Things Don't Always go as Planned

As I write this I am sitting at my in-laws house. It's Thursday and our original plan was to be here on Sunday. Our holiday didn't go as planned. Christmas Eve Will came down with a gastro bug that the 3 younger children had passed around the previous weeks. He spent the majority of the day in bed resting. Christmas morning came and he was able to drag himself out of bed long enough to share in the excitement that Santa had visited over night.

Christmas Eve I completely over did it and therefore spent Christmas day in bed myself with a massive migraine. Thankfully my brother and sisters families were next door at my mothers so the 4 older kids spent most of the day over there. It's good to have family so close.

Will's stomach issues passed and now he is just sick with a sinus infection. My headache passed but I was left with a bad chest cold requiring steroids and antibiotics. I think I am finally starting to feel a little better today. So instead of coming up to Will's parents on Sunday night to celebrate Christmas, we came up last night. Better late then not at all.

So in short the holiday hasn't really gone as planned. Poor Will hasn't got to spend his vacation the way he had in mind and all the plans I had for decluttering and cleaning the house have got pushed to the back burner. Things are looking up though and we are finally feeling better and having some fun.

All of my pictures from Christmas morning are on my camera at home. Once we get home and get unpacked I will make it a priority to get those up on the blog.

Holiday Baking

I spent a day last week doing some holiday baking. While I had a mess on the counters, Emily had a mess on the floor. She had fun emptying drawers and playing with utensils.
She entertained herself quite well and I got alot accomplished. We made chocolate chip, sugar, and gingersnap cookies. I also made my first batch of kringla and it was wonderful. The goal was to send most of the cookies to work with Will. The only problem was I forgot he was off on Friday so the goodies sat around the house all weekend begging to be eaten.

Needless to say, Will only took 1 tin of cookies to work with him today instead of 2. Maybe I will do a better job on the banana breads.

Random Thoughts

I think I have had too much coffee. Another thing to add to the list of things to do...stop drinking so much coffee. My brain feels full tonight, there is alot on my mind. Figured maybe I would write about some of it and then maybe I can sleep...maybe.

This has been a crazy couple weeks. The gastro bug had hit our house and hit it hard. The 3 younger children have all taken turns being sick. Drew bug and Emily are still suffering. Thankfully Brodie seems to be better although still complains once in a while of tummy pain. Hoping the older 4 in the house don't come down with it (knocking on wood). I feel I am safe because I had something similar to what the children are experiencing a few weeks ago. I fear for my husband and older sons though. It will pass but it is never fun while it's around.

I feel prepared for Christmas. I am excited for the holiday. I look forward to the kids and husband having time off and being home together. I see lots of movies and games in our near future. Hoping to spend a few days away from home staying with the in-laws. It won't be all fun and games though. I have big plans for the time off. I want to go through every room and de-clutter and purge. There is way too many of us, with way too much stuff for this house. Having less will mean more to me. De-cluttering, organizing and cleaning are on my list of things to do during winter break. I think I am the only one excited about this.

I am excited for a new year. I always feel good about a new year. Like a fresh start. I have many goals for 2012. Hoping I can stick to them better than I stuck with my 2011 goals. I have alot I want to do and accomplish but I also have to remind myself that I am only human and I can only do so much.

Speaking of 2012, I am excited to be attending a blogging conference with my sister in April. I started my frugal blog mainly to help others out and journal my experiences. It got a lot bigger than I had ever planned and now I just want to keep it growing. It has given me motivation and become a fun hobby for me. I have about 350 email subscribers and almost 600 Facebook fans.

I am planning another 31 days of nothing challenge for my family in January and I am going to be hosting a link up each week. Anyone who wants to join is welcome and can keep us updated with their progress each week via a link to their blog. Keeping myself accountable on my blog always helps me out and keeps me honest. The Frugal Tuesday Tip is another fun link up I do each week. I am hoping to see that grow in 2012 as well.

Ok, I feel a little better getting some of my ideas written down. Kids will be up before I know it so I better get some shut eye.

