Christmas Day

He came, Santa really came!
Everyone in the Maney house must have been good little boys and girls because they found lots of fun things Christmas morning!

Landon woke up about 8:00 Christmas morning and we let him babble in the crib for a while, but couldn't wait any longer so about 8:30, we sent him in to wake up his big brother and sister. We had to help him, but finally there were some excited kiddies coming down the steps.

Here is Jordan peeking throught the steps....the anticipation builds!!

Spencer not totally awake yet, and upset he couldn't go first...poor kid!

Jordan was the smiliest

kid you would ever see...she just had soo much excitement when she opened each gift....well, she wasn't too sure about he cabbage patch doll, but really loved everything she received. Here she is with a fairy book from her nana and papa.

Darin with some new shoes.

Spencer with a new puzzle book from Nana and Papa.

Landon was such a character on Chrismas morning, so here are a few shots of his fun time.

Spencer loves Diego. He was actually witness to this gift before Christmas, but mommy convinced him it was a birthday present for someone else. So needless to say, he was pretty happy.

We had such a relaxing fun day on Christmas. We all stayed in our pajamas all day. We had a nice breakfast, hung out and played, took naps and relaxed. The children played so nice, went from toy to toy and shared so well. Ah, the magic of Christmas!! (Since then they have actually done so well sharing their things-especially Lanny and Spence since they both love what each other received. )

Landon loves his new little people garage-thank you Sarah Black!! Sarah told me about this before the ward relief society swap and saved it out for me....it is getting good use Sarah...you know boys-they make car noises and all! Even Lanny:)

Daddy relaxing after all the fun...

The living room after all the madness....

Since mommy had the camera, and daddy didn't ask for it, no pics of mommy and her new photoshop elements program or tickets to see Legally Blonde the musical! Thanks Darin and Santa!!

OH Christmas Tree!!

Better late than never!!

Maney Family Christmas tree 2008!
Off to Home Depot we went!! We brought the tree home and put it up on the tree stand. Darin realized the next day that when put it up, we didnt' water it. Darin put water in it, but by the afternoon it hadn't drunk any, so we had to take it out, re-trim it and put it back in the stand. Ugh....It worked out well.

Here is the finished product!!!
We had a lot of fun. We had a friend from the ward named Lara come over and we laughed hysterically that Spencer took the same ornament on and off the tree about 5 times. It was really funny!! They had so much fun. All the expensive and breakable ones are at the top...you can guess why that is. The ornaments are moved around every day...three little sets of hands in this house!! A few have been broken, but nothing too bad. We love our Christmas tree and love to have the lights on every day!!

Temple lights

We took the long drive to the Temple to see the lights! We left our house at 5:15, expecting that the traffic would be light before the holiday, but boy we we mistaken!! We finally arrived at 6:45- and were about the last people they let into the concert hall!! We were so glad to get into the concert because we didn't want to wait until 8:00.
The concert was awesome! It was Jenny Day Oaks, a violinist and she was fantastic. She had great musicians, and she even brought our 3 of her 4 little girls. One was particularly cute-she played the cello, and was just sooo cute. Even our children really loved it and were really well behaved.
After the concert we saw the nativities, which were excellent. Jordan was excited because there was one from the country Jordan. We also saw the "Reflections of Christ" display which was excellent. Then we decided to brave the cold with our hyper children. They loved the lights and the live nativity-especially the donkey. It was really great, and we love to go every year. I love to be on the temple grounds, and the children love to see the temple as well.
These kiddies really love their daddy...and they should.

Isn't this just the cutes little family you've seen? Man do I love these people!

Christmas Eve Fun

Santa is coming tonight, so we have to get ready!! Bath time for the kiddies of the house:) Spencer and Lanny do this every night when they have a bath. Tonight Jordan joined them.

When I grew up we got new pajamas every Christmas eve. It was the one present we got to unwrap. I decided I needed to bring back the tradition!!

We found these pajamas after last winter and I have been waiting to bring them out!! Yeah, I finally could and just as I suspected, these are some beautiful children!!

