Praises be

Help me out here. I really believe that I need to be better in showing my family and friends how much I love and appreciate them. I think I do a good job, but apparently there's some miscommunication on my part. So if everyone would be so kind as to take this little test and let me know your highest score, I can hopefully be a better friend.

And just so there's no confusion, I took the test too. My love language is Words of Affirmation(40% of my responses favored that type of love). For example, that means for me to feel loved you need to tell me how much you enjoyed the cookies I made or that you thought my new shirt was sassy. I might appear to brush off the compliment, but inside my heart is soaring!

Thanks.

Our Christmas

I feel like there's a truck load of catching up to do, but blah blah blah, no one wants to read the intricacies of our Christmas, so here's the Reader's Digest Condensed Version:

Annual Aebleskiver Party: Lots of fun, lots of food, lots of good friends. Unfortunately our home is small so our guest list was limited, but maybe next year we'll choose a different venue.

Christmas Eve: We started a new tradition of going to a movie as a family on Christmas Eve. This year we went to Bolt, the new Disney movie. It was cute and Andy literally sat on the edge of his seat the entire movie. Josh sat still for only about an hour, then wanted to walk around and explore the theater.

I made luminaries this year. Over the last few months I've been saving our milk cartons. What do you think? A little too red neck? I liked it. I wish there had been snow--that would have been 10x cooler.

Kraig had to work Christmas Eve, so he dropped the kids and I off at my parents' home and we ate dinner with them. Santa rang his bells, and we all hurried home. I'd made matching jammies for us all to open Christmas Eve, so we had cute new jammies to wear to bed.

Christmas Day:Andy woke early and there was no coaxing him to get back in bed, so we came down and opened gifts. We kept Christmas pretty small this year, just doing small gifts for the kids, but Kraig totally spoiled me. I'm such a lucky girl!

I made a cinnamon pull apart for Christmas morning breakfast.

We headed over to my parents' home again around noon to open presents and play. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. But trust me, it was awesome! My parents completely spoiled the kids and Kraig and me. I was sad that my sisters and their families weren't here to celebrate with us, but I hear they all had nice Christmases where ever they were.

Merry Christmas. Ding!

Check this out.



'Jingle Bells' Played on 49 Microwaves

Frugal is my middle name. Jacqui Frugal Webb

This is the Christmas wreath I made out of some wire hangers and the branches from my pine tree in the backyard that Kraig pruned a few months ago. Not nearly as cool as Brenda's tree made of a tomato cage and garland (unconfirmed).

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out and that it's almost round AND that I had lights to go on it. I might make it a tradition to make a wreath. Or I'll buy a fake one after Christmas.

Ladies and Gentlmen, I'm married to a 30 year old!

Really? A 30 year old? I think it's hitting me harder than it is Kraig. Well, there's nothing to do but embrace it, so Happy Birthday, Sweety!

Here are 30 little known facts about Kraig.

1. Kraig loves to sing and has a great voice.
2. Kraig writes poems and has an amazing ability to rhyme. I usually get a tear-jerking poem on Valentine's and Mother's day.
3. He was 26 when we got married. Look how young he looks!
4. He loves to give nicknames. It's very rare that he calls Andrew or Joshua by their real names.
5. He dubbed me "Phil" as in "Philly Cheese Steak" years ago. I have no idea where it came from or why.
6. Kraig graduated from Utah Valley State College with a BS in Behavioral Science.
7. He's dabbled in all sorts of work: psych ward (aide, not a patient ;), construction worker, CAD drafter, HR rep, appliance salesman.
8. At 28 he went through a "quarter-life crisis" and changed careers to become a chef, one of his "100 things to do before I die."
9. He's actually written down a list of "100 things to do before I die" and has crossed things off i.e.
10. Bagpipes. Kraig took Bagpipe lessons. I didn't let him practice in the house :)
11. Kraig has been Life Flighted twice. Thankfully neither time has been while I've known him.
12. Kraig loves to hunt in October. It's not so much the killing animals and carrying a gun thing, but spending quality time with his brothers, father, uncles, and cousins.
13. Kraig can make a turkey out of an apple.
14. He is a fantastic cook and loves to try new things.
15. Kraig doesn't like to cook while I'm in the kitchen. He says I'm too bossy :)
16. Kraig dated a lot of girls before I came along. He's never been able to give me a specific number
17. He is a wonderful father.
18. He always lets me chatter on and on late at night, even when he's really tired.
19. When Kraig is upset but doesn't want to talk about it, he hum-whistles.
20. Kraig hates clutter.
21. He cleans bathrooms better than anyone I know.
22. Kraig uses all the voices when he reads stories to the kids.
23. Kraig loves to water ski. In fact, we met water skiing at Pine View in Utah.
24. Kraig always drives when we're in the car together. (But I always tell him where to go;)
25. Kraig loves action movies. I have to rent one at least every other time we watch a movie.
26. He has a very tender, spiritual side and often cries during the hymns at church.
27. Kraig has written down 5 things he's grateful for almost everyday since Christmas 2006. He's on number 2265.
28. Kraig's been in 2 theater productions in five years: Hello, Dolly! and Singin' in the Rain.
29. He loves to do yard work and takes pride in a nicely manicured lawn.
30. I'm his best friend.

