we survived!

Jack and Josh testing out the MP3. I think those things are by now permanently attached to their heads!

My Ben is now 11. wow. 11. crazy that I have a kid that old! I must have been so very young when I had him! ha ha.
this is all 10 kids. the kindersley Livingstones, and us. all in their new Christmas jammies, waiting in the hallway to get to the roomwith all the presents. youngest to oldest. wow. actually an hour and a half later in the day than we had agreed on, thanks to Jessica sleeping through her alarm!
we survived the four hour drive to Kindersley.
the most boring drive we do.
but we do it,
cause we always have fun when we are there!

10 kids.
between the two families!
wow! 10.
tons of presents.
tons of food.
tons of fun.
thanks Leanne!

the concert

the handsome dude in the middle with the shades is Ben. his class sang rockin around the christmas tree, feliz navidad (with some funky moves to go with it!)the concert
was so good! I love our school. they sang real Christmas songs- about Christ, and everything! so nice to hear.
and there was even a little pageant of the nativity done by one of the classes.
good to see that in public places now a days!
so, this is Jack playing the xylophone for one of the songs! fun stuff.
that is sweet sadie with the poncho from Auntie Jill on! she didn't crack a smile through the whole thing, and didn't make it to the night time performance- she fell asleep on the couch at about 7:30. but don't tell anyone she is sick- she is not sick!- or so she says. we'll see if she makes it to school this afternoon.
Jed, silly little snowflake head. that is him in the red plaid shirt. what a silly boy. he was good yesterday, but today claims his stomach hurts. but he might be going back this afternoon.
this is MAggie helping clean up after making fudge. I am not so much a fudge maker, one batch was a bit soft, but I think I fixed that problem. chocolaty goodness! yummmm.

and this is how Maggie enjoyed the first half of the concert. nice! got to sit on auntie Shelleys lap, so I could take pictures. fun stuff. okay. I should go check on all those "sick kids" crazy stuff. hopefully we will be able to get away for Christmas. maybe we will all be home in bed.

the latest

this is our Christmas card/ picture I mailed out! I try to think of something different each year. if you pull the ribbon, the picture comes out. maybe I'll post the picture tomorrow. it says Wishing you peace, love the Livingstones. in the circle you can see Ben making the peace sign- in case you can't really see it.
we made gingerbread men the other day. so yummy. I think this is Maggie with the look of take the picture so I can eat it, already!!
this was the view out my window of my front door on Saturday morning. Friday night was nasty weather- blowy and snowy. I took Jed and Jack out to the care center, where their piano teacher had arranged for someof her students to play their carols. what a great thing.
but nasty weather.
but it is Canada after all.
it is to be expected!
then Saturday I got up,
to go to my crazy spin class.
it is how I can justify, (a bit)
eating all those Christmas goods.
and there was a big old drift of snow in front of the driveway! I had to dig and dig, then Cory came out, and dug it away in no time.
what a man.

my handsome 9 year old guy.
wow, 9.
crazy.

I have Jed and Jack home sick yesterday and today. sheesh. can't pull out any Christmas projects, or run to the store. I need them to get healthy so I can get back to my projects! fun stuff around here!

My sister Shelley comes home for Christmas tonight! yay.
School christmas concert tomorrow.
hopefully those boys will be better so they can be in it!
and that is the latest around here!

tee hee

so silly how giddy I am about this-
check this out!

It's beginning to look...

a lot like Christmas! mandarine oranges. gotta love them.
sweet little maggie loves to peel them, but doesn't so much like to eat them.
silly girl.
a little stitchy thing I did last year. makes me happy to see it.
and a felt garland I have been working on for days. found it on another blog. and loved it. thought I needed another project to work on around here! it is very cute. can't wait till it is long enough to wrap around my tree a few times! and those are my thoughts for today.

finally some birthday pictures...

this is Sadie with a cheesy grin- at school with her birthday crown a whole week ago. sorry it's sideways, don't know how to fix that.

then sadie at her birthday party, having a little pout on the couch- it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. a very common thing around here, Sadie getting in a fit and pouting off. for no good reason, most of the time!
then sadie blowing out the candles on her princess cake. got the girl part at a garage sale, a while ago. she is very retro looking, with a very nice mullet hair style going on, but Sadie thought she was beautiful, so it's all good.

