Fun With Papa

(Evening) Wednesday, December 22nd--Before we got to Papa and Nana's house, Papa had gone to a few places to buy some fun crafts and activities for Brady and Elise. He made sure there was something to do every evening we were at their house. The three of them had so much fun and it was sweet to watch them make special memories together. After we got back from Seattle and had eaten, Papa brought out some construction paper and, along with Nana, they all made paper Christmas chains for the tree and to place around the house. They used fancy scissors too. The chains were quite cute and the kids were so proud of them. Papa told Brady and Elise, when he was growing up his mom and the kids would make paper chains and put them all over the house. He really loved that Christmas memory. I remember making a few when I was a kid too.

Hello Washington---I'm Home!

Wednesday, December 22nd--After 1 1/2 days of driving, we made it to Bremerton, Washington, my home town. The drive wasn't too bad. We dealt with a few rough patches on the roads but overall, it was okay. The kids are usually pretty good on road trips but this trip wasn't the case. By the time we pulled into the driveway of my parents home we were happy to turn them over and take a breather!
On Wednesday, we travelled by ferry to Seattle. We drove to Seattle Center (home of the Space Needle) where there is a Harry Potter exhibit going on now at the Pacific Science Center. The exhibit was not cheap but we were assured it would be quite spectacular and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was pretty awesome, indeed! There were props and costumes galore, worn or used by many of the cast of Harry Potter. I couldn't believe how tiny so many of the actors are! We really enjoyed the exhibit but were bummed they wouldn't allow pictures. As with most exhibits, the end lead right into the gift shop. With not being allowed to take pictures we thought we would get an exhibition book. They are usually full of pictures from the exhibit along with stories. Well we found out that everything, literally, in that gift shop was overpriced....to the extreme! It was insulting, to say the least. A copy, made out of thin paper, of the Marauders Map was $45.00. Small magnets were $5.00 a piece, etc. I couldn't believe it! We left empty handed but took pictures of some of the advertising outside the exhibit. After the exhibit we went into the childrens museum and were quite excited to see a butterfly room. My mom, Elise and I went inside the hot, humid room. Butterflies were everywhere and flew around us. It was quite amazing. Elise was in heaven! The kids found some penny press machines. I swear they are addicted to those things, as is their father! It was no Harry Potter souvenir but they each got a penny press from the childrens museum---total cost: $1.02 (we can handle that!). We had a great day in Seattle!

Blackburn Family Christmas Party

Sunday, December 19th--Nate and I were in charge of the annual family Christmas party this year. Thank goodness my Aunt Manya is always willing to allow us to use her office conference room for the party. It has everything we need to put on a fabulous Christmas party and then some! We did a huge ham and potato dinner, with plenty of veggies, rolls and amazing Costco desserts. Nate was put in charge of games and that was fun for all. Every year we do a white elephant gift exchange with the adults. The kids, we draw names and each of them buy a present for the name they're given. Last year my sister, Alishia, was in charge and decided to go with a theme for our white elephant purchases. She chose "As Seen On TV" so we all bought those types of gifts to put in the pool. It was quite hilarious! We decided to do a theme as well and chose "Battery Powered". We were worried this could be a rather dangerous theme but it actually went really well. There were some fun items to choose from. It was, as usual, a wonderful night--we look forward to it every year! This evening was a little crazy because we were leaving for Washington the next day so we had to hurry home and get the car packed and so many other things. However, the night was perfect and it all worked out.

Elise Is Thankful For......

Tuesday, December 14th--Today was clean-out-desks day in Elise's class. Meaning, clean out all the garbage and extra papers you're suppose to either throw away or take home but, instead, collect in your already cramped desk space. With the looks of Elise's bedroom, it's no surprise her desk is usually cluttered and in great need of cleaning out at the request of her teachers (just like at home!). She does remind me that most of the other kids in her class are just as messy--hmmm, not feeling the sympathy! Today she brought home papers she had worked on in computer lab. A list of things she was thankful for--around Thanksgiving--caught my eye. I just had to share!

Cute pic, Elise! Love your list, yes, indeedy! I see you're thankful for food, family, friends, etc. But, really, the one that caught my eye the most is one I'm certainly glad you're thankful for, just didn't think you would be at such a young age. #5!

Loins?!?! Well, as it turns out, when I decided to have a sit-down chat with her and talk about her "loins" and why they're smack-dab in the middle of her "thankful list" she clarified that she was thankful for "lions" and that she mis-spelled the word. Phew! I think I'll save that conversation for another day then! WAHOO! LOL!

Ward Christmas Party

Friday, December 10th (evening)--We attended the ward Christmas party tonight. We had a great time and the kids got to visit with Santa for a while--which they REALLY loved! This time we had our camera too so we were able to get some pictures. Quite a few other parents realized they forgot their cameras so they asked Nate to take pics of their kids too! So funny, but I would have done the same thing!

Christmas Cards, 2010

Friday, December 10th--My cousin, Carly, is getting into photography and she's proving to be really great at it. I asked her to take our annual Christmas card pics and she happily said she would do so. She came over to our house with all her fancy equipment and did a great job taking pics for our cards. Thanks, Carly! You rock!

