Merry Christmas!!

No commentary needed.

Grateful.

It seems the Sandy Hooks Elementary commentary is everywhere.  Thoughts, ideas, explanations, people trying to make sense of it in their minds, or simply trying to find a way to cope with hearing that things of that nature are even possible.  I appreciate that as human beings, we reach out to each other at times like this.  Tragedy touches us whether we are directly involved or not.  It is the human condition to feel scared and vulnerable.  We need comfort, validation and encouragement.  We want to know that others hear our concerns, we need to feel connected, safe and together.  It has been no different around our house.  Maybe it's because we are at a stage in our life where that's us.  Three of our kids are in elementary school.  I felt all those same things that others have felt.  That I wanted to keep them all home, under my wing and in my arms.
I remember years ago,  I attended the funeral for the three year old son of some friends of ours.  It was awful.  It was sad.  I went home to my own three year old and wanted nothing more than to hold on to her all day long.  But the day did not turn out that way.  Clark was deployed and both the three year old and eighteen month old were ornery and stubborn.  It was such a difficult day for me.
The bickering has been out of control around here lately.  My sister in law would call it "hormonal spikes" and everyone is having them.  It breaks my heart, as their parent, to hear them be short tempered with one another or to be selfish or use a voice that is less than kind.  Yesterday I had a serious talk with the girls about this.  I wanted them to understand and truly consider the gift that it is to wake up in the morning and have all of their sisters and their brother here.  We talked about the many families who are very suddenly missing a member of their family, and what that must feel like.  The girls were quiet, and contemplative.  For the rest of the day I saw a wonderful transformation.  Not only were they kind, but they were going out of their way to be loving and helpful.  And it made my heart want to weep with gratitude. 
A few years ago when Stephanie Nielson was blogging about the fresh physical and emotional wounds of her accident, I remember vividly where she shared that as she lay under the tree, knowing that she was badly burned and near death, all she wanted was to be at home making dinner for her family.  She talked for months about how badly she wanted to be doing her normal thing; washing dishes, giving baths, doing laundry.  It forever changed my perspective on being a wife and mother.  I still grumble about it from time to time but I am quick to remember that I truly am grateful to serve my family as I do.  I am so grateful for these lessons learned.  Grateful that through trial we can be refined and strengthened through the experiences of others.
I don't know of anyone that wouldn't wish that these families could have just one more day with their loved ones.  But I am grateful that so many can be touched by the reminder to hold our dear ones a little closer than we did yesterday.  We can honor some part of their memory by having a little more patience, a little more kindness and a little more gratitude for the gift of each and every day.

Time to sum things up...

The end of November/beginning of December has been a whirlwind of activity for us.  So much was going on.  It was all good, fun stuff but now I am sitting here as the dust is settling and realizing that I have not bought one single Christmas gift for my family.  I am usually a "done by Thanksgiving" kind of girl so I am only in a slightly small panic that Christmas is less than two weeks away. 
Easily remedied by tonight where Clark and I will engage in an online shopping spree, all to be delivered to my door in 3-5 business days.  I love Amazon.  And my computer.  And the powers that be, that allow me to avoid all stores and people involved in holiday shopping.

The week before Thanksgiving we invited the Young Women from the ward to a pampering party for "Mormon Homecoming".  We did hair, nails and make up.  It was dreamy for a mother of 4 girls, and pretty dreamy for my 4 girls too who got to sit and watch and maybe get their own make up done.  What amazing teenage girls.  I love them.

The very afternoon that we were primping young women for a fun night out, we welcomed Clark's brother Nolan and his family into town for Thanksgiving.  We were so grateful that they were willing to drive all the way from New Orleans to be with us and play for a whole week!  We had fun playing games each night with Nolan and Jocelyn, and oogling over their adorable and smart kids Maddie and Spencer.  How do I not have more pictures you ask?  We were having fun and I'm just distracted like that.

We did Mount Vernon and made Nolan carry as much stuff as possible.  It was great.

In the hub-bub of activity, Jonah turned 5 months old.  There is always time to stop and document his cuteness even though his poor nighttime sleep habits are sending me to the nut house.

For Thanksgiving we were joined by cousin Heber, Gentri and cute Leo  (who surprise surprise, I didn't get pictures of either, sheesh, were is my sense of urgency to preserve the moment in photographs?!)  along with a friend from work that Clark and Nolan both know through the Navy (and his dog who sat outside on the porch and watched through the window as we ate a delicious feast.)

Heber deep fried a turkey.  It was the most moist and delicious thing you've ever tasted.
Hazel was in charge of place cards this year and we had random silver elephant holders that were for the intent and use of something you will see in just a moment.

Because one turkey is not enough, Clark smoked a turkey too.  We all agreed that though Heber's deep fried could not be beat in texture and moistness, the smoked turkey had a flavor that was out of this world.  Next year, we are going for the best of both worlds and the men have already drafted the plan to first deep fry and then smoke the turkey.

Thanksgiving carnage.  Yummy and disgusting.

We didn't go crazy on the sightseeing thing but we did make it to the International Spy Museum which we have wanted to do for a while.  The real little kids were not that into it, though they did like the part where they got to crawl through the air ducts and spy on people.  Did you know that Washington D.C. has more spies than any other city in the world?  It was a fascinating visit, but left me more than just a little paranoid and suspicious.

I forgot to mention that right before Thanksgiving week we celebrated the Young Women's night of Excellence at church.  Did I mention how impressive these girls are?  They sang a musical number that made me cry, both times they sang it (that night and in church the following Sunday.)  They are strong and talented and beautiful.  Also, I sewed A LOT of sparkly paper into bunting...I am still finding glitter all over the office.

