Sweetest Present Ever!

Last week we got a package in the mail from my parents. My Mom had told me beforehand that there were several presents but that one particular present was for the kids to open upon arrival. So the girls opened it and this is what they got.

It is the best present ever!

It is the story of "The Night Before Christmas" and it is being read by my MOM! My kids love it! They "read" it over and over again. Thank you so much Mom! That was such a sweet present.

Here is a video of Charity "reading" the book.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Trees

I bought this little tree during my second year of college. We used it from 2003-2005, and 2007.

In 2006, we bought a 6 1/2 ft. pre-lit tree which we used that year (not pictured), but in 2007 we didn't have enough room to put it up so we hung the little one form the ceiling. It also prevented our two young children from getting it.

This is our tree last year. With the new house we had plenty of space to put up our big tree but we were still using the same decorations that we had used for 5 years.

So last year after Christmas we picked up some new decorations that match the rest of our Christmas ensemble better. Here is our tree this year.

To see my other Christmas decorations see my post titled "Christmas Decorations." You can find it quickly by clicking on "2008" in my "Blog Archive" which is along the right side of my blog.

Bauman/Briscoe Family Picture

This summer while we were out west we were able to get a picture with James' grandpa and James' brother's family. James' grandfather out lived his wife and both his children so James and his brother are his only grandchildren. Thankfully they both married fertile women or this family picture would be even smaller.

Halloween 2009

Here are the pictures of Halloween.

Cheeseclothe Ghost

Here is how I made the cheeseclothe ghost.

Supplies
3 yds. Cheeseclothe
1 bottle Stiffy (fabric stiffener)
black felt
plastic spiders (optional)

glitter (optional)
small balloons
popsicle sticks
masking tape
box (to put it on while it dries)
can of food
plastic wrap

Step 1: Cover box with plastic wrap, secure with masking tape.

Step 2: Make ghost form out of balloon, masking tape, and can. At this point you can add arms by blowing up 2 waterballoon size balloons and puting them on sticks portruding frontwards.

Step 3: Put 3 yards of cheeseclothe (cut into single yard lengths) into large ziplock bag, pour in about half a bottle of Stiffy. Squish bag until clothe is throughly coated. Pull out clothe one length at a time, gently sqeeze (DO NOT Ring-out.) Drape over form. I like to have it more gathered in the front and flowing out in the back so my ghost looks like he's moving. I also add glitter at this point.

Step 4: Allow to dry for 2-4 days. Then add eyes, mouth, and spiders.

Pumpkin Carving

For Family Home Evening yesterday we carved pumpkins.

Lizzy had fun but thought the guts were "yucky."
Charity really got into the carving this year and even pulled out the guts.

Sam just crawled around and tried to eat stuff.

The kids had a great time.

Halloween Birthday Party

I hosted a birthday party last Friday for a good friend of mine. Since her birthday is in October and she likes Halloween as much as I do I made it a Halloween Birthday Party.

This is the "cake" I made her. The pumpkins are candy melt lollipops which I tried making for the first time for this cake. They were so fun and so easy!

We also made this ghost for a little craft for her party. It is made from cheeseclothe and frabric stiffener. It was so easy and a big hit with the gals.

Cookie decorating

We decorated Halloween cookies as part of Family Home Evening last week. The kids enjoyed eating the frosting more than anything.

Craft Central!

This is my new craft and scrapbooking desk. I got it at a yard sale for $45. What a Steal! Everything fits so perfectly in it, it's like it was meant to be!

This my new sewing table. Again it came from a yard sale but this one was only $10. I am in love!

A new cake!

I made this cake for my cousins daughter. She really likes Littlest Pet Shop and since her birthday is in October I thought it would be fun to do a Halloween birthday cake. The "Pets" are trick-or-treating at a haunted gingerbread house. I was able to get the "Pets" already dressed for Halloween at Target and the gingerbread house was a kit I got from a craft store. It was a fun cake to do and a huge hit.

My boys!

During the three years we lived in Logan, James and I worked as Den Leader and Assistant Den Leader over the Wolfs and Bears in our ward. We loved it! These are our boys in the Spring of 2006.

And this is them this summer when we went to visit. Two boys are missing and one is a younger brother of our original set but we love them. Just looking at their picture makes me a little misty-eyed.
They're so grown-up.

Random Cute Pictures!

This was at the Labor Day Parade in our neighborhood.

Eliza got a little carried away with the dry erase marker.
Eliza is my big helper. She did an amazing job feeding Sam. Notice which hand she is using? I'm almost certain she'll be a lefty.

Here's my little stud muffin. He looked so cute that day I had to snap a picture.

While on vacation we attended a wedding at the Salt Lake Temple so we got a family pic at the temple.

Friendschool

On September 9th I started teaching preschool in my home for Charity and some of her nursery friends. I hadn't planned on having Eliza participate but from the first class she has been involved in everything we've done. We call our school "Friendschool". The kids really seem to enjoy it. Here are a few pictures of your first day of Friendschool.

"Mrs. Briscoe, where is your husband?"

So today I had a day that ranked right up there with the day I called 911 because Sam was blue from head to toe. But at least this time I can laugh about it the same day. I'm still not really laughing about calling 911 for my baby, imagine that. So here's how it went.

