The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 I love Christmas.

I love the lights in the darkness (even if we never have outside lights at our house--I'm grateful for neighbors who do!)--and the reminder of another Light in the darkness.

I love the holiday cooking and food. And the chance to spend more time with my family. And games. And laughing. And movies. And reading.

I love buying presents. I usually start planning my Christmas list sometime in October--and I love that tiny rush of finding the perfect gift for the perfect person. (My daughter makes this easy; my oldest son, not so much).

I love the idea that we all need to be a little kinder, a little more outward focused. I know I should do this year round, but the reminders come more often at Christmas time.

And I love the Nativity story. It's always meant more to my since my oldest was born on Christmas Eve--and I spent the whole month of December crying anytime someone mentioned Mary. (Mostly, I couldn't imagine how she could ride a donkey when she was that far pregnant). Every year, I remember that sort of miraculous stillness after my son was born and think of that other birth that changed the world.

Even so, this year, I couldn't help feeling a little melancholy on Christmas Eve, after all the presents were laid out: so much work and energy and thought and preparation and then the present rush is over in a matter of minutes. It's a good thing there are lots of other things to love about Christmas.


This year our week started with celebrations of our birthday boy. Andrew requested a specific menu for his birthday, so we had crepes for breakfast, then I took him to Applebees for lunch where he had two mini-cheeseburgers, fries, and a Sunday. And then pork chops, salad, potatoes, and lemon cake for dessert. Bubby and Poppy came over for dinner on Christmas Eve--and then again for breakfast Christmas morning.

We also have the obligatory Christmas pictures:

 Andrew wanted to make his own present for Evelyn. His dad took him shopping for supplies, and he came up with the idea of making her a ballerina. Of course, neither he nor his dad knew how to *execute* his great idea, so I would up designing the doll (and cutting her out) while Andrew assembled her and drew the face. 

New pjs for the kids on Christmas Eve, of course.

And this is pretty much how all of Oliver's pictures go these days: he'd rather be doing something else. (There's also a reason why we didn't put presents out before Christmas Eve).

 Christmas morning came too soon and too early, though the kids did at least wait in bed until 6 a.m. (I don't remember what we threatened them with if they came out early, but there were threats involved).

Poppy reading Frozen to the kids while we put the finishing touches on breakfast. Breakfast was a sausage and potato fritatta and lemon-iced scones. Not very traditional, but it tasted good! After breakfast, Bubby and Poppy stayed to watch the kids unwrap presents--then they were off to the condo and we headed north to see my parents.

Our visit with my family involved lots of cousins and lots of outdoor time. Thursday afternoon we joined Justin and his family (and most of Lia's extended family) at a skating rink in Midway. It was a little chilly, but the exercise helped keep us warm. This was only the second time Andrew had been skating--and a first for Evelyn (Oliver stayed home with Grandma). Andrew was a maniac on skates: he raced around the rink, precariously balanced the whole time. He also fell a lot (courtesy of the speed and the precarious balance). Evelyn clung to the railing for the first two laps, and then finally realized a) she wouldn't fall over if she let go of the railing for a while and b) even if she did fall, it wasn't too bad. So she and her cousin Eli palled around (they were going about the same creeping speed) and she got mad at Dan and I if we dared help her or offer her support.

Also this: does it make me a bad person that I took pride in skating better than my husband *and* my brother? I'm so seldom decent at anything athletic that it's always a pleasant surprise to remember that I do know how to skate--courtesy of a childhood in Montana and a neighbor who always built a skating rink in his backyard. (Justin, being five years younger than I, missed a lot of that experience).

On Friday, all four children, spouses, and all twelve grandchildren assembled at my parents house. It was about as chaotic as it sounds. The kids splinter into unholy alliances (Andrew pals around with the three oldest grandchildren, and Evelyn plays with the middle girls). My dad warns them to stay out of his stuff, and they run around while the parents chat.

After presents and pizza and more new pajamas for the kids, we all went to my sister's house for sledding. They have an awesome backyard: a small hill that leads into a long, gently sloping pasture that makes for perfectly paced sled rides.

Here's Dan with Oliver draped over his shoulder. Oliver cried the first time he went down (I think because he got snow in his face). But after that first time, he liked it so much that he seemed to think the green innertube was his--and he cried if anyone tried to separate him from it.

Evelyn and Enoch rode down together a bunch of times (except for the one time that the sled and Enoch accidentally went down with out her). Sometimes Enoch was sitting *on* Evelyn instead of the sled, but they both seemed to think it was hilarious.

