Better late than never..

Just wanted to throw a quick {almost late} birthday wish to my best friend in the whole world, Stephanie Pickle! We have been friends since 7th grade. I am now lucky enough to live just around the corner from her and we see each other {at least} like 5 times a week, I love it!

Here are a few things I love most about Steph...

• she is very non-judgemental, I can always be myself around her
• she is always up for an adventure {whether it is lunch, a play date or a week in Cancun}
• she is beautiful {and completely unaware}
• she is extremely creative and talented
• she has an adorable family
• she is enthusiastic about yummy food {same as me}
• she has a great sense of humor and isn't easily offended
• she is always up to help, especially with babysitting :)
• she is extremely thoughtful
• she is easy to talk to
• she is great with my kids
• she is a wonderful example
  

I could go on but I am afraid I might miss her b-day deadline :) I love you Steph! Thanks for being my friend for the last 16 years! You are the best!

in case you were wondering

what Santa might do if he misplaced the ONE thing some good little girl was counting on...I think he might spend quite a bit of time panicking, going through drawers, closets, and any other small hiding places {several times}. He just might check the garage, then the recycle garbage can {in the snow} then the over flowing great big garbage can {YUCK!} and then he might just say a little prayer and check the garage ONE MORE TIME. Whew! Then an unopened box just might show up to be place by the tree and make all Christmas dreams come true for some little girl!

On another note...I just wanted to post a couple photos from our Christmas Eve festivities!

We had our Christmas Eve dinner, complete with brussel sprouts that were eaten by all in honor of Granny Goose! {miss her}

We decorated gingerbread houses, well, Luke and Paislee ate candy while the rest of us tried our best to decorate. {Mike is super creative when it comes to this project, too bad I stink and ruined most of his design, OOPS}

We got our Christmas jammies! {My favorite was when Luke asked Jeremy why he had girls on his jammies - see the pic below. And then Paislee -sooo excited to wear her bag as a purse, even after watching everyone else pull jammies out of their bags she was still happy wearing hers as a purse!}

We also played some holiday pictionary, which Chad's team won {of course}!

Watched a little ELF - only the greatest Christmas show ever!

And of course, we ate loads and loads of treats!

More to come tomorrow! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Its about time!

We have been busy, busy, busy {as I am sure most of you have} trying to get all of our "Christmasy" stuff done and ready for the BIG day!

Just thought I would update you on a few...

• The kids have been enjoying their advent gifts each morning - here is the fun Little People Nativity, I came down to find Adi sharing her breakfast with them!

• Last Saturday we had a crazy morning, I baked 13+ DOZEN sugar cookies then we had 10 kids from our primary class over and they decorated every last one! It was soooo much fun - I was really impressed with the creativity that 10 year olds can have.
  

• Then it was off to our annual "Girls Christmas Party". This was the 11th year for our get-together and we had lots of good food, great gifts and, of course, fun times! I feel so lucky to have such a good group of girlfriends!
  

• Monday night we headed up to Temple Square for family night with the Pickle's. {After the catastrophe of trying to park} we enjoyed seeing all the lights and nativities. I can't believe that this was the first time we have ever gone as a family, we are gonna have to add this to our annual traditions list!
  

• Adi had her Christmas performance on Wednesday! She did sooo good and made the CUTEST Rudolph ever! The highlight of it all was the visit from Hefa from High School Musical, did you know he has connections to Santa?
  

• Today, there were a few more dozen cookies to be decorated - no pics though - the kids spent about 2 minutes at the table before they were through. Stephanie and I did most of them ourselves! {that was a 1st} Paislee was a big help though, she ate 3 on her own!

There! That's a pretty good update, albeit a little boring! But school's out and grandma comes tomorrow, YIPEE! The countdown is on!

