The Weather Outside ISNT Frightful...

It is GLORIOUS! It has been so nice outside, weird for this time of year! Yesterday I was able to get out and go for a 3 mile walk by MYSELF! What was that like?!? The day before, Jeff and I walked a mile. I am really feeling it because I pushed myself. I am going to see if I can go out again today if my MIL & FIL are around to sit with the kids. It usually takes me 45 minutes to do a walk worth something. Thank goodness for my IPOD (loaded with my favorite singer Josh Groban!!). Any way....I had to put all the holiday goodies in my LOCKED Freezer downstairs where they are safe. I gained 2 lbs over Christmas. That STINKS. Oh well. It is really hard for me to realize that I am not going to gain all the weight I lost back in one or two meals. I swear I worry about that. It doesn't help that we missed having Weight Watcher meetings last week because it was Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is the meeting, and I am afraid it wont be good. Oh well. I indulged for the holidays and it was nice. But now I have to take responsibility for it and work a little harder. I have some new goals for New Years though, and I will share them in a day or so. I am still organizing them in my mind. :O)

POLL RESULT!!!

If you guessed my favorite Christmas song was:
The Little Drummer Boy
You were RIGHT!

If you guessed my favorite all time singer was:
Charlie Rich
You were WRONG (Jeff, don't you know me after 20 years???) He is a strong SECOND, not first!!!

So, if you guessed my favorite all time singer was:
Josh Groban
YOU WERE RIGHT!!!! New poll in a few days.

It's CHRISTMAS!!!

I just cant believe that CHRISTMAS is here. It came so fast. Matthew woke up around 5 am and he was so quiet. He went and sorted the gifts Santa left for them and waited VERY patiently for us to get up around 6:30 am. If you know Matthew, you would recognize that it is a mini Christmas miracle that he:
1. Waited
2. Waited PATIENTLY
3. Was quiet
4. Didn't tear up the gifts out of excitement!

So I got up, and he got excited (even more so). I showered and got ready (couldn't be caught on tape with morning hair). Jeff followed suit and we went on with opening Santa gifts. It was a very nice morning. The kids were happy with what Santa brought (Phew!!!).

Almost right after, the kids ate a light breakfast and I started on the roast beast. It was held at our house this year, so I was able to do the honor of cooking the feast. I was so excited to do that for my whole family (minus Jeff's brothers). They are all still alive so I didn't poison anyone. :O)

The main reason it was held at our house was because my sweet mommy had knee surgery on Tuesday. It appears that when she went through a glass window many years ago as a young girl, it messed up her knee, and somehow she has some 1/2 inch bone fragment inside her knee that worked loose. So she had it removed, but it left her fairly immobile, only able to stand and walk as little as possible, so that left ME the honors! Bwahaaaa! Really, it was a lot of fun.

When Madison saw this dress, she could hardly contain herself. She had to go put it on RIGHT AWAY. She twirled in it and it was like pulling teeth to get it off of her! She wanted to keep it on!





Here is Sunny & Ann, my brother and his wife (and my dad and Matthew). We bought them a rock for Christmas. Actually my parents went in on it with us. It is engraved with their last name on it for their yard.








Here are our kids opening gifts. Heather (our niece) is with us!!! She got a cell phone from us for Christmas. It was a dream of hers to get a cell phone!!!

Matthew and Bethanie are opening up a gift from Brown Grandma and Grandpa (WII). It was a shared gift for them. They are totally excited by it!




There was a lot going on and we just plain wore out my SIL (Ann (R) ) and my FIL (Al (L) ). They just had to nap. Below, Bethanie got a "Girl Gourmet" Cupcake maker and we made delicious cupcakes this evening. She LOVES to cook. Have I mentioned that???

Now its time to eat the wonderful creation!!

Christmas Eve...

After we had Christmas at my inlaws house (White Grandma and Grandpa), we came home and the kids were able to open their stuff for their stockings. They wore their PJs I made them. I think they turned out OK. Amazingly enough I managed to get the hem just right on them! We also had a short Family Home Evening lesson in Luke about the birth of Christ, as Jeff presented the lesson. The kids really loved the story, as it is a tradition we tell each year.

