Christmas Eve

This year we were able to have Grandma Barbara over on Christmas eve. I love spending time with her! So we decided to do some activities to kill the time until Santa came. My Grandma makes popcorn balls, and they are my dad's favorite thing. So our gift to him was a batch of Gma's popcorn balls...yum. My dad is begging me to learn the "family" recipe, and all I can think is I will be able to have some good bargaining chips once I have learned the art of making them. :) The kids LOVED the air popper. Ryann thought it was the best thing ever. I love hearing Gma say every time she makes them with us, "One of these days I'm going to pop the corn without the lid on and just let it go all over the place." Can you imagine? Wesley was super excited to make cookies for Santa. I thought I would save time and we could just make one cookie. I found the cutest cookie pans clearanced out and decided that we would make it for Santa. It was a hit, and I saved time. Bonus! All in All it was wonderful, I only shed a few tears, due to the fact that the GRINCH officially lives here this year.

The ANNOYING singing trees

I ♥ these stupid trees :) I know I should really put a video up so you all can get the full effect.

Best gift EVER!

My dad and I, well we generally have this argument about who will be right on almost every subject and or life decision that comes up. I am the type of person who jumps blindly into things with both feet clear up to my neck. My dad takes the more critical approach, weighing all the options and making sure that whatever decision he makes, it will have high benefit for him and his family. So throughout my ENTIRE life I have always heard, "Ginger, What is your plan B....just in case plan A fails?" Can I just tell you that after 34 years of hearing "what's your plan b, what's your plan b, what's your plan b?" I could literally scream! (hahaha and I have) Sometimes I really wonder about not having faith, or trying something outside your comfort zone, or basically just having one hell of a learning curve! Seriously, my dad may think that I really could have always had an easier life, but I would not change one moment of the life I have had! YES, it has been hard at times. Marrying the first idiot that came along, being unmarried and pregnant, becoming a drug addict, living with an abusive boyfriend, having a child with severe birth defects, losing a house, car, destroying my credit, and pretty much being straight up homeless once in my life. I would not be able to fully appreciate the numerous blessings that I have now! A husband who always goes beyond to provide for this family, a son who blessed my life in more ways than I can ever imagine, a daughter who keeps me going and reminds me how hard it is to have such a strong-willed child, the full understanding that money will only make a person so happy and cannot replace the ones you love, the ability I have now to love such a beautiful array of people in this world, and the chance I have to forgive and grow from my past. The one thing I can say about my dad is that even as mad as he has ever gotten at me, I know without a doubt he loves me as much as I love him. Dad ~ I don't know if I will ever have a solid plan B, but I can honestly say I work harder and harder every day to make you proud of me! All my love~ Your Daughter ~ Ginger

I think I'm in love.....with Bing!!

I don't think I have ever watched White Christmas until this year!! I mean really watched the whole thing. So now that I have I have come to realize that:

1. I'm in love with ol' blue eyes

2. I now want Wesley to learn the lost art of tap dancing

3. I now have new respect for the quote from Christmas Vacation "We're gonna have the hap hap happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny f*@#ing Kaye"

:) 'Tis the season to be Merry :)

The "OLD MAN" shoes

I have to post this pic of my dad. I was over at his house about a week ago and started laughing my butt off because I looked at his shoes and he was wearing the black "old man" shoes. I use to work at a Payless Shoe Store and that is what we called the all black walking shoes. Why? You ask. Because it seemed as though it was always the older guys in grey sweats that would come in and buy them for comfort. I guess my dad is on that downhill slope, and boy is it slippery....LOL. If I go back and he is wearing grey sweats it will be confirmed that my dad has officially become and "OLD MAN"!!

'Tis the Season, and so the neighbors must suffer :)

A Poem by ~Ginger~

December and Christmas, its that time of the year

when I dig under the house and bring out the gear.

I love decorating with all of its baubles and lights

with each passing year I take it to new heights.

My all time annoying fav is my singing trees

when anyone visits I know they think "Geeze!"

If that's not enough then baking is next

to which the neighbors become my poor subjects.

With new recipes in hand and lots of interest

I whip up a batch and put them to the test.

With smiles they try to manage a bite

Doing their best to be nice and polite.

While I explain what I made and apologize....

OH well there is always next year to traumatize!:)

Merry Christmas

Baby it's cold outside

IT is SNOWING!!!! FINALLY. I was beginning to think it wouldn't be a white Christmas, and it still might not be. But we will be happy with what we can get today. The kids love it until they have to shovel it....hahaha my little minions. (at least that is what Luca thinks ;) ) Six days left to the BIG day! Santa had better be packing that sleigh with my special request!! ;)

A New kind of Carol :)

My ABSOLUTELY Favorite Christmas song to date. :)

Gingerbread house kit....seriously?!

I am NOT the most creative, crafty or even remotely patient person in the world. So if I can cheat, I will. Sorry everyone at the church parties....I do buy it and put it into my own bowl, just to fool you. Every year Wes asks me if we can make a gingerbread house, because he sees the kits that they sell at the stores. I did do one with him when he was 3. Yeah I remember it well. He was in tears and I was laughing, and it was horrible. I guess after 5 years your memory fades, because I once again thought this would be a fun family activity. Obviously, I lost my mind and forgot I have a two year old! The kids loved it and ate as much as was going on the stupid thing. I was impatient and wanted it done as soon as it was out of the box. I didn't wait for the icing to glue together the pieces, and so the following pictures are the results of this "easy to put together" kit. :) Hoping everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season! :P

Nothing but Trauma and Drama around here!

