New Year, Same Old Resolutions?

Welcome to 2009! It's time once again to make resolutions and give up on them by February 1st! Hehe. I'm just kidding, of course! But doesn't it seem like we just recycle the same old goals year after year? I know "lose weight" has been on mine for a good decade now. In fact, most of my 2009 goals are carry-overs (catch up on scrapbooks, pay off all debt, exercise daily.....)
I do have at least one new one, though: get a full year of food storage in place. I always think about it, but this is the first time it made it onto THE LIST. Actually, I have quite a bit already, but I'd like to really get it together and organized. I bought this great book a couple years ago called "Food Storage for the Clueless", and it's actually really helpful. My last food storage kick happened back in the summer when wheat prices shot up along with everything else. I got panicked and bought a full year's worth, plus flour, sugar, and pasta. Crazy, I know, but I really do feel better knowing I have it. (I actually own a grinder and use whole wheat flour, so it's not as silly as it sounds!) With the economy the way it is, and the high possibility it'll get worse, now is the perfect time to start if you haven't already. The standard Mormon plan of wheat, powdered milk, and honey doesn't make sense for most people, either. It should be what your family normally eats. For me, this also ties into my other new goal to cook dinner at least 5 times a week. (Laugh all you want, people. Cooking just isn't my favorite.)
Sorry for the lecture. I get overly excited about organizing and stuff like this. It's my inner Martha coming out, and January is the worst! :)
So, what are your resolutions this year? Any new ones?

Christmas on Hidden Manor

I know, I know. Christmas was 3 days ago. BUT in my defense, we had family over until late that night, and I've been sick with the stomach flu since Friday morning. So, here is the long-awaited Christmas update:

We have 4 - yes, 4 - sets of in-laws between us, not including our kids' other families. This essentially means at least 3 family parties beginning the Saturday before and ending on Christmas Day. Toss in my birthday on the 24th, and you have the makings of a hectic-but-festive schedule. On Saturday, we went to my Dad's party in Salem. My girls love this one! There was lots of snow, so they went sledding, and Lauren learned to drive the ATV with cousin Brendan. (Sorry, no pictures - too dark). Grandpa & Grandma Abbott really cater to the kids, so theirs is always the most active party!

Sunday, it was off to Grandma & Grandpa Riley's (Kent's dad) up in Bountiful. Our SIL, RaDawn, decided to have the kids bring and decorate gingerbread houses this year for prizes. Of course, we already have a village of them at home, but the girls love it so much that they enjoyed making more!

Monday was pretty quiet - just finishing up wrapping and baking. Tuesday was our last-minute shopping day at the mall. Our first stop, of course, was seeing Santa and dropping off the girls' letters. Sadly, Lauren decided she was way too old for that this year, and took off to Claire's. But Emily, who thus far has shunned Santa's lap, decided she was big enough to brave it. When e joined Lauren at Claire's, we got a little surprise: Lindsey wanted her ears pierced! Now, you may not know this, but we've been trying to talk her into it since she was 3, and especially since Emmy had hers done a year and a half ago. Lindsey had steadfastly refused, but on this day she was finally ready. She was so brave! (Of course, she complained the next day that she preferred her"non-earring lifestyle"after sleeping in them for the first time, but she seems to be adjusting to it now.) Then it was time for my Mom's family party. It's always nice to relax with family and just enjoy a little eggnog! I never remember to pull out the camera at my Mom's. I spend a lot more time talking to my mom and sisters, though. :)

Christmas Eve is always a little bittersweet for me, since it's also my birthday. As a kid, it was pretty disappointing. As a parent, it's sort of nice to be able to largely ignore it, despite Kent and the girls trying to celebrate it. :) This year, Kent and I hit a few stores, and then the girls and I ran around delivering gifts to friends while Kent fired up the snowblower. When we returned, we realized that he had gotten artistic and carved a kneeling woman out of snow in the front yard. He's really cute and interesting to live with. After that we stayed in watching movies. Yay!

