Spritzer Cookies

When Anthony got home tonight, right around dinner time, the kitchen was pretty much a disaster...but Addie and I were making memories (and unfortunately, not dinner.) That's okay right? I'll remember. She probably won't. We had a great time today making spritzer cookies, which I always enjoyed making with my mother for Christmas. These cookies turn out so pretty, even with 2 year old hands involved.



Addie helped mix up the dough, then she pushed on the lever to make the cookie press "click" and, of course, she added plenty of sprinkles!



She really liked our poinsettias.



I had to take a picture of my tin for her school party. It's my first time taking cookies to school and I'm pretty excited!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Christmas trees are so fun. I love seeing how other people decorate their tree. I especially love going to friends' homes who have kids old enough to make ornaments and decorate the tree. The character of those trees is totally different than my current one with all store bought ornaments. Hopefully next year we can start a tradition of making some ornaments and Addie can help decorate the tree...or maybe I'll get her a little one of her own so I can still have control over mine...or maybe I'll see a professional about my need to control...

Anyway, when we were little, we had a real Christmas tree. Maybe artificial ones didn't even exist for a long time? I really don't know. Seems like whenever EVERYONE started getting fake ones, we did. It was a good fit, since we were all allergic to real trees and generally spent the holidays sick because of our tree. It was also a good safety precaution for us - there was no need for my dad to light the tree on fire in the front yard after Christmas as his contribution to the clean up. There was a nice "X" from one tree on our sidewalk for at least a year. Clark Griswold who?

Back to decorations...We had some of these:



and these:



In addition to the annual school photo ornaments, we also had a complete set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs homemade dough ornaments. Those were unique enough that even the all-knowing internet did not have a picture for me to steal.

The internet DID have a picture of these:



and we had something very similar. Maybe I'll let my kids get some crazy colored lights for "their" tree, since they're getting their own now. :)

This tree was eventually scrapped for some themed trees...the teddy bear tree (little teddy bears, baby's breath, red velvet bows), the burgundy/gold/hunter green tree, and the latest sugared fruit tree. All beautiful in their own ways.

Buy More and Save?

Just the other night Anthony was telling me, in "bah humbug" fashion, how certain stores exist for the sole purpose of giving people a place to check gifts off of their list at Christmastime. Bath and Body Works was number one on the list. I contested that while that may be true, I still like their stuff and always enjoy a gift that helps me smell sweeter. However, even though I value them and the gifts that they supply, I do take issue with their sales techniques. Particularly at Christmas when they double their staff just for the holidays. It is nearly impossible to pick up my product of choice (which is almost always from the front of the store) and walk all the way to the register at the back without at least two people telling me that if I'd just buy ten more I could get one free. Seriously.

This brought to mind a cute Christmas memory! One Christmas when Dan and I were teenagers, he gave me five, yes 5, bottles of Victoria's Secret lotion.



I actually remember hauling all of my lotions off to college and eventually I had to concede that there was probably something growing in them so I tossed them. While I really liked the gift, and all of the selected scents were to my liking, it is funny to think about now. I can just picture my teenage brother in Victoria's Secret doing his shopping, getting attacked by the pretty sales ladies in black...probably hoping no one would catch him in there. What a good brother. :)

"Before" Christmas

The Christmas of 2005 was our last without kids. We gave our parents framed pictures of Addie's seven week sonogram. We were so excited to finally be expecting! We had a cozy Christmas dinner with Sarah and Damion Spilman (Sarah was about to pop with Zane!), Brent and Holly Gardner, my parents, and my grandparents. It was a very exciting time for us and we were so lucky to have loved ones to share it with!

Brent and Anthony were so excited that they wore matching sweaters. :) Holly and I might have done some of our shopping together...



And Simon...well, he had no clue what was happening. If you are new to my blog and wonder who Simon is, well...he is part of our "before children" life. For Christmas of 2006, Simon got a new home in Texas. At least we were kind enough to get him out of the Iowa winters!

Smiles for Monday!

If you are having any trouble smiling on this Monday morning...just watch this. It's a sure fire cure!

