Randomness I Thought You Should Know

Winter still boggles my mind. Each year I can't figure out why I am so cold, and then realize I need shoes...a coat...hat..gloves...scarf...socks.
So - this year, I realized that I am finally starting to catch on! (This is my 4th winter - except for the four years I lived in Cedar City going to college - oh, and the first 8 years of my life living in Alaska...)

3 WAYS I HAVE WINTERIZED MYSELF:

1 - Took off the toe rings and anklet and replaced with socks and closed toed shoes...

2 - Bought my first pair of snow boots since I lived in Alaska! (it was snowing really hard out and I was in Target with my little wispy shoes...) Now we can go snow shoeing Melly!

3 - Shoveled snow. I have never done that before this year. (Daxon and I do it during the day if Dad is gone.) Its quite a work out!

I think I will always prefer the Heat over the Cold (always a Desert Child!) but I can at least learn to live through this season. One year at a time...

Hubband Tag (Thanks, Ash!)

Ashley tagged me about a week ago, so here I am finally getting to it!

What is your Hubband's name: JON RICHARD PAUL
How long have you been married: 8+ YEARS
How long did you date: 2 YEARS
How old is he: 31
Who eats more sweets: NORMALLY WE DON'T EAT MANY SWEETS, BUT LATELY IT HAS BEEN HIM
Who is a better singer: JON IS BECAUSE HE USES HIS ABLITITY TO SING IN MORE THAN JUST THE CAR
Who is smarter: JON
Who does the Laundry: I DO
Who pays the bills: HE WINS THE BREAD IN ORDER FOR ME TO PAY THE BILLS
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: JON (HE HAS TO SLEEP CLOSEST TO THE DOOR)
Who mows the lawn: JON. I HAVE NEVER MOWED A LAWN IN MY LIFE!
Who cooks dinner: WE BOTH DO. HOWEVER, HE IS GOOD AT IT!
Who drives: WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER, HE DOES THE DRIVING
Who is the first to admit they are wrong: ME
Who kissed who first: IT WAS A SIMULTANEOUS THING...
Who asked out who first: WE SORT OF ENDED UP TOGETHER BY A CHANCE ONE EVENING, AND WENT FROM THERE! BUT HE CALLED ME BACK AFTER THAT!
Who wears the pants: WE SHARE THE PANTS. THEY ARE SORT A TRAVELING PANTS...

I tag: Jodi, and Melanie (T)

Joy in 2009

Ring in the New Year! I have finally taken down my Christmas decorations (with much pleading from the Hubband) and everything is back in storage...except a few things I found AFTER we took everything under the house in our crawl space of course!

I am glad to have The Season behind us. I need a fresh start and a new year. However, I will keep one thing from the Christmas Season with me. Its my "goal" for 2009, if you will.

I am keeping: JOY

I realized just recently that I have been too serious, too stoic, and I don't laugh as much as I once did. Its just me and my kids for the greater part of my days, and why would I want my kids to remember me as totally serious and unable to play? So this year I want to enJOY my kids more. I will be JOYous and laugh more (I would rather have "laugh lines" than "scowl lines" on my face!) I have often heard that if you are doing something that you don't really want to do, to fake it...Well, I am tired of being bitchy all the time, so even if I don't feel the JOY for the day, I am going to act like it until I am truly JOYful.

I have much to be thankful for. Nothing to complain about, as most of my needs are met (there are those occasional days when a massage or frosty beverage are just out of reach!), I have a dead-sexy hubband and the cutest kids ever! There is no reason for me not to find JOY out of each day.

Kat

Christmas Thank You's

Christmas turned out a success once again! We were glad to have Blayke with us again this year, and to watch Zayla on her FIRST Christmas. It was fun now to have Daxon believe in Santa and have him so excited about what Santa brought! Normally I send out "Thank You" cards after such fabulous gifts have been given, but I can't see myself getting it done this year, so I thought I would give a few Thank-You-Shout-Outs and hope that someone sees them and understands our gratitude.

THANK YOU to my mom "Grandma Dog" for the Twilight Turtle to Daxon, the piggy bank for Zay, and the movie to Blayke. Thank you for our gift certificates, thanks for all the food you brought, and all the cooking you did, and all that you cleaned! I am still trying to locate a few misplaced items in my kitchen, but I am totally grateful for all you did!

