Sunday's

Sunday's are tough around our house.  Every other Sunday, I have 7 am meetings.  This means Jeremy is in charge of feeding and dressing the kids for church.  That is hard to do by 8:45 in the morning.  Jeremy handles it well but for some reason our family has this Sunday curse.  Without fail, something crazy always happens before we walk out the door.  Someone is always crying or crabby.  Sometimes it is Jeremy.  Sometimes, me.  We just haven't ever been able to get it together on Sunday's...no matter what time we have church. I was talking to my friend Heather about Sunday's and her family has the same problem.  I had always thought that since Jeremy wasn't a member, that is why we have these issues on Sunday.  She laughed at me and told me all the crazy things that have happened to her family on the way out the door for church. Glad it's not just my family!

January Days

I love the January weather.  

Although chilly in the morning, I love the perfect afternoons.

Each afternoon, these two kiddos want to eat sandwiches on the swing set.  

Thanks goodness for this great January weather.

PJ Day

Every year the school has pajama day.  Brody loves this day.  Case...not so much.  Case is always worried he will be the only kid wearing his pajamas, and that would be soooooo EMBARRASSING! Luckily the other kids in his class got the memo that it was pajama day too.  PHEW!  

Happy 2012

  2011 was a good year for our family.  We survived swim team, basketball, golf, tennis, swim lessons, baseball, piano, music class, and flag football.  Although we didn't go on any big family vacations, we spent lots of time at the cabin relaxing and playing together.  2011 has been a year of growing and changing for our family.  I am noticing that as my kids get older, they want more of a say in things.  They argue and fight more which causes lots of tension in the house.  I have tried all types of behavior strategies but non seem to work the way I hope. I think that as my kids continue to grow, I am going to need more patience then I ever thought I would.   Being a Mom of 4 is definitely more difficult then controlling a classroom of 30. As I look to 2012 I worry and stress at what is to come.  We have watched as many of our friends have struggled with loss both emotionally and financially.  They have such strong faith, hope and love.  What amazing examples they have been  to me. My hope is that 2012 will bring health, love and happiness to our family and yours.  Here's to 2012!

 Last nights party was a hit with the kids.  Here they are showing off some of the loot they collected on the scavenger hunt.

 This little lady ate more candy last night then I can even explain.  She is a candy fanatic!

 This little man loves the color green...can you tell?

Happy 2012 from the cabin!

Counting Down To 2012

 Counting down to 2012 was so fun this year.  We made a balloon countdown with activities inside for the kids to pop each hour until midnight (which is 10:00 Pinetop time).

 First up...Sledding!

This is the gang that went sledding.  Fun Fun!

 Miss B. loved playing in the snow with her bare hands.  BURRRRRR!

 She especially loved sledding with her brothers.  After sledding the next balloon we popped said, "Make hot chocolate and eat cookies."  Sounds good to me!

 The next balloon had us hunting colored ice cubes in the snow.  This is always a highlight of our winter cabin trips.

 Case found lots of colored ice cubes.

 Karaoke was another highlight of our countdown.

 Miss B. rocked the house with her dance moves!

Only at Sugar's cabin can you jump on the couch while dancing!

 After our prime rib dinner, we made Smores.  Brody is really the only kid who eats the Smores.  The others make them but hand them off to one of the adults.

 Yummmmmm Miss B.

 See...I told you.

 Fire and food...does it get any better?

 Sometime during the night, (it's all a blurr) we had each of the kids fill these Highlights of 2011 papers out.  Love what Case had to say.

Greatest Lesson Learned:  Skiing

Hardest Thing Of The Year:  Walking in the deep snow

Favorite Memory:  Being With My Family

What I Loved Most About 2011:  Being at the cabin.

What I Want To Learn In 2012:  Rollerblading

What I Want To Get Better At:  A Skateboard

Biggest Goal:  At Football, Goal

 Another highlight of the night was popping the 75 balloons that Jim and Paul blew up with the air compressor.

 Total entertainment!

 Although it is illegal to light fireworks off in Pinetop, we put on a little show of sparklers, army tanks, and a few illegal things that we will not mention in this post.

 No wonder my boys kept thinking we were celebrating 4th of July!

When the ball dropped in New York, we cheered and yelled, "Happy New Year!" Hope you had a great night with your family and friends.