Happy Holidays

Christmas was wonderful, and hope yours was too! Richards family celebrated Christmas last Saturday but I had to stay home with Emma, who got the flu. Then Kate got it on Sunday. Landon got it on Tuesday. On Christmas Eve we had a delicious breakfast at Dave's and then went to see The Chipmunks movie. But Landon started having tummy issues again and couldn't go to the show so Richard took Landon and Kate home while I went to the show with Daniel, Emma, Grandpa and Dave's family. We were supposed to head down to Mt. Pleasant for the evening and had even offered to cook dinner, but we backed out at the last minute because Landon was all sick again. So we stayed home on Christmas Eve and sang carols around the piano with our kids, which was wonderful! We played a game and went to bed early! Christmas was great and we were able to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hague and then spent the rest of the evening at my Dads. He made Christmas special for all, even though we greatly missed Mom.

Me and Kate and Grandpa Kevin, who she loves to hug and kiss.

Me and Kate and Heather and Claire

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa Hague. I had been looking forward to Grandpa's clam dip all week- it's the best! We also celebrated Grandpa's 83rd birthday tonight!

Happy baby on Christmas morning!

Happy kids! Landon woke up at 5:30 but we told him he couldn't come get us until 7:00, so he stayed in his room playing Nintendo DS until 7:00 and was literally bouncing off the walls!

Emma loves her Easy Bake oven. I never had one as a child, but I'm not sure what the big deal about them is. Isn't baking in the kitchen with me a million times better? Oh well, she loves it.

Oh, the boys were soooo excited about this one- the Riprider 360, a very cool toy indeed! It's like a big wheel with scooter wheels on the back and it turns 360's like crazy! I love the looks on their faces!

Just a ball of yarn

Landon was bored the other day and asked what he could do, so I suggested that he finger crochet. Have you ever done this before? It's simple and completely pointless. The only thing you can make from it is a giant chain. And thats what he did. A giant chain- an entire thing of yarn. This is his ridiculously long finger crochet chain. He said it keeps his head really warm! And here are some other December happenings.

Kate really wanted to sit on his lap....until she got there.

Emma and Miss Tina - the best preschool teacher ever!

Beautiful Emma Jae

Riding the train at the Mall....passing the time while Daddy was off singing!

At Dave and Michelles for the main course of our Christmas progressive dinner

Jake and Traci hosted the appetizer portion of the dinner and we did dessert.

Kate and Mommy at the Hague Family Party. Kate loved the mint brownies the best!

Christmas Carol

My favorite Christmas song is Silent Night. I truly do love it, for its simple beauty and its spiritual message. However, a while back Richard and I wrote some alternate words to this lovely hymn. You can call it sacrilegious, but we think its funny. Especially after a week of little sleep, ear infections, the flu, much barfing and laundry. I share with you the words, but you must sing them and squeeze them all into the regular melody line to get the full effect and enjoyment.

Silent night, Oh, what a night

All's not calm

All's not right

Round yon wishing I was still a virgin

Not a mother with four childs

Holy, not another infant! So tender and mild

Sleep is never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever in peace

Unless....

Sleep in Advil PM peace

And speaking of a Christmas Carol, I cannot wait to watch A Christmas Carol this year. The Albert Finney version is the ultimate best (sorry Layne) and the music is so wonderful. We used to watch it as a family on Christmas Eve and I hope my kids are old enough to not be scared. Jacob Marley still scares me. BTW, She-Daisy sings a great version of A Christmas Carol that is from the movie. Do you have favorite Christmas movies? My other favorite is White Christmas. Next in line come Home Alone, Elf and Garfields Christmas Special.

My Angel

Saturday night was the Hague Family Christmas Party. I was talking with my Aunt Karen and she said that it was hard to believe that we would be having a family party and not hear Judy's laugh. She said she could still hear her laugh in her head. I couldn't. I tried to hear her laugh in my mind, but I couldn't. Fortunately, my mom made a DVD 2 years ago where she sits and talks and laughs and tells stories about her life. Its about 3 hours long and completely priceless. Since Richard was gone, I got the kids to bed after the party and watched the DVD. I heard her laugh, I heard her voice, I saw her smile. It was great....until the end and then I started bawling. I pulled the blanket up to my face to muffle my sobs and whispered, "Oh Mom, why aren't you here?" Which I know is a stupid thing to say, because I know why she's not here, but I said it anyway. And before I finished the last two words, a thought just jumped into my mind... I am here....I know it wasn't my own mind that thought those words, because I hadn't even finished saying what I actually was thinking. She is here. I'm sure she is so much closer than I can even imagine. I love her. I miss her. I know she is watching over us.

