Christmas in Great Falls

We had a great Christmas back in Great Falls.  We celebrated Wed with my family, Thurs with Jeff's Mom's family and Friday with Jeff's Dad's family.  Avery got spoiled as always and Jeff and I also made out pretty well.  It was great seeing everyone, we ate too much, drank too much and didn't get enough sleep and we loved every minute of it.  

Avery playing with Great Grandma.
Avery's new cozy coup!  She sits in it all the time.
Opening up stockings.
Avery loved to "open" presents.
Another cozy coup picture.

Dinner at Grandpa and Grandma Klines.  



Taking a bath with cousin Ryley on Christmas.
More presents.
Playing with Grandpa in her new tent.  She made each of us get in it.  She's not nice about it either, she'll come out, grab your hand, drag you to the tent and yell, "get in!"  I've spent a lot of time in the tent since we got home.
My brother Brady and his girlfriend Kristy's new puppy, "Coco."
Avery's new backpack and slippers that she got to open up before we left.
making cookies the weekend before Christmas.

It was so great to see everyone, we have such a wonderful family.  

First Christmas post

The Klines headed back to Great Falls for Christmas and had a great time! We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, Christmas Day with Jeff's Mom's family and the Friday after with his Dad's family. Avery was a trooper and had a blast opening presents and playing with all her toys. Unfortunately we forgot our laptops power chord in Great Falls so I don't have any pictures to post yet but hopefully we'll get the chord in the mail tomorrow and I can start posting. Luckily my dear friend Rosanne was nice enough to send me some of her pictures. On Friday morning me and three of my highschool friends met at Rosanne's house with all the kids to play and catch up. It was a blast and here are a few pictures from the day. Avery was a little clingy and winey and only warmed up towards the end so you won't see her far from me in most the pictures.


Heres the crew, Samantha, Rosanne, me Avery, Jill, Steph and Calen and Griffin are on the floor. Hayley didn't make it into this picture.

Here's one with all the kiddies. Samantha, Rosie, me, Avery, Hayley, Griffin, Jill and Calen.


We met at Rosanne's house and she has an awesome playroom and a lovely house. It's so funny how no matter how long it is between meetings, whenever I get together with the girls it's like I just talked to them yesterday. I'm so lucky to have them all in my life!

Ones that didn't make the Christmas card

It's Damn Cold Here!

Seriously could it get any colder!? Ok I take that back watch me jinx MT and it’ll be 100 below next week. This crazy cold weather is starting to get to me. Thank goodness we got the wood stove in at the beginning of the month, it’s saving our lives. When we bought our old turn of the century home I had a feeling we’d have some high power bills but I never really thought about the fact that when it hit freezing we wouldn’t be able to keep the house warm. Don’t get me wrong it’s not cold it’s just never cozy because in order to make it cozy we’d have to crank the heat to like 75 degrees and I can’t imagine what that would do to our power bill. Luckily this year we have the wood stove and even through this below zero weather we’ve been able to stay toasty, at least on the main floor. Plus anytime we feel too cold all one has to do it plop their bottom down in front of the stove! It’s fantastic and I can’t believe we didn’t get one sooner. When we use the stove, we’ve been able to basically keep the heat from turning on at all through most of the night. It’s a little cool upstairs but adding a couple extra blankets seems to do the trick. Here’s a picture of the new stove. We’re still waiting for the surround to come in so it doesn’t look finished yet but after three months of waiting for this baby I really don’t care. I took this picture with my camera phone, which I need to stop doing since they don’t turn out nearly as good as the actual camera. It’s just so easy to snap a pic and send it to my email.

