Blogger's Block

I am having a bit of blogger's block these days. Please enjoy this bit from You Tube in the absence of my whitty and charming remarks on life and motherhood. And, when it's over, call me and we can book our flight to Belgium....

Christmas Chaos, Brooksby Style

Been there, Done that. The Christmas Chaos is OVER!! I've had a hectic few weeks and in all the madness, my camera caught a few of our fun activities. Just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling....

**After a week of complete grinchy-ness and utter madness, we settled in for a LONG 2 week Christmas vacation...**

**Our extra-ambitious neighbors, invited the kids over to decorate gingerbread houses. It was a fun, yet messy, way to spend an evening. To top off the night, Abby tripped coming home and dumped her house right into the middle of the street. Nice one, Grace.**

**The afternoon of Christmas Eve, we spent making a complete mess of the kitchen. It resulted in this stack of sprinkles with a little cookie underneath...**

**We spent the rest of the evening opening our Christmas jammies and reading our two Christmas books before bed.**

**And, the children were banished to their rooms until at least this time the next morning...**

**Santa was busy for the next few hours. Assembling, wrapping, stacking and watching his favorite Christmas movies. He even ate those candy coated, sprinkle filled, cookies we left out. And, our lucky, lucky children received plenty, plenty of these...**

**We ended the controlled chaos of wrapping paper, bows, boxes and toys that were endlessly bound in those stupid twist ties, to go to our neighbors home for a fabulous waffle breakfast.

Best part: I didn't have to make it!!**

**and we boycotted Christmas Day dinner and went to see this...**

**We spent 5 days basking in the St. George sun (It did hit the 60 degree mark while we were there). Swimming, lounging, movies, food, popcorn balls with Gma Lueck, a quick trip to Vegas, games, reading (4 complete books for me!) and golfing EVERYDAY for Kim and Jake.

Ahhh, relaxation....**

**And came home to a balmy 20 degrees **

**And tomorrow, I will happily tackle this...**
I'm happy to have another New Year come rolling around the corner. I've yet to decide on any real resolutions for the year (ones that I can keep, at least!), but I've got a "projects" list that is growing by the minute. We hope to get some home projects completed and still feed the children...Happy New Year, All.

Note To Self

Dear Self,
I am writing to you this morning to express my concern about your attitude for the past few weeks. I am declaring it official on this grim December morning, that you, in fact, have become the Grinch. I am writing to tell you to KNOCK IT OFF.

Stop whining about all the stuff that still needs to be done. Stop whining about all the shopping, wrapping, baking, cleaning, and getting ready there still is to be done. Stop dwelling on all the things that are not going right in your life, and THINK ABOUT ALL THE ONES THAT ARE!! Remember that your kids will not remember this Christmas for all the junky toys and clothes that have been purchased for them. Remember that your family is HEALTHY, HAPPY, AND BLESSED. Try really hard to think about all of many, many blessings that you have and STOP THINKING about what you don't. Think about the fact that you have a roof over your head, food for your children and your husband has a job. There are many that don't even have these basic necessities in life, and you should be GRATEFUL.

I am tired of your bad attitude, and I'm sure that your husband and children are as well. Next time you feel the need to be BAH HUM BUG about Christmas, think about that moment last week when your 4 year old sang to the baby Jesus, or the moment that she reminded you that Santa was "awesome". Think about the fact that if you are doing what is right, you will be blessed in so many ways that you will be unable to count them all. Think about what Christmas is all about....not the material things, but the fact that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior. It truly has nothing to do with all the other "stuff". And, if it comes down to it, remember that it will all be over in just a couple of weeks and you can have your normal, crazy, un-Christmasy life right back.

Try, Try, Try to straighten up. We're all tired of it.

One last item of business before your crazy day ensues: Stop picking at that plate of fudge that is sitting on the counter! Gaining 10 lbs. between now and New Years will not help your attitude improve. I know this from experience.

Sincerely,
Erin

Makes a Mom Smile

I was busy with a project a few days ago and I happened to look up and listen to Natalie - she had all of her Fisher Price nativity set mixed in with my nice set and was singing a newly learned Primary song about the Baby Jesus. Made my day....

