Freddy's birthday

Our darling Frederick turned 3! We started the day like normal with breakfast in bed: (gotta love frozen left over pancakes)

Then we finished making the frosting for his cake.

Even though we were not buying presents this year to save for Disneyland next month, we knew Frederick would have a hard time understanding that. We wrapped up an old (but new to him) soccer jersey that Alec and Charlie loved when they were his age, and also wrapped up some homemade gifts from his siblings and gifts from grandparents. It was perfect! We let him open the soccer jersey present early. This kid LIVES in soccer uniforms, complete with cleats... but now he has real soccer socks to go with them. He was pretty much smiling all day.

We opened the rest of the presents after lunch with cake and ice cream. He borrowed an batman cape and mask from a friend a few months ago and wore it every day for the week that we had it. So I helped my mom pick out a cape and mask set to give him for his birthday and made a batman cake for him. Chris decorated it. 

Gwen had a birthday party for a friend at Chick-fil-et that night and the rest of our family joined us there for Freddy's brithday dinner. Frederick didn't really want to part with any of his presents at bedtime so we spread them out on his floor. 

Frederick is CONSTANTLY moving: running, jumping, hopping on one foot, somersaulting, throwing, kicking, diving, rolling, sliding...whatever. I get random strangers asking me every now and then, "Is he always like this?" Yes, yes he is. But he also is almost always happy and smiling. He loves to cuddle and will pause for a few seconds laying his head on your shoulder with his arms wrapped tight around your neck (sometimes half of a minute if he's tired or just woke up).  In fact just yesterday he woke up from a nap and Charlie was getting him excited to watch screen time and kept saying, "Freddy come here! screen time!" but Freddy just stayed where he was (on my lap giving me the type of hug I just described) and said, "I'm hugging mommy."  He has the sweetest little voice when he says prayers and often reminds me at his bedtime or a meal "but we din-nent say pay-ohs yet."  He loves playing with his siblings or parents: catch, games, pretending house, or just 'being' stuffed animals. He loves to make a "foh-tress" with pillows and blankets and he loves to be read to. That is the only way to get him to stay still...or watching screen time. His favorite shows are Chuggington, Daniel Tiger, and Rescue Bots. He likes any time of pretend play where he gets to "save the day." The other day, Chris asked him to help him do something (I don't remember what.. maybe pick up toys, or bring Chris something from across the room) and Freddy replied, "No, I ah-weddy saved the day".  He also loves to sing and has most of his favorite show songs memorized. During Christmas I was so surprised at how quickly he picked up phrases in lots of the Christmas songs.  He really is such a joy in our lives, to all of us...even random strangers as he waves to them in his batman mask and cape over his soccer uniform.

Its the most wonderful time of the year... #Lighttheworld

We had planned to go get a tree the weekend after Thanksgiving but the weather wouldn't cooperate with us. So we got out all the other Christmas Decorations up. We put our old little fake tree in the playroom and let the kids decorate that with ornaments that are more kid-friendly. I really wanted to focus this Christmas on Christ and got so excited for our church's  #LighttheWorld initiative. We were challenged to light the world in 25 ways over 25 days. I had already planned on studying the attributes of Christ over the holidays with the kids so we just melded the two together.  We assigned the kids one day a week to be in charge of a short Light the World devotional: name the attribute of Christ, find a scripture of him demonstrating that, read a story or tell an experience or come up with questions to connect that attribute with our own lives.  At the end of the devotional we would each make a goal for the next day on how we would try to follow Christ with that specific attribute.  Then at the beginning of the next one we would write down any completed goals on little construction paper Christmas lights so we could string them up on the wall.  I wanted to have a nice kick-off meeting in the glow of the first tree and create this wonderful peaceful spiritual experience for my kids. 

If only we could make life happen the way we want. In the end, some surly behavior from the kids kinda ruined it and I was unable to handle it well... so we scrapped it and just went to bed that first night.

The first week of December went really well with our Light the World devotionals. Everyone was happy to prepare and give their devotional and I enjoyed the extra one-on-one time with each child as I helped them learn how to use the Topical Guide and research the scriptures/church websites.  We set and accomplished some good goals including: making a magic show for our cousin/nephew who is dealing with cancer to be like Christ and 'heal' the sick, we called our great grandma and played the piano for her to be like Christ and visit the lonely, the kids looked for kids at school who didn't have anyone to play with and played with them to be like Christ and show compassion etc...  BUT.... like all big dreams of mine... we kinda fizzled out a bit. The last two weeks of school got busy and it was hard to find the evening time all together before bedtime.  We still tried to talk about it and make goals and managed to still do some service that we wouldn't have done otherwise but it wasn't as deliberate and thoughtful as our first week.

Some friends and I decided to get together to run in the mornings, twice a week at 5:00am! AH! so early. But then I got home by 6:00 and still had 15-20 minutes to myself for scripture study before having to get kids up for school.  One morning it was super foggy and just so gorgeous.

Thanksgiving at home

We started a 'Thankful wall' at the beginning of November. Not because we wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving in some meaningful way but because we literally needed to have SOMETHING to use to get the kids to stop complaining about EVERYTHING. We used it as a consequence for whining, although we tried to not make it seem like a punishment. It was pretty funny some of the stuff the kids wrote on there. 

I was nervous about the double whammy of staying home and not having any family come and stay for Thanksgiving. I was afraid we'd be lonely and sad...especially after a good portion of us getting sick towards the beginning of the week. Turns out the whole week was really restful and enjoyable! I had fun doing some pre-thanksgiving cooking in the kitchen while I watched Chris and the kids start a big lego project: resurrect the pirate ship Chris got for Christmas when he was a kid.  

