Only one week left!!!

AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only one week left until Christmas is here. I should be prepared by now, but I'm not. I'm getting there, slowly but surely. This happens every year I think. I never get completely ready until the last minute. I don't know why. I always think that "next year I'll do better", that I'll get ready early and not have to worry about it. It never happens. I am getting some great deals on-line, with free shipping of course. I do still need to go to some stores, but I am trying my hardest to get away with the least amount of town shopping as possible. To all of you who are ready for Christmas, I'm so proud of you. For the rest of you who are still scrambling, Good Luck!

One flaw in women

The One Flaw In Women

By the time the Lord made woman, He was into his sixth day of working overtime. An angel appeared and said,"Why are you spending so much time on this one?" And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic,have over 200 movable parts, all replaceableand able to run on diet coke and leftovers,have a lap that can hold four children at one time,have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart-and she will do everythingwith only two hands." The angel was astounded at the requirements." Only two hands!? No way! And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish." "But I won't, " the Lord protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days. "The angel moved closer and touched the woman."But you have made her so soft, Lord." "She is soft," the Lord agreed,"but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish." "Will she be able to think?", asked the angel. The Lord replied,"Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate." The angel then noticed something,and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model.I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one." "That's not a leak,"the Lord corrected,"that's a tear!" "What's the tear for?" the angel asked. The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy,her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love,her loneliness, her grief and her pride." The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord.You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing." And she is! Women have strengths that amaze men.They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness,love and joy. They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They cry when they are happyand laugh when they are nervous. They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend. They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart. Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideals. They give moral support to their family and friends. Women have vital things to say and everything to give HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE TINY FLAW IN WOMEN,IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.
May all the women in my life know how much I love them and know their their true personal worth to everyone around them.

O Christmas Tree!

So I really wasn't kidding when I said we were cutting our Christmas down from our front yard! I'm so happy it is gone from there. We still have a little bit of it to pull out, but we'll wait until spring to do that. It was a Big tree. I had to do a lot of trimming to get it to look okay in my little house. But now it looks great. Yesterday Gary cut it down and I put the lights on it. That is my job every year, I'm kinda picky about how it gets done

Since the kids didn't get their rooms clean last night, they had to wait until after breakfast this morning before they got to decorate the tree. And they did a wonderful job. As always it is bright and beautiful, full of homemade decorations, decorations from their grandparents and a few things I've added over the years.

After I got done with the tree, I went' through the rest of the lights and put them all on the house outside. I don't have pics of it yet, but one of these days when it is dark, I will get a picture of it and show you all. I did take a couple of pics of our stockings and some of my decorations. Most of the decorations I do have are gifts given to me from my mom or my friends. One of these days I really will start getting some more things to go with it all. For now this is as good as it gets, and that is just fine with me!

Need to do

So the only Christmas decorating I've done so far this year is changing the background and music on this blog! Ugh! It really is on my "to do" list for today, I've just been putting it off for some unknown reason. I really do like Christmas, I just hate getting everything out and trying to keep my kids from leaving it all alone. They are getting better, no more babies running around here, just a 2 and 4 year old who don't listen so well. Oh well, I'd better get to it so we can get our tree this weekend. Actually we are cheating this year with our tree. Gary is gonna cut down one that is in our front yard that I hate. I actually don't hate the tree, it's really nice, it's just in a horrible place and my hubby refuses to move it to a different place in the yard, The last one we tried to move died. So we are going to use it for our Christmas tree this year! I need to go through my lights and make sure they still work, yada yada yada. I'm more excited about putting pics in my new frames I have. I'm order some pics today to put in the frame my Visit Teachers gave me for my birthday(Thanks ladies, Love ya!) Anyway, wish me luck.....I'm not really looking forward to my "chores" today. Maybe if I blast some great Christmas music it will help get me going. That should help, music always helps get me going. Hope ya'll have a great day!

