My Piano Man

Here's Parker (red) and BFF David at their Christmas recital. Joy to the World!

Favorite Christmas Song

So what is everyone's favorite Christmas song? We make a Christmas mix CD every year for our neighbors and family, so I guess this is kind of a poll. What song do you have to listen to every year:

Here are some of mine:
1-Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas..by James Taylor. I came across this one on a non-Christmas CD (October Road?) a few months after 9/11. It just seemed to be hopeful and soothing that year.
2-John Denver & the Muppets.....sure..laugh at me. It's part of my childhood AND it really annoys my brother, Mark. My kids love it, too.
3-OK....I'm really loving the Target Christmas commercial jingle this year. I'm always fan of their commercials, but the song is addicting. Kind of Beatle-esque.

Please list yours...I'd love to know.

Happy 9th Anniversary

I've been married for 9 years....wow.
Bill....I know we are celebrating at "Wicked" in NY for our anniversary, but I couldn't help but let you know why I love you TODAY!

9 reasons that Bill is the best!

1-Bill is the perfect dad....I always knew he would be. He is so patient to play a long game with the kids, "wrastle", and spend special time with each. Yet, he is a good disciplinarian. It's a great mix. I came home the other day, and Bill was helping Parker and Emi count out tithing from their piggy banks. Impressive, thoughtful, and sweet.

2-He will clean the toilets for me after I've had stomach-flu....well, except this last time.....He's also dealt with some gucky child delivery stuff.

3-Bill can make a boring task like shopping for men's overcoats...and anything else...fun. I credit his 3 older sisters for his love of shopping. He always picks out great things for me and never makes me feel bad for what I spend on myself. I love that he cannot walk out of "GapBody" without a new pair of cute PJ's for me, even if they are the exact same ones (just opposite colors) as the one before.

4- Awesome dancer.....very smooth. Has no problem letting me lead on occassion (occupational hazard), but is a very competent leader on his own. He has great crazy dances as well, but you don't want to see them.

5-Bill loves (tolerates?) my family, as I do his. I was lucky to find such a great family to become a part of. They are always good for a laugh, shopping spree, and are SO great to my kids (the prodigal cousins) who don't live in CA. I'm even kind of fond of Rusty, the rat dog.

6-His sense of humor was one of the first things that attracted me to him (after the cute smile and blue eyes). His wit is lightening quick (just ask my mom) and intelligent. It has become a life-saver for me on days where living with an Asperger's child is too much.

7-He has moved drill team sets, made up my recital themes, and sat through countless dance routines. Dedication!

8- Bill is so genuine! He has very loyal friends because of this. Once you are a friend of Bill's, you are always his friend. I've got the Christmas card list to prove it.

9- HOTTEST biker on the hill...enough said!

LOVE YOU!

Christmas weight loss solution.....

I made a goal to get to the gym 4-5 times a week in December (basically so I can eat all the cheeseball and eggnog I want). Well, I haven't been very good about it this month, but found a much more FUN solution. Stomach Flu! Get it for 24-48 hours, lose 4-5 pounds. To keep off those pounds, make sure all three of your children get a nasty case of it as well. Then you won't have time to eat all the yummy goodies from your neighbors because you will be running countless loads of laundry and wiping up toilets.

family tally:
Stomach Flu-4 Healthy-1......watch out Bill...you're next!!!!

Our (almost) finished basement

My mega-desk (above) and mini-kitchen (below)

Parker's automotive-themed room
New family room (minus pictures, furniture, etc)

We started planning this project last Christmas, broke walls down in May, and have been mostly done since October. So nice to have the extra space. My favorite area is my dream desk! I remember my mom telling me (when I was a teenager) to have a room with counters and cabinets. I didn't really get it until now. It's heaven. We still need to add furniture to the family room, tile the bathroom shower, and put a floor down in Bill's office. Oh yeah...the family room is wired for surround sound (thanks Kip) and one day will have the mega TV. Great. Honestly...we had wonderful help getting this done. Thanks Boyd, Dad, Kip, Jim, Paul, Cody, Mike, and Travis. It's great to have friends who have these talents! I'm also pretty amazed with my husband and his project management skills, as well as his figuring out how to do blue-prints and lighting design all by himself. He's a renaissance man

I'm so lucky!!!

