ice, ice baby. . .

That's what we're covered in today.  It sounds a little like tinkling cymbals outside as the ice pellets fall and coat everthing with a shiny, glassy sheen.

Lovely.

Twelve

It's hard to believe, but twelve years ago today, my blue-eyed blonde haired beauty made her debut.  I have so many cherished memories of rocking her to sleep and then once she was fast asleep, choosing to just sit and hold her as long as I could.  Although she will still occasionally come sit by me to snuggle, she is definitely no longer a little baby.  In fact, she's not even a little girl anymore.  She is a beautiful young lady, and it is a joy to watch her grow and learn and become.     

  Meg, you have brought so much sunshine into my life! 

I love you! 

May you continue to be beautiful and happy- both inside and out - on your journey to becoming YOU! 

Happy Birthday!

Unfortunately, you can't actually look inside this book unless you own it or visit it on Amazon, but this is one of our favorite Christmas books.  The boys and I have read it together several times already this year, and I happen to know that Megan has discreetly moved closer to us so she could listen, too.  I love it when happy books make their way into our lives.

In order to earn the train display trip on Saturday, Matthew cleaned his room.  He proudly brought me to his room to show me his progress.  I had to keep my eyes closed until he told me to open them.  When I opened my eyes, this is what I saw on his neatly made bed:

Matthew had arranged a few of his stuffed animals from largest to smallest on his bed with a handwritten note. 

In the story, animals come to stay in a warm stable with kind ox.  Each animal that comes, from stray dog to small mouse, is welcomed by kind ox and told, "There's always room for a little one here."  The final guests to arrive at the stable are a man and his wife who is expecting a baby.  Of course, there is room for that little one in the stable, too. 

I hope Matthew will personalize the larger message from this story, too, and always have room for Jesus in his heart and life.

Train Gang

Trains are serious business



Matthew, Jacob and I had the pleasure of going to a (free!) train display this afternoon.  The boys worked hard to complete all of their chores so we could go.  And I think they were SO glad that they earned their reward!  The display was at a local (luxury) retirement community and was completely set up by and taken care of by some of the residents there.   (Like I said, luxury.  How many retirement centers have you been to where there is a huge train room with a separate control room?  Pretty cool.)  

It was a pretty amazing set up, and the elder train enthusiasts were so happy to see the young train enthusiasts (translation: Jacob and Matthew) eagerly watching the trains circling the tracks, entering and exiting tunnels, and blowing their whistles.

None of my pictures turned out great, but they will help me keep my mental picture of the boys running from track to track, jumping up and down with excitement.

 These two funny, sweet boys have been talking about those trains all night long and can't wait to go see them again!  I think I scored some points in the cool mom department today!  And I had a ton of fun doing it, too!

 Choo Choo!

I want to play!

While driving around in the car tonight listening to the radio, the boys and I heard a commercial about college.  Jacob asked, "Why do we have to go to college?"  I bypassed his question as I know this topic brings him great anxiety and replied that he didn't have to go to college for a long, long time.  He insisted, "But why do we have to go to college?"  I then explained that going to college helps people get ready to have jobs.  He burst into tears and exclaimed, "But you can't play in college!  (sob, sob, sob)  I'm never going to college.  (gulp, sob, gulp) I want to play!"  Matthew forcefully told him that you need a job to have money for food and a place to live and other stuff.  Jacob shot back through his tears, "Well, I want to play and I want to live with mom!"  I couldn't help myself from laughing as I tried to console him.  I'm sure I won't be giggling when he's 35, still living at home and playing with his trains up in the playroom.  But for now, he's pretty darn cute.

Advent to Christmas

I love this time of year, and I am trying to focus more on Christ as I prepare to celebrate His birth and His life.  

Last year I made this cute advent garland.  I was so excited to put it up again this year and get started with some fun activities to get our family in the Christmas spirit.  I combined the daily activities with a simple scripture "chase" that I found in the December 2010 Friend.  There is a question about the Nativity story with a scripture referenced that contains the answer.  After we read the scripture together we move onto the activity. 

 A few of the activities we have enjoyed so far:

Decorating and eating yummy gingerbread trees.

Putting up and decorating the Christmas tree.

Reading Christmas stories together.

Secret Service for a family member.  (A lot of beds were anonymously made, and baskets full of clean laundry were folded and ready to be put away.)

So, this wasn't an actual activity, but the boys snuggled up together after putting up the tree and playing an intense game of, "I'll hide this ornament somewhere on the tree, and you have to find it!"  They obviously fell asleep like this.  They were so cute.  Matthew still had the Santa hat on when he woke up the next morning.



An Interfaith Sing-A-Long of Handel's Messiah at our Stake Center.  There were excellent soloists, a great choir, and a fantastic chamber orchestra in which our fair Sarah played her flute.  It was a beautiful and inspiring performance.  We have all been breaking out into the "Hallelujah Chorus" ever since.



The First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  This is one of my favorite meetings of the year.  There is always such an amazing spirit present.  The music and the talks were truly uplifting and inspiring.  

I pray that the Spirit of Christ will be in our home this Christmas season.

Proud of You

Monday, Sarah was walking home from school and noticed an older lady raking leaves in her yard.  The lady hadn't finished raking, but went back inside.  Sarah was all out of breath as she was rushed up the killer hill to our house, and quickly said, "I'm going to go rake some leaves for an old lady down the street."  She grabbed a couple rakes and Megan, and said, "Let's go!  Hurry!"  The two of them ran back down the hill and started raking.  Apparently, the lady came back out, and was very thankful to them.  She had just been "resting while watching Oprah, and was coming out to rake during the commercials."  Well, the girls made short work of the rest of those leaves, and just in time as we have had buckets and buckets of rain today.

So how many high school and middle school kids do you know that would spontaneously run to rake someone's leaves . . . for free? I love my girls.  And I'm proud of them.  I searched and searched for a video of Mr. Rogers singing "Proud of You" to insert here, but I couldn't find one.  Fortunately for them, my girls have heard this song many times from my lips (hee hee), and can undoubtedly hear the tune in their heads as they read this.  (If you are unsure of the tune, call me, and I'd be pleased as punch to sing it for you!)

I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you, I hope that you are proud as I am,
Proud of you, I'm proud of youuuuuuuuuuuu,
I hope that you are proud of you, too.

Good girls. Yes, they are.