"That's shocking!" (otherwise entitled: the last time I get to use an elf quote this year)

I'm not really one for doing a new Year's Resolution. Never have been really. I don't know if it's the fear of letting myself down, or what, but I hate making them. However, this year, I've decided to try it on for size. So. Ya ready? Can I get a drum-roll?

My resolution is to shed some of this excess weight. I've decided that there is no longer a need for me to carry my year's supply with me where ever I go. I can leave it home in the basement, where it belongs.

There. I've said it.

So, what brought this on? Other than the fact that I'm shopping at Lame Giant on a regular basis now? And, then there's the fact that I don't like to get my picture taken when it shows my waist line?

Well, I don't really know exactly. But, one thing that has helped, is my- make that our new wii fit. I stepped on that damn thing yesterday and it told me I was overweight. ("That's shocking!") And even worse than that is that my wii mii is now portly! With boobs! I've never had boobs before! Not even in real life!

Good news though...my legs hurt like no tomorrow and so does my stomach. But it's a hurt so good kind of pain. You know, 'cause I've been doing my wii fit and all. And, I must say, I'm holding my own in yoga!

So, without further ado, here's today's songs...

What Are You Doing New Years by Ella Fitzgerald

Alud Lang Syde by Mairi Campbell & Dave Francis ( you oughtta click on that song if its not playing when you are done here today. It is SO good. I think it's the best version of this song yet!) - from the SATC soundtrack. I've been waiting for about 7 months to be able to put this song on my blog. I knew I would the moment I saw the movie. And, it's from one of my favorite scenes with Carrie and Miranda. (love those guys)

We Got the Beat

We are missionaries for the Church of Rock! And, tonight, we converted 3 more people to Rock Band ism! Yep, that's right! We just had Trent, Beth, and Trevor over to play some Rock Band and eat food. It was so much fun! Thanks for coming guys.

Here are a couple of pics from tonight. (minus Loo, she wasn't feeling very well)








P.S. if any of you have rock band 2 (for the wii) and want to challenge us. We would love to do a battle of the bands! Our band name is Skinjobs (a nod to Battlestar Gallactica). Last we checked, we were even ranked in a challenge out of about 2000 bands. We were #199. Not too bad.

So here are a couple songs about music for you:
We will Rock You: Queen
I love Rock and Roll: Joan Jett
We Got the Beat: The Go-Go's

"He loves the snow. He's told me 15 times!"

Emily: We can't just throw him out in the snow.

Walter: Why not? He loves the snow. He's told me 15 times!



First off: WARNING!!! Lauren Hatch, Hannah Shill, or anyone else who frequents my blog under the age of 15. STOP reading. DO NOT PROCEED. And, if you think you might be offended. You should stop too.


Now for the story:
You ever find yourself saying something you didn't mean to say? Or it comes out of your mouth the wrong way. I do. Frequently.

And last night...I did a doozy!


We were at our neighbors house checking out their new gameroom. Very cool. Very very cool. Anyway, the conversation came up about the fact that Trent used the snowblower to de-snow our driveway. So nice of him. The conversation went kind of like this:

Trent: It's good exercise. I'll do it any time. No problem. In fact, tomorrow, I'll come do your driveway again. Don't even worry about it.

me: I wish we had a snowblower

Trent: Yeah, they're so nice to have

me: if we had a snowblower, I'ld blow my neighbors all the time!


everyone including Trent: Nervous looking around. A silent pause. Then hysterical laughter.


Yep, that's me. One foot in the door, the other in my mouth!

"First we'll make snow angels for a two hours...

... then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle"

Christmas time catch up:

Super and Carley played in the snow! We've certainly had lots of it lately. I'm a cool mom, so I piled everything off the driveway and into a big huge pile so they could sled down it. Yep, I'm cool like that!


We've had lots of this lately too. Sue was able to talk to him for a total of about 5 hours (make that 8 hours. Sue just corrected me) through 2 phone conversations this past week. He'll be home in 10 1/2 months. But who's counting? Oh yeah, she is!



