did this work

round yer bergen - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Grace and Sophie!!!!

                                                                    Christmas Eve

 

 

                                    Happy Birthday Jason! The kids made their own hats :)

                           These are the pics from our Christmas card. I love how they turned out

                                                     The joys of sitting on Santa's lap

Nutcracker ballet was a true adventure. It snowed, roads were bad, I didn't know I had to pay to park so I had no cash. We ended up parking on a side street and walking through snow and icy puddles. Our feet were all wet and the girls were tired. But we had fun. Grandma Smith sent the Nutcrackers and got our tickets. It made me miss her!

If I ran the world

If I was in charge of this world there would be no such thing as shopping carts with bum wheels. Or PMS. Or pouring rain trying to run errands with 4 little grouchy kids. Or ever forgetting a super important thing on your list and having to make a special trip just to get it. My rant is done. I feel better now.

Oh... and of course I would also take care of things like world hunger, war, loneliness etc...

Cute Kids

                  I came in my room and found Noah "reading" in my bed. Sooooo sweet!

It's a December Miracle! (kind of)

Yesterday I received my brand new, ebay purchased, cool mom purse. Here is the catch; it is just big enough to have purse stuff plus 2 diapers and wipes. So no more diaper bag for me!!!!!! Big who-hoo!!!! For the first time in almost 5 years I will no longer lug around an enormous, stained and heavy bag full of diapers, wipes and goodies like stale 3 month old cheerios and the tissues I used to wipe my 2 year old's nose last week at church. Instead I have a cute, smallish blue bag. Just wanted to share the momentous occasion. Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day! We thought we would be all alone here in NC for Thanksgiving this year but Jason's mom and my brother Sam were both here. It was wonderful to have family to share the holiday with.

Because the odds of an adult having a nap in our home are about as good as Ed McMann knocking on the door with a jumbo sized check, we played outside after dinner. 5 out of 6 of us like to have pictures taken. All day long when I would try to take Noah's pic he told me, "Stop Mom!"

Super fun to have Sam here...

and Grandma

 I am not sure what these are..maybe reindeer? The girl's came home from preschool super proud though!

 

 Zoo trip with Grandma

                                                              Best Leo picture ever!

Halloween & Fall

Happy Halloween 2008!

Gracie saw this unicorn costume and fell in love with being a princess riding a unicorn. Sophie is, of course, Ariel. I had adorable costumes for the boys, Luke was a lion and Noah was a skunk. Turns out both boys totally freaked out and would not wear their costumes. Aunt Heidi to the rescue! She sent us these cute Thing 1 & 2 shirts earlier this year. Add some blue hair spray  - one bald head looks a little weird. Oh well. Kids had a blast!

 

The leaves are beautiful this fall!

                                                   

                             This stinker is figuring out how to climb up on anything he can find!

Here is my funny antidote for this post. My girls were playing on Saturday and I heard Sophie say to Grace, "What are you doing in this world?!!!" Made me laugh. She actually has said that before, but I could never remember exactly how she got the phrase wrong.

Small Victories

I love fairy tales. From a young age I have devoured books of fairy tales. I still read a lot of modern retellings and adaptations of them. That said, I am no fan of Disney's versions. Even as a young girl, I was just not a Disney fan. The big boobed, soft voiced, sweet and kind female character is always the same. They are not real women. They also tend to be the only women in the film, besides evil and ugly women villains. I could go on, but I won't.

Now as a mother, I have a daughter who adores all things Ariel. Disney's version of The Little Mermaid became a part of our lives from the moment my purple loving daughter saw her first picture of a mermaid dressed in sparkly purple. I don't make an huge issue about it.

The blatant sexuality and commercialism of Ariel, and all Disney princesses, makes me very uncomfortable. Is she a movie character for young girls or creepy middle aged men? I read in a book once where they compared her arched back poses in Disney's movie to Victoria's Secret adds. You have to admit, it is the identical pose. The plot of the actual fairy tale is not very empowering to women either. The Little Mermaid actually gives her voice and life away to try to make a man love her.

So, we are driving a few days ago and my kids are listening to a CD of fairy tales. This version of The Little Mermaid is relatively mild but the heroine does die at the end of the story because the prince marries someone else. As we were listening Sophie says, "I think Ariel is dumb." I didn't think I'd heard her right and I asked her what she meant. She said, "Ariel made the wrong choice." You have to remember, Sophie is only 4 so I again asked what she meant. She explained, "Ariel gave away her voice. I think Prince Eric would like her just the way she is."

I told Sophie that I agreed with her and let her finish listening to the story. Inside I was turning cartwheels of joy. I just pray she can keep doing at 14 what she has begun at 4.

Fall Beach

I haven't posted for almost a month! Wow, I really have been swamped/lazy/watching Dancing with the Stars. One of the fun things about fall here in North Carolina is that it gets cool very slowly. We actually went to the beach last weekend! We went last year at this time and it was in the 80's. This time mid 70's and rainy some days, but still a blast.

