Consequences

When I was a kid, one of the consequences for poor choices was doing dishes...for 10 people...by hand (no dishwasher)...by yourself.  Unfortunately, I got really good at doing the dishes.  My parents would share this method with all their friends (through visiting or in a sacrament meeting talk since my Dad was either in the bishopric or a high councilman when I was a teenager).  My friends were not happy with me about that. 

 

Recently, Aspen made some poor choices and so I decided to try out this dishes-as-consequences method.  I love it!  Not only do my dishes magically get done, but it provides a repeated reminder (for as long as the consequence lasts) about making better decisions.  Aspen performed her duty without complaining too!  More joy!  I think this will be my go-to consequence from now on.  My children are generally good kids.  But there are the occasional squabbles, attitudes, and rule side-stepping that is normal.  So big chores for big mistakes; smaller chores for smaller rule infractions.  Poor choices on the part of my children will equal a cleaner, more sparkling house for me! 

Vacation attitude

When Nate is on vacation, he usually doesn't shave very often.  Usually though, he gets annoyed with the irritation caused by growing facial hair and shaves it off before too long.  This break he went about 10 days!  I thought he would go longer, but he shaved for church on Sunday so I didn't get a picture.  But, while looking for some other old photos, I found these:

The first two are from the first Christmas we were married (1994).

 The second is from January 1996.

Not a fan of facial hair.  Still...these pictures make me smile...and laugh.

One way to get a project to the top of the to-do list

I did this about a month ago.  I just got really sick of my living room carpet. (5 years of 4 kids, a dog, and a sand box will do this to you.)  So I tore it up.

I had planned on replacing it with...something by the next week (I was hosting a baby shower at my house and thought that was a good deadline.)  I ended up having the party at our neighborhood clubhouse.  And my floor still looks like this.  We are having another party on New Year's Day.  I would love for something to be in place by then.  But...who knows?  For now the kids enjoy riding their scooters in the living room.  Besides, if it's still like this by January 1st, at least it won't matter if someone spills their drink!

It is a bit cold though.

the children are nestled...

...all snug in their beds, while visions of waking up Mom and Dad before the sun comes up are dancing in their heads. 
We've read the Christmas Story out of the Bible, read Davey and the First Christmas, sung carols around our candle windmill, wrapped all the presents, and readied everything for the morning.  Just have to finish the traditional midnight baking of the cardamom bread and then I can snuggle myself into my own bed.  (I think we could scrap most of the other traditions, but my kids look forward to the bread the most.)

Hope you have a fabulous and very merry Christmas!

December's Performances

Aspen plays the flute in the school band. They had their winter concert a couple weeks ago.  She did really well.

Aspen also participated in her school's one act play competition. They did a modernized version of the Jungle Book.

The troupe performed for the school and then performed at the district competition. The did a great job

  Aspen put a lot of time into the play and really enjoyed it.

Hazel's preschool did a cute retelling of the Christmas story.  Hazel was the narrator.  Instead of a costume, she was just supposed to wear her prettiest dress and look cute.  Which, of course, is pretty easy.  She insisted on curling her hair.  It likes to just be straight.  I put it up in pink spongy curlers the night before.  It went straight in 3 minutes.  So I put in tons of product and curled it with the curling iron and sprayed it with a ton of hairspray.  All that spray glue worked I guess.  It was still curly for the program.  At least Hazel was happy.

On vacation

We are enjoying our staying at home vacation.  We sleep late, eat whatever, whenever, visit with friends, play, watch movies, play games, hang out.  It has been very relaxing and much needed...for everyone.  Tonight we enjoyed some rockband.  (Isaac had to sit out because he only has one hand and doesn't like to sing.)

 

 

Hazel loves to play the drums and sing, even though she doesn't know the words.  She is so intense and she is a creative drummer!

Hope ya'll are enjoying your holiday! 

Christmas at the Homestead

One year (1984) for Christmas my parents took us to the Homestead for Christmas Eve.  (At least I remember it  this way.  I'm a little fuzzy on timing for some things).  But I remember going on a horse drawn sleigh ride in the evening.  We spent the next day sledding and playing in the snow.  We went swimming in the hotel's indoor pool.  There were big windows that opened onto the snow outside the pool.  Some of us went out into the snow in our swimsuits, and then jumped back in the pool.  There were outdoor hot tubs with fog billowing off them.  I always thought it so exciting to be in the pool outside in the snow in the middle of winter.  It was a fun Christmas.  Maybe one day I can do that for my kids.

