Is Santa real or not?

This Christmas we had a real scare. Derek told me in the car while the other kids were at school that Olivia told him santa wasnt real and then showed him the toys in the garden shed that they had written that they wanted in their letters to Santa. I was freaking out. I couldnt put those toys out now and say they were from Santa. After school I picked the kids up and proceeded to lecture them about snooping around. I told them the toys were from me and their dad and they had to go back because they were nosey. Olivia slams her arms down and says "I knew you would get mad! We can't tell you anything". Dallin said "we are kids mom..of course we are going to play hide and seek in the garden shed." To which I reply " but the toys were in colored bags and on the highest shelf. Meaning you had to get them down and pull them out of the bags to see them." Dead silent all the way home. I was devastated and angry. I had to somehow redeem Santa for my little sweet Derek. He kept saying "I dont care what Livvy says I still believe" So Andrew and I came up with a plan to help Santa win this one and be the big dog again. We went to the pet store and bought a kitten. We placed her in a cute carrier on the front porch with a note from Santa. It said: Weeks Kids, I found Ashley hungry, sad and alone in the alley the other night. The elves are busy making toys. Mrs. Claus has come down with a cold, and I am double checking my naughty and nice list. We are all just too busy to take care of her right now. I have seen how well you guys take care of your other pets and I just knew she would be loved at your house. Please take extra special care of her. If you do a good job when I come back for Christmas to bring your toys I just might let you keep her. Love Santa BuhYA! We are back in business. They were freaking out. And any time the cat was gettin into trouble or needed her litter box cleaned we would remind them that Santa might take her back (now that Christmas is over Im bummed we cant use that threat any more). This morning he left her a stocking to show she was part of the family with treats inside and a birth certificate the kids had to each sign.

Individual Shots

I had to throw in these cause I am so proud of the detail my mom put into our outfits. Christmas 2012 Nativity Andrew and Dallin built the manger.

Annual Christmas Eve Nativity

Lord knows I didnt give birth to the Von Trapp kids. My kids are the worst when it comes to smiling and prefroming. They suck elephant balls. It was hell trying to get them to smile and participate. I mean were trying to remember baby Jesus you ungreatful little...!! It was rough. But its a memory and so we carried on and kept taking pictures. I do truly hope one day they appreciate the story though.

Annual Cruise trip

After last year we decided this whole cruise thing has to be done every single year that we are still living. We planned and payed and went again this year, the week before Christmas. This year my little sister joined us and it was so much fun to have more time with my little niece. Her husband is a blast! It really was the best of times. Too much fun to describe. I loved the food so much I gained wieght. Nest year we plan on leaving from Galvaston.

The downtown trip from hell.

We always say we need to go downtown and take part in the fun stuff Austin has to offer more often. Now that the boys are not in sports we spend our weekends kind of just sitting at home and vegging. I looked into it and decided we should go downtown to the tree lighting ceremony and (wait for it) ride the train. I figured the kids would love riding on a train (they truly did) and it would help us avoid fighting traffic and paying for parking. According to what I read online the train would stop right in the middle of the festivities. So when Andrew told us that we needed to get off at the next stop I was leery. Plus NO ONE ELSE was getting off and as we walked past they were all giving us faces. It turns out we got off the train 3 miles from where we needed to be in the Ghetto. Hard core people selling crack on their doorsteps kind of ghetto. The kids had not had dinner and were already grumpy. Andrew kept lying to me about how much further we had to walk. Cause he knows I would get naked for a gang of thugs in return for them stabbing him with a knife I was so mad. By the time we got to the tree lighting ceremony all the childrens activities were closed down and we could hardly see the tree. We quickly fed the kids then I bought them some treats at Starbucks and tried to make the best of it. It was an awful night! Fast forward two weeks later. I didnt pack my birth certificate to get on the cruise. I figured two forms of ID meant my social and drivers license would be enough. I had to sit out and wait for my mom to fax it over but I let the kids get on the cruise ship with their aunt and start the party. Andrew stayed back and decided to belittle me about my mistake. Hum? Who;s mistake do you think was worse? I will let the public vote on this one (as if there is even a contest) Rant over ....

