Introducing...

HERMEY. Recognize him? He's the elf who wants to be a dentist. He's OUR elf, our "Elf on the Shelf."

Hermey sits on our bookshelf and watches the kids all day long. At night he goes to the North Pole to report to Santa about their behavior. Then he comes back and hides somewhere, to be found by the kids in the morning. And then he is returned to his perch on the shelf.

The kids talk to him all day. They whisper in his ear what he should tell Santa to get them for Christmas. They behave and play nice with each other. They are buying every second of this. I LOVE Hermey.

Sometimes Hermey forgets to hide at night, and then the kids are really sad in the morning to see him still on the shelf. We'll have to be sure he works on that. We can't have laziness or forgetfulness around here. I have realized something - bribery is a wonderful thing.

Speaking of Christmas, it came a little early here. Spencer is the proud owner (ahem, we are the proud owners) of a nice new flat-screen TV. Some Black Friday offers are too good to pass up I guess. Spencer must have given Hermey a really good bribe.

Hmmmm

There are just so many things I could title this post/picture:

Why I hate Target.
Why I love Target.
Why I don't usually shop on an empty stomach.
Why I don't take my kids shopping. (Well, why I normally don't.)
Why you shouldn't go shopping when you're feeling down.
Why I still have to lose 13.5 lbs of baby weight.
Why my kids inherited my sweet tooth.

But mostly...Why I love Christmastime!! These Cadbury "balls" are my favorite Easter treat (Cadbury Mini Eggs during Easter) and now they are out at Christmas too! These Oreos are pretty good (chocolate-covered mint). And you all know my love for caramel... I can't win. Or I can (and do), depending on how you look at it.

Happy's

This is my 100th post! I didn't realize that when I sat down to post, but it's a fun fact I guess. It only took me a year and a half to get here! Happy 100!

This week, Spencer and I will have been married for 6 years. Wow, 6 years and 3 kids - happy anniversary to us! And - aren't we so lucky - every 4 or 5 years the BYU/Utah game ends up being on the same day as our anniversary (that was sarcasm). There is a reason why we got married on a Friday instead of the Saturday - the big game was that Saturday and Spencer's granddad told us he couldn't marry us that day. Then again, a lot of our guests would probably have ditched the wedding for the game anyway. So...once again we get to celebrate our anniversary watching the big game. I'm nervous this year and I sure hope BYU lets us have an enjoyable anniversary by giving me a happy husband! :)

We also had a happy weekend. Well, it was sad saying bye to my mom. She had to go back home because I'm sure my dad needed her too...it can't be ALL about me, right? BUT, I couldn't wait any longer and we put up all our Christmas decorations! There is one benefit to getting a fake tree - we could have it up all year if we wanted. We got everything up and even turned on all the Christmas music. Holding off until November 15th was quite a big deal for me (we usually pull red and green out around the 10th). We have the tradition of getting (at least) one new ornament every year. Our family ornament this year is of the Golden Gate Bridge. Here are the kids' ornaments, Macie's included. Also, we got Macie a little tree and will take it to the cemetery sometime in the next two weeks:


Today, one of our friends from church called and invited us over to the piece of land he takes care of. It's across the street - literally - and I never knew what was there. He has 11 chickens and told the kids to gather some eggs. It was really fun for them. They chased and scared the chickens for a while, but one chicken even let them hold him! It was one of those fun, random Sunday afternoon activities with lots of cute pictures. We topped it off with a visit to our favorite baby girl at the cemetery and Spencer's chocolate chip cookies - what could be better?


This is my first week being back on my own. Ahh! I will need to think happy thoughts all week long to get me through! And, cross your fingers for BYU! :)

Holiday Season

I know everyone loves the fall. I like the colors...even the trying-to-be New England colors we get here, but I HATE to be cold. Add in the fact that my built-in heater is gone (pregnancy) and I'm shivering to death if it's less than 74 in my house. I sense an expensive gas/electric bill this winter. However, I am excited for Thanksgiving (in my own house!) and for the excitement of Christmas. The kids and I laid in my bed together today, trying to remember all the Christmas songs that it feels like we haven't sung in years. We plan to decorate in red and green this weekend (I know I'm treating Thanksgiving unfairly but I love to celebrate Christmas for at LEAST 6 weeks) so we can really get into the holiday spirit.

