Bacon Bits: 2009

Christmas morning (part one)

Here are the kids waiting at the top of the stairs...they were really, really patient and nice about us wanting to wait for a while this year...Mr. Claus still needed to wrap Mrs. Claus's presents!

We had Duchess out in front of the tree since she was an early Christmas present!

What the tree looked like before the kids came down...

You can't really get a better reaction than that!

Unless it causes you so much joy that you must go into some kung-fu moves...now that's happy! Ava on the other hand...she just wanted to get started!

Oh the weather outside was frightful, but...(part two)

There was nothing but love and love and love inside. We had the greatest Christmas this year and just took our time opening gifts and spreading the love...

Andrew was so happy to get this new set of books that he wanted and I was so happy that he wanted a set of books!!

Amazingly enough, Zach was still very, very excited to get this Lightning McQueen car...it was on his wish list!

More love and love and love...

And more love...

And even more love...

Duchess found this piece of ribbon and was in love herself! She played with it for hours!

And I was in love with this new apron that my parents sent me!

Here's Ava loving her new little baby!

And just in case you forgot that the weather outside was frightful...here is a picture of Christmas night after Greg and I got done clearing the driveway! It was a huge snow...they said 24" total...but inside it was the warmest, most wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We didn't end up with a lot of pictures from Christmas Eve, but it wasn't because we didn't have a great time. Greg snapped this picture right before the 2nd course. We had the Davis family over and I made my family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner. I had my dad on call from Kansas throughout the day, and it all worked out in the end. We had a wonderful night filled with good food, and great company!

With a Corn-cob pipe and a button nose...

Welcome to Bentleyville!! For those of you who are not local, it's a huge lights display with characters, hot cocoa, marshmallows to roast over fire pits, cookies, Santa and the whole works for FREE!! It's a great winter activity for the family and this year we really got "into" the act!

The kids were super excited to be there playing in the snow (and on the ice skating rink)!

Here they are dancing to some tunes in one of the light tunnels...they've got some great moves!

Here's how we got into the act...Rudolph is my friend...not figuratively, literally...it's Elsie! Elsie and her daughter, Hannah, had decided to be characters this year and when I found out - I jumped on the bandwagon. We had a great time and it was especially fun when the kids came!

You guessed it...that's me! Frosty the Snowman. Ava was too nervous to come up to me...even though I broke one of the cardinal character rules and talked to her...she was still a little unconvinced! It was a great night with friends and family! Thanks Bentleyville!

I don't know if anyone else will catch my vision...

Except for Greg, Andrew and Tammy and Jim Hall...

I have to bring a white elephant gift to the Stake Christmas party this afternoon and have been trying and trying to come up with something good. At first I tried to find a place that would sell me a chicken (a live one), with no luck I went to the pet store and priced rats. I was a little worried that someone might open the gift and freak out, drop the rat and then the rest of the party would be spent trying to catch the rat in the church, so...

On to my fall back - jewelry! Then I thought of the Flava-Flav necklace and thought it would be a perfect item to try to duplicate. I think it turned out great - I just don't know if anyone else at this particular party is going to catch my vision!!

Potty training 101

I actually think that both of these situations would enroll Ava into the 102 course...they seem a little advanced for the 101 section. Napping while pottying...maybe in a 101 course, but the casual, upbeat attitude with a little Diva sass added in...hello?? totally a 102 skill.

She's doing really well and we are just about done using the "little potty" and she is mostly going on the "big potty". She's been to school twice, to church, and to many stores etc. in her big girl underwear and we are very happy that she seems to be well on her way to graduation!!

Crash, Boom, Bang!

Well, there you have it my friends...the result of my first car accident!! When I got out of the car (which makes a terrible noise - look at the door hitting the front quarter panel and imagine the noise that metal on metal makes), I told the other driver that this was the first accident I had ever been in while I was driving and he said, "whoa, that's pretty good". He didn't really give me the impression that he was a "first timer"!