We, the kids and I, were having a great morning. We ate, cleaned up, and left for the gym. After I got the kids checked in at the kids club I did my 30 minutes of toning, then I swapped the IPod for my cell phone and hopped on the treadmill. I hadn't gone 10 steps when the phone rang.
"Hello"
"Hi, is this Heidi Briscoe?"
"Yes"
"This is Debbie (something) from (name withheld) Elementery, do you know where your husband is, he never showed up for work today?"
"He's not at work?"
"No, we tried paging him earlier but he never answered."
You've got to be kidding, how can me husband be missing, that's rediculous!
"Can you call his classroom, and make sure he's not there."
"Okay, just a minute."
Hit stop on treadmill and walk towards locker room, feeling concerned.
"He's not answering Ms. Briscoe, you haven't seen him?"
Panic.
"No, when I left the house his car was gone therefore he is at work."
"I'm sorry Mam, did I upset you."
"Uh yeah."
Severe panic. He usually leaves for work around 7, it's after 10, he hasn't been seen in 3 hours! He's dead on the side of the road.
"Can you go down to his class and physically check that he isn't there and call me back, I'll try his cell phone."
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Dial. Ring. He's Dead! Ring. What if he's hurt. Ring. There's no way he left me. Ring. He totally loves me. Ring. If there was an accident he would have called. Ring. He's got to be dead. His voice on the answering machine. Panic. Maybe the house. Dial. Maybe he's just sick. Ring. Panic. Ring. I'll never see him again. Ring. I'm gonna die. Ring. I can't do this. His voice on the answering machine. Oh my gosh he's dead. She's gonna call back and say she was wrong.
Ring, "Hello, Ms. Briscoe, he's not there."
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Then he's hurt. He wouldn't not go to work. What do I do?"
Crying.
"I don't know?"
"What hospitals are in the area? Can you get me the numbers?"
She gives me the numbers. Hysteria.
"I'll call you if I find anything out."
I call all three hospitals. He's not there. Where could he be??? Would anybody know? Maybe he went running with Nate this morning? Maybe he told Nate something. He hasn't been running in weeks. What are the chances he would have mentioned anything anyway. I have to try.
Dial Nate. Ring. You have to answer. Ring. Where could James be? Ring. Please answer. Ring. He's a teacher. Ring. He's not gonna answer. Ring. Phone connects. He hangs up. NOOO!!! Crying. Trembling.
He has to answer. Redial. He's my only hope. Ring. Please. Ring. Come on!
"Hello"
"Oh my gosh! Nate this is Heidi Briscoe, did you go running with James today?"
"Yeah"
"Was he okay this morning?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"He never showed up to work today. Did he mention anything?"
Panic.
"He said he was observing today at the elementary next to his."
There's hope!!!
"Okay thanks, bye."
Call his school.
"Hi this is Heidi Briscoe. James' friend said he was observing at the school near his today. Which would that be?"
"(Name Withheld)"
"Do you have the number?"
"Yeah."
I call (Name Withheeld) Elementary. Crying.
"Hi is there a Mr. Briscoe observing today with the music teacher?"
"Um... yes."
Praise the Lord!!!
"Well this is his wife and I've just spent the last 30 minutes thinking he's dead, could you have him call me."
"Okay."
Crying. Crying. Crying.
Then I called my friend Jess, Nate's wife, and she brought our friend Heather over and Heather drove me and my kids home because I was on the verge of passing out from shock.
Thankfully I have already recovered from the trauma and am now laughing about it. Come to find out James had cleared this observation with the principal last week and she had forgotten to tell the other staff and was at a meeting herself when this all went down. James assures me the secretery, Debbie something, feels terrible. :) I almost feel bad for her. :)

Reverend James

As I was looking through my wedding pictures I found this one. Don't worry there is a story behind it.

My older brother got married 13 days before me so when it was time for my sister to do my bridal shots my sister-in-law-to-be got her bridal shots done too. Since we were there together we took one together to remember the experience.

Here is the line at my brother's wedding. Pictured: (left to right) Tya (my little sister), Heidi (me), Shelley (cusin of the bride), Jetta (my sister-in-law), Ben (my oldest brother), Steve (my brother's best friend), Hyrum (my baby brother), and Robert (my second oldest brother).

And here is the funny part. Like I said, my brother was scheduled to get married 13 days before me. The morning of the wedding (Saturday) my brother calls to ask me if the county I'd gotten my marriage license in was open on Saturday and I told him no and asked what was up. He proceeded to tell me that he hadn't gotten a marriage license yet. The guests were already in town and the reception hall was non-refundable so he was very upset. So I told him "Fake it." He was like "What!?" So I told him to just do the wedding and go in on Monday and get married legally. So he called the bishop that was supposed to do the wedding and he refused to do it because he said it wasn't legal so I volunteered my fiance. So my sweet James borrowed a suit from my brother-in-law and a shirt and tie from my brother and a quad. My mom wrote the script and we put it in the quad and James read his part. After the wedding my grandma came up to me and asked if my fiance was there and I said "Yeh, did you see the preacher, that's him." And she say's "Oh does he do that on the side?" So I said, "No Grandma the wedding was fake." And she says, "That's nice."