Gingerbread Houses

After many thoughts of nixing all family activities due to insubordinate behavior by the older ones, I decided to give it one more try.  I'm so glad I did.  This night was practically perfect in every way.  It's tradition to do gingerbread houses before Christmas and Grandma  Green always comes.  I was afraid we weren't going to be able to fit it in this year, but we did.  Stephen had to work and Chelsey wasn't able to make it either but we invited our friend Mike to come help.  We first read the book the Three Trees and talked about the reason we celebrate Christmas.  Then we paired up and began the building.  I had my favorite candle lit and Christmas music in the back ground.  Not one argument.  no fussing, no mishaps... just fun and happiness.  As I sat at the end of the table and observed, I was almost moved to tears being so grateful for this family.  Not always are things rosy and perfect, but there are moments.  And those little moments make it all worth it. ♥

 Whitley's a little mad at me posting this, but it's so great.  I said "smile!", but she had candy in her teeth and was trying to get it out when I snapped the pic.  Classic.

 There was almost as much candy in the teeth as the houses.

 Brooklyn being accused of eating as much as she was decorating.  Notice the "wood pile" on the back of their house.  Grandma asked her to put some on the back to help even out the weight.  I think Gram thought it would be nice like the other side, but Brooklyn just slapped a bunch of pieces on top of each other.  Good times.

Christmas Angels

Every year we try to do something for a family in need.  In my shame, I must admit that it didn't really cross my mind until just a week or so before Christmas.  By then it's a little late to do something truly meaningful and well planned out.  When I was very first married and had Chelsey, I vowed that as long as I could provide Christmas for my own children, I would make sure we did  something for someone elses.  I hate that I had let that slide this year in all that I had going on.  The kids school had a tree in the lobby with Christmas Angel tags.  I normally do not like participating in things like that.  The requested toys were usually outlandish things I can't even afford to buy my own children.  But I was getting desperate.  So I looked at a few of the tags.  They were actually very reasonable so I checked with Glade and decided to go this route.

He was a little opposed because it felt like we were doing something just to say we did something.  Well, you're kind of right.  But to our kids, it's still a lesson of giving.  They don't realize we were slackers and it was a last ditch effort at service and my commitment to my vow.  So for family home evening, we had a lesson on giving, read one of our Christmas books and went shopping for all the tags we got off the tree.  We each took one and got one for Chelsey as well.  She and Spencer met us at Wal Mart to help us shop for the gifts.  It turned out to be a really nice night.  The kids were excited to pick out the gifts and they were gifts I was happy to buy.  It turns out that it was for Cardon's Children's Hospital, not just some random charity.  That made it a little better for me.  We also got a book and tie for a gentleman in our ward who was getting baptized soon.  His wife passed away just before Thanksgiving and he and Glade bonded while he visited her in the hospital.  He doesn't really have any family or friends so we have tried to include him in our activities.  He was very grateful and loved all the hugs from the kids.  I think we did ok this year, even for last minute.

Fever, Puke, Cough, Fever, Snot, Sore throat...

This has been the sickest winter our family has ever had.  We usually go through a brief round of something  but this year it's not been brief and it's not been something, it's been everything.  Bo had a fever off and on for a week.  His nose was so runny it was bloody and crusty most of the time.  Glade also had off and on fever and developed a really bad cough.  He even stayed in bed a while.  You know it's bad when Glade actually acts sick.  Those were the only two until....

Christmas morning I got a call from Whitley at 4:40 am.  I answered with a scolding that it was not yet 5 am so why was she calling me. She informed me that Brooklyn had puked and that she needed to come down so she could get all the smelly stuff out of her room.  Permission granted.  She threw up several times Christmas morning and felt much better by afternoon.  The next day everyone seemed to be fine.  We even went on an impromptu date to see Les Mis with a couple of friends.  We stopped off at Chipotle before the movie for a quick bite to eat.  The movie was pretty good and so was the popcorn!

That night, about 2 am Brooklyn brought a crying Katy to my room and said she had thrown up.  Dang it.  Well, I don't do puke so my fevered husband got up to take care of her.  Not 40 minutes later I was heaving Chipotle into the toilet.  I don't puke. Like ever.  I couldn't believe this was happening to me.  I laid in bed praying it would come out the other end, begging for no more puking.  That wasn't to be my lot.  I puked several more times over the next couple of hours.  My throat was raw and I was exhausted and frustrated.  Early in the morning, Whitley came down to tell me she had been puking for the last couple of hours.  She climbed in bed with me and she and I spent the entire day in bed watching movies.  We both had low grade fevers but were done puking.

