Had a Bad Day

On Monday I had myself a little day from hell, in a comical way. It all started the previous week while working on a business plan for Amy and Justin's lab that we thought was due Monday. I worked until 4AM Saturday night to try and finish it. On Monday morning I was adding the finishing touches and told Justin I'd get it to him around 8:30AM. I do a babysitting/workout switch on Monday mornings and got distracted. Justin calls at 8:45 saying "I haven't received your email yet, and my appointments at 9AM. By the way, can I get this invoice and that invoice." Somehow kids know when you have a deadline and help you not meet it. After I got everything off as fast as I could, Justin told me the appointment was actually on Tuesday, not Monday. Not really great news for me at that point. This is no big deal, but read on.

I decided that Monday was the day to stop Grace's bad habit of walking around with food (a habit I personally have and encouraged in her.) When it came time to leave the cracker at the table the biggest fit I've seen came my way, followed by 2 more fits related to the same cracker. Then one of the kids I was watching played with Grace's stuffed dog and she tried to attack the little girl, so I grabbed Grace. She then bucked and threw the shake I was drinking on the floor. It not only went on the floor, but on the baseboards, walls, door trim, etc. I still am finding chocolate shake everywhere. The kids then started fighting over another toy so I quickly ran down the hall to take the toy away, but instead slipped on my hardwood floor and landed on my bottom hard. I was loosing patience. By then I was looking for anything to complain about.

I went on a run with my Ipod and it was on shuffle but I swear the annoying song that I meant to delete weeks ago but haven't found the time "Like Human's Do" played about 5 times. I also drove the course after I ran it thinking "I ran that pretty fast." Turns out I'm not nearly as fast as I thought, but hey, I ran right? Then it came time to go to Walmart.

Walmart can ruin any good day, so it can put you over the edge on a bad one. I ordered pictures online that I was sending to relatives. Online the pics needed recropped because Grace's head was partially cut off from some. I recropped, hit save. The picture still looked the same online. So I messed with it for another 15 minutes, to no avail, but I saved my cropping which was correct so I had some hope things would go my way. I got the pictures, the ones with Grace's head cut off. I argued with the poor lady at the photo counter about their website and asked her to fix them. She said she would "do me a favor and try." In the end my pictures did get fixed!! So now it's time to check out and the lines are so long, but guess where the line isn't long? The self check. I only had a few items.... + 25 gretting cards I was purchasing to use throughout the year. Well the computer system doesn't recognize when you put a card in the baggage area because it's so light, so you have to hit the button "skip baggage" which adds what seemed to be 30 seconds per card. The great thing is you can only "skip baggage" 3 times without having a Walmart supervisor come over and "approve" the ordeal. Needless to say I finished, much to the delight of the 1 person who was patient enough to wait behind me. I'm outside of Walmart and have the thought "Where are my keys?" The answer: Look inside Walmart! So I spent about 45 minutes looking, accidentally went into the mens restroom, and never found my keys. Chad picked me up. However, my day did not get worse from that point.

I did get my keys today from customer service so that is a blessing. They had a box with about 50 sets of keys, so I'm not alone. Days like this make you appreciate days not like this, and so I'm so thankful for today. A Random comment but something that made me smile today was Grace holding a tampon and going into my bathroom, lifting up her shirt and trying to put it in her belly button. Kids see everything don't they!

Clint and Melanie Visit

Clint's family came down to pick up their new Honda Odyssey van. The cousins partied and I loved having an excuse to make treats. Thanks for coming to see us!

Josh, Sarah, Michael and Emma were amazed by our popcorn maker. The popcorn is so delicious too, (way better than that Jiffypop stuff Kliss)

Caleb is so loving with Grace

Her new smile for the camera lately

She looks so cute and innocent here, but touch the dog and she looses it. It's "mine!!!"

I did Grace's hair!! An event to be recorded.

My sister gave Grace this coat. Since I don't go outside in the cold, she wears it inside often.

Roman is getting so big. He will be 18 months in March

Grace will be 2 in March

We've been putting together an office from IKEA. Grace had to "help" us of course. (I'll post pictures of the office soon)

Piano Prodigy

Grace and her friend Taytum compose together

Parties!

Emma turned 4 on December 27th


Happy Birthday!


Grace stayed up to welcome in the New Year


Noah, Ethan and Sam drank the night away. Matt and Kliss threw a wonderful party. The food was so good I started eating a bread bowl holding the food.... sorry.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas in Idaho Falls, minus the 3 car accidents in the family. Thankfully everyone was OK, but the vehicles had something to show for it. It snowed and snowed in Idaho the whole time we were there and the roads were awful. Chad did a 360 on the freeway while picking his Mom up from the airport. Just a mark on the bumper lingers from hitting a guardrail. Clint and Justin were less fortunate. Both had situations where the vehicle in front of them nearly stopped on the freeway and they could not slow down in time. The result was a lot of hood damage. Clint is waiting to hear from insurance whether the car will be declared "totaled" since the cost of repair is close to the value of the van. Justin is also waiting to hear from insurance, and his van had to be towed to Tremonton. Luckily, Chad and I were driving home from Idaho Falls and passed the same Malad exit that Amy and Justin had just pulled into after the wreck, so we gave them a ride home. I'm being too negative. We did have a lot of fun and the kids were blissfully happy. Here are some highlights:

At Randy's place in her new outfit from Barbs

The kids loved this nativity set of Melanie's -even the headless Emma


Grace helped Roman get some yogurt


Christmas morning at Clint's house


The chapstick and lotion in her stocking were used constantly. What was Santa thinking?


Opening up presents at Aunt Beth's house. No pictures of Beth in her p.j.'s will be posted per her request.


On Beth's rocking chair having a blast

Christmas Eve Party

Grandma Bonnie gave all the kids videos. This was also a great gift for the parents!


All dressed up for the party


Playing with Tami's dog, Chewy


Emma and Sarah with some "lips" and eye make-up


Josh gave me his serious pose. Who knew he was going to be a model?


Roman at the Christmas Eve Party


Roman's signature evil eye. He laughs so hard after he does it.