Shake What Your Momma Gave Ya from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons

I think if you could measure gift wrapping enjoyment, I really might have more than anyone around. Ask my family members. I REALLY like wrapping! The absolute pure pleasure I get from wrapping any gift, much less a Christmas gift is amazing. I love the paper and even more, the ribbons! There is a part of me that actually believes the receiver of a gift will like it more if it's wrapped beautifully, so I get really into it.

I was the helper in gift wrapping at our house for many many years until Emily was old enough to help. Mom and I had a system for getting all the gifts wrapped. She would be in one room boxing gifts and writing numbers on them before bringing them to me for gift wrapping. Yes, I said numbers. My math teacher mom used a numbering system on our gifts so that she was the only one who knew which gifts belonged to whom. It kept us from bothering (much) to "preview" our gifts in any way.

With five kids in the family, plus cousins, grandparents, and my dad it was easy for there to be quite a few boxes to wrap. You'd think that being the helper in this task would have made me hate wrapping. That was definitely the result from the summer mom paid me 5 cents a shirt to iron...scarred for life against ironing, but I digress...I still love to wrap, though I do have a terrible aversion to the stick-on bows and matching ribbon. Despite the large number of gifts I wrapped as a kid in Mom's little sweatshop, I still truly love to wrap!

Mom also taught me the art of arranging the gifts under the tree to look nice. I must admit, it was more interesting with our large family than it is with my little one. There's not much point right now anyway though since Addie likes to pick them up and shake them around.



"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. " ~ Burton Hillis

Carol of Lights

I didn't miss a lot of things about Texas Tech University when I transferred to Texas A&M, though I certainly missed a lot of people. There was one lone Texas Tech tradition that I really missed: The Carol of Lights.

My freshman year I casually went with my friends to Science Quadrangle for some "Christmas" thing. The Carol of Lights was huge though! It was a cold, crisp night and I was a homesick, tired freshman. After the program, all of the campus lights went off and it was pitch black. Then the entire crowd sang "Silent Night." The reverence was undeniable and I felt so blessed to be there among so many different people of different beliefs singing a song about the birth of the Savior.

After "Silent Night" the whole campus lit up in Christmas lights. It was really beautiful. Absolutely one of my favorite holiday events ever!

Kisses

Dear Hershey's Kiss,

Let me begin by expressing my deep love for you. You've been there, through thick and thin (mostly thick, thanks to you.) I only eat you once a year, every year. You provide a baking-free quick trip down memory lane through the oh so powerful sense of taste. What can I say, a bite of Hershey's and I start remembering peanut butter kiss cookies and all those Santa bowls mom decorated the house with during the holidays.

Unfortunately, I also remember far too many Christmas mornings of a sick stomach due to a breakfast of Hershey's kisses. After weeks of stealing you from the candy bowls, now there were some in my stocking and I just couldn't resist.

More important than that, it is because of you that I spend my month of January on a diet and in the gym. Really, do you have to be so tasty? All the morning shows this time of year talk about the rich food of the season that will pack on the pounds. They promote all the tricks to staying thin over the holidays in various convoluted ways. I really have it easy since there's only one danger food to my holidays.

I've thought about just eating you all year round so the novelty would wear off...but I'm not sure my waistline can handle the risk and these babies are tough enough on my figure. So, dear friend, this year I'm sticking with M&Ms. They are smaller and Anthony likes them too so he can share the calories with me. I promise it's not you, it's me. Farewell, adios, adieu.

Love Always,
Julie

The Girls and Christmas

All joking about the surprise brother of 1983 aside, I did finally get a sister. Once Emily was old enough to join in the fun, there are just a lot of Christmas traditions that became about her, me, and mom. For example, the boys were suppose to go into the attic and get all the decorations out. After that the girls would decorate the house. Then, inevitably, the decorations from last year would not be enough. So, we'd have to go get some more. I have especially fond memories of the time we spent in the kitchen baking, the music played, the dancing, and (usually) the laughter coming from Emily directed at me. I'm pretty sure I'm the reason she doesn't like to dance in public. She probably thought you had to make a fool of yourself like I did.

