The Song of the Righteous

Peter has taken to keeping a Hymnal next to his bed and reading through the songs before he goes to sleep. When I come to tuck the boys in and sing to them, he asks me to sing a hymn. I suspect this is because he no longer goes to Primary, but to Priesthood as his third-hour church meeting. And in Priesthood they sing hymns.

I love that he's trying to commit the hymns to memory. They are a great source of comfort to me and a boon to my testimony, and I believe they can be the same for him.

Perfect Timing

Phoebe came running into our room at five this morning, crying. We roused enough to ask what was wrong and then to quickly direct her to the bathroom when she said she was going to throw up. Sure enough, within seconds she followed through. Bryan and I both got up to offer help. I was helping Phoebe get into the shower when Bryan stuck his head in the bathroom door to say that Phoebe wouldn't have school today.

Phoebe: Because I threw up?

Bryan: No, because a water main broke at your school and it's closed today, we just got the call.

Pennsylvania has a rather intense absence policy, so we were glad to have today as a freebie. Sophie was thrilled to have her best friend home all day and Phoebe is feeling much better tonight than she was this morning.

While it's sad that she was sick, her timing was impeccable.

The Great Pretender

One of these kids is having a sick day at home. The other one is pretending to be sick. Can you guess which is which?

The Big 0-4

A certain golden-haired girl at our house turned four last month! The night before we prepared with our standard streamer decor.

I baked and decorated her cake. When I asked her what she wanted she said, "Pink, all pink." She later specified that she wanted a pink, candy-covered, marshmallow adorned, heart shaped cake. Bryan figured out the marshmallow placement, I took care of the rest. She was quite pleased.

She loved the birthday outfit she picked out.

She also loved getting cards from her brothers and sister.

She had a common, expressive reaction to the gifts she opened.

Amazon packed their gifts tightly this year, so big brother came to the rescue.

Cake!

The next day she put together her very first Lego set. She's built with the boys' Legos for years, but this is the first time she's owned her own. She did a great job following the instructions. Phoebe was eager to help and wanted to take over the project. I sat with them to ensure that didn't happen and the only help I would offer was, "Can you find the brick that looks like this?" and "Try again" when something was attached incorrectly.

Sophie is still full of personality and energy. She always has an opinion and mothers everyone around her. She loves bedtime not at all and enjoys being my shadow. She insists on practicing her piano even though she hasn't started lessons and is certain she can speak several languages, including Spanish and Portuguese. She is an almost constant source of entertainment for us and everyone else she meets.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, Sophie's latest birthday list of favorites!

FAVORITE FOOD: Macaroni and Cheese

FAVORITE ANIMALS: Red panda and giant panda

FAVORITE CANDIES: Candy canes and candy corn and chocolate

FAVORITE BOOKS: Christmas books like The Grinch, Pinocchio, and Silent Night

FAVORITE COLORS: Pink and purple and yellow

FAVORITE SHOWS: Little Einsteins and The Cat in the Hat

FAVORITE MOVIES: Beauty and the Beast and the other Beauty and the Beast
FAVORITE SONG: Silent Night
FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Clue (which she kept calling Mystery, so that took some figuring out)

FAVORITE CARD GAME: Uno
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: The Princesses
FAVORITE THING TO DO: Play with my family
FAVORITE MEMORY FROM BEING 3: Thanksgiving! (What about Thanksgiving?) The pie and the parade.
FAVORITE PLACE: The theater
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Watching movies (Hmm...)

FRIENDS: Lily, Logan, Peter, Cooper, Daddy, me, Mommy, Phoebe, Sophia, Hank, Nathan, and Sam

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: A hair cutter, a doctor, a teacher, and a mom

The Primary Comedian

During Primary yesterday the Presidency introduced the 2018 theme: I am a child of God. The counselor in charge of this portion asked the kids to close their eyes and think of the person that loved them most in the entire world. Without being asked, Sophie yelled out, "Jesus!"

Clearly amused but trying to stay on track, the counselor then asked the kids to think of the person they loved best in the entire world. Again, our girl called out, "Jesus!"

At this point the rest of the room was in giggles. The counselor called Sophie up to the front and explained how wonderful it was that at such a young age Sophie had already learned this important truth. Then she asked Sophie how old she was.

Sophie's answer? "Seven."

Now our giggles became laughs and I held up four fingers from my seat in the back of the room to correct the count on Sophie's age.

Finally, after returning Sophie to her own seat, the counselor taught the kids that Heavenly Father and Jesus are always aware of us and that they know us by name.

Counselor: They know when you're sad or happy. They even know if you made your bed this morning.

Sophie: (as an aside to the whole room) Well, I did not.

There's never a dull moment when Sophie is near.

Song of the Snow Day

As a way to pass the time on our second snow day in a row, Phoebe composed a short song on the piano today. After playing it several times she announced that she wanted to write it down. We located some blank sheet music paper and then slowly talked through what she was playing on the piano. She automatically played the timing this way, then kept insisting that the right hand was playing whole notes. It took some time to convince her otherwise. We discussed time signatures and measures and lots of other music related items.

