Rootin tootin cycle class:(

Today's cycle class could have been awesome, it was hills which I LOVE, but there was one BIG problem...every 5 minutes me and my friend Rachel would start smelling this awful and nauseating smell, o' and was it nauseating. The gentlemen in front of us, felt that he should torment us and toot every 5 minutes! Now this was no ordinary toot smell, it was horrendous! I have never smelt a toot as bad, and I have smelt some pretty bad toots (yes, they would probably be mine). We would catch whiff of it right when it happened (it was hard not to, his buttocks was right in my face) and immediately the towels went to the nose and the breath was held, which makes it kind of hard to concentrate on your workout. And then to make it worse, the fans in the classroom would whoosh it all over and it just lingered for a minute or so. So basically, my cycle class could have been really sweet, but since a gentlemen didn't have the common courtesy to put a plug in it, or just leave, class was kind of nauseating and not because I was working extra hard. That's all.

Letter to Santa

Day 16- Letter to Santa

Translation:

Dear Santa,

How are you doing? (He gets his "b's" and "d's" mixed up).

For Christmas may I have (he is so polite, I have taught him so well, right??) a

Didj and Martian Matter and Star Wars the Clone Wars DVD

and Legos batman set.

Love,

Cooper

(He circled the ones that he really wants. Santa is doing good this year!)

Hay ride with Mrs Claus...or...Christmas story

Day 15- Hay ride with Mrs. Claus (didn't happen)

Today we were suppose to go to Gardner Village and go on a hay ride with Mrs. Claus, but the weather was a little too freezing. So thanks to Grandma Holly we had a change of plan. This month of December, every Monday we have been getting something fun from Grandma Holly. The first week the kids got some warm, flannel sheets for their beds.

The second week we got this darling advent calendar, made by hand, yes made by hand, by Grandma Holly. It is so darling! She made 4 of these, one for each family.

She made each little ornament by hand just spent a lot of time on this and we love it and think it is darling.



And then today, this came....

So we sat down and enjoyed the cute book, some YUMMY clementines (which Peiton gobbled down), and delish hot chocolate. Thanks Holly for the fun activity.

Sorry to say, Bode didn't join us. He was in his room screaming because we turned off Alvin and the Chipmunks. I didn't want to hear him scream anymore so he went to timeout and missed out on all the fun:(

Cookie Chain

Day 14- Countdown to Christmas Cookie Chain

Today we made a cookie chain to have another way to count down until Christmas (I think we have about 4 different things telling us how many days we have left until Christmas). This one Cooper loved because as we were making the cookie chain he would have a one cookie for his mouth and one cookie for the chain, until I had to stop him so we didn't run out of cookies. I must admit, EL Fudge cookies are pretty dang good!

Johnson Family Christmas Party

Day 13- Johnson Family Christmas party

Well most of you know that the weather was a little crazy today, finally we got some snow, snow snow! That snow didn't stop us from traveling down to Gunnison for the Johnson Family party. A trip that would have taken us 1& 1/2 hours took us about 3, but don't let me forget to mention that Collin had us packed into the car and ready to go at 11:00 and we didn't leave Collin's parents until about 12:30. So yes, the kids were in the car from 11 to 3. When we got Peiton out of the car, she had totally soaked through her cute little Christmas outfit and was covered in urine, she was yummy! But the drive was worth it, we had a great time and the Lund's put on a awesome party that again had some awesome food...my gut growing bigger by the minute along with my bum:)

There was a great surprise, Santa and Mrs Clause came to visit. They were a big hit with all the kids. I wasn't sure what Bode would do, but he went right up and sat on his lap with a little confusion. Peiton screamed!

Thanks for the fun party Julie, we had a great time and we were so glad we made it.

Annual Peck Christmas Party

Day 12- Annual Peck Christmas Party

This would be the 3rd Christmas party the Peck's have hosted and I must admit, they just keep getting better. The Peck's know how to throw a party! Chad spends all day long cooking and smoking these delicious ribs, and this year they were the best! They just fell off the bone and I surely had my fair share of them. All of the other food was excellent too, and now my gut is feeling it ALL!
After the eating of dinner (that wasn't the end of the eating, we went downstairs and there was a whole lot more to eat). We sat down and played some fun games and just had good ole, hilarious conversation. This is a party we look forward to every year, one of the best! Thanks Peck's for a great night as usual!

