The Forgotten Carols

I love The Forgotten Carols. I have loved it since I was a young girl. My mom took all 3 of us girls when we were younger. I think I was 12 or younger when I had gone last. I had such great memories of going with my mom. I instantly loved it. I have talked about it for years, just reminiscing about the memories.

Josh surprised me with Forgotten Carol tickets. I was so ecstatic. I cried and kind of squealed. We went on November 30th and Amy and my mom watched the girls for us. We went out to eat at Elements and oh was it so divine.

It was so different from when I saw it when I was younger. Michael McLean did most of the parts and the new one was so different but still so good. It really touched my heart and I love the voice that Jordan Bluth has. Very powerful.

Thanks Josh, for the wonderful evening. It was a pleasant surprise.

Thanksgiving

ALLEMAN THANKSGIVING

We had such a fun time. The kids love their gingerbread houses.

WILLIAMS THANKSGIVING

Yeah, this never happens.

Amy LOVES crossword puzzles. I made her one of her very own, a personal one.

One word. YUM!

Amy fell asleep on the couch doing her crossword puzzle book.

Amy and I braved BLACK FRIDAY at Kohl's. I got this awesome Dyson vacuum. Amy got one too but for my mom. We stood in line for 2 hours and ran through the store to get them and then had to get an employee to get us one out of the back. It was quite a rush.

My girls got SUPER sick the night of Thanksgiving. Chloee ran a horrible fever and then Halle picked it up too. They ran them for 3 or so days. After the 3rd day and Chloee's temp being around 104, I took her in. She had pneumonia. Poor thing. Halle never got pneumonia but she did get croup. It was a long week. Let's say that. At one point, Josh gave both the girls a blessing and the next day, both of their fevers broke and Chloee said, "It's because Heavenly Father is taking care of us that we don't have fevers anymore. Dad's blessing was really good for our bodies."

As always, we seem to have a car repair in the November and December months. We had to get the Honda aligned and get the front wheel bearing replaced. This seriously happens EVERY year and that is just for November.

MISC Stuff

Amy gives my girls Christmas dresses every year. Here is this year. I love them. They look so cute on them. She always gives them to them in November so that they can wear them during the Christmas season. Oh, my girls are so spoiled.

Amy is a Scrabble F-R-E-A-K. This particular game is one where we didn't abide by any rules as far as names, not even totally real words. Oh, we had a fun time with this game. I had to take a picture of it for memories sake.

The Bubble Gum Dilemma

WOW! I have had this post in my drafts since MARCH. Yep, it has taken me this long to finally get this post written. Sad, but I do want to document it so here goes the highlights of the story considering that it happened 9 months ago.

I was at Macey's with the girls, buying some things for dinner. At the checkout, Chloee asked me if she could get some gum, this beautiful Bubble Tape gum. I said no. I hate gum, that doesn't even really begin to explain the pure hatred for it. I like to chew it but I hate if my kids have it and really at that point, she RARELY ever got any. I don't like worrying about it in hair, carpet, clothes, etc.

We got home and a few hours later, I caught her chewing gum. I asked her where she got it. She told me her friend, Taylor, left it at our house from the night before. I didn't think much of it til I talked to Taylor's mom and she said she never had any Bubble Tape. Oh, the plot just thickened. I approached her again and it was lie after lie after lie. Now I was really getting angry.

After a few hours of interrogation, she finally told me that she stole it from the store. When I told her no, she couldn't have any gum, she evidently just snuck it under her leg, chewed it on her way home and had been eating it all day. Oh, I was livid. That might not even explain it well enough.

LYING and STEALING? What? Where did my sweet 4 year old go?

When Josh got home, I took her back to Macey's. I explained to her that you can go to jail when you steal and that she was going to have to tell them what she did and that she would have to pay for it with her money. She wasn't even remorseful. What? Ok, I really need to drive this point home and set the precedence NOW at a young age, about stealing.

We went to the service desk and I asked for the manager. The stupid 18 year old kid working the desk told me that the manager was out on break but that he could help me. I should have known better. I told Chloee to tell him what she did at the store earlier. She was told him that she stole "this" as she put the bubble gum up on the counter. He said, "Oh that's okay!" Are you a moron? I told him that it wasn't okay and that he needed to tell her what happens when people steal. He looked at me like I was the meanest mom in the world.