This is a pic from Loo's Christmas performance. (via Nene's and Chris' paparazzi skills) Poor girl had to change in and out of dance stuff several times through the course of the evening. It was funny, in one of the dances, she had her choir leggings on in one part of the dance, then there was a moment when she was off-stage. When she re-appeared, she was wearing different pants. Too funny!


Sue survived all 50 performances! Whew! She did great! She kept a good attitude, never missed a performance, and was only a couple minutes late on 2 occasions. Not too bad if you ask me!

Sue took my camera to the temple to see the lights. She brought the tripod. She loves shooting her favorite subject!!! Is it the temple you ask? No, it's herself!

"You did it! Congratulations! World's best cup of coffee! Great job, everybody! It's great to be here."

(Subtitled what we got for Christmas)

It's hard to believe that all the presents are unwrapped and most are put away. It's good to know that all of our hard work paid off!

Sue got a new camera (to replace the one that got stolen), some boots, some shelves for her room, some earrings and a visa gift card

Loo got a bunch of clothes, a volleyball, a few pairs of shoes, and a wii game

Supe got a tether ball set, some snow boots, wii outdoor fitness game, and a Pirates lego ship

Jason got Angel (cologne) Mmm!! He smells scrum-diddley-umptious! Can't wait to put the kids to bed. he he he. He also got some clothes, and a Call of Duty game for the wii, and The Dark Knight DVD

I got some perfume, clothes, a purse, and the most important thing... ROCK BAND 2! Yeah!

Our family also got Wii fit, and some other wii paraphernalia.

Christmas Eve:

I don't know if your family does this, but we ALWAYS have Christmas Eve presents. They are usually pj's but there have been a few times when we deviate from tradition and do slippers, or a blanket. THIS year, we decided to throw the night time stuff out in the snow. Not really, but our kids need pjs like they need a whole in the head!!! So me, being the awesome wife, and cool mom that I am, came up with a new idea for our tradition! And the crowd goes wild! I thought wouldn't it be fun to give the family some games on Christmas Eve and then spend the evening playing them? So, that's what we did. We researched on Amazon and some game websites and found that lots of people love Ticket to Ride and Killer Bunnies. So we picked up those, as well as a wii zapper (gun). We made our traditional breakfast for dinner instead of breakfast, loaded the kitchen with treats, and Thomas Kemper Soda (also a tradition for us) and enjoyed a very fun and competitive family game night!

Ticket to Ride is AWESOME! It's super easy to learn and to play. It's a board game with a map of the U.S. Throughout the map, there are destinations. The object of the game is to complete railroads to the destinations you have in your hand. You can also score big points for having the longest connecting track. As you are playing, you can also try to out-smart the other players and block their routes. It can get very cut-throat, or you can play it nice. The choice is yours!
***********

Killer Bunnies is supposed to be fun (we haven't played it yet though) It's a card game in which you have to be strategic to get the most carrots and keep your bunnies alive. Of course everyone is trying to do the same thing, so you get to tar other people's bunnies, or have them abducted by aliens, or all sorts of other things. I'll let you know how it is once we play it.
(if you are interested in either game, you will have to go to your local game store or amazon, or someplace similar. They aren't avail at Toys R Us, Wal-mart or anywhere like that)

"Tomorrow morning...10am. Santa's coming to town"

"Santa! Oh my [gosh]! Santa? Here? I know him"


Just for fun, here's a couple more elf quotes that I didn't have enough time to use during my all elf- all month long- thing.

"Buddy the elf. What's your favorite color?"
"I like your dress, it's very purpley"
"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup."
"You sit on a throne of lies"
"Six inch ribbon curls honey. Six inches"
"Is there sugar in syrup? Then ... yes!"
"Watch out, the yellow ones don't stop"
"If you see gum on the street, leave it there. It's not free candy... and if you see a sign that says 'Peep show', that doesn't mean they're letting you look at presents before Christmas"
"Have you seen these toilets? They're GINORMOUS!"
Jovie: How come you were in the women's locker room this morning?
Buddy: I heard you singing.
Jovie: Are you sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I was naked in the shower?
Buddy: I didn't know you were naked.
"I think you're really beautiful and I feel really warm when I'm around you and my tongue swells up.... So, do you wanna go and.. eat food? You know...the code? (wink)"

I'd like to wish all my readers a Very Merry Christmas!

