I have gained one pound in pure Christmas cookies. BOOOOO!

What a day. I will be so glad when Christmas break is over!

Oh wait....it's only day one? Oh yeah. Shoot.

My kids fight, friends. And it is e.x.h.a.u.s.t.i.n.g. It is just the three youngest. They just fight. I hate it.

And I swear the kids like to play tag team with me. The second one is done telling me something they go and tag the other kid and that kid comes and talks to me. Then that kid tags the next kid and then that kid comes and talks to me. It gets tiring! Even. though. I. know. I. should. be. thankful. they. want. to. talk. to. me.

So today Becci and I had group. I am still agitated that Kristopher quit having group. Becci said to me today, "I thought we were over that?" And I said, "well, I guess we aren't". But then we remembered that our group is way funner than his group was anyway so we got over it again. Actually it is just me who is annoyed but since Becci is a codependent group member it is "we". Bahaaa! That is stinkin' funny.

So today as I was driving into town I started fish tailing a little. And then a little more. And then a little more. I was calm and like "whoah" "whoah" "wohah" and I just kept steering trying to gain control. There was one car coming my way watching the whole thing and I am sure they were wishing they weren't sharing the road with me right then! And then.....I did a complete 360 and went spinning into their lane and I KNEW I was going to clip them right when I went past...backwards. But...I didn't. I just poofed into the side of the road and was perfectly fine. And it was a crazy miracle I didn't hit them. It was a lady and she got out of the car and I did too and I told her "I almost creamed you!" and we hugged and laughed about it and she helped me get out of my stuckedness.

It was scary and funny and a huge blessing.

We hugged like three more times and it was just so nice to have peace on earth with the lady you almost crashed into. She told me "I just closed my eyes!" She also told me I was doing really good handling the car.

So my old kids are all watching High School Musial. It is so cute.

I was very touched by Rhett tonight. He has been gone most of the day with his Grandpa Dale, Corey's mom's husband who we are thrilled to call as Grandpa.

Rhett LOVES to work. LOVES. He wants to call Grandma every day to work. And if I shouldn't want to drive him over there, he will lecture me about them being older and needing help.

I tell him never to accept their money. That he is to do it for free. Grandma usually feeds him very well and sends home food to "pay" him because she knows I said he can't accept money.

So tonight he came home, so happy, carrying ALL of these presents for Corey and I. Grandpa Dale and him had spent THREE hours at Walmart shopping for Corey and I. Dale said it was so fun and he helped him and that he had to really shop and think about what to purchase for us. Rhett said Dale did that to pay him for all the work he has done. Dale told me what a special boy he was because of his genuine love for work.

It broke my heart in such a sweet way. And I am seriously excited to see what he picked out for me! Corey has one (his cost more). And the rest of those puppies are mine!!!! Is that bad? Am I being greedy?

I am thankful for Dale to teach him those lessons today. Rhett told Dale that this was the fun part of Christmas.

I think I might be a tiny bit lazy. And I am okay with that.

alrighty....

so I have a little table in a little room that is like off of our living room. I do all my blogging, homework, projects, kid's homework, laundry, at this table. I love this little room because it is still in the room that the family spends most of the time with but it is a little bit away from that room so I can sort of be "there" and not "there" also. Does that make sense?

Tha bag is my trash. And I adore a sleeping dog under my chair. I feel very happy when he is there and I can pet him with my feet.

It is my happy place in my home because I love a place to do projects. I don't do well without some sort of project on my plate...

My drawer full of unfinished quiet book pages. But it makes me happy that they are there. So I have them to work on when I get bored.

Take note how far away my lamp is from my chair. When I want to turn on my lamp I have to move the table and reach up high and turn on the lamp.... I don't know...it's inconvenient!!!!

And then I told Corey for Christmas I wanted him to make me a swithc on my lamp that was low down by my chair. He TEASED and TEASED me. He thoght it was so lazy.

Then my friend told me that they make THESE!!!!!

It is a plug in light dimmer. My lamp plugs into it and then the switch can go wherever I want it and I can turn the lamp on whenever I am already sitting down and remember I want the lamp on. It is beautiful. 

Now I want one for the lamp by me bedside. Even though it is only a tiny bit away (like I have to lift my arm and stretch from my pillow). But you know when you're tired....how it is hard to make yourself move to turn off your lamp....if I just had a little dimmer switch....that would be awesome.

Corey and I get home from some CHristmas shopping and look out the window and see this....

Nathan pullling Justine and Kate around in the sled like a pack horse! Love that boy!

