catching up

Maybe if I just starting writing…

 

So a lot has happened lately.  Some of it will need to be in a separate post.

Waaaaaaaay back in October, we had a fantastic family weekend campout.  Husband was working so he wasn’t able to come.  But the girls and I joined my extended family for a themed weekend.  (We do this every year.  My mom and I love to plan and throw parties.)  This year’s theme was “Monsters”.  All the kids dressed up (even most the adults had some element of monster attire) and joined a monster parade.  We did all sorts of activities like rock painting, making monster stompers (decorating #10 cans to wear as stilts), special snacks and themed foods, making monster goo and best of all, the Monster Olympics.  We played all kinds of relay games and ended with an amazing obstacle course my dad build with wood frames, cardboard boxes, twine ropes, a pogo stick and ending at a prize punch-box.  It was incredible and the kids loved it!  On Sunday, everyone filtered away home but the girls and I stayed with my parents in their trailer to watch conference.  The girls love doing “conference cups”.  We set up a dozen cups, filled with various treats and labeled with special key words for them to listen and find.  So sad Husband wasn’t there but it was a ton of fun.  

My mom hosted a mother-daughter Jamberry party.  I took the A and E and gave them mini-manicures. (L had dance practice so she stayed home to spend some one-on-one time with her daddy.)  Since then, I’m kind of hooked on Jamberry wraps but mostly, just had a lot of fun with family.  

I attended a SAMPE meeting with my husband.  SAMPE is a professional organization which my husband belongs and his dad is one of the directors.  They have monthly meetings where we have dinner and then listen to a student speaker and a professional speaker from various schools and companies.  In October, Husband was featured as a keynote speaker highlighting his role in small businesses.  I love watching him in his professional capacity.  He presents with such confidence and fluidity.  He’s brilliant, well spoken and very impressive.  I enjoyed sitting with his mom, also a member, through the presentations.

A had a preschool field trip to a local farm.  E and I went along, joined by Grandma, my sister in law and her two cute little girls.  They made a beeline for the giant slide first and did several rounds before we continued them to join us for the class hay ride.  We did the little corn maze and visited the animals.  My favorite part of the whole day was when I had posed E in front of a litter of the cutest and tiniest piglets known to man.  Trying to get a good picture I was coaching her with things like “say cheese!” or “say piggies!”  She looked at me, shrugged and said “I like bacon.”  I laughed so hard I nearly slipped and fell in the mud.  I had no idea my little 3 year old had figured out the connection.  The girls’ favorite part was the corn pit.  It was a very large play area filled with billions of corn kernels, much like a sand box.  The kids could have played in there forever!

I ran in the Howloween Half Marathon.  I ran with a great group of friends, some of my very favorite people.  We all dressed up with some tribute to a superhero and started out with great ambition for a sub 2 hour goal.  It came crashing down when my calves cramped up at mile 8.  I had not properly transitioned to a new style of running shoes, despite what I thought and barely finished the race at 2:20.  I was so disappointed but in so much pain that I crossed the finish line and actually cried for several minutes as Husband rubbed out my calves.  However, at the water stations, they were passing out candy.  And while I declined, one of my friends was indulging, especially when he realized some pieces were tagged as prizes.  In the end, he won a free entry for all four of us into another race in May.  So there will be a chance again for the 2 hour goal.

We spent Halloween at home this year.  My mom came to spend it with us and we had a great time with the girls.  L dressed up as an angel, A dressed up as Snow White and E insisted on wearing her Princess Sofia dress (and looked so downright adorable).  We took the girls to a neighborhood trunk or treat party and Grammy sat with our trunk while I took the girls around.  Back at the house, we started dinner but the girls were too excited.  So we visited the neighbors, collecting candy around on our block.  (L had to switch costumes.  The angel costume she had wore for a ballet recital was getting too small so she was more comfortable in her long time favorite Belle dress.)  Then Husband arrived home and took them for another block while I finished dinner.  But their favorite part of the whole evening was dressed in pjs, racing to answer the door and pass out candy.

