the toothpaste day where i got stuff done {i think}

this one time,

it was really quiet upstairs,

and i knew max and chase were up to no good,

but it was just so quiet and nice,

and i was getting something done that was fabulous.

i can't remember what that fabulous thing was now, but i just remember it was great.

so finally i went upstairs because i heard chase and toothpaste in the same sentence together,

and i found toothpaste everywhere.

like covering three large hooded towels,

one slab of travertine tile,

two wooden bathroom cabinets,

4 little legs,

2 arms,

3 cheeks,

and a partridge and a pear tree.

the next day i found this cup.

and every day i find more around the house.

hard from sitting for a few days without being found.

on the banister,

on the seat at end of my bed,

on the wall by the little stairs,

on the chase lounge next to the christmas tree.

and every time i find the little toothpaste hansel and gretel trail i try to remember what i was doing again that was so fabulous on that quiet day.

man i hope i wasn't just checking instagram.

cause then it wasn't worth it.

right now i'm fantasizing about putting away 2 weeks worth of laundry,

mopping floors {ok, who am i kidding, i KNOW that wasn't it},

unloading the dishwasher,

making beds.

i sure hope it was something fabulous like that.

the end.

hannah banana

hannah banana.

the one chick that can truly put up with max's crap and love her dearly for it.

ain't nothing better than a friend you can be yourself around.

especially when you're just being yourself. 

best rendition of santa claus is coming to town i've ever seen!

the wolverine gingerbread man

this year i learned that chase just needs his own gingerbread house.

and two helpers.

he refused to take off brennan's wolverine costume.

and he was just so cute i had to let him go with it.

because if you can't decorate a gingerbread house in your big brother's $15 halloween costume,

what can you decorate it in?

nothing better i tell ya.

nothing.

everyone else is good to go on their own.

and it is FANTASTIC!!!

they didn't even argue. 

max did most of the fine motor frosting,

and brennan was on candy patrol.

sometimes they really do love each other.

praise the lord.

starving

after all that,

IT SNOWED:)

the starving man has never been so fed.

and actually, it was raining

{go #11!}

on the way home from basketball this morning chase was crying.

like we were all covering our ears because nothing was going to calm him down.

and he was crying SOOO SOOOO SOOOO loud.

we still had to run by the pharmacy,

and my nerves were getting their fair share of frazzle.

brennan yelled at chase.

chase yelled that brennan "skEEEmed" at him and then screamed and cried even louder.

and max was yelling something over the top of both of them 

that i couldn't hear from the back bench of the van. 

so basically, things were going awesome. 

i was just wanting to be out of the car and home, and i was really wishing that i would have brought chase's binky in my bag to give to him.

finally there was a break in the screaming at the stop light in front of alta view hospital,

and i heard the brilliant idea of little miss max come 

like a little whisper of genius to my ears in the front: sing to chase.

the rest of the way home the kids and i sang christmas songs to chase.

after the second round of santa claus is coming to town, praise the heavens above, because chase wasn't crying anymore.

i put on my christmas mix over the car stereo, 

and from behind my seat i could hear the little 6 AND A HALF year old singing voice of brennan, singing every word to frosty the snowman, up on the rooftop, and rudolph the red nosed reindeer. 

it was so soft and innocent. so sweet so so so so so sweet.

and all of sudden i realized this was it!

the amazing christmas years.

of little kids, and babies, and believers filling my home.

and then in the background, i heard little max's voice filling in a line of two,

and in my rear view window i could see every one of my kids looking out of the window,

singing about santa claus and reindeer and dreaming of christmas morning and visions of candy canes in their brains.

and they didn't know i was looking at them.

and it was magic. 

i went a little under the speed limit the rest of the way home,

slowed down at the yellow lights so we had to wait at the red.

and soaked in this year of little singing voices to christmas songs.

i will never forget this day,

and the drive home that we all sang to chase to stop crying on the way home from basketball,

that day i didn't bring the binky.

and how magical it was.

even though there wasn't any snow.

