December

I love, love, love being home with Ivy each day. She is just so fun. We made some Christmas Chex Mix cookie bars and she got her own bowl of goodies to mix up and then eat.

We brought back the "jingle a neighbor" tradition that we started last year. We tried to go every weekend but some weekends were busy and we had to do them during the week. But we did go 4 times during the month.

Molly had her friend, Roxy Tobler, over for a late night and she got to go with us that first time.

We went down to Bountiful for our annual dinner with our Logan friends, the White's and the Henri's. It's a night we all look forward to-good food and catching each other up on our lives. Camille and Matt watched our kids for us this time and that was nice of them. As we were walking out of the restaurant after dinner, Justin hurried me ahead and whispered to me not to be mad but that he had told Rich that we would take home two of their kittens. He had forgotten to tell me but it was too late to ask permission since Rich and Serra had driven them down from Wellsville. The kids were delighted. We surprised them at the Tanner's house when we picked them up and they took turns holding them on their laps the whole drive home.

Molly was at a birthday party so didn't know about the kittens until we picked her up and so we surprised her when she got in the car.

One funny thing about this is that is was exactly one year to the date that Justin surprised us all by bringing home a puppy. I told him he better stop surprising me with animals!

I actually don't mind cats because they are so easy and low-maintenance to take care of. These kittens were already litter box trained so I didn't have to do any of that. They stayed in the house for the first six weeks and have since been moved out to the garage and will eventually graduate to be outside mouser cats when they are bigger and it warms up. They were so tiny when we first brought them home and they mostly stayed in the laundry room or the kitchen and rarely ventured into the rest of the house. Once they started to explore more and more (and got bigger), they got kicked out to the garage.

We decided that one was a boy and one a girl and ended up naming them Hagrid and Sofia after two of our favorite characters. I'm not much of an animal lover but I have to admit, they are cute little things!

One of my favorite traditions is to watch the Christmas Devotional and eat caramel popcorn. I've been making the same recipe for years but totally messed it up this year. It was way too gooey but we still enjoyed it. I was kind of bummed a few years ago when they changed it so that it wasn't just the First Presidency who spoke, but I really enjoyed all the talks this year and thought they were such good messages. The music is always the best.

Also like last year, we did away with the advent activities-it was just too much work and stress for me to do an activity every day. We made our Christmas bucket list and that way we could choose what we wanted to do when it worked with our {sometimes crazy} schedule. I think we were able to cross almost everything off the list.

With our ward splitting just a few months earlier and getting new auxiliary presidencies and all the craziness that ensued from that, our ward was never told when it was our night to use the Pinewood Derby equipment. By the time someone told them, it was way too late to put it together and get car kits to all the boys. I was so super bummed because I was really looking forward to watching Stockton do a Pinewood Derby. I only have one boy and he only has 4 years in Cubscouts so I was feeling a little jipped. To their credit, they did throw together a Rain Gutter Regatta which is not quite as time intensive. Stockton still had fun painting and decorating a boat for the activity.

The object was to blow your boat down the rain gutter (filled with water) and the first to the end was the winner. Stockton lost all his races-it was tiring to keep blowing as hard as he could and he ran out of breath quickly-but I don't think that bothered him at all. Aren't boys in Scout uniforms the cutest?

Kyson McAffee and Stockton

Brynn kept telling me that she was writing a book in class and was so excited about it. Well, she finally brought it home, brimming with pride about it and read it to anyone who would listen.

Here's the real story behind it: When we were at Sea World in April, we had ended up breaking away from the big group and it was just our family and we were exploring the arctic exhibit. There were some snow caves at one spot and the three older kids were exploring and playing in them. We started to walk down the hall to the next exhibit-I got about 15 seconds away and realized Brynn hadn't come out with Molly and Stockton. So I ran back and got Brynn-it was so short but it was long enough for Brynn to realize that she was by herself and to start panicking. It traumatized her for a while, even when we got home she had a hard time going to bed or being by herself. I had to reassure her over and over that I would never, ever leave her. She's okay now, but obviously still remembers it. I was a little embarrassed that she wrote about getting lost because it's wasn't completely like that. But I sure have a gem of a book that I get to keep!

Making red and green playdough is a tradition that dates way back...I made glittery pink playdough for Molly the very first year I did the advent activities with her. I changed it to red and green after that but I think I've made it almost every year since then. I try to make it at the beginning of the month so the kids can play with it all month long. I will be sad when the kids are too old for playdough and we don't do this anymore.

Ivy got a date with me and Justin-Justin had a lunch in Orem so I dropped him off, took the car to get the tires rotated, and then did some window shopping at the mall while we waited for him to finish. Then we did some shopping that we couldn't do on Amazon. Justin bought Ivy a chocolate that she thoroughly enjoyed.

