December

Trying to catch up . . .
Here's December in a nutshell:

Do you wanna Build a Snowman?

It's important to make a snowman if it snows during the night.  You might be late for school, but the snowman is important, because if you live in Albuquerque, the snow will probably be melted by the time you get home, and there's just no sayin' when the next snow will be.  

And since you're already late for school, you may as well take a minute to thaw out and enjoy some hot cocoa with toast.

Carols & Cocoa

Something new I tried this year that ended up being super fun.  I almost didn't plan it because Arthur was out of town the only available Monday night, but then I just went for it after all.  I invited a few families to come over for family home evening and sing Christmas carols.  The kids wore pajamas, and we sang group carols, and listened to some of the kids play the piano or other instruments. And some of the families had special carols to share with the group as well.  It also happened to be Jared Staten's 17th birthday, so we sang him a few birthday songs.  After the caroling we enjoyed a hot chocolate bar with plenty of add-ins to choose from.  Definitely a tradition I will keep.

Dallin, Daphne and I playing "The First Noel" as a trio

hot chocolate bar!

River of Lights

We've lived in ABQ for 10 years and this was our first time going to River of Lights.  And that's because Dallin's show choir was caroling there, and I was driving.  I left Bennett with the Murray's when I picked up their son (also in show choir) but took my other four to walk around with me while Dallin caroled.  

River of Lights is at the Botanical Gardens--during the holidays they have thousands of light sculptures and you just walk through the gardens enjoying live music and twinkling lights.  It was beautiful!  I've heard horror stories about the hoards of people there, but the particular night we went was a week night so it wasn't overly crowded (which I think would have killed the experience for me, so I was glad for the weeknight excursion!)

We stopped to listen to Five Star's performance, which was great, but I couldn't see Dallin.  This is the best shot I could get of him.  He's behind the little blondie on the right.

Another highlight of December was that Dallin was ordained a deacon and passed the sacrament for the first time.  Obviously no pictures of that.  It's pretty cool to see him at church fulfilling his Priesthood duty.

We hosted a neighborhood get-together, which was sparsely attended, but I'm glad we did it anyway.  It's good to reach out to your neighbors even if they aren't overly interested in reaching back.  You never know when someday they might need a hand and they'll be glad yours was extended.

Of course there's always the gift wrapping, trips to the post office, planning and preparing gifts, baking, writing and sending out christmas letters.  Arthur and I were kind of playing Christmas-newsletter-chicken, waiting for the other person to step up and take it on.  But when Arthur pointed out that he wrote it last year, I reluctantly accepted my turn.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

One Sunday afternoon I read this to the kids.  I remember my mom reading this to me, so I ordered a copy on Amazon and read it to them in one sitting while they lay on the floor snuggled in blankets.  They loved it!  Just like I did when I was a kid.  "Hey!  Unto you a child is born!"

Ward Christmas Party/Visit with Santa

Sean asked for an iPod touch, Hayden asked for an iPad mini, and Sydney asked for a Frozen doll.  Santa laughed at Sean and Hayden and gave each of the children a candy cane.  Sydney walked over to me dejectedly and cried, "Santa not give me a Frozen doll!!!"  She'd been anticipating all December long her talk with Santa and thought he'd be giving it to her right then.  After all, I kept saying, "why don't you ask Santa to bring you a Frozen doll for Christmas?"  Poor little thing.  After all, she wasn't asking for an iPad mini!  Not to worry, though, she wasn't disappointed on Christmas Day.

Violining at a Rest Home

Dallin and Daphne's violin teacher set up a little Christmas performance at a rest home here in town.  They played several Christmas carols, and while they played, Bennett and I made friends with a lovely little lady named Louise.  She was so sweet, and LOVED Bennett.  She wanted to hold him and he played with her wheelchair and the zipper on her sweater and her boney hands until he could be contained no longer and had to be put down.  It was very fun to talk to her, and I keep meaning to take the kids back to visit her again.  The performance was also very nice.  The kids played well and looked wonderful in their Sunday best.

Those were our December highlights.  I'll have another post coming soon about Christmas in Georgia.

A Child is Born

December 6 & 7, 2013
(I'm writing in January, but trying to date these catch-up posts close to when they actually happened.)

