merry ruined christmas

It's not really ruined of course, not yet anyway.
Well, my Christmas shopping is pretty much done. Pretty much as in Pete and Gab what do you guys want?!

We went to Edmonton like a month ago or something and that is the last time I took pictures, but they didn't download, so here ya go from forever ago.

(this picture is obviously from oct or november, it's way to ridiculous to have an outside picture with the 7 feet of snow that is here now.)

Alli thinks Santa is visiting Lethbridge this week. She asked if the Santa visiting the mall was the real one, not like the pretend one at the church party. Oh dear. I guess the complete madhouse of Santa at the ward Christmas party wasn't sufficient. So we visited Santa on this freezing freezing (as in -29 without the windchill) cold winter night.

(I know, sorry you have to see this messy face picture that only I think is cute.)

It's worse. James has seen like 3 of his Christmas presents. I thought maybe we could sneak a little train set in the cart and he wouldn't notice. I didn't think he did until he started telling people he has a train and train tracks. Then after the horrendous Calgary trip, noted in the post below, James caught a millisecond glance of the trunk, so short I wasn't even sure he was even looking. Well, we got home and he was like where is my boat? I want to play with my boat!

I'm not sure if Santa has anything James hasn't seen yet. This kid remembers dang it! But I'm not really worried about it for him. However if Alli catches on to anything she might not put it together this year, but since she remembers what present she got from Santa last year (and she hasn't even seen it or played with it since the summer) she might remember the happenings of this year next year and put it all together. But probaly not...

I'm an awesome mom right?


And to top it off, Alli told her Primary class that I'm having a baby. Great. Because I'm not. Her teacher was all to me, "So is there a congratulations in order?!" UMMMM, NO! She has been asking me to have a baby for a few days now. She also keeps talking about our house in Cardston and when we move back with a baby. James has been talking about the Cardston house since we moved here. Don't they know how good we have it here?!



What is going on around here?!

The Santa is watching you is not working as a disipline tool. (what the heck?!)

Alli had her first ballet performance. I took no video or camera. We'll just pretend they never had a Christmas recital.

But, good news. It's been so long since James had an accident in the pants that I can't even remember when it was, YAY!

Other good news, Alli wanted to cuddle with me 'for forever' today. So we did, until 9 o'clock this morning, it was the best.

And the talented Rebecca Cooper is doing a mini giveaway photo session for the spring. I want to win. So don't enter!

mom jeans

welcome back to me. who know how long i will stay...

So we have been doing the same old this and that. Having fun and all that. Apparently not having enough fun to have anything to write about though.

And I put up an eyes closed picture of the kids last post and really had to do just one more of them.

We just got back today from a ridiculous weekend. Derek and I planned a trip up to Calgary for this very weekend a while back when football was FINALLY over and before too much Christmas fun began. So Friday after school we decided we were ahead of this so-called blizzard warning. Well, we got past Lethbridge and met the 'so called blizzard.' It kinda gave a whole new meaning to the term white-out. I'm not even exaggerating one bit when I say we were in a complete white out for more than half the trip from there. I'm talking I can about 1 foot in front of the car. Derek said, the roads weren't bad, it was just bad visibility, to which I replied. Yeah, I guess the roads weren't bad if you don't consider 2 small black strips of ice covered highway bad roads.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!

(this is from the internet, I would have been glad if that is what it looked like. We would not have been able to see the ruck in front.)

I was literally sick to my stomach. I kept trying to fall asleep so I wouldn't have to look, but I couldn't. When we finally made it to Susie's house almost 4 hours after we left (normally a 2 hour drive) I was so tense I had a headache and a backache and a sore neck. So THANK HEAVENS we made it. I NEVER would have gone if I knew it was that bad.

I think it was worth it, as we drove past the ditches before Calgary littered with cars and semi's. We dropped the kids off at Susie's with a babysitter and went out to eat with them. The kids were so lucky (and Susie and Ryan so kind) to stay over there and Derek and I stayed in a hotel and went on Saturday to do our Christmas shopping.

Did some good shopping. Pretty much started and finished shopping in one day. Now one to the title.

I got the kids some goods and thought I'd fancy myself a new pair of jeans for Christmas. Now, this is quite the task of life of many women. I was blessed for many years to be able to buy whatever jeans from wherever with no worries. Sale on jeans? I'm there, no matter what the style, looking and feeling not bad. Then came a child, and it became a little more difficult to find that fit, but the second, near impossible now. You know, it's got to hit you at the right place around the middle while keeping the bum and thighs looking well. And speaking of the bum, gotta keep it, and those lovely love handles TUCKED IN. Easier said than done. I swear, I cannot attend a girls night where the topic of good jeans and baby names do not come up!

Well, I hit up a bit of a sale at the gap. I grabbed a few styles in various sizes and colors. The job is not done right unless you try on 17 pairs I'm quite sure. And then it happened. I pulled up a pair. They felt just right. Snug with a slight stretch. A nice little boot cut look. Slim but not too slim through the thigh. Buttoned up just below the waist giving me that TUCKED IN feeling....wait...buttoned up just below the waist? I turned around too stare at my own rear end. There it was my friends. The biggest mom bum I had ever seen on myself. I almost laughed outloud. I had never seen myself that way before. I showed Derek and he knew something wasn't quite right in the front. Then I showed him behind and how high it went up, and the disaster that was my bum. He gave a little chuckle, and said, 'umm you can't get those.' So the jean search continues as it will for life I'm sure.

But I have one secret I'll tell about those dang mom jeans. I LOVED how they felt! There I said it. And hey, the 80's are back, so I'm thinking anytime now, since we're already wearing the skinny's, we'll jack 'em up again too.

Butt...I guess there is no way those are comfortable.