Happy Feet

This kid seriously makes me smile.


Happy Feet from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

A Brother for Christmas

I wanted a sister for Christmas in 1983. Instead, I was blessed with a very cool brother and an Atari game system that showed up in her place. Really, I joke about having issues with Joey because he ruined my plans of having a sister...but that was a very special Christmas and one I will always remember. Was I sad to have Christmas without Mom? Sure, but that's a whole different post. :) Having a sibling with a Christmas birthday was really kinda fun. There was just more to celebrate in a season full of celebrations.

The Atari gaming system was also the start of a Wilson family tradition. Pretty much every year that there has been a new system out on the market, mom has made sure it was in the house well before we all got there. My favorite was the year of PlayStation II snowboarding game. "Shake What Your Momma Gave Ya" will forever be ingrained in my head and there is definitely a part of my mind that thinks I can snowboard! Everyone enjoyed it...I wish I had a video of my Grandmother playing!

Here's where it all began:

Park City Christmas

In 2004 my family all met up in Park City, Utah for a GREAT vacation. It was really a good time. Everyone but us is returning this year, so I put this together to wet their appetites (as if that is needed!!) I couldn't help but notice, these are some big smiles on everyone's faces! :)


Park City Christmas from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

I think the ending with Luke is appropriate. He was not a member of our family during the trip and amazingly, he still proposed to Emily after spending a holiday with us! For any non-family that finds this slide show boring...here's a little challenge for you: What movie was this song in and what is the scene?

Our First Christmas

We made our first Christmas memorable by spending it in New York City. It was so much fun. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, enjoyed looking at the beautifully decorated windows, eating hot dogs and roasted nuts on the street, and our fair share of sight seeing.



Here's Anthony at Battery Park. This was still the beginning of our marriage, so I had not yet learned to take the camera from him and get some pictures of him. Most of what I have are pictures of me. :)



On the 23rd of December, we went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie. On Christmas Eve we had dinner at The Four Seasons. Then on Christmas Day we saw 42nd street, which was perfect for Christmas Day. We left on the day after Christmas after a short sale shopping spree at Rockefeller Center. In between we tried to find something we could afford at Barneys or Bergdorf Goodman, but failed. Little known fact: if you are really desperate to look cool they sell their shopping bags at Barney's so you can just LOOK like you shop there. NICE. We also had fun at FAO Schwartz. Oh, and we went to this cute restaurant Serendipity (yes, from the movie) and had their famous frozen hot chocolate. It was well worth the walk.



I hope that someday we can take our kids back with us and enjoy a fun Christmas in the city!

Alabama Christmas

Every Christmas I can ever remember included the Alabama Christmas album! I think I could (but won't) sing you every single song on this album.

"There’s a blanket of snow coverin’ up the old road
to the house where I was raised.
Through the window I see the lights on the tree
and a glow from the old fireplace.
Though it all looks the same so much as changed
from the way it used to be.

"Christmas memories of happy years gone by
They come back to me and keep me warm inside
Still those Christmas memories make me cry"

~ Alabama

I had seriously kind roommates in college who actually let me play the CD. I'm not saying they embraced "Thistlehair the Christmas Bear," but they let me get my homesick "fix" in and tolerated the music. There was some ridicule. Maybe a lot of ridicule.

Speaking of Alabama Christmas...we actually had a few of them, seeing as Mike and I were born there. The only one I remember was a visit to the Clarkson's house after we'd moved to Texas. We slept on a hide-a-bed and watched "Ernest Saves Christmas." Good times! Strange what you remember.

The Year of the Windsuit

I think it's interesting that when we were actually in the middle of the 90s, we looked back on the fashion of the 80s with such amazing disdain. As if we were doing any better? Case in point: the windsuit. This was the year of the windsuit. This blessed outfit was given to Mom, Dad, Mike, Dan, Joey, Emily, grandparents, aunts, uncles...and yes, me. Everybody gave everybody else a windsuit.

