A Caroling We Go

Tonight Neal volunteered at the school book fair. We stopped in for a short while to let the kids buy the books they've been pining for. We always buy them a bonus book we hope will be a good match for their reading level and interests.

Leaving Neal behind to finish his shift, we joined up with the cub scouts for an evening of caroling. I love that we really mixed it up. Often we have certain families that we want to share the Christmas spirit with but we just picked a street and went from door to door hoping to warm some hearts, and maybe interrupt a favorite TV program or two. We were well received by all that came to the door. I was super proud of my kids for not walking through resident's lawns and landscaping. I had to school a few scouts on that one and inadvertently, some of their parents as well.We finished up with hot cocoa and candied popcorn at a nearby park.

Christmas Lights

We had a great weekend with our church's Christmas Breakfast. We enjoyed chatting with friends, participating in singing, and eating yummy food while Neal took in a morning session at the Dallas Temple. Some of our friends were not able to make it due to work and health issues so we stopped by to visit briefly afterwards and deliver a few plates of food and an ornament that was handed out at the activity.

During Thanksgiving break, we put seeing the Christmas lights on the calendar for this weekend, an activity we usually enjoy with Oma and Opa but they had travel plans so we were going to go it alone. Unfortunately, Opa got pneumonia and they were not gone this weekend. He just recently started a second medication which seems to be doing the job but is still contagious. The silver lining here was that we got Oma for the Christmas lights while Opa got rest.

The abominable snow monster roasting Hermie, the elf.

Today the kids sang with the other Primary children in sacrament meeting at church and did a great job. It was a newer Christmas song, Little One, that we all learned and practiced given that the whole family is in Primary as either child or teacher. It took even us parents a while to learn.

While Sophie and Neal were at choir practice for their Christmas number which they sing next week, Rhys and I baked more cookies. We spent the evening delivering them to individuals and families. Then walking in our neighborhood to see some of the light displays.

It's in the Bag

When the kids go on field trips I usually take a minute to decorate their paper sack with a bit of doodling and sometimes finish by closing it off with ribbon. Sophie had a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art so this is what she got. I'm pretty proud of it.

Cookies, Confrences, and Concerts

Our family would like to personally thank the Pillsbury dough boy for cranking out loads of dough and Kroger for their amazing discount on said dough because we were able to make a ton of cookies this past week and deliver a yuletide sugar rush to many people that help our family is loving ways. Sure homemade would have been nice but this way we got to love on some people and stay sane at the same time. Yay for good mental health during the holidays.

Also this week, Sophie was able to present at her own 504 Plan meeting (in which accommodations for her ADHD are decided) for the first time. This is in an effort to help her develop the skills necessary to advocate for herself and encourage gratitude for those who work for her good.  We've been prepping her by helping her take online surveys about her learning style and her strengths and weaknesses. Though she was wavering on her desire to participate in this manner, she did great and had a good experience I hope she will continue to grow on.

After introducing all the people in the room, Sophie presented the following (with good eye contact) and then gave feedback on what accommodations were helpful and useless:

I’ve been learning more about myself and I wanted to share some things with you. 

I learn best by hearing and listening. Some things that may work for me are having test questions read out loud or studying new material by reading it out loud. 

I am also a tactile learner which means I learn by doing and touching. I do best with touching, drawing, building and moving. Hands-on activities are great for me. I also like to be able to take short breaks during studying.

These are some of my strengths.

Bravery: I speak up for what is right, even if others do not agree with me!

Zest: I live life with excitement and energy filled with adventure to!

Leadership: I am good at providing leadership and direction when I am with a group of people!

I have an appreciation for beauty and things done well. I love humor too.

Perseverance is sticking with something even if it is difficult. This is something that can be hard for me. Teachers and people can help by encouraging me. Humor is also helpful!!! Putting me down is not welcome. 

Thank you for setting up my 504 plan and helping me. 

We were so proud of her and all said she had matured a lot his year. We agree.

That day and evening, Sophie performed with the 6th grade choir, singing holiday songs to senior residents, shoppers, and family. They did great again. 

The unicorn beside Sophie, is her friend.

Christmas Kick-Off Weekend

The first weekend in November is always a busy and fun one. Friday night, we attended the Holly Jolly Celebration put on by our city in it's new, much larger venue. We didn't feel claustrophobic and really enjoyed the variety of activities. We, in particular, enjoyed the story-time inside the public library, not that the stories or sing-a-long were so great but that we dodged the quick passing thunderstorm. We always like the lighting of the Christmas tree and the fireworks and seeing familiar faces from our community.

Staying out of the rain

We actually got to bed early (as a consequence for a moment of our children's poor behavior that morning and as a privilege for we parents). This was good because poor Neal was in and out of a work problem during the late evening and early morning. He just barely made it to his post as a CERT member providing crowd control for our city's Rudolph Run.

This is the second time we signed up for it as a family but the first time we actually got to participate because the first time we got iced out. Sophie's goal was to run it and my goal was to walk it with Rhys and buffer his left arm as it was still broken. I did let him run the last bit up to and over the finish line.  He would slow down to almost a crawl as he told me about all his imagined stories and adventures in his head so taking this into consideration as we came into a more open area where the wind was really blowing, I jumped aboard the imagination train and told him we were stuck in a blizzard and that we could hardly see with all the clouds of snow (a group of walker in front of us) so we picked up the pace and passed them--then a set of elves (walkers decked out in all things sparkly and Christmas) we had to get a message from---then Santa ( a walker dressed as, well, Santa) to whom we had to deliver the elves message to and you get the idea.  We picked up the pass a lot and both had fun.

