Ho, Ho, Ho

Have you ever felt so anxious that your stomach curled up in knots? So stressed that you thought you might actually throw up? That's how I felt Saturday evening. Our last guests left in the morning and the day was spent washing bedding and putting the house back in order (I wish I'd been able to keep it in order so my family could see what our house usually looks like, but alas, I was not). By dinnertime my stress level should have been low, right?

Wrong.

Remember how Bryan and I are in charge of two Christmas parties? Well, they're scheduled to happen this week. Between Stake Conference last Sunday and family in town for several days, my internal calendar is out of whack. I'm usually good at gauging time, but days must be speeding up because these parties are coming fast.

We've delegated almost everything. And by that, I mean given our committee members autonomy to make decisions about their individual responsibilities. We've weighed in and given opinions and guided, but most big choices have been made by the committee. This has worked well, mostly. But it also means that on Saturday night I didn't know the status of several party-related plans. And lacking information stresses me out.

After telling Bryan how I felt, then discussing what still needed to be done, I spent the rest of the evening (and several hours of the night) making phone calls, writing emails, and sending texts. I am happy to report that the parties are in good shape and my level of freak-out has gone down considerably.

And hey, after this weekend I only have a Relief Society craft day and the Relief Society Christmas Party to worry about. That's right, I'm in charge of all the Christmas parties this year!

Big and Little Artists

A highlight of our week with family was an art lesson with Grandma Bonnie. She started with the kids.

Then she moved on to the much bigger kids...and Cooper. (My brother Ian was there too, even though you can't see him.)

Thanks Grandma! We love you!

The Day of Turkeys

After weeks of planning, days of cooking, and not enough hours of sleeping, we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, there are two turkeys on the table. In spite of all that food, we have very few leftovers. Thanks to Bryan, my brother Jordan, my sister-in-law Falisha, and my Grandma Bonnie for preparing so much wonderful food.

Happy Thanksgiving!

531 Pages

At the beginning of 2013 we started reading the Book of Mormon as a family. We had worked on it previous to that, but we had started and stopped so many times I couldn't quite remember where we were. So at the new year I decided we should begin again.

For a long time we read one verse per person each day. Occasionally we would recite a verse instead of reading when we were short on time, but most nights we read all five. About a year ago I decided it was time to increase our output. We went from five verses per day to ten verses per day.

After General Conference this October, Bryan challenged our family to move up to one whole chapter per day and to finish by Thanksgiving. We gave up bedtime stories and read more each night to make that goal.

On Monday night, with some of our Thanksgiving family guests there to help read, we finished the Book of Mormon. It was a wonderful and spiritual experience.

And now we're reading the Pearl of Great Price.

Family Time!

We have a house full of family this week. Gathering from both coasts, my parents, my Grandma, my siblings, and their families are converging on my mid-western domicile for this holiday week. So far we've had days of playing with cousins in the snow, an afternoon coloring with Nana, and a delicious trip for authentic Chicago dogs.

We're looking forward to deep dish Chicago pizza, family pictures, and a gigantic Thanksgiving dinner.

Huzzah for family time!

First Snow

Numbers One and Four

Sometimes the kids get my camera and take selfies...

Bowling

We're having a sick day. On Tuesday night Sophie threw up. It lasted for a few hours, then she slept. The next day, other than taking an extra long nap, she was fine. Bryan and I weren't sure if it was a stomach bug or food poisoning. I still cancelled my plans for the day, just to be safe.

This morning at about four, Peter threw up. The food poisoning theory went out the window.

As I called in Peter's absence, Cooper said he didn't feel well. I told him if he threw up before school then he could stay home, otherwise he would need to go. I also assured him that if he did get sick at school I would pick him up right away.

You can probably tell where I'm going with this.

Thirty minutes later I got a call from the school. Cooper was in the nurse's office having fallen prey to the same illness. The nurse knew that Peter was home with the same symptoms. I don't think she was happy that I had sent Cooper to school knowing that we had vomit germs in the house.

So now we are home. When we got back Phoebe announced that her tummy hurt too. I told Cooper and Phoebe to get bowls and go sit on the couch. Notice Sophie? She followed her older siblings example and grabbed her own bowl.

We're staying calm, watching an episode of Nature, waiting for this very mild stomach bug to finish its course.

Star of the Week

Cooper is the Star of the Week for his class. A blank poster board was sent home with instructions to fill it with pictures of Cooper through the years. He and I sat down at my computer and sifted through many photos, then sent his favorites to print at Costco.

He and I organized them then he taped them all down. I labeled the pictures this morning before school. After reading the various locations the pictures were taken, Cooper remarked,"Wow, I've been a lot of places."

Yes you have Cooper.

Mouse Trap

This is our magical mouse trap. It was totally worth the $40 we paid for it on Amazon. That red light tells us when it needs to be emptied. When we see it flash, all we have to do is carefully pick up the box, dump it into the trash, and turn the light off.

In other news, our mouse death toll is up to ten.