2014 :: week 51

December 14

Sunday night we gathered at Emily & Matt's for dinner. I visited with the kids while there and we had fun playing with the various effects on google hangout. The kids were much more interested in who was a puppy or was wearing a headband than in talking to me, but I had fun seeing their faces and hearing their little voices. I was excited to get a bit of a break from the kiddos, but they were pretty much all I talked about while I was gone.

December 15

Melanie, Mom and I made a quick trip to Provo before our flight home Monday. We visited campus and I felt old because so much has changed. They tore down my dorm! Luckily I was able to visit with my good friend and former roommate Candace who is a stats professor. Catching up with her was fun and reminded me that even though buildings and roads may change, the friendships and memories I made will last forever.

December 16

Anthony didn't shave while I was in Utah (or for a few days before I left) and he had the beginnings of a beard when I got back. Our wonderful neighbor gave the kids art supplies for Christmas and Will used one of the markers to draw a beard on himself.

December 17

Will is 5! We celebrated by going out to dinner at Red Robin with my parents and Melanie. The wait staff serenaded Will with a birthday song and treated him to a cup of ice cream which he generously offered to share with everyone. 

December 18

Thursday we woke up to a fresh blanket of snow. There wasn't much, but it did keep us busy for close to two hours in the morning and another hour and a half in the evening. Will loved building snowmen and having snowball fights. Lauren loved eating snow, proclaiming, "It tastes like WATER!" as she shoved fistful after fistful in her mouth.

December 19

Will has been having a blast trying out all his new birthday presents. Anthony took him on for a game of bean bag tic-tac-toe and Lauren supervised.

December 20

TJ, Andrew, Melanie, Jill and Laura will be singing "Angels We Have Heard on High," in church tomorrow and spent some time practicing this evening. Will and Lauren loved hearing the music and joining in on the chorus.

2014 :: week 50

December 7

Each Sunday in December the primary presidency is having the future Sunbeams come in from nursery and participate in singing time. Lauren has really enjoyed it. The leaders let the future Sunbeams lead the songs. Here they are leading "The Wise Man  and the Foolish Man."

December 8

Monday night we went to Bass Pro to get our traditional Santa pic. Last year we never got to our pic despite two attempts due to incredibly long lines and Will coming down with a stomach bug while we were in line. This year Will played with some slot cars and Lauren colored lots of pictures while we waited.

December 9

Lauren and I mailed our first batch of Christmas cards at the post office while Will as at school. I'm still working on getting the last few out...

December 10

Wednesday night we stopped by my parents house to drop of some Christmas presents. We stopped by the "crazy lights house" around the corner on our way home. The kids love the light show this house puts on. It's synchronized to a several songs, including Will's favorite Pachabel Canonthe Trans-Siberian Orchestra pachabel Christmas Canon. I should have taken a picture of Will's face while watching and listening to this song. Full on Fuller smile.

December 11

Will was so determined to get a piece of his candy (I stashed it on the top of the fridge) that he stacked Lauren's potty on top of one of our chairs. I know that lots of kids do things like this routinely, but this was Will's first time. He's scared of heights and has never attempted something this "dangerous" before.

December 12

Will has several friends that own Wiis and has played various Mario games at their homes. He asked Santa for a Mario game and told me if he doesn't get it it will be the worst Christmas ever. Well, he's definitely not getting a Mario game (or the requisite Wii on which to play said Mario game). But I decided to check a game out from the library for him to play at my parents house while I went to Utah for the weekend. He was very excited when we picked it up.

December 13

I flew to Utah for a "girls weekend" of sorts with my mom and sisters. We visited Temple Square and watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. After making fun of my sisters for all the pictures they insisted on taking I stopped and asked for this ONE picture and they wouldn't let me live it down.

2014 :: week 49

November 30

I spoke in church on Sunday, and there is nothing quite like the sweet relief of knowing you've taken your turn and you can spend the rest of the day relaxing. After church I worked on a cross-stitch, snuggled with Lauren and watched Anthony and Will sort baseball cards.

December 1

This is Will after we informed him there wasn't going to be any other food options if he didn't at least try his dinner. I tried a new enchilada recipe and though both TJ and I thought it was quite good neither kid was really feeling it. A child will never starve in a house with food, right?

December 2

Our kids are always looking for ways to prolong the bedtime routine. This week they decided they needed to walk backwards ups to stairs because the extra twenty seconds it took to walk up the stairs was twenty seconds they weren't in bed.

December 3

When Lauren and I returned home from running some errands we were greeted with a slew of boxes. The fruits of my Black Friday/Cyber Monday online shopping began to arrive.

November 4

On Thursday evening Lauren told me she "had a rough day." Me too. After a week of great potty-training progress Thursday we took some major steps back. I suppose I jinxed things when I said I thought she had it down the night before. Her four accidents made it a rough day for me too. Nothing a post-kids' bedtime Chick-fil-A peppermint shake couldn't soothe, but luckily things got better the next day and she's had three accident-free days in a row.

December 5

Friday was Lauren's last Kinder Kids dance class. She had a fun month of classes, and the clear highlight for her was learning how to do a somersault.

December 6

Saturday morning we attended our ward's Christmas Brunch. We enjoyed visiting with friends and eating good food, so all the goals of a ward party were met. There were crafts and games for the kids and a movie set up as well so adults could chat.