Christmas Week

Christmas Week Fun.  Here is a little review.

 It started on Saturday 12/24 when we went to Little America for the annual Pearson brunch with all of Jeff's family.  It was wonderful as always and we are so grateful to Jeff's grandparents for hosting it every year.  Afterward the kids went over to Scott and Malia's to watch a movie and Jeff and I wrapped the rest of the presents we needed to.  When we picked the kids up we went over to see my grandma who is living in an assisted living home.   On the way home we stopped and bought new ornaments for the tree-another one of our traditions.  This year we got Jeff-Big candy cane, Me-Fuzzy red and white striped heart, Ash-Pineapple, Whit-Owl, Ethan- Penguin.  That evening we went to my brothers house for dinner and to exchange gifts.  It's so fun to have Brody around because he was so excited over everything.

Sunday was Christmas- I loved that it was on Sunday.  That morning the kids of course woke up early.  They were so darling and cute and excited to see the presents under the tree.  Favorite gifts included Ashtyn: Camera, Whitney: Doll, Ethan: Skylanders, Me: Sewing machine.  We feel very very blessed to have a warm home, healthy kids, and each other at this time of year.  After church Jeff's family came over for lunch.  We exchanged gifts and had the kids act out the nativity.

Monday- Ah a lazy Monday.  We did nothing- well Jeff went to a movie, but me and the kids did nothing.  It was so nice to have a whole day to chill.

Tuesday I went to lunch with my friend Amy and her daughter came to play with the girls.  We went to Tai Pan on the way home and I found the coolest butter dish ever.  It is stoneware and has a plastic snap lid.  I know that probably sounds so lame- but I have needed a butter dish forever and all the ones I buy don't work or get broken.  This one is AMAZING!  Tuesday night Jeff and I went to see Sherlock Holmes with some of his friends from work.  I thought that movie was BRILLIANT!  I haven't seen the first one, but this one was awesome, ingenious, funny.  We loved it.

Wednesday we took the kids to Temple Square.  Christmas would not be complete without this trip.  This year Ashtyn made sugar cookies and little goodie bags and cards to give out to the homeless.  Ashtyn is the most thoughtful child when it comes to helping the less fortunate.  She is constantly raising money for the needy.  Last year she gave out cards with $5 inside.  Jeff's parents gave her $30 for Christmas and she used most of it to buy toys for the needy and then the rest to buy water bottles to give out with the cookies at Temple Square.  We only saw three homeless people, but it was so wonderful.  I am overwhelmed at how much she loves others.  It was such a warm night and we weren't cold a bit.  At the end we went back to Jeff's office and had hot cocoa.

Thursday Jeff and Ethan ran errands and we stayed home again.  I really love being home with my kids.  Jeff learned to make para cord survival bracelets so he made some for all of the kids and me.

Friday we went and hung out with Jeff's sister and her family.  They have kids our kids same ages so it's a blast when we are with them.  We had lunch and played Settler's of Catan- my new favorite game.


Saturday we went bowling.  This is another Pearson tradition.  They go bowling on New Year's Day- but since it fell on Sunday we went on Saturday.  Afterwards we go to Jeff's aunts house and have brunch.

Tumbling

One day almost two years ago we were at the park and Whitney saw her friend doing a back walk over. Whitney flipped out and said that she wanted to learn to do that. So we called up the studio where the friend took and got her enrolled in their summer tumbling camp. After camp she still loved it so in September 2010 we signed her up. It took her till May to learn to do her back walk over. She loved it. The studio where we were at did not focus on tumbling because they are a dance studio- so we started asking around to find some where new. We found Jolley's Gym through my friend Alisa. I'd heard it was very had to get in and that they were very strict. I wasn't sure if that was the right fit for my ultra shy Whitney, but we decided to try out any way and I am so glad we did. She got right in and started a few weeks later in June 2011. She has made huge strides. She basically had to learn her back walk over all over again because at Jolley's everything uses their right leg and Whitney had learned on her left. In just seven months she went from that to now being able to do a back hand spring. I am so impressed with the program. She LOVES it!  A week ago was her first tumbling review.  She did so great in the review and was one of only four girls in her class that were able to do their back handspring.