and last, but not least, a little nativity scene in our back yard. last week the young women had an activity where they went around to houses in the ward to deliver cookies and sing carols, but the people were all supposed to not let them in, then lastly they came to our house where we had a little scene, and the leaders explained that now they know a bit how Mary and Joseph might have felt. it was neat, till Jack, dressed up as a shepherd, slid down the little hill behind them, and kept trying to climb up, and slip down, and making a spectacle of himself. nice.

yummo!

last Friday night, Cory and I went to a party,
we were supposed to bring and appetizer,
and someone brought the most amazing fresh salsa.
LOVED IT!
I could hardly stop myself from eating all of it.
I did go back to the food table many, many times.
anyways, I got a recipe from my sister for it,
and made it today to take to a relief society party tonight.
ohh- I can hardly wait.
I tasted it, and it was good.
in fact I said it tasted like heaven.
Jack thought I was a little crazy.
so I get to go and eat that tonight!

and i finished one of my gifts!
on to another.
so many ideas, and I can't believe it is already the 7th.
wow. gotta get going!

do you guys know about the Kim family?
wow. so sad.
I think tonight i will tell my kids about them.
and tell them how important they are to me,
and how much I love them.
life is so fragile.

the visitor

so, Santa came to our house!
how lucky are we??

jed humored me and held his hand for a picture. I tried to get one of the little girls to, but they were not interested. too funny.
Carters reaction was just priceless. even funnier when you know who is wearing the suit- his dad!


Addy didn't want to sit there, but with a little convincing, she sat, but just to get the treat!!

Maggie, not so excited about it either. too funny.So, santa gave everyone a chocolate bar, thanks Santa. and I put mine on the piano to enjoy later. so after all the kids were in bed, I went to enjoy it, and alas it was gone. of course my kids all deny it was them. nice. that is always the case around here. no one does anything wrong. ever. I am miffed. nice Christmas spirit. stealing someones santa bar. bah humbug!
well, I have the Seminary head honcho coming to my class tonight, so I had best get going on my fabio lesson.
and I got the pattern for the dolly in the mail yesterday. so I am eager to sew her up. and about 10 other things to do for Christmas, so less blogging, more action!

they say it's your birthday...

it's my birthday too, ya!
so,
today is their birthday.
my twins.
born four years apart.
amazing, no?
I think so.
we did Sadie's party on Friday,
and Jack's will be on Wednesday.
if the weather is good.
they will be off sledding.
fun stuff.
well, I should go decorate the cake!
I'll have to share pictures tomorrow of the visitor we had here last night. so much fun!

Christmas meme

apparently this is a Christmas meme.
what exactly is a meme?
I don't know,
but I will answer the questions!

1. egg nog or hot chocolate?
well, given my last post, I will say eggnog, but I do appreciate a nice cup of hot chocolate after being outside. warms up my insides!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?
he wraps them up!

3. Colored lights on tree/house, or white?
white. hopefully there will be some on my house soon!! I think if I could have nothing else but lights, I would be happy. love them!

4. Do I hang mistletoe?
do I ever!! hee hee.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
well, the tree went up today. usually we wait till December first, but a few decorations were up a bit early!!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
hmm just one favorite? I dont know that I can pick just one.
love the whole turkey dinner works, potatoes, gravy dressing, all of it!

7.Favorite holiday memories as a child?
I remember being at my grandpas for christmas, and I got a big lifesize doll, and I was tossing it up and catching it, and my aunt came in and freaked out. she thought it was a real baby!

8.How and when did you learn the truth about santa?
I have a very bad memory- no idea on this one!

9.Do you open a gift Christmas eve?
used to open pajamas. now just the kids do!

10.How do you decorate your christmas tree?
well, hmm. not sure how to answer this one. the kids just toss the stuff where ever. I try to put my favorite ornaments together, so I can see them all. lots of star stuff. love stars.

11.Snow, love it or dread it?
I guess I love it. so nice when it isn't -30. even shovelling is okay- I don't do it too often!

12.Can you ice skate?
yes, I can! I try to go with the kids at least once- they go to an arena and skate for school, and we try to go as a family at least once! so maybe twice a year! my skates are a tad tight though. I don't know, do I invest in a new pair for twice a year??

13.Do you remember your favorite gift?
hmm. bad memory. can't think of a specific one, except that big baby doll!

14.What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
food. and fun. and people. getting together, and eating!!

15.What is your favorite holiday dessert?
everything! except that christmas pudding stuff. don't like that. shortbread. chocolates, mmm. I think I need to go do some baking!

16.What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I think opening stockings first thing- even before you wake up your parents. so fun.

