Happy Holidays!

Well, the holidays are over. *loud exhale* As if Christmas wasn't enough to plan and stress for, we have Christmas, our anniversary and Sammi's birthday all within the same week! (...and two weeks later is Keith's birthday, 5 days later is Eli's, 2 weeks later is Maddi's and then a nice month reprieve before Matt's!) One word....BUSY! But also splendid!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Matt's family, hosted and held at none other than...OUR HOUSE! It was fun to be the hostess with the mostest and we planned for all the fixin's. Last summer, a lady in our ward was having a yard sale and this said lady is very into holiday decor. She just so happened to be selling a BUNCH of her Thanksgiving trimmings. For $16 Matt and I got tons of stuff, including cute serving dishes, pie plates, leaves, mini dried summer corn, and, my favorite, turkey salt and pepper shakers. We were stoked. Matt's mom came over the night before and brought her decor to add to ours, and the end result was quite festive. We planned around the kiddos naps and had a real pleasant time with everyone. And look! I managed to get a picture with EVERYONE looking at the camera, and it only took me like, 5 seconds. (NONE of the grandkids ended up crying!) It was truly a Thanksgiving miracle.

That night we watched Disney's new "A Christmas Carol" and then had to read some light-hearted stories to alleviate the kids being so freaked out. (It WAS pretty scary). I was super SUPER tired at the end of the night, but it all went so smoothly and I was glad we were able to have everyone over.

Thus began our Christmas prep. Matt is so busy this time of year with the Madrigal Dinner at Boise High, that I'm pretty much on my own making things feel "Christmasy". Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We celebrated with all of my family coming over for dinner and we exchanged gifts and had our annual program. We ended the night by watching our Nativity and munched on delicious treats throughout all of it. It was nice to have it at home.


Christmas morning, I was pretty excited as I had saved and planned and was able to get Matt some neato stuff. A leather recliner (I scored big time on Black Friday - something I have vowed to NOT do, but saw this recliner on sale, so I made an exception.) and a 32" TV. (Another HUGE score!)

So I was pretty excited. Christmas morning was grand. Matt, ahem, I mean SANTA went WAY overboard as usual, but he even admitted it, so I didn't need to point it out. I have to say, I am very grateful for a husband who loves to give and do special things for his family. However, he married a simple gal who gets very uncomfortable with lavish presents. We're a interesting combo. But, I love his generosity. And because he can do so many things, he'll take side jobs here and there without me knowing so he can surprise us all for Christmas. He got me an AMAZING camera....I'm so tickled about it, but have yet to really get my hands on it because he too, is so tickled. He learned so much about it while researching it, that I think it's his new BFF. Anywho, the quality of my pics shall be oh so much improved from here on out. Anywho, Christmas was great, busy and taught us much. Later that day, we spent time with Matt's family which is always a hoot. (see pic)


Three days later, we celebrated our 11 year anniversary. So weird that it's been that long already. We left the night before to stay at the Grove Hotel (top floor!) while my sisters watched our kiddos. We had a gift certificate to eat at a real upscale restaurant. The atmosphere was pretty cool, but we think we have pretty simple tastes as the food didn't impress us much and the prices appalled our senses. It was fun to be out though. (and the music was great!) Matt surprised me with a picture frame (I need frames)and inside were tickets to see "WICKED".

Now, those who know me, know how excited I was. SO EXCITED. They haven't gone on sale yet, but as a choir teacher, Matt was able to get tickets already. See! There ARE perks to being a school teacher! We had a great time and the next day, on our anniversary, we went to the temple to do sealings. It was pretty cool as we were married on a Tuesday at about 2pm, and here it was, Tuesday at about 2pm and we were doing sealings for others. It was perfect.


The next day was Sammi's birthday. Nine! We woke her up early with her favorite breakfast in bed - waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM! Then, the girls got ready, including my sisters, to go see "Tangled" at the early show. It was EXCELLENT. My new favorite. :)




Then Matt took her to lunch while I decorated the dining room and we watched home movies of when she was born and when she was a baby. We then had her favorite dinner of steak and then opened presents and had cheesecake. It was a good day. I love that kiddo so much. She's becoming quite the little lady.


Whew! So that is our festivities up to date! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and look forward to what the new year will bring!

Happy Father's Day - Complete with a gift from the Inmates!

*sigh* I'm behind again. But I have many good reasons. NOT excuses - reasons. That deserves it's own blog entry.

