My Reads of 2009

~I Love Books~
My Grandma Otto worked at the Canoga Park Library in California when I was little. She used to send us boxes of books from the library that we would fill our bookshelves with. I think my love of books must come from Grandma. I can totally lose myself in a book....for days on end if I let myself. I try to limit my book reading time to bedtime and during karate. One of my most coveted treasures that my Grandma left behind is her tattered stack of papers which she hand wrote all of the books she had read. Not all of the books that I read I like...but I have an issue where if I start a book I HAVE to finish it. I also only read one book at a time. I decided to keep a log of the books I read so I don't end up reading them twice....especially if it's one I didn't really like. So here is my list for 2009.

2009 Bedtime Stories
~Charlotte's Web-E.B. White
~Heidi-Johanna Spyri
~Marley: A dog like no other-John Grogan
~Mary Poppins-P.L. Travers
~Snot Stew-Bill Wallace**Easton and Jace's Favorite
~The Girl Who Could Fly-Victoria Forester**Camry's Favorite
~The Whipping Boy-Sid Fleishman
~The Wonderful Wizard of Oz-L. Frank Baum

My 2009 Reads
Top 5 Favs (in no particular order)
~Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte
~Life of Pi-Yann Martel
~The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Monk Kidd
~The Book Theif-Markus Zusak
~The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins

~3 cups of Tea-Greg Mortenson and David Oilver Relin
~A Boy at War-Harry Mazer
~Animal Farm-George Orwell
~A Walk to Remember-Nicholas Sparks
~Bridget Jones Diary-Helen Fielding
~Crazy for the Storm-Norman Ollestad
~East of Eden-Steinbeck
~Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert
~Firefly Lane-Kristin Hannah
~Hatchet-Gary Poulsen
~Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte
~Life of Pi-Yann Martel
~Marley and Me-John Grogan
~Mrs. Miracle-Debbie Macomber
~My Sisters Keeper-Jodi Picoult
~Olive Kitteridge-Elizabeth Strout
~Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
~Princess of the Midnight Ball-Jessica Day George
~Shadow Divers-Robert Kurson
~Sisters-Danielle Steel
~Surprise Packages-Anderson, Littke, Morris
~The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian-Sherman Alexie
~The Book Thief-Markus Zusak
~The Boy in the Striped Pajamas-Harry Mazer
~The Count of Monte Cristo-Alexandre Dumas
~The Guardian-Nicholas Sparks
~The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins
~The Kite Runner-Khaled Hosseini
~The Lovely Bones-Alice Sebold
~The Lucky One-Nicholas Sparks
~The Pillars of the Earth-Ken Follett
~The Rescue-Nicholas Sparks
~The Time Traveler's Wife-Audrey Niffenegger
~The Undaunted-Gerald Lund
~The Wednesday Letters-Jason F. Wright

Wii Are Just Dancin'

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Halliday for a way fun Christmas gift!

Christmas 2009

Here is what Santa brought Easton

Here is what Santa brought for Jace

and here is what Santa brought for Camry

Wahoo! Everybody got their DS!

Camry made Jace this beanie....he's been begging her ever since she got her loom for her birthday.

My Christmas babies

We always see a movie on Christmas day. This year we went to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakuel"

Christmas dinner at Jeff and Bonnie's house

Kaleb and Easton...after a long day

Games are tons of fun with this family!..maybe one day I'll post Corey's interpretive cat dance. HILARIOUS!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Jammies

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Northern for our Christmas Eve Jammies. This was a tradition that MY Grandma and Grandpa Northern used to do for us when my brother and I were growing up. I remember being so excited to get out of the bath and put on my new jammies! My kids get almost as excited for their jammies as for Santa to come!
SO excited for the Big Red Guy!

Christmas Eve Party

We hosted the Halliday Christmas Eve party at our house this year. We had some of our yummy traditional soup in bread bowls.

Then while our daddy's did this......

We did this.....

Soph didn't really get the whole decorating thing...eating the candy was much more fun!

Jace spent the most time out of anyone on his house.He loves doing things like this! I think he'll be an architect or an engineer when he grows up!

Garet Gingerbread making philosophy..stick as much candy as humanly possible on your house so you can eat it later.

Jace, Clayton, Kaleb, Garet, Maddie, Easton, Camry, Sophie (Der was missing from the photo but his house was awesome anyway!)

Jace's Tooth Trouble

We're starting the Orthodontics with Jace a little early. He went in for his regular check up and the dentist informed us that he has a cross bite and a narrow palate. I took him back in today to get his palatal expander put in. He is such a trooper. He was extra grouchy after we got home so I gave him some Motrin. The next day he was brushing his teeth and his appliance popped out of his mouth. I called the dentist and he said that he felt bad that he must have tightened it too tight so it broke the cement away. What a tough little guy I have! No wonder his teeth were so sore! We'll be back to the dentist on Monday for round 2!

Baby Hats

My mom got Camry a loom for her birthday. She loves it! She is so good at doing anything with her hands. She made these darling hats for Brielle and Dylan. Aunt Laura took them to the hospital and had the babies model them. So cute!!

Christmas Orchestra Concert

One of the electives Camry chose for this year is Orchestra. She has never played a string instrument before. She chose to play the Violin. I am amazed at what she has been able to accomplish in just 2 1/2 short months!