He was very honest and nice though - and told the police officer that he ran the stop sign - at least that piece of the incident went very smoothly. Hopefully things with his insurance company will go as well...I'll have my finger's crossed!

For now, I'm feeling very grateful for seat belts, for being able to turn enough not to hit him head on, for everyone being okay (barring soreness) and that Greg will finally be home tomorrow so I can lay down and put my head in his lap and pretend that this didn't happen (even if it is for just a moment)!

Christmas Baking

I finished all of my Christmas baking yesterday and am really happy with how everything turned out and am really, really happy to be at the eating and sharing stage of the baking!! I made 36 dozen cookies and 5 pans of peppermint bark...we'll be eating treats for the whole month (and maybe then some). I do love Christmas treats!

Just in case anyone is curious, I made: anise drops, pfeffernuese, million dollar cookies, peanut butter truffles, peppermint bark, armenian bread, russian tea cakes and ginger chocolate cookies.

Oh Christmas Tree

We decorated the tree the other night and the kids had a great time helping...I have to admit that it can be a little hard for me to let them decorate any way they want, but I did much better this year and honestly, they had more fun! Duchess came into the room and sat on her little pillow the entire time we decorated. The kids were really excited to have her there too...she was really mellow - perfect!

Here is the finished tree...

Andrew got to put the star on top of the tree this year - it was a nervous little procedure (you can't see, but Greg is actually standing on a chair and then lifting Andrew like that - I almost had to close my eyes)! I do love having the tree up. I just love sitting in that room with the Christmas lights on at night...there really is something peaceful about it!

It was bound to happen...

Anyone who knows me very well has heard me say something to the effect of, "We had Andrew in California, Zach in Michigan and Ava in Utah...Minnesota is going to be the dog state". WELL...now it is! Meet Duchess. We got her 1 week ago and have been adjusting well to the new responsibilities of having a dog. We love her a lot and are really excited to add her to our family. We think she is just about the cutest thing ever...and who knew...there is a whole, big, wonderful world of cute dog things to purchase! She'll be well pampered and loved!

A new treat to be thankful for...

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!! My friend Bridgette told me about this Martha recipe that is really yummy. It didn't disappoint! We are happy to add it to the list of treats I make at this time of year.

Delicious!

A sigh of relief...

They finally opened up the H1N1 shots to kids under the age of 9 here in Duluth. I took the boys in today after school and had them get the mist. I know they will still need to get a booster (if they ever become available here), but at least this should give them enough immunity to keep them from a really serious case of the swine flu. Now we just have to hold out for Greg and me!

Another "Better with Bacon" product!

My dad sent this to me...bacon flavored envelopes! It could make the Christmas card stuffing a whole new experience! Mmmm bacon! http://mmmvelopes.com/

A real life Cinderella

Believe it or not, this is the AFTER picture from our project on Saturday!! Greg and I cleaned out the fireplaces and got them ready to be inspected. There is a some joint work that will definitely need to be done, but the box is solid and amazingly, the inside floor of the fireplace is the same tile work that is in the great room. We know there is a lot more project to be done on the fireplace, but this is a major improvement!!

Have we been bitten by a tsetse fly?

Wait...this one's a fake...

Uh, yeah...this one too!

Is everything really better with bacon?

Bacon Air Freshener - Your car and/or house will smell like bacon heaven. If you know your bacon lover lives with a vegetarian this is a must have.

Bacon Bandages - If your Bacon lover is like me and is accident prone they will love you forever if you got them some of these. Unfortunately they do not smell or taste like bacon.

Bacon Wallet - It’s a wallet that looks like bacon. Do I need to say anything else?

Bacon Lunch Box - If your Bacon lover is a worker bee then get him/her this. They will be the envy of all the other bees in the hive.

Out of the mouths of babes...

This is a change for this area, but here is a conversation that my kids wanted documented:

Me: What are some good games to play?

Andrew: (Some shooting game)

Zach: Fortnite

Ava: Halo

(All kids laughing because they know how much I dislike those kinds of games)

Me: You guys are the worst children!