Skip-a-roo!

Day 11- Plans cancelled! Skip-a-roo!

Day 10- Toys for Tots

This year instead of giving gifts to the cousins on the Richards side, Kelly had the idea of going to buy presents for the Toys for Tots and then taking them to a drop off. It kind of took a while for Cooper to understand the concept of not buying toys for himself. Hopefully with age he will understand it better.

Walgreens had a great deal, you buy 2 toys and you get one free. So we spent about $14 for 3 toys, and they had some pretty good toys too.


Bode wanted all of the coloring books and didn't want to give them up.


We went the toys off at Albertson's in Draper. My sister in law Kelly LOVES Good things Utah and watches it diligently, she found out that they would be there taking the toys. So, YES, we got to see Nicea....wow! I think this could be a tradition every year and I think it was great for the kids to actually get something for someone else.


Also....

The "Secret Elf"

Go here
to see the Richards "Elfing" it away!

Read Christmas story

Day 9- Read Christmas story

I love this story!

Neighborhood Christmas Gathering

Day 8- Neighborhood Christmas Gathering

A couple of years ago we decided as a neighborhood to start putting the money we spend on neighbor gifts and donating it to a good cause. We have done something different each year and this year we did the Utah Food Bank. We meet at a neighbors house, well there are two neighbors in the area that seem to host it every year since their homes are the biggest in the neighborhood. Everyone brings a treat to share and we just have fun socializing. And I must say, it is nice not to have to worry about neighbor gifts.

Lights @ Temple Square

Day 7- See the lights @ Temple Square

This is probably one of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time, I remember doing just as a little girl. I do remember there being more lights when I was younger, but then the trees were a little smaller and probably easier to decorate. But with less lights, it was still magnificent! The temple is such a beautiful place and the grounds have been done with such great care, everything just looks beautiful.

Collin and Bode. Bode did such a great job, he had so much fun with the other kids and he only ran away from us a few times.

Leslie, Trisha, me. Have I ever mentioned that I have such great and don't let me forget beautiful friends?



A few of the kids...which had a absolute blast. They probably weren't as reverent as they should have been, but they had a great time.

Little Pei Pei. She did okay, she still isn't feeling 100% but she stuck it out quite well.
(Ignore the snot rash she has on the bottom of her nose, her and Bode both).

Bode and Coop

And one last shot of most of the kids.

I hope that my kids will always remember the trips that we have taken to Temple Square and the trips that we will take in the future. I hope that they remember the feeling that they have their at what a sacred and beautiful place it is.

"The Christmas Sweater"

Day 6- "The Christmas Sweater"

For The Richards adult Christmas activity, Collin's parents planned going to see Glen Beck perform "The Christmas Sweater." I must admit that I am not really into talk radio or anything political, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to. Hollly gave us the book to read up on and I actually did read the book and found it pretty good. So I was excited to see how this whole production was going to come about. Kelly, my sister-in-law turns 30 in about a week and 1/2 so we were celebrating that too. First we made our way to....

Which is very delicious and tummy bulging because you eat soooo much. But it wasn't a disappointment this time, we loved it.

We then made our way to the E-center, waited at a dead stop in traffic trying to get to the E-center, finally in fear of being late it was 7:20, the show started at 7:30, Charlie did a U-turn right over the island in the middle of the road and got us there right on time! Way to do it Charlie!
Now for those that have read "The Christmas Sweater, know that it is a pretty good story. It has a great meaning and like I said before I was excited to see how things came about in a performance of it. Basically it was Glen Beck up there telling the story in all different personalities, it was actually very different and VERY dramatic. I had a hard time determining if he was sincere at parts or if it was just acting. But like I said before, it has a great meaning and the music he had really brought the Christmas spirit, and it was just entertaining watching him play the parts.

