Christmas Magic

I love the magic of Christmas, the fun times spent with family, the traditional Christmas Brunch with the Klippel clan, the Christmas Eve Mexican dinner and festivities, the yummy peppermint cheesecake that I had to search at 3 different stores for peppermint extract and still didn't find any-who knew it was such a hot commodity this year?, fun with cousins, matching pajamas, seeing what Santa brought, and hearing the joy from a 3-year old who exclaimed, "this is just what I wanted!!" with every single gift he opened. LOVE it.

Busy times

We have been keeping pretty busy the last few weeks, but that's why I love this time of year!

1. Carter at Uncle Spencer's graduation

2. Carter, Spencer, Madison, and I at Spencer's graduation (he received his MBA from ASU)

3. Our BFF's Dan and Stefani had to unexpectantly make a quick trip to Phoenix. We were so glad we got to see them on a night Sean didn't have to work! Our lives haven't been the same since they moved to Colorado....we want them back!

4. Santa made a surprise visit while decorating cookies.

5. Even I got to visit with Santa for a minute.

6. Carter had so much fun decorating cookies with his cousins at Aunt Amy's house!

Merry Christmas Mormons!

My friend Emily had this on her blog. I thought it was pretty funny!

your opinion needed

This weekend we went to Sean's work party. This was our first official office party. My company never had Christmas parties since all the employees work from their home offices across the nation. I guess we did go to a couple of Sean's office parties when we were dating but he worked with family so that doesn't really count as a true office party, right? Anyways, we had fun dressing up and had a nice dinner. (I was really excited about my gray tights that I wore with my dress but you can't even tell they are gray in the picture.)


Then the entertainment began. There were prizes to be won. Sean won the first prize at our table. The centerpiece. Bonus. The end of the night came and no other prizes came our way. As we were leaving, Sean asked me to grab the centerpiece.
Seriously, I asked?
Ya, we won, he said.
Me: I am not taking that THING home, it's so ugly.
Him: It's not ugly, it's a fireman.
Me: Do you have a sudden allegience to firemen?
Him: I won it, just put it in your purse.
Me: I am not putting it in my purse, I don't even want it.
Him: Just put it in your purse
Me: No
Him: proceeds to put said ugly centerpiece in my purse
Me: If we take that home, it is going on your nightstand
Him: that's exactly where I want it

Now, here is where your opinion is needed. Let's put it to a vote. Who hears me on this one and thinks this is U-G-L-Y?

Yes, I really did put it on his nightstand and so shall it remain there.
Let's take a closer look, shall we. A fireman nutcracker. Classy.
Oh, but the story continues:

Me: hey, can you grab the wreath (it was laying in the middle of the table with the nice nutcracker in the center of the wreath--and it came with the cute door hangar).

Him: I'm not carrying that thing out of here

Me: you'll bring home an ugly nutcracker that we'll never use but you won't bring home a pretty wreath?

Him: nope

Me: if I am carrying the nutcracker in my purse, you are carrying the wreath

Him: not gonna happen

Me: fine, I'll carry it, but your nutcracker is still ugly.

My comebacks continue to amaze me. But seriously, thumbs up or down on the nutcracker?

The answers

1. b (did you really think I kissed my cousin?)

2. c (toilet paper---so embarrassing!)

3. a (secretary & treasurer)

4. b (softball)

5. b (5 siblings)

6. c (1981 BMW)

7. b (stereo was too loud--i miss my system in the t-bird!)

8. I was asked to leave a hair salon because...I had ring worm on my scalp and they couldn't do my hair. Seriously the MOST embarrassing moment in my life. I was just home for summer from BYU. I went to a beauty school to get my hair done for my brother's wedding. The girl started to get my hair ready and then said "hold on." She came back with someone else and they were looking at my scalp. That lady gathered others to come over (so now there were about 10 people standing around me) and she said, "this is what ring worm looks like and we cannot do someone's hair like this." I was horrified. She then asked me, "have you been playing in a barn recently." Hmmm, let me think about that, NO! Hair lady then said, "have you been in the sand lately?" Hmmm, let me think about that one, NO! She then told me (remember I am still sitting in the chair with 10 people standing around me) that I needed to go to the doctor and could come back after I took care of it. Humiliated I left, and obviously I have never been back. So if I wasn't in a barn or in the sand, how did I get ring worm you ask? The night before I left BYU to come home, I was outside saying goodbye to a group of friends. The friends were sitting in the grass and I sat with them. In the circle was a cat, and it was a stray cat that they were petting. I do not like cats at all. It came up to me a few times and I pushed it away. So I touched it and before washing my hands, I touched my scalp. So lesson learned, never touch stray cats and then touch your head before washing your hands. Or avoid the hair salon if you do!

