New years eve!!!

First off I want to thank everyone for there kind words thoughts and prayers yesterday. All your comments ment so much to me.

Can you believe it's new years eve?

Nothing too exciting going on in our home. Dale is sick so I guess we wont be going out wich is a bummer I love dressing up. Mylissa and Shelly will be going to the church dance and the little kids will be eating junk ,watching movies and playing Wii . Not sure what Kadie is going to be doing.

So on to new years resolutions!! Do you make them? If you do do you keep them?

As for me I really don't make resolutions as much as Goals.

Last year my goal was to try new things. I think I was very successful in that Goal.

This year my goal is to Celibate me!! I hope to discover new things about me and to learn to love all the parts of Jennifer even the parts I dislike.

Part of of my goal is I am going to become the most Fabulous cook. I cook pretty well but I don't really enjoy it and for some reason I want to love it . I also want to learn to bake amazeing treats. I have plenty of aprons to accomplish this goal .



I hope everyone has a happy safe New years eve!!

A letter to William on his Angel day..

It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since I last held you in my arms.I rember all so well the last moments that you were in my arms it was so sad and so sweet at the same time. It was in the wee hours just before dawn I woke up to your little sneeze. I new at that moment your time was short and I woke your Dad up I rember telling him that it was time to say goodbye. I started to panic and I wanted to do what any mother would do I tried to keep you here I soon realized that your last memories didn't need to be of me panicking and trying to stop your new journey so I gracefully held you in my arms and whispered sweet words of love and promised that I would live a righteous life so that I could be with you again. The last breath you took was much like your first beautiful and sweet.I love you very much William and I am forever grateful for the time you gave us to get to know you. You will always be my baby and in my heart for ever.I miss and love you every day.Thanks for choosing me as your mother.

Yummy cheese ball recipe..

For Christmas eve I made the yummiest cheese ball It was super easy .
My kids and my hubbie loved it too.
I will probably make it again for new years eve.
Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1/4 lb corned beef (super thin sliced)
1 1/2 bunches green onions
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Accent seasoning
Directions
1Place cream cheese in a large bowl.
2Chop corned beef and green onions pretty fine. You don't want large pieces in this.
3Pour chopped onions and beef into bowl.
4Add the accent and worcestershire to bowl.
5Mix thoroughly and form into ball. (I like to use my clean hands to mix it, because thats the best way I have found to get it thoroughly mixed.)
6Place on platter and put into refrigerator to chill over night.
7Take it out a few hours before being served to allow to soften. Surround the cheeseball with your favorite crackers (I loved it with wheat thins).

Wii spoiled the kids for Christmas this year!!

I have been wanting to get a WII for a while know but we did not want our kids to be video game addicts we decided not to. I am not sure why but Dale and I both agreed that we would buy one for the kids this year for Christmas So the day after Thanksgiving we bought one. Then we ended winning one from Dales work party (I think that was kinda a sign that we were makeing a good choice).. My parents sent a Target gift card so we bought guitar hero and Santa brought me The Wii fit.

Ben loves playing bowling and boxing according to Ben he has super sweet skills that nobody can beat. Between the Wii and the hopping ball thats all Ben wants to do.

Shelly got some sweet knee socks and a cellphone and some cute clothes and we cant forget the see threw shoes.

Madie got the Fur real baby panda that she has been wanting tons of clothes, games, books and lot's of other things.

I think all and all everyone was spoiled including me. I will have to show pix of the rest of our loot later.

Dale goes back to work tomorrow and So after cleaning the house I hope to get to be creative. Maybe I will get an apron done to give away before the new year..

Tutu Diva!!

