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!