9. a (Pretty Woman)

10. a (true). You had to write your name on the board and miss recess in 1st grade if you had to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to miss recess but I couldn't hold it any longer. I didn't say anything to my teacher but when I came back after recess, my desk was moved to the back of the room by myself!

Snowball fight

Phoenix style...
Today was the big Snowball fight in our backyard in our barefeet. These are the kind of snowball fights I like!

Christmas Fun

I made a Christmas Advent Calendar this year and was going to put a treat behind each day of the month until I saw this. I used some of the ideas from her list and added my own. Since we don't have snow to build a snowman with, we used marshmallows and m&m's. We also made Christmas Tree decorations. Have you done this before? It was a lot of fun. To make the dough: mix 4 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt. Then add 1 1/2 cups of water. Knead for 3-4 minutes. The dough should be firm. Cut into shapes and then bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Using water colors, paint the decorations and then bake for another 15 minutes. Carter has been really excited to see what he gets to do each day and I am excited for this new tradition! Today, we went through Carter's toys to donate some, and I was really surprised, at him as he really thought about each toy and decided on which ones to give away. Can't wait for our upcoming "snowball fight..."

Have any ideas for me to add to my list?

(Jeremy and Billy, I'm sure you have a ton of ideas, so please share!!!)

The big day

Sean threw me a party for my 30th birthday. We had yummy food, good friends and family over, roasted marsh-mellows in the fire pit and drank hot chocolate. I wish I had remembered to take pictures! One thing Sean did at the party was pass around a quiz about me. Then we stood around the fire and shared the answers and some funny stories.

How many questions can YOU get right?

1. Jessica once kissed her cousin

a. true

b. false

2. Jessica walked around at a school all day with what hanging out of her pants?

a. maxi pad

b. paper toilet seat cover

c. toilet paper

3. What positions did Jessica serve in HS student council?

a. secretary & treasurer

b. Pres & VP

c. VP & treasurer

4. What sport did Jessica make Varsity her freshman year?

a. volleyball

b. softball

c. basketball

5. How many siblings does Jessica have?

a. 3

b. 5

c. 6

6. In HS Jessica drove this car:

a. 1987 VW rabbit

b. 1995 Chevy Truck

c. 1981 BMW

7. Jess was pulled over by a cop at BYU because:

a. she was speeding

b. stereo was too loud

c. her taillight was out

8. Jess was asked to leave a hair salon because:

__________________________________

__________________________________

9. Her favorite movie is:

a. Pretty Woman

b. Pretty in Pink

c. ET

10. Jess peed her pants in first grade?

a. true

b. false

Traditions

I LOVE this time of year because all the traditions begin. Every year since I can remember my family went up north to cut down our Christmas tree. Sean joined this tradition when we were married and instantly loved it. And then after about the 2nd year we were married my whole family went fake on me. They all got fake trees for some reason! Except for my sister Wendy and her family. So our two families carried on the tradition. And then about 4 years ago Sean's twin brother Brandon and his family started going with us. And this year, Sean's sister Jen and her family came with us. It was a lot of fun! We are happy to carry on the tradition, whoever comes with us. The more the merrier!
P.S. doesn't our Thanksgiving table look beautiful?! Table courtesy of Brandon and Julie.

Old toys for new kids

Two of my nieces and nephew spent the night last night. I love them but they sure did wear me out today! I think I have been cleaning all day! I made breakfast then cleaned up breakfast. We made cookie dough then cleaned up cookie dough. We cut out the cookies then cleaned up from cutting out the cookies. We cooked the cookies then had to do dishes. We frosted the cookies and then had to clean up from frosting cookies. Then it was lunch time and there had been a special request for homemade pizza. So I think you are getting the routine. After lunch, I tried to take a little nap. I laid down for 20 minutes and had questions/requests from little kiddos about every 3 or 4 minutes. Then I had an idea! I brought out my old doll house that was mine as a little girl. It requires a lot of set up so I don't get it out often. Caitlyn and Carter (don't tell Sean!) were in heaven! Right now they are playing and they are having Family Home Evening. So cute!
Sometimes the old toys are the best toys! Now I think I will close my eyes for at least 3 or 4 minutes.