We made snowflakes. I sat down with the kids to fold papers for them and ended up making some myself. I looked up some different ways to fold the paper to make 6-pointed snowflakes and that was fun.

Later that afternoon, I took Molly down to her soccer games in Lindon and while we were gone, Justin got busy with the snowflakes. I was thinking I would string all the snowflakes on some white yarn and hang them in the big kitchen window, but Justin had grander plans. This is what we saw when we first walked in the door that night. He had gotten the ladder out and draped them across the big beam in the kitchen. We left them that way clear until the end of January and I loved them!

We had Justin's work party at our house again this year. The branch decided they wanted to to have crepe bar. I told Justin he was crazy and that it would take him forever to make almost 100 crepes. But he did it anyway. Molly helped him-she was a quick study and with two pans going, they made them a lot quicker than I thought they would. We froze them until the day of the party and then thawed them all day and put them in a casserole pan and warmed them on a lower heat in the oven. I also made buttermilk syrup and fresh whipped cream. Justin did sausage and eggs. His employees brought fruit, nutella, and other toppings for crepes, along with chocolate milk and orange juice and it actually ended up being delicious and not as much work as I was thinking. Much better than two years ago when I made three different flavors of pork tenderloin and 4 pans of baked mashed potatoes-now that was stressful!

For the past several years, I have seen a coupon on KSL for a Christmas boat cruise down a stretch of the Provo River. I've always wondered what it was like and if it was any good, so this year I decided we would go and try it. It wasn't spectacular and we probably won't do it again, but it was still fun to do something a little different. We went on a Monday night for FHE and ended up on a raft with a single's ward. It was a little awkward sitting across from a boy and girl who obviously had just met and were asking all the awkward first date questions. They were very nice and took our picture and I hope things have worked out for them. 😉

Kitty love was still going strong a couple weeks after we brought them home. I had to make a rule for Brynn that she couldn't touch a kitten in the morning until she was completely ready for school. Also, I love this picture for two reasons: 1. Brynn's crossed eyes. 2. Ivy's booger bubble-look close, it's in the left nostril.

We wrapped presents. These are the presents that they give each other. Justin and I pick them out and then Justin takes the kids up in our room to wrap them. Obviously, they have to wait downstairs with me while their present is getting wrapped. Then they get a shake, we take a picture, and they stay under the tree until Christmas morning. I love hearing things like, "I can't wait for you to open your present. You are going to love it!" all season long.

Our new Christmas book this year was The Littlest Angel. I bought this because it is a favorite of mine from when I was a little girl and my mom would read it to me. I've always wanted to add it to our collection. We opened it two days late and got to very few of our nightly books this year but that's okay. We read when we could and enjoyed it when we had the chance.

The book is a little longer and does have some big words in it. Molly enjoyed it the most. Brynn tried hard but she fell asleep before it was finished. I left her snuggling with Justin while I put the rest of the kids in bed.

We celebrated our 14th anniversary on the 13th. We were able to celebrate that weekend-Justin was working at the Star Wars premier in Orem so that got us both in free to the movie.

Molly's been playing indoor soccer/futsal all winter. The games are either in Salt Lake or Lindon which is a pain but she is enjoying it and I do think it's helping her improve her game. During their last game before Christmas, they were down to not many players and the girls had to rotate playing goalie. Molly got her chance and I was actually surprised at how well she did! I don't think she'll turn into a goalie ever but I think she kind of had fun trying it out in a low-pressure situation.

That game was in Salt Lake and my mom and dad had met us there so they could watch her play so we decided to head over to Temple Square to see the lights. (Justin stayed home to work on a secret Christmas project for one of the kids.) We knew it would be busy (it was a Saturday, one week before Christmas, and also the same night as the MoTab's concert) but we still thought it would be fun. Holy cow, it was crazy! It took me probably an hour to find a spot to park. My mom and dad beat me there so they got in line at McDonald's to get the kids some dinner. Then my mom got in line at a different place so the grown-ups didn't have to eat the same thing as the kids. It was really lucky that we even found a spot to sit. I have never, ever seen it so packed.

Once we actually got outside and starting walking around, it didn't seem so bad. We were able to enjoy the lights outside and got a good spot to see the nativity. We thought about seeing the Christus but the line was a two hour wait and so decided it probably wasn't worth it. Even though it was so crowded you can't be there, especially at Christmastime, and not feel peace and love and the special spirit that is there.

Ivy fell asleep somewhere between the reflecting pool and the nativity.

Ivy woke up in time to see the amazing candy windows at Macy's. We all loved these!