I am so glad I got my Christmas shopping (well, just the kids') done by mid-October so I can sit back and just watch the mayhem. Of course I'll still have to participate somehow in "Black Friday" shopping...but maybe it will be more for fun and not for crazy deals. We're also scheduling in all the primary parties, ward activities, and other Christmas parties. It's going to be a busy December!!

And here are some some random thoughts from my unorganized brain:

• I just got a card from a friend and I loved what she said: "I don't know why the Lord has given you this trial..." Hmm, I wouldn't normally consider a trial something that is "given." That got me to thinking how incredibly grateful I am that He waited to give me this trial until after blessing me with two beautiful and healthy kids. Those little stinkers sure are keeping me busy and distracted. What a blessing indeed!
• Last week was rough. On Thursday (the date originally scheduled for Macie to arrive) I did a lot of crying. That afternoon we did something no one our age should have to do - we ordered a headstone. It makes my heart ache to even think about it, but it will look so nice when it's done and we hope she will be proud.
• Spencer goes back to work full-time tomorrow. Last week he did a lot of "working from home" (seriously, if anyone knows how to really make this work...let me know) and had a lot of half days. I had wonderful friends who came over so I wouldn't be alone during those times. But my mom comes tomorrow, for the week, and there's just no comparing friends to a mom, especially when I'm not feeling great and need to cry.
• Today I realized just how sad the last two weeks have made my sweet Emma. She did miss out on having a (earthly) sister, after all. I vowed today to let her grieve also - this isn't just about me and Spencer and I feel such pain that she has to go through this, especially since her simple and innocent mind doesn't understand why it had to happen and why Macie can't be with us right now. She and I did a lot of talking and crying together. We are both sad about all the new baby clothes that are now boxed up and put away, especially the ones we bought two sets of (baby size and Emma size) so they could match. We'll just have to hope for another baby girl someday to wear all that cute stuff.
• Emma gave her very first talk in Primary today. I helped her work on it last night and then Spencer came home to get me and take me back to church (middle exercises) so I could hear it. She did a wonderful job and looked so cute in her purple velvet dress and frilly socks. I know she was glad I was there - she always asks if my tummy is still sore (it is) and she's so concerned about how I'm feeling. But, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Not so Spooky

We had a somber week but tried to make Halloween as fun for the kids as possible. My sister Carly is here until tomorrow, so she and Spencer took the kids outside on Friday to carve pumpkins. We grew three of them in our garden this year, and then we had some huge ones - I don't even know where they all came from. They had lots of fun, and Emma made it her job to "stir the pot" of pumpkin seeds and guts - that kept her busy and entertained.

We have discovered a birthday tradition for Macie - every October 25th (starting next year) we will carve a "M" into a pumpkin and take it to the cemetary. We did it this year but left it on our porch. Maybe I'll even try to grow her pumpkin in our garden every year. Here we all are with Macie's pumpkin. Sorry Tyler is picking his nose - he is 3 after all...what can I say.

Here are Emma and Tyler with one of the big pumpkins. What cute faces.

And here are their costumes. Tyler was Buzz Lightyear and Emma was a fairy. Tyler has worn his costume every day since Halloween, and thinks he can fly when it's on. Due to the timing of Macie's burial, most of our family was here so the kids were in heaven trick-or-treating with their cousins. I'm glad they still got to have a fun Halloween.

I'm so thankful for my two sweet little kids. I won't post any details about the week or about Macie's graveside service, mostly because the events were far too special and sacred to be written on anything called a "blog," but everything was wonderful and Spencer and I feel honored and blessed to be her parents, even if it was only for a very short (earthly) time. Thanks to everyone for your kind words and prayers - they have been felt time and time again.

Now...down with the Halloween decorations. Is it too early to put up Christmas??