My high school basketball team made fun of my family because they all seemed to show up to every one of my games that year wearing their windsuits. It was a sporting event. It only made sense! I was defenseless. I mean, it's one thing for another kid's dad to wear one, while their mom and sibling come in other gear. But all six of my family fan club was wearing them. Killer.

Couple of side notes: Yes, that is all real hair. No extensions necessary.

The pretty mauve and blue bedding was also a Christmas gift. Again...gotta love the 90s!

Culture for Christmas

Christmas 1996
London, England
Paris, France
Fun times with our Cousins
Coldest Winter in 50 Years
Tower Bridge (as pictured, with Dan)
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
London Bridge
100 Dalmations
Harrod's
London Tower
Piccadilly Circus
Double Decker Tour Bus
Doc Martins
Train to Paris through the Channel Tunnel
(No, the Chunnel is not glass and you cannot see fish swimming above you.)
Creepy Parisian Hotel
The Louvre
Dan & Joey's Quest for the "Pull My Finger Painting"
The "Creation of Adam" is in Italy
Cool Playing Cards from the Gift Shop had to Suffice
Arc de Triomphe
Eiffel Tower
Walking the Champs-Elysees
Dad saying "Mercy" to EVERYONE in Paris
A good time was had by ALL and
We even came away a LITTLE more polished...

Reindeer and Racecars

One Christmas Eve I spent the night in Mike and Dan's room. We were all hyped up over the holiday and stayed up who knows how late. Mike was probably around 10 years old...old enough to know the "truth" about Santa, but he played it up nicely for Dan and I. Every now and then from the top bunk he'd say, "shhhh, I think I hear something!" Dan and I would then try our best to look out of the tiny window in their room - as if it were even possible to see Santa and his sleigh if he were up on top of our rectangle Texas ranch style home from the inside. Either way, Mike seemed to enjoy himself claiming to hear reindeer up on the roof now and then.

After we were convinced that the reindeer were gone, Dan and I snuck into the living room. We were having a great time with a really cool race track when my mom came in looking very tired and told us to go back to bed. I guess driving the cars so fast that they flew off of the track and crashed into the brick floor was pretty noisy. Not to mention our laughter. I don't think I remember what I got that year, but Dan got a race track that was way fun.

I wonder if I'll be as nice to Addie in the middle of the night as my mom was to us.

Hello?

Another exciting and memorable Christmas gift was my very own phone line. I was eleven years old and apparently my need to talk on the phone was a major burden for the rest of the family. I talked on the phone a LOT. My friends Kinsey Mitchell and Erin Brothers walked home from school with me every day. As soon as they'd get home, the phone calling would begin - as if we hadn't had ample talking time at school or on the way to and from. One night as my family knelt down for family prayer, my dad called on me to say the prayer. I bowed my head and said, "Hello?" without really thinking. Of course, the reverence of the moment was killed and everyone was laughing. My parents seized the opportunity to let me know the obvious - I was not on the phone. I was made fun of for this for many, many years.

Some of my friends have heard this goofy story, so I apologize for the repeat. It sets the stage well for how crazy excited I was about this gift. I distinctively recall opening a large box to find a small piece of paper in it that read 898-0819. So so so cool. I thought I must be the coolest girl in the sixth grade for sure. I called my friends as soon as I could, on my new line of course, to give them my new phone number.

That 1980s Swatch phone is pretty cool, huh? That would have looked AWESOME (or should I say radical?) with my rainbow colored Swatch watch. Rainbows were cool then, too.

Barbie Dream House

This was seriously one of my favorite Christmas presents. I had wanted a Barbie Dream House FOREVER, so when I saw this sitting in the living room on Christmas morning I was so excited. It came completely furnished. There was even a poodle for Barbie to walk.

I still remember playing with it on New Year's Eve that year. Lori Blad and I played Barbies all night long as we took turns sneaking into the living room to get snacks from the adult party. Even looking at it now, that's a really cool Barbie house!

