Boys!

So I don't know why, but the last several times we have gone with Brady to the sporting goods section of any store the boys have been wanting us to buy them some binoculars. Today we were at Dicks in the mall so Brady could price some 12 ga shotguns - he's been wanting one for almost a year - and guess what the boys saw right off? Kid-sized binoculars. And guess what? They were on sale for $7. Who could pass up the "pretty please, Mom, can we buy those? They are kid sized. Can we?" I mean really? Sometimes I am such a pushover. Ammon got black ones and Zenock got army colored ones. They couldn't be happier. Binoculars, really? Boys!!! (said while eyes are rolling :) wish they had an emotion button for that one).

This is just a note to myself. Every once in a while it feels like Gideon is breathing inside of me. I can feel his body moving up and down in breathing motions. It's so awesome to feel him practicing his skills! We only have 2 weeks until he comes!

Christmas mayhem pictures

Opening presents at the family party

Decorating cookies at the neighbor's house

Acting out the Nativity

Zenock the 3 minute Shepherd

Ammon was Joseph

Santa came!

The aftermath...stuff everywhere!

Gideon couldn't be left out of all the excitement! Like my dirty shirt from making the breakfast casserole the night before?

Zenock did NOT want his picture taken with the new camera.
But Ammon didn't care.

Friday night we made homemade pizza for all 20 people in Brady's family. We made 5 cookie sheets of different kinds. It was really messy, but everyone loved it. We opened presents from each other after everyone ate. Ammon and Zenock got cap guns and punching bags from Izabella and Gabby. I got a cricut cartridge and some awesome paper from Bethany. Brady got a book from Ronny. We had a great time even though we had to leave early because Brady had to get home and change for work.

He has been working 8pm to 8am the last several days, and will continue that shift all this week. It's great to have him working so much because Securitas has no problem paying overtime, but it's sure hard on all of us. Brady has trouble getting enough sleep, and I have trouble feeling like a single mom because when he is here he is sleeping most of the day. And it's super hard to keep the kids from being too loud. Perhaps this is good practice for when Gideon comes.

We went to our neighbor's house for a while when we got home, and the boys got to decorate cookies and act out the Nativity. Ammon was Joseph and Zenock was a shepherd for about 3 minutes, and then he decided he didn't want to play anymore. It was really cute to see the kids act it out though, and they did really well, for being 2-6 years old. Brady stayed to say "hi" for a few minutes and then he went off to work.

I woke up Christmas morning at 7:45am. The kids were still asleep! I slept horrible because I was so excited about watching them open all the presents. When Brady got home shortly after 8 they were still sleeping! So he changed and we talked for a little bit, and we still had to go wake them up! I could not believe it! And then they were so overwhelmed with it all that they had trouble staying focused to open presents. They kept wanting to just start playing with the first things they opened. I don't know how many times Zenock asked me to open Buzz Lightyear for him. It was kind of funny.

We had a secret santa drop off presents for us last Sunday. Boy were we suprized! I don't know if we were on the angel tree at church or if someone just decided to do something nice. We have had a very good month with all of Brady's overtime, so we had a great Christmas already for the kids. I feel so blessed that someone wanted to serve us in that way though. I hope they recieve the blessings they need for being so kind and giving to us. We also had someone leave presents and quotations with pieces to a nativitiy in the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas. I still don't know who they were, but we really, really appreciate their generosity. And we had someone else leaving the same nativity pieces for us doing the 12 days of Christmas. It turned out to be some friends of ours in the ward. I never guessed it was them. We have had so many blessings since moving into this ward. We have phenomenal friends, great callings, opportunities to serve others, and since Brady got his security job we have been able to keep up with everything else at home. I feel so thankful for having the opportunity to give and receive service this year, especially at Christmastime.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!



My very favorite Christmas Hymn

Almost here!

Christmas is coming
Gideon's getting fat
Today is payday, so we have money in our hat!

I am so EXCITED for tomorrow and Saturday! Brady is on a line watch special thingy so his shift for the next whole week is 8pm to 8am. That means he gets be here for the family party, Christmas morning with the kids, and Christmas dinner at his brother's house in Arizona. Woohoo!!!

And the countdown for Gideon's arrival has begun (at least for me). We have just 22 days until he comes...unless he decides to come more than a week early. I am so excited to see what he looks like, and to actually watch him have hiccups instead of feel them (which he has right now :)). I made a quilt for him back in July at my Mom's house, but I didn't have time to quilt it and bind it before we left, so she took care of that for me and sent it with the Christmas package. It is so cute. I need to take a picture so you all can see it. Thanks, Mom, for doing a great job!