Poor Poor Luca....being an exchange student has been quite the experience for him. He was for-warned about our 'brutal' winters and now we are having some type of heat wave...LOL and to add insult to injury....he just had to clean a bathroom for the FIRST time in his life....I might just have to shed a tear about that one. He actually thinks that it is very strange to have your children do things around the house....and all this time I really thought I was teaching my children respect for ones surroundings, resposibilities for their successful futures, and to do a good days work. Come to find out I am just exploiting and abusing my kids, by European standards.....Thank God I am American. I have grown to really appreciate what I can do for myself and how the differences between my lifestyle and others can help us to grow. I have loved all my kids and I hope that in some small way I leave a lasting mark on them...like they do on me. I can tell you know I know for sure that I have left a lasting scar on poor Luca, but he will survive and live to clean the toilet once again here at the Casper house :P

Ryann is being good...something must be up!

Ryann has been being good, well better than normal, since she was really sick last week. I cannot help but think that she is plotting something major in the near future! For now I will just try and enjoy this break in the storm while I can :)

HARRY POTTER....need I say more?

I have a HP movie marathon about every other weekend, what can I say? I Love HP, and after being subjected to kids cartoons over and over again, is it so bad that I can watch this series all the time? So of course when I don't even have to pop the DVD in the machine it is even better!!! Thanks for the marathon this time ABCFamily! :) After being tired from all the sickness you saved me from even having to move a muscle :P

Sorry the Blog has been down....due to illness :(

OMG...our family has been so sick for the past week. I actually lost some days. Between Pepto and Tylenol our family has survived. I think we are finally out of the worst of it. Hopefully Ryann (who started the cycle and was hit the worst) will be back to her normal trouble causing self this coming week. :)

The Stool of Destruction

My Great Grandmother made a stool out of tomato juice cans and upholstered it. I loved the stool as a child growing up and my Grandma Barbara gave it to me many many years ago. I have moved it with me from here to there and it has held up through it all. Now it is Ryann's 'time-out' stool, but she has other ideas for it. The other day I caught her using the stool to get to things that she shouldn't be getting to. Yeah....she has it all figured out now, just use a stool if you can't reach!! GREAT! Now nothing is safe from her reach. I am beginning to think that I had a monkey instead of a little girl!

What I am thankful for...

The Holiday has passed I know, but I still want to take a moment of time and jot down some of the things that I am thankful for. As always I am thankful for my family, both the one I was born to and the one that I have created. I know that might surprise a few of you out there, but I am thankful that they are mine. I am thankful for the numerous prayers that were answered this year. The ones that were answered with a yes and the ones that were answered with a no, both have brought many more opportunities and blessings to our family. I am ever thankful for another year with my Grandma Barbara, she touches my heart every time we talk. She is who I aspire to be like. (And I am so far from it.) My children are of course my biggest blessing and even though I constantly joke about them, I love them more than anything else. I would be lost without them, and I am thankful when I chose to 'party' the rest of my life away God had another plan in store for me. My husband is my best friend and I love him. He has made our life his biggest 'project' and I am thankful that he works on it everyday. I truly am blessed and I hope that I can always remember to feel thankful for my life and family even during the difficult times as well as when times are good. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that we can always remember that......it is an American holiday! ;) (had to throw that in there...my exchange students are always getting asked if they celebrate Thanksgiving!!)

Attention All Associates....We have a Code ADAM!

OK....So taking Ryann anywhere has become quite the ordeal, but as a parent you HAVE to expose your kids to things so that eventually they will get use to it...Right?! Me, I am taking the stay home until you are the age 5, maybe even 6 before we venture into public again! I am not a huge fan of browsing when I shop...I am a direct right to the point kind, so looking back and forth or wandering around stores drives me crazy (and trust me at this point, that is a real short drive!). Lewis, my hubby, loves to take his time and get lost looking at ever gadget imaginable. UGH! That is a disaster waiting to happen. This weekend, we went to the Utah vs. BYU game. My dad, Lewis, Luca, Wesley and my brother's two boys all went to the game while my mom and I went to some fabric stores. Yeah....mistake #1. Ryann in a store with all these little sewing things and material. She decided to show us her new ability to play an excellent game of hide and seek. Well after about 5 minutes, we find her under a rack with material all over it. She wasn't making a sound and watched us run past her about 5 times! Well, that was a small store. Armed with this new info about my daughter's love for her new game, I told the rest that we need to keep a sharp eye on her. Even though my mother reminded me about a million times to bring the leash (which is this harness that a British friend of mine borrowed me), I forgot it! Mistake #2 In the mall the next day waiting for the shops to open. Luca was in charge of her, and let her slip under a gate which was up about a foot and tried to coax her back out. Then we come to MISTAKE #3.....taking Ryann into the store with Lewis trying to show me something that he wants to buy. Ryann quickly took advantage of this moment where Lewis and I were looking at something, and Luca was distracted by all the sales going on. So I turn around and ask, Where is Ryann??? Only to find the other two shrugging and saying "I Don't Know"......OMG! I start to look under all the tables and displays, because after the day before I know what she is capable of. Lewis and Luca wander around like lost sheep, and soon the store employees are involved. I hear the dreaded, "Attention All Associates, We have a code Adam, two year old little girl with blonde curly hair." YEP....That's my little girl! JCPenny's has alot of hiding places.....I was in straight panic! Then I hear a lady saying...."Are you the little girl they are looking for?" I run over there and there is Ryann sitting under a shoe rack just a smiling away.....she sees me and says, "I found you" I swear I will be licking the paint off the walls before raising this girl is all over with!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even keep up....

Ryann has had a very busy week, not to mention that it has been a holiday week too with the other kids being out of school for 3 extra days!!!! Oh what fun it has been. If you have any questions about what I do all day, just look at these pics :) I did add one pic to show that she CAN be good.....but you all have to pic which one it is ;)