Hooray for the working mom!

I have to say, I am so proud of Rachel. She is doing amazing things. For those who don't know, she has started working at Sorenson, which is a video relay service for Deaf people. It takes "Jedi knight interpreting skills" to get this job since interpreters are asked to be able to do pretty much anything that comes their way without a moment's notice. In other words, the very fact that she has this job is a huge indicator of the level of proficiency that she is able to work at. This week she has finished up her mandatory training period, and is now officially on the phones. 

Besides this, she has also been invited onto a committee that organizes most of the continuing education for the interpreters in our region. She has already attended her first meeting, and her input is being heard. Next month, she will be using our conference room at Heartwood to host a seminar for the interpreting community. 

But wait- there's more! Despite all of this, she is still a community interpreter as well. She is officially self employed (with a business license and everything), and has clients who regularly request her over other interpreters in our area. She also helps out at the local college doing educational interpreting when the need arises. 

In other words, my wife totally rocks! She is classy. She is skilled. She is well-rounded. She is amazing. And she is married to me. How did I get so lucky?

Also, I have to say that while I am excited for her to dive into all of this, I am just as excited for our kids. I am excited for them to see a father AND a mother who contribute to the community in meaningful ways. I am excited for them to see that their father AND their mother can get a sense of fulfillment from their chosen professions. I am excited for them to have a role model in BOTH parents for nurturing them at home, as well as for achieving great things outside of the home. Especially our girls. I am glad that Rachel can be an example to them of a woman who is both an amazing mom as well as an accomplished professional. I think it is important for them to see that this is a very real possibility, and is something that they can and should strive for if that is what they want out of life.

Now, I realize that we are in a unique situation. I am grateful that we are in a position where Rachel and I can both choose our own hours at work while at the same time we making pretty good money doing things that we love doing (actually, Rachel makes even more than I do if you break it down hourly). We have worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to this point, and now that work is paying off. I love that I can be a part-time stay-at-home dad while Rachel goes to work, and the relationship this is allowing me to build with my kids. I love that our entire family is able to get involved with our community on so many different levels. I love all of this. 

Thank you, Rachel, for making it a possibility. I love you.

The Joy of Twins

This week I have been thinking a lot about the dynamics of twins. We rarely refer to Adalie and Jackson as twins, and we never call them 'the twins.' We decided early on that it would be better to use names and not lump them together because they are so obviously two different people. I decided to do this post because I have noticed that there are some amazing dynamics in their relationship because they are twins.  There have been difficulties and there have been many joys in having twins. I wanted to get my musings down in our journal.

Having twins has been one of the toughest challenges to my parenting and it may not be for the reasons you think.  The first challenge was that blur of the first year! Adalie and Jackson were born full term (37 weeks) when Evelyn was 19 months old. This was a blessing because there was only a random three day period of jealousy on her part and it was nice because she was very mild mannered.  This timing was difficult because she was still in a very needy stage of life.  Looking back on it I wouldn't have it any other way! A, J, and E all have an extremely close relationships and I wouldn't change that for the world (more on that later).

Adalie and Jackson were both borderline colic.  They would tag team their crying.  Seriously.  Jack would stop and Adalie would pick up where he left off and vice-versa.  At this point I thought it must have been a sixth sense or something. :) In my journal I wrote that I was literally jogging from one task to the other to try to do everything I was needed for.  Also, when you look at the family videos we took you can always hear someone crying in the background.  It was a crazy time and I am a little bit sad that it is such a blur.  I am happy that we made it out of that stage!

One of my personal twin realizations is that, for me, it is very difficult to have one-on-one time with them.  I feel that I am good at taking each kid aside to have personal Momma time,  but for some reason it is tougher with these two!  I have thought hard to try and figure out why this happens.  Adalie and Jackson are two VERY different individuals and it doesn't seem like there should be a problem.  I wonder if it is because when they are together it is very difficult to separate just one of them.  I also wonder if it IS because they are so different.  Maybe I have a 'one-size-fits-all' mentality because they are the same age.  I am not sure.  This is something I just figure out because I think it is so important.

