Christmas

It was Christmas....need I say more?  All right, I will elaborate a little.  For the first time, we had a Christmas Eve program at our house.  We each were assigned to prepare a party game to play.  We played name that tune, charades, a pudding eating contest, a funny question game, and stinger, a game where nearly everyone died a gruesome death.  We topped off the evening by singing the Hallelujah chorus, then eating parfaits.
Christmas morning was off to a slow start, but was very satisfying.  We all enjoyed opening presents.  Our best present was not a gift, but a presence.  We were thrilled to be joined by Jeff's parents, younger brother and sister on Christmas Eve and morning.  It was fun to share this special day with them.  Later on in the day, Jeff's older brother and his family joined us for more presents and family time.  It was a good holiday.

Sleigh Bells Ring.....Are you Listenin?

Luckily, the business of life slowed down this week and we were able to enjoy more of the season.  We decorated our gingerbread house which had sat neglected for two weeks, read Christmas stories every night, bought and wrapped presents.  But the highlight of this week was Christmas Caroling.  Ever year we invite our friends and neighbors to carol around our neighborhood.  We usually do it a little earlier in the season, but we unable to this year.  As a result, our numbers were a little diminished, but the fun and the spirit were the same.  It was an unusually warm day which added greatly to the comfort of walking around in the dark!  We sang to our usual houses, then went across the street to carol to a couple of children who were beckoning us from their window.  They were thrilled that we were coming and even joined in to sing with us.  We all came back to the house for hot chocolate and treats.  It was a great holiday tradition.
 To add to our musical enjoyment of the holidays, Allie performed in her first band concert.  It was very well done considering most of the students have only been playing these instruments for 4 months.  They played a medley of simple songs, then launched into the sounds of the season.  Allies favorite was White Christmas.  My favorite was Ruldoph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  While one section of the band played a solo, the rest of them put on their "antlers" to be reindeer.  It was very fun to see their excitement.

 

Holly Jolly Visitors

This week we were please to have my sister and her two sons come and visit us.  Her husband was travelling to Florida for a few days, and she is 8 months pregnant.  So I told her to come and visit me!  We would help take care of the boys and she could have a break while we all enjoyed being together.  It was a perfect fit......except, I wound up being very busy.  The first day she arrived, it was more like she was taking care of me, as I was stuck in a meeting and she took Jayd to volleyball tryouts, fixed dinner and prodded my children to complete their homework.  I made up for it the next morning by taking the boys to basketball with me so that she could sleep in until 10:00.  On Saturday, we all went to Allie and Gabe's piano recital.  In the end, it was a great visit.  It was so fun to have the boys around with all of their exuberance and excitement.  We love hearing the little things that they say.  They loved Toby, our lizard, he was a favorite toy.  We hope they will be able to come back soon, maybe with a baby brother!

Part of the Club

Jayd would like to play club volleyball.  That is where the real action is.  We had a little taste of it last spring when he played on a club team for about a month.  He loved it....but the price tag was a little too high for our budget.  So when the coach of Jayd's highschool team approached the team with a proposition to form a club team for a minimal cost, we jumped at the opportunity.  Jayd liked the coach, he knew and liked the other players, it was a good fit.  It is a bare bones club, no practices, just 6 tournaments.  Most of our players are playing in a division that is higher than their age group.  The purpose was to get the playing experience that the highschool volleyball team could use to progress in the off season.  We actually didn't expect to win any games.  However, we have been doing far above expectations.  We are not ranked very high, but are doing well playing against our competition.  Yesterday we won two matches and lost one, and at the previous tournament we won all three matches.  Jayd is having a great time playing.  We are grateful that we have had this experience.

Thanksgiving

For the first time ever, we had a real Thanksgiving dinner at our home this year.  The kids had the entire week without school, so we spent some time working, playing and preparing for the big day.  We rearranged our living room to make enough room for us and our good friends, the Buscos, to fit at one big table (okay, 2 tables strung together).  We had a great meal with enough food for two meals!  I need to work a little on my portion assumptions!  After we had stuffed ourselves full, we went over to the park for a friendly volleyball game.  It was so fun to play with our friends.  We all did silly things and laughed and worked off a little turkey.  After the volleyball game it was time for pie.  We had a selection of 5 pies!  We all enjoyed the traditional apple and pumpkin pie as well as lemon and chocolate pies.  It was a yummy finish to the day.  We had a great day celebrating all of the things that we are thankful for!

Allie morphs into a tweenager

Even though Allie turned twelve 2 months ago, and has been showing hints of a teenager attitude from time to time, for the most part she has stayed my sweet little Allie.  This week, her facade took a dramatic step towards looking more like a teenager with the addition of braces.  She just looks so much more grown up now!  It just seems to me that she went into middle school and grew up overnight.  On Thursday, the braces were put on.  I feel so blessed.  I was a little worried that they would be hurting her for tests on Friday and distracting her.  But all of her tests were on Thursday.  Despite the fact that the braces were already on, they weren't hurting yet, and she was able to do well on her tests.  Everything is going well.