Tumbling

Here is a picture of Whitney at the review- the post above wouldn't let me add any pictures.

Nativity

I love nativity sets.  When I was a little girl my mother had the entire set that Avon sold one year.  Each piece was a bright white.  I loved to pick up the baby Jesus piece when no one was looking.  I have always wanted a nativity set of my own, but I never ask for one or buy one because they are so expensive and we just don't need to spend that kind of money.  Over the years we have had different sets in our home like this one that Jeff's mother loaned us our first Christmas...

Or this one that my Grandma bought my kids when they were little.  These are the only pieces left and I think it is fitting that they are because that was how the first Christmas was.

This one I painted at a craft night with my in-laws...It's definitely cute- but we've out grown this style.

This is a set we bought to take to church with us to entertain the kids- it's a miss match now and several of the pieces are broken.

Lastly we bought each of the kids their own nativity set last year for their rooms  It went along with the book A Christ Centered Christmas by Emily Freeman.  Each chapter goes along with a different piece of the nativity story.  This is one of my favorite children's sets.  I love how tiny the pieces are.

We had the chance to have the Willow Tree set-Jeff's mom offered to buy it for all of her kids one year.  I think the Willow Tree figurines are beautiful- each one with it's own special representation of events and people in our lives.  I understand why the artist left them faceless so that they can become unique to you and your life-but I don't like that the nativity pieces are that way because I think the faces are some of the most important parts on a nativity.  The figures represent real people on the biggest night in all of history with real emotions and feelings that I would never even come close to imagining.

We did get to see a live nativity this year.  Last night we went to the Echo's Of Christmas.  If you live in Salt Lake this is a must see.  You still have time as it runs through the 21st.  It is a reenactment of several stories from the nativity.  It is held at Liberty Park.  You are taken around the park by a shepherd guide and stop at different locations where you meet a person or figure that is significant to the story and they sing their story for you.  I love it.  It's free and well worth the time.  Last year my sister in law invited us to it and this year we invited them.  Afterwards we went over to her brother's home and had hot cocoa and yummy treats.  It has become one of my favorite nights.

One day we'll have our own beautiful nativity.

Bryant

We had the chance to have a little person live with us for three weeks.  Jeff's brother and his wife went to the Marshall Islands to see his parents who are serving as the mission presidents there.  We watched their nineteen month old son Bryant.  Bryant has gone home now but I wanted to write about our time with him so we have a memory.  This is him:

This is how I will remember him.  He has big blue eyes, rosy cheeks and a toothy happy grin.  As nineteen month old's go he is darling.  H loves his binky and blankie.  He is quick to say please, thank you and I'm sorry.  He is a very good listener.  If you tell him no- he will stop what he is doing.  The only thing he tried to climb on were the bar stools so he could be part of the action.  The first week we had him he cried a good part of the day for his parents.  It was hard.  He was very sad.  Our kids hated to him him cry- we all did.  It really made me think about how strong the bond between parent and child is.  He knew that the two most important people in his life were not there.  Having a child isn't just about meeting their physical needs- it is so much deeper than that.  He needed his parents.  Then one day he woke up and called me "mom".  From that point on he was a totally different kid.  He was happy and smiley and fun- as long as "mom" was around.  He would come up to me and rub my cheek and say "mom" over and over.  He needed to feel connected to another human being.  It was so interesting to watch him begin to bond with our family.

 Nights were very hard.  He only slept through the night one time the whole three weeks.  It made me think of all those years when our kids were tiny.  It's been over six years since we have had a nineteen month old baby in the house 24/7.  I still watch my other nephew Brody a few days a week, but it's just during the day and he's known me since the day he was born so he's like one of my kids.  When you are in the middle of those times it is so much work- the days are long, but the years are so short(thanks Alisa).  Once they are over you forget how hard they were and only remember how much joy you had.  It really made me appreciate all of the people that have watched our kids when they were younger.  It's a sacrifice- of time, energy, love and patience.  There were moments where I started to resent his parents for asking us to watch him for so long- but then he would smile or snuggle up to me or cry out for his "mom" and I could keep going.