I'm 30

So I have officially been 30 for a day now and I don't feel much different, thank goodness. I know a lot of people have issues with turning 30, but I don't. I don't think 30 is old. I'm just in an awsome place in my life. I have a wonderful husband, 4 beautiful children, a house, warmth, job, security, love, family, friends and the list goes on and on and on. I love the point of my life I'm in now. If that means I'm 30, more power to me!!! Wooohoooo! I love being a year older. I've learned so much in the last year. I have so many memories because of it. My children amaze me everyday. They are so funny and insiteful and they see the world in so many ways that I learn new things from them all the time. I wouldn't have that now if I wasn't 30. I'm going to celebrate the number and all the things that it means to me now.

Oooooppppsss!

The link below is supposed to be www.pinchingyourpennies.com

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I just wanted to tell all of you, my family and friends, Happy Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving! It is my favorite holiday....mostly because it's all the best things of Christmas without near the stress. You get all the great food, to see family and friends, you're in a major giving spirit and I don't have to worry about presents! I love the colors and the smells of Thanksgiving, everything being so warm and comforting. I just pulled a pumpkin crisp out of the oven and it smells soooooo good. I really try not to think too much about Christmas until after the weekend of Thanksgiving. Speaking of Christmas though, we are really making some changes. I love getting lots of gifts for my children and everyone else, but no one really NEEDS most of that stuff, so we are implementing a new gift law in our little family. This a great idea I got from my former visit teaching partner. We give just 5 gifts to each other. 1. Need 2. Want 3. Family 4. Spiritual and 5. Santa. Need, want and Santa are pretty explanatory. For the family one we draw names between each other, put a $ limit on it and that's it. The spiritual one I like. I'm looking at scripture stickers for Sierra, activity books for Grace and books for sacrament meeting that Joe and Em can read and keep them occupied and kind of still. The stockings will still be filled with treats and they'll get their pajamas for Christmas Eve like they do every year. With the other things they get from extended family and grandparents, they'll will definitely have plenty! Anyway, for those of you who HATE going to town to Christmas shop you should check out www.pinchingyoupennies.com It is a wonderful site that will check local stores for sale on groceries and other things you need, seperate them, rate them, help you find coupons if they are needed and more. You can also sign up for their Screaming Deals e-mail and it will tell you which sites online are having great sales, free shipping, etc. I know I will do as much online shopping as I possibly can! Anyway, I really hope everyone has a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Family Pics

Finally got our new family pics done last weekend!

We went up to my dad's farm to have these done.

They turned out great...Thanks MOM!!

Bit off more than I can chew...but still pressing forward.

Today I had the grand idea, since the kids were home, to deep clean the house and rearrange things, put halloween stuff away and start working on Christmas stuff. Well, I got started. I definitely did Not get near as much done as I wanted, but that is nothing new. It took a lot longer than I expected to move the furniture around in the front room. There are not many ways I can do it, but I'm pretty sure I tried every thing that I could, or least thought of. Not to mention I got a workout. Nothing in my front room is light! But I did get it to a place I don't mind for now. All I could really think though while I was moving everything was how much I would love to have some new furniture! Oh well, that's not happening anytime soon. I did get the front room done, Grace and Joe's room done and the kitchen kinda clean.....at least all the dishes are done! That's huge, especially since the only dishwasher I have it me! Tomorrow I will get more done, but not much. I need to go to I.F. and Rexburg, plus be back by 4 so Sierra can go to violin then Grace and Sierra go to dance. One thing I'm really happy about is that we finally got family pics done this weekend, that's why I have to go to Rexburg....I need to pick them up from my mom. I will put some up as soon as I get them. Time to keep pressing forward, need to finish dinner.

Will wonders never cease?

