MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas! We survived another shredding fest! But barely. They were getting tired of opening presents. (They wanted to play with the ones they already opened.) But Santa was very kind and delivered a castle. Daniel has been asking for one for over a year. He was disappointed that there wasn't a dragon, too. I told him that Santa can't bring a dragon because it would eat the reindeer. Plus, Santa knows that he's good at pretending to be a dragon. Last night, Daniel said, "I don't believe Santa Claus is real, but I will if there are crumbs." You can be sure that I made certain there were plenty of crumbs on the plate of cookies we left out for Santa!

We had church for a little over an hour then came home for lunch. I got a two hour nap after lunch. That takes a little of the edge off my exhaustion. I have been trying to restore order all evening. We had cold cereal for dinner. B probably thinks we're really lazy. We are!

We leave for Nampa in the morning/afternoon. We still don't know for sure. It's nice to have a little leisure! Nathan has been running a fever this afternoon (didn't eat lunch or dinner, but found the strength to eat a sucker 2 inches in diameter). Hopefully, he'll be over it in the morning and the others won't get it.

I think Rebekah is allergic to Houdini. She's had a cold forever and I finally thought of the cat. He's been banished to outdoors (Merry Christmas, Houdini!) since Friday night. She seems to be doing better. I've changed all the sheets and vacuumed. A little more vacuuming and some loads of laundry should help us to know for sure. She's been sleeping in her swing at night for nearly two months! Poor girl.

So Merry Christmas, World. I'm off to put away more "loot!"

Christmas Goodies

I spent over 7 hours in the kitchen yesterday, working on Christmas cookies. I used 3 different recipes and doubled all of them. I had 32 bags (5 of them are left overs to use if someone brings an unexpected gift) to fill. Even after all that baking, the bags looked pathetically empty! Chad and I each made a trip to the grocery store to buy candy to help fill up the bags. The candy just fell into the cracks around the cookies...didn't take up much more space. Oh well. This year's offering will help to make next year's offering that much better (Note to self: Get smaller treat bags next year). I took the boys with me around the neighborhood to deliver some of them. Nathan got cold enough that he didn't want to get out of the van anymore. It's COLD out there!

Rebekah has been fighting a cold for what seems like forever now. She's been sleeping in her swing just to be able to breath. It sounds so gooey in her nose and hearing her try to nurse is horrible. When will this end? I'm not looking forward to getting her to sleep in her crib once she can breath normally. I try not to turn the swing on too much at night so she doesn't have to break that addiction, too! A 3 month old with a runny nose...lovely.

I'm nearly done with Christmas. The shopping is all done. I have some sewing to do (some not yet started) and some work on the computer. I'm still working on new stockings. I'm making 7 for our family (for any extra babies that might come) and one for B. This may be a lesson I'll never learn. I always have a ton of projects going on at this time of year.

And now I'm off to watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" while I crochet trim for the stockings!

Anyone could have predicted it!

Guess who now has a cold? Maybe she'll wear her coat to school on Monday.

I gave Chad and the boys haircuts tonight. I always get a hair sliver when I cut Chad's. But now Daniel's cowlicks won't be going crazy! :)

Ice and Smiles

This is the ice on the inside of the bathroom window this morning. The outside temp. at 7:30 AM was -4 degrees (-23 degrees celcius)! If we had vinyl windows, we wouldn't get to enjoy such awesome displays of nature! ;) And no, B did not wear her down-filled coat. (It's hanging safely in her closet.) I wonder if she knows anything (yet?) about frostbite or hypothermia. It never freezes in Bangkok, so I can't imagine she's had much experience.

Chad is in Las Vegas this morning so I know he's nice and comfortable. Today is my day to help at Daniel's school, so at least we won't have to stand out there at the bus stop, freezing to death.

Here is our cute little Rebekah this morning. She loves to talk to those animals hanging above her. On my third try, I got her smiling.
She's almost started laughing at things, but I have to tickle her for that. She slept in the crib for the first time last night. I'm glad the girls' room is only 3 steps from my room because I spent a lot of the night making the trip. Thankfully, Leah slept through it all.

And now I've got to go and work on Christmas cards. I spent an hour working on them last night and got all of 2 done. Being a single parent is so rewarding! :)

Baby, it's COLD outside!