Regarding the coolness of our upstairs I’ve gotten into a bad habit of letting Avery climb into bed with me when she wakes up in the middle of the night. It started last week when she was sick. She woke up Wed night with a 103 degree fever and it stayed at 101 for two days. After traumatizing her at the Dr. were they drew blood and did a nasal swab we found out it was just a bad cold. She’s pretty much gotten over the cold, yet now when she wakes up at night I’m afraid she’s cold, due to the sub zero weather, so back into bed with me she goes. For those of you who don’t know I say in bed with me because due to my snoring habit Jeff spends most of his nights in the spare bedroom. I know I need to break this habit soon, the bed sharing not the snoring (that's another story), or else I might face a toddler sleeping with me for all eternity but right now I kind of like it. On Sunday she woke me up at about 6:45 am by kicking me for 15 minutes until I woke up. She then scooted off the bed and went and turned the TV on to cartoons all by herself. We had another morning were she tried to wake me up by putting her face about a half inch away from mine and saying, "get up." When I choose to ignore her she went over to her Daddy and did the same thing. He actually got up. I can't wait for the day when she can get herself up and go quietly watch TV while Mommy sleeps in for another hour.

My Hot Pregnant Cousin

Seriously who looks this great when they're almost eight months pregnant!! My cousin Mandy, I guess, were still not sure where she came from because most of the rest of the women in our family put on weight in the butt and thigh area when pregnant. My face also blew up a couple of sizes. Lucky girlie. Just wanted to show everyone how fab she looks. She's living with her fiance down in San Diego and they're coming in for Christmas. It'll be my first time meeting James and I'm excited! Can't wait to see you Mands!!

Late Cat Griz Pics

Since I never got pics of the game up earlier here are a couple.

My sister in law Dawn and I freezing our butts off!

The crew minus my bro Jess who was taking the picture.

Grandma Lori, Ryley and Avery

Here's another cute on from Thanksgiving. Grandma Lori was reading Ryley and Avery books. The kids had fun playing together. Ryley is only a few weeks younger than Avery. It's so much fun to see those two interact. They both crack me up!

Happy Thanksgiving

Jeff, Avery and I went back to Great Falls for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a nice trip.  We met Jeff's Dad and step Mom Wed night for Pizza then we ate with my family Thurs and then headed over to Jeff's Mom's to hang out for the night.  The next morning I woke up at 5 a.m. to hit the black Friday deals with my Mom.  We shopped for like five hours but I got tons of stuff at great prices.  Then on Sat we went to cut down a tree.  These pictures are out of order so you might want to start at the bottom and work your way up.  


Reading a Christmas story.

Decorating the tree.  Avery really likes the ball ornaments and likes to point them out to us.
Looking for a tree.  We got all the way up to the tree spot, found one and then discovered that the chainsaw blade was loose.  So we went all the way back home and Jeff went out by himself to finish and cut the tree.

At Grandma's house after Thanksgiving sitting on Grandpa's four wheeler.  She calls the grandparents Nana and Bega.  Too cute.  Grandpa Bubba is Bega Bubbub.  
Hanging at my parents on Thanksgiving.  We had a crowd of about 17.  Jeff and I are now on diets until Christmas.  Wish us luck!!

A Weekend in Missoula

Jeff, Avery and I cruised to Missoula last Saturday for the Bobcat / Griz game. We left Avery at the hotel with my Mom and were able to enjoy the game, child free. What a great game, for those of you who aren’t aware the Griz kicked ass! It was also kind of funny that before the game Jeff and I went to the bookstore to buy Griz sweatshirts to wear. Stupid me, in a rush to get the family out of the house, I put on my blue winter coat which proved a conflict of interest since blue happens to be the opposing teams colors. Anyhow, we went to the bookstore where I purchased a hoodie and Jeff bought an original Grizz colored sweatshirt, brownish and yellow. He has wanted one for awhile, however, the funny part is that the Griz decided to wear the old colors to the game. Jeff got a ton of compliments and I think he felt pretty cool wearing the sweatshirt.

After the game we went with my brother Jess and his wife Dawn, my brother Brady and his girlfriend Kristi and our friends Teresa and Jeff to eat a ton of sushi. I love love love sushi, so that made my night. We got almost everyone to try raw sushi and it got mixed reviews but I think everyone enjoyed trying something new. Next we met at Johnnie Carinos for drinks, desert and dinner for Brady who was not impressed with sushi. We visited with Jeff’s stepsister and then we headed downtown. I haven’t gone out in Missoula in years so this was a real treat. I met up with my great friend Stephanie and her fiancé Joel at the Iron Horse and it was so nice to visit with them. We also ran into some other friends we haven’t seen in awhile. We ended the night dancing at Feruquis, this odd little martini bar. Jeff and I both paid for our night out the next day but having a night out sans child was totally worth it.

