The Big Man in Red

What would Christmas be without a visit to Santa? Not complete. That's what. So, Friday night, we ventured out to the mall and found him there, waiting just for us. I was expecting a line, but Nope. We walked right up. Did our thing and were done. I was kinda glad. Brooklyn took a letter to leave for him and Mason amazingly actually talked to him.



As usual, the jolly old elf gave the kids a candy cane and coloring book. They were perfectly content and our business was done!
On a side-unrelated-but-totally-cute-note: How do you get the laundry and the baby up from the basement in one trip??? Put the baby in the basket, of course!


Be sure you scroll down and see my other posts. I finally took the time to write several and just get caught up before Christmas.... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

More birthday gifts...

My sister sent me another gift and I just got it the other day. They are the most fun things!

You start with these:
Add one of these, filled with pancake batter:
Add some no-stick spray and a hot griddle. Combine, and cook:
And you get:
They are SOOOOOOOOOO fun!
After we had enough of the reindeer, elf and snowman (meaning, I mastered making them look right), we did a little free hand. Jon's dad made a racecar, tractor and mickey mouse for the kids to enjoy and the next day's breakfast. I attempted to make our name, but it didn't quite work out as planned. Needless to say, we will be playing with our food again soon!

handy helper

Mason just loves to help! Grandpa was kind enough to let him help rehang the banister. Boy howdy, we've talked about it for several days since!

oopsies

Somehow....I let my birthday slip by. It was on the 11th and yes, I turned 29. Twenty-nine! It was a good day, all except for the 2 hours it took to get our oil changed. I spent the whole day hanging out with Jon and it was divine. That is the first time we got to spend any sort of time together for my birthday since 2004 (just before we started law school). My dad took us to Maddox for dinner (DELICIOUS) and I thoroughly enjoyed the day!

On Sunday the Hibshmans had a party for me and my fabulous in-laws gave me a cutter and mat for my sewing endeavors. I can't wait to use them! Birthdays are great, but somehow, I can't quite believe I'm 29!

the tree

Long ago, at the beginning of the month....

we put up Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas tree.

First step....get it out of the attic. Let's just say Brooklyn and Mason were enthralled, and Mason's asked to go up again a few times a day ever since.

Step #2: Put the tree together. Some day...I'm going to have a real tree again.....
Step #3: Decorate! Boy howdy was this the fun part!
Step #4: The topper! Grandma has a star and Brooklyn just HAD to be the one to put it on.
Finally!! It's all ready and generally, by 9 a.m. (every day), Mason has asked if we can plug in the Christmas lights.

Yes, it's Christmas at our adopted house and Mason and Brooklyn are TOTALLY stoked!

I really meant to....

Hello all. I really meant to do a blog about each of these things, but since I'm so reliable in the blog-world these days...This is all you get. Oh, and pathetically enough, it's been so long since I've blogged with pictures, I forgot my upload trick to get them in the right order... {sigh}. Oh well. I think they're just backwards. So, starting from the most recent. Here we go!

Brooklyn had her first "concert" for school. I got this vague note in her backpack saying their annual Christmas program was on this day and that she should be there 15 min early and in a dress. Ok...guess we'll be there. She didn't want to go, but being the loving and supportive parents we are, we made her.
Turned out, I think she rather enjoyed herself. Each grade in the school sang 2 songs. Sadly, I can't say we made it through the whole thing, but we made it half-way. Brooklyn's class(es) sang "Jingle Bells" and "The Goldfish Song". They got to shake bells through the first and had actions for the second, all the while singing over the singers on the cd of music. Oh well. They're only 5 and some of them really looked like they were having a BLAST!
She was super-thrilled to be there. Can you tell? She was looking right at me taking a picture and didn't even crack a smile. :)
All gussied up and ready to go. At least she'll smile about being in a pretty dress.

One night in November, the space station flew over the house. It was pretty awesome to watch!
And, this one's big. I really deserved a post of it's own and some more pics, but I didn't think of it until after. Suffice it to say that Brooklyn got in some trouble for using scissors in an inappropriate manner. These pics are after Aunt Sarah fixed the transgression.