"It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms... and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me..."

What I'm referring to is NOT the mail room...it's the three different police stations we've been to today.

You may ask yourself why in the world was she at three different police stations? That, my friends is what I'm about to tell you.

Clear back in September, Sue was pulled over. It was late at night and it was past curfew was the first reason he gave her. BUT she didn't have her driver's license on her. "Beddy, beddy not good". (Earl quote there) So, she was issued a citation.

Sue followed the instructions and called to find out how much her ticket was, then on November 3, attempted to go pay it. She went to one police station and they told her "You have to go to the WV Police to take care of that". So, off she went there.

When she showed the WV Police her thing, they said "it's not in the system yet. Take this number and call once a week until the end of the year. If it's not in by then, you won't need to worry about it."

Well, every time she called, it still wasn't in the system.
Saturday, we got a warrant for her arrest in the mail. With a bail of $265.00
Evidently I've been harboring a criminal! Ugh!
So, today, we start our little jaunt to pay the damn thing.
First we go to WV. They say "oh, you have to go to this other office to take care of that"
Then we went to a different police station and they say "oh, you have to go to the office North of here to take care of that"
Then we go to the County office. Finally, we're in the right place.
We show lady #1 the stuff (the ticket with the stamp from WV and the warrant). She tells us "go back to where it says bla bla bla (can't remember what it said) They should be able to take care of that with no problem"

We go back there. They say "oh, I can't do anything for you here. You need to go pay the bail and schedule a court date back there where it says bla bla bla"

So we went there. We paid the $265.00 for a ticket that should have been $40, and now we wait for our court date on Feb. 5

Oh, they told us that her licence would be suspended so we needed to go to the Driver's license division and show them the paper saying we paid her bail and they would take the note off her license.

So we go there... they tell us the ticket isn't in the system. WHAT??? You've got to be kidding me!

So now, I guess we wait for a letter in the mail telling us the license isn't valid until the we show that we've paid our money.

What a freaking joke!

I'm keeping the nutcracker songs because they still go with this post, but I'm also adding Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive. Enjoy!

Jason said I was being a "South Pole Elf" today. Sorry for that. Here's my 5 fave for today, actually, make that 8 for the day:

#1 Got to check off lots on my to-do list today

#2 Got to go see my cute dentist

#3 Only one more tray to go on my invisalign!!!!! :D

#4 Things are looking up for my computer problems

#5 My shopping is DONE!

#6 My house is warm, it smells good, and it looks lovely in it's Christmas attire

#7 my friends ROCK... (even without me) They got to Rock band today and I didn't. Waaah. But they called to give me the invite- and that totally rocks! Thanks Dani :)

#8 and last, but not least... I love my family and I think they love me too! Even if I'm a bit out of sorts today, well, make that the past few days.

"Son of a Nut-Cracker!"

My computer got a nasty virus.

So, we had to "dump it"

meaning,

take absolutely everything off of it,

and start like it's day one.

Yuck!

The really crappy thing,

is that it's taken the last 3 days to do it.

And the super-duper-crappy thing

is that all my pictures, music, everything,

are unreachable.

(insert swearing here)

YES, we backed it up.

BUT, the stupid stuff is on our external hard drive (e.x.d.)

that won't let us access any of the goods.

So, we get to buy a new e.h.d

and hope that Jason can take the old one to his work,

pull everything off of it

and put it on the new e.h.d.

Then,

hopefully,

we will be able to have our goodies back.

We have so much music we have on our computer.

I think we have about 100 gigs of it.

And, the pictures.

Don't make me go there.

Wish us luck!

And, without further ado, here's the songs for today:

Nutcracker Suite

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

both Tchaikovsky, but I'm not exactly sure who performed them. At any rate, they should help you feel like a little girl again!

"Deb, your face is so pretty, it should be on a Christmas card."

Here's a scene from my #2 all-time-favorite Christmas movie (White Christmas). I think the movie needs more hype. There are lots of people who have never seen this movie. What a shame!
Snow is the song for my post today too, so enjoy! And, if you haven't ever seen White Christmas, I highly recommend renting it or something. It's fabulous! Please click play and enjoy while looking at the rest of this post. :)

I've been waiting for some snow, so that I could do this:

"Francisco! That's fun to say! Francisco... Frannncisco... Franciscooo..."

