The not special day and Christmas village

Laura reposted this from fb. 3 years ago today and just look at that big bald head! Seems like just yesterday, and forever ago, all at the same time. My babies!

Today was a navy day. I found this cute note that my main squeeze left on the oj.

I had a long list of to-dos today, and though I didn't check them all off, I did put a hefty dent. One thing we didn't get to was tennis. Lanes took a super long nap and when she finally woke up it was already dusk. Dang it.

We had stir fry and salad for dinner. We are well into "Clean out the fridge, freezer, and pantry" mode. I get such a weird satisfaction from finished up things that have been laying around for awhile. At dinner it was croutons, tortilla chips, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, and marinade. Sweetness. 

I never blogged about picking Alli up from the bus stop in Baltimore. Chris was working, and Lexi was friending it up, so it was just me, the mr, and the littles. I had read about a Christmas village in Baltimore, so we thought we'd check it out. We were also late to pick Alli up, for the first time ever. Seems like her bus is always late, so not only did we leave later than normal, but we also stopped for chicfila. She called while we were waiting for our food to tell me she had arrived. Oopsie.  

Frank's was so excited to have another family member with golden (or yellow, if you're Laney) hair. And then Alli and Laney were twinning in their green shirts. Everyone wants to be like auntie!

The Christmas village was cute, but about 1/10th of the size of the cute one we saw in Philadelphia. We're suckers for these:

Chinese fire drill! Except for Delaney and Addie.

We walked through the cute German shop. This is the one picture I took before I remembered, and the employees came to remind me, that there were no pictures allowed. It was all beautiful and expensive.

I was the only one that got the silly face memo.

So the Christmas village wasn't the most fun. I'm glad we checked it out though.

As we were leaving it started to rain so we did as the cool kids do and ran squealing to our car.

And check out that family, the weekend before Christmas, in their short sleeves! Say what?!

Friday

D and I took it easy today. We went to lunch with Darlaina and baby A, D actually got a nap, and I was nominally productive. 

This chic is super expressive. And sassy. 

I actually took some pics today. Only 2, but more than I have been taking. 

Tonight streeters, ainas, and rays got together for dinner and games, only we never got to the game playing. We'll keep trying! I made white chicken chili, Tony made sushi, and streeters ordered pizza. It was a good time!

Chris is running at his last indoor track meet. I was back and forth about going, but I decided against it. He's finally going to letter this season. To celebrate, I ordered him a letterman jacket for his birthday next month. I can write that here because he never reads my blog. I'm excited! 

The girls, who ask on the regular "what's the plan for tomorrow?" have already planned a pajama day. Fine by me! I'm making my list and hoping to cross some major things off while Matt works his navy weekend. 

Check in

Quick late night post, because I forgot. It was another fun day at daycare. Lanes is all about decorating with her name. She's holding a letter "L" sticker here. While dressed in a princes gown.

Her sleep has been so off that she's got bags under her eyes. I've had to wake her up every morning just to get there by 9, and then wake her up from her nap to pick the girls up after school. It's a hard knock life when you are the baby of the family. And as long as she tells me that several times a day, I'll be writing it here several times a day. Someone was tired and grumpy.

It was a good and quiet evening at home. Thursday is our easy night, which is always a welcome change to the m-w craziness. 

Tonight after bedtime when Laney had already come out of her room several times, Matt was talking to her and I went in and laid on her bed. She's very protective of her bed, and the last time I tried to take a nap with her, she pretty much kicked me out. We were teasing her that we were both going to cuddle with her all night, and she said "no, you should just go to your bed." I said, "Laney, are you kicking us out?" And she said "no, but you should just leave." She's such a sassy almost 4-year-old, but I'm in love with her anyway. 

Another one

It was another good day for the daycare lady. We're getting the hang of this, and I loved having Delaney with me this time. And Delaney loved Alexis' bike. The baby of the family is ready for a big girl bike!