Zach: I'm gonna quote you on that!

It's been a long time again since adding to this, but I am happy to add this one! The song 'One Way or Another' was on the radio. The lyrics say, "one way or another, I'm gonna find ya', I'm gonna get ya', get ya', get ya', get ya'..." We were singing along and then Zach said, "I don't understand why Ghandi would sing this." It was so funny to me - I could barely tell him that it was Blondie who sings the song - not Ghandi! The thought of it being Ghandi has brought me a lot of joy though!!

It's been a very long time since I added something to this line - that's what happens when your kids get bigger. But the other day Ava had a priceless conversation with me...She has been studying the solar system at school and had a big project due. She has been really interested in everything and has been coming home and sharing all kinds of facts. She came home and was so excited to tell me about a dwarf planet. She said, "can you believe there is really a dwarf planet?" I acknowledged her interest and she said, "I was talking to my friends and we just can't believe that there is actually a planet with dwarfs living on it!". I was so amused...so amused. I explained to her that it wasn't that kind of dwarf...she was a little bummed out, but it definitely made more sense to her. I loved having an "out of the mouths of babes" moment!

I was in the kitchen making cookies with the kids and was talking to Ava. She asked me if I had big parties when I was a kid. I told her that I didn't, but that I always wished I could have a big party with all of my friends. I told her that I dreamed about growing up and having parties with all of the people I cared about and having great treats and doing fun things at the parties...She looked up at me and said, "all of your dreams have come true"! It was so cute to me...and all I could do was look at her and agree.

Ava was cutting snow flakes out of paper yesterday and then putting glitter glue on them. She was very proud of what she had done and was showing them to me. I told her how much I liked them and she said, "I could teach you how to make it - and, I think you could do it because you are pretty crafty". It's good to have the confidence of my 5 year old!

Ava gave me a mother's day card from school and on it was written (in the teacher's handwriting) "I like my mom because she gives me agates". I read it and didn't really understand the reference, but we do live near the lake and everyone is always searching for agates...I thought it was maybe just something someone else said. This week she came downstairs and asked me if I would make her an "egglette". I didn't know what she meant and she said it again, "egglette". I finally caught on and asked her if she meant an omelet. "Yes!" Then she said, "I call them egglettes, just like I did on your mother's day card." She likes me because I make her omelets...now that's my girl!!

Yesterday I was doing some bead work and Ava came and asked me if she could help me. I told her that it was kind of hard and I wasn't sure if she could help with this kind of project. She quickly told me that she could if I would just let her try. I agreed and she excitedly told me, "Thank you Mom, I've been waiting for years for you to teach me how to do this!"

I was talking to the kids yesterday and was trying to explain that Greg and someone were having trouble seeing eye to eye on the future direction of the company. Zach said, "yeah, like he said (Greg) that they should make a machine with two cranes on it and then the other guy interrupted and said, no, we should make a machine with tank wheels on it".

Today Andrew came up to Greg and was rubbing his shoulders and said, "Why are you so dense Mr. Bacon?". I looked at Andrew and said, "I think you mean tense - dense means that you aren't very smart". Andrew laughed so hard that he literally fell over!

Yesterday I was telling Ava a story and I mentioned Beth. Ava asked who Beth was and I told her that Beth is my sister and her aunt. She looked at me with her eyes wide and said, "you have a sister who is an ant??". Not that kind of ant...

Ava just got upset with Zach and told him, "I don't like you anymore". I had her go to time out and then after she got out, I asked her to apologize to Zach. She did. She said, "Zach, I'm sorry that I don't like you anymore". Nice.

Last night we were eating some cheese and crackers and Andrew asked Greg and I if we liked goat cheese and maggot bread. At first I thought he was being gross, but then realized he was totally serious...so I asked again...thinking I misunderstood. Nope, the question was about goat cheese and maggot bread. He followed up his question by informing us that it was french...that's when Greg figured out he meant "baguette" bread...there is a little difference between goat cheese and maggot bread and goat cheese and baguette bread!

