Merry Christmas!

Every year my parents come up on Christmas Eve and my Mom makes cookies with the kids and reads them some Christmas stories. The menu is always the same: Reuben sandwiches with potato salad and potato chips with various appetizers. To me it's not Christmas Eve until you are eating a Reuben sandwich and are so full from neighbor goodies and other treats you think you might burst.  I'm one of 6 kids but I happen to be the only one still living in the state and since my parents like to do all of their plane travel ON Christmas day rather than deal with before Christmas crowds we get to have them for Christmas Eve pretty much every year.  We always tease my parents (mostly my Mom) that whenever they come, even if they are just going to be here for a few hours, they bring an entire cooler of food.  They never show up without food.  My Mom is known to travel with produce in her suitcase whenever she flies anywhere because she can't stand the thought of food going bad while she is away.  If you open her suitcase on a trip and find asparagus and a pineapple mixed in with her clothes it would be par for the course. Hey, it is just the way she rolls.

Last year Britton didn't fall asleep on Christmas Eve until between 3 and 4 in the morning and was up again at 6 a.m. Yeah, didn't love that.  This year we were determined to take steps to avoid a repeat.  I had a calming essential oil diffusing all night and then put it in his room during the night. I also gave him some melatonin before bed.  While I'm sure this helped the fact that he got a really bad headache around 10:00 that night clinched the deal. He was asleep by 10:30 p.m. and they didn't come in to get us until 6:40 a.m. Success!! 

My Dad and Adam liked their new beard beanies.

It was a very Merry Christmas at our house.

Oh what fun it is to . . . .clean?

On December 20th Britton played in his annual piano recital.  He did a great job and has shown a lot of improvement this year. He was excited that Grandma and Grandpa P were able to come and see him play on their way to Rexburg. 

The kids' last day of school was the 22nd and then they were ready to play.  Korinne always has a little posse of friends around.  One day last week she had her 2 friends from our circle over plus one of their little brothers.  I was taking a much needed break from hat making and was finally deep cleaning my kitchen.  They were ready for something new to do so I got them all rags and put them to work washing my baseboards, walls, the kitchen island, and stools.  All of the stars must have been aligned or something because they were really enthusiastic about cleaning.  I thought I would take a few pictures just so everyone in the neighborhood can see how much fun it is to come and play at my house.

Yup, always a party around here.  At the end of their labors I gave them each 50 cents.  They thought that was the best thing EVER.  Hey, I aim to please.

Tis the Season. . .

. . .for concerts and recitals.

This last Friday was Korinne's Kindergarten Christmas program at school.  I knew Korinne was really excited about it, but wondered what she would do once she got on stage.  She has a history of smiling but refusing to participate when all the attention is on her.  To my surprise she was quite the little performer and did it all.

Good job Korinne! Not only did she fully participate, but she liked it.  Wow. Will wonders never cease?

Jenna's violin/piano recital was tonight.  This is one girl who loves to be on stage and she did a great job.  She goes to a neighborhood music school where they teach violin, piano, and recorder.  They even have the students singing songs.  Here she is during her violin and piano performances.

The kids didn't have all the fun this week.  Adam and I went to a Christmas party that required us to dress up a little.

I had Jenna take a picture because it hardly ever happens, ya know?

Orchestra

Britton played in his first orchestra concert on Monday night.  They do orchestra a little differently in our school district.  From what I understand about 12 years ago the school district had to cut the funding for orchestra in elementary schools so a grass roots organization was formed by parents and orchestra advocates called the Mountain West Strings Academy.  The schools support the program by giving them classrooms to rehearse, but rehearsals are before school and teachers are not school employees.  The entire program is supported by sponsors, donations, and fundraisers and is thriving.  The head of the program is music PHD who loves what he does and travels all over trying to start and support similar programs in other areas of the country.  There are 45 teachers who go to each elementary school in the district (around 4 per school)  and teach the same curriculum and songs and then they all come together for a big concert each winter and spring. Ever heard a few hundred fourth graders play on the same stage?

I have.  The stage was full to the brim.  I know there were at least 70 cellos.  I took this picture at their rehearsal about an hour before the concert.  Luckily Britton was right on the front row so I was able to get a picture.  They did a great job and considering they have only been playing for 3 months and there were a couple hundred of them it turned out very well.