If Addie is into Barbies one day, I may have to find her one of these. Of course, she probably won't think it's cool because it won't be the same as her friends'. Maybe we'll get lucky and she'll skip Barbie. Go for Cabbage Patch Kids...they promote a healthier body image anyway. :)

As a side note, we did have a pretty hideous (sorry Mom and Dad) plaid couch at one point, but this is not it. I just stole this picture from someone on eBay.

Baby Julie

We're getting Addie a doll for Christmas this year. Seeing as she doesn't read yet, I'm thinking it's okay to post that. Picking out her gift reminded me of a Christmas when I was given a doll. In 1983 we had just moved to Denton, TX and were living in a rental house on a street called Piccadilly. My Mamaw and Grandad were living across the street while they found a house, so we spent Christmas Eve over there with my aunt and uncle, cousin, and great grandad (Big Grandad.) Most of what I remember of the scene is blurry, aside from colored lights on the tree. I think that was cool then...or maybe we were just out of it.

We opened gifts from that side of the family that night and I received a beautiful new Madame Alexander doll. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore a pretty light pink dress and matching bloomers. Oh, and she cried when you put her up on your shoulder and could blink her eyes. Her dress had little pink rosebuds on it and some cursive text that I couldn't read (I was only 5!) While everyone was enjoying their new gifts, I showed my new doll to Big Grandad. He asked me what my doll's name was, and I replied that I didn't know. Then I showed him the writing on the dress because I thought maybe it said her name. He looked at it and said, "It says Julie. It's Baby Julie." I was so excited to have a baby with my same name. She easily surpassed my Puddin and Huggums in doll ranking. I think she's downstairs in the basement, so I may have to go dig her up and see what the dress really says.

Christmas is absolutely not about what you GET, however, I love the way that THINGS can bring to mind old memories that envoke feelings. To me, this is a memory of a time and an individual who is no longer with us as well as my explanation to family members who tease me for having a doll named after myself! :) Sometimes I get really annoyed with the way Christmas has been commercialized. Part of me wants to simply not start the tradition of gift giving with my kids so that they understand that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, His life, and all He has done for us. The tradition of gift giving can bring us closer to each other as we give and receive. It's really no different with Jesus Christ. As we give our lives to Him, we will receive gifts we cannot even fathom and hopefully grow closer to Him. What better lesson could I want for my children?

Giving Thanks

I love holiday traditions. Especially ones that I am actually successful at carrying out as our family transitions from one stage to another. For example, my tradition of going to a movie in the evening after the big Thanksgiving dinner is kind of on hold until I have kids old enough to enjoy that with me. One thing I have been able to maintain, no matter what, is taking a picture of my beautiful Martha Stewart/Real Simple inspired table setting.

This years picture is kinda just going through the motions...















Before anyone stops being my friend in the name of bad taste, let me just explain that Anthony is working this week in Statesville, NC so we went down to join him for dinner today. The original "plan" was to just go to the Outback next to the hotel where he stays...however, he sprung a last minute "need" for Thanksgiving dinner on me and we wound up at Cracker Barrel. For $9.95 you can get turkey, ham, ice cream scoop greenish cornbread stuffing, cranberry relish, sweet potatoes, a coke, pumpkin pie, rolls, and another vegetable of your choosing. What a deal! Notice my plate is full. Anyway...Anthony got what he needed and I didn't cook so I won't complain. The sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie were pretty good, as was the diet coke. :)


















Fashionista here wouldn't touch her dinner so she whined and ate Teddy Grahams the whole way home, despite the fact that she had the new Tinkerbell movie to watch (which I do recommend...she loved it on the way there.) Jack pretty much screamed the whole way home. I think he's had it with my travels. I also think he might be having a little teething, which is not so fun. I love the guessing games!


















The picture doesn't do it much justice, but Addie was really getting into putting my makeup on this morning. It was pretty cute. She's also wearing her favorite shoes in this picture...white patent mary janes. I let her do what she wants in the house and luckily she's been really good so far about simply changing her shoes before we leave. Here's hoping that stays the same! :)

There are 15 minutes left in this day that is suppose to be about giving thanks and I'm feeling really guilty about the fact that even though I didn't have any family here to catch up with or spend all day cooking for, I still didn't really take any time to reflect on my many, many blessings. Thank goodness for blogging to bring some introspection to my day!

