I'll have a Tissue Christmas!

Oh the Joy! Tis the season for jingle bells, shopping bags, and runny noses! I of course have TODAY the worst cold I have had in years! SOMEHOW though, I have had a pretty decent day, starting with AWESOME and fading into decent, but long, and ending again with AWESOME! Cameron and I decided days ago to do our Christmas early since he is working this weekend! He was scheduled to work Friday night through Monday night! SUNDAY is Christmas! So we decided Thursday would be our Christmas Eve! :D On Wednesday night we had a WONDERFUL little date night and wrapped presents, made brownies, drank our Martinellies (sparkling cider), and watched White Christmas with Bing Crosbie and Danny Kay(?spelling?)! It was FANTASTIC! We love old movies! And Vera (?something?), or Judy in the movie was the most incredible dancer I think I have EVER SEEN! I was hypnotised! Loved that movie!

So Thursday, yesterday, we were getting ready for our big Christmas dinner with the missionaries and a good friend of mine, when we got a call that Cameron had to go it at 11pm that night. Last night.

I. Was. Angry.

...Then, after much persuasion I began to see the positives and saw that his working on our Christmas Eve and all weekend, did not mean we would have a lousy Christmas! We had already had a wonderful spirit going! So we found our positive outlook and pressed forward! :)

Dinner was fantastic! --

Let me just say also, that unless I REALLY WANT TO, I will NEVER stress over a Turkey again! :) I actually bought our Turkey as a last minute surprise for Cameron as in the beginning we had planned to do little this year! I saw it on Tuesday at the DELI and realized, wait a minute!... There sits a 12 lb fully cooked Turkey breast, deboned, seasoned and soaking in a maranade! Oh sweet baby Jebus! How do people not THINK OF THIS!? So it was just over $23 and I had a turkey that was guaranteed to be moist, delicious, and easy!

And it was!..... Mmmmmm... yes it was! :)

So for dinner we had a Butterball Cajun Turkey breast, steamed, seasoned potatoes, steamed corn, and my own recipe for DELICIOUS stuffing! (That's coming from the girl that has ALWAYS HATED STUFFING! The boy kind at least! I may just have to post the recipe if anyone wants it! It is basically hard german bread rolls chopped, and seasoned/soaked in my own EASY seasoning, and has onions and KALE! It was a huge hit! Even with the kiddos! :) Yay for fun cooking! :)

After dinner Cameron left and SANTA CAME! ;) Funny enough though his suit was super cheap and ripped the at the crauch as soon as he first sat down! Hahaha! That was priceless to say the least! Jude was SUPER EXCITED to see Santa, but a little confused!-- Santa had a few familiar qualities! He soon forgot about it though as we all opened 1 present from under the tree!

It was a brilliant, wonderful, warm, and inviting Christmas Eve! :)

.... That didn't last long for Mommy though.

I thought my cold had seemed more uncomfortable during dinner, but after presents I was sure I was feeling ill! My stomach ached, my head screamed, and I could hardly BREATH as my mucus glands KICKED into full throttle! Yikes!

Cameron helped me with the boy's bedtime and tucked me in! I slept while Cameron worked! Cooper slept 7 1/2 hours straight and Mommy loved it! .....

...Then came our Christmas morning!

--- To be continued! :)

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 MERRY CHRISTMAS --- FROHE WEINACHTEN 

from Germany! :)

Check out my hand made decorations made completely out of paper!

The Plan.

I have been saying for MONTHS that we need to work out a routine and start eliminating Tv time and the crappy time wasters! SO this is my rough draft! I am sure its not easy to read in this pic, but I can post a better later (ITS MUCH EASIER TO POST FROM MY PHONE, so if you want a blog... this is just what we get)! :) As you can see I had to be specific! Why SO specific? Yes, it does go so far as to SAY wash hands, brush teeth, trush hair, grooming, etc. Even vitamins are on there! WHY…?! Because not everyone is Wonder Woman! Sure, I have my days where she looks pathetic next to me... but that is not often! I can admit I rarely remember to brush my HAIR, let alone my teeth! Though not for lack of trying! I can sum up why in just one word: Motherhood. Never before having children could I have imagined the way they would change my life! Read this if you can! There is no time for reading, or facebook, or shopping, or whatever it was I did back then! :) And yet I can honestly say this is probably the most wonderful part of my life! Its happening now! All around me are signs that I am doing it! I am living the dream!! When people come to my home, if they wonder I can say this: There are toys on my floor; we play a lot! There are dishes on my counter; we eat home cooked meals! There are piles of clean and dirty laundry; we have clothes to wear and they are clean until we make memories in them!!!! :) SO I can honestly say to our visitors, please pardon the mess-- my kids are making memories! :)