Somewhere in the mix, A and E both got to attend preschool parties and the library storytime party.  E wore her Sofia dress everytime.  But A picked a new costume for each occasion.  My favorite was when she wore her kangaroo costume from a dance recital.  So adorable!

I ran in the Vegas Ragnar early November.  I flew in and met up with the team Thursday night.  We had a quick dinner and then crashed at the captain’s house for the night.  Half the team were locals so we spent most of our breaks at someone’s apartment and got more sleep then I’ve ever had at a Ragnar.  We didn’t do roulette because we had too many new people but I loved being runner 1.  I was able to finish each run, change clothes and then just lounge around cheering on teammates without having to wait and anticipate each run as much.  I think I did 15-16 miles.  We finished record early, around 2 pm and collected our medals.  I received 2 double medals for combinations of several races done throughout the year.  Boasting our new bling, we went out for dinner and then I was able to switch my flight and managed to get home that same night.  The race was a blast, I loved hanging out with my Ragnar family, we had great food, great conversations and by the end, committed to several more runs for the next year.

I started teaching Pilates more regularly, filling in for the regular instructor for several weeks.  Everytime, it amazes me how sore I am! The moves are subtle, but the more I research and learn, I find ways to challenge my core.  Along those lines, I received my official adjudication for Group Power in September and began teaching solo as a fully certified instructor.  I miss teaching GroupKick but feel that Power is a better fit for me and weight lifting has become my “go to”.  I even began working out with a personal trainer for a few months and can’t believe how much I love it.  It’s challenging and fulfilling and so satisfying.  But then I pulled back my workouts in December due to fatigue injury and wanting to take time off for the holidays.  I haven’t gotten back onto the same rigorous schedule again yet.  Hopefully soon.

Somewhere in the late fall, we gave up on our yard for the year, and are forced to put it off until next spring.  The concrete did eventually get poured again and it’s acceptable enough that we’ve decided to just move on.  The yard has taken much more time than we planned and will cost much more too.  Frustrating but looking forward to getting it done.

However, there has been home improvement success at my parent’s house!  My dad has been working overtime to finish the basement before Thanksgiving.  Husband and I even got to help put the floor in during one weekend.

We took a ride on the North Pole Express.  My brother’s family and my mom drove down to go with us and we had a pretty fantastic evening.  We put all the kids in pajamas and then piled on the coats to keep them warm while we waited.  We got our tickets and found seats, our large group taking up a good chunk of one train car.  The kids loved the train as it was such a novelty and they bounced all over the place, trading seats, climbing around and looking out the windows.  They made friend with the elves that served them hot chocolate and cookies.  We had an emcee/storyteller who led some carols and told some jokes but the highlight of course was when the train slowed to pass a small village with Santa and Mrs. Clause waiting for us.  They came aboard and made their way down the train to exchange greetings with all the kids.  The kids were beyond excited, squealing and bouncing around.  They especially loved the little keepsake bell they were given.

Elsewhere in November, we spent a LOT of time playing dress ups.  Nearly every day A and E disappear to the bedroom and return wearing one costume after another.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents’ house.  My mom’s foot should have been long recovered from her summer surgery but new complications arose.  So she relented and let me do a lot of the food prep and child chasing.  Thanksgiving was fantastic with lots of food and family.  We set up long banquet tables in the newly finished basement and really enjoyed getting to all be together.  The kids tried lots of new food and escaped quickly to play with cousins, loving the air hockey table, the Rapunzel tower and the slick hardwood floors (perfect for baby bowling).  We decorated cupcakes to look like turkeys and my sister in law introduced us to a new favorite dessert: pavlova.  We did lots of online Black Friday shopping and a few late night/early morning runs for door-buster items.  I love spending time with my family.  I love lounging around watching movies, I love playing cards, I love watching our kids play. L tends to gravitate to the older cousins.  A dotes on the babies.  And E actually might have her own cousin-twin.  There are several cousins who “match up”, with close birthdays.  But they don’t seem especially draw together as friends except for E and the cousin born just a few weeks after her.  Those two frequently disappear together and get along great, it makes me so happy!  

