pack meeting

Thursday was one of out favorite pack meetings in a long time. The Bears and Wolves put on a carnival!! All the games were fun and perfect for all the Cubs. Carson loved it! 

He also received his first pin as a Webelo. We need to focus and get to work. 

The rest of the family weren't able to come with us. Karlee was babysitting and the rest of the family went to the bishop storehouse. We've all enjoyed volunteering there. The week of Thanksgiving I took the kids. Maybe we'll go next week too. 

ward party

I helped with planning our Ward Christmas party again this year, with most of the same women. All the planning came together nicely. Although, I think it took longer to decorate this year. Brian and I spent 4 hours this morning working on the gym. Mostly hanging fishing lines and balloons. I think we hung 140 balloons. It turned out great!! The clean up wasn't too bad either.

The program was about "The fourth gift." About giving a gift to Christ. 

The White Stocking

(Adapted by Carolyn Cox, Canberra)

'Twas the night before Christmas and I walked through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The presents had been wrapped and placed under the tree,

I paused, tired, excited, and then giggled with glee.

The stockings were hanging and were beautifully filled,

No one had been forgotten, though the credit card was billed.

As I looked at the scene with the stockings on the ledge,

I noticed one empty, the one on the edge.

Where's the Spirit of Christmas that might be forgotten,

How could I not remember the Father's Only Begotten?

Only He had been left out of the festivities,

As we planned and prepared all, for our families.

As I pondered, I realized this just was not right!

It was His birth that was being celebrated after this night.

I resolved then and there to remember The Lord,

And quickly made changes that were easy to afford.

I hung the white stocking in a special place in our home,

And corrected the atmosphere to provide a more spiritual tone.

On Christmas eve I gathered the family together,

And each of us wrote on a special piece of paper.

We gave Jesus a gift which we placed in the stocking,

A sincere change of heart, not there for the mocking.

The white stocking hung in our home as a symbol for us,

Of the true meaning of Christmas -- the Savior, the Lord Jesus.

So take your white stocking and hang it with pride,

Remember the Savior, put His gift inside.

birthday girl

Today this girl is 3! I can't believe she's already 3. Yesterday the kids and I facetimed her while she opened her gifts we gave her. She was fun to watch.

3 things about Retta:

1. Her BFF is Tank but her favorite person is whomever just gave her something. ;)

2. She tells people she's 5.

3. She has the sweetest little voice but when's she's mad everybody knows!

It was so fun chatting with all of them yesterday. Retta put on her new apron I made her and started playing with the play-doh too. I gave her a snowman cookie cutter for her play-doh. 

Adam read a couple books to us too! He's getting to be such a good reader. I'll need to have him read to me more often. Then there's Kinz. I love talking with her. We chatted while she was making different colored frosting for Retta's birthday cupcakes. Facetime is the best! I love being able to see how they're doing, not must ask how they're doing. 

bell ringers

So very proud of these two! They were bell ringers for an hour this afternoon at a local restaurant. They were a little nervous at first but they were amazed at how fast the hour went. Great job boys! I hope you always think of others. 👍🏼

busy schedules

Tonight was Carson's orchestra concert. The 4th graders played three pieces. They all did a great job! 

It was difficult to see him play. Once they got seated Carson looked for us and got excited once he found us. He was buried behind many students and stands. 

 The picture above was shortly after they finished playing their last piece, Jingle Bells.

As all the students were exiting we got one more picture of him. He's definitely not afraid for people to notice him. :D

It's been just over two weeks since I started working in the afternoons. Monday Carson was having a hard day. He was quick to tears all evening. When I was able to hold him and ask him to tell me what was wrong he said he missed me. That broke my heart. So Tuesday once I walked in the door I checked in with him, grabbed Mason and headed to piano lessons. That night Karlee was in tears. She's not getting her time after school with me to share about her day. I miss the normal schedule with the kids. The kids are adjusting, it's working. It's just that change can be hard. This week has been very crazy with schedules so we haven't had a normal dinner hour either. Only one more week and the kids are I are off for two weeks. I believe Brian is taking off the week between Christmas and New Years too. The count down is real!

our neighborhood

Wednesday morning we woke up to snow! It was beautiful!! This has been a nice start to winter. The temps have been mild compared to these last two years. There have been a few sunny days where I've been able to wear a jacket and it was enough. I know that this is not the norm but it's been nice. 

I'm so glad we finished decorating the tree Tuesday night. It feels very Christmassy everywhere we look. 

Here's another bonus for working at Carson's school. As I walked the kids back to class after recess I noticed this on the wall near his class. This story he wrote is great! It talks about our trip to Texas last September, of the games he and Adam played and how sad he was to leave. It's a keeper and it'll be going into his school file for sure!

trimming the tree

This evening I called the kids into the family room to help with the tree. No one was excited. They all wanted to continue doing whatever they were doing. Before long they were laughing and getting excited with the memories. When we were finished I asked them to kneel in front of the tree for a picture. It took them over 10 minutes of silliness to get the picture I asked for. That's ok, they were having a great time and I wasn't in any hurry. 

There's only a few more things I need to do and all of Christmas will be up! I'm glad. I'm tired...