Katy had apparently thrown up a few more times that night, but used the bowl and didn't come in to tell us.  As Whitley and I were laying in bed, we heard puking coming from the hall.  Dalin.  I called him in and he said he had been puking a lot of the night.  Later that day Stephen mentioned that he had thrown up at work the night before as well.  That afternoon I took Rhett to a friends house.  When I went to pick him up, he said he wasn't feeling well.  We weren't home an hour before he threw up.  Will it ever end??

That was the last of our puking, but now many are struggling with snot, coughing and sore throats.  Whitley even got so congested that her ear drum burst.  She had a fever and seeping from her ear for several days.  We took her to the doctor and they gave her some meds.  After almost a week of being down, she is finally up and around.  Ear still seeping and she's really tired, but over the worst of it.  Glade's cough continues to hang on, but the mucus and fever have gone.  Luckily for me, other than the puking and a sore throat for a few days after that, I'm good as gold.  No coughing, mucus, fever.. nothing.  I think that's how it's designed.  Things would not go well if I had been as sick as the rest!!

Santa!

The night we went to the Temple, our neighbors, Bro and Sis Winters, were having a special guest at their house until 8 pm.  We rushed home just in time to be able to see Santa.  The kids had seen Santa at our ward party but from what I hear.. Lame.  The party was when I was in Illinois, when I called to see how it all went I heard this "Santa was a fake!!"  Apparently his beard was below his chin and he wasn't nearly chubby enough.  I was seriously disappointed and was not looking forward to going to the mall.  This was the absolute perfect scenario.  We were the last ones to come so we had Santa all to ourselves.  It was very comfortable and not rushed.  I had Whitley give Bo some medicine and get him around so he could at least come see Santa.  So awesome!

 Bo

 Katy

 Whitley

 Brooklyn

 Rhett

 Dalin

Me and my good Friend Alicen.  Poor Santa, with all the flashing his eyes were getting a little kooky

Temple Lights

We had tried to get to the temple a couple of different times, but it just kept not working out.  Finally, less than a week before Christmas, we went.  Unfortunately, Bo came down with a fever after school and just didn't want to wake up to go.  So Whitley stayed at home with him and Nick and Stephen both had to work.  We joined a couple of families to look at lights and have hot chocolate and donuts after.  It was just cold enough to feel good but not be miserable.

 Jordan, Caleb, Rhett, Katy, Colt, Dalin, Kylie, Brooklyn

 All our future brides in front of the temple

Katy and Kylie, BFFs

A Sense of Humor

Ok, I think this is so freakin hilarious... but not all agreed.  Stephen had a gift exchange for choir.  It was supposed to be $10 and secret.  The kids all put down two things they liked.  His kid put down Panda Bears and Candy.  Nice.  He also happened to be moving to Alaska over winter break.  Stephen said he was kind of a quiet awkward kid.  We were coming up blank for Panda's and candy seems like a cop out.  Not to mention Stephen waited till the last minute to mention he needed something.

I came across this little gem and thought it was perfect.  He's moving to Alaska!!  We got quite a laugh out of the whole thing but apparently the kid didn't.  Bummer.  People should laugh more.Ü

Christmas Program

The elementary kids had their program right after I got back into town.  This is the first year this school has been open so I give them a little "pass" on how all this went down.  They didn't let kindergarten participate at all which was a little disappointing.  Bo's class was very first and Dalin's very last.  That makes for a very long two hours in a chair not designed for an adult.  They should have combined classes instead of every grade having three songs, but the stage would have been too small.  With that said, it was still cute.

Dalin had mentioned that he had a little solo part, but made it seem pretty insignificant so I was not prepared to video his performance.  My bad!!  He was so awesome.  One of their songs was a Christmas Rap and Dalin got the only solo (he was the only one that auditioned) that went something like "My name is Rudolph with the bright red nose!"  Let me just say.. Gangsta.  I know I'm biased, but seriously, he was so great.  Many children would have walked forward and mumbled something nervously, but not my kid.  He walked right to the center of the stage and with his booming voice and gangsta gestures let everyone know he was "Rudolph with the bright red nose".  I was so sad I missed it.  Then he went back to his place on the risers and continued on busting moves even though no one else was.  There's no apprehension with this one.  I love it.

 You can see him leaned to the side while everyone else is standing straight.  That's because he was groovin along without a care in the world.

Go Rudolph!!