Our Nativity Outing

We all got bundled up last night and headed to Hee Haw Farm. They had a really fun Nativity Hayride...we had stops for each part{shepherds, angels, wisemen, the king, the inn keeper}, they told their story and then we sang a song after each one and ended in the stable. It was fun to have the kids learn about this story in another way and see them understand it a little more.
This is Michelle, our wagon guide, Mike and I taught her for almost 2 years in Primary when we were very first married. It was so fun to see how grown up she is {she was 7&8 back then} and surprised that we still recognized her! That class still has a special place in our heart!
TTFN!

a few RaNDoM observations

• Walmart can be my happy place {at least at 7am on a Friday morning - the isles are beautiful when fully stocked}
• The sound of a flock of geese flying overhead is very disturbing - until you identify what it is - then it's pretty cool.
• Shaving, with a new razor{after going without one for a week} can make you feel like a new woman.

That's all!

Happy weekend!

a visit to Santa

Last night we took a trip to see Santa Clause at the mall.

Adi and Luke were really excited to make sure he knew what they wanted, Paislee, on the other hand, would rather go without!

Merry Christmas!

kids are all nestled snug in their beds...

...while visions of this man, St. Nikalous, dance in their heads!

Or, it may be possible that they are having nightmares involving his companion/slave, Ruprect.

October 6th is St. Nikalous Day and because of Mike's mission ties and the fact that we lived in Germany for a short time - we continue to celebrate as the Germans do and get out our best {or biggest, as is the case this year} shoes, make sure they are good and clean, and set them out for St. Nikalous' visit.

Legend has it that he comes to inspect the children on the eve of Dec. 6th {his death date} each year and can tell quite a lot about them from their shoes. If they are clean/good he will leave small gifts and treats in and around their shoes.

The downside to this legend {in true German fashion} is that he is accompanied by his slave Ruprect - a short, mean, black man. Ruprect carries a bag where he will stuff all naughty children and beat them with a stick!

(I know this sounds harsh - but the Germans aren't exactly into PC}

I'm thinkin that Ruprect can keep his bag this year...well, unless Jeremy makes an appearance ;)

He did it!

Chad {my "little" brother} got his board results back today and he passed! Well...he didn't just pass - he got a 95!

I am so proud of him - he has really buckled down and worked super hard to be responsible and get things in order. Unfortunately, this means that he will be leaving shortly after Christmas for Arizona where he plans to get rich and become a stylist to the rich and famous!

We are ALL very sad to have him leave but excited to see him succeed! I will miss his support and the example he sets for me with his constant focus on bettering himself and helping others! Love ya Chaddy! Congrats!!!

the count down is on

Yay! It is finally December!

And we are officially counting down to Christmas at the Bartholomew home!

After a little inspiration,

I got to work and came up with this...

They each hold a clue/gift for every day until Santa arrives.

We are anxiously awaiting the opening of the 1st gift in the morning.

Then we are off to catch a plane for San Diego - GO BYU!

Fun stuff!

This is my friend, Angie.
LoVe her!
She is super duper talented in aLL things.

Tonight she helped me learn a new hobby that I have been dying to learn FoReVeR!

We went to the bead store, picked out some black, red and white BLiNG {to match the girls Christmas outfits} and then created these aDoRaBLe little things...

Angie gets all credit for the earrings - a little too scary for me! Oh, and please don't mention these to the girls, they are gifts for their advent calenders.

OOPS!

So, I just went to download all of my pictures from Thanksgiving and turns out Chad left his camera and took mine! (they are the same kind) Bummer! So I will have to wait to update you on our celebrations but in the mean time found these on Chaddy's camera and thought I would share a little story with you...

This is Luke. Luke wasn't feeling so hot on Thanksgiving. He slept through the 1st dinner on mom's lap, then slept some more (on dad's lap) while at the movies with his cousins and the rest o' the Bartholomew clan. Luke then came home for the 2nd dinner and found comfort in his good friend, Angie's lap. Luke really likes Ang...so much that he puked on our one and only non-family guest, right before dinner!

Poor guy, poor Ang!

This is him with his "puke bowl" he didn't use it, just the once on Ang was enough. But his sister was extra sweet and caring for him all night long. Loved watching her mother him, made me extra thankful for my kids!
Once again, SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOO sorry Angie!

stingrays, starfish and sharks {oh my}

{Sorry for the multi posts}
I just wanted to share a few pictures of our quick trip to the aquarium today...the kids had lots of fun checking everything out but the favorite was the "touchy" part. They all touched the stingrays {'cept paiz - it was too deep for her little arm} starfish, sea cucumbers and tried to pet the sharks.

