I Need a Silent Night

(post from last night)

Today I feel like I lost. Dana and I woke up late, Holly woke up sick, and from there I went from trying to keep a positive attitude to gritting my teeth to not lash out at the thousands of questions (most I have already answered previously to another kid) asked by the kids while I'm trying to mentally organize what I need to do right then. I made a valiant effort at feeling the Christmas spirit but couldn't get there. It's like all these "fun" activities are planned but there's just too many of them with 4 kids. And no wonder everyone gets sick this time of year with all sugar we start eating!...BTW.

School is out in one and a half days (now TOMORROW! YEA!) and for me, it can't come fast enough. The world makes it difficult to focus on what we should this time of year. I'm excited to watch "It's a Wonderful Life", read some more special Christmas stories under the tree (we did do this one night a couple weeks ago), go look at the temple lights, go visit a nearby convalescent hospital- get the kids involved in serving others. Help them slow down and remember what Christmas is about. Hopefully something besides mom is stressed and we have no money left :)

Anyone else need some peace?

*Now that it's the next day and I'm done making lunches in the morning for a couple weeks, life is looking up. Here are some of the activities that have been keeping us busy:
We decorated-
Then the top half of our pre-lit tree went out and Dana spent a lot of time trying to figure out the problem with no luck. We still need to stick a couple strings of lights up there.
Dana helped Eli make his 4th grade Native American dwelling (2 down, 2 to go). Eli had been waiting to do it and was so excited while they were building it :)
We got a lot of rain and I took a picture of the kids in front of "Lake Hornet" before school one morning.

Sadie had her Christmas preschool show. Very cute stuff :)
And she had a gymnastics show...

Emma performed splendidly in her Christmas band concert.
She was looking quite big and grown-up.
I guess she's also feeling big and grown-up because she wouldn't sit on Santa's lap even for a bag of candy this year :)
I think we made it through most of the busy-ness. Now on to all the best stuff...

Temple Reminder

I saw this on Facebook and had to put it on my blog. So funny!

Ch-Ch-Changes

As we drove home from Thanksgiving on Sunday afternoon (sorry to back-track to November again) ward members started texting us: "Were you at the meeting today?" One said "Are we still friends?" And a panicky feeling started welling up inside me. There had been talk of a few wards in our stake getting realigned. Well to cut to the chase, our ward was chopped in half- one side (our side) becoming a brand new ward and taking part of a ginormous ward next door. Apparently, in the meeting, they also said "If you live on the side that's now the new ward, you are now released from your calling" and then there was an audible gasp. So after being in the amazing HG's ward for over 7 years and truly feeling like a ward family, it's been a little painful. For me, partly, to be ousted from YW's so abruptly. I missed Emma by about 2 months darn-it!

I did receive a new calling: Senior Primary chorister! I have to say when the Bishop asked me, I was thrown for a loop. I had never pictured myself in that calling and I made sure he knew that I couldn't read music to which he said "that's okay". Dana was put back in as YM's secretary and he's happy about that.

Well, this last Sunday we had our first meeting as a new ward. Our Bishop (who has also been our friend for the past 7 years and is only 2 years older than me) did an amazing job and created such a spiritual tone with his testimony. He said our ward's theme will be acceptance and love toward each other. By the end of Primary (where I had my chorister try-out. Actually if it was a real try-out I'm fairly positive I wouldn't have gotten it. Emma told me my face was bright red:) I felt like the new ward was already starting to feel like a family :) And I think I will end up liking this calling. Or maybe loving...you never know right?

P.S. Have you had my calling? Please give me tips! I need lots of them!

A Wonderful Idea

This morning, during the time my brain was just waking up (and I was feeling the relief that can only come when one realizes their van hasn't been repossessed after all) and reality's a little hazy, I remembered the way my dad's voice sounded reading "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". I guess it's because I just read it to the kids a couple days ago and while I was reading, certain parts screamed--Dad! Like the "NOISE, NOISE, NOISE, NOISE, NOISE" part. He was not even a fan of "noise", let alone "NOISE". I think he empathized with the Grinch a little.

I remembered I had a picture of his Grinch-reading tradition (one I had anticipated lasting many years). When I found it in Emma's BIG scrapbook I noticed it was 10 years ago and that seemed very apropos. I also considered how fast time goes and how the babies in this picture are now baby-sitters. Then I marveled at how I thought I might miss him a little less by now, but how I don't.

Then I got an idea that's not awful at all.
Christmas is a great time to miss loved ones that are gone. You can be so easily reminded that one very special day, a long time ago, a baby was born in a stable. This baby grew up and gave everything he had. He suffered and died because he loved(s) me and you. Because of Him, my family will be together forever. And so will yours.*
And all that's left is GRATITUDE....and LOVE.

