Temple Square

Tuesday night we went to Temple Square to see the lights. They are so pretty! The following two pictures come from Ev.
 
 
Et pushed little A's stroller around all night. He wasn't too thrilled about waiting for a pictures--also he was competing for pushing rights, which he won. It was a quick walk that night!! Et doesn't waste time.
 
Here's a picture of Et that shows just how fun he really is (as opposed to the previous picture).
 
After looking at the lights we went to the Training Table for dinner and then came home and crashed! All the fun is wearing us out!!

Post Christmas Fun

Monday we went to Grandma O's for our annual gingerbread house party. This year since Uncle M and M were here we also exchanged cousin gifts with the family. We had a yummy dinner, exchanged gifts, and then made gingerbread houses. This was the first year we all baked real gingerbread and preassembled the houses. Our family was lucky Dad has the week off--he did the baking and constructing, something I would never have tried. After seeing him do it I think I can manage just fine next year. Some things are not as difficult as I tend to think they are!

 
All the cousins before the big gift exchange.
 
"Ta Da!" N with his gingerbread house.
 
Ev with her creation.
 

 

Iv made some kind of marshmallow world and Et had help from Dad and Uncle W to make a great porch out of pretzels. A bunch of fun and chaos! We had TONS of candy this year since we all bought it during the after Christmas sales!

Christmas Day

This year Grandma Linda and Grandpa Charlie came to our house! We had so much fun with them. They got to see our Santa Cookies (Vince and the kids made those) and be with us for our candlelight nativity story. We had pizza for dinner Christmas Eve and a ham dinner Christmas Day. We were so glad they got to come! Here are a few pictures of the kids. Et was quite sick the whole time--we felt bad for him!

 

 

 

 

PS

It occurred to me that Et is like Anne (although he would HATE knowing that I compared him to ANY girl!). But sometimes, even though he has the best intentions, things just go wrong for him--just like Anne.

Anne

Today I finished reading "Anne of Green Gables". I remember thinking as a girl that it was a pleasant read. As an adult I have found it enlightening. In our house I. is our imaginative pretend play person. She is very dramatic just like Anne. As I was reading the book over the last several days I kept thinking of I. Then today I was going to say "No" to Ev about having a floating candle centerpiece for Christmas dinner but I thought about Anne and how much these things meant to her and realized that maybe Ev is not so different either. So we went to the store to get floating candles--only we couldn't find any. Does anyone know if you can take tea light candles out of their metal bottoms and float them? Or float them with their metal bottoms? I know NOTHING about floating candles. Because I have a lot in common with Marilla Cuthbert, apparently.

You Know It's Christmas Break at the O's when:

1. Et wakes up unaided at 5:30 AM--keeping in mind that he missed his ride one day this week and had to RUN to school!!
2. N wakes up with a great case of pink eye
3. It's almost 9:30 and only one child has asked for breakfast--a difference from regular days when 4 are demanding food at 6:30-7:00
4. Kids are fighting over the snow shovel. Now that we know where it is, that is. Yesterday I shoveled half the front yard steps and driveway with a regular shovel until I discovered N was shoveling the back yard with our snow shovel!
5. Ev is begging for a shopping trip--this is not totally new, although she is way more demanding when she knows I "don't have anything else to do". She loves to shop! Must get that from Grandpa C.
6. Kids are all of a sudden REALLY concerned about their Christmas gifts.
7. We didn't see I. until after 9:00

The best part of this Christmas break is the 8" of snow we got yesterday!!!!! YAAAAY!

Wonderful Husband

 

Look at these beautiful flowers that V sent me on our anniversary this last Tuesday!! V. was so thoughtful. I am sorry it took so long to get a picture of them blogged, but the stars have finally aligned and I have actually posted a photo that I recently took--we have charged batteries, camera cord, etc. Except that I don't even want to figure out right now how to get the picture turned right.

Last night we went ice skating as a family at V's work party. It was soooooo much fun! We had dinner and then the kids and V skated. I can't skate. Ev looked more graceful skating than she does walking. Et is also a great skater--maybe because he is afraid of nothing. He had a spill and has a fat lip, but is OK with it. Unless Ev asks if he is OK, and then "she's making fun of me!!!" OK--maybe she was in her own way. I. spent more than an hour going around and around hugging the wall. At one point Ev tried to help her and I had to laugh because I. reminded me of Fred Flinstone--lots of feet movement and no momentum. At the end of the evening she declared herself a great ice skater because she managed to get around the rink not touching the wall. N had help the whole night but had a blast. The kids also sat on Santa's lap, all of them. Because they wanted the little stocking of treats. We roasted marshmallows and had hot chocolate at the end. It was the best Christmas party V's work has sponsored. We loved it!!! I felt like I was in a movie--Christmas lights, Christmas music, fire to warm your hands, kids falling on the ice, marshmallows,..... It was the perfect family party for us--and we needed it!!

I have no pictures of it because--no surprise here--I forgot the camera. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had any good pictures anyway because my camera's not good enough for pictures in the night. But someone was taking pictures of the kids on Santa's lap and we'll probably get copies of those! N actually talked to Santa this time--it was his fourth visit with Santa since last Saturday!! He's warming up to the big red guy!!!

