12 X 12 - December 2012

It is hard for me to get up every single morning! My alarm goes off at 7 and then I stay in bed until 7:20 at which time I HAVE to get up or we will all be late. 95% of the time the kids are already awake, but yesterday I had the privilege of waking Miss Sade up for breakfast.

Still sleepy:



Jackson chose to have Cheerios for breakfast and then decided to fancy them up with this green ribbon:



While the kids got ready I made their lunches and admired the gifts I took home from a favorite things party I attended the night before:



Eric saying goodbye to Megan:



He was headed to California for work. Next to Satudays, Wednesdays are my least favorite day for him to be out of town. With scouts and young women's I feel like they are so darn busy!

It was my turn to drive carpool!



Sade and I after dropping everyone off:



Upon arriving home I snapped this picture of Max our elf. He was taking a ride on a balloon animal airplane that I spent hours making.  Just kidding, we got it at Chilis on Tuesday night.



I spent the majority of the day doing various stay at home mom related duties. Namely cleaning and hanging with Sade:



Do you see the outfit I am wearing in the above picture? I have crossed a line and now find it acceptable to wear it everywhere and anywhere. To drive carpool, run to the grocery store, take Sadie to pre-school, even wearing it to Chilis the night before.

 It is just so crazy comfortable and WARM.

And I am impervious to judgment about it and refuse to change my ways!

The only reason I am not wearing it today is because it is in the washing machine.

I am currently wearing jeans and am miserable.

In other news, yesterday was bathtime for Tucker:



After picking the kids up from school I discovered that Jackson had received 5 dog tags and 5 awards for his 70 accelerated reader points!



To celebrate (not really-Jackson hates doughnuts) we headed over to Krispy Kreme. I had a coupon for buy one dozen doughnuts get one free, which enabled us to do two more acts of kindness/service, and to keep some for ourselves. As of today we have completed 18 different acts.



After arriving home, having dinner, and doing homework, we started the first of our many visits to the church. First to scouts and then to young women's.



Megan's class was having a white elephant gift exchange.

 Feel free to correct me if I am wrong (HOWEVER I AM NOT WRONG) that a white elephant gift is a gag gift.

Just to make sure I wasn't wrong I did some research on the computer and the prevailing definition of a white elephant gift is,

"Something lying around the house that you don't want (some horridly ugly item that someone gave you as a gift or some other item unwanted for some reason)."

So why was Megan THE ONLY girl to bring a gag gift, while EVERYONE else brought nice gifts? I'm kind of furious about it.

Next year I am hoping it will be called gift exchange instead of white elephant exchange. I may even write an e-mail about it (and I never do that).

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Santa was a little more affectionate this year than I remember him being in the past.
 

Watch the hands Santa:



This year there was quite a rush from all of us to sit on Santa's lap. No fear from the 4 year old, and no embarrassment from the 12 year old.






Eric and I agree this was the best job we have ever had at any party. I loved watching all of the kids come in, and Eric had a great time being Santa for a night. It was so much more fun than we both imagined it would be.

Arizona Caching

While in Arizona we made some time to do a little geocaching.

 FYI: We have now successfully found 96 geocaches!

After finding one by the Deer Farm, we headed over to Kaibab Lake to find a few more. What we thought was going to be a leisurely jaunt around the lake, turned into an intense uphill trek where we faced unforeseen obstacles, such as a whiny 4 year old and a dog covered in burrs.

Harrowing I tell you!

The uphill trek:



Eric to the rescue carrying a burr covered Tucker:



Whiny 4 year old:



I tried to give her another pep-talk, this time reminding her of the Little Engine That Could, but it backfired on me and she chanted, "I Think I Can't, I Think I Can't" for the remainder of the hike.



We finally made it to the cache!



Further evidence of Jacksons inability to take a serious picture:



The trek back down:



Although we had planned to do a bit more geocaching, we instead headed back to Williams to take care of little Tucky-Wucky.



 It took some scissors, a lot of patience, a lot of time, and a lot of clipped off fur, but he finally emerged burr free.

Thus ends our mini 2 day vacation to AZ.

The Deer Farm

While in Williams, AZ we visited the Deer Farm, which is essentially a large petting zoo. They raise the deer from the time they are babies so they are very, very tame, and very, very cute!

Before entering we took some pictures on a sleigh. Jackson is unable to take a serious picture. Here he is Ho, Ho, Hoing and pretending to be Santa:



We purchased some "feed" and got to work:



Sadie was at one with the deer:




Jackson and Megan were willing feeders also:



Deer feedin' is dirty business:



We also fed some carrots to "Gracie" the camel:



And met lots of other animals too. Including this scary one:



This goat found Sade extra tasty:



This place was ok. I probably would rate it a lot higher if it wasn't so expensive to get in. If you have the choice to go to Bearizona in Williams or the Deer Farm, go to Bearizona. You won't regret it!