Christmas @ Grandma's house...

We had Christmas at "White" Grandmas house today. This is her tree. It is always so pretty.


Madison is really loving the whole Christmas thing.


Matthew is flying high! He is soooooooo excited. He changed what he wants in mid stream. I told him that Santa is already out delivering things within the world.


Bethanie is beside herself with excitement! She cant wait. She is very happy it is finally Christmas!

Traditions...

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there...



One of our fun traditions that we started years ago for our little family is on Christmas Eve. I always either buy or make PJs for the kidlets. The last two years I have made them myself this year included!!! Another thing we do is the Hallmark Ornaments. Each year our children get a son our daughter ornament. We always give them a small toy to open and play with. We also give them a Christmas Push-pop, and a cookie in a tin. They have a bag of reindeer food in their stocking (mostly so I dont forget to do it before they go to bed!). They get their stockings before they go to bed, and we drink hot cocoa and off to bed they go with sugar plumbs dancing in their heads! It starts soon, and sadly will soon be over with. :O(

A horrible thing!

A dear friend of mine brought us some delicious Christmas treats! She is the best cook around. It was so sweet of her! Sadly we still have a lot of ice on the ground and a fresh skiff of snow. She fell all the way down our front (north facing) steps. Did I mention she is like NINE MONTHS PREGGERS? It scared me so bad! I feel so terrible about it! I ran to the bottom of the steps, all in the mean time I was wishing that I could stop her from falling. She hit bottom, and I got there (almost to the point of hysterics), yelled for the kids to bring me my boots. I picked her up, put a bear hold on her and told her she wasn't going ANYWHERE!!! I put my boots on and helped her to her car. BLESS HER HEART! This isn't supposed to happen! BINNY, I hope you are OK! I hope baby Jane is OK!!!!! I'm so sorry!! Just so you know, no one can get up my front porch now. I tied some rope across it forbidding anyone to go on to it! I wish I did that yesterday....Oh, and I am bringing you a pizza for supper!

Recipe Gallore...

Since I am bored and have nothing better to do with my life (yeah, right), I decided to start a recipe blog as a sister blog to this one. If you want to see any of my recipes that I use, and love, feel free to click on Ladysam Recipe Box (on the left). If you have some favorite ones, and want me to put them on, let me know that too!

Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-YUM!

Bethanie was such a help to me today. She has always been interested in cooking, and helping in the kitchen. She makes a MEAN jumbo monster cookie. Jeff likes to take them to work for his boss because his boss LOVES them. She helped me like a trooper. It took us forever to get all the things made today (Christmas Treats) that we did. We made a double batch of rolled sugar cookes (cut outs) and a double batch of gingerbread cookie cut outs. I made fudge (2 batches), dipped pretzels, dipped crackers. We packaged some up and took them out to deliver to friends. It was too slick so we didnt drop off too many.






Madison had a BLAST decorating (and eating) her cookies. She tried so hard, bless her heart! That frosting just would not cooperate at all so they didnt turn out too cute, but it was still really fun!!!




Here is the ONE cookie that Matthew decorated. It is a turkey. He just wasnt in to it today. He also didnt really want me to take his picture. He has been sick the last few days. I think he is on the upside of it.

What a day!

I had such goals! I was going to sew PJ's with my mom today, and it was only going to take 2-3 hours. She couldnt stay to help me sew, so it was up to me. It took me 8 HOURS, yes, you read right. But I finished them. I am not a great seemstress (was going to put sewer, but thought that sounded disgusting). The kids wont notice my mistakes, only I will. :O) I made Matthew a pair of PJ bottoms, and a pillow case out of red flannel back satin. I know, sounds weird for a boy, but I think he will like the texture of the fabric. The girls have PJ bottoms too, made of flannel back satin also, that is a deep blue with Tinker Bell on it. Their shirts are just plain white undershirts. For the girls, I made little snugglie lap blankets out of the left over material. I think they will like them. I hope so. I hope they feel that my making their PJs it is a special thing. I always thought it was when my mom sewed my special things.