17. What tops your tree?
a star, of course!!

18.Which do you prefer- giving or receiving?
giving. making the gifts, deciding what to make! love it!

19.What is your favorite Christmas song?
Angels we have heard on High.

20.What is your favorite Christmas story?
I can't think of just one, but for a few years my mother in law has put together books with a story to read each day of December- such great stories in those!

alright. that was it. not too painful!
I would like to tag Kelly McCaleb
and Jessica!

what's up?

here-
well,
can I just say-
I love eggnog, and mandarin oranges.
yay, Christmas time!
Cory does not like egg nog. so I say, more for me.
but unfortunately,
all of my kids like it as much as I do,
so not so much for me.

there will be a princess party here tomorrow.
yay.
we are going to decorate gingerbread castles-
but they will really be made out of graham crackers.
and gingerbread princes and princesses,
that will really be gingerbread.

so anyways, I guess I should go bake those little people,
and assemble some castles,
and decorate a cake,
and get some games ready to go.
fun, fun, fun!!

Saturday..

had a photoshoot with my past best friends brother-
this one of him and his girls was my favorite!
and Sadie with santa.
oh that santa,
I think he needs a new suit.
I think that hat makes him look a bit Russian!
I was informed by Sadie that he is not the real santa,
in case any of you were wondering!!
the kids did great on their song.
you could hear the audience awww after sadie did her cute part about angels singing hosannah and peace on the earf.
that's how she says it. too cute.
I got so many compliments of how good they did.
Cory bought them all slurpees, for doing so great.
slurpees. sheesh. it is like -20 here.
crazy man.
and sadly, because of that crazy coldness,
we missed the annual santa claus parade.
I am not sure if it even happened, but we weren't there.
too cold for me!
there's always next year.
Jed snuck out a box of Christmas decorations,
so we are a little festive.
Cory thinks we need to wait until December to do the decorating,
and this week is a little hectic,
so it will probably be next week that we get the tree up.
so fun!

winter wonderland

Well, it was snowing like crazy here today.
yah, and we had a visiting teaching appointment
for our girl who lives out, far from our city.
the van started this morning,
it didn't start yesterday,
so I took that as a sign that we should go.
the roads were not good.
visibility was low, lots of blowing snow,
but we made it.
only for me to get stuck in their driveway.
well, to the side of it, as I was going to turn around.
nice.
luckily my visting friend had AMA,
and they came 2 1/2 hours later to get us out.
Sadie missed kindergarten,
but other than that, it was all good
so much fun in the snow.


sadly the gingerbread house class that I was so eager to get to,
was cancelled because of bad roads.
man, I have a bucket loaded with goodies to put on that house, that just might not be around next week. hee hee.

what a weekend!

We had a weekend with some family members!
so much fun.
Steve and Leanne- Cory's brother- and their 5 kids spent 2 nights here.
then we spent saturday afternoon at the temple.
so neat to be there with so much family!
then we went to stake conference friday night session,
then out for some food.
then Brian and Jessica- Another brother of Cory's, and wife-
slept over too on Saturday!
so fun how they always spend the night with us when there are other family members here. love it!
we stay up late and talk and usually play Risk-
but not this time-
too bad, huh Jess! ha ha.

On Friday I got to take pictures of my sister Kim's little guy-
Taylor. such a cutie. someday I will learn how to post the picture where I want it, instead of always at the top!

cool

(I couldn't think of a good title for this post!)
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anyways, we went out sledding Tuesday afternoon.
Ben and Jack left first to walk to the hill,
then Jed, Maggie, Sadie and I bundled up,
walked over,
Sadie did a few slides,
I did one with her,
then the girls all headed home,
and by the time we got back we were about frozen.
today seems a bit warmer, but a cold wind is blowing.
yuck.
anyways, and a photo of my new light,
and the new wall color in the back ground.
I like it.
hopefully we can cover up the rest of the blue tonight,
then do the hallways,
then later- when my sister Shelley is home for Christmas-
we can do the bedroom- right, Shelley?? ha ha.
okay,
I need to work on some of my many projects I have going on,
so I can clean off my dresser, which is piled high with different colored yarns, and knitting needles. fun stuff!

like new!

well, now that we have lived in this house about a year,
time to change the things I really wanted to the first time we looked!
the living room and dining room were a blue color,
that I did'nt love.
almost everyone who stepped in our door said they love the blue,
but not me.
so last night, we painted. 4 walls done, well, 2 completely done,
2 more need a second coat, then a few more walls to go! yay,
I love the new color.- it's called parchment. just a neutral, beige, kind of color.
you can see the blue in the back of those pictures.
my little baby in piggies!
she has a mullet happening, the back is so much longer than the front, so it was fun to play a bit.
I know someday she will have more hair on top.
Someday.


