The Happy of the Holidays

• Opening our big surprise Christmas morning. "It's a Girl!" I was kind of craving another girl, but didn't want to get my hopes up. Then, I started feeling that it was a girl (similar symptoms to Soph's pregnancy) and I did get my hopes up. So excited! The only person who might possibly be even more excited is Soph, who declares that finding out she is getting a sister was her best Christmas gift. She even wrote a book about how excited she is and dedicated it to her new sis.
  
• Last year, a family in our ward invited us to go caroling with them. So, I bundled up the kids and off we went. They had such a great time that as soon as the Christmas season hit, Soph and E-Man asked if we could go caroling again. I made the arrangements to go with the same family. It snowed all that day, and as we went door to door singing that night, all three of my kids never stopped crawling through the snow long enough to get one note in! They still had fun. But, it seems we could have accomplished playing in the snow while staying home.
  
• I loved driving the kids around to see Christmas lights. We saved the annual tour of the Christmas Village houses for a night when Photoguy's brother visited us (he is home for semester break from Boston). That was a treat, getting to tour the lights with one of the kids' favorite uncles.
• Three years ago, Photoguy snagged some tickets to Ballet West's Nutcracker. We took my mom and (then four-year-old) Soph and had a delightful time. I was meaning to get tickets again this year, but put it off, and for once my procrastination paid off in the end. A friend of mine had six tickets and invited Soph and I to go with her and her three daughters. I had one unforgettable night with those four beautiful princesses decked out to the nines (I speak of our daughters, of course). We saw a showing by Imagine Ballet at the Egyptian Theater. It was so professional. Ballet West has nothing on these guys. At the end Soph frowned and said, "Awww, it's over already!" It was more than two hours in length, so she must have really enjoyed herself and has been practicing her ballet moves ever since.
  
• It's always nice to be with family and friends this time of year. We were able to keep our invitations to Christmas parties to a minimum (kind of a relief in my opinion) and really enjoyed those we did attend. Fabulous memories were made at the annual Christmas Eve party at the library, a Christmas party that included reading the story of Christ's birth on Christmas Eve with Photoguy's family, a gorgeous spread of food with my family on Christmas day (so nice to have my whole family there), and a little after-Christmas gathering with two of our favorite families the N's and G's.
  
• As always there were treats galore. I was able to accomplish my holiday baking in small spurts throughout the month thanks to Layne's suggestion to form cookie dough into balls and freeze it (works great!) since I only have a limited amount of energy each day for now. In the end, we had chocolate chip, ginger bends, homemade caramels, and even sugar cookies for the little ones to decorate for Santa. Added to that, there were, of course, the hordes and hordes of treats delivered from neighbors. Yummy, but, I'm very relieved that it is all finally out of the house.
• We are dubbing this the year of the wheels, or, as the kids like to say, "A wheely good Christmas" (they crack themselves up). All three kids received skateboards from Santa, Soph and E-Man got heely's, AiAi got his first bike and about 15,000 hot wheels that he loves to play with. The kids were thoroughly spoiled with so many gifts that it has taken them days to play with them all.
• The Christmas break has been such a wonderful time for our little family to be together. We haven't felt too rushed. The kids have been getting along amazingly well. We've stayed up late and slept in. And, we've enjoyed getting to play our new games, play with our new toys, and to just be.
  
• I've been doing an annual kids' party on New Year's Eve since Soph and E-Man were tiny. But, this year, Photoguy is working late, all of our friends had plans, and I'm feeling highly unmotivated to make a huge spread of food for just the kids and me. Partly because food makes me sick, especially late at night. So, I decided that in lieu of the big party, I'm taking the kids swimming at the Davis Recreation Center. It's open until 9 p.m., which is perfect because we always ring in the New Year with the East Coast at 10 p.m. and call it a night (one of my favorite parts while the kids are still young). The kids are excited because this is such a fun indoor water park and I'm excited because it takes zero planning and preparation on my part so - Wahoo!
  

And, the Gender of Our Baby is . . .

Known by our Doctor and tucked away in a sealed envelope for us to open at the appointed time. As I mentioned before, I kind of wanted to be surprised this time around, but my idea was greatly objected by Photoguy and my mom. As a concession, I agreed to open the news on Christmas morning. So, I guess die-hards who like to be surprised and say, "It's like opening your presents before Christmas," to those of us who like to use modern technology can't say that this time because, well, it's like opening our present exactly on Christmas.

Blackout Drills

When I was in school, we had fire drills and earthquake drills. And, I guess when my parents were in school, during the height of the cold war, they had drills for what to do in case of a nuclear attack.

Last week, Sophie brought home a plastic bag with a request for me to send a "kit" to be used to comfort the children in case of an emergency. I thought this seemed a bit silly, given that I've never known anyone who has actually been trapped at school during a catastrophe. I mean, I understand that it does happen, I'm just thinking, "What really are the chances?" The note said that blankets and flashlights and those kinds of things would already be provided. They were asking me to send a favorite stuffed animal, a treat and/or family photo, along with an updated emergency contact list.

It's the Christmas season. I've got a lot of other things going on. So, it hasn't been at the top of my list of priorities to make this little kit just in case the once-every-500-years earthquake happens to hit us during school hours this week, ya know?

