Christmas Sweaters

I am not exactly sure how this all came about but I am glad that it did. Several months ago I was together with some of my girlfriends and we got to talking about Christmas and Christmas sweaters and parties and food. One thing led to another and a few nights ago we all got together to celebrate this wonderful time of year.

I have no idea how we all convinced our husbands this was a good idea especially when they found out that we would be going out to eat at a very busy and popular restaurant. We got quite a few looks and laughs when we walked in but we also got a few compliments. I think people got a kick out of it and our waiter actually has a Christmas sweater party every year and gave us some tips on where to find some great sweaters if we ever do this again.

We then headed home for a ridiculous photo shoot. Good times I tell you...good times!
The evening ended with playing Christmas Minute to Win it. Charlie and I spent a good amount of time putting this game together and it was well worth it. With challenges like "Jingle in the trunk", "Deck the balls" and "Christmas nut stacker" we knew we were in for some laughs. I have video but I promised never to share it. I will say however that it is seriously funny to see.
We told everyone that there was an awesome prize for the winning couple. I will let you be the judge of its awesomeness. I personally find it somewhat disturbing but it was fun to make. What is better than snuggling up on a cold winter night under a fleece blanket with two of your friends looking as crazy as possible! I have a feeling this blanket may come back to haunt me one day.

I have to say that this night of celebrating was so fun. I wonder if we could convince our husbands to do it again?

Nail Bling

Just this weekend I was walking through my local grocery store and this stuff caught my eye. I love Essie polish and when I saw the pink glitter one I threw it in the cart and could not wait to get home and give it a shot. This polish did not disappoint.

I have tried glittery polish before and this one by far takes the cake. My toes look like little pink disco balls and I love it. The polish is made to be a top coat over a color or all on its own with a few coats. I used just two coats of the polish on its own and it is a winner. I am excited to try it with other colors as well.

I love it so much that I went back later that day and picked up another bottle of pick and also a silver because as far as I can tell it is part of their holiday line and I am not sure how long they will be selling it for. It is cute even in the winter but I can't wait to get this on my toes with some flip flops and tan feet this summer.

I tried to take a picture of my feet with it on but I just discovered that my feet look pasty white and ugly so I will spare you my photo but trust me when I tell you if you want some bling on your toes this holiday season run don't walk and go pick yourself up some of this today!

Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas came early for me this year. A few days ago we had all new appliances delivered.

We went from this.....To this......
They are beautiful and shiny and fun and they make me happy each time I walk in my kitchen. The only bad part is that I am scared to touch them or cook in them because I don't want to take away their newness.

I actually baked a bunch of cookies this weekend and it was awesome having the double oven. It saved me a ton of time. And the inside of my oven is cobalt blue. I don't know why that is so cool to me but I love it.

I was feeling a little bugged when Charlie wanted to try and sell all of our old appliances. I thought they would sit in my garage for a year and then we would finally have to get rid of them on our own. To my suprise we sold all of our appliances in less than 30 hours. Who knew there were loads of people sitting around to buy old appliances. Charlie has been obsessed with this show called storage wars where people go and bid auction style on storage units that have been abandoned. At one point Charlie had two families in our driveway and a phone bidder all bidding eachother up at the same time for the appliances. Charlie ate it up and loved his real life storage wars auction moment. Craigslist is the best!

So, merry Christmas and probably happy anniversary and happy birthday to me for the year!

Christmas recital

Abby had her Christmas recital this last weekend. She has worked hard for a few months on her piece and it has been wonderful to see her grow and have our home be filled with a beautiful song. { Abby with her cute teacher}




Abby always wishes that extended family could be here to see her recitals but since they are all so far away this is the next best thing. She did a great job at her recital and I was so proud of her and all her hard work.

Christmas Traditions

I think holiday traditions are one of the major parts of being a family. It has been fun being married and blending some of the traditions that we both grew up with as well as create some new ones of our own. I absolutely LOVE this time of year spending time as a family building bonds as we continue these traditions year after year.

One tradition is a visit to the Santa House each year. This is a house in our town that is only open a few weeks a year and is made just for kids to come sit on Santa's lap and gaze in awe of this house filled to the top with an amazing Christmas display. This place is the best and it even "snows" bubbles from inside all day long! Our next tradition is a visit to the biggest Christmas store in the world. We let the kids pick out an ornament each year and they get to decorate their own kid tree. We have started to get quite the collection. I already imagine packaging up each ornament in a special box to give to each child for their first Christmas once they are married. Abby has been collecting birds and Morgan is collecting butterflies...the boys don't have a specific theme but it is fun to see what they choose each year.

This next one comes from my family. It is said to be a German tradition to hide a pickle in your tree. Whoever finds it first in our family gets an extra present on Christmas morning. I usually hide it deep in the tree and the kids love searching for it each year.

