Brotherly Love

Last night, I walked into the kitchen to find Brandon and a bag of vitamin C drops. They were all unwrapped except for maybe three, and Brandon was busy getting ready to denude those ones as well. I asked him (calmly-I was so proud of myself!) what he was doing.

"Nadia and I want cough drops (the vitamin C drops) and I am finding Nadia a pink one because that's her favorite color." He didn't care what flavor or color his was, but was looking through all of the drops to find his sis one that was pink. I couldn't be mad at that. So I helped him find the last pink one in the bag, sent him on his way to help Mario collect star bits in Mario Galaxy, and started to wrap the rest of them up. I took this picture before I finished just because I like remembering what a thoughtful little boy we have.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Benjamin has a new word in his vocabulary. It is "Aha!" I think it means yes or that you have done well. Like when he is offered a banana at breakfast. "Aha!" Or when he runs into my parents' bedroom after my dad has come home and starts to point to the bag of gummy worms on the dresser. Dad will pick them up and, "Aha!" The best is when he talks to you in Klingon and you've actually figured out that he's told you he wants a bath or to play the Wii. "Aha!"

Brandon has been surprising me lately with more hugs. I love hugs. He will come sit by me and give me one in the middle of a movie or when I am reading. He also has taught Benjamin to roar like a dinosaur. I like hearing the two of them roaring together and that it's not a loud roar, so they can do it all they want.

I also am surprised with Nadia. She is such a great reader and a smart girl. She has also been really patient with the boys lately, and helps them out when they need it. She really is a good girl and big sister.

Maybe they need to have some ice cream tonight for being three of my favorite people.

Three Cheers For Aunt Marlene

Clifford, my darling husband, has an Aunt Marlene. She decided to adopt all of the Sharp grandchildren as her own, and for Christmas she gave them Visa gift cards that they could use anywhere. They were a huge hit, and today, my children finally got to spend them.

We had tried to use the cards before, but Nadia and Brandon turned into wild and crazy children and we left with nary a toy for them. Yeah, Cliff and I are mean that way. Today was attempt #2, which went much better. They both used up their cards and got what they wanted.

Brandon decided to get the Hot Wheels T. Wrecks car set, and roared like a dinosaur while it was being set up. Nadia chose Wedding Day Barbie and an accessories set for her Cabbage Patch mini dolls. They now have a very cute and color coordinated living room.

Can you see the looks of patience on their faces while mommy takes a picture? The look of, "Just open this already, it's been three whole minutes since we got home and I NEED TO PLAY!!!"

Benjamin got a card, too. He now has a new ball and Thomas the Train shirt, which he points to and says, "Tata!" until you acknowledge what it is. There would be a picture of him, but he found a hidden cache (his) of markers and proceeded to draw all over his head and face in blue. Was there a BYU game I didn't know about? Needless to say, it is not a pretty sight, and we all know what a clean and organized mother I am. Okay, stop, I can hear you laughing.

THANK YOU AUNTIE MARLENE! WE LOVE YOU! :)

Bad Day

WARNING! KIND OF GRAPHIC AND DEPRESSING POST!!!


Today I went to the doctor to make it official that I am having a miscarriage. They did the measurements and everything to check on the fetus, and it didn't make it past 6 1/2 weeks. It was hard for them to find anything at all in there, so it was probably an abnormal pregnancy. There were also striations (?) or bands in the placental sac that were a VERY bad sign and very rare. The bands act like fishing net or elastic bands and can strangle or cut off limbs. I will most likely never see it again in my lifetime, let alone any future pregnancies, I was told.
So it is actually a blessing that it is happening. A bit of a sad blessing, but let's face it; I KNOW it could have been a lot worse. This time it's more of just a disappointment instead of feeling devastated, and I am very grateful for that.

The Year In Pictures

This year brought some big changes to the Sharp household. We bought a Wii, and play it all the time, especially in the winter when it's too cold to do anything else. Nadia and Uncle Scott now have a bowling grudge match (Nadia is the pro), we love to play MarioKart with Aunt Lauren who lives in VA, and Rock Band just rocks. There was a bit of controversy over Mario Galaxy, though. Apparently, Daddy was supposed to save Princess Peach while letting Bowser win. Hmmm, haven't figured out how to make that happen yet.

Someone in our family joined the Army this year. Not the little boy featured above, but my brother Jacob. He is currently in Basic Training which will last for 6 weeks, followed by specialty training for his job (called AIT) which will be for about 6-8 months, depending on the start date and how many people are in that class. His family can't follow him there, and so they are still here in the ward with us until this summer, most likely. After AIT he will get his first assignment, which at this point could be just about anywhere the Army has a Patriot missile unit. Jacob will be the one to tell them who and where they are firing at.

Benjamin decided to grow up this year. Yes, so did the others, but Benji is no longer my little baby. He is now a toddler who wants to be independent. Which is always a messy phase, for the boy as well as the mother. Nadia is getting older too, as evident by the Red Shoes, which she wears around the house EVERY Saturday. I realized the other day that she will be getting baptized this year. Isn't she still 4? Brandon will be starting kindergarten in August, and while he still has a little problem saying his R in some words, he sounds so old to me. It is just crazy to see how fast things change in one little year span.