The kids were happy on the train (they had no idea the amount of walking that was about to be required)

Eating their treats. Mama knows how to make eveything better

see how small the tree was ? Thats a 40 foot tree in real life. But a small glimmer of a triangle in the sore eyes of my babies.

Piano Recital

Addie had her annual piano recital. She did really really well. She is more resistant to practicing now. In fact she is a diva about pretty much everything these days. She was nominated again for the gifted and talented prgram. This year I finally agreed to let her in it. School work is easy for her. She is beyond smart, in fact i think she has already surpassed her mom and dad in this area. But like I said she has a sensitive difficult personality. I am hopeful that she enjoys being in the program without too much drama about the extra home work. One thing is for sure. She is amazing. She will do great things and it is humbling that I have to parent her. I am almost 100% sure im getting it all wrong. But I never give up. I'm gonna keep trying. Wish me luck!

Bike ride then a swim

New house. New adevntures. Just a little bike ride down the road and you hit this adorable creek. It gets deeper in some areas and in others you only need to roll up your pant legs a little. It has become the kids favorite thing to do on a Saturday afternoon now that football is over. The other day they made their own little boats form scrap wood in the garage and raced them down the stream.

Thanksgiving

It was a mess. We did pretty good on the food. But I was late getting the Turkey in the oven and there was family drama. We tried to play turkey bowl but most of the kids left us to play elsewhere. Dallin was waaay into it. Ready to smash his skull in any time they didn't get a touch down. Olivia on the brightside was a champ. Im imprsssed with her natural athleticism. Sigh... that is all for this post.

Halloween 2012

Red Ribbon Week

This year I went all out for Red Ribbon week. The kids are in a new school with the move and I want them to make new good memories. Monday was hippie day. So I made tye dye shirts. Tuesday was nerd day. Wed wear Red. Thursday was twin day (no picture). I let the girls go buy matching outfits for them and their best friend at school. Expensive yes, but I won major brownie points with that one. Then Friday was Pajama day (no picture-hey im not perfect).

I tried!!

I remember wanting so badly NOT to have little d on Halloween night. I kept thinking his birthday would always be over shadowed by Halloween. In the hospital I was releived when he arrived the very next day on Nov 1st, thinking "man we really dodged a bullet there." That must have been the epidural talking cause his birthday is pretty much really close to Halloween. No need to worry I am mentally stable now, so when he said he wanted a Halloween party I just rolled with it. In fact I cut costs by using our Halloween decor and just having during his preschool group instead of sending out invites etc. You can tell he is my last cause my patience kow during the whole party. One little girl started crying when she got out during muscial chairs. Um... get a grip we are playing multiple times and every one gets a prize. So I told her to go inside and cry so I didn't have to hear it. Some parents (mormon yuppy moms) need to teach their kids how to roll out. NOt to mention pumkin carving with that many kids about did me in. Granted I didn't do it with them Andrew did...but it still was about all I could handle. I am so sick of birthday parties. Good thing I have a year till I have to throw another one eh?

Olivia Lost her other tooth

Now I have two kids without front teeth! Olivia's right front tooth hung in there for a long long time. It was so annoying too cause I was hanging by a thread, just dangling there in the front of her mouth for over a month. I have so many bad memories of my dad trying to pull out my teeth when they were loose that I can't stand the thought of even tugging on one of my kids teeth to get it out. Even when she came to me with a bloody mouth cause her tooth started bleeding while she was chewing a sanwhich. I still wouldn't touch it. Right now just thinking about it gives me goose bumps and makes me nauseous-My dad would even threaten to use needle nose plyers to pull our teeth. Major psychological issues come from my teeth memories my dear friends. She made the cutest little letter for the tooth fairy. And folks this time (write this in all the record books) This time! The tooth fairy came on time no problems no glitches. BooYah!