So Saturday was such a fun, nice, day for me to have off. As planned I made cookies form Pinterest.

Kate unwrapped the Hershey kisses and pushed them in the cookies. I will admit I didn't let her help the entire time. My patience level is not that high. But she was still happy and said "we" made the cookies so I hope she will remember that.

 

These cookies were SO SO good!!!! I loved them! Here is the blog I found them on but here is also the recipe....

candy cane kiss cookies

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Candy Cane flavored Hershey's Kisses, finely chopped
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 30

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet.

2. In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl often until well blended (1-2 minutes). The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped Kisses.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie. They'll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you set the kiss inside. Put cookie sheet (with cookies) immediately into the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses will set quickly. As soon as you press them into the cookie, they will begin to soften... so if you can get them into the freezer then they will keep their Kiss shape.

4. Store in a covered container- at room temperature for up to a week. In the freezer they should be ok for a couple of weeks.

I made this other kind.... and I couldn't decide if I LOVED them or not. But this cute girl rated them at a  10! I actually thought it was a ten the next day. They are made from a cake mix and cream cheese and CHUNKS of Oreo's in them! That is lovely, right?

 Here is the recipe and the LINK for these also. One problem, although I have seen the RED peppermint Andes chips in the store before, I couldn't find them. I ended up using a Guidelli's peppermint bark bar and it was good also!

Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Yield: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix (15.25 oz.)(I use Pillsbury)

1 stick butter, melted (8 Tbsp.)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

 

4 ounces cream cheese, softened 

 

1 cup Oreo cookie chunks

1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch pieces

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Combine the cake mix, melted butter, egg, and extracts. Beat until a soft dough forms. Add the cream cheese and beat in gently until combined. Stir in the peppermint crunch pieces and chocolate chips first. Then gently stir in the cookie pieces by hand being careful not to break up the cookie more. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
2. Roll the dough into 36 balls. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. Do not over bake. The cookies will be very soft and look undone. Let them sit on the hot cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then gently remove them with a spatula to a piece of wax paper on the counter.
3. Very gently tap the tops of the cookies with the bottom of the spatula to even out the tops. Let them sit until completely cool. Store in a sealed container. Makes 36 cookies.

It was fun to do some baking. And now of course I am regretting eating too many.

Justine took the little kids to get their picture taken with Santa. Thankful for those kids to help me "mother" when I am working. :(

It was a fundraiser for our local library. The kids got to make these Rudolph bags.

Their slight creepiness cracked me up.

They are cute though.

Kate's

Bo's

 And they were filled with oats and sprinkles to feel the reindeer's. Kate has been so cute to diligently sprinkle some on our front porch every night.

Rhett received his yellow belt in Jujitsu. So awesome. I love what he is learning there. It is about more than wrestling. It is about being a disciplined man. I love it.

The little kids sang in church today with all of the other primary children. Our primary chorister is this hilariously spunky beautiful funny fun lady.

She gave every single kid in our primary a homemade drum with a drum thing that you hit the drum with. What is that called? So there all of the kids up at the podium with DRUMS!!!! It was like..."Wow...this could be funny!"

But those kids behaved so well and drummed exactly when they were supposed to and controlled themselves the rest of the time. It was precious. They sang "Little Drummer Boy".

Thanks, Teresa, for having the nerve to attempt these cool, cute things for the kids. I loved their performance so much!

Hiya!

Tonight Justine and I took the little kids to look at the Christmas lights.

Getting going was mostly horrific. They were insane while we were at the gas station trying to buy Cheetos and hot chocolate. I was one of those annoying "Wal-mart" moms yelling opening at their kids. It was yucky.

When we finally got going it turned out fine. They seemed to enjoy it and mostly behaved.

Now they are watching Christmas movies and are sleeping in the living room "under the Christmas lights". Cuties.

I just wanted to mention how blessed my life has been by working with the guys I work with.

Nick is such a nice boss. He is going to work for me so I can drive my kid up to college. He tells me things about the store that makes me feel part of the group.

Newell and I have such a good working relationship. We get along very well. We joke and talk. It is very siblingish. We occasionally decide where "we" are going to have lunch and then one of us goes and gets it. He always bring me a pop when he goes somewhere.

Gus made his darling girl's, beds for their fake American Girl dolls for Christmas. We spoke tonight and he made Kate one as well. (Grandma is giving her a fake A.G. doll also.) I was so touched by his sweetness.

