2010 in Review

JANUARY

Sledding at Mt. Lemmon

Lucy lost a tooth

Biggest rain storm in 20 years

Zoe & Lucy turned 6

FEBRUARY

Picked oranges to earn free Disneyland tickets

Watched winter Olympics

Noah won first place at his first Space Derby

MARCH

Took the kids on their first ski trip

I planted a tree

Had a fun spring break at home

Hubs' birthday

APRIL

Molly turned 8

Molly got baptized!

I made strawberry jam

We went to Disneyland

MAY

Somebody borrowed my camera and took the photo above
We went to Lake Powell
I turned 35

Went to Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza

Piano recital

JUNE

The girls went to the beach while the boys went to Colorado
Noah turned 10

First swim meet

Molly took gymnastics classes

JULY

Lots more swim meets for Noah & Molly
I started my Mindbloom tree
Celebrated Gramps' 60th birthday at a nice hotel with the whole family

Took a trip to Utah

AUGUST

First day of school! (first grade for the girls in the picture)
The dog ate my homemade wheat bread right off the counter
I made homemade laundry detergent (a short-lived phase)
Saturday trips to the lake (after a whole summer of Aaron fixing the boat!)

SEPTEMBER

Bought a new underwater camera
Me & Hubs 13th anniversary
The girls went to the beach (again) while the boys went to Havasupai
I started the HCG diet (and lost 17 pounds!)

OCTOBER

Crazy hail storm!
Kids camped in the backyard
Took all the kids to a Suns game
Retro Halloween costumes for me & Hubs

NOVEMBER

Drained/cleaned the pool
Fun hikes in the nice weather
Homemade applesauce
Made my children eat squash

DECEMBER

Orchestra concert

Piano recital

Grandma & Grandpa home from their mission in Brazil
CHRISTMAS IN UTAH!


2010 was a great year! I sure love this little family of mine.

Christmas Crafts

I had the brilliant idea this year to make a lot of home-made gifts; something I do NOT usually do. I kept coming up with more things I wanted to make, until the list had gotten quite impossible, but I did get a few things done.

For the cousins' gifts exchange, three of my kids were to give to three of their younger boy cousins. My sister Jamie had made these felt car mats for her nephews, and I decided to, too. I made my three nearly identical; for most of the pieces I was able to cut three layers of felt at a time, so the cutting didn't take much longer than making only one would have. They were pretty fun to make but I underestimated the amount of GLUE they'd need... I went through a ton of hot glue sticks and ended up skimping a little towards the end; I'm afraid my sisters-in-law will have to do a little hot-glue repair work on them. I didn't finish them until the day before we left town; not very good planning but I was pleased with the final product. Noah picked out four of his old matchbox cars for each cousin, and we put two cars in each of the two pocket "garages" at the bottom.

I thought of this next idea months ago, but of course only made them a few days before we left town. As soon as I finished them I had to pack them up into a big box to take on our trip; they were too big to hide anywhere in my house! These are 26x26 (Eurosham size) pillows; I used soft fuzzy fabric for them and appliqued their initial on each. They are supposed to be "reading pillows" and each kid also received a new book and a book light. As I had hoped, they are a big hit. The kids sleep with them every night in their beds, and they bring them downstairs for watching movies. I'm so glad they like them!

Also on my to-do homemade presents list, that didn't get made:
-- knit scarves for each of the girls (I knitted half of a scarf)
-- canvas Star Wars wall-hangings for Noah (idea seen here)
-- sew sheets/pillow/blanket for Molly's American Girl doll bed
-- melted silk flower hair clips for the girls (I started on this one but had the wrong kind of fabric; the fabric I bought burned instead of melting.)


Well there's always birthdays and next Christmas, right?!

Christmas in Utah

We spent a wonderful nine days in Utah for Christmas this year! Aaron's parents returned home in mid-December from their mission in Brazil, and Aaron ended up having a little extra time off work so we were happy to be able to stay a little longer. We got there a couple days before Christmas after a very rainy drive... it rained nearly the entire way!

Jake and Tiffany's family stayed at the house most of the time we were there, which was so fun! Nate & Emily's family was there for much of the time too. But everyone went to their own homes on Christmas Eve, and we all celebrated Christmas morning with our own kids.

By Christmas afternoon, everyone was back at the house. We ate together and opened presents from Grandma & Grandpa. Hey look, Noah is smiling nicely for a picture! Must have been Christmas Day that brought this on :)
This year the cousins did a gift exchange, which we hadn't done in several years. We set a $5 limit and everything the kids gave each other was great!

