Traditions

Growing up, I knew there were always things that I looked forward to at Christmas time. For me, and all other little kids, this was one of the most exciting times of the year. Being married and having my children a little older, and able to understand things, has made me reflect on the traditions I had growing up. In my mind, my parents never skipped a beat, but maybe it was at the force of their children. I don't have Christmas photos from when I was young, so I decided to post some of the pictures of the things my family has started doing. I've thought about some of my favorite things growing up, and decided I'd post about them, so if they don't get handed down, my children would know some. My top, most awesome, tradition I had growing up was a tie between my mom making Christmas candy for all of our neighbors, and getting woke up before the sun was up to open presents. The close second, which was a simple tradition, was calling my Aunt Nancy's family to wake them up. Ohhh, how I loved that my dad would call and do this. Maybe it was because we "thought" we were waking them up to excitement, or maybe they were all really annoyed... Who cares, I loved this. I also really loved eating shrimp Christmas Eve. I suppose this was my dad's family tradition growing up, and he had passed it down to his family. Either way, I looked forward to this meal, who cares about turkey or ham?!?! I was about the shrimp. Looking back, I truly had it made growing up. Did I get everything, and then some?? No. In fact, my mom had talked about how some Christmas were "tiny" or scaled back because of a funeral or money. Here's the thing, had you asked me, I thought I always had it all, and that everything was great. With Christmas two weeks away, and the rush of making everything perfect, I guess I should really remember that it is about making my kids Christmas as great as I had it growing up... And that is what they are really going to remember. Binghams. We're crazy, at least for the Alan Bingham family. I wouldn't trade it for the world. As siblings we all have our place, and our roles, and it adds to the enjoyment of being with each other. I hope some day, my children will be able to sit around laughing, and reminiscing about the traditions we had, and how much fun they were.

One tradition we started this year was we presented the kids with "Golden Tickets". It permitted them to go on a ride to see the lights around town. They were also granted popcorn. When we got home, there were cookies and hot chocolate waiting for them. How I love Christmas, and the extra special time we get to spend together!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Princess!!

In the midst of Kara being sick, my other baby girl turned 3! I wanted her to have a great birthday, and though it didn't turn out like I had imagined, she still had a great time. She decided she wanted a princess party. And that is what she got.

Don't look to close... I am still learning and by the time I was ready to decorate the barbie, I was flustered and just threw some frosting on.

Cami is such a delight! She has just enough of me to not question that she is mine. But Cami loves to dress up and is into all the girlie things, like painting her nails, and getting her hair done. Cami is by far my most laid back child. She's easy going, and likes to go with the flow. She loves, LOVES, nursery and playing with other kids. I am amazed with her, because she loves to introduce herself to everyone. I am so glad she came to my family!! I love you Cami Joanne!!

Trick or treat

Grant really wanted to be "bones" for Halloween.. But we figured he wouldn't fit into Mark's dragon costume next year, so he excitedly wore his daddy's costume from when he was a little boy!

Halloween was a good day for us! I filled in for Copper Queen Hospital for 2 weeks, but Grant's kindergarten teacher had also approached me about being their classroom mom, and if I would be willing to plan something for them to do. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it work, but everything ended up working out. I had some games planned out, and also pumpkin painting. I think that for the most part, everyone had fun. I had gone to the school a little early to have lunch with Grant. I am so blessed to be able to do these things, not only with Grant, but also my girls.

After we were done with the party, we went to pick up my cute princess and bumble bee. We headed to Grandma Maroney's and had our annual hot wings dinner... Which of course did NOT disappoint!

After which, we headed out to trick or treat. Cami insisted that she ride on the stroller to EVERY house. I have been waiting to hear the "trick or treat, smell my feet", and I thought it would be from Grant... But it was Cami who learned it first!! Crazy! Overall, we had a great time and there was plenty of candy to be had!!

My Poor Punkies

You know that moment when you think, "MAN that had to hurt??" My poor Kara has had many this past month. It started the last weekend in Sept. Kara had been playing at an Aunt's house, and I guess she fell... Resulting in her (and really the 1st of her siblings) first black eye. I felt horrible! It looked like it hurt. Not even a week later, she was running around with Grant, and had a PVC pipe in her hand. She, of course, tripped and it jabbed her lower jaw. Resulting in a round scab. Then, yes THEN, the following weekend she had been playing outside and came into our chickens poop. We thought we had cleaned her up, but Tuesday night she became really sick. Sick, as in, really sick. I had a bad feeling and so I got her in to see the dr first thing. By this point Kara wasn't eating or drinking, and had a temp of 103. I had mentioned that she had come into contact with the chicken poop, but the Dr didn't really say anything. But she mentioned that if she didn't get any better in a few hours to take her to the ER. So we waited. And I kept having that nagging feeling, to take her in. I called Mark and he met me there. I have never, EVER, had such horrible services. We were told it was by priority, and that I should expect to wait. We waited for 4 and half hours. When the dr finally came into the back, he told me I shouldn't have brought her in and forced liquid down her, like the do in 3rd world countries. By the time she was pretty dehydrated, and it took 2 bags to get her back up there. They had to drip blood from where the IV was to get blood for her labs. I was SO not impressed by these people. But they told us that she was fine, and released us. She continued to be sick until that following Sunday. On Wednesday, my peds Dr called to tell me that they had received her bowl labs back, and she had salmonella poisoning. 7 days later, she is finally back to my punkies.

Last Wednesday, she also had an appointment with a pediatric GI specialist. Since the very beginning, she was spit up really bad. A few months ago, we switched her to soy milk. While this helped a little with her spitting up, her bowls still remained not normal. She is also lower that 25% for her height and weight. Anyways, they had to put her on special formula, and are now running some pretty crazy test. But I can tell you this. I look at her, and my heart goes soft. She lights up our whole house, and is just my little punkies. Her personality is so big, and she makes us all laugh. I am lucky to have her!! And I am so in love!!

Skunks.

(Grant LOVES taking pictures... this is his self portait) This has been a difficult week and a half. But I can honestly say that they have been extremely huge teaching moments. It first started with the death Nick Ivie. If you've known me since I've moved to Sierra Vista, you've know it's been hard for me to be out going and make friends. However, Christy (Nick's wife) befriended my earily on. She has always been thoughtful of me, and what I might need. So when I heard of his death, it stung, and I hurt for her. I quickly just broke down into tears after learning of what had happened. Grant came in, and asked what was wrong. I told him that someone I knew had been killed. That was enough for him for the moment. A day or two later, he noticed that the flags were half massed. He asked why they were. I explained to him in greater deal why it was a big deal. That there were two little girls that were without a dad, and that he was in Heaven, and not coming back. He asked who had killed him, and I explained (at the time it was believed that they were illegal drug runners) some bad guys had done this. In a soft voice he asked me how bad people are made. I was able to talk to him about temples, and how we choice right from wrong, and that people decide to be bad... Unlike the super hero shows he watches. Fast forward to yesterday. We were coming into town, and he asked me why did Heavenly Father EVER make skunks, because they smell so bad! I laughed, and I was able to explain to him again that the animals didn't start off like this. And I told him the story of Adam and Eve. He loves asking questions. More than that, I love that he wants to learn more about the gospel, and really has a desire to be more like Jesus. He is my example. I now know why they say to be more like a child. Meek and Humble.