Jeff is on a 4 day stretch for work. That stinks because he is working 12 1/2 + hours each day and has an hour and a half drive daily (that counts both ways). He fell on the ice outside of the hospital earlier today and bruised up his backside. I guess if you have to do something like that, outside the hospital is the place to do it.

I didnt get any of my Christmas candy done today becuase I spent it sewing (while the kids were at White's). Matthew and Bethanie were to have a sleep over at White's tonight, but Matthew had to come home early because he is not feeling well. He woke up late last night thowing up all over his bed. He hasnt thrown up today, but wont eat either. On our way back from White Grandma's, we slid all the way down our hill. We live right in the middle of the block on a high hill. So we slid on down, past our drive way and all the way to the bottom so we had to go back up and around again. This time, we made it to the drive way and then into the neighbors yard. Matthew thought it was hilarious and yelled, "We've run aground!!!". I thought it was really funny becuase if you knew Matthew, you would know that Joking and Asperger's dont usually go hand in hand. This was a genuine joke. I loved it.

Anyway. I am going to go and throw my exhausted body into bed. Tomorrow, since Church has been cancelled, I am going to make sure I get my baking done.

Accomplishments...

So today I had a goal. The family room in the basement has been sorely neglected for some time. I have had little time to organize it. Today, the five, well...four of us, ganged up on it. Madison unhelped us some, but we separated each and EVERY toy and put it where it belonged. We also did some rearranging and lots of cleaning. It is so comfy down there now. I actually WANT to be down there. I just had to tell the kids that if Santa were to come and see that kind of a mess downstairs, he would think that they didn't need more toys because they couldn't take care of what they had. WOW! That was serious incentive to get them moving!

Jeff and I also cleaned out the linen closet. We had no choice. We needed the room. Clutter has piled up around here and it is driving me mad! It was a huge accomplishment.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I plan to do some of my Christmas candy.

Today we had an unexpected surprise, school was cancelled because of the ice storm we had over night. So the kids were home all day with us!

Tomorrow my mom is coming to help me get the kids PJ's sewed. I can do the sewing, but I worry that I will mess them up, plus I look forward to having this time with my mom.

Poll Results...

What is lighter than a feather, but harder to hold?

If you guessed Santa, you are insane! The man is fat this time of year, though he would for sure be harder to hold than a feather! So, I guess that does work! LOL!

If you guessed grain of sand, snowflake, flame, eyelash, you are wrong, although technically any of those are lighter than a feather and hard to hold. But the answer to this poll is............Breath.

Even though there are several potential answers to this poll, it can only be either breath or snowflake. The real answer is breath, because it is harder to hold (for any length of time) than say and eyelash, you could hold that for days if you wanted to, same with sand. Flame would be hard to hold and you could probably hold it less in time than you could breath. So, my point is, the answer is breath, but it was a trick question and not a great poll question as I think about the answers in depth. So, I AM a nerd and this proves it. My next poll is a for sure one answer poll, and it is personally about ME!

Disappointment made fun...

Tonight was Bethanie's 1st grade Christmas Music Program. It was freezing rain outside so it was cancelled @ the last minute. Bethanie was very disappointed because she was looking forward to wearing her new black and silver dress with silver to-die-for shoes (and nylons like a big girl). She was also being featured as a dancing snowflake. Needless to say, her heart was broken. So, we let her decide the festivities for the evening. We played Candy Land, had popcorn and hot chocolate. Matthew and Jeff finished off with a game of Battle Ship. All in all, the evening wasnt a waste. We are sad that we were not able to see Bethanie's Christmas program. Here they only do Christmas programs in 1st grade. :O(

On another note...Today I received a Christmas Card from a friend of mine that goes way back. We met when we were 10 years old when my familiy moved from Myton, Utah to Neola, Utah. I have lost contact with her several years ago, and one day out of the blue I thought of her, and she called! (GRIN) It was very nice to see her name in my mail box!

It's Official!