Right after Thanksgiving it was my partner's and my turn to host for a Gourmet Dinner Club that I am a part of.  We meet every other month and take turns hosting.  You only host once a year, all other times you just get your fancy invitation in the mail, you show up, eat delicious food that you don't ever get to eat at home because kids have underdeveloped, uncivilized taste buds, visit with wonderful women, and leave without cleaning up.  Most times you have to waddle to the car because your belly is so full you could die.  We did an Indian theme, delicious!  My partner was the amazing mastermind behind the cooking.  I was there for decorating and moral support :)  Clark came and was our kitchen help, loading plates, doing dishes and keeping us "out of the weeds".

Then we got a Christmas tree.  It's pretty much the same every year.  The girls are all jazzed up.  We go.  Then they run off and play hide and go seek while Clark and I pick a tree.  I freak out a little and tell them to stop running around the lot before someone trips and impales themselves on a little tree stand and then someone cries about something and we go home.
Also, Jonah looks very good in a trapper hat.

Mia was the lucky winner of star placer this year.

The first week of December brought us more visitors!
Cousins with matching jammies that could be twins with their blond hair and big Oscarson eyes (even though they are 6 whole months apart,)

 and fun sisters to hang out with along with awesome brothers in law that get us tickets to the lighting of the National Christmas Tree.

His company was working some detail on the Tree Lighting Concert and he scored us some tickets.  We were only 100 yards from the stage where we got to hear the Navy Band, The Fray, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, Neil Patrick Harris and Rico Rodriguez and the First Lady read us The Night Before Christmas.  Besides being annoyed that the First Family was an hour late (crossing the street can be a bear of a commute in DC) it was a lot of fun, definitely a once in a lifetime thing to experience!  We left before hearing James Taylor because the kids were turning into little popsicles.  We had the Washington monument a block behind us and the tree right in front of us with the White House directly behind it.  Have I mentioned how much I love where we live?  I do.

(And just in case you were wondering, my head was fantastically warm the entire evening.)

We were so excited to celebrate little Oliver's first birthday while they were here.  He was wearing a baby tux and it was awesome.  He attacked that cake like no other. 

Little OK, I will think of you and your visit every time I go watch The Solar System...which now I will on a daily basis because I can't get it out of my head (don't be afraid of Venus, he just has no water. Also it will make you feel all calm and educated, and maybe a little sleepy.)

This is the part where Jonah sits on the front porch in our unseasonably warm 70 degree weather and I give up on the Christmas path lights that keep going out.  He LOVES being outside.  Loves it.

Then last Saturday I decided out of necessity, I took a nap.  Moms, don't take naps. (Mind you, there were three other adults in the house but we were silly enough to trust the older kids to not do stupid things.)
Abby was trying her hand at melting Starburst candies in the microwave.  After a very brief tug of war with another sister and the bowl she ended up with 2nd degree burns on her face and arms.  We missed "big activity #3, 487, the ward Christmas Party that I was supposed to be helping with because I took her to the doctor instead.)

Her cheek is looking like it might heal pretty well but at least one of the ones on her arm is going to leave a pretty nasty scar.
Beware the dangers of candy, young ones.

Until next time, which lets be honest, post Christmas if I'm lucky.

Egads.

I have fun stuff to post about -  visitors and activities and cute babies but I just can't bring myself to do it.  The last two weeks have been so busy and the next two weeks are going to be so busy (all fun stuff, just busy!) So instead, I thought I would share the things that made me laugh today...while not doing that other stuff that makes me so busy...

Unseasonally warm weather and then not again.

I was just telling my sister this morning (via a Facebook comment, that counts as "telling someone something" these days, right?) that I really should have thought through this "having another baby" thing more thoroughly because I recently realized that I am going to have to make another Christmas stocking.  I just made new ones for everyone last year and thought I had bought enough material for "whatever the future holds" (don't you like how I plan for progeny?) and have ended up using most of it.  It simply MUST match, MUST I tell you.
Now wasn't that an interesting bit of information?
Last week we had some of the warmest, most beautiful days ever for November.  I love Veteran's Day in Virginia.  The government employees are off of work but kids have school.  It's like a date day.  We started our date day with the 4th graders Veteran's Day program at the school.  Abby is in the 4th Grade Recorder Ensemble.  She has been practicing her music for weeks and was actually nervous for the day of the concert.  I was so impressed with the program.  They had a oral essay preformed by one of the classes that was amazing, a choir of fun songs and the recorders of course.  As I stood and watched from the sidelines I appreciated Abby's diligence in practicing and being dedicated.  There were several kids that were simply pretending to play and one girl outright, holding her recorder upside down.  I was proud of her.  I was also  proud during the part of the program where kids in the grade had the chance to honor service members in their lives.  It never gets old for me, I tear up, I appreciate them, I love it.  Clark and I only wish that Abby had brought home a little more information about it so Clark could have been in uniform like so many others were.  I am proud of my husband.  He is an amazing man, talented, smart, dedicated, driven and successful in whatever he does.  I am proud to have been a part of the Navy community for the last 12 years.  We will resign next summer with plenty of experiences under our belts to have been glad to do it, and glad it's over.

Mondays are half days for us and so when the girls got home we indulged them in a little romp through the woods behind our house.  We avoid it during the summer, mostly because of ticks, sorry to say (I know way too many people with Lyme Disease.)  It was the perfect little outing.  Clark and I sat and chatted in the mild 65 degree weather and watched the girls play in the creek.  Calm, fun, togetherness.

Clark brings the world of technology to the wild woods.