Christmas...ASIAN Style

How do you know you are celebrating Christmas with Asians...

• You spend half of Christmas singing karaoke
• Grandma gets upset if you don't say "karaoke" CORRECTLY (kah-rah-o-kay: Japanese meaning "without orchestra")
• One of the favorite gifts was a package of Japanese candy called Hi Chew
• Having to win BINGO in order to get your white elephant gift (we may have found a way to turn our WHITE elephant gift exchange into a ASIAN elephant gift exchange)
• You've turned "gift exchange" into a game show (we've in the past played games such as Let's Make a Deal, Family Feud, and Minute to Win It....this year was The Price is Right)

Let's not forget New Years traditions:

• Amongst the traditional holiday feast lies sushi or gyoza
• Along with the forks and spoons lies chopsticks
• And perhaps Uncle Brian will bring his karaoke machine again...just for good measure

What Eden REALLY Wants for Christmas...

Its true. If she could, Eden would give up all her Christmas presents to stay in Utah with everyone around to play with and spoil her.

Life of a Mother

Amen. I hear ya Hilary.

Currently my children are sleeping and I had a really good day. I'm not feeling so much like pulling my hair out (like I sometimes do) but I did happen to see this video on someone else's blog and it gave me a good laugh.

Kind of a "ha ha...its so true..." kind of laugh.

....and I only have 2 younger children....

Its Official....

We're moving to Colorado for 3rd and 4th year of med school!!!

Grand Junction....ready or not, here we come!

We're excited. Sad to leave behind our friends but excited to be closer to family.

My Little Wonder Pet

(To all you parents with children in love with Wonder Pets...like Eden.)

When stuck indoors

With the flu and the cold,

Being indoors

Grows kinda old.

Inside all day

Our sanity thins,

But that is when

The fun begins!

-Bethany Finlinson (AKA: Mom)

All it takes is:

1 mommy-made cape

1 box

1 sail (made from my feeding cover)

1 Wonder Pets logo (made of felt)

...Then let the adventures begin!!!

The Wonder Pets Save the Giraffe

"Oh no!

There is a baby animal that needs to be saved!

We are coming to save you baby animal!"

"To the fly boat!"

"A baby giraffe stuck in a some fabric!

This is serious!"

"I will cut the fabric with my (plastic) knife!"

"You are saved baby giraffe!

The Wonder Pets were here to help!"

Join us next time for "The Wonder Pets Save the Lego People!"

(No animals or toys or fabric were actually harmed during this rescue.)

A Love Story

I'm having an affair.

Even before we met, I knew it was love.

I'm in love.....with a new (used) car.

*Tears of joy stream down my face*

I say WE got the car...but really I call it "MY car."

You see, this isn't any old car. Its a Toyota Corolla. Ever since Tyson has known me I've wanted a Corolla. We would dream about "if we had money..." and he'd talk about his Volvo and I'd talk about my Corolla (yeah...we're BIG dreamers...haha). But little could I have imagined my dream would come true so quickly.

"But why a Corolla?" You ask?

I used to have a Corolla (technically it was owned by my parents and I drove it everyday to and from school). It was a blueish greenish color. And I loved that car. Then a fateful event occurred where a driver, that wasn't me and shall remain unnamed, ran my dear Corolla into several trees...killing my beautiful car.

*Moment of silence*

Then I met Tyson. And I met Tyson's Volkswagon Jetta.

(Side note: The first time I met the Jetta I thought "oh no, maybe he's a car guy...its a pretty car, leather interior, with seat warmers....SEAT WARMERS" I almost scratched Tyson off my prospects list right then and there. In my list of "no no's" while dating were "not an unnecessary spender" and "doesn't feel the need for speed" which equals..."not a car guy". Until I found out he simply bought it from a good family friend who was just getting rid of it and gave it to him at a ridiculously low price.)

Then I fell in love with the Jetta. OK, mostly I fell in love with the seat warmers in the Jetta. After all, I met Tyson in the winter.

The Jetta's been good to us....until recently.

Leaking oil....once....

Twice....

THREE TIMES.

Within the year. And all mechanics seem confused as to what the problem could be other than "a crack in the pipe". So, Tyson and I decided it was time to get a new car.

And we found the Corolla....MY Corolla.

As I drove it home (we bought it in Des Moines..so it was a 3 hour drive) I couldn't help thinking "This is my old Corolla's reincarnate. He came back to life a decade newer and in the color red." And I smiled.

For three hours I went back in time. I even found a station that played the music I would have listened to in my old Corolla. And I could sing all to all the lyrics.