Alexis and Kendall made it safely to rexburg. Hallelujah. So thankful they were smart and took their time and arrived safely. Life lessons.

Christian lost a "what are the odds," against CC (coach cook) and had to eat a worm. I don't really understand boys, but whatever. He's also running 3 events in the last indoor track meet of the season on Friday, and of his high school career. I am still debating if I can brave another long car ride. 

Addie was stoked to get to play with ashby and even eat dinner at their house today. She looks so different and grown up with her missing tooth!

Frank's was back to daisies where they made birds out of tissue paper. I'm sure there was a good story behind that. She also had several funny stories about a classmate that told her teacher "your coat is so ugly that it's cute." Kindergarteners these days. Thankfully all of my little kindys just thought I was beautifully wonderful. At least to my face. (;

And sneaky Delaney, who I told could not have a "little snack" because she didn't eat dinner, went potty on the big girl potty, requested a treat, and when she got permission, sneakily asked for a nutella sandwich treat, "because that's the best treat!" She has daddy wrapped around her little finger. What are we gonna do with her?

I was able to tidy up, put away two Christmas bins, and make dinner today. sometimes it's the little things. 

Matt went from work to the store to the church. After their scheduled activity, he did his best to round up some boys to help him take down the Christmas trees at the church for me. That was just gonna be another thing on my list, and I'm so thankful to have it done.  

And thats what went into a very cold Wednesday. 

Moving parts

I didn't take any pictures today, so here's the oldest picture (that I actually took) on my phone. For a the daily dose of random up in this hizzle.

Today was my first daycare lady day. After getting the girls to the icy bus (ok, Matt actually took them out), I dropped delane off at Sarah's so she wouldn't miss out on gymnastics. 

Then it was on to Colleen's for daycare/preschool. It went really well. She's got some really good, cute kids. And there were only 3, so that's pretty easy. Except the preschool part, that wasn't as easy, because it wasn't my lesson plans, or my house, so I was guessing on a lot of it. But it's preschool, so you probs can't go that wrong, right?

I was there till 3, then went to pick lanes up. On my way I had to help Darlaina figure out where my big girls were, because even though I had emailed, and called, they were still put on our regular bus instead of ashbys. Thankfully, we have awesome neighbors, and Peter took them home and called me. 

We were home for long enough for me to warm up some mashed potatoes and shovel them down, then it was off to pick girls up, drop Addie off at piano (early), and meet Matt at the LP library for a kid trade off so I could attend an interfaith council meeting in bishops absence. 

It was really interesting and I think it is such a cool thing! There were representatives from both lds wards, Unitarians, Catholics, Lutheran, Baha'i, and pagans. I found the pagan "heathen" to be the most interesting and I'm for sure gonna be doing a Google search on that one. What better way to combat all of the bad that is happening in our world than to stand up with others that, even though they believe a little differently than we do, also love, and serve God. Or, in the case of the heathen, just want to be a part of something good for our county? Like I said, I need to figure that one out. 

So, Amy and I are filling in for Colleen while bishop has his surgery. Sarah filled in for me by taking lanes to gymnastics and keeping her for the day. Johnna helped out by letting me drop Addie off early. Chris pitched in by picking Addie up from piano. And Matt, who so often goes straight from work, and straight to work at home, picked up the girls and brought them home so that I could fill in for bishop. There were a million moving parts today, but they were all moving in the right direction, and that's kind of awesome. 

Also, lex and Kendall stayed the night at the hotel in Des Moines and said it was nice and got on the road by 8. Kendall's grandparents are getting them a room tonight if they deem it necessary, which I think, and hope they will. Safety first, especially as our community is mourning two young men. 