Today we are having a slow one. The kids are eating lunch right now and then we are going to the library. After that it's naptime for Zenock (horray for me!), and since Brady is home sleeping, I might go run one last errand before Christmas. I need to get some heavy cream for the Christmas breakfast casserole I am making, and I need to find something for Brady's stocking. A movie maybe? I have no idea, really. Usually I am on top of these things, but not this year.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Family pictures

We finally got our yearly family pictures done. They look great. I have issues with my hair (but what mom doesn't?), but the boys look so good...and so does Brady. This is the first year we have done them in Sunday clothes. Next year I want to try on location somewhere like a park or the Temple grounds.

Switzerland Drummers

Christmas Traditions

We took the kids to see Santa Claus at RC Willey on Saturday. It was awesome. There were no other kids, so Santa got to spend a few minutes with each of them. They had a LONG list of things they wanted. It was really cute to listen to them talk to him. I wondered if Zenock would be scared this year, but he totally wasn't.

We made gingerbread houses on Sunday night for FHE. We also watched the Nativity movie, and explained to the boys the reason we celebrate Christmas. I started a new tradition for our family this year too. We each chose one present to give to Jesus and wrote it down on paper. I put all the papers in an envelope and next year we will add to it. I think it's a great way to teach little kids about giving to others. Ammon's present to Jesus is to not be so bossy. Zenock said he wants to clean up better. They came up with those gifts all by themselves. Earlier in the day they both got in trouble for being bossy and taking too long to clean up the mess...so maybe that had some influence in their choices.

What's in a name?

I think we finally decided on a name for this little man. Until further notice his name is going to be Gideon. He doesn't have a middle name yet, so if you have a suggestion I am welcome to it. He is getting bigger by the day, and moving all the time. The other day I swear he hardly had a nap because he seemed to be pretty busy having a dance party in there or something all day. It was fun to feel. I went to the doctor yesterday, and I am scheduled for a C-section on January 14th.

Since the boy's birthdays are 10 days apart, and Brady and Gideon's will be 10 days apart, the next baby we have has to be born on August 19th so I can have a birthday buddy 10 days from me too....but I hope to never be in my third trimester during the summer. We shall see in the coming years though.

Today we have plans for something fun for the kids. We are taking them to see Santa. He's going to be at RC Willey this afternoon, and the guy who is playing him is in our ward. I hope the kids don't freak out. It's been a hit and miss with that the last few years. I think Ammon will be okay, but I wonder about Zenock. A few weeks ago we sent letters in the mail to Santa, but have yet to get a response. I know in Idaho Falls he will write back to the kids, and I was hoping for that here. Maybe this week or next he'll send them a letter. I think the kids would love to get a letter from Santa just for them. I guess if one doesn't come in the next 2 weeks I can write one up and stick it in the mail to ourselves.

And now I have a gripe moment. I have started looking for a crib. Thanks to people who don't know how to put them together properly, and poor parental supervison, I cannot get a crib with a drop-down side anymore. What are we short people supposed to do? Dump the kid in the bed since we can't reach all the way to the bottom for a gentle lay down? It's frustrating because (in my humble opinion) this has come about because people today are more lawsuit happy than ever before. It seems with everything that goes wrong, it's always someone else's fault and there should be punative damages paid. SO DUMB!!! In light of that, I could get a step stool to use every day (and have the other boys run off with it when I need it most), or just suck it up and grow a few inches. I have noticed though, that a lot of the cribs are made a lot lower than they used to be, so the rails are better for bending over to put a kid to sleep. I guess my main concern is can I reach well enough when the crib is on the lowest setting? Anyway, that's my rant. Thanks for listening.

Thanksgiving and Baby

So, first of all, Thanksgiving turned out to be pretty good. Brady did come straight from work to eat some turkey dinner with us at his mom's house, and we got to spend a couple of hours together before he had to go to sleep. My pies turned out absolutely delicious, even though they weren't the prettiest things. There ended up being less people come to dinner than was planned on, so I took home a ton of pie and rolls...is it possible to get sick of homemade pie for breakfast? I guess I'll find out soon enough!

We finally decorated the tree Friday morning, much to the kids delight, and I put up the rest of my decorations too. Christmas is alive and well at our house! I survived Black Friday with flying colors. I got some excellent deals, and Ammon is going to LOVE his bike. It was totally worth loitering in Walmart for 2 hours before the sale and standing in line to check out for 1 1/2 hours. I wasn't even that tired during the day, and even survived without a nap! Every year I ask myself why I do this. Every year I say I won't do it next year. In fact, I remember specifically getting the Christmas shopping done early because I knew I would be too tired and pregnant to go this year. YEAH RIGHT!

