OK, so I think I have an inkling of how to help Zane's stomach thing. After some reading and research I think he needs more soluble fiber in his diet. Well not necessarily more, just making sure he gets some everyday. I think that's the connection. Things like starches, bananas, apple sauce, oatmeal. We've been trying this for 2 days and so far it is working marvellously. No tummy pain and last night was the first night he slept through the night since Wednesday without waking up in agony because of all the gas in his gut. Christmas will be a challenge with all the sweets and stuff but luckily he's old enough to 'get' it when I tell him that this will help his stomach and that won't. I'll keep you posted.
Saturday was interesting....went for an oil change and found out that my back driver side tire was pretty much flat - the guy looked at me like I was insane for not noticing. To which I think - I'm sorry- I'm almost 8 months pregnant and have a toddler with me in MINUS 30 weather. I don't think to check my tires. I think get in the van and get the stupid car seat done up before i get frost bite on my fingers! But I digress. He suggested that I might have a slow leak and should get it looked at. So what did I do? I called Cliff. I drive the van, I fill it up with gas, and go to the drive-thru oil change place. As far as I'm concerned everything else falls in Cliff's department. Long story short I ended up at Walmart with both kids while they hoisted my van, took the tire off and found a pin-size piece of metal in my tire. They fixed it and we were back on the road. As I was driving home I thought about what a pain the whole thing had been and then I thought, yes, but what a blessing it was too. We leave for Raymond tomorrow...what if we had been driving on the hi way and it had blown? What if I was driving with the kids alone in this weather and it went flat? I really felt that it was a true testament and answer to the prayer that Zane had said that morning before we all left for the day "please bless that we will travel in safety". It's something that seems automatic and somewhat routine as we say those morning prayers but I know that every morning I fervently wish for us all to travel in safety.
Yesterday was our Christmas program in Sacrament meeting and it went FABULOUSLY!!!! Really, the Spirit there was so strong, the music was awesome and the closing number was unbelievable. If we were a clapping church the whole congregation would have been on it's feet. We were so blessed to have a plethora of music people available this year - the last number consisted of the organ, the piano, a violin, a soloist and for the last verse the congregation. And I was blessed to be part of the congregation and could just focus on the spirit. I couldn't sing because I was crying, but it was well worth it!
And today has been busy busy busy. Into Red Deer so Walmart could re-tork my wheel - thank goodness they weren't busy when I showed up and we were in and out in 15 minutes, picked up Cliff's last Christmas present - had to wait for it to be done - and dropped off all the books at the library. Laundry, baking for Cliff when we're not here, clean the bathroom and try to referee and keep the boys from killing each other. AND Zane has been doing such a great job of earning stars for XBOX time! He's earned 20 stars 4 times now. And has learned some new skills along the way. His newest skills are folding towels (and I have resisted re-folding them...harder than I thought!) drying dishes and matching and folding socks. It's harder than I thought to help him earn the 20 stars because it takes planning on my part to have chores for him to do. A lot of the things would be done better and faster if I did them myself but I'm also learning a lot from it. And it's fun to give him stars for things the doesn't realize like being extra kind to Rhett or something like that.
And it's time to make supper. FHE tonight is going to be cuddles and a Christmas movie. We're opening our family gifts tomorrow morning before Cliff heads to work and then I'll be busy with the kids getting everything packed up, organized and ready to go to Raymond. We're hoping that Cliff is able to get off early and that we'll be in Raymond by 8:00 but we'll see what happens. I can't believe that it's here and we're all looking forward to spending this wonderful time of year with our family and friends!
I'll try not to board the holiday train and get lost....but no promises! Merry Christmas to everyone!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Some Days....
I need more than one of me. Today is one of those days. I need one of me to stay in bed and catch up on sleep and let my sciatic nerves calm down, one of me to do the baking and house work I had planned to do, and one of me to take care of sick child. Is that really too much to ask for? Poor Zane is having another stomach attack thing today and it's a bad one. But I'm not taking him back to the emerg because I know we'll sit there for a couple of hours, finally see a doctor who will order x-rays and pronounce him full of gas. Instead I'm trying to do all the things the last emerg doc told me to try and it seems to be helping a little. This attack isn't as bad as the last one where they finally gave him a shot of morphine! And I'm trying to keep track of all his symptoms and exactly what he's eaten the day of and day before these attacks. He's had a few little ones since the last big one but I'm not seeing any correlation between anything. Frustrating.