(Thank goodness those are safe behind glass!)

Feeling so thankful for family time and a whole weekend of more to come! YAY!

all set and ready to...EAT!

We are having the bi-annual Bartholomew dinner at the new "Barn" this year to accommodate all 37 family members planning to attend. I volunteered to do a little decorating {name cards and vases} then asked Amie for a little help and we came up with this...this is just one of the tables but {if I do say so myself} we cozied this place right up!

More to come tomorrow - just getting a little excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whats gonna work? TEAMWORK!

Love, love, LOVE it when my kids play well together!

School was out today, Ads and Luke built this {coolest} fort this morning while I got ready for the day and were so excited to show it off. When I went for the camera they both asked at the same time if I would put it on my blog. CUTE!

I am feeling sooo...

Thankful that my hubby is home, it is the weekend, he is making breakfast {as I type}, I got 12 HUGE hours of sleep last night{helps when you go to bed at 8pm with the kids}, and I have a fun get together planned with my girls this afternoon! And so "thankful" that this project went so smoothly/quickly - can you believe that Thanksgiving is just 5 days away? CRAZY! Sooo much to do!

Oh, and thanks to this post {much cuter/classy idea} for the inspiration!

Happy Weekend!

despite my current feelings...

This girl is aBSoLuTeLY in LoVe with aLL things Miley!

Yes, even the stinky little things that need to be cleaned up!

Love her!

Tagged!

I've been tagged! The name of this game is to answer the following 10 questions and then tag 4 other friends to do the same on their blog pages...

I am not the best at this sort of stuff but here goes nothin'!

1. Best thing you cooked last week? This is really sad but I only cooked once last week and it wasn't even for my family, it was for a friend. But I did cook my mom's famous chicken cheese bisque (:
2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who? I would definitely be going back to Europe! See all the places I have been and lots of new stuff! {this might take several trips} I am also up for anyplace warm and relaxing {haven't tried Hawaii yet} and I could go back to NYC a million times over, just walking the streets, trying new restaurants, going to shows. I would take Mike with me {for sure} but the more the merrier! {definitely Tanja, Steph and Kristi to Europe, and Angie Millet to NYC} k that was long, can you tell I am dying to travel?
3. When was the last time you cried? Umm, Sunday. Pretty much the whole day. Mike is gone, my freezer/fridge broke, the dog was naughty, my kids were naughty, Chad dogged me....kinda a bad day!
4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago: 1. starting work at A Plus 2. living with Granny Goose {miss her} 3. visiting my girls at USU 4. dating Joe 5. thinking I was really cool with my new car {neon} and cell phone
5. Five things you were doing 5 years ago: 1. getting ready to quit A Plus and be a stay home mom (: 2. living in our first home in orem 3. watching daniel play sports several times a week 4. counting down the days until Mike graduated 5. teaching the beehives in YW {scared me to death}
6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago: trying to get a handle on 3 kids, spending WAY too much time at the Dr. office with sick kids, looking forward to a warm trip to AZ for Thanksgiving, eating too many Almond Snickers {i got kinda obsessive for awhile}, working out 4 days a week (i know, yay for me - except look at #4)
7. Seven of your favorite hobbies: reading, scrapbooking/cardmaking, crafty projects/home decorating, cooking/baking, blogging (is that a hobby?), traveling, shopping
8. Five favorite foods: Lets just say ~ all things naughty! Eating should have been listed in my "Hobby" section above. Cafe Rio - pork anything, cookies/baked goods, soda - preferably Pepsi, but usually Diet Coke {trying to be good}, soup, pizza
9. Five places you've been: NYC, Cancun, Germany, Prague, Switzerland
10. Five Favorite Memories: sitting with Mike in the celestial room at the sl temple on our wedding day, holding each one of my children for the 1st time, spending a week in cancun with my hubby

Okay, now I tag...Stephanie Pickle - love her, Mom - here is your "something" to blog about, Annie Miller - she needs to update (:, and Joey Brough - wanna get to know her better! Can't wait!

Getting organized...

I started this "little" project about 3 weeks ago...

and after weeks of mess,

it is finally finished!

