Lessons learned on the Eve of 2013

December 31, 2012
On this last day of 2012, I've learned a few things.

First. Dogs can get ear infections. Just like people. Who knew, right? We might as well have both of the youngest dwarfs in the household have a predisposition to ear infections.

Second. Treating said dog ear infections is expensive.

Third. Dogs do NOT like getting their temperature taken. Think about it. They can't take it in their ear or mouth or armpit....

Fourth. If you're going to spend a pretty penny to treat a dog ear infection, you might as well shell out $85 to get a year supply of heartworm medication. Hopefully you'll remember to administer it every month.

And fifth. My six month old puppy weighs an astounding 63 lbs. The vet chuckled, told me she had big feet to grow into, and said she was going to start "filling out" in the next few months. Filling out? What in the heeby-geeby is the 63 lbs. then?!

Obsessed

December 30, 2012
The only thing this child wants to wear is his Aggie football clothes.

Every single day.

He's even given me a fairly convincing reason why I should allow him to wear his Aggie football clothes to church. And bed. And school.

When I can't stand the ketchup stains, smudges, and dog fur on them anymore and put them in the laundry, you'd have thought I cut this kid right to the heart. It's a painful wait until laundry day for an Aggie obsessed two year old who knows all the words to the Scotsman and some football player's R&B song that starts with the "I believe" chant and then goes into this catchy tune of "yeah boy yeah boy I'm a Aggie."

The kid is a true Aggie fan.

Even with the ketchup stains, smudges, and dog fur.

Icicles

December 29, 2012
It's been so cold that I just run into the house instead of noticing these beautiful icicles hanging from the roof of the garage.

I guess there are some advantages to sub-zero weather.

Brrrr

December 28, 2012
Brrrrr.....

It's freaking cold outside! Especially when the only time I have to walk the dog is after 9 p.m. when it's dark and really, really cold. I can tell you that when it feels like 11 degrees outside, you have second thoughts that you are in fact crazy.

And 11 degrees is a heat wave compared to the rest of the last week. And the forecast for next week.

Who broke their toy first?

December 27, 2012
I should have known that the dog was going to be the first kid to break their new Christmas toy.

Snowy walk

December 26, 2012
Blu doesn't care that we are the only ones crazy enough to be out on a walk in 8 inches of snow... with more coming down as we speak!

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

White Christmas

December 24, 2012
It's going to be a white Christmas.

Zit! Me win!

December 23, 2012
In our household, white horses are known as "zits." And whenever you see a zit, you scream, "Zit!!! Me win!!!" (as Cole does) as loud as you can because he who gets the most zits wins.

It all started when I was a kid and my Grandpa Jewkes needed something to entertain me and my brother. He told us that whenever we saw a white horse, to say, "zit." I really have no idea if he actually played the zit game when he was a kid or just made it up to keep us quiet in the car. But it's something that I'll always remember about Grandpa. And it works pretty good for distracting two whiny, crying kids in the car.... until they both claim they saw the same zit at the same time. Or argue about how you can't say zit for every single horse no matter what color they are (apparently we need to work on colors with Cole). Or get in a debate with your husband about whether a zit was really a zit or a "golden" zit or a "dirty" zit.

Card sharks

December 22, 2012
This picture was taken exactly one month ago today. It's a heck of a lot cuter than the one I actually took for today's daily picture.

My little card sharks. Learning from the best, aka Grandpa (although I did beat him), how to play Pitch and Hell.

Love 'em.

I have completely lost my mind

December 21, 2012
I must have completely lost my mind.

I walked into Walmart at 11:00 at night... four days before Christmas.

I just couldn't bear the thought of having to enter the bowels of Hell in the daylight. With my children. And dealing with thousands of Walmart crazies (instead of dozens at night) who like me, had a few last minute gifts to buy.

Wrap party

December 20, 2012
Jeff and I have a deal.

If he takes the kids to Logan one night before Christmas, then I stay home and wrap. Every single present. Even my own.

It works out great. I get an entire evening to myself to rock out to Celine Deon's Christmas CD, with twinkling Christmas tree lights in the background. The kids get a fun night out with their Dad. And Jeff doesn't have to wrap a single present.

The REAL Santa Claus

December 20, 2012
The REAL Santa Claus came to the kids' school today.

Seriously. He's the real deal.

He lives in Alaska and comes to Utah for the holidays.

He lives on a reindeer ranch. A reindeer ranch!

His beard is real.

And his Santa outfit just looks authentic.

I'm telling ya. The man is the Jolly 'ole Elf himself.

Holiday craft

December 19, 2012
Today was my annual staff retreat/Christmas party. As per tradition, there was a holiday craft involved. And a lot of giggles. And food. A ton of food. The party planning committee has outdone themselves once again.

This year's craft was a paper tree. I will admit, every year I am a bit hesitant to craft. I sort of sit back and watch the gun-ho ones get started to see just what I'm getting myself into. I'm not a real crafty type. But I can handle a glue gun and Christmas paper. Especially since I didn't have to do any cutting... the Cricut machine did that for us.

I'm pretty impressed with my little paper tree. Now will someone please convince my husband that I really did make this myself?!

Wanna treat?

December 18, 2012
When Jeff called me on the way home from the store and asked if I wanted a treat, I said, "Duh."

Seriously. Who turns down a frozen custard?

Bribery

December 17, 2012
I'm not a very good mom.

Oh sure, I feed my kids. Clean their clothes. Comb their hair, brush their teeth, and provide for them.

But most days, I am impatient and yell. A lot.

I just can't believe that it takes 15 times of asking before they act like they can hear me. And that's before I start yelling. It's obvious that I have no clue what I'm doing as a parent. No clue.

But I have two ups on my kids. One. I know they are well behaved when they aren't at home. Especially Pearl. And two. My kids will do just about anything - anything - for a doughnut. So when I broke the news that we had to go to the store after work, and that there would be absolutely no whining, crying, or running off, I knew the tried and true parenting method called bribery had to be enacted.

Thank heavens for Krispy Kreme!

BFFs

December 16, 2012
I've said it before, but Cole loves Blu.

Whether she knows it or not, they are BFFs.

But sometimes, I don't think Blu minds the poking and pulling and tackling. Like today, when I overheard Cole tell his "Sweetie" that they were going to build a fort.

Best friends forever.

We froze our "A"s off

December 15, 2012
We came. We saw. We won.

And we froze our "A"s off.

Epic road trip to Boise to watch our beloved Aggies win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. But the best part? Next year we move to the Mountain West Conference which means our bowl games are somewhere warm!

Across the pond

December 14, 2012
We mailed the last of the Christmas cards today. Across the pond to England (to Jeff's sister and her family). Hopefully it gets there before Valentine's day!

Christmas time memories

December 13, 2012
These are the result of my late night hard work yesterday. 

Growing up, one of our best family friends (and also the family my mom and I babysat/nanny for years) always brought us a batch of mint brownies at Christmas time. It was the only time she made them and I so looked forward to the knock on the door and seeing Irene Hola standing there with an entire plate of tiny mint brownie squares. Oh how I loved them! But she would never give our her recipe. Trade secret I guess.

When I looked through my first Our Best Bites cookbook, I saw the same mint brownies that Irene would bring us every year. I have been patiently waiting for Christmas time and an an excuse to make them ever since.

Well, with it being Christmas time now I just needed an excuse to carve out a couple of hours of precious sleep to make them. I got invited to a Girls Night Out cookie exchange and knew the day had finally come to make Irene's mint brownies.

And now I also know why she only made them once a year. They are addicting!!!