~she's getting better at it... there's a positive~

When will I learn? Yes, she got my mascara... again. HOWEVER, you will notice that she is actually putting it where it goes AND the only "wrong" place was on her nose. So if you want to see a positive in things - as you ALWAYS should - she's improving on her make up art. And look at those lashes!! Holy crow, I've always known they've been long but with mascara... wow...

Corbin & Christmas

This year Colt wanted to make our own Christmas ornaments. Unfortunately I was sick in bed all day; however, the following weeks I was able to make up for my absence. We had got a box of large popsicle sticks for crafts and have been making things ever since.

You will notice our tree has various homemade ornaments. I love the snowman above CJ's head.

Corbin is holding the manger scene that Dad made strictly out of sticks and create paper. He did a great job. I laugh as Corbin continues to beg dad for his building skills. He has made Daniel and a lion from Corbin's favorite Bible story as well as other items. Colt has managed to avoid making an arc with Noah and the animals. I tell Colt he asked for it by starting all of this crafty stuff.

Corbin holding our Christmas countdown chain (I did that one, the only ONE I did) and the manger scene Dad made.

*babies, babies*

Les, I absolutely love these pics. Yes, you can take them for your blog. =)

Livvy loving her baby from Grandma.

Marley insisted on holding Lexi. She let Mar have her way for a few minutes.

~Cuties!!~

= opening grandma and grandpas gifts =

Grandma and Grandpa couldn't pass up the opportunity to "gift" their grandkids - all of them.

Talk about chaos, happy chaos. What cute kids our family has.

This picture makes me laugh. All the kids watching Grandma "deliver" - intently.

Marley got a bathtub toy - Pooh Bear and Piglet.

I am so happy she likes Pooh. We're coming out of the "Pablo ONLY" faze.

Mommy and Daddy are very happy she is broadening her horizons!!

Corbin got a box of art stuff that he loves. I'm grateful for the box, keeping everything together!

THANK YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA!!!

Howard Family Christmas Party

Our yearly Howard family Christmas Party was at Leslie and Jared's this year. (My sis...) What a fun time this was. Instead of gift exchange - as we've done the years past - we decided to pull our money and provide Christmas for families that weren't going to have much of a Christmas this year. What a great experience this was.

We met at Leslie and Jareds for lunch and then afterwards we spent a few hours wrapping the many, MANY presents for these families. There were so many gifts, we were all happy with the outcome. This weekend Leslie and Jared will be dressing up as Santa and his elf to deliver the gifts to one of the families, I can't wait to hear the response. Oh how I wish I could be a fly on their wall to watch the miracle. This is what Christmas is all about.

Another amazing thing happened that Saturday, our ENTIRE family was together... for the first time in I don't know how long. All 36 of us (including my nieces boyfriend Logan - so really 37) were able to be together, a milestone in the Howard family. Luckily Kevin (my bro-in-law) was prepared with his camera and pictures were taken.

What a fun day that was. I truly love my family, no matter how crazy and hectic the times can get, it was truly fun to see and be with everyone at the same time.

I love you Howards!!

The whole family. I would list names, but holy cow...

:the Six Kids: LOVE IT!!

James, Tracy, Leslie, me, Jennifer, Jon

:My family, good people:

Tonsils, Tonsils

Our FP doc has requested both kids get their tonsils out, can you believe it? He's referred us to a specialist in Logan. I understand why, Marley's are practically walking out on her tongue, they're almost touching they're so huge!! Other then that we're all finally getting better, I hope. I'll keep you updated on the tonsils...

Marley-ism #3

It wouldn't be a month without a Marley-ism.

On Tuesday morning I was sitting at the computer (on my bed) when Marley came in requesting to "do" my hair. No problem! Anything to keep her busy next to me where I can watch her, afterall it IS Marley. =)

She climbs on my bed and is brushing my hair, lovely. A second later I smelt a strong Mentholatum smell. I was concerned - obviously. Remembering I had sat on the bottle from just moments before when she had it I felt confused. Well guess what, she found it. Not only had she found it but she had used it, on me!