My take on Cheer

Olivia participated in her first cheer competition this year. I didnt let her go in the past cause I didn't want to fully immerse us into the "Cheer culture." Any one that knows me knows I hate cheerleading on so many different levels. For now I am ok with it cause she is 6 and its cute. But once I arrived at this arena full or crazed screaming girls all my fears and worries were confirmed. Watching these fat, middle aged women, that were once cheerleaders and came back as cheer mom's ,with high pony tails and huge bows in their hair ..WAS NOT cute! And whats worse is these women are dancing around like they are hot stuff. In general you get these girls that think they are it. That they have accomplished the highest level of social hierarchy. In reality they were a cheerleader in a small town and when it comes to the rest of the world that matters UM.. not at all. But they never leave those days. They never realize in the real world it doesn't make you better than anybody. And most importantly cheerleading doesn't teach you any skill that will be of value later on in life. You could argue team work but the way these girl cry under pressure and backstab each other I would say your stretching a bit. Blah blaaaah blaahh I ramble on. In the end I detached myself from all my preconceived notions and just decided to observe her unbiased. And I was so happy for her. She was glowing and having the time of her life dancing in the stands and goofing off with her little friends. She is so good at dancing and she was amazing when she preformed. The lady behind me (who didn't know who I was there to watch) commented on how the little blonde girl (Olivia is the only blonde on her team) was killing it. She was right! Andrew and I talk about keeping her away form the pole cause she can get saucy and raunchy with her dance moves. I'm not sure why she came to us so full of spice but I think she is adorable and I could kiss her cute little cheeks all day long. I will always love her and support her thorough whatever it is she wants to do. The fact that I even signed her up for cheer is proof. So proud of her and happy for her that she has this life and is talented. For the future I guess we will sign her up again as long as she wants it. Yes I hope its a phase. Not cause I don't want her to hold pom poms but because girls are cruel and mean and hateful and back biting. If your pretty they hate you even more. If your ugly they use you to make them feel better. And cheerleaders take the whole mean girl drama to a whole nother level especially in High school. I don't want that for her wether it be her being cruel or her taking it from the mean girls. I was reading this blog...The blogger was making fun of cheerleaders and a former cheerleader commented. She basically said (to the blogger) "you are just jealous cause you were probably not pretty enough to be a cheerleader and your boy friend probably left you for a cheerleader and lets face it we get married to hotter richer guys later in life cause we were prettier." Wow. where to start? That pretty much sums up the mentality that I hate. To be in your 30's and thats your view of why your superior to others is a disgrace to the human race. Sigh... We will see . I am hopeful that our parenting will keep her from being like that if she still chooses to cheer. But my logical side always says: you can be guilty by association.

Home work

All this homework my kids have is killing me. If you combine each of their required reading and home work it would take me a total of 4 hours to complete. They get home at 3 and I go to work around 5 or 6 so as you can see I don't have as much time as is needed. Dallin can pretty much do his on his own, but he doesn't. He lies to us about what has to be done and will claim a worksheet in his book bag isn't due till Friday when its really due tomorrow. So he takes a lot of time to hunt down and keep accountable. The other night we found out he had a book report and hadn't read a single chapter of the book. So at 9 pm I started reading to him. 40 chapters later I was crying when the grandpa lost his wife and he was falling asleep on me. We got it done in the end. Olivia has a ton of home work for a first grader. I think its a bit much but O well we must stay calm and carry on. And Addie is too smart for her own good. She is testing at a 6th grade reading level and does her homework during her free time at school. I wont put her in gifted and talented program cause those parents are like the annoyingly competitive parents on STEROIDS! I want nothing to do with that drama. NOt being in the program hasn't made her dumber and being in it doesn't make her smarter it just gives her more busy work. Needless to say I feel like I don't do much for her cause she does it all on her own. One day she came home and told me she was to make a musical instrument from objects she could find around the house. I was freaking excited as HELL cause I finally could be there for her. She told me "Mom I need a couple of things from the store" and she hands me a slip of paper "I wrote them down because I noticed you always forget things we need from the store because you never make a list." Not the nicest approach, but I am beginning to stomach her honesty a little better. I went all out and we made Hello Kitty maracas. I'm sure kids in her class were thinking its a little over the top but I couldn't miss this golden opportunity to HELP in some way. I take Olivia with me to Addie's piano lessons and make her read in the car while we wait. I always feel behind and like there are just not enough hours in the day. Sigh....