and that light. was hanging in our dining room.
it is now gone.
yay. a black cooler one is now in it's place.
I will try to take a photo to show you all!

a year seems to be the normal time for me to get around to doing those things that I want to do to the house!
in our last house, the upstairs bathroom was sponge painted green everywhere, and I mean everywhere. roof, walls, cabinets.
oohh. it was bad. a year later my sister Shelley came and helped me paint over it.
I can't believe I lived with that for a year.
wowsers.
seminary tonight.
should be good.
thanks for all the sweet comments! I appreciated them so much.
I am good with it. I am moving on, and doing my best!
well the movie is over, kids are off school- a 5 day weekend. joy. I should run. school tomorrow! hurray!!

happy times

feeling better.
about everything.
Cory won tickets to the Canadian Finals Rodeo
at work yesterday,
for that night,
so I dropped everything-
including the gingerbread house class I was supposed to be in,
and went to the rodeo.
it was fun.
amazing.
crazy cowboys riding the huge bulls.
I thought a couple of times they were going to get stomped on.

but now,
we must go get the kids.
they got to sleep over at Grandmas.
fun stuff.
hoping to finish painting my kitchen this weekend.
I think I have said that before.
but now is the time.

oh boy.

I had a bad night last night
a BAD night.
took things much too personally
and seriously.
they are serious
and personal
but really.
I was told I am a bad teacher.
I know I am a bad teacher.
there is a reason I am not a teacher at school
and I don't homeschool.
I am a bad teacher.
I teach seminary.
I was asked by my church leaders to do it.
it is a calling.
I cannot- will not- say no to a calling.
so, hence, I am a bad seminary teacher,
but I do it,
I try.
and yesterday a student told me I am a bad teacher and I offend people and she isn't coming back.
I went through a million emotions last night.
all involving tears.
who is she to tell me this.
putting her down in my mind to help me feel better,
and on and on.
came home and ran on the treadmill for 10 min.
it felt good.
but I was still crazy over it.
so anyways
today.
a happy picture.
I will try to be happy
try to be a good teacher.
I always bring food-
what's better than that?

Monday rant.

cannot stop eating the halloween chocolate.
so good.

need to get on that treadmill so bad.

no picture of the brown hair yet, but I am working on it.

the family loved their pictures.
phew!

Jed had his fly open, not a rare thing,
on Sunday after church,
and I realized he had gone commando.
what a stinker.
really, I have no idea where that boy came from
he is really crazy.
seriously.
and he drives us crazy.
especially his brothers.

was asked to be the photographer at the ward party to take pictures of the kiddos with Santa-
I was second choice, of course,
the first choice will be off photographing a wedding.
but hey, I'll take it when I can get it
should be fun.
not till the 25th.
they also asked our family- the kids -
to sing a little song about the nativity.
hmm- doesn't surprise me that the lady who asked us usually sits in the back of the church, while we sit near the front, so she probably hasn't heard us sing.
it will be interesting to say the least.
Cory can't believe I even said yes, and he refuses to participate.
I told him he will be in charge of the pictures that go along with the song.
Well, I pretty much cannot say no.
I need to work on that.

thinking alot about Christmas.
hmm- could it be the commercials on tv and the flyers?
gotta get going on the homemade things I want to make.
so many ideas. so good at procrastinating.

okay, I will go and do something good right now!!!

today??

this is the family i did pitures for a while back.
and the picture frame thing,
I thought it was fun.


is today the day I can share some pictures??
apperently not all at once, but one at a time works.
so anyways,
the octopus we had for lunch on Halloween.
too fun.

the kids ready to go out trick or treating.
man, it was cold.
they have so many layers on.
If you can't tell, there is a princess,
a karate guy, a vampire, and a mad scientist.

yay, some pictures to share.
hmm. other news.
Jack really wants to quit piano lessons.
I am now a brunette.
(the dye I bought was a bit darker than what I thought it would be.
it was funny- on Sunday at church I was early, and Cory came late, and had a hard time finding where I was sitting because he was looking for a blond! it is really dark!)
we have had our fireplace insert in for about a week, and Cory has had it going 24/7. the living room is nice and toasty but let me tell you, the basement is freezing. we gotta figure something out to fix that!
that's all for now.