Britton was recognized as an "AllStar" as he had practiced for at least 24 days during the month.  His name was featured in the program with all of the other AllStars. Jenna had stars in her eyes as she thought about being able to participate next year.  She is already taking violin and really enjoys it. Jenna's idea of a good time is playing to a full house.  Korinne would rather die then do anything in front of a crowd.  Britton just kind of takes it all in stride.  He is fine to do it, he is fine to not do it.  Its funny how each child has their own personality.

Jerusalem Supper

When Adam was growing up his family always had a special supper on Christmas Eve.  They would eat on the floor in the family room by candlelight and only eat things that would have been around during the time when Christ was born like grapes, olives, pita bread (unleavened bread) tuna fish (sans mayo or any extras) cheese, grape juice etc.  It was kind of their way of going back in time and remembering what it was like when Christ was born, a Jerusalem supper if you will.  Adam and I decided to bring this tradition back, but do it on the first Monday night in December as part of our family home evening to start the Christmas season.  Adam got all of the stuff at the grocery store and then the kids watched us putting together a very "weird" dinner.  We didn't say a word as we got out candles and started laying a bed sheet on the family room floor and putting stuff on it.  They couldn't figure out what we were doing and why we were doing it. "Uh, you guys are kind of freaking me out" was what Britton said as he watched the preparations with concern.  We got it ready and turned out the lights and started to explain what we were trying to accomplish with our Jerusalem supper.

In the end it was a bit hit.  We talked all about the first Christmas and what it might have been like back then and there is just something about eating by candlelight.  Next year when we do it again the kids won't be so "freaked out" by our weirdness.

A Lean Mean Hat Making Machine!

Remember the beard beanie hats that I learned to make last February?

Well, Christmas is their busy season and I've been turning out an average of 6 hats a day, 6 days a week since the end of September.  My blog has been neglected, along with my house and so many other things. Don't even get me started about my lack of exercise this fall!  I figured 6 hats a day was all that I could handle, but Monday morning the lady I make them for sent out a mayday call to all her peeps (hat makers and bearders alike).  They were over 100 hats behind with orders coming in at every moment! To motivate all of us to make as many as we possibly could she told us she would pay us an extra $3.00/ per hat on top of what we were already making.  Apparently I'm motivated by money, I made 63 hats this week.  Did you realize that you can actually get sore from making so many hats?  My back is sore from using my knitting loom and my hands and wrists are sore from crocheting.  My kids have had to "step up" and do more of the household chores and Adam has been great to take over dinner and other responsibilities.  He likes to joke, "Well, at least one of us is making money right now."

When Adam takes over the cooking he doesn't just throw a pizza in the oven, he tries new recipes and throws together things like "yogurt parmesan chicken." He also supervised putting up the Christmas decorations.  Jenna was such a help in that department that I didn't even have to lift a finger.  I'm here, I'm present, I can talk and have discussions, I help the kids with their homework and with music practice but you better believe that I'm crocheting while doing all of these things.  Am I ready for Christmas?  Nope. Don't even have a plan.  I spend hours at my loom planning out exactly what has to be done so that I DON'T have to do this again next year. I'm going to have a massive stockpile of hats all ready by the time fall rolls around.  When I get the mayday call I'm going to open up a bin and say "How many do you need?"  I have it all figured out because I've had 63 hours this week to think about it!  Seriously, never again.  Here are the 12 hats I made yesterday.

That's a lot of hats in one day.

Someday I'll get my life back.  The other thing I like to think about while I work is the great church history trip these hats are paying for.  It is going to be awesome!

Mission Accomplished

I set out this Thanksgiving to eat as much as possible and gain a few pounds in the process.  Mission accomplished--I sure love it when I reach my goals!

Thanksgiving is the one day each year that my siblings get a little homesick.  Yes, the food at my Aunt Kathy's house is THAT good. And don't get me started about the homemade chocolates and candies. I know Thanksgiving has truly arrived when I see this:

Homemade rootbeer is a must. And so are Adam's rolls.

After dinner we decided to shake things up a bit.  Usually we have the pinata first, go bowling second and have fireworks at the end.  This year we went bowling first (the bowling alley opened at 4 p.m. for the first time ever), then did fireworks and then had the pinatas. See how we are wild and crazy we are?! Next year we figure we'll need to dress up in Halloween costumes and have an Easter egg hunt just to keep the holiday theme going.

