Tidwell Christmas Carol

We had a great Christmas. There's nothing like having Christmas at home. The kids were so great and even waited until 7AM to wake us up. Natalia actually had to wake Wyatt! Loads of goodies and wrapping paper galore. I think Santa's sleigh must have fallen over in our front room.... Lincoln made Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we all had time for naps!

362 Days and counting....

break it down...

or should I say breakdown? I had one of those....just a little one. I am just overwhelmed, and behind. I have made a few mistakes and that is setting me back further. I cried. Now I feel better. (sort of)

Then Simone came running from behind me, tripped and hit her face on the handle of my desk drawer. Lots of blood. I took her to the ER, and they decided her tooth had not gone through her lip, but it was a cut in the inside from her tooth, and a cut on the outside from the desk. They thought stitching it may make the scarring worse, so no stitches.

This is Simone's THIRD ER visit. What is going on with her? The second one happened inbetween sessions of conference back in October. Lincoln was gone. I was going to be wonder woman and watch BOTH sessions of conference with my kids. I had a plan, and it was a good one. (My friend Christie passed this one on to me.)

Bowls of treats.

fresh figs and honey
apple slices
raspberries
string cheese
garbanzo beans
skittles
cheetos
m&m's
coconut pecan cookies
popcorn

Words to listen for.

Hear the word in a talk? You get to eat the snack!

My kids LISTENED to conference for two hours!!! (and basically ate lunch)


This the where the ER visit comes in.

I went downstairs to reboot the laundry. Then I heard a big crash, followed by screaming. I ran upstairs and Simone came out of the half bath. She raised her arms and ran to me. I checked her over and saw a little open cut on her chin. I don't mess around with cuts on the face. If there is something they can to do help minimize the scarring I will take them in. So- we all went the ER. What a fun time! They glued her chin. She was upset so they gave her a little bear. That made her happy. We were home in time to watch the next session of conference.

I fed them their dinner the same way.

Chicken nuggets
Chips and salsa
pasta salad
pizza
pickles
candy bars

They LISTENED for another TWO hours!
Yes, there were outburst like this, "Woohoo! He said missionaires! Which one is missionaries Wyatt?....... YAY! I wanted that! Give one to Simone too."
-but they listened.


I will do it again in the future, and this time I'll go to the grocery store before hand. =)

There you go an overdue conference post and ER visits. Back to work.

Oh, just so you know. I haven't bought ONE SINGLE present for Christmas. (Except one tiny thing for Lincoln.) Now the breakdown will make a little more sense. I am going shopping tomorrow....but even that is stressing me out.

QUICK FALL POST

I am so busy. I thought I had better post these pictures before Christmas. I still have some summer posts in the wings too.

I am thankful for so many clients. I am staying up way too late, and ignore the girls through the day....but you know what I am so thankful for this little business of mine. I need to take a deep breath, and smile more, and get to work (again.)

I love this picture...a lot!

Don't they look cute together. I love gray.

(Mom, do you want this picture for your photo screen?)

(I love their expressions here! A family treasure!)

Trick or Treating? Ya, we did that. Do they look great or what? I took these pictures in the last seconds of day light. Talia was TRILLED to be able to wear make up, and it was so fun to put on her. =)

leaning

I have had a crazy day. Nothing really out of the ordinary but I am tired. The extra late nights are starting to get to me.

Simone had a tug of war with Talia except the "rope" was an empty lego bin. Simone lost and it hit her in the face. I was on the phone with the primary president trying piece back the puzzle that is left of our ward. (They realigned the ward boundaries in our stake last Sunday. I thought for sure we would be moved to another ward, but we weren't. I don't want to talk about a few of the changes. I will miss seeing some very dear friends in the hallways at church...luckily they are very dear friends and I will see them in my home...or at the mall...or at the park...or for holidays. On and on. Back to the story.) The lego bin smashed right into her nose, but I didn't realize this until my shirt, neck, and arm were spotted with blood. The poor thing!

Then she was chasing Talia and tripped and fell flat on her face. She got the biggest fat lip with a cut. She fell asleep in her highchair after finishing a small part of her pb&j soon after that fall. Too tired to eat anything. What a hard day.



The other day she was sitting on the big potty, and leaned over...WAY over and fell off! Right on her head! My bad, I was getting some tp and wasn't looking. She is still going strong with the potty training thing. Kind of crazy.


