Year in Pictures

Christmas Guest Post

*** I’m sticking with my “relax and enjoy” plan, and blogging about the holiday seemed like way too much effort. So, my quality husband volunteered to do it for me. I think he likes the less-stressed me.


We enjoyed a really great Christmas this year. Our traditional Christmas Eve festivities began earlier than we have in years past, each of us picking a different Christmas movie or Christmas special to watch and feasting on yummy finger foods. We finished up just in time to put the kids to bed at about 10:00. They were all very excited for Santa to come.


Christmas morning began at a blissful 7:30 or so. Ben had been up since 4 a.m. but he was a good rule follower, staying in his room reading the new book that Santa had left on his bed. He did admit to coming out of his room one time to go to the bathroom. Nevertheless, he was very serious about not looking at the presents by the tree, demonstrating to us how he put his hands up on one side of his face to block him from seeing in that direction.

The other kids were excited to start, so we roused Abby from sleep and went into the family room. The kids all seemed very pleased with the booty from their stockings, and the Santa gifts were all well-received. Ben got a Razor scooter like the one his sisters got for their birthdays; Emily got some Crayola drawing software for her to do cool drawings on the computer; Elise, after asking Santa for ‘Magic’, got a fun little magic kit for her to learn to do some tricks; Abby’s wish for a kitty was fulfilled in a fluffy white FurReal walking kitty.





Since Ben was pretty sure that he was getting the huge Lego Hogwarts Castle™ from Mom & Dad this year, I was fully expecting him to be champing at the bit to open it. He really surprised us by patiently waiting for all of the other presents to be opened (especially since the girls had lots more presents to open since they didn’t have any expensive items on their lists). He didn’t even ask one time about the castle, until it was the only present left under the tree. With so much going on between family games, meals, and other presents, he didn’t finish putting it together until Sunday afternoon.


Other highlights from our gift-giving and receiving: The kids’ gifts to each other were a big hit. Ben gave Elise a puppy pillow pet which she had been coveting every time we went into a store for the last month; Emily gave Ben Lego Freeing Dobby™; Elise got a Rapunzel Polly Pocket for Abby which she has carried around ever since; Abby gave Emily a cool shrink art kit. Malinda and I gave and got several things that we had purchased over the previous month (a GPS for our trip next summer, a laminator, The Complete Calvin & Hobbes (my favorite!), and a new camera to replace our 5-year-old point and shoot). The only surprise was that I found a great set of hardcover Jane Austen novels (her favorite!) for Malinda on a good deal, and she loved them. We also got a can of Flarp noise putty (courtesy of a co-worker of mine). The kids all think it is hilarious and they have each played with it a dozen times since Christmas morning.

This turned out to be a big family game year. All told, we ended up with 9 new family board/card games (Disney Scene It, Ticket to Ride, Quiddler, Five Crowns, Kerplunk, Apples to Apples, Play that Tune, Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Game, and Mouse Trap), and 3 new games for the Wii (Mario Party 8, Ultimate I Spy, and Scooby Doo First Frights). We have had lots of fun playing them over the last week. Our favorite so far is Ticket to Ride.

Since Christmas we’ve enjoyed a lot of family time, playing games, watching movies, and visiting with some extended family. I had to work Wednesday and Thursday, but Malinda took the kids out to visit their cousins for the day on Wednesday, and then Thursday night we went to Matt & Jenny’s new house for dinner with their family. So far, it’s been a fabulous Christmas vacation.

Merry Christmas!

More Holiday Fun

Family Party

We had our family Christmas party on Friday night. It is always fun to get together and hang out. Ben said the prayer before dinner. It was one of the highlights of the night for me. Among other things, he prayed that everyone would feel welcome in our house and that we could make special memories together and that we could remember the true meaning of Christmas. It was pretty sweet. I love that boy and I love that he can still surprise me every once in a while.

Another highlight was watching Abby be Mary in our little nativity play. She pulled the funniest faces and getting the baby Jesus out of her little shawl just might have been more complicated than actual labor. It was hilarious.

My kids sure love their cousins. I hope they will always be such good friends.



Dance Recital

The girls had their winter dance recital Saturday night. It was their second performance in two weeks. (They did a scaled down version at our local retirement center the week before.) I was a little afraid that Abby would get stage fright when she looked out at all those people watching her. She did better during the rehearsal than during the show, but overall she seemed just fine with being up there. All three girls did a great job.


