The Christmas Spirit is alive and well at the Medeiros home

I wasn't quite sure where the Christmas Spirit was around our house and then....there it was! Right there on my pillow! Last week, as I was getting into bed, a cute little note full of flames and pizazz was waiting for me on my pillow. Maybe I had been particularly grumpy with the kids and Sarah thought I needed a little holiday encouragement. Maybe she just wanted to spread some holiday cheer. Either way, she felt it necessary to make sure I knew where the Christmas Spirit was...and it certainly filled Chad and I with holiday cheer and laughter. I have no doubt that there was even more Christmas Spirit in our house after it was found on my pillow.

Christmas Eve is always the pinnacle of the holiday season for me. This year, we kept with tradition and headed to Kaysville for the our fish dinner by candlelight and our little Nativity presentation.  I'm not sure that the Savior enjoyed salmon and shrimp cocktail, but they've been added to the menu nonetheless! This year, I contributed my marinated Tilapia and I think everyone enjoyed that. With some of the cousins getting older and others not old enough, we had to do some creative casting for the Nativity program. This year we had a cradle-robbing Joseph (Tyler) and a very young Mary (Jenna). New this year was the fabulous addition of a camel (Conner). After opening jammies, it was off to our own homes to tuck the kids in.

This year, brought new skepticism about Santa. We had quite the little tester in Sarah. On Christmas eve, she left out a box with small gifts and a little note requesting a signature from the big guy. The gifts were gone and the "signed" note was left behind in the morning. A Dorthy (from the Wizard of Oz) Barbie, a holiday Barbie, a school play-set, Wii Sports Resort, the Far World books, a wah pedal and guitar case were among some of the favorite gifts with the kids. Jenna gave me a big hint about my gift several weeks earlier and I was delighted to open a digital SLR camera (thanks Chad and Heather!). I have already had so much fun playing around with it....lots more to learn....lots more to learn. I was so proud of my parents, for the first time, they left Kaysville on Christmas day and headed our way to spend some with us. We had breakfast with them and they got to watch us open some gifts.  Definitely something different for them, but I think they really enjoyed!  Now I, on the other hand, pulled off the biggest Christmas surprise Chad had ever had. It's always the other way around, but this year, I got him good. With some help from the parents, I  was able to pool our efforts and get Chad a snow blower. We've resisted for years...bound and determined to shovel. One north-facing home, and two corner lots later, our backs hurt and we are ready for some relief....especially Chad. Several weeks ago, I purchased the much-researched snow blower and tucked it safely in the Fletcher's garage. After all the hoopla of Christmas morning, I mentioned to Chad that Fletcher's wanted us to come over to see what they got. When we got there, Dorick announced he wanted us to see a new gift in the garage. Chad said as we entered the garage, he just knew Dorick had gotten a new snow blower. Now while, he was happy for Dorick, his heart sank and he was a bit envious. As we were all surrounding the shiny new machine and Chad was fighting back envy, I announced, "It's yours!" Ohhh, you should have seen the look on his face!! I know it's just a snow blower, but my eyes got misty. I have never pulled off a surprise like this before. It was a "red ryder bb gun moment" for sure. Love it, love it, love it!!! He had a smile on his face the rest of the day. Since we stayed home for the whole day, it was so fun to have the Madsen's over for dinner. It was so wonderful to have someone to share our Honeybaked ham with. What a great way to end the day!

A full month of fun!

December is always hectic for sure and sometimes you can see through the stress to realize there is a lot of fun to be had. A few of our December highlights so far have been:

-Ward/neighborhood party: It was catered by the Goodwood BBQ (wow! the church does that? what a fun change!) We also had a visit from Santa. This was fun to watch. At first, Jenna was too scared to see him and Sarah and Andrew were too cool to see him. In the end, none of them could resist the pull of sharing wishes with Santa

-Friend party: The Fletcher's hosted a party this year. Great food and crazy games. Just check out the picture of the guys with deer antlers (ie. panty hose stuffed with balloons). I think adults have more fun playing games than kids do!

-Shopping at the dollar store: This is fast becoming one of the kids favorite traditions. We give each of the children $10 and set them loose to shop for the family at the dollar store. They dodge and hide from each other, then they rush home to wrap their gifts. There are always some fun and interesting gifts. 

