things we did before Christmas

For some reason UNC's fall semester ended earlier than usual this year, and on top of that my one scheduled final was on the first day. For my GIS class we had to do a GIS-related project, and for the final we gave a ten-minute presentation about our project and turned in a paper. I worked really hard to not procrastinate on the project because I knew the project I chose was a little complicated and I would need a lot of help from my teacher. In the end I still had a lot to do, but it worked out. On the day of our final (which was, oddly, at 7:00 pm, by the way), I came in and found out that I would be presenting second to last. So I got to listen to everyone else's presentations and sit there and worry that mine would be awful in comparison. But once I got up for my turn I just started talking and it went just fine. I knew my stuff really well and I had deliberately made my powerpoint sparse (mostly graphics and tables) so that I couldn't sit there and read it. I think I was pretty confident and it was kind of fun. After that project was over I had to write a paper for my research project, and that came together pretty well too. This has probably been my most difficult semester ever, but I admit that it's nice to look back and realize that at the beginning of the semester I wasn't even sure I had the skills to do everything, especially the project and the presentation, and now it's all over and I did it, and did it well.

Kevin's preschool had a little program and party to celebrate Christmas. First they performed a little play depicting the nativity. Kevin was one of the wise men. Before we left for the party, I was trying to get his costume figured out and he was not going to put up with it. He insisted that his costume is the Cat in the Hat and he wanted to wear that costume. I tried showing him one of the church's videos about the wise men and pointing out what their costumes looked like, and after that he consented to wear his monkey blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a tie draped over that, and he agreed to carry a music box as his gift. He didn't look much like a wise man to me, but once he was on the stage it was okay-ish, although you could barely see the music box. After he said his line (facing away from the audience), he knelt down on the floor and then Ryan started suppressing a laugh because Kevin had opened the music box and you could faintly hear it playing "What a Wonderful World." After the play, the kids sang a couple of songs, which was very cute. Then we had treats and chatted. I knew there would be a ton of sugary stuff there, so I decided to try a new bread recipe and bring that. Several people thanked me and said it was great, and there were only a couple of slices left when we went home, so I think it was a good choice.

For the last few years, our ward has had a tradition of participating in a local program called Share Your Christmas. Share Your Christmas finds people who are in need and can't afford Christmas presents, and they ask those people to make a list of some things they would like for Christmas. Then people volunteer to buy those gifts for those people. Our ward signs up to buy the gifts for around ten people each year, and individual members sign up for individual gifts. It has become one of my favorite service projects to do around Christmas. It's not a lot of work because we just have to sign up to buy a gift for the person and then go get it, but I really enjoy trying to make the gift thoughtful, and it's fun to imagine the person opening the gift and enjoying it when otherwise they wouldn't have had anything. This year we got to get some shirts for a man.

Everyone brings their gifts to the ward party where we usually have dinner, storytelling, and maybe some other activities. One of my favorite things is to see the huge pile of gifts that we all brought and think about how many people's lives we have touched together. Whoever organized the dinner this year was a genius because instead of having a big table with all of the food on it, they put ham, salad, and rolls at each table and asked people to bring side dishes to share at their table. I always dread having to drag the kids through the line and get everyone's food, so we loved this arrangement because we could just sit down and eat without dealing with the line.

For the past few years we have also had a tradition of singing Christmas carols with a few of our neighbors. Two of the families will be moving this year, so it was a little bittersweet, but it was fun as usual. I have the packet of music, so we will have to find some other friends to do it with next year, which, now that I think about it, will probably be our last Christmas here.

We had a very nice Relief Society activity for Christmas. There was a hot chocolate bar complete with creamers to add for flavoring (this is something we did in my family when I was growing up, and hazelnut hot chocolate is the best!), and some other treats and fruit. We started by snacking and chatting with each other. Then I accompanied my neighbor Elizabeth while she sang Mary Did You Know? She did a really beautiful job (even though she had a cold!). Her voice was perfect for the song and I felt deeply touched by the music. After that a brother in our ward who is working on a PhD in Religious Studies here spoke about Mary and gave some interesting insights about how she is a symbol of several gospel concepts.

We have a wonderful and ambitious choir director in our ward who always puts together a beautiful Christmas program for Sacrament meeting. I ended up playing the piano for all the songs this year, which I loved. There are always a few songs that aren't very hard and a couple that are a little challenging, and every year I feel unsure that it will all work out, but every year the program is beautiful. I always feel so blessed to be able to praise and express gratitude to our Savior through the Christmas program each year.

