Stoned Creed?

So Creed has a preschool program and had been complaining that he "didn't feel so good". Mean mommy that I am, I gave him some Tylenol and made him go anyway. He had a little duet as a drummer boy. Matt and I were laughing the whole time because our uncontrollable Creed was in a daze the whole time. Completely out of character for him. It took multiple songs just for him to even do the actions and he only sang a little bit of the songs. Creed had been walking around the house for weeks and knew every word to every song in the program. (We had heard them MANY, MANY times.) We recorded it so these pictures aren't the best, but was a great experience. Creed can be calm when sick and with a little bit of meds in his system.

Incredible performance!!!

Sage had her Christmas tumbling performance and did so fantastic. This is her before the program and her cousin Hadley. Sage was able to make quite a bit of progress this year and instead of doing the "easy" back-handsprings, she did the much harder aerials instead. We were so proud of her. She hasn't been able to do them for long. Hadley was able to do her round-off, back-handspring, back tuck. Again, incredible!! She just got that too. It has been so much fun to watch them both and have something in common.

Kids and Halloween

These are the long lost Halloween pictures. Sage had a program this year. It was great!! Also all the elementary kids had a parade. The others are on our front porch right before going trick-o-treating. Thank goodness for fairly good weather. I get to stay home and pass out candy. Autumn was a ballerina, Sage was a fairy, Jack was Zorro, Creed was a knight king, and Annie was little orphan Annie.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So I realize this is a little late, but I wanted to share the things that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for a husband who can cook. I can't make anything unless it comes in a box with detailed instructions. (That means I can "warm" things up.)

I am thankful for family. Last Sunday we had my family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Since it was at our house.... we cooked the turkey this year. Matt and I have been married for 91/2 years and have never had this privilege. Matt of course did everything and it turned out fabulous!! Everything was moist and yummy!! I even had him up until midnight the night before cleaning and moving things and carrying things up and down the stairs. And he did not complain even once. He is the best and I love him so much.

I am thankful for Matt's family too. On Thanksgiving day we had dinner at his parent's house. Of course it was spectacular with place settings and 3 times as much food and a group that big could ever eat. And that is a big group. I was able to sit on the couch and try not to move and no one looked down on me or thought me to be lazy for not helping out. The Schaugaard's have so much love for each other and truly do everything to help each other deal with whatever they are going through at the time. I know I could not have married into a better family for me.

So back to why I was being a lazy bum on the couch.....I am grateful for a healthy, strong-willed baby that can't make up her mind about coming out early or not. I have been having the real kind of contractions for awhile now and the night before Thanksgiving I worked my 12 hour holiday shift. I came home and slept about an hour and a half....not at one time....and it was off to dinner. I was dying by then and could barely walk. I could keep my eyes open but was having a lot of pelvic pressure and tons of contractions. This little one is keeping me guessing. I really would have been so content with January 5th as a birth date. I am thankful for a great job too. It's been hard right now with the kids and pregnancy but I feel so lucky to take care of the patients I do. I took care of three beautiful heart babies that night. Looking at their situations make me so grateful for what I have waiting for me at home.

I am thankful for my kids. Each one is so unique and each one makes me laugh for a different reason. Yes, there is the yelling part to, but I am trying to work on that. Jersey won't recognize my voice unless I work on that. My kids try so hard to do everything that I ask of them and try to do their best. That is hard to do sometimes. I love them for their effort and for the love that they show each other. I was given a great bunch and I worry every day that I won't be able to teach them what they need to know.

I am thankful for a Heavenly Father that forgives me of my weaknesses. I would not survive without the gospel in my life. Everything I have and everything I hold dear is a gift from Him.

I am thankful for my friends. I feel so lucky to have such great ones. I have my sister-in-laws. They are the loving and caring type and are there for you when you go through the worst times. I have my GNO girls who I find I can still be myself around the most. I love these guys and I have so much fun every month with them. I love swapping stories about life and kids. I love the "crazy" conversations about nothing in particular. I love the girls in my neighborhood. I got to go see Twilight at midnight with a group of girls from my ward (and a few other friends) and I can't even tell you how much fun it was. A bunch of stay-at-home moms partying until 3:30am. My neighborhood rocks!! And I have friends at work. The unit I work on gets along great and I feel very much a part of it. It makes me excited to go to work just to catch up on all of their lives.

I am thankful for parents who bought a cabin. I love spending time with my parents and with them having a cabin, we get to hang out with them for multiple days at a time. After eating Thanksgiving dinner with Matt's wonderful parents and family, we left and drove the two hours to the Uintas to spend time with mine and my sweet sister and her kids who I don't see nearly enough. You know how mom's are. They sit you on a couch and wait on you. I didn't have to do anything all weekend except play games, watch movies, read, make 8 pairs of matching pajamas for Christmas, eat great food (junk food is a given at the cabin), sleep, and watch my husband and kids go sledding in the 4-5 inches of snow. It would have been so much fun to participate in that part but I wasn't taking any chances of delivering in Evanston. I didn't even have to do the dishes one time. I love the cabin because it is not home and there are not the overwhelming projects waiting for you. You can really sit back and relax.

I am grateful for a wonderful Christmas season. I have much to look forward to and I am more excited this year than most. We are 2 presents away from being "done" and I feel so much relief that I can sit back and relax for the rest of the month. When I say relax, that of course is at a party, a performance, a program, etc. It will be a very busy month full of the great stuff, spending time with loved ones and watching your children succeed.

Happy Holidays!!

Halloween 2008

This is the couple's party this year. We are the groovy looking hippies front and center. What a fun group of people. We love our neighbors!!!! Matt made bell-bottoms this year and of course the wig. I was growing the "love-child" and we had our "van" outside. What a blast!!!

Who would have thought!!

We have had the opportunity to go to a couple's Halloween Party every year at our awesome neighbors' house. It is a riot!!! Last year Matt insisted on being Nacho Libre and I was his love interest. He was hilarious and gutsy. Who would really show up to a party in tights and no shirt with the people you go to church with. You can just keep laughing now........and a little bit more.....

Cowboy Jack

So just in case anyone was following, I haven't said much about my not so little Jack. I was waiting for the right picture. Jack seriously considers himself a cowboy. As soon as he walks in the door from school, he puts on his cowboy boots, straps on his holster, puts in his play guns..... sometimes a squirt gun if that is all he can find.... attaches his handcuffs, and of course adds the hat. He plays the rest of the day like this. Sometimes he wears a cape or a plastic sword. He wears this gid-up to the doctor's office, the store, his friend's houses, etc. This is at the father's and son's campout for our ward. Apparently he really didn't catch this fish. The old guy next to them did and Jack just wanted to pose for a picture.