Madie has been begging me since Halloween to make her a Tutu , every time she would ask I would answer not today it takes to long. Well a few months back I saw a tutorial on how to make a no sew tutu in 30 mins I was a little skeptical that it would be as cute as the ones I normally make. I went ahead and bought the stuff to make it a few weeks ago and today when Madie said lets make a tutu I said OK lets do it! She said really I said yep but you have to help!! She said really even more excited. So I broke out the rolls of tulle an started cutting and true to the tutorials word it only took 30 mins to make . To be honest it's not quite as fancy or as cute as the ones I have made in the past yet so much more less time consuming. I bet with some tweaking and some more tulle I think I can perfect it. All and all it was a fun great was to spend makeing a little girl happy. As she said Mom I am fabulous sewer like you. That was priceless.She totally loved glaming it up and posing with her new puppy she got for Christmas as she pointed out "Momma my dogie matches my tutu so I think I need to take a picture with it.


The tutorial I used is HERE I think the writer did an amazeing job on her instructions and it was easy to fallow!
My challenge to you is go get some tulle and make a little girl in your life happy. You know you want to do it. Or even make your self one. My 14year old and 16 year old both asked to make one. Girls never get board of playing dress up no madder how old we get.

Kindness of others....

During this holiday season we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays that we sometimes forget what the true meaning of the season. I try every year to do something to help me focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. In doing so I try to show my gratitude by serving others in serving others I feel the true love of Christ in my life. I love that feeling and I try to teach my children to do the same.I promise there is a point to my ramblings, today I received an email that was so touching to me. A friend of mine served me in such an amazeing way that words could never begin to express my gratitude. She shared with me that Her family decided to donate 17 books to there Local NICU in memory of William. When I read the amount of books I realized that the had donated a book in celebration of each day of his sweet life. I am so grateful for the sweet way that she and her family are honoring my William . I am so beyond blessed to have such amazeing people in my life.I want to take this time to thank every one who reads my blog and reads William story. When ever I write about William it helps to heal my broken heart and when i read the sweet encouraging comments they just lift my spirits and make me smile.

Recovering from Christmas..

Christmas was a lot of fun at the Wilderness house. We all got spoiled and now I am just trying to recover and get my house back in order. I will tell you all about our Christmas fun later and the fun surprise we gave our kids.. Hopefully I can sneak out and shop the after Christmas sales!!

Merry Christ-moose from Alaska!!

I hope you all are having a merry Christmas!!! I Know we are !!!

It's a wrap!

First off i want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for my tree..

2nd Wrapping gifts for 7 kids is no small task, but it's finally all done.. Now we can have fun and make treats all day tomorrow. I can hardly believe it is Christmas eve tomorrow. I can hardly wait my kids are going to be shocked and excited with all the fun goodies we got them this year. I can hardly wait to see there faces Christmas morning.
So here is me wishing you all a merry Christmas..

Begging for votes!!

I was notafied by Lorie at tip junkie that my tree is a finalest in there contest so if you like it please vote for me.
Jenns pesonality tree.
I would love it if you di !! Thanks in advance.

You gotta love them!!

It is always comedy central trying to get a decent pic of my children. On the other hand I love that they all are so different and have such fun personalities. We are definitely not a cookie cutter family and I am perfectly OK with that. I have always said I am one of a kind and I like it that way well my children are definitely the same and I like it that way..

Mr. and Mrs. Clause

We went to a church party on Friday and Mr. and Mrs. Clause came to visit the kids. Mrs. Clause was very joyful and had a great memory she new every kid by name and was full of laughter . It was so fun to watch the children as they sat and talked with Mr. and Mrs. Clause. Maddie and Garrett were very excited to sit on Santa's lap but Ben was totally scared. The minute he saw them come into the room he hid underneath the closest table. Any time anyone suggested he go see Santa he freaked. It was kinda sad. We finally just gave him the present with out sitting on santa's lap. It always makes me wonder what scares Ben so much about things like Santa and the Easter bunny. At Halloween he was the same way when we went trick or treating we went to 2 houses and he was done. He said I have enough candy I want to go home. Hopefully he will grow out of it.

Santa baby

I came across this picture of me sitting on santa's lap (Ok it is really Dale). I just love this pic Dale had been deployed for 2 months and he had just gotten back that morning. We were all so happy to see him the kids had a Christmas party that day at his work and when we got there they had nobody to play Santa so he volunteered.. It was kinda fun to sit on Santa's lap and to smooch on him. Gave a whole new meaning to I saw momma kissing Santa clause.

