4 months ago
Thursday, January 27, 2011
My Man's Christmas from the girls
See that hat? I have TOTAL hat envy. There I said it. I was very jealous that the girls found this hat for their daddy for Christmas. Especially when I found out they paid less than $2 for it! I think it will be put to good use.
It is a tradition now. Our youngest daughter always gets him a shirt for work that has some orange in it!
Homemade honey! (well, the bees made it)
Mary, Joseph, and 3 Kings
This is seriously my favorite picture of the year. I glanced at our daughter and she was walking around before we started. She had the baby doll stuffed in the stomach of her robe, and an arm was dangling out. I couldn't stop laughing.
Later that evening, the baby was born.
Later that evening, the baby was born.
Mary contemplating the newborn Christ.
Mary and Joseph
3 Kings (and wise guys)
Christmas Eve photos
On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Jerusalem supper, and acted out the Christmas story. The missionaries from our church joined us and helped out with a few of the parts...
Here they are just before we started:

Here come Mary and Joseph on their trusty donkey. It has kind of turned into a joke that my husband is the donkey every year. What a great sport!
Here they are just before we started:
Here come Mary and Joseph on their trusty donkey. It has kind of turned into a joke that my husband is the donkey every year. What a great sport!
I'm not sure why this child was also riding a donkey and entering, but we couldn't just let one child have all of the fun!
Here are the angels proclaiming the birth of the Lord to the shepherds...in Handel's 'Hallelujah' style
Monday, January 17, 2011
What we did for our MLKJR Holiday
Yay - no school today.
So of course, my daughter woke up puking.
It stinks (yes, all aspects of that statement - abstractly, concretely, emotionally...in it's entirety).
For a couple of years, she used to wake up throwing up in the mornings once or twice a week...after a couple of hours though, she'd be fine and completely normal and driving me crazy.
No rhyme or reason.
Then, it magically stopped. It seems like we've been vomit free with her for a couple of years, and then boom...it hit again during Christmas vacation....actually while we were out of town at grandma's house - on the day we planned to head back home the ugly monster reared it's head. I'd like to think that it was because she was off of her schedule and routine or something, but she isn't today, so that one just doesn't fly.
How awful is that - your holiday in the bathroom?
Looks like we are looking at an official movie day today.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Crazy Christmas & back to life
Really - there are pictures waiting to come. We had a wonderful Christmas. We did it a little backwards though. We woke up on Dec. 24th and let our kids open their presents that morning. Then we delivered treats to the neighbors, and came back home to get ready for our traditional Jerusalem supper.
Of all of our family traditions - this is my favorite. It just isn't Christmas without it. The missionaries from our church joined us for dinner, and we roped them into acting out the nativity story with us, and singing carols around the piano just before bed. The girls opened their traditional Christmas eve gift of pj's and then we went to bed. It was so great doing it backwards like that...I was surprised that we enjoyed it so much.
We woke up early the next morning and the kids got to explore their stockings, and then we bundled into the car for a LONG drive.
We stopped off at our cousin's house and broke for breakfast and a potty break there. Then continued on our merry way. (Thank HEAVEN for books on tape and audio books that are free to download from the library. They keep us sane on our long car trips).
We stopped and saw my husband's parents and brother's family (they were all together) and dropped off some family Christmas gifts.
We then headed to my neck of the woods and we were able to see some of both sides of my family since they both had get togethers that over lapped that evening.
I just have to clarify. Yes, we were in town for most of the week, but my husband was doing some intensive work which consisted of me dropping him off at 8:00 am. Getting everyone going for the day, picking him up around 10:30, him playing with the kids while I practiced the organ at the church and then trying to spend a few family moments together before I had to drop him off again two hours later, and pick him back up again two hours after that. It was a 6-8 hour deal every day and I did an awful lot of running around back and forth. So...while it appeared to be a vacation - I wish it had been! There were so many things I wanted to do while there, but just couldn't figure out how to work it in feasibly.
It was really great for my husband though, and we are excited about that part of it. We decided as a family that it was important and could be a good thing, even if it meant that our kids would spend their Christmas vacation not at home playing with their friends as they'd hoped. It was.
We briefly saw a little bit of my husband's family, and hoped to spend more time in the evenings with them, but the weather didn't seem to be in agreement. We got caught in one storm that turned a 30 minute drive into a white knuckle 1.40 hr. drive...that sort of squelched our excitement about evening family visits in bad weather. Thursday our daughter woke up sick, and the rest of us had a little stomach bug (or too much sugar, little sleep, out of our element and off of our schedule weird bug) that day too. Thursday wasn't our favorite day. We'd planned to head home on Thursday or visit family, but due to the weather and other elements, we prolonged our return.
Friday came, and I'd planned to leave after my husband finished that afternoon for an evening drive. He surprised us all by finishing up earlier than expected and so we pulled the semi-dry clothes from the dryer and headed home. (BTW - the semi dry clothes were covered by ice crystals when we got home).
While on our way, our cousin called (they wanted come to our place to go sledding the next day). He didn't know we weren't home yet, and invited us to stop on our way home and break our trip with them.