*Sigh*

While this purchased put a little dent in us financially...Tyson's glad that he's found something that has made me so happy.

I'm not a car person.

But I am a Corolla person....obviously.

(Oh...I feel silly. Most of you are probably thinking, "she's nuts...." And if you saw it...its definitely nothing to be BRAGGING about. But I still love it. Don't mock me...)

Happy Thanksgiving

A little turkey activity to get this Thanksgiving started!

Eden's job...put marshmallows on toothpicks.

Leila's job. Find something to stick in mouth.

At the end: Cheesy smiles and a happy turkey.

Then eat the turkey! Notice the sticky toothpicks stuck to Eden's belly. Tee Hee.

Things I'm thankful for:

1. A wonderful husband who always inspires me to become a better person through his example.
2. Two wonderful little girls who make me smile and laugh and are just cuter than any two little girls could ever be.
3. Family. Its easy to remember and miss family on holidays...I can't wait until I get to go back to Utah to visit.
4. Friends. Its so nice to have some friends close by so share this Thanksgiving and spend time with.
5. Med school. While at times it seems hard to have no income and no husband, I truly am grateful that Tyson has the chance to really do what he loves.
6. The gospel. I can't explain how happy it makes me to have guidance in my life along with the knowledge of what's truly important for now and in my life to come.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Eden and Leila

"Quiet Mom, we're trying to read."

Its days like this that make me thank Heavenly Father for such a wonderful family.

Autumn Time

Oh the joys of autumn. Eden's loving all the leaves.

(And please excuse the jacket that's a bit on the small side. She insisted on wearing it.)

Eden bullying Leila by dropping leaves on her while I was trying to snap some pictures of her.

"Eden's a bully" face.

Eden also insisted that she wanted to climb a tree.

Halloween

All I have to say is...Halloween is MUCH more fun with kids (in my humble opinion).

I mean, look at how cute my kids are!

But beyond dressing them up in costumes and watching Eden's face light up while trick or treating, I was also able to have fun making Halloween treats like mummy hot dogs, ghost rice crispy treats, soup with pieces of cheese on top cut out like bats, and monster apples.

Eden LOVED it all.

At our ward Trunk or Treat, Eden's favorite part (besides getting candy) was definitely "fishing in the cauldron". This is her and her little friend, Benjamin, fishing and getting their lines tangled.

There were also ping pong balls made like eyeballs that you were supposed to throw into pumpkin buckets....but she found it more entertaining to just play with the eyeballs.
Eden even got a balloon animal from one of the girls in the ward dressed as a clown.

Then of course, trick or treating with dad ROCKED.
And mommy stayed to pass out treats with the little chubby bunny.
By the looks on Leila's face....Leila obviously didn't appreciate Halloween like Eden did. But overall it was a really fun weekend.

p.s. What an awful wife I am....Tyson's birthday was on the 23rd and I didn't post any lovey-dovey my-husband-rocks-my-socks blog about him. But in my defense, he probably liked it better that way. Happy Birthday my love!

"One of THOSE Days"

To start, I love this picture....this picture describes perfectly how I feel on "one of THOSE days".

Do you know those days? The ones where everything going on around you is a blur and you just want to sit in stunned silence staring at nothing with your mouth gapping open just waiting and hoping for time to pass quicker than it is while letting your child run around naked because you don't have the energy to start the "you should put some clothes on" lecture?

Hmm....hope I'm not the only one.

Speaking of "THOSE days", I've had a few of them recently. No fun. Lots of unhappy children, sleep deprivation, and lack of cleanliness found throughout the home.

And people lately keep commenting to me how I have such a happy baby. And I keep thinking, "that's cause I only post the happy pictures." But I must say, Leila is even cute when she's sad. Look at that pout-y lip of hers!

And then it turns to a scream.....which isn't nearly as fun or pretty to watch.
p.s. Sorry the pictures are all blurry. My camera was on its last leg of battery life (so don't expect any new pictures until I can find my camera battery charger) and it wouldn't take pictures unless there was no flash, cause flash took too much battery. She was probably too close for the flash to have worked anyway.

Lake of the Ozarks

For the long weekend and Tyson's birthday, my mom gave us a vacation to Lake of the Ozarks (about 3 1/2 hours away from Kansas City) at their time share. It was AWESOME! Thanks mom!

My camera was just about dead and I couldn't find the charger...so here are a few pictures I was able to snap...

When we got there we ate at Steak n' Shake (which I love and is really cheap). Plus they gave Eden a Steak n' Shake hat and paper car. Eden played with it all night taking her snake and elephant for a ride.