I managed to keep my 4.0 GPA (for those who really care!!!)
Literature, I had a 103% A+
General Psychology, A (she didn't work in %'s)
Music Appreciation- A
Education- 96% =A
Education Practicum- A

NEXT semester, it wont be such a load. YAY! I am glad to know finally!

Oh my GOSH! I cant believe we won that!!!

A friend of ours sent us a Christmas card today and in it it had a lottery ticket! You have to scratch off the amounts and if you get three like amounts, you win that amount! LOOK AT WHAT IT SAYS!?!?!? Incase you cant make out the totals, it has three $10,000 spots! WAHOO!! Awe, if only it were for real!

And the verdict is....

not quite in yet. LOL! Sorry, I had to tease. I know three of my four final grades. If my Lit Instructor would just post my grade already, I can share my news! Sorry, you have to wait a little bit longer!

I can say this, my Lit test took me 45 minutes to complete. I did some figuring and I can guess what my end grade will be, but to be certain, I need to know how many points I missed on the exam (four points for sure).

My Psychology test took only about 20 minutes. She emailed me today and told me my score (teaser) and my final grade.

I just now got back from taking my Intro to Education exam. That was by far the hardest class that I had. I was able to grade my paper while there so I know what I got on the test and as my final grade.


My Music Appreciation class-I didnt have to take the final. I know for sure that I have an A in that class. We had to have a certain amount of points (to = an A) and I made all my points for that class, therefore I didnt have to take the final.


You will just have to be patient, like I have to be. :OP

Winter Wonderland!!!

Oh you wouldn't believe how excited my children were when they saw all the snow outside this morning! I think we have around 3 inches. It is a MESS out there! I couldn't get a great picture because of the fog and it is still snowing. I am not sure what the rest of the day looks like if it keeps snowing. Surely they wont call off school. I hope not! I have my last final at 1:00!

Twilight...

So, I started the Twilight series and finished all four books in 12 days. That is TWELVE days. It isnt like I was bored and had nothing better to do, but when I started reading them, I was addicted. The love story was so good, and after each book, I just wanted more and more! I think that book #1 was my favorite, but book # 4 was soooooooooo gooooooooood! I think I will re-read them over Christmas break. I find myself missing the characters.....I AM such a nerd. I was not able to go see the movie. Jeff's schedule and mine just didnt match up during movie times. Plus the kid factor makes things hard when you have to find a place to put them that is safe.

I now have my Sister in Law, Ann, addicted to these books, and she is reading them every bit as fast as I did. Her daughter, Heather is also reading them. My mom will be starting them soon, and I am looking forward to hearing her thoughts on them as well! Oh, so good!

WISH ME LUCK!!!

I am set to take TWO of my final exams!

At 8:00 a.m. I will be taking my Literature Exam. It will cover two plays that we read, discussed and watched. The plays were Oedipus Rex (Oedipus The King) by Sophocles, and the other one was by Arthur Miller, All My Sons. I am slightly nervous because I just don't know what to expect with the test, and I am worried that I wont keep my 4.0 GPA. Silly, I know.

At 2:30 p.m. I will be taking my General Psychology Exam. I am not too worried about that test because I know all of the material and her tests are rather lengthy, but mostly multiple choice and a few short answers.

Tuesday is the test I am dreading. I will go at 1:00 p.m. to take it. It is for my Education class. That one is complicated and I think it is probably safe to say my hardest class. So, there I stand.

Do you like my Christmas Memories 2008 slide show? I will update it as we get more pictures. I just love doing the blogging. It makes it fun to share about the life of Ladysam. :O)

Blog Business...

So, while changing my blog and experimenting, the changes ate my poll. I tried to remember all the options. If you voted, please go and re-vote! SORRY! The whole format has changed, as you will notice. I like to change it up often, but this is a B I G change! I hope you like it!

Reflections of Christ...

Below my posts, there is a video called Reflections of Christ. If you have not seen it, I encourage you to do so. It is so nice.

Christmas Party...

