Giving Thanks

I posted last week about things I'm thankful for and I'm not going to rehash that--except that I am thankful to be home again!

I love visiting with family, but it's also nice to come home (and sleep in my own bed--and have my toddler sleep in *his* own bed).

Up ahead: finishing up the semester and getting ready for Christmas! My favorite holiday.

We headed up to my parents' house Tuesday evening. We spent Wednesday getting ready for Thanksgiving--and shopping. In the morning, my mom took the kids to the toy store while I had a work-related phone call. (Dan went to Winco by himself, which I'm sure he enjoyed). In the afternoon, we drove to my brother Justin's house and the kids played with their cousins and I compared notes with my brother. We've both been busy writing, but while I've been working on a YA fantasy novel, he's been submitting the book based on his dissertation--currently under consideration at Oxford press! I think his news was more exciting than mine--and I'm tremendously proud of him.

Thursday, both of  my brothers came with their families for dinner. I missed seeing my sister--I think this is the first Thanksgiving she's missed. (Living across the country makes it hard). We had lots of food: Dan made some kind of mayonnaise-basted turkey and Brussels sprouts with apples and almonds, my mom made stuffing and sweet potatoes, Jared brought rolls, and Justin and Lia brought pie.

The kids had fun running around with cousins (my mom arranged a scavenger hunt and Lia helped the kids make turkeys out of oreos, chocolate, and candy corn). Jared seems to have become the de-facto climbing toy of choice for the children. (Especially Oliver, who made it hard for Jared to play with the older kids because he kept trying to climb on at the same time).

My mom and I also hit some of the Black Friday sales and I'm happy to report I now have 3/4 of my Christmas shopping done.

Friday afternoon we drove south to Orderville for Dutch Christmas--what I always think of as a family reunion for Dan's mom's family, but what they think of as business as usual. There were around 60 people gathered at a lovely ranch managed by one of Dan's cousins. We stayed in the main lodge--each family had their own room surrounding a central gathering place, so lots of chances to talk with family. We also walked around the ranch, danced in the barn, looked at deer and turkey and pheasants, ate lots of food, exchanged white elephant gifts, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Dan's aunt put together some great scrap books of Dutch Christmases past and I had a lot of fun looking through them, seeing Dan and his cousins as teenagers and then the next generation as babies (the first of the cousin's kids is now 17, almost 18, and planning on a mission next summer). I think it's a great family tradition--I hope that my kids grow to be as good of friends with their cousins as Dan is with his cousins. 

Holidays like Thanksgiving certainly help with that goal.

It was lovely to see everyone--but now the introvert in me wants to hide from people for a day or two. :)

Gratitude

I don't have a lot to report this week--last week was stressful (for reasons that I can't share publicly yet) and Oliver gave me his cold so I spent most of the week sick. Evelyn was home Monday and Tuesday, also sick, and Andrew was home Wednesday with an ear infection.

All things considered, we're happy the week is over.

But today I got to hear some lovely talks on gratitude. And with my Young Women, we read a powerful quote about how gratitude for the gift of a testimony is the start of real conversion.

I have a lot to be grateful for, starting with my husband, who is unfailingly kind and generally unflappable and pretty much the best partner I could ask for in this whole parenting thing. Today I watched him with Oliver during sacrament meeting, their heads bent together, and my heart about burst.

My three kids, who are each challenging and delightful in their own way. Oliver, who wants to do everything his way, but who loves me with an intensity that astounds me. Evelyn, who can be ultra sensitive, but who is friendly and cheerful and kind (like her daddy). Andrew, who's drive to win will undoubtedly make him a great adult (but is sometimes uncomfortable in a kid with limited options), but who is also smart and thoughtful and insightful beyond his years.

I'm grateful to have extended family and friends who trust me to be part of their lives and not to mess things up (a trust, unfortunately, that isn't always fulfilled). For my parents, who have always believed in me. I called my mom earlier this week, feeling stressed, and asking her if they could pray for me. Her answer moved me deeply: "We already are." It's nice to have people in my life who know me so well!

A flexible career that lets me use my mind and help people with something I'm passionate about: words and ideas. I'm grateful for writing and books and all the many friends who share those passions with me. And Dan's career, which is pretty much exactly what he told me he wanted all those years ago when we were dating.

A home in a wonderful community.

And my faith, which lends an undercurrent of meaning to everything else I do.

So this year, going into Thanksgiving, I just want to remember to be grateful for all the things I have--and worry less about things over which I have no control.

Novembering

Sunny and frigid today, a layer of snow on the ground.

Oliver stayed home from church today, thanks to yet another bout of croup. Dan and I got to alternate, which freaked out the children who hadn't gotten the memo that we were switching and had tried, fruitlessly, to find Dan when I was the sole parent at church.

 

 This has been a pretty quiet week. School, work, activities (cub scouts, Young Women), etc.

Andrew has been taking charge of breakfast on a few occasions (his idea, not mine), which sometimes results in nutella and toast for breakfast. Not that the other kids have complained.

On Tuesday, the kids' school had a lovely assembly to honor veterans and, incidentally, recognize the winners for the school's Reflections contest. Andrew won in two categories: literature and music composition. (He really was happier than he looks in these pictures).

