Christmas party

As our annual ward Christmas party approached, the Primary leaders told the children they could dress up as part of the nativity. I asked my girls what they would like to be; Rebekah and Analee immediately said they wanted to be sheep. Miriam agreed to be their shepherd.

After we ate dinner at the party, some adults gathered the children together in the hall and had them enter the gym as they were mentioned in Luke 2. Rebekah became quite indignant when they wouldn't let her go in with the shepherds at first, but I think they realized that a shepherd isn't a shepherd without something to herd, so Bekah and Ana crawled in with the last couple of shepherds.

The Boston cousins are here visiting for the holidays, so they were able to participate as well. Our girls were very excited to have them at the party with Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis.

Then the kids all sang a couple of Christmas songs ...

 

Miriam, who is still in Nursery until the first of the year, didn't know the words of the songs but stood nice and still while the rest of the kids sang.

 

Analee singing "Away in a Manger."

 

Rebekah sings with the Primary.

Lily the angel.

Calvin the wise man.

... and waited patiently through the rest of the program for Santa.

Our family was asked to share some of our Christmas traditions with the group, so each of us took a turn with the microphone. This is what we said.

Miriam: All the time we make gingerbread houses. (She meant "Every year" instead of "All the time," but that's what you get when you put a 3-year-old in front of a microphone.)
Analee: Every year we drive around the city and look at cool Christmas lights.
Rebekah: Every year we go to the mountains and cut down our Christmas tree.
Andrea: Every year we go to the Museum of Idaho's free Christmas exhibit.
Seth: Every Christmas Eve we have a get-together with the Hendricks family and act out the nativity. Then we go with Andrea's family and have a traditional German dinner.

To see more images, click here.

Miri-ism #22

Seth: Miri, you're a good girl.
Miriam: But sometime's I'm being grumpy. I'm being a grumper right now. A "grumper" means bad.
Seth: You're not bad. Most of the time you are very very good.
Miriam: But my heart still thinks I'm bad.

Miri-ism #21

Seth: We're on Thanksgiving break now. You go back to preschool in five more days.
Miriam: Five more days! That's not very much! That's a ton! That's zero!

Miri-ism #20

Andrea is looking through some piano music while Ana and Miri play in the background.

Ana: Ouch, Miri! That hurt!
(Miri tries to take care of the problem of Ana telling on her and runs up to Andrea.)
Miri: Mommy, don't listen to anything!

Vacation

All six of us have the entire week of Thanksgiving off. No school, no preschool, no work, no piano, no dance. To occupy our time, we decided to take a day trip yesterday.

First we drove to Lava Hot Springs and spent an hour in the Portneuf Kiddie Cove. It's basically an indoor splash pad. The water is warmer than a typical swimming pool's; the deepest it gets is 1.5 feet. The girls played on the slide, in the fountains and with the other toys. Winnie would have stayed all day, but the other girls got tired out, so we packed it up and drove north to Pocatello to get some lunch.

Our post-lunch plans included going to the Museum of Clean and the Idaho Museum of Natural History. Seth was incredibly skeptical of the Museum of Clean at first, but when we got inside and saw that it was EXTREMELY kid-friendly and NOT a giant advertisement, he came around.

Don Aslett himself gave us and a few other families a tour of the museum. He was funny, he kept the crowd moving, and he was really good with the kids.

 Rebekah in the hall of mirrors.

After demonstrating the puppet theater, Don showed us a melodrama using a dollar bill as a prop. The bad guy (dollar bill used as a mustache) demanded, "Pay the rent!" The damsel (dollar bill used as a bow) insisted, "I can't pay the rent!" And finally the good guy (dollar bill used as a bow tie) stepped in and said, "I'll pay the rent!" Then he asked a volunteer to come up and do the melodrama the same way he had. When several of the older kids backed out and Miriam kept insistently raising her hand, he called on her. Not only did Miri do a great job with the melodrama, but she also got to keep the dollar.

After the tour, we were turned loose to reexamine the exhibits and play.

Ana and Miri washing windows.