It will never cease to confuse and amaze me how and why I got a crazy job at a man's boot store. Sometimes I think Heavenly Father knew I needed a team with some team members who watch out for me a bit.

Corey is pretty miserable. Lots of body aches and pains. I feel so sad for him. He is so young and active to be in constant pain. We are still trying to figure out and see how this disease will affect and change his life. Symptoms can be mild to severe and so we are waiting to see what will happen after he gets started on medicine. I hurt for him because having chronic pain would be the worst.

I went and had blood work done this morning. The Dr.s scale said I had officially lost 92 pounds. I am having blood work done to see if I can stop taking my insulin resistant medicine, my iron, and I want to quit taking my  blood pressure medicine. I hope.

If I can't get off the meds I am totally going to eat this in one day.

Just kidding, but you know I could.

I don't watch Duck Dynasty and I am not quite sure what is going on but I saw this and really loved it.

Justine and I went to see Catching Fire. So good. I think that actress is such a dang cutie!

Ok....so I saw this gadget at Best Buy. I think it is the stupidest thing ever.

It is some sort of electronic thing that tell you if you are low on eggs if you are in town and need to know.

 Tomorrow I don't have to work!!! Finally a Saturday off. It feels like it has been forever. I am going to make four different kinds of cookies. That is my goal for tomorrow. What is up with cookies being made out of cake mix? I am trying two cookies like that tomorrow.

My teacher sent our class this cute little picture for finishing class. I liked it.

I am totally lame. I know. What a boring and exciting life. lol.

It feels SO weird not to have any homework!!!!!

Yesterday, I looked at Brody and was petting him and I said "I'm sorry, you're just no Josie."

Then I felt pretty guilty. 

I REALLY like Brody. He is wanting attention and he is sweet and he is protective of us already. I actually really want a dog that will bark and alert us. 

But....he's not Josie. (Josie was our beloved gentle, completely trusted around animals and babies and children, Golden Retriever) He is such a smart dog. Too smart. And we don't have time for it.

 I keep trying to give Brody a break and remember how very much the breed of a dog influences their  personality, or perhaps his treatment before we parented him.

He is just so wary of anything going on. And he really does "herd". The other day the kids were all wrestling Rhett down and Brody was BITING at his pajama bottoms in like herding mode or something. He was't trying to hurt him, (Rhett is is favorite) he was just being himself I guess.

Today Kate and I were hiding under the covers in my bed and all of a sudden Brody jumped on the bed and in one quick move he tried to rip off the sheets to uncover Kate because he knew something was strange with her hiding, and he ripped my sheets!

I am telling you Brody is more dog then we can handle. I really really like him. He has some GREAT qualities. But his innate behavior is going to be a challenge. Just putting it out there for the record. I really just wanted some dopey mutt. Mutts are always the best.

When I saw this picture it so reminded me of our Josie. 

I love it.

Isn't that cute?

I was thinking today, as Kate ran me ragged all morning with her extreme fast working mind that is always going, that t is a goood thing for our pets that there are several of them. So the torture can be dispersed amonst them all a bit. She had the poor parakeet out THREE times today. She loves those pets. I love her for it!

So Justine has been working with a cute little group of kids for a year and a half as part of her highschool credits. She worked with them when they were kindergartners and then moved up with them for first grade. Those kids love her. They all want to sit on her lap, they hug her and love her.  She has become very attached to them. She is just so sweet with children. She has been told more than once by the little kids that they wish she was their mom. Kinda sad....

I have had a chance to talk to her about how she has an opportunity to love them and give them love that may help add to their little attachment in the world. I had a person do that for me when I worked at the pet store as a teenager. There was an older man I worked with and he was so kind and a friend to me and it just enhanced my life. And she can do that for these little kids. Love them while they are in each other's lives to help fill up their little love buckets.

So we went to the party store to buy little Christmas presents for them.

Justine and I saw this and were both a little bit like.....Ummm.....

"Is this is a little weird?"

It's Jesus with Justine's favorite One Direction boy, Liam. With Zane photo bombing in the back ground.

It cracked us up in a that is weird and inappropriate sort of way.

So today Corey and I were talking about his Christmas present that I am very excited about.

And he says to me.... "Just NO BOOKS. I hate books!"

shoot.

I can't stay up all night. Boo!

This is totally what Rhett does for me. I assigned him the 

job once to not let me eat dessert that night and has taken 

it seriously ever since and this is exactly what he does to 

me. Lol.