Although I think she looks cute in bangs, it just isn't quite her and Jon hates them. I don't want to keep cutting them short and I'm dreading the 'growing out' stage. When I discovered them, the day after she did it, I was pretty MAD (ok in all honesty, I was PISSED). She lied to me about doing it #1 and secondly she did it! The day before I'd braided her hair and it was falling out. I asked her if she wanted me to fix it so it wasn't in her face. She told me no. Then, much later, while we were at Grandpa Ken's I suppose she got sick of it so she cut off the parts that fell in her face. LUCKILY she cut it right around her eyebrow so it isn't terribly short. Still....didn't make me very happy!
Jon produced another Fab cake for his niece. Her birthday is right before Thanksgiving so we had a little party for her while they were here. The kids just love these cakes! Although, I'm wondering if it's just as easy to sketch out a picture on a 9x13 rather than spend money on these pans....You can't see the mold after you've put down the base frosting anyway....

This one really deserved a post, too. She doesn't cry like this when I put her in her seat, but she wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot this day....
No more baby carseat! And just in time, too because it expired this month!! I'm a little sad to see it go, though and I can't seem to bring myself to actually throw it away. So many memories!! So many kids!! again, {sigh}
I must say, buckling the kids in has become rather a pain. With Julianne in the middle we have to lean over one booster and on Brooklyn's side, Julianne's latch gets in the way of Brooklyn's buckle. Oh well. We get 30 mpg more often than not and I'm not prepared to give that up, just yet. (As if I could if I wanted to...)
Finally, just some random fun.
"No, mom. I'm not tired" he says..... Yeah...Whatever.
Lastly, She is my kid. You should see her get excited when I pour myself a refreshing beverage... :)

Happy Holidays!!

alive

Thankfully, we survived our little flu. Just a 24-hour bug, thank goodness. Luckily and unfortunately, I caught it. But (and this is the lucky part) I've been the only other one so far. It was not fun. Anyhow, the next day Mason was up and running just like normal. On to the craziness that looms.

By mid-week next week we will be over-run with family and things to do. Jon's sister and brother are coming for Thanksgiving and MY sister is coming for Thanksgiving. Thus we will both have full and complete families in town for a total of ONE WEEK (and of course it's the exact same week). Needless to say we will be spending much time in the car running from Logan to Corinne and back again, some time apart, and if we're lucky (hee hee) some time together. We're super excited to see everyone! MAYBE by the first of December we'll have calmed down enough to breathe.... :). Soon, I will post some recent pics of my kiddos, but at the moment I'm on the wrong computer.

Julianne has cut her 3rd tooth, reached 7 months, and started biting me again. We're working on that last one. I've also decided she must be starving to death because I swear she's ready and willing to eat ALL THE TIME. She can get anywhere she wants and is FINALLY content to play on the floor for extended periods of time. Jon can always make her laugh and she thinks Mason is the funniest thing she's ever seen.

Speaking of Mason, we've had several successful days of no diaper. The problem is, they're only successful if we remember to put him on the potty. I find this incredibly tedious, but Jon is all for it, so...whatever. We've had a few accidents as well. Usually, he says, "Mom I have to pee" and by the time he gets to the word "pee" his pants are wet.. Ugh. Oh well. At least he's trying I guess. I've also gotten some sweet revenge from this new adventure. Whenever Brooklyn needs to go to the bathroom when we're out and about (or Julianne needs a diaper change for that matter). I get to do it because the boys' bathrooms gross Jon out to no end. BUT...since Mason IS a boy and sometimes I just can't take him...Jon gets to. Also, sometimes he has to pee outside (being out and about and all) and that is TOTALLY Jon's department. Heh heh..I'm sure this will come around and bite me in the butt eventually, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. The next goal...to get Mason to stop pulling down his pants to show people his new underwear. I want him to be excited, but I'd settle for an explanation of the chosen character rather than a display. Oh well.. Mason's cute enough to flash his undies now and then.

Hopefully I'll be adding some pictures soon. Until then..Enjoy and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

my day.

Sorry no pic.
Spending my day on the couch with the young Mr. Hibshman. Accompanied by a bowl, a blanket and LOTS of movie watching. Oh yeah, and plenty of diapers and wipes on hand. Poor little guy.