I haven't done a flashback Friday in forever, so today, I'm finally going to post one. Yeah!

Here goes:

When Loo was a wee little lass (I think she was about 5), she loved the song Where Are You Christmas by Faith Hill. Her version went like this:

Where are you Qui mus?

Why can't you find me?

So cute. That song was way OVERPLAYED and now, sadly, it's not my favorite, but when I think of her scruffy little voice belting out her own lyrics, I can't help but smile!

"I'm siiinnngging. I'm in a store and I'm siiinnngging. I'm in a store, AND I'M SIIINNNGGING!"

So here's what I got with my Guru "shop":

12 boxes of cereal (6 Kellogg's and 6 general mills)

4 cake mixes

4 frostings

5 bags of cookie mix

4 boxes of Bisquick

2 boxes of hot chocolate

4 cans of Progresso soup

8 bags of frozen veggies

4 2-liters of coke products

3 muffin mixes

2 boxes of Progresso chicken broth

3 boxes of Helpers (like tuna, hamburger, chicken)

3 packages of Trix yogurt

I also got a loaf of bread and some apples

I bought 59 items in all. I used 60 coupons. I had $110.81 in preferred card savings and $37.75 in manufactures coupon savings. My grand total was $35.34. WOW! I have to say that again WOW! That's pretty awesome. Don't you think?

I am very curious about this program. And a little bit sceptical. I plan to watch over the next couple of weeks to see if I can get some different types of food for great prices. (I'm going to have to be a lurker though because I'm not currently taking the paper)

I'm also kind of a lazy shopper and I don't usually plan a whole lot before I go, so this would be very very different for me. And I'm a bit overwhelmed at starting this whole thing. Where do I start? How do I get these good deals when I haven't been taking the paper? (the Albertson's people told me they only allow 2 coupons printed from the internet at a time, so I can't just print them off myself)

I'm also trying to do a better job at saving the earth so-to-speak. And I know I won't read the paper. (let alone 2 papers) Every time I start taking it, I usually throw the whole thing away (well, now we have recycle bins, so I won't be throwing it away, just putting it in the recycle bin) And, in case you haven't picked up on this before, I can't make a decision to save my life! So there you are. And here I am. Undecided.

You can click here to see the Guru's shopping list for the week.

I'm so glad I got the chance to go do this! I have always wanted to go! It was awesome to feel so special! It was funny listening to the whispers throughout the store! Would I go again? Yes, a hundred times, yes! Thanks Trent for insisting your dad take me shoppin'! Thanks Sue, for coming with me. Most of all, Thank you, thank you, thank you to Mr. Roesbery!

Now for songs. Hmm. There aren't many songs out there about going grocery shopping with your daughter's soon-to-be father in law, so here's some for you from my favorite Christmas movie. Betcha can't guess what it is?
You Make Me Feel So Young: Frank Sinatra
What Christmas Means to Me: Stevie Wonder
Sleigh Ride: Ella Fitzgerald
Let It Snow: Lena Horne

"What's a Christmas Gram...I want one!"

I'm moving up in the food chain and I have to brag about it!

Tomorrow, I'm going shopping' with the Grocery Guru! ALL BY MYSELF!!!! Not a group of a hundred coupon-crazy lunatics and me, but the Guru and me!

It might be something to do with the fact that he's about to be my daughter's father-in-law, but at any rate, I am completely stoked!

It sounds like I'll be getting about $200 worth of groceries for about $40!

Now, I'm going to steal a line from Christmas Vacation: "Hallelujah and Holy S**t"!

Wouldn't it be fitting to have the Christmas Vacation theme for you to listen to today? Well here it is! And I couldn't part with Oh Holly Night from my last post, so it's here for you too!

(don't forget about the other posts I've done recently. I did 3 yesterday! Yep count them...1, 2, 3!)

