Christmas visitors

Snow! On a Saturday when we were all home! The first snow is the best - new, white, and exciting and we can play in it because it hasn't turned into dry ice crystals yet.

Trent and Kenzie! My little bro and his girlfriend came to see us and brought us Christmas presents! I let the kids open theirs early so Trent could see their faces. They were all delighted!

Santa! He showed up at our door on the 23rd of December! So fun to have such a special visitor come see the kids.

GRANDMA and GRANDPA! They spent Preslie's b-day and Christmas with us. It was the highlight of our holiday.

The kids in their new church clothes from their other Grandpa and Grandma. Mack changed before I took the picture.

Preslie had a great 11th birthday on December 24. She got spoiled with gift cards to go shopping and some cute pillows from Grandma.

That night we gathered in the street with our neighbors around a fire for carols and cocoa. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Preslie.Then back home for delicious homemade tamales made by Dax. If I wasn't married to him, I'd marry him just for his food.

One new thing we did this year was we put the kids' names in a bowl and each drew a name out and made a present for that person. It was cute to see how excited they were to give their gift they had thought about and made for their sibling.
Santa did come again Christmas eve and spoiled us. Christmas morning was relaxing and fun. We took turns opening gifts and everyone was happy and there was a nice peaceful feeling in our home. I loved it. One highlight was Mack's gumball machine Santa brought him. I can't think of a better present for him. He loves to operate and run machines, and he loves candy. Throughout the morning Mack would periodically yell, "I got a gumball machine!" without warning. Another highlight was Grandpa's reaction to the woopie cushion costume we gave him. He was a great sport and we got a good laugh.

After all the presents were opened the kids went out in the garage and found something else left by Santa! They were so surprised!

After the kids came back inside, Mack ran over to his gumball machine and hugged it. Then he kissed it. We lounged around, some napped, and we ate a nice turkey dinner that evening. A perfect Christmas. We are blessed.

I love the days after Christmas when everyone is busy and content playing with their new toys and no one has commitments or schedules. I love Christmas at home and what a bonus to have grandparents here with us!

A few days after Christmas the kids slept out on their trampoline. It was only 35 degrees in our garage but they stayed warm and slept fine. There are some advantages to having a husband that spends a lot of time in the outdoors (warm sleeping bags). BTW, Quinn didn't sleep outside.

What a beautiful holiday and wonderful time of year! The Lord has blessed me and our family with great blessings this year!

December delights

 We kicked off December with our 4th annual Bonus Gobble. Don't you love traditions? This one is just a turkey dinner with friends that started because we decided turkey dinner is too good to have only once a year. And it stuck. There were 6 adults and 12 kids this year.

 

Another tradition we continued this year: Dax cutting a tree and bringing it home to surprise us. It is exciting to not know what our tree looks like until he shows up with it. It is a massive 12 footer. Hard to photograph because of its size. I love the natural ones with the crazy, unsymmetrical branches and aspen leaves stuck in the pine needles. So woodsy and so cool looking, all decorated indoors.

Quinn is trying to get rid of her nap even though she still needs a little one. This day she didn't have one and she fell asleep waiting to get her diaper changed..

 I picked Mack up from preschool the other day and when he smiled I screamed! He lost his first tooth at snack time. It just fell out onto his placemat and his buddy pointed it out to him.

 Every Mom loves a pic of her kids dressed up in front of the Christmas tree. There will be more of these this month, I guarantee.

FUNNY stuff my kids have said so far this month...

Coming home from the ward Christmas party where the kids saw Santa, Mack tells us, "Santa is a FAKE. He just acts way nice so all the kids will love him instead of the real Santa."

I have been trying to get Mack to do other things besides TV and video games. I know he likes to make things so I had him help me make some ornaments for a scout project. He told me, "I used to like to make things but I don't anymore."
"What do you like to do?"
"Play video games."
"What else?"
"Watch movies."
"And eat treats?"
"Yes. And grow into a giant. But I haven't done that yet."

Today I took the kids and ran a BUNCH of errands and by the time we were done, everyone was tired and hungry and Quinn was crying. I said, "Let's go to McDonalds. Do you want a Happy Meal Mack?" Quinn sniffed and said, "I want a Sad Meal." Later when we met up with Dax, I had Quinn tell him what she ate from McDonalds (chicken naggets and fetch fies) and then she said, "They made me feel so good inside!"

I can barely take such cuteness!

