The Hobbit

Jesse spent many months reading Maddie and Robby "The Hobbit" this winter.  I was pretty excited for him to do this.  He is a busy guy.  But I guess it comes with territory when you put the children to bed three nights a week.  They loved laying on Maddie's bed together with the windows open, huddled under a big fluffy comforter.  So when the movie came out, we knew we wanted to take the kids to see it.

Jesse refused to see it at the local Lebanon Movie Theater because the screens are so small.  So we searched out and made a road trip down to Claremont one cold, January afternoon.  It worked out perfectly, in that it coincided with Jesse coaching a basketball game down there the same day.  The children and I visited a Super Walmart while he coached, and when he was done we picked up some cheap take out dinner.  Then off to the movies we went.  

I love the simple pleasures of my little boys.  They were perfectly content to pretend to play the video games in the lobby.

Maddie wasn't too pleased when we said no to spending $1.50 to claw for a prize in this machine.

This picture cracks me up of the boys doing the exact same thing without even realizing it.

Thankfully Miss M got over the drama of her "Mean Mommy" saying no and was pretty pleased to come to the movies after all.

I was pretty proud of my children at this show; it was long, some parts were scary, it was late, and they all handled it like champs!  Thankfully we had a car full of sleeping children by the time we arrived back in Sachem.  Jesse and I are loving the fact that all of our kids are old enough to go to the movies!

Skiing with the Biggies

MLK Day found me and the "bigger" kids at the Dartmouth Skiway for a fun afternoon of skiing.  J graciously watched E at home for us.  I was a little apprehensive about how Rubba would do on the slopes.  Thankfully, this worry was completely unwarranted.  Robby skied like a champ! 

After several runs on the Jbar Bunny Hill we all headed over to the ski lift.  Robby has been bugging me since Day 1 about when he would get to go on the ski lift. He was so excited to finally do it!  He got a little scared in the middle of the lift.  He didn't realize that we would be suspended so high in the air.  He was also a little nervous at the top.  The mountain suddenly appeared much steeper than he originally thought.  Luckily he has mastered his pizza feet and used them nearly the whole way down.  By the second run he was starting to turn!  We went down several more times and they were both BEAT by the time we finished.  

Maddie has really gotten so much better this year.  I am constantly blown away at how much she is learning. She started this season only slightly knowing how to turn and do pizza feet, she had never ridden a ski lift in her life and was definitely not ready for any slopes whatsoever.  She can now turn quite easily, is well accomplished at pizza "snow plowing" feet and is beginning to ski and turn straight.  As far as the ski lift, she thinks she is a total pro.  In reality, she is quickly becoming comfortable riding on them and she loves the challenge of the steeper slopes. 

Overall I am such a proud mother to see my children having such a fun time on the slopes.  It is so rewarding to share one of your passions with your children and to see them sharing in the enthusiasm and enjoyment.  I can't wait for many more ski seasons in the future!

Sunday

This is what a Sunday afternoon looks like at our house now.

We are loving 9 am church

Accidents

This winter we sort of had a rough go at life.  Our Arizona-ness stood out so much more than usual.  After a year of no issues on the road, both Jesse and I had semi-scary incidents. 

First Jesse slid off the road in snowy weather while headed up north in Vermont on December 11, 2012.  He said that one minute he was fine, the next the car began to slide and ended up off the road and down an embankment.  I was terrified when that morning I got several people calling/texting to ask if Jesse was fine before I even found out that it had happened.  Luckily he was completely uninjured and ended up hitting a pile of snow which stopped the car from continuing down the embankment, hitting any trees.  Apparently the week before, someone else also slid down this embankment, hit a tree and was killed.  Yeah, I would definitely agree that he was being watched out for that day. 

Unfortuantely for us, we only had minimal insurance coverage on this vehicle (basically it covers any damage to another vehicle, but not ours).  So we were sort of out of luck as far as repairs.

We were pretty sad that our beloved 2003 Nissan Maxima with beautiful black leather seats is no longer.  This car has seen the entire country from coast to coast.  It faithfully drove us on our long journey from Arizona to New Hampshire, it has taken trips to Mexico many times, Utah, Las Vegas, California, Colorado, you name it.  RIP Maxima, we are so sad to no longer have two vehicles in our family.  Now we just have the count down until school is over and we will no longer have to share a car.

After the previous accident, we were much more cautious on the roads, reminding ourselves that there is lots of black ice.  I had prided myself in my excellent driving school (haha), and thought I was doing pretty well at learning how to drive in snow.  Yesterday I decided (idiotically) to drive down to Sunapee during Maddie and Robby's ski lessons and pick up some cheap skis for Eli that I had found on Craigslist.  It was snowing outside but I told myself that I would just drive slow on the roads and everything would be fine.  After all I was going on the interstate and surely they would keep those roads in pristine condition.

