Trimming the Trees

Today we decorated the house with all of our Christmas Holiday trimmings!! After a couple years of being a bit of a scrooge I was actually excited to decorate!! Maybe its the fact that all of our Christmas shopping is all done.. ya that is a good feeling!
Tonight we decorated the trees and I got a little misty eyed because after years of searching for a certain album I was finally able to download it from Itunes tonight and it made the decorating all the more sweeter! My mom always played the Statler brothers Christmas CD when we were kids and it is still hands down the best Xmas music to me! With every new song I kept telling Rich I was about to cry, it just took me back!
The kids had a blast decorating, I only had to yell at my disgruntled teen a few times and the trees look fabulous!
Most of these pics are thanks to Kaden!

Thanksgiving week

I have a lot to be Thankful for! Truly. I know a lot of people say how thankful they are at this time of year but I am always aware of how lucky and blessed I am. Yes I have my self pitty moments and why me phases but I really know that I am one lucky blessed girl! I have an amazing husband, 3 adorable well behaved smart kiddos, siblings that challenge my patience but that I love dearly, and some really incredible friends!
We were very lucky this week to have our Zimmers come and visit for Thanksgiving!!!! We miss them dearly and are always hoping that they will get moved back to us one day!
It took no time at all for the kids to start having a blast, for the adults to start laughing, and for a lot of good food to be eaten!
We had plans to go to winter park to go sledding but they postponed the opening to Thanksgiving day so on Wednesday we went up the canyon and found the Zimmers some snow to play in! Those kids were in heaven... there was a literal gasp from a couple of the boys that were in our car when they saw the snow, it about made me cry seeing their joy.
We had a really nice pic-nick amongst a lot of Elk poopies! It was a gorgeous drive.
We had a lot of down time and a lot of outside foot ball time. We played kick the can.. a family fav between us! And us adults even took some time to ourselves to go workout!
On Thanksgiving morning we had a Turkey Bowl, parents against kids. The boys practiced for a long time in preparation... well THE PARENTS KICKED THEIR TRASH!!! WOOT WOOT!!
It ended up being a great work out and so much fun.. not sure if the boys agree to that, there was a lot of trash talk and 2 hand touch might have turned into a little bit more towards the end!
Our feast was delish!! I was worried about the turkey because the darn thing was still frozen in the morning but it quickly defrosted and even though it delayed our dinner a couple hours it ended up being yummy along with the rest of the yummy food!
We were all super sad to see our Zimmers leave on Friday morning. It always feels like there is a mourning period after they leave us or we leave them but it is also such a great reminder of what true friendship is and that when you find it that no matter the distance you can never let it go even if at times it is hard work, it is worth it to the end.
A BIG thanks to them for taking the time to come out, they have a lot on their plate right now and I just hope we were able to help them relax for a few days!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Is Jude just not the cutest!!!
We barely ever saw the kids but when we did they were all grins and giggles.. Maddie and Silas are so dang cute together still!

We saw this from the distance and couldnt figure out what it was at first but it was a hang glider with a fan thingy.. it was cool!

Football time! Everyone wanted in on the action!

We did our xmas gift exchange while they were hear and lets just say that we like to give gag gifts between the adults and always try to top each other.. Rich and I totally won this year!!

And a BIG thanks to Tami for making Malias marching band dreams come true!

Smarty Pants Stats

Can I just say that this little princess is just so stinkin cute! I adore her so much and cant believe how fast she is growing!

Yesterday Malia had her 4 year well check. Not super fun for her because she had to get 4 yucky shots AND flu crap up her nose. It was really sad, she wasnt to happy about it but recovered pretty quickly.

Her stats were 25% in height and just under 20% in weight. She did however fail her hearing test which didnt seem like a big deal to the doc until I told him we had just found out she failed the school hearing test also. He recommended that we get her seen for further testing, but as the appointment went on and he was able to have a conversation with her while other noises were going on he was really impressed with how smart she was and he ended up not being to concerned about her hearing at all! He still wants us to get her looked at but told me to put it off for awhile for her to be a bit older. The doc was very impressed with her and deemed her very healthy and smart so yaaa!!

