hoarding christmas cards and other hustle bustle (2016)

i made the trail center scavenger hunt!

every year, out of overwhelming guilt, i participate in the gingerbread display.  it truly is a fantastic display best left to the creative genius of gals much craftier than i.  but this year, i prepped by talking to my family around the dinner table.  with 'wrap yourself in the warmth of a christmas memory' as the theme and a task to make a quilt block, they suggested a bowl of caramels. it was a fun surprise to make this year's scavenger hunt list!

hoarding christmas cards

one of my favorite things is the gift of a giving and receiving a great christmas card.  and that sentiment grows every year. so much so that I keep them out year round!  AND last year (get your gasp ready), when i couldn't bear to throw 2015's away, i began a perfectly disorganized pile of years past! (gasp!)

tags: my last crafty remnant

i still occasionally dabble in crafts - but rarely for pleasure. (most times, it's for a calling or a kid party.) but there's a group of crafty-minded friends that i adore seeing at our yearly christmas tags exchange.

decorating the magical mammoth:

at our house, christmas trees and ladders go hand in hand. (it can be a daunting challenge to decorate because jack and mom are both scared of heights!)

her first concert:

kindin has been excelling quickly at piano and her goal-oriented self began craving a performance.  this december, her piano teacher let her tag along to play christmas songs at the nursing home.

the universal currency (2016)

proof that gum, not money, is the universal currency:

The kids have been earning allowance for years.  I assumed that their impulsive gum getting was just a honeymoon period or some sort of developmental phase.  But I've been proven wrong over and over again.  Despite relative open access to my personal stash of gum, one can predict that on the 15th of every month, you'll see me with 3 kids in tow buying gum at the grocery counter! 

I often pick up gum for Kindin when she babysits for me - she's ecstatic every time!  

As Christmas approaches, the kids are stammering to find each other presents.  Without question, the tradition is to get each other gum.  And without fail, they each love it!  (Christmas 2016 will be no exception.)

 

thanksgiving... hold the turkey (2016)

This year, grandpa successfully eradicated turkey from the girls' thanksgiving plates.  After giving an intimate biology lesson while prepping the turkey, Kindin and Dalia refused to eat turkey.

On the menu WAS:

black friday shopping

a baptism

and even a school performance

... rest assured, both girls are eating turkey again.

on playing point guard (2016)

It can be a tricky thing to steer your kids towards both where their interests and their greatest potential lie.  This year, Jack has been dabbling in some new sports.  And while I can appreciate that he has to try a variety of sports to figure out what clicks, I long for his sports palate to mature.  It seems that my gentle attempts to steer have failed as he has: dropped soccer to play flag football, quit tennis, started swim team, and now has taken a big interest in basketball.  Let's just say that while basketball is certainly an important life skill, I'm having considerable difficulty being captivated.

it takes a little hum to make a masterpiece (2016)

Dalia's teacher finally figured out why her peers choose to move away from her during work time!  Apparently while she's carefully creating master-planned and accurate designs with the utmost attention to detail (like the one below), she hums!

the over-commercialization of halloween (2016)

Admittedly, I play a small part in what felt like never-ending Halloween festivities this year by throwing a Halloween party for the neighborhood. But by the time the ward party, school party (I chaired jack's classroom party), a trip to Valas (aka the pumpkin patch on crack), and trick or treating were over, I was happy to be done with all things haunted.

A fear factor challenge

Studio C character costumes: (Princess Lolly, Red Crayon, The Worst Doctor Ever)