Jazz game

My brother Dave gets great Jazz tickets through his firm and was nice enough to invite us to join he and his wife at a game last week. Third row seats! We got to have a great dinner before and nachos and popcorn at half time. We really got a taste of the upper class! J/K...We already are upper classy people, duh! Anyway, we had fun! Thanks Dave and Michelle!

Oh yeah, I spilled my diet coke all over the dude in front of me. It served him right though. He was drinking beer and had tattoos. I was embarrassed, but there was nothing I could do about it besides apologize profusely and send Richard to the bathroom for a wad of paper towels!

Dave and Michelle

The Jazz bear is why I'm glad we didn't sit on the front row. He would have annoyed the crap out of me. People pay hundreds of dollars to be entertained by the Jazz bear? I thought they came to watch the game!

This is a great picture of Deron Williams because he is totally checking out the other players butt....and enjoying it!

I know him so well

While I was busy teaching piano the other day this is the conversation that I had with Daniel.

Daniel: Mom, can I have the rest of this bag of mini marshmallows up in my room? I'll put them in a bowl.

Me: Fine, but if I see one marshmallow on the floor I'm gonna be super mad. And you better put the bowl in the sink when you are done!

Daniel: (about 5 minutes later) Where is that black space heater you have?

Me: It's in my closet.

Daniel runs back upstairs.

Me: (As he is running) WAIT! If you are thinking about using that heater to roast marshmallows in your room- NO WAY!

Daniel: Aww, Man!

Thankful

I didn't have my camera much this year. But we still had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday in Mt. Pleasant with Richards family and Friday at my Dads with my family. Fortunately, my sister Heather took a few pictures that I could steal off her blog and put onto mine. Thanks, Heath. I just love these pictures because you can see what an awesome job my Dad did of putting together Thanksgiving and making it special for all of us. I truly don't think my Mom could have even done it any better. Not only did he host and do the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and his famous artichoke dip, (with help in the kitchen from Heather), he bought activity books and colored pencils for the kids, set up a special "activity table" for them and gave us all a very special, tender letter and gift. Oh, he also put together "The Box" that my Mom always used to give each family on Thanksgiving. There are 24 little bags in the box, one to open each day of December and he did it all! He has been so amazing and this year I am most thankful for him.

Dad and Heather busy at work in the kitchen.

Look how cute he is with his recipe book and his Diet Coke.

The kids enjoying their books at the activity table.

My sister-in-law Michelle made these beautiful ornaments for each of us. So wonderful, and the center and most special ornament on our tree.

Jon and Dad trimming the tree and doing a beautiful job!

Gimme gimme, Shimmy shimmy!

Hmmmm, nature or nuture? Love this cute little video! She loves to shimmy!!

BTW- the dog is leaving on Friday! And not a moment too soon. Kate ate a piece of poo this morning and the dog pulled my table runner off my dresser, spilling all my jewelry, picture frames, candles, etc.

What should I do?

Remember in my last post how I mentioned a dog? Yes, a dog. Her name is Izzy and she has been living with us for about a month now. She belongs(ed) to Traci, my new sister-in-law. Their condo doesn't allow dogs, or it costs some crazy fee to have them and so they offered her to us. It kind of started out as we would watch her while they were on their honeymoon, but if we liked her we could keep her sorta thing. And here's the thing. We probably should have never agreed to it in the first place. I am a dog liker, not a dog lover. Richard is great with any animal and the kids just love her. After the first few days I actually got a few hives on my neck and Richard told the kids that if I was allergic we wouldn't be able to keep her. "No fair!" they said. "C'mon guys, if you had to choose between me and the dog, what would it be?" I said. After a long pause, they said, "ugh...that's a hard one!" We were planning on getting a dog next summer, a dog of our own choosing. But now, even though Jake and Traci would be happy to find a new home for her, I just don't know what to do. My kids love her. She sleeps with them every night. Kate even says her name and it is the cutest thing ever. But I am the one who is home all day and listens to her bark at every freaking person that passes my house. She barks at every piano student and then has to sniff them for 5 minutes and often camps out at their feet during lessons. Even as I am writing this I am pausing to go tell her to SHUT UP! because Kate is asleep for crying out loud! Kate gets into her food and water (and spills it all over the kitchen floor) multiple times a day. Izzy has even pooped in the toy room so many times that I've lost count. I found dirty diapers stashed under my bed that the dog had pulled out of the garbage! So....what do I do? I need advice! The kids really do love her, but I am not really on the bandwagon. Do I get rid of her and have my kids all mad at me for it, or do we keep her and I just deal with it?