-Open houses: Megan and Cameron hosted their first holiday gathering (the first of many, right??). Go Meg and Cam on the domestic front...wassail, treats and a yard full of lights (and one big penguin!).

-Neighborhood parties: The Madsen's hosted a recital with some of the neighbors. The recital was even complete with roses for the guests to throw when the performers were done. From singing, piano, trumpet, to violin...what talent and fun was shared. Such a great event, loved it!

-Relief Society party: What a beautiful party...it looked like a wedding reception...complete with a live nativity on the stage.

-Gingerbread houses: It's become a tradition to decorate a gingerbread house with g'ma and g'pa Medeiros. This kids always look forward to the licking, tasting and time with the g'parents. This year, the kids got to open one gift from them since they will be gone on Christmas.

-Visiting the homeless shelter: The kids and mom had the opportunity to visit the shelter downtown to drop off some donations. This was such a good experience for them. Unprovoked, Sarah donated all her money. I even suggested any donation amount was wonderful, but she didn't hesitate to give it all. The kids were thrilled to be invited inside where they were treated to a photo with Santa and some hot chocolate.

I ran 10 miles today.

T-E-N, double digits. Yep. I did and I am shamelessly shouting it to anyone who just happens to hear. Since this blog has become my psuedo journal/scrapbook, I have to record this for posterity. If I don't, it's like it never happened and I'm not letting something like this be lost to history. I think many of you who know me, know that I'm kind of the anti-runner. It's hard for me and I'm slow. I'm not quite sure why I like getting myself involved in something that is fairly miserable. I think I like beating something I don't like and that is hard for me. It's been kind of cool to do something I never, ever thought I'd could do. I have been very anxious and nervous to reach this milestone. I was literally naucious this morning, knowing the run I had to do, but it's over now and I am one step closer to the 1/2 marathon in January. Lest you think I'm getting a little too prideful, don't worry. After my run today, I caught the tail-end of an ESPN special on the Iron Man. Have you ever watched as the exhausted athletes cross the line? There is something strangely touching about it, I must admit. Chad and I turned in on just as the last people were finishing. I'll never be that cool (or crazy) and I am so okay with that.

Been busy (?)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Yes, it's been awhile since my last post. I could list of myriad of excuses as to why I've shared nothing recently, but mostly, I've just been too tired/too uncreative when the thought crosses my mind. As you recall, I recently started a part time job. It's been an adjustment and at first, the output of mental energy was far greater than the actual hours worked. With just over one month under my belt, things are beginning to balance out and I think I'm settling in alright. So now, I present to you, an uninspired mega post to share a few of the things we've been doing.

 

With the month of December comes the inevitable round of recitals. Josh and Andrew did a wonderful job...getting better and more impressive each recital. And speaking of impressive, Josh is really mastering the slumped-over-I-don't-care teenager position...love the picture of him "enjoying" Andrew's performance. Sarah recently joined the ranks of those required to take piano. She is taking from our neighbor and my friend, April. She is an excellent teacher...and wonderfully patient with Sarah. A week or two before the recital, I wasn't too sure how her performance would go. I must say, she really stepped up and we were very pleased and proud of her performance.

I can't tell you how happy these pictures make me and I will tell you why. There is nothing, nothing digital, electronic or computerized involved in this playtime.  Just when I think I've completely failed as mother because the TV, computer and gameboys are becoming permanent appendages to my children's bodies, I see this. Actual creative play. And I've been seeing a lot more of it lately. And, seriously, how cute is she?

Sarah started taking jazz and ballet at a local "Stars" studio. Me being a purest (ie. ballet trained) I wasn't too crazy about an all-in-one dance studio, but I've decided this is a great way for her to get back into dance. So far it has been a mostly great experience. That is to say, Sarah is not crazy about ballet class. However, she had a mother who slept in her first pair of toe shoes and insists that ballet is a must!
On December 4, she had her first performance. She really "rocked" her dance routine. She had the best rocker stance, by far, of any of her classmates. Her daddy was proud.

Congratulations to Sarah! She received a 4th place prize in the PTA Reflections contest last month. This is quite an honor considering art had by far the most entires and she was judged with 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th graders (she is in 3rd).
I love, LOVE how much her entry was so authentically her. The theme was "Beauty is..." She immediately honed in on fantasy and imagination as her idea of beauty. Notice what she wrote in the description on the entry form. So Sarah.