My Life According to Shania Twain

I just thought this was kinda fun :)

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. You can't use the artist I used. Try not to repeat a song title. Repost as "my life according to (artist name)"

Pick your Artist: Shania Twain

Are you Male or Female:  Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
Describe Yourself: She's Not Just a Pretty Face  ;)
How do you feel: Still Under the Weather
Describe where you currently live:  I'm Outta Here!
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Rock This Country!
Your Favorite pastime:  Dance With the One That Brought You
Your Favorite form of Transportation:  In My Car
Your Best Friend is:  Any Man of Mine
You and your best friends are:  Forever and For Always
What's the weather like:  Raining On Our Love
Favorite Time of Day:  When You Kiss Me
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:   It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing
Name your Superhero/Villain alter ego:   Juanita
What is life to you: C'est La Vie
Describe your current boy/girl situation: Two Hearts, One Love
What is the best advice you have to give:  Whatever You Do, Don't!
Thought for the day:  Blah, Blah, Blah
How would you like to die?  Ain't No Particular Way
What is your greatest fear:  Home Ain't Where His Heart is Anymore
My soul's present condition:  Wild and Wicked  (O.o  Okay, maybe not...) That Good
My motto:  Don't Be Stupid
How you feel about your family:  God Bless the Child

Christmas Presents

I hope you all have had a very merry Christmas.  We certainly have!  Naturally I have a great many pictures of the event.  I have compiled them in several collages.  You can click any one to see the itsy bitsy pictures better.  

We begin with the countdown to Christmas:  I let the candle burn all the way down.

Now we'll skip straight to the kids, cause let's face it: they're the cute ones.  Of the presents they're holding, many are family gifts that the girls just opened.  I particularly love Sabrina's pose with the "Polkatonics" CD.  (That's the second one down on the right.).  Sabrina was most excited about the puzzles and pattern games she got from Santa, as well as dress-ups for her Build-a-Bear she got for her birthday.

Lizzie got a scooter, a Build-a-Bear (to gradually collect clothing for), and a jewelry box from Santa.  She also got a little bitty FurReal Friends puppy that wags his tail and moves his head when you pet him on the back.  She really wanted the deluxe version (the Go-Go Puppy), but the puppy "will do".

Check out Kate's face in the middle here!  She could not believe Santa had brought her a ukulele!!!  She learned a little bit on the uke in school and loved it.  Hers is a nice one and it's PINK!  Pictures later of her first ukulele lesson and video of her first performance. She also got the most deluxe of all art sets (well, not literally), including pastels and paints, and all that good messy stuff.

Proof I was there too.  I got to unwrap a bunch of great new kitchen things.  A lot of these are things that have been "on the list" for some time now, and  black Friday was an ideal time to buy them.  I also got a cute pair of boots I'm excited about!

Michael got to open the Black Friday spoils from Home Depot -- some screwdrivers, measuring tapes, power tools, etc.  I also got him a digital picture frame already loaded with hundreds of pictures that he can take to work.  There are pictures from each of our childhoods (a few at least), one or two from when we were dating (the only ones we know of in existence), and some engagement / wedding ones and naturally plenty since then  It was a fun (and time consuming!) job getting them all ready for the frame.

Michael would like me to point out that he actually got more pictures of me with my tongue sticking out than I got of him.  Apparently when I feel silly as the center of attention (as in, opening presents in front of a camera) I tend to stick my tongue out.  Good to know.

Here are group shots with the girls in The Line (you know there has to be a picture of The Line) and their awe inspired glee at the new television.  They had SUCH a fun morning!

This evening we went to my mom's house for dinner (a nice drop-by-when-you-want-and-I'll-feed-you affair).  My brother was there and gave Kate some tips on playing her new ukulele which of course she had taken with her.  He taught her how to read chord charts and how to find the chords for a primary song (they're written in above every song).  Then she came down and performed "Reverently, Quietly" with 4 whole chords in it! 

Video of Kate:

Here are a few assorted pictures from the evening.  Of course I have to take pictures of Sabrina with her favorite younger male cousin.  He is so cute, and the two of them together have such a stark contrast.  We need to throw cousin Abby in the mix with her red super curly hair just to show the full range the family covers!  The picture of an envelope on the top left reminds me of a birthday card one of the girls got once.  It was signed by a woman who had been married some 40 years and she signed it with her maiden name accidentally!  I admit, I've done the same thing at random times, but I've only got 10 matrimonial years behind me so I'm totally off the hook, right?  The Family Tree is really cool (and I thought it was really cool that I happened to have a perfect size frame in my closet!).  It goes from my mom (top left) all the way to Adam (bottom right).  That's the Adam and Eve fellow.  You know, lived in a garden, ate forbidden fruit... that guy.  My sister made these and had them printed for everyone in our family.  It makes the years seem so short to see all those generations on one page!  We have some awesome family names in there too including a man named Frodi.  I guess that's why we tend towards hairy toes.  The last picture is just one I snapped as we were leaving.  Looking into the perfect postcard view of a happy home full of family and love.