Nearly all of Grandma & Grandpa's gifts were from Brazil, and EVERYTHING was a huge hit! Instruments from street vendors, fresh water pearl bracelets, World Cup soccer shirts, and Noah even got a taxidermied Piranha!
It was so fun to have all the cousins together. I know that somebody took a better picture than this one...

We were able to spend a lot of time with Aaron's siblings & siblings-in-law, parents, and of course all the kids. We had fun going sledding, playing card games, playing Rockband, cooking & eating, and just being together as a family.

The first several days of the trip, we didn't get much new snow, and the existing snow had been rained on. So, it wasn't great but the kids still had fun playing in it and sledding.

But the Wednesday after Christmas, boy did it ever snow! We had thought about driving home that day but we took one look out the window that morning and decided against it. Here's Grandpa snow-blowing the back porch; this was after half the day of non-stop snowing, and it continued all day long.

I got the kids extra-bundled up and after lunch they went outside to play in the backyard... they stayed out there for a good 3-4 hours and had so much fun!

And they came in looking like this:

We drove home the next day, in pretty bad conditions: icy/slushy roads, and temperatures so cold that the windshield washer fluid wouldn't squirt out. In the middle-of-nowhere, Utah, I took a picture with my phone of our car's outdoor temp display when it was 10 degrees. Brrr! It took us a lot longer to get home than usual but we made it safely, and I was really glad to have stayed an extra day so the kids could have so much fun playing in the snow.

It was a great trip and we had a very Merry Christmas.

2010: A Year of Improvement

In July I first heard about, and joined, Mindbloom. I told you about it here, and gave an update here. I have kept up with it, as you can see by the larger size of my tree, and it has been a big help to me! Some people use a day planner to accomplish daily tasks, some people use scraps of paper, some just remember what they need to do, and they do it. Well, I use a make-believe tree on my computer.

The specific areas that I have made progress on in 2010:

1. Daily scripture study and prayer. While I do forget occasionally, I have been more consistent in these areas over the past several months than I had in years.

2. Keeping my room cleaner. I even make my bed more than half the time!

3. Being more patient. This is something I have to work at daily, but one of my Mindbloom tasks is "don't raise your voice at the kids" and knowing that's on my little tree does help me think of it and try harder.

4. Prepare delicious, less-expensive meals.

5. Health. I had a LOT more water to drink, I've lost weight, I've taken vitamins more regularly.

There are countless other little things I have on there, like taking the dog for a walk, contributing spare change to our "fun" fund, going on dates with Aaron, exercising, drinking plenty of water, having lunch with a friend, making after-school snacks for the kids, taking more pictures, and taking time to practice the piano.

Of course not everything gets done every day. But if there is an area that has been neglected for a while, that leaf turns yellow, then brown, reminding you to do something about it. Each leaf represents an area of your life, like "finances," "career," "creativity," or "health," and each leaf contains as many specific goals as you want to set for that subject. While I have not been as consistent about "nurturing my tree" as I was in the beginning, I still check it often and it feels good to check-mark the things I have done. The bonus is that it's free... you should check it out!

2010: A Year of Reading

I do enjoy reading, but I don't always take the time to do so. In 2010 I have ended up reading much more than usual; hooray! I've kept a list of all the books I've read... I'll list them with some brief reviews:

The Twilight Series, all four books, by Stephenie Meyer

I had not read these until this year. They were entertaining, easy & quick reads. I don't particularly care for Bella's character, and I have other criticisms but I can see how "Twilight fever" has swept the nation. As a friend of mine put it, these books are "like crack" and you can't put them down. While I was reading them I told Aaron I was on "The Twilight diet" -- I read so much that week (all four books during spring break) that I stayed out of the kitchen and ate less! I would not allow my girls to read these until they are much older; the 3rd and 4th books in particular have some racy scenes that I think kids should be at least 15 or 16 to read.

The Host, by Stephenie Meyer

I just figured, why not, since I'd just read the other Stephenie Meyer books. The Host is completely different, it's a sci-fi, mostly non-romantic fantasy. I liked it, but you have to like sci-fi to like it.

Harry Potter Series, all seven books, by J.K. Rowling

I had read these the year before, but read them again with the purpose of judging when I would let Noah read them. They do get more intense as they go. (He's 10 1/2 and he just finished the fourth book.) They are great books and I would recommend them.

