Update...

How does life get so busy?? And maybe more importantly, why doesn't it ever seem to slow down? Much as I try to take a breather and not have everything scheduled, it never seems to let up!

It's been so long since I updated the blog I don't even have a clue what I've been busy with! Just working and doing photo sessions and being parents and running a household I guess!

For Halloween this year Sadie decided to be Nanny McPhee:



She hated her moles though. :)
Cydnie was convinced she was going to be a minion from Despicable Me:

so Morgan bought a round tube from Lowes and he was going to make her a costume. Of course, 2 days before Halloween we couldn't figure out how to finish it, so we were frantically looking for an alternative for Cyd. Since I am a terrible friend and hadn't returned last year's costume to my dear friend Hope, we had a backup... if only we could find some Dorothy shoes....

went to Wal-Mart looking for some kind of plastic show I could spray paint, of course - and they had a WHOLE RACK! Of actual Dorothy shoes!! Cydnie was in heaven! And I couldn't belive my luck!

And just as the real Dorothy, she has never let them off her feet for a moment since.

I thought they both turned out fun and they both enjoyed their costumes. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat as tradition dictates and then to the grandparents' houses. Got way too much candy as always!

November -

I took a girls' trip with a few friends the weekend before Thanksgiving. We had sooo much fun. I'm so blessed to have fabulous friends. We went to Time Out for Women, a conference with speakers with messages for women, most are gospel-related topics. Boy, did I need it. Lots of messages about Hope and the role it can play in our lives. And besides from the spiritual enlightenment, there was shopping and much, much laughing. Perfect weekend.

For Thanksgiving I got to host it at my house this year. We fed around 20 people from Morgan's side of the family in our basement. We also moved more couches into the basement for visiting and watching football. I had to work at 4:00 that afternoon so i didn't get to do much visiting or watching TV. Disappointing for me, cuz I'm kind of a talker.

But I enjoyed my time there very much! Love my family-in-law.

At the beginning of October we had a house guest - Morgan's nephew Donovan is engaged and we were having his fiance stay with us. The girls loved it - she was so great with them and did their hair so cute. After a while we decided it wasn't working for our family and she has since made other arrangements but it was fun to have her for a while.

As far as December thus far we are enjoying the Christmas season! We've got our tree up and decorated and most things bought and wrapped. (I'll add pictures soon.) The girls are beyond excited. I love this time of year, other than the cold, which I hate. I love parties though - looking forward to the Utah Highway Patrol party tomorrow night and the Big.Annual.Dudley.Christmas.Party (that causes much stress and anticipation) on Saturday!

Oh and regarding my Big News I mentioned on Facebook (no, I'm not pregnant), I'll give details tomorrow. ;)

Cool Stuff I Got for Christmas

Plus tons of movies, a PINK snuggie (complete with the collapsible book light), and my favorite kind of pink warm warm socks.

Thanks honey, Love ya!

More Glimpses of Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve morning we decorated MORE Christmas cookies. In our pajamas.

They really wanted to use the Halloween cookie cutters too so I let them do this one:

Here's our Christmas carolers:

This one is Sadie, complete with blond hair and a scarf.

Here is a peek at our Christmas decor 2009

All the stockings were hung...

Here's one of the smaller fur wreaths I made.

These are some of my favorite decorations. The picture didn't turn out great, but they are really cute. They're white and glittery and I bought them @ 75% off from Tai Pan last year. (I love a good deal!)

Speaking of good deals, I can't tell you how in love with this frame I am. I bought it at my new FAVORITE STORE IN THE WHOLE WORLD: Hobby Lobby, which somehow has been kept a secret from me until last month when my girlfriends and I went on a road trip. We went there and I got this awesome frame for 50% off!! Score!

(Side note on the girls trip: I meant to blog about it a while ago, so I'll make a short note about it. Danielle and Kristi Holmes and I went to SLC for Time Out for Women. We had a great time shopping the first day and were crazy and took TRAX to see the late show @ the Gateway. Trax is full of crazy people, in case you didn't realize. We didn't. And it was like 1:00 am when we got off Trax to go back to the hotel, the Hilton. When we got off, we were all kinda creeped and it was late and someone said, (not me) "Let's run!" So I started to run but the next thing I knew I was on the ground. On the tracks. I thought I was about to die. My friends laughed at me. I mean, former friends. Anyway, it was such a cool trip, and speakers at the event were AMAZING. I actually hope to make it a tradition!!)

Sorry about the tangent. In short, Hobby Lobby ROCKS.

I have tons more ideas for next year and I'm HOPING to work on some things during the year this time. But, let's be honest. I say that every year.

Merry Christmas!

Kids @ Christmas

Last year I really wanted a Snuggie. Yeah, I know, people make fun of it, but I GET it. My hands get cold when I have to use the remote and take them out of the blanket. (Wah.) But this year, I don't go downstairs to watch TV as much, as Morgan put in a nice big TV in our bedroom. Cydnie has not forgotten this, however.

I was trying to persuade her to buy some kind of jewelry from Wal-Mart. "Tell Daddy you want to buy me some jewerly from Christmas." She gets this irritated look on her face and says, "I thought you wanted a snuggie!!"

