for the day around 7 a.m.  Ever since she started teething she gets up 2-3 times a night to nurse. She is quite the squealer and is always making lots of cute high-pitched squeals.  This little one is a happy one!

New Knobs

Our computer has been out of commission for a week due to damage to the power cord.  I don't want to mention any names as to who caused the damage but his initials are Easton Thompson. We finally got a new cord so it's nice to be able to get on the computer again. 

As many of you know I love treats and making treats for my family.  I also enjoy a good cake stand.  I keep this stand, located on my counter, filled with treats.  It makes me happy.  And makes me keep my gut too.

My own C-Thomp installed these beauties for me in the kitchen.  I love the glamour they add.

33rd Year

It's hard to believe that this stud muffin is now 33 years old as of Monday. Luckily, his taste in fashion has improved over the years.  However, he is still as funny and sweet as the day I met him eight years ago.  ( By the way Clint-  Don Johnson called and he wants his suit back.)

Clint requested a carmello cake which I was happy to oblige him with. 

Happy Birthday!!  You are one cool kid!

I held out as long as I could but I couldn't wait any longer- it was time to put up the Christmas tree today.  One month of Christmas decor is simply not enough.  I figure if I put up a little at a time then it will be easier and Thanksgiving will not be completely overlooked.

Happy Halloween

We started the Halloween festivities by attending the annual carnival put on by my sister-in-law's mother. She throws quite the shindig. Easton's favorite event of the affair is launching paper rockets and then chasing after them with his cousin G.I. Jake.

This little lion was delighted with the buckets of candy he was able to obtain while traipsing around the neighborhood. I was delighted with the many mini candy bars I snuck from his bucket.

This little pumpkin enjoyed eating her tutu. I enjoyed kissing on those chubby cheeks.Little Miss Pumpkin with Grandpa Bob, Grandma Connie and the Wild Lion.

Oh, and the lion's cucumber friend.

Grandpa Mark and Grandma Debra with the cute ones.

And of course Halloween isn't complete without a visit to see Great-Grandma Glenda. One of the sweetest ladies around.

More

Last Friday my mom was in town so we met up with my aunt and we went to the Children's Museum. Easton loved it.

Here he sits patiently waiting for the helicopter to take off. He really thought it would fly away because it makes loud sound effects like it's going to. He was very disappointed when he never left the ground. Easton's 'work' as he called it was to lift and build with the blocks. If I had one of these builder stations in my house I would probably never see my child. This kid loves construction.

Las Vegas Baby!

As you may have noticed I fell off of the blogging bandwagon for a bit. For those of you who regularly update your blog. I admire you. For some reason I lack the ability to do so. When my life fills up with so many other things, blogging gets put on the back burner. Those other things I'm referring to include listing and selling my cousins home within two weeks' time. Listing another home, teaching an enrichment class, being sick 3 times (I've decided I'm not leaving the house for the rest of the winter) and various projects around the home.

As a result I am behind on our blog and would like to update what we've been up to. At the end of September we went to Vegas for a few days. Clint had some work obligations to attend to so we decided to join him and make a mini-vacation out of it.

This picture is what vacation is all about. Hanging out, enjoying one another's company and just taking it easy.

Easton chased this poor pigeon around and around before the dumb thing finally flew away.

The pool was the main event of our stay in Vegas. We spent many hours enjoying the sunshine and Easton loved soaking in the hot tub. His favorite thing to do however, was to sit in the shower for an hour at a time. The shower had a built-in bench which provided the boy with endless enjoyment. Every towel and washcloth he could get his hands on ended up covering the bench. It was his "work" he told us.

While we were in Vegas I was able to spend the morning with my best friend Holly and two of her boys. Everytime I get together with her it's as though little time has passed between us. She's just one of those friends that you can talk about anything with and leave feeling so uplifted after talking to her. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos.

Beautiful baby girl. She didn't mind swimming but was more content to lay on the lounge chairs with daddy.

It was nice to have some time in the sun to spend with my family (and to not have to do the dishes for a few days.)

Roly-Poly

Little Miss is 4 Months old. She weighs 15 lbs 8 ounces putting her in the 86th percentile. She is 25.5" long and is also in the 86th percentile for her length. Her bottom two teeth are starting to come in already. Marielle is a wonderful baby and has such a happy temperament. She is captivated by big brother and enjoys watching him run around and be silly. He can really make her laugh too.
She sleeps wonderfully. I put her down for the night between 8 and 9 p.m. and she usually sleeps until 5 or 6 a.m. I am loving that. When you get a good nights sleep it makes a world of difference.

She is also rolling over from her back to her front now. Much to my disbelief she started rolling from her stomach to her back at just three weeks old. With the addition of her new rolling ability she is quite the mover, rolling all over the floor. Little Miss steals my heart.