Christmas morning dawned bright and early - for me, anyway. I woke up at 6:30 too excited to go back to sleep. Crazy, I know. Seriously, how many moms out there wake up earlier and more excited than the kids?! Anyway, after showering and everything, I dropped in on Lauren, who was awake, and promptly awoke the little girls (who were NOT happy about it, even on Christmas). Finally, at 8:00, everyone was awake and excited to dig into the Mt.Everest of gifts surrounding our poor, little tree.

Everyone was thrilled with their gifts, but the best was the Wii that Santa left. Yay, Santa! In fact, that's why we had guests so late - Aunt Amy commandeered the remote and wouldn't leave until she got the high score in We Cheer (proving that everyone really does secretly want to be a cheerleader :)).

It was so much fun having all my family over for lunch/dinner! Amy and I never really got to know any of our cousins growing up, so we make a special effort to get our kids together frequently. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of everyone together, but I did get a great video of Amy playing We Cheer. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve, and we are feeling the excitement here in the Riley home! The stockings are hung, the trees are glowing, and cookies are baked for the Big Guy. We got a foot of snow on Monday, so the girls are EXTREMELY happy (a little more so than Mom, who got hauled out of snowdrifts twice, so far). Kent is home for the rest of the week, and a mountain of presents are piled around the tree. What more could we ask for?
Today, we're going out to deliver the last of the girls' friends' gifts, and then we're settling in for a peaceful night of Christmas movies and cocoa. Tomorrow afternoon, we're having some family over for lunch and board games.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

We wish all of you the best for this season and the year to come!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Don't you just love December? Beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere, yummy goodies, goodwill to all! Maybe I'm a tad biased, but this is my favorite time of he year. I love shopping and baking and drinking hot cocoa by the fire! This year, I tried my hand at candymaking. I made fudge, peppermint bark, and divinity in addition to the dozens of cookies. Fudge is tricky - and dangerous. I have several burns as proof. That's why only my favorite (local) people are getting any. :)

We've also made several gingerbread houses this year. Lauren made one for the Gingerbread Festival in November and another for a YW activity, and Lindsey and Emily each made one for fun. Add the one from a party Lindsey went to and the ones we're supposed to make for the Riley-Kearney family party this Sunday, and now we've got a whole village! Gingerbread, anyone?

Lauren got really into the Christmas spirit last week for Spirit Day at school, and dressed up as a Who from Whoville. Her friends were supposed to dress up, too, but none of them could get the hairdo to work so they gave up. Being as self-confident as Lauren is, it didn't bother her a bit to be the only Who wandering the halls at LJHS. I love that about her! How many 12 year olds do you know who could pull that off? Little girls LOVED her look, and giggled and pointed everywhere we went that day. One little girl at Target got SO excited, and was loudly trying to get everyone else to notice Lauren Lou Who, too. Lauren, of course, loved that!

Lindsey is really hilarious! In class, they have centers each week that I get to help out with. One week, they were supposed to paint a picture and write their Christmas wish. Everyone else was busily painting that special toy they want under the tree, but not Lindsey. Her wish was that our 2 cats would have goodwill and get along. This week, they wrote about their favorite Christmas traditions. Now, Kent and I have put a lot of effort into creating several great traditions: gingerbread houses, seeing The Nutcracker and Thanksgiving Point's Holiday Lights, decorating the trees, watching holiday movies together, the HUGE Advent calendar...... Any one of these would've worked for this assignment, but Lindsey's favorite tradition is celebrating my birthday on Christmas Eve. She's actually looking forward to it as much as she is Christmas! It's really silly what kids find interesting and fun, isn't it? Lindsey was also darling in her school's Christmas Sing-Along. Unfortunately, the video file is too large, so I can't post it. :(

Emily was so cute in both her preschool's Christmas program and her dance recital. She's such a little performer - just like her sisters! For someone so shy, she's amazingly comfortable onstage. She obviously knew her dance really well, since she was always one step ahead of the other dancers. When I asked her about her favorite Christmas tradition, she told me it was "giving presents away". She loved choosing gifts for her friends and wrapping them, but sighs heavily and says she has enough toys whenever I ask her what she wants Santa to bring her. It's sweet, but it's making shopping for her a tad more difficult. :)

Both little girls had Polar Express Day at school this week. It's the latest trend, and a great way to celebrate Christmas at school. They both got little bells and went to school in their jammies - what could be better?