Crib Re-do

I decided I needed to move my piano out of my front room but didn't know where. I finally chose to put it in my girls' bedroom and booted Preslie to the basement to make room for it. When I took her bed out of there, I thought, I might as well paint while I am in the middle of this so I moved EVERYTHING out of the room and painted. It took 2 weeks of chaotic house to complete but I got it freshly painted and the piano in there. THEN, I looked at that beautiful, shiny, classy looking piano and then at Quinn's old, beat-up crib and thought, one of these things is not like the other... So I decided the crib needed a fresh look.

Here is the crib in the bedroom before any of this madness started...

 

 Here is the room before new paint and after new paint...

 

 

I wanted to change the crib sheet to look more classy and less juvenile (although I love that crib sheet, but wanted something to go better with the piano). I walked into my local thrift store last week and found the perfect bed skirt for a full sized bed and refashioned it into a crib sized bed skirt. Does this not say "I belong in a room with a piano" ??

Once the crib skirt was done, I HAD to paint the crib black. And soon while the weather is still nice..
Here is the crib that was screaming for a paint job!...

 I primed and then painted the crib with Krylon Gloss Black spray paint. It was so beat up. I hardly noticed (or cared) until I decided to paint it. The crib isn't worth the money I spent on paint but it turned out nice.
Doesn't THIS...

 

 Go SOO much better with this?

One last before and after-

Total $ spent on this crib re-do.
primer/paint: $38
crib skirt: $6
sheet and pillowcase: free

Now for some curtains and wall decor. I have NO idea what to do!

Nutty November

Yo. November started and ended the same week, it felt like. Dax started his new duties as wildlife manager and has been adjusting to spending much more time in the office than out in the mountains which is very different for him. He has been working a lot and figuring out his new job and has been a bit stressed but doing great.
I also started a new thing this month: teaching piano lessons to 5 kids in my neighborhood. So with Preslie and Hunter (who I have taught for over a year), I have 7 students, bam, just like that. It has been fun! I pay Preslie to watch Mack and Quinn for me while I am teaching. I am still doing cub scouts but my assistant den leader had surgery so I have been managing all eight 8-year-old boys by myself once a week. I finally joined the rest of the planet and got a cell phone. I have been without one for 6 years (and survived just fine!). I am still behind the times though, because Dax's new job came with an iPhone. The kids love playing with it.

watching tv on Dax's iPhone

Dax's dad came to our house and did a bit of framing in our basement to get it all ready for drywall. He is a wonderful giving Dad and always wants to help out his kids. We have plans to finish Preslie's room and the bathroom downstairs for her.

We enjoyed Hunter's 3rd grade program. His Grandpa was able to be there to watch also. At the end, the whole 3rd grade sang "We are the world, we are the children.." and of course I teared up. They are so sweet. Hunter especially!

 Mack has been going to preschool and I think he is way too smart for it but I hope he is learning to be in a structured class with a teacher so he can prepare for kindergarten. It is also a nice break for me. I have been really trying to figure him out and love him for who he is and not wish he is something he's not. I want to help him be the best Mack he can be. A cute thing he said this month when we were all munching on some fresh pineapple..
"One time I ate a bunch of pineapple and my mouth got really buzzy." We all laughed and and I said, "Mack you have a way with.. everything." then he said,
"That's because I go to night school while you guys are asleep."

Dax and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this month. We took the kids and ate pizza at a way cool park and then went swimming at the Rec Center. It was a fun day. I have loved being married to Dax; he is the guy for me. So grateful for a good man.

Mack got some horrible puking virus and a few days later, we all got it except Preslie. Then we went to see my family in West Jordan for Thanksgiving and that night, Preslie puked her guts out and was miserable the rest the time. After we had a nice visit (except Preslie) and went home, EVERYONE in my family got sick and puked. I felt SO horrible and so embarrased and mad at myself for infecting everyone. My parents got sick, my sister and her husband and kids, my pregnant sister-in-law, my niece who goes to BYU (and all her roommates), so many people! It was a bad one.


Grandpa training up his littlest grandkid to play games. So cute!

 

Trent chasing Bowser with Quinn. She loved it.

Whenever my Dad falls asleep, someone puts the ET doll on him and takes a picture. I don't know why but we think it is way funny.

Uncle Lance took Mack to the store and let him put whatever candy he wanted in the shopping cart. Great on so many levels.

My sis and her wonderful fam. My kids went nuts all month that they were going to see these cousins.

You're never too old to snuggle with your Mama!


The weather has been beautiful and I put up my Christmas lights. It doesn't feel like it should be Christmas. For starters, it's too warm, and it just feels like December came too fast.  I really like to surprise people.. As soon as I think of some good gifts, I will start to get excited. Better hurry!

a great ending to a super month!

