iPhone Forgottens

I rarely sync my iPhone with my computer so all the pics I take on it never get transferred over. But I recently did and here are a few fun ones....

Joey is deathly afraid of the carwash. The quality of the pic is terrible but Joey's face is classic. You have to soothe him the whole time or he completely loses it!
Shopping at the mall one day Maggie made a new friend...
Jacob loved soccer. It was his first foray into youth sports and he was digging it! I may have posted this pic before, but it was on my phone so I thought I'd post it again. How can you resist such a cute kid? The best part is he is as sweet as pie. So helpful and fun.
The boys' favorite thing is showering in our big shower (can you blame them?). They love to play with my shower caps. So when I want to use them the next morning they are all filled with water, inside and out.
Just a few fun pics.

Wisdom from the Past

I have been recently compiling interesting stories about people in my family (and Eric's) to make a little Swenson Family Binder that will have some of our traditions written in it, a family tree, stories of our ancestors and our family motto and mission statement. In making it, I have been reading through a lot of things written by my grandmother and came across a quick story that rings so true. She is talking about when she was a girl and would go with her mother to visit friends several states away...

"It was a joy and an amazing thing to me when Mr. Fischer (he owned a grocery store) would take me to his store, after it was closed. He had a key! We would all go in there and I could have anything I wanted! That was really living because in those days candy was not a common part of what we ate. Eskimo Pies were my favorite…an ice cream bar covered in chocolate. When you do not have a great deal even those little things are a real treat and event in your life. I am happy to have had those experiences because it concerns me that in this day and age most things are old hat to children. They do not know the joy of such special treats as going to a shop and getting a cold soda, or a fresh hamburger! Well, I would not trade those experiences for the over-abundance of things available now. What is really left to bring a thrill to the children?"

I agree whole-heartedly. Does anyone else think their kids have it WAAAAYYY too easy? I seriously sit and think of ways to make life harder for my kids....

My favorite things

Many of you have been asking to see some pictures of our house. I decided to take a few pictures of some of my favorite things in the house, just as highlights. First of all, the house was built with a large "nook" above the fireplace for a tv. That is where the cable came in. It was pretty strange since it is really high up--probably 7 feet at least to the BOTTOM of the nook space. So we rewired the cable and put the tv on the side wall. I couldn't figure out what to put in that space since it is like 5 feet across--huge! After a LONG time searching I finally found this clock which I love. It fits PERFECTLY and love it. Not just for design purposes, but I have this thing about always having to know what time it is. I think I am mildly OCD. Plus the candlesticks on the side were a cheap black set from Shopko. I recently repainted and antiqued them this nice dark turquoise color and it really bring a little pop of color up there.
Probably one of my FAVORITE things in the house (and the one thing that caused more headaches than anything else) is my picture wall. I LOVE picture walls--I think they make a house feel like a home, displaying my proudest accomplishments, my kids. I didn't want to spend a gazillion dollars on frames, but I had a ton of old dumpy mismatched frames. All the trim in my house is white--I love the crispness of it so it goes without saying I decided to go with white frames. Just so you know, spray painting dark frames white is no easy task. I won't go into it, but if you decide to do it, ask me first! I will save you some time and money. Arranging it was also a bear but I am so happy how it turned out. I love looking at this wall. Love Love Love.
Another thing I love is my dining room. Not necessarily having a dining room, but I love my table. I wanted it for years but wouldn't pay the money for it, then my friend told me that they sell it at the nicks and dents store--perfect since the table is already distressed! I called every day for probably 2 months and they finally got one it! I dropped everything and drove up there to snag it. Love it.
I also love my new centerpiece. I have developed an affinity for birds recently and saw this little guy in a shop and had to have him. I know it's a bit mix and match, but I like how I've got it set up.
I also recovered my entry bench that was black, and got a couple bird (told you I was into birds) pics for the wall. Definitely makes me happy when I come in the front door.
Besides my room (which you will see in a sec) Maggie's room is my favorite room in the house. The poor boys still have white walls and nothing interesting to decorate. We are hoping to finish the basement eventually and have them room down there so I haven't bothered doing anything with their space. But Maggie's room was that first to be done. I love the blue walls--so light and happy, with the flowers and her "castle" as she calls it (her bed). It makes me happy when I am in her room.
My fave room is my bedroom. It is awesome. I love the reading nook... I am trying hard to use color and pattern. I have been in a neutral rut for so long but I really love a more eclectic look, a mild eclectic. I would say my style is sophisticated whimsy?
Our upstairs is quite open to below and on either side of the balcony overlooking the great room are 2 alcoves. I hadn't been able to find anything I liked to put in them until a few days ago. Found these vases at Rod Works. Love the turquoise.
Okay, I recently redid some lamps for my master bedroom. I am not spending any more money on decorating right now so had to find a cheap way to do it. I forgot to take a before pic, but found 2 dollar lamps at a thrift store and redid them. They are now on my nightstands. This is basically what they looked like before...
Hopefully you can close up on the picture to see the lamps now. I wanted something fun and I am actually really happy how they turned out. I also love my bed..finally a king size!
And the best part of the house is my master shower and tub. Yes the tub takes half an hour to fill up, but it's worth it! And the shower has 7 heads, 5 of which get used daily, the other two a few times a week, mostly when the kids shower in there. I have to say, having multiple shower heads is awesome.
Well, those are my favorite things in my house, hopefully those of you who live far away can come and see it in person!