So after all that... from our house to yours:  

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas Eve, 2 of 2: Tilly's Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse;
The stockings were hung by the table with care,
In hopes that great presents soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of candy canes danced in their heads;

 

And papa in his blankets, and I in my robe,
I just settled down with some music turned low,

When from the girls' room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Down the dark hallway I flew like a flash,
Peeked into the bedroom and choked back a laugh.
The nightlight that shone with a comforting glow
Gave a glimpse of the children, I crept on tiptoe,

When, what to my wondering ears I should hear,
But Sabrina was shouting, her voice full of fear,
With a quiet small smile I slipped over quick,
I knew in a moment the dreams she did pick:
Her young voice did call out her sisters by name,
And she whimpered and whined and did dole out the blame;
"Stop Lizzie! Don't touch me! I want to put those in!
No Kate! That's my spot! Get out of the kitchen!
Let's put in the flour! Let's roll them in balls!
I want to bake cookies! But let's eat them ALL!"
I sat on her bed to soothe down her cry,
She cuddled against me and let out a sigh.

Then back to the front room with work still to do,
I lugged out the packages, trimmings, and food.
And then, once again, down the hall I heard proof
The girls were so restless, mama must have goofed.
As I once again trod down the hall with no sound,
Out the bedroom door Lizzie did wander, and frowned.
She was dressed in her jammies, tripped over her foot,
Her blankets she dragged back to where they'd been put.
She picked up her teddy bear, taken aback,
When she saw mom stood right there, not smiling a crack.
Her eyes blurred with sleep, she shuffled back quickly.
Dove under her covers and closed her eyes firmly. 

I checked in on Kate, that girls was my hero.
She slept through the crazy night, earning her halo!

Returning to gifts I tied up the bows,
Then ate up the cookies and drank my cocoa.
The tree lights did twinkle with presents beneath,
And stockings encircled more gifts like a wreath.
Favors from friends of the best kind of smelly,
Shrink my reserve and enlarge my full belly.

Sorting the books upon the bookshelf,

I hop in the tub with a book for myself.

 My eyes start to droop, as does my head

So I pull on my jammies and climb into bed.

I tried to roll over but stopped, slightly irked,
There was Lizzie, where in my own bed she now lurked!
Laying a hand on her, slowly she rose,

And glumly it's back to her own bed she goes.

The whole family in bed, a few slight snores whistle,
Morning will come softly, like the down of a thistle.
With a sigh and a stretch I quietly sigh:"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

 

 

 

**Note: In actuality thus far the girls have been sleeping soundly.  Michael helped me with the arranging / tidying, and is now keeping my up (totally HIS fault) way past my bedtime watching a movie.  I also will likely not take a tub tonight,it's just too late.  This tale does very accurately describe our usual night, though.  Right down to Lizzie sneaking into our bed.  Little punks ;)

Christmas Eve, 1 of 2

Happy Christmas Eve!  We started today by opening the last gift on the Christmas counters from Grandma.  Each of the girls got a really cool helicopter!  The pictures below are Daddy flying 'copters with the girls.  They're REALLY cool!!!  Late tonight they did them a couple of times (you can turn on a flashing light).  Better than fireworks!

 As I was tidying up this afternoon I found a bagel sandwich on the table.  The most literal bagel sandwich I've ever seen!

 Yup, a bagel with another half of a bagel inside.  It's a high carb sort of sandwich.

 This evening we went to the Southern home across the lake for Christmas Eve festivities.  There was quite the spread of goodies on the table!  (Fortunately I ate JUST before we arrived, so I wasn't too tempted.)

 

As usual Melissa arranged a beautiful nativity put on by the children.  And a few adults.  Michael played the part of the donkey this year.

 Here's the "new star", held by Gramps.

 Kate had a speaking (reading) part.  She was an angel who visited the shepherds.  Lizzie and Sabrina were each shepherds this year.  Aren't they all cute!

 Curtain Call!

 There was some fun frolicking before most people left.  Uncle Adam wore himself out flipping kids over his head!  I know these pictures are rather blurry, but they're low-light-high-action with a mostly dead battery.

 (Sabrina above, Kate below.  Kate even pointed her toes!)

 On the drive home it was FOGGY.  But we made it home safe and sound.

 The girls got to open a present tonight -- they each got a fluffy new bathrobe.  My favorite picture is the one in the middle where Sabrina is tossing hers into the air with glee.  Daddy got new superhero pants, and I got (non-photographed) comfy fleece pajama pants.

 Then I read "The Magic Curtain" to them -- except that we don't seem to have a hard-copy of it, and I couldn't get it accessed off my desktop... so we ended up reading it off a place I had uploaded images of it.

