a blended life

We had a great Christmas holiday-complete with my Washington sister and her girls who spent the week with us. We have a tradition of having an anything-goes-style buffet on Christmas Eve. This year's fine cuisine: Tater tot casserole, 7 layer dip, spinach artichoke dip, fudge, chicken nuggets, olives, and chocolate pie. Santa FINALLY came. It was a long month waiting for him (her)! "I'm so happy I could hug my sister!" "Me too" I love Christmas so much more with kids around to enjoy it...the whole month long experience is so much fun with little kids. We've had a TON of snow this month, so one must make a snow-woman, Frostina. My favorite are the green olive eyes. She's so beautiful.

I don't normally post four times in one night, nor do I usually post things that aren't directly related to me or my kids (only because I know most of you are reading this to keep up with my girls). Someone shared this link with me and I laughed all day, so I wanted to share. I think it's the drawings that make it so funny. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com (there is one instance of an "s" word. Consider yourself warned, but don't be too scared.) Enjoy and Merry Christmas, faithful readers!! We are having a full house here and my kids a shivering with excitement. I'm a bit worn out, but overall it's been a great month.

So, I lived in Cache County for 8 years and got several feet of snow every year while Utah county got little. Now I live in Utah county, got several feet of snow while Cache County got little. Doesn't anyone else notice a disturbing trend? I think it's a message to me, "It's time to learn to ski already." I like this picture because my mom cleared away a little table for the bird seed they put out every winter. There's a whole community of birds that visit the backyard. It's kind of cool and amusing, for a few minutes. You can't really tell, but there's a trampoline back there that got blown across the yard in the middle of the night during the thunderstorm that happened before this business: I spent quite a while digging out the car before someone told me school was canceled. That white car isn't mine, by the way.

Ooh, another bad image. I'm getting good at these. Although very well written, this book is forgettable. Sort of coming of age, like most of the Newberry winners, but I still couldn't tell you much about it. Meh. Read something else.

Wow-that's a bad image. Don't let that scare you away! This short, 130+ page book was so endearing and sweet. I'm not generally a very gushy, corny person, but this book was precious. Lucky is a 10 year old girl whose mother died a few years ago and she's going through a bit of an identity crisis. I loved that I finally read a book that I could recommend to the resource kids that I work with-short, straight forward, and with a great message.

The poetry of the population of men Largely bores me. Reading this book was a chore of eighty pages. When will it be done? It makes you wonder Who chooses these awardings to one undeserving. And why write a poem Especially a haiku When not about nature?

Attention faithful blog readers: This post includes to very short videos of Hannah doing ballet. Unless you are a grandma, favorite aunt or other close family member, please don't feel any obligation to watch them. I recognize how boring these things can get, so I'll see you at the next post! My favorite part of the first one, aside from Hannah dancing (of course!), is when the mom at the left kept "kicking" her daughter back into the dance. In the second one, we get an enormous smile right at the end. Swoon!

Hannah had a mini recital at her ballet studio. Not that I'm the proudest mom or anything, but she did so well and is a very graceful dancer! So cute! Plus also, I'm so frustrated because I keep trying to post the videos of the whole thing (don't sweat, they aren't very long) and it won't work. grrrr. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, especially since I just uploaded that cookie video-same camera, same computer. Ugh.

In case you haven't been reading this blog lately, I decided to read all of the Newberry winning books for kids, starting with the most recent (which I already read and reviewed). I finished the 2009 winner last night. It was GREAT! I'm not one for being spookified-- Signs and The Sixth Sense kept me awake at night for months--but this book had just the right amount of ghostly and other-wordly to be interesting without being creepy. It's about a boy who is raised in a graveyard (think: The Jungle Book ). It's part coming of age, part murder mystery. It was written by the guy who wrote Coraline . I know what you're thinking: Coraline was a book first? I didn't know that either. The characters, both alive and dead, were believable and endearing. The plot kept me turning pages until 11 pm last night. which is WAY past my bedtime! I even learned some new words. Read this book if you come across it. I loved it! Ooh, and it has some really fantastic black and white...

The girls have been begging to do a reenactment of the video that won first prize this year for America's Funniest Videos. They watch this show every week with Grandma. I couldn't find the video online to post, so I'll just tell you about it. It's a game where you put a cookie on your forehead, then try to get it in your mouth without hand or without it falling off. I took the little video of them doing it, then Leah wanted to take a picture of me. I'd like to remind everyone that when contorting your face to support a cookie, a double chin cannot be avoided. Neither girl really got the concept of how to do it, but their giggles are so cute!

My mom and I took the girls to the BYU Family Christmas party. It's held for employees and their families. Ironically, the employee in the family didn't come. It was very well done and the kids had a really fun time. They wrote letters to Santa. I didn't really know what was on Leah's list until she read it to me: A unicorn Pillow Pet Makeup A real phone Are we 12 or something? I thought I had a few more years before the phone requests started coming. And makeup? She specifically asked for mascara. Good grief. And how do you tell a 6 year old that she needs to completely revise her wish list? I didn't make a big deal about it, but sometimes she really surprises me. They do a big craft room. There are 15 craft options, you choose one, stand in line for the kit, and go to your designated table and assemble it. It was fairly impressive and filled up the Garden Court at the Wilk, if that means anything to anyone. Lots of tables. Lots of kids. Lots of craftiness. Sadly, ...