This one is not so much a tradition but a decoration. There has been much controversy over this Santa as well as the infamous "fanta" that even though he is just a decoration he has become a tradition because of the great story that comes along with this jolly old fellow. If you don't remember or don't know the story I posted about it I think last year and you can go back and read if you really desire.
This tradition is also one from the Carn side of the family. Also one based on a strong competitive nature of the Carn boys. Diane made an advent calendar for her family and each day the kids got to put up one of the hand sewn objects on the tree. The last object is the beloved star. Over the years it has become quite the big deal about who gets to be the one to put the star on the tree. As grown men now...they are still so competitive that it is usually a race to see who can get to the house first when they visit for Christmas and they will take the star and hide it until Christmas eve when they can be the proud bestower of the star on top of the tree.

Diane who has gotten very wise after the Sata controversy this summer presented each family with an EXACT replica of the advent calendar she made many years ago. She spent countless hours hand beading each object and we will cherish this gift forever.

Funny, that without prompting my kids have already started arguing about who gets to put up the star this year. They definitely have some Carn blood running through them.

This last one is new to us just this year. I have seen this Elf on the Shelf for years but never purchased one until now and boy am I glad I did. It comes with the elf and a book to read to the kids explaining who the elf is and what he does.

Basically he is Santa's helper and watches the kids during the day and reports back to Santa each night if the children have been naughty or nice. The kids get to find him in a new spot each morning when they wake up. They also get to name him. We named our elf Ninny Muggins based of the movie Elf. The line where he calls himself a "cotton headed ninny muggins" is one of our favorites and it seemed to fit him perfectly.

The kids get up each morning and run around the house like crazy looking for Ninny Muggins and have quite enjoyed his sense of humor so far. They have found him sleeping in one of Morgan's Barbie beds, brushing his teeth, hangin' with some of his best pals and they have even found him dangling from a light fixture. This is a tradition that will for sure be a part of our family for years to come.

When I think of growing up I remember the traditions and they warm my heart and bring a smile to my face. It will be fun to see what my own kids hang on to and continue with their kids one day!

Monster Dash

I have been waiting 10 long weeks to make this post. I am glad to say I have good news to report. The Monster Dash was a huge success! Here we are before the race began. I was nervous beyond belief at this point. My knee has been giving me trouble the last few weeks of training and I was hoping and praying that it would hold out long enough for me to make it through the race.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL and running around downtown Chicago over bridges, around the lake, and through the parks was an amazing sight. All the costumes were so fun to see as well. This was for sure the best race to run in for my first 1/2 marathon.

There were moments that I really began to doubt if I was going to be able to finish but thank goodness to a dear friend and my husband who literally ran by my side the entire time giving me words of encouragement helped me cross that finish line. They both could have gone much faster without me but we stayed together and I can never thank them enough for the support they gave me.

The last mile was for sure the most difficult. Lots of people were walking and every part of my body was telling me to STOP. I dug deep and gave everything I had to literally just put one foot in front of the other.

I don't know how many moments in my life will ever compare to crossing that finish line. I was emotional holding the hands of my support crew as we crossed the finish line together. Once we crossed, I cried and then promptly found myself a patch of grass to sit on while I tried to regain some strength. Here we are with the other families from our ward that came and did the race as well. Everyone did a great job and it was fun to share the experience with friends.

These mementos of our race day will be something I will treasure forever. I owe a big thank you to my in-laws who took the kids for us so that we could go do this race together. A big thank you to my dear friend who stuck by me through all of our training and the race. She was willing to sacrifice her own better time to stay by me and show me the ropes along the way and I will forever be grateful to her. A big thanks to my hubby for encouraging me to do hard things and for believing in me when I did not believe in myself. Last, a thanks to my Dad who has lovingly called and emailed throughout my training checking in and making me feel proud of myself!

While this was my first, I am pretty sure it won't be my last. The aches and pains are a good reminder to me of what I just accomplished. It was just a little over a year ago that I ran my first 5k and here I am 12 months later with a 1/2 marathon under my belt! So let this be a reminder out there to anyone who may be reading this that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!

So cool

Ok, I really never thought I would be posting this but today in the mail we got a letter. The letter was addressed to "The Young Scientist" as soon as I saw it I knew what it was about. I quickly called in the kids and showed it to them and their excitement could not be contained when they realized someone had found their balloon and written back!

The letter was from a dear woman who owns a farm and found our note out in her field when she was picking pumpkins! The farm is about 25 minutes away and we are going to go there tomorrow to buy pumpkins for Halloween with the kids. They loved looking up on the map and seeing how far this particular balloon had gone. I think it will be even more exciting to drive the route tomorrow and get to see the actual farm where it was found.

My favorite part of the letter that she wrote back was when she said this: "Have a good day and keep studying. You can learn about all kinds of wonderful things that God has created and controls."

This goes down in the history books as one of my favorite experiments we have done with the kids. The look on their faces as they read this letter was priceless!

Balloon Launch

This weekend we did a fun little experiment with the kids that they LOVED. We got some helium balloons and they wrote notes on each of them asking people to be part of our experiment. They put on them the date they were launched and asked if it was found to send us a letter telling us where and when the balloon was found.

The balloons probably did not make it all that far and the chance of anyone actually finding one and writing us back is highly unlikely but the kids had so much fun working on this project. All weekend long they have been wondering if one of their balloons made it to grandmas cabin in Utah. We went on a nature walk yesterday and they were discussing how fun it would be if they found one of their own balloons.