We began the month of December with our Stake's annual "A Child is Born" event.  My part in this event is the concert.  This year we did selections from "Messiah."  I prepared the choir, and handed over the conducting of the actual concert to Brother Jim Thompson, who asked me to sing a couple of the soprano solos, which I was happy to do.  (Since I've been the Stake Choir director for 8 years, I don't get to actually sing in these concerts very often.)  I began to prepare my solos in September, but couldn't practice very much because I was experiencing severe allergies that left my voice hoarse.  In October, my voice was still having trouble, and finally in November I went to see an ENT.  After scoping me they determined that there weren't any nodules, but my vocal chords were swollen--I got on some medication to reduce the swelling and the nasal drainage in the back of my throat.

I also got a priesthood blessing from Arthur.  In the blessing, he said that my voice would be fine to sing the solos and I would be pleased with my performance.  I was assured by that blessing because I think we are all our worst critic, and if I could be pleased with my performance, it would be pretty good.  I grew nervous, however, as the weeks went by with little improvement to my vocal quality, and therefore not very much practicing.

When the day of the performance arrived, I was in tears because my voice still wasn't where I'd wish it to be.  But I tried to have faith in my priesthood blessing and just prayed and prayed.  And that night when it came time for me to sing, my voice was clear and agile and I was pleased with my performance.  The second night, I was nervous because I thought my performance might be a little  disappointing in comparison with the first performance.  But the second night was even better!  And several of the choir members told me they thought so too!  I couldn't believe it.

So here's my witness that prayer works and the Priesthood power is real.  Heavenly Father gave me a voice to sing praise to His Son those two nights when I hadn't had a voice for months.  I have continued to have problems with my voice being hoarse for the rest of December and into January with sicknesses and allergies and who knows what else.  But for those two nights, he gave me an angel's voice.  And I am grateful.

Me (and Bennett) before Friday night's performance.

November Quotes

Sydney: (quoting Tangled) "Ahhh, the Snuck-ehling Duck-ehling."

Sydney:  Mom, can we go to Chick-Fil-A?  

(Sydney asks me this question every time I pick her up from preschool.  This is an extremely dangerous question, because I am particularly susceptible to the Chick-Fil-A temptation.  And especially if it's just Sydney and me to pay for  . . .)

At Hayden's parent/teacher conference, Miss Phillips told me a cute story about Hayden.  She said the new school counselor is legally blind and came to talk the class one day.  The children were asking her questions.  One asked her if she could go to a doctor to get her eyes fixed.  She told them her eyes couldn't be fixed by a doctor.  Then Hayden raised his hand and said, "Don't worry.  When you get resurrected, your eyes will see perfect."

Sean:  Can I have screen time?

Me:  Have you read your scriptures yet?

Sean:  Yes, I read them. 

Me:  What did you read about today? 

Sean:  Oh, just some battles and whatnot.  The Lamanites are having a big battle.  Kinda reminds me about Star Wars.  How the Empire decided to strike first instead of waiting for the other guys to attack.

(Hey, whatever it takes to stay engaged, right?)

Sydney:  Can the Carter's come to our house tonight?

Me:  No, they are coming to watch you tomorrow.

Sydney:  When we go home, we will sleep and sleep and sleep and then tomorrow, the Carter's will come visit!  I like the Carters because they are just so happy.

Hayden's response to the Bishop's question during tithing settlement:   Heavenly Father opens up the windows in heaven and pours out a bunch of blessings on us.  

(that boy has been paying attention in primary!)

During a scary part in a Harry Potter movie,  Sydney said while covering her face, "Hurry, everybody--don't look!"

Hayden:  I totally don't have the priesthood yet!

Hayden is really excited about Dallin's recent ordination to the priesthood.  He has been going around telling anyone who will listen, "Hey, Dallin is in the priesthood now.  Dallin is in the Aaronic priesthood."

At Stake Conference, Sean ran into our former Bishop in the bathroom.  Bishop told him he was looking' good in his suit and he'd better be careful because all the girls would start chasing him.  Sean gave him a terrified look, while Hayden piped up from the stall, "That thoundth good!"  

