Saturday, December 31, 2011

December

This month has been a wild one. We were busy every single day. I like to be a little busy, but not that busy. I honestly hope that we have nothing to do in January. I'm sure I would get bored after a couple of weeks.

A few days before Christmas I asked Kendi if she knew what Christmas was all about. She told me, "Santa!" I felt like a failure as a parent. I think she sensed my disappointment and tried to guess again, "Snow?" We had been reading a Christmas Story everyday in December and I tried to keep most of them religious so I wasn't sure why Jesus didn't come to mind. On Christmas Eve it was Kendi's turn to say the family prayer. When she asked Heavenly Father to tell Jesus "Happy Birthday," I finally felt like a pleased parent again. Aydri is almost old enough to understand everything about Christmas now. She had figured out who Santa is, but never quite understood what he does. On Christmas morning we had to wake up the kids to open presents so we would make it to church on time. Kendi was so excited and jumped out of bed, but Aydri couldn't have cared less if Santa had come. She kept pulling the covers back up and rolling over. I finally convinced her to let me wrap her in a blanket and hold her. She didn't even care to open her presents. She enjoyed watching her sister open and play with hers. I had to let Kendi finish Aydri's presents so we could get ready for church. I hope she always has a selfless attitude throughout life. Later in the day, Kendi turned to me and said, "This is the best day of my life."

On Christmas Eve we had plans to do random acts of kindness all day. We wanted to focus on serving others and also help the day pass quickly. I was surprised at how many ups and downs I felt throughout the day because of this. We started by having the kids color some Christmas pictures to deliver to elderly people at the rest home. The lady we visited was sweet and glad to see us. We had the girls pool their own money together to buy a present for a child staying in the hospital for Christmas. I really wanted this one to work out because I figured medical expenses and being stuck in the hospital would dampen someones Christmas. Turns out, our hospital had zero children admitted when we got there and the people that were working were grumpy toward us. This really spoiled my mood, but Jared felt like it would work out for the best. Jared had suggested taking doughnuts to the workers who probably didn't want to be there on a holiday, but I didn't think they were as needy as a lot of other people. Boy, was I wrong. They could have used a mood lifter. We also left some change taped to the vending machines next to the ER. Next, we paid for someones lunch at a drive thru, hoping they were travelers. That was fun because the employees were just as surprised as the travelers were. Then we took doughnuts to the fire department. They were very grateful and showed the kids around the station. We also took doughnuts to the police department and gave them the child's toy. I felt really good about this because they told us that they often respond to domestic situations or accidents where small children are involved so I felt like the gift would go so someone who really needed it. All in all it was a good day and it got us into a Christmas Spirit. The kids were zonked out before we even got them home that night, which made things easier on all of us.

It was my families turn to have us for Christmas and it was fun to have everyone there. Tammy and Adrian made it from Missouri with their baby, Levi. Cari brought her boyfriend, Joe, and his nine year old son, whom Kendi has a blast playing with. Stacia brought her fiance, Jed, and his three girls, whom Kendi also enjoys playing with and Jana brought her recently engaged fiance, Joe, whom were planning on getting married a week after Christmas. This all made for an interesting and joyful Christmas. All of my siblings work in the medical field and it's not very often we can all be together on holidays.

The wedding was simple, but nice. They got married in the Bountiful Temple and had a luncheon afterward. We left the girls in Cedar with Jared's family, which was a hard decision to make, but so much easier on me and the girls. I haven't gotten used to the idea that Jana is married because it was so quick, but we can't wait to get to know Joe more.








Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Journal Post

Has is really been a month already? I don't feel like I have anything new to say and when I looked in my picture folder there wasn't anything to post. I've been feeling like we've gotten into a bit of a rut especially with homeschool and this just proves it even more. After next week we'll be taking a break until January. I feel like we'll be ready to start up again with new motivation.
It's weird to think that the school year is halfway over. I still feel like we're just getting started. I guess that's a good thing because we haven't got burnt out yet. I know that taking a break won't really be like a typical school break like it is for other kids. My kids will be asking me to do things with them all day and we'll end up doing a lot of school stuff anyway.

Jared is still working on the deck he started at the beginning of November. We've been sick and the weather hasn't been perfect so it is taking a lot longer than we anticipated. It's looking good though.

Kendi is still adjusting to school and a new home. She associates not seeing her friends as much as she used to to living in a new house, but really it's because everyone has started school and is busy. Every night lately Kendi seems to be having an emotional meltdown. A lot of her frustrations that she so dramatically sobs about are completely made up and I think she is really tired in the evenings. Hopefully it's just a stage. Despite being completely distraught last night she said Aydri could have her turn to unwrap a new Christmas book. I was shocked. I thought her breakdowns were about her having a selfish moment, but she was still really sweet to her sister.

Kendi and Aydri seem to have a bond like I've never seen before. The other day when we dropped Kendi off at Grandma's so we could take Aydri to the eye doctor, Aydri sobbed the whole way there. She kept asking for her sister. Yesterday, Aydri went to Grandma's house and Kendi couldn't stop talking about how she missed Aydri. I guess they really love each other.

Aydri is currently potty training. . . again. This time we've put her in underwear and we're not going back. We use pull-ups if we go out in public, but if she has an accident in them, even a little one, she walks funny and doesn't like it. So that feels like progress. I still have to remind her to go to the potty every couple of hours, but she has voluntarily gone by herself a few times which is a big deal, she often will ask for a diaper because she knows it's easier. We put diapers on her at night still, but one night we forgot. She made it until about 3 am before she came in crying and wet.

We are going to enjoy Christmas in our own house this year and so far it's been fun. Aydri is old enough to understand a lot of it and asks a lot of questions. Here is our Christmas card to you from us: