Saturday, December 30, 2017

One More 10-Miler

I can't believe my friend talked me into it, but I ran 10 miles one more time to finish off the year. On the cool-down walk back to the car, my friend, Emily, found this bottle cap on the ground and gave it to me. It was kind of perfect. I made my goal - 3 times!! I have a runner's watch, new running shoes, multiple sets of cute running clothes, and a developing runner's body. I ran close to 1,000 miles this past year. And yet I wouldn't call myself a runner. I'm not sure why but I always feel like a bit of a poser when I put on the watch or run in public even though for all intents and purposes what else could you call me? Maybe when I start enjoying it more? Maybe after another 1,000 miles, maybe someday I will finally think of myself as legitimate and  add runner to my list of hobbies.

Friday, December 29, 2017

Family Hike




These are the new adventures I want to start having with my babies. Hiking. This winter has been fairly mild so we decided to do a quick hike to Silver Falls. The kids were super excited. Especially the part where they got to walk behind the falls and explore in little caves. They weren't as keen with hiking back up but that's where ritz crackers come in handy. I was pretty impressed with them. They are typical kids in their lack of endurance, but when we finally got back to the top, Boy Howdy was ready for more. Yay!! Hopefully this summer we can do more hikes and less park days.


Monday, December 25, 2017

Innocence

From Matthew's blog:

There are a few things I've noticed over the past week or so that make me both happy and sad at the same time. I think there's a fancy word for that but I can't quite put my finger on it, nor am I motivated enough to go and get my dictionary out.

I love how simple things make children happy. I love how a red balloon from a restaurant can make my son the happiest kid on earth. I love when my daughter tromps around in pink rubber boots and a church dress. I like how she finds puddles to jump in, even if they are half-way across the parking lot. I like that a really cool fort-building set was initially not the most exciting thing they got for Christmas, but when it got to be time for bed time and the possibilities of sleeping in tents were realized, the present suddenly skyrocketed to best thing ever.


I love that just about the only thing they really want and require is time and attention. Sometimes I'm more willing than other times to give it, but the investment always pays off.

The sad part for me, I suppose, is in knowing these simple things will not last forever, and they will face the difficulties of life. I wouldn't want them to stay kids forever, but at the same time wish they could. Each new day is an adventure and brings the promise of awesomeness. For me, the next day more often than not just brings more work, but the silver lining is always coming home at the end of the day and having two little ones pretty excited to see me, unless their engrossed in a TV show. I guess you can't have everything.

Favorite Christmas Presents

I think we had a successful Christmas! We managed for another year to not break our children's hearts with bad presents and enjoyed a very relaxing day together. This year favorite presents included: Markers (they have been asking for these for a LONG time), a Pokemon book (this may stay at the top of the list for the next decade), and new games - Photosynthesis for Matthew and Above and Below for me. Yay Christmas! I should also mention that we gave the kids a fort building set that I may love to play with more than the kids.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Eve with the Jones

This Christmas my sister who lives just half an hour away suggested that since we were the only ones on either side of the families without plans she should host Christmas Eve dinner at her house and I should host Christmas dinner at my house. Good plan!!

The Christmas Eve tradition of acting out the nativity was made more entertaining with more players than just the two babes. And because we were there, my niece Emmalee finally got to relinquish her role as Mary. Cheeks was happy to fill in as attentive mother of baby Jesus. She instead played the angel, Jacob was a very convincing donkey, Caleb was a tired Joseph, Isaac and Adam were angry shepherds (though no one knew exactly why), and Zachary, Seth and Emmalee (she had double duty) were worshipping wise men. 

Thank you Melissa for letting us be a part of your Christmas Eve!



Cheeks tries Crab



The best part of my Christmas Eve may have been watching Cheeks try crab for the first time. We didn't eat much seafood growing up and it is not something I make as an adult. The kids have tried salmon - a HUGE hit but that's it. A family friend of my sister gave her an early Christmas present of freshly caught crabs. Because she loves her husband, she boiled them and served them along with the rest of Christmas Eve dinner despite her own aversion. Cheeks was off playing shortly after dinner started so she missed out on John pulling out unwashed pliers to serve as leg crackers. When she came back, John, now pro cracker, showed my curious daughter just how to use them to get her own crab meat. She LOVED it. She soon showed everyone still at the table just how determined, committed and hungry for that crab she was. I was thoroughly entertained, as was is my guess, the rest of the occupants at the table.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Gingerbread Houses 2017

This year we opted to do gingerbread houses the Friday before Christmas. Everyone was off for Christmas break, including Matthew! Yay!! Although this year the kids didn't really want any of our help, other than to use our long arms to get them their desired candy.
Cheeks' determined little face and her finished product. I'm pretty sure if they were passing out awards hers would have won for most random.

Boy Howdy's determined little face and his finished product. His was also kind of random but it was also very symmetrical.

I'm not sure mind was any piece of art either but it was still yummy to eat!!

My thanks always go out to my sweet sister who not only hosts EVERYONE every time but also makes all the pieces to the 20+ gingerbread houses and the accompanying frosting.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Last trip to the Children's Museum

The last of our museum passes ended at the end of December so I made sure to get one more trip in before it expired. Boy Howdy was adamant that he didn't want to go, that the drive was too long and it is so BORING, but he assented when I promised frozen yogurt afterwards. When we got there, you would have never known he didn't want to come. Whichever room we entered he wanted to stay 10-20 minutes after Cheeks' was ready to be done. I was especially impressed with how far they both have come in playing well with others, taking turns and working cooperatively.