In all things give thanks...

I love this area that I have set up for Thanksgiving. It reminds me everyday to be thankful for EVERYthing. This weekend Carter had his first spend the night at a cousin's house. While I had fun going shopping with my sister on Friday night, I was so lonely Saturday morning! Sean was at work and I was alone. I missed Carter getting into bed with me in the morning and snuggling up to me. I missed his tugging at me to come be with him while I try and check my email in the morning. I missed him yelling out my name from the other room. I missed him bargaining with me why he should have a cookie for breakfast and not a waffle. Mostly, I just missed HIM. Sometimes, I find myself thinking, "if I only had a few minutes to myself..." Saturday I had way more than a few minutes, but I was sad. I couldn't wait for him to come home. It was a good reminder how much I love this kid and how much I love being a mom. When I was in the 6th grade me and a few other girls put together the first ever School Yearbook. It was nothing special. But we took a picture of every 6th grader and asked them 3 questions:

1. What is your nickname?

2. What is your favorite saying?

3. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Here were my answers:

1. J.J.

2. "don't forget to smile."

3. just be a Mom

All I have ever wanted to do was to be a mom.

I am thankful to be a mother.

And I am especially thankful for this kid and all his craziness. Life would be boring without him!

50 FREE photocards

I saw an add for 50 free photocards on this blog and I tried it and it worked! The only difference I found, was that the code only worked on 4x8 cards not the 5x7 cards. Go get your free photocards today! Click here to start!

I'm really liking this...

These are the 4th and 5th quilts I have made this year for my nieces/nephews. I have loved learning how to quilt! And as long as they keep asking, I'll keep making them. The next nephew that asked for one has a birthday in February! This sports/zebra one was for Hunter. This princess/tinker bell one was for Reeslyn. I used most of the same material in this quilt that I used for my niece Caitlyn's quilt. But I love how different they are. I love the creativity that quilting allows me to have. Most of all, I LOVE seeing their faces when they open their gift. It makes all the hours of work worth it to see the huge smile on their face when they first see it!!

What was she thinking (during the triathlon, anyways)?

"Wow, I've really made it now, a star is in the same race as me.""I want to cross that finish line!"
"I don't think I can make it...seriously...I am so tired."
"I'm so happy Marlee said she would run with me during the run portion. But this will probably be embarrassing since she'll run faster than me and she just had a baby 7 weeks ago!!!"
"I really wish I had swam a few times before this race..."
"Marlee wants me to go first in the swim, so she is trying to get me to do rock, paper, scissors with her. No way!"
"I'm so glad I am DONE!" (I got 1:15; almost the exact same time I got last year, my swim was slower than last year but my run was faster. I got 5th out of 39 in my age group!)
"Why do they have speed bumps on the final part of this bike course? So annoying."

Another year...

Happy to report that 7 years later, we're ready for more!

Halloween

We went to our ward party and then the next morning drove down to Sierra Vista where we went to another ward party and trick or treating in the neighborhood. I'd say we are good on candy. We had lots of fun trick or treating with the cousins and enjoyed Madison's baby blessing on Sunday. Great job Spence!

Makeover

Remember when I mentioned I would be sad if my house burned down because I had a new makeover in one of my rooms? Well, as of yesterday, now I have two makeovers so I would be twice as sad if my house burned down.

My sister Wendy came over yesterday to help me paint my family room. This half wall was white and then the kitchen/family room was a light yellow. I have never liked having the half wall white because it gets so dirty but never knew what to do since one side of the wall was a light tan and the other side was yellow. So I picked out a darker tan color than what's in the living room and painted the half wall and the family room/kitchen area the same color. I really love how it turned out. Thanks for the help Wendy! With a little hard work and some spilled salsa, I'd say we did pretty well.

