A Study in Sleep Deprivation

For the last few weeks, we've had trouble getting Sophie to wind down to sleep. We suspected that it was because she was so tired that she couldn't settle. The more sleep deprived she is, the harder it is for her to sleep, that's been the way of it since she was tiny. But with early rising for school and sporadic quiet times due to holiday school schedules, we were unsure how to help her.

Last night was Pack Meeting. It always begins at 7pm, which is also the girls' bedtime. By the time we were home, it was after 9pm. Sophie was flying, almost literally. She was zooming around the house on a riding toy, totally oblivious to our calls to put on pajamas and brush teeth. After much wrastling and pleading and commanding, she finally knocked out, but it was late.

Today, well, it was rough. Peter didn't tantrum, but it was tricky business keeping him on-track with homework. The other three? There were several meltdowns that took place, some motivated by refusals to do homework, some because I asked for a chore to be performed, at least one because I watched a child swing (and miss) at another sibling and get called out for it. Sophie was hysterical throughout the day, including first-thing in the morning when I told her she couldn't go outside in freezing temperatures in her thin nightgown and bare feet to take the kids to the bus.

Bryan and I agreed that bedtime needed to come early.

We were reasonable, no one went to sleep before the sun went down. But the girls were both tucked into their beds by 6:45. There was fussing and complaining and a small but active fit took place because I'd asked Sophie to lie in her bed the regular way instead of "like a nest" as she wanted.

But guess what? The girls were solidly asleep by 7pm. It's the first time that's happened in ages. They were so tired from the late night cub scouting and the many nights of troubled sleep, they needed it.

Now we just have to wait and see if they wake up at 5am...

Disaster Avoidance

Tonight, during her very long personal prayers, Sophie included this gem:

"Please help that I'll be a mom. And that I'll have a husband. And that Christmas won't be a disaster."

Yes, those are all good things to ask for.

The First Strike

I think it must have started on Sunday night. We had our monthly family book club meeting that evening; it's when most of the women in my family gather at their computers and we talk about our chosen book, as well as anything else that needs discussing. When asked how we were, three of us reported that we were tired. But I'd had a very full Sunday (leading choir practice, teaching Sunbeams last minute, feeding the missionaries dinner), so I assumed that's why I was dragging.

I had a fair amount of energy yesterday (though I did take a mid-morning nap) until bedtime. That's when I crashed. Bryan got home towards the end of the bedtime routine. About that time of the night I'm usually wrapped in a blanket (pesky low blood pressure) to stay warm, but last night I was still shivering from the perceived cold inside our house. Bryan commented on how warm our room was, which sent up a red flag for me. Then the aching and coughing started. I finally realized I had a fever.

So I slept. First I drifted in and out of sleep while I tried to read. I finally gave up and called it a night. Then, after getting the kids to school this morning, I snuggled with Sophie on the couch and slept some more. I feel much better tonight, so maybe whatever germs hit me decided not to stay? Or maybe they're just lying dormant waiting for a really inopportune time to strike...

Christmas Trees Are Magical

A Day of Thanks With Family

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had a solid breakfast to fuel us up, watched the parade while we cooked and played, then had a late morning snack of fresh veggies, grapes, and cheese and crackers. I stayed home and made a few quick pies while Aunt Melinda, Uncle Jake, and Uncle Paul took Phoebe, Sophie, Sam, Nathan, and Emma to the park. Bryan, Peter, and Cooper joined them a short time later.

No, it wasn't windy, this is the static electricity Sophie gathered while going down the slide. 

Then we gathered back inside for our feast. We enjoyed turkey (courtesy of Bryan and Paul), mashed potatoes and rolls and cottage cheese strawberry Jell-o salad (prepared by Melinda), candied yams (a joint effort by me and Bryan), Martinelli's (provided by Paul), cranberry sauce, stuffing, and steamed mixed vegetables.

We set up folding tables in our entryway and playroom. The kids did an amazing job being tidy, I didn't find any food on the floor after the meal was over. Peter was pretty happy that his seat was at the adult table, not the kids'. Everything was scrumptious. Some of the kids ate just a few bites, then declared they were full and were ready for pie.

We insisted that they wait a few hours before eating dessert. After we ate, some people took naps and some watched Moana. Then we called everyone together for pie.