On the upside of things...I got a good start on wrapping last night and I finished the quilt top I was working on for this baby. And I LOVE it. I think it's my favorite quilt yet and I'm actually keeping it. I was thinking about when the last time was I made a quilt and kept it.....it's been a very long time. If you want to check it out you can go here. I'm stuck on the binding at the moment because I changed the border and what I had planned to use won't work now. Maybe a trip to the fabric store tomorrow will solve the problem!
On the upside of things...I got a good start on wrapping last night and I finished the quilt top I was working on for this baby. And I LOVE it. I think it's my favorite quilt yet and I'm actually keeping it. I was thinking about when the last time was I made a quilt and kept it.....it's been a very long time. If you want to check it out you can go here. I'm stuck on the binding at the moment because I changed the border and what I had planned to use won't work now. Maybe a trip to the fabric store tomorrow will solve the problem!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Where I've been....
Nothing too earth shattering has been happening in our household in the past few days. But I do have a few noteworthy events that have been tumbling around in my mind today as I did other tasks, all the while thinking...I should blog this now or I'll forget it. Hopefully my memory holds out, and if it doesn't you won't know the difference!
Tuesday Zane vibrated almost all morning. It was Christmas program day in school and they were putting on 2 performances. He was sooooo excited and couldn't wait for us to see it. Rhett and I attended both performances and Cliff joined us for the evening production. And Zane was 100% right - it was FANTASTIC! I didn't really know what to expect - all Zane had told me was that it was about Mary and Joseph, which frankly surprised me since he's in the public school system and most schools are so worried about political correctness yada yada yada. Basically the grade 3 class put on a 30 minute nativity production from the shepherd and sheep's point of view. It had humor, great music provided by the K through 2's, and Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. I was really impressed by the script and the message that Christ is the reason for Christmas and overjoyed that this is the school that my child is in. After both performances the school principal got up and told us all that this school believed in celebrating the real meaning behind Christmas, had been doing so for at least the last 8 years, and have no intentions of changing that. I felt very grateful and blessed especially as I have talked to a few friends who have children in other schools in town here and their children's programs focused entirely on Santa and the commercial side of Christmas. Not one mention of the Savior or even a traditional Christmas song. But back to Zane. He was really nervous and pretty scared because both performances had really big crowds but he stood up there with the rest of his class, sang the songs, and did the actions (his actions were very small and close to his body but he did them) and I was so proud of him for doing it. He really doesn't like to be the center of attention and has a hard time being in front of a crowd like that. He was THRILLED this morning when I pointed out a picture in the newspaper of his performance - you could just make him out at the back of the bleachers - if you knew where to look. It made his whole day. And of course, being the wonderful mother that I am, I threw the newspaper out 10 minutes later. Really, you had to know where to look to realize that Zane was in the picture. Not really a scrap book keepsake. Thankfully he wasn't too upset when he asked to look at it later in the morning. Oops.
Wednesday Keri Pratt came over and I helped her put a quilt together and gave her some tips on machine quilting. (I am in NO way an expert - just passed on the little bit of knowledge I have). And this resulted in my quilting bug awakening in me...
Yesterday I volunteered at our ward's Creche display. The school across the street from our church brought pre-k through grade 5 through - minus the grade one's because apparently their teacher didn't think they needed permission slips to leave the school. Glad my kid isn't in her class. Anyways, it was pretty steady but they had things well organized - the gym had the creches, the chapel had a short video of the nativity, and the Relief Society room had chairs and cookies and hot chocolate and your truly reading Christmas stories to the kids. The ladies in charge had decided before I got there that since I am so round and prego that I didn't need to be on my feet for 3.5 hours, and decreed that I got a cushy chair, fun stories to read and all the cookies and hot chocolate I wanted. It was really fun and time really flew by.
After a quick stop at home I was headed back into town to brave the storm, get groceries, hit Old Navy (which was having a fabulous sale - I actually spent money on me and although I still feel as big as a house at least now I feel like an attractive house!) I also made a stop at the fabric store and got some flannel and fabric for this baby. Yes, I'm finally starting a quilt for him. Better late than never. I actually got it all cut out tonight so be proud of me!
We shared pizza and a movie night with our great friends the Allred's and got our munchkins to bed much to late. Oh well. Them's the breaks.