My advisor offered to pay me for working in the lab over the break, so I will be doing Sr columns a couple of times and maybe some other things. It will be nice to get a little extra income.

The kids have been enjoying taking turns putting up the ornament every day for the advent calendar. They also love having the Christmas tree up. (Kevin has been asking to put the Christmas tree up all year!)

I don't think I've switched from my Andy Williams Holiday station on Pandora since Thanksgiving.

We are getting very excited for Christmas. We were able to put a lot of thought into the gifts we got for everybody this year, and I think they will all like them. I have all the ingredients for the amazing cheese ball that I make every year and for a batch of wassail.

Today Kevin told me he wanted to make cow spots like we made when we went to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A. Initially I felt a little reluctant because I knew that what he probably wanted was to watch me make cow spots, not make the cow spots himself. That's usually how crafts go with Kevin. But I did get out the paper, crayons, and scissors, and it actually worked out really well. I made a few spots while he watched first, and then I magically managed to get him to try it with my help. I drew the shapes of the spots for him on paper, and then I helped him cut them out. I found that at first he had no confidence in himself and he needed me to hold his hand and the paper and help him cut in the right direction. But as he got going he would start aiming the scissors by himself while I kept my hand on his, and eventually he was doing it without any help, and he was doing a good job. I often feel like there are things that he is perfectly capable of, but he doesn't have the confidence to start and he won't try. But today, when I gave him a lot of manual guidance at first, he gained confidence and was able to finish by himself. I am constantly looking for ways to help him break past that barrier, so I was grateful today to find something that seemed to work.

Thanksgiving 2013

This is the only picture we got from Thanksgiving. It was time to make the rolls and I decided to give in to the kids' pleadings to let them help me . . . because I figure if I let them help me now, in ten years they can do it themselves. (I had been doing a lot of cooking and had just gotten the counters cleaned up some, so I was reluctant to let them help because I knew it would be a big mess.) I think there was about a cup of flour on the floor and the kids and I were covered in it. It was a good memory for them, though.

We had Thanksgiving with our neighbors the Rasmussens and the Pulsiphers. The Monsons came over later for pie. We have had Thanksgiving with the Rasmussens for four out the six years we have lived here, so it was a little bittersweet because they will be moving soon.

The kids were really excited about Thanksgiving. I had told them that we would be taking the pie to the Pulsiphers' house and eating dinner and pie there, so they were really looking forward to it and kept asking if it was time to go yet.

Unfortunately, Ryan got sick with the flu two days before Thanksgiving. He slept most of the time and could barely stand up for the first two days. On Thanksgiving, he was doing better, but he had a sore throat and thought he was probably contagious, so he decided not to come to dinner. I brought him food and pie and he spent the time making economic models on MatLab for fun. I'm glad none of the rest of us got sick (and that he can give me kisses again).

The kids all played together incredibly well. We hardly saw them the entire time we were at the Pulsiphers' house because they were playing in their son's room the entire time. (There was a nightlight in there that made it possible to play in the dark, so they were having a fabulous time.)

I ended up making three pies this year. I made a pie with a graham cracker crust and pudding in it, as well as a peach pie and a berry pie. The pie crust was my best yet. It was very flaky and it didn't shrink. I think it helped that I mixed it as little as possible. The berry pie was a last minute decision. I was remembering the razzleberry pie we used to have often at my Grammy's house, and since we had frozen berries in the freezer, I was able to do a single pie with a top crust using this recipe for the filling. It was a very good pie and turned out pretty similar to the razzleberry pie. Kevin really liked it. I think we had enough pie to last until Monday, and that's how it should be. Pie is one of the most important parts of Thanksgiving.

The day after Thanksgiving I spent the day loading my samples into Strontium columns to get the Strontium out and ready for the mass spectrometer. I was done by 7:00 pm, which was a record for me. Every other time I've done it I have been finished much later. Once I didn't get home until 11 pm. It was nice to have plenty of Thanksgiving leftovers to snack on all day, even though it was not so nice to be away from my family on Thanksgiving weekend. I'm blessed to have a family who is very supportive of my education.

Last month I made a new record for lowest number of posts. I just didn't feel like blogging because I was busy and stressed. But I did keep track of some things we did and some great quotes from the kids.

Ryan had a birthday. He turned 31. Apparently we didn't get any pictures of him, but here is his cake and the kids. The candles show his age in binary. We gave him Guns, Germs, and Steel and the two books he was missing from The Chronicles of Prydain series.

