One a Day

I've fallen way behind on my blog- it's been seriously busy around here! So I've made a goal to post once a day until I get caught up. We've had some fun times the last few days!

This has to count as today's post though- I promised the kids that I would play with them all day- no cleaning (ok- dishes and sweeping don't count!), blogging, laundry, etc. We've had fun all day playing with Christmas toys and relaxing in our jammies! We're off to more fun- dinner with friends and LOTS of kids and then a party at our friends house after the kiddies are in bed. Here's a teaser picture for you to enjoy until the Christmas post comes.

Happy New Year friends and family!
Good-bye 2008- can't wait to see what 2009 brings!

Ho Ho Ho

Merry
Christmas!

Love,
The Edmonds Family

*sorry for no Christmas card yet- I'm working on it!
think... Happy New Years card.

12-22-98

Ten Years Ago tonight . . .
Aaron and I were getting crazy on the dance floor with our friends and family. Everyone that was important to us was with on us on that special day. It started at 10 am. We met at the San Diego Temple. I remember as we drove through the gates that day, my Dad said "We can still turn around Danielle, it's not too late." I sure am glad I didn't turn around. Marrying Aaron on that day was the best decision I ever made.

After a beautiful sealing in the temple, we drove to my parents house for a luncheon. Then later, to the Mission Viejo Country Club for a gorgeous reception. We ate a delicious dinner ( I think, I was too nervous to taste the food!), ate cake, danced, took many pictures and celebrated a wonderful day. I can really say that I enjoyed myself and was able to relax and have fun. I can never tell my mom how thankful I am for all the work she put into that day. I know it was a crazy time of year- 3 days before Christmas- but she pulled it off and it was a day I will never forget!All day I have been reflecting on the last 10 years. I am so glad that I chose the man that I did. I had no idea at the time what a wonderful husband and father he would be. I hoped and thought that I knew- but I had no idea until we had our first baby and Aaron was heartbroken on that first morning when he had to leave us to go back to work. I remember that for months he tried to come up with some occupation that he could do at home so he could be close to us all day. That was when I knew. He would be a wonderful father.He makes my life happy. He takes care of me and protects me. He protects and provides for our family. He makes me laugh and holds me when I cry. He leads our family with his priesthood and teaches and guides our children. I really feel like we have accomplished a lot in the last 10 years. We have lived in 9 places, been pregnant 5 times, had 4 children, gained 2 college degrees, taken many, many vacations together, cried many tears, laughed more than I can describe-- and we've done it all together. He's seen me at my worst, and still loves me. I can honestly say that we love each other way more today than we did 10 years ago. Kneeling across from each other in the temple- we had no idea the things that would be ahead of us. But I am sure glad that we have walked down this path together, holding hands.We have no idea what the next 10, 20 or 50 years hold for us- but I know that whatever it is, we will be doing it together. And that's all I need to know.Happy Anniversary Aaron! I love you. I have loved you since we met at Ricks College 13 years ago. I can't imagine my life without you. You make my life complete and I am thankful that we are in this together- forever. XOXO (shmily)

A Listening Ear.. or not

I have a child whom I love dearly, but who is not a very good listener. This child is smart and capable, but chooses not to listen. I know that he/she hears me, but makes a choice to ignore my request and do something else. I need some help. I am very frustrated and need a solution. I have tried talking sweetly, yelling, punishing, setting the timer, reward charts, blah, blah, blah,- the list goes on and on.Have any of you read a good book, article or just have some good advice? I really want to take care of this before this becomes a more serious problem- as this child gets older. I am pretty sure my expectations aren't too high, because the other children listen and obey just fine. Please help. Any ideas would be great. Aaron was out of town again today and after a whole day of asking this child over and over and over, the same exact things, I am out of ideas... and patience.

D.D.D.

Aaron and Addie went on a Daddy Daughter Date last week. The boys were off at a friends house playing and he got home from work and wanted to do something fun with the Goose. She was thrilled to have time with just Daddy. She insisted on taking Baby Tootsie and her purse. So off they went. Their agenda for the evening: dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then over to Toys R Us to pick out a girly toy. A short, but sweet night for these two.