Also, also, I have been talking to Chris about being more kind to Addie since she's going through a little rough patch. He seemed genuinely concerned about her feeling like she doesn't have friends, and wanted to assess the situation and help her feel loved by eating lunch at school with her. So he picked up McDonald's and ate with her. What a sweetie. (: also again, he got voted biggest flirt for L-town high school seniors. I am so proud. :/

Worries, and teeth, and hotels

I heard on the radio that the first day back to school/work in January has been proven to be the most depressing/worst day of the year. #truth

Things started bright and early at 5:00am. I made lunch for all 4 of my girls and then Lexi and I embarked shortly after 5:30. Not 10 minutes into our drive, she found out that a friend from our stake (and his friend) had been killed in a car accident on his way back to byu Provo. Heartbreaking. 

And also so worried for my lex, who flew to Ohio to drive back to Idaho with her roomie, Kendall. We were already uneasy about it because the bum couple that had ride shared with them had backed out of driving back with them. It's a good life lesson about the best laid plans. 

She flew into Ohio, grabbed lunch, and they were on their way. Their plan had been to drive straight through, since they were going to have 4 drivers. So when I spoke to Matt about it, we both agreed that we needed to get them a hotel for the night and take the trip nice and easy. Praying for them that they will be safe, and praying for the families in our stake that they will be comforted. 

I made it back into smc, and then big D and I headed to Shelly's for a presidency meeting. It was a really good and productive and long afternoon. I'm so thankful to work and collaborate with such inspired women. 

This is Delaney's "I'm super relaxed and almost asleep" car look. The baby of the family fell asleep about 3 minutes before we got home, and didn't stay asleep.

I was the carpool queen this evening. Ballet night is definitely not my fav. Herding 3 little ballerinas, plus a big ballerina, and a baby of the family into a tiny, packed ballet studio, peeling off all their layers, getting their slippers on, and you get the picture. 

Our house 7-year-old finally lost another tooth. That makes 3. She and Chris were collaborating on it, and she decided she wanted to wait until tomorrow to have it pulled. Then she got to thinking about the tooth fairy and decided tonight was the night. She told Matt that Chris needed to pull it because "he's the professional." Two minutes later:

And the happy professional:

Matt and I took the world's most chilly walk this evening. Winter has arrived with a vengeance. We even had snow flurries this morning. It.is.bitter. 

last weekend!

tomorrow is such a depressing day to look forward to. back to school after a lovely and lazy Christmas break, blah. how about a cute picture of my babes on Christmas eve? franks-the-ever-early-riser cashed out.

yesterday lex, peter, brenna, and I made the long trek up to the pg indoor sports complex for yet another track meet. I am bummed that I didn't take any pictures, but it was a really great day. we were able to squish in and sit by chris while we waited forever for him to run the 300 meter dash. awesomely, we missed his long jump by a few minutes. always nice to travel an hour and a half to miss half of what you're going for.

 

it was a rough meet for chris. his time was a second and a half longer than his average because he'd gotten pushed to the back at the start of his race and was never able to get it back. he came in 80th out of 100. :( some days are just that way.

 

lex the restaurant connoisseur offered to buy me lunch after, and chris was able to leave after his event, so we headed to outback for some deliciousness. we left just after 8, and got home around 6. track meets make for long, boring, bum-numbing days. but for some half-full'ness, I am thankful I was able to go.

 

matt took the little ladies to the skatepark.

I kind of love it. for her primary spotlight, addie wrote that she is unique because she is learning to skateboard.

it's so different from anything I have ever done, and I love that about it.

and can't leave out the big boy. wonder who's finger that is. :)

 

today was fast sunday. it was a good day, made even better by our new late church schedule that I loooove. I gave the rs lesson on resolutions and it went well and i'm glad it's over. after church we went to the streeter's for Hawaiian haystacks and visiting with the buxton's, who are getting ready to go to dubai, for like, ever. :(  it was super yummy and it's always fun to visit. we got the girls to bed way too late for their first day back to school tomorrow, and now lexi and I are getting to bed way too late for our 5:30 departure time to get to the airport. some days are just this way too.

christmas break shenanigans

I am soaking up every last minute of Christmas break. I am so not ready to get back into the swing of routine and life. we've had such a sweet break. with every thing there is a season though, and back to school reality is a'coming! until then, 2 blogs in one day, what?!