Did I mention that Cliff came home Thursday night with an XBOX 360. If you don't already know, ours has been out of commission for about 6 weeks. I wasn't terribly sad about that but alas the males in my household did not share my viewpoint. At least he got it for 1/2 price, right? Anyways, knowing that replacing the silly thing was inevitable, Cliff and I have been discussing how to deal with Zane and his obsession with his Lego Star Wars game. And after stealing an idea from my terribly clever friend Leslie, we came up with a strategy that seems to be working well. We tried giving him a set amount of time per day before and it was a constant battle between him and me because he always wanted more and more and more. So, this time around he has to EARN his time with the game. We decided to do a star system - 10 stars = 15 minutes of playing time and 20 = 30 minutes of playing time. He can earn stars by doing extra chores, doing regular chores on the first asking, playing nice with Rhett, etc. Basically mom and dad's discretion. BUT he can also lose stars for excessive whining, tantrums, etc. He is LOVING this system. Yesterday he just about drove me nuts asking for extra chores or if I had thought of something that he could do. Arg. It was great in some ways, but exasperating in others. Today was a lot better...and he managed to earn 20 stars and get his 1/2 hour playing time. He was so thrilled and proud of himself. It was fun too because during the day he would come to count his stars and sometimes I had added 1 or 2 he didn't know about - noticed him helping Rhett or something along those lines. He would ask what he had done to get that star and I would just tell him it was for me to know....I don't want him to think every time he says something nice he gets a star! But Rhett was a real crank all day and Zane was incredibly patient and helpful with him so yeah, I kicked in a few extra stars to make sure he got his reward.
Speaking of rewards....that made me remember another reward he got this week. We finally got his second bottom tooth out! The adult was already coming in but that baby tooth just wanted to hang on. Knowing that it wouldn't be long I had stashed a loonie sometime last week in anticipation of the tooth fairy event. However, Wednesday night when I went to retrieve said loonie to play tooth fairy it was not where I put it. And I had ZERO change in the house. Ok, so don't panic right? I sent a text to Cliff who was at a meeting and told him to bring one home. No problem. I was asleep when Cliff got home, but when I was up at 3:00 am (don't ask) it dawned on me to shake my hubby awake and ask if he had remembered to play tooth fairy. Umm, no. And he didn't bring the loonie home either. Great. 3 in the morning, no loonie, no change. What did I do? Climbed back in bed and went to sleep, only to bolt upright at 4:30 to jump out of bed, right a rushed note from the TF and slip it under Zane's pillow. He woke up at 5:15, shouted for me to come quick, and demanded I read the note. The note explained that the TF had fallen in the snow and lost his special prize. Asked him to put his tooth under his pillow again and the TF would bring him something extra special. After the 2nd read he seemed OK with the turn of events and went back to sleep. Me back to bed. 7:15 I wake up to him sobbing...me thinking he's puking or something - and he's DEVASTATED that the TF didn't take his tooth. Umm, honey, don't you remember the note? Note? More tears and 3 readings later Zane is finally reconciled to the waiting another night but thinks it might be a fun thing to show his tooth to Grandpa who got to spend all Thursday afternoon with us. As for the TF he made sure to bring home a TOONIE from his desk at work and Zane is now the proud owner of a toonie which he is saving for a Transformer watch.
We had fun Thursday afternoon with Grandpa Dooley and he did us a great favor and put plastic on the kid's windows and our back door window. Cliff and I had attempted it earlier in the day but didn't have big enough plastic. But Grandpa got it done for us just in time for the cold weather to hit. It's made a big difference in the temp in the back of the house and when we thaw out a bit we're planning on doing a couple of other windows in the house too.
Well, for not having much to say I sure seem to have found a lot! Keep watch for some pics of the babe's quilt soon. I'm hoping to have it mostly together before heading south and that is rapidly approaching!