Evelyn modelling the princess dress Grandma made for her.

Saturday we hung out with Jared and Mitcee and their kids (they'd spent the night at my parents house) before heading home earlier today. For a short trip, we managed to pack a lot in.

Mostly, though, it makes me no end of happy to see my children becoming best friends with their cousins. I wish I could have had that growing up--Dan did, and seeing him with his cousins today makes me want that all the more for my own kids.

Roll or bowl a ball . . .

Things we did this week:

*Submitted grades
*Visited Poppy and gang at "coke hour" (well, Evelyn, Oliver and I did) on Monday
*supervised eight 7-8 year old boys at the aquatic center for two hours, for Andrew's birthday party. And then cleaned up the aftermath (cupcake crumbs, chips, wet swimsuits . . .)
*Brought two dozen donuts (from a local artisan bakery, no less!) and juice to Andrew's class on Friday, because not only did I volunteer to help with his class Christmas party, but it was his turn to bring a birthday treat
*Made six batches of pomegranate jelly for neighbor gifts
*Took Andrew to his first cub scout meeting (though technically he's not eight until this week)
*Introduced Oliver to bowling . . . (more on this below)

This morning I walked with Andrew through the cold, crisp sunny air for his baptism interview with the bishop. We talked about the gospel: about the importance of baptism and the book of Mormon and the restoration. Then Andrew went into his interview--without me. Afterward the bishop reported that he was "one smart cookie," and Andrew took it all in stride, telling me that the bishop just asked him all the stuff I'd told him. (Earlier this week we talked about the kinds of questions the bishop might ask). And then Andrew told me what he'd told the bishop about baptism, how it's a symbol for being reborn and also how you use water to get clean when you're dirty, so baptism is also a symbol for being clean like that.

I think my poor mama heart about burst, I was so proud of him. This was after he'd spent half an hour reading his new scriptures. After church, he told me he was all the way to second Nephi (and he'd read everything today).

If it weren't for the fact that he followed all this up by making his sister cry half a dozen times, I'd worry we had a changeling. I'm still proud of him (most of the time), but he's not going to be translated anytime soon.

Oliver enjoying a leftover cupcake from Andrew's party. Per Andrew's request, they were vanilla cupcakes with lime frosting (we borrowed Sarah's recipe for her coconut-lime cupcakes). While Andrew loved them, about half of his friends didn't touch the frosting. I suppose lime is a bit sophisticated for the average 8-year-old palate . . .

Oliver, incidentally, is officially our resident mess-maker. He's supplanted his brother for the title--largely because of things like the above, but also because in the last two weeks or so he's been responsible for breaking two (!) of my favorite bowls, from blue dishes we got when we were married. Today it was a speed grab at my bowl of grits when his dad tried to remove him from the table.

Some bowling pictures. Bumpers are the great equalizers. Poppy won, but Andrew managed a strike and two spares thanks to the bumpers. My own score wasn't so great, partly because I let Oliver take my second roll every time.

Evelyn has this funny dance she does where she throws the ball onto the lane, then spins around and doesn't look back until the bowl is almost at the end (no mean feat since sometimes her ball moves at approximately the same speed as molasses).

And this was our view as we drove home on the shortest day of the year. Pretty spectacular day, all around.

For the few of you still reading--we wish you a wonderful holiday season surrounded by friends, family, and lots of good food . . .

Decembering

 We survived finals week! Now, if I just had my grades done . . .

Short post tonight--mostly pictures. After a week of frigid temperatures, things finally warmed up a little this weekend (enough to go outside).

In the meantime, the kids found other ways to entertain themselves . . .

On Friday the kids had a couple of friends over and while the kids made "snowflakes," I made these from an awesome template site. (Darth Vader and Storm Trooper, in case you can't tell).

 

On Saturday, we bundled Oliver up to take him outside. We didn't get him outside fast enough and he got very upset.

This is me, trying not to laugh because his tantrum was so darn cute.

Lest you think our life is perfect: we did have one bout of the 24 hour flu this week. Poor Evelyn. Luckily, it didn't last long. Now, if only it will hold off until after Andrew's birthday party this week . . .

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Thanks largely to a huge snowstorm earlier this week.

Wednesday, we woke up to this:

 The kids were much more excited about all the snow than I was. (It's too cold for me!) They spent that afternoon happily constructing a tunnel in the snow. Oliver was quite put out with me for not letting him go outside with them--but the one time I tried sending him out in the back in full snow regalia, he only lasted about a minute before falling face first in the snow, losing a glove and a boot and crying until he was brought back into the house.