Just thought I would share, I got these fun bars/shelves at IKEA in their kitchen section.

SO FUN!

Now I just might get started on all the holiday projects I have been accumulating :-)

That's all, goodnight!

What a rack!

so...Mike left on Friday around noon to Nebraska with his dad, brothers and a couple family friends to go hunting. His flight home is not until Wednesday, so it was much to my surprise when this text came across my phone before 11am this morning! Neither him or David wasted any time waiting! {Mike had assured me that there was NO way he would shoot anything the first day - he was afraid of jumping the gun, killing something small and getting the wrath and ridicule of the seasoned hunters he was with}

The best part of this {for Mike}?

His was bigger than David's {so no teasing} and if it gets to be as COLD as is expected he will not have to sit in a tree for 12+ hours : )

Now, the best part of this {for me}?

He just might make it home sooner than later!

Way to go Mike!

{doesn't he look manly}

I scream for ice cream {cones}

This girl is NOT really an ice cream fan

UNLESSS...

it has a cone and SHE is holding it!

And then... I DARE you to TRY and take it away!

HaPPy WeeKeND!

Goodbye J&K

Mike had his official LAST day of WORK today!

I took this picture as he headed out the door this morning...last day of work, last time to wear J&K on his shirt, last time to commute to SLC...

Randy took this pic at his ALMOST empty desk, after they took their last gas station drink run (pretty sure that's what Mike will miss most -hope his brothers like mid-morning Pepsi's), Mike will miss the friends he has made over the past few years but is really excited to get started on his own, should be a fun ride!

Good Luck Mikey!

Tender Mercies...

During the testimony meeting yesterday at Eli's baby blessing, a guy bore his testimony about a tender mercy of the Lord. This phrase has really stuck with me over the last couple months as I have heard it often - random comments made by family and friends, in a RS lesson (which I seldom get to attend), and during GC talks. This strangers testimony, along with the remembrance of a GC talk ( I think it was by Eyring) - that talked about keeping a spiritual journal - has inspired me to start looking for those "tender mercies" that take place in my life each and every day! This could be quite the challenge, as I seem to be finding the negatives instead of the positives lately.

So, this is my quest - I will take this fun little journal that my mom gave me last month and put it to work. Each day I will find one tender mercy {or more :)}, make note of it in this book, and hopefully begin to "accentuate the positive" in my crazy little world. And I just might share from time to time...



As for today, my darling Miss Adilynn{#1} the trampoline {#2} and my mother{#3} (who gifted us said trampoline) all had a hand in my tender mercy.

I was determined to get my house cleaned, laundry done, halloween decorations put away, Thanksgiving decorations up, and Paislee's clothes organized. This decision meant that there would be no shower until it was done ( I never get my bathrooms cleaned if I am dressed) After picking up carpool in my pajama's (Adi was a bit embarrassed) and making lunch, Adi offered to feed Paislee while I showered (was that a hint?) but no need, there was still too much to be done, including both bathrooms! As I was cleaning lunch up, Adi came to tell me that she "had put Paislee on the tramp and was going to hold Luke's hand so that he could get on the tramp so they could all play together, and didn't that make me happy cuz I didn't even have to ask?"

Sooo happy! She and the trampoline kept all kids occupied and happy for over an hour and I got the WHOLE house vacuumed, a bathroom cleaned, and some laundry done all before nap time! At which time I was able to finish it all up and get a shower before they woke up! Yay! (thanks Ads)

BE - the leaf!

Ads is dancing at a new studio this year, and we have been super impressed! For Halloween the parents were invited to come to class and watch. During this time they did a whole ballet warm-up, their own "improv" dance and then performed a Monster Mash dance they had been working on - soo fun!

