December 2017

 Hazel turned nine on December 1st. She is in love with all things fox these days, so I made her a darling fox cake and we threw a woodland animals themed birthday party. All the girls brought a small stuffed animal, and the main event of the foray was to go to town decorating a box as a home for their animal. It was awesome to see all of Hazel's buddies getting serious with their glue guns. They could have worked on that for twice as much time as I gave them.

Hazel's favorite color these days is aqua. She paints and colors almost everything in blues and greens. It's really lovely. She whistles loud and long whenever she's happy - it can go on for hours. She loves happy music - oldies from the 50's and 60's and show tunes mostly. She has gotten into Harry Potter and is disappointed that we've only let her read and watch the first two books so far. We are planning on experiencing the third over the summer, and I really don't know what we'll do after that. I love the books, but I love my kids' innocence, too. She dreams of owning a bakery when she grows up. She plans to have a golden retriever who will bring the customers their orders. She enjoys working with me in the kitchen in the meanwhile.

We had a few really cold nights, and had left water in the kids' water table in the backyard. It froze overnight. The kids were amazed to see and play with the ice.

The mandarin orange trees in our backyard did great! We got a delicious harvest this month and are only sad that there aren't more, or that the crop doesn't stretch out over months and months like our tomatoes do. 

We've had plenty to fill our organics bin with each week. Yard work has become my favorite chore. Having a great backyard really is the best.

Our ward had a nice Christmas dinner and program. Our primary was in charge of putting on a nativity. Lucky for me, the music leader did most of the work, but it was still plenty stressful trying to herd all those kids around and hope they'd not fall off the stage. They did a very nice job, and it really added to the spirit of the night. I was proud of my ward for having a Christ-centered evening.

My game night is still going strong! Todd mocked me for leaving the house in sweats, so I had to text him this picture to let him know I was following the dress code. We are casual! Just some ladies getting together to relax and have fun. No one has to get fancy. It's just lots of fun.

We took the kids to see the free performance of The Nutcracker at the Temple Hill auditorium by the Oakland Temple. It was lovely but long. We went last year, too, but it didn't seem to drag out as much as it did this year. It might not be a yearly tradition after all...

But we did go to Fenton's for dinner and ice cream afterward. Holy cow, that was a lot of sugar! My kids didn't know what to do with themselves.

We got hyper fast in the car on the way home. Jack was delighted when Todd gave away the secrets of how to make armpit farts. Hazel and Jack have been trying to get those tips from me for probably a year! Apparently, Todd didn't know that was classified information. Delightful.

Christmas Eve day we went over to our friend's the George's house to decorate cookies. That made things real easy for me. To do list, check. All I had to do was bring over sprinkles.

My mom has been giving me pieces of my nativity set for the last few years as my gift. Isn't it turning out lovely? I was so proud to have this in my entryway. 

Christmas Eve we read Luke 2 and watched the church's nativity video, and then, per tradition, also watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The kids had a sleepover in the playroom and completely shocked me by sleeping from 8-7 without any trouble. We hang a sheet at the end of the hall and make the kids come get us - after 7 - so we can watch them come out and see what Santa brought them.

Todd and I are so impressed with how un-materialistic our kids are turning out. We purposely kept things really simple and everyone was thrilled. The best part was how they all planned and bought and made presents for each other, and were so excited to see them opened.

Highlights: Hazel and Jack got bow and arrows. Hazel got some watercolors and some art chalk. Jack got a stuffed chihuahua and a Harry Potter robe. Gemma got "an American Girl doll" and a horse to go with it, and a backpack to carry her around in. She named her Charlotte, after Laura Ingalls Wilder's doll, because we've been reading Little House on the Prairie aloud lately.

Jack inherited Hazel's rollerblades she was about to grow out of, and she got a new pair. He's been having a blast learning how to use them. 

The day after Christmas was Todd's birthday. He took the day off work and we went ice skating. It was Gemma's and Jack's first time. Everyone loved it.

Todd tore down our swing set and has been working on a treehouse for the kids. He's been planning it for nearly a year, and it's exciting to see it really happening. He's trying hard to keep the kids involved in the planning and the building. Here they are, all mixing concrete for the posts. 

We had a sleepover at a local hotel a few nights ago, for something fun to do over the break. We found a place with a pool so the kids could go swimming. We ordered in dinner and watched some basketball on cable, and had a big breakfast at a restaurant in the morning. The kids loved running all over the place, jumping on the beds and playing on the elevator.

We took them to a cool new park on the way home, Creekside Park. They didn't want to leave, so we'll have to come back sometime soon. Good thing it's not far from home!