We had our church party this afternoon. It was so much fun! We had delicious food (as always) and there were so many delicious things! BAD!!!!!! But Santa came too, and we sang. I played (or attempted to) The First Noel on the piano while one of our Youth sang it (in such an angelic voice)!

Here is Sunny and his sweet wife, Ann. It was good to have them here at the party with us! Sunny tied my camera case to the table. I couldn't get it undone for nothin!

Miss Madison....her usual cute little self!

Here is Heather and Madison. Madison thought this loverly orange was a ball.

Here is my mama. She is so awesome. I didn't get a great picture of my dad (he was off being busy). They are the activity people in the Branch so it was their responsibility to do stuff today. :O)

Here is Matthew, talking Santa's ear off. He had a lot to say to him today!

I got such a kick out of this picture. Madison really took to Santa this time. She befriended him and had a lot to tell him! This picture looks to me like she is ticking things off her fingers telling him what she wants. LOL!

Bethanie was very shy, as usual. One of the youth had to take her up to talk to him. She was nervous but glad that she was able to talk to him.

After the party, we drove to Beloit to look at the Isle of Lights. It is the park and it is full of Christmas lights. The kids love to go there every year. It is sort of a tradition. It was fun. I cant believe that Christmas is now less than two weeks away and I am NOT READY!!!

My semester...

Is finally OVER! Not officially. I still have to take 3 out of 4 finals. I lucked out and didnt have to take my music appreciation final because you have to have so many points. I already had enough points for an A, so that is where my grade will stand. It cant go down because of my final. YAY! One less test to take!

Here is the run down=
Monday morning @ 8:00, I take my Intro to Literature exam
Monday afternoon @ 2:30, I take my General Psychology exam
Tuesday afternoon @ 1:00, I take my Intro to Education exam

then I will officially be FINISHED (for a month). YAY!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY...

December 12th 2008..... My sweetheart is celebrating his birthday! I just have to say that I found the best husband in the world. 20 years ago today we met on a blind date. He was just 19 and I was 15. We dated through high school, even though my parents thought we were too young. I KNEW from the moment I first saw him at my door that this was to be. I know how silly that sounds, but seriously, there were sparks. Jeff is such a caring person. He chose a career for himself that is devoted to others (he is an RN). He serves his Father in Heaven faithfully, and he is a wonderful father and husband. I feel so grateful to know him because he has a way of bringing light into the room with him. He has a sense of humor and always thinks on the positive side of things. He never dwells on the bad, and he keeps his cool. He is very intelligent and constantly strives to learn. I feel Heavenly Father's love for me because of my family. I wouldn't have my family without him. He has been a great gift for me, and I just want him to know how much I love him and how blessed I am to be able to be with him F O R E V E R. I love you sweetie! Happy Birthday!!!

The Incredible Shrinking Woman...

I am still losing weight, though it is going painfully slow. I am inching very slowly toward the 60 lb. mark. I am still losing, but not much at a time which is disappointing. I have to remind myself that I have not had time to go out and walk and that it took me 20 years to gain the weight and I cant expect it to drop off so fast (and that isnt healthy anyway). So, that is my update. I am at 59 lbs.

On another note...there is a new riddle to answer.

Riddle Answer...

No legs have I to dance, No lungs have I to breathe, No life I have to live or die, And yet I do all three. What am I?


If you guessed Fire, you were right!!!!


Anyone out there like doing my riddles?

Madison Isabella...

Miss Madison is our youngest child. She is now officially TWO! I cant believe how fast this last two years have flown by. I remember two years ago yesterday how excited I was to get to meet this sweet (though very large) baby girl! We waited for her for 3 years before she was finally able to come and join our family! So she came, and she has had such an influence on our lives. It is fun how we can see such a strong resemblance to her sissy, Bethanie, yet their personalities are very different. She is shy (barely) but she is also bold. She knows exactly what she wants, and she is a thinker. She sits back and thinks about things before she acts. I like this quality.

