Trip to Nauvoo

We just got back from a very exciting trip to the big town of Nauvoo, IL. We met my sister, brother and another friend there for a few days. There were 14 kids and 7 adults-just a little busy, but we had a great time...
Peyton (Kristin's son) had a birthday and we celebrated with games and a pinata. Price always wants to get one so this was a dream come true for him.
We went to the blacksmith shop and they gave us the prairie diamonds. They actually had one small enough to fit Brynlee-it was so cute.

The gang at the wagon maker shop.

We went and saw Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo. It was put on by the senior missionaries. They did a special showing just for us and it was fun. Of course Price was dancing along and having a great time. Even Brynlee was interested and would clap along too.

Other highlights of the trip include: 1-my kids not sleeping at all the first night (second night they slept great, Thanks to some Benadryl).

2-My brother teaching Price to say "Chico's the man". Why? It's my brother, who knows why.

3- Kendra (my SIL) with her theme dinner with fake names and "missions". We had Italian for dinner and each had Italian names and had to talk with accents and each of us had things we had to do during dinner. I had to keep commenting on the food. It was so fun!

4-Kris and Biff brought some friends from Indiana. Jeriah used to be my mom's boss when she worked at the credit union in Utah. Small world.

We had so much fun. I love going to Nauvoo. The temple is so beautiful and it's great to see family every now and then.

Another crazy week

I got up at about 6:30 this morning because I had a lot that I wanted to get done. Jeremy's comment was "Why are you up so early?" ok, I am not a morning person, but I do occasionally get up early to get stuff done, it wasn't that unusual.

Anyway, here's some more pics from the past week.
Santa brought the kids granola bars in their stockings (He's trying to be more healthy) anyway, I think Brynlee ate most of them. This is how she looked for most of last week. And who wouldn't want to kiss that cute face?
Price loves to paint things so every once in awhile I get him a wood cut out animal and let him paint. He did this last summer with his cousin Taylee and ever since is always asking to use his "paint toothbrush". I try teaching him just to say "paintbrush", but he hasn't grasped that concept. I think it's like Jeremy in that he can't say "chicken nuggets" he always says "chicken Mcnuggets". So I'll just blame it on the genes.
Yes he is wearing the Mormon helping hands t-shirt although I know this isn't a sanctioned service project it still makes for a great paint shirt....

Back to Reality

Christmas Day was such a great day for us, the kids were good and we just had so much fun. I guess in order to have days like that you then have to put of with the "day after". Yesterday made up for all the fun we had on Christmas. The day started out good, but when Price woke up from his nap he was a bear. We were going sledding with some friends, but Price just couldn't get out of his funk. Finally he pulled himself together and we went. He had so much fun; even Brynlee had fun (she's not much of an adventurer or one to play in the snow). But it was fun.

Then Price needed to go to the bathroom, but he wouldn't go behind a tree. We started to go home and he of course peed his pants. Which is the most horrifying thing ever for him because he screamed the whole way home.

The rest of the day was a mindless blur with us going to Wal-mart (we must be crazy) and dealing with the tire and lube people and then Price pooping his pants (or in his undies, as he told Jer) and then on his bedroom floor. Ahh, the memories.

I sure am missing Christmas and hoping I don't have to wait a whole year to have a day like that again.....

Great Christmas

We had a great Christmas, it was so relaxing. We just hung out and ate treats and watched movies. I'm sad it's over, but it was a lot of fun.

Price got a train set and a guitar. He's been constantly playing it around the house which is no surprise, he loves to rock out.

Brynlee got a little shopping cart and stroller. When she first saw the bear (the one in the stroller) she screamed. But slowly she's getting to like it more and more.
For dinner I made the yummiest ham sandwiches (refer to beckyhiggins.com for the recipe) and we had treats and pretty much just lounged around all day. It was great! I got the first season of Psych on DVD so that's what I'll be doing for the next few days. Every year my parents give us books and this year I got the 4th book in a series I've been reading for at least 8 or 9 years, it takes the guy forever to write the books but they are so good. So I should be occupied for the next few days.

