New Year's Eve

May seem like a funny thing to do, but we spent our evening bringing in the new year making a gingerbread house! We wanted to do it together with my mom, and tonight was the night. I spent the day before making and baking the gingerbread from scratch, and then tonight after eating lots of good snacky foods we got to work. Fortunately it was just in time to put Max to bed, so he got one taste of the candy and then went down for the count. We all had our jobs. Rich and Sophie did the roof and my mom, Peter and I did the sides and grounds. We were really happy it turned out so cute, and that it didn't fall apart! And I have successfully convinced Sophie that we are not going to keep it forever and ever, that we will just make a new one each year. That was a hard concept for her to grasp. Before
Peter is our candy man

ta-da
After

Fun in Salt Lake

We went to Rodizio's for Lunch today. It was so good and filling. It is a great Brazilian restaurant that we love, and we wanted to introduce it to my mom. After that we headed to temple square where we watched the Joseph Smith movie and hit the distribution center and saw the beautiful lights when it got dark out. It was a really nice day.

Movie Time

We try to go to a new movie every year around Christmas time. This year we have been waiting to see the movie Enchanted. The kids have seen previews on the disney website, and we were all excited. So we took my mom and went! I loved it!!! It was so funny! We are deffinantly going to buy it when it comes out! Peter didn't like the movie as much as we thought. He thought the queen was scary and kept asking to go home. Sophie was so into it! And Max was even groving on my lap during the singing and dancing. We loved eating our movie treats and having fun at the theaters.

Christmas Morning Pictures

Peter's mouth is stuffed with Christmas Candy. He was going all day on a candy buzz!
Max had no idea what was going on
Sophie just had to take her own picture of all the barbies she got this year. They are from Barbie Island Princess, and Highschool Musical. She lined them up all by herself.
Us in our morning glory, and the kids new jammies they opened on Christmas Eve. All footies.
Us and the surprise present of the day. K.C. (short for Quesidilla) He was from Aaron to Matt. He is very cute, but what were they thinking??
Kids and Grandma Canada
Sophie loved sitting on Grandma Canada's lap while almost dozing off from sheer exhaustion during opening presents. Notice Sophie's new Quillow that I slaved over! She loves it!
Max really just crawled around and played with the paper. No surprise. I don't think he opened a single present. The kids had fun doing that for him.

We really had a great day!!
We also ate a traditional german Christmas dinner that I always had on Christmas Eve growing up, but since we do turkey dinner on Christmas Eve, we swapped. It is one of Rich's favorite meals of the year. My mom brought all the fresh sausage fresh from Canada and we had a really nice meal.

O Christmas Tree

Santa Came to our house Christmas Eve after the kids were sound asleep, which was harder to do than expected. Sophie would not go to sleep!! After visiting with Santa that night we went upstairs to bed only to find Sophie tossing and turning and awake. We let her come sleep in our bed, for fun, and every hour she would ask "Is it time yet?" "Did Santa come yet?" "Can we go downstairs now?" So finally at 7:30 am we relented and woke up Peter and the fun began. We took a break and ate breakfast in the middle of present opening, something I really like to do. This year was the first time I wrote a list of what was from whom, and I am grateful that I did. Thank you notes will be easier, and nothing will be forgotten. The kids got WAY too many presents, as always. But it was so fun! We had so many presents under our tree this year. More than I have ever seen. But there were presents for all 3 granparents there (my mom and Rich's parents. We were all together for Christmas) and Rich's 2 brothers, and us and our 3 kids.

Christmas Eve

Our plans for Christmas Eve changed from what we thought would happen. This is what we did:
-woke up late
-got ready to see Santa at the mall
-we weren't allowed to take a picture with Santa, thus NO pics this year with Santa and my 3 kids
-came home to a still frozen turkey
-had to do a last minute sewing project that took an hour!
-had a crying baby all day (he was teething and now has a proud new tooth to show for it)
-got everything in the oven and on the table on time
-watched the snow storm get worse and worse enough to ruin our plans to drive to Draper for pie and after dinner activities
-our sister Kim worked so hard to plan a really nice Christmas Eve at her house, and more than half of us couldn't make it because of bad weather. We are so sorry Kim!
-did our own homely version of the nativity
-had no pumpkin pie to eat!
-had no cookies to put out for Santa, due to poor planning.
But what would Christmas be without spontaneous events popping up around every corner?

For our nativity Sophie got to be Mary, the part she may not have gotten if we did the nativity with all of our family. She told me this was the only part she wanted and would rather sit out than be another part. Peter was NOT Joseph. He only wanted to be a shepard, so that is what he was. Max was nothing. He sat on my lap nicely. Thank Grandma Canada for coming up with our great costumes made from their mickey mouse blankets. The kids were really good and sat in position the entire reading of the nativity story. They felt like the center of attention while us three adults sat on the couch. It was fun.