Happy Thoughts

I'm thinking my last post may have sounded a bit grumpy.

Really, I'm not grumpy though. How could I be with my cute babies to make me smile?

This is Addie on Thursday explaining that she was not sick anymore. She spent three days on the couch without moving. On Tuesday, I didn't even get her to eat one single cracker. So glad to have my girl back!

Jack can now roll from his tummy to his back and then back to his tummy. He's five months old now...time is really flying by!

And here are my two favorite ladies. Addie sure loves being with Nana and Toppie!

Craziness

Our trip home was unexpectedly delayed this week by a mean stomach bug (BOO!) We are recovered today, but still pretty wimpy and so ready to see Dad! 

It's been a whirlwind here. Mostly good things though. Anthony has been to Texas twice for interviews while I've been here. Serena, Maggie, Jack and I flew to join him for one interview, so that was busy. We've seen lots of people, but missed many more. Sadly, our extra week here didn't help with that because I didn't want to get anyone sick. 

In the middle of all the sickness this week, while I watch the news of stock market plunges, deflation predictions, bailouts, and terrorist-friendly presidential cabinet choices I see this:

I'm a stay at home mom. Most of what streams into my home on any given day comes from The Disney Channel or PBS (which evidently is a good source of information per one of these comments...I'll have to focus in on Elmo a little harder.) I did take political science in college, but it was summer school at Texas A&M University with a Drew Carey look-a-like professor in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. All I remember was that he called me out for studying Quantitative Analysis or sleeping during his lectures and I was totally shocked that he had even noticed me since I was in the highest, most obscure seat I could find.

 I spend my days working hard to make my corner of the world something that will in turn make the world a better place. Lately, when I have the opportunity to lift my head up away from the family I'm focusing on and look around I'm just not impressed. Frankly, I'm a little discouraged. I feel like I should DO something about this, but I'm not sure what. I worked hard for a candidate I really believed in, but the uninformed voter shot him down. That's all I knew to do. Any suggestions for my stir crazy, community service, change the world needs? I guess it's just been one of those weeks! 

Root of all Evil

Addie's love of money has been my best friend this past week. She's spent HOURS doing this.

She empties the weird chicken gravy bowl, then she refills it. 

Then she does it again. 

One happy girl.

For the life of me, I have no clue why my photos are in this strange arrangement. I guess I'm just too tired to figure it out either! :)

We Love Cousins!

We are having so much fun here in Houston with our friends and family. Addie is LOVING the chance to play with her cousins. On Saturday night, Dave, Serena and Maggie came over for dinner. The girls wrapped up the night with a bath, which Addie loved. The first thing she said on Sunday morning was, "I take a bath with Maggie!" 

These were pretty much the only two moments where Addie was not saying, "I play with this one" and trying to take whatever poor Maggie was holding. 

And these two have become fast friends once again. I think the age difference makes them great pals. Addie just follows JD around mostly doing whatever he's doing. These kids have such a good Nana. Lucky lucky.
We dipped frozen bananas in chocolate and then covered them in sprinkles tonight for Family Home Evening. Addie and JD loved it of course as you can see from the pictures. 
So many people to see, but we're having a great time trying to fit it all in! We've seen Brent, Holly, and Clark twice now but no pictures! I'll have to fix that. 

A Purse, Money, and a Twirly Skirt

That pretty much sums up the afternoon yesterday. Addie entertained herself in full dress up mode, dancing around in her twirly skirt, while emptying and refilling her purse with some loose change Nana gave her. It was GREAT!

Grandma came over for a visit while Addie was playing. She ran to the door and said, "Gramma, look at my beautiful skirt!" Then the twirling commenced and Grandma was kind enough to join in on the money counting. I love afternoons like that and LOVE that we're having them with some family around for a few weeks! :)

Cool Nana

Nana has a race car (as Addie calls it) and she let Addie drive it. So cool!