"Sounds like somebody needs to sing a Christmas Carol" TTA

My favorite Christmas Carol is Oh Holy Night. For me, it is the very essence of the spirit of Christmas. I cannot sing the line "Fall on your knees" without crying...EVER. I cannot imagine being alive at that time, and hearing of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

The other lines that mean a lot to me are: the thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. For yonder brings a new and glorious morn.

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world

In sin and error pining

'Till He appeared and the soul felt His worth

The thrill of hope,

The weary world rejoices

For yonder brings a new and glorious morn

Fall on your knees

Oh, hear the angel's voices

Oh night divine

Oh night when Christ was born

Oh night divine

Oh night, Oh night divine

And, I quite enjoy Josh Groban singing that song, so here it is for your enjoyment today!

I've been blogging like a mad women today, so be sure to scroll down to see these other posts:
"Code word is Santa's got a brand new bag"
"Hey Buddy, wanna go pick some snowberries"

"Code Word is Santa's got a brand new bag."

[Gimble's manager] Hey guys, you seen the place? Pretty good, they must have brought in a professional. I dunno why, but someone's gunning for my job. But look, let's stick together on this. If you get wind of anything, call me on my radio. Channel three, code word is "Santa's got a brand new bag".

I'm so glad I waited to take that picture. With the freshly fallen snow, I think it turned out pretty well.

Here's another one. Mostly just to try out a photography technique:

"Hey Buddy wanna pick some snowberries?"

(Also known as a belated weekend update)

We had a very fun but busy weekend. As I mentioned before, we got the lights hung on the outside of the house on Saturday. Saturday night, we went out with the Fordham's. First we went to the Cheesecake Factory. It was the first time for everyone. (in Utah that is) Jason and Chris ended up standing under / in a tree in the foyer. It was pretty comical. You would have had to see it to appreciate it. Janene and I felt left out, so after a few minutes we got in too. Dinner was awesome! I could go again right now!

After dinner, we came back to our house to play some Rock Band. It was great! Sylas and Chris even sung some songs for us. (usually the guys are gun-shy about singing) I think I have lost my abilities. I sucked pretty badly. Anyway, thanks for the great night guys. You guys totally rock!

Sunday, we went up to Park City. We have been meaning to go up there for forever to do some shopping. It was nice...all the girls were with us, but it was weird, there was no snow! We kept thinking the further up the canyon we got, we would finally see some snow, but we never did. (well, not any more than a dusting of it anyway) But our shopping was a success. And it was so nice to be together.

"It's just nice to meet another human that shares my affinity for elf culture."

Just as Jovie was decorating Gimble's North Pole, we've been doing ours too!

We began right after Thanksgiving by putting up the tree (of course).

Then, Wednesday we went to pick out our ornaments...

This is "Super's" for her affinity for Rock Band.

This is "Loo's" for Fiddler on The Roof

Sue's is for Oklahoma

Jason's is for his love of Disneyland

Mine is a snowman head (not pictured because it's boring). The snowman is sort-of a fall-back for me. If I can't think of an ornament that suits me, Snowman to the rescue!

And yesterday, Jason hung the lights on the outside of the house. Loo wanted to be up there too, so up she went...you can't tell her "no". So all she did up there is just sit, sit, sit. And she did not like it. Not one single bit. She really wanted to help.

Notice the sky in these pictures. Not a single cloud to be found. And Loo's in flip flops. Only a light jacket on. This is December!Super spent her time outside jump-roping and riding her bike.

So, I think the halls are completely decked now. (or at least as much as they're going to be this year). When it's dark, sometime soon, I will go take a picture of the house.

I think it would be fitting to have these 3 songs for you today:

Deck the Halls: by John Denver and the Muppet's, White Christmas: by none other than Bing Crosby, and finally, Because I want to send Mother Nature good vibes...Winter Wonderland by Harry Connick Jr. **please snow** please snow** please snow** please snow**

"I'm a Cotton-headed Ninny Muggins"

"Oh, Buddy, you're not a Cotton-headed Ninny Muggins. You're just.....special"

I feel really "special" today. Special as in special needs, kind of special! Here's why: First of all, it hasn't been my day 'cause Super didn't get to school on time. I know, your thinking, what does that have to do with the price of tea in China, right? Well, when she's late, that means I'm late. Today, I'm pulling back into the garage, after taking her to school- as 2 of my preschoolers are waiting at the door to come in.