Seth and Winnie on Noah's ark.

Analee getting her hair sucked in on the "Vacuum me!" exhibit.

Revisiting the hall of mirrors.

Miriam the chimney sweep.

The Museum of Natural History is a smaller museum, but what it lacks in space in makes up for in the hands-on children's room.

 Rebekah checking out the prehistoric sharks.

Ana asked for a picture at the swirling teeth.

Winnie enjoyed the dinosaurs but kept making a break for the door. Eventually Seth took her on a walk around the ISU campus in the stroller while I stayed and played with the bigger girls.

Our mad scientists trying to avoid a blast of air from Seth.

Miriam and the magnifiers.

To see other pictures of our exciting Thanksgiving break adventures, start here.

Miri-ism #19

Miriam and Analee sitting at the table eating snacks and playing with Play-doh.

Miriam: Ana, you are my best friend forever. That means you get to share your toys with me all the day.

Family funeral

My aunt passed away a couple of weeks ago, and we had the pleasure of attending her funeral in Holbrook the following Saturday.

Seth, being the supportive husband he is, asked me what I wanted him to do. As much as I enjoy his company, I wanted even more not to chase an extremely mobile 1-year-old during a touching service. So he stayed home with Gwendolen (and cleaned the house, I might add), and I brought the other (also mobile but more reverent) girls with me.

We carpooled from Idaho Falls; our van fit the four Grovers plus my parents and sister. Because Dad wanted to be there early (it was his sister who passed away), we had some time to get the wiggles out at the nearby playground.

Rebekah going down the slide head-first. All the more impressive because she's in her dress. 

Miriam on the swings.

Ana swinging on a ring.

When it came time for the funeral, we settled down and got in our seats inside the church. As sad as funerals are, I enjoy attending them and hearing more about my loved ones.

After the service, we drove to the nearby cemetery and laid Aunt Eunice to rest.

Pallbearers moving the casket. (The funeral pictures are in a separate album here.)

The Relief Societies of two nearby wards (keep in mind that this is rural Idaho, so the wards are very small) provided a wonderful luncheon for us, and we had the opportunity to visit with uncles, aunts and cousins inside the church and out on the lawn on an unusually mild November day.

While Rebekah, Analee and cousin Libby played at the playground, Miriam got ganged up on by her uncles.

She defiantly told them that when people do things like that to her, she shows them her "bear bum."

Unfortunately, her uncles got more bear/bare than they expected. Miriam's teddy bear tights had inched down her backside a little bit when she lifted her skirt. I guess she wanted to be a plumber.

Our van was one of the first to arrive at the Holbrook church that morning, and it was among the last to leave that evening. Because my two brothers traveled quite a distance to attend (Washington and Boise), our goodbyes lasted longer than most.

Uncle Jon hugs Miriam goodbye while Andrea and Libby watch.

 
To see more pictures, start here. 

All things Halloweeny

We made sure to put our costumes to good use this year by attending no fewer than five Halloween events.

Before we go to the narrative, here's a quick run-down of our thrifty costumes:

Miriam and Rebekah in their Halloween costumes at the public library's family Halloween story time.

Miriam as Rapunzel

Miriam had a hard time deciding which princess she was going to be for Halloween. First she thought she'd be Merida. Then she thought she'd be Rapunzel. Then she thought she'd be Ariel. I think she cycled through one or two other princesses before she settled on Rapunzel. We let her choose which one of our princess dresses we already have to wear for the holiday festivities, and Analee sweetly insisted on buying the dollar store hair extensions Miriam used for her costume on a shopping outing one day. (I ended up attempting to brush through the wig before braiding it and adding flowers to try and make it a little more presentable.)


Rebekah the bumblebee

Back in May when I got to see Rebekah's dance costume for the first time, I said, "You know, if we added some wings, antennae and a stinger, you'd make a great bee for Halloween."

 

The very cute and expensive dance costume.

