My 2011 Predictions

 To close out the year, I figured I had better see how my predictions for 2011 turned out. Tomorrow I will post my 2012 predictions:

11. Audra starts Sunbeams (see next post for clarification)- Yes, and she loved it.

10. Claire talks in full senteces and got no broken bones (the last part would be a miracle- but we will hope for no emergency visits! Seriously, I have never met a child who is so adventurous!)- Both true- WHEW did we luck out!

9. I lose 25 pounds (I have finally decided it is time to lose the baby weight- blah. I am not looking forward to it, but I bought a mini-stepper which is pretty cool so I think that will help)- HA! But, it doesn't help that I got pregnant. At least I have a reason to be fat!

8. Ben begs for a new computer (he just got his new TV, so I am certain his next necessity will be a computer)-He is not begging for a new computer, but he is definitely begging for a new Playstation 3

7. Ben travels for work (I hope he gets to go someplace cool so I can go with him!!! Part of his job requires traveling but so far he has not  had to)-He still has not had to travel for work, and he shouldn't have to this year so that is great

6. Dollar collapse (this is obviously a downer...but I am making predictions, and I just don't see how the dollar can continue to sustain itself for another year without some serious measures being taken...I think this year will be very interesting for the United States in that regard. We'll see.)- Still hasn't happened- maybe it never will. That would be nice!

5. Audra will start pre-school and I will cry her first day- She did start pre-school, but I did not cry!

4. Claire will be enrolled in a tumbling class-Nope.

3. Ben and I will get away WITHOUT the kiddos for a small trip-We did get away. We went to the Broadmoor for Ben's Birthday.

2. Lady Gaga will wear a dress made out of meat
    Oh, wait....-She is getting more and more interesting, though. But, I did enjoy her on SYTYCD.

1. Overall, life will probably continue on the same as usual (unless #6 happens. Or a war with North Korea starts. Or all the crazy weather causes mass food shortages and riots. Let's hope those don't happen and that #1 happens instead!-Yes. Life is pretty much the same, and that's not a bad thing. 

I actually did pretty bad with my predictions. Maybe next year's will be better!

Top 11 of 2011

Here we go- our best of the best for 2011:

11. Christina correctly predicted that UCONN would win the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and beat Ben in our March Madness bracket competition

10. Tim Tebow. Love him or hate him, he has made football fun again in the Mile High- and it has been a LONG time since the Broncos were fun to watch

9. Audra going into Sunbeams and starting pre-school

8. Christina jumping (barefoot) over the fence to stop our neighbors fence fire while Ben watched through the window at his Wonder Woman wife. (Like that use of alliteration? I came up with that myself!)

7. Watching the girls dance and play together. Seriously, I could watch them dance in our living room for hours on end- it is the greatest thing in the world.

6. Having this song sung in my little Corolla pretty much every day: "Sun, sun, go away- please get out of Claire Bear's face!" Even though it didn't always make the sun go away, it did make Claire happier which in turn made everybody happier.

5. Having these phrases introduced to our house by our Audra-bot:
          a. "deep-deep" (as in, Audra wanting to go to the deep end of the pool)
          b. "my heart is beeping"
          c. "fancy-pantsy"
          d. "super-dooper cold water" (Audra wanting water from the fridge and not the faucet)
          e. "Rudolph The Reindeer's Nose"

4. Buying our mini-van.

3. Summer playdates with friends- watching Claire splashing around at local spray parks was the best way to spend the summer (she was much more daring than Audra- Claire is definitely a girl who LOVES the water- we need to get her into swimming lessons soon!). Unfortunately, as the girls get older, these playdates are getting few and far between. Hopefully this next summer will be another great one, though!

2. Spending a month in Seattle visiting my family and friends. We had such a fantastic time- I have a million wonderful memories of our vacation there- words can't describe how great it was!

1. Finding out we are having another baby! As overwhelmed as we feel at having a new little one, I am really quite excited to hold a newborn again- there is nothing in the world that comes even close to holding a new baby!

Had To Record This

This was the conversation on the way home last night from Grandma and Grandpa's:

Ben: Oh, girls, look out Claire's window- see how the wind is blowing the trees with the Christmas lights? It looks like they are dancing!

Claire: I see lights! No, Audra, I don't want you to look out my window!

Me: Claire,  Audra can look out your window.

Claire: NO- Audra NO look out my window!

Audra: I see the pretty lights, and Claire- I AM looking out your window!

So much for not rubbing things in your siblings face...

To add to this post, the next day- Friday- we asked Audra if she could have anything she wanted, what would it be. Her response:

"To have all of my family together."

Gotta LOVE that!

Out With The Old, In With the Not As Old

We finally did it. We went from this:

 To:

Actually, we haven't quite made the complete switch. We bought the Sienna last Tuesday, and pretty much we drove it home from the dealership, parked it in the garage and left it. My excuse has been the weather. And, it is true- I do not want to take my new car out in this ice and snow until I know how it handles.


But, really, it is hard to give up my Corolla. We did not trade it in. We are selling it to some friends from church who have 4 teenagers and could use another car. We have not sold it yet, so I have been enjoying my last few days with my first car.

I still remember buying this car. I went with my roommate Abby to the dealership in Provo, UT. We actually stopped at a Chevy dealership first and test drove one of their cars, but I didn't love it. I didn't think I could afford a Toyota, but Abby said we should just see what they had. We were first shown a car that I didn't like, and then he showed us the one I ended up buying. It was a certified pre-owned with about 8,000 miles. I really liked it, and the price was OK so I signed the papers (with Abby's encouragement- if she was not there, I never would have bought the car).