Santa On A Firetruck?

Saturday, December 4th--I gotta admit, we live in a great town! It's small and very family orientated. While I have a few gripes, most things about Eagle Mountain I really appreciate and have come to love. Every year Santa comes riding on a firetruck to greet all the children waiting outside for him while his helpers throw candy. It's a fun event my kids look forward to every year. Santa literally drives through just about every street in Eagle Mountain. I can't even imagine how long that would take in a town of over 10,000 peeps! All the city can say is that he starts at 8:00 am and will not stop till he's done. That leaves a lot of time waiting around wondering when he'll hit our street up. This year the weather was great so Brady and Elise played outside with other neighborhood friends, making it an even better day! I wasn't feeling so great so Nate stayed outside to watch them and wait for Santa. I decided to take a super long shower hoping it would help--it did, a little, enough that I went outside sporting a lovely towel wrapped around my wet hair! Around 11:00 am we heard the sirens and watched him round our little street. The kids jumped up and down, waving and cheering him on. His helpers threw out bags of taffy and then Santa moved onto another street--no stopping, can you blame him with all those streets?!?! It's always a fast moment with Santa but the kids love it and I'm glad our town provides it for us. The event is always at the first of December. I think it certainly contributes to getting my family in the Christmas spirit!

New Flooring and Anxiety Attacks Like No Other!

Tues-Fri., November 30th-December 3rd--We got new flooring! WAHOO! When we first bought our house we decided on the standard carpet with an upgraded pad. Over time our carpet has not held up well which has become really frustrating. Carpet cleaners only made it look worse (still have yet to find the perfect carpet cleaner!). I simply began to hate our carpet.....A LOT! I new it would be costly so asking Nate to invest that kind of money was out of the question.....until....... Nate discovered a finance company that was offering refinancing on our home at a 3.875% rate. Holy moly, that's awesome! We went for it but I begged him to take some of our equity and get new flooring. He reluctantly agreed while I shouted for joy! When we found out our rate would go up to 4.15% should we pull money from equity Nate didn't want to do that anymore. Shucks! We still did the refinance at the lower rate and, instead, we cashed out some stock market money that he's had since before we got married. Some of it went to the new flooring and the bigger chunk will go to a new car for him next year. So we both get something we really are wanting--sweet!

Originally, I wanted to do hard wood floors throughout the main floor and re-carpet the bedrooms and front sitting room. After asking around, laminate seemed the better choice as far as upkeep. We've had laminate in our kitchen and dining area since we bought the house and I've loved it very much. It's done well with our family too! Doing laminate and re-carpetting didn't fit into our budget so we just did the laminate. My neighbors, James & Meredith, helped out a lot. Meredith and I went to some flooring businesses and she helped me pick out the right style. Then James did the ordering and found a guy to lay the laminate down. The day before, James came over and tore up the carpet, laminate and tile in the entryway. Come to find out, that upgraded pad we paid for was not there--it was the standard crap! (Thanks again Centex Homes--at least you're predictable!) We spent 4 days in cramped quarters with furniture in every bedroom--much of it in the master bedroom. Talk about claustrophobic!

Our installer, Tyler, did a fabulous job! I would love to recommend him to anyone. Just a really nice guy and was very professional in his work. He didn't seem to get annoyed when we had to walk around him. Friday, as he put up the baseboard, I went around and caulked and spackled while he finished the rest of the flooring. I was pretty amazed at how easy that all went. James came back over to fix the carpet seams and the finished product is so beautiful! We hope to do the re-carpet job in the next year or two but in the meantime we are going to enjoy our new floors. It's so interesting to see how this flooring seems to open our floorplan options up a little more--which is great for me!

Right from the start, I was having massive anxiety. I think it was a combination of things, not just the flooring being installed. I would wake up very early in the morning with chest constriction, back aches and just feeling miserable. It lasted almost throughout the whole week, regardless of what I tried to help it, and then I seemed to get food poisoning or some kind of weird flu at the end of the week. That zapped my energy and made it difficult to get the house back in order once the floors were done. Thank goodness for a husband that was willing to take care of me and help out! We got the furniture moved in and then Nate and the kids were able to put up the family Christmas tree. So glad it's done and we can enjoy it and the rest of the holiday season!

Our First Big Snow Fall of the Year

Sunday, November 28th--We woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland this morning! As an early Christmas gift the kids got new snow boots and snow suits. I found a killer deal on boots and suits and they were in need of both. They put them on and went outside to play and help dad shovel the driveway. We were happily surprised to find that a special mystery neighbor had shoveled the sidewalks throughout our street. One less thing to be shoveled and we appreciated it very much.

The kids enjoyed throwing snowballs with neighbor kids and actually got a little too warm in their new snow gear.

Happy Thanksgiving, 2010!

Thursday, November 25th--We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house this year. Much of Nate's family came over and we all seemed to have a great time. We had a great spread of food, Black Friday ads and some great time visiting.