Boys are easier................I don't think so!

Well, it's happening..........it's actually been coming for awhile now, I've just been in denial. My boy, my sweet, happy, fun loving, peace making, calm, caring boy, is turning into a moody, grumpy, sometimes angry, teenage boy. And he doesn't actually turn 13 for another 3 months! You know I've had so many people tell me how much easier boys are to raise than girls, because girls are so moody, etc. Well, I have have news for all of them! Seriously, Vance was my calmest, most loving, happy kid. I never thought I'd ever have to deal with the teenage attitude stuff with him. Oh boy! was I wrong! Boys are moody. They are temperamental, and they are whiny! So please, don't tell me again how girls are just so much more difficult than boys, because I don't believe it! (I didn't believe it before either, but anyway) Boys are just as frustrating as girls, just in a different way!
Ok, I'm going to go sit on my couch and face reality, now..........................

Bah-humbug...............

Now that Thanksgiving and Myshel's birthday are over, I should be concentrating on Christmas...should be.........I just haven't caught that Christmas bug, yet. I'm trying to catch it.....I did put my Christmas village out, but it mostly reminded me of how very little space we have in our house.........we've talked about putting up our tree, but yet again, we have nowhere to put it. Well, I guess we do have a small corner in the living room, but that also means that the tree is going to be about 1/2 the size it usually is. I suggested that we skip the tree altogether this year, but Chad was the only one who agreed.......I even put Christmas music on my blog page, but even that didn't help much. I'm hoping that as Christmas gets closer and I put up more decorations, that I'll caught that little holiday bug and feel excited about Christmas, but right now, we're leaning a little on the bah-humbug side!

Happy Bunny Revenge!

Myshel loves Happy Bunny---if you don't know what that is, it's this cute little bunny who says very snide, sarcastic things--typical teenager things. (Some are rude, some are very rude and Myshel knows those are off limits to her!) But she loves the some-what innocent ones. I have to admit, there are some that make me laugh.A friend gave Myshel about 10 Happy Bunny t-shirts, so that's about all you see her in most of the time. Chad and I have told her that we're tired of seeing them, but that hasn't changed her mind about them.........so, for her birthday, we thought we'd use the Happy Bunny against her. We knew she'd pretend to be offended, but really she'd think it was funny. Here's what we did with her birthday cake............
(In case you can't read it, it says----It's your birthday.............it's cute how you think we care!

We still wanted to wish her Happy Birthday...............
And let her know we love her!

She gave us her most offended look and then laugh and told us we were so mean! I think she loved it!

Myshel, here's to you!

15 years ago today, at about this time, my 32 hours of labor ended and I became a mother for the very first time. It wasn't until that very moment that they handed me that little, screaming baby with black hair, that I knew that something so small could fill my heart with such love and joy! I watched Chad hold her for the first time and I saw in his eyes, everything that I felt. We were so glad that she was here.

She was beautiful and she was our gift from the Lord, we knew that! And that just made her all the more special in our hearts. There were some people who thought we should have waited longer to start our family. Chad and I were both still in school trying to finish our degrees. But we knew without the slightest doubt that she was suppose to come join our family then. She was a great blessing to us then and she still is today.

Over the last 15 years, she's helped fill our home with love, joy, laughter, silliness, frustration, attitude, maddness, tears, but most of all love! I love having Myshel as my daughter! I love seeing and talking to her every day. And I love watching her grow and mature in life and in the gospel. I also love that she still calls me mommy!

She gave a talk in church yesterday and as I sat there watching her, I couldn't help but remember the day she was born and wonder where the time went, because there she was standing up in front of me, a beautiful young woman. I don't know how that happened.

It was Thanksgiving morning, 15 years ago, when she was born. I was so thankful for that new baby girl and I'm still extremely thankful for my 15 year old baby girl. I love you, Myshel, Happy Birthday!

Elf Yourself...............

I was at OfficeMax and look what I heard about..................

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9585302087 OR
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9585435408

It's just tooo fun!

Potholder Mania................

A month or so ago, my mom sent me some potholders that she had crocheted. I love them. They are so much nicer and thicker than the ones you buy in the store. When my mom visited me, I had her show me how to crochet them. So now, I've gone potholder happy!! I used up some of my exta yarn making the top 3 and then decided to make some for my visiting teaching sisters for Thanksgiving. The fall colored ones were 2 of the 5 I made for them. I loved how they turned out the best! Now, if I could just learn to crochet better, I could make something besides a potholder!

Turkey Snack

McKaylie's class at school has a little snack each day. On Friday the kids take turns bringing a snack in for the whole class. It has to be a healthy snack, too. They also asked us to try and be creative. Since it was McKaylie's turn last Friday, the last Friday before Thanksgiving, we decided to have a turkey, theme. This is what we came up with, turkey popcorn balls! The popcorn ball is made with marshmellows and popcorn, kind of like rice krispy treats (probably not all that nutritious, but it could be worse), the head is a dried apple, the eyes are a raisin and the beak is a craisin (dried cranberry) The tail feathers are pretzels wrapped in fruit roll-ups. They turned out pretty cute. McKaylie said her class and teacher loved them, so I'm happy!

WHAT???

McKaylie came home from school yesterday with a book that her whole class had written. There was a small paragraph from each student that stated what they were thankful for. McKaylie's was very sweet but the line that got me the most was, "I am thankful for my food, when my mom gives it to me"...............................

Yes, yes, I admit, I withhold food from my children!!! That way it lasts longer! NOT!!!!!