But, this blog entry is about Father's Day! Yey! I must say, I married a guy that is the best dad I have ever seen. My kids sure are lucky.

The day was a bit more chaotic than I had planned due to the NEW DOG we got the day before. Matt has wanted one FOREVER, and he and Maddi, with her consistent love of animals, finally wore me down.



We got her from the pound, and she's adorable. A german short-haired pointer/ Border collie mix with adorable markings and....DA DA DAAAA! FULLY trained. She was part of a program here in Idaho, where for 8 weeks she is trained 4 hours a day by an inmate as part of their rehabilitation program. She is VERY well-behaved and loves kids. She already is protective of them and loves to play. Matt loves her and I have to admit, despite it being WAY beyond my comfort zone, my birthday flip-flops chewed to bits, and more than one instance of her eating a diaper that we'd thrown out, she is pretty cute. She is a master escape artist (bonus training from the inmates?...hmmmm) but Matt has figured out how to fully contain her in the yard. (Yes, she's an outdoor dog. Period.) And yes, I've wondered what the heck I've done on more than one occasion. So far, though, it's been worth it.

Okay, not so funny anymore...

So, it turns out that my increasingly swelling face was not "normal" swellage (not sure if that's a word, but I like it). Apparantly, I was one of the rare 5% that develops an infection, just because, and all the swelling was actually infection. Yes! Actual icky stuff, filling the inside of my face! There was nothing I could have done differently (I was keeping my socket nice and clean) it's just one of those things. A few hours after posting my last post, I was talking to my friend on the phone (who happens to be a nurse) and she asked how I was feeling. I said "not great", described my jaw to which she responded "That sounds like infection". So, I call my doctor and he says, sure enough, it's infection. He called in an antibiotic and had me come in the next day. He looked at it, responded that it was bad but that he'd seen worse (oh goody. Snaps to that poor sucker) and that if the antibiotics didn't "kick it", I'd have to have more surgery to, and I quote, "drain it". I was a little horrified by this visual, especially when I was informed that normally the surgery is done inside the mouth, through the tissue, but since the infection was so low (the side of my jaw and under my chin) he may need to make an incision on the SIDE OF MY NECK to drain it. Sick and wrong. However, my oral surgeon was super-nice...he was going to do the additional surgery at no charge.
I went home and informed Matt of all the gory details and to set him straight. When I first suspected something was up, I said to Matt "There is something in there!!! This is not normal!!" to which he replied "No, no...your tissue is just hardening from the swelling." (Bless him, he's no doctor) and he maintained this belief until I triumphantly informed him that there indeed WAS something in my face, immediately following this announcement by asking him if he would still love me when my face was drained and I had a saggy face with stretch marks as a result. He assured me he would. :)
Anywho, we laugh, but I was worried and did not want more surgery. Matt gave me a blessing and thankfully, it looks like the antibiotics did their job. About 5 days after taking antibiotics, I looked normal, and a week later I didn't need pain medicine anymore. It's not completely gone yet (dr. said it would take several weeks) but I'm on the mend. This is so not on of my five favorite things anymore. :)

My Cute Baby

My face hurts...a lot

Last friday, the 25th, I had my last two remaining wisdom teeth removed. Hi-Lar-I-OUS. Actually - there have been some pretty funny moments. All my interactions with people the first hour after I woke up were pretty funny. Keep in mind that for some reason, I thought I needed to speak loudly. Here's a sample of the "fun".

From my first awakening moments: I see some kid next to me, prostrate on his chair, mouth hanging open. In my fuzziness I hear the nurse say "Yey - look at her. She's already awake and he was finished before her". To which I respond in my drug-induced state "That's right! I'm freaking awesome! I was made for this!".

Matt helped me out of my chair, recieving instructions. I remember thinking how aware I was - how the drugs weren't affecting my speech and how that was a little disappointing.

As we're leaving, Matt notes the sleek BMW in the parking lot and wonders aloud if it's the Dr's. To which I respond: "I hope it's his car! He deserves it! That was awesome! This is like, one of my five favorite things!" Matt: What are your other four? Me: " Four puddings...I'm hungry" He chuckles and I say "I'm totally doing this on purpose, you know. I know what I'm saying. I'm just making it fun for you." (note: I was totally out of control)

Matt passes by a yard sale and stops, first asking if it's okay. I assure him enthusiastically that it's fine. I watch him from the window, and as he approaches I honk the horn loudly, motioning for him to buy the doormat on the grass. I thought it was brilliant. So - he did. A few days later, I saw it in the car and was like "I wanted that....right?" Matt nods and notes that I wanted it "really badly."

