Les Mis

So after we had watched Mike and Jamie's kids they stayed the evening to watch our kids so we could go see Les Miserables. I had been dying to see this since the first trailer came out months agao.

 

 

I loved every second of it. I could talk about it or listen to the sound track all day. A few of my favorites were Hugh Jackman's acting, Marius Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, Anne Hathaway's singing, The Thenardier's, the epilogue singing and acting, and, always my favorite, any song that Eponine sings or has any part in.

 

Thanks Mike and Jamie for the night away from The Hoard!

Aiden and Andrew's BDay

This post is sad for me to write. We had an epic fail of parenthood when it come to Aiden and Andrew's birthday. Here is how it went down.

 

First of all we don't do anything major because it is the day after Christmas and we always have their birthday party in January. So, being the amazing mom that I am I went to lunch with my friends. It was a fabulous lunch and I always like hanging out with these ladies.

 

Then comes the bad part., even worse than me spending my boy's Bday with my friends. We had told the boys they could pick any restaurant to go to for dinner to celebrate. They picked Spaghetti Factory. Well, Trent texts me in the afternoon to inform me he just found out the boys have a soccer game that night. Luckily it was at 5:15 so we could still make dinner afterwards. Unluckily was that it was a soccer game on their birthday.

 

You see, the boys are on a rec team and their coach decided to put together a team for indoor soccer this winter. Well, just imagine a hodge podge of boys pulled together at the last minute, showing up with no practice or any idea of the rules, and playing comp teams that having been playing together for a couple years. To put it nicely the boys get creamed and humiliated. So, they were not happy about going to soccer on their birthday.

 

So, we head down to the soccer game and a lot of their team mates didn't show up. They only had 6 players and you play with 7 which meant no substitutions. AND the other comp team played with all 7 players. Lame. They got their butts kicked even more so. And to top it off Aiden got a ball right to the face and gut. At half time I went to talk to the boys and I could tell they were fighting back tears. Seriously the worst thing to watch as a parent.

 

But wait, I am not done. I wish I were but I am not. Then during the game I got a text from Jamie saying they had just loaded the kids and were on their way up. We had arranged to watch their kids for them so they could hit the slopes. I thought we were taking kids in the morning. Trent had forgotten that he had arranged for them to come in the evening. So now we had to tell the boys we couldn't go out to eat.. And this was after getting leveled on the playing field.

 

You think I am done? Nope. So then we said since we couldn't go to dinner we could get dessert afterwards and they could once again pick anything they wanted. So after a good 10 minute discussion they picked Paces Dairy Ann. And wouldn't you know? I get a call from work that a pt had passed away. Dessert was out the window.

 

Like I said epic fail.

 

I did buy ice cream and a lego set for them on my way home to try and make amends. Unfortunately Aiden put a hershey bar in his ice cream and ended up hated it. I mean why not have a disgusting dessert on your horrible birthday.

 

The other kids enjoyed it though.

 

So all the other kids went to bed and we let Aiden and Andrew stay up as late as they wanted. They put together their new lego set and stayed up playing video games. Who knows when they went to bed.

 

The next day was filled with tons-o-fun. The girls scrap booked

 

 

Had tea parties.

 

 

Played in the snow.

 

 

While the boys play with blocks.

 

 

 

And Peek a Boo.

It definitely got better the next day with cousins and stuff, but Trent and I have never felt worse as parents. Hopefully I can make up for it with the most amazing minecraft birthday party here in a few weeks. Let the real birthday planning begin.

Our Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas this year. We were visited by Ned for the month and the kids were sad to see him go on Christmas Eve. And so was I. I may by a bad parent, but I loved having something to motivate my kids. I think we may have a Martin Luther King, Valentine, St Patrick, and Easter elf....

 

 

We had a few family parties. Dodee's is always a favorite.

 

We had a "Stationary Dinner" this year with the Johnson's.

And my kids loved all the cousin time.

 

 

 

 

We went to Temple Square with my parents on Christmas Eve. It was cold, but not crowded at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came home and drank some hot chocolate to get warm.

 

Then opened our Christmas PJ's.

 

Christmas morning arrived and the kids were so excited.

 

They rushed in to see what Santa had left.

 

 

 Stockings are always the first thing to go.

 

 

  Then they dove into the presents.

 

 

And the kids couldn't believe when we left the house in a mess. It was a Christmas Miracle. They even told the extended family about it. When living with Trent, this is a BIG deal.