We are such a big group now that we dominate the bowling alley.

The kids really got into the bowling.  Korinne insisted on wearing the dress she got for her birthday from Grandma.

I was told I have good bowling form. . . .too bad it doesn't help me get a good score.  This year I bowled a 77. I wasn't first in the female competition, but I wasn't last either.

Adam bowled a 145. Jenna likes to remind me that she bowled an 84 and beat me.

Here is my Dad and his sister Kathy.  I'm sure it must make my Grandpa Bill and Grandma June smile to see that their family still gets together every year for Thanksgiving even after all of this time. 

Everyone outside for the fireworks.  The weather this year was AWESOME. Notice the kids without coats.

The kids were divided into 2 groups for the pinatas.  The older cousins and the younger cousins.

Korinne had quite the swing.  She was the one who hit the pinata open for the younger cousins.

Having Thanksgiving over means that now I have 5 lbs to lose.  Yeah, it was so worth it.

Happy Birthday Korinne!

Korinne got to stretch out her birthday fun for a few days.  This year it fell on the last day of school before Thanksgiving. She was so excited she wanted to open her present before she even went to school. We let her but only because we knew that we were hitting the road right after school to head north for the holiday. I hope she doesn't think that she will be able to do that every year. :-) That evening we stopped en route to my sister Heather's house to have dinner at a restaurant.  We went super exotic and ate at a Jack in the Box just off the freeway.  Hey, when you are 6 and you've never heard of a Jack in the Box it is a "special" place to eat.  Plus, they served breakfast all day which the kids loved. 

The next day we had another party with cousins.

And let's not forget the most awesomely decorated cake EVER and some vanilla ice cream.

Happy 6th Birthday Korinne!!

The Harry Potter Effect

Last week Britton had a school assignment to write a Tall Tale.  He was asked to pick a person he knew and then exaggerate parts of a story to make it into Tall Tale.  Britton really struggled coming up with an idea, but once he did he had the entire story written in no time at all.  He insisted on typing it into a word document and the only thing Adam did was help correct spelling errors.  After Britton left for school the next morning his Tall Tale was still on my computer so I read it.  My first indication that it wasn't a typical 4th grade story is when I hit the part where Britton is describing the cabin Adam used to go to as a child.  He wrote, "As a young child in the 1980s he loved to visit his grandparents cabin, though large it was frail and old and it was located in a large forest full to the brim with oak, quaking aspen, and noble firs."

What? Do 10 year old boys write stories detailing the types of trees surrounding a cabin and use the word 'brim'?

I kept reading and found boys "watching apprehensively" and snakes with "venomous fangs gleaming" and summer days that were described as "dazzling".  Really? I don't think I wrote anything with this kind of vocabulary until I was in much older.  Here is a copy of Britton's tall tale:

Tall Tale Enrichment By Britton

THE BOY WHO SHOT

Adam was a young boy with the best aim in his hometown Burley, Idaho.

He could hit a tin can from 300 feet away with a sling, hit a racing horseshoe hare at dawn with a bow and arrow, and because he was such a natural marksman many liked to watch him shoot a target.

As a young child in the 1980s he loved to visit his grandparents cabin, though large it was frail and old and it was located in a large forest full to the brim with oak, quaking aspen, and noble firs. This forest was somewhere in southwest Nevada. Often at his Grandma's cabin, Adam and his brothers hunted for snakes usually with an air soft gun, but they sometimes used a bow and arrow. However, soon after a lot of hunting you couldn't find a snake anywhere (not that he and his brothers hadn't tried). So they hunted chipmunks instead. But one dazzling summer day the boys found a snake, by the looks of it 15 feet long and about a foot wide, it was acid green with 3 banana yellow stripes down it's back. It was terrifying. The snake was lounging by a large, withered oak tree with lots of moss dangling from the bark. The beast was enraged because the boys got too close, and it began to hiss steadily. Preparing for battle was hard as only Adam had a gun; so, his brothers just watched apprehensively. Then the snake charged, venomous fangs gleaming. Adam raised his gun and shot .WHAM! It hit the reptilian giant between the eyeballs and guess what it did.... nothing, it just kept tearing across the ground while Adam kept shooting up a storm. After 7 more shots(all of which hit it )the snake dropped spitting and hissing madly until it moved no more. Then Adam and his brothers ran to tell the story of the snake

THE END

After reading the story I just looked at Adam.  How in the world did Britton know how to write like this? And then it hit me--Harry Potter.  Britton has read all 7 Harry Potter books several times in the last 4 months and now he was mimicking J.K. Rowling's writing style. So, thank you once again, J.K. Rowling, for opening my son's eyes to the art of writing. This was his very first writing project, but from the looks of things it won't be his last.