chris and some buddies went camping all by themselves. when I thought of having a teenage son, this is one of those things I thought of them doing. they piled into zane's truck and headed to big slosh for a cold and wet night on the mount. there were lots of cool pictures, but most were posted to snap stories, and homey don't do that. so the one insta pic is what we get. I talked to chris for a long time about being good and not squandering this opportunity, making good choices and being respectful of friends standards. and I think they did. looking forward to more boys trips.

in looking through his pics, I found this gem. church swag.

bubba helped the girls make an epic fort one night. they attempted to sleep under it, but after 2 hours, we gave up and sent them to their own beds.

we've had lots of rainy days and rainy nights. most of our warm days were also rainy, what a waste. it is beautiful though.

Christmas break chocolate eating with the baby of the family.

I come from a family of serious game players. and when alli visits, we do some serious game playing. this was the little girls first time to play aggravation - a seagrove family favorite. they didn't last the whole game, but it was still a good time.

baby girl's gonna be a sunbeam tomorrow! I'll never have another baby in nursery! eeeeee.

December. so crazy.

more aggravation. this time just the ladies. two thumbs up on that one.

the day after Christmas, chris, alli, addie, and I went to see star wars. our first stop was bed, bath, and beyond for some Christmas returns, and while we were there we had to test out the massagers.

we missed the showing of star wars that we wanted, so chris and ads played some games while we waited. addie hadn't felt well that morning, and while we were shopping and game playing, she was seriously dragging. I ended up taking her home while the others waited for the movie. she felt sick all that day and threw up the next, so she really was sick. sweet girl.

momma and baby boy.

matt sporting his new beastie boys swag. and he got a pair of Shakespeare tickets for Christmas from my brother, so we'll be spending a weekend in dc next month. cannot wait.

love this family of mine and all of our precious family time.

New Year's Eve and Day

Not in order:

Joni gave us a gingerbread house, so New Year's Eve we finally made it, then on New Year's Day, we ate it.

Easy come, easy go. Addie wrote "Ray," on the roof.

A little 2016 stretching.

And why not.

Our only traditional ny food, donuts for breakfast. We killed them.

Matt is obsessed with push-ups. There are worse things to be obsessed with. He'll wander off and I'll find him doing them all the time. Yesterday was on the deck. (Extra points for the white trashy backyard)

The ainas and rays finally went on a double date! And this is the one pic we have to document.

We were going to get pho, but it was closed. So then we settled for oga's buffet, and it did not disappoint. After that we went to lowes, old people dates, right? And then to see Daddy's Home, which was as you would expect. I'm pretty easily amused, so I liked it, even if there were some pretty childish and crude parts. 

Alexis babysat and painted the girls nails and set them up for a slumber party in the basement. Then she went to a movie and took a slumber party break, but came back and slept in the basement after all. These kids. 

Back in time (this blog has gone way downhill, just when I thought my standards couldn't get any lower) to the actual gingerbread house making.

I really let them go for whatever they wanted. They had fun.

Concentration.

And finally, bath time antics for the win.

For NYE Nelson's brought over their grandsons, and then streeters came over with their youngest two. We ordered pizza and D brought chips and hummus. Then around 10, Darlaina mentioned that Netflix had some kids countdowns, so we found a Peabody and Sherman one, let the kids watch it, gave our kisses, and tucked everyone into bed. Pretty quiet night, but sometimes that's ok. (:

top 15 of '15

happy new year! woo-hoo! i'm feeling a blog-a-day coming on, catching up on the life train! as i was ringing in one of my lamest new years evah, laying in bed, matt sleeping next to me, little girls tucked into their warm beds, and big kids with the friend crews, i was thinking of my top 15 experiences, lessons, etc, of 2015. t'was a good year.

so in no particular order, here we have it. and, though its okay that most of these involve trips, i do want to pay more attention to the little things in life this year, and the magic in them

