Poll Results

Stuffing was so far out in front, it was no contest at all. I do love the stuffing! I voted for everything because I just can't choose. We went to my brother's house where the dinner was a little non-traditional this year with a goose and some other yummy sides. Then we ate very traditional leftovers at David's parents' house. Last night we had leftover turkey dinner feast at our neighbor's house that was from Lucille's BBQ restaurant. So many tasty things! I'm not a very traditional person, and I kind of deviate from the "norm" on many things, but when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I like my feast strictly traditional.

In All Things Give Thanks

In honor of Thanksgiving I would like to list as many things as I can think of for which I am thankful.

1. My husband - He really tries to make me happy.

2. My beautiful boy - I love his innocence.

3. My precious baby girl - She's such a miracle to me.

4. My Home - It needs a lot of TLC that we may never be able to afford to give it, but we're so fortunate to have it.
5. My backyard - It's such a green haven away from the city, a place where Jeremy imagines volcanos and pirates, and a place to satisfy my need to grow things.
6. My car - I am so lucky to not have to share it, very often.

7. My piano - This recent blessing has brought so much joy to our home.
8. My Young Women calling - These girls are such a boon to my soul.

9. My friends - The love they share with me is so necessary to my well-being.

10. My extended family - They are a mixed bag of tricks, but I LOVE THEM!

11. My computer - It allows me to stay in touch with people and issues that are important to me.

12. My garbage pick-up - It's so wonderful to have my trash hauled away on a regular basis.

13. My body - It's tricky, but it's been pretty good to me and my babies as well.
14. My camera - I love to capture every moment of my children's lives.

15. My clothes - It's such a blessing to get dressed in clothes that not only cover me but feel good as well.

16. My weather - We complain so much about it, but we live in one of the best climates ever.

17. My chance to school Jeremy - It is quite an adventure, but so rewarding to hear him read and see him grow and do other things that I taught him.

18. My sewing machine - Wow, I'm so glad I don't have to sew by hand; I probably wouldn't do it.

19. My temple - It's a great blessing to have one so close I can really go and still be breastfeeding.

20. My Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ - Without them I would be nothing; their love sustains me and guides me through the darkness and light of my life.

Poll Results

Ketchup totally won and that's all I put on my hot dog. I have very simple taste buds. I don't like to mix it up unless it's Thanksgiving dinner and then I want to eat it all in one big yummy bite!

Jenkins Look-alike Meter

I should mention that I did this again with different pictures of David and I and Kelsey looked more like David. She's just a good mix I guess.

Twilight!

Okay, so I've seen the movie and I have to say that I don't know. It was okay, but the books are so awesome. I think visually they picked good people to play the parts, but Bella was such a bad speaker. Visually though, it was a beautiful movie, and definitely held my attention. There were some liberties taken of course. It was interesting to see all the people lined up for hours to see it, and the group excitement and screaming and everything. I went with a group of girls from game night and it was fun to be with them. Kelsey went too as you can see from the picture and was as good as gold like always. She's so portable and easy-going. It won't always be like this so I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Thanks ladies for a fun night!

Random Reflection

I reflect sometimes on the things we expect our children to do. We teach them to share, to get along with everyone, to say nice things about people, to clean up one mess before they get out something else, and to eat things they don't like, etc. If they don't do it, they sometimes get in trouble. Seriously, how many of these things have we really mastered as adults? I know I personally am not good at getting along with some personality types. I certainly don't clean up all my messes before moving on to another project, and I don't eat things I don't like. I don't always say nice things about everyone and I'm not always good at sharing things that are important to me. I'm not suggesting that we stop teaching our children good life skills, but I think we should have a little more compassion towards their struggles to learn these things. I think we should let them know that we know it's hard and we appreciate their efforts to be good little people. A little empathy can go a long way. I for one would love someone to tell me that they know my life is hard sometimes and they appreciate my efforts to keep trying to improve and become a better person everyday, because aren't we all?