This is Adi's "leaf" dance - the teacher (in orange) was the wind, she got to blow the little "leaves" (dancers) off of the branch. The wind took a few seconds to get to Adi so be patient - it will be well worth it! (love that she played it up for the camera)

Costumes and updates

I thought it might be fun to throw in a few tidbits of info about the fam as I post the pics of our 2007 costumes! I am usually not the best at the whole dress-up stuff but I think we did pretty good this year! {happiest about Mike}

Paislee {Tinkerbell} loved holding her bucket and the wand and neither could be pried from her hands. This is a constant thing at our house - she is not happy when something is taken from her hands...She has also developed a love for Whoppers over the past few weeks (which I find disgusting) she has been know to get dad to bypass the dinner and go straight for the Whoppers a couple times! (sucker)

Lukey {gladiator} had to have a costume with a sword so this is what we came up with...He is also learning lots of new phrases, everything is "way" cool, or "way" fun, or he just wants it "way"bad. He also tell everyone "bye, see ya soon!" whether it be on the phone or as you leave the house - its pretty cute!

Ads {scary witch} favorite part of her costume was her broom and the fact that her 2 best friends were also witches (minus the broom) but she decided they could ALL 3 ride hers, she would share. Adi is also learning to read and spell at school - she has gotten really excited about this lately, some of the words she can spell are *I *see*like *can *and *go and her favorite, she just learned today...{dah, dah. dah, dah!} Del Taco! Yep, she can't wait for dad to get home to spell it for him! LOL

Miley {bumble bee} well, she did steal the trick-or-treating show when she pooped all over Mike before we even got to the first house! (poor tick-or-treaters who might have stepped in it) But the kids are warming up to her, Adi loves taking care of her, Paislee loves to get her rilled up by sticking her fingers in her cage and Luke now eats his morning PopTart with her {aww, sweet} and she pretty much ruins my nightly DVR watching with her horrendous gas! {silent but deadly, yuck!}

Mikey {Nacho Libre} has got it all! I love this and think he looked great even though he was a bit bashful while wearing it. I'm not sure his mother approved and positive his brother, David, didn't! (they thought this picture was a fake but he really did go to the Pickle's party like this and he won best costume, I might add!)

Update on Mike, well, tomorrow will be his last Friday working for J&K as he is venturing out to start his own tax/accounting practice in the upcoming weeks. He will be partnering up with A Plus a bit and is excited be working around his brothers again. This is a little scary for me but I know he will work hard and do awesome! (just leave a comment with any referrals you might have! :)

And last, here is the happy family together (I was Nacho's girlfriend, you know, sister Carn...something or other) and best of all Jeremy, Chad and the Pickles joined us for dinner and trick-or-treating! Fun, fun, fun! So, until FALL 2008 we are completely through with the "BOO" festivities!

Bring on the merry, the happy and the jolly!

Probably not the best morning to mop my floor...

As I was mopping the floor this morning, I got to thinking' that tomorrow was the big "H" and I never did make sugar cookies...we aLWaYS decorate cookies for Halloween (and any other day you consider a holiday) so I threw together some dough (almost forgot the sugar in the sugar cookies, YIKES) then I threw the kids in the burb (I burnt out my mixer -once again) and I headed to the Walmart, yuck, did some speedy shopping, called a few friends, and we had ourselves a cookie party!

Can't say I expected it to be quite so fun but these girls are growing up and boy did they have fun! They found out:

• its fun to get frosting on the sides, cuz you can always lick your fingers
• that snitching candy is A-Ok - frosting is hard work!
• and that grape koolaid goes great with just about anything!

Luke, of course, didn't get that frosting can be an action word and focused on just eating the frosting (and candy) then he figured he could combine the leftover koolaid (all 3 cups) into one for himself and instead spilled it on the floor (please note the title of this post). Paislee just sat back and enjoyed Luke's cookies and then made them into crumbs, which then went onto the floor...

Paislee is such a goofball! I am convinced we have an entertainer on our hands!

(Not quite sure if that's a good thing or not...)

After dinner, we took care of another matter of pressing business and carved our pumpkins! Actually, Mike and I carved the pumpkins that the kids had designed on our (oh, so cool) computer software that I picked up for $5 at the Vineyard pumpkin patch! (I usually suck at carving but I rocked it this year!)

Check out Adi being a really sweet sister to Luke - he was a little scared to come out and take pictures by the pumpkins because (as he later said in his prayers) they were put on fire! Well, off to bed now(hoping all the "guts" on my kitchen floor have disappeared while I was writing this)...we've got a parade, dance performance, dinner in a pumpkin and LOTS of trick-or-treating to do tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!