Birthdays!

(So sorry for the numerous postings in one day, but I finally downloaded the pix from my camera and wanted to get them all posted and recorded...)

Here's Andrew (33) and I (28) on our birthday...
I will say it's one thing to have a birthday the day after Christmas and something else to also share it with your spouse!
We had a good day...I shopped solo (have to hit those post-Christmas sales!), and we also went to the mall with the whole fam later on in the afternoon. From there we dropped the kids off at my Mom's and went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse--so yummy. We had plans to also see a movie, but we weren't really dying to see anything in particular and instead went back to Mom's to include the girls in our birthday celebration by going out for ice cream. The night before Lily had asked what kind of cake we were going to have, but neither of us wanted to have a cake, and I know she was bummed that we weren't having a party. It sucks for the kids too because they only get one birthday to celebrate for both parents, and for most kids...the more parties, the better. Oh well....that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and calls.

Christmas Morning

(I apologize for the smallness of the pictures in advance but wanted to post them as a collage rather than a running stream of individual photos.)
Christmas morning gets more fun as the girls get older. Luckily they are still too young to want to get up in the wee hours of the morning, so we didn't even get things rolling until 8:30 when Andrew got home from working an overtime shift from 4 am to 8 am.
The girls loved everything they received, although Lily had a little beef with Santa. She has been asking for a purple unicorn, and Santa was able to find a My Little Pony unicorn/pony that was white with purple hair and thought that would be sufficient. But as soon as Lily opened it she said, "Hey! This is not a purple unicorn--it's a white unicorn! (as if she'd been cheated somehow) After a little convincing and reassuring that it was still a purple unicorn (it had plenty of purple hair and purple sparkles on it's flank), she got used to the idea that she could live with it. (phew...Santa was worried that he'd already scarred her at 3 years old!)
Zoe just loved everything about everything...the unwrapping, the opening of the packages, the candy (esp. the candy!) and just loved the whole idea of what we were doing.
It's just so fun to experience Christmas from a child's point of view.
We are spoiled and are so grateful for the many gifts we enjoy not only at Christmas time but all year round...first and foremost, the gift of a tiny baby who came to earth to live as a mortal so that he could atone all mankind and lead us back to Him. Merry CHRISTmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at our house. I had purchased a spiral ham which I cooked for dinner among other things. I invited Mom, Scott, Carter, Torrie and Hannah over to share it with us. We had a nice time visiting, and Mom gave the girls and I a present to open up that night....matching nightgowns/pajamas along with coordinating dolls. The girls were so pleased. I can't imagine the time that went into sewing them all, and I am amazed at my Mom's talent.

Christmas party

Here we are at my Mom's Christmas dinner/party on the 21st. We had yummy cornish game hens, exchanged sibling gifts, played games and got to hold the newest member of the Fedor clan, Finn.

Lily's Preschool Christmas Program

December 18, 2008, Clearfield City Library
This was truly an event that I wish I had on tape; however, after about 8 seconds of recording my camcorder ran out of juice, and all I have are still frames.
This was the typical preschool program you'd see on any Christmas movie but funnier because my daughter was involved. She was classic Lily and pulled an attitude during the first song, Jingle Bells, when the boy next to her picked up her jingle bells instead of his own. She was MAD and made sure the whole audience knew it. She would throw her hands in the air and would slap her knees repeatedly while scowling deeply, daring anyone to contradict her misery.
From that point on it just got more entertaining. Of course she was front and center and took the liberty of standing up whenever she pleased. The little kids around her were singing so well, and there was Lily, determined to NOT sing or participate because darnit! that boy took her jingle bells. The following song she was supposed to wear a large candy candy hooked around her face but she was still too mad and wouldn't do it. Finally, during a nativity song, she consented to wear what I thought was a camel, but instead of singing she proceeded to spit during the entire song. (Later I found out she thought she was a horse, and what do horses do? yeah, spit. *sigh*)
Then, as the well-constructed program came to a close, the singing teacher told the kids they had to sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas really loud or Santa wouldn't come. There was one little boy that I thought was going to pass out because he was singing his lungs out...almost literally. He was bright red in the face, and his mouth was stretched as physically possible for him. Unfortunately I missed much of his antics because I was trying to silently coax Lily to sing as well.
Then the man in the red suit came, and Lily wouldn't have any of that either. As you can see from the picture, I had to almost hold her on Santa's lap for the photo op that I think all parent's make their children do, happy or not. She reluctantly told Santa (but it was directed towards me, holding her on his lap) that she wanted a purple unicorn. That was all the conversation consisted of. Later Lily told me she didn't like Santa. (alrighty then...) Zoe did a little better. She at least sat solo, but once she discovered that he was much more scary in person than from far away, she wanted me. She did however, say thank you amidst her teary cries for the candy cane he gave her. Oh my, kids, kids....what do you do?
A memory for cherishing (and laughing at) for a long time.

Snow and cold and such

I personally am no fan of snow, but the girls sure did like playing in it for as long as their hands had feeling...

MyFaceLOL

    Click here to create your own video

Welcome Finn!

