Who is the better driver?

Because Dustin and I always have this "discussion" I thought that maybe some of you female drivers out there also have similar "discussions" with your husbands. So you might find this article gives you a little more ammo in your defense.

Here is a little preview of what this article says:
"Women have a bad reputation for being bad drivers, but in most cases, from a safety point, they are better drivers," says Bob U'Ren, the senior vice president of Quality Planning.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/worse-drivers-males-or-females.aspx

Merry Christmas!

This was the only picture we took before hand. Dustin snapped it while the girls were waiting on the stairs and then came and showed it to them to show them that Santa came. They were very excited. We had a wonderful lazy Christmas. We are getting used to being alone for Christmas and after the last few years of having it that way I think I am finally over feeling depressed during the day. There is something WONDERFUL about not having to get dressed ALL day and just having a total low key day only with your family to explore all the new fun things of Christmas. We literally didn't not get dressed or go out of the house ALL DAY!

Here are the girls on the stairs.

And if you look close you might see another shot of the baby in this one.

And here is some of the aftermath. Lilly refused to get in the picture.

She was too busy playing with her ponies to take a break. This is what she wanted from Santa SO bad. She kept telling me that she wanted ponies that you change hair with. Well Josey got some as well and happen to open hers first. You should have seen the look on Lilly's face. She looked at me and asked me if those were for her. And I had to say those were Josey and then frantically search for the box that was for Lilly.

Lilly lookin' like a "ROCKSTAR". She had her new rockstar skirt on and her rockstar hair and she was in heaven. She has had a bad cold hence the lovely rash right under her nose.

Maddy got the gift she NEVER thought she was going to get, a Nintendo DS. She told me that it was going to have to take her almost a year of allowance to save up for one of these and she was prepared to do it. And so when she opened it she was so excited. It was one of those Christmas moments you hope for on Christmas morning.

And Josey got one too. She was just as excited.

Afterwards I am rethinking it a bit. They have been glued to them for the last 2 days. I am letting it go as it is Christmas and a new toy but I have a feeling we are going to have to set some Nintendo DS boundaries soon.

And that is it for the Christmas pictures this year. It all goes by so fast! After we opened the presents Maddy sat there for a minute and then said, "Well now we have to wait a whole more year until next time." And all I thought was Hallelujiah! And that next year we would have an almost one year old with us! CRAZY!

I didn't get any pictures of the 12th day of Christmas from our grandma and grandpa Moyes. I forgot to pull the camera out on Christmas Eve after all the business of the day. I think I was too tired. But the girls got scripture marking pens and scripture bookmarks. And Dustin and I got a great set up Old Testament study aids. Thank you so much grandma and grandpa!

Stay tuned for a post on what my kids picked out for Dustin and I. They are the BEST gifts ever and I promise that you won't be able to not laugh.

Christmas Eve

So warning these pictures are out of order but I loaded them wrong and don't want to rearrange them all. So here we are heading BACK from the beach. We have tried to start a tradition to head over to the coast on Christmas Eve. We love the coast and it helps to tire out the kids for bedtime. I don't know if it will happen every year because you can never tell the weather. But this year we got lucky again. Here are the girls playing in a little snow at a rest stop we stopped at. Maddy was commenting that we were so lucky because we got to play in the sand and the snow all in one day.

And here we are again after playing at the beach drinking our hot chocolate. I put this picture in here to confirm to everyone that I was in fact present here by the 5 hot chocolate mugs on the table, even if you won't see a picture of me.

Then I think I should put a picture of me right after this one.....

because really I would look like good after that picture.....no?

Heading out after playing at the beach. This is our new ornament for this year.

Here is probably one of the only pictures you are going to see of my pregnant belly. I wanted the baby in the picture with the girls.

It was a GORGEOUS day at the beach. And the girls didn't even need their coats!

This was supposed to say Christmas 2009 and we were going to take a picture next to it. I really am not sure what the girls wrote because I couldn't make anything that made sense out of it.

The girls found a little fish that Josey instantly bonded with. And cried when she decided that maybe it was alive (not sure about that one) and threw it back in the ocean.

Here we are eating lunch at our favorite restaurant on the coast, Mo's. It is such a fun family tradition. We love it!

