Congratulations to our friends Heather and Josh who welcomed beautiful Embrie into their family in December.  We miss having you as neighbors!

My family was getting worried because my blog activity is so low.  I thought I'd better do a quick post to ease their minds.  (Usually I quit posting when I'm not feeling well.)

I haven't posted because I have been busy trying new things!

1.  Joined a babysitting co-op
2.  Went to the gym twice this week to see if I like it--tried a class that was way too advanced and haven't been able to walk without looking like an idiot for two days!  (ouch!)
3.  Started taking piano lessons
4.  Started turning my ABC books into templates that I can sell--that means creating every paper and element for each page from scratch so that I can sell them without pirating someone else's work


Too busy to blog, but feeling great.

Is anyone looking for a great preschool for their child next school year?  Lacie's teacher just opened up enrollment in her school for the 2011-12 school year.  I absolutely love Lacie's preschool and her teacher.  Next year she is offering a T/Th AM 3/4-year-old class and a MWF AM 4-year-old class.  She will add a PM class if there is interest.

I know it's hard to find a great preschool, so I thought I'd spread the world.  Give me a call if you want more info.  She's located on my end of town.

Who knew that the "multiple nose job" look could be achieved with one long, strong sniff!

This is a short film (3 min 5 sec) by a BYU animation professor.  It is absolutely beautiful and inspiring.  Check it out!  It's like nothing I've ever seen.

After Halloween, I purchased two giant bags of Smarties for 75% off at Target.  Lacie quickly found them and began helping herself (and sharing with her sisters) as often as she could get away with.  When I caught her and moved the Smarties, she found them again and started hiding small "stashes" that she could reach.  She hid them in piles under things in my closet, in my slippers, etc.

Last night, at dinner, she borrowed a pair of my socks to keep her warm.  Partway through the meal she announced, "I have Smarties in my socks."  I didn't think much of it until I tried to put those same socks on my feet this morning!  Surprise!

Time to hide the Smarties again!

Last night, Lacie went to sleep in our bed.  (A new tactic we're using to help Megan and Lacie fall asleep faster.)  When I got ready to take her up to her bed, I found a little surprise waiting.

For some reason, Megan had her covers pulled up completely over her head.  I figured she was probably roasting, so I pulled back the covers and found this:



I'll admit, I did have a very quick flash of panic, but it only lasted a second.  A quick peek in Melissa's room revealed this:


A little slumber party.  Would Megan have thought of this idea on her own?  No way.  Suddenly Melissa's earlier comments had new meaning:

About a half hour after Melissa went to bed, she called down the stairs to me, "Mom.  You don't need to come upstairs tonight.  I already turned off my light and my fan."

And I thought she was just trying to save me a trip up the stairs!

(And Mom, you can see that the girls are really enjoying the new window seat cushion!)

For FHE tonight, we tried out a game from the January 2011 issue of the Friend magazine.  (Scroll down to "Run, Jump, Play.")

The game involves randomly pulling clothes from a bag and layering until there are none left.  I'm afraid it sparked some serious silliness!

We awakened to a big surprise this morning!












Note to self:  Don't build a snowman on a hill!  She lasted only a couple of hours before she toppled.

Last year, our cousin production of the Nativity was our best yet.  So that we would always remember it, I made it into a Christmas book.  I wanted to make it into a video with the kids' voices narrating it, but the holidays got too busy.  Maybe another year.


If you'd like to see the book, click here: The Nativity 2009
(Be sure to click "Full Screen" if you want to be able to read it.)

Earlier this month, the girls' school earned a special visit from Nadine Wimmer, a news broadcaster for KSL.  The kids knew the helicopter was coming, but what they didn't know was that Santa was also coming to make a special delivery:  The school earned 1000 books!  Wow!

I sent letters via email this year, but I forgot that I don't have email addresses for all of you!  So, for those of you I missed, and for posterity, here is our Christmas letter to friends and family far away and our photo card for friends nearby.  (I had to delete a little info from Steve's part.  It gave away too much about where we live.)