I was mainly thinking of an earthquake or some other sort of natural disaster in association with this kit, until last night when Soph and I had this conversation:

Soph: "Mom, when are you going to make my kit. I need to take it back to school tomorrow."

Me: "Ummm . . . it won't be ready by tomorrow, sorry."

Soph: "Well, then I have to take it back by Monday . . . or, Tuesday . . ."

Me: "Hmmm."

Soph: "I need to have it in case there is an earthquake or a robber."

Me: "There won't be any robbers at your school during school hours."

Sophe: "There might be. You never know. That is why we have to have blackout drills."

Me: Suddenly more interested. "What? What are blackout drills?"

Sophie: "Well, we have to practice in case a bad person comes into our school who wants to hurt the children, we have to practice getting as far away from the windows as we can and turn out all the lights. But, in my classroom one whole wall is [floor to ceiling] windows and the emergency lights always stay on. My teacher said she would try to fit us all in her closet if we ever have a real blackout because of a robber. But, I don't think we could all fit."

Me: So sad now. "I think you could all fit if there was a real robber. And, I don't want you to worry because that will most likely never, ever happen at your school."

And, I felt so sad as thoughts of campus rampages in recent years ran through my mind. So sad that my little seven-year-old has to have blackout drills.

I Heart Ogden: Christmas Village

Saturday night, I took the kids downtown for the annual Christmas Parade and lighting of Christmas Village. It was quite fun to see floats lit up with Christmas lights after dark. Even the marching bands had lights on the horns and sousaphones. The weather was unseasonably warm, causing us to shed our hats and gloves it was so pleasant.

The parade must have seemed pretty important to the kids as E-Man turned to me partway through and asked, "Is Barack Obama going to be here?"

After the parade, the crowd (and it was quite a large crowd) headed across the street to the Ogden Amphitheater where the little houses depicting various animated Christmas scenes were already set up and ready to go. We all participated in a countdown and then they flipped the switch, lighting up the whole grounds in a spectacular show topped off with fireworks.

I think I would even brave cold weather to do it again. And, now we have the whole month to enjoy one of my favorite parts of the Christmas Season -- our Christmas Village.

I Heart Ogden: Free Movies at the Egyptian

I've been seeing flyers and putting the dates for free Saturday afternoon kiddie shows at the Egyptian Theater on my calendar for a couple of years now (they happen about once every other month). Last Saturday, I finally made it to a showing.

I loaded up the kids and headed down to this beautiful, ornate theater. I'm so grateful that it was not torn down when I was a kid thanks to astute members of the community who fought hard.

The kids were free, and it was so reminiscent of days gone by the way they each presented a milk cap for their admission. My ticket was $3. At that bargain, I felt empowered to go a little crazy at the concessions stand -- where treats were a bit more reasonably priced too.

I like the big Megaplex theaters and all, but, it's hard to go there without feeling a little taken advantage of. This was totally a fun experience without breaking the bank.

In the theater, an old man with pure white hair entertained us with his talents at the organ. An old cartoon short was first to show when the lights went down (and, this theater is so quaint, it even has stars that twinkle on the ceiling). Next, we saw a very old silent film that was hilarious! After the shorts, the lights came back up for a drawing. They had given the kids raffle tickets at the door and they gave away three games and a bicycle. When has going to a movie been so exciting?

Finally, the featured presentation, "Space Chimps" began. What a fun, affordable community event. Just another of the millions of reasons I heart Ogden. We will definitely do this again.

Mom, I Have Many Talents

On Thanksgiving, Photoguy took the boys with him to take pictures of the neighborhood Turkey Bowl and Soph and I stayed behind to do what women do on Thanksgiving -- slave away in the kitchen while the men play/watch football.

I can't complain. I've never done a full Thanksgiving spread (unless you count the tiny feast I put together with two burners and a toaster oven in China a few years ago). We switch off each year between my family and Photoguy's family and either my mom or Photoguy's parents do the bulk of the work. This year, we went to my in-law's and I contributed a couple of green salads and a gigantic pot of mashed potatoes. I decided to be brave and hand over a sharp knife to Soph so she could help me dice. It worked out really well -- no trips to the ER for stitches or digit reattachments. It was so rewarding to be working with my daughter in the kitchen, and unlike in years past, her help was actually really helpful. The sacrifices of letting them "help out" in the kitchen as toddlers and pre-schoolers finally pays off.

Last night, I was making more mashed potatoes for Sunday dinner and she eagerly volunteered to help out.

Soph as she is cutting: "Mom, I have lots of talents."
Me: "Mmm-hmmm."
Soph: "Like helping in the kitchen. I think cooking is one of my talents. And, singing with a beautiful voice and I think being a rockstar in a band is definitely one of my talents."
Me: "Great!"
Soph: "I just don't think piano is one of my talents."

Very clever Soph. She's been trying to get out of piano lessons this year. But, I told her she has to stick with it at least until the end of level one (that will keep her going another year or two). It is so important to me that my kids have music in their lives. I told her she can pick voice lessons or another instrument when she finishes level one. But, piano is a good base and I'm just mean like that.