November 29, 2011

Love this song!

Love this new album.  We are huge Michael Buble fans.  This album is going to be on repeat this season.  Falling in love with this song.

November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving

This year was the most low key holiday we have spent in our entire married life, and I have no pictures so show for it.  We didn't go anywhere, or do much of anything.  We were just lazy and hung out.  It was kind of nice.  I don't know what the rest of the family thought about it but it was nice to experience for once.  All of my in-laws traveled to Utah to be together. I feel bad because we should have gone, but we didn't.  I was not in the mood to travel, especially during the holidays with kids.  That to me does not sound like fun.
We went over to my parents house for dinner.  There was some great food. Andrew wanted to carve the Turkey so after it was carved he wanted at the remains.  I wish I had my camera to take a picture of it because he was so stinkin cute.  He had a great time taking the bird apart.  Thanks mom for doing that!  My sister Rachel and her family decided to go out for dinner and just be by themselves.  Now she swears that going out to eat on Thanksgiving is the way to go.  I think we will have to try that one year, although I am one of those traditional gals.  I like being with family. I love the home cooked food.  I love just being indoors and being together.  If I had it my way, we would have been in a cabin high up in the mountains with the snow piled a few feet high and the Christmas tree already up, but that didn't happen so we settled to stay in our warm home.  The weather was actually pretty close to perfect.  We played football outside with the boys so that was nice.  My boys love being outside come rain or shine.  No matter how hot or how cold it is, you will find them playing outside.  Me, not so much.
My kids have had no school this past week.  It has been nice to have them home.  I am also really excited for school to start back up and get back on schedule.  I am one who thrives on schedule. I believe my kids do too. 
This past week we have played and played.  They are not going to want to go back to school.  Christmas break is just around the corner so we will be doing this again.

We also went out on Black Friday.  One of my favorite traditions.  Although this year was a little different.  We decided since some of the stores opened Thanksgiving night we might as well go and get some done while we were still wide awake.  So my sister Rachel, my dad and I decided to go out and brave the crowds early.  We wanted to go to Toys R Us first because Keaton wants a RipStick and they were having a great deal at Toys R Us from 9-11 p.m.  How bad could the lines be?  They were terrible.  There were close to 1500 people waiting in line.  So we took one look at it and knew that if we were ever go get in, we would have to wait the 2 hours in line just to get in and once we got in the deal would be over and the RipSticks gone.  So we got back in the car and laughed our way to Walmart.  There were a few things there that my boys wanted so we decided to give it a try.  Oh my goodness, we will never do that again.  It was the craziest place ever.  I am not a huge fan of Walmart and try to avoid it when I can.  I have never seen the store so crowded in my entire life.  There were crates full of the items that were on sale wrapped up and when the horn sounded at 10 p.m. people went crazy ripping things, pushing people and pretty much nawing at people.  I have never seen people go so crazy in my entire life.  I had to stand back and just laugh.  It was so ridiculous.  I could have cared less about the great deal I got on some things, I was more entertained watching stupid people act like fools just to get what they wanted.  I can understand why some people are trampled and crushed by crowds.  Just plain crazy!
I decided to get up early and adventure out by myself the next morning to find some other things.  The town was pretty much a ghost town.  Everyone does their shopping from midnight - 5 a.m.  Not me, I have a baby I still have to nurse and so does my sister so that didn't happen this year. Next year we can do that.  I was alittle disappointed this year, I didn't get all that I needed in one day.  So the Christmas shopping will have to continue.  Seems like Christmas gets more and more expensive each year as my boys get older. 
One tradition that we are going to start is the Elf on the Shelf. Ever heard of it?  This year Santa is going to mail the Snyder children an elf to sit in our home and observe my boys.  Each night after they have gone to bed we will move the elf to a different spot, making the boys believe he is real.  Of course they should be on their best behavior because Santa's elves are keeping an eye on my kids.  Hope it works this year.
All the Christmas decorations are up minus our tree. We will do that for Family night on Monday night.  We always get a real one so we try to wait a little bit so our tree isn't bone dry by the time Christmas comes.  We always leave it up until after the New Year.  I love this time of year.