Christmas Morning

I wanted to document the time so nobody thought I was exaggerating. This is after we had gotten started and I thought of it, so subtract ten minutes or so. This is also after keeping Tyler practically tied down in our bedroom for half an hour before allowing him to wake up his brothers and sister. Here we go.....Santa did indeed come. After all the worry Tyler was quite relieved. I wasn't too worried about it. I was confident he was coming. After all, we have great kids. Maggie saw her kitchen and didn't leave it alone for the next 2 hours. I bet Santa had a late night trying to put that thing together. I bet there were lots of things on it that made his frustrated too, like poor assembly directions and crooked screw holes...if I had to guess.
And even though Joey got woken up early he was having a great time claiming everyone else's gifts as his own while he ignored the things Santa left him. I am going to tell Santa to just bring us empty boxes next year. Boxes and maybe some tape and mixing spoons. Joey loves to play catch. So when he saw the ball he picked it right up and started playing.
Maggie got dishes and food to go with her kitchen.
Tyler was in heaven. He got everything he really wanted. It was a short list this year so his odds were better as far as getting his favorite things. Just look at his face.
Out of all the presents from me and Eric, grandma and Dick and everyone else, Jacob's favorite gift was this pocketknife Santa left him.

Cotton candy, yum!
As I said, Joey had a lot of fun getting into, or in this case, onto, the other kids' presents.
The boys both got scooters!

Finally Joey discovered what Santa left him, a blue rocking dog, just his size!
More presents, presents presents!


It was really a great Christmas, the kids got what they wanted, they loved their gifts, and we got to go to Church a few hours later to remember what Christmas is really all about. Tyler's verdict? "Best Christmas ever!"

Christmas Eve

I am separating Christmas into sections. First comes Christmas eve at Aunt Jessica's house. I am sorry about all the pictures but I can't figure out how to do a collage. Grandma gave all the kids their new pj's. And here's the result of trying to get a picture with 8 kids in it to all look cute at the same time....

"Okay, look over here, smile! Joey joey joey!!! Smile!"
"Jake, push your hat up, look over here guys...Ashley smile...Maggie, look at the camera!"
"Okay, guys. come on, smile and look over here! Joey Joey Joey! Peek a boo! Maggie over here! Ashley smile!"
"JOEY! MAGGIE! ASHLEY, smile! Guys, look over here!"

For some reason my pictures posted out of order and I don't really feel like going through and rearranging things. So this is what you get. Eric helped out Santa with a tooth a couple months ago and Santa was so grateful he told Eric that he would come over and hang out with us and meet with the kids. Really, he was very grateful...
All the kids got a picture with him...



Santa told us the story of the Night Before Christmas. He gave each of the kids a little treat, we sang songs, but the real troopers of the night were grandpa...Santa was showing us what one of his elves look like....
And Uncle Mat. I am pretty sure Santa put spit on his forehead.....I guess Mat has been naughty this year.
Joey was very interested in the action.
Maggie was hot and cold. Half the time she didn't want to go near him, then the other half she was interrupting his story and walking up to him and talking to him.
This shot was a total coincidence. All the kids were sitting on the floor so I took a behind shot and look--you can see all 4 of my kids! Funny.
Santa telling us stories.
This is when he first arrived. I love the look on Tyler's face, pure magic.
It was such a fun night and really brought the spirit of Christmas to us.

Apart from Christmas, Maggie has decided she wants to wear lipstick. She came downstairs the other day with my lipstick all over her face. This is right after I told her she couldn't do that anymore....
She doesn't take rejection well.

And one of the boys must have taken this picture...
I just want to remember my tree that way. Yes, the boys decorated it, but they did a good job. Now, however, after Joey has gotten to it, the top half of the tree has so many ornaments you can hardly see any greenery. The bottom half? Bare.

Rewind to Thanksgiving

Let's travel back in time together all the way back to Thanksgiving. We went down to St. George with Craig and Sharee for Thanksgiving weekend. It was the Swenson Family off-year (everyone has Thanksgiving at their in-laws) so we decided to crash Craig and Sharee's weekend down in sunny St. George. We had a blast. Grandpa brought his Rhino so we did a lot of exploring out in the desert. Climbing, hiking, rock collecting. You name it. The boys thought they had died and gone to heaven.

We had that Rhino packed full--Craig, Eric and Tyler in front, and me, Sharee, Maggie, Joey and Jacob in the back. I am pretty sure we exceeded the weight limit. But it is one tough little vehicle! We had planned to go to Chuck-A-Rama for Thanksgiving dinner but when we got there the line was literally wrapped around the BLOCK!!! A friend of mine went and said they waited in line almost 3 hours. We decided to ditch that idea and headed out to Mesquite for a casino buffet. I have to admit I was skeptical of the quality of a Mesquite buffet, but the one we went to was actually really good. I was pleasantly surprised. And the fact that we only waited 15 minutes or so was a major bonus.

On a side note, Joey has a new habit of falling asleep while eating lunch. I mean, mid-bite...
Poor little guy. Stay tuned for a Christmas update.