13 Down 2 To Go

Performances, that is. Since the end of October members of our family have performed in at least 13 different events. We have one more on Saturday and I have a piano solo Sunday and then we are DONE!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAY!! Please don't be confused--we have really enjoyed ourselves and would do it all again if we had the opportunity. But surely you can understand that we are starting to show signs of exhaustion! Just getting to the performances is a challenge not to mention learning (and practicing) concert manners, having clean (which I keep explaining to my boys means not slept in) clothes that have no wrinkles, hair combed, pieces practiced and ready to perform,............ Of course not every family member had to attend all these events--we even let Et read a book in the hall for one of them. But making arrangements for babysitting adds another challenge and it is good for the kids to see each other so we have tried to take the whole family a few times.

I hope when you read this you don't get the wrong idea--because I have mentioned to a few friends that I am ready for them to be over and I get looks (and even responses) that suggest the following:
1. I should be grateful to have such a great musical gift (of course I am grateful--I'm just tired!!)
2. I should be grateful to have kids that can play so well. As if I'm not! But this comment also leads me to believe that people think my kids can just get up there and do great things because it's easier for them or something like that. The truth is we all practice A LOT to pull this stuff off! The kids work hard!! Right now there is at least 2.5 hours of practicing happening in this house every day by the three kids. When I have to practice there is even more. And we are tired right now--because we have been practicing SO MUCH! So we're a little tired--I think I've mentioned that.
3. I should just "enjoy every minute because someday they will be all grown up and then I won't get to do all this stuff with them". As if I don't enjoy them--I really do and I really have--which is why I love to go to all of these things. I hope when I "grow up" I remember that I never really found this comment very helpful in any situation. I like it when people just laugh with me--because at this stage laughter makes a BIG difference! And I am sure in the future I will need people to cry with me.

Here's what I am looking forward to next week starting Sunday after church:
1. LISTENING to Christmas music
2. Not having to go anywhere
3. Not having people at the house every day (no piano lessons for two weeks--a vacation is always nice)
4. Wearing sweats and/or pj's whenever I want--so can the kids. They can even wear clothes that they have slept in--for a couple of nights even! N can even just wear his underwear if he wants to--and no one will be here to be surprised or horrified by that (not to mention that I won't have to chase him down and forcibly dress him)--except I.--who is probably trying to ACT horrified.
5. Exercising--I haven't had time for that for a while
6. Reading with the kids--time to get back to Book of Mormon reading. And we are going to read The Candy Shop War over the break
7. Making cookies with the kids--at our convenience
8. Watching Christmas movies--my favorite is It's a Wonderful Life
9. Playing games with the family--right now we like Clue.
10. SLEEPING IN!!!!!

4 MORE DAYS AND COUNTING

Pictures

We put a bounty on the camera cord, and $2 and 2 later we had success!! I'll get some good pictures of the kids in the next week but for today I thought I would show these. They are cakes from birthdays this fall. They were a serious challenge to my creative abilities, but the kids were really excited about their cakes--I think when I go to the effort to create something special just for them it makes them feel great.

We're Published!!

We are very excited--our second family history book is finished, published, and available for ordering! In a few weeks I will start the next project--a hard cover production of my father's mission letters, pictures, etc. At one time a few years ago, the thought came to me that it would be nice to have a shelf in our library full of family history books. I imagined the kids reading them and looking at the pictures and stuff. At the time I couldn't picture having a shelf of these books--now I can see that happening--but I can't picture the kids enjoying them! I will have to readjust my vision to that of adult kids enjoying the books.

Favorite quotes of the week:

1. "I cleaned up because that's what six-year-olds do. Other kids don't obey mom because they are not six but I am six and so I clean up because six-year olds are very smart and they do what their mothers tell them to. Right Mom?" This is where I said something like "that's great--what do seven year olds do?" I got an exasperated look. This all came from our favorite six year old--I. I. said these things on the first good day after three days of some MAJOR lapses in judgment. I.'s quotes are longer than the others because I. talks a lot.

2. "I'm like a grown up now......................................I buy cheap stuff." --Et, of course....... or should I say ET???? He's the money guy.

3. "Mom, if Et complains about me getting a dress then can I tell him to wear it?" --Ev, always planning ahead.

4. "Did Ho Ho come?" "Where's Ho Ho?" "When is Ho Ho coming?" I have a calendar and I am starting to wonder. N frequently asks questions about Ho Ho. Tomorrow he gets to meet Ho Ho!

Ev performed with her chamber group today--it was fantastic!

I am finally joining the blogging world! Maybe I will do a better job of recording some of the fun things that happen in our family. Here is the story that inspired it all:

The other day I painted a wall in the boys' room brown (it was yellow). My neighbor made some pillows, pillowcases and curtains so the boys have three basic colors: brown, orange, and navy blue. They have been VERY excited to have orange in their room, but I got the painting done a couple of weeks earlier than I thought I would. When Ev came home she looked and said, "Wow--that looks great mom! I love the orange stuff! I can't believe you painted the wall today!" When Et came home he said, "YES! I love the orange stuff--my curtains are sooo cool! Why does my room smell like paint?" I told him it was because I painted his wall brown at which point he insisted that it was always brown! When V. came home I asked how he liked it and he said that the curtains and pillow looked really great. I asked him if that was all he noticed and he said "Yeeees, but I'll go look again!" Like father like son!!!