On the eleventh day of Christmas.....

Our grandma gave to us....

Let me back track a minute. On the tenth day of Christmas grandma gave us a really cute little Christmas box that we were to fill with treats or a gift and give to someone else. I just forgot to ever get a picture. Sorry grandma!

BUT on the eleventh day we got something to add to our emergency preparedness kits. Maddy was a little confused when she opened latex gloves...

But then we explained why they would come in handy and she thought that was a great gift. I think at the new year we will pull everything out and make sure we are good to go in an emergency.

On the ninth day of Christmas.....

Our grandma gave to us....

(we ended up with to 6th nights.......we will get those sent out Liz! And someone probably ended up with out 8th night. But no worries grandma we made some sugar cookies on that night!)

We had a little tree and candy thing to put together to take and give to someone. The girls had a really good time making it and eating it. And then we decided to take it over to some people we don't know all that well. We got there and then realized they weren't home and we left it on the doorstep....but I am realizing that we never talked to them and told them it was from us! There wasn't even a note! That is really funny! They were probably totally confused and a little weirded out now that I think about it! oh well.

piano lessons

My girls love playing the piano. And I love that! I know that when I started taking piano lessons around the age of 9 I was in love! Of course it could have been the cute high school boy teacher that I had coming to my house.....some of you know who I am talking about! But seriously I really really enjoyed playing the piano and couldn't wait for new songs and the next lesson. So it has been fun to watch my girls have the same passion.

So last Friday our piano teacher had to cancel our lesson that day. I told the girls there was no piano when they got home from school and Josey started crying and Maddy was really upset. I was shocked by their reactions! I thought they would be fine just being able to come home on Friday and start their Christmas vacation. So I promised them we would reschedule it for this week. Today I was talking to my friend and she said that today would be a great day to reschedule. So I told her that we would have to do it in the afternoon because we were working on chores this morning. I told her if the girls finished their chores we would be able to come to piano lessons. We both just started laughing! Because really how often is it that you can get your kids to actually do chores, to earn a piano lesson! So I told the girls that I had rescheduled the lesson for this afternoon but if they didn't get their jobs done in time or well that they wouldn't be able to go. They jumped to attention and PROMISED to get them done. I am still laughing about it in my head! It is really funny to me that I have to tell them on a fairly regular basis to STOP practicing the piano because I need them to do other things. I am praying that this love of piano lasts for a while. I know it can change like the wind, but hopefully this is something that they will continue to love and learn.

On the 7th night of Christmas....

Our grandma gave to us......

A night of yummy hot chocolate! The girls enjoyed their delicious hot chocolate before bed. Such a perfect treat this time of year.

The Nutcracker

So this year I saw the nutcracker in Portland with my girls! It was so fun! Maddy was performing in the lobby with her group so she got a free ticket to go. I wanted to take Josey and meet her but the tickets were quite expensive! Then just by a stroke of luck my mom called and said that she wanted to buy us some tickets to go see the Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol for our family. I told her I would take her up on that and asked if she would just buy a ticket for Josey and I to see the nutcracker.

So here are Josey and I on our way!
This one I had to put on here because she looks so much like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen with those lips.

We watched a lot of these guys singing in the lobby and they did a great job!
And we walked around taking lots of pictures.

I loved it and Maddy loved it and Josey....liked it. She was falling asleep towards the end but when we came home she was the first to get her ballet shoes on and start making up nutcracker dances so it must have made some impression.

Here is a funny story about why I am not in any of the pictures. So! Pregnancy and I don't mix very well. We don't mix emotionally or physically. I feel crappy about the whole time and like Dustin calls it I usually have "pregnant face" aka: dirty looks going on. I also don't look like a cute pregnant person. I have had people for the last couple of months ask me if I was about to have the baby because I look so large and yet I still have 2 months from now! So needless to say I have completely avoided taking ANY pictures of myself. For someone that doesn't like pictures of herself on any normal given day, a pregnant day is like ten times worse.