Cooper helped me make a whopping six pumpkin pies (not pictured here, but some are on the ledge in the above picture of the meal), Peter made his traditional apple pie (this year with a fun star topping), the grocery store provided a lemon meringue and a razzleberry, and we finished off the selection with a banana cream and a chocolate pie. I cut tiny slices and let the kids try as many as they wished.

It was such a lovely day. After the stress of Bryan's injury the night before, I think we were all glad to have such a calm, relaxing Thanksgiving.

Thumbs Up

On this Thanksgiving morning, I am thankful for hands that work. I am also thankful for family visiting for the holiday.

I am especially thankful for fingers. It's been a rough week at our house for hands. After my finger cut on Monday (which is healing but will definitely leave a gnarly mark), Bryan joined me in the land of the injured. Last night he was helping Peter make his traditional apple pie by slicing the apples. Bryan was demonstrating proper knife safety when his hand slipped. Instead of going through the apple, the knife went through the pad of his thumb and cut it clean off.

He no longer has a thumbprint on that hand.

I was upstairs doing bedtime with the girls when this happened. Bryan came into the room and said in an urgent voice that he needed to talk to me right away. I was shocked and prepared to drive him to an ER or urgent care. The only reason this was an option was that Bryan's brother Paul and their sister Melinda and her family are all visiting us for Thanksgiving. In other words, there were people at our house to stay with our children.

Paul offered to do the driving while I got the boys to sleep. Melinda (who found the severed thumb tip!) took over helping Peter with the pie. I was able to get kids to sleep and Bryan got the medical care he needed.

No, they didn't sew the tip back on. They couldn't even stitch up the wound. Bryan has some special bandages to dress it with and instructions to keep it dry. We're not sure if he'll have a divot in his thumb from now on or how it will heal.

Bryan told me that if he had been holding the knife differently, he might have sliced off his thumb completely. So losing the tip of his thumb sounds like a much better alternative to totally being without a thumb.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving! And please, be careful with sharp objects.

Baking Party

We plan to do some baking today, how about you?

It Cuts Like Glass

A note of caution: be very careful when sliding your finger along the spout of your glass measuring cup. You may realize, with a shocking jolt of pain, that the glass is broken. This may lead to you canceling your plans for dinner, telling your kids they now get to serve themselves cereal for their evening meal, then sitting with finger wrapped tightly and held above your heart in a slow and frustrating attempt to stop the bleeding.

On the bright side, this may give your oldest child a chance to serve by fetching you bandages and alcohol swabs.

Yes, this is my actual blood. No, the 3/4 inch long diagonal cut along the inside/back of my pinky finger is not visible. The jagged glass can be seen in the background. Peter wrapped the broken edge in electrical tape (totally something Bryan would have done had he been home from work but something that never would have occurred to me), and threw it away.

This is going to leave a funky scar.

Teaching Our Friends

I got a text yesterday morning saying that the talk for Junior Primary had fallen through and asking if Sophie would like to give a talk instead. She happily accepted. I rephrased the assigned topic in the form of a question and asked her, "How can we tell our friends about Jesus?" The talk below holds most of the things she said. She also composed a song on the spot about Jesus being our brother and friend, but I wasn't quick enough to transcribe it. Hopefully she'll sing it again later for me, more slowly.

We Can Teach Our Friends About Jesus and His Church

Sophie’s Primary Talk 11/19/17

We can teach our friends about Jesus by sharing how much we love Him. We can teach that we lived with Jesus in Heaven before we came to earth. We can show them that Jesus loves them too by caring about them and being kind and being loving. We can teach our friends about Jesus and His church by being faithful to His commandments. We can teach our friends about Jesus by singing Primary songs while we play together, because the songs we sing here teach about Jesus. If we live by the words of this Primary song, we can teach our friends about what we believe in our church.

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I know who I am.

I know God’s plan.

I’ll follow him in faith.

I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

I’ll honor his name.

I’ll do what is right;

I’ll follow his light.

His truth I will proclaim.

I know this is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Signature Move

What you see here is an original work by Miss Sophie that she created for Uncle Jordan and soon-to-be Aunt Leah. That's thoughtful and sweet, but it's not the reason I'm sharing this picture. The other important aspect? This is the first time Sophie has seriously tried to write her name.

She wrote the first three letters without much instruction. I said the letters and she worked from her memory of what each one should look like. I modeled h, then i (which took a few tries), and finally e. She was so pleased with herself. I was pretty pleased too.