Our first December weekend was crazy.  L had rehearsals on Friday night with a jam packed Saturday.  She performed with her Moonbeams Team at Swiss Christmas Saturday morning, an adorable bride dance with a teddy bear partner.  We wandered around the boutiques for a little while and then visited the Gingerbread Festival.  The girls ran from table to table, proclaiming numerous favorites and then delightedly decorated their own cookie.  After that we spent the afternoon at Husband’s Christmas party for work.  It was catered by a new place in town serving kolaches and delectable desserts.  We did a white elephant gift exchange and the kids loved playing in the conference room, drawing on the white board and doing projects with friends.  In the evening L performed in the Nutcracker as a snow angel, sweet and graceful.  To make a crazy day ever better, we had lots of family in town.  Husband’s brother was visiting so the girls got to play with cousins all day and especially L was thrilled that they got to see her dance.  Plus my mom spent the day with us and they always love having some Grammy time!

As always, the girls LOVED decorating for Christmas.  The two big girls got to go with Daddy to cut down a Christmas tree (I stayed home with a sick E).  They helped me decorate the banisters and mantle and together we all decorated our new tree.  L’s ornament this year was a Mickey snowglobe, A picked a Twilight Sparkle and E picked Sofia the First.  L and A were great helpers.  E got bored and abandoned any semblance of help.  Instead she began collecting treasures to hide in her Santa hat (ornaments, nativity pieces, silverware, candy, hairbows, etc.).  When the hat was full, she put in my camera’s case and continued collecting.  However, our tree was particularly wonderful this year.  Husband didn’t notice until he brought it home but the tree had an old bird nest, still perfectly formed and undisturbed, hidden in the branches.  We decorated around it, hoping to preserve this wonderful addition.  L took the fun one step further and immediately took a baby Jesus from one of our many nativity sets and placed him gently in the nest.  It was adorable!  However, E disagreed and she quickly rescued him and put him back in his manager.  It became a fun ongoing battle as L would slip him back into the tree and see how long before E would discover and remove him again.  And lastly, we put the train under the tree.  Just like last year, the girls quickly piled the wisemen into the cargo cars, deciding this was the perfect way for them to get to Bethlehem.  

One of my favorite projects every Christmas is adopting a secret santa family.  We really wanted the girls to be part of it this year but quickly found they were still a little too young.  They got bored quickly when we spend an unfortunately long length of time looking for the boots, jackets and clothes the family needed.  But they perked up when it was time to shop for toys.  But in the end, my mom and I did most of the shopping.  We had adopted one large family but my mom coordinates the Santa Tree Project for the school she works at, and still had four families for which she was buying.  So we stayed up late shopping and then spent several hours the next day wrapping presents and getting ready to deliver.

I hosted a neighborhood girls night.  A few of my neighbors are network-based retail reps for different companies and I wanted to support them.  So I hosted a party and invited them to come as a Christmas shopping/Open House evening.  We did chocolate fondue and had a great showing of friends.  The evening was a ton of fun with plenty of laughing and shopping.  I especially loved having my mom and sisters there, getting to do a little secret shopping for them and just enjoying the time together.

