350. More Puns. The oldest to the S-Train, "You need to put away your legos."
The S-Train, "I'm Legolas, I don't have any legos."
(Legolas, from Lord of the Rings, Lego-less),
Grooooan.
351. Pianists. A few weeks ago we had some sweet college student helping play the piano in Primary. I looked over, one was playing the right hand and one was playing the left hand. Funny girls! If only we could have them in Primary now! We seriously need a full time pianist.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
What's for dinner?
Right now I have three speeds for dinner.
Chili or some sort of bean soup - sometimes with rice
Chicken and rice
Tacos or taco salad
HELP!
Any ideas I have seem like a variation on these themes. I think my family is getting bored. Heck, I am getting bored. Any ideas? What have you had for dinner lately?
Chili or some sort of bean soup - sometimes with rice
Chicken and rice
Tacos or taco salad
HELP!
Any ideas I have seem like a variation on these themes. I think my family is getting bored. Heck, I am getting bored. Any ideas? What have you had for dinner lately?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Laughing Out Loud
I like laughing out loud. I want to laugh out loud more often. I think it's good for me. Here are a couple of things that cracked me up today.
348. Church Shoes. We got half-way to church before I turned around enough to realize what the S-Train was wearing on his feet. Blue Moon Boots. Bright blue moon boots. I said, "Do you have Sunday shoes?" He looked at me guiltily and shook his head. I said, "That's what you're wearing?" He sort of nodded. I rolled my eyes. "Well, then you'll have to keep them on all of church. You might get hot. But that's what happens when you wear boots to church." Then I turned around. And caught Mr.C's eye. And totally cracked up. I tried to stop, really I did. I'm not sure how to teach appropriate church-wear, when I think it's so funny I can't keep a straight face. Later I found out he didn't even have socks on. Can you say, "stinky feet?" I guess I need to make sure I look this kid over before we leave the house. Oh well, I think I'm just glad he had a coat and there were no light sabers involved. At least no socks means they matched!
349. The Prairie Home Companion Joke Show. Apparently I like knock knock jokes. (Mostly because they're the ones I remember.) New favorites.
Knock Knock
Who's There?
Owl's go.
Owl's go who?
Yes they do.
Knock Knock.
Who's There?
Cow's go.
Cow's go who?
No, cow's go moo.
I know. I know. I'd groan myself if I didn't giggle when I heard them.
348. Church Shoes. We got half-way to church before I turned around enough to realize what the S-Train was wearing on his feet. Blue Moon Boots. Bright blue moon boots. I said, "Do you have Sunday shoes?" He looked at me guiltily and shook his head. I said, "That's what you're wearing?" He sort of nodded. I rolled my eyes. "Well, then you'll have to keep them on all of church. You might get hot. But that's what happens when you wear boots to church." Then I turned around. And caught Mr.C's eye. And totally cracked up. I tried to stop, really I did. I'm not sure how to teach appropriate church-wear, when I think it's so funny I can't keep a straight face. Later I found out he didn't even have socks on. Can you say, "stinky feet?" I guess I need to make sure I look this kid over before we leave the house. Oh well, I think I'm just glad he had a coat and there were no light sabers involved. At least no socks means they matched!
349. The Prairie Home Companion Joke Show. Apparently I like knock knock jokes. (Mostly because they're the ones I remember.) New favorites.
Knock Knock
Who's There?
Owl's go.
Owl's go who?
Yes they do.
Knock Knock.
Who's There?
Cow's go.
Cow's go who?
No, cow's go moo.
I know. I know. I'd groan myself if I didn't giggle when I heard them.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
A full weekend
342. Class - Went to orientation and my first grad school weekend of classes. Talked about so many interesting things that my head is still spinning. Met lots of interesting people and got a lead on some organic eggs. Met a girl who does bookbinding and someone I had in a previous class. Lots of good connections made. Plus, went to Chipotle for lunch. YUM. Being in school feels so right right now.
