2016 :: week 51

December 11

Elliott usually takes a nice, long nap after church. He was in a particularly good mood when we woke up from his nap because Dad was home and we were snacking on some yummy chocolate mint cookies from Trader Joe's. We are all pretty excited by the time Anthony gets home from church.

December 12

We are working on the leaf situation in our yard, but it is a slow-going process. I try to spend an hour or two a few days a week. Elliott likes to watch me work. I love seeing him all bundled up in his winter wear.

December 13

Lauren loves to build. She has taken to building elaborate structures around our Little People Nativity. In her version there is room for everyone in the inn. And a lot more animals.

December 14

Sometimes it seems like I spend more time keeping my kids fed than anything else. I took this picture to text Anthony while he was in North Carolina. All three of them lined up next to our pantry and were begging for snacks about fifteen minutes after we'd had our afternoon snack.

December 15

Thursday evening was our Relief Society's annual progressive dinner. As second counselor it is my responsibility to coordinate this event. There is a fair amount of planning and coordinating that goes into this evening, but once everything is in place it is a lot of fun. It was very cold night and I tempered my expectations, but we had about forty people attend! Not everyone was present when I took this photo. I was very pleased with the turnout and appreciative of the efforts of the many people who contributed to make the night a success.

December 16

The OP-C first graders gathered in the cafeteria for a fun afternoon of gingerbread (graham cracker) house decorating. The room smelled so sweet with all the candy. I enjoyed getting to know some of Will's classmates better and seeing Will interact with them. It was fun seeing the different styles the kids had in decorating. Will was more methodical and deliberate than some of his friends, and used way less candy.

December 17

Will's birthday ended up being absolutely freezing. It snowed and the roads were very slick. Sane people avoided going out. I ended up running errands most of the morning. Will's basketball game got cancelled, but we wanted to do something fun for Will's birthday. We got a babysitter for Elliott and saw the new Star Wars movie, Rouge One. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It reignited the kids' interest in Star Wars and they have been adding Star Wars related play into their play.