Lanny is really cute because when I hold up the camera now, he says "cheese!" So precious!!

The big sister loves her brothers!

Spencer decided Jordan needed a kiss:)

Deliveries for the neighbors. We struck out on half of them, but a few neighbors were home. We have really great neighbors!!

Having fun putting our goodies together!

I didn't get Landon some lunch fast enough so he got his own!

Holiday Fun

Baking Day!!!
I tried my hand at making some Christmas goodies this year. I made fudge, which I have never really done myself before. I also did some carmels and sat and wrapped them while I watched Mama Mia. Fun night:) Darin thought it was a lot of work, but he did like to eat them. We packaged some up to do some deliveries. It was really fun. I did a lot of "bar cookies" which I really liked for the efficiency! Big time savers when you are trying to get a lot done!!You can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!

The children were really excited to make gingerbread men. I felt like the dough turned out ok-it was yummy to eat. So the children all had their turn to cut some out. They had so much fun, and especially liked eating them:)

I think Landon likes them:)

Spencer has fun cutting out his cookies!!

Is Jordan so cute, or what? She was so excited...had been asking for days to make gingerbread men. She has a whole week long unit on gingerbread, and came home from school every day singing "you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." She has so much fun doing the cookies. She really was excited to give some to her teachers.

Every year we go to this really nice lights display at a park in Maryland. You stay in your car and drive through. They collect food for a food drive, so it is for a good cause. We went on Saturday and had a lot of fun. Of course Spencer fell asleep on the way, but when I crawled in the back and put him on my lap, he was finally excited I meant to take lots of pics, but the view in the back seat of the minivan is not like the front seat:) The cars were going slow so we had lots of time to relish the lights. We especially liked a big crab and a big dinosaur, as well as lots of christmas tress, reindeer and funny penguins. It is a great place to go!

It says Winter Festival of Lights.

We really love Christmas in our house and have so much fun taking in all the sights, sounds and expecially flavors of the season!! Lots more to come!!

I can't believe I had never been here before!

We were invited to attend a birthday party for a friend's little girl last Saturday the Botanic Gardens. I was excited because I had never been there before. It was such a great trip!! We drove in and found an awesome parking spot. It was cold outside, but was so warm in the gardens. We all really loved it.

And can I just say that I love the new version of Picassa? The collages are so cool. I got a little carried away, but I love all these pictures.

Jordan and Spencer were very interested in the room with all the cactus. The wanted to touch them and feel the "sticky things." It was really cute. There were some funky cactus.

There was the coolest room with a train set made of all organic components-well, except the train. The volunteer said they had it outside last year, but moved it inside this year-pretty obvious why! We could have stayed in that room for an hour-Landon was so into the trains..he kept saying "choo choo."

Ah the flowers.....so beautiful!

There were models of DC landmarks made out of organic elements and it was truly fascinating. My kids love the Washington monument, so Jordan was so excited to see the replica.

If you are in the area and have not been down to see this display, make time to do it! You won't regret it!!

Tender moments from a toothless grin

Jordan is so cute with her missing teeth. I think as her teeth fell out, she became a little more tender. She did so many sweet things yesterday. It started when the kids woke up. I was in the bedroom getting ready. Darin told me to look in the boys room. All 3 kids were on Spencer's bed and Jordan was reading to the boys-she can do the Brown Bear books since she studied them in school last week. The boys were totally listening to her-very cute!!

She was so sweet in primary. She is so friendly to all the kids. When we came home from church, we were discussing the fact that Spencer was able to go into Primary for singing time, and that he would be a Sunbeam in a few weeks. Jordan said "Spencer, I know you are going to be a great Sunbeam."

While I was making dinner, Jordan was writing these really cute little stories. "I am writing a book, mommy" she would tell me. She would then come into the kitchen and make Darin and I listen to her story which was usually about a little girl playing outside in sun, etc...so cute. I love to see her imagination bloom. She loves to write, cut, glue and color.

As we were getting ready to take baths, Jordan was taking her clothes off. She informed me that she would pick out her clothes for school from now on. She said "mommy, you buy me great clothes." I told her she looked really cute in them and she said "that's because you buy me really good clothes." Hopefully she will feel that way when she is 16!