There is no I in Volleyball

Gabe has been playing volleyball in a parks and rec league this fall.  He really enjoys playing, but is struggling with his team a little.  They aren't a bad team, but they have fallen into a disturbing and frustrating pattern.  To win a match, you must win two of the three games that the play.  For the first game, Gabe's team plays great!  They are calling the ball, getting three hits (you get a bonus point every time you get three hits) and playing well.  They tend to win the first game very easily.  However, for the second game, they just don't do as well.  I am not sure if they relax because the won the first game, or they are just a little tired.  They seem to just barely loose the second game by two or three points.  Then comes the third game.  That game just seems to be hexed.  Sometimes they start the game really well and jump out to a big lead, just to loose it in the end.  Sometimes they just fall apart and can't seem to hit the ball.  In the end, the result always seems to be the same, they loose the third game.  Gabe is very frustrated with the whole thing.  After a very frustrating baseball season last year, he is really struggling to enjoy sports at all.  We think he is doing great.  He is the only consistent overhand server on the team, he passes the ball fairly consistently and rarely allows a ball to drop near him.  He even has a few spikes (very rare in this league).  We are just trying to teach him a lifelong principle.  It doesn't matter if you win or loose, it's how you play the game.  Play well, and you have nothing to be ashamed of even if you loose.  He is thinking along another line.....the other day he asked me if he could start playing an individual sport!

Subbing down Low

 Jeff and I went to San Diego for the weekend to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  We had a great time.  We went to a play, we went out to eat, attended to the temple, went in the hot tub, and slept in!  Our last activity was to go to the Maritime Museum in the Harbor.  I have always wanted to go in a real submarine (the one at Disneyland doesn't count) and they had two at this museum.  We enjoyed looking through the periscope, climbing in their bunks and admiring the engineering.  I really liked the Russian torpedoes!

Halloween in Wonderland

For this year,  our Halloween theme was Alice in Wonderland.  This was inspired by our theme last year, the villians.  I was trying to think of a villian for Maddie, and thought of the Queen of Hearts just a few days before Halloween.  I was so enamored with the idea of being the queen of hearts, that I decided to revolve this year's theme around it.  It was an easy theme, there was Alice, the caterpillar, the cheshire cat, the mad hatter, card soldiers, and so on.  There were just so many costume ideas!!  We finally settled on Alice for Allie (Alice was a little essential), The Queen for me, The Mad Hatter for Jeff and Gabe as a card soldier.  Our costumes came out fabulous, even better than I anticipated.  Allie was able to wear her costume to school the next day.  Her homeroom class voted that she should go to the school competition.  She was thrilled.  We went trick or treating around our neighborhood and receieved a lot of candy.  Luckily, Allie and Gabe have been very generous at sharing their candy with Maddie and Jayd.

Soccer Season

After taking a few years off to grow, Gabe is once again playing soccer this year.  He has enjoyed playing and has comfortably snuggled into the position of goalie.  He enjoys being the last defense and has taken his role seriously.  One week, there was a terrible wind storm which was pushing the ball all over the place.  A kick came toward the goal, and Gabe tried to catch it, but the wind grabbed it and it bounced over his head.  He didn't give up, he chased it down and flicked it out with his hand just before it crossed the goal line.  It was a great save.  After the game, he commented, "I always wanted to do that!"  He is becoming very good at stopping the ball.  Yesterday, they didn't score any goals while he was goalie!

Getting Lost at the pumpkin patch

I thought that my pumpkin patch days were over now that my youngest son is nearing the end of elementary school.  However, that is not to be my fate.  I was able to grasp at one last chance to be a mom at the pumpkin patch yet again this past week.  Gabe's community school was going on a field trip there.  Initially, I didn't think that he would be very interested, but he was very excited to go.  So we signed up and headed there.  This time, the allure was not the hay ride (which was surprisingly devoid of hay), or selecting the perfect round pumpkin (he wants to make pumpkin pie out of the pumpkin this year), the main event was the corn maze.  He had seen a show on TV where they take the son in a corn maze and loose him.  The TV show takes place in Indiana.  It is a little harder to come by corn maze's in Southern California, but there was one at the pumpkin patch, so away we went.  As we went through the maze, we tested the theory of always turning right.  I suppose you could say that it worked, because we did eventually find the hay pyramid (which was really constructed of hay), but that theory also led us to many dead ends.  I did find it useful to help us avoid going over the same ground multiple times.  It doesn't seem like it would be very hard, but once you are surrounded by green corn stalks and every turn looks the same, I can see how it would be easy to become lost.  We ended our trip with a quick walk through the farm zoo.  I enjoyed my day with Gabe at the pumpkin patch.  I am glad that we were able to revisit this activity.

