A freaking miracle.

(Disclaimer, no this isn't any kind of big family announcement. Just my normal ramblings.)
Oh dear.  I swore I would never ever ever make that drive to Salt Lake again over Christmas break.  I did it once - the first year we moved here, just to see if I could do it, wanting so badly to be near my family again over the holidays.  Thinking maybe I could stand to make a habit out of it.  I did, but I got caught on snowy unplowed roads (3 days post-storm) in Colorado on the way home and scared myself to death.  We were fine, but it was a long 13 hour white-knuckle prayer.  I hate being on the roads alone with my kiddos.  If I have another adult in the car, it is no big deal, but I feel so vulnerable out in the middle of nowhere with just us and no one to stay with them or go for help if we get in trouble.

Never say never.  Or, your baby sister will have her baby on December 8th, leaving you NO CHOICE but to GO SEE HIM over Christmas break!  Well, if I had more than dozens of dollars, I would fly, but my dozens will only buy car gas, not plane fuel, especially at holiday prices.

I planned.  Carefully.  I watched that weather like a hawk.  I had about a 2 day break between storms with zero chance of storm-age all the way there.  Colorado cousins left on Thursday.  Zero chance on Friday/Saturday.  I decided I needed Friday to put Christmas away and pack and I would leave Saturday.

Thursday night, I went to see Les Miserables with a good friend.  As I came home I felt really sick to my stomach.  Chalk it up to movie popcorn.  Nope, I woke up the next day sicker than a sick sick dog. (After spending multiple nights up with vomiting dogs this year, I can tell you exactly how sick that is.)
I was so weak and in so much pain, I could not even think of folding a t-shirt to pack, let alone putting away Christmas, doing 5 loads of laundry, and making lists of things not to forget.  I was so sick I couldn't even stand to have the TV on or read.  I spent 24 hours in the fetal position in bed drinking teaspoons of liquid, praying that it wouldn't go through the whole family.

Needless to say, I did not leave on Saturday.  Saturday, I finally felt just barely well enough to throw some clothes in a bag, but not to put Christmas away (that would now wait for mid-January.)  Sunday?  The forecast for Sunday was clear until 1pm.  Snowstorms would start all over the state of Utah and not stop for days and make their way through New Mexico and Colorado too.  I thought I must be stark raving crazy.  Really really crazy.   I've seen way too many Utah news stories about families traveling over Christmas in snowstorms never to be seen again.  But, now the kids are older.  I know the roads and towns better.  I AM a good driver.  I have a good snow car.  Maybe I should just do it.  David was pretty confident I would be ok.  Maybe I would?

Still, I live my life by the mantra that you have to use the brains God gave ya.  He's not going to help you out when you are an idiot on purpose (or will he?  sometimes I wonder.  Like maybe you have so many freebies to get yourself out of trouble?)  For some reason though, I just kept feeling compelled to go, and it wasn't just my insane need to get there to see baby nephew, Sloan.  I decided to trust my guts and start out.  Worst case scenario, we'd spend a week in Moab watching the snow fall, right?  I at least know I'm smart enough to pull over when the blizzard starts.

Normally, when I leave for our Salt Lake trips, it's all I can do to get out the door by 8am.  I have insane insomnia when I have to get up really early and I'm always scared I won't sleep if I have to get up early, so it's better for a long days' drive to just sleep and leave when possible.  I kept feeling like I should really try to leave by 7am, even if it meant not sleeping enough.   So, I pulled the troops out of bed in the dark and we hit the road just before 7:15.  Let's be honest, even 45 minutes can make or break you when a storm is coming.  Plus, I might, just MIGHT make it through that last canyon before sunset and wouldn't have to drive down it in the dark!  Oh, the little things...

It turns out, I made all the right moves and the Heavens proved to watch over the idiot on the road (me.)  I just kept driving - marveling over the snow-scaped views and the dry, flake-less roads I kept meeting.

(yes, I took 2 pictures while driving.  I promise I did it without taking my eyes off the road when there were NO cars in sight.  Let's be honest, trying to help a kid with something in the backseat is much more dangerous.)

It was cloudy all the way there (ominous, but also nice because I didn't go snow-blind with the sun reflecting off of it and the kids didn't complain all the way that "the sun is in MY window.")