November 16, 2011

The stomach flu

So I was dumb thinking that the stomach flu would pass us by, well I was wrong.  We were hit pretty hard Sunday night when Keaton started to complain about his stomach hurting right before he went to bed. So we did a little to help him out and an hour later he came out and told us he needed to throw up, well he really meant it because he threw up all over the office floor and then numerous times in the bathroom.  So we made a little bed for him upstairs to kind of quarintin the place.  Lance was kind to sleep with him since I had to be close to Ellie so I could feed her throughout the night.  He started to run a fever and Lance gave him a blessing and he actually slept through the night peacefully. 
Well I was the one who was hit hard next.  I woke up around 4 a.m. and was just feeling awful.  I had a whooping headache, body aches, the chills and the feeling that I needed to throw up too.  So I was next in line.  Mine lasted much longer than Keaton's.  Keaton woke up the next morning feeling perfectly fine.  So I knew mine wouldn't last the entire day. 
We kept Keaton home from school just to be safe and not spread the holiday cheer to everyone else.  The boys played nicely all day long. Dad made them forts and they watched Shaun the Sheep and Phineas and Ferb quite abit.  More than I would have liked but considering the situation I didn't care.  I was miserable.  I layed down everywhere I could.  It was hard to watch Ellie and have the strength to carry her and take care of her while having no energy to even lift my head.  Thank goodness Lance has been home these past couple of days. We couldn't have done this without him.
So Tuesday came around and everyone was happy and healthy.  The boys went to school and life felt like it was back to normal until the afternoon rolled around.  We had just picked up Keaton from school around 4 p.m. when all of a sudden Owen and Andrew started puking everywhere.  So in order to clean up my couches, the floors and the carpets, I put them all in the bathtub to soak and clean up.  They were content in there for quite some time.  I hate cleaning up puke.  I really do!  It's a good thing my nose is still plugged up because I couldn't smell it.  It is the kind of smell that makes you want to throw up the way when someone yawns, it makes you yawn.
So everyone was cleaned up and bathed and in pajamas at 4:30 p.m. and we were waiting for dad to get home.  All that time I was praying like crazy that Ellie wouldn't get it. 
Ellie goes to bed around 6 p.m. so after we put her down we all headed upstairs to help the boys out.  We watched more Shaun the Sheep (by the way, have you seen that show? It is pretty funny.) and Lance had one boy with a bucket on hand ready for puke and I was with the other.  Owen fell asleep pretty fast and so we were happy that he was sleeping.  Andrew on the other hand was hit the hardest with the stomach bug.  Poor guy was puking every half hour seemed like.  I wanted to cry for him.  All we could do was rub his back and help him out best we could.  After about 4 hours of it, he finally settled down for bed and they both have been sleeping since.
Now here I am at 6:30 a.m. with a baby that wants to be entertained and a house full of sleeping boys, I am crossing my fingers for a better day today.

November 9, 2011

Shaun the Sheep anyone ?

This is Andrew, enough said. He makes me smile.

November 6, 2011

Finding Joy in the Journey

It still blows my mind that we are already in November and that Thanksgiving is just 3 weeks away.  The weather had definitely gotten much colder and we have already had our first snow fall.  I am not sure I am ready for snow yet but tis the season.
Our Sunday turned out to be pretty good.  The kids did fairly well in church today and we didn't have to roam the halls with Ellie. Instead, Lance took the second hour with her and I took third hour since Lance had to teach the Priests today.  We only had to stand back in the corners of the room this time.  She is getting better, she still likes to be on the move but she is getting better.
Our lesson in Relief Society was on President Monson's talk, Finding Joy in the Journey.  I love that talk. I refer back to it quite abit to help myself get back on track.  Sister Payne taught it so well. I felt like I connected with everything she shared with us.  She is a very sweet woman in our ward who just adores Ellie. Everytime she sees her she comes up and it makes Ellie smile from ear to ear.  We discussed a lot about what our parents did to make us feel important growing up.  We talked about all the things we can do to help our own children feel loved and important. 
She shared with us about what her life was like after having her 5th child.  She said that she was not happy.  She woke up grumpy.  She just didn't like life at all. She was tired and just wanted her free time.  She went on to explain how she developed a close relationship with Christ.  I was all of a sudden brought to tears because I felt like she was talking about me.  I have been feeling all of those things and it I felt like it was okay to feel those things but how I acted on them was a different story. 
Life right now is kinda hard for me.  Having 4 little ones has presented its challenges.  I know I am up to it. I know that Lord knows that too.  Has it been easy for me? Most definetly not!  Most days I feel like throwing in the towel and calling it quits because if I have to change one more dirty diaper, break up a fight, trip over another toy for the 10th time that day or listen to my little one scream herself to sleep, I am going to go bonkers.  Some days I just sit back and marvel and this crazy life Lance and I have together.  Look how far we have made it, and I think of how much further we have to go and it is overwhelming at times. 
This past week I have really dedicated to helping Ellie sleep better.  It has not been easy at all.  She is quite the fighter and most times she cries and cries but I can say she is getting better.  It makes it really hard to go anywhere because I have made the commitment to stay home 99% of the time to help her out.  My kids might think it is boring but I keep telling myself that it will pay off in the end. She is already sleeping alittle better during the day.  Even though it is in her swing she is sleeping more.  Nights, well she goes down alittle easier.  She has had to cry it out but the longest has only been about 25 minutes.  Which listening to it makes it seem like forever but really it isn't that long.  She still wakes up once or twice but other than that she is doing pretty good.  Its the other three boys that don't sleep well.  One of them is always trying to sleep in our bed or crying for us to come and lay with them.  Our nights are alittle hectic sometimes.  Needless to say we don't get much sleep so sometimes earlier bedtimes allow us to get a good head start on a long night ahead.
We have been using the doTERRA Essential Oils and there is a technique called the Aroma Touch and my boys LOVE it! Almost every night they ask for them and want me to rub their backs.  They say it give them "good nightmares" instead of bad ones. We are loving them!
Now is 9:04 p.m. and it is time for bed.  So today's lesson for me is recognizing the joy in the journey and finding happiness in family living. Since this is the month to express our gratitude, I am grateful for my family and for what they mean to me.  They are my rock and my life.  Oh how I love you!!!