In a Nutshell

Despite many happenings at my house over the past two weeks, I have not busted out the camera and taken a single picture.  Perhaps I am suffering from "overworked camera finger syndrome" after the 500 pictures that I took in New York!  Anyways, I will just hit some of the highlights of the past two weeks.

My parents came to visit during conference weekend.  We enjoyed having them here during the weekend.  It was very fun to have my dad here to help make the conference cake.  That tradition originated with his boyhood family.  He was pleased to see that it has been continued for another generation to enjoy.  We enjoyed listening to the talks during General Conference.  I always love to hear the prophets and apostles voices and instructions in my own home.  We topped off  the weekend with a game of ligretto one night, and a game of hearts the next night.  It was the first time that my younger kids had played hearts.  It was quite amusing at times when they would put out a card that couldn't be played, or would show the queen of spades and ask "Is this the bad one?"  We had a great time with my parents.

This last weekend Jayd and I played in a sand volleyball doubles tournament.  We had hoped to play together, but apparently we didn't understand the rules very well, and in the end, we didn't even play in the same division.  We had decided to make a family day at the beach, so after Gabe's soccer game in the morning, Jeff, Gabe and Allie joined us.  It was a really fun day.  Playing doubles in the sand takes a lot of exertion, I was tired after one match and had 5 more to go!  Allie, Gabe and Jeff watched us play, and collected sand crabs.  After the tournament was over, we played a family game of volleyball, then headed home.  It was a beautiful day at the beach, we couldn't have asked for a better family day.

Other than that, things seem to be piddling along just normally.  Gabe is doing well in homeschool and enjoying his freedom to finish his work and move on to more important things, like internet games.  His favorite game is a farm, similar to a kid version of Sim City.  Allie is doing well navigating middle school.  She is settling in to the routine of rotating classes, lockers and PE clothes.  Jayd has a job as a volleyball referee and assistant for the parks and rec volleyball league.  He is a very dedicated worker, I am not sure which is a stronger motivation, volleyball, or the paycheck!  Maddie is enjoying the freedom that comes with a driver's license, although she does find coordinating with Mom a little tedious.  She thinks, "if only I had my own car", but Mom thinks, "No Way!"  She is also preparing to apply to colleges.  Things are just moving so fast in her life.  I have a little job of my own.  I am just finishing up odds and ends for a small home-based business a few hours a week.  Lately I have been going to his house until I get the hang of things, but the end goal is to work from home.  Jeff has been very busy preparing for a large presentation next week.  We are hoping that it goes well, and he finishes soon, we are missing our daddy more than usual. 

The Big Apple

Last week I went to New York.  I wanted to go and play with my sister and see her new baby, so I finally bought my tickets and went.  I had such a fabulous time.  It was much different this time.  Since it is my third time going there, I didn't go see the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, or the Met.  Instead I just enjoyed being there and feeling the vibe of the city.  My first stop was the temple.  Ironically I went to the one place in the city where you didn't feel like you were in the city!  I was really grateful to start my trip by going to the most important place.  I enjoyed the peaceful session, and giving a small service to the Lord.  Then I felt ready to go out and see what was there!  I spent a lot of time in the parks.  I was amazed to find so many parks spread throughout the city.  They each had a fountain, a few statues, flowers, lots of amazing trees, and lots of people!  At all times of the day and every park that I went to was crowded with people everywhere.  I was amazed.  But I enjoyed the parks as well.  I read books in the park library, played chess, ping pong, and a new game where you hit a birdie? (I'm not quite sure what to call it) with your hands.  It was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed all of the parks in New York.

Over the weekend, we went on a road trip.  From the city, we took a supposedly 6 hour drive (in actuality, it was 8 hours with traffic) up to Portland, Maine.  I had always wanted to go to Maine, so when I was planning this trip, I asked Jenny if she would like to go with me to Maine.  She agreed.  I wanted to taste Maine blueberries, see New England, and see the lighthouses!  Unfortunately, blueberries weren't in season, so I had to settle for blueberry jam.  However, I did have a Maine must-try food.  Despite my general no seafood policy, for the first time, I tried lobster.  It was just a small bite, but enough for me to determine that I didn't hate it.  I just figured I couldn't really go to Maine without trying the lobster.  After a lovely walk around downtown Portland, we headed out to see the lighthouses.  They were so cute, and so fun to see jutting out on the coastline.  The sun was out and the day was beautiful.  I really enjoyed my 18 hour sojourn into the south of Maine.