So I was snapping these shots of my girls in front of the Christmas tree in the lobby when a nice women walked up and asked if I wanted one with my girls. I hesitated for a moment and then said, "Actually.....not really. Thank you though." and I walked away! It makes me laugh! But I really didn't want one! So then I started feeling guilty that I didn't take any pictures with my girls at the Nutcracker and we went to visit Dustin at his office around the corner really quick. I asked him if he would take a picture of me and the girls in front of one of their beautiful trees in the lobby. He got the camera ready and I got the girls strategically positioned and ...... the batteries died! I told him to try and turn it back on quickly and we might get one picture out of it and...... the memory card was full! So that was it. I snatched the camera back and stuffed it into the camera case and decided fate made her decision and I was not to have my picture taken. HALLELUJAH!

The Christmas Miracle!

I got a good picture! These are my new favorite pictures of my girls. I love this first one. It is really hard to get a picture were everyone looks cute and I think the stars aligned with these pictures. And the Christmas miracle only gets better! These were taken AFTER church. I didn't have time before church because of course we were running late like always on Sunday......ok most days really. So I instructed the girls NOT to take off their clothes when we got home and let me just snap a few shots of them. About 30 seconds before this I was about to give up and send everyone to their rooms because they were all pushing and fighting and NOT cooperating, and then......WALA!

Thank you for the gorgeous Christmas outfits mom. So many people kept asking me where I got those beautiful skirts. Someone even asked me if I made them.....I was tempted for a second to just go with it and then decided to tell the truth.

So since I am not sending out Chiristmas cards this year (look it just isn't happening). Here is our Christmas photo and here is a little about what we have been up to this year.

We have had a very changing year this year. We finally bought our first home in July which was probably the biggest event this year. We have had so much fun settling in and every other day Dustin and I just look at each other and say how much we love our home.

Maddy turned nine and started the fourth grade. She has been growing and changing it seems right before our eyes. She got on her first phase of orthodontics to fix her over bite and it has been miraculous to watch her mouth take on a different shape over this year. She is eagerly awaiting next year when she gets the implement out! She has been very busy with her new found love of acting, singing, and dancing and it has been fun to watch her in her various performances.

Josey turned seven this year and started second grade. She is definitely my social butterfly and has friends everywhere, especially boys, which terrifies daddy. She contiues to be such a sensitive, tender-hearted sweetheart. We have noticed her uncanny knack at finding animals...especially the creepy crawly kind that she loves. She told me that she wants to be an entomologist, a singer, or a store manager when she grows up. She started piano lessons and dance lessons this year and found out that she is in love with the piano.....not so much with the dance.

Lilly turned three this year and is still hanging out with mom all day. The terrible two's gave way to the terrible three's unfortunately but I am watching her grow a lot and we have had a lot more good days than we did last year so that is something to feel good about! She loves to sing and make up songs. She loves to have her picture taken and we have found that she may be a budding model with her repertoire of poses. We decided to try dance class this year instead of preschool....but it wasn't much of a success. She is a total mamas girl and loves to be connected to me at all times. Whenever I leave we have to find a replacement "mama" for her and she does pretty well.

Dustin turned....jk. He is doing very well at his job and we are so incredibly grateful that we have found a firm that seems to be such a good fit for him. For the most part he is enjoying what he does and the people he works with. He went on his first wilderness adventure with his brother over the summer and tried to survive out in the woods. They had a lot of fun but....came home a day early! Next year I think they will be better equipped. He has been enjoying learning his way around our new house and even reseeded our front lawn succesfully!

I have had such a great year with my family. I was able to stop working about half way through the year which couldn't have come at a better time. I found out I was expecting and was absolutely thrilled. It has been a tough last half of the year trying to move and get settled in and start school and endure through a pregnancy. I am feeling much older this time around unfortunately, being thouroughly exhausted at all times. We are SO excited to meet our new little daughter come next February.

We feel so blessed this year. Sometimes I can't believe how much he has blessed my life and the life of my family, especially this year and am so thankful to Him. We are so thankful to have this time to be reminded of our Saviors birth. We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Maddy's performing group

So Maddy joined a performing group that just got started here. Practices were ever Saturday for the last 2 1/2 months (I think) for 5 hours a day! But the end result was very cute. Here are some pictures from their big show and a few little videos of them performing.

Here are the girls watching the show as quietly as possible......which means not very.

And here is how Dustin was feeling on the inside. jk

Of course I can't get the video of her little solo and some of their dance numbers to upload so will just have to use your imagination.