Recipe to try

I've been wanting to make dinner in a pumpkin for a couple weeks now, and finally, it worked out. Unfortunately, it worked out after Halloween so I had a HECK (yeah I totally live in Utah :)) of a time finding a pumpkin. Turns out, I had to use several small pumpkins. It worked out ok, but not really what I'd had in mind. Seriously, do we not use pumpkins for Thanksgiving, too?? Oh yeah, that's right. Thanksgiving is not a holiday anymore (MOVE ON TO CHRISTMAS!!) :). Sorry. Little vent. I'm a fan of Thanksgiving AND Christmas. :).

I digress. Anyway, I got this great recipe from this fun little blog The Recipe Round Table. I LOVE it. My friend organizes it and I get access to all these great recipes. It's open to everyone, so ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Stew
1 10 - 12 pound pumpkin
2 lb. Beef stew meat
2 tbs. Oil
1 Bell Pepper, one-inch slices
1 Onion, sliced
4 Medium potatoes, cubed
3 Carrots, cubed
2 Cloves of Garlic, diced
2 Sticks of Celery, sliced
1 15oz. can of diced tomatoes
2-3 c Water
Salt and pepper to taste

Carve a hole in the top of the pumpkin and remove seeds and stringy insides. Set pumpkin aside. In a Dutch oven, brown 2 lbs of stew meat in oil. Add in bell pepper, onion, potatoes, carrots, garlic, celery, and tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Add water. Let simmer for 1 hour. Place pumpkin in shallow pan, and place stew inside pumpkin. Brush the outside of the pumpkin with a light coating of oil. Bake pumpkin and stew at 350 for 2 hours, or until pumpkin is tender. Serve while hot. Be sure to get chunks of pumpkin in your stew, as they enhance the flavor of the stew.
Submitted by Sandi

Like I said, I had to use several pumpkins, and it worked out great. Afterward, I was thinking; if you were having a little dinner party, you could make individual pumpkins for everyone and they'd be like a soup bowl! Sorry, I didn't take any pictures, but trust me. It was beautiful and delicious! Giver her a try!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

From our Goblins to yours....

Big Boy

Means a big boy carseat.....How can he be so close to 3 already??

speaking of moving...

6 months and crawling. This isn't a very good showing of it, but she can get around....

moving on...

From aprons to....

to Pajama pants. It was way fun and makes me want to buy a pattern in my size....

Addicting, I tell ya. Addicting...

happenings...

Wow... I'm a slacker. This turned out to be rather long...Get comfy!

Julianne had her first piggy the other day. I was rather proud of myself. I thought I'd lost my ability to put in a piggy on a squirmy head, but I got it! I sent the pic to my sister and she said, "Cindy Lou Who!" and I thought it was pretty fitting. Cute baby, eh?


I can't believe I missed blogging about this one! Last Tuesday (sheesh, it's already been a week???!!!) Jon took the Utah Bar Oath. Another day, another Oath. There were tons of people there. Too bad they didn't have a job-fair at the same time so we could find a job. They had the Utah court judges there to accept the new lawyers and the one that spoke said with this bar admission it made 10,000 lawyers in Utah. No wonder we are still not finding anything!

part of the crowd

the justices coming in

you can't see him, but Jon's near that pillar.

I was really trying to get good pics, but if I left the flash on, they were dark like this. If I turned it off, they were blurry b/c I was holding Julianne and she kept kicking her feet! Grr... It was actually a pretty short ceremony so, I got what I got.

I just love winter hats. She crashed b/c it was her bedtime but it just made her that much cuter!

What happens when Dad and Mason get left home alone with spare cardboard?? A racetrack, of course! Brooklyn thoroughly enjoyed it, too:

Complete with tunnel and all!

Last night we went to the pumpkin walk and carved pumpkins with Jon's family. It was fun. And cold.

Mason was way excited he could be Mickey Mouse. Wouldn't let go of my hand, though...
Julianne felt like being Cinderella
And Brooklyn, Ariel. Actually Brooklyn had to stick her head in them all but for the sake of the length of this novel, I refrained from posting them all.
We rode the bus so we didn't have to walk very far. The kids were WAY excited. Mason was bummed we didn't ride the school bus, though. Oh well. A bus is a bus, I guess.
Julianne and I had a good time.
Jon could think of other things he'd rather do....
Then we carved pumpkins. Brooklyn was instructing Jon and how to carve it.
Mason and I worked together...
Julianne supervised. It worked out well.
Happy Halloween!!