In the end, I think even my dad was happy we went (he was not a fan of the crowds at the food court). I know I had a good time and so did the kids. We hadn't planned on going this year because we did the boat cruise so I'm glad we made it work on a day we were already in town.

We never got around to writing letter's to Santa at the beginning of the season and then I didn't mention it because Santa got a head start on Christmas and was done early. He didn't want any surprises! Stockton and Brynn did end up writing letters on their own in the days leading up to Christmas. Luckily they didn't ask for any surprises so it was all good.

Stockton wanted the I Survived book series and a Jerry Rice jersey.

We had the Goodrich Christmas Eve party about a week before Christmas Eve. We had our candlelight appetizer dinner (sooooo good!) and sang songs around the piano. The kids usually play in the basement while the adults do the singing. There wasn't a lot of time for the nativity but Gene and April did have us go outside and light candles and tell how we know that Jesus loves us. It was great to hear answers from adults and kids.

Stockton's name was picked out of a jar to be the star in the Primary nativity one Sunday.

Another new thing we tried this year was the live nativity that they do here in Heber. I guess they've done it for several years but I only heard about it this year. I thought it was outside in the rodeo arena and had dressed everyone super duper warm. It turned out to be inside but we shed some layers in the car and weren't too overdressed. They had free hand pies and hot chocolate as you walked in. There were some musical groups singing hymns as you entered. The live nativity was so neat and it is definitely something that we will be attending every year. We loved it and afterwards you could go down on the dirt and see the animals up close.

Christmas storytime at the library. Miss Sally dressed up as a reindeer and did a lot of silly dancing. Ivy loved it and was not too shy to go up on stage and dance around with her.

I was in charge of Brynn's classroom party. I planned a game and the other moms did sugar cookies, a craft, and Bingo. I made a jingle bell toss game. I wrapped a piece of cardboard, hot-glued small red cups to the top (with two on the bottom to prop it up at an angle), and then had the kids try to toss small jingle bells in the cup. I had chocolate milk for prizes and we also read books when we were done.

Ivy is my tag-a-long at the school whenever I'm there. She was delighted that one of the moms let her decorate and eat a cookie.

I did my piano party. It hasn't changed at all since the first time I did it so long ago. We played Bingo and the students played their Christmas songs for each other. Brynn played "Pat-a-Cake" on her violin because I ran out of time to teach her a Christmas song. Chloe and Samantha only started with me in November and December but they were also able to learn songs to perform.

Molly, Stockton, Easton Anderson, Brynn, Chloe Mitchell, Samantha Steiner

(I have taken on three new students since Christmas which is great, but makes after school just a little more hectic than it already was!)

We didn't get our craft done until Christmas break. I thought these newspaper crafts were cute so I had each of the kids choose the one they wanted. Stockton and Brynn rushed through theirs...Molly's took quite a bit longer and she got bored of it quickly but I made her finish. Definitely not as cute as last year's handprint angels (probably one of my favorite crafts I've ever done with my kids) but they looked cute hanging in the window for a week or so.

The kids (minus Ivy) slept by the tree.

We invited our friends, the Steiner's, over to decorate sugar cookies for Santa. I had made one batch initially but it looked like they were flying through the cookies so I quickly made a second batch for them to decorate. That turned out to be unnecessary since they all ran off to play and Tricia and I were left to decorate the whole second batch of cookies. They were so yummy though, and we were able to use all of our excess to jingle three different families that night.

Stockton, Jake, Brynn, Ivy, Carli, Samantha, Molly

Bethlehem Dinner was something everyone wanted to do again, especially Molly. We did that on the Friday night before Christmas. We had rustic rosemary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping, summer sausage, cashews, grapes, cheese, olives, dried mangoes, and popcorn shrimp. The kids made up their own costumes and we watched Christmas Mormon Messages on the computer.

I felt bad because Molly was really looking forward to Bethlehem Dinner but she wasn't feeling well that night. She had been to soccer practice at the rec center earlier in the evening and just said she started to feel sick to her stomach in the middle of practice. She hardly ate anything that night or the next day. Brynn woke up that night throwing up. Ivy threw up the next day. Justin threw up on Christmas Eve. I was so worried we would have sick kids for Christmas but, thankfully, everyone felt better right after they threw up. Molly never threw up but was better after a day and neither Stockton or I got anything, which was a blessing. Being sick on Christmas seems so unfair-there are 364 other days to be sick!

The kids waited all month long for snow. They were starting to get worried that there would be no snow for Christmas. They were so happy when it snowed on the night of the 22nd/23rd and even though some didn't feel great, they still made it outside for a little while to enjoy the snow. We've had so little snow this winter but it was a white Christmas, so hurray for that!