I hit Price, UT and David texted me to say that it was starting to snow on the top of Soldier Summit.  But, he thought we should be ok?  Should I pull over?  I'm almost there!  Just 2 more hours if the roads are dry!  I vowed that I would turn around if I had to, but that I would start driving up Price canyon.  I got to Helper.  Not a flake.  Dry roads.  The snow clouds were so low we could practically touch them.  We kept going.  Top of Soldier Summit.  DRY???  How is this possible?  Still not a single flake.  Literally, it's all downhill from there (on a wind-y canyon road, but who's counting?)  We kept driving.  We got all the way to Melissa's house, in record time, having not witnessed a single solitary snow flake fall on the road.  I'm pretty sure it snowed behind me all the way there.  Leaving just a bit early saved our bacon.

THAT is a freaking miracle.  And, I'm not kidding.  And, I am well aware that I used up one of my "freebies."  Thanks Universe.  All the sisters are on notice - no March pregnancies this year please ;)  Just kidding Jess - we were so thrilled that you had little Sloan and more than happy to make the drive to meet him!!

More on ringing in the New Year with the Mitchells later.

Colorado Cousins for Christmas

So, now that we live in the west, it is so much easier to get to see family around the Christmas holidays.  That was pretty much impossible for us when we lived in New England.  We're so lucky that Evan and Janie drive down for Christmas each year.  They are the most thoughtful and generous kids.  I'm always blown away with the things they think of, carefully shop for, and make, for Grace and Harriet.  They always bring presents for Shadow and Velvet too.  I need to be more like them.

Our favorite things to do with them include going out to eat, playing pool, catching a movie, and endless video games.

Grandma hosted a big Christmas Day present opening party and dinner.  Followed by her famous board game Olympics and prize box.  

If you're going to play a game with a Chapman.  Be prepared to lose (they are somehow extremely excellent at every game they play.)  Or, be prepared to spend the day with a sore loser who made a fatal mistake.  (They do not take it lightly when they lose!)  These guys take their game playing seriously.  All rules must be followed.  All jokes aside, the grandkids look forward to playing games and they love Grandma's prize box even more.  She is super creative with the things she puts in there.  When newly married and poor, I'm not ashamed to say that David and I gladly took home a package of toilet paper from her box.  She has just the right thing in there for every person.

Thanks Chapman (and Vigil - technically you are Chapmans to me) folks for all the great Christmas celebrating!

Christmas Morning 2012

Santa, that Jolly Old Elf, he came!  Wahoo!  Here's the photo tour of the morning:

peering down...

to see what's under the big tree...

Harriet got new earrings under the little tree in her bedroom!

Grace got some new guitar picks under her tree and is anxious to see if they go with something downstairs!

First stop - stockings.

The littlest goes first.  Harriet chose Aunt Jessie's present to open first!

a giant Hello Kitty pillow and blanket!  this was just the beginning of the Hello Kitty avalanche

 Grace next, she went straight for the big one.

looks like the guitar picks had a purpose

more Hello Kitty...

and more and more and more!!!  This is one Happy girl.

Harriet waited it out for a bit before opening her big present... even billowing yards of fabric couldn't quite cover it.  

yes! the "Barbie Dream House"  How did Santa get THAT in his sleigh?  (check out Harriet seeing if it is just as tall as she is.) More importantly, WHICH elf put it together leaving out 2 important screws?  hmm... good thing they left a strange bag of hardware behind so we could finish the job.

one more big one for Grace - gotta have something to plug that guitar into

Merry Christmas Daddy!  

Now, on the subject of asking for a real dragon egg for Christmas... intending to raise a baby dragon as a pet...  well, Santa left a sensible note reading something like "sorry Grace, it was just too dangerous to bring a real dragon and all."  He did leave her a really cool pewter dragon snow globe with a baby dragon inside the globe. I still maintain that pets shouldn't be given as gifts anyway.  Thanks for backing me up Santa!  Thankfully, Grace wasn't too bummed about the absence of a dragon under the tree and happily set her snow globe in her room to keep her company.

our raging Taylor Swift fan waited a long time to open her new album and start learning her new songs!

the rest of Grace's Christmas consisted of Skylanders Characters to go with her game she had just saved her allowance to buy. 