Tuesday Zane vibrated almost all morning. It was Christmas program day in school and they were putting on 2 performances. He was sooooo excited and couldn't wait for us to see it. Rhett and I attended both performances and Cliff joined us for the evening production. And Zane was 100% right - it was FANTASTIC! I didn't really know what to expect - all Zane had told me was that it was about Mary and Joseph, which frankly surprised me since he's in the public school system and most schools are so worried about political correctness yada yada yada. Basically the grade 3 class put on a 30 minute nativity production from the shepherd and sheep's point of view. It had humor, great music provided by the K through 2's, and Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. I was really impressed by the script and the message that Christ is the reason for Christmas and overjoyed that this is the school that my child is in. After both performances the school principal got up and told us all that this school believed in celebrating the real meaning behind Christmas, had been doing so for at least the last 8 years, and have no intentions of changing that. I felt very grateful and blessed especially as I have talked to a few friends who have children in other schools in town here and their children's programs focused entirely on Santa and the commercial side of Christmas. Not one mention of the Savior or even a traditional Christmas song. But back to Zane. He was really nervous and pretty scared because both performances had really big crowds but he stood up there with the rest of his class, sang the songs, and did the actions (his actions were very small and close to his body but he did them) and I was so proud of him for doing it. He really doesn't like to be the center of attention and has a hard time being in front of a crowd like that. He was THRILLED this morning when I pointed out a picture in the newspaper of his performance - you could just make him out at the back of the bleachers - if you knew where to look. It made his whole day. And of course, being the wonderful mother that I am, I threw the newspaper out 10 minutes later. Really, you had to know where to look to realize that Zane was in the picture. Not really a scrap book keepsake. Thankfully he wasn't too upset when he asked to look at it later in the morning. Oops.
Wednesday Keri Pratt came over and I helped her put a quilt together and gave her some tips on machine quilting. (I am in NO way an expert - just passed on the little bit of knowledge I have). And this resulted in my quilting bug awakening in me...
Yesterday I volunteered at our ward's Creche display. The school across the street from our church brought pre-k through grade 5 through - minus the grade one's because apparently their teacher didn't think they needed permission slips to leave the school. Glad my kid isn't in her class. Anyways, it was pretty steady but they had things well organized - the gym had the creches, the chapel had a short video of the nativity, and the Relief Society room had chairs and cookies and hot chocolate and your truly reading Christmas stories to the kids. The ladies in charge had decided before I got there that since I am so round and prego that I didn't need to be on my feet for 3.5 hours, and decreed that I got a cushy chair, fun stories to read and all the cookies and hot chocolate I wanted. It was really fun and time really flew by.
After a quick stop at home I was headed back into town to brave the storm, get groceries, hit Old Navy (which was having a fabulous sale - I actually spent money on me and although I still feel as big as a house at least now I feel like an attractive house!) I also made a stop at the fabric store and got some flannel and fabric for this baby. Yes, I'm finally starting a quilt for him. Better late than never. I actually got it all cut out tonight so be proud of me!
We shared pizza and a movie night with our great friends the Allred's and got our munchkins to bed much to late. Oh well. Them's the breaks.
Did I mention that Cliff came home Thursday night with an XBOX 360. If you don't already know, ours has been out of commission for about 6 weeks. I wasn't terribly sad about that but alas the males in my household did not share my viewpoint. At least he got it for 1/2 price, right? Anyways, knowing that replacing the silly thing was inevitable, Cliff and I have been discussing how to deal with Zane and his obsession with his Lego Star Wars game. And after stealing an idea from my terribly clever friend Leslie, we came up with a strategy that seems to be working well. We tried giving him a set amount of time per day before and it was a constant battle between him and me because he always wanted more and more and more. So, this time around he has to EARN his time with the game. We decided to do a star system - 10 stars = 15 minutes of playing time and 20 = 30 minutes of playing time. He can earn stars by doing extra chores, doing regular chores on the first asking, playing nice with Rhett, etc. Basically mom and dad's discretion. BUT he can also lose stars for excessive whining, tantrums, etc. He is LOVING this system. Yesterday he just about drove me nuts asking for extra chores or if I had thought of something that he could do. Arg. It was great in some ways, but exasperating in others. Today was a lot better...and he managed to earn 20 stars and get his 1/2 hour playing time. He was so thrilled and proud of himself. It was fun too because during the day he would come to count his stars and sometimes I had added 1 or 2 he didn't know about - noticed him helping Rhett or something along those lines. He would ask what he had done to get that star and I would just tell him it was for me to know....I don't want him to think every time he says something nice he gets a star! But Rhett was a real crank all day and Zane was incredibly patient and helpful with him so yeah, I kicked in a few extra stars to make sure he got his reward.