His best friend from school was the other winner in music composition for 3-5th grades. I don't think they intended to dress alike. But I'm glad Andrew has a good friend who challenges him academically. (Also, you'll notice the same little girl standing by Andrew in both pictures. The little girl in pink is the sister of the girl in the red polka-dot skirt from the first picture. I think their parents must have helped them enter every category, because all three girls ended up with a fistful of medallions. I'm a little worried, because I think Andrew might have ambitions for next year).

Yesterday, we got to help clean our ward building. It's not my favorite thing to do, especially with children, but I'm grateful for the opportunity because it reminds me to appreciate how much work goes into keeping the building nice. And I was happy to see Evelyn put so much dedication into working--she stayed with me until the bitter end. (Dan had to take the boys home early; Oliver was done).

Perhaps to liven things up, she had her very own 80s themed dance party while Dan worked on dinner.

I think she might be trouble.

Settling in

This week was a little quieter in terms of family activity than most. The kids went to school, Dan went to work, I responded to student essays, Oliver made messes. Pretty typical.

I got to go see Meet the Mormons with the Young Men/Young Women this week and enjoyed it much more than I had expected--it was thoughtful, interesting, and not especially didactic.

This weekend, Dan and Andrew went to the ward cleanup while Oliver, Evelyn and I attempted to clean our house. I managed to get the basement clean--and now it looks worse than ever, since Oliver promptly undid all our work almost as soon as I'd vacuumed.

Dan took the kids to see Hero 6. Evelyn loved it; Andrew is still deciding what he thinks (he was a little traumatized by parts). It never ceases to amaze me how Andrew can be so boisterous one minute and so sensitive the next.

Speaking of Andrew, we got some good news about the school reflections contest, but since that hasn't officially been announced yet, I'll wait and post that next week.

Also, in the spirit of true confession, I spent the middle part of the week a little distracted because of something called Pitch Wars (if you want to know more, follow the link). This week was the agent round, which meant literary agents were reading over the pitches and first pages and commenting if they wanted to see more. And well, this happened. I spent a day or two in a bit of a daze. I realize that just because they liked the first page doesn't mean they'll like the whole novel. But it's a step toward a goal I've had for over twenty five years.

This is Halloween

Last Friday the kids had crazy hair day at school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the kids spent most of this week in anticipation of Halloween, so we'll just skip forward to what was important this week, shall we?

Okay, so these first pictures are actually from a Birthday party Evelyn went to *last* Saturday. We had a hard time getting pictures because Oliver was convinced that the arm slits in the cloak were for him. Evelyn's Halloween costume was Cerise Hood, from Shannon Hale's Ever After High books (the daughter of Red-Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf).

  

 

 

The kids' school sadly has a ban on costumes for Halloween, but we tried to be festive anyway.

 

 

 This was my Halloween partner for the day. He woke up at 5 a.m., so he was charming from about 11:30-nap time. And by charming, I mean, if he was anyone else's kid I would have given him away.

 

 

 Oliver's costume was up in the air until sometime late Friday afternoon. I didn't buy  him a costume--I was waiting to see which of our already purchased costumes he would agree to wear. For a while we thought he might be a tiger, but the elephant won out. I think he liked the elephant head--I had a hard time getting a picture that included his face!

 

 

 Here's Evelyn, ready for her night out with her trusty wolf side-kick.

 

 

And Andrew, well, I'll let his costume speak for itself. We ordered him a black gi and I painted his face and he wore the Jedi cloak my mom made for him last year (ssh, don't tell anyone it's not really a Sith cloak). He enjoyed being menacing. 

We took the kids trick-or-treating at the dorms, and then Dan took Oliver home for bath and bed and the older kids went around our neighborhood. The weather was beautiful--mild and unseasonably warm--probably in the sixties when we came home.

This morning it snowed.

Today was fast Sunday, and I was so proud of both my kids for getting up to bear their testimony. Evelyn told me she wanted to get up, and I offered to go with her. She walked up to the front, stood on the step stool, looked out at the audience--and froze. I don't think she'd realized exactly what it meant to stand up in front of everyone and have them all look at her. She turned to me, eyes wide, and whispered, "what do I say?" I told her a couple of things she could say, and, brave girl, she turned back to the audience and said, "I believe in God. I think we need to be nice to each other and share. I believe in God" (yes, she said that twice) "and Jesus. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

And then Andrew got up. Sometimes he reminds me *so* much of my youngest brother, and this was one of those times. He sounded exactly like a miniature adult. Instead of spouting off the usual things most primary aged kids say, he said, "I'd like to bear my testimony about some things I've been wondering about. I know a lot of us mean to read our scriptures but its hard to find the time and I've been wondering when it would be the best time. If we read at night then it's easy to fall asleep, so maybe it would be good to read them in the morning. But I think anytime we read the scriptures is a good time to read them." He went on like this for a couple of minutes. It was funny to me how much he sounded like a grown-up thinking out loud--and a lot of people commented on his testimony to me at the end. He did bring it back and bear actual testimony about the church and the scriptures and I was so proud of him for being brave enough to stand up and say the things he believes.

Sadly, Dan was in the hallway chasing Oliver at the time, so he missed it.