I've always said that I would never push my love of dance on my daughter. Well, I really haven't had to because she loves it so much. I took her to the Nutcracker last Christmas, and ever since then, she's been hooked. She will often come down and watch the older girls take class. Emi is a natural born dancer....SO flexible! She can't hear music without showing us her moves. Who knows how long this will last, but I'm enjoying it while I can.

These are pics before her Christmas "recital" (I just let the parents come into the studio to watch some informal dances). She's my little Sugarplum Fairy!

Ode to Artic Circle

Maybe this is not "blog-worthy", but I just have to do it. I'm not a big a fan of fast food playplaces....mostly because I overheard a woman talk about her son sliding into a big pile of throw-up at Carl's Jr. That being said, my kids LOVE them. They are kind of unavoidable with our frequent trips to California.
Emi's birthday was yesterday, so I took Emi, Quinn, and her best friend Jade to Artic Circle (a Utah food chain) to lunch. They are so accommodating to kids. They had an attendant in the play area who brought you your meals, brought you Ketchup, and brought you ice creams at the end. So nice when you've got a baby to worry about. You just don't see service like that at many places. Yea for them....plus the food isn't hideous like McDonalds.

Emi's Princess Party

Today was Emi's birthday party. It's hard to believe she's five! The girls were so adorable...they made wands & necklaces, played "musical thrones" & "kiss the frog", and attended the royal ball in the dance studio. Emi was in heaven!

Happy Thanksgiving...

We've had a great Thanksgiving...cornbread stuffing, "Enchanted", and gingerbread boys. What could be better. I thought I would list what each kid was thankful for:

Parker:
1- Friends
2-124 cars (the current tally of hotwheels)
3-Disney-Pixar movies
4- House (especially the new bedroom)
5-Utah (the state, not the school)
6-Google

Emi:
1. My silkie (her beloved blanket)
2. House
3. Friends...namely Jade, Mallory, and Emily
4. Trees
5. Heavenly Father
6. Rowboats (???)

Quinn: (if he could talk)
1. Mommy's hair
2. Mommy's cheeks
3. Mommy's skin
4. Mommy's earrings
5. Fosse's tail
(all things he likes to chew on)

Trouble starts with "Q"

This is Quinn....isn't he cute? He's 10 months of cuteness. He is also the most high-maintenance baby we have ever dealt with. Quinn is a light sleeper (not good with noisy older siblings), a non-cuddler, hates the car seat, and a grabber (of hair, skins, earrings, food bowls, etc). But a mother's love is a miraculous thing. Plus he is REALLY cute and especially charming with Bill's blue eyes. As I write this post, he has learned to climb stairs.....great.

Technicalities

My cute (picky) husband has informed me that I will be messing everyone up with the name of our blog and the web address. Please note that the title is "Livin' the dream" (without a "g"), but the URL is livingthedream-lb.blogspot.com (with a "g"). I told him that we have smart friends that can get past this little quirk.
-Liz

Welcome to our blog

I'm a little scared to start a blog. We've been meaning to do this for months. Since most of our family is spread out around the country (and since I'm so bad at sending pics and updates through e-mail), we figured this would be a great idea to keep us "in the loop" with everyone.

Bill came up with "livin' the dream" as a title because it's a constant phrase muttered in our home when changing yucky diapers, cleaning up puke, and standing in long lines at Target. Right after Quinn was born, Emi had her playgroup at our house. I watched these four little girls dress their baby dolls, feed them, rock them to sleep...in short..be moms. I watched this as I was still in my PJ's, hair everywhere/no make-up, sleep-deprived, and realized....they wanted to be me. Livin' the dream!

In all seriousness, we really are: 3 beautiful (& strong willed) children, a great house, super neighbors, and don't forget the cat. We hope you will check here often and keep us posted on your life as well.