Last week we also had our parent teacher conference which seems a little silly for pre-k but it was exciting to hear how great she was doing! I was a little nervous about her being a little head strong and maybe even naughty in school. She is very good at home but there have just been a few times at church that she has told her teachers no and she doesnt always listen. Well at school she is doing great! She is listening and following directions well. Her teacher said she is very sweet with the other kids, if someone is crying she is the first one to go over and tell them its ok, and if kids arent sharing she goes over and tells them that sharing is nice and we share with our friends! Her teachers are very impressed with how much she knows and how quickly she learns. Miss Tara was very impressed with a game she watched her play on the computer where she would see a picture and would have to put letters in the right spot to spell it out.. she said she didnt even need help!

Lately Malia asks how to spell a word and I tell her to tell me and she sounds it out and figures out how to spell it.. uhhh crazy!!

She also has rhymes mastered! Her and Maddie say words and then finding a rhyme for it and I can not believe how quick she is to figure out some of the words! And if its a harder word.. like one that I cant even think of a rhyme she just makes up a word but it always rhymes.

Now this girl is super smart but she has a little stinker side to her too. On Sunday we had our Primary Program where all the kids get up and sing songs and little sentences that they say. Well Malia nailed her line "Feast upon the word" with no help BUT during everything else she was a wiggle worm and during the singing she was dancing and blowing kisses at people! AAHHH I wasnt sure if I should laugh or go grab her! THEN someone who sat with her class later let me know that she has cooked with onions in the morning and Malia let her know that she stunk! OOOPS!! The girl is OBSESSED with smells right now.. she gets that from me, I have a very sensitive sniffer!

So that is a pretty long update but shes a pretty amazing girl. I sure am lucky to have this princess in my life! LOVE HER!!

My Christmas wish list...

So you might be expecting some sweet post about how I just want world peace and for my family and friends to have all they want and a great New Year right.... naaa I want a flipping personal chef ya'll!!
Sure I want that other crap too, I want my friends to be happy and my family to have peace bla bla bla BUT
Really really what I want is to not be confused when I go to the grocery store. I am having a major food identity crisis. I go into the grocery store and I dont have a clue what to buy. We have changed our eating habits so much in the last 2 years and in response have cut so much out of what we eat that when I get to the store I cant think of anything to buy! Organic, meatless, and healthy... and to find that in our little area shaaa right!
I get to the grocery store and I end up with crackers a few fruits some chips and orange juice. Seriously it is redic! I get so overwhelmed at the thought of making dinner I dont even think about it until its time to eat and then it is a scramble!
So instead of becoming these super healthy food conscience people, Ive become a very confused scared mom who ends up feeding her family probably more crap from the rush to feed them something instead!
Add to that the crazy schedules that we all have and really who could blame me for this very simple small wish list for dear ol Santa. So Im putting it out there...
Dear Santa,
I would love a chef for my family for Christmas. He doesnt even have to be good looking (though that might be nice too!) it would just be for a few nights a week. I would just like someone to come in with a healthy, nice meal. Nothing fancy nothing that you would find on top chef, I mean really Im not THAT picky! Just nice meals that my kids will eat and that I wont feel guilty about feeding them. And dear Santa if I can just have this 1 itsy bitsy small gift I promise to be a very very good girl all year, I will spread love and do good to all mankind!!
I love ya lots,
Food Confused/food identity crisis lady AKA Kris.. your biggest fan!!
P.S.
I promise to leave really yummy cookies this year and Ill even buy real milk instead of soy this year!!

All Hallows Eve

First off how cute is he! He wasnt sure about dressing up but he did and he looked pretty cute. He was Larry from Ace Ventura! Soo funny!
Maddie was a balerina and she used one of her recital costumes which was perfect for me!! And Malia was a witch.. with NOO scary makeup per her request!

CRAPPY LIGHTING!! But these are my cute girls!

Maddies class party and Parade

Ive been dying to get a photo shoot with these corn fields that I drive by everyday and finally yesterday it was just me and Malia after we dropped Maddie off at dance and there was a little bit of drama with a sheriff and maybe a white lie but I got it done and I got these darling photos in less than 1 minute!!!!

Oh Larry.. love the crazy hair!

This is what happens when Malia wants Maddies eyelashes.. success on 1/2 of them lol