Percy Jackson Series, all five books, by Rick Riordan

These books are written for kids; the writing style is quite simple and at first I found them too "kid-ish" to enjoy. But the story is entertaining and you do learn a lot about Greek mythology as you go. Noah LOVED them.

The Hunger Games Series, all three books, by Suzanne Collins

These books are fantastic! I enjoyed the first two better than the last one because they are more action-packed. There is quite a bit of violence. The story is excellent and set in the future. I really, really liked them.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

WOW. I had not read Jane Eyre before, and I just adored it. It was difficult for me to get used to the 1800's British lit style, but by page 50 or so I was immersed and couldn't put it down. I love this book.

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

After reading Jane Eyre I decided to give another Bronte sister a try. While the writing style is very similar (that's what I like about it), the characters in Wuthering Heights were quite annoying to me. Heathcliff is just a terrible person. Several of the other characters do nothing but whine. It was an interesting story, but I didn't care for all the whining, nor for the despicable Mr. Heathcliff.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

This was a good book; I would recommend it.

Honeymoon, by James Patterson

Not a great plot, and I'm not a fan of James Patterson's style. Would not recommend.

House Rules, by Jodi Picoult

This was a good book; Jodi Picoult tends to deal with "real" issues which for me are sometimes hard to read about. (I would usually prefer a fantasy.) But, this book was well-written and interesting.

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini

This is supposed to be sort of a Lord of the Rings type of story, but in my opinion it falls short. I read the first book, which for me was not a big page-turner, and it was enjoyable but I don't have a strong desire to read the rest of the series.

The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

I was expecting this to be much more cheesey and silly than it was. I enjoyed it. It's less about romance and more about a father-daughter relationship. Plus, the main characters are pianists which is interesting to me.

The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, both by J.R.R. Tolkein (I'm halfway through the Trilogy now)

I got the Lord of the Rings Trilogy plus the Hobbit in a boxed set for Noah's birthday. He hasn't read them yet, but I have started to. I had read them before, but the writing is more difficult than I remember. It think would be hard for a kid (such as Noah, even though he's a very good reader) to get into, just because of the unfamiliar words. I didn't enjoy the Hobbit that much; the Lord of the Rings story is more interesting. I had read the trilogy several years ago before the movies were made, and I've seen the movies several times so now it's fun to go back and re-read the books. I would recommend the Lord of the Rings trilogy; you don't need to start with the Hobbit in order to know what's going on.

30 books in one year is a lot, for me at least. I know there's so much great literature out there, and I'm open to suggestions of what to read in 2011!

Piranha!

Merry Christmas!

May you all have a joyous day.

Behind Schedule!

I am behind schedule on the following activities:

dishes
laundry
cleaning
Christmas present making
Christmas present wrapping
sleeping
blogging

But fortunately Aaron has uploaded all the pictures from our cameras so I can quickly add one here to show you.... on Thursday December 9th was our piano recital! Wow, it always looks like SO many students on these bi-annual occasions that they are gathered all together. For this recital all but 3 of my students performed. It was a fun night and they all did great!

What we did on Wednesday

The Annual Gingerbread House Day.

Can you tell how teeny tiny these are? Here's some points of reference for you: the cobblestone streets: Nerds. The roof on the back left house: MINI m'n'm's. The orange fences: tic tacs. The gigantic "wreath" on the front left house: a lifesaver. They're like 2 1/2 or 3 inches tall. Super cute!

We used this "mini village" kit, which was a fun change but a little tedious making FIVE houses each! I ended up letting my kids help; Lucy decorated the front left house, and Molly & Brooklyn decorated the front right one.

I don't have pictures of everyone else's to put this to a vote, like last year and the year before. But I think I like my Mom's village the best; each house was its own color and they turned out so cute!

Next year, we're thinking about doing fancily-decorated cookies to take a break from the houses. It's so much fun getting together with my mom & sisters for this tradition!

What we did on Tuesday

Molly & Noah's orchestra concert! I love that our school starts offering orchestra in 3rd grade. Noah started cello in 3rd grade and now Molly has started violin.

Look at how many kids are in the school orchestra! This is all the beginners, intermediates, and advanced kids together.

They have a new orchestra teacher this year and I think she must be doing a great job; I don't know much about stringed instruments but I know what beginning violin players can sound like... and these kids actually sounded pretty good!

Happy December!

As December goes from busy to busier, my blogs have been sorely neglected. Here's an over-posed picture of me and my brood for you to enjoy.

I sure love these little people.