Later during the meeting, Hayden whispered to me, "Mom, can I have a thuit?  They thell thuitth for little guyth.  I thaw a tiny little guy in a thuit right over there."  (It wasn't until after the meeting that I found out the motivation behind Hayden's sudden interest in wearing a suit.)  

Birthdays for Dallin & Hayden

We celebrate two birthdays in November.

Dallin turned 12 on November 20th.  He chose "Frootinnannies" for breakfast.  They are basically German Pancakes, but my Grammy calls them Hootinannies, and when Dallin was little, he mistakenly called them "frootinannies" and the name stuck.  I had to wake up pretty early to get those on the table for him before he had to leave (at 7 a.m.) for show choir practice.  And that night he chose "Green Noodles" for dinner.  (Pasta with grilled chicken and homemade pesto sauce--my kids LOVE green noodles.)  We also shared cake and ice cream with some of our favorite people EVER, the Carters!  Harvey and Dallin share the same birthday!

Let me explain the candles on the cake.  I was experiencing a candle shortage, evidently, so I was creative with the candles that I had on hand.  So, 5+1 is 6, so that stands for 60.  60+8 is 68, which is the birthday that Harvey was celebrating. And 8+4 is 12 which is the birthday Dallin was celebrating.  So there you go.  68, and 12.  

Happy Birthday!  ;)

Our birthday tradition is having everyone in the family say something they love about the birthday boy or girl.  But since it's been awhile, I can't remember very well what everyone said.  So I'll brag on him myself a little bit.  Dallin is a good guy.  He is responsible and does his homework and practices his violin without me having to remind him.  He gets up early each morning before the sun rises, and is ready for show choir which meets before school starts.  He comes home and plays "chase" with Sydney (who adores him) and then gets busy on his homework.  He recently finished the Book of Mormon for the first time and has made a goal to read 2 pages a day this year so he can finish it again in a year.  He is happy and friendly and kind and we are so glad he is in our family.  

And because he is 12, he is old enough to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.  He was found worthy by our Bishop to be ordained to the office of a deacon and Arthur ordained him this last Sunday.  Later that night, Arthur told me that it had been a special experience for him to do that.  As he gave him a blessing, he felt strongly of Dallin's goodness and of Heavenly Father's love for him. 

Since 12 is a party year, Dallin also got a party that weekend.  He invited 7 boys to come have pizza, cake and ice cream and then go ice skating.  Good times.  :)  

(as you can see, I had replenished my candle supply by then)

Ice Skating was pretty funny.  None of us are very good, and most everyone spent a fair amount of time on the ground.  Hayden's pants were soaked by the time we left.  But he kept a smile on his face and would get up and try again all night long.  So endearing.

Shirtless Wonders!

We were leaving at 9:30, so at 9:28, a few of our party took off their shirts and did a few laps in just their skins.  Awesome.  It was a fun and exhausting night!  

And I have to say that every time one of my kids has a birthday party, I congratulate myself for initiating the birthday party system that operates in our family:  5, 8, 12, and 16.  Four parties each.  

I can do it.  I can do it.

On November 30, we celebrate Hayden's birthday.  He turned 6 this year!  (not a party year.  whew!)  He ordered waffles and whipped cream for breakfast, and pizza for dinner.  He opened his presents in the morning and played with them all day.  It was Saturday so you can't ask for a better birthday present than that!

As is customary, we each say something that we love about the birthday person.  Here are some of the things we said about Hayden:

Sydney:  I love Hayden because (mumble, mumble) and Jesus loves Hayden.
Sean:  I love playing with Hayden.
Daphne:  Something good about Hayden is that he tries to make me feel better when I am sad.  (that is very true.  Hayden really looks out for Daphne.)
Dallin: I love that Hayden is so energetic and happy.
Me:  I love that Hayden loves to help and that he makes me smile with the things he says.
Arthur:  I love that Hayden is a hard worker.

After his dinner of pizza from Dion's, we shared cake and ice cream with the Esplin family.  

Happy Birthday, Hayden!  We sure love this boy.  

And it's gone.

Bam.  Just like that.  November is gone.  21 more days until Christmas and 28 more days until 2014.  It's going so fast!  And since there never seems to be enough time, this may be the new format for my blog.  2 posts a month: One for quotes and one for everything else we did that month.