It's a Wonderful Turkey Bowl

I guess it has been a few weeks since I last posted.  Last Saturday Adam was in charge of the annual Turkey Bowl for the men in the ward.  It's an Elders Quorum activity that includes breakfast and flag football in freezing weather.  You can guarantee that whatever Saturday in November is selected for the event there will be rain and/or snow in abundance.  This year was no exception.  Families were invited to come to the breakfast and watch the big game.  The Elders invited the High Priests and Young Men to participate and plenty of trash talk between the warring quorums occurred in the weeks prior to the game, but it was the Elders who came out victorious for the 5th year in a row. (Lest you think that the High Priests had no chance there are quite a few young High Priests around here).  For me this is one event that is plenty entertaining.  First of all the breakfast just screams "Elders Quorum is in charge".  All of the food groups were represented, the McDonald's sausage mcmuffin food group, the donut food group, and the banana food group all washed down by hot chocolate and Tampico.  The guys shuffled in wearing sweats and cleats and as soon as they saw a large box filled with sausage mcmuffins on the serving table their faces lite up.  Yes, it was a man-fest and they were in the right spot!  The wives chuckled and the kids were in heaven. It was a breakfast of champions.  It rained steadily during the entire game and then turned to snow soon thereafter.  Perfect timing.

Yesterday we went to Arches.

Just kidding. We went to Desert Star Playhouse where they have this cool mural painting on the wall.  My parents were also there.

My cousin's daughter Cassidy is in the Christmas play "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Desert Star and we all went to see her.  Here she is with the kids at the end of the show in the lobby.

She did a great job and the kids enjoyed seeing her up on stage.   Aside from the fact that Korinne drank a large glass of water at the beginning and had to go to the bathroom 4 times during the show everything went well.  At the Desert Star there is a point in the show when someone from the cast comes out and they recognize everyone in the audience that is having a birthday or anniversary.  Unbeknownst to us Grandma had let them know that it was Korinne's birthday coming up and we were all mighty surprised when they called out Korinne's name from the stage and everyone started looking for her.  It was a lot of fun.

Before the matinee show we ran a few errands with my parents.  We decided to just pick something up for lunch and after looking over all of our coupons decided on chicken from KFC.  My mom and I both had coupons on hand and my Dad was mocking us and our coupon ways. He hasn't had a lot of experience using coupons but since he was the one driving the car he had to handle the ordering. It soon became clear he was out of his element. A drive thru and coupons--this just isn't how my Dad rolls.  By the time he was done speaking to the lady over the speaker at KFC we were all laughing so hard we were trying not to cry.  My favorite quote of the exchange was my Dad saying, "Yes, I have a coupon (pause) and I know how to use it!"

I snapped a picture to document my Dad at a drive-thru with a coupon. Hardly ever happens ya know.

The Goblins Are Out

Actually, make that 2 witches and Harry Potter. The kids had a great Halloween. It has been almost a week and Britton still has some of his Halloween candy. Wow. A record for sure.

We had a cute Koala bear costume for Korinne that we borrowed from my Mom, but after Korinne saw that her BFF was a witch and Jenna was a witch she declared just a few hours before the Halloween festivities that she was also going to be a witch, thank you very much.  I told her we didn't have a witch costume but she produced a borrowed hat from the neighbors and told me she would just go around in a black leotard with tights.  Um, I don't think so.  After thinking about it for a minute I remembered that a few years ago Jenna was in a dance class that had a simple little witch outfit as a costume for one of their dances. I ran to the dress-up bin and was able to locate said dress.  It had a few smudges on it and the belt was completely worn out, but I put it on her and she was thrilled. Britton and Jenna were in borrowed costumes so I would like to thank my neighbors for getting me through yet another Halloween. It seems like every year they pull through for me.  I try, but when you are holiday challenged, like myself, you need a lot of help from your friends.