The snow has let up, but it's very cold out there. We haven't been out of the 'teens for a while. It's supposed to get below zero tonight. Daniel went out to play in the snow last week and spent so long out there that he ended up with 1st degree frostbite on his cheeks! He never complained about them hurting (but if Leah even bumps into him, he's mortally wounded).

We're pricing new windows since we haven't been able to use our wood stove. We have old aluminum windows that keep a good flow of air moving through the house. It would cost us about $1500 to replace all the windows and about $1000 more to have them installed (which is why Chad is considering doing it himself). And then there is the pet door on the back door which lets in a good amount of cold air. I would like to replace the entire door. That would really confuse Houdini when he tried to break in again. I've never seen a cat with such a hard head; he can barge his way through the cover over the pet door.

We're doing a secret 12 Days of Christmas for a family in our ward. They lost their father/husband this fall in an auto accident. Their ages are 11 and younger. I can't imagine how the Christmas season will change for them this year. It's a pretty cute collection of gifts and stories that I found online. I hope it does what I intend...create good memories and help to lighten the mood.

Rebekah has a cold again. She sounds like she's breathing under water. I try to use saline and suck her out occasionally, but it all comes back again so fast. Poor girl. She's been sleeping in her swing all night. That blocked tear duct is still giving her problems, too. It looks like she constantly has boogers in her eye!

Thanksgiving and since

We had a nice visit in Utah for Thanksgiving. On Saturday we went downtown to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. During the time we were down there, we lost Daniel and then Nathan. I think all the people overwhelmed me. As it normally is, I can see who is around me and know that someone is missing without having to count heads. Anyway, Nathan was the trickiest to find and he ended up with a group of good samaritans trying to figure out exactly what to do with him. He didn't seem too worried about the situation he was in. He's so reserved around strangers, I'm not sure he would have ever told them anything about himself!

We got caught in quite a snow storm while we were down there (probably another reason it was easy to lose track of Nathan) and B got a good dose of snow. It was pretty though and didn't last too long. The roads were good on the way home except for a short patch between Pocatello and Fort Hall. It has snowed every day since and the roads aren't always good now.

On Monday, we drove up north of Spencer to cut down our Christmas tree. We were the only ones up there. When Leah and Rebekah weren't crying, it sounded eerily silent. Daniel had great fun in the snow. Rebekah was riding in the backpack and did not enjoy herself at all. She wasn't cold, but apparently, that wasn't the issue. I think she and Leah are probably a little too young for such an adventure, but I don't know who to leave them with for so long.

We stopped in Dubois for dinner. There really aren't any choices for restaurants there. We could have gotten something from the gas station, but chose to eat in the little cafe there. Not good food. I wouldn't recommend it. Anyway, we filtered into the building in spurts, starting with me and Leah. When Chad came in empty-handed, my question was, "Where's the baby?" He'd left her in the van - didn't see her there! Yes, we are very attentive parents lately.

We put up and decorated our Christmas tree this evening. We first went to Idaho Falls to see the nativities displayed in the stake center by the temple. Nathan was very impressed and seemed surprised to find so many baby Jesus's. :) We didn't lose anyone, but Rebekah did overflow her diaper. It's always something.

Tomorrow is the Ward Christmas party. B is probably wondering about all this crazy Christmas activity so far away from Christmas. She sort of participated tonight, but mostly disappeared to work on her homework.

Chimney fires and screaming kids

We had our wood burning stove inspected today and the guy essentially condemned it. It's too close to the wall and is a fire hazard. The chimney is so crusted with soot that we've already had a chimney fire this season and didn't even know it! To top it all off, the chimney itself is in need of little work. So now Chad has spent the last hour and a half making calculations to decide what method of heating the house is the cheapest. Do we buy a new wood burning stove or get a pellet stove? Do we just use the baseboard heaters or replace them with oil filled ones? Do we make the kids run laps when it gets too cold, or just feed them beans for breakfast and hope for a natural gas solution? Getting a new stove requires a little "remodeling" of sorts. It's all fun. Just when we think we've put ourselves into as much debt as we can, something new pops up.

Rebekah is growing fast. She's moving into the next size of clothes. Babies sure keep you busy with wardrobe rotation! Not only in growth, but in soiled clothes, too. It doesn't seem right that a little creature under 12 lbs can create a whole load of laundry in a week's time. She's 3 months old next week.