We spent New Year's Eve with them, and headed home New Year's day. Which was a very good thing (but we didn't know it at the time) because the roads between his house and ours were pretty darn yucky. The 0* and below weather had completely frozen the snow and ice to the road, and some parts of our drive back were worse than we'd ever seen them. We were glad to navigate them in the morning rather than late at night in the dark.
Our girls were so happy to be home. Back in their element, with chores and cleaning to do. Okay, maybe not that, but they were very happy to be back home.
Back to life as we know it.
Of all of our family traditions - this is my favorite. It just isn't Christmas without it. The missionaries from our church joined us for dinner, and we roped them into acting out the nativity story with us, and singing carols around the piano just before bed. The girls opened their traditional Christmas eve gift of pj's and then we went to bed. It was so great doing it backwards like that...I was surprised that we enjoyed it so much.
We woke up early the next morning and the kids got to explore their stockings, and then we bundled into the car for a LONG drive.
We stopped off at our cousin's house and broke for breakfast and a potty break there. Then continued on our merry way. (Thank HEAVEN for books on tape and audio books that are free to download from the library. They keep us sane on our long car trips).
We stopped and saw my husband's parents and brother's family (they were all together) and dropped off some family Christmas gifts.
We then headed to my neck of the woods and we were able to see some of both sides of my family since they both had get togethers that over lapped that evening.
I just have to clarify. Yes, we were in town for most of the week, but my husband was doing some intensive work which consisted of me dropping him off at 8:00 am. Getting everyone going for the day, picking him up around 10:30, him playing with the kids while I practiced the organ at the church and then trying to spend a few family moments together before I had to drop him off again two hours later, and pick him back up again two hours after that. It was a 6-8 hour deal every day and I did an awful lot of running around back and forth. So...while it appeared to be a vacation - I wish it had been! There were so many things I wanted to do while there, but just couldn't figure out how to work it in feasibly.
It was really great for my husband though, and we are excited about that part of it. We decided as a family that it was important and could be a good thing, even if it meant that our kids would spend their Christmas vacation not at home playing with their friends as they'd hoped. It was.
We briefly saw a little bit of my husband's family, and hoped to spend more time in the evenings with them, but the weather didn't seem to be in agreement. We got caught in one storm that turned a 30 minute drive into a white knuckle 1.40 hr. drive...that sort of squelched our excitement about evening family visits in bad weather. Thursday our daughter woke up sick, and the rest of us had a little stomach bug (or too much sugar, little sleep, out of our element and off of our schedule weird bug) that day too. Thursday wasn't our favorite day. We'd planned to head home on Thursday or visit family, but due to the weather and other elements, we prolonged our return.
Friday came, and I'd planned to leave after my husband finished that afternoon for an evening drive. He surprised us all by finishing up earlier than expected and so we pulled the semi-dry clothes from the dryer and headed home. (BTW - the semi dry clothes were covered by ice crystals when we got home).
While on our way, our cousin called (they wanted come to our place to go sledding the next day). He didn't know we weren't home yet, and invited us to stop on our way home and break our trip with them.
We spent New Year's Eve with them, and headed home New Year's day. Which was a very good thing (but we didn't know it at the time) because the roads between his house and ours were pretty darn yucky. The 0* and below weather had completely frozen the snow and ice to the road, and some parts of our drive back were worse than we'd ever seen them. We were glad to navigate them in the morning rather than late at night in the dark.
Our girls were so happy to be home. Back in their element, with chores and cleaning to do. Okay, maybe not that, but they were very happy to be back home.
Back to life as we know it.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Distraction
My Cutie patootie
I just couldn't resist taking pictures of this cutie this morning. All decked out and ready for school. We've discovered layering leggings with skorts, skirts and dresses during the cold winter months.
She was a vision in black.
She was a vision in black.
I'm so glad she still lets me fix her hair every now and then. She looked so cute walking out the door this morning with her 'ziggety zaggety parted puffy braids and messy buns' (and soccer ribbons no less)!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
The Book Thief
Lately I've been spending my time in the young adult section at the library. Pre-reading some of the books and series I think that my daughter may be interested in.
This morning I just finished a book that was absolutely amazing.
The Book Thief
Marcus Zusak
Because I knew absolutely nothing about this book, at first, I was a little dis-oriented and not sure what was coming at me. After several pages however, I realized that the narrator was actually 'death' - speaking in the first person. Definitely a different, (yet surprisingly enjoyable) twist.
If you have a chance to read this book - you should. Poignant, and deeply touching it covers love, loss, and finding family. Enough book report - this one is going into my top 5 books list. You SHOULD read it - I couldn't put it down.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
My new calling
So, my last post (other than the gazillion today) was about being really upset.
Now, I can talk about it. I've been learning a few life lessons over the past few weeks and working through it, I'm almost there.
After 2.5 years, I've been released from being the primary chorister.
While I loved it some days more than others, I've truly LOVED serving in this position (calling) at church. Really. At first, I didn't think I would, and then my sister told me how much fun she has with it and helped me with some resources and ideas and suddenly, I realized that I could pretty much go where I wanted to go and really have fun teaching the kids to sing. (And everyone said that they kids sang better in this program than they'd ever heard them sing before).