Our Christmas Letter

We finally mailed out our Christmas letters the day before Christmas. Better late than never, right?

This was a great year for our family. It started off with us greeting our new little baby boy. Maxwell Richard Dean Ford came to us on January 27th (after 24 hours of labor!!!) And as you can imagine, he has grown and changed so much since then. We have lovingly watched him smile, coo, laugh, roll over, scoot, crawl, eat solid foods, climb stairs, and his newest trick is to stand alone. I am also pleased to announce that we have successfully taught him to 'NO NO' (not touch) the Christmas tree. (I refuse to not put up a tree, or barricade it off, just because I have little ones. I would rather take the extra time to teach them to stay away and not touch it. We do have the occasional problems, but they are easily reconciled.) It is fun to watch his personality and looks develop as he is now about to turn one year old! We know was supposed to be a part of this family, and we all love him so much.

Peter also changed a lot this year. He has his own friends and loves getting together with some neighbor boys for his playgroup every week. And he is learning a lot too. The other day he found some alphabet magnets and put them on the fridge. I didn't think he knew many of his letters, but he surprised me by knowing about 70% of them. He still won't ride his trike, or go on any type of amusement park rides, but we love him to pieces. He is fun comical entertainment to us in our family. This year he has had funny obsessions with pirates, power rangers, and spider man. We don't know where it all came from. And he has also shown his sensitive side more this year. He often shares and gets things for others without being asked. What would we do without Peter. We love you!

Sophie. She is a joy and a challenge, depending on the day. She is a people pleaser, for sure. She is also very smart. She can write words, and read simple words. She loves math. She enjoys preschool, and is excited for kindergarten in the fall. And she loves to draw. You should see how her people pictures are really coming to life, and she is always adding more detail to new pictures.. She learned how to ride a bike (with training wheels) this year! She is very independent and is so proud of her accomplishments, as are we. She loves being a big sister to her two brothers. Being the oldest, she is also very responsible. She is also a good helper when it comes to chores. She is getting old enough to do things like make her bed and help empty the dishwasher. She has a born love and gift for organization and order, and can easily spot something out of place, or a toy in the wrong box. We love Sophie!

I have had a great year. People have told me that baby number three is the hardest, but for me it isn't true. I do have not-so-fun days at times, but over all it hasn't been as hard as I expected. I have really been able to enjoy Max as a baby. I can be with Max while Sophie and Peter play together. I was released from my Young Women(youth) calling at church and was put in with the Primary as the 1st counselor. It was a good challenge to write the sacrament program, and I love the children that I serve, and the new friends I have made. I still play bunko once a month with some girlfriends. It is a nice break from reality. In the summer I finally caught on to Blogging! It is so fun, and addictive! I have found it to be the best way for me to communicate what is going on with us, and share recent pictures with those who don't live so close to us. Check it out!! http://www.rhspmford.blogspot.com/

Rich has been busy at work, as always. He works so hard to provide for our family. We have just celebrated the two year anniversary at the office. Rich started the beloved 'Daddy Day' this year. Once a week he takes Sophie or Peter (Max is too little still) to the office on Friday's. He works half a day, and then takes the kids on a special daddy date. Whatever they choose. They have played at the park, eaten ice cream, gotten a balloon, gone to the library, and gotten donuts. They really look forward to it each week. Rich has also encouraged all of us to get up earlier in the morning every day. I now get up when he does, and he makes a hot breakfast while I finish getting ready. We get the kids up and eat breakfast together as a family, read our scriptures and say family prayer. It has been the best thing for all of us. Rich is an amazing leader, father and husband. Thank you Rich. I am so proud of you!!

After reporting some of our positive highlights of the year I am happy to be able to tell you that 2007 has been a year of health and happiness for our whole family. We are truly enjoying this holiday season, without much of the stress, and look forward to more wonderful memories to be created in the coming year. We wish the best to all of you, and think of you often. You are all a great part of our lives, and love. We are blessed just by knowing you.