Sweet Prayer

Aaron's out of town, so I was putting the boys to bed tonight. Tyler offered to say the prayer and this is how it went:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day. Thank you for my family. Thank you for the church. Thank you for animals and creatures that we can enjoy their wonderful things. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy. Thank you for Christmas. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I was watching him while he prayed and he furrows his little eyebrows together and never opens his eyes. He really concentrates and talks slow and clear. It was so sweet and I love watching my boy learn and grow. He's a good boy.

Deck the Halls

This is definitely the best time of the year! We have been busy bees- decking every hall, shelf, window, corner, nook and cranny in our house. I think we have finally finished and we can enjoy the fruits of our labors. I have to say, Aaron has been just as busy as I have. He went all out on the outside lights and it looks great!

Here are a few of my holiday favorites this year:

THE TREE

We started off at the Christmas tree farm to cut down out own tree. As we were wandering around looking at trees we glanced at a price tag- $175 for a 10-11 foot tree!! What the? We've been going there for a couple years, but they were never this expensive. So we let the kids do some rides and took off. This little ride here-- it cost $15.00- what a rip off!

So we ended up here- where our beautiful 10 foot tree cost $79 instead. Love Home Depot!




DECORATIONS
Addie was a big helper while the boys were at school.


Here's Zoodle in his new location for the day.Here's the result of Aaron's many hours outside. I love my mantle-it's so fun to decorate. My favorite, favorite thing are the HANDMADE stocking that Aaron's grandma makes for everyone in the family. They are so precious to me and every year when I get them out, it makes me so thankful that she worked so hard on them. We love you Grandma- thank you, thank you, thank you! (she's a faithful blog reader!)My parents came out tonight and we had a yummy dinner: baked potato soup, homemade bread and green salad. We decorated the tree and then turned off all the house lights and had chocolate chip cookies and candy cane cocoa, while Grammie told stories and we looked at the tree. What a magical night!
CUTE KIDS
Lately I've been obsessed with this little guy. Just can't get enough!

Do you love these jammies? Tonight it was hard to not eat him right up. He's scrumptious.

Okay I guess the rest are cute, too.
(sad that this was the best picture out of many.)
There's so much going on at this time of the year, but I love the feeling I get when we're all home together and the lights are shining and everyone is happy and excited. It's hard to not be thankful and to feel so blessed. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Zoodle

My mom bought us this book set last year. We pulled it out this year, along with the decorations. We read it together a couple nights ago. It is the cutest thing ever! I absolutely love it and so do the kids! The story is that this little elf (an adorable little stuffed elf comes with the book) appears every morning somewhere in the house. Each morning the kids have to find his new "spot." The elf keeps on eye on things all day. Then at night he flies back to Santa and reports. The book explains the elf rules very well: no touching the elf or he loses his magic, the elf doesn't talk but he listens very well, etc. My kids race downstairs in the morning to try to find Zoodle (that's what they named him) and I have found them talking to him- tattling on their siblings or telling him of their good deeds. Jake is a little scared and cautious but still very enthusiastic. Tyler is totally into it. They just about took Addison's head off when she tried to touch him today. Poor girl, they yelled so loud it scared her to death! They thought for sure his magic was gone. but we explained that toddler touching doesn't count, because 2 year olds don't understand like big kids. It worked and they forgave her. Zoodle is serious business around our house.

Here is the link if you're interested. I HIGHLY recommend it. If your kids are little and you're looking for a new tradition, this is perfect. Maybe even wait until after Christmas and you could get it on sale!

Thankful Interviews

I conducted "Thankful Interviews" this morning. Here are the results...


Aaron is thankful for:-my family
-my job
-my wife, especially
-my health
-the gospel

Danielle is thankful for:-my healthy family
-Aaron's stable job
-that I can stay home with my crazy kids
-my freedom/right to vote
-my testimony
-hugs and kisses

Tyler is thankful for:-the world
-mommy and daddy
-Carter
-the babies that can grow up and make us toys and houses (huh?)
-myself
-armies that protect our world
-toys
-friends


Jacob is thankful for:-that mommy gives him breakfast
-that we bring him to restaurants
-that we take him to Grammy's house
-the games we have in our house
-my family
-my brothers and sister and me
-my baby (blanket), blankets on my bed and pillow so I can sleep good
-my coloring box that has makers in it
-my puzzles
-my friends and my mommy and daddy
-my grandpa and my grandma


Addison is thankful for:
-her monkey (blanket)
-Baby Tootsie
-Carter man
-her family
-snacks
-nursery

Carter is thankful for:

-yummy bottles
-snugly bed
-mommy, daddy, ty, jake and goose
-lots of loves, hugs and kisses!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for all of you!