{and actually, it was raining.}

he's making a list

there are about 20 more lists 

as long or longer than this 

that he's written this year.

and we've also had about 5 million talks about how you don't ever get everything on your list,

and that santa gets to decide which ones he chooses to bring,

with any changes and modifications he sees fit.

i think it's safe to say he finally gets the christmas list thing!

"skylanders. i want skylanders." -brennan

"frozen notebooks." -max

"you have sucker?!" -chase

first year nobody cried.

christmas miracle:)

"HO HO HO" might be my favorite thing chase says right now.

that, and "what you doin mom?"

he says that all day long and i love it.

in the car, in a boat, on a house, in the dark, in a tree,

he is so very very cute you see!

i wish i could keep their sweet little baby voices in my house forever.

{BIG thanks to our financial advisor Travis Bowden with Collier, Webb, Bowden, and Associates for hosting Santa

and Marcell 360 Production photography for the pics! the tradition lives on!}

the story of the candy earplugs

for two days i couldn't find my earplugs.

which pretty much means i haven't been sleeping.

i've been hooked since my freshmen year in college on them,

and it's basically my lifeline for a good night's rest.

all but one earplug on the side of my bed went missing somewhere after monday,

so i've been sleeping with one ear plugged,

and my other ear on the pillow side,

but every time i roll over, i wake up and have to switch my one earplug to the other ear 

that is now not on the pillow side anymore.

i was cursing my addiction to ear plugs this week.

so last night i was closing the shower curtain and cleaning up my bathroom from bedtime showers and such, while max brushed her hair and sean chased CHASE down with lotion and jammies,

and brennan sat entranced by the polar express or despicable me 2 or something,

and i leaned down to get a piece of garbage behind the toilet,

and that's when i spotted them!

my bright yellow pair of earplugs!

but the minute i grabbed them i noticed they were a little...

disfigured.

so i walked out and was all,

"who stole my ear plugs and took a bite?"

and max was all,

"i did!"

and i was like,

"ummmm, why did you eat my ear plug?"

and she was like,

"i thought they were candy."

{head hanging low and clearly a little disappointed and embarrassed.}

and that's when sean and i burst into crying laughter b/c well,

i just couldn't help imagining her thinking she was going to get a nice delicious sugary treat without anyone knowing,

and instead she bit off the end of my ear plug,

which i'm sure tasted like foam and earwax.

old built up earwax.

yep.

glutton for punishment max.

bet she'll never do that again.

have mercy, poor max!!!!!

btw, i slept SUPER great last night,

as i now had two wonderful earplugs to use again:)

except not the candy one.

i threw that one in the trash.

i need to buy more earplugs...

spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place

he's a poet and he didn't know it.

FINALIST,

in the school poetry contest.

spaghetti by shel silverstine.

basically he got nervous and forgot all of his actions and left out a verse,

but man were we proud of him.

because i don't think i could have gotten up in front of 200 peers and another 100 parents like that.

the poor guy was very last.

he was such a CHAMP! 

winter,

where are you???????

it just works for my life

if it's not on amazon, it's probably not going to be under our tree.

reasons why i love online christmas shopping:
1. i don't have to go to the store.
2. i don't have to leave my house {see #1}
3. strong men carry everything from store to me, and leave it on my door. sometimes they even bring it inside.
4. my strong man carries it down into the basement.
5. all items are concealed in unmarked brown boxes and can be stored in the same room my kids play in without them knowing what's inside.

god bless amazon and online shopping.
it just works for my life.
amen.

i'm just really glad that this is what we're doing now.

never have i enjoyed a baby as much as this.

the baby man.

and a morning bath.

with no one home but us.

two year gaps are for the birds.

i'm all about this kind of space.

except i still wouldn't change a thing about the past.

i'm just really glad that this is what we're doing now.

i should have bought flowers. DOH.

never was there ever

a girl so fun as this.

she had specific hair and makeup specifications.

doll.

that's what i kept thinking.

then she sat through each dance at the recital,

star struck as usual by the ballerinas on pointe.

and when her dance was all over the one thing she wanted to know was where were her flowers anyway???

