Keeping Me Busy

I find that I'm frequently asked, and that I frequently ask, the question, "So, what's new?" The problem is my answer is almost always, "Nothing." Because it's the truth. We still live in the same house, I still have two boys and the same husband, the adults still have the same jobs. But I think I found my new alternative to asking that question. Instead I'm going to ask, "So, what's keeping you busy?" It just feels different enough.

Here's how I would have answered that for December. For me, it was choir and Ollie's school. I joined the stake choir in addition to ward choir, which meant performing at Stake Conference, a local performance highlighting different denominations in our area, a stake Christmas performance, and then the regular ward Christmas program. It was a lot. And then there's the work I've been doing at Ollie's school. After the move to the new building, one of the book storage rooms is in dire need of some organization. I offered to help the Reading Specialist there with this task. And whoa. It's intense. First was doing a complete inventory, next was applying all appropriate labels (genre and reading level, mostly), then will be the sorting and actual organizing. I'm still working on the inventory, but also doing some of step 2 at the same time. But I'll be honest: I kind of LOVE this task. It's spreadsheets, organizing, and, oh yeah, helping the school. Wins all around!

Oh, here are some pictures I haven't already posted from the week. These are Christmas Eve morning in our fancy clothes.

Christmas Day

Without sounding terrible, can I admit that I enjoyed Christmas Eve much more than Christmas Day? Not that we had a bad Christmas Day, but I just find the day boring. Sure, it's relaxing. And no, my boys didn't fight too much. I just get restless. The boys were awake by 5:30, I made it up the stairs at 5:45, we started opening presents at 6, and we finished slightly before 7 (a new record for us, I think). But then we had to kill 12 hours. INSIDE. It was fine, really. The boys put together Legos, Ollie read a TON, Chuck and I napped, and everyone ate their weight in sugar. Rhett and I made it outside for a run/bike (me on foot, he on wheels) where we saw ZERO animals (a bummer to a kid with new binoculars). We watched a movie and then it was the boys' bedtime. It was fine, just a bit boring.

I was reminded Tuesday why I also like Eve more than Day: the MESS. I came home from work and the house was a disaster. Christmas Eve is still beautiful and not messy. I feel like it takes until New Year's Day for the house to be clean again. Blah.

Oh, and here are some pictures. Rhett got a lot of Caps gear, although no real hockey gear.


Chuck working on his x-cube. He's already made tremendous progress.


Ollie reading.


Sitting in the mess.


Pretty much how Rhett spent his day.

The BEST* Christmas Eve

Having Christmas on Monday was pretty darn good. But having Christmas Eve on a Sunday was the BEST. I'm just sad we have to wait six years for this to happen again.

Saturday: We were done with all shopping for gifts, so we saw a movie ("Wonder") and then went grocery shopping. We went to the "special" grocery store because they have bulk candy and we love buying it that way for our gingerbread houses. For dinner, we went out for Chinese. My family used to go to Benihana on Christmas Eve and Chuck's family loves this local Chinese restaurant, so we compromised and did Chinese on Christmas Eve Eve. (Of course, our boys ate pretty much nothing except the won ton soup crackers.) That night was a movie and then sleeping by the tree. It's also the night Chuck and I get all the presents from their hiding place and put them under the tree. The way the boys couldn't keep their hands off of them the next morning told us waiting until Christmas Eve was the right decision.


Sunday: This day was my FAVORITE. As church was reduced to only one hour, we opted for the earliest (8:30) ward in our building to get it done. (I was disappointed in the service however. They had two talks. WHAT?! Why weren't we just singing Christmas hymns?! On the plus side, this ward served bread with gluten, so we forgave them.) We invited our friends over for lunch (we served this delicious chili and fried plantains) and to join us in our gingerbread house decorating. So. Much. Fun. I have to admit that I love actually building the homes, not just the decorating. This year Chuck and I designed two more houses so that we had three houses in the three different styles. I seriously love everything about this. And having our friends over made it so much fun everyone. The kids had fun; the adults had fun. It was great.


The boys helped divvy out the candy. Ollie is one snappy dresser.


Plus, we have these incredible centerpieces now. I just love them.


After our "party," Chuck and I cleaned up while the boys watched some Christmas shows. Then it was time for...LUMINARIAS! We did this at my house in Sandy and I love them. I loved setting them up with my Dad, and I loved driving home from Benihana seeing them lit. Even though we were going to be the only house doing it, we did it. Of course, I didn't get the right candles and they didn't last long, but next year I'll do better.






Then it was time for dinner, another movie, and then bed. Chuck and I fell asleep before 9. Ha. It really was the best of days.

*Why the asterisk? Because poor Ollie got sick. He puked twice, scaring my guests who were silently terrified that their kids were going to be sick. Thankfully, he woke up feeling fine and ate plenty of candy to assure us he was better.

December Happenings

As usual, we had a busy month filled with our advent activities. Some highlights are below:

Playing reindeer games. This was "Pin the Nose on the Reindeer." Ollie drew the reindeer. :)


Decorating cookies that only kids could like.


Decorating a gingerbread house with our family friend, Edna.


Decorating gingerbread men. Lots of decorating going on this year.


Annual "sleep under the tree" night. You can't see it, but we're projecting the movie "Elf" on the wall. It was a lot of fun to watch it that way.


There was also lots of driving by house lights, reading Christmas books, watching Christmas movies, and shopping.

We also had a bonus Secret Santa night. We made some treats for our ward Christmas party one Saturday, and the next Tuesday a friend put out a message looking for the bakers of that dessert because they wanted the recipe. I thought we do could better than that: we could make them a fresh batch (which would NOT be over-baked like the ones I brought to the party). So that we did. I was able to get them done right when the boys were going to bed, so we all piled in the car and doorbell ditched those suckers. :) The boys had an awesome time doing it and LOVED that by the time we got home, our friends had already thanked their "Secret Santa" on Facebook. That might have to happen again next year.

Merry Christmas!

Mental Load

There are a lot of things that I say over and over in my house. "The house is not a playground!" or "Don't touch your brother's food!" But this one, "Why am I the only one who thinks in this house?" is one of my favorites. Ever since I saw this comic, it made me realize why I said it. Because I am the main one who thinks in the house. The idea of mental load was new to me. But it's really changed the way I look at the stuff that I do for the house.

Just for documentation, here are the things that take space in my head:

Extra-curriculars
Vacation plans
Meal planning
Homework
Adult chores
Kid chores
Finances
FHE
Car maintenance
House maintenance
Medical appointments
Gifts (birthday and Christmas)
Scouting
Family documentation (DVDs, scrapbooks)

Chuck and I have discussed this, but have really yet to figure out how it can be more even. It's a process, but I'm hopeful that someday we'll find a good balance.