Mr. Gardner

When I was little there was the "apple man".  He owned an orchard nearby and would fill up his truck with apples and bring them to our neighborhood in the fall.  Mom bought a bunch of bushell basket-fulls and we would can applesauce and apple pie filling for our food storage.  Somehow, through the "apple man", we knew a man named Mr. Gardener.  He was an older man who lived by himself inSalt Lake City.  Every year our family would put together baskets of fruit and deliver them to people my parents knew.  One of these baskets always went to Mr. Gardener. I don't think that he had many visitors.  I don't think that he had family that visited often either. We would drive to his house and knock on his back door.  I'm sure we were a slight to behold with all ten of us bunched up on his back porch.  Then we would sing carols and visit with him a bit.  We went every year for much of my childhood.  I'm grateful my parents gave us these opportunities to serve at Christmas time.

Christmas Caroling at the Cemetery

December 1986

One of my favorite Christmas memories from my childhood was going to the cemetery to visit family graves.  We would bring a wreath to lay on Grandma's grave.  Typically it was snowing, cold, and nearing dark (apparently not these two years pictured).  Dad had Erika and I play our flute and violin while the rest of the family sang carols.  The cold silver flute made my lips and fingers so cold.  I would only be able to play a couple songs before they became too numb to keep up with the carolers.  Our toes would be freezing because we were standing in 8 inches of snow (usually wearing dress shoes because we were on our way to a party in our fancy Christmas clothes.)
 

December 199?  not sure of the exact year...anyone?

But I am glad that Dad insisted that we keep up this tradition. We've only been in Utah a few times at Christmas since moving away 14 years ago and I miss being able to visit Grandma and Grandpa at the cemetery at this time of year.

Isaac is one tough kid

Isaac slipped off the monkey bars at recess yesterday and fell backwards, catching himself with his hands behind him.

Isaac thought his arm "looked creepy" so he ran to the nurse. 

At the ER they told us that Isaac had broken the radius bone in his forearm.  They gave him some morphine, injected his arm with anesthetic and reset it.  Did you know that there is a real reason for those "chinese handcuffs?"  Only the doctors call them finger traps instead. 

Through it all, I was most impressed with Isaac..  He broke his arm, got shots, an IV, put in finger traps and had his arm manipulated and reset, even through all that pain, not once did he cry (he did say, "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow").  I wanted to cry.  But Isaac is tough and brave.  He was fabulous through it all.

Unfortunately, this means that we will definitely not be going skiing this month.

Understanding the scriptures

Yesterday we had the missionaries over for dinner.  They shared a thought with us before they left. It was about Nephi and his willingness to be obedient to the Lord's commandments.  The elders were asking our children about some details to see if they remembered the story.  Isaac recalled that Laman and Lemuel murmured a lot about going to retrieve the plates from Laban in Jerusalem.  But they had no problem going back for the ladies.

Christmas Advent Activities

My original idea was to post a different activity daily that our family did to celebrate the advent of Christmas during the month of December.  Well...life happened and I'm behind.  Instead, I'm just going to post a list of what we are doing instead.  Maybe some pictures will come later.  We'll see.  As soon as school is out then we'll finally be able to slow down a bit and enjoy our stay-at-home vacation this year.

1. Put up outdoor Christmas lights
2. Cut paper snowflakes
3. Decorate gingerbread houses
4. Decorate Christmas Tree
5. Advent Sundays 1, 2, 3, and 4
6. Christmas Sing Along
7. Jingle Bell Run
8. First Presidency's Christmas Message
9. Carol at the assisted living center
10. Bake cookies: sugar, pepparkaka, chocolate chip, wagon wheels, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodles, and more
11. Deliver treats to the neighbors
12. Make candy: including fudge, brittle, marshmallows, candy canes, taffy, carmels, suckers
13. Have a fire in the fireplace and roast marshmallows. 
14. Have hot chocolate in front of the fireplace
15. Doorbell ditch friends; leave goodies
16. Get new christmas CD
17. Watch a Christmas movie
18. Read Christmas stories
19. Design Christmas cards
20. Make up new words to carols
21. Attend a performance of Handel's Messiah
22. Trail of Lights
23. Attend Aspen's one act play performance
24. Make Swedish cardamom bread and pigs in a blanket for Christmas Day breakfast
25. Attend Aspen's band concert 

Favorite Christmas Stories

I love children's books.  Heck (how utahn is that word?!), I love most books.  I thought I'd share a list of our Christmas stories.  Perhaps you'll find a new one for your family to enjoy.  Share your favorites so I can find new ones too!

Annika's Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis   I like this book because it reminds me of my swedish heritage and my Grandma Kerksiek.  It has beautiful pictures and a nice story.

Hannah's Christmas by Melissa Peterson Another book that supports our Swedish heritage.

The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes by Deborah Pace Rowley A story about the true meaning of Christmas and serving others. This story also reminds me of my German Heritage (We are a mish-mash of heritages. Just means we have lots of different traditions.) It might be fun to start the shoe tradition in our family.

The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren This is a swedish story. My parents read this to us as children every Christmas. I love the pictures of the isolated farm at night and the story of the little tomten watching over the humans.

The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren The other swedish tomten book from my childhood. Love it still.

This is the Season Beloved of the Year artwork by Simon Dewey I love Simon Dewey's artwork. This pictures go along with the words to the primary song of the same name. There are always timely quotes by prophets and apostles and scriptures from both the Bible and The Book of Mormon.

A Night Without Darkness A Nephite Christmas Story by Timothy Robinson This story tells of events in the Americas among the Nephites leading up to Christ's birth.

Jesus is Born by Sherrie Johnson This book was written by the mother of my good friend from Dallas. It is about the birth of the Saviour from the Nephite point of view.

A New Star in Heaven A Christmas Story from the Bible and the Book of Mormon by Val Chadwick Bagley, text by Tamara Beckstrand This is a lift-the-flap board book and great for a quiet sacrament meeting activity.

The Night Before Christmas A Little Golden Book Edition. This classic story is from a classic publisher. Love Little Golden Books!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer A Golden Book I love Little Golden Books. Great illustrations for a must have story.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore illustrated by Bruce Whatley I love the illustrations in this version of the classic poem.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May illustrated by David Wenzel This is the original version of the holiday classic. Mr. May wrote this story when he worked bor Montgomery Ward department stores. The store asked him to write a sotry they good give away to customers. Eventually he persuaded the company to turn the copywrite over to him and the rest is history!

The Littlest Angel by Chales Tazewell I love this story and it's retro illustrations. I don't read it aloud often because it is quite long for a picture book. But it is one of my favorites.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens illustrations by Roberto Innocenti Classic. Must read. I love the illustrations by Roberto Innocenti. It is the original text, unabridged

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett Books by Jan Brett have such wonderful page layouts. There is another story going on in the pictures on the borders of each page.

Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett Another cute story from Jan Brett. I like the trolls especially.

A New Improved Santa by Patricia Rae Wolff This book has a nice vintage feel with a new twist about Santa. Super cute.

Clifford's First Christmas by Norman Bridwell One of my children picked out this book. Mostly it is one the little kids like to read.

Angelina's Christmas by Katharine Holabird Cute story aout the little dancing mouse. Perfect for little girls.

Carl's Christmas by Alexandra Day While leaving a rott weiler to watch a baby is a little unbelievable, the pictures are cute and you can make up your own story every time.

The Polar Express by Chris Van Alsburg I love Van Alsburg's illustrations and his stories. They are unexpected. I still enjoy the book much more than the movie.

Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish I love Amelia Bedelia. She gets into so many predicaments because she is so literal! Funny book.

We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin This book has sumptuous pictures that illustrate the words to the carol of the same name.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski illustrated by P.J. Lynch This well know story about a grieving wook carver has pictures that looke carved. I love the story and the textures.

The Animals' Christmas Eve A Little Golden Book Another classic! It's a cute counting book that set in the stable on Christmas Day.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado Sweet Christmas story, nice soft illustrations.

Christmas Oranges retold by Linda Bethers illustrated by Ben Sowards Classic story

This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar and Gary Blythe I really like the illustrations in this book. It is also written in a this-is-the-house-that-jack-built kind of style. But to read aloud.

A Normal Rockwell Christmas This book has a collection of stories, poems and carols (sheetmusic included). It is one of my favorites from my childhood. I love each of the stories and what's not to love about Normal Rockwell illustrations.

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen illustrated by Vladyslav Yerko Vibrant pictures accompany this classic fairy tale. It has 7 shorter stories within it.

White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt Fun seasonal book, especially for us snow-free Texans.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats  I've loved this book about snow for a long time. 

Dora Saves the Snow Princess by Dave Aikins Not really a Christmas book, but currently one of Hazel's favorite seasonal stories.

The Nativity by Francesca Crespi It's a pop-up book. Lots of fun. It is also a nativity scene (which I collect).

The Christmas Alphabet, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and Winter's Tale by Robert Sabuda More pop-up books. These are intricately cut and beautifully done. These books also don't stay on the bottom shelves and are usually looked at very carefully by little children with the help of a big person.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson  Just a fun book to read.

Davey's First Christmas by BethVardon, illustrated by Charlot Byj  This is the story that my Grandma used to read to us every Christmas Eve.  And we read it every Christmas Eve too.

So that's my list.  What are some of your family's favorites?