Deck the Halls

On Saturday, in an effort to inspire them, I told the girls that they could put up their tiny Christmas tree if they cleaned their room.

It was effective.

So while in the rest of the house it's still Thanksgiving, in the girls' room it's Christmas!

Healing Power

Today our family watched President Nelson's message of hope. It was beautiful and made my heart happy. If you haven't watched it, I strongly recommend taking twelve minutes out of your day to do so. He talked about the healing power of gratitude, then challenged everyone listening to transform their social media pages into gratitude journals for the next seven days and to use the hashtag #givethanks. He also asked us to remember to be thankful in our prayers. Then he prayed for the entire world.

As a family we've focused on gratitude all month long. I've been mindful of the many blessings we've experienced, even during this very hard year. But, and this might seem silly, I'd never used a hashtag before. I had initially avoided it because everyone was using them (and we know that I don't like to do what everyone else is doing)  until I think it became a source of pride. But I wanted to take up the Prophet's challenge.

I sat in front of my computer for a long time before posting anything. I've really cut down on how much I post, it's usually just a picture of the kids a few times a year, so I'm out of practice when it comes to composing social media posts. After several false starts and a fair amount of deleting, I finally had a post, and it even included my very first hashtag. 

For the sake of record keeping, here it is:

You know those moments when you can step back from a conversation or situation and recognize the wonder you're experiencing?

Tonight, after the two younger kids had gone to bed, Bryan and I had a chat with the three older kids about history and politics and logical fallacies, and it was amazing. We often talk with our kids about what's happening in the world and the country, about literature and grammar, about silly memes and funny movies. Tonight they had especially insightful questions. And I had a moment in the middle of that discussion when I felt pure gratitude for these six people in my house that share my last name. They are truly remarkable. #givethanks

The Subject

Sophie has continued to be an early riser. She isn't supposed to get on the computer if the grownups are still asleep, but that doesn't seem to stop her from spending time reading the blog each morning. I do love that she's reading the blog, I just wish that she'd save it for when supervision is present.

All this blog reading prompted her to ask this today, "Mom, someday Topher is going to be as old as I am, then who will you write blog posts about?"

Yes, it's true, the littles tend to get more air time on the blog, but I do try to spread the love around. Maybe it's because the bigger kids don't always let me take their pictures? Or that they're downstairs doing school all day while I'm on the main floor with these two?

Giving Thanks

Sophie's writing assignment for the last two weeks has been writing and revising a thank you note. Today she turned in the final draft. She used her best handwriting and was very excited for me to share it on the blog.

I think she has lovely handwriting.

A Bedtime Helper

 

The Most Important Part of the Week

Yesterday morning, after we finished watching our ward broadcast and partaking of the sacrament at home, I noticed that Topher had gotten a cookie sheet from the cupboard. He carefully set his sippy cup on it, then placed a few math manipulatives and car tracks on the cookie sheet.

Me: What are you doing Topher?

Topher: I doing the sacrament.

One of the blessings of having church at home for the last eight months has been watching Peter prepare the sacrament, Bryan bless the sacrament, and Cooper pass the sacrament. I'm sure that if we were going to church in person Topher would be aware of the sacrament being passed, but I don't know that he would be as connected to it as he is now from watching it up close, week after week.

I love that we keep finding more blessings during this hard time.

2.5

Topher turned two and a half this week. For some reason two and a half has made me more nostalgic than his second birthday did. I spent a little time going through pictures of the other kids at this age, looking at who looks the same, who looks like another sibling, remembering their temperaments and personalities at that age. And then I compiled those pictures into an album that I shared with the four big kids. They've had fun this week looking at how adorable they all were.

And of course Peter's observation was that Bryan and I definitely look older. He's not wrong.

It Adds Up

When one has been consistently waking up too early from one's nap over the course of several days, one might use one's playtime to set up a cozy bed in a big comfy chair and then stare off into space, because exhaustion is cumulative.

Sisters and Brothers

 

A Little More Than a Trim

We've now been at home and social distancing so long that I've cut my hair for a second time. And, much like the first time, I really love the outcome. I guess this goes on the list of Things I Never Would Have Tried If Not For the Pandemic. Huh, I wonder what that list would actually look like...