Well when all was said and done, we had a great time. We could have just gone and sat at Collin's parents house and talked because no matter what, when all of us get together without kids...let me emphasize, WITHOUT kids, we roll some serious guts. Collin has such a great family that is always up for a good time. So, Holly and Charlie thank you for another fabulous Christmas outing, we loved it and love the time we get to spend with you. And Haws thanks for taking the kids, your awesome!

Day 5

Day 5-???

Well today the chain said to go see Santa, well we didn't make it due to sick kids. But, Cooper and Bode were able to go and sleep and Grandma Holly and Grandpa Charlie for a "Snowman Sleepover" with their cousins.

Christmas suckers

Day 4- Make Christmas Suckers

Today our Christmas activity was to make Christmas suckers. Once again this is a tradition we did for years in my family. My mom was kind enough to give me all the molds and sucker materials to make them a few years back. When I pulled them out today, I realized how old they really were and it probably is time to update them.

Cooper and Bode helping get the sucker molds ready. (Bode was trying to imitate Coop, he looks a little silly, or a little scary.)

The suckers starting to form

The finished project...don't they look delish? Well maybe not delish, a big fat chocolate cake looks delish, these look a little cute:)

Australia

Australia

Here is my movie review...the one that you should listen to, not the real critics review.

I loved it, loved it, loved it! It had a great mix of love (the most important), humor (Nicole Kidman was amazing and she constantly was making my laugh), Villains, sadness and etc, etc...

The cast was great, beautiful and fabulous. So if you are thinking of going, do it! I loved it and hopefully you will too:)

The last straw

Day 3- The Last Straw

Christmas is supposed to be a season of love, warm feelings, and happy hearts. But with the children's constant bickering, pretty packages, twinkling lights, and a sweet-smelling tree don't come close to filling the McDonald home with the true spirit of the first Christmas.
Then mother is reminded of an old tradition of building a soft bed for baby Jesus -- one straw at a time. Each time someone secretly does something nice for another family member, they get to add a single straw to the manger. Soon the children's quarreling and negative feelings subside and the homemade crib is overflowing. But for one family member, a required act of kindness becomes more than he can take.

This has been one of my favorite traditions since I can remember. I always loved The Last Straw tradition growing up. And this year it is a little more exciting because Cooper really understands it and was excited for it too. Last year I think it was me doing all of the kind and sneaky, nice things, which is what you do as a mom anyway...right? Alright, maybe most of the time.

Which one will it be??

Day 2- Watch a Christmas movie

Will it be this one...

Or this one...

I vote for Elf, since it is hilarious! I love that show and The Polar Express is good too, if you want to take a nap. Okay, not really, it does get you in the Christmas mood, but it lasts just a little too long. But why do I care what we watch, I will be gone drooling over Hugh Jackman:) Enjoy fam!

Snow?!

I can't believe I am saying this, but come on...bring on the snow already! For some reason it does not feel like Christmas without the snow. This is the one and only month of the year that I want snow, actually, if it is going to be cold it might as well snow.

Flippy the Elf

Day 1- The Elf on the Shelf

This evening we started the festivities with"The Elf on the Shelf." We were given this book last year for Christmas and loved it. The book comes with an elf and has a little story with it. Basically you have this elf and you give him a name, we named ours Flippy. Flippy has a little magic with him and works for Santa, each night he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa if the kids in the Richards household have been good or bad. Each morning he comes back and is hiding in a new spot. The kids then have to find Flippy's hiding spot each morning, Cooper had a blast doing it last year. The only downside is, the parents have to hide Flippy each night, and things get crazy and you kind of forget (at least this happened last year). So, you have to stay on top of it, or the little game doesn't really work. And we made a rule that you can't go find Flippy until after 7:00 a.m. We don't want kids waking up at the crack of dawn to find Flippy, O'wait...they already do!

The Christmas festivities begin...

It is that time of year, December 1st, when the Richards family Christmas chain is made. We sat down tonight for FHE and figured out all the fun things we wanted to do as a family this holiday season. I can't believe Christmas time is here, this year has gone by way to fast. Hopefully these activitives will help me get in the holiday spirit, it seems to be taking it's old sweet time this year.