I 'll keep you posted if we actually hear back from someone. Even if we don't, the kids had so much fun with this little project I think we will be doing it again soon!

Balloon Festival

This weekend was our annual balloon festival that the kids look forward to every year. We love this town and we especially love that they do this for free!

The kids always have a balloon come and land at their school during the day on Friday which gets them all super excited. We have a tradition of going every year and bringing dinner and spending a great night with friends and lots of people from the community.
The kids had a great time again this year. We were a little nervous at first because none of the balloons were taking off because there was too much wind. But the winds eventually died down and the balloons started to arrive.The sun started to set and then it was time for the afterglow when they do a countdown and all the balloons light up at the same time.

There were not as many balloons this year because of the wind but we all still had a great time and look forward to next year!

First Day

Last week was the kids first day of school and today Samuel started his first day of preschool. It is just me and Logan right now and the house is so quiet.

The kids were mostly excited to head back and Sam has been asking about preschool every day for weeks now. After the kids started he was upset that he did not get to go to his school yet. We kept telling him he would get to go in a few more days and everyday he woke up he would say, "Am I going to school in a few years?" I am sure to him a few days felt like a few years.



There was no hesitation from Sam today. He walked right in and made himself at home. He was especially excited to see the potty that was just his size!

This time of year is always an adjustment. I can hardly believe that this is Abby's last year in elementary school. My kids are growing up!

Farewell

Today we said farewell to summer. Mother nature must have been informed that school was starting because it went from 93 degrees on Saturday to a chilly 55 degrees today. We actually had to bring out coats and even though I thought I was ready for the first day of school I had to run out today to buy jackets and jeans for the kids.

We had a lot to accomplish today but I did not want the last day of summer break to be all work and no fun so we met up with some good friends and said goodbye to summer in a really fun way.

We rented 8-10 passenger surreys and rode around town honking our horns and laughing up a storm. The kids LOVED it and the parents...well, we had fun too but we burned nothing short of about 1,000 calories pedaling these things all around town.

One of my favorite moments on the ride was when Sam unprompted put his arm around Logan and gave him a snuggle. I was thrilled with myself that I actually caught it on camera.
After surrey-ing (is that a word?) around town we were off to one of our favorite pizza places. Four adults and TEN kids gets lots of looks from other families in the restaurant but the kids actually did really well and it only took 4 large pizzas to feed all their cute little faces!

I am so glad we took some time out today to celebrate a fun summer. The only down side of the day is if you are familiar with the musical Oklahoma, I have been singing "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" all stinking day long!



I think we have started a new tradition here and I will be looking forward to doing it again although next year I probably won't run 3 miles right before we go!

40 Runs

40 runs...that is what stands between me and quite possibly the most difficult thing I have ever done besides giving birth to 5 children.

I can't even believe that I am typing these words right now but today I officially began my 10 week training leading up to my first 1/2 marathon.

October 29th I will be running in the Monster half marathon in Chicago. The next 10 weeks are sure to bring highs and lows. Charlie will be running it, as well as some great friends. This is for sure going to push me to physical limits I have never reached and I am beyond nervous.

Hopefully in 10 weeks from now I will be posting a picture of me with that medal around my neck and be able to say the words, "I just finished running 13.1 miles!".

Utah Week 2- The Friends

Week two we were off on a whole new adventure to spend time with our best friends of 12 years! We love these guys and always look forward to lots of laughs and late nights.

We always try and have a date night where just the adults go out and we leave our 9 kids behind. No matter what we do we always have a blast but we decided to live it up this time and had a beautiful dinner at La Caille.If you have never been here I highly recommend saving up and enjoying a night here. The grounds are BEAUTIFUL and the food is delicious. We had a great night listening to some music and laughing about it just a little and enjoying every single bite of food we put in our mouths. Another tradition is for Cherlyn and I to visit our most favorite place in the world...Sego Lily spa. Seriously this place brings tears of joy to my eyes. I had the best massage of my entire life and then Cherlyn and I attempted to take some pictures giggling like school girls the whole time. None of them turned out unfortunately but we had a fun time trying.

It has been so fun for us to see our kids grow up together and go from this.....

to this.....

We took the big girls to get their first ever pedicures and they LOVED it. We let them get designs on their toes and they thought it was the coolest thing ever. Morgan had a blast working her massage chair.

We have also loved seeing these cute boys go from this..... to this....

They had fun playing together and also having a very special day together, their baptism!

We had lots of time to just hang out and play but we also went swimming and had late night movies in the backyard projected on the house.

We ate out...a lot and I loved every bite of food. Cafe Rio and Sweet Tooth Fairy...I miss you! Seriously I would gain 50 pounds if we lived in Utah. Here was the big day for the boys. We had a ton of family there and Cherlyn was nice enough to let us invite everyone to her beautiful home for dinner after.

This was such a special day and I was so thrilled that Ethan was able to have so many friends and family involved that love him so much. I am so proud of him.

Here are the boys with their proud papas.

And the boys with their proud mamas. It has been wonderful to grow in life and marriage with this family. We miss them terribly but are thankful each and every day for their friendship and blessing that they are to us. We miss you!