What a busy month...and it ended with a bang! My husband applied for the manager job at his work, interviewed and got offered the job Oct 30th! We are SO excited! He will do awesome.


Halloween seemed to last all month with all the parties and events. Here is Mack with his teacher.

Here is our porch decked out for the 200 trick-or-treaters we had visit.

I added 2 new yard sale finds to my porch decor this year: the ceramic cherub thing I painted to look freaky and a giant portrait of a creepy lady that I covered in spider webs. I think a black light would look so awesome shining on her.

 

 Here are my kiddos ready to go! So thankful for another warm Halloween!

And here are the parents of those wacky kids..

 Dax had fun standing in the shadows and scaring kids. As they left, he would wave goodbye to them with the severed arm. It was creep-tastic.

New adventures await in November and we are so grateful for the blessings we've received!

October Rat Race

Olly Olly Oxen Free, If I don't post now it will be I. T. (for this blog, that is)

WAY WAY lots of stuff has transpired this month and I have GOT to jot it down. It's all good stuff for us, so stop holding your breath. Or do...if you like to test your lung capacity while you read blogs.

Hip hip hooray, soccer season is over! And guess who ended up loving it? Ding Ding Ding: PRESLIE. The one who was dreading it the most! Hunter enjoyed it also but he is always meh about most things. And Mack was... Mack.

We celebrated Mack turning FIVE! Wow. I really never thought this day would come. This child has been 2 for like EVER. I am still waiting for him to grow out of the terrible terrific twos.

Dax asked him what he wanted for dinner on his birthday and he said, "Well, for breakfast I want a gingerbread house, for lunch I want candy corns, and for dinner I want a bowl of suckers."  As you can see we tried to honor his requests (after nutritious meals of course). I think he had a happy day. I am never sure with him.

I also gave him his first friend b-day party. I tried to think of everything he likes to do and incorporated it into the party. We decorated sugar cookies, played some outdoor running games, and smashed a pinata (destroying + candy is so Mack's style).

Mack wanted to stand behind the pinata so it would look like Ventress's head was on his body. Yes, this is a Ventress head pinata I made.

It has been such a busy month, as is always the case at our house in October. Dax has been hunting a ton and absent from the day to day rigors of busy family life. So jealous happy he could be playing so much!

And in true Tristie form, whenever I have a ton to do and need an escape, I start a new and different project that is tons of work! I have housewife A.D.D! Here is my girls' room as of the beginning of October...

And here I am removing the light fixture so I can finish painting the ceiling. I cleared out and painted the entire room - walls, trim, ceiling, closet, and doors - by myself while my husband was gone. I don't recommend it. It took 2 weeks of chaos to finish. But it looks super nice now and I will post pics when I get the room arranged.

Halloween is in full force around my house and Quinn is the right age/size for our 2 year old Halloween jammies. When Hunter was born my girlfriend Katie gave him and Preslie matching Halloween pjs. We've passed them down to all my kids.

I ran my first 10K and my oompa loompas ran a 1 mile kids' race. This is the same week half my family got strep and the night before the race I started feeling it but ignored it because I had worked too hard on our costumes to stay home. I ran 6.2 miles with strep in a velvet suit! Dax was waiting for me half way through the race to cheer me on and was also at the finish line cheering. It was a fun, long race. 

Dax and I thought we had a mouse in our basement! We kept hearing a little scraping/scratching noise. Dax set out traps and the next day we could still hear it. Finally, we found where the noise was coming from...a beetle trying to climb out of a sack. Relief!

Quinn said this to me last week:
Q: One day I killed a rat.
Me: Oh, really? Where was it?
Q: I dunno. Dead.

I can barely handle how adorable and sweet and wonderful and cute she is. She talks all the time and says the cuh-uutest stuff in the most darling voice ever. One day she took the 2 halves of her shape ball toy and put them up to her chest and said, "Look at my bah." (bra)
Quinn and I got to go with Mack and his preschool class to the corn maze. Fun!

We celebrated Hunter's 9th birthday! He didn't have school because of UEA- he stayed in his pjs all day and played video games with his buds. That is his kind of day!

My kids and I went deer hunting with my Dad. His family always hunts together every year and this year 4 of them had Book Cliffs tags so we went out to join the party. My dad brought all my kids a pumpkin to carve;  they had a ball camping in Grandpa's trailer. It was great to see aunts, uncles and cousins!

{deep breath} What a month and it is not over yet! We are just getting warmed up for Halloween. Hopefully I have enough energy to finish October with a bang! I might need to be medicated!