Pajama Parties

Both Emily and Elise had pajama parties in their classes yesterday. Emily’s class made gingerbread houses, so I took the girls over to help. There wasn’t really much for the parent volunteers to do. Mostly I just sat and watched the kids decorate their houses. It made Emily feel loved and kept Elise and Abby entertained for the morning, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.


K-1 Lunch

Kaylynn’s family is here from Canada for the holidays. She was nice and squeezed a little crew time into her busy schedule. Cyd picked me up and we met up with Kaylynn and Hil (and their girls) in Logan for a little birthday lunch yesterday afternoon. I know I’ve said it before, but I feel blessed to have such quality friends. When I got home, Nate asked what we had talked about. Only 179 things. It was fabulous. It totally recharges my batteries to hang out with friends.


Christmas Cards

The kids took a treat to all of their teachers for Christmas. I had them each make a little card to go with it. The girls stuck with the typical “Thanks for being a great teacher. Merry Christmas.” Ben, on the other hand, was very specific in his thanks. It totally cracked me up to read his cards. I’m sure his teachers got a big kick out of them.




He even spent a lot of time coloring the cover of each card. For a boy that HATES art, it was nice to see him follow his sisters’ lead and put some effort into making them look nice.

Reading Buddies

We are blessed to have a house full of readers. All of the kids love to read, and literally cry if we have a late bedtime because they won’t have time to read. One of the best things about Ben and Emily being independent readers is that they can read to their sisters.


Sometimes I think my brain might explode if I have to read one more princess story, but Abby still loves hearing them. I’m more than happy to let Emily get her reading minutes while keeping Abby entertained.


Ben and Elise usually fill the roles of pest and tattletale in this house, so this is a particularly sweet picture. Ben was helping Elise with her reading homework. He was so good about stopping at all of her sight words so she could read them and even helped her learn a couple of new words. It was fun to see them working together so well and to listen to him praise her as she read.

Letters to Santa

We had a fun family night on Monday. We started off with the kids writing letters to Santa.


I love that Ben put a TM next to the name of every Lego set he requested. I was surprised that he didn’t put Hogwarts Castle since that is all he’s ever said he wanted. When I asked him about it, he said, “You said that Santa doesn’t bring $130 gifts, so I didn’t ask him for it. You and Dad can just get it.”


Emily has been the hardest kid to shop for this year. This is why. I even asked her what movie she wanted. “I don’t know.” Luckily Nate is a rockstar and found a perfect gift that I know she will love. Phew.


Magic – nope. Cat – nope. Dog – nope. New bed – nope. I sure hope this girl isn’t too disappointed on Christmas morning.


Abby has obviously been greatly influenced by Elise’s wish list. They have both been asking for a cat for a long time. Unfortunately they have me and Nate for parents. Every time Abby said “I want a cat”, I would say “You want a toy cat?” Apparently my strategy worked.

After the kids finished their letters, we went down to visit Santa. They were all so excited that we got to see the real Santa again this year and not just one of Santa’s helpers. That beard really has them convinced. I was happy that he gave the kids a little reminder about being good, keeping their rooms clean, and listening to their mom and dad. Thanks Santa!





When our turn was up, we headed over to Lee’s to pick up some quality Christmas light glasses. My friend blogged about them and they sounded really cool (I stole her pictures since ours didn’t turn out so great . . . THANKS CELESTE!). They just look like cheap 3D glasses, but when you put them on they change Christmas lights into other shapes. The kids tried out every pair in the store (about seven times each) and then picked their favorite. Abby got the angels, Elise the star, Emily the snowman, and Ben the snowflake. Listening to their oohs and aahs/squeals of delight on the way home was definitely worth the eight bucks.



Yesterday we got Santa’s reply letters. I don’t know who is in charge of typing them up, but I love that they personalized them a bit. The kids were thrilled.

Holiday Kickoff

We kicked off the holiday season with a few fun events this last weekend. There’s a church in the next town that does a big nativity display. I heard about it from my neighbor last year and I was excited to check it out. It was pretty amazing. They had all different kinds of nativities from all around the world. I was worried the kids would get bored after a few minutes, but there was so much variety that it really held their attention. Having four kids in a cultural hall full of impossible-to-replace breakables, was a little nerve-wracking for me, but they were really great about obeying the “look but don’t touch” rule. I think we might make it a yearly tradition. Maybe next time I will think to take a picture.