11/23
Today Kevin, Heidi and I are making pictures with construction paper. Kevin eventually got it into his head that he wanted to make a train. Of course I was envisioning a flat piece of paper with construction paper trains glued to it. Finally when I made the tracks, Kevin complained that they won't work for driving the trains on. That's when I realized that while I was envisioning a flat picture, Kevin was envisioning a functioning train with an intricate track complete with bridges and tunnels, all made out of paper. Heidi, on the other hand, is deeply offended that I threw away all of the tiny shreds of paper that she meticulously ripped herself.

11/25
Kevin's preschool class performed a little program today. They sang a song (Albuquerque is My Turkey) and then each of the kids stood up and got to share something they were grateful for (the teachers had already asked them before and written it down on a feather to be taped on Albuquerque the Turkey). Kevin said, "I am grateful for my sister. She is the costume for Thing 1." (Apparently he felt that it was very important for that second part to be included.)

11/27
In the morning I said to the kids, "Okay, so what are our goals for today? Let's see, we need to make pie--" Then I was interrupted as both kids excitedly raced to the kitchen, climbed onto the counter, and pulled the box of graham crackers out. (I was planning to make one pie with a graham cracker crust, and I had explained this to them when they saw the graham crackers with the groceries a couple of days before.) They were really excited to be my helpers with getting things ready for Thanksgiving. They also enjoyed playing with the scraps from the regular pie crusts for about two minutes . . . then Kevin threw a big blob on the ceiling and we were done.

11/28
Ryan found a part from my baby food grinder in Kevin's drawer.

He came out and said, "Kevin had a part of the baby food thing in his drawer. He dismantled it."

Then Kevin came in smiling and said, "See, Mom? I made it into a helicopter."

"Like I said, he dismantled it."

Then Kevin said, "It seems to me I fixed it."

It's all a matter of perspective.

11/28
I put on a pink shirt that I haven't worn for a long time. Heidi saw it and said, "Oh, you have pink! Can I have a pink shirt?" Then she found the nearest pink shirt and put it on over the one she was wearing so that we would match. Heidi has a thing for changing her clothes lately. She changes her outfit (all by herself) a few times a day for no apparent reason.

11/29
Kevin: "It seems to me . . . that you're all dressed up, Mom." (Apparently "It seems to me" is his new phrase.) (I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt--as opposed to exercise pants or pajamas.)

12/2
We went to Target on Saturday to get some socks for Kevin. I was planning to just get plain socks that all look the same because they're cheaper and easier to match, but when we got to the socks, he got a bright look in his eye and said, "Mom, can we get colorful socks this time?" My initial response was to be a cheapskate and just say we were going to get plain ones, but when I saw the look on his face I decided it was worth a couple of extra dollars to make him happy (plus, when Kevin shows a preference about colors we kind of like to encourage that). This morning as he was getting dressed I was glad I made that decision because he was so thrilled with his new colorful socks. I had forgotten how much fun that kind of thing is when you're little. He chose to wear the grey ones with yellow on them and said they were construction socks.

12/3
This was the prayer of a certain little boy who was cooped up in the house all day: "Dear Heavenly Father, Thank Thee for this day, Thank Thee that we did NOT go on a walk today (meaningful look in my direction), Thank Thee that we can go on a walk tomorrow, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Apparently I wrote this a month or so ago and never got around to publishing it. Well, here you go.

Kevin:
"We were too hot to sleep."

"Hmm, that's too bad."

"Sure!" (I love it when he says this after I ask him to help me in some way.)

"I need to eat some (cereal/candy/juice/etc.) because I have to help my breath."

"Here, Mom, you need to drink this." (Handing me a very full glass of water.) "I can smell your breath."

Kevin had a phase where he liked to pretend to be a dog. Recently he has been pretending to be a cat instead. I think I prefer the cat because it is much quieter and doesn't lick my pants.

Heidi:
"I need space!"

"I need some privacy!"

Heidi is very aware of our routines. If I have done something out of order or some routine isn't finished, she uses her nicest voice to tell me what to do.

She has become a bit of a daddy's girl lately. It's always, um, fun when we get to see her thrashing around and screaming, "No, Dad do it!" when I did something for her instead of Ryan. (Update: This phase seems to have been short-lived, because now that I'm coming back to this post a couple of months later I'm realizing that she is not doing this much anymore.)