After I had to explain and help this kid (can't he see that I'm trying to teach her a lesson?) she paid for the gum with her own money and then he gives it back to her. I said, "Oh no, you put that in the trash." He looked at me weird and said, "But she paid for it." Oh my gosh.... I know that but if she pays for it and gets to keep it, that teaches her that she can keep stealing, come back, pay for it and then keep it, what is to stop her? WOW! I could have beat this kid, he was making it really hard for me to teach her a vital lesson.

I then asked what chore she could do around the store, as part of her punishment for stealing. He told me that she didn't need to, she's so young. I then asked to speak to someone who has kids and knows what I'm talking about. He sent us over to the produce section. This is what I'm talking about. He had her help sweep up onion shells in the back room and help pick up produce that had fallen on the ground. He then had a long talk with her about stealing and how the store deals with people stealing and how she can get in big trouble. Nice.

After she was done with helping him clean up the produce area, I told her there was something else that I wanted her to do. We went and got a bag and picked up every single piece of trash on the floors in the whole store. It was a great teaching moment and she is SCARED to death to ever steal again. We had a good talk on the way home. I hugged and kissed her that night and felt so good about the lesson I was able to teach her.

Multiple people who heard this story, thought I was too harsh. Everyone parents differently and I get that she's "only 4" as people put it, but why does she have to be older to teach her that stealing is not acceptable? Make it easy once and they'll keep thinking they can do it and that there will be no consequences and by then it has turned into something much worse.

I love Chloee. She tells all of her friends about how bad stealing is. It warms my heart, I got through to her that day. Oh and she was also banned from gum for a long time and the first time she could have gum again, she got it in her hair. She chews on her hair and when you have gum in your mouth, it's not a good combination. I had to cut some of her hair because I couldn't get it out. Oh the joys of parenthood.

Did I mention that I hate gum?

50 First Dates

There are quite a few things to be said about Halle. She is stubborn, opinionated, has rage issues and that girl definitely knows what she does or does not like. Also, that girl has some serious stamina. Needless to say, she literally sucks every cell of energy from me, every day.

Every time Halle sees anyone, excluding myself, Josh and Chloee (and sometimes we're included in that group) you have to win over her love. Every. Time. My parents were staying here for a weekend. After a few hours, she warmed up to them and things were fine but once she went to sleep, that slate was wiped clean and she doesn't remember liking you the day before. She got up and wanted nothing to do with them and once again, you have to win her affection.

My dad worded this "trait" of hers well. He said it's like the movie, 50 First Dates. She can never remember who you are and if she likes you, all because she went to sleep. This works for naps as well. Truer words were never spoken. My dad hit it right on the head with that all too close to home analogy.

She is even like this with Amy sometimes. Which is weird, because she loves Amy more than me. If she naps on our way up to my mom's, then she will cry and wants nothing to do with anyone but after about 10 minutes, she'll cuddle up to Amy. Amy is pretty much the only person who can get her disarmed that fast.

Other family members think she's like that because she doesn't see them very often and that is why she is always so weary of them. I try to explain that the family she does see more often get this as well. I don't think they believe me. Sometimes she really hurts feelings.

I don't know what it is about her that makes her forget that she liked you before she went to bed or down for a nap but you do have to convince her that she does like you and sometimes that can take all day. My brother, Matt, tries all day sometimes and gets nowhere. I will admit that it is kind of funny because everyone tries so hard to persuade her to let them play with her. It's a game for my family, whoever can get her to hug them first, WINS!

I guess this all goes with her personality. I guess she figures that people should have to win her over and over and over again, you know, to truly show their dedication. She is a fun spit fire and I love all of her weird quirks. Amnesia or self induced forgetfulness, I still love her.

My Luck May Be Changing

I went into RC Willey to get a movie that I got online. Every Wednesday, they do a wild web Wednesday. It's usually something new that has just released and I get it for $9. Good deal, no? I went in to get this...

The Lion King. I hate when Disney only releases things every so often. As I was walking in, I heard over the intercom that they would be doing another drawing at 7:15, which was in 15 minutes. When I went to the service desk to get my movie, I asked her what the drawing was for.

She told me that it was for anyone who got a VIP ticket, which was anyone who opened an RC Willey account or already had one. I never got a ticket but I already had an account so she gave me a ticket. I went up to the front to put my name in the drawing, when he told me that just for putting my name in, I get a bag of free stuff.