Neal went out to lunch with a bunch of his friends from CERT and I got the kids home. Later in the afternoon Neal was looking quite dapper a he served at the nativity exhibit helping to answer questions, making people feel welcomed, and reminding the few to not touch the nativities. We joined him a bit later. The kids were surprised that there was only one Lego nativity but were amused by the koala and kangaroo nativities from Australia.

Our weekend ended with The First Presidency's Christmas Devotional when we get to get cozy, enjoy some hot cocoa, and hear the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ give Christmas messages and hear the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. I love the spirit it brings into our home.

Consequence

This is what happens when you chuck an egg at your kid, unexpectedly, to see if they can catch it...but then realize you grab the raw eggs and not the hard boiled oens.

On a side note, we need to work on our kids catching skills.

Christmas is Up!

The weekend after Christmas we completed decorating the house but I think this angel is the cutest decoration of all.

Sophie wearing our tree skirt as a..well,...skirt!

I've also spent the past couple of days helping out at our church receiving and logging in nativities and artwork for our community's annual nativity exhibit.  It is always so fun to work with people I don't usually see often or even know because they attend church in another congregation. It's fun to hear the stories attached to the items that come in. I always learn something interesting and gain new acquaintances, if not friends, by the end of my time volunteering. Not too bad!

So something happened the first day during the checking in of nativities that got my feathers all ruffled. There were just too many cooks in the kitchen trying to deal with one person's items which the computer system had mixed up and we were all trying to straighten out but in different and often in conflicting directions. Meanwhile, the woman lending the nativities was becoming anxious and needing to leave.

In my evening prayers with my Heavenly Father, I shared that I felt unsettled about the moment, that this moment stuck out from the others that day. While I pondered on it with His help, I came to understand the part I played in it. I also felt He wanted me to address it.

The next morning, at the start, I approached the ladies involved and said I wished to apologize for the inappropriate manner in which I handled the situation the day before. I explained that I had become anxious, felt concern for the lady's time, and instead of expressing this verbally or removing myself from the situation, I let my foolish pride take over and tried controlling others even though the end result of logging the nativities would be wrong. I told them that Heavenly Father had helped me to see this and I was sorry.

The coolest thing is that they had all felt similarly and it opened up a conversation not about who was right or wrong but providing solutions and mutually deciding what we would do so it would not happen again. I felt the Spirit return to our interactions, even strengthen us, and the rest of the day was great. And good thing too, because Heavenly Father must have known how slammed we were going to be that second day with more than twice the amount of items coming in the first day!

This is why I value my relationship with Heavenly Father. If I will give Him my time and humility, He helps me understand the bigger picture and what things I might try without making me feel like garbage. Even when I mess up, He sees the good in me and helps me learn, grow, heal. He gives me opportunities to repent and use Jesus' atoning power. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Hebrews 12:6, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" This is just one personal example of how I know Heavenly Father is mindful of us and is concerned with the details of our lives. His love and guidance is often manifested in the small and simple, day to day experiences of my life and I love Him for it!

Thanksgiving Week

Our plans to camp 3 nights this Thanksgiving week were canceled due to the other two families having to cancel and Rhys' arm break. We still had a good week--planning Thanksgiving dinner, jumping n on a couple service opportunities, and putting up the outdoor Christmas lights.

I raked the backyard so the kids could be kids in the leaf pile, we got out to the Perot Museum, and on Thanksgiving day, we hiked some trails, ate, and watched Elf. Pretty good week if you ask me.

Rhys Makes A Break For It!

So I got off work a couple minutes early so I went home to change into more comfortable clothes before picking up the kids and got a phone call saying Rhys had fallen off the play equipment and his arm was in a bad way. Fast forward and Neal and I are in the ER at Children's in Plano because we alread learned from his first break (right arm) to not use our local ER. After some drugs and x-rays he had a diagnosis of a broken radius and was splinted up to be put in a cast later.

A big thank you to our friend Kari and her mom, Kim, for taking my Sophie at a moments notice so I could focus on Rhys. A big thank you to awesome bosses who let Neal leave work to join us at the hospital.

Neal taking a photo to share with his boss!

On the following Monday, we were to have him put in a cast (he'd already chosen Christmas colors) when the orthopedist said it was a very small break and he was more concerned with the swelling as he believes Rhys momentarily dislocated his elbow but that it had snapped back into place by the time the x-rays were taken so...no cast but it's still a break. They want him using the arm so it doesn't get frozen up. He's not in any pain and is doing fine. We just need to have him wear his sling when in public so others don't rough house with him while he heals.

Just Serve

We wanted to do a service project as a family again so we checked out JustServe.org and found that a local homeless shelter was in urgent need of adult blankets and cold/flu medication. We made a Facebook Event and at the end of two weeks, and because of the compassionate people we are surrounded by at church, school, family, and in our neighborhood, we were able to collect and deliver 41 blankets and 40 over-the-counter cold/flu medications just as the cold weather entered the season! With the donations coming in, our hearts were really warmed and we felt it was great way to kick-off this season of gratitude and love.

Our first few donations!

Final result

Aunt Kira and Uncle David Visit

We love when Uncle David and Aunt Kira visit and we're not just saying that because Kira's the only one who reads our family blog (Yes, you!). We hung out, did a puzzle, visited a fire fighter museum, hit the Dallas farmers market, chased a hot air balloon, pulled it's chase vehicle and trailer out of mud, tried roasting chestnuts, played games, and just enjoyed being together.

Newly engaged!

Until next time!