343. Seeing old friends - There were a few good friends in town for the weekend, or at least part of it, and some who are always here that we don't get to see often. Got to see most of them and catch up at a wedding reception. It feels good to renew old relationships.
344. Wedding Receptions - I was so disappointed that I didn't get to go to the wedding. I had it worked out with my teacher that I could go to the wedding in St. Louis and then come to class late. I had been nervous to ask about it, because I didn't want to come across as the slacker, uncommitted student, but when I woke up dreaming about it, I decided I needed to ask. Well, the S-Train got strep and had to wait until he'd been on antibiotics for 24 four hours before he could go back to school. Of course, that was just before time for class orientation. And Mr. C could NOT take off work - lots to do there. So - Sick child trumps all - and we stayed home for the morning. In reality, it was probably better for my school career that I was there, and having to stay with my boy just made it so that I felt sad about not being able to go - but not guilty. I think that was probably a tender mercy. It was still hard to see a picture of the bride with all her former YW leaders except me.
At least I got to be there for the reception. Beautiful. So many came together, once again, as they always do at these things. And I got to see the
345. Fabulous photography. The wedding pictures were gorgeous, and now I know who I want to do my children's weddings. WOW. Stunning shots.
And I got to hear that my
346. Crazy Wedding present - (part of it was an anatomy coloring book. I saw it at the book store and thought of the bride because she was dreading an anatomy class) was actually appreciated and not just silly. (She was going to go buy one! Who knew?)
347. More missionary farewells. There was one two weeks ago. The latest soon to be elder even flew in from Abu Dabi to speak to us. By the end of June there will be 12 full time missionaries out from our ward. After that there will be a lull. I'll miss hearing that joyous "Called to Serve" chorus coming at me for awhile.
343. Seeing old friends - There were a few good friends in town for the weekend, or at least part of it, and some who are always here that we don't get to see often. Got to see most of them and catch up at a wedding reception. It feels good to renew old relationships.
344. Wedding Receptions - I was so disappointed that I didn't get to go to the wedding. I had it worked out with my teacher that I could go to the wedding in St. Louis and then come to class late. I had been nervous to ask about it, because I didn't want to come across as the slacker, uncommitted student, but when I woke up dreaming about it, I decided I needed to ask. Well, the S-Train got strep and had to wait until he'd been on antibiotics for 24 four hours before he could go back to school. Of course, that was just before time for class orientation. And Mr. C could NOT take off work - lots to do there. So - Sick child trumps all - and we stayed home for the morning. In reality, it was probably better for my school career that I was there, and having to stay with my boy just made it so that I felt sad about not being able to go - but not guilty. I think that was probably a tender mercy. It was still hard to see a picture of the bride with all her former YW leaders except me.
At least I got to be there for the reception. Beautiful. So many came together, once again, as they always do at these things. And I got to see the
345. Fabulous photography. The wedding pictures were gorgeous, and now I know who I want to do my children's weddings. WOW. Stunning shots.
And I got to hear that my
346. Crazy Wedding present - (part of it was an anatomy coloring book. I saw it at the book store and thought of the bride because she was dreading an anatomy class) was actually appreciated and not just silly. (She was going to go buy one! Who knew?)
347. More missionary farewells. There was one two weeks ago. The latest soon to be elder even flew in from Abu Dabi to speak to us. By the end of June there will be 12 full time missionaries out from our ward. After that there will be a lull. I'll miss hearing that joyous "Called to Serve" chorus coming at me for awhile.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Random thoughts about my crazy life
I have so many thoughts swirling around in my brain today. And I'm trying to figure out what they all mean. I think there may be a bit of me that is letting my "sphere of concern" get bigger than my "sphere of influence." So that I'm worried about things I can do absolutely nothing about.