Decorating the Tree

Decorating the Christmas tree is always a tradition I look forward to each year. Dad and Jake are in charge of hanging the lights. Next, comes the ornaments. I have started a box of ornaments for each of the kids. I can remember my mom doing the same for me. When it comes time to decorate everyone has their own box of treasures to hang on the tree.

I will be starting a box for Emily this year. Last year she was barely a month old and she slept through the tree decorating. This year she is a very busy toddler who doesn't want to miss out on anything. She was fascinated with everyone's ornaments. As they put them on the tree, she would take them off and inspect them.
After all the ornaments have been placed on the tree, it is time for the star. Jake was in charge this year of putting the star on top of the tree. We soon realized that the star was just too tiny for this tree.
I decided we would make a new one. So that was a project the younger boys and I did the following day. We cut a star out of cardboard, painted it, added glitter, and hot glued a tp roll to the back. We placed it on top of the tree. Perfect.

Christmas Tree Hunting

It's been an entire week since I last posted and I realized that I didn't even have pictures of our Christmas tree up yet. Spare time is hard to come by these days. My laptop is broken as well so blogging means I have to seclude myself in the bedroom away from everyone. That doesn't happen very often. I know, excuses, excuses. Anyway on with the tree.

We headed out the weekend after Thanksgiving to go look for our Christmas tree. We like to visit Kidman's Tree Farm. This year we found a tree out on the grounds and for the first time ever, cut it down ourselves! The kids had a ball with this. They each took turns using the saw. Here is Drew. Brodie.Tony. And Jake finished the job.Whoo Hoo!It was windy and cold but we were having a good time. Except for Emily. She wasn't very happy being cold and having to sit in her stroller.
Once we found our tree we took it back up to the house and the nice Kidman folks loaded it on the van for us while we got some more hot chocolate and headed back out for a wagon ride. Tony was brave enough to get up and lead the horses for a bit.Finally it was time to head home and the kids were super excited to put the tree up in the living room. And here she is.We chose a new spot to put it this year. The following night we decorated. Those pictures will come soon.

What's Been Going On

It has been a busy couple weeks around the Figgins household. When isn't it busy really, but it seems busier than usual lately. I can't even really tell you everything that has gone on.

Most recently, on Tuesday Emily had surgery on her ears. She had tubes put in after fighting a recurrent ear infection for over 2 months. Now the fluid will drain out as opposed to being stuck in her ear, causing pain and discomfort and eventually infection. She did really well during and after her surgery. The procedure itself took about 5 minutes. We barely sat down in the waiting room when they came out and said she was all done.

When they brought her to me she was crying and dazed but after awhile she calmed down. We got to leave about 20 minutes later. We came home ate breakfast, she played a bit and then she took a 3 hour nap. When she woke up she acted like nothing had ever happened. Amazing.

She was a little fussy today but she did ok. She has been really tired lately so she took another long nap.

Brodie started running a fever yesterday at school. I ended up picking him up and bringing him home. He complained of a headache and ran a fever the rest of the night. This morning he started vomiting. It was a single episode though, thank goodness. He continued to complain of a headache, tummy ache and ran a fever most of the day. It looks like he will be home with me again tomorrow. I am just crossing my fingers that no one else in the house gets it.

Jake's First Basketball Scrimmage

Jake decided to join the basketball team this year. He hasn't played basketball since he was little. I am glad he is playing. It keeps him busy and active, two important things for a teenage boy.

I am very proud of him. He has really matured this year. He has been able to stay active in school sports and keep good grades. He even made honor roll first semester. He keeps busy days. Between school, lifting, practice, homework I don't see him much. I guess that is all part of growing up.

Here are some pictures of his first scrimmage the other morning.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a wonderful holiday weekend. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday with both Will's parents and my mother, siblings and their families. We headed up to Colo in the morning and spent a few hours with Will's family. The food there is always good and there is plenty of it. The weather was beautiful and the guys played football outside for a bit.
In the afternoon we headed back home and spent the evening at my mothers house. My siblings and their families showed up and we ate yet again! We celebrated the November birthdays that evening as well. The cousins all had a good time playing and hanging out.

It was a great day filled with wonderful food, warm homes and loving families. I am truly thankful for my life.

