K is for Kid Writes Book, Mom Illustrates

"The Mom's Pokemon Cards"

by Andrew Larsen 

illustrated by Kelli

"That's nice Pokemon cards"

"well yes they are" said Kelli, "but I would  have a pet puppy. I'm always alone."

"I don't have a pet puppy, but I know someone who do."

"Thats a nice pet puppy."

"Well yes it is," said Wolf, "But I would rather have Dogman Brawl of the Wild because I read the other books."

"I don't have Dogman Brawl of the Wild but I know someone who do."

"That's a nice Dogman Brawl of the Wild book."

"Will yes it is. But I would rather have a Dogman Unleashed bookmark."

"I don't have it but I know someone who do."

"That's a nice Dogman Unleashed Bookmark."

"Will yes it is but I would rather have a mitten."

"Wait I do."

(Andrew tells me to draw his hand in his pocket)

"Here's my mitten"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now can I have the book mark?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

"Can I have Dogman Brawl of the Wild Book for this Dogman Unleashed bookmark?"

"Yeah!!"

"Okay."

"Can I have that pet puppy for this Dogman Brawl of the Wild book?"

"Yeah!!"

"Okay."

"Can I have those Pokemon cards for this pet puppy?"

"Sure."

The End

**He got the idea from the book "The Scarecrow's Hat".

Christmas!

 Christmas Sunday:

The kids got to open a present on Sunday (church sweaters!).

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Avery. She got to give a talk in our Christmas Sacrament meeting. She talked about shepherds. She memorized Luke 2:8. 

It was awesome. 

 Christmas Eve:

Christmas eve is such a fun and torturous day for kids.

This year the weather was so warm! 

We went down to Pt Whitehorn to kill some time while the turkey smoked. 

These are the kids' ornaments of 2018.

The package said that they are made from a tree that actually grew in Jerusalem. 

I will just pretend like that is the honest truth. 

One day Andrew brought me this ornament and said, "this is Lisa and Joe, right?"

It might as well be! They look the exact! 

Andrew cracks me up.

See? And actually Joe currently has a long Jewish beard, so he looks even more like Joseph. 

I got exited about bunting this year. 

I love Nettie's lettering skills on our Christmas card. 

Evan "opened" the envelope, and I was able to stop him from ripping it to shreds. 

Anyway, Christmas eve was lovely. The beach, smoked turkey, two kinds of pie. 

The kids were crazy with anticipation. I forced them outside for an hour. They teamed up with neighborhood kids and went to a few houses singing "We wish you a merry Christmas". 

When they came to sing at our door, I was like "what is that terrible noise?". 

We opened jammies (everyone in the Larsen side had matching!)

watched The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

sang The Nativity Song

then went to bed. 

The kids were so sweet. They hugged us and we hugged them and there were lots of "Merry Christmas"es. 

 Christmas Day:

So much anticipation. So much excitement. 

I feel so strange this year in that I don't think we were able to meet expectations. I don't even know how to write about it, but it was just a weird year. I think it has something to do with the age the two olders are at. 

Andrew's expectations were met and exceeded. 

I don't know. I have thought this to death and talked it to death, so I'm sick of it. But I do want to remember it. 

But I also want to forget it.

So lets just move on and focus on the good and lovely of the day. 

Evan asked for a hot wheels garage, but Santa brought him snap circuits instead. It was a Christmas miss. I don't want to talk about it. 

Andrew got his Alvin stuffy. Grandma Larsen sent him that awesome matching hoodie.

Mary quilt! Perfect for a Christmas nap. I love the mushroom/gnome fabric a freakish amount.

See those skis behind me? I was really excited about that present...the kids were not. 

Maybe they will have fun once we go up the mountain and try them out?

We play musical quilt. Tonight is Andrew's turn to sleep with it. 

My neighbor and friend Jessica has a screen printer, so I made the whole family Galbraith tees. That was a fun surprise. 

Avery got kinetic sand. She's at a tricky age where she doesn't really know what she wants. 

I don't want to talk about it. 

Andrew knows exactly what he wants. He knows how to play with the things he wants. 

5 year olds are just so easy! It's so simple. 

He asked for a "ninjago suitcase" so that red thing is what I came up with. 

He got a lego set and he is so good at putting it together!

He kept saying "I can't wait to finish so I can play with it!"

and I was thinking "you are playing with it" and I didn't think he would do much more with it once it was built, 

but of course Andrew knows how to play and after it was built he spent the next hour playing a ninjago scenario of capture and release and redemption and the bad guy deciding to be a good guy...

I put the tree and decorations away today, and I don't know how I missed it, but the entire month of December is a blur. It went so fast I truly don't remember it. Did it really happen? 

Andrew came in and saw me cleaning -  lip quivering he said, "I don't want Christmas to be over". 

Yard! Before and After

Me and Jim were looking at some pictures of our yard in the "before" stage, and I can't believe the difference! 

So much work going on out there. 

I love that we did it all from scratch. 

The grass, the garden, the fence, the clearing of the blackberries. All from sweat and elbow grease. 

Garden area before there was a fence over there and before there were garden boxes...

After. 

Jim built the fence and the boxes. We filled the boxes full of dirt with a shovel. 

I'm learning what works in a garden and what doesn't work. 

My dahlias over in the far box are killing it this year. I can't wait for them to bloom. 

Standing on the porch: before.

Standing on the porch: after.

Jim built the fence, cleared blackberries, planted grass.

The hammock/fairy trees: before.

After. 

One of the hammocks ripped. I replaced it with the hammock Jim got from a Brazilian street vendor on his mission. No kids are allowed on it (unless they sit in it with me). 

Before

After.

Jim built the trampoline. 

View from our bedroom before.

After. 

The tramp migrates around every time I mow the lawn. 

Brazilian hammock.

Fence in progress,

Fence complete.

We love our neighbors over there, but their little girl is getting older, so they are in their yard more, and it started getting awkward when we were both outside at the same time. It was like we were in each other's living room. 

Now we have privacy, but it still feels open and friendly. 

Roses are blooming!

And the fairy garden got a new door today. 

Aren't before and afters fun?