Hmmm, I wonder what Cydnie got me for Christmas...


Every time I would ask Sadie what she wanted to get Dad for Christmas. Never any hesitation, she would blurt: "A Golf Shirt!"

Well, the other day, Morgan asked what she wanted to get me. And without thinking she blurts, "A Golf Shirt!" That didn't give it away as much as the "Oh CRAP" look she had on her face.

Morgan's gonna be so surprised! haha!

Christmas Cheer!

This month has flown by, as always! I feel like most of it I have wasted at work. I haven't felt that I've been able to enjoy the holiday as much as I have other years. But we've tried to do fun things together as a family. Here are the hi-lites.

We decorated the tree a little differently this year - I used this pretty ribbon I found at the craft store instead of the red wooden beads I've used for the past 10 years. I was met with resistance, so I'm sure next year it will be back to the good ole' beads. :)

The girls participated in the ward Christmas party - this year (Finally) with no drama from Sadie over it.

All Christmas season, Sadie has been saying she wants new dolls for the dollhouse she got last year. At the last minute on Santa's lap, she asked for a pink camera! Ack. (Because that's what her best friend was asking for.)

Cydnie, on the other hand has been steadfast from the beginning that she wants a Barbie Muskateer doll - the one with the pink sword. (Santa might also throw in the movie for good measure.)

We also had the Big Dudley Family Christmas Party at our HOUSE this year. It was actually very enjoyable. We had a traditional dinner of ham and potatoes and jell-o with desserts. It was somewhat stressful before-hand, but I think it ended up working out okay. And for ONCE my gift was actually opened during the game and people fought over it! It was kinda weird for me. I really just picked it up for myself, not worrying this year about the whole thing. Kinda funny how it worked out.

The next day we had so much food left over that almost everyone came back over for the second day and we had games and more food and watched a movie. I'm glad it went fairly well and I'm glad it's over! :) Although I enjoyed planning it and I thoroughly enjoyed having it at my house, where I could decorate for months in preperation for it.

Unfortunately, I was so busy during the thing that I only got one picture. Here are the smaller kids decorating their gingerbread houses:

In other Christmas news, I have been getting back into my old self and finding fun crafts to do. I took this wreath from Costco,

And added some bulbs to it to make it a little more festive. I like how it turned out. I eneded up hanging it in the stairwell over the family pictures and stockings. (I'll probably take some more pictures around the house later.)

One of my favorite projects this year has been this fur wreath that I found on a blog somewhere. I look at so many I forget where I see stuff!  I made the one and had so much left over that I made 1 more in that size and 2 smaller ones. I think they're adorable - they remind me of those little hand warmers people used to wear outside - like while caroling.

One of our favorite new things we recieved in the mail was from my sister. She made the girls new pillowcases with fabric that looks like it's been dusted with fairy dust. But this is even more special than that - it's dusted with Christmas magic. These pillowcases make your dreams dance with sugarplums!

Thanks sis!

Hope you're all having a Christmas time full of Christmas magic, too!

What I'm Not Doing

This Christmas Season I am trying to take a step back and re-focus on the real meaning of Christmas and making sure my kids understand what Christmas is really about.

So. This year I am NOT doing Christmas cards. Okay, I never really send them out but I usually stress about it and try to do it and it doesn't get done. This year I'm not going to try to try. I have the pictures I would send out on here anyway and most of my friends look at this anyway, so MERRY CHRISTMAS. there's your card. :)

I am not doing friend gift exchanges. My closest (in proximity and to my heart) are getting together w/ our families for a fun family dinner in lieu of gifts. (I am so excited about this!)

I am not trying to have the coolest, better-than-the-other-kids-moms teacher gifts. (Sorry, Denise! haha) I am doing something low-key and practical.

I am not stressing over the Big Annual Family Christmas party this year. Yes, I am hosting it. But I am just having fun with it! I am not worried about getting the coolest gift that will be fought over - I bought something kind of unique that I would enjoy getting and am leaving it at that. I have decorated and cleaned the basement a week ahead of time and if I don't have a completely spotless house when my family comes, that's fine with me. We are going to focus on enjoying each others' company - and the food! and just have a good time.

What I AM doing:

I am reading the girls Christmas stories every night at bedtime - the ones about the true meaning of Christmas. I'm not sure it's all sinking in, but I think the feeling is there.

I am trying to spend more quality time with the kids - with the TV off and the computer off and really spend time with the girls. We're playing games and I am playing Christmas music on the piano.

We took the girls out to see the Christmas lights @ Temple Square last weekend - it was so fun. We stayed in the Hilton and walked around downtown Salt Lake. There was a guy playing Christmas carols on a bagpipe under the huge Christmas tree. He was awesome. His bagpipes even had Christmas lights on it. :)We did a little Christmas shopping and ate out at some fun places. The only bummer was, when we got in front of the floating nativity we discovered I had let the battery run down in the camera. Curses! So no pictures of our Christmas in the Big City adventure. Oh well.

Just trying to simplify this year and remember that my kids are only little for precious few years. Trying to make some Christmas magic at our house and make some special memories!

What are you not doing this Christmas?
(inspired by this lady.)