The second December weekend was my family’s Christmas party.  We started on Saturday with so many great activities: we decorated (and devoured sugar cookies), we helped put up and decorate their Christmas tree, we wrote letters to Santa and made star shaped ornaments for Grandma Great (made of popsicle sticks and decorated with everything from stickers to glitter to markers).   We had a special visit from Santa who took his time visiting with each of the cousins, getting their lists and teasing them about their behavior.  L asked him for a tablet.  A asked for a mermaid Barbie.  E asked for a new baby.  When Santa tried to clarify, “oh a new baby dolly?”  She answered matter of factly, “No.  A new baby.  For our family.”  Luckily she decided that she would be happy with candy too.  After his visit, the cousins all sat in a big circle on the floor, ready for their cousin exchange.  They had drawn names a few weeks earlier and had so much fun shopping for each other.  They took turns giving and delighting in watching their cousin open it, and I loved seeing them enjoy that so much.  L was thrilled with the legos that she received.  The real drama came when it was E’s turn and she accidentally opened the present meant for A.  It was a 3 foot stuffed Lambie that A had found in the store weeks earlier and begged for.  She was saving her money to buy it and it broke her heart when she saw it given to her little sister.  Fortunately it was just a mix up that was quickly and easily remedied.  E ended up getting a similar size stuffed horse that now follows her everywhere.  The kids all received amazing gifts from Grammy n Papa as well.  All the kids liked their new outfits (and insisted on changing immediately into their adorable princess nightgowns) and loved their new books (especially E who got a set of short story princess books and began reading them to herself and cousins as best she could).  L was beyond thrilled with her Barbie Lego house, A quickly put her new video camera to work and E received a Princess Sofia desk that despite her excitement, we insisted she couldn’t open until she got home.  So she contentedly looked at her beloved new “look n find” books and played with cousins.  After a long, long while, we got all the kids to bed and the adults got to enjoy a quieter (but not any less exciting) gift exchange.  The siblings had all exchanged names and came up with great ideas.  I received fun new stuff for cake decorating and husband’s gift was perfect: a grilling apron that looks like a tactical SWAT vest.  But my oldest brother hit it out of the park when he gave my other brother a coffee table he had crafted and designed with a glass top and space to display figurines and other collectables.  We also really enjoyed being with my parents of course, trying to spoil them just a little bit and loving the amazing gifts they had given us.  My parents are so creative and fun and had come up with really great ideas.  There were games and cookbooks, running gear, cooking stuff and one of my very favorites—my mom had made photo quilts for all them men with pictures of their families.

On Sunday, our family Christmas weekend continued.  Husband and I actually slipped away to attend a baby blessing in the morning.   Upon our return we had a traditional Christmas dinner, again stretched out in a long banquet table in the new basement (love getting to all eat together like that!) and enjoyed another newer family tradition of acting out the nativity.  All of the kids participated in some way, donning costumes and managing their lines.  There was a lot of teasing and giggling and yet and really sweet and wonderful spirit through the experience. 

A few days after the party, my mom moved in with us temporarily as she would be having and recovering from foot surgery (more later).

We had our first experience with lice.  Bleech.  Apparently this year has been particularly bad and L’s school has struggled with it regularly.  Fortunately we caught it early and got rid of it fast without too much trauma.  But I was reminded just how thick and beautiful L’s hair is.  And what a sweet and patient little girl she can be.

But the Christmas fun continued.  We spent an afternoon decorating gingerbread cookies with the girls and then delivering them to neighborhood friends.  The girls got really into it this year and each got to pick a few favorite friends to visit.  

The girls had Christmas parties at school, taking gifts for their teachers and each coming home with an overflowing goodie bag from class gift exchanges and stories of great games and activities.  (They took candy and pencils as their gifts.)

On Christmas Eve, we were joined by my sister in law and her two little girls.  She was scheduled to work through the holidays, as well as my brother, so we got to keep the kids for awhile and she joined us just at night after her 12-14 hour nursing shifts.  So we took them shopping, spent the afternoon wrapping presents and then had a huge Christmas dinner with traditional fixings.  After dinner we read the story of the nativity and left out cookies and milk for Santa before finally tucking them into bed.