Brown Grandpa calls her "Butter Bean". This name he gave to her has stuck, she she still is referred to as "Bean". :O) She absolutely loves her brother and sister. Her bond, especially with Bethie, is so close and I love their relationship. Madison has strong likes. She loves Curious George, and she likes PBS. She loves SHOES (like her sissy), and she loves animals. She isn't a picky eater, and she is a great sleeper. I am so blessed to have this little baby in my life. She isn't such a baby anymore, but she always will be to me. I love her so much!

Madison's Birthday Party...

Today is party day! I cant believe that my littlest child is now two years old! We threw her a Curious George party. All Grammies and Grampies were here, one of her cousins, one aunt. It was a lot of fun. I swear my living room looked like it was already Christmas. How could a little girl get so much stuff??? Its fine though, she is going full speed (no nap).

I always make the kids cakes (well most of the time).

I am not as talented as some people I know (Binny!!!) but it was a lot of fun

to decorate this with a George theme.

She is CRAZY for George!!!

Opening gifts...

Still opening gifts (I swear it lasted an hour just for that! LOL!)

Jeff and Madison as we sang them BOTH Happy Birthday.

She is playing with her new cooking set. She told everyone

"Thank-you" so many times. I just LOVE little tiny voices! She has

had such a great day! I am so excited for her!

It's a BIRTHDAY week at our house!!!

First it is Miss Madison's. She turns two and oh what a sweet little girl she is. I will post more as time permits, but it is so fun!

Next Semester...

I met with my new advisor today. Her name is Joan. She is REALLY nice. She even knew my name and I didn't know her (we met in the hall on our way to see her). She was shocked to see the work load I had this semester. I am taking 13 hours, but the one hour practicum is really like 4 hours) so it is like my load is 17 hours. That is waaaaaaaaaaay too much. I told her of my panic attacks, and she said it was no wonder because of the type of classes I had and the amount of hours, along with the three children and other various responsibilities.

We set a goal for next semester to do 9 hours, but two of the classes aren't such a big deal. Here is how it looks:

English Comp. II
Human Growth & Development
World Geography (yuck, but necessary)

I am not taking any summer classes, so with taking fewer classes next semester and no summer, I will not have my substitute certificate by next December. But I really don't plan to do a lot until Madison is in Kindergarten. She is only just two. I have time. :O) I am relieved to have less hours for next semester and I already promised myself that if I am overwhelmed that I would drop the geography course.

Anyway, that's all I know! :O)


Oh, one more thing....remember my last post with that robotic cat that Madison plugged up with the binky? I put batteries in it today. It is an amazing toy. It senese movement and will meow, fall asleep, blink, purr. We have had it for a year. Bethie got it from Santa last year because she wanted a cat and this is what he gave her. Today I was gift wrapping some things (birthday, Christmas) and I heard this horrible sound. I looked down and saw Madison stomping the toy cats tail and it meowed really angrily, growled and HISSED at her. Freaked me out! I have never heard it do that before. I found that in the tail area by the tushie, it has a sensor. Apparently this cat doesnt like its tail messed with. I had no idea! So when the kids got home from school, I made it meow mad and hiss at Bethanie. She almost freaked out herself!!! LOL! OK, so maybe you had to be there.

Cutie...

As Bethie and I were snuggled up reading her library books and doing her reading homework, Madison had her own ideas that were keeping her busy...

This is what I call love!

RIDDLE Answer...

What is four footed in the morning, two footed in the afternoon, and three footed in the evening?


If you guessed BATHTUB, you are WRONG!!! :O)

If you guessed Man, you would be right! Think metaphorically.

Four footed in the morning-baby crawling
Two footed in the afternoon-adult walking on two feet
Three footed in the evening- Older adult walking with a cane

This riddle is the one that Oedipus had to solve to keep the sphinx from killing the people of the land of Thebes.

Who was it that guessed man? Any takers??

On Sirius note...

We found our lost dog. Someone called us and said that his daughter found him 5-10 miles West of town. She picked him up and took him to her dads house. This was Sunday and they have taken good care of him. He is OK. My dad went to get him (in a town 35 miles away) and he will bring him to us tomorrow. I am so glad my doggie is coming home!!!