 I have these items set aside for the gift-opening in the morning.  The scissors are pretty self-explanatory, but the other gizmo is an engraver.  Sort of.  It's a simple push button thingy, but it makes it really easy to mark a letter onto things that are similar (like chopsticks or jump ropes).  It came from the dollar store and has already been worth all 100 pennies :)

 Never have we had such a crazy display "under" our Christmas tree!  We have been so very blessed this year!  (And it helps that I wrapped pretty much everything I've purchased in the last month).  We're looking forward to a wonderful day tomorrow.

Remember our advent candle?  By the time Santa had finished here there were still a few inches left.  I lit the candle to read the last bit to the girls, then just left it burning.  In fact, there's still about 1/2 inch right now.  And yes, it's WAY past bedtime, but Michael and I are "breaking in" the new TV watching a Star Trek movie :)

Christmas Eve Eve

 Here's one last picture (okay, two pictures) of the big snow storm.  The snow swallowed the trike!  If it hadn't warmed up so much (almost 40!) we would have scads of snow by now.  We've had a lot of fog and some chilly rain which means...

this is how it looked last night.  Kinda squishy and dreary really.

Kate wasn't feeling well on our big snow day.  Yesterday she felt even worse, and I was pretty sure it was strep.  I took her to the doctor who ran the test, looked at her, and was just saying how it's unlikely to be strep, but.... Oh, here are the test results!  Positive!  Yup, I was totally right.  She is feeling better now, and ready to face the holidays (with antibiotics every morning for 10 days of course).

Our January issue of the Friend (and the Ensign of course) arrived already.  Lizzie and Kate have already read it cover to cover.  Lizzie spent a lazy afternoon doing the crossword puzzle while Kate was napping.

Today we had a fun "first day of Daddy's vacation" sort of day.  We went to Wendy's for lunch (even walked in and ate at a table!) then braved WalMart for a few last minute presents (the girls wanted to get things for their sisters) which required a lot of cell phone wrangling to keep the kids separated properly so everything was a secret.  Then we went for a little energy-burning at Jumpin' Jacks where the girls got to bounce and slide to their hearts' content on the inflatables.  Of course we have no photos of any of that because the camera was comfortably at home.  But I promise it all happened.

Tonight Kate spent some time doing Lizzie's hair.  I think the pro's call this a "messy ponytail".  The name totally fits.

Meanwhile, Daddy and Sabrina cuddled on the couch and watched some action movie he got from Netflix.  Sabrina was way into it -- asking questions about it, following the storyline and everything.  

Every night we've been burning our advent candle (well, we have had a couple of nights we've had to catch up).  I can't believe we have only one dot left! 

The presents are all wrapped (though they need bows), and finally they're here.  Many of the presents have been stockpiled at Grandma's house, AKA "Santa's Workshop".  I went by tonight and spent WAY too long there, much to my enjoyment and my husband's annoyment and got the presents all loaded into the van.  So the presents are all on-deck for the big night.  I even have the costumes ready to go for the nativity scene tomorrow night.  If only my kitchen was clean all would be well;  but I'd hate to jinx Christmas by feeling *too* well prepared.

Remember that blizzard?

I don't remember if I posted about this or not, but a few weeks ago we had a major blizzard warning.  Things were closed down, everyone made sure they were home before this huge storm hit, people stocked up on food and fuel... and everything was all hunkered down.  We got a tiny skiff of snow.  It was a bit windy, though!  Disappointing for a "major blizzard".
So far this week we're making up for it.  It has been snowing for probably 36 hours straight now.  Yesterday was slushy and nasty to drive.  Today it's impossible.  Michael tried to go to work this morning and couldn't even get out of the driveway.  So shoot, we're all stuck home together today :)

Michael trying to pull out of the driveway this morning, then the neighbors trying to get into their driveway this afternoon.

Lizzie helped do a bit of shoveling and delivered something to a neighbor.  Sabrina reveled in the snow.  And my feet turn out when I walk :)

Sledding with a bunch of friends...

and a very friendly pair of puppies.

Proof that I was there too.  After hauling all three girls up our road on the sled I plopped down on the snow.  Pretty comfy chair, really!

 

I love these girls!

top: snowfall on the deck at about midnight last night, then 8:00 this morning; middle: noon today.  As of about noon we had 12-15 inches of snow (depending on the spot in the yard).

 In the Christmas counters from Grandma Jensen, the girls each got a nice set of chopsticks.  So of course we needed food to go with them.  So for dinner got Panda Express.  It was quite an adventurous dinner.  The girls had a great time trying their hand with the chopsticks.

Sabrina tried REALLY hard.  After 5 minutes of pushing one piece of chicken around, Daddy finally just got it for her.  Then she finished dinner with a fork.

Lizzie took to it pretty well.  She'd flip the end of one noodle into her mouth, then see how many she could make follow the one!  But she did a good job with her chicken and vegis.

Kate loves her chopsticks.  She did great with them!  And Daddy... he can use chopsticks fine, but used a fork.  Kill-joy. :P