The Happy, Smiley, Easy-going Me Is Ba-ack!

Hi, everyone. I am back. Really, I have been feeling bad about all my belly-aching over one silly (although very costly) traffic ticket. So, sorry about that. Here is our Thanksgiving in a nutshell... Well, I guess I am really one for the details, so here is a detailed picture update of our Thanksgiving with the Seaman's! Only five days until Christmas!

We were so lucky to go ice skating. Now that I'm posting this, I think it was on Black Friday, but maybe not? I didn't take one picture of Thanksgiving dinner, but we had a FEAST. Seriously. It was delicious. I'm glad that kind of dinner is only once a year. Anyway, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Real life has been busy and stressful and wonderful. I love life!

Here we are ice skating. The kids had a blast. It wasn't too crowded, so they got to use the walkers. On a side note, I sent a picture on Scott's phone. When his front office lady saw it, she thought we were maybe adopting some handicapped kids from Russia (bundled kids with walkers... I guess my phone is low quality!).

Jenni and Ashlyn

I was amazed they let Brookie out on the ice with me. She had a good time.

Kels

Cousins playing in their new pj's. Brookie was thrilled to have her own "a-a-ah... a-a-ah..." [princess] pj's. She sings Ariel when she sees anyone resembling a princess.

Seaman Family Talent Show 2010

Derek ... maybe it'll work next time.

Grandma Frost playing some songs her mom taught her by yelling out chords from the kitchen.

Bustin' a move. Jake was really inhibited. Alisa busted out. Seriously. It was hilarious.

It was a family affair. Don't want to give it away for the Crane talent show, but Alisa was tearin' up my heart...

Down on my knees...

Hot mama... er, grandma... rockin' it.

Bethi is teaching Derek how to play the piano. Fabulous.

I almost died laughing at this little number. Absolutely special.

Yodeler turned rapper... Caleb was my hero of the night.

Les singing... wow I can't remember the song but the lyrics were just a tad bit risque (sp?) if you ask me...

Alisa and Jake in on the ribbon action

Minute to Win It game night.

Junk in the trunk. Derek striking a pose.

Guess who won? We're not competetive. At all.

Proof that Brookie does love grandma. p.s. grandma you look fabulous!

The end for now, until I upload more pictures. Merry Christmas everyone!

Officially the Stupidest Test I Have Been Subjected To

The traffic school test. How lame. All throughout the course, they flashed "important" facts at the bottom of the page. There were neat tidbits such as "Nebraska does not border Arizona." Well, as you probably would, I finally started ignoring them. When I get to the test, I almost started screaming when I read, "Which state does not border Arizona?" with a list that included Nebraska. Really? Really? I spent five or six questions googling the answers to things like "Which Arizona school has an enrollment of 67,000?" and "Which city is located 300 miles from Phoenix?"

Really? I am vowing to NEVER subject myself to such idiocy again. Maybe that is the point. What a stupid test.

I am sorry to my sensitive readers for using the "s" word, but I am feeling pretty strongly about it.

And by the way, I really am feeling a lot of holiday cheer. I am glad this is behind me so I can feel some more. I think part of my frustration is that it is totally my fault and could have been prevented. Lesson learned. Merry Christmas everybody!

Traffic School... oh, how I detest you!

I got my FIRST EVER speeding ticket coming home from Salt Lake the week before Thanksgiving. I was so, so careful, up until that point, to have the cruise set and not speed. Then, the speed dropped to 55, then up to 65, then back down, then back up... I just left the cruise off, but when Jake would not stop whining about going to the bathroom and dropping a sucker, I guess my attention was elsewhere and I turned into lead-foot. So, $209 later, I am doing online traffic school. As we speak. You have to take a certain amount of time for each section, so I am letting the clock tick away. What a waste.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not blaming Jake. It is utterly my fault. I didn't even know how fast I was going. The bummer is that it was a city police officer, not a highway patrol. I got no break. I got no sympathy. He did let my mom take the kids potty outside of the vehicle while he wrote up a nice fat ticket.

I am really enjoying reading many, many statistics from 2006, and a few from 2001. I hope none of these random numbers are on the final test.

Oh, good. My time for Module 1 is up. Here goes... 47 minutes in module 2. Total time: at least 4 hours, but not to exceed 4 1/2 hours. **sigh**

Today I decided to quit

Well, I didn't decide to quit (although on Sunday I was sure feeling that way!). After a discussion about how cousin Ethan used to bite his nails, but quit, Jake proudly announced that he decided to quit biting his nails. Alisa chimed in that she had decided to quit licking her lip (which results in a really ugly, chapped bottom lip). Last night Jake decided, "today I decided to quit eating my boogers!" and Alisa decided to stop biting her nails today, too. Well, we are full of resolutions around here.

Before I forget, Brookie is hilarious. She recognizes letters (not individually) and calls them all "H." When she wants to color or draw, she says, "H" repeatedly. She can sing most of her abc's, only skipping a few letters. It is darling. But don't ask her. She does not perform. Is anyone really surprised by that? Now if she could just get those sea legs fixed... she is getting more stable but still no walking on her own. I'm sure it'll be soon.

She has also started really playing with her siblings. She growls at Alisa, kisses her babies, loves books (pronounced with a t), always wants me to "watt" with her, and has mastered the stairs. I love her. I'm glad she is so cute and she is mine. Otherwise I may have given her away by now! Just kidding. Kind of. I love her. I love all my kids. I feel very blessed.

I may have said this, but when we start a prayer with her, she chimes in "Jatey, La-la, Da-da, Ma-ma, Jatey... Jesus... 'Men!" It is the cutest prayer. She is a sweetie. Mostly.

First Snow

Our address

673 N. Pine Cliff Dr.

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

What's yours?