THANK YOU to Suzie and Ed: for spoiling Jon and I with tons of gifts to open, and knowing what cute things to get the kids.



THANK YOU to my Pop for the fun magazine renewals (the kids love them), and the fabulous book you wrote! It is so great! And thanks for the Roberts Gift Certificate! One can never have too much crafting stuff!

THANK YOU to my Alaska Parents: Cutest jammies for Zay! Daxon loves the books, and we're thankful for our stuff too!

THANK YOU to CJ and Ashley for remembering my whole family. We all loved each gift. You did a good job!


THANK YOU to Vanessa: you always spoil me and now BOTH my kids. Thanks for the clothes for Daxon too. Just in time as he had grown out of his 4T pants suddenly! And I totally forgot you called a few months ago and asked about "bookends", so my gift was a total surprise!

THANK YOU to Boo: I love wrapping the gifts that you buy for my kids! Dax loves the bath coloring (much to my dismay), and Zay will look so cute in her outfit!

THANK YOU to Auntie Chris and Uncle Mark: Sorry you couldn't come down to my house before Christmas, but thanks anyway for the little prizes for my kids. Diego - PERFECT! and Zay loves her pink puppy!


THANK YOU to Melly and Lance for our cool baking dish. I especially love the Sun!

THANK YOU to Grizzly Gram for the most delicious pie ever, my favorite rolls, popcorn balls, and yummy caramels!

THANK YOU Jared and Andrea for the gifts for the kids! Daxon's was especially a big hit. He LOVES Diego!

THANK YOU to Teed: you always give the most creative and thought-out gifts. Daxon loves the stamp set (as you can see by all the ink spots on our carpet), and Zayla has worn her boots everyday since. Blayke also didn't take off her gloves for the following three days either!

I hope I am not leaving anyone out. We are so thankful for all that we have and for all our friends and family that love and support us. We hope your Christmas was merry and bright as well!

Love to all!

December Doings

December is a busy month for all of us, so I jumbled all our December goings on together in to one post. (I will post Christmas photos later!)


Daxon and I had a successful Snow Day last week. This is our first Snowman we have ever built together! (Minus the corncob pipe and button nose!)


We went up to Chrisy's house for a birthday dinner for my cousin Dallan. (My cousin Clayton and his wife Treasure were in town from Baton Rouge) so we had a good family gathering. This picture was taken by Daxon. He loves taking the camera, so we were telling him to take photos of actual people and not just random walls...




NAKED BABIES! This is the first time I have put both my kids in the bath together! And what is a childhood without bath photos with siblings or cousins?! I say 'not complete'! I learned during this experience that bathing both kids at the same time is NOT a time saver. But the kids sure loved it, so I guess that is why we mothers keep doing it. Right?!



This is from the first weekend of December. Every year Provo City puts on a Winter Fest parade to ring in the Holiday Season. (its usually snowing at this parade), but this year was relatively warmish...Santa was the last float to go by. Daxon got really excited!!

Well, I guess that doesn't really cover a lot of our December, but there will be more later!
Love to all!

New Look! Same Great Content!

From the first day that I set this blog up, I didn't like the background and such. So last night (at 11:00 pm) I finally got trendy and got on Pyzam and looked at a billion layouts. I got sick of looking and chose the first one that jumped out at me. Now I am a fan of change, but I just have a hard time committing to that change at the last moment. So - I may be changing things around here and there, so just endure while we are under construction!

Love to all!

That Day of Thanks

So, I figure everyone is over the Thanksgiving Holiday and now sucked into the Christmas Season, but I wanted to post a few photos of my Thanksgiving day. We have been without the Internet for multiple days now, so that is why I am just now getting to post these photos.
We spent Thanksgiving in St. George on a beautiful rainy day. I love the desert in the rain! We had a small group this year, (my Hubband and kids, my mom, Auntie Chris and Uncle Mark, Uncle Clark and Aunt Lucy, and Grizzly Gram!) My Aunt Chris and Mark rented a Condo in St. George (that was covered in Mirrors!) so it was nice to hang out in a different place and just relax. Oh, and after we ate we watched a documentary on the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" on the History Channel (it was totally interesting!), which was fitting because my mom and I had been watching the actual parade that morning. So here are some photos from our day of FEAST!!







This is my Uncle Clark. He was quite taken with Zayla!


Seriously, there was even a mirrored wall inside the shower!