Merry Christmas! Love, Rich, Heather, Sophie, Peter & Maxwell Ford

Sad at Santa's Village

Last night we went to Ogden to Santa's Village. Grandma and Grandpa were supposed to come with us, but Grandma was a little sick, so we left her home to rest. The rest of us went and were egar to have a fun night. We got there and the fun was starting!! We had 2 strollers so the kids wouldn't have to fight about taking turns in the double stroller. Max was happy and warm all night in his snowsuit. We were walking around looking at the little house displays and then we got separated and lost from each other. It really took a while to find each other and by then we decided we were hungry and ate taco's from a little Mexican stand (it wasn't that great). We ate it while listening to people sing out of tune. Then we decided it was time for the main event, visiting Santa. The line was pretty long, but we stood in it anyway. We'd made it 1/3 way through and Peter started to cry. His feet were freezing, even in his winter boots. It wouldn't stop, and so we decided we needed to leave. Well, then Sophie was really sad that we would miss Santa, so I stayed with her and we waited out in the cold. Until her feet too started to freeze. We tried dancing and hopping on them to help the cold, but she too gave out, just as we were about to get onto the ramp to see Santa. She just couldn't do it. It was so sad!!!! And on top of everything, I didn't get one single picture because my hands were so cold outside of my mittens, I just couldn't(the ones here are from the internet)! But we still have some great memories from last night, they just aren't the ones we thought we would have.

Color Test

So in all my free time today (NOT) I sat down at the computer and took a color test. I have done this before, but it's been a while, and wanted to see the results. I think mostly I was procrastinating doing anything on my list and would have found any excuse not to do it.

I took the test on www.thecolorcode.com The results are in:

Congratulations. You are BLUE. BLUES are motivated by INTIMACY. They seek to genuinely connect with others, and need to be understood and appreciated. Everything they do is quality-based. They are loyal friends, employers, and employees. Whatever or whomever they commit to is their sole (and soul) focus. They love to serve and give themselves freely in order to nurture others' lives.
BLUES have distinct preferences and have the most controlling personality. Their personal code of ethics is remarkably strong and they expect others to live honest, committed lives as well. They enjoy meaningful moments in conversation as well as paying close attention to special life events (e.g. birthdays and anniversaries). BLUES are dependable, thoughtful, and analytical; but can also be self-righteous, worry-prone, and moody. They are "sainted pit-bulls" who never let go of something or someone, once they are committed. When you deal with a BLUE, be sincere and make a genuine effort to understand and appreciate them.

Understand that no two BLUES are exactly alike. Although you share the same core motivation as many others, your personality is still unique to you alone.

7 days to go

Popcorn Filled Ornament
Materials
1 Clear glass ball ornament
15-25 Kernels of microwavable popcorn (unbuttered recommended)
Paper bag
Glitter (optional)

Instructions: Remove the metal top.Place 25-30 kernels of microwavable popcorn in the ornament.Place the ornament in a paper bag and put in the microwave for 1 minute, 5 seconds (in my microwave). When the popcorn is done popping, remove the ornament carefully, it will be hot. Sprinkle some glitter in if you like. Tie a pretty ribbon on the top and hand from your tree.

This is what we did in Sophie's preschool today. I thought it would be a fun craft to do, that would actually turn out cute. It did, but it was mostly me working. The kids had fun putting the kernels of corn in the ball, and opening and closing the microwave door. I also made little tags with their names on them and strung them on the ornament. We also made one for Peter and Max.

We have been so crazy around here lately, and I wish I could be more dillegent on keeping up with my blog. And it hasn't been too stressful, just busy fun. I am in the middle of working on CHristmas sewing projects for the kids - that I have procrastenated until the last week. I am making them patchwork quillows. Peter's was done last week - but Sophie's I've put off. I was going to make one for Max, but no time, and I think I'll make him one when he is bigger.

For all of you checking your mailbox for letters from us, keep waiting. They are all sitting on top of my computer right now, almost all stuffed, and almost all stamped. I wanted to send them all out together, so maybe tomorrow - after the dentist appointment to get my cavities filled...

Our parents are coming this weekend, so on top of all the other stuff, we feel this need to get the house sparkling before they come. I'm not stressed about it, yet. It's just another thing to add to the list of things to do. The list goes on and on.

It's hard to think that one week from today the presents will be open and the turkey eaten. Then the countdown begins all over again. Oh, well - this is still my favorite time of year, even if it passes too quickly.

Little Max

We have this little cubby/end table by our couches and we keep blankets in here. Well the other night Sophie and Peter took them all out and made forts out of the blankets and chairs (why didn't I get a picture of that? It was so cute!). During the whole time Max kept himself entertained by babbling to himself and with nothing other than this empty cubby. He kept climbing in and out of it, and all around inside of it! It was so cute, and a little break for mom as all the kids were happy and entertained for a while. Only Max knows what was so great about the empty cubby that is just his size. Kids do the cutest things.