Here's a quickish run-down of our November:

Enjoyed the beautiful New Mexico fall weather:

Meet Tiny Trevor, our toad.  Sean's school teacher had five that they watched transform from tadpoles into toads, and sent an email out asking if anybody wanted to take them home after they were grown.  So we took one home, and honestly, I expected him to be dead by now, given our previous track record with pets.  But it turns out that Trevor is quite a resilient little fellow, and three months later, he's still here.  So I thought it was time that I introduce him.

Sydney.  She dresses herself.  And it's so her.

 

Another introduction:  

We sold our 7 passenger minivan (which if you are counting, is one seat short for our family of 8;  We've been making it work for the last 9 months of Bennett's life,) and got a 9 passenger Suburban.  

It's big.  And I feel very tall when I drive it.  And now nobody has to double buckle when we go somewhere all together.

Field Trips!  Three of my kids had field trips this month.  I made it to two of them, which was pretty big accomplishment for me.  

Nov. 8--Hayden's class went to the zoo.  It was a perfect sunny day and we saw lots of animals and had lunch and because I was chaperoning, (and there wasn't quite enough room in the bus,) I got to drive Hayden with me in the Suburban.  He wanted his whole class to come look at it because it was new, and he was SUPER excited about it.  Our favorite thing we saw at the zoo was the brand new baby elephant Jazmine.  She is adorable.  I could have stayed there and watched her the whole time.

Nov. 21st--I went with Daphne to a local historical museum called Casa San Ysidro.  It was really neat, but they asked people to turn off their phones while we were there, so I didn't get any pictures.  But basically it is a big hacienda over in Corrales, (a little village neighboring Albuquerque) and they have it filled with historical items and artwork that depict what life was like for the New Mexican settlers in the 1700-1800's.  I love that kind of stuff, so I ate it up.  I had lots of questions I wanted to ask, but was trying to hold back so the kids could ask their questions.  But once in awhile I asked Daphne to ask a question for me.  :)

On Nov. 11th, there was no school because of Veteran's Day.  So we went to the zoo (again) with some of our friends. (Esplins, Trapnells and Breinholts)  It was a a beautiful day and fun to be there with friends.  Here is most of our group.  (There were 4 babies in strollers and two other kids who went to go check out another exhibit during this picture.)

 

Nov. 15th-- I got to fly to CA to be there for my brother Jacob's missionary farewell.  It was a super fast trip because I had to leave right after church in order to get back in time for 2 stake choir rehearsals that evening (Stake Youth Choir and Messiah) but I got to hang out with Jacob on Saturday.  We baked cookies for his missionary open house that evening, and also practiced the song he sang in Sacrament Meeting.  He sang, "I Will Not Be Still" and did a BEAUTIFUL job.  He is serving in the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  

 

So that means I have two siblings out on missions right now, and I am so proud of both of them!

Nov. 24-30th--My elementary kids had the whole week of Thanksgiving off, due to parent teacher conferences on Monday and Tuesday.  I LOVED having them home and was sad when the week was over.  It went too fast!  

Monday was conferences, Tuesday we met the Esplins and McEntires at the church and let the kids play basketball and other games in the gym. On Wednesday we got together at the Esplins to have lunch and make carameled apples.  

Thursday was Thanksgiving, which I'm never good at documenting.  We had a different holiday weekend than we've traditionally had.  For the first time in a long time, Mike and Amber couldn't come spend Thanksgiving with us.  (we missed you guys!) So we had the Esplins and the Madsens over for the feast, and then went over to the Shepherds home for pie.  

Friday we went to see "Frozen" with the Shepherds and McEntires--it was so cute!  We went home and bought the soundtrack and have been singing it ever since.  "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Saturday was Hayden's birthday, which I'll post about separately, except to say that Bennett took his first series of steps on Hayden's birthday!  He's taken one step here or there for the last several weeks, but that night he just decided to go for it and take 6 or 7 steps!  His face was the best!  He was SO proud of himself!   

 

And Sunday was December 1st.  

BAM.  

November gone.  Just like that.  December has so much to enjoy and look forward to, but I don't expect it to slow down at all.  So I'll be trying to keep up with everything and enjoy its magical moments all at the same time.  Wish me luck.  

And here's to January, when life will take slower pace.  hopefully.  :)