 We had the Dix and Hope families over for our traditional New Year's Eve party. Everyone played all afternoon, we made pizza for dinner, had some more organized games in the evening, then put the kids in front of a movie while the adults played a couple more board games before everyone called it a night and went home to sleep. Todd channeled his inner Ellen and taught everyone the egg blowing game. We had lots and lots of fun. We call these guys our California cousins. Chrissy and Suzanne are like my sisters out here. I love that all three of our families are so happy together. It's a beautiful thing.

November 2017

Hazel's teacher provides incentives for her students to take Accelerated Reader tests (like free homework passes if they double their monthly goals). Hazel jumped on the AR train and received several certificates and awards at school for how many points she's already earned this early into the year from taking reading comprehension tests. She and her friend Aarna and one other girl were the only kids in the school to have earned so many points so soon. Todd and I have always worried that she reads so fast she must not understand what she's reading, but AR and other tests she's taking at school prove us wrong. She reads fast, AND she gets it. 

We give the kids an allowance. They pay tithing and save half for college and missions, then put the rest in a jar and are allowed to spend it on what they'd like. Still, we are trying to teach them to use their spending money wisely; to plan and save and not just let it burn holes in their pockets or get wasted at the dollar store or the candy aisle. Jack impressed us as he saved for literally an entire year, till he had enough to buy this coveted Lego set, Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. At $100, we told him we were never going to buy it for him, so he decided to save up instead. We calculated how long it was going to take. He didn't lose sight of his goal. Ever. He asked to watch the Amazon video every time he got paid his allowance, and it helped him stay motivated to hold on to his money. Also, thankfully, we watched the price drop over time, till the stars aligned and it was listed for $60 right as Jack reached that amount in his savings jar. Man, was he excited when it showed up on our porch! 

Also, he may come across as shy and reserved sometimes, but Jack is really just a great big goofball. He's been learning how much fun it is to be a "pest" to his big sister, and is getting pretty good at it! 

The kids had a day off from school for Veteran's Day, and I could tell they all needed some down time so I didn't plan an outing. They spent the day hanging out together, reading and making marshmallow and toothpick constructions, picnicking in the backyard, and just plain being cute little buddies. It warmed my momma heart. 

We like to go to the school on days off as well, so the kids can break all the rules and explore the playground without the yard duty restrictions they chafe at during recess. Todd is training them to question authority, for sure. 

I let Jack be in charge of our gratitude tree this year. He gathered some sticks from the yard and put them in a vase. We printed out a bunch of leaves and pulled them out with the colored pencils when we had a handful of kids over to the house for a playdate. Mass child labor, ha! Jack got really into it, labeling easily 30 leaves on his own, but overall, it didn't generate much interest from the girls. I meant to make a family night lesson out of it, but we ran short on time and ti became just something on the table. I've got to do better next year! 

For Thanksgiving, we rented a cabin in Arnold, near Big Trees State Park, with our friends, Katie and Ryan George. The place had games in every closet, as well as a sweet rec room, with foosball, air hockey, and ping pong. It was a fun place to spend a few days. We did some hiking and lots and lots of eating, and made our T-day feast there. I think Katie and I had the most fun of everyone there. 

We went for a nature walk. All the kids had baggies they filled up with leaves, flowers, dirt, pinecones, you name it. Best quote of the week was from Lucas while we were all outside, in the mountains, surrounded by lovely things: "Does anybody see any nature?" 

The cameras just couldn't capture it. So lovely. Some of those cabins had awesome views from their decks! 

 The kids had a good time climbing around all the enormous Sequoias at Big Trees. It's pretty amazing.

Gemma got really awesome at ping pong. She says she wants to take a class! Funny girl. The look of concentration on her face every time she got ready to smack the ball was really priceless.

Air hockey is still my favorite. Takes me back to my daycare working days. I was slamming those kids left and right! But was humbled when I played Katie. Adults are harder to beat!

Our Thanksgiving feast wasn't missing anything. Katie made turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cooked carrots. I provided stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, and a veggie platter. We had pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie. Everything was delicious and we were eating leftovers for days.

The kids built a clubhouse outside, no small feat, considering we were on a serious slope.

Katie and Ryan took our family pictures. I couldn't have asked for a more lovely background. I love how they turned out! Can't wait to print them and hang them in the house. We needed an update bad! 

For FHE after Thanksgiving, we picked up our Christmas tree. It was a mad dash to Home Depot after dinner, and a miracle that they had the perfect tree. Lucky us, because it was the only perfect tree they had that met our height requirements! We snagged it and were back home in half an hour, then stayed up late decorating it. Crazy - I like it lots better when we have a Saturday afternoon to leisurely stroll through a tree farm and smell them all, but it was either that or wait a couple more weeks for a day off. It all turned out well. The tree is lovely. We had to set the star near the top, because the actual top of the tree scrapes the ceiling and we didn't want to cut it any shorter. Someday we'll have vaulted ceilings so we can better fit our giant trees!