Super Sophie

Tonight Sophie found a plastic shopping bag on a chair and was hopping around the kitchen like she was in a potato sack race, all until her feet poked holes through the bag. She quickly discovered that she could then wear the bag, and it looked like a swim suit. She soon changed her mind about her costume and told me she needed another bag to wear like a cape. I had a short, but direct talk about plastic bag safety, and then helped her on with her cape. It was so funny to watch her run around the room like she was flying yelling loudly

"IT"S SUPER SOPHIE!!!!!!"

Oh, the creativity and imagination of children...

Christmas Gifts

14 DAYS TO GO!! TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY IS CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Some of you have asked me how we do our Christmas gifts for our kids at Christmas, since we do it a little different. So I thought I would share it with all of you. It is a simple formula that is always the same and makes buying gifts simple, and easy to do in advance.

The kids do a combined present for mom and one for dad too, maybe in the future they will do individual presents for us. Rich and I don't exchange Christmas gifts. Instead we go on a really nice Christmas date, either to a nice show or a nice dinner or something. But we do get things from Santa in our stockings. (The same as the kids, something to watch, something to read, something to play with and something we need) But no big present from Santa.

Each child gets:
1 store bought gift from dad
1 homemade gift from mom
1 ornament for the tree that represents them for that year, from mom and dad
1 pair of pajamas from mom and dad
(we open these Christmas Eve)
1 present from each sibling
(we may change this in the future to just 1 sibling present by drawing names or something)
And From Santa:
they get a small amount of candy and,
Something to watch
Something they need
Something to play with &
Something to read
along with a big/or main present from Santa.

All Santa presents are un-wrapped & de-boxed, set out (or in the stocking) all cute.

No other stocking stuffers or presents to worry about.

This method totally works for us and our family, we plan to continue this for a life long family tradition. Of course presents under the tree are an exciting part of Christmas, but we hope that in a small way, this will help us keep ours and the kids minds off of getting gifts, and think more on what Christmas is really all about.

Besides, they also usually get gifts from Grandparents, and we get a family gift from Rich's sibling (whose ever year) and mine, and last year Sophie even got gifts from friends! So they are never lacking at Christmas.

And this way it is a lot easier for us to budget things out. We can start before Halloween and do a little at a time, knowing before hand exactly what the end result will be. Unfortunately, Christmas can be an expensive time of year. You have your immediate family to get gifts for, grandparents/parents, siblings (we rotate in Rich's family, and I only have one brother - so we buy 2 sibling gifts), sometimes there is a special friend or extra family member you want to buy something for, and we do neighbor gifts (this year we are making chocolate and carmel dipped pretzel sticks - and the list is starting to get long), on top of Christmas letters, pictures, and stamps. And there are always those unforeseen expenses that seem to pop up, no matter how well you plan.

Good luck to you all and I hope you are already starting to have a Merry Christmas Season!

How do you plan out the holidays,

and presents for you and your family???

Christmas Party

Tonight was our ward Christmas party at church. It turned out great. Our friends are the activities chairmen, and we got asked to be on the committee for Christmas with them. The crazy part is that we had our first of 2 meetings only 2 weeks ago, and somehow it all got pulled off! I have never planned something like this, for 400 people! What a lot of work had to be done! The theme was Back to Bethlehem. So it was more of a quiet evening, and no Santa. Rich and I were in charge of doing a live nativity. We used his mom's awesome costumes that she has made. The kids involved did pretty well while Rich narrated. I felt like we were at the church all day setting up and stuff, and so now, I am exhausted - but I landed at the computer instead of on the couch or in my bed, go figure. For dinner we had soup and bread. And there was salad, cheese and fruit on the tables as appetizers. The soup was different, but we liked it. Here's the recipe if you wanted to try it.

Bethlehem Christmas Stew
2 lbs chicken
2 onions
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
3 sweet potatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
chop onions, garlic and sweet potatoes. Throw it all into the crock pot together. Chicken will fall apart after cooking.
Put in crock pot for 6 hours on high.

Remember the 80's ?

This brought back so many childhood memories! Thanks Karolee for showing it to me!

ALL DONE!!

This is ASL for 'finished'.

I have been trying to teach it to Max, and he has finally got it! His first word!! HE SAYS "ALL DONE"! He sits in his highchair and he will wave his hands around when I say "Are you all done?" I am so excited! On to more sign language!!

Sign Language is a great way to teach babies to comunicate before they can actually talk.

I love Signing Time (http://www.signingtime.com/), and would love to buy all the DVD's. Sophie and Peter catch on to them quickly, but they get forgotten when we don't practice them regularly!

St.Nicholas Day came!