A and J have the cutest relationship!  They are practically inseparable.  Through observing I have come to a huge conclusion about this.  Many of you may say 'duh, of course that is a major factor,' but I just realized it.  There is a major factor for all siblings who are not twins.  There is an automatic leader and follower that naturally comes with age.  The older child assumes that he or she is the 'boss' because of the age gap alone, and this can cause tension, bossiness, and power plays in their interactions.  There is almost none of these in A and J's relationship.  I have never seen such equal share of power between siblings.  They just 'get' each other, and as I observe them I notice little ways they manage to share the power.  They literally take turns making decisions and they equally decide on activities they want to do.   I have also noticed that other people have a difficult time breaking into their little duo.  Evelyn has struggled with this and I can definitely see why.  She can inadvertantly disrupt the power play because she is older and feels that she has more responsiblity to control playtime.  Lately she has been searching out Maren for a playmate, and they are growing pretty close.

I need to insert in here that Adalie and Evelyn have a great relationship together with their similarities as 'the girls,' and Jackson and Evelyn have a great relationship as 'the explorers.'  They seek each other out and gravitate when there is something to explore or to go out and do.  I have observed this for a long time now!  A, J, and E spend a lot of time playing together and having a great time. There are a few squabbles, but they are pretty inseperable most of the time.  Recently, I have noticed occasional separation into groups of two (A and J, and E and M).

In the past Maren has been the little lone explorer at our house.  She enjoys playing alone and sometimes it is difficult to break in and play with her.  In the last month I have seen this change. She has been more welcomed into the group of the older three.  She follows them around and they enjoy including her in their play time!

I have to also insert that this is what I have observed so far in their little lives, and these connections and roles probably will change as they get older.  They have room to change. :)

Cute stories about A and J:

About three times a week I will see Adalie or Jackson spontaneously run up to the other, hug, and announce, "You are my best friend!."  This has been going on for some time now, and I love it every time!

This week I was having Momma time and playing puzzles with A and J.  Jackson was whizzing through our pile of soft brick puzzles while Adalie was struggling with hers.  Adalie mentioned that she needed help and before I could respond Jackson was at her side and encouraging her to do it.  He talked her through doing a few pieces until she was back on track, then he told her he was proud of her and sat back down.  He was very sweet and patient with her!  I was a proud Mom.

After playing puzzles for a while we got out our Uno game.  Adalie and Jackson were very good sports and Adalie ended up winning and she was thrilled.  Jackson grinned, gave her a high five, and told her he was happy that she won.  We started the next game and he announced, "I hope Adalie wins again!"
(This good sportsmanship is not always the case, but it was darn cute).

Logan quote, "Adalie speaks in run on sentences and Jackson speaks in fragments.  When you put them together you have a cohesive conversation."  A few weeks ago I joined the Sunbeam teacher to team teach (the class is huge), and I noticed a time when the teacher didn't understand Jackson.  After class I approached her and let her know that Jack was very patient and would gladly repeat himself if she asked.  She responded that she had difficulty understanding Jackson, but she also had difficulty understanding Adalie because she runs her words together.  I told this story to Logan and he mentioned that ever since that time he has had more difficulty understanding Adalie! Jackson has a very staccato way of speaking and the words he uses are well pronounced while Adalie runs words together and never speaks for less than three minutes at a time.

I also have to mention here that I am glad Adalie and Jack are starting to look more like twins!  I remember going to the doctor for their one year check up and Adalie was in the 99th percentile for weight and Jackson was below the chart!  They definitely did not look like twins! Adalie has lost some of her baby fat and Jackson has grown and now they finally are looking more alike.  They are very cute together.

I love watching my kids grow up, develop relationships with each other, and grow their personalities.

Here are some random pictures from our week:

Griffin and Ashland gave us an excellent cook book for Christmas!  The kids are planning our weekly new recipe, then they will get to take turns helping us make them.

At night the kids have the choice to brush their own teeth or have one of us 'brush them like a dentist.' Evelyn got in on the action and Maren was a willing participant.

