This month in a flash...

December is GONE already! It went by way to fast for me - I like the season leading up to Christmas, and it is such a let-down when the actual day comes and goes. We have been busy this month...here is what we have been up to:

We knew the girls were dying to have Christmas lights on the house, but Cory and I had pretty much decided not to do it this year. The roof line is REALLY high, so we considered hiring someone to put them up but figured the girls wouldn't die if there weren't any lights. I think it was Riley's "but Dad, how is Santa going to find our house" that did it. Cory brought over my dad's extension ladder, extended it as high as it would go, told my brother to hold onto the bottom, and went to work. I was nervous when Cory was up there stringing the lights. I couldn't watch...I told him I would be in the house unless I heard a scream followed by a splat. What a great wife, huh? The end result was that we had lights, no one splatted (is that a word??), and the girls are happy.

We went to the Festival of Trees with some friends earlier this month. It was fun, and the trees were beautifully decorated. Ry liked looking, and Bailey did, too, but she was more concerned with how to escape from the stroller.

Riley had her Christmas/Grandparent's Day program at school last week. The kids sang some cute songs! Ry did great, and was glad that Mimi and Papa could come.

We went to Temple Square to see the lights last weekend. We had wanted to go earlier in the month, but it has been COLD here...I mean REALLY cold. The night we went was still cold, but not as bad as it has been. The kids loved the lights, loved seeing the temple, and loved riding the train to Temple Square. It was fun, but it was cold!

In addition to all of the activities we have been doing, we have been baking, Christmas card-ing, shopping, wrapping, visiting, and just enjoying the season. I guess the hustle and bustle finally caught up with us early this week when both girls came down with really bad colds. Bailey is recovering from croup, and is just not herself (though we have high hopes she will feel better by tomorrow morning for her first Christmas when she knows what is going on!). Riley is feeling much better, too, and is more than ready for Santa's visit! We hope you have a great Christmas...pictures of Christmas morning are coming soon!

A conversation with Riley

A couple of days ago the girls and I were coming back from the grocery store when the song "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Clause" came on the radio. Here is part of the conversation I had with Riley about the song:

Riley: Mom! Did they just say Mom was kissing Santa?

Me: That is what the song said...it is just a silly song, Ry, don't worry about it.

*Pause*

Riley: Mom! Did they just say Mom was tickling Santa, too?

Me: Yeah (sigh)

*Pause*

Riley: Mom, you would never do that would you?

Me: No, Ry (sigh again)

Riley: Good. Dad would NOT like it if you did that!

Me: Sigh....

Family Pictures

We recently had our family pictures taken - Emily (my sister's sister-in-law) has been taking our pictures for the last few years and some how she always manages to get the great shot, even without complete participation from those in the pictures! Bailey was the party-pooper for this photo shoot. She started out happy (kind of), but when we took off her socks for the family pictures, things went down-hill quickly! Who knew she was so attached to her socks! I think every trick in the book was used to get Bailey happy long enough to get a couple of pictures of her. She is definately a Bluth (which translates into NOT a lover of taking pictures!). All in all, we were happy with how the girls' pictures turned out.

Just not the same...

Thanksgiving is great, don't get me wrong...but as soon as the dishes are done on Thanksgiving day we are plotting out our plan to get ready for Christmas. We have always gotten our tree the day after Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. This is the first year we have had our own house since moving from Oregon - and I have to say the whole "getting our Christmas tree" experience was a downer. Instead of cruising up and down rows of Christmas trees at White's Tree Farm, we headed to the garden section of the local Home Depot and bought one from a guy in a nice orange apron (he swore up and down the trees they were selling were just unloaded off the truck two days before...isn't that what all the tree lot people say??). Don't get me wrong, the tree is nice and it smelled good for about 20 minutes (and I think I filled up the vaccuum bag full of needles after bringing the tree inside). It just isn't the same as firing up the chain saw and cutting the tree down yourself. Oh well...the girls didn't seem to mind, and they had a great time decorating the tree. That is all that matters, right??

Ry at the tree farm - December, 2007 (don't those trees look perfect?)

Ry and Bailey decorating this year's tree - nice work, girls!

First Snow

We got our first snow storm of the winter on Saturday. The girls watched and waited nearly all day for there to be enough snow to go sledding down the hill in our neighborhood. Their patience paid off, and we bundled up and headed out late Saturday afternoon. Bailey wasn't too fond of the snow in general, her snow pants or of the seventeen-hundered layers her mean mom made her wear...she was nearly as wide as she was tall! Riley, on the other hand, lives to play in the snow! She would have stayed out there all night if we would have let her!

Playing Catch-Up

Here are some pictures from Halloween...we had two cute ladybugs cruising the neighborhood...they made quite a candy haul!

Bailey with all of her loot...which she didn't easily part with before bedtime!

Riley and her cousin showing us how it is done!

Bailey and Cory...in one of the few times she was carried all night long! Though it took a couple of doors for Bayz to get the hang of trick-or-treating, once she did, she had no use for Mom and Dad! She loved it!

Not Again!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by...and once again, it has been a LONG time since I have posted anything. I usually skip the "catching up" posts, but not this time! Here are a few things we have been up to over the last month (or two or three!).

I am keeping really busy with my preschool. Most of you already know this, but we converted a bedroom in the basement into a school room, and put in an entrance from the side of the house to that room, as well. I have a morning class and an afternoon class that meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays (24 kids total)...the kids are great, I like being able to work from home, and who can complain with the hours? I start at nine, have a break at 11:30 for a half hour, and then finish up at 2:25. My mom and sisters help out with Riley and Bailey in the morning, then Riley is in school and Bailey is in bed for the afternoon class. Works out pretty well...but boy, does it keep me busy!

The preschool room

Riley has finished fall soccer and had a great time with it. She is signed up for basketball (for the first time) and will start that at the beginning of December. We had our first parent/teacher conferences for the year a couple of weeks ago, and Riley is doing great in school. She got all 4's (the highest mark), and is making a lot of new friends. Her teacher asked her to set a goal, and Riley decided to read 50 books by the next parent/teacher conference in March. Every time we read a book she writes down the title, and so far she had read 11. I don't think we will have any problems making 50 by March!

Riley is such a good sister...she loves to read to Bailey, and Bailey loves to be read to!

Bailey is still quite the monkey. She has become obsessed with Finding Nemo, and would watch it 24/7 if we let her. It isn't just the movie that she likes, though. We have Nemo books, t-shirts, stuffed animals, a tent, and blankets from when Riley went through her Nemo phase. Bailey loves them all! It is pretty funny. We threw Bailey's bottles in the trash a few weeks ago and that wasn't too much fun for anyone. She is doing better with it, but we still hear "baba's in trash" like forty million times a day.

Bailey, Nemo, Dory, and Baa watching Nemo

I am going to try to be better about keeping up with my blog. I know that is how grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins keep up with us...I will do better!