The kids were playing in the toy room in the basement and Ava was bothering the boys and wouldn't stop. I called her upstairs and told her that if she didn't stop, she wouldn't be able to go back down and play. She looked at me and with tears in her eyes said, "but I will miss the basement - and all of my toys". I had to assure her that I meant she couldn't go back down right now...but that it wasn't a permanent punishment!

Today Zach was looking through a toy magazine and saw something he thought was a hand held video game. He commented that he wanted it and I told him it was only for school programs and he said, "I want any kind of a video game even if it is good for my brain!"

When we went to the alpine coaster, Ava said that riding the coaster made her stomach "have the wiggles"...what a great description!

Zach came home from the 3rd day of 1st grade and said, "Tests are a lot more fun than they seem like they are going to be - especially when you show your mom and she's really proud of you"...he's cute.

Today the kids were telling stories about places we have been and they were wondering if Ava had been born for one of the vacations. I said, no, that Ava had still been in heaven with Heavenly Father. Then Ava said, "then I turned into an alien. That's why I would live in outer space." Hmmm, guess we need a little more explanation on that concept!

When we pulled up at the Taco Bell drive thru, there is a new ad campaign with a girl who lost weight eating Taco Bell (the Jared of Taco Bell). When Zach saw her he said, "look at that hot fashion girl with a taco". I had to ask twice just to make sure that's what he said...it was. I guess in his eyes, Taco Bell had been good to her!

Tonight as the family was playing t-ball, Ava was holding the bat and was very proud to tell us that she was, "choking on it" instead of choking up. She also was happy to be wearing her baseball "mitten". Baseball lingo is still relatively new!

The other day at ECFE they were getting ready for the big transportation night and asked the kids what they would like to ride on. Ava said, "a cloud". One of the other little boys told her that it sounded scary. The teacher asked her if she thought it would be scary and how would she get up on the cloud. Ava said, "you would need a very, very tall ladder and you would have to be very careful and have someone hold it". OSHA would be proud.

On the night before Easter I was putting the kids to bed and Zach was so excited about the next morning. He was asking about eggs and the hunt and I told him that Easter was really about Jesus and the resurrection. We had a little chat and then as I turned the lights out and walked out, Zach said, "Jesus on the cross". I said, "what did you say?". He said, "Jesus on the cross". When I asked him why he was saying that, he said, "you know, like how you say Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday". Not exactly the same...let's try Happy Easter!

We were talking to the kids about college and working really hard so that you can get into a good school and Zach said, "I'm going to work really, really hard - like I'm going to try to always color in the lines."

Andrew told Ava that she looked pretty yesterday morning and Ava told Andrew, "You look cool - like rock and roll". Where in the world did she get that one?

Tonight Ava was telling us that her Daddy's name was "Daddy". I asked her what his other name was and she said, "Greg". I asked her what my name was and she said, "Momma". I asked her what my other name was and she just sat there and thought about it. I tried to give her a hint by saying, "Saaannnd", and she proudly said, "Sandbox". Close, very close.

I was eating breakfast and Zach was standing in the doorway talking to me. When we were done he said, "Mom, I know you love me. I'll be in the other room if you need me." He smiled and walked out...it really warmed my heart! This morning I was dancing for Ava while she was eating breakfast (she is usually very happy to have me twirling and shaking). When I turned around and did a little "rump shaking", Ava said, "No, not your booty - not your booty - it scares me". Lovely.

Today Ava came into the room and was whispering and said, "Do you hear that? What is it? It's a musk ox, the baby Moses and Swiper the Fox"! I thought it was quite the trio!

When Ava wants to put her money in her bank, she calls it the "piggy bank ride" like a piggy back ride...very cute!

The other morning Ava was in her bed yelling for Andrew - this is what she said, "Andrew...come here...right now...because...right now...Andrew...please". I thought it was so cute that she tried every tactic she knew - with no response from Andrew in between.