A little peek at Christmas in my house

I just love decorating for Christmas I love makeing the house look magical and fun for my children. Normally I go a little over board but this year i tried to keep it simple.

This is the kids tree in the family room. It is tradition to let them decorate it how ever they wanted. I was amazed at how well they did. It was mostly my boys the bigger girls could have cared less.

This is my tree I wish I could have taken a pic to do the tree justice. I really love this tree it is small at only 4ft but so full of personalty. I love to stick little elements of surprises in my Trees. So I have add things like butterflies, Fairy's, peacocks and elves. It draws your eye in and makes you really look.I also have a ton of Santa's all over the house. i just love Santa he really is a cute old man.I love my carolers I bought them about 5 years ago they just make me think of and old fashion Christmas. Of course Christmas decorations would not be complete with out a nativity. This one is my kids favorite. It plays away in a manger and lights up. I have 3 others in the Family room I hope to one day have a whole room of nativities.

BTW if you want to see some fun Trees check out Tip Junkie so many pepole are shareing there lovely trees.

Mary threw baby Jesus into the manger.

Sunday my kids were apart of a live nativity. Garrett was Joseph and Madeline as Marry if you cant tell Garret was not trilled at all. He just stood there and would not even look at Madeline If he did look at her he just glared. Madeline just stood there and held baby Jesus until the angel narrator played by Robbie said Jesus was laying in the manger she looked at me and I motioned her to place baby Jesus in the manger , She just looked at me then I moistened again for her to place the baby in the manger. When she finally understood. She threw the doll into the manger. Needless to say everyone laughed. Then when it was time to leave Madie just stood there smiling. Garrett finally had to go and get her.

An Alaskan sunrise and a Benjamin moon (kinda)

Every morning when I wake up I open all the curtains in the house so that when the sun rises we can enjoy the sunlight for a little while. Yesterday while I was sitting in my leaving room I saw that the sun was starting ti rise so I looked out the window to see the most beautiful purple and pink sky. It was just so beautiful. I tried to capture its beauty on film yet the pictures don't do what i saw justice. I think we by far have some of the prettiest sun rises and sun sets in the world..

Not to be out done by the beautiful sun rise the moon had to make a show of things. Ok not really the moon but Ben's cute little bottom. I walked in my room to see if Ben was ready to go to bed and when I walked in I saw him fast asleep with his little bum stuck in the air. To me it was just as breathtaking site as the sun rise. He is just growing way to fast and every moment is just so precious I just love my little Benny boy so much I just wish that I could stop time just for a while..

My birthday gift to William

During the 2nd week of December our town celebrates Colony days. It is a 2 day celebration with fun activities all over our small little town.

Our church participates by setting up about 1,200 nativities all over our church. The cool part is that it no longer looks like a church. Every room is transformed into themed rooms. This year I decided to take on the challenge of decorating a room. I decided I would do it as Williams birthday gift.


It took me and my sweet friend Kristy about 3 days to set the room up. I decorated in red silk form celling to floor it was all red and silky. It looked like you were in an Mideastern tent. I had these really pretty jewls hanging down from the celling and the most beautiful tree. It was truly an amazeing site when you went inside. I then asked for all the white and gold nativities . They looked amazing against the red walls and the dark green silk I used for the tables.



For the 2 days the nativity was open I had the pleasure of setting in my room watching the expressions on the people who walked in the room. Everyone agreed that walking in every room was purely a delight . They loved being able to see all the beautiful nativities.




For me and my family it was a great way to celebrate Williams 3rd birthday. We then came home and had a birthday cake and we all blew out his candles.



I wanted to share a quick story that happened . I had just finished the room and all I had left was the tree. I was tiered and wanted to go home. So I decided to wait until the next day to decorate the tree but before I left I wanted to make sure I had all the hooks and things I needed for the decorations. while I was riffling true the box I came across Williams little stocking that I has sworn was in his special box. It was just like he was saying Momma good job I am proud of you and I love and miss you to. It was my undoing I just broke down in tears. It was such a sweet moment..