But with the internet making the world smaller, I can do so much about so much more than I used to be able to. But here's the question - what should I be doing with my time now? And how? And what should my sphere of influence be? So much of the time I end up paralyzed. I will admit that I spend far too much time on the computer or reading - and sometimes it's just because the choices ahead of me are so overwhelming. And there is so much to do just here in my own corner that I don't know where to start. I feel overwhelmed by keeping up on my housework, let alone saving the world. And then you get those who tell you to forget the housework and enjoy your family. Well, it's hard to enjoy them if you can't find them under all the clutter! So I keep chipping away, and trying to pat myself on the back when the main floor is kept up. And trying to enjoy my family at the same time.
But then - there is a boy at our school in third grade with terminal cancer. We have all tried to help with the load. And they keep on finding laughter in everyday. This family has handled the whole thing with more grace than I can imagine. They are a beautiful example.
And an old friend whose blog I read has just found out that her father's cancer is progressing far more quickly than they thought. Her mother is dealing with dementia and he is her primary care giver. She is far away, though going out to be with them.
And Haiti is still in rubble and Australia is flooded, and why haven't we heard how they are recovering after those floods last year in Pakistan?
And then my daughter - who has been sitting alone in her room listening to a book on tape - wants a big family project because she's not feeling as close to the rest of us as she would like. (I'm not taking responsibility for that one, as she's been choosing to sit up there by herself.) She also wants to put on a play and walk to raise money for some cause, and, and, and. . . (All of which will involve her mother TO THE MAX if she's to pull it off.)
But just after that I read about this mother who took her kids to help at an orphanage in Thailand for three weeks. And articles about intentional mothering. And meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have a kid getting over strep, a class to get ready for, cookies to make and a present to finish for a wedding reception (missing the wedding because of school and needing to be home while the sick kid finishes up his 24 hours on anibiotics before he can go to school! Missing this big day is breaking my heart), two Christmas packages still not mailed, sharing time and sharing time choosing sticks to get together, a crib to drop off, A child I need to help with fund raising because she desperately wants to go on a band trip and all the family money is tied up in Mom's grad school classes or other important things, A child with a huge birthday next week, VISITING TEACHING, and oh, by the way, chat n chew, that I'm in charge of needs to start soon, my parents are coming through on their way to their mission in a little over a week, and my hair is driving me nuts because I really need a hair cut. WHEW. (And somewhere in here with sun shining through sparkling clean windows I'll take brilliant pictures of my family that I put in the world's cutest scrapbooks and everyone will have clean, folded, ironed clothes, I'll exercise everyday, read my scriptures, and have planned (and, sure, why not, cooked AHEAD), healthy menus that have variety and add joy to my life.) There is more to my actual list, but my head is full. I think it's pizza night.
One friend a couple of weeks ago looked at me and shook her head. "Too busy. Too many things going on." That might just be true. The truth is, if I were more organized and proactive I can handle what I've got. I've just got to get in there and "get'r done" Priorities. And more doing. Less thinking. I'll go do now.
341. Here are a few posts that make me smile. I'll leave you to read them while I go try to get unbusy by quickly knocking four or five things off my to do list.
I read this and felt the need for routine!
The Beauty of Routines
Then I read this, and laughed, and knew we were all alike.
Don't Get Cocky
But with the internet making the world smaller, I can do so much about so much more than I used to be able to. But here's the question - what should I be doing with my time now? And how? And what should my sphere of influence be? So much of the time I end up paralyzed. I will admit that I spend far too much time on the computer or reading - and sometimes it's just because the choices ahead of me are so overwhelming. And there is so much to do just here in my own corner that I don't know where to start. I feel overwhelmed by keeping up on my housework, let alone saving the world. And then you get those who tell you to forget the housework and enjoy your family. Well, it's hard to enjoy them if you can't find them under all the clutter! So I keep chipping away, and trying to pat myself on the back when the main floor is kept up. And trying to enjoy my family at the same time.
But then - there is a boy at our school in third grade with terminal cancer. We have all tried to help with the load. And they keep on finding laughter in everyday. This family has handled the whole thing with more grace than I can imagine. They are a beautiful example.