*Important: enduring to the end is required to receive this blessing :)

A Getaway With My Honey

The last part of our Thanksgiving vacation was our long-awaited Groupon getaway to the Queen Mary. This was only our second time being gone 2-nights from the kids (the first was a Catalina getaway for my birthday when I was pregnant with Holly). My wonderful, kind mother agreed to take the kids and Friday afternoon we drove down to Long Beach. I wasn't really sure what to expect but overall we were both very impressed. The rooms, and basically the whole ship, have been preserved in all their 1936 glory. For example, there were red and green lights outside the rooms (not working now). The switch that operates them is next to the bathtub. They used to push a button for help getting out of the bath and being dried off (so weird to imagine). Red was for a male, green for a female. Attendants sat at the ends of the hallways waiting for the lights to light up. All the rooms people stay in now are "First Class".
The bed/bedding is not from the 1930's thank goodness.Our tour guide Roy (circa 1931) will take you on a mini-tour now. "First off, I don't want to hear a word about the Titanic. This ship is twice the size of Titanic so I don't want to hear anything about it." (Roy has the kind of dry sense of humor I appreciate).
"Would you all like to know what they paid for a First Class ticket back in 1936? $1400 per person! It was built to cater to the rich. The ship was nicknamed "the ship of beautiful woods" because the interior has woods from all over the world- some very rare today." (This was not all said in this order).
Okay, Roy needs a nap and I will be your new guide: Of course many famous people visited the ship. The brother that gave up being king on "The King's Speech" (dubbed The Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII) and his wife Wallis Simpson, referred to as "the American Divorcee" in one photo caption, were repeat visitors.

Dana standing where Fred Astaire stood in photo
The hallways are the longest of any ship. You can't see to the other end. (Particularly when there's a janitorial cart in the way). They are banana shaped as a buffer against the waves. There are four super sized first-class suites but you cannot see one today because they are all reserved. You may reserve one in the future though for $400/per night.
This ends our tour and all the Queen Mary info I can remember.

We had so many delicious meals (yummy restaurants onboard) and got to go to the movies. Unfortunetly, we saw "Breaking Dawn". Unlike the stay on the ship, this is not recommended-especially with your husband. Dana, who's a good sport about chick-flik's was first very fidgety and then frequently verbal about it being the slowest movie he's ever seen. When Jacob saw Renesme for the first time a laugh/snort escaped before I could withhold it. Dana was completely confused not having read the books.
We also did a little shopping :)
And did some more exploring ourselves like the "Isolation Room" where they took stowaways (picture Rose chopping Jack's handcuff's in Titanic) and the Engine which was much bigger then expected.
So there's your little history lesson for the day.

I'm so grateful to be married to my sweetheart who will even sit through boring movies for me. And does so, so many things for me and our family everyday. I'm a lucky girl :)

Thanksgiving. Plus a Day Brightening Smile.

What'd I tell you? Is he the cutest thing you've ever seen? We all thought so :) I have to thank Sally for putting up with all the extra attention the kids (and I) poured over James...
...pretty much non-stop the whole time we were together.
Cute boy cousins!
He's always waiting with a smile even when he's not happy. It's so adorable!
I love being at my mom's for holidays. My uncle David and Aunt Elizabeth and cousin Karen came too and it was fun spending time with family we don't see very much. And lying in bed talking to Miranda for a long time (even though she kept falling asleep during my orations at the end). Oh and the food was yummy too of course. The proof: The Thanksgiving Nap :)
Next stop: the LBC

California Adventure

I had a "to-do" list for today but Eli woke up sick and so here I am. At 10:30am. In my robe. The good news for this morning though (besides the awesome rain we got) is that with lots of Giles family effort, we have secured a few beach camping sites for June :) Yea!

So last week we started off our Thanksgiving vacation going to California Adventure on Tuesday. Mom and Miranda decided to come too which made it twice as fun since we were able to take turns staying back with kids who couldn't/didn't want to go on certain rides. Plus, I loved just having a chance to spend time with them :)

I took Sadie to see Woody when everyone was on a ride she couldn't go on. She kept hugging him and earning "ahhhh"s from everyone in line. I think she was Woody's favorite kid for the day. His eyes have an extra gleam in them don't you think?
I'm so glad we decided to go to C.A. rather than Disneyland. There was plenty to do and it was less crowded. And I love the lights at night.
We also got to see their night show called "World of Color". It was really breathtaking.
Sadie and Randa enjoying the show.
Not an easy thing to capture in a picture so you'll have to go check it out for yourself :)
After it was over we booked it back to the "Woody ride" and got in line. It was the longest line of the day but so, so much fun. We all loved it. As you can see...
Ha ha- actually I told the kids not to smile so they'd look "cool" in their 3-D glasses:) They were so good the whole day. My mom was also very impressed by their behavior which made me feel proud :) I was a little nervous since we drove down Monday night and got there at like midnight. But it turned out to be a great day!