Nativity

My mom made the cutest nativity costumes for the kids. So last night for FHE they dressed up and Jeremy read the Christmas story. They only lasted about as long as it took to take the picture, but it was still fun.

Very authentic with the binki and the golf club "shepherd stick" as Price calls it.

Sweet Angels...Don't let them fool you

I took this picture yesterday before church and it turned out so good. If only I'd known how the rest of the day would unfold....They were holy terrors at church yesterday. From Brynlee shrieking at the top of her lungs when Price tries to take her crayon, to Price having a fit because she had the crayon. I just wanted to pull my hair out. Then Brynlee had a granola bar and she'd mashed it in her fist and it was a big slobbery mess. You can sure tell which bench we sat on...

But with faces like that I guess you have to love them. And Price has been so sweet lately he says "I love you too" and "Thanks for making dinner" (eventhough he still won't eat it). This is compared to a few weeks ago when I make grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches, he said "nasty". So I guess he's improving.

I'm just hoping having church at 9 am instead of 1 pm will make the difference. I'm not asking for them to sit perfectly still the whole time, but if we could keep the shrieking and the fits down to a minimum, that would help.

the Honda lives on

Good news! The Honda is officially now fixed. I guess it only needed a new alternator and now it's good to go (hopefully). So for the time being Jer has his car back which is a relief. Now he won't have to take my car and leave me stranded at home. But that could all change next week, you never know with that car....

Fave Holiday Movies

I love how around Christmas there are a lot of old movies on TV. I have been thinking of my favorites and these are three of them, in no particular order:

Little Women (1949). Ok, so this isn't a Christmas movie, but they do celebrate Christmas at the beginning of the movie. I don't know why I love this movie so much, but it has to be one of my favorites. When our family first got a VCR back in the 80's this was one of the first movies we got and I've just loved it ever since. And everytime I watch it I hope that somehow Jo and Laurie end up together...

Home Alone is of course a holiday classic. I am a fan of both 1 and 2, but not 3 (how sad is it that I've seen all three?) But they are good for a few laughs. Too bad this was Mackaly Caulkin's peak in life....

A list of favorite holiday movies would not be complete without the "Christmas Story". I love how some channels play it 24/7 around Christmas. I remember watching this over and over when I was a kid. Poor Jeremy was deprived and never really saw it until we got married and I made him watch it. You've gotta love the pink bunny pj's and the little brother being so bundled up he can hardly move.

Happy movie watching. Let me know if you have any faves that should be watched this Christmas season!

Is this Heaven?....No, It's Iowa!

Yet another lovely day here in Iowa. We woke up to another 3 in. of snow, but luckily Jer's work told him not to come in until 10 so he shoveled the drive. Plus our neighbor who has a blade hooked up to his 4-wheeler came and helped him out too.
Jeremy took his car to work today since he was just working at his office, but the old lemon died on the way there. So I went to pick him up and we got to wait for an hour for the tow truck to come. Luckily he stalled in the turning lane so the highlight of our waiting was seeing how many people would sit behind us waiting for us to move. Most likely they were on a cell phone and it took them a few minutes to figure things out. I was trying to wave one guy around us and apparantly he thought I was being friendly because he waved back. It's one of those situations where you just have to laugh otherwise you'll pull you're hair out going crazy. It did remind me of Elder Worthin's talk from this last conference. You just have to laugh at situations like these.

So I guess we are officially a one car family for the time being....I'm not sure how I feel about that though. I hate being stuck at home, even if I'm not going anywhere I still like to have the option to do so.
If anyone has any great car recommendations let us know!! Or you may feel free to donate to our new car fun.

I should be relaxing...