but in a sweet unassuming way.

like i felt badly i hadn't because she was so sweet about it.

i made up something about how that's only for the end of the year ones,

and then of course about five dancers walked past us with boquets in their arms

and max looked up at me like,

"uhhh mom, what were you saying???"

mmmmhmmmmm yep.

it was awesome.

i changed the subject to could she tell me what the words were again to let it go or something like that,

and then we went out for mexican food with all of our friends and family that were there.

cause ya know, i haven't heard that song enough times to know the words myself.

wait....

letters to Emily {embarrassing story, merry christmas in german, & relationships}

Dear Emily,

I did laugh so hard! Especially at the batman ornament! That was amazing. People usually say "frohe weinachten!" For merry Christmas... Emily, do you wanna hear a funny embarrassing story? Well, this would only happen in dear old Deutchland... But I think you will still appreciate the moment at least. So Thanksgiving. On the schedual to come to my house was the missionaries (elders and sisters) and a family. I was to make the turkey, the potatoes, carrot casserole, stuffing, and s desert, the missionaries were bringing a bunch of stuff as was the family. I woke up feeling my absolute worst. I couldn't even stand.. A bad virus. So we cancelled the whole thing! I felt so bad... So Bryce was rubbing my feet and I was laying in bed in a pool of tissues and blankets when we hear a knock on the door ( both kids are in school). And our apartments are installing fire alarms so the installers (who smell like smoke and cheap cologne) come in and Bryce tells them it's all good and comes back in the room where I look like a nasty sick woman and we hear a knock on our bedroom door and it's the installers and they need to install a fire alarm in our bedroom! So they install it with me laying in my sickness... I almost couldn't Handle it so I pulled the blankets over my head and just said over and over again to myself, "please go away, please be done, please go away, please be done. ". Then they leave probably feeling really sorry for Bryce, thinking wow he married a mess...! Haha! I just had to tell you that funny story, virus is gone and we were able to have a little thanksgiving on Sunday... It was so good. Just our little family, I love to say what we are grateful for from the year at the dinner table, and I totally lost it and I could barely start... But I was able to say my gratitudes. I think to the end of the movie jerry McGuire, when he hugs his one client with a REAL relationship, instead of the other agent with a lot of clients basically given to him with no real relationship. Jerry was uncomfortable and poor and he needed the people around him, they brought him comfort. And in the end it literally pays off for him to have real deep meaningful relationships with the people he is working for and his family. And not being greedy. I feel the struggles that Bryce and I are experiencing right now has brought us closer together then ever before. I hope that we remember our time together is worth more then a paycheck. And do cherish it so. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I love you,

Beth

letters to BETH {i'm yellin' TiiiiiiiiiMBerrrrrr--the tree came down}

{get your laughing pants on for this story my friend. 

you're gonna need 'em today;)}

dear beth,
our brand new vacuum is broken.
remember this for later.
merry christmas!
Weihnachtsgrüße!
AUF DEUTSCH!
did i get those right at all?
i blame google translator if not.
are you decking your halls yet?
we are slowly getting things looking festive around here.
this last weekend we took the kids out for pizza, because not even I, Emily Gibson, wanted to cook the day after thanksgiving.
so we took the kids out for pizza and then to the christmas tree lot.
we found THE ONE, and it was glorious.

{don't ask me why i have my coat on. i was sweating it was so hot.}

max was running around in a skirt and tank top because it was 65* at night in november.
it's freakishly warm right now in general and NOT snowing, and i'm sad about it.
except it's kinda nice that brennan can still play outside with his friends after school every day still.
so anyway, we put up the tree,
and on sunday max helped me string on all of the lights.
she was MADE for this.
i am thrilled to have a helper for this job, as it really does take two folks.

i FINALLY learned this year to just sit back and let the kids do the decorating.

which means that all of my ornaments were on the bottom 2 feet of the tree.

it was so cute and the kids were prouder than proud.

brennan kept saying that he knew santa was going to "just love" their work.

i left all of my most fragile ornaments in their boxes and figured maybe i wouldn't put them up this year.