It was WONDERFUL weather. So we went swimming.
Eden was VERY excited to swim.
This was the view from the time share. AMAZING. Right off the lake.
We also went on a short hike. Eden only liked it when she was carried...But it was beautiful and the leaves were all starting to change color and fall off the trees.
We also went to the beach. Although, it was really rocky and not a lot of fun to play in. But Eden loved it and cried when she had to leave.
We also spent a lot of time at the HUGE outlet mall there. It was a bitter sweet experience because we're poor med students. I could have spent LOTS of money there if I could have. :) But we did get a few things we needed (clothes for us and kids).

And of course, while at the condo we enjoyed having cable TV which we normally don't have. Tyson and I have an addiction to HGTV. I admit it.

Thanks again mom!

The only bad part about the vacation was coming home to 'real life' so soon.

Girl's Room: Part 3

I still need to change the ribbon on Leila's sign. I ran out of the purple and the light blue color just doesn't cut it for me. It was temporary so I we could figure out where to put all the butterflies.

(The butterflies are made out of plastic with a magnet on the back. I bought them on sale at Target once upon a time back when I just got really sick of Eden's room looking so plain and lonely. Anyhow, you put in a small metal tack and then the butterflies magnetize to them.)

I like the room but don't LOVE it. I still have a few more projects to go.

Conversation with Leila

Leila: "Hi Mom! I'm naked!"

Mom: "Hey little chubber!"

Leila: "WHAT? You think I'm CHUBBY?"

Mom: "Well, LOOK at those little rolls!"

(Leila looks at her rolly legs)

Leila: "Oh, its not THAT bad."

Mom: "Let's see if if my hand fits around your thigh."

(Leila thinking: "Let's see if MY hand fits around YOUR thigh mom!")

Leila: (Laughs) "I may be a little chubby, but I'm still cute!"

Laura and Trey

My sister, Laura, and her son, Trey (who is 3) came over to visit for the weekend. It was great fun. My only regret was NOT pulling out my camera. We had a lot of fun and no pictures to show for it.

We were able to go to Penguin Park, a decent sized park with large statues of a few animals (that have slides inside them) and a lot of other things to play with. The kids really enjoyed that.

*images stolen from online. Shh...don't tell anyone.

We also went to a little chocolate fountain party (we came late and it was actually only us and the lady throwing the party...and all our kids, but we all still enjoyed ourselves). We also went out to DELICIOUS Chinese food. And we were able to relax around the house and watch some conference.

And while they were here, Eden learned how to pillow fight and I learned how to play Family Feud on Facebook. Good times. :)

I Promise My House DIDN'T Look Like This When I Left...

Tonight I went to the Women's Conference at my stake. When I got home my house looked like the above picture (and it looks 10x messier in real life unfortunately).

While I could TECHNICALLY blame my husband for the mess, the REAL culprits are Pantry Moths.

Tyson took Eden on a trip to Lowe's to finally rid of our severe moth-breeding-in-our-pantry problem using....

...and this...
Leaving our house smelling like a familiar scent that I can't quite pin point. But it has a somewhat minty/dentist-y feel to it.

Unfortunately, we read up on these pesky moths and apparently they are quite difficult to get rid of. We read lots of stories of people who set up more and more traps and spray and spray...and while it helps, they keep re-appearing and re-breeding all over your house. Grr.

Honestly, these moths are EVERYWHERE in our house. We kill them constantly. But the part that grosses me out the most is the moth breeding ground AKA: the pantry (and all surrounding areas). They are everywhere along with little nests and eggs. Gives me the heebie jeebies (or however you spell it). Makes me itch just thinking about it...so I'm done thinking about it. On to something else.

Women's conference was good. Well, I assume it was. The whole time I was hiding in a closed classroom with Leila SCREAMING. She was NOT gonna let me listen...

Good news, it tuckered her out for the night. Hopefully she sleeps well. Which reminds me, I should be sleeping right now instead of playing on the computer.

p.s. I love these pajamas. She just looks like a giant, pink marshmallow. I could just EAT HER UP.

The Girl's Room: Part 2

Signs for the girls. I had made Eden's previous to Leila's birth, so I thought it only fair to make Leila a sign. Unfortunately, I think I kind of rushed it and her letters are a bit more...slanty and not as nice as I wish I had made them. But its too late now. It'll all work out I guess.

And this is my dear husband asleep on the couch after he came home from school today and I was finishing up dinner. He's been studying like crazy for his test and when he got home he instantly fell asleep waiting for dinner to be made. Poor guy.