Spirit of Christmas

We have our tree trimmed, our Christmas lights put outside, and have baked one batch of Christmas cookies so far. Wow! We're ahead of schedule this year which is a little abnormal!

I love the Christmas season for all of the wonderful family traditions we get to share with our kids: picking out a new ornament for each child, reenacting the Nativity, counting down to Christmas, and visiting Santa. But I think the tradition my older kids look most forward to is helping those less fortunate. Georgia was so excited this year to choose a child from our "Bishop's Tree" to buy a present for.

Tonight, we read a scripture, a story and sang a couple of Christmas hymns that reminded us of the importance of giving at Christmastime. I didn't have to convince Georgia and Emma that we are happiest giving rather than receiving. They were full of examples. I hope this true spirit of Christmas carries on in them for years to come.

Thankful

Tonight I was thinking (it doesn't happen often!) . . . and I started pondering what I am really thankful for. Here are some of my thoughts:

I am thankful for a husband who works extra hard at being a good father and husband. He gets what is most important.

I am thankful for my 4 children who are coming into their own in many different ways. Georgia is a great example and has the sweetest heart. Emma has a great balance of seriousness and spunk. Noah is mischevious and giggly and nurturer all wrapped into one. Maia is happy, our little shining light.

I am thankful for good parents who raised 6 awesome adults (even if I say so myself).

I am thankful for Cheesecake Factory's Lettuce Wraps, Cafe Rio's fajita chicken salad and La Carretta's Pollo a la Carretta. Too bad I can only get one of these menu items in Kansas. :(

I am thankful for a clean house, even if it only lasts for 10 seconds.

I am thankful for sunny days in November that don't require a jacket.

I am thankful for the gospel, which brings hope, peace, happiness, and love in an unpredictable world.

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween week. It's one of our favorite holidays for sure. Georgia had a small Halloween party at our house with 3 of her friends from church.

For Family Home Evening, we followed our annual tradition and Boo'd a couple of families. The kids decided to wear disguises so no one would guess who we were.

Our ward had a Trunk or Treat on Wednesday. The kids, of course, enjoyed their Halloween parties at school on Friday. And, our family spent Halloween night trick or treating with a family in our neighborhood who is also in our ward.

I've thrown at least 1/2 of the Halloween candy away so far. Brett and the girls sorted all of the candy the kids collected, and it completely covered our dining room table. It was pretty surreal to see all of that candy piled up!

It was so fun to see Maia enjoy Halloween. She immediately caught on to the fact that if she got dressed up and carried a plastic pumpkin around, people would give her candy! She had the biggest grin on her face for most of the night. Surprisingly, she kept up with her brother and sisters. She was anxious to get to every house and insisted on grabbing the candy herself and placing it in her pumpkin. She was a huge fan of the lollipops! And she was a big fan of houses with dogs! One house we stopped at had two large dogs. She got her candy, pet the dogs, and then was on her way to the next house. Suddenly, she decided to backtrack and go pet the dogs again. She left and went back about 4 more times until I decided we'd better move on.

Temple in Kansas City

During the first session of General Conference, we were so excited to hear the news that there will be a new LDS temple built in Kansas City. The exact location will be about 30-40 minutes away. I know that many people here have been praying for a temple for a long time. This is truly an answer to many prayers. Now, Brett and I can actually go to the temple together on a date night. This is exciting! Yeah!

Catch Up Time Again

Once again, it's time to catch up. I've let the posting lag a little--it's only been 7 months since my last post! Of course, the kids are back in school and we're enjoying the mild fall weather here in Kansas. Since my last post, all the kids and Brett have celebrated birthdays, we enjoyed a great summer vacation in Utah, Georgia was baptized and confirmed, and the last book in the Twilight series came out! Pictures of all of these events will be coming soon. I'm also hoping to get my hands on a video of Brett shaking his booty at our ward party last weekend. He was chosen to get up on stage and dance with a group of Mexican dancers who were performing for us at the church. You won't want to miss any of that footage!

High School Musical

If you are not familiar with High School Musical, you probably don't have kids old enough to watch the Disney Channel. Our kids caught the High School Musical fever this past summer when High School Musical 2 was broadcast. Since then, we've watched the movie more than a few times, know all of the songs, and have various items of High School Musical paraphernalia. We decided to treat our kids to a night of High School Musical on Ice as part of our Thanksgiving vacation, but we didn't tell them beforehand. This is smart if you don't want to have your kids constantly asking, "How many days until we go to High School Musical?" On our way to Grandpa and Grandma Mitchell's home in Iowa, we stopped off in Des Moines and told the kids we needed to stop by one of daddy's buildings for a minute. (His company manages the arena in Des Moines.) We walked through the building, stopped so daddy could secretly pick up the tickets, and made our way to a suite. Suprise! They could hear the music and were totally excited. Georgia and Emma sat and were mesmerized by the whole experience. Even Noah enjoyed himself.

Kindergarten Popcorn Pow-Wow

The kindergarteners put on a Thanksgiving program for their families each year at our elementary school. Half of the kids are pilgrims; the other half are Native Americans. Emma was a pilgrim this year, and she had a speaking part in the program. She had a great time performing for us and was very happy that her parents were in the front row where they could take lots of pictures.

Soccer

Georgia played 2007 fall soccer. She has been playing since age 4 and enjoys being on a team. She's played with this particular team for two seasons and has a great coach. Each season she gets a little more aggressive and picks up a few more skills. She enjoys being the goalie.

Scarecrow Day

In kindergarten, Emma participated in Scarecrow Day. She made a scarecrow vest out of a paper sack and decorated a felt hat with patches. Emma has a lot of fun in kindergarten and loves to learn.

Maia Sitting

Maia is such a happy baby and likes to socialize with her brother and sisters. She started sitting up at 6 months.

Halloween 2007

This Halloween we decided it was okay to not be matchy-matchy. Last year, the kids were all superheroes. This year, we had a diverse mix of costumes. Georgia was a vampire. Emma was Wonder Woman, and Noah was a good ole' cowboy. Though I was just happy to buy Georgia a new costume, she decided she wanted me to sew one for her. We went to the fabric store, picked out a pattern and fabric, and, well, I started sewing a couple of days before Halloween. Needless to say, I was still sewing in the wee hours of Halloween morning. The things a mom does for her kids! It reminded me of the many times my mom stayed up late doing projects for me and sewing for us kids.

The kids had a blast at their school parties and went trick or treating with Brett in the evening. They pooped out pretty early though because Emma got tired of walking.

Catch Up Time

For the last couple of months, I've felt like I've been constantly trying to get caught up. Maia is 10 months old, and I'm still not even close to feeling like my life is back to normal or even close to being normal. All I can say is that a fourth child adds an exponentially greater amount of responsibility. At least that's what is feels like right now. So, one of my goals for this year is to say "no" more often to the things that matter the least and "yes" more often to those that matter the most--especially my family! I've decided that I can't be superwoman, and that's okay. It's more important to focus on being a good wife and mother than it is to have an impressive resume of volunteer work, have my kids involved in four different activities each, and have a perfectly organized home. At least that's what I try to remind myself on a daily basis.

This blog, though, is a good thing and a great way for me to record nice family memories. So I've decided this is one thing I can say "yes" to, at least occasionally. I'm going to play catch up from the last 3-4 months in the days to come.