I am going to make Cameron fix the printer so I can post my final draft, from Excel, all over! Or at least ghetto laminate it and carry it on me! OH and I have 2 others! This on is for Daddy's work days, then there is Daddy's home days, and Family travel days! :) Slight variations of the same thing! I am psyched about making this a habit and making a big step to a cleaner, healthier, more inviting home! -- I mean healthier, because when its dirty Mommy gets crazy, and no body really likes that! :) Night every one! This Mommy is checking out early! 8:30= Early BEDTIME! Sleep is goooooood! <3

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Laundry and Dishes. Kryptonite.

Here you can see just a fraction (tiny) of the laundry disaster that is taking place throughout my home! Mostly all upstairs and in the basement/laundry room! You see I struggle with dishes and laundry most, and in the past few months I have been kicking kitchen butt and my dishes have been pretty much done/DONE for about 2 months! ... So my laundry... well yeah I have completely forgotten and neglected to the point of disgrace, my laundry! SHAME ON ME! Now begins the laundry marathon to fold and sort and SIMPLIFY our collection of clothes! :) Wish me luck, right?!

Recognize: I am a horder.

Solution: Limit my closet to a set amout.

I do not need 60+ shirts. So pick my favorite 20 and ditch the rest. ** What is sad is much of this crap doesn't even fit well, or at all! (I will save this for when it fits again!) I think I may be sick in the head. I guess that is genetic! Lord, help my kids! Haha.

Here is hoping I can kick these bad habits before they hurt/rub off on my children!

Let the fun begin!

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Loves 7 & 8: Pumpkins and sad faces!

 Love # 7:

I LOVE JACK-O-LANTERNS!!

 Had fun with a mommy friend today making my pumpkins look amazing! :)

Love # 8: The SAD FACE!

Its terrible I know, but I get a genuine kick out of the incredible expression on a crying baby's face! :)

 Oh. my. goodness! Bwaaahahahaha!... Tell me you aren't laughing! This is just too much!

 Its so terribly sad, yet it's funny enough that I just keep taking pictures and laughing... Mom of the Year Award--> Right HERE! <--- :)

He is such a sweet baby! I didn't actually let him cry long! Just a minute really, just long enough to capture the awesome faces! I love him so! His sad face is just so sad, you have to laugh or it will break your heart! :)

Trick or Trunk and our last minute "themed" costumes!

Cooper was the Devil.

Jude sold his soul for 2 wheels and an engine.

Mommy was simply the Mother of the Devil, and a FOX.

And Daddy was himself; one FINE lookin' man!

 LOVE these boys!

 Jude and his SWEET leather jacket, a present at birth from his Grampa, my Daddy, Carlos Whitlock! (*Thanks, old man!) ;)

 Cooper was pretty impartial to the whole thing.

 The head gear on his costume kept getting in his way!

 The reason I came... Yummy food!

 This was just so cute! And YUMMY!

 Yeah, Cooper was just out of it! haha.

 Jude had a lot of fun in the bouncy castle! It was SUPER busy though so he spent most of the time in it either falling down, or sitting down! :)

And THUS we come to the real reason behind parents taking kids to these things! Jude still has no idea he is getting the 2nd rate candy! Haha... We are enjoying it while we can! :)

Love # 6: A brother's love.

This is Cooper. Content. Just chill. :)

 This is Jude playing with Cooper.

 This is Jude trying to climb in the carseat with Cooper.

This is Jude sitting on Cooper.

This is Jude realizing Mom has a camera. Yes, Jude. I see you. I see everything. Now get off your brother. :)

Hahahaa... this kid had me rolling over this! Cooper all the while just watched like, "What are you doing, kid?!"  I love so much their little back and forth, play! Jude will do all he can to make Cooper laugh, or to be where Cooper is! He wants what Cooper has! He is learning to trade so he sees what Cooper has, he wants it, so he finds a toy he does NOT want, and puts it in Coopers hand and takes the other toy! Cooper of course doesn't mind! As long as he has something to put into his mouth, he ain't picky! haha! Love these boys! O man, how I LOVE these boys! xoxox

More Loves and the Frankfurt Temple!

 Love #5. The happy... sad... happy sequence. aka. fake cry!

 All is good.

 What?! I cant have what I want?!

 Uh huhh huhh... Pweeese!!!???

 Uuuhhhh..... waaaahhh......