For family home evening on Monday, we set up the Christmas tree. It currently has a lovely band of candy canes around the middle third of the tree--the kids put them out of Oliver's reach (he's only managed to snag one or two), but they couldn't reach the top of the tree. So far, Oliver has largely ignored the ornaments.

Here is our official nerd cred: not one, not two, but three Star Wars advent calendars. We also have two other advent calendars (a princess playmobil and a regular advent calendar with candy). I sort of have a thing for advents--though the Star Wars thing is all Dan.

 

Other news for the week: 

We had a lovely young women activity on Tuesday with the theme of "Don't forget your PJs (prayer, journal, scriptures." Everyone came in their pjs and we talked about the importance of each element (I got to talk about journals, which is kind of a passion of mine). We gave each of the girls a nice, leather-bound journal and enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate. I feel really blessed to be able to work with these girls: they are smart, energetic, funny, kind and faithful. I could do a lot worse than follow their example.

I took the kids to our department party Friday night. They were thrilled to find friends there, and I had a nice time talking with colleagues I don't see very often. Dan was thrilled to stay home with a semi-sick baby. (Let's just say I witnessed the biggest blow-out earlier that day that I have ever seen with any of the kids. The aftermath involved a bunch of dirty laundry--his and mine, nudity (his), more mess, a bath, and bleaching the floor. . . .)

We had a lovely leisurely Saturday in anticipation of another big storm that dropped about half an inch here, but stopped traffic south of us. The kids went to an Arts Lab on campus, Dan and I had lunch with Oliver at the Garden House and we generally just hung out. 

And here's Oliver, demonstrating some of his newest skills (if you're lucky, he'll tell you what a dog and a cow say, too):

Being Thankful

Sometimes, it's nice to have a break.

After Oliver's rough week last week, and with the end of the semester looming, we were all glad to get out of Dodge for a bit and visit with my family. (Barring, of course, that this week seemed to be *my* week to get sick. Apparently I picked up a particularly virulent throat infection that mimics strep, but is viral, so no antibiotics. Fun!)

Anyway.

We had a good time--travel, sleepless children (Oliver decided 5 a.m. was his new wake-up time), and illness notwithstanding. We even made it through a scary patch of fog outside Fillmore on the way up north. (Seriously, getting on the freeway Dan couldn't even see if there was oncoming traffic . . .)

We had Thanksgiving at my sister's place, which was a nice change of scene. Three of the four kids (Jared had other commitments) showed up, along with my parents. We ate good food and some really rich pies (chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate, buttermilk lemon, and pumpkin), and then Dan and I let my siblings school us in Tsuro--we basically lasted one round before getting eaten by sea monsters. Then Justin and Lia beat everyone at a game that's traditional in Lia's family (charades mixed with guess that character). Meanwhile, the kids ran wild in the basement and backyard and everyone had fun.

Here's Oliver, modelling some cool building sets Jeni's in-laws have.

 And Evelyn, with the same set, only a little closer. :)

And yes, my mom and I did hit some Black Friday sales. But not many, and not when the stores opened (because of aforesaid sore throat). And then I went to Instacare, where they verified that I did not have strep throat, which was good. The downside was that Andrew and I both wound up staying home from the second sibling gathering on Friday (Andrew was coughing most of the morning). Dan took Evelyn and Oliver, and from all accounts the kids had fun.

That afternoon, we headed back home because Saturday morning we had an engagement with Dan's family: their long-standing tradition of Dutch Christmas for Trisha's family.

The festivities opened with a lovely hike. The weather was near sixty, so it was beautiful. The hike was pretty smooth, except for a steep downhill portion at the beginning. Oliver lost interest in his stroller pretty quickly, so this was my view for much of the "hike." (I got to push the stroller).

(I love that Lydia's feet aren't even touching the ground in this picture. She and Evelyn alternated between dragging because they were tired and skipping. Go figure.)

I also saw some of this. Oliver thought he was awesome because he got to walk part way.

The end of the hike was killer though. That downhill stretch? It turned into a pretty steep uphill stretch. I'd almost decided not to go on the hike (again, sore throat), but reasoned if it was a paved trail it couldn't be that steep. Wrong. I almost didn't make it up. And Dan went back to help Evelyn up (we finished ahead of her and Lydia, who were back walking with Aunt Nellie). I think we were both picturing the same thing: Evelyn sitting down in the middle of the hill and crying because it was too hard. Turns out, Dan's cousin Jim was already *carrying* Evelyn up the hill. So Dan carried Lydia up the hill (note: she may be short, but she's solid). Lydia repaid this kindness by jumping down when they reached the top and skipping away while Dan struggled to recover.