We're going to Taylorsville for Thanksgiving this week. I cringe to think of the time we'll have to spend listening to Leah scream on the way down and back. That girl DOES NOT like her car seat and I wish I didn't have to ride in a car with her. Combined with Daniel teasing Nathan, all the screaming is likely to run us off the road before the Idaho/Utah border!

We've had some beautiful weather the past few days and I'm glad it will be dry for the holiday travels.

Corn Maze

We went to a Corn Maze for FHE. The kids each took turns holding the flashlight and choosing which way to go. At the end, I got tired of wandering through the maze and led the way out. We spent over half an hour walking around in there. I think the kids had fun. I'm not sure what B thought.
I actually did some housework today. I cleaned both upstairs toilets and sinks. I had to stop at the floor because two little boys had made off with the "inside broom" and turned into an "outside broom." So I bought myself a new broom when I went grocery shopping this afternoon.
I'm very tired. Chad and I spent two hours preparing our lesson for Church next week. We didn't get to bed until nearly 1 AM after doing that, working with Rebekah and nursing Daniel through a cough that was keeping him awake. I didn't get a nap because I was grocery shopping. Maybe tomorrow.
Daniel stayed home from school today because of his cough. He goes back tomorrow. :)

No rest for the wicked.

Rebekah has been sleeping all morning and afternoon. I don't anticipate a restfull night for any of us. It's already a quarter to 7 pm! Daniel has been coughing since last night. I don't think he'll be going to school unless it gets better before then. Chad took the boys camping on Friday night. We all went up at the beginning and then all the girls went home. (The smart ones.) They woke up to thick frost on everything. The tent was still frosty when Chad showed it to me at 10:30 that morning. I know that you don't get sick from being cold, but I can't help wondering if that didn't help Daniel anyway. At least Chad got his camping urge out of his blood. I don't think they could have waited another weekend. Chad and I get to teach the 5th Sunday lesson next Sunday. Scripture study. Should be interesting at the very least. We have read the material independently, but haven't discussed it together yet. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Fall is in the air and the leaves are on the ground. Halloween celebrations start this weekend. I have to finish the boys' costumes by Friday or Saturday. They are going to be Batman and Robin, but I am making the costumes from scratch. It's challenging, but I enjoy it. I'm protected by the fact that they are 5 and 3 years old....they won't know if their costumes are a little pathetic.
My house seems to be in a suspended state of clutter. I can only get a room or two clean at a time. By then, the wrecking crews have returned and so has the clutter. I'm very frustrated about it all, but then I try to remind myself that this is what I wanted at this point in my life and hold on the hope that as the kids get older, the house will be easier to maintain.
And now the dinner timer is going off. Late dinners on Sunday.

I smell wallpaper paste.

It's nearly 9 PM. The boys and Rebekah are sleeping (why the heck aren't I?). Leah keeps crying from her room, but I figure it's better for both of us if I ignore her. I have spent my free moments (meaning Rebekah didn't demand my attention), stripping wallpaper in Chad's office. That was some ugly wallpaper! Most of it came off easily, but one (rather large) wall was quite a challenge. I think they pasted on pre-pasted wallpaper. I had to soak it repeatedly to get it off. I'm glad it was only one wall though. Now my hands are all dry and red. I smell like a combination of wallpaper paste and DIF.

Daniel went back to school today after a 2 week Potato Harvest break. It's amazing how much of my patience he required even though he was gone half the day! Leah and Nathan have discovered that they can fight. Lovely. Now I'll have 3 of them going at it at a time. That's when the phone will ring.

Chad has been in Las Vegas today, wooing clients and delivering pig meat. I wish he was here to woo me (minus the pig meat). All I really want is a good back rub and a sympathetic ear.

Now I need to go write Thank You notes for all the dinners that were brought in while I had my gall bladder adventure. I have dishes that need to be returned. I think I'll finish off the fruit cocktail (what I really want is chocolate cake and an enormous glass of whole milk).

I think she's finally asleep!

It's after midnight and I'm typing one-handed while rocking Rebekah to sleep. She's six weeks old today (yesterday, I guess) and we still have blue eyes. Of course, we can only verify this after 11 PM each night when her eyes pop wide open. It's 12:12 AM now and she appears to be asleep. It's early for her, but I won't complain. Better put her (and myself) to bed.