I love you, Honey! Happy Birthday!

My children

Warning: I only had a few minutes of sleep last night so my emotions are right close to the surface.

Joshy caught a virus from somewhere and is really sick.

I'm grateful that my children are mine. I felt that immediate connection with each of them the first time I heard the heartbeat. I wept with joy when I held them in my arms for the first time and recognized the divinity within each of them--the glow from Heaven as they were passed from Our Father's arms to mine and Kraig's.

Somehow because of this physical, emotional and spiritual bond with my boys I'm given the strength as their Mommy to care for them through the worst of it. Bloody, scary head injuries. Holding my baby as he's so violently ill he can't even cry out. Somehow I can send my tired husband to bed and do load after load of barfy laundry.

Sometimes I get discouraged because I think my job is hard. But there's no other job I'd rather be doing. No other full-time job would have such great benefits: snuggles from someone who trusts me so completely to make everything all better.

That's the best paycheck I could ever receive.

To Surprise or not to Surprise

I don't like surprises. I like knowing exactly what's going to happen ahead of time. I like to know what Kraig's planned on date night. I like to know what I'm eating beforehand when I go to someones home. Christmas and birthday gifts are no exceptions. It causes me stress to not know what I'm getting. And I don't think it's just curiosity that drives my obsession. It's a physical response: my pulse rate increases, I can't focus on anything but the 'surprise,' and I try every means of coercion to make the with-holder of the information break.

How about you? Like 'em? or hate 'em?

Sunday Ramblings

This has been quite a week. Between 2 ER trips (one to get the staples and one to get them out), the birthday, watching a friend's daughters for two days, the birthday party, presidency meeting, Christmas tree hunting, anticipating a diet consult (that got postponed, thankfully), ward Christmas party for which I was asked to make rolls, primary breakfast with Santa and preparing a Relief Society lesson, I'm spent. That's it. I'm done. Ding! Dinner's ready.

Does anyone else feel like life's kicked into hyperspeed? I feel like I'm constantly rushing towards the next big thing without hardly giving time to digest the 'current' big thing. My baby will be 18 months old at the beginning of January. Where has the time gone? I was 9 months pregnant when Andy was 18 months old. I can't even imagine being at that stage of life again, but I can't seem to slow things down to enjoy where I am. Being a mom is a tough job.

A c"ANDY" land Extravaganza

Phew. It's done! Planning a birthday party is tough work. I couldn't decide on one of the themes I presented a few weeks ago, so I did a combination of two of them: Candyland and Castles.

Kraig and I set up a giant Candy Land game board in the house. The object was to get everything the kids needed to protect the Candy Castle from the Chocolate Monster (no veggies here. Thanks for the tip, Kelli) and get the treasure (the goodie bags).

Here are a few pictures:

Welcome to c"ANDY" land

Painting the Chocolate Monster a few nights ago

I wrapped some cereal boxes with tissue and celophane to make candy. They really served no purpose other than they were pretty :)

The games starts on the right at the first red square. To earn their shields, the kids had to show how smart they were by tossing a bean bag into the matching colored bowl (in the back on the right). Then to earn their swords, they had to show how strong they were by knocking down the brick wall.

The game continued down stairs where they had to use their swords and shields to fight the Chocolate Monster and show their bravery. After he was destroyed, they got their crowns.

The Victorious Warriors! and Joshy

After releasing the castle, the kids got to decorate gingerbread man shaped sugar cookies. Mmm! More candy!

All in all, it lasted 75 minutes. Perfect. The kids had fun. We had fun.

I need to note that the Castle idea (getting their swords and crowns and fighting the monster) was an idea from my creative sister-in-law Jen (if she had a blog, I'd add her link right here. Hint, hint). She's the genius behind the plan.

Oh, and I stayed close to my $20 budget. I spent just around $30. Not bad!

Status Update: Andy's head is just fine. He fell off his fire truck Sunday evening around 6:30 and hit his head on the edge between the tile and the carpet in the big room ( you can see where the edge is in some of the pictures). I've never noticed that it was sharp before, but sure enough! Note to self: Head wounds are bloody.

One Year Older, and Wiser Too!