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Three days left!

.
my mom seriously makes THE best Thanksgiving dinner, ever.
It's my favorite meal of the whole year
and even better is the weather, it's finally getting cold - hip hip hooray!!!

I have promised myself to make the most of this week that the kids are out of school and do some fun things with them. Many days I find myself going to bed and wishing that I had spent more time just playing. Today we did "Pumpkin Pie Play Dough." The boys had fun making a whole pumpkin patch- and the best part is how yummy the play dough smells!! Just like pumpkin pie. A fun, quick activity- with minimal clean-up- I give it two thumbs up!This is a true Jake shot- not prompted at all. He really loved the way it smelled!
Here is tomorrows activity- one of my assignments for Thanksgiving dinner is rolls- so I thought this would be perfect.

Chores- and recovery

I am trying to get the kids on a good chore schedule. We have tried several things. but none of them are easy to do continually. We have done charts with stickers- where after each chore they put a sticker on. They really liked that, but it was hard to keep up, because I/we didn't always remember to put the stickers on and then we got behind. I really want to get in a consistent schedule- so help me out here...What has worked for you all? Do you change chores, between children, weekly or monthly? Do you pay them an allowance and how much? Do you use a chart or do they just know what chores are theirs?

Thanks!!

ps- I'm taking a little break- from just about everything this week. I had a little medical "procedure" done last week and I have been taking it easy and resting. So I apologize for not returning phone calls, emails, etc. I am fine- no worries. I should be back up and running (ok, maybe walking) next week.

I'm a lucky girl

I really have 4 handsome men in my life- but I got to go out with 3 of them last night.

What a fun night we had together! We took the "big" boys to Benihana's for the first time. They were amazed at the chefs with their big red hats and their quick knife tricks. Then we headed over to Ontario's newest arrival- the Citizen's Bank Arena. Aaron bought season tickets to the hockey games (for work) and we got to use them last night. I really enjoy hockey- it's never boring and it moves so quickly. The best part is that the Arena is about 7 minutes from our house and parking is free. Sometimes going to events like that is just a lot of work- driving, battling long lines, paying a babysitter, then drving back home late at night, etc. This was so easy! It is so fun to experience new things as our kids get older. Aaron and I were talking at the game about how the boys are totally different then they were last year. They aren't "toddlers" anymore. They can sit and watch and enjoy- just like us! We don't always have to be watching them. I do love my babies- but having "older" kids is really enjoyable, too!



We went down to the glass to watch the guys warm-up. One of the players picked up to pucks and tossed them over to the boys. Oh my- that just made their whole night. They were thrilled! So now we love #27- plus he scored twice- so he now las life long fans in my boys.

San Fran

A couple weeks ago, Aaron and I flew out to San Francisco for a few days. Aaron had an annual budget meeting and this year, all the spouses were invited. As always, it was lots of work to get the kids ready to be left for 3 nights- but it was such a treat to get away for a few days! The boys had meetings for the 2 whole days we were there. While they worked, the company took great care of the wives- gift certificates for the spa and shopping money! We stayed at the beautiful and historic Fairmont Hotel in downtown. Aaron is blessed to work for such a great company. They take such great care of us and genuinely care about all of their administrators.


The company had the penthouse suite all week. That's where they had their meetings and where we ate breakfast. The view was amazing and the suite was so beautiful.

Eating breakfast out on the deck with my brother and sister-in-law. (my brother works for the same company)
The view of the city.
Shopping in China Town. Wow- there is a lot of junk there! We got some cool toys for the kids.
On our last night there, they had a formal dinner with great entertainment.

The magician was awesome and he pulled my sister-in-law out of the audience to help with a magic trick! He was amazing!!


When we got back to our room, there was a plate of chocolates for us. The little box was all chocolate and the picture of the front is a painting of out hotel. It was so cool!

I definitely think that a little get-away like this needs to be about every 6 months or so. I sure love my kiddos- but a few days away is just what the doctor ordered to "de-stress" and recharge. By the end, I couldn't wait to get home and be "mommy" again.