Partway through my drive it started snowing pretty badly, I began to have a bad feeling inside.  Instead of listening to the prompting that was telling me it was a bad idea, I pushed it away.  I told myself that I was just allowing negativity and fear overcome.  As I continued along the road, the driving conditions were quickly worsening, everyone was driving slowly, and visibly wasn't good.  As my exit approached, I realized that I would have to change lanes.  This is particularly problematic during snow storms, because there is always a large collection of slush that divides the lanes on the road. 

As I crossed through the slush my car immediately began to slide.  I tried with all my might to gently tap the breaks and hold my steering wheel steady.  Unfortunately my car slid sideways, before turning 180 degrees and hitting the guard rail despite my limited interventions.  I ended up stopped facing head on to traffic and was lucky enough that the vehicles behind me were able to stop in time, including a semi.  With a pounding heart, I managed to turn around and pull over on the side of the road safely with Eli crying in the background saying "Mommy, that was reeallly scary". I heartily agreed and said a quick prayer of gratitude for us being safe.  My first thought after pulling over was about my other two kids.  I knew at that point there was no way I would be back in time to pick them up from lessons.  I was so grateful to know that we had friends also at the ski resort I could call to take my kids home. 

When I got out of my car, I was again grateful for driving such a large vehicle.  Besides the dent in my rear passenger side bumper, and a definitely flat tire/destroyed wheel everything else was fine.  I was able to call up Jesse, who was driven by another friend to come help me.  After an hour or so, we had a spare tire/wheel on the car and we were headed home. 

This could have been a very expensive and dangerous accident that we managed to escape with only needing a new tire and wheel.  I have been even more cautious since then and have to admit that I am counting down the days until the weather warms and we don't have to worry about black ice.

My sweet hubby dropped everything he was doing to come out and help me.  I was so grateful to have a husband that knows how to changes tires, even in a snowstorm

Eli was cold, tired and hungry in the car so I let him entertain himself with my camera that included about 15 different head shots of yours truly

We also had kindles with us that helped pass the time.

Birthday Dinner for C & L

One of my favorite things about living in graduate housing, is all the amazing women I have gotten to know that live within walking distance.  There is no better way to get to know your neighbors, then to cross paths with them once, twice, three times a day.  You can't help but share your live with each other.  Then add to that the fact that their husbands are also in school and most of them attend the same program together.  That pretty much guarantees you become friends for life. 

We love to get together for ladies nights out for all of our birthdays.  It is the perfect excuse to dress up cute, eat yummy food, and have a great time without the children interrupting our conversations.  We missed out on Candace's birthday on New Years Day, because she was still out of town for the holidays.  So a few weeks later we knew that we had to take advantage of Laura's birthday and do a dual birthday dinner for some of our favorite TP '14's!  We had lots of laughs together and bribed our server to take this picture of all of us.  I think he was pretty bummed when he found out right off the top that there would be no alcohol served at our table. :)

I will miss these B-Day dinners a lot when we move.  They have buoyed me up when I am having a hard time.  They have kept me afloat with something to look forward to.  They have allowed me to step out of my homebody persona and enjoy a night out on the town.  And they have given me a chance to bond with a bunch of wonderful ladies.

From left to right: Candace, Laura, Stephanie, Michelle, Andrea, Maren, Tiffany, Amy, Catherine, and Ashley

Candace was a having us all laughing so hard when she modeled her new scarf. 

In this picture, C is showing off her "best side"

Winter Carnage

Our poor snowmen have taken a turn for the worse as the fickle New England weather has gone cold, warm, snow, rain, cold, warm, snow, rain........ 

Go away rain and bring back some more snow please!!

Just a couple of baldies

This is what happens when Jesse {aka Daddy} gets his hands on the clippers....nearly bald children--particularly Robby.  We finally pulled the clippers out again for a "little haircut" after noticing our boys looked somewhat shabby today.  This is a new pair of clippers that Jesse had never used before.  He took one swipe at Robby and realized with dismay the setting he had chosen was much shorter than intended.  The end result = one child with a nearly bald head.  He did fix the setting somewhat with Eli and as you can see, his hair isn't quite as short.  

After I realized just how short Robby's hair was, I couldn't watch any longer and left to go to the store  Apparently Robby was pretty upset that he was "bald" and so Jesse did make the clippers a little bit longer, but tried to have it short enough that Robby could see Eli's hair was short like his.  I keep repeating the mantra "it will grow back...it will grow back...it will grow back" repeatedly every time I look at Robby's poor head.  

I guess all those new beanies we got for Christmas will go to good use on Rubba's head this year. Sigh

*in the last two pictures Eli is standing on his tippy-toes.  This was his response when I told to stand tall and look at the camera

Ski Day #1

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time.  The day when my children would all be old enough to learn how to ski.  Guess what?  We are finally there. For the first time EVER, we took all the children skiing with us at the Dartmouth Skiway.  The best part is that this is just the first day of doing this.  We bought annual passes today, so we will be going many more times this season.  