And an old friend whose blog I read has just found out that her father's cancer is progressing far more quickly than they thought. Her mother is dealing with dementia and he is her primary care giver. She is far away, though going out to be with them.
And Haiti is still in rubble and Australia is flooded, and why haven't we heard how they are recovering after those floods last year in Pakistan?
And then my daughter - who has been sitting alone in her room listening to a book on tape - wants a big family project because she's not feeling as close to the rest of us as she would like. (I'm not taking responsibility for that one, as she's been choosing to sit up there by herself.) She also wants to put on a play and walk to raise money for some cause, and, and, and. . . (All of which will involve her mother TO THE MAX if she's to pull it off.)
But just after that I read about this mother who took her kids to help at an orphanage in Thailand for three weeks. And articles about intentional mothering. And meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have a kid getting over strep, a class to get ready for, cookies to make and a present to finish for a wedding reception (missing the wedding because of school and needing to be home while the sick kid finishes up his 24 hours on anibiotics before he can go to school! Missing this big day is breaking my heart), two Christmas packages still not mailed, sharing time and sharing time choosing sticks to get together, a crib to drop off, A child I need to help with fund raising because she desperately wants to go on a band trip and all the family money is tied up in Mom's grad school classes or other important things, A child with a huge birthday next week, VISITING TEACHING, and oh, by the way, chat n chew, that I'm in charge of needs to start soon, my parents are coming through on their way to their mission in a little over a week, and my hair is driving me nuts because I really need a hair cut. WHEW. (And somewhere in here with sun shining through sparkling clean windows I'll take brilliant pictures of my family that I put in the world's cutest scrapbooks and everyone will have clean, folded, ironed clothes, I'll exercise everyday, read my scriptures, and have planned (and, sure, why not, cooked AHEAD), healthy menus that have variety and add joy to my life.) There is more to my actual list, but my head is full. I think it's pizza night.
One friend a couple of weeks ago looked at me and shook her head. "Too busy. Too many things going on." That might just be true. The truth is, if I were more organized and proactive I can handle what I've got. I've just got to get in there and "get'r done" Priorities. And more doing. Less thinking. I'll go do now.
341. Here are a few posts that make me smile. I'll leave you to read them while I go try to get unbusy by quickly knocking four or five things off my to do list.
I read this and felt the need for routine!
The Beauty of Routines
Then I read this, and laughed, and knew we were all alike.
Don't Get Cocky
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
So that's the way you do it.
340. The Money is for nothin.'
Mr. C and the S-Train were listening to car talk on the way home one night. A lady was talking about how she lost a ring in the heating system of her car. They asked her if it was very valuable. She said it was about $250, and they were debating if it would cost more to get it out than it was worth.
The S-Train asked his dad why the ring cost so much. Mr. C told him the ring was probably made out of gold and might have a diamond.
The S-Train asked if his dad's ring was made out of gold.
Mr. C said yes.
The S-Train got very excited and said, "Then you should put it in an envelope and send it away, and you'll get lots of money!"
Mr. C and I totally cracked up when he told me this story. Ah, the mind of a little boy. Always thinking.
I guess the incessant commercials have done their job. Hopefully we can teach him what a scam is before he gets old enough to get ahold of one of those envelopes!
Mr. C and the S-Train were listening to car talk on the way home one night. A lady was talking about how she lost a ring in the heating system of her car. They asked her if it was very valuable. She said it was about $250, and they were debating if it would cost more to get it out than it was worth.
The S-Train asked his dad why the ring cost so much. Mr. C told him the ring was probably made out of gold and might have a diamond.
The S-Train asked if his dad's ring was made out of gold.
Mr. C said yes.
The S-Train got very excited and said, "Then you should put it in an envelope and send it away, and you'll get lots of money!"
Mr. C and I totally cracked up when he told me this story. Ah, the mind of a little boy. Always thinking.