If you'd have asked me how it was going during that time I would have said that it was a nightmare, that it was stressful, that I would never do it again.  But now that it is over- the time went by so fast.  All of the days blend into one and I can see both the good and the bad.  It gave us a chance to get to know him on an intimate level.  The more I got to know him the more I loved him.  Now I can say that I am glad he came for a time.  Not that I will be volunteering to do it again any time soon:)  Here are a couple of more pictures of him.

St. Nicholas Day

We celebrated St. Nicholas Day today!  Last night we left our shoes by the fireplace, filled with carrots and apples for St. Nicholas' white horse.  This morning the kids woke up to nothing!  Yeah- their mother A.K.A. St. Nicholas forgot when she fell asleep.  The kids came into my room so sad, so I did what every good parent does at the holidays and lied to them. I told them that he comes in the morning on the 6th so he probably just hadn't made it all the way to the "S" lettered homes yet and to go back to bed.  Then I scrambled out of bed and fumbled around in the dark to fill the shoes and hide the evidence.  A little while later they checked again and sure enough I was right- he came:)  Ethan even said he heard the horse eating the carrots (me rummaging around in plastic bags)  My girls no longer believe in Santa- but they still believe in St. Nicholas.  This is not a tradition we do every year- but it's like a tiny little preview of what Christmas day will be like, so it's fun!

More Holiday Fun

We like to find fun things to do each day in December and we call it "24 Things To Do Before Christmas":

#5. Decorate gingerbread houses-CHECK

I found this set at the craft store- I knew it was perfect for our family of five

A few of the pieces got eaten by Ethan and Bryant before we started so one of the homes is roofless:)  It totally reminded me of the time I begged and begged my parents to get me the game Girl Talk Dateline for Christmas- I snuck upstairs early Christmas morning to see if I had gotten it- my parents didn't wrap many presents- and sure enough there it was.  I was so excited I opened it up and started putting it together- I didn't even bother to read the instructions.  When I was done I hurried and put it away and ran back downstairs before I got caught.  When I "opened" it in the morning and read the rules I discovered that I had completely ruined it and put all of the stickers in the wrong places.  I was so sad.  I read the instructions now- my family...not so much.

Oh Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree today.   I am already loving how wonderful our house smells.  Last year we found the best tree lot, but it wasn't there this year so instead we headed to the Home Depot and found a lovely little tree.  It's eight feet tall- which is the tallest tree we have ever had in our house.  The kids love to wander the aisles and pick out the perfect tree.  This year we also had our little nephew who is staying with us for a few weeks there.  He was so cute and said hello to everyone we ran into.  When we got home the kids got right to work and hung all of our ornaments.  I read in a magazine about a family who saves the end of every tree they buy and makes an ornament to remember the year so we did that too.  It's beginning to feel like Christmas at our house now.

Black Friday

Did you enjoy Thanksgiving as much as I did?  I love this holiday!  We had the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving at our home this year.  My mom and sister and her family joined us.  I don't have a single picture because I spent the whole day soaking in every minute.  This was the second time I have cooked a turkey.  If you have never cooked a turkey- you should give it a whirl.  There are thousands of ways to do it, but my favorite is sweet and simple.  We got our turkey for free this year and he was a beauty.  I stuffed him with onions, apples, celery and oranges.  Rubbed him down with a bit of oil and salt and pepper and that was that.  We cooked it at 325 for about five hours.  I wish I would have at least thought to take a picture because it was perfect.  The kids helped me make pilgrim place cards.  Jeff got to enjoy his fill of football and I got to enjoy my delicious candied yams.  We ended the day watching Elf and looking at all of the Black Friday ads. 

Did I go out on Black Friday?  You bet I did!  But not to a single store.  Instead we went to our favorite place of all....the mountains.  Here are a few pictures of our day.