I have put about 96,000 miles on it and have had a lot of fun doing it. Mostly it has made lots of trips to and from UT (especially when I first moved to CO), and then been a commuter car to and from work, and then carried not one, but two kiddos all around town. There are a lot of memories there, and I will miss this little car. But, my friend who is buying the car assured me that I could come over and sit in it and even take it for a drive around the block if I needed to. She is such a great friend!

However, with a third baby coming we know we need a bigger car, and it was my decision to get the mini-van. We actually both had wanted a Mazda5- a "mini-mini van." It seats 6, but not comfortably and with no storage. Nevertheless, it gets great gas mileage, is not very expensive, and with 3 kids seemed like a perfect choice. We were very excited about the Mazda5.

Until we saw it. We went and looked at it, and we both really liked it. Except the size. It was just too small for us. If we wanted to go camping, or on a road trip, or fit our massive newborn stroller in the car- it just wouldn't work. There would not be enough room for kids and storage.

Right after we saw the Mazda5 we went and looked at the Toyota Sienna. And I fell in LOVE with it. There was SO MUCH room. It felt like luxury. I knew that was what I wanted. Based on reviews, I knew it was a great car and that I wanted it.

That was a couple of months ago. Since then I have been searching on-line and doing lots of research on price and such. We decided we wanted a 2009 with low miles and with an 8th seat. And preferably in a good color.

With a used car, though, you can't be too picky.

But then we found this car: a 2009 Sienna with an 8th seat. And, as a bonus, a DVD player. The dealer installed it and though it was not something we originally wanted, it was a nice way to sweeten the deal. It was also about $4000 less than every other Sienna on-line. So we decided to go take a look. We decided if we had a bad feeling or were feeling pressured or whatever we would just walk away. We have both had negative experiences in the past with car dealerships, and we wanted to feel great about whatever purchase we decided to make.

We went and looked and test drove and we really loved it. We both LOVE the color. It looks dark grey in the picture, which it is, but it also has this blue hue that looks gorgeous when the sun hits it. It has  more miles then we wanted, which was the one negative, but because we don't put a lot of miles on our cars we figured it would all even out. It has the 8th seat, which we discovered ended up being a deal breaker for us when we thought of looking at other vans. When my family comes to visit, that 8th seat will be really nice, but you can take it out when you don't use it for some extra space.

So last Tuesday we bought it and it has been sitting in our garage ever since.

A big part of me really likes having a small car. A small car gets great gas mileage, is easier to park, and fits nice in the garage. I feel like a mini-van is a bit of overkill for only 2 kids. When we have 3 it won't be overkill, but with two it seems a bit much. Ben's car is a stick shift and I can't drive it, so when I go somewhere like a doctors appointment or to run errands by myself, taking the mini-van seems like a ridiculous waste of resources.

Also, I am just used to my Corolla. I have been driving it for 10 years. I know exactly how it handles. Now I have to get used to something entirely new.

I realize I am being ridiculous. It's like when you save and save to buy this beautiful outfit and then you just put it in your closet because you don't want to spill on it. I know I am upgrading here- going from eating at a McDonald's to eating at The Melting Pot. This is a good thing. It is a great thing. I am an adult now, I should have an adult car- not a college car.

Like it or not, tomorrow the Corolla is leaving our house and I will be a mini-van driving mama. It will be good. I just need to get used to it.

Snow Wonderful?

I have to admit: I am NOT a Colorado girl.

I really hate the snow- and pretty much everything about it: I HATE skiing, I hate driving in it, I hate scraping my car off when it snows- I really don't like anything that has to do with snow.

Even sledding.

The problem is, we get A LOT of snow. I miss my mild temperatures.

Luckily, Ben loves the snow. He took Audra sledding on Saturday and they spend a couple of hours having a wonderful time. Today we decided to all go. I did not do any sledding- I was the picture taker. In my defense, though, there was me and two other moms there. The rest of the kids were with their dads and their dads only. Neither of the other moms went sledding either. I think sledding is definitely more of the dad's domain, and I am completely OK with that.

One great thing about sledding, however, is the great pictures you can get when sledding. So here you go:

 I have a really cute picture of Audra wearing this outfit at about this age riding in this sled. I thought it would be cute to get the same picture of Claire. But, Claire just said, "no picture!" and covered her face so this is the best I could do.

I think I am outnumbered, however: The girls are definitely turning out to be Colorado girls- they get along quite well with the snow and their dad!

Christmas!

Audra got a lesson in patience this morning.

Even though we got home late last night, we expected the girls to get up at the same time. The girls always get up at the same time every morning anyway- staying up late does not mean sleeping in late. Except this morning. Normally they get up about 6:30. Today Audra came into our room at exactly 7:18 AM and whispered in my ear, "I think Santa came. I see a really BIG present downstairs!" I asked her if Claire was up. She said no. I told her we had to wait until Claire woke up and then we would go downstairs. She crawled into bed with me and hung out with us all the way until 8! Claire NEVER sleeps in that late! I guess last night really tuckered her out. Audra ran into her bedroom and said, "Claire, Santa came last night!" to which Claire responded, "Ohhhh!" Ben got the video camera and we let the girls go downstairs.

Per my family's tradition growing up, we start with the youngest person and then go up by age- taking turns so everybody can see what everybody got. With Claire's first present she said, "I don't know how to open it." I told her she could do it. And she did- I knew she would have no problems!

We had a great day. I will now let the pictures do the talking:

 Ben loves this gift from my parents:

 This is the one and only gift Audra asked for: A music box. She has been asking for one for months, and was in heaven when she opened it.

 This dog turned out to be Claire's favorite gift:

Then, I made a nice brunch for us this morning. Ben's parents came over and it was really nice.

I have to say, I LOVE a good brunch!

By this point Audra did NOT want her picture taken anymore:

Merry Christmas!