So today......

Laundry
Proofing
phone calls for primary
Cleaning so the maid could clean
Maid calling to cancel because of car trouble
making cookies
made new job charts for the kids
trying to empty bins and get rid of junk
vacuum upstairs
photographing cookies
Phone calls with clients
Christmas card design and revisions
walking to the bus stop
Breaking up fights
supervising homework
taking pens away from Simone
putting Talia in timeout
Cooking dinner
dishes
Bath x 2, then x 1
Pajamas, teeth, and blow dry hair
stories, prayers, hugs and kisses
proofing
remembering that my sheets are still in the washing machine
proofing

(the leaning tower of cookies)

Somehow I feel like I accomplished NOTHING today.

He can.

There is a song by ZERO 7. I love it, because it reminds me of Lincoln. It is called "somersault" and here are the lyrics. Click here to listen to it.

You're the prince to my ballerina
You feed other people's parking meters
You encourage the eating of ice cream
You would somersault in sand with me

You talk to loners, you ask how's your week
You give love to all and give love to me
You're obsessed with hiding the sticks and stones
When I fear the unknown
You feel like home, you feel like home

You put my feet back on the ground
Did you know you brought me around
You were sweet, and you were sound
You saved me

You're the warmth in my summer breeze
You're the ivory to my ebony keys
You would share your last jelly bean
You would somersault in sand with me

You put my feet back on the ground
Did you know you brought me around
You were sweet and you were sound
You saved me

You put my feet back on the ground
Did you know you brought me around
You were sweet and you were sound
See I had shrunk yet still you wore me around
And 'round and 'round

We went on a date on Friday. We took dinner over to the hospital for Jared and Christina. They just had a new baby girl, and she is darling. (I have pictures!) Then we ran over to the movie theater and watched 2012. That was a CRAZY movie. On our way to our parking spot we noticed a group of four teenage boys acting a little weird next to Lincoln's truck. It turns out they had locked their keys in the trunk. I said, "Well you're lucky you parked next to us, because if anyone can get them out----he can." I pointed to Lincoln.

They looked at me like I was crazy. Then I added, "I'm serious," as I lowered my chin a bit and stared at them.

Then I climbed in the truck and turned on the heater. =)

Lincoln pulled at the seat in this old beater car. (This took a while though.) It wasn't supposed to move but he figured out how it was installed and pulled it up. Then sent the smallest boy into the trunk with a cell phone for a light. He came out with the keys. I was so proud of Lincoln. He can break into anything! I love saying that. I also love to say, "Daddy can fix it, he can fix anything!"

Love him.

Dress him?

Three of us stood at the top of the stairs later that day. Peering down, but not brave enough to step. There was laundry that needed to be done. I gulped and took the first step, looking down with each additional one to make sure there was not a mouse under my foot. I have very bad luck with stepping ON creatures or gross things.

A sweet voice behind me asks, "Could we put clothes on that little mouse?"

That is just a small example of the cuteness that is Natalia.


(My friend reminded me that I forgot a very funny part to the mouse story. Wyatt was screaming, "Attack, Attack, Attack" at the mouse while he tried to hit it with the ball.
I was just downstairs loading the dishwasher, and I saw that ball. I think it is a little ironic that it has a giant picture of Chuck E Cheese on it! )

If you give a mouse a camera...

If you give a mouse a large supply of crumbs under the stove he will hide there and eat them.


Then he will want to go look for more so he will crawl out.

Then he will be so frightened by the LOUD screams coming from the lady in the blue pajama pants that he will run back under the oven.

Then he will hide there, while he waits for the kitchen to empty of all the noisy people.

When the coast is clear he will run back out.

Then he will notice there is still someone in the kitchen! That same screaming lady....but she's sitting quietly staring at her small phone.

Then he will scurry around her feet as she screams and tries to jump onto the counter or stool or whatever is near by.

He will be relieved that he is not smashed, and make a break for the door. Only to find three children and a DOG!

The small girls run away screaming, one falls and hits her knee. The boy is holding a large yellow ball and throws it at the poor mouse. The dog begins to chase.

Then he will make a quick left hand turn, and disappear down the basement stairs.

fire mess goes to the streets.

We needed to fax a few receipts to the insurance company for the fire mess.