Don't judge me

Some days are just crazy. Some days just never slow down, and there is hardly a minute to stop and think. The other day was like that. I was babysitting my niece and nephew for the weekend, two other friends were over (8 children), I was trying to teach piano (9 children), the dog was barking (more on that later), Kate was trying to play the piano and have me hold her at the same time, the kids were running up and down the stairs, and I didn't know what else to do. Something had to give, and so I put Kate in her high chair and gave her a handful of chocolate chips. (They were quick and handy and I knew she would like them!) It kept her quiet for the remainder of the lesson, but this is how she looked when she was done. I had to give her a bath (obviously), but it was well worth it. See....chocolate saves the day again!

Date night

Thanks to our great friends for the fun date night on Saturday! Want to know what we did? Go here. http://mjbeardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/refinement.html

Tender moment

I went to the cemetary this week for the first time since the funeral. I didn't realize that the temporary grave marker has a picture of my Mom on it. When I set Kate down on the ground she immediately loved Grandma. She hugged it, stroked her face, smiled, kissed it. I cried and cried. My sweet little baby. My sweet Mom. I hope Kate never forgets the love she feels for her Grandma.

Boo to you!

Hope everyone had a fun and happy Halloween! It was a perfect night for trick-or-treating! We went to our ward trunk-or-treat and then up to my Dads for more fun! He was awesome and made chili and witch's brew (apple juice with dry ice)- it felt just like Halloween always feels at the Hague home! We all had fun getting dressed up!

Gypsy, Esmerelda and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasi Moto. Richard loved his costume because it was easy and his back hurt anyway- he played the part well.

My cute little tribe...who decided to do their own make-up.
This was as long as our little Princess Tiger Lily kept her headdress on.
Frank and Chief Dan.
Landon was a great Frankenstein, thanks to a tip from Family Fun. His head thing is a milk jug...so fun and creative!
Chief Dan
Princess Pocahontas

We had fun carving pumpkins!

My baby is one year old!

I can't believe my sweet baby is already one! (Her birthday was on the 27th) She is such a darling little thing and we love her so much! She makes us all so happy and gives such sweet little hugs and kisses. Happy Birthday Kater baby!

Loving the baby doll Grandpa Kevin gave her!

If you look closely you will see why I am making the face I am....Kate got a little too close to the flame and her bangs got singed!!! I was watching them get singed right when the picture was taken!
This is her cute little peek-a-boo face. She is wearing this darling outfit from Grandma McAllister.

Jake and Traci Hague!

Jake and Traci got married on Saturday. Remember, they had moved their wedding up 2 months so my Mom could make it to the wedding. They had lots of planning to do in little time, but it all came together and it ended up being a beautiful day. The temple was very special and my Moms sweet spirit was so strong. There is no doubt she was there. Jake and Traci make such a darling couple and we are so very happy for them. I don't think I have ever seen a bride cry as much as Traci did. She is so cute! Congratulations Jake and Traci!

Jake is a happy, happy man!

Landon, Connor, Carter, Parker and Daniel
Such a beautiful couple!
Our cute kids. Right after this shot Kate slipped right out of Emmas arms- slippery little dress!
Ooops! I guess I forgot to turn this one!
Grandpa Kevin with Emma and Hailey. I just love this picture.
Me with my cute kids outside of the Conference Center.
Beautiful baby Kate.
This is a blurry picture, but oh so cute of the kids. The had a blast dancing the night away at the reception. We all had a fun time dancing and partying!
They had a really cool cupcake cake!