Christmas Lights and Gingerbread House

We had Kaitlynn from church over who is the same age as Ryan. When I asked if he was excited to play he got a big, shy smile on his face and said yes. I asked if he had fun playing with her at nursery and he said "yeah, she's a cute girl. A really, really cute girl." Later when Jeff asked how the play date was he said it was good, "she's sweet." She really ended up playing mostly with Lily which made Ryan sad at first, but then he got into his cars and he was okay. Lily was attentive and is such a wonderful friend and helper and the perfect play date hostess. Lily loves coloring some princess pages we have and after coloring about 10 she asked me who my favorite princess is. I told her Belle. "Are you kidding me?! Because I like Belle too." It just sounded so funny to me hearing her say, are you kidding me? I feel like I'm always enjoying a little chuckle to myself with all the things I hear from the kids all day.

Playing the penny game with Kaitlynn that Jeff had taught at church. 

All of Lily's princess pictures she colored. 

Ryan was so sweet and kind and loving today. He gave me hugs a lot, said thank you a lot, and when there was only one pumpkin pancake left and he was planning on eating it, he offered it to Max and insisted Max take it. When Max didn't want it because he had just eaten, Ryan ate it. I just thought that was the most unselfish act and was so proud of him. Ryan pointed to the Star Wars stickers on our windows and said," Max that's a death star. Can you say death star?"

While Lily played next door I let Ryan watch some netflix. Max sat down next to him and they said "whoa" together and moved their hands in the air together. Max watched for a bit and then started to sit on the computer in front of Ryan blocking his view. He seemed pretty pleased with himself and I had to get him off several times. Ryan was upset but a pretty good sport about it. I didn't get a picture but it was just so funny to look over at this scene. The other day Ryan said, "mommy, we need a new baby because Max is throwing ornaments and ripping stuff!" The life of an older brother.

We read a Pinkalicious book the other night and there was a picture of a ball on one of the pages. Max was sitting very still on my lap listening to the story, but as soon as he saw that ball he became obsessed. He wouldn't let us turn the page. I somehow got through the book and gave it to him to look at. Some of the pages fell out though and he was missing his ball page. He got extremely upset until I found it for him and then through his tears and cries he said, "ball, ball." I pointed out a small baseball on his shirt and he couldn't stop looking down, pointing to it, and saying "ball." And he sleeps with tree ornaments that are shaped as balls or walks around with them all day.

Wednesday night Alyse Tait brought over a meal for us. It was delicious (enchiladas) and Ryan kept saying, "this is yummy, this is the best meal ever!" I was so impressed because Alyse has a lot going on this week and she has 4 young children so it's not like she's at home doing nothing. It made me want to find ways to reach out and serve others more.

Jeff was able to come home early one day to put lights on the house. Lily had been praying the weather would be good on Saturday so he could do the lights, but he has a test that day and our ward party so he wasn't sure if he'd get a free moment. He worked hard and fast and it was cold, but he got it done. The house looks great and it's so fun driving up to it at night.

Lily worked hard on that railing.  

Jeff worked hard in the cold. 

I watched kids Thursday and Friday. But on Friday Amy Brown, the bishop's wife, brought me a crock pot meal when she dropped her kids off! It was a wonderful chicken, potatoes, and carrots meal along with Rhodes rolls. Who does that? It turned out to be a wonderful blessing because neither boy took a nap so by dinner time they were pretty spent. Jeff was happy to come home to a nice meal. How blessed am I to have two meals in one week! Heavenly Father is taking care of us and there are some incredible and thoughtful women in my ward. Aubrey and Lily stayed at the table the entire time and did art. They are two peas in a pod.

Kalissa gave Lily some perler beads and even Ryan likes doing it. 

And Max too. This is great practice for those little fingers. 

Making a starship.

Looking at the cantina band never gets old for Max. 

Ryan always loves organizing his cars. 

Max was so happy to feed me. 

Lily learned how to use a big knife. She was very proud and did a great job.

Friday night we went to an ugly sweater party at the Preece's and that was a lot of fun. I had bought Star Wars gifts and they were a hot item in the gift exchange. We enjoyed talking to ward friends and enjoying yummy food. Jeff said after his Duke experience it's a lot easier to mingle with people since he has to do that all the time when he's on his residencies.

Lily and Ryan had to try on the ugly sweaters.

Saturday Jeff took his test most of the day, but was able to take a break for the ward Christmas party. Earlier in the day I took the kids to "Windsor Wonderland" and they roasted marshmallows, pet some bunnies (Ryan: "They're so cute! They're so little" in his sweet, sweet voice), donkeys, goats and sheep. Max has no fear whatsoever with animals and gets right up in their faces. We waited in line to go in the power lines repair truck. We went 65 feet in the air and Lily and Ryan had a blast. Max watched us from the stroller, but did okay for the most part. I asked Ryan if he was going to be scared, but he declared he would not be scared, but would be brave. We went on the fire engine and played at the playground for awhile then headed home. The kids were very patient as we waited in lines and overall had a really fun time.

Getting harnessed.

Poor Max had to stay down below, but he did pretty good staying with one of the staff members. 

Getting ready to go up.  

Up so high and not scared.

We headed to the Christmas party and it was so well done. The decorations, food, and activities were so well planned out. The funny thing is that before it started the kids wanted to go around and say hello to people. Lily was a little shy sometimes, but Ryan was the one who wanted to keep talking to people. After he visited a bit he came back to the table and said, "who else can I say hi to?" They enjoyed playing Don't Eat Pete, Bingo, and coloring Christmas pictures. Max was sad as he fell out the back of the chair, but recovered pretty well. The primary kids sang "Away in a Manager" and the bishopric gave a message. Afterward Jeff was asked on the spot to play "Silent Night" and several people told me after how nice he plays since he added a few little embellishments. The kids waited in line for Santa and again I was surprised the kids weren't scared. Ryan asked for a sled and Lily asked for a remote control airplane.

We got home and put the kids to bed and while cleaning up I realized I hadn't prayed for Jeff on his test since coming home. I stopped and prayed and 10 minutes later he texted that he realized an error he had made that if he hadn't caught would have affected 1/3 of his grade. I felt so happy to have listened to the prompting to pray for him and that Heavenly Father answered that prayer.

Sunday we were so tired in the morning and then with Ryan acting quite wild at choir practice we were happy to come home and take naps. Lily on her own wanted to make LaWana (Sister Marrs) a Christmas card as well as her Primary teacher, Sister Mackrory.

I was so impressed with Lily's manger scene. 

She kept looking for them in Sacrament Meeting and then would shyly go and give them their card. She's so thoughtful. After naps we cleaned up a bit, ate French toast, then watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional while the kids decorated their Gingerbread House. They have been waiting for so long to decorate it and did such a great job! Jeff just put frosting on and they did all the rest. They were really proud of their efforts and had fun doing it. It was cute because any time something was mentioned in a talk that they recognized they'd call it out excitedly. Ryan heard the ten lepers mentioned and was thrilled we had just read that story and told me how only one came back to say thank you.