Addie's Baptism

Addie was baptized on the 29th of September. Andrew's parents flew out and all of my family made it except for my dad (football season-nuff said). What can I say? I was very happy with how it all went. Becka and Olivia sang a song. I have it up on face book here is the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=4756124505035&set=vb.1352901591&type=2&theater My brother and Dallin gave the best talks! They were short and sweet. Uncle Jed cried which is pretty rare. I think its the first time Jed has ever cried during a talk. He is getting softer. Addie played a song on the piano. Annette came in to announce out loud that there was no plug for a hair blow dryer. Smooth Annette! John was giving me a hard time like always. Peyton was walking all over the room talking very loud and cute. Grandma played the piano with extra bravado. Andrew gave the prayer when she was confirmed with the Holy Ghost. Me and every one else in the audience have NO idea what he said cause he is very soft spoken so... maybe its written on some documents in heaven some where and I can get a copy. Other wise it was a sweet memorable day. We celebrated at Chuck E cheeses later Bassett style which is always a good time.

Cute artwork

Olivia made this picture of Addie's Baptism. I thought it was super cute cause she made all the people with big eyes and cute round faces. I love her art work and I couldn't get over how cute this picture was.

This is Andrew dunking Addie into the water.

This is a picture of Grandma Bassett on the front row with grey hair, Andrew's mom sitting behind with Red curly hair, and next to her is Annette with longer darker red hair. Im not sure what happened to the rest of us that were there...maybe she got tired but I am not complaining when a picture is this cute.

This is a pic of her and her aunt Becka singing.

The whole picture from above. Love love love this art work .

Football 2012

Dallin has had fun playing ball this year. He is getting better and you can tell he enjoys doing well at something. But it has been difficult in other ways in that he is too big. I know most people think you can never be too big especially in football. And that is very true. I guess its just hard to be big when you are young. He is huge for his age. In fact when we went in for his physical the doctor flipped out and ordered a round of blood tests and bone measurements to make sure he didn't have a disorder. After all the tests were done... they concluded he is just a big kid cause he is going to be really big adult. But he is at the very ceiling on his weight limit for his age group. There are kids two years older than him on the same team that don't weigh as much. His second game he didn't make weight. So we tried creative ways to help him so he wouldn't have to sit out of the game. Andrew wants him to play down and be the biggest and I wanted him to play up and be challenged and not have to worry about his weight. In the end Andrew got his way (even though I was right). Its been rough every week. In fact he weighs in tomorrow and I am not sure he will make it. Poor kid isn't happy about all this. Most guys would kill to be as big as him. It just comes down to his age. He is too young to appreciate his size. All he knows is he is different and to young kids that sucks. One day it will all make sense. I am ubber sensitive momma bear about this so watch what you say or I could jump down your throat. Lets just say all his coaches are scared of me. And Andrew doesn't sleep soundly knowing I am the kind of person that would gut you in your sleep. And thats how I like it. He's my baby! Always will be.

I never want to move again

We finally moved in and all I can say is I never want to move again. There were several aspects that made it rough but no matter how you slice it or try to make things easier moving just sucks. We are in and we have done a bunch of work on the house even though the biggest selling point was that it was move in ready. Guess not. Very happy very Happy and I couldn't be happier. I will post a very few pics. Not cause I don't want you to see my house. Simply don't have the patience to blog after moving. I swear its gonna take me months to recoup from this move. I will maybe post more pics later. I have some rooms I need to redecorate. So it will be fun. Right? I doubt I have the energy to redecorate either. This move slammed me. Enjoy the pics though.