Already I am amazed at how quickly children learn.  Eli went from never putting on skis, to making it down the magic carpet hill, semi-on his own and can now ski straight without falling on little hills.  Robby has gone from barely being able to go down a small hill, to snow plowing down the J-Bar hill with a few little turns added in.  Maddie has gone from a total beginner with only 5 after school lessons last year, to handling the J-Bar hill at the skiway like a champ.  I am excited to see how they all progress throughout this season.

I am also looking forward to spending some time on the hills for myself.  Today was the first time I have skied in nearly two years.  It felt great to get my bearings on skis, and I am already trying to find more time to get back out on the hill.  I have a feeling this is going to be a great skiing for all of us!

*Jesse even admitted to me that if we end up moving somewhere cold, he may transition back to skis to give his knees a bit of a break.  Snowboarding is sure hard on those knees of his*

 Rubba was so excited about going on the J-Bar and had a great time flying down the hill.  His turns are really improving and I was so proud of how hard he worked.

Miss M went down the J-Bar hill probably twenty times this afternoon and is looking so effortless on this hill.  I am expecting great things from her this year with skiing.

*No picture of Eli this time.....he only went on the J-Bar lift with me once.  Let's just say that it was serious work getting that child back down that hill.  He really isn't quite ready for that hill.

Puzzle Nerd

I grew up in a family where we were kind of nerdy.  We liked puzzles and games like no one's business.  Every year for Christmas we would get new family games to play together and we would spend hours each night playing them.  Monopoly, Trouble, Life, Skip-Bo, Phase 10, Pizza Party were all games I played many times in my childhood.  We also would get at least one new puzzle as a family gift from Santa every year.  We would pull out our large puzzle boards and watch movie after movie while we put together these puzzles.  When I hit my teenage years I decided I was "way too cool" to do any of these things anymore, and I proclaimed to my family more than once that I didn't like puzzles or games anymore.  It took many year to figure out that deep down, I really do like puzzles and games.  Yep, I just put in print.  I am in fact, a Sheffield nerd through and through.  

I have now passed this gene on down to my children as well.  I officially jump started the puzzle and game tradition this year and each child received a new game for Christmas and I got a puzzle set from Jesse {he may or may not have been shocked when he saw that I bought a puzzle for myself for Christmas--he in fact is too cool for games and puzzles} 

A few weeks after Christmas we pulled out my puzzles on a lazy Sunday evening and began the fun.  Luckily I had Eli and Maddie with me to document this experience.

And do you know what makes me even cooler?  I stayed up after the children went to bed and finished this puzzle.  Oh and I did another one also!  I have officially become what I thought I would never be....just like my Mom :)

Mr E

Eli says that he is ready to eat dinner "just like Daddy"

He is a pretty silly kid.

NYE Layton Style

We {I } was so excited to have New Years Eve off of work for the first time in four years.  And then before that I have only been off on New Years Eve two other years in the 9 years I have been a nurse.  So needless to say, there was some fist pumping going on when I checked my schedule a few months back and found out that I had the night off.  Lucky for us we all live so close together that there was just the matter of getting all the children in bed and then it was party time!  We played games, ate lots of yummy food and rang in the New Year in style thanks to Maren's party goods.

**disclaimer: all these photos were "stolen" from my dear friends blog**

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HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I am not really a New Years resolution type of girl, but I have been reflecting upon some changes I would like to see this year. 

 Some of my goals for the year include: 

*More scripture study personally and with family:  We didn't quite accomplish a goal I had to finish the Book of Mormon children's version with the kids in 2012, but we have now picked it back up and are reading again at night time.  As soon as we have finish the Book of Mormon picture book, we will move onto another one of the standard works.

*Work Out:  I did a great job last year running and staying in fairly good shape until November when the workouts ceased and the goodies began.  Let's just say that November and December were a little rough on my body.  I am now ready to run and work out a little better.  I am looking at some races to do this Spring as some extra motivation. I will be running the St Patty's race in Lebanon in March, but would love to do another Half-Marathon or Ragnar-Relay around April/May.

*Make bread with my new Kitchenaid: I would love to overcome my fear of baking bread this year.  I now have the tools to help me accomplish this.

*Pull out my sewing machine and practice:  I was so excited to get my very first sewing machine from my Mom last year for Christmas.  Unfortunately I just don't have anywhere to store the machine other than the case it came in.  It's a lot of work to pull it out and set it up so I tend to not do it.  I did pull it out in August when my Mother-In-Law came and we worked together on some projects.  Now I just need to try on my own.

*Quilt with some friends:  I was just invited to be a part of a group of women who are each making their very own quilt from the same pattern.  I still have to go to the meeting and search for fabrics but I am excited to try something new!

And before I completely overwhelm myself, I will stop right there.

I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be great year for us!