I was also informed at bedtime that she would be "in charge of putting her brothers to bed now" She insisted on reading them a story, so read Brown Bear again. Darin told me that she promptly went into her room and told him that she read her brothers a whole book!!

If only all little boys could have such a great big sister!! Man do I love this little girl!

Visits from the Tooth Fairy

We have had 2 recent visits from the tooth fairy in our house!!

First Visit:
I was getting Jordan ready for school on Thurs. Dec 4th. I know the date so well because it was the day I went to Utah. Anyhow, Jordan had Lanny's blanket and somehow got blood on it-at that point I didn't see the hole in her gums. I remember being annoyed that I had to wash it quick before I went to the airport. So later I was getting Jordan dressed. I put her shirt over her head and noticed a missing tooth....I guess I was a little dramatic and screamed so she had a look of terror on her face...I asked her if she had her tooth, and she didn't have it.... so we deduced that she swallowed it!! She sucks her thumb, so it must have come loose in the night...

Anyhow, I told Darin you have to have her write a note and draw a picture of her tooth for the tooth fairy. She did so that night, and told the fairy she wanted a present. The tooth fairy paid a visit in the night, but the next morning she wasn't too happy. I have this second hand since I was in Utah. Jordan went down and told Darin to come look in her room. She wasn't happy with $1.oo because she wante a present!! Second Visit:
I picked Jordan up from school last Friday and her teacher told me she had something special for me in her bag. She whispered that it was her tooth. I wasn't too surprised since it was really wiggly. So I looked back and noticed, then Jordan covered her mouth and wouldn't let me see. We were going take a Christmas tree and decorations to a friend and she said we couldn't see it until we got there. I eventually got the story that she was in her second "center" at school and it was so wiggly that it fell out.

So now we have 2 missing teeth on the bottom. Once again the tooth fairy came, but again Jordan wasn't too pleased with a dollar. I told her she has more teeth to loose, so if she saved all the money from the tooth fairy, she may be able to buy a toy like a little pony.

More gratitude

I have been home from Utah for a few days, and have so much I want to put on my blog, but I have to catch up on what I am grateful for.



Saturday December 6th
1. I was able to visit with my friend Brighton, whom I haven't seen since before I was married. She has 2 little girls, so it was really fun to catch up.
2. Landon took a nap for me so I could catch up on lost sleep.
3. I am thankful for family. Darin has a great extended family and I was able to meet up with all of them have dinner. It was fun to see everyone. Caleb and Aiden loved playing with Landon...he would run away and they would carry him back. Would be fun to live closer...




Sunday December 7th
1. I am thankful for the best friends in the world. Maggie got up early and made me oatmeal before I left for the airport. She is such a sweet person. I miss her already:)
2. I am so grateful for understanding gate agents. When I went to gate check my stroller and carseat, I asked if there were any empty seats. The lady looked at my seat and said "that is a terrible seat." She had left the last row empty and put me in it!! I was able to take Lanny's car seat on, and the flight was awesome...I was able to read my book, Lanny took a nap....it was great until the landing.....
3. I am grateful I survived the landing of our plane without throwing up. Seriously, it was the worst landing ever!! I had the barf bag in my lap and came so close to losing it. I didn't realize until I got outside why the plane was swerving all over the place-it was sooo windy. I was never so happy to land-everyone on the plane was bracing themselves....ugh.



Monday Dec 8th

1. I am grateful for hugs and kisses from my 3 little angels. I loved coming home and seeing their faces. Jordan and Spencer were so excited to tell me the fun they had over the weekend.

2. I am thankful for little cat naps.

3. I am thankful for a great primary presidency. The made this cute little packet for the upcoming Sunbeams. We spotlighted Spencer in FHE and went over the packet to help him get ready for Sunbeams in January. Only a few weeks of nursery left for him:) Next year in Primary, he will be on the first row, I will be on the second with the CTR 5 class, and Jordan will be on the next row with the CTR 6 class.