I thought that since I finished all my Christmas shopping that I would be able to have a nice relaxing week until Christmas. Yeah right!!! It seems that I have more to do now than I did before. Is it bad, but I can't wait until Christmas day just so I can actually relax and nothing will be open so I won't be able to go anywhere?
Anyway, here's one of my favorite things when it is cold and gross outside. When we lived with my sister, Wednesdays were muffin days at their house. I always looked forward to them and this was why...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Mix together. Fill muffin cups and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Wish I was there

This is what I see when I look out of the window this morning.
This is what my sister is probably seeing today. She and her husband are in the Cayman Islands for their anniversary.

Just a little depressing, especially since I just got in from shoveling snow (for the 2nd time).

Gotta love Iowa!!!

This one goes out to the one I love...

One of the reasons it took me so long to start a blog is that it really drives me nuts when you read someone's blog and they go on and on about their perfect children and their wonderful husband. Hu-wa (that's my puke sound) . It just drives me nuts. But today I am going against that rule and giving a little shout out to Jeremy.

He is out of town again this week for a few days and whenever he's gone it makes me realize how much he really does. He claims that I say that he never helps around the house, but he does and I'm going on the record to say so. The two main things that I hate doing that he usually does are 1. Take the trash and recycling out and then make sure they are at the curb on pick up day. I hate doing this. The recycling pile gets rather large when he's gone, plus it's so cold and I hate going outside. 2. He gets up with the kids in the morning and gives them juice and a snack. It's no secret that I am not a morning person. I never have been and I'm really not planning on being one in the near future. So when Jer's gone and the kids wake up, it takes a lot to drag myself out of bed and get them juice and snacks and turn on the TV. But don't worry I still go back to bed after that. But today Brynlee decided she needed to come back into my room and shriek by the side of my bed until I got up to make her breakfast. Where's Jer when I need him? Oh, yeah sleeping like a baby in some hotel in Davenport...

So Thank you Jer for all you do. I love you!!

Lemon for sale

When we bought our Honda 5 years ago, we thought it would last us for years. But sadly we bought the biggest lemon ever. In the past 4 years we've put in a new transmission and EGR valve (whatever that is) and countless other things that were obviously not worth it. Because this hunk of junk is pretty much undriveable.
On Saturday when Jer got home it smelled like it was burning and all the lights on the dash were going crazy. So today when he had to drive to Davenport he didn't take the Honda (he doesn't think it would make it...big shocker). So I guess the Hodsons are down to one car.
The Honda has been good to us though. It's taken us out to Utah and Idaho a few times, to Texas and up to Minneapolis. It survived a hail storm in Colorado which netted us some great insurance money. It's great for hauling sod and Christmas trees (I'm sure both were a sight to see). Surprisingly the big dent on the side is not from Jer's crazy driving, but from some careless bowler last January at the Westdale bowl.
So goodbye to our first "nice" car. Now the decision is whether to get another car or upgrade to a bigger "family" vehicle. And I'm just not ready to drive a mini van...
So if you're looking for a deal, let us know. It's going on the cheap.

What are you making?

Yesterday we went to Aldi's to get some stuff for our food storage. And if you know Jer you know he likes to obsess about things. So for the past few weeks he's been obsessing about our foodstorage (thanks to those who helped us). It seems like we've picked everyone's brain about how they do their food storage and what works best, etc. Yesterday we trekked out to Aldi's to get some stuff. I had a cart full of food to restock our 3 month rotation of stuff. Jer had a cart full of rice and beans and I mean FULL of rice and beans. When we were checking out the girl was like "What are you making?". Jer's reply was "She really likes rice". Yeah, right. I'm sure we looked like the biggest bunch of freaks. If only we would have been in Utah they would have understood. Oh well, at least we're slowly getting everything we need.

Christmas Ready

As of yesterday, I am officially ready for Christmas. I sent out my Christmas cards and all the presents are bought so now I can relax. I don't know why I was in such a hurry to get everything done, but at least now I won't have to worry. And the kids were so good to trapse all over town and not complain. Which made it so much easier to get everything done.

Last night was our ward Christmas party. We've been trying to reinforce the fact that Christmas is when we celebrate Christ's birth. So Price kept saying he wanted to go to Jesus' birthday party and have cake and blow out some candles. I guess in his three-year-old mind that's how it works. We had a good time and Brynlee had only a few meltdowns- the night was a success....