She so lovingly dipped the comb in the jar and then through my hair! If anyone has ever gotten menthol in their hair they know it doesn't come out without a fight. I ran a rag through the huge ball of waxy hair and it did nothing. Next, my head in the sink, nothing.

A couple of hours later I went and got my hair cut. When Niki put the hot water on it her nose cleared up instantly. (I am so glad to be so comfortable with Niki - someone who has cut my hair for 9 years at least.) Oh my, it wasn't coming out. It took a couple of days but I am happy to report I feel nothing more in my hair. It actually feels clean again!!

Oh Marley, I do love you.

Conversations with Corbin

*** Warning ***
If you have a child that "believes" do not let him/her read this!!!


So last night we were sitting here in the living room winding down for the evening when Corbin - out of the blue - said "Santa hasn't come to give us presents yet" as he looks at the bare tree skirt lying under the tree. For those of you who know my children - the girl especially - we do not put out ANY presents until Christmas Eve in order to avoid arguments and repetitive "Don't touch that" conversations and many retaping moments.

I explained to him that Santa doesn't come until Christmas Eve and that, too, is when our presents will be put under the tree. Conversation over, so I thought.

"I get it..." he turns to look at me and continues in a bright holy-crow-I-figured-it-out kind of voice. "Santa isn't real."

"WHAT?!?" I looked at Colt, totally amazed at what I heard and what was to come. "Where did you hear that?"

"I just know. It's you guys, you wrap my presents." He seemed alright with it and for a brief moment I thought about agreeing with him. Do any of you remember my conversation with Colt a couple years back? The one where he said he didn't want to "mislead" our children or the whole belief/trust system? Believe me, for a minute I was ready to come clean. But he is so young!

"No, Santa brings you one present and presents for your stocking, remember? Mommy and Daddy do the rest." Then I had to explain to him why I won't put them out until Christmas. He seemed to understand that and accept that. Colt and I sighed HUGE sighs of relief. While part of us thinks it'd be nice to get it out of the way - especially when he was so good with the idea - but at the same time he is only 5!!

So I remind myself, and others, time to buy different kinds of wrapping paper!! ONE certain kind from Santa and the rest from Mom and Dad.

Movie Reviews - in a nut shell

I've never done this but we've seen so many good movies recently I'd like to share our opinions of them.

A week or so ago Colt and I went and saw * Beowulf *. Great movie! We definitely enjoyed it - I just wish we could've seen it in 3D. I would definitely go back to the theater to see it in 3D. It was weird watching an adult cartoon but it was also weird because at some moments the characters looked actually real. It was pretty cool.

Over the weekend we rented a some movies and we enjoyed all three of them. First one * Oceans Thirteen *. I'm a huge "Ocean" fan so of course I recommend it. It wasn't as good as the first two - or maybe it was - but it was your typical Ocean entertainment. Good rental!!

#2 * Live Free or Die Hard * GREAT MOVIE!! This was my first experience with the Die Hard movies and it was a hit!! This one definitely belongs in your movie case. I love Bruce Willis and he was just amazing - as always!!

#3 * Next * I've never even heard of this movie but it was so entertaining. I definitely recommend this one as well. It stars Nicholas Cage - whom I haven't seen in a movie for what seems like a long time. This was fun, too, fast pace and curiousity kept it interesting and entertaining.

So next time you go to Red Box or wherever it is you go try these ones out.

I hope you all had a fun, save Thanksgiving!!

The things you learn....

"Jesus was born in Buffaloham..." says Corbin, "Because there was no Buffalo and no ham."

This tells us two things. First, he learns things at church, maybe not the perfect way of saying things but he has his reasons. Second, he loves football and it's always on his mind. Just days before church he'd been practicing writing different teams down - most recent Buffalo Bills. Go figure. He's so cute, it hard to take!!

I love you Corbin, you make me laugh, smile and extremely happy!!!

Daddy's Birthday Party

I can't believe my Daddy is turning 70 on the 11th, we're so lucky

to have him in our lives, still.

We surprised Dad by greeting him at his favorite eatery, Asian Buffet in Layton. All of my

brothers and sisters were able to be there along with our Howard family that live down that way. It's always fun to see my cousins!