All of a sudden this blogger is weird...won't let me have single spacing....ugh....

Tuesday Dec 9th

1. I am thankful that I was able to get my children out the door this morning and they all survived. I am struggling with the mornings, but they were all fed, dressed, lunches packed and got to school on time.

2. I am thankful for Darin....can't even put it into words...just thankful for him!!!

3. I am thankful for my friend Ryann who lives in England. She called me this morning and it was just like the days when we would call each other every day. Thanks for thinking of me, Ryann. It was awesome to talk...and congrats on the pants.....you are awesome!!!

Wednesday Dec 10th
1. I'm so thankful for Christmas lights. It was warm today, so I got some out and put them outside. I think it adds to the feeling of the season, and just warms my heart to look at them. Plus it makes the kids smile, so then that makes me smile:)
2. OH, now I can do single spaceing....crazy....how can you not be thankful for falling gas prices? In Utah there was one place where it was $1.49....It was $1.89 when I left and now it is $1.66...yeah!!!! Makes a difference when you fill up a minivan!!
3. I am so thankful for the patient people in line behind me at Wal-mart. I took the kiddies after we picked Jordan up from school. For the duration of the shopping trip, they were great-a chocolate shake, fries and nuggets helped a lot-but then I dilly dallied to long and they were a mess buy the time I hit the check out. The gal behind me played with Landon, and they didn't even bat and eyelash at how naughty the other two were being. I don't know you, but thanks so much!!

Thursday Dec 11th
1. I am so thankful for my friend Carla. She did so much for me over the weekend, but is this way all the time. She is a girl scout leader, watches a little baby, has a challenging teenager-I mean challenging, her husband is getting ready to leave for school for a year, and she just serves people all the time. You're the best, Carla!!
2. I am thankful for Stephanie Meyer for giving me somewhere to go when I feel so stressed and need to relax. (My husband isn't so thankful to her, though as I have been a little obsessed with reading the Twilight books.) I am on book 4 and read it when ever I get the chance, which I wish was more often.
3. Today I am thankful for working washers and dryers. I have so much laundry, can't imagine having to do it by hand or go to the laundry mat with children in tow. I love modern conveniences!! I think of Ryann in England with tiny washers....I would be doing laundry every day instead of once or twice a week.

So, I have lots of blessings in my life. Stay tuned for a post catching up on the happenings of the children.
Here's a fun hint: The tooth fairy visited our house last week:)

I'm in Utah....again!

Yes, I was just here, but my old roommate I had when I was married got married today!! It has been a great day. Amy was so beautiful in her wedding dress and was just so happy. She found a great man, and will be a mommy right away to his 2 youngest little girls who are so cute.

Luckily, I had a straight flight this time. It was pretty long, and there wasn't any empty seats, but it was nice to get off the plane at my final destination. Landon was pretty good, and the gentlemen next to me were patient. I was worried because the guy next to me pulled out a laptop to watch a movie, so I was scarred Lanny would do something, but there wasn't a problem. At one point when I got up to change his diaper, both men in my row stayed in the back chatting with people they knew for while and Lanny had fun playing peekaboo with the people behind us. We walked up the aisle a few times as well, and finally he fell asleep with an hour to go...then I got to read in my 3rd Twilight book!!

Oh, I am renting a car and when I got to the rental place, I was expecting a little car-we are only paying $9.00 a day, but they gave me a Jeep Patriot. The thing is huge-I am used to my minivan front end-this thing is a box on wheels, but fun to drive!

I am thankful for:

Dec 4th:
1. Darin being willing to stay home with the kiddies again so I could come to Utah.
2. Very nice and helpful people at the airport. When I went to get tags for my stroller and carseat to gate check them, the girl said "do you want to board now? " So I was the first one on the plane-I think even before first class! (When I took a walk with Lanny, I noticed he was the only child on the plane, as well.)
3. I am thankful there are still nice airlines out there that don't charge for the first bag-Delta doesn't. American charged $25.00 for your first bag!! And American charged a fee for using a frequent flyer ticket and Delta didn't...we need more miles for Delta!