I have loved going to children and science museums for the last three and a half years, but I think I am ready to move on to new adventures. On to the next era of raising my sweet babes.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Our Efforts to Light the World

For the last two years the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spearheaded a "Light the World" campaign that consists of doing specific Christ-like activities for each day of December leading up to Christmas. I tried to do it last year and loved the way it changed the Christmas spirit in our home. This year we wanted to get the children more involved. We tried to let them choose what we would do. We didn't incorporate as much of it into the month as I hoped, but the children would mention needing to Light the World, so it made some impression on them and maybe next year we will do better. But I do love the few things we were able to do.

Day 1: Jesus taught: "Freely ye have received, freely give."
How can you show your gratitude to someone who has positively affected you? Send the person a thoughtful thank-you card acknowledging the ways he or she has helped you.
Cheeks and Boy Howdy decided to write thank you cards to their friends Ginny and Bentley. They both decided that taping candy to a card makes it better. I agree.
Dear Ginny, I know you like your best friend named A--. Thank you for being a great friend. You always do great things and giving great things to me. We have a great time playing together. A--
Ginny is a girl from church. She is in Boy Howdy's primary class but will be in Cheeks' grade next year. They are inseparable.
Dear Bentley, I know you call me over to play a lot. Thank you for doing that. Maybe I will call you over to play soon too. Looking forward to seeing you. Z--
Bentley is a boy in Boy Howdy's kindergarten class. They have recently started playing together during recess.

Would someone less fortunate appreciate something you have? Make an anonymous donation to someone who's struggling to make ends meet.
It wasn't anonymous, and I'm not sure she's struggling to make ends meet, but I made a quilt a few months back that I never felt was my own. I prayed one night to know who I could send it to and a woman I used to visit teach immediately came to mind, even before I closed my prayer. I sent it a few days later and she got it as she arrived home from saying goodbye to her dying great grandmother, the third death in the year. In one year this poor woman lost her mother, grandmother, great grandmother, divorced her husband due to his poor choices and moved her 5 small children out of state. She desperately needed some extra love and I am grateful Heavenly Father let me use this quilt to help her feel of His love and mercy.

Day 2: Jesus taught: "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink."
Did you know that access to clean water has the single greatest impact on global poverty? Consider donating to a cause that helps provide safe water to individuals or communities.
The children decided to donate money although I don't think they intended to donate their own. But with some LOVING coercion, they each gave $0.50.

Day 3: Jesus taught: "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."
How can you use your talents on a day of rest? Donate your skills you use at work to bless someone's life on your day off.
There is a family in our ward going through some painful medical issues. The husband had book 1 of Matthew's Wordsmythe series and had expressed interest in the other 3 so Matthew wanted to give them the rest of the series to show them his love. I thought it was perfect.

Day 6: Jesus taught: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Do you find yourself sometimes thinking negative things about others? Help to overcome this habit by saying nice things behind people's backs.
There is a boy in Boy Howdy's kindergarten class that frequently makes Boy Howdy's naughty list. When we talked this morning about how we could light the world, this boy was mentioned that yesterday he called my son a "poop head". When I gave him the challenge to do something nice for this boy or say something nice about him, Boy Howdy was pretty adamant that he could not be nice to a bully. I mean, this boy can't even get up the courage to ask friends to play with him, let alone be nice to someone who calls him a poop head (not in a nice way).
But . . . when he got off the school bus he informed me that he offered to give this boy a piece of candy tomorrow at school and that mean is boy is going to give him a piece of candy. Color me shocked!! This is why we are doing this whole campaign! I am so proud of my son and thankful to have daily opportunities to find new ways to emulate the Savior.

Day 7: Jesus taught: "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
How could you make a child's day? Make plans to take time to help a child feel special.
I drove both children to school today. This made Cheeks especially happy as she has started asking me to drive her instead of sending her with our neighbor. Later that night Matthew did his part and said yes to playing "Chutes and Ladders". Both of us hate that game, though Matthew probably more so. But to help his sweet daughter feel loved he tamped down his aversion enough to say yes.

After Day 7 we REALLY lost steam, but on Day 19 we did one more:
Day 19: Jesus taught: "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad."
How often do you stop to think about your blessings? Reach out to someone who has blessed your life, and thank the person for his or her example.
I encouraged the kids to write a thank you card to their daddy.
Dear Dad, thanks for playing Battleship a lot with me. You make cool lego creations. Thank you for working really hard even though you don't want to work. Thank you for giving tickles at night. Love Z--.
Dear Dad, you bless my heart with your love. Thank you for playing legos with me. Thank you for doing the dishes so much and for coming home. And thank you for playing battleship. Even for doing a great job cleaning up everything in our house. Thank you for giving us tickles at night that we keep our room clean. Love A--.

We didn't do tons, but what we did helped us more fully feel the true spirit of Christmas in our home. And I"m grateful we were more proactive this year in including the children. If we didn't Light the World, we at least lit our home more brightly.