We also had a few family additions this year. One was our dog, Jewel. She has been a great fit in our family. The dog above is Sampson, a basset hound who belongs to my mother. Dad doesn't claim him at all. The three of them have been living with us after my father found a new job in Blackfoot and are STILL trying to sell their house about a year later. They have the worst luck with houses. We are glad they can be with us, though.

It will definitely be fun to see what surprises come in the new year, and we are glad to have the family and friends we do to be with us when whatever comes our way gets here!

Christmas With the Sharps

We had a very good Christmas this year. Kids actually slept in until 8:30, which was a great Christmas present for us, and they had a blast sleeping in the living room by the tree (this is a tradition on Cliff's side). It is tradition on my side of the family to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas Day. I have changed it to orange rolls because my kids don't do cinnamon, and because they are so easy to make when you buy the pan of Rhodes orange rolls. I know, I am lazy. Last year, we tried to do breakfast first and then presents, which was a bad idea, so we switched it around and opened gifts first. Still a bad idea. I think I just need to give up on my children eating a formal breakfast on Christmas morning.
The boys were great with presents. Brandon was hilarious, because he would hold a present up and say, "Megatron? Are you in there?" He is obsessed with Transformers right now. Benjamin just thought it was fun to rip something and not get in trouble. He kept looking at me like he was thinking, really? You're just going to let me do this and not say no?
My parents will get a huge kick out of this pic. Yes, I did it. I got pants for my daughter that reach up to her neck. Just like my dad did when I was young. Only mine were maroon corduroys, not jogging pants. Stylin', I know.
Nadia was a little puzzled by this present. "What?! You got me Caprisuns?!" We kept telling her to open the box, and when she finally did, she had shirts inside. Really, I'm not so cheap that I would gift my child juice for her lunchbox. It can get hard to find boxes around the holidays, and sometimes I have to be creative. They are very sturdy and can hold quite a bit. Plus, you have the great factor of surprise. I would recommend them to everyone.

After Christmas morning was over, we went to visit with my fam and sis for a few days. My bro who is also up here and his fam came as well, so we had a pretty hoppin' party in Cache Valley. We had ham, turkey with all the fixings, and all the baking that I did Monday. This included a cake pan of brownies, 16 cupcakes (we had to sacrifice a few for tasting purposes), 3 dozen cranberry cake mix cookies, and a cake pan of rice crispies treats with dark chocolate M&M's. The next day was turkey enchiladas which are a family favorite, and I won't tell you any more because I ate way too much and would rather skip the embarrassment.

Instead I will end with another great holiday story that we retell every year. Okay, not really, but it is pretty funny. One year, I chose my brother Steven out of the hat for Christmas presents. There are five siblings in my family, plus our own families we now have, so it tends to be easier to just pull a name out of the hat and buy for one sibling. Anyway, Steven needed a new wallet pretty badly. So I found a nice one for him, pretty similar to what he had but with a different coin pocket that had a flap so his change wouldn't fly out everytime he opened it. I thought I would be clever and play a little joke on him as well. Steven is a big cereal fan, and the tops for him is either Cookie Crisp or Lucky Charms. Well, this season they had just come out with Chocolate Lucky Charms, which was every child's and dentist's dream. Steven loved it. So I bought a box of it, CAREFULLY opened the flaps on top, and jiggled everything around in there to fit the cereal and the new wallet. This was harder than I thought. They pack those cereal boxes pretty full. Christmas morning, Steven sees his present under the tree, and thinks it's a shirt box. Until it makes weird noises every time it moves (from the cereal). I loved seeing his face when he saw the box. He was so disappointed but tried to look happy. Not really. Steven, don't ever play poker. I kept trying to tell him after all the presents were opened to have some cereal, so he would open the box and see the wallet, but without success. The next day I was not at all subtle about it and told him to open the box already. He did it grudgingly, and then found the wallet after I told him what I had done. He was pretty happy then, and thought it was very sneaky.

So this year, My sis and hubby decide to go in together on something really NICE for me. She found a very cute Coach bag and told Cliff she thought I would like it. So he told her to get it. Side note: he had no idea what Coach was, and thought it was like a saddle bag or some old stage coach thing, until my bro-in-law Scott got on the phone and explained it was like the Armani of the suit world. Then the big epiphany of "Oh!" She sent it in the Coach gift bag they give you when you make a purchase, telling Cliff I would never guess it really was a Coach anything. She was so right. So now I no longer hold the title of Sneaky Sibling #1. Which means you all better watch out for next year!!!

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Just thought I'd try to post two of our musical angels singing for Christmas. Number 3 thought it was more fun to look through the camera than do his thing, but he was leading the music for the two older ones.


Sorry I didn't post this sooner. We did this Christmas Eve, and then left for Cache Valley the next morning/afternoon to see the grandparents and my Sis from VA. They don't have internet access anymore since they are selling their house, so I had to wait till we were back home. Hope you all had a great Christmas holiday with your loved ones!