 Ok. Im over it! :)

Love #5: I love to see the Temple.

 Worthy to enter in!

 Frankfurt, Germany Temple. Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

 First time to the temple together in 2 years!

 See the birds on the trumpet!? I love looking up at Moroni! My favorite feature, every time!

 Such a BEAUTIFUL place!

So.... There is a story to this day. One definitely worth sharing! :)

 8:30 Dropped babies off with my good, but relatively new friend.

9:00 Went to the base to load up on gas, air in the tires, and SNACKS.

10:00 On the road.

Now the plan had been to leave about 8am. The session we planned to attend was at 1pm. It is supposed to take about 2-3 hours to get to Frankfurt from Spangdahlem. We thought we could be there by 11 or 12. There are 2 or 3 routes you can take.... We took the longest. (Thank you, GPS.) SO. We left at 10am. Should be there by 12. GPS took us ALL KINDS of back roads. Spent more than an hour of our drive on windy back roads, seemingly in the middle of nowhere! 

1:10 Arrive at the Temple.

10 minutes too late to do the session. 

At this point we are not phased! We are having a great day, we have played and snacked, and enjoyed a beautiful scenic drive through Germany!

Once inside we find that the only one available to help us in English is the Temple President! They pretty much rolled out a red carpet and MADE work for us to do, as there was nothing really on the schedule that we could do! :)

That was just amazing! So touching! We had a wonderful experience and were so grateful to be able to serve in the House of the Lord.

2:45 Finish and exit.

The retail store closes at 3. 

We RAN to the store and quickly got what we needed and were out just before they closed. 

Ok. Time to go eat and go home. We changed out clothes, parked the car, and casually took pictures as we walked to the Marktplatz (Main street, or Market place).

...These are our fun casual pictures as we are walking... no rush. :)

 No idea what kind of plant this was, but LOVED the dangling seeds!

 Cameron and OUR car...

 Cameron and the SUPER EXPENSIVE, AWESOME car that he could only dream of owning! :)

Picture perfect bench!

He is such a STUD! Oh how I LOVE this man! This picture makes my heart skip a beat!

I am one HOT momma! :)

The happy couple.

Ok. Cameron has had enough pictures and is leaving without me.

That's the, "Put that camera down and let's go" look!

Check out the size of that LETTUCE!! (Possibly cabbage... I don't remember.)

These were so pretty! Had to ask, but yes, they ARE prickly pears! Just like in the Jungle Book and Baloo sings about them in, "The Bear Necessities"!

So right about this time we realize that the Restaurant we had intednded to go to had closed. At 3. And... so did the rest of the Walk platz.Its like 3:20.

Ahahahaahaaaa.... ok. Now we have laughed. Now what?!

So we drove until we saw a grocery store and got some meat, cheese, and some "milch brotchen mit butter" or Milk bread with butter. O.M.Goodness. It was yummy! Oh and butter cookies. They are like a drug to me. SO GOOD!

So we are on the road again. AND we realize at this point that we are at half a tank of gas. This may or may NOT be enough to get us home, and we do NOT have euro to get gas on the economy!... So Weisbaden has several bases (where I lived for 4 years when I was little). Let's just go there! Its on the way!...

Its also a huge, freakin' city!

We got lost, had to ask for directions!

Found gas.

5:00 On the road home. 

So now we are not only WAY LATE on getting home... my breasts are KILLING ME! -- See, I am a breastfeeding mother and Cooper is fine on formula while I am gone, but MY BREASTS had NO RELEASE! ... I realize that is a lot to talk about in a public forum, but lets face it. I am not shy! :)

So here we are driving down the German highway, taking the apparently fastest way home, the back roads, and I have my boob out, in hand, and in a CUP trying to hand express my milk so that I don't get mastitis and/or EXPLODE! (Mastitis= Scary infection!) All this and the long day behind us = fuming mommy on the way home! Poor Daddy! :) He was a trooper though!

So we got to my friends house to pick up the boys about 7:30-8. 

She has a Medela Electric Breast Pump.

HALLE-FREAKIN-LUIAH !

I totally thought my friend would hate us for being so late, but she didn't! :)

We got the boys, got home, and got to bed!

Day done.

At the end of the day I can say 2 things; I truly LOVE to see the Temple and am grateful I had a friend to take the boys so Cameron and I could go together! And then this, NEXT time we are getting directions! ;)

Thank you for reading my BOOK of a post! It really was a great/interesting day! I am so glad I could share it with you!

xoxo, Jess

The sunset along the German hills as we drove home.