This morning Evelyn ran over to me and happily stated, "Good luck to your eyeballs Mom!"  I am not sure where this phrase came from, but all of our kids picked up on it and have been giving well wishes to each other's eyeballs.  Adalie informed me this afternoon that I was a bad guy if she told me, "Good luck to your eyebrows."  I sure love these kids!

Happy, sweet, independent Maren has taken to fits of crying lately.  She is learning that when she cries and throws a fit she gets to sit in a chair until she is finished.  This has been extremely difficult, but not for the reasons you are thinking... Evelyn, Adalie, and Jackson sure love their little sister and they hate to see her sad.  Whenever I put her in the chair and turn around I come back to find her surrounded by toys, blankets, and sometimes her paci.  A, J, and E are very innocent as they explain that it makes them sad to hear Maren cry.  We have had some conversations about how they think we should teach Maren not to throw fits.  They agree that she needs to know that the behavior is unacceptable, but I still find them running to get little treasures at  Maren's time outs!

Our kids are kind of deprived of television.  They are limited to our selection of Veggie Tales, Planet Earth, assorted scripture movies, Disney, and a few other random choices.  We also rent a kids movie for our monthly Family Pizza Movie night that has become a fun tradition. TV time is pretty limited and I like it this way.  However, the reason I mention this is because I have actually come to see some positive things that come directly from television watching.  Our kids, like most other kids, are excellent at creating imaginative play together.  I have noticed that after they watch a movie they come up with a lot of new ideas involving the characters from the movies.  I think this is a great way for them to figure out how to get into the minds of different characters with unique perspectives and ideas.  I hear them talk about the kinds of decisions each character would make and the way each character would think. I like to believe this will help them as they meet new people with different personalities. Another great benefit of movie watching with kids is that it is the perfect opportunity for Mommy cuddle time!  Sometimes if I am having a hard day I will turn on a movie and take turns cuddling with each of my sweet kids.  It is rejuvenating!  Sometimes I don't even mind sick days because it translates into 'cuddle with mommy days.'

Edit: I have to insert here that Bill Nye the Science Guy has become a favorite TV show as well. Youtube is great! :)

If I didn't know that it was January I would think Spring had arrived in Post Falls.  We have had a very rainy week, and the next ten days range from low to high 40's.  Tomorrow should be 47 degrees and that means we will probably be going to the park!  Happy January.

Christmastime!

Trips to Rexburg are always very refreshing for me.

Our trip begins with a 7 hour drive, and surprisingly this is a great beginning to the relaxing experience in Rexburg.  Somehow we managed to get four excellent young travelers (knock on wood!).  I quite enjoy listening to them entertain each other in the back seat.  Logan and I had an enlightening conversation with the kids about how cell phones work and what telephone lines were for.    We also have a rule that the kids can watch one movie on car rides.  This is great for planning the times when I want kids to stay awake so that they don't fall asleep and ruin bedtime. :)

(Insert unrelated car story here) The other day we were waiting for Logan outside of Heartwood.  Jackson was a little bit distressed because he said he was scared of the dark.  Evelyn immediately kicked her feet to make her sparkly shoes light up and she said, "Jack can you see the lights? That means I am up here and will take care of you when you are scared of the dark." After Evelyn spoke up Adalie said, "Jackson- I will sing you a song so that you can hear me and not be afraid of the dark." She immediately started singing (Maren began singing nonsense happy words as she always does when someone starts singing) while Evelyn was making her shoes light up.  Jack was cured of his fear and I was very proud of how my kids take care of each other.

Back to the story....  

As soon as we arrived in Rexburg we were greeted with a whirlwind of activity.  Grandma, Grandpa, Allison, and Courtney were constantly playing with at least one of the kids. Among all of the coloring, painting, cooking, puzzles, and other at-home activities we also went sledding, bowling, shopping, fish-feeding at Warm River, visiting with Cambria and Ty, and car sledding to name a few.

Christmas

As Christmas approached this year I came to the realization that I had pretty much everything that I wanted.  The thing that would mean the most to me is time.  We used this idea as a focus for our Christmas gifts.