Thanks, Santa!

Santa came early for me this year. Well, actually, he's been here twice now. On Black Friday, a beautiful Nikon SLR camera was brought home for me. It was lovely to look at, it took lovely pictures, but the price was, well, not so lovely. Although it would have been nice to keep, it just had too many features - I need something I can throw in my purse and use in a split second notice. This camera was not for me. Large and bulky, extra lenses, too many pieces to lose, too many features that I would never learn how to use. And, did you know that with an SLR camera, you can't view the picture that you're taking unless you're looking through the viewfinder? I know, I'm totally spoiled by technology, but I like not having to use the viewfinder and being able to see my shot on the LCD screen. And, this particular camera had a feature that just seemed trivial, but insane to me: The lens cap had no way of attaching to the camera! I was supposed to keep track of this itty bitty piece and not lose it! So, after having it a few days, the guilt overcame me and we returned the camera.

Since then, Santa has delivered this beauty:
I'm pretty sure that Santa had to be talked into it a little, but since I'm the one that actually uses the camera, I won the battle. It's got a great zoom, a tilting LCD screen, and best of all, the lens cap attaches to the camera! As a bonus, we didn't have to sacrifice paying the mortgage next month to have it. Now, I feel like I can carry on with my Christmas festivites, camera in tow. Thanks, Santa... I owe you one (**wink, wink**).

The Big 3-7 Looks Good On You!!

Happy, Happy Birthday To Kim!!

We LOVE you, we APPRECIATE you, and we think you don't look (or act) a day over 16. Your gray hair looks distinguishing, and your wrinkles show your years of hard work for our family. As long as you keep those nose hairs under control and don't have any hair growing out of your ears (yet), you're still a YOUNG man in our book!!

(The cake was from 2 b-day's ago, but since we're still mourning the loss of our camera, and it is still appropriate for today's BYU/UTAH showdown, it'll have to do!)

$5 Richer

A few days ago, I had a houseful of neighborhood kids. Unusual, I know. At any rate, I was still stressed about losing my camera. I don't usually lose things....I can misplace them for a day or two, but they usually end up being somewhere totally out of the ordinary and usually within a day or two I find it again. Not the case with my stupid camera. 3 1/2 weeks, it's been missing and not a day has gone by that I don't look 15 new places for it. So, a few days ago, with all the neighborhood kids in the house, I announce that I'm paying a $5 reward to anyone that finds my camera. Big mistake. These kids were pretty hard up for $5 and started tearing apart my house looking for the camera. I even had one kid looking through my dresser drawers for it...I had to draw the line right there. I'd all but given up on finding the camera - even started looking for deals on Black Friday to ease my pain.

Today, Kim's sister April, her husband Mike and their two boys arrive at our house to celebrate the holiday. My sister (Brenna) and I were in the middle of making pies - a total disaster, but I'll save it for another blog post - and the whole time I was thinking: "This would make a great picture...us in our cute aprons, trying to be all Martha-ish, and really, really stinking at it." We gave up on the pies (Thank goodness for Marie Callendar's frozen pie crusts) and April and I head to the store for some last minute items. As we're driving there, we're talking about the lost camera and Mike pipes up in the back seat " You know you're gonna find that camera in some totally absurd place "

We get home and the first thing someone yells is "Isaiah found your camera!! You owe him $5!" Sure enough, the little stinker's been at my house for less than an hour and he's $5 richer. And, Mike was absolutely right - it was in a totally absurd place - outside in the backyard laying in the grass. Don't ask me how it got there. My guess would be that it had something to do with someone who's name begins with an "N" and ends in an "atalie"....sounds like something she may or may not do.

So, the search is over. We've recovered the body of Mr. Nikon Coolpix. And, yes, it was a recovery. He is dead. After a few rainstorms, a couple of sleet storms and too many rays of sunshine, he is no longer with us. Looks like Santa may have to be nice to me anyway....

Detective Isaiah Nielsen

**Give him a call! He only charges $5!!**

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