Kassidy has always adored The Hobbit. She was so ready for the 2nd movie to come out. She 

had a count down going on.  She REALLY wanted me to go with her. To the MIDNIGHT 

movie. I can't even go to a nine o'clock movie without falling asleep. But I just don't want ot 

miss out on these fun times with my kids. 

So becasue we anticipated massive lines we had to go two hours early. It was fun. And no 

lines. And not that many cooky people dressed up.

Okay....there were a few....

I asked Kassidy why she didn't dress up since she was such a fan. She said she wanted to be 

able to relax and be comfortable in 

the movie. I thought that was such a valid point!

While we waited I did home work.....

and spent too much time trying to get good pictures of me with my kids (Nathan came as his 

Christmas present from Kassidy). The 

theather was so dark while we were waiting and we were being blinded by the flash.

Kassidy has Lord of the Rings Pez dispensers. So she brought them to the movie. I'm in my 

3D glasses and my other glasses. I am REALLY telling a difference when I wear my glasses. But 

glasses are a wholey moley pain!

My friend Christina came!

These pictures busted us up becasue Kassidy was like "I have an ELF EAR!!!!!!". And she did! 

She didn't do it on purpose, she just had her hair like that but it totally looked like an elf ear. It 

was funny.

So the movie was probably really good but about an hour in I fell asleep. GRRRR.  SO 

frustrating. I fought it and fought it but lost. Kassidy was so annoyed at me. She cracked me 

up with her Face Book venting and the funny conversations that followed.

Face Book posts...

Kassidy Kaye Nielsen-

Oh yea, and my mother slept through the movie. I am very very very upset with her. Upset doesn't describe it. I love her still, but what kind of person sleeps through magnificence?

Like ·  · Share

• Susan  a tired one!!!! You knew it was a risk. I TRIED!!!!
• December 13 at 3:42am · Like · 3
• 

  Kassidy I don't think you tried at all- or drank enough caffeine. 

  December 13 at 3:43am via mobile · Like
• 

  Rebecca Sadly I can relate! I'm so tired all the time! Put me in a dark, warm, comfy place... I'm going to get at least a power nap. I never thought it would happen to me! Wwwwaaaaa

  December 13 at 5:13am via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Kristy  I must confess I slept through some of the first one. Didn't want to!!! Kept waking up and saying "Shoot!! Now I don't know what the heck is going on!!!"

  December 13 at 5:42am via mobile · Like
• 

  DeAnn  Tired mothers who adore their daughters and want to be with them - because she knows what is important to you (; pretty cool that she loves you that much - you are worth it !!

  December 13 at 7:36am via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Claudine  It is that early morning seminary Rebecca ! I don't know how you do it!!!!!! I fall asleep in movies all the time too! I don't even attempt midnight premiers, my bed is much more comfy than a theater seat!

  December 13 at 8:27am via mobile · Like
• 

  Stephanie  Unfortunately Kassidy, something happens when you become a mom. The moment you quit moving, you fall asleep. It is a horrible, horrible curse but it is the only way you get any sleep at all. No amount of caffeine or will can break it.

  December 13 at 9:36am · Like · 1
• 

  Christina  Eh, it is okay, I am sure all the other people who were sleepy in the theater but couldn't fall asleep due to the sound of her sawing logs now thank her for keeping them awake! 

  December 13 at 10:36am via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Justine what kind of a hobbit fan doesn't dress up in their hobbit outfit?!

  December 13 at 2:46pm · Like
• 

  Carolyn  I guess we are going to have to break down and go.

  December 13 at 7:15pm · Like
• 

  C. Kent Aren't Hobbit movies about male creatures. I don't remember any mothers, daughters, other females in the movies. Movie?? Oh yes, just movies. I hope to see it soon.

  December 13 at 8:13pm · Like
• 

  Frank  She is a very busy person

  December 14 at 2:46am · Like · 1

• Susan  I SLEPT THROUGHT IT!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Kassidy is furious with me!!!!

  December 13 at 3:31am · Like
• 

  Susan  Christina  I liked it when I woke up long enough to eat two sour patch kids you gave me. And then I was out again. baha!

  December 13 at 3:32am · Like
• 

  Christina My favorite part was when the dwarves were headed into the mountain and I heard this deep rumbling sound....like a dragon...and I was confused because I thought Bilbo was supposed to wake up the dragon and then I looked over and it was just you snoring close to my ear! Bahahahh!!!

  December 13 at 3:36am via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Susan  LOL!!!! Total fabrication girlie!!!!

  December 13 at 3:39am · Like