A fun holiday weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving! This year we were with Mark's family & had a full day of eating, playing, movie watching, more eating, and more playing. My sister-in-law had her grandpa do a little pow-wow for the kids which was a big hit. I was in charge of pies so spent a good amount of time in the kitchen making pumpkin, apple, lemon meringue, and Irish mint chocolate cream pies. Whew! Mark did a little shopping on Black Friday, and we got out our Christmas decorations yesterday. I loved Ella's comment when I asked her what Santa Clause says and she replied, "YO HO YO HO a pirate's life for me!" Sweet! Of course the weekend was topped off with a great win by BYU yesterday - go Cougs!

A Beautiful Song

I started learning a ballet to this song last year and I can't get over how powerful it is...these two have amazing talent & every time I hear this song it sweeps me away. Love it!

Reflections

We are proud of our little artist - Josh had a great time participating in his school's Reflections contest this year. The theme was "I can make a difference..." and he chose to paint a picture of the ocean since he wants to be a scuba diver & study the ocean some day. He used watercolors and amazed us with his patience and precision. Way to go Josh!

30 and counting, green drinks, & delivery date contest!!!

Well it's a good feeling to be in my 30's...not my age (yikes!) but weeks pregnant. It seems like I'm really on the downhill now. So the baby is about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds. Ella tells me every day, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Baby Ammon's not coming out yet...he's coming out after Christmas." Let's just hope I don't have to respond to that for too long once the holidays are over! I have done nothing to get ready for this baby...let's hope that can wait until after Christmas too! As anxious as I am to be done being pregnant, I must admit that I love my routine right now and I'm not so prepared for a newborn to shake it up. I'm spoiled with a two-hour break each afternoon as the girls nap and Josh is at school. It will be a rude awakening!

I did find out I have low iron which I've never had to worry about before so I'm trying a healthy approach to getting more in my diet. Even though I would love to eat steak every night, I'm experimenting with the wonderful world of green drinks. I actually like them - and my kids will drink them too! Amazing! If you want to try it, simply puree a banana, a little frozen fruit, about a cup of water, and a few handfuls of fresh spinach.

I also thought it would be fun to have a little contest to see who can guess the delivery date for the baby...just leave a comment here and the closest guess will win a prize (tbd). I'm due Jan. 22. FYI, Josh was born 11 days early (induced); Holly was born 6 days early (not induced); Ella was born 2 days early (not induced).

I've Been Tagged!

OK this is new to me, but since I'm trying to be a "fluent" blogger I'll give it a shot. I'm supposed to list six random things about me and then "tag" six other people to do the same, so here goes (in no particular order):

1. I really love that I get to be a stay-at-home mom. I've had lots of dreams during this pregnancy about going back to work at Nu Skin and I always wake up really stressed. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm so not a corporate girl anymore! I love my kiddos and I'm glad I get to raise them myself!

2. I'm "chef"ually frustrated right now because normally I just love to cook but with this baby nothing ever sounds good...ugh! Well actually chocolate sounds good, but that can't be a staple now can it?

3. I'm loving this season of "Dancing With the Stars." Normally I don't even watch TV (unless I watch Matlock while I'm folding clothes) but since I can't do my ballet class these days I guess I'm living vicariously - probaby through Marie Osmand :-)

4. Speaking of ballet I'm counting down the days until I can go back to class. I tried to do my "New York City Ballet Workout" dvd last week, and was made painfully aware of everything I CAN'T do with a big belly. I definitely encourage any of you to try something new - no matter your age or ability - I was 29 when I started ballet and I LOVE it! It's so great to have something for ME - good physically & emotionally - so go for it!

5. I'm really glad I know how to play the piano. It's a great "release" for me at the end of the day to be able to sit down and play something beautiful. Thanks Mom and Dad for passing on your piano to me - it's a treasure!

6. I sure do love my husband! I count my blessings every day for ending up with such a great guy - he is truly the best!

People I Tag:
Katie, Stacy, Stephanie, Kim, Lisa, Jamie

Goodbye, Great Pumpkin

Well last night it was time to say goodbye to our giant pumpkin. We couldn't believe how thick the walls were - six inches! Mark, ever ambitious, spent the evening chopping, baking, boiling, pureeing, and freezing chunk...after chunk...after chunk of this monster. We are definitely set for the year's supply of pumpkin! Today I will roast the seeds - yum! Ella was happy to hop right inside! Too bad this one couldn't turn into a magic carriage...
For Holly it was more like a throne :-)

Halloween Activities Etc.

Monday night we met up at Grandma's then went on a really fun haunted train ride - just spooky enough for the kids and made Em squeal once or twice too :-) Then Tuesday night was our ward party with a carnival & "trick-or-trunk." With those two activities plus our pumpkin party over the weekend; school parties & parades, etc., we were all Halloweened and costumed out by Wednesday! So on Halloween night instead of trick-or-treating (we sure don't need more candy) we went to a movie!

at the train ride

Josh was a classic vampire this year - he sure looked spooky! I even left in the camera's red-eye to add to the effect.

Holly ripped her ballerina costume putting it on, so we resorted to the dress-up box and decided last minute to be Alice (in Wonderland). Luckily she was just as happy with that! Then on Tuesday she was an angel. Good thing our dress-up box has a nice variety!

Ella was the ever-popular princess Monday night and a ballerina Tuesday night - and cute as ever as both!

I must admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday - but I remember how much fun it was as a kid and try to make it special for my kids as well. I just try to focus on family, friends, and fun traditions and less on the scary, yucky, & sugar-filled side of it all. Now, on to more meaningful holidays!! I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and have to admit I was excited when they started playing Christmas music on the radio today...of course anyone who knows me is not surprised by that :-) I'm looking forward to the hustle and bustle of the season especially this year because it will make the rest of this pregnancy fly by (I hope!)