On that note, (I might just curse myself by admitting this out loud) I have had the best pregnancy so far. The sickness went away at 20 weeks on the dot, I have had very little back pain, the heartburn is managable, and I am not sleeping with extra pillows yet. I remember that with both previous pregnancies I was almost miserable by this point (I am 32 weeks now) and loosing sleep like crazy because I was so uncomfortable. I had pillows galore, so much so that I felt bad for Brady because there wasn't much room for him in the bed with me and my pillow possie. But this pregnancy has been so different. Really the only issues I am having are sore feet and sore hips. I get stiff a lot, and quickly, just sitting for a short time, but it gets worked out as I walk around. We still haven't decided on a name for sure yet. I guess we should decide pretty soon because there isn't much time left. I also need to find a crib for the kid before he gets here. I guess I should be checking craigslist this week to see what's out there. After we get the crib we should be all set for his arrival. I am so excited to see what he looks like. I love to feel him moving and beating me up inside when he is awake. The boys ask me all the time if the baby is awake and moving because they like to feel him too. I love that they have already started to bond with him.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all who read my blog - most especially my parents and siblings. I miss you guys a lot.

This Thanksgiving is going to be a weird one for me because Brady was asked yesterday to work all day today. (I really do love his job, but sometimes the on-call stuff isn't fun). He works from 6am to 5pm today and then has to go back to work from 1am to 6am Friday morning. So he is missing his family's holiday dinner today, and he won't be able to come with me to go Black Friday shopping tonight either.

Now I am REALLY glad I found a couple in our ward who is willing to watch movies at my house while Brady is asleep and going back to work before I get back. That means Santa can still get the couple of things for the boy's that are really on sale! I do wish my sister could come with me again this year though. She's come with me every year for the past 4 or 5 years, and we have so much fun!

Today is the first day I have had to turn on my heater. It was so cold when we got up this morning - like 60* in the house - and outside right now it is 36*. It feels even more cold to me though because last week we were in the 70's all week. It feels like October, not November.

Yesterday I made some pies and rolls for today's dinner. I had intense trouble with my crust, again. Maybe I just need 20 years of practice to get it right like my mom does...or maybe I just really can't make pie crust from scratch. I hope they taste better than they look!! I know the rolls are good (I had only one, but Brady had 4!), and I am making another batch this morning so that everyone can have more than one or two for dinner. I know I love to munch on rolls all the time, so I figure it's better to have a lot than not enough.

Tomorrow (maybe even today) we are decorating our Christmas tree. I have had it up for almost 2 weeks because I wanted to make sure it will be okay in the spot I picked. I do have to find and replace at least one bulb on my tree this year - pretty good considering this is the 5th year for my tree and I haven't had any branches not lit until this year. And in a few minutes we are going to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Holiday season, here we come!!

Hallelujah Chorus

This made me cry...no suprise there! I love flash mob stuff like this. Someday I want to actually be in the right place, at the right time, to witness one of these. Awesome!!

2010 Nellis AFB Air Show

This is a yearly event out at the AFB. We got to go see it yesterday since Ammon was out of school for Veteran's day still. It's free to public, and it was AWESOME!! We all loved it! It was a long day, but totally worth it. I am so glad Brady was able to schedule the day off to come with us. When I went to bed last night I heard the airplanes flying over our house to the airport, but in my head I was hearing the fighter jet engines. It was weird.

CHEESE!!!

I took my kids yearly fall pictures this morning. I used my old 5 megapixel camera, and they didn't turn out too bad. These are the best out of the 100 pictures I took. I hope they look okay when they get printed up on 8x10 and framed. What can I say though, you get what you pay for (and I didn't spend a dime).

Bargain hunting

Bargain #1: So Ammon needed a few more clothes and pj's to get him all ready for the colder weather. I had a coupon for 20% off my total purchase at the Oshgosh Outlet, so he got some shirts for less than $5 and two pairs of really nice jeans for $8 each. Holy cow...I cannot believe I got such high quality clothes for Walmart prices! Then I found a website called childrenswearoutlet.com that had a sale on flannel pj pants; I'm talking $3 each. I can't make a pair of pants for that price. Not to mention that Walmart wants $5 or more for pj/sweat pants. So including shipping I still saved a couple of dollars that I would have spent at Walmart.

Bargain #2: Last night I was browsing the last of the Halloween stuff at Walmart when they said over the speaker that all Halloween stuff is 75% off. So we totally scored! I got 3 costumes each for the boys and found a vampire one for Brady too for $6. All together I spent as much on 7 costumes as I would have on one. And the best part is I don't have to think about Halloween costumes for the next couple of years! I just couldn't pass up costumes for $3 and $4 each. There's no way I can make them for that cheap. Zenock got a Bumblebee, Ninja, and Toothless costume. Ammon got an astronaut, Optimus Prime, and Monstrous Nightmare (another dragon from "How to train your dragon").

