2nd half of December pics

So....finishing off the month.

So, so fun.

My brother Mark's family came in town this year for Christmas. Best cousins reunited! On the Trolley at Thanksgiving Point.

We (um....me) made these Santas for the kids friends instead of my rootbeer reindeer. The reindeer were more kid friendly than these. I burned my hands with the hot glue gun several times. 

Meet Dixie....our new boar head. The annual White Elephant Extravaganza did not disappoint. I can't even describe the smell of this thing. 

Newman family party at my house. Ca-razy!

Letters to Santa. On Christmas Eve. Santa works fast, especially when a new item shows up on the list.

I wish you could see her sweater better. I've had this Christmas sweater for, well, since they were cool. My mom got it before I was even married. I've crammed a girl into this about every year since, but I think this is the end. It won't fit her next year =-(

Those darned lights on my tree. It think it's the trees last year, too. 

Pepper Candy-lips left us some great goodbye photos on the iPad. As if he wasn't creepy enough.

Macy asked for a pink puppy. Love the simple, non-electronic requests.

Quinn was loving his new lava lamp.

This totally is the perfect pic of Emi right now....listening to One Direction while playing dolls. So Tween-like.

Thank you, KSL classifieds for finding this one!

Merry Christmas!

The Year of the Liz-recap

Here we are...the last day of 2012. And it's not December 21st. I decided to be completely selfish this year and deem it "The Year of the Liz".

I have to say....IT WAS GREAT!

Perfect.....noooooo. In fact, there were several set-backs that we didn't see coming. There were some extremely tough moments, days, weeks, even months that were trial-ridden and unexpected. Problems that have developed in my life that I feel unequipped to handle at this stage of the game. But truly, I will look back at 2012 as a year to remember. In very fond ways.

Why you ask (well, by the looks of my sad comment board these days, no one is asking....hint hint).

1. I wasn't afraid to put myself first. After 12 years of birthing and nursing babies, it was time. Macy is a child who loves attention, and I do love to give it to her, but I've still found time to take care of me. As moms, we feel guilty being #1. And I definitely wasn't ALWAYS #1, but I allowed times to be that way.

2. I took a few chances. Decided that I couldn't let "busy" be my excuse for not trying something new. I will always be busy because that is just who I am. D.C., Nutcracker, New York (all things done on short notice) fit into this category.

3. Looking back at my post last year, I vowed to cure my back. Well, I fell short on that goal, but I did a few things to further the progress. It has been as good as it's been in years (except the last 2 weeks...I  blame Christmas). There will be more progress in 2013 on my back, and I will not be discouraged. I will keep searching.

4. I felt no guilt spending money on pedicures and a monthly massage. I work hard and enjoy the pampering. Plus, it's so nice to have a little light in my day when work and kids have worn me down. I love my studio, but it does wear me out (in a good way).

5. I truly took time to notice my kids. I've noticed nuances and cool things about each kid and really learned to appreciate them more. Maybe it's because I'm turning 40 in 10 months, but I'm a little "mid-life crisis-y" right now. I've really learned how short the time is that I have with them. They are wonderful. But, that being said, could they seriously go back to school?

6. I was careful with who I gave my time with socially. There are people that are just toxic. People that live to hurt you or belittle you because of your opinions or your trials. There are people that just suck you dry. I've tried to not become offended when someone makes comments about my son or my political beliefs. I'm safe in the knowledge that I'm a good person doing good things. I'm happy that I have gained that confidence with age.

I really am happy with my life. I'm a lucky gal and have the best husband, kids, and job ever. I'm trying really hard to not let the trials in my life define me. I'm in a good place.

2013....the Year of Everyone Else. Service. That is what I want to my kids to remember this year. I feel restored and ready to go. I'll write more on this later, but I truly think I had to take care of me first to be able to serve anyone else. You can't give anything if you don't have anything to give. (so, so deep)  =-)

Happy New Year. There's good stuff ahead!

Scenes of December....(part 1)

Welcome to December....the craziest month of all in our house.

Always nice to be met by this cute lady.

 Emi and friend Kate as the Chinese dancers.

 Chillin' with my 1860's posse. Hoop skirts are now my new fashion statement. 

 Opening night. Macy loved when the Nutcracker broke, and then Superman (Drosselmeyer) put it back together. Anything with a cape is Superman.

 Downtown. The candy windows are back!

 It was a perfect snowy night downtown. So fun!

Our elf's name was "Pepper Candy-lips". He got around. Here he is smooching an angel.

 Macy performed in her first little dance program. She was adorable! She is in the black, red, and white.

 Quinn with his woman!

 Kindergartners put on a great show. The side shows are the best part.

 My Nutcracker children (cast b). We were the military couple. 

 It's so wonderful when snow shows up on a SATURDAY!

Pepper Candy-lips was a little artistic one night.

 

You have to be creative to have a December 18th anniversary. The only 15 minutes we had together was his lunch break where we took 2 kids to Harmons. We live big. We do always celebrate in January or February.

Anyways....that was the first part. I'll post more in a few days. 

The BIG kitchen/familyroom/living room REVEAL

I'm so happy to say that the remodel (with the exception of a new table) is DONE! The majority has been done since September, but the little touches keep coming in. It was quite the ordeal, but I was so lucky to have a couple friends who had just gone through it. I used their amazing contractors and had super results. I'm lucky to have a husband and father-in-law who were willing to try anything, as long as they could learn how to do it on "YouTube". 

So.....here you go

BEFORE

(I can't even describe the hatred I had for my old cabinets. They now live in our garage....mocking me)

AFTER 

(many of these are taken in different seasons, hence the different decor)

(cords still hanging out of TV for this pic)

Valences aren't up in the this pic....

but they are here!

  The living room is in super squishy mode right now with the tree, but you get the idea.

So...PHEW! LOVE the results and all the great people who made it possible.

Heartbreak

I can't tell you how disturbed I have been the last 2 days. I refuse to turn on the TV because I can't bear the news coverage of Connecticut. I had just left the cutest Kindergarten Christmas program for Quinn and got into my car. As I turned on the radio, it was devastating to hear the tragic news. Kindergarteners!  I could hardly talk. I can't even go there in my head to think what devastation this is to the families of the victim. I was no good accomplishing anything all day.

To be honest, I still can't bring myself to read any of the details or the names. It's like I don't want to know it's really true. Why do we live in a world like this? For about half the day, I was truly horrified at the world we live in, and I'm not that kind of person. Later that day, as I shuffled kids to and fro, I heard Celine Dion sing "O Holy Night" and later a version of "Silent Night". There was finally a quiet peace that reminded me of our Savior. As horrible as this all is, especially this time of year, there is a peace in Christ. One of my favorite quotes is "Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ". Later, this pic came up on Facebook

It helped. 

I can't imagine any of us recovering from this anytime soon. But I will say, the last few Christmases, I've been a bit Scroogey. I shook things up a bit this year by performing in the Nutcracker (a story for another day) and that has helped make it fun, but this event changed it, too. This weekend I've been all about stopping my crazy-long to-do list and being with my kids. I snuggled and watched all our DVR'd Christmas specials, I played in the snow with them, I let them stay up late, we had sugar cookies for breakfast, etc. It has made me stop and appreciate the glory that is little kids. I love my sweeties dearly. They are everything to me. I was more patient (mostly). I hope I can always cherish them the way I want to. I hope it makes me focus on the right things this year. 

Merry Christmas. 

p.s. Are any of you feeling extreme anxiety about sending your kids off to school tomorrow. I am.