Holly got to go on "California Screamin'" and Sadie got to on "Soarin' Over California" for their first times with a little foresight on my part. I brought some old clogs of Emma's that have about a 2"...clog? on the bottom. It was kinda sneaky but worth it. In fact, even with the shoes, Holly got turned down the first time by a worker that measured her on the 48" sign. So we relented (Holly with tears) and I took her to the bathroom. When we came out I saw a new guy had replaced him and hopes were reignited. This time she got the pass! Extra sneaky. Dana sat next to her on the ride and kept a vice grip on her even though she was totally fine.

Sadie's clog experience was hilarious because the shoes are 11's and she wears an 8. So I ended up putting them over the shoes she was wearing. It makes me laugh to think about it because she could barely walk and each step in line was "clop, clop, clop" like a horse hoof. In the end, I'm not sure she loved the ride anyway because she kinda has a fear of heights and it looks so real. Oh well :)

It all worked out and thus our wonderful Thanksgiving trip was off on the right foot! :)

Falling In the Dark

Probably many of you have had the chance to go on "Tower of Terror" (formerly known as the "Hollywood Tower Hotel"). If not, don't make the mistake I did and underestimate this ride. Holy crud! It had the perfect combination of creepiness and free-falling through the dark that really caught me off guard (that and the fact that my roller-coaster and fizzy-drink hating mother said it was "fun").

I started laughing to cover up my inner panic and let my very nervous 7 yr old think mom was having a great time.
Emma appears to be dying (she has sworn off this ride forever). And thanks to my mom's iphone and all that adrenaline, I laughed for about 15 mins at this picture :)

Thanksgiving vacation was so much fun and don't worry- I have MANY more pictures to come.

*note to lady in front of Emma* how do you look bored?

One of life's mysteries I guess.

Spotlight #2

Eli has been having a great year in school so far in 4th grade. Ms. James is famous for being a strict teacher and all summer I felt sick every time I thought about Eli being in her class. But I feel this year is an answer to prayers after last year being such a hard one. One thing I've realized is that structure at school is one of the most important things for him. He and Ms. James have a great relationship. She seems to be good at finding the balance between pushing him- but not over the edge. He even made the honor roll (A's and B's) for 1st quarter! Woo-who Eli! He's taking in more of what they're learning and doing better with focus. I'm not sure how much to attribute to our GF diet, but I'm not one to mess with a working combination, so much to his dismay, the diet's continuing for now.

I love that this year when I ask him "How was your day?" he knows I'm not asking how his behavior was anymore but just how he liked his school day.

His only extracurricular thing right now is Scouts but I'm hoping to find a good karate class in January and get him started into that. (Please let me know if you know a good one around here:)

His loves are drawing, history, learning about other places, tv and computer games of course (I'm so glad we don't have a gaming system), reading (most of the time), helping dad, going anywhere (except clothes shopping), and making up games and playing with his sisters.

I think he still dreams of having a baby brother someday and was asking me what ages women can still have babies. He was all excited when he found out I still could. I said "Well it's not going to happen bud." He said "You never know mom...". I remember having basically the same conversation with my mom and felt so, so vindicated when she in fact did get pregnant again. I said "seeee mom?" And then our beautiful baby Miranda was born. Pretty funny. But really...he's out of luck :) He will have 3 bro-in-laws someday!

So proud of my BUG :)

Excuses, Excuses

Life has seemed extra busy lately. I check my blog everyday hoping that someone has updated it. But, like changing the t.p. roll, it seems that's a task left for me. So I promised myself I'd update today but I woke up at 3:50 AM to take the Beehives to do baptisms and I'm fading fast.

Here are some of the things that have made life busy:

• We had Evening in Excellence this week which followed a very special week we did for the girls called "Daughter of God" (to truly help the girls gain a testimony that they are exactly that). They were both awesome! I love my calling :) And all these great ladies I get to work with and learn from.
• I went on a field trip with Eli and the rest of the 4th grade yesterday.It was to the "Pueblo Grande" museum in Phoenix. We got to tour actual ruins of the ancient Hohokam Native Americans. Boy did Eli love it. See him there up in front pointing?
  And here running to get to the front while I and the other "old folks" (as our tour guide liked to call us) drug our feet at the back. I went on the same field trip 2 years ago with Em's class and we had the same tour guide! He's really, really nice and patient with all those 9 yr old questions.
  
• I went to watch Emma take part in the school Spelling Bee (She was one of two winners from her classroom)And I loved that she was still happy after getting "out" (on "broadcast" of all words! She left out the "a" out of nervousness). I think she has amazing perspective on life for a girl her age. I saw lots of teary-eyed kids over there.
  
• Dana's parents came to visit us over last weekend for Don's sister's 50th anniversary bash. Of course their visit included lots of fun stuff. Like comparing the passed down "crooked pinkie" gene...

And grandma had the fun idea to make "candy apples" with the kids (not caramel) They were yummy!(not recommended if you have braces or any unsecured teeth.)
The kids loved helping and trying something new.
Also going to "Organ Stop Pizza" which is quickly becoming tradition when grandma and grandpa visit :)

I promise I'll be back soon with Spotlight #2. (only a month and a half later). Gooodnight!