On our way back to the city, we stopped in Boston.  Another "to do" thing on my travel list was see the Boston Red Sox play at Fenway Park.  It is one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country.  I enjoyed being there so much.  I felt like I had walked back in time to when baseball was king.  It was great.
While in Boston, we stopped in Cheers for a bite to eat.  Lately I have been watching Cheers reruns with Maddie.  It has been a lot of fun to share my favorite tv series with her.  Since I was going to be in Boston, I felt obligated for the both of us to go there.  We had a great meal, then headed back to the city.
I really enjoyed seeing the city, but a large part of the reason for the trip was to get to know Moe.  Jenny's 2 month old baby boy, Moses Michael Miller was a cute and fun little guy.  He is a very good baby and I enjoyed spending time with him.  I had to do some fun pictures with him, so here he is in his "Moses basket"....ha ha ha.  By the time my trip was over, I was exhausted and ready to head back to California.  I loved every minute of my adventure.

The beauty of homeschool......

is that you can go on a field trip anytime you want!  Friday I took Gabe on a field trip.  It had been so hot, and I wanted to go to the beach.  So when I noticed that his science unit was on the ocean, a field trip was the only thing to do!  As soon as I planned it, the weather cooled off.  I was a little worried that it would be cold and foggy at the beach, but the weather cooperated and warmed up again.  It was a gorgeous day at the beach.  The water was a beautiful teal blue, and there was a slight breeze.  Since our purpose was the study the ocean, we went at low tide to see the tide pools.  We also climbed up on some rocks to watch the waves roll in from far out in the ocean.  I learned some things that I had noticed about the waves, but didn’t understand why it happened.  It was a fun trip to the ocean.  We didn’t go in the water very much, it was a little cold for that, but we had a great time with the tide pools, climbing on the rocks, and even going through a sea cave!

I"ll Go Inside Someday

After singing, "I Love to See the Temple, I'll Go Inside Someday,"  for years, Allie was finally able to go inside the temple this week.  Thanks to a holiday this week, the kids did not have school on a weekday which allowed our family a perfect opportunity to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead.  Allie was so excited to be there.  She was just giddy as we went in.  After 4 years of watching her older siblings disappear, she just couldn't be more excited to be there herself.  I was thrilled to be there with three of my four children.  It was a very special experience to serve the Lord in his house as a family.

Psych Out

Maddie’ favorite TV show, Psych, was having a “slumber party” where they were playing the top 7 episodes from midnight to six am.  Maddie had entered a contest prior to the slumber party.  She won the contest!  We received a box full of Psych paraphernalia.  There were pajamas, a pillow, popcorn, a mug and hot chocolate to celebrate the event.  It was very cute, and she was very excited to win!    Amelia Greenall came over to watch it with Maddie, and Jayd went over to the Hammons to watch it with some other friends.  Luckily for us, it started at 9 pm on the west coast.  Maddie nearly made it to the end, but everyone else fell asleep!

Sweet Sixteen

Jayd turned 16 this week.  He had a typical day at school, nothing fancy or special.  But over the long weekend, we took a few of his friends to the beach for a party.  It was a beach volleyball party.  They had a great time playing beach volleyball, then playing in the waves and returning to the volleyball court.  It was a hot day, just perfect for the beach, but the sand was a little hot at times.  He had a great day and we enjoyed celebrating turning 16 with him.

No Elementary School for Us

For the first time in over 10 years, I did not go to school on the first day of school.  Jeff dropped Maddie and Jayd off at the highschool on his way to work, and Allie was given a ride to school with her carpool group.  Gabe and I stayed home to kickoff his wonderful year of homeschool!  It was a very strange school beginning for me.  I didn't run into my friends wandering around the school holding their little ones hands.  There wasn't any wide eyed faces showing a range of emotions, joy, unhappiness, fear and excitement.  I didn't stand in a line with other parents waiting for the bell to ring and the teacher to come out and welcome the class.  There were no waves as they disappeared into another chapter of their lives.  There was no lonely walk home.  It was a great day!  Here are some of the faces that I sent off, and kept home this year!

Knotts Berry Farm

Last week we discovered that we had tickets to knott's berry farm that were going to expire at the end of the month.  So despite the fact that it was a busy week, we decided to squeeze in a trip to Knott's Berry Farm on Monday.  The park was not very crowded, and we were able to go on nearly every ride before 1:00.  We went on the Silver Bullet, Montezuma's Revenge, the Boomerang, the Roaring Rapids and the Pony Express.  Luckily, there are many shows at the park as well.  So we spent the next few hours going to see the shows.  We saw several old west shows including a wild stunt show.  We also saw Snoopy on Ice.  It was a very fun ice show with great tricks, leaps and jumps.  Then we went on a few of our favorite rides again, and left before the park closed.  It was a good family day, a nice way to end the summer.