Logan and I decided to buy gifts that were centered around activities we could do with the kids.  We bought a few family games, puzzles, and craft gifts that we could make with the kids.  So far we have taken advantage of all of these gifts and we have had some fun times together.

For my Christmas gift to Logan I decided to rent a yurt for a night at Harriman State park.  Logan and I rented cross country skis and spent all day Monday together before our night in the yurt. We had some great conversations, and plenty of time for cross country skiing. We now know how to start an amazing fire in the wood stove... It took a few tries to figure out, but we finally succeeded! (the next morning we found laminated instructions for using the stove) We had a wonderful, quiet, relaxing, fun time together. I sure love Logan!

During our vacation I was able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with each of the kids.  Let me tell you that this is MUCH easier when the other kids are occupied and entertained.  Overall we had a wonderful vacation.

During the course of our trip Logan and I made a family New Years resolution to go on a family trip. We realized that whenever we go on family trips it is always to another family members house.  It is time to get out and bond with each other on a crazy family road trip! Our destination is yet to be determined. Please share your ideas with us.

I have to mention that our kids are at a great age for playing games together!  For Christmas we got Sorry, Trouble, and a story cube game.  Some of our other favorites are Uno and Go Fish.  This whole new world of fun has opened up to us now that the oldest three can understand the rules and play their own turns.  The only trick is to distract Maren because she definitely wants to get in on the action.

Overall we had an excellent vacation; lots of family time, focusing on the Savior, fun alone time, activities, great food, and great company.

Now for the huge photo dump.

Our kids have always been fans of reading books.  This vacation did not disappoint! 

Yes, Maren's head was stuck between the bars. Yes, she was distressed. And yes- I did make her wait so that I could get the camera out of my pocket.

Hooray for dress up clothes!  All of the kids are big fans.

Here is our little winter yurt.  We didn't manage to get a picture of both of us together.

We have a Hazard New Years tradition involving our tree and a bonfire in the backyard.  Here are the before and after pictures of this fun event.

Does any one have any idea where these floating bubbles are coming from?

No it was not snowing when we took this still photo.  What on earth happened between dumping the pictures into Picasa and uploading them to our blog?

Papa time with one of Jack's new Christmas presents

Adalie and Jackson came up and informed me that they were playing the Princess and the Frog.  Hmmm. Imaginative?

We went to Q'emlin park to go hiking.  Evelyn discovered this HUGE sheet of ice and wanted to explore.  It was really cool.

We took a hike at Q'emlin park and ended up on 'The Icy Trail of Death."  Jack had his hands in his pockets when he slipped... He didn't even put his hands down when he landed head first on a rock. Poor kid!  He took it like a champ though.

A Letter From Our Kids

Dear Mom,

First of all, we wanted to let you know what a great Mom you are. We can tell that you are really trying hard and we have learned a lot of important things from you. Sometimes, however, it seems that the image you project of us to others isn’t totally reflective of reality (at least not how we see it). While we are usually really good kids (and you tell us as much), reading your blog sometimes seems like it is meant to be the strongest form of birth control available. We, as your offspring, are concerned that there is a disconnect here. Since we have experienced so much happiness within the context of our family, we just want to make sure that this joy is not diminished by colorful accounts of our more embarrassing moments.

So as not to offend, we are writing this letter to you in a way that accentuates some of the most positive aspects of your parenting. At the same time, however, we make an attempt to demonstrate how these same aspects can sometimes lead to natural conflicts-of-interest between our development and your desire for an orderly home. Almost consistently, however, you have put our needs above your own, and have not allowed yourself to slack on the parenting in favor of a temporary and imaginary picture of the perfect family.