 

 

And poor Oakley slept en route to Grandparents. She was sick all of Christmas.

 

 

We met up with the Jensen's and it was crrraazay!

 

 

Then hit up the Veigels to finish the day off.

 

 

Another year come and gone and another year better than the last.

 

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

I had to post my Christmas Card on my blog. It is one of my favorites so far. My friend Heather Kennington created it for me. i just sent her the picture and told her to make some magic. If you ever need digital designing done you should go to her. Her email is heatherkennington@gmail.com.

Thank You Heather!

Gingerbread Houses.2

We finally decided to do something a little Christmassy on the Saturday before Christmas. Ya, we are on top of these here at The Hoard. We went and hit up our favorite Training Table and then hit the Layton Park lights.

 

Afterwards we made these ghetto gingerbread houses. The house was made out of what looked like packed brown sugar and the frosting was disgusting and looked like toothpaste. The kids had fun though.

 

The kids and their masterpieces.

 

After a few minutes some of the candies were sliding off and the roofs were coming apart. Oh well, I guess you get what you pay for.

Gymnastics

The girls had their gymnastics shows the week before Christmas. They were so excited to show off their moves. Unfortunately Trent and I missed Oakley's because of work. Luckily we have great a family that stepped in to support her. Grandma Teri, Grandma Holly, and Kim were there to cheer her on.

Trent and I were did make it the next night to see Paige and Morgan. All of our girls are so tiny compared to everyone. Little pocket rockets.

They all did a fabulous job and can't wait to see what they learn in the next few months.

12 Years

We celebrated our 12 year Anniversary this year. Seriously were has the time gone. Went looking through our totally old school wedding album. Its amazing how things change!

 

 The night before our actual anniversary we went and saw a premier of The Hobbit. Trent got free tickets through work. The first 45 minutes were slow and long, but after that it got good. And Trent and I both loved Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.

 

While we were movie watching Brooke and Ben were watching The Hoard. They took them to this amazing house that not only had a million lights, but the owner was handing out candy and toys to the kids. Who does that? So cute.

 

 

 

 

The next night was our official Anniversary so we hit up our favorite Texas Roadhouse. I had been craving fried pickles for a couple months and was excited to finally get some. Unfortunately the power went out after 45 minutes of waiting to sit. The pickle craving would not be satisfied.

 

 

We hit up crown burger instead and then came home to these crazies.

 

 

And this messy haired boy. He didn't like that I told him we had the same hair style.

 

We watched a movie with Brooke and Ben, who were nice enough to watch the kids 2 nights in a row. Afterward Brooke and I watched this car as it sat in the middle of the road for 45 minutes. We had lots of stories as to the reason, but it ended up being some teenagers had ran into the curb and bent the axle. The dad bailed them out and waited forever for a tow truck. Not as exciting as the stuff we were coming up with.

 

 

And I am sure you are all worried about my pickle craving. It was taken care of the following night.

 

 

It has been a great 12 years.

GNO

I was finally able to go see the last of the Twilight movies. I know most of you think they are stupid, but I love to go see them and I love even more hanging out with these ladies.

 

 

We met up at Arella's and gorged ourselves on bread, salads, pizza, and cokes!

 

Then some of us headed to the movie. We had a hard time getting a self portrait. Poor Tracy was never in the shot and when we finally got one with her, her eyes were closed. 

 

I loved the part they changed at the end, brought a lot more action into the story.

 

Thanks for the night ladies.

My Birthday

I had a great birthday weekend. There was really nothing planned, but Trent and I did get to go to a Jazz game a few days before. We have a ton of fun and they were actually really good seats.

 

 

That weekend we went and saw Wreck It Ralph with the kids. I loved it and though it was so cute.

 

 

We followed it with pizza dinner.

 

Trent cleaned up, which isn't unusual. He does it all the time, not just on special occasions.

 

 

While I cuddled with this sick one.

 

 

And watched some old school cartoons which are some of my faves.

 

 

I even got a pancake with my age on it, which you can barely see.

 

 

I found some of the cutest new dishes at TJ Maxx that I purchased for myself.

 

 

And was finally able to get rid of these beauties. Loved them while I had them, but it was time to move on.

 

 

And Trent surprised me with a gift card to Runners World. Now I can order some warm running clothes for this miserably cold weather we are having.

 

It was a fun, relaxing birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, messages, and presents that were sent my way!