While the rest of the crew had lunch at the park, Oliver and I went back to the condo where Oliver napped. Later in the afternoon, we gathered in a local church for the real festivities. We had a potluck dinner (soups and dessert).

This is Oliver trying to decide what else he wanted to eat. He had a lovely green stain all down his front from the green sparkles on a cream-pop (sort of like a cake pop made from cream puffs).

All worn out.

We had a talent show, too. Trisha had some of the girls rehearse a little skit of some of our (I can claim the family, right?) Dutch heritage--her grandmother traveling with her mother and aunts from Holland, when the oldest daughter was just fourteen. The American missionaries suggested that the girls take "American" names, so Adriana (the oldest, from whom Evelyn gets her middle name) became Jane, Jannetje became Janet, Schalkje became Helen, and so forth. Sad, too, because the Dutch names were lovely. Anyway, it was a cute skit.

The talents varied from real talents (Jim Lee's family) to funny ones (a lip synch from Josh Aikens family to "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer") and our contribution: made up lyrics to Jingle Bells (reprinted here if anyone wants them; this was a group effort):

Christmas for the Dutch
It doesn't look like much
The shoes are made of wood
the kids are very good.
Sinter has an elf
(who isn't on the shelf),
But when the family comes to town,
We laugh till we fall down.

Jingle Bells, Sinter smells
Zwarte Piet is black.
If you leave your presents out,
Sinter gives them back.
Jingle bells, Sinter smells,
Zwarte Piet is black.
We hope you like our little song,
Twas written by a hack! (And so it was.)

 The night ended with the children all getting Dutch chocolate letters in their shoes and a pinata with more candy than anyone needed. Oliver got in on the action and picked up his own handful of small wrapped candy bars before we could stop him.

I think everyone had fun--but I think it's also true that we could use another break now! Luckily, this is the last week of classes for Dan and I . . . the semester is almost over.

Snowy days

 After a rough start this week, Oliver is finally getting better. I'm not sure what all was wrong with him, but I do know he was so congested that he couldn't breathe through his nose--at all--from Saturday until Wednesday. It was sad. I took him to the doctors on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday--Monday for a follow-up to our ER visit, Tuesday to get him suctioned out (again--seriously, we had them use the machine suction three days running and it didn't even make a difference to his ability to breathe), and Wednesday because, well, whatever he had turned into croup. He's not yet 100%, but he is definitely feeling better, which I think tops my list of all the things I'm grateful for today.

Oliver, looking lovely in a headband my friend Erin made (you can find her on etsy @ hazel and company).

I think Evelyn picked up something of what Oliver had. She was very sad on Wednesday after school (I forget why), and wandered into the other room. It occurred to me I hadn't heard anything from her for a while (Oliver and I were making dinner).

I went into the other room, and this is what I found.

Also, because Oliver wasn't feeling well this week, he was particularly clingy. It's hard to cook when you've got a twenty-plus-pound limpet attached to your side. I finally figured out a solution. I put him on a chair next to me while I chopped and prepped everything (I stood just beside the chair so my body kept him from falling off) and I gave him his own little pan with a little bit of water, some spice, and some very soggy cereal. He thought he was pretty awesome--he stirred everything and measured stuff and didn't ask to be picked up once.

We had our first major snowfall Thursday night/Friday morning. Evelyn and Oliver got out in the snow while Andrew was in school. Oliver was so heavily bundled in his snowsuit that he could hardly walk, but he loved being outside. Except, of course, for face-planting in the snow, which he did a couple of times when he tried to crawl through the stuff.

 Andrew insisted on going out again when he came home from school. We broke out the sleds for the tiny hill in our backyard and Andrew graciously towed the baby around the yard and down the hill.

Yesterday, I had big plans to go to SG (I've been wanting to go for over a month), but in light of the snow and slick roads we opted to stay home. Instead, we deep-cleaned the kids room and wound up with a big box of stuff to donate to DI--just in time for Christmas! I was particularly proud of Evelyn for being willing to give up several of her toys that she no longer plays with (in the past, she's been kind of a pack rat).

In the afternoon, I took the kids sledding on a real hill and Oliver and Dan cooked dinner (a win for everyone, I think, except Oliver).

I think I'm done with winter now. Oh, wait . . .