Did You?

My voter registration literally just went through when we checked it at 7:30 a.m. this morning! By 8:15 I had voted with both kids still in jammies. Yeah! Now all my buddies who live in later time zones...you know who you are. You get up in the morning, rush to the computer, and pull up my blog (this is sarcasm people.) Well, here's your reminder just in case you live in a hole.

P.S.

If you plan to vote for the guy who is going to hike up my taxes to "spread the wealth" to the tune of a whopping $500/yr to those who need it most, bankrupt the coal industry, send electricity rates through the roof, brunch with our enemies, and further elevate himself and his buddies by standing on the backs of the poor who don't even know his full name...PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME.

I've held my tongue for months now and I think I've done a great job, despite my need to vent about the main stream media's seriously biased reporting on silly things like Sarah Palin's wardrobe (as if Hillary shops at Dress Barn!) So this is all I'll say about THAT.

Happy Election Day!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Just Can't Resist...

Sorry, but this was too funny. :) Cute Halloween pictures of my fairy girl will follow later!

All of the Above

Wow...October 6th was my last post. That's a long time for me. The weather has been great so whenever we can we've been outside in the yard playing. Sidewalk chalk, swinging, picnicking, you name it. I've taken pictures or video quite a bit along the way, but I just haven't had the chance at night to do anything with it (I have to do the dishes and laundry sometime since we play all day!) So here's a compilation of everything I have accumulated.


All of the Above from Julie Berg on Vimeo.



Before going to the Lazy5Ranch where we fed all the animals in the video, Addie and I participated in a 5K yesterday morning. I say participated because we only ran about 3/4ths of the 3.3 miles. My neighbors totally put me up to this and then didn't show. Yeah...great practical joke! I've only run 3 times since having Jack, and 2.5 miles is the most I've done on an easy course. For the entire run while I was killing myself pushing 50 lbs (Addie plus stroller - no she's not that heavy!), Addie was asking where Maddie and Izzy were. Bla. One lady that was running next to us towards the end must have thought my ipod was up too high for me to hear her because she kept trying to motion to me that Addie was talking. I was like, "Yeah, she's been saying that for 25 minutes now." Either way, I beat most of the run/walkers with strollers and my fair share of junior high girls. :)

Cheap Cheap!

Anthony taught Addie one of his favorite words this morning. He's so proud. :)

Very exciting stuff going on here...tonight I skipped the elliptical machine and hit the pavement with Addie in the jogger for the first time in about a year. It went well enough. I only went about 1.7 miles, but it was getting dark so I was trying to stick to the route I knew would be lit. Instead of a quiet or whining Addie from a year ago, I got to hear the following:

Lots of: "Faster mommy, faster!!"
"Hi Moon!! I see you!"
Running through the trees: "Moooooon, where are you??"
Back out from under the trees: "There it is! Hiiii Moon!"
As we turned onto our street: "Goodnight moon! See you next time!"

I've never pointed the moon out to her. Maybe she's learning something at school?

She's Gone Country

For a good laugh, push play and wait for the end of this little video. This is from yesterday. In the morning, Anthony and Addie were at the Dixie Classic Fair. In the afternoon, they were at "Pickins at Priddys." It's an old general store built in 1888 that is still in operation. For three weeks in the fall, they have music and food on Saturdays. I'm not sure if it gets any more "down home" than this. Anthony's clinic gets together there every year. It's about 45 minutes away, so I opted to stay home and let Anthony take Addie. Apparently she was the life of the party.



She's Gone Country.... from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

A Good Day

When I was in elementary school, I got my first journal for Easter one year. I wish I still had it so that I could thumb through it and read what I wrote. The entries were pretty simple. 99% of them said, "Today was a good day. I got to play outside at school." or "We went to church." or "I had chocolate chip ice cream after dinner." On occasion there was a very startling "Today was NOT a good day. I got in trouble." or "It rained." or any other number of catastrophic events that can happen to a six year old.