Ava just wrote on the wall with a marker and when I tried to get her to say, "I will not draw on the walls", she said, "I will be nice" instead. It did kind of warm my heart - which she needed in that moment!

I was frustrated today and said to Zach, "How many times do I have to tell you something before you'll do it?" and Zach very correctly answered, "2 times".

Andrew was telling us how excited he was to ride his favorite ride again, "Zach Smith". It took us a minute to realize that he was talking about the "Aerosmith" roller coaster - Zach Smith is our home teacher!

After waking up from a nap on vacation and trying to remember something, Zach said, "That nap made my brain not so smart".

This afternoon Ava was in a "no" mode - answering "no" to any and every question - "are you daddy's girl?", "are you pretty?", "do you love shoes?"...you get the idea. When I asked her if she liked ice cream, she said, "n" and then quickly realized what she was about to do! She happily said, "ICE CREAM" instead! If there was ever any doubt that she is a Bacon - there is the proof!!

This morning Zach was under Ava's bed and was pretending to wonder if he should come out. He kept saying, "is the ghost clear?" - I tried to tell him that the saying is, "is the coast clear?", but that didn't make any sense to him and so he decided to stick with "is the ghost clear?". I guess if there was a ghost in the room, you would wonder if you should come out and maybe it would be pertinent information to find out if he was clear as well...

Tonight I noticed that Zach had eaten all of the food on his dinner plate and I asked him if he wanted more. He said, "no" and so I asked him if he was full. He said, "no, but I'm saving my apple-tight for doughnuts".

Zach just said to Andrew, "Let's play a game of allergic, jumping shoes!" What???

After Andrew was showing me his wiggly front tooth and telling me how excited he was to lose it, he said, "but I am hoping that my sweet tooth is a permanent tooth"!

This has been happening for quite a while and it makes me smile every time. When Zach says prayers, he says, "Thank us" instead of "Thank you". So he is always asking God to thank us for everything - food, our family, our house, nice weather - you name it! I know his intention, but it still makes me smile.

Tonight Andrew said, "Mom, what exactly did you mean when you said "No more"?"

Last night Greg and I were talking to Andrew about his personality and Zach said, "Can you please stop talking about Andrew now and start talking about me?" We thought it was a good showing of his personality!

Zach has been really interested in the concept that Heavenly Father knows everything. Today he asked me, "How does He know everything?" I told him it was because he created everything and so he knows everything about those things. Then Zach said, "He must be very, very, very, very tired from all of that work".

Greg was having a father/son interview with Andrew and asked him about girls. Andrew said, "They're okay. Sometimes they are nice, sometimes they barely will talk to you. Sometimes they are bossy, sometimes they just want to hang out with other girls and sometimes they will play with you and have fun." After thinking for a moment, he summed it up by saying, "I just think they have lots of feelings." Wise beyond his years...

During Zach's interview, Greg asked him what he could do to make Zach happier and Zach said, "Get me a toy that I would like for Christmas or my birthday or if I could eat some Halloween candy right now". He also told Greg that he loved Greg so much that he would even let him keep his red Lightening McQueen - for anyone who knows Zach, you know that is some major love!

Today Andrew and Zachary were supposed to be cleaning the toy room and after about a half hour I went down to see if there had been any progress. When I found out there hadn't been much, I asked what happened and Zach said, "the t.v. annoyed me too much and made me play instead". He obviously meant "distracted", but I got the message loud and clear!

We were at Greg's grandma's 99th birthday party today (at a nursing home) and Zach announced that he didn't want to get really, really old because he wouldn't look like a normal person anymore - is that politically correct?

Zach was talking about someone being excited and saying, "Yeah", and said that "it was the different kind of yeah, not the Book of Mormon yea".

Zach was talking to his stuffed animals about something and told them that if they wanted more information they could go to http://www.com/!

Zach saw a picture of Jesus and we were talking about it. I asked him if he knew that Jesus is our older brother and he said, "Yeah, and he is super, dooper old - like 15 or something".