I guess the incessant commercials have done their job. Hopefully we can teach him what a scam is before he gets old enough to get ahold of one of those envelopes!
Friday, January 7, 2011
LONG Christmas season wrap up
325. Christmas Cards done by the oldest. Aren't they pretty? We're lucky to have such a talented girl.
326. Bokeh. I just learned this term this year. It means the blurred lights you get in the background when you shoot a close up picture with lights behind it. Here are a couple of my best efforts.
I tried to get the lights to make shapes, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. Mine just looked like I stuck an outline around the lens.
Which is what I thought you were supposed to do. . .
Anyway, it was fun to experiment.
327. Cookie parties. Adult and kid.
Adult party. A friend I met in PTA has an annual cookie party, and I was invited again this year! The girls and some of their friends helped me make lots of cookies to bring, and I went and enjoyed adult conversation and fun. There is such a good group of ladies at school. I enjoy being with them so much. So many of them have kids that are friends with my kids, and by now I've been on a dozen committees with most of them. I appreciate that they do get togethers like this. It's fun to see each other outside of school functions.
Kid parties. We tried so hard to make this happen before Christmas break, but things just kept coming up and not quite working out. So we finally called people the day before we had a free day or two. It worked out perfectly! Sue had friends over one day to make cookies, and the next day was Lou's turn. We didn't do anything fancy, just made sugar cookie dough ahead of time. The girls made peppermint bark, (smashing candy canes is the highlight!) and then made, cooked and decorated their sugar cookies. We sent everyone home with some of each kind of cookie and a new cookie cutter. I'm so glad that my girls have some good groups of friends at school. I know it will make all the difference in years to come. It was fun to watch the different groups and how they did things. Here is the aftermath, so you know they had fun.
328. Unexpected visitors. We had good friends show up who had just moved away. They had come up to take care of a few things. They had a couple of prearranged playdates, but the kids spent most of the day hanging out here. Luckily they came on a day that was almost completely free of anything scheduled, and we didn't have anything pressing. The kids were in heaven. We've missed them so much, and it was good to see them again.
329. Helping. Sometimes it's hard to know how to help out. I'm grateful for friends who are thoughtful and help organize those opportunities. It was so much fun to clean together.
330. Neighborhood Caroling party. We will definitely do this again any year we are in town! And having it the 23rd was genius. All the last minute decorating got done, (Including this fun and crazy wreath by Mr. C.) (Mantle by the oldest.)
the house was clean - and stayed that way! And we still had another day before Christmas to finish up. Lots of neighbors couldn't come with us, because of health or other reasons, but we caroled to them anyway. We ended up with about 15 people caroling to the neighborhood and joining us for hot chocolate. The warm glow of Christmas was beautiful. (Table by Sue.)
My favorite was our sweet Russian neighbor. He came out to listen, but said his wife stayed in because she didn't speak much English. He said "Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming!" We asked him if he had a favorite Christmas song he'd like us to sing before we left. He said, "Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming!" We just chose one more song ourselves before we left. He was so cute.
331. The Nutcracker. Lou was invited to go to the Nutcracker with a friend. One of the Moms couldn't go and they invited Lou. She was in heaven. Those lights in her eyes were amazing! After the performance they went to eat dessert at a revolving restaurant! She couldn't stop talking about it. Apparently she ate a dessert half her size. We are so grateful for sweet friends who are willing to include us in new experiences and memories.
332. Christmas jokes. What do you call the 23rd of December? My kids went around calling the day Christmas Adam. Because that's what comes before Christmas Eve.
333. Mr. C and Christmas Eve Day projects. Mr. C was done with his Christmas preparations mostly, so for one of his Christmas presents to us all he continued with the back basement reorganization. He added two more shelves to the back wall so that we don't have to stack the green beans and cans of tomatoes three high in order to get it all in. He surprised me with this project when I came home from running errands. :)
334. The Perfect Gift. It's great when an all purple backpack of the right brand drops from heaven at a place where Santa has a gift card on the night before Christmas. In fact, three backpacks to replace three that were on their last legs showed up. Hallelujah for Christmas miracles!