This morning they are so excited about trying on all their costumes. It honestly sounds like Christmas around here....I LOVE IT! I have heard every exclaim of excitement this morning: "We have the best mommy because she got us the costumes we wanted!" and "Ammon is my best brother and my best friend" and "Yeah, Zenock just like on Dinosaur Train when Buddy and Don are best brothers and best friends. What are you going to try on first?" I think I am going to have to make a dress-up bucket or designate a suitcase for the cause so they have a place for all their costumes and can have some fun. Zenock REALLY likes to dress up, and now that Ammon has some of his own he has gotten in the spirit too. Too bad we don't have any princesses around here to join in the fun!

*I should also mention they are watching Transformers in their Transformer costumes. It's so cute!*

Ammon's Birthday and Halloween

Ammon had an awesome birthday. He didn't have school that day, so he got to go to the park for a couple of hours and play with kids in the ward. After Zenock woke up from nap Ammon opened his presents Grandpa and Grandma Deitz and my sisters sent him in the mail . He loves the ISPY bag, and when the weather gets a little colder (like drops 20 degrees) he'll be sporting the new clothes. I should also mention that he is starting to learn how to read. At school they practice a new "sight word" every week, i.e. "my," "like," etc. So the easy reader books Santa brought last year for him have finally been put to use by someone other than me! He loves to practice reading during Sacrament meeting, and he loves to read me the books he brings home about his sight word.

This is his cake. It's a monster truck show in case you couldn't figure it out. The ramps are made out of shredded wheat and pretzel sticks glued together with some nutella since I ran out of frosting. The track is chopped walnuts. The cake part tasted SO GOOD! I think the trick this time was putting applesauce in for the oil. Usually I just add more water instead of the oil, but I like it a lot better with the applesauce. Everyone else did too.

Ammon chose his very favorite meal, ever, Hawaiian haystacks. Cicely and the kids ate with us and then played until everyone else in Brady's family came for cake and presents. Ammon was so cute too. He wanted to have our neighbors kids come over too (they're 3 and 2), so we had some more fun with them. I love how he thinks of others so much...maybe it's because he realizes how much more fun things are with more people. Brady was in charge of the camera, so he didn't think to get any pictures of Ammon opening presents. He got some shirts, sidewalk chalk, a bucket of army guys complete with tanks and planes, a hot wheels track, playdough, coloring book, wooden fighter jet kit to put together and paint, and some policeman accessories. It was a really fun day, and I really appreciate Brady's family and the Hafen's coming to celebrate it with us. Thank you!!

This is our Halloween yard decorating...since we don't have a yard. The spider web stuff is SO COOL! It sticks really well to the stucco, so we didn't have to reinforce it with tape or anything.

My policeman and pirate are ready to go to the ward party/trunk-or-treat. They had so much fun! We ate chili outside in the parking lot. I was so glad we brought camp chairs to sit in while passing out candy. But I didn't think to bring the kids, so we pulled their car seats out and they got to eat dinner that way. They loved it.

This is our trunk all prettied up for the kids...but I don't think anyone noticed much. There was too much excitement about the candy.

I made a costume for me too. Sort of. I cut some felt and sewed it onto a white shirt. Ammon REALLY wanted me to be a ghost, complete with a sheet and everything, but I don't have a white sheet (and I wasn't about to go buy one just for this) so I came up with this idea. Next year Brady is determined for everyone to be characters from the Wizard of Oz. He has asked for that every year, and I've been too lazy to come up with costumes for him and I. I think next year I will start early and grant his wish. I have a whole year to think about how to make Brady the Tin man. Yeah, it'll be interesting!

On Halloween Brady had to work the swing shift, so it was just me and the boys. We went to his sister's house for some yummy chicken and then Sage took them and Madi to a few houses for more candy. (Like we needed more candy after the ward party...but they loved it). I was VERY thankful when bedtime came because all this talk about candy and trick-or-treating wore me out. And now that we have birthdays and Halloween over with, the boys have started asking how many days until the air show. On November 13th Nellis AFB is putting on a show with a bunch of fighter jets and the Thunderbirds (like the Blue Angels but not as well known, and stationed right here). So that's our next event...hopefully Brady won't have to work so he can come too.

Happy Halloween!!

Early birthday fun

Ammon chose to go to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay for his birthday (since we had 2 free kid passes from the library). Brady had to work yesterday and today, so we decided to go after school on Thursday since we didn't have any other plans. The boys loved it. Zenock was really freaked out by the crocodile because he was right up against the glass, but once we got past that part he was fine. We saw a couple of sea turtles...they are HUGE! We pet some rays and horseshoe crabs, saw a really cool octopus, some parrot fish, a really big puffer fish, some huge starfish, and many sharks. It was really fun to take the kids.

There was a glass bottom section of the floor. Ammon was waiting for a shark to swim under there. Eventually he saw the ray shark and some fish. Zenock was really nervous to walk on it at first until Ammon showed him how fun it was. Then they started having races across it.

More evidence that I need a new camera. This picture hardly does the turtle justice.