Andrew was watching part of 'America's Got Talent' when the male Brittney Spears impersonator came on. He was a little confused to find out that it was a man and also that he was lipsyncing. Afterwards he said, "if the guy isn't really the girl and he isn't really singing, then it doesn't seem like he really has any talent".

Andrew and Zach were playing with pretend cell phones and A asked Z who he should call. Z said, "Littlefoot" (the dinosaur from Land Before Time) and A said, "He can't hold a phone, he's a dinosaur - AND, he's prehistoric - they didn't even have phones back then". Ahhh the boundaries of make believe!

This morning Zach was arguing with me that today was not a "church day" and after a while I told him that he didn't know everything. He looked at me with a "duh" look on his face and said, "yes I do". Nice!

Zach was playing castle and he said, "I am the king, mommy is the queen, Andrew is a knight, Ava is the princess and daddy is the joker". Greg and I laughed pretty hard.

I ran a bath for the boys this morning and Andrew thought it was too hot. I told him to just sit down in it and his body would get used to it. When he sat down he said, "my tummy is telling me it's still too hot".

Zachary was telling Greg and me that Mexican jumping beans jumped because there were little caterpillars inside that made them move (something he saw on PBS??) and asked if he could have some. I told him that I didn't know where to get them and he said, "Well it isn't far away, we just have to go to Mexico".

I was explaining the concept of a decision being "black and white" to Andrew and I asked him if he knew what grey was (thinking he might know it was the mixture of the two) and he said, "Yeah, I think it is the color of the tips of seagull's wings".

Andrew woke up in the night to go to the bathroom and I asked him if he was dreaming that he had to go to the bathroom and he said, "No, my brain was just concentrating on sleeping".

I was just telling Zachary to get down from the back of the couch so that he didn't fall backwards and get hurt - the possibility of more staples came up and Cortney asked him, "Wouldn't that be terrible?" and Zach said, "Yeah, but you might get a surprise at the end"(the nurse gave him a teddy bear because he was so brave) - so much for a lesson learned!

A Very Brief History of Our Time

This is where it all started for us - Saturn of Orem (Christina always gets credit for "Greg and Sandy" because she brought me to the dealership to help her buy a car and that is how I got my job there). Greg and I met in August of 1997 at work and eventually found ourselves in a long distance relationship with romantic rendezvous in Winnamucca. Yes, we know we may be the first ones to find Winnamucca romantic. We got married in September of 1999 and I moved to Sacramento. We had so much fun living and playing in California. In September of 2001 we welcomed Andrew into our lives. A few short months later we found ourselves transferring to Detroit for work. Detroit brought many wonderful changes in our lives including Zach in June of 2004. In 2006 Greg finished his MBA and made the decision to leave GM. Off to Utah! We spent two great years there and even fulfilled our "1 child per state" precident with the addition of Ava in March of 2007. One month ago we transferred to Duluth - the headquarters for Greg's work. It's been quite the whirlwind, but we wouldn't change any of our experiences.

We have been so blessed to find wonderful friends everywhere we have lived and we hope this blog helps us to keep in touch.

Bacon Bits

Christmas morning (part one)

Oh the weather outside was frightful, but...(part two)

Christmas Eve

With a Corn-cob pipe and a button nose...

I don't know if anyone else will catch my vision...

Potty training 101

Crash, Boom, Bang!

Christmas Baking

Oh Christmas Tree

It was bound to happen...

A new treat to be thankful for...

A sigh of relief...

Another "Better with Bacon" product!

A real life Cinderella

Have we been bitten by a tsetse fly?

Is everything really better with bacon?

3 little monkeys

If you'd like to follow my blog...

I Joined - Have you?

Ava is walking! Watch her on google video...

Andrew and Zach

Snow Buddies

Ava's 18 Month stats!

Ava's 12 month Stats!

Out of the mouths of babes...

A Very Brief History of Our Time

Blogs we enjoy

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