On Christmas morning, the girls woke up early bursting with excitement.  But they waited patiently, watching Christmas cartoons, for a more reasonable and coherent hour.  The top of the stairwell was wrapped with wrapping paper, preventing any sneaky investigations downstairs before we were ready.  Finally, once Grammy, Papa, Husband and I were settle downstairs and ready for them, they came running down in that perfectly beaming Christmas morning glow, shocked and joyfully awed by the pile of gifts under the tree.  We emptied the stocking first, delighting over the sweet little toys and treats and thoughtful things (even grown ups get stockings at our house, my mom and I love that part).  We took a break for breakfast, insisting the girls eat something healthy before filling up on treats all day.  And then we returned to the tree to open presents.  The girls each had a “big” present, L and A received their own tablets and E got a Disney Princess Little People set.  They were each so thrilled and happily played with those for hours throughout the day and weeks since.  They each got a new movie, a new board game, clothes, a craft, a new Barbie (including Elsa and Anna) and new books.  A’s were drawing books as she started art lessons in January and L got a set of chapter books and also found out she was starting piano lessons.  E opened a quiet book I had spent hours making.  She didn’t think much of it at first, as she was probably too excited then to appreciate it, but it has been a big hit since.  She calls it her “bee book” (the outside cover has a print of flying bees) and insists on carrying it to church.  They loved giving gifts to each other; E gave her big sisters the Elsa and Anna magiclip dolls, A picked out legos and L picked out the mermaid Barbie and a Sofia toy.  It was fun watching my mom and dad spoil each other with gifts, such creativity and great taste!  Husband surprised me with a new Garmin GPS watch and I gave him a GoPro sports camera.  The kids helped with some fun little things they picked out like pajamas pants for each of us, dress shirts and a nerf gun for dad and kitchen stuff for me.  Soon my sister came home from her overnight shift and got to play with the girls for awhile too.  We surprised her with a stuffed stocking and a cute gift that her daughter picked out while shopping with me.

During the afternoon, we went to my inlaw’s house.  The girls were thrilled to play with their cousins and show off their new tablets.  They piled onto Grandma’s lap to tell her stories about their morning and sing Christmas songs with her.  Then we had a gift exchange there as well, starting with the cousins who were so excited to give to each other.  The loved the little crafts and books and games they got from Grandma and the new fishing poles they got from Grandpa!  We did our traditional Christmas crackers (the girls had so much fun with this!) and got to exchange among the adults.  Grandma wore out quickly though and soon we declared it quiet time for everyone, taking our girls home to our house for the afternoon.    We returned later in the evening for Christmas dinner, having our traditional bagels, eggnog, duck and roast.  We read the Christmas story and cherished the quiet (ish) evening.

The next few days were lazy and delightful.  We played with legos, with our new bath paint, had an ice cream party with cousins, read books, played our new boardgames, watched movies and played with many of our new amazing toys.  I especially love watching Evie play with her Minnie Mouse toys or watching the big girls play with their newly completed set of magiclip princess dolls.  We had a movie night with cousins, watching the Muppets Christmas Carol (another tradition).  The girls were diligent nurses to Grammy, especially after receiving the Doc McStuffins play station and regularly romped around in the snow.  They were so excited and would go dashing out to make snow angels, throw haphazard snowballs at each other and best of all, took turns pulling E around on her little sled.  One of my favorite moments was when E fell apart sobbing because I insisted they come in to warm up and her poor sled got left outside in the snow.  She was so genuinely concerned and sweet.  But with the sled sitting on the porch so she could see it and a mug of chocolate with a peppermint stick in her hands, she managed to survive.  

For New Year’s Eve, my parents offered to watch the kids at our house while we went on a date.  We went out to dinner to the best restaurant in town, thoroughly enjoying the amazing food.  For dessert, we went to a local grocery store bakery, picked up a tuxedo cake and took it over to his parents’ house.  We spent the rest of the evening there, sitting with his mom, sharing dessert, talking, and waiting for midnight.  We celebrated with cider at midnight and then quickly retired to bed.

We had more lazy play days and then school started again soon.  L started piano lessons and loves it.  She’s learning through an alternative method that is based on immersion, learning through play and a group setting.  I’m pleased with her progress so far but mostly just happy that she likes it.  A started her art lessons and is thrilled.  She struggles to sit still and focus for that long but will hopefully get used to that quickly.

We had our annual just-after-Christmas Christmas party.  We did cheese and chocolate fondue with a delicious ham for a main dish.  We had some of the regulars, couples that have attended every year since we started eight years ago and some new friends.  We did our annual white elephant gift exchange with some truly fun items circling the group for lots of laughs and teasing.

And then that’s when January got really rough.  But that’s for another post.