Dec5th:
1. I am thankful for marriage, mine in particular:) Seeing Amy get married reminded me how much I love Darin and value our marriage. Makes me want to try harder to be better!
2. I am staying with my great friend Margaret and her cool husband Nathan-they are the ones who got married in October. I was able to see some good friends at the reception. I even saw my first Bishop when I moved to Ogden. I got to hang out most of the day with Suzanne who was another of my great friend most of the time I lived in Ogden....hopefully I can come back for her wedding sometime next year:) Tomorrow I am visiting another close friend and her cute little family! So fun!
3. I am thankful to Darin's aunt and cousin who took care of Lanny for me today. Apparently had had a fit when I left, then was so overtired that Allison took him for a ride and he went to sleep. I am excited to see the rest of the family for dinner tomorrow!

When I came home from the reception tonight, Landon fell asleep in the car. The poor kid was going on less than an hour sleep all day. So I carried him in, changed him into his pajamas and he slept through it all! I laid him in the portacrib with hardly a sound from him!! So tonight hopefully he will stay asleep in the portacrib instead of on the couch with me:)

I'm thankful for...

1. I am thankful that I could shop at Kohls today and my children were so good!!! Jordan help me pick a few shirts and showed me dresses she likes. I picked a few things, the kids played with a toy while I shopped and the best part was that I didn't spend a penny!! I had $20.00 in Kohls dollars, 15%off coupon, and giftcards from my birthday. Now I have a new shirt to wear to my friend's wedding and reception on Friday:)
2. I am thankful for good friends who are so helpful. I am gone this weekend and will miss a lot of stuff for primary. My dear friend Carla Price is going to basically be me all weekend: help with primary activity Sat. Morning, with the Nativity Sat. night at the ward party, and teach my lesson on Sunday. Thank you Carla!!!
3. I am thankful that I finally remembered that I do like to exercise....I love getting sweaty-makes me feel great! I have exercised each morning this week, despite some pesky little boys around my feet....I love it and am excited to get back in the habit.

An Attitude of Gratitude

We had a fantastic talk in Sacrament meeting this week by a great gal named Sarah Berget. She talked having an attitude of gratitude-even in times that are hard figuring out something to be thankful for. She took a challenge in November to write down 3 things a day she was grateful for. I also saw some other friends who did the same on their blogs in November. It was really fun to read them and it would make me feel thankful for what I do have. Sarah also talked about how we need to complain less...did she write her talk for me?

Well, in an effort to realize how much I have in my life, I am going to do this in December!

Dec 1st:
1. A kind and generoud husband
2. 3 funny children
3. Home Depot where we can get a nice Chrismast tree for only $32.99!!!

Dec 2nd:
1. Being able to call my husband at work whenever I need someting. His internet is so fast he does a lot for me from his office.
2.Living in a county with so much to offer. This morning I signed the kids up for some fun classes at the RECenter. Jordan is sooo exctited to take another gynastics class.
3.A warm house-boy is it cold today!!

15 minutes

Did you know that 15 minutes goes by in a flash, but when uninterrputed, you can get a lot accomplished?

Well, for the last couple weeks, I have been trying this approach to getting things done. It is a little tricky with Lanny running around, but it is great. I have been told about this theory many times by various people, and have sort of tried it before. I decided to set my timer a couple weeks ago, and it totally works for my procrastinating type personality. With the timer running, I would try to get as much done as I could-I did it all day one day and it was amazing what I could do-even with the boys around. I would set it for 15 min then clean, then do 30 minutes and play for a while, then 15 again and clean some more. It also helped when doing the laundry because I would check a lot more.

I have done it a few more times since the first day, and found I really like it. For a personality like me- who is not the best at prioratizing time- having somthing like the timer to be accountable to really helped. I enjoyed seeing how much I could do before the timer beeped, and half the time I would forget about it until it went off...I would be just working away.

The only unfortunate problem is that I really don't have much of an excuse to not have my house clean....well, I will still probably blame it on 3 kids running around who within an hour of mopping manage to spill dinner all over the floor....