Well, I must say that today was a good day for so many reasons.

To start off, Anthony took a 6 a.m. nasty diaper off of my hands. My hero! Then all I had to do was snuggle with Jack in the glider until 7:30 when it was time to get up. Tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

While I was feeding Jack, in walks my cute independent two year old. It's been chilly in the mornings lately, so last night I put her in the only pair of long jammies that still fit her. It just happens they have feet. I could write forever about the cuteness of footed pajamas. I will buy them for Addie until they don't make them in her size. Even then I'll probably still look for them! Either way, she was stinkin cute with her crazy hair and her belly sticking out as she walked around in her jammies telling me how well she slept.

Anthony and Addie went to the Dixie County Fair and had a blast. Video/photos will come tomorrow. I worked out while Jack slept. I put my ipod on shuffle instead of my usual playlist of new songs. Here is what it played for me:

The Seashores of Old Mexico - George Strait
I Just Called - Stevie Wonder
She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
Good Hearted Man - Tift Merritt
You'll Be There - George Strait
Me and Charlie Talking - Miranda Lambert
Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

I couldn't help but laugh at my random music taste while I was exercising. These songs all remind me of other good days, 3 and 4 years ago. It was fun to reflect on what I was doing in my life when I downloaded these.

Other good things...Jack napped like a champ while I relished the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wow is all I can say. I didn't even know how much I needed to hear the abundant messages on hope and faith! Until I heard these messages, I didn't even realize how much the global financial distress, energy crisis, presidential race, natural disasters (Ike...Iowa Floods), and terrorism (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech to the UN just about made me crazy) were stressing me beyond my usual fears about being a good wife and mother (daughter, grandaughter, friend, etc...)

Just a few talks that really stood out:

L. Tom Perry discussed the spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle, citing Henry David Thoreau's experiences. If I only implemented what I heard in this one talk, my life would be improved 100% for it!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's eloquent, yet, simple instruction on faith and hope was exactly what I needed. Just as I was thinking that, it dawned on me that he was giving this talk because so many people need it. If you need to replace feelings of fear and despair with faith and hope, check it out. You can get it here. I promise it won't disappoint.

During the latter session of the conference, I enjoyed listening to Addie try to sing along with the children's choir while I fed Jack his cereal in the other room and reflected on how lucky I am. Now my babies are in bed, my husband is at his Priesthood meeting, Addie is singing herself to sleep, and I'm enjoying a house so quiet that all I can hear are the neighborhood dogs and locusts in the trees. Ahhhhhh. Today was a
good day. :)

Debate Watching

Yes, I was really paying attention to the VP Debate last night. At least a ton more than the actual presidential debate last week which I thought was a real snoozer. I just happened to be playing around on the computer at the same time and made this little video. I had some cute clips of Jack I was just looking for something to do with. :)


Break from the Debate... from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Goodmorning!

Addie's excitement over her big girl bed has translated into general excitement over anything about the morning. She has rekindled her old habit of ending most of her sentences with "in the morning" and instead of saying hello to people she says "goodmorning!" She says "goodmorning" with so much enthusiasm that it's hard not to feel like you could start your day over right even if it's 5 p.m. Yesterday there was a little girl playing in her yard two doors down. Addie just stood on the fence watching her and after much prodding from me she shouted a "goodmorning" to her. Thank goodness the girl was sweet enough to yell "hi" back and make Addie's day.



Since changing beds, Addie does wake up a little earlier than she use to which is really fine since I'm up with this little guy anyway. I have still been waking Jack up at 10 p.m. to feed him so that he'd sleep until 7 a.m. By this time, Addie had been sleeping 12 hours but it wasn't all falling into place as easily with Jack. All of that changed on Monday night when Anthony and I went in to wake him up for the 10 p.m. feeding. He just smiled the biggest smile at both of us, then he refused to eat, then he smiled some more. Totally unnerved, I put him back in bed and he fell back to sleep until 7:30 a.m. Crazy. He's repeated it for the rest of the week. So now he gets the "easy baby" award. Sorry Addie.