First of all, we wanted to thank you for having all of us so close together. We don’t know of very many families who have had 4 kids in 5 years (with one on the way as well), and we understand that things can get a little bit out of hand sometimes. We are sure that you understood this as you planned your family, but you chose to have us anyway. Well, we just wanted to let you know that it is working. We are all extremely close friends with each other, and we are establishing strong family ties now that will last for the rest of our lives. We love to play with each other, but I know that sometimes we get caught up in a “groupthink” mentality, and we apologize for the times when it leads to bad outcomes. Please cut us a little slack- we’re kids. We say this not by way of excuse, but as a reality check for you. Seriously, go and find a parent with a young child and ask her if it ever gets frustrating. Now, multiply that frustration by four. Stuff happens- and with more of us around, plus the ability we have to play off of each other, a lot more stuff is going to happen than you might see in a family with fewer and more spread apart children. I hope that you can see, Mom, that this is understandable (although not excusable), and that the strong relationships that we have with each other are more important than a few frustrating days every now and then.

Next, we wanted to thank you for instilling within us a sense of creativity. We seriously feel sorry for some of our peers who do not know how to play because they have fallen victim to the “screen trap.” So many of them are incapable of thinking of fun things to do without a tv, computer, or video game to guide them. Consequentially, they are being influenced by their world way more often than they are having and influence on it. We, on the other hand, are already learning valuable lessons about how we can bring about change in our surroundings in order to make them more desirable for us. Sometimes, however, what is desirable to a 3 year-old is not the same thing that is desirable to a 30 year old. But only sometimes. We understand that you are bigger and stronger and smarter than we are, and it would be easy for you to force things to be your way all the time. But you don’t. And as your children, we see this as one of the best things about you. By letting us do things sometimes without interference, we are gaining confidence in ourselves that will carry through into adulthood. This, to us, is worth getting in trouble every once in a while for accidently taking things too far.

Another thing that we see you doing is teaching us how to engage our critical thinking skills, even at this young age. You have raised us all to have extremely inquisitive minds, and to question nearly everything. Further, you have taught us that we can discover answers to these questions for ourselves, and that sometimes this process involves experimentation/exploration of the unknown. We know many, many parents who are scared to allow their children to engage in this sort of behavior. Unfortunately, we have seen their siblings grow up to a state of paralysis when it comes to intelligent decision making, leading them to look constantly for external sources to dictate to them how to live their lives. And we can understand how such a life, while it may be easier and even safer, cannot be lived as fully as one in which the individual takes control for themselves. So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We know that by giving us these important skills and attitudes, you are relinquishing an enormous amount of control. But as we learn how to use these tools of inquiry, we know that we will be better equipped to make proper judgments about our world when nobody else is there to guide us.

With this, we also feel the need to issue an apology. Since we are just learning, we sometimes investigate our surroundings in a way that may seem destructive to those who already know the answers to our questions (one example we can think of is when we were putting rocks in the air conditioner). We understand this, and we understand that you could make your own life a lot easier by simply quashing our natural tendencies to investigate our surroundings. But you don’t. Instead you let us discover, and explore, and experiment, even if it means that things get broken sometimes. But don’t worry- we are starting to understand that the natural consequence of breaking things is that we have to buy new things, and that this can be extremely expensive (in terms of toys). Consequentially, we have begun to be a lot more cognizant of our experimental methods- A quick glance into the playroom reveals that our R&D budget is starting to look pretty skimpy.  

Finally, we want to thank you for allowing us to experience natural consequences. Rarely do we show you this sort of gratitude in the moment, but just know that we understand that it is not always easy for you to do. When we refuse to bring a coat to the park, for example, even when you tell us we should, you have shown love to us by allowing us to go cold. Consequentially, we have seen you endure not only whining from our own self-imposed misery, but judgmental looks from other adults as well. But we understand that you will never allow anything really bad to happen to us, and that by teaching us these important lessons we now have intrinsic reasons to do things rather than simply following rules that don’t make any sense to us. Because of your teaching, we have also begun to learn how to project our actions into the future, making educated guesses about what the probable outcome would be before any action is even taken. This, we feel, is an important life skill to learn, and is worth a few bumps or scrapes every now and again. So, thank you.

In closing, we want to let you know how good you are doing as a mom. The very fact that you are trying so hard stands out to us as an example of what a good mom is. That does not go unnoticed.