Saturday morning was our ward Christmas breakfast. The food was delicious as always. Ben and Emily got to read a little part in the program and all of the Primary kids sang a song. Abby went up with Elise. She didn’t sing a word, but she sure loved being up there. She is so excited to go to Sunbeams next year and can’t wait to learn all of the Primary songs.

Since we won a free membership to the Treehouse Museum, we thought we should take advantage of some of the member-only events before it expires. Saturday night was their annual “Santa’s Cookies and Milk” party. The kids had fun seeing Santa and playing in their pajamas. Family Treehouse visits are lots more fun than class fieldtrips.





Monday night we decorated gingerbread houses for Family Home Evening. The kids loved it! They didn’t want to stop when it was time for bed, so we left everything out and let them finish on Tuesday night. Abby wouldn’t let anyone help her. She decorated hers all by herself (in between sucking a half a cup of frosting out of her decorating bag). I got bored just watching them, so I made one too. Nate got in on the action by making a cool lawn mower for Ben's house. It was a fun family activity.




I’m pleased to say that I’m feeling a bit more in the Christmas spirit. I’ve had seven 50-something moms (and one 20-something mom) tell me how I’m supposed to “relax and enjoy this time when my kids are small.” I’m trying hard. I still have a few projects to finish. My goal is to get them done this weekend so I can have a full two weeks to just “relax and enjoy.” We’ll see how that goes.

What a Bunch of Suckers!

It all started innocently enough. If someone was eating a sucker at dinnertime, I would tell them to put it on a little plate and finish it after they had eaten. Sometimes they would forget and we would have a sucker plate on the countertop for a couple of days. No big deal. Then Abby got a big bag full of Halloween candy. Our sucker collection has grown exponentially since then. I think she opens a new sucker every day, takes a taste and then puts it on the plate. Now we have this monstrosity:


I’m giving the kids two days to finish up every sucker in this sugar and spit mosaic, and then I’m tossing whatever is left.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We’ve hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the last eight years (really just the even numbered years). This year, we decided to shake things up a bit and have Thanksgiving at Jody and Kevin’s new house. I had the great idea to make it a cousin slumber party, but I almost bailed at the last minute. It is a lot of work to pack up stuff for an overnighter for six people. Add the folding chairs and roasting oven and cooler full of food, and it almost seemed like too much effort. I’m glad I didn’t wimp out. We had a good time. The kids were so excited about staying at Jody’s house and they had tons of fun playing with their cousins. Kevin’s sister and brother-in-law and his niece and her husband were there and his brother came on Thursday. It was a full house. The best part was that Jan (Kevin’s sister) likes to cook and is good at it. She didn’t get any complaints from this house when she volunteered to cook the turkey. We had a yummy dinner and a pseudo nap (there isn’t much sleep to be found in a house full of 22 people) and got some quality deals online. I felt a little guilty afterward for being glued to my laptop for so much of the time. I’ll be more social next time.





Nate and I did all of our Black Friday shopping online again this year (except for a couple of quick trips to Walgreens . . . and that was after 11:30). After years of getting out of bed at 4 a.m. to brave the crowds and the cold, I have to say that I am completely converted to this new way of doing things. Instead of shopping, we spent most of the day Friday putting up our Christmas decorations. I love that the kids are old enough to do a lot of the work and that they are genuinely excited about doing it. Luckily, their eagerness to decorate compensated for my lack of enthusiasm (I’ve lost my holiday spirit; I’m working on getting it back). They finished up the day with a little sledding in the front yard and then we watched the new Karate Kid movie as a family.


We’ve been on a purge and organize kick lately. Our little laundry room remodel triggered something in me and left me with little tolerance for clutter/poorly used space. Last weekend we made the kids take EVERYTHING out of their bedrooms (closets and all) and did a major clean. This week we defrosted the freezer and cleaned out the storage room. One of these days we will just relax on a weekend and not feel like we have to be productive 24-7. We did let the kids have friends over to play on Saturday afternoon and that night the four of them had a slumber party in Ben’s room. Just because we can’t use the weekend to relax and have fun doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t get to.

2010 Gratitude Turkey

Color Code: Abby = Blue, Elise = Purple, Emily = Yellow, Ben = Green, Malinda = Orange, Nate = Red