It had some knives, carpet/spot cleaner, a Serta sheep and a Christmas CD. I'm not going to complain, it was free and who doesn't love free? I know I do.

When I put my name in for the drawing they said I didn't have to be present to win. There were quite a few names in there. We were headed out when they said they were going to draw another winner. We were walking past the table when I hear the guy draw out someones name. We kept walking towards the doors when I heard him say, "Who is the other winner?" Suddenly, someone was saying, "Mam?" I turned around and he said, "Are you Kimberlee Adams?" Wow, was I actually winning? The gentleman said, "This guy says this is your ticket and you just put your name in minutes ago. Congratulations, you won!" He then handed me this:

A 19" flat screen TV. Yea, I was so happy, I almost cried. I never win anything. I couldn't believe that I won. It was the perfect ending to a HORRIBLE day. I thanked them repeatedly and then walked out before they could change their minds.

We came home and Chloee told me that she thinks the guys on the TV look like Shawn and Gus from Psych. Yep, sure do.

Supergirl or SuperHal?

I found this costume after Halloween for only $3. I had to snag it. It went right into the dress up box. She pulls off a pretty cute Supergirl if you ask me.

Fun Crafts for the Holidays

Some ladies in my ward put together a fun craft day. I made this cute magnetic countdown to Christmas. I love the way it turned out.

I made these block Forget Me Not crafts. They are so pretty. It was based after the talk by President Uchtdorf. I made a few of these for gifts.

I also made some of these cute nativities. Simple. Perfect.

Good & Bad News

We are moving!

Well, let me rephrase that. We will move if and when this house sells. I don't know why I've waited so long to put this post up. Back in August, Josh got a new job. It's kind of a funny story.

Josh applied for a job in Logan back in July. Although we want to live in Cache Valley again, we haven't bothered applying for jobs there just because the money is significantly less than what we make out of the valley. To the point where we wouldn't be able to live on the salary.

I asked him why he was even wasting his time applying and we both agreed that it wouldn't go anywhere and we didn't think anything of it again. Two weeks later, he got a call for an interview. Once again, don't waste your time, right? Josh decides to go and see what the company is all about.

The interview goes well and 2 weeks later, they offered him the job. The money was good, considering how much Logan pays. Josh counter offered back on multiple accounts and they accepted every one of his request. Needless to say, we were ecstatic. I think I jumped up and down and screamed for many days.

Josh went and gave his two weeks at his job and by the end of August, he was working in Logan. He does this fantastic, fun commute from here, Layton, to North Logan, every day. The commute is sometimes an hour and a half, each way. That is 3 hours in the car a day and DON'T even get me started on the gas.

We are so excited to be going back to Logan. Amy is there now, my family is all up there, except Annie, who will never live here again, I'm sure. My OBGYN is up there, where I deliver my babies, everything.... I know the area and Josh and I feel like it's home.

What's the bad news you say? I bought this home at the HEIGHT of the housing market, in December 2007. As most people know, the market has tanked big time. I had all of the money that I put into this home from my last one home, which is about 35K, and I'm going to lose it all. The market is THAT bad and I might end up owing. The market is ugly and it is flooded with short sales and foreclosures.

The commute is killing Josh. I guess I'm just putting it all in The Lord's hands. We got the job and the money we needed, which is a miracle, so I have to believe that the house will sell when it is supposed to.

On the up side, my house is always clean because I'm showing it at least 4 times a week.

Underwear, They're Optional

We were getting ready for church a few weeks ago and I told Chloee when she got out of the shower to go put on her lace leggings under her dress. She did. About 5 minutes later, "These tights hurt me," I retorted with, "Stop whining and go get in the car."

We are sitting in sacrament meeting and Chloee starts screaming about how much the tights are hurting her. I sat there and wondered if somehow I maybe gave her Halle's tights instead. I take a quick peek at the tag and nope, they are Chloee's but Chloee seemed to have forgotten one very important step BEFORE putting on her tights.... UNDERWEAR. She seriously didn't have on any underwear. No wonder the tights were hurting her.

I took her home to get some undies on and now we always tease her that underwear aren't optional. She laughed for a bit, at the first and now she doesn't think it's so funny but I still do.