Camry and Aubrey are the new violinists of the Orchestra and Josh and Nicole are the new Cellists. They got a round of applause from the audience.

The Choir performed at the concert as well. Camry is the teeny tiny one on the very right. They were awesome!

This was my favorite song. "Blue Christmas". They were all crying. So entertaining!

This is Cams and her sweet friend Bekah. Bekah is also in the Orchestra and happens to live across the street. I'm so thankful that Camry has such great friends!

Teenager!!!

I can't believe I have a TEENAGER!!

The big 1-3!

Her hearts desire was a new camera. She takes some great photos and needed an upgrade! She LOVES it!

Camry is my ice cream lover so I made her an ice cream cake. It was a hit! I think that will be her request every year!

13 facts about Camry:
1. She has a tiny quiet voice every where but at home
2. She can hold a serious grudge
3. She loves art
4. She loves to sing, play the piano, and the violin
5. She's bossy
6. She loves to make things...blankets, hats, cards, etc.
7. She is so thoughtful
8. She makes friends easily
9. Tenderhearted
10. She is teeny. I think she may be the smallest one in the Jr. High
11. Her brothers adore her
12. She loves babies and little children
13. She ALWAYS does the right thing

Love you Cams! Hope you had a great birthday!

Marilyn's Pay it Forward

I commented on Marilyn's Pay it Forward blog post a while back...I had forgotten all about it so...I was SO excited when she showed up at my door in a major snow storm to deliver these! I can't imagine how much time she must have put into them! They're so cute!

Thank you Marilyn!

Look~she even made one for Emmy!

Happy Birthday Dylan and Brielle

Welcome

Dylan Ryan & Brielle Ann

One day old

Catching some rays in the "tanning bed" (2 days old)

3 days old (this is my fav! I love how Bree is sprawled over the top of her brother!)

Jace Earns His Yellow Belt

Jace earned his Yellow Belt at Karate tonight. He is loving karate! He wants to be just like Easton!
Way to go buddy!

Black Friday 2009

Our "Black Friday Posse" seems to get smaller every year. This year Tanya and I went it alone. We had our plan all mapped out. We'd hit Toys R Us in Murray first, then head across the street to the mall, after that we'd go back to AF to Walmart. Good plan? We sure thought so.

10:30 pm-Toys R Us parking lot
11:00 pm-Door open...almost get trampled between solid mass of maniac crazy people and a police car trying to "keep the peace"
1:00 am-leaving Toys R Us with some of the things we wanted
1:45 am-decide to head straight to Walmart for fear we would have the same "mob like" issues as Toys R Us
2:00 am-11th in line for a much needed item.
5:00 am-Yay! Got our item...thanks to Tanya for her amazing crowd control skills! She's a GREAT shopping partner!
6:30 am-Finally out of Walmart. Ihop here we come!!
8:00 am-Mall...not really in the mood for crowds at this point.
10:30 am-Home

Talk about an EXCITING 12 hrs! All of you who missed out may not have been on the news (that's right I made a guest appearance while at Toys R Us), or risked your life...but you also missed out on some good times and some AMAZING deals!!

Same Time...Same Place....Next Year!

Thanksgiving 2009

I didn't do very good with Thanksgiving Day photos because I was too busy documenting them on my phone to text to Uncle Jeff (who is still off at Boot Camp in South Carolina). We had a great time at Uncle Corey and Aunt Jacci's new house! Camry got to sit by Sophie and entertain her...or was it the other way around?

I'm so thankful this holiday season for a wonderful family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two Is Better Than One

One baby is perfect but how much more perfect are two!? I don't think I could possibly be more excited to meet these babies! I've had so much fun helping Laura get ready. Only a few more weeks to go! Thanks Laura for putting up with my excitement and letting me be a part of the madness! :) Auntie Laura at 31 weeks Carseat blankies from Aunt Tanya (fabric), Grandma Linda (hemstitching), and Auntie Autumn (crocheting)

I had so much fun with these carseat covers. I LOVE how they turned out!

Baby girl crib blanket-love the pink and brown together!

Baby boy crib blanket-I had a hard time finding green and brown fabric and then there it was...I LOVE it!

The countdown is on!

Instead...

I should be grateful for the clothes on our backs but instead...I'm overwhelmed by the huge mound of laundry that never goes away.

I should be grateful for the groceries in the cupboard but instead...I'm mad at myself for spending twice as much as everyone else who clips coupons.

I should be grateful for steady jobs but instead...I'm tired of having to work more often than not.

I should be grateful for motherhood but instead...I'm hating always being the bad guy.

I should be grateful for sleep but instead...I feel guilty for doing too much of it.

'tis the season to be grateful but instead...I'm not.

I think it's time for an attitude adjustment...thanks for listening...I feel better already :)

Brotherly Love

I found this paper at the computer desk this morning

LoVe the phonetic speller!!

Halloween 2009

The kids are growing up and it shows in their choice of Halloween costumes. So Sad. The Buzz Lightyear and Princess costumes have been replaced by Ninjas and Scary Zombies!

Our Groovy GirlNinja in action!Easton the ZombieOur cute little Maddie was a "Pretty Witch"We did our traditional trick-or-treating with the cousins. Jeff and Bonnie were in South Carolina for Jeff's graduation from Boot Camp. We missed them!!

Happy Halloween!!