Happy Thanksgiving....

I can't believe how quickly Thanksgiving goes by! We spent the day at Jon and MaryBeth's house. The food was incredible!! Especially the sweet potatoes with caramel sauce that MaryBeth makes and the company was even better but we missed all of our family members that live outside Utah!! I wish we could all get together every year!!

I am so grateful for SO many things.. I can't even begin to list them all but I am so unbelievably grateful for my husband!!! How many women can say they have a husband that does laundry almost every week (washing, drying, folding and putting away) without being asked or guilt tripped into it? Or a husband that will watch a chick flick with as much enthusiasm as me! He is so thoughtful and sweet and I am so lucky to be able to wake up to my best friend every single day! I can honestly say I love him more every day!

I am also SO grateful to have the three sweetest kids on the planet! They each have such unique personalities and bring so much joy to my life. I know that sounds cliche but they truly make my life SO much happier and I am honored to be their Mom!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Now on to Christmas!!

M

My perfect morning!

Jay's alarm goes off at 4am and he is usually so good at being stealth as he gets ready in the morning so he doesn't wake any of us up but this morning he knocked something off the dresser and it scared me out of my peaceful sleep. If I was a normal human being, it would be fine and I would just turn over and go back to sleep but because I'm a freak of nature I tossed and turned until finally giving up the fight and getting up. Sophie was up at 5:30am and I was so glad that I had been up and that I was alert because usually when she is up this early, I stumble to her room (without turning on lights) grab her and pull her into bed with me without saying a word and we fall back to sleep. But this morning I went in and got her and she smiled at me and said, "I'm thankful for my Mama"... I about died.. Is this what I've been missing every morning when I'm half asleep as I drag her into bed with me? I scooped her up and covered her with kisses and we snuggled and talked in my bed (fully awake) for an entire HOUR before she asked for breakfast or wanted to play! Without even knowing it, she gave me the perfect start to a day! I am so lucky to have such sweet kids!

M

Sharpies and Drillbits....

Jay was doing laundry last night and we are always amazed at what we pull out when we are emptying the pockets of Jake's pants. We have found the following items in the past: screws, paperclips, rocks, clumps of dirt, old candy, a football mouthguard (even though he is done with football), pencil lead, ace bandage,sticks, tree bark.. and last night Jay emptied the pockets and announced that he found Sharpies and drillbits this time. We are lucky because most of the time we find the stuff before it goes through the wash but we have had a disaster or two. The mouthguard listed above was one of the unlucky ones and came out looking like a big wad of chewed up gum.
M

Tea Time

We have been a little cooped up because it has been so cold so Sophie and I have had several "tea parties"... which basically consist of Sophie setting out all of her dolls and animals and serving "everyone" strawberry tea. In the first picture it was so funny because she crouched down and asked "everyone if they liked their tea and if they needed cream or sugar." It was pretty sweet..

M

Halloween 2008

My posts are a little out of order but.... OH WELL.. Here are my little ghouls on Halloween. Sophie was a butterfly, Jake was a freak, Ike was a firefighter and Jay... I'm not really sure but he definitely scared me! We had a great night. Much to Jay's disappointment (because I made my own birthday dinner) I made pork roast, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce for dinner.. and we took the kids trick-or-treating.. I thought Sophie would only last for a few houses but she was a die hard. Isaac complained because his "gear was too heavy" and Jake called him a wimp but overall it was a good night and we had a lot of fun and overate on dinner, candy and later that night, Jay and I ate chili, cornbread and sugar cookies that Jodi gave us. YUM!! We felt sick when we went to bed but it was worth it! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

M

Whoa.. too high

Whoa.. too high
Originally uploaded by MarissaVanNoy

This was at the park .. She would beg to swing higher and higher and then as she was coming down she would panic a little.. It was hilarious!

Flying high B&W

Flying high B&W
Originally uploaded by MarissaVanNoy

Jay and I were playing with Sophie outside and I grabbed the camera because she was laughing her head of when he threw her in the air.

I smell the Holidays!

Is it weird that when I think of Thanksgiving and Christmas I can smell cider, turkey and Christmas trees? I LOVE this time of year! I break out my Christmas music right after Halloween and I have to force myself not to get out the Christmas decorations right now! Jay hates when I decorate too early! I had our Halloween decorations out in the middle of September and he thinks I'm crazy! But my justification is this.... if I don't decorate early then I only get to enjoy the stuff for a short period of time! My saddest day is right after New Years when everything has to come down and I have to put my Christmas music away! I don't love the Holidays because of presents... let me just make that clear. In fact most years Jay and I don't even buy for each other anyway... Here are the things that I love about the Holidays...
1. I love love love Christmas music! My favorites are when current artists remake Christmas oldies!
2. I like that I can threaten my kids with the idea that Santa may not come if they don't do what I ask. (I know it sounds evil but hey I can only use it for about 2 months out of the year so leave me alone.)
3. I love sitting in the living room in the dark with the little white lights twinkling on the tree! (especially when there is snow on the ground outside).. there is something about this that is so peaceful and comforting.
4. I love Thanksgiving! I love being with family, I love eating until I feel completely ill and not feeling bad because that's what you are suppose to do on Thanksgiving right?
5. I love the smell of warm cider... ( I rarely get around to making it but I bought the Salt City Spiced Cider candle.. almost the same thing)!
6. I love tucking my kids in on Christmas Eve and I love the fact that it is SO hard for them to fall asleep!
7. I love seeing their little faces on Christmas morning (around 5AM... I even love that they get up that early).. I always tell them to try to sleep in but I am secretly hoping they will come in and get me really early! I almost anticipate this as much as them and I even have a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve!

I could go on and on and on but I will spare those of you that are reading this!
I'm going to go light my Spiced Cider candle and turn on some Christmas music while Jay is at work!

XOX M