335. Christmas morning picture. I love the glow of tree lights. And I know it's time to take them down. We just had 12th night. But I'll miss them dearly. And maybe I'll leave a string of lights up just to keep that glowing feeling.
336. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We spent some time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas. We ate dinner with friends. We read the Christmas story. We jumped up and down about Christmas pajamas, and wore them when we came downstairs in the morning.
We spent time excitedly opening presents from each other and from family. We sat around all Christmas day in our pajamas and enjoyed being just us. I talked to my parents and asked them what they were going to be doing on Christmas Day. My mom said, "Not much." My dad thought that might be overstating what they were going to do. I think we were all on the same page for that!
337. Kids and presents for each other. The kids had so much fun with their presents for each other this year. Lou was particularly thoughtful. She made a great pillow case for the oldest. I've written about how the oldest uses vegetable names instead of swear words. Well, Lou and I went to the fabric store to look for fabric with green beans or pickles on it. We couldn't find any, but found a lot of other vegetables: asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, peppers. So Lou sewed them together into a pillow case, and gave it to the oldest with a note. "In case you run out of vegetables, here are a few suggestions. . . "
338. Christmas morning legos. Love Christmas legos. This year I got to build the Buzz Lightyear spaceship with the S-Train! I am quite the expert on that ship now. I repaired it at least a dozen times. It was so fun working together. The S-Train can really follow the diagrams himself, so mostly I let him do it and was just there for guidance. But every so often I couldn't help myself and built a wing without him.
339. Being people people over the holidays. My goal this year was to do things with people over the break. We've decided that what really makes it feel like Christmas is spending time with others. Many years we spend it with my family. It's easy to spend time with people when the house is always packed with 20-30 people, and sometimes more! So this year since we were far from family we went out of our way to include friends and neighbors. I know we didn't get everyone over that we wanted to (we eventually ran out of time!) but we did some festive things that I think the kids will remember.
326. Bokeh. I just learned this term this year. It means the blurred lights you get in the background when you shoot a close up picture with lights behind it. Here are a couple of my best efforts.
I tried to get the lights to make shapes, but I haven't quite figured that out yet. Mine just looked like I stuck an outline around the lens.
Which is what I thought you were supposed to do. . .Anyway, it was fun to experiment.
327. Cookie parties. Adult and kid.
Adult party. A friend I met in PTA has an annual cookie party, and I was invited again this year! The girls and some of their friends helped me make lots of cookies to bring, and I went and enjoyed adult conversation and fun. There is such a good group of ladies at school. I enjoy being with them so much. So many of them have kids that are friends with my kids, and by now I've been on a dozen committees with most of them. I appreciate that they do get togethers like this. It's fun to see each other outside of school functions.
Kid parties. We tried so hard to make this happen before Christmas break, but things just kept coming up and not quite working out. So we finally called people the day before we had a free day or two. It worked out perfectly! Sue had friends over one day to make cookies, and the next day was Lou's turn. We didn't do anything fancy, just made sugar cookie dough ahead of time. The girls made peppermint bark, (smashing candy canes is the highlight!) and then made, cooked and decorated their sugar cookies. We sent everyone home with some of each kind of cookie and a new cookie cutter. I'm so glad that my girls have some good groups of friends at school. I know it will make all the difference in years to come. It was fun to watch the different groups and how they did things. Here is the aftermath, so you know they had fun.
328. Unexpected visitors. We had good friends show up who had just moved away. They had come up to take care of a few things. They had a couple of prearranged playdates, but the kids spent most of the day hanging out here. Luckily they came on a day that was almost completely free of anything scheduled, and we didn't have anything pressing. The kids were in heaven. We've missed them so much, and it was good to see them again.