With Love,

-Evelyn, Adalie, Jackson, and Maren (Your little loinfruits)  J

For today’s blog post I want to do a review of our vacuum cleaner. I know this sounds dull, but any family with young kids knows that the vacuum cleaner is an important- no, an essential- appliance to have around the home. And besides, telling about our vacuum cleaner is the silver lining to a certain ‘incident’ that happened this week.

We chose our vacuum based on Amazon reviews and the reasonable sticker price. We bought it hoping that it lived up to all that was said about it, because we have a carpeted dining room and 4 messy kids. After having it a couple of years, I can confidently say that it has proven itself time and time again. Whether it is lettuce, soggy mini-wheats, spilled flour, or rubbed-in pieces of play-dough, our vacuum has done a supreme job of keeping our dining room (mostly) presentable.

But that was all just warm-up. That was the easy stuff. Yesterday, our little Hoover survived the real test. The test of the “food-storage massacre.”

I should start this story by clearing Evelyn’s good name. She was at her friend’s birthday during all of the events that I am about to describe. Rachel was gone as well- Christmas shopping until it was time to get Ev. That left me at home alone with Adalie, Jackson, and Maren.

It was supposed to be quiet time, but they were all playing downstairs very nicely with each other, and I thought that separating them would entail more work on my part than just letting them play. Besides, I was busy playing the guitar, and trying to enforce quiet time would surely take me away from my music. And so I decided to let them stay downstairs in the playroom. This is also a good place to mention that the playroom closet is also the place where we keep our food storage. We keep the closet door locked, and it has never been a problem…until now.

Well, as they say- time flies when you’re having fun. And those who know me will understand that playing my guitar is one of my favorite pastimes. And so I played for a full hour-and-a-half without ever looking up. It was only when I took a break to get a drink of water that I looked at the clock and realized that I had not heard anything from our children this entire time. I smiled and thought about what good kids they were. Being the awesome dad that I am, I decided that it would be cool if I went down and invited them to watch a Christmas movie with me. That would be good ‘kid time.’

Now usually after this much time, I will go downstairs expecting to see a mess. Our kids are creative and imaginative, and they will frequently make forts, roads, stores, etc. out of our basement. I don’t mind this, and I normally encourage this sort of play. For this reason, was surprised when I got down the stairs to see everything in its perfectly clean and untouched condition. It was almost as if the kids weren't even here. I could hear happy voices coming from the play room though, although the door was shut. This was a bit unusual.

I opened the door.

… … … …

There are very few times when I don’t have anything to say. This was one of them. I just looked around in shocked silence. And then I looked at each of our kids. And then they looked at me. And without any more provocation that this, they started crying and slowly made their way to their rooms to put themselves in time out.

I let them go (although I did make a mental note to spend some time pondering the deeper psychological implications of their response to my sudden arrival and subsequent silence). I then assessed the damage.

It was complete- in a completely bad, catastrophic sort of way.

Someone (probably Jack, since he is smarter when it comes to mischief making) had figured out how to stack toys up to the point where they could jimmy the lock on the storage room closet. It then appeared that they had systematically gone through each individual item and, if they could, opened it and poured it on the floor. Thankfully, the canned goods were impervious to little hands. Everything else perished. And I mean EVERYTHING.

Flour, sugar, mashed potatoes, rice, beans, oatmeal, gravy, taco seasoning, spices, noodles, etc. - all were spread across the floor in a chaotic (and almost artistic) rendering of- well, of nothing. Of a mess. That’s all. Just one, big, ugly, expensive mess.

And this brings me to our vacuum. This was a job that only the toughest machine could handle. And it did so with an aptitude and skill that can only be matched by the aptitude of my children for creating the need for such a machine. It was almost as if the vacuum developed a personality- a determination not to be beat. It did not discriminate- everything from flour to large plastic dominos was easily swallowed up into its patented wind tunnel of a body. I was especially thankful for the ease of emptying the canister, as it was completely filled a full four-and-a-half times before the carpet was clean. I also have to praise the suction strength and ease of use regarding the detachable hose, since it was needed to reach into all the nooks and crannys of the room. Finally, I must recognize the machine for its efficiency. In less than five minutes I had completely undone the mess that had taken several focused and devoted child-hours to create. Yes, our vacuum is good at what it does.