Although Rebekah considered some other Halloween costume alternatives (robot, Mad-Eye Moody), I was able to steer her back to the bee with "You know, you probably won't fit into that dance costume next fall." Bekah made the antennae herself with a headband and some pipe cleaners. I made the stinger with some felt and stuffing. We bought the wings at the dollar store.

Andrea as Peter Pan; Analee as Captain Hook; Seth as the Tick Tock Croc; Gwendolen as a Lost Boy.

Andrea as Peter Pan

One day as we were discussing Halloween costumes, Ana asked if I could be Peter Pan to her Captain Hook. I thought about it for a little while and assured her I could easily do that. I bought some felt from the craft store, looked up a Peter Pan hat tutorial, sewed the thing together and hot-glued a feather to the side. Apparently I already dress like Peter because I had everything else already in my closet. Several of the kids at the girls' school mistook me for an elf or Robin Hood, but I assured them I had just forgotten my pixie dust.

Analee as Captain Hook

This one was a no-brainer. Her dance class received very elaborate Captain Hook costumes for their recital, so we added a dollar store sword and switched out the booties for the black boots she already had.

Sometime between the end of May and the end of Halloween, Ana removed the embellishments from her hat, but it still worked.

Seth as the Tick Tock Croc

Because we already had a Peter and a Hook, we tried to think of an easy way to make Seth one of the other Pan characters. We kidded about making him wear a dress and go as Wendy, but in the end we found a croc hat at the dollar store, and he whipped together a Flavor Flav-type neckpiece so people would get the idea.

Gwendolen as a Lost Boy

Honestly, I thought she'd just be a run-of-the-mill leopard for Halloween (that was the baby-sized costume we already had that fit her best), but then I realized that
Winnie could fit into our partial Pan theme if we just changed what we were calling her.

All right ... on to the festivities.

First of all, the three older girls attended a party put together by their wonderful and talented Aunt Melissa. Seth and I used the opportunity to go on a pseudo-date (we had Winnie with us), but I hear the girls had an incredible time.

Next, we attended our public library's family Halloween story time. They had some fun stories and songs and a treat to hand out at the end.

 Seth the crocodile attacking Winnie the Lost Boy.

Rebekah got the opportunity to participate in one of the stories.

Although it didn't involve costumes, we also did our annual jack o' lantern carving. This year Rebekah carved hers (mostly) by herself. Seth helped Miriam carve a scary face. I helped Analee carve a mermaid.

Although this isn't the best photo of all of us, I had to include it here because I think it's funny. Winnie's expression is priceless.

Bekah's angry face, Miriam's scary face, Analee's mermaid.

Then the older girls and I attended a party put on by my old friend, Robyn. Analee won second place in the costume contest, and the girls all got to play Bingo, do a beanbag toss, decorate cookies and eat fun and festive food.

Miriam, Rebekah and Analee decorating sugar cookies.

Then the two oldest girls had their respective class Halloween parties. I got to supply the game for Analee's first grade class. The kids had to split up into teams, designate a mummy and wrap that kid up using an entire roll of toilet paper.

Analee wrapped up her friend, Maddy.

That night, of course, we went trick-or-treating. I took the girls to most of the area grandparents' houses.

Miriam reverse trick-or-treating; she gave Grandpa a rubber band that Winnie had picked up and chewed on.

Ringing the doorbell at Old Grandma's house.

Grandpa Scott was in Coeur d'Alene at the state volleyball tournament on Halloween, but before he left, he made personalized luggage tags for each of our girls while he was making them for his Idaho Falls Tigers. Grandma Scott got to hand them out.

When Grandma Scott picked up Winnie, it reminded me of a similar picture I shot five years ago with baby Analee.

Winnie is 13 months old; Analee was 5 months old.

Rebekah showed us how she could blow big bubbles.

After dinner Seth took the older girls to do door-to-door trick-or-treating and to visit Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis while Winnie and I took care of the trick-or-treaters who came to our house. Suffice it to say we have enough sugar at our house to last until Valentine's Day.

 Our cute trick-or-treaters.

To see more Halloween pictures, start here.