329. Helping. Sometimes it's hard to know how to help out. I'm grateful for friends who are thoughtful and help organize those opportunities. It was so much fun to clean together.
330. Neighborhood Caroling party. We will definitely do this again any year we are in town! And having it the 23rd was genius. All the last minute decorating got done, (Including this fun and crazy wreath by Mr. C.) (Mantle by the oldest.)
the house was clean - and stayed that way! And we still had another day before Christmas to finish up. Lots of neighbors couldn't come with us, because of health or other reasons, but we caroled to them anyway. We ended up with about 15 people caroling to the neighborhood and joining us for hot chocolate. The warm glow of Christmas was beautiful. (Table by Sue.)
My favorite was our sweet Russian neighbor. He came out to listen, but said his wife stayed in because she didn't speak much English. He said "Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming!" We asked him if he had a favorite Christmas song he'd like us to sing before we left. He said, "Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for coming!" We just chose one more song ourselves before we left. He was so cute.
331. The Nutcracker. Lou was invited to go to the Nutcracker with a friend. One of the Moms couldn't go and they invited Lou. She was in heaven. Those lights in her eyes were amazing! After the performance they went to eat dessert at a revolving restaurant! She couldn't stop talking about it. Apparently she ate a dessert half her size. We are so grateful for sweet friends who are willing to include us in new experiences and memories.
332. Christmas jokes. What do you call the 23rd of December? My kids went around calling the day Christmas Adam. Because that's what comes before Christmas Eve.
333. Mr. C and Christmas Eve Day projects. Mr. C was done with his Christmas preparations mostly, so for one of his Christmas presents to us all he continued with the back basement reorganization. He added two more shelves to the back wall so that we don't have to stack the green beans and cans of tomatoes three high in order to get it all in. He surprised me with this project when I came home from running errands. :)
334. The Perfect Gift. It's great when an all purple backpack of the right brand drops from heaven at a place where Santa has a gift card on the night before Christmas. In fact, three backpacks to replace three that were on their last legs showed up. Hallelujah for Christmas miracles!
335. Christmas morning picture. I love the glow of tree lights. And I know it's time to take them down. We just had 12th night. But I'll miss them dearly. And maybe I'll leave a string of lights up just to keep that glowing feeling.
336. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We spent some time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas. We ate dinner with friends. We read the Christmas story. We jumped up and down about Christmas pajamas, and wore them when we came downstairs in the morning.
We spent time excitedly opening presents from each other and from family. We sat around all Christmas day in our pajamas and enjoyed being just us. I talked to my parents and asked them what they were going to be doing on Christmas Day. My mom said, "Not much." My dad thought that might be overstating what they were going to do. I think we were all on the same page for that!
337. Kids and presents for each other. The kids had so much fun with their presents for each other this year. Lou was particularly thoughtful. She made a great pillow case for the oldest. I've written about how the oldest uses vegetable names instead of swear words. Well, Lou and I went to the fabric store to look for fabric with green beans or pickles on it. We couldn't find any, but found a lot of other vegetables: asparagus, mushrooms, carrots, peppers. So Lou sewed them together into a pillow case, and gave it to the oldest with a note. "In case you run out of vegetables, here are a few suggestions. . . "
338. Christmas morning legos. Love Christmas legos. This year I got to build the Buzz Lightyear spaceship with the S-Train! I am quite the expert on that ship now. I repaired it at least a dozen times. It was so fun working together. The S-Train can really follow the diagrams himself, so mostly I let him do it and was just there for guidance. But every so often I couldn't help myself and built a wing without him.
339. Being people people over the holidays. My goal this year was to do things with people over the break. We've decided that what really makes it feel like Christmas is spending time with others. Many years we spend it with my family. It's easy to spend time with people when the house is always packed with 20-30 people, and sometimes more! So this year since we were far from family we went out of our way to include friends and neighbors. I know we didn't get everyone over that we wanted to (we eventually ran out of time!) but we did some festive things that I think the kids will remember.
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