We get home, I demand my pudding and fall asleep, waking up to blood all over my comforter and gauze in my mouth. I"m drugged up on vicoden, foggy, sleepy and not in much pain. Alas, I wake up on Saturday to a swollen face which progressively gets worse to this:




And yes, I have gone out in public and yes, it was embarrassing. BUt kind of funny. If I could smile, I would laugh pretty hard. But, today is Tuesday and I'm tired of feeling like there's a swollen golfball in my jaw and I'm tired of feeling tired. This stinks.


(Yes - that is pudding on my face)

Thirty, Flirty (?) and Thriving...

And so - it is. Ever since my birthday LAST year, I have been counting down and yes, at times, DREADING my next one. The big 3-0. I never thought of myself as one who would be bothered by aging, but for some reason this one bothered me. Not because I view 30 as old, because I don't. In fact, I think of it as entering my "prime". :) After a year of musing over this, I have concluded it bothered me for a few reasons: 1) I'm realizing how fast my life is going. The last 10 years went by so fast! The fact that a decade is over and done with in a blink of an eye is a little sad. I look forward to the next, but am a little sad with the rapidity of it all.
2) Linked to #1 is the realization how quickly my kids are going to grow up. In 10 years, Sammi will be 18! WHAT!?! Sad. I just hold them a little longer and closer now.
3) What are the 30's linked to? What fun thing? College, get married, have a baby (or two...or three..or four), buy new home, start career....all this fun stuff was in the 20's. And so I say...er...30...what d'ya got? (Perhaps I'll just have to wait and see, eh?)

Anywho, now that it's here, over and done with, I am coping well. Matt helped make my day uber special. (thanks hon!). Here's the low-down of the day:
Woke up and went with the kids to breakfast at IHOP. Wore the awesome Birthday Crown that they made me (much to the pancake patrons pleasure)

Matt sent me off with some friends to get lunch and Pedicures! My first one ever! (Pedicure that is. I've had lunch before) Olivia was a pro - after Nikki and I figured out our massage chairs, we looked quite suave ourselves. LOVED IT!

Matt and Sammi made the flip flops for us. I would have LOVED to see his big ole' hands crafting with those tiny balloons. Priceless. Super cute too.

Yey! Presents! Matt got me a locket with pics of our kids and us in it and the new Alice in Wonderland and some other trinkets. My sweet friend brought over some delish Bath and Body works soap - it was a big surprise and so appreciated! My kids made me cards and posters to hang up.

For dinner, we went downtown to Solid (very tasty - thanks to Hannah for watching our chillins) and then came home and watched my new movie with the kiddos and had strawberry pie. (mmmmm) It was a wonderful ending to a wonderful day!

And so - I move forward. Here's to "30". Yipee!

I LOVE THIS WEATHER!

Now, I know there has been a lot of grumbling about the weather lately, and I have listened to it, even pretended to sympathise with it as I fight back my true feelings. Well - here they are: I LOVE IT. I love that it's still cool, I love that it will be warm one day, cold again the next, I love the fluffy clouds, I love the rain. Love it. Matt says I should move to Seattle. I figure, why? - when it's just as good here in Boise? :)

Memorial Day

I love holidays - any reason to spend time with people is a good reason to me. Memorial Day was great. Easy-going, laid back. My fav. We had a bunch of our friends over - some old, some new - for a BBQ and it was fun to watch our kids play together and enjoy the beautiful weather. I made my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE angel-food cake (it's truly delish - another plus for holidays...it gives me the excuse to make it.) After the BBQ we tucked our kiddos in bed and Matt and I stayed up to watch a movie. I love lazy, hazy days. (although, it wasn't hazy - big billowy clouds, bright blue sky, with an occasional overcast moment - *sigh*)

Guys...


And Dolls...



Some of Matt's Buds....I love how Noah has "super hands" in both pics.


Anywho, what's the point of having favorite things if you don't share them? Here's the recipe for the above- mentioned angel food cake. LOVE IT!
(The following recipe is from the Essential Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen)

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE CRUNCH CAKE

1 pint whipping cream
1 (16oz) jar Hershey's Hot Fudge Topping
1 large angel food cake (homemade or purchased - I made mine. It's more moist that way)
4 (1.4 oz) Heath or Skor candy bars

Whip cream until stiff. (about 5 min) Fold in fudge topping. Spread over top and sides of cake. Chop candy bars in chunks. Sprinkle over surfaces of frosted cake. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Makes 10 servings.