Lost and Found

(This post is for my friend Tami who fully understands:)

Our beloved little Cocoa Fudge(our hamster) got lost last night.  Ashtyn went down to get him out for his nightly cuddle and she discovered the top door was wide open and the hamster was not in his cage.  I have never before seen a little girl so panicked.  She was crying and frantic. This made Whitney start bawling and they both raced down stairs to start looking.  Our basement is full of toys, open storage boxes, food storage cans, blankets, couches- you get the idea- there are a lot of places a hamster could hide.  Not to mention that all of our walls are covered in insulation and plastic and would be very enticing for a little nest loving hamster.  Our whole family started looking.  Nothing.  We knelt down and prayed and then started looking again.  Ashtyn kept saying that she felt like he was upstairs so after scouring the basement we went upstairs.  We looked under the couches, in closets and all over.  Then Ashtyn picked up a towel that was on the couch and out tumbled the hamster. 

Earlier in the day Ashtyn had gotten the hamster out to play with him before school.  We always lay out two towels on the couch to keep them clean when the hamster is around.  I told Ashtyn to put him away before she left.  After the kids left Brody wanted to sit on the couch so I pushed the two towels to the side.  The poor hamster was still on the towel so he got buried and there he sat all day until Ashtyn discovered him.  There were floods of tears from all the kids.  Ashtyn was very upset because she had been the one to leave him there all day.  She felt like it would have been her fault if he had suffocated and died.  She said that he was like her child and so she felt responsible for him.  We told her that you make mistakes in life to learn from them not to regret or dwell or beat yourself up over them.  We said another pray to thank Heavenly Father for helping us find him and for keeping him safe.  The poor thing was so hungry when we put him back in the cage that he filled both of his pouches completely full in his mouth.  He is one loved little guy!  

OOPS

Ashtyn has spent much of her time this weekend drawing flags from other countries.  I don't know why she has become fascinated with this- but she has drawn pages and pages of flags.  Last night we were talking to Jeff's parents on Skype and she showed them all of the beautiful flags she had drawn.  One flag in particular that looks like this:

This is the flag for the country Niger in Western Africa.  However when she showed them this flag she said this is from the country Nigg** ( I can't even type that word because it is so offensive- but you understand).

My in-law's kind of chuckled- so Ashtyn asked what was so funny(or not so funny).  They explained to her it was because the way she pronounced the word was incorrect and the word she said was a very unkind word for someone with dark skin- that we should never use.

That night at dinner she asked us about it again and we talked a little bit more about why that word is so offensive.  To which Ethan replies "OH Ashtyn and you said that word right in front of Nana and she has brown skin!" That made all of us laugh because Jeff's mother is white.  She has very olive skin and compared to his dad she does look a little dark.  Here is a picture of them on their mission.  My father in law is in the middle and you can see how Ethan might think what he does:

 I am actually happy that the kids did not know what that word meant- I hope they never fully understand that word and can always treat every color of skin with the same respect because we are all from the same race- the human race.

The Zombie Song -- Stephanie Mabey

We saw this video on the news and it has become our little morning ritual. I thought after Halloween the kids wouldn't care any more- but there is a certain little boy that is especially fond of it so we play it before we go to school. It is pretty catchy :)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween.  This year the kids decided on Rapunzel(Ashtyn), Alex Russo(Whitney) and a zombie(Ethan).  We waited too long to order a wig for Ashytn so we had to improvise with two male mullet wigs in the same shade of blond as her hair.  No one knew who Whitney was- but she didn't care because her BFF was the exact same thing.  Ethan loves zombies- but lots of people thought he was Frankenstein.  The kids walked in the school Halloween parade and then had parties in class.  I got to help with Ethan and Ashtyn's this year.  Ethan's room mom is awesome and put together the cutest Harry Potter party.  Complete with hand stained wands, a sorting hat, house badges and Harry glasses.  I am Ashtyn's room mom so I planned her party.  We had two game stations, a story station (Jerry Seinfeld's Halloween), a treat station where we made owl cupcakes and mummy juice boxes and then a science station that I found here. 

This year we went to a pumpkin patch for the first time.  I thought we would be picking our pumpkins right off the vine- but instead there were rows and rows of pumpkins all piled up.  It was hard to choose just three.  They also had a cute little corn maze and some tractors you could pose on. 

We didn't make orange chicken this year and I missed it- but Jeff was out of town so we had to simplify.  It was perfect weather for trick or treating and we managed to stay out for two hours.