For the first time I have traveled with all my kiddos and actually had more fun then work. Hallelujah!!!!!! (Imagine me singing this at the top of my lungs, arms outstretched.) This could have to do with me totally not wanting to go the day before. Our plan was to take our trailer and camp. When push came to shove and I had to actually begin packing food, clothing, bedding, toys, dishes, etc. for 6 people I called Jason at work and told him I just didn't want to go. So we used some Hilton points we had been saving and stayed in a posh hotel right on the beach. For 3 days I did not cook, wash a dish or sweep a floor. It was AMAZING! 

Luke and Noah wouldn't look up at me, they were having too much fun!

Sophie hamming it up. She is such a character when she wants to be! Notice the crooked glasses. Keeping those frames adjusted is the bane of my existence! The employees at the glasses store greet Sophie by name when we go in every other day.

Sweet Gracie (Monster Grace sometime rears her head, but not often any more.) Jason and Noah are in the background.

My kids slept decently in the hotel so no one was exhausted and we all had a great time. The Atlantic is so much warmer then the Pacific ocean. Even with temps in the 70's and a little rain, it was fine to play at the beach. We didn't swim as much as usual, but still had tons of fun.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I completely miss Utah in the fall. I love watching the mountain leaves turn. I love the way the air smells and feels. I love the crisp mornings. I love the snow and how it makes the mountains look. Being able to drive a few hours to the beach in October is nice, but mountains are still in my blood and I miss them.

Sam came to visit!

This is Jason's firetruck, Dessa kept it all these years. It is super fun to see my kids play with it.

For the Beauty of the Earth

Leaf People by Sophie & Grace

Every friend I have that blogs has had an entry lately about the beauty of fall. Here is my contribution to the adoration of the world we live in! On Saturday I ran a 10K here. The entire race was on trails around a gorgeous lake. The sun was shining, it was cool and there was no discernible humidity! I ran with a new friend and had a great time. The leaves are just beginning to change, so no color yet to speak of but I was moved by the beauty surrounding me.

I also LOVE running races. Not because I have ever won. (I think once in my 20's I placed 3rd in my age category in the Art City Days Fun run in Springville, Utah. I thought that was really cool. I still have the dorky T-shirt from the race.) I love races because I love to be with so many other runners. All shapes, sizes and colors of people all having a good time and working towards the same goal. I always feel like part of a really cool team or club or something, as silly as it sounds. I love to cheer for other people. If races gave a Miss Congeniality award I would really be a contender. People here in NC don't cheer nearly as much as I am used to. I love to be cheered for and running races is the only time it happens. Wouldn't it be cool if you heard "Whoo, hoo! Way to go!" when actually getting the dishes done before going to bed? Or "Hang in there, the finish is right ahead!" When hugely 9 months pregnant and you can barely move? How about, "Come on you can do it!" When trying to be patient upon hearing for the 19th time in a 2 hour period, "MOM! COME WIPE ME!!!!" Of course all these things would have to be yelled at an appropriate volume to make them a cheer.

Alas, not once in my life has a stranger yelled encouragement to me. Except for when I am plodding along, trying to finish a race. So I will keep cheering and having a blast all while wondering why in the world feeling such pain could ever be construed as fun.

Happy Fall!

By the way, I ran 6 minutes faster then the last 10K I ran in July, Yeah for me!
And I actually ran in pants this morning. It was 52 degrees here. Whoo hoo!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We love you Grandpa Smith! Happy Birthday!

September Stuff & Em's Wedding

 Emilee and Ben's Wedding

 I love this picture! Em is so happy and beautiful!

We met Stan's girlfriend Julie for the first time. She is really wonderful.

 I think I was a little tired by this point....

 Grace & Sophie's first Lagoon trip!

So...here I am again. We got back this week from a crazy, fun, busy trip to Utah for my sister's wedding. If anyone is reading this that I didn't get to visit, I am so sorry! I would have loved to see you. Both of our families are in Utah, so after family and kid stuff there is just not a lot of time for much else.We had fun but I have to say that it is crazy to travel with young kids. I told Jason we are not going anywhere for 6 months during the hardest of our 4 flights and he answered, "6 YEARS!"

Smores at Grandma and Papa's

When we lived in Sandy Grace and Sophie loved to go to Wheeler Farm. It was fun to visit again. 

First Day of Preschool!

Binkie Heaven!

Grace has a huge imagination. She cracks me up all the time with her stories and explanations of things. The other day at lunch Grace said,"I have something to tell you. It's something you can dream about or just imagine. What if there was a really, really,really, REALLY big red fish. As big as a house. And all the people could come and take one bite each day!" We had red fish chewies the day before and I guess she was just showing her inner candy love.

Noah mostly mumbles. He thinks he is talking, but it is just nonsense sounds. She sounds like the adults on Charlie Brown movies. Grace has started interpreting for him. She will tell me, "Noah just said a joke. He said,"What does the bear say to the deer? Eat the trees!" Then she will laugh and laugh.

Luke is talking like crazy. He is using simple sentences and makes us laugh. He just came up to me with my big exercise ball and said, "Mom, bounce!" Sophie is sweet, strong willed and fun loving. She is learning how much fun it is to tease her siblings. Luke gives it back to her already. Good times at the Hardy home.