I photocopied 12 receipts. Took me about 6 days of running up and downs stairs and looking in old shopping bags, drawers, and once in the trash outside.

I found each corresponding item on the claim, and then wrote the number of that item on the receipt pages.

Highlighted the claim (twice) to make sure each item was accounted for.

Put all the papers in a yellow folder with the fax number, and attn. info on the outside.

Lincoln said he would fax them for me at work.

He forgot to take them to work, so one evening he suggested we go out and get a bite and fax the papers.

He took Simone and the yellow folder out to the van.

Folder on roof of van.

Simone in seat.

Folder on roof of van.

Many minutes later he asked where the folder was, and began looking around the inside of the van. He was so angry. Then in a calm but snotty voice I reminded him that I did all the work.

We drove back to our neighborhood, and we found almost all the pages on the street. Most had been run over several times.

Here we go again. At least all the receipts are together now, and I can look at the run over copies to find the item numbers.

potty what?

I got to meet with a client today. She is a blast and loves to be creative...and that means I get to be creative too! I love when we do things that are not so traditional.

Rileigh watched the girls and started potty training Simone for me.


Yep. You read that right. POTTY TRAINING. A 19 month old. Rileigh said that Simone was obsessed with Jocelyn's little pink potty. When I came to pick up the girls somehow (meaning....Simone pulled off her pants, and then Natalia took off her diaper!) Simone got on the potty and WENT! Then she did it again 10 minutes later! I was so shocked I laughed myself to tears.

NO no NO NO NO! I don't know if I am ready for the potty training again. I looks like it may be easy though. She really did it all herself. =)

How I see you....

Hey sweet Natalia! You are five now. Even though you've been saying "I'm FIVE", for about eleven months because your friend was five. We took these pictures in the middle of a fairy ring the day before your birthday. You were being silly and I loved being with you. I asked you to make a birthday wish, and you closed your eyes and with a deep breath you said, "I wish for the Jasmine costume without the empty belly."

We walked home holding hands.

You are courageous. You are sweet. You are beautiful.

You are kind. You are extremely thoughtful. You are sunshine.

You are the silliest girl I know.

You are always observant. You have an amazing memory.

You bring so much joy to our home. You bring so much noise to our home.

I feel so blessed to have you as a part of my life. I hope you had a happy birthday baby.

Things I keep around my desk....

photographs.

I love photographs...even technically bad photographs.

Especially when they are taken by a four year (Yes, she is five now...I need to blog about that.) old on one of the sweetest of summer days.

lovely.

(Busy day.
Fun session with some repeat clients-
HUGE rain storm-
Halloween carnival-
proofing until the wee hours of the morning.

I thought I would share this lovely picture of Talia.
Summer, I miss you...
Fall, you are okay.

Back to work.)

amazing.

Ballet class was amazing.

I was not amazing, but I loved it just the same.

I am sore today, but not as bad as I thought I would be! =)

I am going shopping today on discount dance supply.com for leotards, tights, and new ballet shoes.

Happy day.

Oh, the funniest thing happened. On the way to class I was listening to the radio and the theme song from Flashdance came on. I am NOT KIDDING! I had to call Lincoln and laugh about it with him. I turned it up loud.

Here are the lyrics...they are so perfect. (Yes, I cried a little too.)


First, when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream
That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind
All alone I have cried silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel, made of stone

Well I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm
Wrap around, take a hold of my heart

[Chorus:]
What a feeling, bein's believin'
I can't have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life
Take your passion, and make it happen
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life


Now I hear the music, close my eyes, I am rhythm
In a flash it takes hold of my heart

What a feeling

dancing around

I am so excited!

In less than 30 minutes I get to go to a ballet class.

I cried in the van when I found out that I would be able to go today.

I haven't been to class (for me) since Wyatt was about 6 months old. Now he is 7.

I can't find any leotards. They must be in a box buried deep under the stairs.

I found a cute black ballet skirt though....so I'll wear leggings with that.

I am so excited!

The clock is going much too slow!

Where are my ballet shoes?

Someday I'll blog again.....

I had a wonderful week. My parents came to visit, and I just loved having them here. We had to endure a little rain the first few days, and then my Father and Simone both got sick. We accomplished a lot around here though. It was so good to see them. My kids love spending time with them, so I am glad they found a few days to come see us.