First snow... November

This is my snowboard, but he was pretty good on it, so maybe we'll give it a try this year.

I seem to be running lately. Running from one thing to the next, then falling into bed exhausted. In spite of being incredibly busy, we have tried to focus on having the true Spirit of Christmas in our home and lives. It has been really wonderful and has kept us from getting too stressed out o caught up in all the commercialism.

So I am taking a five minute break to write, since it's been over a month!

Last night, Scott generously volunteered to stay home with Brookie while I took Alisa and Jake to the dress rehearsal of The Nutcracker Suite. One of Alisa's favorite movies is Barbie in the Nutcracker, so she and Jake are familiar with most of the music. They LOVED it. Really, I had to tear them away around 8:40 pm (it ended at 9:30--a little late on a school night, or any night for that matter!). It was a fabulous way to expose the kids to some classical music, a ballet, and some culture in general without feeling the pressure of always shushing them. Plus it was free! Some of our little friends were in it, and it was fun to see them dance. I would highly recommend going to your local dress rehearsal if you are looking for some good, free entertainment.

On the way over there, we were talking about NAU, how it is a university and how I went to BYU. I asked Jake if he knew who Brigham Young was. He said, yes, he was a president of the United States of America. Close... I explained that he was a prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said, "Oh, so he kept the church clean and stuff? So, he made sure it didn't get dirty?" I don't know where he got that idea, but he went on about it for about five minutes. Yes, I guess he did keep it clean (?).

I was recently called to be the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator for church (we all volunteer to do different things in church, like teach Sunday School, lead the choir, etc.). I am in charge of the quarterly dinners/meetings we have. Our December one was on Tuesday night. It was lovely and I'm glad it's over!

Now on to prepare for Scott's office party tomorrow night. I have been cleaning and now I am off to start cooking.

By the way, did anyone else make the mistake of being so on top of Christmas shopping, ordering something on line, and now seeing that they are offering free shipping just about everywhere? Grrr... lame-o Crate and Barrel!

October

Out of order, but Alisa started a preschool co-op. Six girls and five moms... she is loving it! Here is a picture of their Halloween parade and party. They sang a cute song, made witch suckers, and got to dress up. Alisa was, of course, the little mermaid. Thank you, grandma Seaman, for the wonderful costume.

My turn to teach about the five senses. Having fun finger painting with pudding.

Brookie being sweet and enjoying the attention from her adoring fans (the preschool girls just eat her up even though she continues to be pretty crabby a lot of the time).

A few weeks before Halloween, we got together at my mom's to carve pumpkins and make homemade caramel apples. Seriously, I will never buy the packaged caramels again. It was DIVINE. And so, so bad for you. Once a year, right?

Unfortunately, my dad and brother were hunting and didn't make it in time. My dad did shoot an elk, so I guess the hunting was worth it.

Serious work on the pumpkins. Scott carved both of them, with the help of the kids. Jake insisted on a vampire on one side and a ghost on the other.

Alisa next to her happy pumpkin, looking a little scary herself.

Treston's ojitos. Love that kid. Love his mom. Josh did come in time to carve a "cah" [truck] for Trey.

Brookie eating caramel apples.

Finished pumpkins.

I took the kids running, something I try to avoid because I am a wimp and they are heavy in that double jogger! It happened to be a freezing, windy morning and after 2 1/2 miles, Brooke's screams were reaching insane decibel levels and I high-tailed it to the warmth of the car.

Alisa ready for preschool.

Jake's school had a fall festival fund raiser (has anyone had to jump through hoops to get your local grocery store to donate anything? It's crazy!). The kids dressed up and won a these lovely black, semi-burnt cupcakes. They were thrilled. The cupcakes were not very appetizing. I prefer homemade frosting, but that's just me...

Brookie looks like she has a broken leg. She doesn't. I got three kind of plain onesies at Old Navy and spiced them up. This ruffled one ended up looking a little clownish, but oh well.

Thanks Grandma Seaman for the costumes. Jake was Optimus Prime, Brookie kept saying "mow, mow, mow" on the way to the trunk-or-treat, and Alisa was thrilled as Ariel or Barbie mermaid, whichever she felt at the moment.

Jenni and boyfriend... hot 80's prom date.

We revived the oompa-loompa costumes for the occasion, since we hadn't worn them in Flag ever. My pants were a little see-through, so I wore Scott's long john bottoms under. I was toastie all afternoon.

Look at that tail!

Kelsi was also the beautiful Little Mermaid, although I'll spare everyone the semi-seductive pose we caught her in! She insisted we take a head-shot-only picture.

Tarah and Josh had us over for pork tacos and some fun on the 31st. It was yummy. Thanks!

"I memo!" Thrilled to be Nemo.

Boys vs. Girls mummy wrap game.

Guess who won? Even when someone's booty kept pushing me around and messing me up!

Budding photographer. I have about 30 of these:

A few more of these:

And these little gems:

I was cooking some turkey sausage to make lasagna last night (squeezing it out of the casing). Alisa was really curious, got all excited and says, "Hey! that looks like poop!"

Well, I guess it kind of does. How appetizing.

Brookie now says "kisses" and "lub-ooh" (love you) and all kinds of things. She does have many more happy moments since she started CRAWLING a few weeks ago (at 15 1/2 months old). She is well on her way to walking so I'll keep you posted.

Jake loves school, loves his first grade reading. We have had a few funny instances. He goes to a pretty diverse school. A few weeks ago he came home and asked me to help him draw a cross. A cross? What kindergartener draws a cross?

I also had a choice phone call on my cell phone from ANTONIO, who is in first grade, who is ARMANDO's brother (in kindergarten). I had to kindly ask Jake NOT to give out my cell phone number, thank you very much. You can talk to Armando and Antonio at school.