And now I guess we better just hope that we don’t need food storage any time soon, because it is going to take a long, long time before our kids are able to replace everything that was lost.

But I guess that is what I get for not putting them in quiet time.

PS: To those who wonder- our kids went to bed that night after spending a good two hours cleaning without any help. Also, the “toy fairy” visited our home- a malevolent winged creature who steals toys from irresponsible children to give them to kids who will appreciate them more.

PPS: Also, for those who wonder- we have a Hoover WindTunnel T-Series Rewind Upright Vacuum, which can be purchased from Amazon for 99.00 and free shipping.

Us and our wonderful kids in our Sunday best before church

This morning I awoke quietly and lay in my bed.  The first thing to greet me was the strong fresh smell of pine. My door was closed, but the smell was able to penetrate in to wake me up.  What a wonderful way to begin the day!  I look forward to that smell every time I enter the house, hang out in the living room, or wake up in the morning.

Yesterday we drove to a local farm, located our perfect tree, cut it down, and went to a warm building to enjoy hot chocolate while other people shook out our tree and wrapped it for us.  What a great way to go!  We had the fun of picking a still growing tree, but we didn't have to do all of the work. Also, it was only slightly longer than the perfect amount of time to have our kids out in the 7 degree weather (windchill of -11). Brilliant.

Lets go back 12 months or so to last Christmastime.  Our tree, really just a branch, stretched the limits of our Christmas tree base... Because the trunk of our little branch was so little.  This year our lovely tree finally made it in to our base after a little bit of scraping and prodding to get the large trunk to fit (sort of).  Soon after, however, we heard a whooshing sound and looked in time to see our graceful 10 foot tree do a swan dive onto our carpet.  Our little base was twisted and bent beyond recognition.  Needless to say, we have a much better tree this year. After purchasing a new base and setting up our lovely tree I am still finding out new reasons why I love our home!  The tree space in our living room was created for tall, wide, and lovely Christmas trees.

Last year I had to physically take the needles off of the tree and break them to get my Christmas tree smell fix.  This year I can smell Christmas nearly everywhere in our home.  I am one happy girl!

Yesterday we decorated the tree as a family while listening to Christmas carols.  Everything is perfect except for the fact that I have no idea how we are going to untangle the lights that we put up there.  I managed to buy lights that separate into three strands... We wound those around the existing lights and we are just hoping that we will untangle them when the time comes.  For now, we will just enjoy the beautiful tree, glorious smell, and magic of Christmas time.

I need to mention that no matter what we do Christmas related, all of the three older kids (especially Evelyn) are quick to point out that Jesus is the main reason for the Christmas season.  I love this.  I can not tell you how many times I was called out by one child or another who was announcing that Jesus had been born and I needed to come and see Him.  My favorite time happened yesterday after we had finished decorating the tree. Evelyn came to my room sporting 2 large branches behind her back that we had trimmed off of the tree. She informed me that she was an angel and that I was a shepherd. She told me to 'fear not' for Jesus was born in a manger, and that I must follow the star to come see Him. I am grateful for my kids who help me always to stay in the real spirit of Christmas.

On Monday, Widget (our Christmas elf),made his appearance.  He brought with him a tray full of brownies and a thank you message written in Cheerios (for the pictures the kids drew for him). I had heard from Santa that Widget has been a little bit of a troublemaker this year.  He has been pretty mischievous so far!  The kids love it.

I am loving the holidays so far. I feel blessed in so many ways this season.

I will post a Thanksgiving post soon!  We had an excellent trip to Utah to visit my family.

Hooray for Christmas time and hooray for best friends

Widget, our mischievous elf, took selfies with each of the kids the other night

Here are the kids while we had hot chocolate while waiting for our tree.  It was a brilliant idea to offer free hot chocolate along side high priced caramel popcorn and cinnamon rolls.  :)