We've worn silly costumes, wigs, hats, dress ups, polka-dots. We've passed the potato, popped balloons, discoed, thrown balls around, done the chicken dance, done detective work, played american idol, played instruments, gone caroling down the halls, and taken field trips. We've sung every imaginable way including like a country singer, an opera singer, a grandma, a grandpa, underwater, staccato...oh I could go on and on. We've bowled, played baseball, done scientific experiments, made cookies, spun the teacher...
We've learned that Heavenly Father and Jesus love us. We've learned about prophets, faith, love, service, priesthood power, and miracles.
We've felt the spirit testify to our hearts through the music we've sung together. We've laughed together (a lot) and cried together too.
While a difficult calling because I had to come up with something different every week that was engaging, and could be used to teach the spectrum of kids from ages 3-12, I've loved it.
Unfortunately, today marks an ending, and it is someone else's opportunity to serve the children and work in this calling.
I'll miss it. Terribly. I love the kids. Their excitement. Their eagerness to answer questions, participate, learn, and share their zest for life.
Now, I've been given an opportunity to stretch and grow. Am I happy about it? Honestly, no. Will I eventually love it? To be sure (I hope). On Sundays (and many other days until I get it down) you can find me in the chapel, sitting behind the organ, doing my best to play for the congregation. I know my limitations. I'm a cellist, and a pianist in a pinch. Not a good one, but in a pinch. I guess in a while, I'll be much better... I hope.
My youngest daughter is a great example to me. When I told her that I had received a new calling (asked to serve in a new position) at church and told her that I'd now be playing the organ her response was, "wow mom...now you'll play 7 instruments!...that's so cool!"
Oh that I could have her excitement and attitude.
Now, I can talk about it. I've been learning a few life lessons over the past few weeks and working through it, I'm almost there.
After 2.5 years, I've been released from being the primary chorister.
While I loved it some days more than others, I've truly LOVED serving in this position (calling) at church. Really. At first, I didn't think I would, and then my sister told me how much fun she has with it and helped me with some resources and ideas and suddenly, I realized that I could pretty much go where I wanted to go and really have fun teaching the kids to sing. (And everyone said that they kids sang better in this program than they'd ever heard them sing before).
We've worn silly costumes, wigs, hats, dress ups, polka-dots. We've passed the potato, popped balloons, discoed, thrown balls around, done the chicken dance, done detective work, played american idol, played instruments, gone caroling down the halls, and taken field trips. We've sung every imaginable way including like a country singer, an opera singer, a grandma, a grandpa, underwater, staccato...oh I could go on and on. We've bowled, played baseball, done scientific experiments, made cookies, spun the teacher...
We've learned that Heavenly Father and Jesus love us. We've learned about prophets, faith, love, service, priesthood power, and miracles.
We've felt the spirit testify to our hearts through the music we've sung together. We've laughed together (a lot) and cried together too.
While a difficult calling because I had to come up with something different every week that was engaging, and could be used to teach the spectrum of kids from ages 3-12, I've loved it.
Unfortunately, today marks an ending, and it is someone else's opportunity to serve the children and work in this calling.
I'll miss it. Terribly. I love the kids. Their excitement. Their eagerness to answer questions, participate, learn, and share their zest for life.
Now, I've been given an opportunity to stretch and grow. Am I happy about it? Honestly, no. Will I eventually love it? To be sure (I hope). On Sundays (and many other days until I get it down) you can find me in the chapel, sitting behind the organ, doing my best to play for the congregation. I know my limitations. I'm a cellist, and a pianist in a pinch. Not a good one, but in a pinch. I guess in a while, I'll be much better... I hope.
My youngest daughter is a great example to me. When I told her that I had received a new calling (asked to serve in a new position) at church and told her that I'd now be playing the organ her response was, "wow mom...now you'll play 7 instruments!...that's so cool!"
Oh that I could have her excitement and attitude.
Thanksgiving photos 2
We originally planned this to be a sibling reunion. After we'd passed the planning stage, two of my sisters informed us that their families wouldn't be able to make it. We were pretty bummed. My youngest sisters husband is in the military and they are stationed on the east coast. It was decided that Missouri was sort of in the middle, and so we stayed at Osage Beach at Lake of the Ozarks. The day before Thanksgiving we found out that the military wouldn't let my brother in law travel that distance, and so we missed their family too. I guess 4 siblings out of 7 was better than half. I can't imagine the noise had we ALL been together! We definitely missed everyone who wasn't there to share the adventure.
My 2 brothers trying to figure out which pie they really wanted
My 2 brothers trying to figure out which pie they really wanted
Dad and downtime
My highly interactive brothers. All three of them - totally engrossed! Yes, that is my sister in law trying to sleep while they battle it a car race.
Random Thanksgiving photos
While my kids think that I love to do housework (I don't) - this lady here (my mom) seems to always be bustling around cleaning up around us.
Here's some of the crowd hanging out after Thanksgiving dinner and after we'd finished our games.
Yep - as you can see - we are the height of interaction. I think my brother was texting someone in the room! :)
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