Finally on Sunday we got to hang out with Jeff’s cousin Chris who was in Butte working for a few days. It’s always a treat to hang out with Chris and get updates on his wife and kids. All in all it was a fantastic weekend.

I'll post pictures of everyone at the game in the next day or two. I'm waiting for Jess to email them to me!

Mmmm Tasty

Seriously do your kids ever stop amazing you? I guess this is a question to those with multiple kids or older kids. It’s so funny how every day Avery comes up with something new that just makes me laugh. Last weekend it was saying, “oh man” when something went wrong and yesterday when we sat down to dinner she goes, “mmm tasty.” Like where the heck did that come from. Here’s another one that cracked me up. In this picture you will notice the little miss standing in almost the same stance as her Daddy. Jeff was standing up talking to me and we noticed that Avery had gotten herself up and was standing in almost the same position as her Dad, hands on the hips and everything. Once we noticed she was doing this we thought we’d play a little bit so Jeff sat down. When she noticed that he was sitting down she got mad, grabbed his hand and said, “stand up.” So Jeff stood up and put his hands on his hips again and again Avery stood with her hands on her hips. This went on for like five minutes until Jeff got sick of standing and we distracted Avery with food. Wouldn’t you just love to know what’s going on inside that little mind! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with tonight!

Hooray For Small Victories!

On Monday I stayed home sick with a heck of a cold that had been with me since the Friday before. I kept the little munchkin with me, mostly because in the past couple of weeks she has acquired the ability to sit through and enjoy an entire movie. Since I was sick all weekend and Jeff had what seemed like a six thousand page lab report due, Avery and I watched movies, all weekend long. Her favorites are Flushed Away and Madagascar, which she calls – for whatever reason - Mouse and Eyes. I managed to get her to watch Bug’s Life, Monstor’s Inc, and about half of The Little Mermaid but she always ended up going back to Mouse and Eyes. After watching both about three times each, by Monday I couldn’t do it anymore. When she picked up Flushed Away and handed it to me I decided that no matter how crappy I felt, watching that movie one more time just wasn’t an option. It was at this point that I dragged myself out of my sick bed and ran to K-mart to get a copy of Kung Fu Panda. Here’s an account of the events that followed…

While in the parking lot of the store I turn around and try to reason with my 20 month old child. “If you sit in the cart,” I say very slowly, “you can get a movie, so do you think you can sit in the cart?” The small one nods with those big eyes staring at me. I am not sure if I believe the small one as she’s prone to change her attitude on a whim but I’m desperate, I cannot watch Mouse or Eyes one more time. So into the store we go. I set her into the cart and can see instantly that she is going to protest. I remind her again that if she’s good she gets a movie and the small one relaxes, at least for the moment. I run to the movie aisle. Not only do I grab Kung Fu Panda but they also have Shrek the Third with Shrek Christmas as a bonus, score. At this point, the small one is attempting to stand in the cart, damn. After a couple of minutes of talking her down, I run through the store and pick up cold medicine and a few more items we desperately need – like cat food. We make our way to the check out and it hits me, holy crap the kid sat in a cart for an entire trip to the store, it’s a flipping miracle. A light bulb goes on above my head as it occurs to me that all I need to do is bribe the little monkey!

On the way back to our house, as my energy begins to lag, I remember that we need more whole milk and a couple of items for dinner. In my delusional state, I figure she was good in K-mart maybe I can bribe her again at Safeway. In the parking lot I look back at her in her car seat and ask if she will sit in the cart again at this store and thus get a treat. She stares at me with a look that means business and yells, “NO.” Well I tried. Instead I run into the store, holding the child and a basket and throwing the few groceries I need into the basket at a record pace. If one is not quick enough at the store, the small one will decide that she doesn’t want to be held and will begin to squirm and throw a fit because she wants to walk. It’s a very delicate balancing act.