The kids were thrilled when they woke up yesterday morning to see presents in their shoes. They were running around and couldn't contain themselves!! Peter was eating everyones candy canes before we knew it! They all got candy canes and Sophie got the small pack of Jasmine polly pocket (pictured here is the large pack), Peter got the Monsters Inc Cars to add to the collection. And Max got this funny large plastic giraffe!! Santa Aaron found i-puppies (from burger king kids meals) and put them by their shoes and the kids love them too. We had fun all day yesterday playing with the new toys, and it has given us a glimps of how fun and exciting Christmas morning will be!!!! We can't wait!

Doggy Pile!!

Cousins can be so cute together! Here are Sophie, Peter and Derek playing together!

What is Mommy Good at?

Yesterday we were talking about our Christmas stockings (which Grandma made for us) and Sophie said "Grandma is really good at making stockings and Power Ranger costumes." I thought that was sweet and was fishing for a self esteem booster from my kids so I asked

"What is Mommy good at?"
I didn't get the responses that I was prying for:
Sophie said" You're good at taking naps, holding your potty, lighting candles, painting frames, and setting the table"
Peter said "picking up toys, and putting lights on the Christmas tree, putting books away, and making my bed."

I then said "anything else...?"
I got a lot of ummmmmms so I figured not.
Not exactly what I was going for, but what can you expect when trying to build yourself up from a 4 and 3 year old! The thing that I did get out of it is that the kids pay more attention to what I do than I thought!

PS- Rich thought he'd pick the kids brains too and asked "What is Daddy good at?":
Peter said "You're good at picking your owies, drawing people, going to work, putting your tie on, putting decorations on the tree"
Sophie said "cleaning our rooms (except he's not), blinking your eyes, going to the office, adjusting patients, making breakfast"

Us Elves

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1168527933

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

(The upload takes a long time (maybe it's just my computer) but it's worth it to see us dance! Especially since my head is on a boy body and Rich's head is on a girl body, oops!)

Max looks like

Are you suprised by the results??? We weren't!

Prayers for Jon

Just a quick note. Our brother-in-law, Jon, was admitted to the hospital yesterday with blood clots in his lungs. They say he'll be there for a couple days to do testing to find out what caused this, and to regulate some medication. I wanted to mention this and ask all of you to keep him and his family in your prayers. We love Jon and Kim and their kids, and are praying for a swift and complete recovery from this surprise medical condition.
I don't have any more info than this at this time, but I will update you when I find out more.

21 Days Till Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is exactly 3 weeks from today. It doesn't seem real...





Tomorrow night is St. Nicholas Day. It is a holiday and tradition that I have celebrated for years. It is the night where you put your shoe outside of your bedroom door. St. Nicholas comes in the night and fills it with a small gift (if you've been good), or a piece of coal (if you've been bad). If you get the coal, then you know you have 20 days more to get back onto the nice list to get your stocking and presents from Santa on Christmas morning. We reminded the kids of this this morning, and Sophie went right over to her shoe cubby and pulled them all out. She lined one of each shoe up and tried to decide what shoe to put out. It was a very difficult decision for her, which she has already changed. She settled on her snow boot, of all of them, and it is already sitting by her bedroom door. Peter followed suit, and his snow boot is also already in place. Sophie was frustrated because she put Max's shoes out (his running shoes and church shoes) and he wouldn't pick one!!! So we told her to pick for him, and she was ok with that.

Playing in the Snow

We got a great snow storm yesterday! Everything looked like a winter wonderland. Even the streets at 8:30am when I went to the store to get some milk. So the kids desperately wanted all of us to go out together and play in the snow. It wasn't the right kind of snow for a snow man, but we sure had a fun snow(ball) fight! Rich is the best! He makes good snowballs! It was a fun time! And of course we followed it up with hot chocolate when we got inside.

Festival of Trees

We went to the Festival of the Trees this year. I have been wanting to go to it forever, but things haven't worked out for us to go... until this year! It was so fun. It was at the South Town Expo Center in Sandy, UT and the place was huge! There was so much to see and do. Of course the trees, but there were live shows of singing and dancing. There were sweets and treats. We saw centerpieces and wreaths, and we saw gingerbread houses. Everything was amazing. There were so many unique trees. Some of the ones I remember best were the upside down Christmas tree, the ladybug tree (you would have loved that one Cyndi!), the starwars tree, the princess tree(s), the Elmo tree, the hand prints on mirrors treeand a candy tree, along with litterally thousands more. It was so fun, and is something I want to do again and again every Christmas.

Do you love Peter's blue face from his cotton candy?
Sophie's favorite was the princess trees, of course!!!
Peter and Maxloved this starwars tree because it was filled with tons of guys!!
Can you believe these gingerbread creations are all edible? They were so cool!
We had front row view when the bagpippers marched around the place!