I found out last night that my husband is trying to set up a get together with my friends for my birthday. I was kinda surprised by that. My husband is wonderful and loving and a great guy, but he is not one to take the initiative and do something special for me for my birthday. He usually needs a lot of prodding if I decide there is something in particular I want to do. I don't know if he's just trying to do something for me just because I'm going to turn 30 or if it's because he wants to go hunting more because it's the last weekend or if he really just does love me and wants to be and celebrate with me. It's probably a combination of all 3. I know I should just sit back and enjoy it, but I have a hard time with that. I'm used to being the one to make the plans and figure out what we're going to do and I have sort of a hard time not doing it at all. I usually try to have Gary involved in making plans and doing things, but most of the time he is completely content to let me make all of the decisions and I guess I've really gotten used to having that role in our marriage. Writing this down and reading it makes me really think I sound kind of like a control freak, which I'm not, I don't think, but every so often he does this and it just kind of throws me off and kind of takes me out of my comfort zone. Man, I know I had issues, but who knew I would figure them out and kinda self medicate on a blog! I think that's why I really enjoy this. I get to sort out my million mile an hour jumbled thoughts and write them down and sort through them. Now I'm starting to feel like I'm rambling, so I'm going to stop. ;)

Girl's Night Out!

I am really looking forward to tonight! Once a month a bunch of ladies from my ward.....well my old ward since it was split about a month ago....we meet up about 8:30 p.m., after we've settled our families in for the night, and go to Applebee's to have drinks, food and girl talk! I love it. We usually have about 15 ladies there every month, and they are not always the same ones. It is so much fun to get out with other women and just relax and laugh and have a guilt free night out. I know I get caught up in my schedule and even if I do have free time, I don't always call someone or visit someone like I probably should, I am such a homebody most days, but every once in awhile it is so nice to get out without any kids and just get to have an adult conversation! Especially when it's with a bunch of ladies like the group I go with. They are all so fun and nice...most of us have many things in common and you can't get most of us to shut up when we are there. Plus with that many people you end up listening or involved in 2, 3 or more conversations at a time.....it's great! If any of you don't have a group like this, I suggest or INSIST that you get one going. Just pick a time and place....you don't have to go out anywhere, just start at your house and have someone volunteer for the next month. It's so worth it and you really get to know the ladies the live around you so much better. When you go to church you don't really get to much of a chance to just "visit", so take the initiative to meet or get to know some ladies around you better and make some lasting friendships and create a great support group for youself. Everyone needs a shoulder every now and then, and when you have more options the more likely you are to find someone who really understands and can be there for you.

Niki's Family Tree

Hhhmmmppphhhh

Most days I wish I could just go back to sleep after I get Gary up and out the door. I get up about 4:40 a.m. and get his lunch together and make sure he has what he needs and get him out the door, but by the time I crawl back into bed my mind is already racing 100 miles an hour. I have a hard time tuning myself out and just relaxing. I'm usually starting to doze off about 10 minutes before the alarm goes off again to get the girls up and ready for school. Most days it's just not worth trying to go back to sleep I think, although I'd really wish that I could!

More pics

Joe had a bad day! This pic tells it all!

Sierra is turning into a young lady way too fast!

Grace loves to pose for pictures!

Emma loved me taking her picture today!!

My Girls

We haven't been able to get family pics yet, so I went out in the yard and took some pictures of my girls. I couldn't convince the boys at all. Joe was not happy with me today.....I made him get his hair cut! Anyway, we got some really cute pics of my girls! Grace and Emma wanted to keep taking pictures...Sierra had fun, but is not really comfortable with being in front of the camera. Grace and Em were a bunch of hams, but I got a lot of cute pics because of it!

Updating

I really hate updating my computer! It seems like every time I get on some program needs updated before I can use it....and it's always the one I really want to use right now! Ugh. I know that it's one of those necessary evils so that everything works better, faster and correctly, but some days I just want to do something quickly and then it ends up being a bigger chore and taking longer than I wanted to spend on it. I know that it is something little that really shouldn't bother me....but this morning it kinda does. Oh well.....I guess I'll let my computer sit and "work" while I do something else for awhile.

My new blog

Okay, I've started a new blog. Not too much went on with my old one, hopefully I'll do better with this one. I've been having fun trying to set it up and getting it looking cute. I'll probably change it, not a lot, but every few months. I hope I can keep it kinda interesting, but there are not guarantees!