The 1st graders do a tree lighting program every December in the park. The obvious question is, Why would it be a good idea to have a program in 25 degree weather? Outside? With small kids? Regardless, it was very cute. They sang in the gazebo at the park and sat on a strange guy's lap. I guess I'm a little cynical tonight! Hannah was completely smitten with Santa. Leah did a great job singing-she and her new best friend were the only ones in their class singing. I love the shot of Leah with her front teeth missing. * squee * They served hot chocolate and donuts afterward. We sat on a bench and Leah said "Mom, this is the best night ever. I just love this." It was all worth it to hear that.

This is the last of 3 posts I'm doing today. I wanted to mention reading because it's been a big part of my life lately and I don't really talk about it. This past year I've been able to read more than I have in a long time. It's been a good escape, plus I have to read all the books that my students read in English class. I was in the jr. high library yesterday, waiting for some kids, and saw a Newberry Medal poster. It lists all the medals awarded since 1922. The Newberry medal is awarded to one book each year to the "most distinguished contribution to children's literature." Out of almost 90 books that have been awarded this medal, I've only read 9. Gasp! I made a goal to read them all-skipping the ones I've already read. I mean, Johnny Tremain wasn't that good. Sorry Mrs. Tinder. This year's winner is this book: I finished it today and thought it was fantastic. Very easy reading, but interesting and well written. I bit thought provok...

I heard from USU today that I got accepted to the Special Ed program for next semester! I'm so excited! There were almost 250 applicants and only 40 spots. The program is a year and a half and will certify me to teach mild/moderate special ed for every grade (K-12). I've been substituting a lot in the special ed classes at my jr high and I love love love it. Cheers!

Leah started sleeping with this cat mask (thank you, Rachel). She was completely asleep when I took this. "STOP LOOKING AT ME." "I know, let's take a picture of us smelling each others rose."

This sums it up. I read horoscopes because I think they're funny, but this was spot on! Now about that travel thing...

Leah got an award for being the top speller in her class. Normally I wouldn't make a big to-d0 about this, since she's not valedictorian or anything. If you've been following her progress the past few years, you'll understand why I would be proud! She's doing so well in her class this year. She's right behind the girl in the front row in the coat.

I geeked myself out. I showed up 3 hours early for the Harry Potter movie. I sat on a blanket that I found at Martin Stadium when I was 10. I devoured popcorn with Karina. I got 2 hours of sleep last night. But I didn't pull out a wand and try to produce a patronus

I will now admit to the world, without any shame, that I am a complete Harry Potter fan. Actually, maybe I already admitted this previously. No worries, it needs to be said again! I just reread Book 7, which I got at a midnight book release. My Marauder's Map t-shirt came yesterday, and I just secured two tickets to the midnight showing of the new movie next week. My trusty, loyal sister-in-law will always be in my debt for coming with me! The movie starts at 12:40 on Friday morning, so work may be a bit sketchy that day. Well worth the sacrifice, though.

I decided I needed a little cheer in my already stressful month (it's only the 6th!), so I wanted to post some pictures to make us smile. I also wanted to show that a lot of good, fun things are happening, and that I don't recognize them nearly enough. Witch's Night Out at Gardener Village: I decided that this hat looks like a scarecrow hat, so next year I think I'll be a scarecrow instead of a witch. Scarecrow's Night Out? It's better than Big Pile of Dirt Witch. We celebrated Jacob's birthday at Tucano's. It was extremely tasty! It claims to be Brazilian, but our experts agree it's only about 50% authentic. Said experts/Birthday Boy: Go Cougs! You can take the boy out of Pullman, but you can't take Pullman out of the boy. And why would you want to? I bought a box of local apples and we made 11 pies to freeze and eat all year long. Hannah was....helpful. The device attached to the end of the counter is a peeler/corer/slicer all in one. My 14 yea...

I went to my attorney's office today and they told me that the divorce had been finalized in court yesterday. Just call me Single Mom 2010. The question I get most is: Do we celebrate or mourn? Both, I guess.

Happy Sugar Fest! (Disclaimer: When you live in Utah and Halloween lands on Sunday, you celebrate on Saturday. Everybody knows this unspoken rule, regardless of religious preference.) The excitement of Halloween was exploding at our house today-starting at 5:30 am with a screeching match between the girls that woke up the house. Awesome. These pictures don't do justice to their costumes. They looked so cute! Hannah was a Tooth Fairy (her idea) and Leah was Giselle from the movie Enchanted . She's been Giselle before, so costumes were easy this year. It was super stormy here. Right before these pictures, we had hail, thunder, lightening, and pouring rain. Luckily it all stopped by the time we had Trunk or Treat, but it was freezing! I think it was about 40 degrees. And some STUPID mom forgot to put Hannah's pants back on. She was a popsicle, poor thing. White streak in picture above=I don't know how to use my mom's camera. We did a big neighborhood Trunk or Treat at ...