The light of learning

When I showed Seth this image, he wondered how I made the book glow. The truth is, I came across Ana reading this library book on the couch (and Miri looking over her shoulder), snapped this picture and have done absolutely nothing in Photoshop with it. No retouching. No adjusting levels. 

What you can't see in the picture is that Ana is sitting right next to the back door/window, that a shaft of afternoon sun was pouring in through the glass and reflecting off the book's pages. 

Gwendolen's 12-month stats

Last week Winnie played porcupine by being on the receiving end of five needles. If I weren't such a staunch immunizations advocate, I might have wavered when the nurse brought in the array of syringes. Surprisingly, she flinched but didn't cry with the first needle. However, the subsequent pokes did her in; she cried for a minute or two until her pacifier did its job (along with her blankie and some cuddles).

I thought my other 1-year-olds were shrimpy when measured up at their check-ups. Man ... Winnie is the shrimpiest of them all.

Height: 29.5 inches (58th percentile)
Weight: 16 pounds, 12 ounces (8th percentile)
Head: 18 inches (71st percentile)

She still rides in her infant car seat facing backwards (because, let's be honest, I'm lazy enough that I prefer just unclipping the car seat, carrying it in to the grocery store and plopping it in the cart rather than unbuckling her, pulling her out and buckling her into the cart). She still wears a size 2 in diapers. She mostly wears 6-9 months in clothes. In fact, I barely put away the 0-3 month onesies two days ago.

Winnie's so little that every time I see her walking around (she's been going at it for more than a month now) I think, "This kid is too tiny to be on her feet."

 Winnie obviously disagrees.

But the pediatrician says she's following her curve just fine, so he's not concerned about her size. Developmentally she's right on target.

Winnie's 12-month words:

• No (I heard this for the first time yesterday.)
• Puppy
• Bekah
• Baba (our term for pacifier)
• Roar (when she sees a tiger/lion)
• Mama
• Dada

Bekahism #52

Getting a report on Bekah's conflict managers meeting.

Andrea: How was your meeting today?
Bekah: It was great. We learned how to listen to little kids.
Andrea: How do you listen to little kids?
Bekah: You look at them, you listen to them, and you don't call them "little kids."

Miri-ism #18

While eating hot dogs for dinner.

Seth: Miri, eat your bun.
Miri: Not my bum! Not my bummy bum!

Ana's stitches

I don't know what this girl has against her left eyebrow (I think it's quite lovely), but Analee has now tried twice to gouge it out or sheer it off or whatever you do to rid yourself of an eyebrow. (For a refresher of the first time, click here.)

Last Thursday evening, Grandma Scott invited Rebekah and Analee over to her house for dinner with the missionaries. Apparently the girls were playing some game involving sliding around on their hands and knees on the hardwood floors when Ana's face made a quick decision to see the floor up close and personal.

Grandma called to let me know that there was a "situation." She explained that Ana had a gash above her eye. She figured I could come take a look at it and decide what needed to be done.

I jumped in the van and drove to her house one street over from ours (Have I ever mentioned that BOTH sets of grandparents live one block from us? Best thing EVER. But that's a post for another day ...) to assess the situation. One quick glance at Ana's forehead (or "forenoggin, as she calls it) let me know that we would be seeing a doctor that night.

 Ana and her gashy wound.

Seth took care of the other girls while I drove Ana in to our 24-hour care center (I'm SO glad it's 24-hour now. Back when Ana got her first set of stitches, everything else was closed and I had to take her to the ER. We waited for.ev.er.) The care center had just one other patient waiting, so we got back fairly quickly.

One cotton ball of topical anesthetic, a couple of shots of more anesthetic, three stitches and a bandaid later, Ana came home with a pre-Halloween Frankenstein costume. She did really well throughout the process (she yelled during the shots, but I think those shots warrant a little shouting) and stayed calm almost the entire time.

Three more stitches.

And because I know you're dying for a side-by-side comparison of her stitches at age 2 and again at 6, here it is:

If she continues with the current pattern, we can expect Analee to need another three stitches in her left eyebrow when she turns 10.