After my first class was over, and parents were picking up their kids, I went outside to sort of chase down a mom to talk to her. I was waving my arm trying to get her attention and a different mom thought I was trying to talk to her. While I was waving her off, I totally biffed it on the street. ( I didn't step down for the curb) It wasn't pretty. I still had my camera in my hand from taking pictures of the kids by my tree a few minutes earlier! I don't know what hit the ground first, my hand and camera, or my knees! Ouch! My knees hurt. They were bleeding in my jeans, I cut my hand, I tweaked both of my feet, and my camera has a big gash out of it! And probably the worst of my injuries, is my pride. How embarrassing!

I'm pretty sure at least 5 different parents saw me biff it! Plus, the mom who's attention I was trying to get... well, I had her attention. She was looking right at me trying to tell what in the world I wanted! One mom, Callie, was so sweet. I fell right in front of her van. She said, "while I was pregnant, we were following a realtor through a home, and I totally fell down the bottom 2 or 3 stairs." Her son was in the back of the van when I fell, and he asked what happened. When she told him I fell, his response was "like you do, Mom?" Thanks for helping me feel better Callie...more than once!!

Well, all I can say now is THANK GOODNESS IT'S MY FRIDAY!!!!!! It has been a LONG week. You teachers out there who read my blog...mainly Jenny, but sometimes Kimi reads too....... What is it with 5 seconds of snow and the affect it has on little students? What's your secret? How do you cope? What do you do when they are OUT OF CONTROL?

Well, that's all I have for this post! I think I need coke, chocolate or any other candy, and some serious rock band! (boo hoo! hours have passed since I began writing this post...never did play rockband... Now we are going to watch Hulk. It better be good!)

Now for today's song:

It should be "Slip Sliding Away" by Paul Simon, BUT darn playlist doesn't have it!! They are doing that a lot lately!

So, based on title alone: Falling Away with You by Muse. Great song!

"Treat every day like Christmas"

Before I go to bed, I have to say one more thing:

I am humbled.

One of our Young Women's leaders in our ward, told us about a family a couple of weeks ago. I know they aren't in our ward or stake, but that's all I know. Anyway, the Dad lost his job a few months ago, they just had child #5 and it was born several weeks early. They have no insurance, or income, and since the baby was so early, it spent quite awhile in NICU. The baby passed away last week.

Our Young Women are doing a Sub-for-Santa service project. The leaders have encouraged the youth to buy gifts for this family in lieu of gifts for each other.

Tonight, the leaders posted the families requests. The family has asked for only the bare necessities. One of the kids needs a coat, some need church clothes, some shoes, that type of thing. On the mom and dad's list is canned food and packaged food. That breaks my heart.

I felt thankful last week. I really did. But tonight, every time I think of that poor family, I start to cry. We don't have to worry about food. We can pay our mortgage and our utilities. Yes, I am extremely grateful for all that I have.

I pray that at this time of year, we can all find someone in need and help them. I read this quote somewhere within the last couple of weeks(can't remember where though) it said something like when you give something to a charity, it should hurt a little (meaning your wallet). It continued on to say that you should have to do away with something so that you can give more. I'm going to try to keep this in mind this holiday season.

Here are two songs for your enjoyment. Both with themes of being happy with what you've got.

Welcome Christmas by the Whoville Caroler

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Sarah Mclachlan. Great Christmas album by the way. It's my favorite Christmas CD. Click here to listen to samples from Amazon.

"I'm a human, raised by humans"

Yesterday, the girls woke up to this:

The elves came!!

Usually I don't get a picture of what Santa's little elves bring for the girls, but I woke up super early so that I could take one before they woke up! Such a fun tradition! If you haven't read about it before, click here to find out more.

The girls made out their lists over the weekend (to put in their shoes on Sunday), Super's list was the cutest! Of course. Everything is cute the hooked on phonics way! Here are some of the highlights of her list:

Pirit Ship

Tethr ball

Hearos DVD coleshon (Loo helped her out by crossing out coleshon and writing colection. Too funny)

new camra

sometheng the hole intir family wood like