December Ketchup

By the end of December, our memory card was full with...

12 zillion markers, thanks Santa

11 funky crusties (An Avery specialty glare)

10 dancers posing

9 dowels of ribbon

8 ice skates slipping

7 jars of candy

6th time's a charm...making reindeer dust. Ella popped open the sugar bag like 5 times!

5 ladies working (Lorraine not pictured)

4 train cars chugging

3 frozen runners (19 miles!). Oh yes, those headbands are reversible green and red.

2 children asking

And the best neighbor gift we've ever received...how cute is that?

Blue Man Blue Man Blue Man!

Best. birthday. party. ever. And it wasn't even mine.



This was the most perfect fit for Bryson's decade-celebrating birthday party...no silly hats and loads of base. We spent Saturday in Vegas with no kids (a treat in and of itself), ate at a yummy buffet (see below), and thoroughly rocked out at the Blue Man Group, ending the night watching the fountains outside the Bellagio.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm homemade ice cream and gelati

...and now you are an adult...

Is this Christmas, what I have, or is it tuna?

I ran into Jessica Simpson's verion of Mary's Song on Seriously, So Blessed! (guilty pleasure) the other day. What the...??? Yes, it is WRONG to sing the best Christmas song ever in a breathy, seductive way. Thanks for desecrating that.

I also realize that this is not a new CD and I should have probably run into this before now. I'm just not as cool as I used to be. And my old fogie husband is turning 30 next Sat.

Gone baby gone

My hair, that is. I cut it all off.

Of all the reasons I don't like our new afternoon church time, here is one reason that I do.

Mod Podge and me...the start of a beautiful friendship.

Just give me candy, OK?

Not our best year for good manners. But...we have been pretty sick this week and it was quite a feat to get everyone out of fevers by Saturday night so we could run around in the cold and tempt fate with reckless abandon.

 

Ella = butterfly for Friday night ward party
Ella = Sleeping Beauty for Halloween night
Avery = monkey (mostly just pants) for Halloween

We didn't stress about what the kids would be this year because we just figured there is no need to buy costumes when you have an overflowing dress-up bin. Honestly, every day is Halloween when you're 4 years old. So Ella changed her mind every day about what she would dress up as and since I hadn't put my blood, sweat, and tears into making a masterpiece, I was happy to accomodate her whims. I just hope next year we aren't sick!

Released

Three years, four secretaries, four choristers, six counselors, 96 primary teachers, an unofficially called errand-running husband, and one very big tube of Halloween M&Ms later, and I find myself back in the pool of calling-less members getting ready to jump in to a brand-new split ward (well, at least until Sunday!). Identity crisis: I am no longer the primary president.

This is bittersweet, for sure. Primary is the best place on earth. So many good, strong, fun people have poked their heads into primary for long or short periods of time on their way to the bishopric, relief society presidency, young women's presidency, etc. They've all left an impression and I'll remember these experiences forever.

By way of grand finale, we had our primary program in sacrament today, with a whopping attendance of over 400 filling both chapel overflows. My favorite part of this year's presentation was a slideshow featuring families in the ward that played in the background while the kids sang "The Family is of God." It was right at the beginning, but it should have been at the end. This was a photo album of our ward family, and the emotional impact struck home; we love them all.

I passed on the dilapidated binder today and now there is a clean, blank space on my desk where my primary bag used to sit, overflowing with papers galore. I know it will be filled with new responsibilities soon, but for just a second it feels a little empty.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Of the places I love to stalk...Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Worth it!

So, I'm a budgeter. And this morning I was crunching some numbers in honor of my one-year anniversary of when I started getting the newspaper. Specifically, for grocery coupons. This is what I found:

In the past year (November 08-October 09) I spent about 40 percent less on groceries than I did in the previous year (November 07-October 08). Factoring in the cost of the newspaper brings that number down slightly, to a roughly 35 percent savings.

Even though we are spending less, we get more. So it's not a fair comparison. I'm getting low on cereal right now, which means I only have about 50 boxes in my pantry. I have toothpaste to last until 2020. We've not just been saving money, but building up storage. We also have an extra kid in diapers since the previous year and we are still spending less.

And then there are the valuable lessons that you realize you're teaching when your kid makes you something like this:

 

Priceless. Haha. It's a coupon envelope to take to the store with me. It's full of expired coupons that I let Ella play with and has a list on the front for me to write what I want to buy (lettuce, apparently). My favorite feature, however, is the little coupon cylinder taped to the left for me to set aside the coupons I just need to use for that day to hold them separately. Love it!