Happy 70th Birthday, Daddy!!

Tracy, me, Mom, Jen, Leslie, Jon & Daddy

(James, we missed you for pictures! I'm glad you were able to eat with us, though!!)

Tracy, Me, Jen, Leslie, Jon and Daddy

Daddy's Little Girls!!

Brooklyn Marie Grove.... again!

Brooklyn is here...

Look at her hair!!

Look at her toes!!!

Look at her eyes!!!

I already love you so much little one!!

Brooklyn Marie Grove

Brooklyn Marie

6 lbs 15 oz

20 1/2 inches long

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Saturday Nights...

Les, this post is for you mostly...

Do you remember as kids when mom would sit us down in front of the TV to watch Golden Girls while she put our hair in curlers for church the next day? Well, I tried that on Marley, the braids minus the curlers and Golden Girls.

Look how cute she is!! Would it surprise you if I said it didn't work? Her hair was about 94% straight the next morning. It was fun to do, though.

Marley-ism #2

Good-ness, do I deserve the mother of the month award or what? Yes, she did it again.

Here's the story as I could only imagine...

She went in the bathroom and removed her diaper to go potty (yea!) but in the process being side tracked by my tube of mascara on the counter. My Bad!! I remember leaving it where she could reach it, this time she didn't have to monkey her way to the counter to get into anything, all my fault!!

Her pretty pink shirt is a total loss and though the black on her little body doesn't seem so bad the majority of it was "hidden".

She did go potty, though, there's the good news!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Verna!!

Friday, November 2nd we celebrated my Aunt Verna's 70th birthday party.

We are so grateful to have her still in our lives.

It was good to see all of our extended family, many whom I haven't seen in years and some who Colt hasn't even met. It was a fun night, we hope to see you all sooner rather then later.

Love you all...

Daddy, Momma, Uncle Benny, Aunt Donna, & Aunt Verna

My Cousins:

Keith & Tammy, Jon & Angie, Colt & Stef, Guy & Robin, Rick & Margie, Lynette (where did your hubby run off to??), Ben & Shari

Aunt Verna "Blow out the candles!" aka Guys' fingers

Tammy explaining to Aunt Verna the fake flowers that were on her cake.

Some things never change, Aunt Verna will always be fun to tease. Look at her smile as she shows us her "corsage" from her cake.

the Family

We all spoke about memories of our Aunt Verna and to sum it all up she is the sweetest lady we've all met. The most genuine woman we've all met. We love you!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Verna!!

Tremonton Halloween

For Halloween, this year, we went Trick or Treating around downtown Tremonton. At Midland Square - in the center of Tree-Town - the city held games for the kids, getting treats and prizes. The Taco Time owner was even giving out hot chocolate and churros - thanks Steve!! (Yes, I know him. =)

After walking around town (which took only an hour) we headed out to Elwood (where my two brothers live) and went to their city Trunk or Treat. Then after that (I know, I know, we've never done so much candy beggin before!) all of us siblings met at my mom's house and went around her neighborhood. Needless to say the kids went to bed early, Corbin -especially - was pooped!

Thanks to my siblings, what a fun night we had!!

In the strollers - HAYLEE (hershey kiss) & MARLEY (a kitty, with ears!!)

AVERY (a stroler pusher), TAYLOR (Indian), CORBIN (pirate), JAXON (ninja), ERIN (devil), TYLER (ninja)

Avery and Marley, best buds

Jaxon, Corbin & Tyler

Flag Football

For the past few weeks Colt has been playing on a flag football team that him and Jon (my bro) has put together. By the last game - pics below - there were only three original players. Zach (my nephew) is one of them but couldn't make the last game. They didn't win but had a blast, it also didn't help that the other team had seven players and they only had five. They did great considering. Good job guys!!

Andy, Brady, Jon, Colt, Ryan

(It's weird, I went to school with two of these guys and now my hubby is playing football with them, strange!!)

Carving Pumpkins

This year we carved pumpkins given to us by Angie from their garden. This kids loved it but didn't like touching the goo, I can understand that one.

I love Marley's face in this one, "eww, gross"