I found this video from Christmas when Price was Brynlee's age. He has always loved to dance. He'll be so embarassed about this one day, but he is too cute. This video also reminds me that I really don't miss living in an apartment, although Jer sure wishes we did...

Winter Survival

It's not even the middle of December and I'm already wondering if I'm going to make it through the winter. I guess the thought of having to endure this cold tundra until March is a little depressing. So I've been thinking of my favorite things to help me make it through the cold.

1. My sister told me about this one. Although I just used the Wal-mart brand it worked like a charm. I started taking it when I could feel myself getting a little sick and took it for 2 days. I never got a cold and it worked great. It wasn't the best tasting stuff, but at least it worked. Go Airborne!

2.Next would have to be my rice sock. I took a sock (a new one) and filled it with rice. Then I just pop it into the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes and it's good to go. I put it at the foot of my bed and keeps my toes warm. Especially when Jer is gone or studying it keeps me nice and toasty. There's nothing worse then getting into a cold bed.

3. There are many reasons why I don't like the Acura I drive (mostly because the head lights cost $140 each to replace), but I do love it in the winter. It has heated seats in the front and I have decided I cannot live without them now. They are the best and make all the difference on a cold day. Now if I could just remember to turn it off when the weather gets warm. There's nothing worse them sweltering in the car and wondering why I'm so hot then realizing I have the seat warmers on....

4. There's nothing like a mug of hot chocolate on a cold day. Especially when you have marshmallows on top and they get all melty, mmm I'm craving some as I write this. I miss being in Utah and having Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa. I'm not sure if I can get it here, I guess I'll have to look into that...But the Wal-mart brand that is sugar-free is just not the same either. We got some last year (because it was on sale) and I think most of it is still sitting in our cupboard. You gotta go with the real stuff to make it worth it.

5. Having parents that live in St. George is great. By February or March I am really ready to have some warm weather. So hopefully I can find a cheap flight to Vegas and have a little warm weather getaway.

Gingerbread House

Jeremy was gone last night so the kids and I decided to make a Gingerbread house to pass the time. I used to make these when I was little and always had so much fun.

The finished product:


How is turned out. So professional looking too....

How it all began. I know technically it's not made out of gingerbread, but this is so much easier. And it's how we used to do it when I was little. I did also glue the house together with hot glue. I'm not on the Foodnetwork Gingerbread Challenge and with little kids this is the easiest way to do it.
I think the kids liked eating the candy more than decorating the house, but it was still fun. Price kept asking when he gets to eat it. That's exactly what this kid needs-more candy-because he just isn't wild enough as it is....

Movie Pick of the Day

We watched the cutest movie last night for family movie night. It's called "August Rush"-it probably came out like forever ago, but we don't watch too many movies lately. But we got this one from the library (gotta love those free ones). It was cute and there was nothing bad in it-It's only rated PG.

I have realized now that we have kids that movie nights are a lot more enjoyable when the kids are asleep. But I guess that defeats the purpose of "family" movie night. Between Brynlee whining for juice and Price jumping on the couch it can be a little hard to hear the movie. But we had a great time and hopefully as the kids get older it will be easier to watch the movie. That's the great thing about watching them at home you can pause it every 2 seconds if need be and you don't have to worry about bugging other people.

Snow Day

As usual, the weather here today is crappy and I guess we'll be staying in. So I thought I'd post some pics of the kids.
I was trying to get a cute picture of them for a Christmas card, but Price kept bugging Brynlee so she wouldn't sit by him. But I did get some cute ones of them separately.

Start of the Blog

So a few months ago Jeremy "banned" me from having a blog, but he has now fallen prey to peer pressure. Now that Jessaca, Jeremy and others have blogs he's decided it's not so bad. And last night he asked me why we don't have a blog I had to remind him of his banning, since I guess he suddenly got amnesia. So here goes. The official start to the Hodson family blog. Wahoo!