So, you can guess what she did for the rest of the day.

Who put that hat on Hello Kitty?  Grace is so into her game, she doesn't even notice that the pink cat is wearing her new favorite hat.

oh, and she did spend a good amount of time PRACTICING.  That's one way to get a kid to practice on a holiday.

Onto the doggies.  The girls love to get presents for them.  The traditional gift is a new collar.  This year, the girls bought new collars and leashes for them.  They also put in some doggie cookies.  We had to keep these gift bags put up.  Shadow could smell them under the tree and kept trying to get into them.

Our family gift this year was a telescope.  We can't wait for a warm cloudless night to go try it out.  So far, the warmer nights have all been cloudy and the clear ones are TOO COLD.

And, a Merry Day it was.

David does like to be neat about the wrapping and get it all cleaned up quick, but I kind of love the Christmas mess.

I have to tell one story about some gifts I got.  Grace decided weeks before Christmas that she wanted to buy something really nice for me.  She asked her dad to take her to Old Town ABQ.  She knew exactly what she wanted and exactly where she would shop (the street jewelry vendors.)  David said it took her about 10 seconds to choose it.  She spent a significant amount of her money on it.  She was SOOOO excited to give it to me.  It was kind of a huge deal.  She doesn't often plan gifts for other people and rarely likes to part with her own money for them.  Anyway, Harriet saw what she had done and followed suit the next weekend with David on her own shopping date with Daddy.  

Both girls ended up giving me these really pretty hematite necklace and bracelet sets.  They went together really well, so I wore both sets the next day when we were hanging out with David's family.  We went to a movie that night and when we got back to Grandma's house, Harriet was throwing a fit and hit my arm.  I looked down and saw that one of my bracelets was gone.  Of course, Grace's gift.  I couldn't find it anywhere in the house and was convinced I must have lost it at the movie theater. To David's chagrin, I grabbed his keys and headed back to the theater near 11pm to look.  I went up to the ticket taker and said that I had lost a bracelet and could I look for it?  It looks like "this" as I pointed to the spot on my neck where the necklace should have been (and just was!) But, the necklace was gone too.  How in the world?!

I have never been in such a panic to find something.  I was so crushed to have lost Grace's generous and sweet gift.  She was home at Grandma's crying her eyes out too.

The movie theater staff were very nice and took me into the theater (movie playing) with a flashlight to look.  The guy with the flashlight actually actually found it!  I couldn't believe we even found the seat I had been sitting in, let alone the bracelet.  One miracle down.  One to go.

I rushed out to the lobby and parking lot, knowing that I had lost the necklace on the way in.  Sure enough, after searching by the light of my iphone, I did find it in the dark, packed, parking lot.  Totally incredible.  I made a lot of deals with God that night.  Thankfully, He took me up on them.  

If they weren't already, those are for sure my very favorite Christmas gifts.  But, I'm too scared to wear them now!  They are safe in my jewelry box.  I need to find a way to put new clasps on them since apparently the ones used by the street vendor jewelry maker do not stay put.  Still, I am so grateful for my girls and all the effort and sacrifice they gave to give me really nice gifts for Christmas.  

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve 2012

Jane and their family drove in the day before Christmas Eve.  We already had plans to spend Christmas Eve with friends, so Janie came over for a pre-Christmas Eve sleepover.  The girls played like crazy all day long Christmas Eve day and were sad to go separate ways for the evening.  We'll have to figure that out better next time.

We spent a quiet Christmas Eve with our sweet friends, The Merrills.  They also invited Grace's guitar teacher, DJ and his wife to join us.  It was really a perfect evening with great food, great music, and over early so that we could all tuck the kiddos in bed to await Santa.  We had a good time toasting with sparkling cider.  Everyone made about 10 toasts.  Maddie's was the best though.  She toasted to their dog, Max, who passed away earlier this fall.  He is still missed and remembered.  It made me wonder how many more Christmases we might have with our doggies.  I know the answer is not many before we are having the same toast at our house.

Harriet played "Jingle Bells" on the piano.