I am really really behind on blogging. I have tons of wonderful pictures from the summer, so I am going to catch up eventually. Be prepared for random posts! I hope I can do it soon, because I am getting ready for the busy season. I am booked solid for photo sessions for the rest of 2009, but somehow keep squeezing in clients! =) I love my photography job, and I wish I had more time in the day. I keep telling myself that this isn't my number one job. I am a mother and wife first. It is hard to balance all that is on my plate right now.

(A few bloggy notes for me.)
Simone is talking a lot lately. Not really. She says about six words. She said "ice" and "grandpa" yesterday though. She weighs a whopping 19 pounds 14 ounces. She sleeps better now, and will take one super short nap during the day. That short nap drives me nuts, I can't get anything done. Wyatt used to take a 3 hour nap at this age.

Natalia is still silly. Wyatt asked her why she liked gum so much. "Because Jesus made me that way," was her reply.

Wyatt is working hard at school. Handwriting is his biggest struggle. We are trying to practice at home, but how many hours should this boy have a pencil in his hand in one day? I love having him around and he is the best big brother to Simone. Yep, just Simone. =) Talia and Wyatt absolutely love to be around each other. We picked up Wyatt early from school today, and they saw each other down the hall, and RAN and hugged! It was cute. If my sister was there she would have said "Kodak moment!" Anyway...they love to fight. Wrestle. Swords. Whatever. They get along as much as they fight, but it is a regular smack down at my house sometimes. I hate it. I need to buy more paint. They are always willing to paint, and it is a nice distraction from the rough stuff.

Dewey!

My brother Steve illustrated a children's book called Dewey (There's a Cat in the Library!). It is number FOUR on the New York Times Best Sellers list today!

The best part, for me anyway, is that my children (and some of our friends) were used a models for some of the characters.

I found this little clip on you tube....take a look, you'll see some of the illustrations and Talia at the end!

Congrats Steve! I think it turned out wonderfully!

Last day and a half of Myrtle beach....

Here are just a few ;) pictures of our time at Myrtle beach. We loved it, and we can't wait to go back!

Baby toes in the water.

(I put my goggles on ALL by myself!!!)

Wyatt found a few little crabs.

Sweet conversation in the waves. I think they are saying, "We should live here!"

All of us took an afternoon nap!

This kids were having too much fun in the pool. I desperatly wanted to go get some pictures of the beach at sunset. I went with Simone. We spent a few lovely minutes together on the sand.

Simone wasn't feeling too great. She threw up on me as we were walking on the beach the day before! I just walked into the waves to clean up. She was NOT happy about that. This happened when we had our suits on....my brand new suit I should mention. She didn't feel great the rest of the trip, so she wouldn't let me put her down. If I did she wouldn't let go of my hand. I didn't mind.

Possibly one of my favorite photos from the trip. I love those little smiling lips, and her chin on her sun-kissed shoulder. She was watching two little birds that were running from a wave.

We came back up to the big kids and Lincoln by the pool. Dinner was waiting and it was fabulous! Tasty spring rolls, and fantastic rockfish...Lincoln had something else, but my rockfish was so good so I don't remember what Lincoln had. The kids shared a big hamburger. Then a surprise was delivered! TWO huge banana splits. It was so fun to eat them with my most favorite people. Yum. I wish I had one right now.



That's it! Our Florida/Myrtle beach trip. I took so many pictures, and I am so glad I have a little point and shoot. I wore it almost the entire time (as you can tell)!

Drive to Myrtle beach...Vacation Day 5

We left Florida and started the drive to Myrtle beach. We didn't arrive until pretty late. I wanted to get down to the water for a few minutes, even though we were all hungry.







Suits on and down to the beach. (It wasn't that dark yet...the flash makes it look that way.)

The coastline.

Myrtle Beach was my favorite part of the trip. I wish I had a better picture to capture this, but the sound of Simone's feet on the wet sand is definitely on my list of bliss moments! She loved it...not at first- but after she got used to the idea she was so happy.


Then we went for a swim in the pool, and room service delivered our dinner to us there. The kids had a cheese pizza and fresh fruit. Lincoln and I had shrimp cocktail, and a yummy Thai salad. We were planning to stay only one night, but we were having so much fun Lincoln extended our stay one more day! I am so glad he did.....more beach pictures so come! (Yes, MORE!)