(SOOO yummy...next time I'll take a picture. It'll last longer.)

Potty-Trained!

Alright folks! This is the third time I've done this and it is my first boy. At this point, I think I know what I'm talking about with the success of potty training all three kids in just ONE day. That is right. ONE. DAY. First it was Sammi - one day. Then, Maddi - one day. And finally....KEITH! YAHOOOOO!!!!! One day! (Did I mention that this took only one day?!?!)

Last Friday, I decided I was ready (yes - YOU must also be ready as well as your child. Because it takes your focus for that whole day) and well - Keith was obviously more than ready as he was the easiest of all three to train. (only 1 accident - and that was my fault. He told me and I said "okay, just a second", immediately forgetting and then and hour later...accident. I'm such a good mom. :P) It's been 5 days and we've had no other accidents, successful pooping every-day and are staying dry all night. I haven't even cracked open the Pull-ups bag!

"How is this achieved" you ask? Well, check out this link.


This method is gold in my book. (I didn't even need the doll with Keith. He was excited to get to call Barbie - yes, Barbie - each time he pooed. -Thanks Olivia and Millie!)

If it's the first time you've ever used this method, my only advice is to follow it exactly and to plan on your whole day being centered around potty training. Yey for briefs!

Spring Break

We had our first real family vacation over Spring Break. We stayed for 9 days in McCall Idaho at a wonderful resort (it was like having an apartment there). It was during their slowest season, so it wasn't crowded...there was a LOT of snow and it was very cold, but so much fun. Our first day there, we went on a sleigh ride to feed the wild elk. We were on a sleigh that had bales of hay for us to sit on. When we came to a clearing in the woods, a bunch of wild elk approached us and started to eat. It was pretty cool...one elk got a little fresh (if you moved at all, it loosened the hay under your bottom...something I guess the elk really ejoy) so that was pretty funny.

We went swimming a lot and decorated easter eggs and went sledding. Our good friends came up for the last few days which made it even more fun. It was wonderful to just be together and relax. (and in such a beautiful place!)

My husband, Steve Perry - er, Matt

Before we left for our trip to McCall for Spring Break, we attended Boise High's talent show. Matt, a.k.a. "Mr. Swenson" was asked by some students that have a band if he would be the lead singer for a song they were working on. He agreed...and discovered that the song they were working on was "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. Now, for those who don't know or who have never given it much thought, Steve Perry, the lead singer of Journey, has a VERY high voice. Very high. Matt felt a little intimidated, but, was true to his word and they rehearsed for a couple of months before the talent show. Somehow, it was kept a secret that he was doing this and they saved it for the last number of the night. The setting was very cool - the band played a prepared number, the audience loved it - the lights dim while the band ends their song, the last note humming in the air amid applause. Before the beat completely ends, the band transitions into "Don't Stop Believin'", the lights low. Once the audience realized what they were playing, they applauded and cheered, the lights still down. Matt comes in, and eventually the lights are lit up again and you see the band and Matt in full Journey garb. Classic. It was hilarious. Matt says he looked like Steve Perry with an added 300lbs - I just laughed and laughed. The shirt was pretty awful - but I was impressed with how he rocked it. I took video, but it gets bad in the middle because Eli attacked me. (yes, ATTACKED me) but you still get the idea. My absolute FAVORITE part of the entire act were the two kids in spandex, dancing with ribbons. Priceless. Enjoy!

Re-Commited

I have neglected my blogging for too long, distracted and swayed by other "technologies". However, I have found my preference, and it is blogging. Simple and sweet. So, I commit today that for at least 6 months, I will be a faithful blogger. Yipee!

Catching Up...

In a nut-shell:

Halloween was frightening...




We gave thanks...


The season was jolly...


Our anniversary was tin...


Sammi is 8....


and a member of the Church...


Birthday parties were great (Thank you friends and family for coming! The kids loved it!)




Keith is 3 ...


Eli is 1 ...


And that brings us up to date! More posts to come...surely. :)

"Extraordinary Measures"

The new movie "Extraordinary Measures" that came out on Friday is based on a true story. The girl in the movie suffers from a rare disease - Glycogen Storage Disease, Type 2. My four nephews have Type 1. They were interviewed by Channel 7 and did AMAZING. I love these guys and am so impressed with how they all "keep going". And with smiles. :)Check it out:

FIRST: Scroll to the bottom of my blog page and stop the music. Then play the video below.