Grace played "Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker Suite on the guitar.

We came home in enough time to catch the start of the Mitchell Christmas Eve Party in Salt Lake via FaceTime.  Both my grandmas were there, my parents, sisters, and the little Mitchell cousins.  The girls got to open their presents from Grandma and Grandpa in front of the ipad so they could watch them and do their cousin gifts too.  It was really nice to get to do that.  Normally, our Christmas parties are happening at the same time and we can't really be involved with them at the right time to see everyone and get to do the presents that way.  

We headed to bed and thought we were way ahead of the game.  Earliest bed time ever on Christmas Eve!  Until Harriet couldn't fall asleep!  For hours!  And woke up several times in the middle of the night!  How did Santa sneak in?!!! We do not know.

School Christmas Parties 2012

Oops, sorry, School "non-denominational pre-winter break class gatherings."  Don't get me started on how upset I got when the principal told us we couldn't read "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or anything of the sort, in Grace's class after Harriet had been spotted bringing home a menorah, a dradle, a Diwali light project, a Kwanzaa art project, oh, and I guess she did make a Christmas tree.  But, she wasn't allowed to talk about Christmas, just the other holidays.  Were those "I've been Elfed" signs in the windows of all the classrooms?  Teachers get secret Santas?  The double standards abound.

So, with the help of another mom and Grace's teacher, we came up with 50 ways to celebrate WINTER and had probably the best class party ever!   No "C" word to be found.  You're welcome. 

We made snowflakes, origami penguins, marshmallow igloos, beaded penguin pins, and had quite a great potluck lunch.  Normally, school potlucks consist of 8 bags of chips, 12 desserts, 3 boxes of capri suns, and the token fruit on a toothpick.  Our class's families did such a great job - turkey with gravy, rolls, pizza, penguins made out of olives and cheese, pasta dishes, awesome snacks, and delicious desserts.  Grace insisted on bringing spiced warmed cider which made the whole place "smell like Christmas."  (those exact words actually came out of the principal's mouth when he walked in!  traitor!!!  no, I get it, I really do.  But, it still makes me mad.)

(pinterest will be the doom of the world, mark my words, but these olive penguins are kind of incredible.  no, I didn't make them.  This other rad mom did.)

and... I was so busy helping kids, I didn't take pictures of our crafts.  Trust me, it was awesome.

Harriet's party was pretty great for first grade (when you still have tons of super young moms and super young siblings in the mix.)  They had pizza, frosted cookies, made snowmen out of marshmallows, and gave a big class gift to their teacher.  So far, I have lucked out and the girls' parties haven't been on the same days.  I hope it stays that way.

(Harriet is always willing to help someone.)

Merry _________________!!!

Cool Kid, Cool Shirt

Before moving on, I should really talk about that last week at school before Christmas break.  It was a full one.  Grace's gifted class teachers decided to do a huge "Invention Convention" in science fair style.  The kids started working on their ideas last spring.  I never really knew the final goal was this big  convention idea.  Good thing Grace knew what she was doing.  She kept coming home and saying "I'm inventing a self-cooling t-shirt."  For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how she was spending 4 months of school on this t-shirt.

It turns out they were studying inventors, inventions, researching their products, and getting their own ideas about ways to make their worlds better.  In Grace's world, where she is always too hot, she thinks that things would be better if she could dump cold water on her head all day.  So, she came up with this "CoolShirt" plan.  I have to admit, it was kind of rad when she had it all done and had her poster made up with her invention process and research on the subject.  She's a pretty "CoolKid."  That's for sure.

But, oh the loveliness of doing this a week before Christmas!  I guess December 18th is as good a day as any, so away to the school we went, with grandparents in tow, to see what the little darlings had invented.

Grace's shirt is simple, really, but kind of genius.  It could actually work, which is more than I can say for 90% of the other ideas that night.  (no offense... of course - way to be imaginative though!)   The interesting things that go through kids' heads...

The shirt has 2 small water reservoirs on each side that can be squeezed by hand to release mist through tubing that is laced up through the sides of the shirt.  Mind you, this would not work in humid climates, but here in ABQ, a little mist does go a long way.

Good job Gracers!  Now, who wants to give her seed money to get this started?