I did something this year that I've never done before.  I volunteered to help with Britton's Halloween class party at school. Gasp. I know, what was I thinking?! He is in the 4th grade and although I've spent more than my fair share of hours in the classroom helping with reading or math or whatever the teacher needed I had yet to cross the party threshold.  Now that I've done it once I am perfectly prepared to stick to academic pursuits and leave the parties to the non-holiday challenged Moms.  I was in charge of the activity and while my game went over well enough it was a game of chance and there were a few kids who out of pure chance didn't get a lot of opportunities to participate--unfortunately Britton was one of them.  Not only that but during the game we were on the floor and I must have put my hand down weird because I jammed my thumb pretty bad.  I still am not sure quite what happened but all of the sudden my thumb hurt in a way that I knew wasn't good.  All week I've been nursing a bruised, sore and hurting thumb and Britton didn't really have a favorable opinion of the party.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have officially retired from all party planning responsibilities.  I just kept thinking to myself, "Wow, this is actually fun for some people." I just couldn't figure it out.

This was the week we finally did something we have been threatening to do for years.  We got rid of Korinne's bed. Ok, we really just put it in Jenna's room and put the 2 bed back into bunk beds, but the point is that it isn't Korinne's bed anymore, it is merely an extra bed in Jenna's room.  Why would we do this??  Because I can count on my right hand the number of times Korinne has actually slept in her bed during the last 4 years. She doesn't need it, she doesn't use it-- it was simply taking up space.  Mostly it was a place to throw her clothes.  Korinne prefers the floor.  She has always preferred the floor, and her floor location of choice these days is the upstairs hallway landing.  We have tried for years to figure it out, but we can't, so we simply put the bed in a location where it might actually get used.  Korinne has a lot more room to play in her "dressing room" now.  We could call it a bedroom, but that isn't entirely accurate anymore, is it?

Speaking of Korinne, she has been begging me to take her to get her hair cut.  Having cut her own hair 3 times in recent memory (all of which were disastrous and the last of which we are still trying to grow out) I decided that I shouldn't keep putting her off if she was willing to have it cut by a professional.  So, we got her a nice little bob.  She loves it.

My sister Tiffany and her daughter Abigail were in town this week and came up and spent a day with us.

It is always a party when they come to town--literally. We celebrated Abigail's 5th birthday while they were here.

Yesterday we woke up to snow for the first time. So ready or not, winter is here. At least we made it to November this time.  The weather was actually really nice on Halloween night so I considered it a victory in the weather department.

The Pumpkin Walk

Every year during the month of October there is a phenomenon around these parts called "The Pumpkin Walk" which is unlike anything you've ever seen.  People make scenes using as many pumpkins and gourds as they can and then everyone comes and walks around to look at them.  That's it. That's the famed "Pumpkin Walk" that draws thousands of people every year. Sounds pretty silly, doesn't it?  I've done the math and discovered that during the course of my lifetime I have spent 8 Octobers living in this area.  All 8 of these Octobers I heard all about the Pumpkin Walk, but each time found an excuse to not go (it's free so most of the excuses revolved around cold weather and the fact that it sounded a little silly). Well, this year I finally made it to "The Pumpkin Walk" and even though I've heard all about how great it is my expectations were low.   My parents came up to go with us and I could tell that my Dad had about the same thoughts as me.

This isn't a great picture, but once again I forgot to take enough pictures to ensure a good one. Oops.

Here is a Gilligan's Island scene made over the sand volleyball court at the park. 

People are clever and I must admit that  I was pleasantly surprised.  In short, I've become a Pumpkin Walk fan.  I think my Dad had the same reaction that I did.  He actually quite enjoyed it, much to his surprise.  We had a lovely dinner after the pumpkin walk and then my parents left to go back home.

The rest of the week we saw a little cold spell, just in time for Britton's soccer team party at the American West Heritage Center.  The kids got to ride ponies and we went through a corn maze all while trying to keep warm.

I guess it is time for me to come to grips with the fact that winter is coming. . . and quickly. November is just 2 days away which around here is the magical month where fall ceases to be and winter takes over in a big way.