Even when I had to give up my plans of having a fun day out in Birmingham to go to the temple and Costco and do something fun with the kids, we still kept a good attitude. The kids didn't have to try too hard since we still ended up driving up to Tupelo and letting the kids play in Chuck-e-cheese for an few hours.

We had taken it so easy and prepared well the days leading up to thanksgiving that on the actual morning of we only had 1 pie to make and the turkey. We invited our good friends, the Gine's over and also a new couple from our branch, Karlie and Levi.

We just chatted and set up, then chatted and ate, then chatted and cleaned up while the kids played and football games streamed on the TV. Everything tasted so good and the company was really comfortable and interesting.  It is so nice to have friends that are practically family.  Although if you ask Chris, he wouldn't be able to say it was a culinary success since some of our favorite things we didn't quite make as good as we like them. Note to future selevs: grapefruit juice in the slush is not a good idea.. it is quite bitter and flavorless, also even if it looks really runny, don't cook the vanilla pudding too long for the banana cream pie because there is such a thing as too-firm for a pudding.  When everyone left for other engagements and Chris and I put the kids to bed and enjoyed a movie on the couch together.... our favorite thing. By Saturday we were all feeling a little better and able to start on a project: getting more organized and set up in the garage. We're going to put some insulation and peg board up by the tool bench and some shelves up along the back.  Here's the before picture:

We'll get an after picture when we finish it... whenever that ends up being!

curtains, preschool, soccer, wrestling, dedication

I finally finished the curtains in my bedroom.  The arched window was really difficult to figure out. I wanted to maintain the beauty of the arch, and not hide it behind a bar going across it or above it, but I also wanted the be able to see through as much of the window as possible.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out, even though it didn't look terrible before, I just love getting things closer to how I imagine it. I wish I could just turn my brain off sometimes though because I often imagine things that don't exist. 

I haven't kept up with the preschool with just Freddy. Its so much easier to just let him entertain himself with toys and whatnot. But he asks for it often and sometimes I will drop whatever project or household duty I'm trying to accomplish and impromptu a preschool for him. This particular day we learned about leaves and went on a nature walk and made a collage. (Can you see in the background of that picture the cheetah stuffed animal sitting on the carpet? Freddy wanted to have classmates so we set out the stuffed animals and he helped them answer questions and participate in the songs and doing the calendar, etc. Cute kid)

Charlie's last soccer game couldn't have come any sooner! Its so busy with all the stuff the kids are involved in and it was starting to get 'cold' watching the games. (I feel like I have to put quotation marks around the word cold now because after experiencing Edmonton cold, everything else just seems not as legit.)  We were really lucky that not 1 game got canceled due to weather. It has been such a warm and dry fall! Practically the whole state is on a burn ban.

I love it when Chris does a serious wrestling match with the kids. It usually happens on a Sunday and it starts to get more and more elaborate as the years go by. This time the kids initiated an opening ceremony where they have to march in a line into the room as Chris announces the match.  Then the rules are that the if Chris pins one kid, they have to sit out on the bean bag for 25 seconds before coming back in and if Chris can pin the rest of the kids within that time frame then he wins. If the kids pin Chris down, they win. Sometimes I jump in after a while and help the kids, but this time, they pinned him all on their own.

Our building was officially dedicated today.  We had a potluck lunch after to celebrate as a branch. It was very interesting to hear so much history from people who have lived in this area way long ago when the efforts to get a building first started. I'm so grateful for their efforts. I never thought about that before and here I get to enjoy the fruits of their labors! Also during the 2nd hour I was in charge of having an 'Its great to be 8' meeting for the 8 year olds (and soon to be's) and their parents to talk about Baptism.  Even though we were super short on time, I'm glad it happened and I think it went well. Thanks go to Pinterest for the donuts-in-a-bag-to-make-the-number-8 treat idea.  I also enjoyed putting together a bouquet for the chapel to make the occasion look a little extra special.  I wish I could take a flower arranging class or something, I really enjoy doing it!

Courageous Carter

We found out that my brother's 2nd oldest child (the handsome boy above in the yellow shirt) has leukemia. Carter is just a few weeks younger than Alec, and having gone through the cancer thing twice with Chris, we have a pretty good idea of how much this is going to suck for Justin, Radene, Carter and his siblings.  We thought of ways to help and decided that on his treatment days we could all wear his favorite color, green, to let him know we're praying for him, and cheering for him even though we're too far away to visit him and bring him treats. All of the kids have been praying for him in every prayer.  

Also during the week that Carter lost his hair we shaved Freddy and Charlie's head to support him through that uncomfortable change. I managed to buzz a C into the sides of their head too.  

On the honest side of things, I feel such pressure (only from my own desires!) to do something PERFECT to help them since I'm supposed to know how it goes...but thinking back to my own experience I feel like when it comes down to it... there's not a whole lot of practical and actually helpful things (besides trying to cheer them up) that we can do for them since the worst parts (and even most of the mundane easy parts) of it has to be done or decided or experienced by them and them alone.  And I feel this weird sense of defeatist despair that has prevented me from putting together any kind of package to send them like my sister (and I'm sure many other wonderful people) have.  I don't really get it, so the guilt mounts.  Its another eye opening experience to be on the other end of this cancer thing...I have more compassion for the people who want to help.)