I've got nothin

Well I'm tired of seeing my Christmas post. However, there's really not much else going on besides normal day to day stuff. Guess that's a good thing right?

Christmas 2009

So for Christmas we were extremely frugal.

Kaycie got a free used bike which my dad really fixed up nice.

Here's the story. This thing had pretty good bones but the white tires were black, the backpack that had been on the front was torn apart, the tassles were barely there and the training wheels were completely out of whack with no hope of being fixed. After I attempted to clean the tires with no luck and Scott told me that he couldn't fix the training wheels, my dad volunteered to take it and fix it up. WOW! This thing came back looking practically new. Shiny white tires, new training wheels, new basket, tassles, helmet and he even put her name in pink sparkly letters on the frame itself. Oh and he put a flower in the basket. Gotta love grandpas! She was so excited. She also got a Barbie house with an elevator. There was no way I was going to buy one of these but I saw my neighbor having a yard sale one day and what-da-ya-know! $20 and a little paint and it was almost perfect. I did notice a couple days after Christmas that it's supposed to have a roof which is missing but what she doesn't know can't hurt right? She loves it. The only thing I bought her was a $9 doll head that she can brush and put curlers in. You know what I'm talking about.

Kendall's gift was a borrowed item from a niece that wasn't using it anymore. She also got a little pinwheel from Ty. She never let go of it all morning. I should mention that my kids did receive a few presents from Scott's staff. Very nice of them.

Now for Ty. He asked for an ATV last year and didn't get one. He was bummed ALL year. This year he kept saying that Santa would for sure bring it. Scott decided to break the news about Santa at that point. He took it pretty well. However, Scott found a great deal on an ATV so we got it without Ty knowing. They gave him a low payment plan with 0% interest. Scott has really been wanting a riding partner so he signed the papers. Ty was so excited Christmas morning. My parents are keeping it at their house since they're completely surrounded by open desert. In 3 days of riding, Ty learned to do donuts and fishtails and Scott has let the throttle out almost all the way. Ty is in heaven and now wants to visit nana and grandpa every day.

He's even giving Kaycie rides. He's very careful when she's on it. We really do need to get her a helmet though.

Merry Christmas!

This year I'm trying to save money and not send out Christmas cards. It's actually kind of a relief. That's a huge stress of the holidays! I did design one though and so I'm posting it on here.

December has brought some fun things. Kaycie has had a couple of dance recitals. Maybe I'll post the short video up here if I get some time. Today she has snow day at preschool. They get to play in the snow at recess.

Kendall is only 10 months old and has decided to follow in her brother's foosteps by walking already. She pretty much tries to walk wherever she goes now. If she's feeling real lazy, she'll go ahead and crawl. I think there is no turning back now with her though.

Ty has been in tennis lessons this month. He enjoys it a lot. He also found out about Santa this month. Thanks dad! I guess he had a tip off at school anyway. I don't know if the secret will last long though. He keeps trying to start up conversations with Kaycie that go somewhat like this...."So Kaycie, do you think Santa is real or not?" Ugh.

Scott and Cheryl are doing well. Business is still open but a struggle from week to week. I have to learn to be okay with the fact that we're not going to do well in this profession any time soon. I've been struggling with the fact that we're struggling. I've been a little bitter that after all our hard work and all the debt we've accumulated to get to this point, that we're barely getting by. We've had to be more frugal in the last couple months than in all of our 12 years of marriage. It's been hard on me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to be filthy rich. I was just hoping we'd have enough money coming in to be able to pay off our debts, go on vacations, have some nice things. Scott's been telling me to be positive, we have eachother. He's my rock. But I just haven't been able to stop dwelling on our situation and have been somewhat depressed by it lately. So I've been praying for help with my attitude and boy did help come!

I was teaching my gospel doctrine lesson on Sunday about building up Zion. One of the things it mentioned was helping the poor and needy. I found some additional material on the subject from a talk by Elder Christofferson. He said "As we pursue the cause of Zion, each of us should prayerfully consider whether we are doing what we should and all that we should in the Lord's eyes with respect to the poor and the needy. We might ask ourselves, living as many of us do in societies that worship possessions and pleasures, whether we are remaining aloof from covetousness and the lust to acquire more and more of this world's goods. Materialism is just one more manifestation of the idolatry and pride that characterize Babylon. Perhaps we can learn to be more content with what is sufficient for our needs. The apostle Paul warned Timothy against people who suppose 'that gain is godliness' (1 Tim. 6:5) Said he, 'We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.' (1 Tim. 6:5)" Following that up, I was watching a movie on the holocaust last week and these prisoners were going for weeks without food. They would try and sneak out of their huts to eat a blade of grass. WOW! I'm complaining that I can't go eat at restaurants anymore. I'm complaining about how sick of ramen soup I am. And they were trying to eat blades of grass! I felt ashamed of myself and yet so happy at the same time. This was the Lord's message to me of which I will always try and remember and keep close to my heart. I'm am thankful for my Heavenly Father and that he knows my needs. All we need to is ask for his help. I'm am thankful that my family has sufficient for our needs. I'm thankful for this season. Merry Christmas!

Ty's First Grade Concert

Ty's grade had a choir concert from the musical NUTS. This was one of the 4 pieces they did. It's freakin' hilarious! The shaking is because I didn't have the camera on a tripod and I was cracking up. It's not too bad though. Definitely worth the watch. Enjoy!

Happy 7th Birthday Ty!

I'd like to start something I've seen others do for birthdays.
I'm going to list the 7 things I love about my birthday boy.

1) I love his red hair. It's the first thing noticed about him when he was born
and it still makes him unique in our family.

2) I love it when he tries to hide his smile and just can't do it.

3) I love that he loves to play with his sisters.

4) I love his creativity. He may not have his father's athleticism, but he can build awesome things out of anything...he used toys once to create a robot, builds awesome temples with blocks, he can do anything with legos and he's very creative when it comes to drawing.

5) I love that he loves to learn. Math is his favorite subject. Out of the 5 reading levels in 1st grade, he's in the highest. He gets 100% on every above-level spelling test he's given. He just did a powerpoint presentation to his class the other day about Albertosaurus dinosaurs. It was so fun to watch. He loved answering all the questions his classmates had for him.

6) I love his sense of humor. He's always cracking us up. Last night we took him out to dinner for his birthday and he got a free ice cream sundae. As he was eating it he said "Do you guys hate me because I get to eat this and you don't?"

7) I love that he always wants to do what's right. One time, we went to Macayo's Mexican Restaurant to pick up take out. They sent us to the bar to pick it up and he asked me what the lady behind the bar was making. I told him it was some sort of alcohol. He was shocked and asked if everything in there was alcohol. I said yes. So now he thinks the place is a den of iniquity. This is the picture he drew the next day. It says No Drugs, there's a little alcohol room and outside people are smoking. I thought it was funny.


Happy Birthday Ty! I love you!