When I asked her if I could post this on the blog she said, "Yes! I felt like being creative and I sat down at the piano and started playing!"

This is the final result. She did all the writing, and erasing, and rewriting.

An Automatic Best Friend

On Monday evening Sophie asked me if Phoebe was going to go to school the next day.

Me: Yes

Sophie: (in a dejected manner) Aw!

Me: Why? Did you want her to stay home?

Sophie: Yeah, I wanted to play with her cause we're BFFs!

Book It

At the beginning of 2017 I was in three book clubs and then was invited to join a fourth. I was excited at the prospect of all that reading and I realized that maybe I could crank out a book each week. I decided, somewhat belatedly, to aim to read fifty-two books by the end of the year. I decided that ebooks, audiobooks, and actual made-with-paper books would all count toward my reading goal.

I started this list to keep track of the books I'd read. Three of them are close to one thousand pages long each, so I wasn't sure I'd make my goal. Then I never ended up joining the fourth book club and at the end of September, the third book club fizzled. Still, I kept reading/listening.

If you've scrolled down to the bottom of this post, you'll have seen that I surpassed my goal and read seventy-six books. Some of those were fairly short, but like I said, I read a few very long books as well, so hopefully that adds some balance. The majority of books were of the audio variety. The titles with stars next to them were not audiobooks, only fifteen out of the total. I listened while I cleaned, sewed, snuggled kids late at night, exercised. I usually listen to audiobooks at nearly double their regular speed, though that varies based on the narrator.

The book titles that are underlined were profound, they stuck with me and I continued to think about them long after I had finished; they are the best of the books I read this year. I enjoyed nearly all the rest. Admittedly there were a few I had to push through, but I finished almost all the books I started this year. There were a handful that I returned unread to the library because of adult content and two that I started and didn't finish in time to put on this list.

I think I'd like to repeat this goal for 2018 and read/listen to another fifty-two books.

Did you read any good books this year? I'd love some recommendations.

1. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wreade
2. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
3. When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi
4. The Scarlett Pimpernel by Emma Orczy
5. The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan*
6. Daughters in My Kingdom
7. The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti*
8. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer
9. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
10. In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett
11. John Adams by David McCullough
12. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
13. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
14. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
15. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
16. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg
17. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
18. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
19. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
20. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
21. Divergent by Veronica Roth
22. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
23. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
24. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
25. Parnassus On Wheels by Christopher Morley
26. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
27. Night by Elie Wiesel
28. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
29. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
30. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
31. The Death Cure by James Dashner
32. Wee Free Men by Terry Prachett
33. Road Trip by Gary Paulsen*
34. Poldark by Winston Graham
35. A Blue Spool of Thread by Anne Tyler*
36. Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L.A. Meyer
37. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
38. Matched by Ally Condie
39. Crossed by Ally Condie
40. Reached by Ally Condie*
41. The Magnolia Story by Joanna and Chip Gaines
42. The Book of Mormon
43. Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James
44. The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman*
45. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
46. Field Trip by Gary Paulsen*
47. Atlantia by Ally Condie*
48. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
49. The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan*
50. Woof by Spencer Quinn
51. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
52. 39 Clues Book One: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
53. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
54. 39 Clues Book Two: One False Note by Gordon Korman
55. 39 Clues Book Three: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
56. Belgravia by Julian Fellowes
57. The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine by Mark Twain, Philip Stead, and Erin Stead
58. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
59. The Washington Hypothesis by Timothy Ballard
60. Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew
61. No Ordinary Women by Elaine S. Dalton
62. 39 Clues Book Four: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson*
63. Amazed by Grace by Sheri Dew
64. No Doubt About It by Sheri Dew
65. 39 Clues Book Five: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman*
66. Shepherds, Why This Jubilee? by Jeffery R. Holland
67. Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas by Emily Belle Freeman
68. 39 Clues Book Six: In Too Deep by Jude Watson*
69. Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew (I listened to this twice.)
70. Lieutenant Terry's Christmas Fudge by Gerald N. Lund
71. Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett
72. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright
73. 39 Clues Book Seven: The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis*
74. 39 Clues Book Eight: The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman*
75. 39 Clues Book Nine: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park*
76. The Christmas Jars Reunion by Jason F. Wright

More Chances to Serve

See this kid? Well, he's not really a kid anymore. Peter turned twelve at the end of the year, which means he's now a young man. And this young man took a big and important step on Sunday. In our church, at the age of twelve, young men can be given the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained to the office of a Deacon.

That's precisely what happened to Peter two days ago. Bryan performed the ordination and it was a very sweet, very spiritual experience. Peter now has the responsibility and opportunity, along with the other Deacons, to pass the Sacrament to the members of our congregation each week.

We are so pleased with Peter and his choices that have led him to receive the Priesthood.

2018

Surprise! Happy New Year from all seven of us! Baby boy will join us sometime around early May.

Can you tell that Sophie's excited?