Heidi loves her brother, but she has also been enjoying the time she gets with me when Kevin is at preschool. Kevin is a bit more dominant and often when he is around we end up doing everything he wants. Heidi enjoys getting to choose what she wants to do and having that time to play without competing with him over all the toys. One Friday morning we went for a walk and she really enjoyed it because she could take it at her own pace. Every once in a while she would just jump in excitement as she was walking. It was an interesting contrast because when we walk with Kevin, he frequently stops (or darts away) to look at webs, flowers, bugs, or whatever else (which prolongs most walks quite a bit); Heidi, on the other hand, mostly pauses briefly to point out the things that interest her and then moves on. There's nothing wrong with either approach, but it has been interesting to note the contrast, and I probably would not have noticed it without having time alone with Heidi.

Here is Kevin in his soccer get-up:

Kevin got a medal on the second to last day of soccer. He is very proud of it and tells us that it is special. He is actually attempting to kick the ball sometimes during the games now.

Kevin enjoyed visiting the fire department with his preschool. He likes to get the vacuum hose attachments and use them as fire hoses. These are his very favorite clothes, by the way.

One evening I came home from an errand with the kids and found that someone had left this huge box in the lobby with a note indicating that it was free for anyone who wanted to build a fort. I snatched it right up. It was the only reason we had dinner that evening. The kids played with it non-stop and that freed me up to make dinner. They continue to play with it. They make up lots of "house" scenarios. One time I came running because I heard Kevin say he was putting something in the oven--it was okay because he had actually put a colander on top of another box in front of the big box, and he informed me that they were baking a cake.

The kids are fighting over interesting things lately. Usually the fights revolve around who gets to deliver a message to me from dad or who gets to help me or get things for me.

Good Medicine (an honest post)

I've been yelling a lot lately, mainly on nights when Ryan is at work late. It's the hardest time of day because the kids are hungry, I'm hungry, I'm ready for some adult conversation, I'm tired of being the referee, the house is trashed, and the kids are generally in the mood for playing with things I don't want them to have or else fighting.

On one such night this week, I stopped and said, "You know what, guys? Let's be quiet from now on instead of loud." And that was when things got silly. I yelled, "Is this quiet? IS THIS QUIET? IS THIS QUIET?" Hysterical giggles ensued. Then I said, "Is this loud? Is this loud? Is this loud?" while quieting down to a whisper. More hysterical giggles. It didn't take too long before the kids tried to join in the game and it really did get way too loud, but fortunately I got the idea to do faces instead of volumes. I would make an angry face and say, "Is this a nice face?" Then I would make a silly face and say, "Is this a nice face?" Then a sad face, and so on. The result was more giggles. It was amazing how the nasty feelings dissipated as soon as I started making it my goal to make them laugh. Laughter is good medicine.

Happy Halloween.

I hosted Heidi's playgroup the week of Halloween, so we made jack-o-lanterns. I cut out the pumpkins and the mouths and shapes, and then I put glue on sponges. The kids dipped the black pieces on the sponge and then glued them on the paper. Most of the kids needed a lot of help, but I heard later from the parents that the kids were apparently very proud of their creations. That evening Kevin saw what we had done and wanted to make his own. (I had actually gotten the idea from Kevin's preschool, so he knew what to do.) He probably made five jack-o-lanterns. This was the extent of our pumpkin carving.

(The last one is Heidi's.)

Kevin was the Cat in the Hat and Heidi was Thing 1. I made the hat using this tutorial and it turned out great. The bow is just red felt that I cut into the general shape and pinned on his shirt. Heidi's sign is the inside circle from the brim of Kevin's hat with "Thing 1" written with a Sharpie. It was enough work for me to get my sewing fix and feel like they had decent costumes, but it wasn't way too much work for me. I was initially planning to make a cat body and everything, but then a friend pointed out that really a black shirt and pants would work just fine because all you really need is the hat, so that made things much more manageable.

The kids had a lot of fun trick or treating in our apartment complex. We ended up going around with some friends from our ward (the Larsens) who were in the hall as we came out. This was the first year that Kevin really understood what was going on. Heidi got the idea pretty quickly. They were both really cute. Heidi did an adorable happy dance at one of the first doors because she was so excited.

We had a tri-ward Halloween party this year. I suspect that the young men and young women thought it would be fun to do Halloween games for the kids, but since the three wards are combined for youth activities, that meant all three wards got combined for the party. The games in the classrooms were pretty well done, and the trunk or treating actually wasn't too bad. There were just way too many people crammed into the gym for dinner.