well, after letting my kids decorate and UNdecorate the tree three times every day since then, i made the executive decision last night to go ahead and spend an hour after bedtime putting up all of my favorite ornaments in complete peace and quiet.

and then tell the kids no more touching the tree from now on.

i think because i let them put all of the ornaments on they thought that meant that the entire tree AND all of "their" ornaments were just more toys to move around every day.

and i just didn't want them throwing them across the front room anymore.

so i put up the rest of the ornaments by myself, and it was glorious. 

sean was in the basement working out.
and all three of the kids were fast asleep in their beds.

there was not a peep in the place.

it was so absolutely relaxing and wonderful.

after everything but the star was in place {i wanted to save that for the kids to help with today}, 

i stood back beaming at how beautiful my hard work had turned out to be.

and just how glad i was that i took the time to do it.

i just love looking at all of the personalized ornaments we've gathered over the years.

engagement, wedding, baby's first christmas 2008, 2010, 2012 for all of the kids, hand impressions of little tiny baby hands, and all of sean's hand made ones from elementary school that sean's mom has given me to hang. 

now, because our vacuum is broken there are pine needles everywhere in my front room.

and after decorating the tree, it was basically a LAWN of pine needles under the tree at this point in the night.

and like i said, since my vacuum is broken, i couldn't vacuum them up.

so i stood there looking at my glorious tree, wishing that all of the pine needles could just go away,

and that's when i realized a tree skirt would do just that!

so excitedly, i ran to the christmas box to grab the tree skirt.

to cover up the needles:)

i was feeling so smart, and i couldn't wait to take a picture of my newly decorated 2014 christmas tree.

so i pulled out the red, gold, and green one my mom gave me a couple of years ago,

and just as i was on my hands and knees, ready to slip it around my lovely lady's trunk's waist,

THE

ENTIRE

TREE

FELL

DOWN

ON

TOP

OF ME.

yep, that's what i said.

this was me:

or at least that is how i felt.

so there i am stuck under our big old fallen christmas tree,

covered in pine needles,

water leaking from the base ALL OVER the carpet and me,

and half of the ornaments i had so gently placed were now strewn about all over the floor,

with even MORE pine needles everywhere from the great TIMBER which was the fall.

so i start yelling

"SEEEAAAAAN!!!!! SEEEEEAAAAANN!!!! SEEEEEEEAAAAAAANNNN!!!!!"

because ya know, i'm stuck under this tree and all.

and he's down in the basement exercising and he can't hear me.

so i keep yelling until finally he hears me, but by this point i've taken matters of saving my life into my own hands and have pulled myself out of the rubble,

holding the tree halfway up as best as i can so that the water will stop spilling,

and the rest of the ornaments will stop falling,

hoping and hanging on for dear life so that our tree will not break in half.

and that's when sean walks in,

and we are both just standing there laughing because ya know,

the entire tree i had JUST finished decorating had just fallen on top of me,

and now it wouldn't stand up on it's own.

we kept trying to put it back in its stand, but it just wouldn't stay.

so sean went out to the garage and brought back some bright yellow rope,

tied it to the window shutters,

and then he put a weight to leverage it from the bottom.

{sean told me later that he heard this big thump from downstairs over his head, and then this faint call of his name, but it took him a minute to register what could possibly be going on. then he told me he wished he could have seen the tree fall down on top of me, and that was one picture he wished he had. this made me laugh really REALLY hard. i wish i had a video of it. 

good times. also, it was frightening. and awesome.}

so that my friend is how i spent my last night of being 31.

i will always laugh when i look at that batman ornament for the rest of my life.

and i will ALWAYS remember that one christmas where my fully decorated christmas tree fell down on top of me.

i think we're gonna need a new christmas tree base for next year.

this one has always been a problem!

because next time i might not escape certain death so smoothly.

just sayin.

i love when funny stuff like this happens to me in life.

it makes me happy because there's nothing like a good laugh at yourself to keep you humble.

i hope this story has left your day a little more bright,

and maybe with a little pee in your pants.

all my love,

em