So my cute, little nephew, Finn William James Fedor, arrived Tuesday evening, Dec. 16, at 7:51 p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz., 21 inches long via my big bro, Ryan, and his wife, Chris. (how's that for a well-constructed sentence?)

Congrats guys!

ughh

I. hate. the. cold.....
That's all.

A first

So I received a call from a lady in my ward who was desperate to find someone willing to play the organ in sacrament meeting today. Of course this was on the way to our big, annual Austin family Christmas party yesterday morning in the snow. I told her that I actually have never officially played the organ but could play the piano if worse came to worst.
Our Saturday played out; we had a fun time with extended family, I scored some nice white elephant gifts, played games, ate food and made it home without getting an accident.
And then I remembered that I had to worry about whether to attempt the organ or just settle for the piano on the morrow. I shouldn't stress about it, I've played piano for 20 plus years of my life, and hymns are definitely not the hardest pieces to play, but my blood pressure always goes a little higher when I am being counted on for something publically. And then, this morning I get another call from the same lady needing me to not only play in sacrament meeting but in Relief Society as well. Well, okay, I'm already invested in the whole church block, so what the hey!?
Relief Society, no big deal...I"d much rather play piano than teach the lesson (which I have to do next week). I skipped out on Sunday School to give myself some familiarity with the organ and see if I could swing it. Surprisingly, playing the keyboard was almost easier than playing the piano, but it was all the voices that I had no idea about. I made a desperation call to the organ master (my sis, Torrie) to see if she could guide me through putting the organ on the right settings. In my messings-around I discovered a very cool memory button that had pre-recorded prelude music on it. I definitely used that button at the beginning and end of the meeting (people must have wondered why the prelude sounded so full and rich while the actual hymns were lacking in full, organ glory).
When all was said and done, I got through all four hymns (of course there was a rest hymn), and am chalking it up to experience. There's a first for everything, and now I get to stress about my lesson this coming Sunday. Opportunity appreciated, but I am just fine with not being the one behind the swelling pipes if I can help it.
And while on the subject of firsts, I have also had the uncomfortable ailment of not one, but two cold sores for the last 10 days now. I've never had them before, and I'm still waiting for them to show any signs of healing. And since this is the giving season, I gave Andrew and Lily some cold sores, too, so we're all having a great time slathering on the three different types of topical ointments I've purchased. I do have to say though, that I'd rather have a cold sore than a cold. I'll consider myself lucky (knock on wood).
Ten days....

Cookies, a Winter sandbox, and our own Grinch

Our Christmas season has officially begun. My mom invited us over to her house to decorate sugar cookies, spread some Christmas cheer, attend the Bountiful light parade and eat chili on Friday night. It was a fun time to be had, and the girls loved getting such a sugar high. Unfortunately Andrew missed all the festivities as he was at work, so we ate plenty for him. Here we are at the parade...
Then on Saturday I stole an idea off a friend's blog about using brown sugar as a sandpile to stave off the Winter cabin fever. (Thanks, Sarah!) Lily absolutely LOVED doing this. I found a 2 lbs. bag of brown sugar for 88 cents, and it was the best money I ever spent on an activity. After loading up a cookie sheet with lots of sugar and arming Lily with different kinds of containers to dig and pack and form, she was happy as a clam (or maybe I should say crab).

To end the weekend, I literally felt like the grinch (not by choice but by circumstance) when I discovered that part of the lights on my new pre-lit tree had gone out late last night. Well, I wasn't about to have a tree with a non-lit section, so I had to de-decorate my tree and take it all the way down, putting it back in the packing box and loading it in the car for a return/exchange this morning. The whole time I'm thinking, 'wouldn't it be fitting if Lily were to come downstairs (with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head) and ask, "Why Mommy, why are you taking our Christmas tree?" To which I would have to reply, "There's a light that's broken, so you see, I must take it back to the north pole (or Tai Pan) and fix it (or get a new one)'.

Let me tell you, during my hours of undecorating and taking the tree down I was not a happy camper. I like the decorations once they're up, but I've never liked having to take all my Christmas stuff down when the season is over. And I can most assuredly say that I REALLY don't like having to put up a tree, decorate/undecorate, take it down, get a new one the next day, put THAT one up and decorate again. But I do have to say that it looks even better than the first and is worth it to have ALL the lights in working order.

Let's bring on the Season!

Grandma Arlette's visit

Here are the girls with their Grandma Arlette who came to visit us right before Thanksgiving. They couldn't get enough of her reading to them. It was good to see you, Arlette!

Cyber MOnday

So I've been browsing the internet and have come across a particularly good deal that I thought I'd share...ON www.babycenter.com they are offering free shipping with the code FREESHIP if you spend $1 or more....the great thing is they have Halloween costumes marked down 90%...around $2 for many really cute ones. Can't beat that....a little prep can save you loads in the long run. They are also having tons of clearance items in many categories including clothes, maternity, gear, toys etc. With free shipping for the next two days on any order there are some SWEET deals to be had. Happy Shopping!