My next makeover was my laundry room. We have been in desperate need of a new washer for quite a while now. I have also been wanting a freezer for a few years but didn't want to put it in the garage. Walking through Home Depot a couple weeks ago I saw these stackable washer/dryer sets and a lightbulb went off! If we got the stackable set we could fit a freezer in the laundry room too!! Major space saver, and I even had 13 inches left over to put some shelving in. I am absolutely loving this set up. And the best part is, I almost forget that I hate doing laundry because when the cycle is done, instead of an obnoxious buzzing noise, there is a delightful chime, making me feel happy that it is time to go and get the laundry!

don't burn the house down, kids [read Sean]

Mental note: when leaving a husband who has not slept for 20 hours with the kids, while you go have fun at your Super Saturday, remind him to not bake cookies. He just might fall asleep for a minute or two and forget that he had them in the oven. It might be a good precaution, just so the house won't burn down, cause I kinda like my house {especially after a new makeover in one of the rooms!} .

post-edit: just to clarify, the house did not burn down. we just had some really burnt cookies!

U2 concert

We went to the U2 concert on Tuesday night with my sister Wendy, and her husband Steve. I haven't been to a concert since 1998 when I saw Boyz II Men!! Sean has been to several since we have been married but we have never gone together. Our tickets were in a suite and it was so much fun! Black Eyed Peas were the opening act and I LOVE them. It was fun to dance (even though I couldn't get anyone else to dance with me!) to the songs. And U2 was AWESOME, of course.

Thanks for the fun night guys!

I heart Superman.

Superman stopped by to help make applesauce. He's a nice guy. I hope he flies in tomorrow when I am cleaning.

Reason #7 why I need to live in the same location as my husband

Nights like tonight.

I got home at 6:30 from work/picking up Carter. Sean had an early night and was home at 6:15. When I picked Carter up he was *literally* screaming that his stomach hurt. In the car he fell asleep. When we got home he woke up and was crying again about his stomach and I wasn't able to console him. I got him to lay on my bed and was trying to take care of him and get dinner finished. I try to have dinner ready for Sean right when he comes home because he works on average 15 hours a day. Seriously. He has only had 4 days off in the 5 weeks he has been home. I don't know how he is functioning, he works CRazy hours. It's still kinda like he is in Louisiana because we don't get to see him much, Carter is asleep most nights before Sean gets home. But I'll take seeing him 1-2 hours a night over none at all. But back to the story, (remember, I am trying to clean, finish dinner, and take care of a crying child). Sean came in and told me to just focus on Carter and that he would finish dinner and clean the kitchen (it was a disaster). I was finally able to console Carter and came out to a nice clean kitchen with dinner ready.

I would highly recommend looking into arranging the same living location as your spouse if you haven't already.

i love the fall because...

*i don't have to go running outside at 5am to beat the heat

*i have to put a jacket on in the morning because it is 60 degrees outside

*i can decorate my house for halloween

*i can eat apples and carmel dip (YUM)

*we get to play outside all day long

The Old and the Beautiful

I posted them in reverse order, but you get the idea. After sitting in the hot sun for 5 years, our swing needed some serious TLC. My mom had this extra material at her house and I gladly took it and spruced up the swing a bit. I think I will add a couple pillows to it?

Our shower faucet began leaking at the beginning of the year. But remember how I have been husbandless for the first 8 months of the year? So it continued to leak and it became corroded and just gross. We got a new one and had it installed today. I absolutely LOVE it!
That's just gross.

Take your son to work day

Did you know that today was take your son to work day? I didn't get the memo either until about 8am this morning when my son needed to be dropped off at my SIL Jen's house but we were stuck in traffic. I soon realized that it was indeed take your son to work day to avoid being late to my 9am training. He liked drawing on the board with me, erasing everything I had written down (before I had a chance to copy it down on paper!), copying what I was saying to the teachers, playing on the computer, and spending time with mom.

How did the teachers like having mini-me in their class today? I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow when the survey results are in...

Spend the nights...

You might call them sleep overs or slumber parties, but at our house they are officially known as spend the nights. I didn't know what this term meant when I first heard Sean refer to memories of spend the nights as a kid. Now the term has stuck. We had Carter's best buds (his cousins Mallory and Tyler) over for a spend the night recently. We had lots of fun having picnics, playing games, going to Splash Park, playing Super Hero/Prince and Princess, and eating treats!!

A spend the night is much more fun than a sleep over, don't ya think?