The Trifecta

Before I start writing this post, I'm going to share this incredibly "lazy" moment I just had. As I sat down at the computer, I realized that I couldn't see the monitor because it is covered in so much dust. The only reason this is so obvious is because I have the blinds open.

I start off by trying to clean off some of it with the end of my shirt. I then realized that I would need a rag to do the job, I could only get so much of the dust with the shirt reaching abilities with it still on my body. Did I go get a rag? No. I took of my shirt, dusted it off, so I could see the monitor and then proceeded to put my shirt back on.

How's that for lazy and disgusting? That's me.

(In my defense, it is my dirty cleaning shirt, not a nice one.)

Alright, back to the actual post. There are 3 MAJOR things for me to do with my children when they become the appropriate age that REALLY give me stress and they seem to all happen right around the same time. I like to refer to this as THE TRIFECTA.

The Trifecta contains 3 parts. Obviously, hence the tri...

#1. THE BINKI

I get that some kids never use a binki. My children do not fall into that category, unfortunately. My children become so attached to their binki that I feel like I am taking away one of their best friends and it is no longer a thing, it's a person or a doll to my kids. Sad, this I know.

Finally, 3 months ago, when Halle was 2 and a half years old, we did it. Let me say this, she NEVER had it during the day, just at nap and bedtime. That was it. Josh tried to talk her into mailing them to the babies that need them. We tried telling her that she was a kiddo not a baby anymore so the binkis needed to go to the babies.

After much convincing, it worked and we piled together all the binkis and she never used one again. I will admit that I wanted to give one to her in the middle of the night when she wouldn't stop screaming. That one was a little heart wrenching as she would cry for it at night and fall asleep asking for it, but it was doable.

#2 THE BED

This one is quite a bit harder for me. About 2 months ago, we moved her to a bed. Josh has been trying to get me to move her to a bed for quite a while but I just couldn't do it. She's not climbing out of the crib, the crib contains her, WHY ON EARTH MOVE HER OUT? That was my thinking anyway.

He kept saying, she's two and a half, she needs a bed not a crib anymore. Nope, no convincing me. Finally, when I was cleaning the girls' room one day, I decided to bite the bullet. We already had a bed for her because back in February, we bought stackable bunk beds for the girls and put Chloee's bed up in her room but Halle's was still in the box.

Finally, we put the bed up and sold the crib. I figure if I ever had another baby, I want a new one that I didn't buy from a garage sale and wasn't made in 1980, that is not a joke. She did okay, at first she really didn't love the bed and there were a few rough nights but it went better than I thought.

#3 POTTY TRAINING

This one might as well kill me. This child is pure torture to potty train. It's not her idea, so plain and simple, it ain't happenin'. Nice use of English, I know.

She has been going pee and poop in the potty for probably 5 months now but that is ONLY if it is her idea or if Chloee is going to the potty and NEVER if we ask. It has been a constant battle. It has been a battle of who will finally give in. I usually lose and cave. This girl has stamina!

Last week I finally decided to just try and put her in underwear. As you can see, this girl has junk in the trunk. Most underwear hangs off of the kid's bum, not Halle, she's got a second cheek hanging out, she's that chunky. I love her chub.

Right when I put the underwear on her, she said, "Oh, I don't like these underwear, they make my bum cold." I'm sure they do, diapers have a lot of insulation. We go 1 hour without an accident and then I hear, "Uh oh, Mom!" Great! I come downstairs to find that she hasn't peed her pants, she full on crapped them and not a solid one, it was, of course, diarrhea. She didn't want me to wipe her down and she told me that she HATED underwear and she was done with them.

I sat down and cried and yet I caved and put her in a diaper. This child will go to preschool NOT potty trained, wait no she won't, cause they won't take them if they're not potty trained, so I guess she misses out of on that little adventure.

Chloee was potty trained at about 2 years and 3 months. Halle will be 3 in February. AHHHHH!!! After talking with my good friend, Mary this morning, she made me feel better and gave me renewed hope that it WILL happen when she's ready. She told me about how it was a power struggle with one of her kids, she has the same personality as Halle, and how she dealt with it and it made me feel like, first, I wasn't alone and second, eventually it will happen but it absolutely will NOT happen until she is ready.

Alright, bring on the patience cause I'm fresh out of that.