Nice Neighbors

Today we had our friends over for a cookie playdate. My neighbor is the nicest person I know, and her cute girls are so fun. Jeremy and her oldest daughter are just a year apart and Kelsey and her baby are 4 months apart, so it's fun to get together. Today I helped the kids make cookies while my friend held the babies. Then the older kids watched a movie while my friend took her baby home for a nap for the two of them. It was fun to play and I'm so thankful for nice neighbors.

Mormon Syncronized Swimming

Poll Results

So the majority of you don't cry much. Good for you; I guess I'm the only crybaby around here. Be sure to vote in the next poll!

Girls Camp

The adventure continues. Friday we left to take some of our Young Women up to Lake Arrowhead for an overnighter to pass off some camp skills. David went along to teach some things and be a priesthood leader, so we all went. We took 2 girls in our car. The traffic was horrible and it took so long to get there we had to stop so I could feed Kelsey in the middle. One of the girls got sick and threw up in the car 5 minutes before we got to the cabin. I felt bad for her, but bad for me too cause I had puke in the car. Man that smells bad. I cleaned it up the best I could but I got the car cleaned when we got home to really get rid of the smell. When we got to the cabin I stubbed my toe on some ragged pavement and tore my toe open. That meant I couldn't go on the hike to the lake. I was so disappointed. We stayed at the cabin of our camp leader's family. Thanks Chelcie and Bronson for your hospitality! It was so nice there I didn't want to go home, especially when we went to go home and couldn't make it through because the fires closed down the freeways. We had to go an alternate roundabout route and again had to stop to feed Kelsey since it took so long. What an adventure! But all in all it was fun and I'm glad we got to go. We had a lot of fun just having adult hangout time while the girls were downstairs doing their thing.Here's a picture of the cute craft I had the girls do. They were button broaches. I was a slacker with the camera the rest of the trip.

Spice Girls

So Thursday when we got home from homeschool camp we relaxed for a few hours and then I went to pick up my sister, Cherish, from the airport! I was so excited to see her! She and her husband came for a wedding, but I got her all Thursday night. She wanted me to dye her hair so we went to Target and bought Natural Instincts Spiced Tea dye. I decided it would be fun to do mine too, so here's some pictures from our adventure. I love you Cherish it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Here's us with our super spicy hair. Yeah those flourescent lights do wonders for our color.

Homeschool Camp

So last week was full of the mountains! It was so great to get away and especially to somewhere so green and good smelling! Monday we went up to Angelus Oaks in the San Bernardino mountains to a camp that hosts homeschoolers 2-3 times a year. It was fun to meet other homeschoolers and hang out. These little girls couldn't keep their hands off Kelsey. The best part was Daddy was off the whole week so he could go with us! It was great to tag team the kids and be together relaxing, kind of. They cooked all our meals and we stayed in these great cabins with beds and bathrooms. They always had cider and tea and hot chocolate ready for us in the lodge. Every hour or two there was a different activity for the kids. We got to go on a couple of hikes. The first one we went on with another mom and her son who invited us to hike to the creek. Jeremy found this cool shelter somebody had made out of sticks. He said it was like Eeyore's house.Kelsey fell asleep on the hike and took a little nap. Jeremy started out very timid, but soon became confident hiking up the creek bed. We were proud of him.It was a really pretty spot and the boys got to play in the snow a little too. The week started out really cold and got warmer as it went. The next day we went on a 3.5 mile hike with the camp guide. He took us up and over the mountains and round and round. There were a lot of fallen hollow logs. Jeremy climbed through this one. I loved this picture of me and my princess. I carried her in the pack the whole hike. Jeremy and the mountain Pretty wildflowersWe ended up at Jenks Lake. It was beautiful and worth the hike. Daddy giving me a hand on the hike. Jeremy was a trooper and did the first 3 miles, but Daddy gave him a ride for the last 1/2 mile into camp. He had fun with the binoculars. We were sad to leave the camp but happy to get home. We are already signed up for the next camp in April. David won't be able to come with us, so we will have to have the adventure without him. We stopped on the way home to nurse Kelsey and had some fun with her and my sunglasses. Isn't she cute?