3 Years ago today we welcomed our little Sunshine to our family.

Andrew was born on 1 December 2005 at 8:23pm by C-Section after I was in labor for a day. He was beautiful and perfect and we were so excited to welcome him to our family.

Here are a few fun facts about Andy:

• He rolled over when he was 3 months old
• He walked when he was 10 months old
• He became a big brother when he was 19 months old
• He's always been his Daddy's little shadow, wanting to do whatever Kraig does
• He's very smart and very tall for his age so people are always surprised when they find out he's so young
• He loves playing with friends
• He loves all kinds of balls--soccer balls, baseballs, tennis balls, basketballs
• He loves to sing and knows all the Prophets in "Latter-Day Prophets"
• He's always doing something to make us laugh. Silly songs, funny games
• He loves to watch movies. He'd sit for hours watching shows if I'd let him
• He's so tender and sensitive. He doesn't like people to yell or even talk too loudly. Just this week he sweetly reminded me that "We're using our nice voices today, Mommy."
• He loves his Grandmas and Grandpas. He constantly wants to Skype or call them
• He always asks to play with his cousins by name--I wish they lived closer
• He loves to talk on the phone. We can hardly make a phone call without passing the phone to him to say hi.
• He decided to spend his birthday eve just like I did 3 years ago--in the hospital. Thankfully we weren't there for 3 days before we could leave--just 3 staples.

Happy Birthday, My Boy! We love you and we're so glad you came to our family!

Welcome to Our Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving



We had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday. Kraig had to work at 8am, so he dropped the boys and me off at my parents' home on his way into the Kitchen. After a decent breakfast and a quick assessment of the food preparation situation (Mom was sick with a yucky cold), I got started making the elements for our feast. Here we go:

1. Spinach Dip--a family grazing favorite. We had a small gathering this year, just our little family, my parents, and my brother, so we pared down our Pre-Thanksgiving-Feast to only include the spinach dip. Not a carrot stick or cucumber slice could be found in the house!



2. Raspberry Jello Salad--Andy was intrigued by the jello. I guess I've never made Jello before. ***Note to self. Children are easily entertained with jello.
   


3. Fruit Cocktail Salad--At Kraig's first Thanksgiving dinner with the Renchers, he affectionately dubbed this salad "The Salad of Luuv." This was Andy's favorite because of the marshmallows. He kept telling me that the mallows had gone bad and couldn't put them in the salad. I'm sure he thought he was fooling me pretty good when I allowed him to wander away with the bag of marshmallows so he could 'check them out.' Cute boy.



4. Pies, pies, pies, pies pies. Pumpkin, apple, Brenda Berry. Just the standards.



5. Turkey. Scotty stepped in to help me with the bird.



6. Rolls. Thanks again, Warner. They were a hit. You were right, they never disappoint. I was asked to make them for the ward Christmas party too.
   


7. Sweet Potato Casserole. I've made it before, but this batch was a hit with everyone. Must have been the two sticks of butter I used :) Mmmmm. Delicious!



8. Potatoes. I peeled, Kraig mashed.



9. Gravy.

Kraig made Kristy's Spinach Salad and the stuffing. Dad carved the turkey. Mom tried to rest and to not feel guilty that I was doing the brunt of the load. Scott stirred the gravy and helped keep the kiddos entertained while I tried to handle the rest of it.

In honor of my Grandma Rencher (it was her birthday), we used her silver. I can honestly say that's the first meal I've ever eaten with silver. It was very special.

Thanksgiving highlights:


Joshy eating a marker and coloring his palms.

Andy's pickle, roll, raspberry jam combo. He ate the whole thing.

The dishes afterwards. It wasn't too awful--Mom was good to keep on top of the messes I was making.

The "Fat-happy" nap afterward.

Black Friday

I've loved Black Friday since I worked at Old Navy when I was in high school. I love the crowds, the thrill of finding something I want (or didn't know I wanted) at a great price. And I love to spend money.

We've been looking for a new camera for over a month. We browsed all the electronic stores, websites and departments comparing prices and features. We have an old Nikon Coolpix and have really loved it, so we decided to get another one, the Coolpix S550. Kraig and I did our research and found the best price for the camera to be between $180-$210, depending on the package that came with it.

Long story short (too late), we found out that Sam's Club was selling that exact camera this morning at a drastically discounted price. So we braved the 25 degree weather, got in line at 4:30am for the 5am opening, and walked away the winners! We bought two of the last three that they had in the store. (It was such an awesome price, I figured we could sell the unopened second one for a little profit ;) Anyone in the market for a great new camera? I'll give you a steal of a deal!

I hope your Thanksgiving and Black Friday festivities were joyous. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. In fact, the blessings just seem to bubble over when I start to number them. I'm such a lucky girl!