Drew's Birthday Cake

Drew sat with me at the computer a couple weeks before his birthday and we googled images of super hero cakes. He found one he really liked so I had an idea to go off of. The weekend of his birthday party I spent a couple hours one evening coloring and making the fondant decorations for his cake.
Batman, Spiderman and Captain America were the heros that he wanted on his cake.

The morning of his party I finished up the decorating. Here is how the cake turned out. He was so excited when he saw it. He said "ahhh mom, that is AWESOME!" He must have thanked me half a dozen times. This was definitely one of my favorite cakes I have made.

Happy Birthday Drew!

We celebrated Mr. Drewbugs birthday yesterday. He turned 5 years old! I love this kid so much. He is one of the moodiest kids of all the children but he is also one of the most lovable. He is always giving me random hugs and kisses on the forehead when I am sitting in my chair. He is just such a good boy and I can't believe he is FIVE!!! Ahh my baby boy.

He loves all things super hero. Remember the costume post? Well he still loves to dress as a super hero and play super hero. So of course all he really wanted for his birthday was super hero stuff. So here he is opening his Captain America shield.
And here he is opening his Batman house.
So excited! He wanted me to wait and make his cake for his birthday with his grandparents, which turned out to be a really good thing since I was sick and wouldn't of been able to have the cake ready for his actual birth date.

He got to choose dinner which consisted of bacon wrapped sirloins, popcorn shrimp, blueberry muffins and strawberries. Definitely my son. Those are all my favorites too! We spent the evening eating popcorn and watching a movie in the basement for a change.

Goodbye beard, you won't be missed.

Well, he did it. The grizzly, Neanderthal, homeless looking husband that I had is now this well groomed, clean kept man! Amazing what shaving can do for a person.It started out as a no-shave contest at work. The only problem was, Will was the only one left particiapating. He has done it before a few years ago. It's kinda fun to watch and see just how long and curly it will get. The top picture was just a little over 3 1/2 months of not shaving. The goal was January first and then he would buzz it all off. Once he started double taking because he thought he kept seeing people sneak up on him, only to realize it was just his own beard, then he realized it was time to shave. (sorry hon, had to share that!)

And since Dad always uses the clippers to cut the boys hair, it was only fair that they get to cut his hair. Brodie wasn't at all interested, but Drew loved every minute of it. He was very serious and would periodically stop and look at Will and say "you look so weird".

Yes, this all came from his head.The house was pretty split about the decision to shave. Jake and Tony liked the beard and were a bit bummed to see its demise. Brodie and Drew liked it cut. I, of course liked the new look. Emily on the other hand, not so much. I had a feeling she would be a bit reserved if he looked different. We even had her watch so she could see the transformation. She giggled and totted around the kitchen while Drew cut. Once Will was done and actually looked at her, she shreaked in fear. I couldn't believe how terrified she was of him. I didn't know who to feel more sorry for Emily or Will.

She got over it eventually but was still a little unsure of it the next day. Everything is all good now and she is back to being a daddy's girl.

Emily's First Bithday Party

We held Emily's first birthday this past weekend. We had lots of friends and family show up to help us celebrate. I thought she might be a little shy since there was so many people in our house but she did great.

Here are some pictures of her opening her gifts. She got lots of good stuff. I am realizing now that when you have a girl, her birthday gifts are kinda like your own. I loved seeing all the new clothes and fun girlie things she got. She immediatly had to love on her babies when she opened them. Funny how girls just do that. Its like boys automatically play guns and making car noises.
Here was the birthday cake I made for her. I made Emily her own special cake. She poked at it a few times and then just leaned forward to take a bite.
She thought she was pretty funny. And she was. Before the party we took a couple pictures of Emmy and her mommy and daddy. Awww, she loves her daddy.
It's still hard for me to believe that we finally have a girl. We all love her so much.

Halloween 2011

Here are my boys all dressed up for Trick 0r Treating. Begger's night was chilly and windy but at least there was no rain or snow like there has been in previous years. The kids went out with Will, our good friend and his little boy and my step sister and her son. The girls stayed back at the house and helped hand out candy and listen to funny jokes all night.

Here are the 4 younger kids all ready to head out and fill their buckets. They stayed out for about an hour and that was long enough to get a good variety of candy.