1. epic road trip with lexi. couldn't have been much more fun. the scenery was gorgeous, we made great time, and really got along. 
2. vegas with amy. it was such fun to spend 5 days, just me and my henna. it was a totally spur of the moment, crazy trip, but i'm sooo glad we did it.
3. summer. all of it. i had lofty goals, and they were met. it was my favorite summer.
4. philadelphia with matt. any time away with my eternal companion is a good time. we don't do it nearly enough, but in the interest of making marriages stronger, we already have one scheduled for february!
5. overcoming the new school pta drama. i can't find a link to this, so maybe i never blogged about it? a short summary, in case i did not. women get catty, jump to conclusions, and get mean. our county pta president angrily resigns because of what is happening at our new school, our new principal probs thinks we're all cray, the md pta makes several trips down to mediate, a hot mess ensues. but i am proud of myself for staying above the drama. i didn't get into it, and i counseled the others to stay above it as well, which they mostly did, but not all the way, which added to the drama. i'm certainly not perfect, but any pta position, any pta, is not worth any amount of drama. life is way too much to have pta drama, for reals.
6. fulfilling my lifelong dream of going back to girls camp. too bad it was short lived, i can't see myself going again anytime soon, unless i get another new calling. camp was great, i learned a ton from brothers g and b, had so much fun with the girls and leaders, and loved being out in nature. 
7. delaware bay lighthouse cruise. can't find a link to this either, i am so behind. light housing had to be in there somewhere, and our cruise was really, really cool. i love laura and am so thankful to have found such an awesome lighthouse buddy who is every bit as crazy (maybe more so?) than I am, and always up for light housing! also thankful that we have several recruits. it really is more fun with more people, and we've got some fun lighthouse loving friends.
8. mexico with my lay-days! i love visiting other countries and spending quality time with good friends. we had a super fun time in mexico, even if my stomach was torn up for days.
9. christian's coh. i'm so proud of chris for becoming an eagle scout. such a big accomplishment. his coh was pretty good too, if i do say so myself. 
10. baltimore weekend. it was so fun to venture north and do some things we haven't done before. and it was a first to vacation with just the little girls while chris was visiting lexi. i love all my children, but vacations will become infinitely easier when we're not having to find things to please the teen and toddler crowds.
11. north carolina trip. any trip to the beach is a good one. i was actually nervous about this trip though, because matt was only able to stay for half the time. but it turned out to be really nice to spend time with chris. and the girls and mc's too, but chris was my right hand man, and that was sweet for me.
12. virginia beach with my lay-days! another fun girls trip. i think i'm pretty well rounded in the people i love and spend time with. a little bit of matt, lex, chris, girlfriends. i'm a lucky lady.
13. being the very first students at cwfdes. a new school is so fun! and sometimes not-so-fun, but i try to keep that glass half full. new school smells, new books, new equipment, its pretty neat. and we looooove being able to walk every day. 
14. my new calling. someday i'm going to look back and see lots of growth and small successes instead of inadequacy and offenses (from me). when i let myself, i already do.
15. family time in utah. another one that is mostly yet to be blogged. any time with the whole family is momentous. this was a good trip, very low on the drama meter, and just nice being together. we've all made a concerted effort to see each other the last few years, we've had to to see each other at all. mom and joe are the only ones that even live in the same state anymore, so getting together can be challenging, but i'm thankful we've been making it happen.

honorable mentions on this list were finishing up my google assignment and… i forget. the google thing really helped me appreciate my time not having to work outside the home, it was a good thing for us, but so, so, so glad to be done. 

my theme for this year is to magnify. magnifying the small moments, the special time we have before chris leaves for his mission (positive thinking), magnifying my roles as mother, wife, daughter, sister, magnifying church responsibilities, magnifying holidays, and health, and the quest for balance. 2016, s'gonna be a good one!

and for good measure, a goofy addie baby picture. because whats a post without a picture?