I guess hooray for small victories. Maybe the bribing to ride in a cart will work some of the time and that’s better than not at all. Maybe it means that she is finally getting to an age where we can somewhat reason with her. Maybe we’ll be able to eat dinner out at restaurants again! Maybe some day dogs will fly.

On a side note the other day while feeding the small one yogurt she decided she was full. When I tried to spoon in one more bite she held up her hand (in the talk to the hand gesture) and said, “Go Way.” I never said the kid didn’t have attitude!

Quirk tag

I was tagged by Rosanne to list 6 quirks about myself and tag 6 people.

1. I can’t stand to have my bedding messed up at night. I can’t go to sleep unless everything is perfect. If Jeff rolls the sheet up during the night (which he does a lot) I freak out.

2. When Jeff’s not home I like to belt out songs in my house. The ten foot ceilings make for great acoustics.

3. I hate mushrooms and can’t stand the smell of them cooking. It literally makes me want to throw up. We have a no mushroom household.

4. It irritates the heck out of me when I’m watching a TV show and the family on the show is eating dinner and they only eat like one bite and then everyone leaves. Hello, it’s dinner at least make the plates look like they’ve almost finished it. (this might have something to do with my obsession with food).

5. I start Christmas shopping and budgeting in July or August. No last minute shopping for this girl. Plus I love the freedom to spend money shopping and not feel guilty because they're Christmas presents. Did I mention I love online shopping!

6. I cut my own hair. I go to a beautician about once a year or so for a good base cut and then I cut it myself (with a little help from Jeff) for the rest of the year. I used to have this awesome beautician in Great Falls that I’d go to but she got so popular that it became impossible to get into her and now she doesn’t work on Sat. I think I’ve been afraid to go try a new person since I can’t stand to think about shelling out $40 for a crappy haircut. It seems easier to just cut it myself plus with curly hair you can’t really screw it up. I also cut Jeff’s hair but that’s mostly because he’s too lazy to go to a professional.

Ok so I’m a little weird but who isn’t?!

I tag Shawn and Mandy!

Hope

I’m going to be honest with you, for the first time in a long time I feel hope. Hope that our country can get back to a place where being an American is something to be proud of. It’s been a long time since I have felt proud of my country. Geez that’s sad to admit. Don’t get me wrong I love being an America and I still believe we live in the greatest country in the world, but recently things have gone astray and I’m not as proud of our country as I would like to be. I am definitely not proud of our current administration and have so much hope that it can be turned around. It’s not to say that Obama will be able to accomplish this feat. He has so much to deal with in his first year in office, I do not envy him. If nothing else, however, this man has given me hope back and for that I thank him. When I watched his acceptance speech I got shivers thinking that he could bring the change that we need. Man I hope he does, I hope he follows through on his promises for change I hope he takes this country by the horns and turns it around but mostly, I hope that he is a President that I can be proud of. If indeed Jeff and I decide to move to Norway in a year, I want to be able to stand proud when I tell people I am an American, I want to be able to have heated discussions about why our country is so great and why our President is a wonderful man who has brought change. Right now having hope for our countries future is enough to make me happy. Thank you Obama for giving this to me and please don’t let the American people down!

Halloween 2008

Avery was a dragon this year for Halloween.  We trick or treated to a couple of neighbors and went to the dorms (breifly) they give out tons of candy up there but it was a little crazy with tons of kids running around.  She loved the candy, ah a girl after my own heart.  Here are a few pics.  

At one point she decided she wanted to walk around in Mommy's shoes.


Check out her new black boots.  I got them half off at payless, I couldn't resist.  

This was towards the end of the night and she was getting a little cranky.
The back of the dragon.
Another picture of the crankster.
Lucas showed up and she was poking him with a stirring spoon for some reason.  
The only picture we got of her actually wearing the hood of her costume.  Having the hood up ticked her off the rest of the time.  Thankfully Mom was fast with the camera.  She was really liking poking people with the spoon?