Speaking of rewards....that made me remember another reward he got this week. We finally got his second bottom tooth out! The adult was already coming in but that baby tooth just wanted to hang on. Knowing that it wouldn't be long I had stashed a loonie sometime last week in anticipation of the tooth fairy event. However, Wednesday night when I went to retrieve said loonie to play tooth fairy it was not where I put it. And I had ZERO change in the house. Ok, so don't panic right? I sent a text to Cliff who was at a meeting and told him to bring one home. No problem. I was asleep when Cliff got home, but when I was up at 3:00 am (don't ask) it dawned on me to shake my hubby awake and ask if he had remembered to play tooth fairy. Umm, no. And he didn't bring the loonie home either. Great. 3 in the morning, no loonie, no change. What did I do? Climbed back in bed and went to sleep, only to bolt upright at 4:30 to jump out of bed, right a rushed note from the TF and slip it under Zane's pillow. He woke up at 5:15, shouted for me to come quick, and demanded I read the note. The note explained that the TF had fallen in the snow and lost his special prize. Asked him to put his tooth under his pillow again and the TF would bring him something extra special. After the 2nd read he seemed OK with the turn of events and went back to sleep. Me back to bed. 7:15 I wake up to him sobbing...me thinking he's puking or something - and he's DEVASTATED that the TF didn't take his tooth. Umm, honey, don't you remember the note? Note? More tears and 3 readings later Zane is finally reconciled to the waiting another night but thinks it might be a fun thing to show his tooth to Grandpa who got to spend all Thursday afternoon with us. As for the TF he made sure to bring home a TOONIE from his desk at work and Zane is now the proud owner of a toonie which he is saving for a Transformer watch.
We had fun Thursday afternoon with Grandpa Dooley and he did us a great favor and put plastic on the kid's windows and our back door window. Cliff and I had attempted it earlier in the day but didn't have big enough plastic. But Grandpa got it done for us just in time for the cold weather to hit. It's made a big difference in the temp in the back of the house and when we thaw out a bit we're planning on doing a couple of other windows in the house too.
Well, for not having much to say I sure seem to have found a lot! Keep watch for some pics of the babe's quilt soon. I'm hoping to have it mostly together before heading south and that is rapidly approaching!
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Some Christmas Memories....
I'm sure that Cliff and I aren't alone in trying to take traditions from each of our families and add new ones of our own to our Christmas season celebrations. We also get the added bonus of travelling to each family every year and participating in whatever traditions are happening on the days we are together. It makes for a very full and fun season! As I've been thinking about this over the past couple of days I started thinking about things that we did when I was a kid...some are still traditions, some have changed a little, and some we've outgrown or forgotten. And I decided that I wanted to write down some of my memories - mostly for my enjoyment and to share with my kids - but if you want to read them I hope you enjoy! And as a warning I'm not sure how long this post might end up and I'm definitely not going to try to do them in chronological order or anything like that. Just going to write them as they come to me. And maybe add a few here or there as I remember them!
- One Christmas Eve we went over to Holt's house and I don't really remember what we did but I do remember listening to the radio as they "reported" sighting Rudolph and Santa's sleigh. All of us little kids were so excited as we rushed to the window to look at the sky to see if we could see a red blinking light moving across the sky.
- Mom always made tons of homemade yummy fondant chocolates and carmels. It was quite the process of making the fondant, adding the flavor, hand whipping it, rolling it, chilling it, dipping it and chilling it again. She made so many so she could sell them and use the money for Christmas presents. Of course when we were little we didn't realize that's what she was doing it for. I'm sure that we were quite the nuisances....what a lot of work with 3 little girls underfoot! As we got a little older we were able to help mom roll the centers which helped a little but she still did the majority of the work by herself. Thanks mom!
- Mom used to make rosettes every Christmas. My memory is that it was a tradition from her family and came from the Ukraine or something like that. Basically she had long metal sticks that attached to different metal shapes - I remember the butterflies very well - and she would dip the shape into a batter and then fry it in oil. When the batter was crispy it would come off the mold and then she'd start over again. I remember ice cream buckets full of these and they were yummy treats.
- When we were little mom would make up goodie plates for friends in the ward and we would go caroling and drop off the plates. It was fun and sometimes a little scary because we would visit the "old" people in our ward.
- Decorating the tree - when I was little we still had the colored lights that you unscrewed and put the reflector on and then screwed the light back in. And we had a real tree for a long time. Dad would bring it in and let it warm up in the basement before bringing it up and screwing it into the stand. After the lights came the garland and then the ornaments. We had a few "special" ornaments that we all wanted to put on the tree but eventually we just had Miffy Mouse - a little mouse in a walnut. And we would take turns every year finding the perfect spot for her. Until my Grandma Knibb made mom a porcelain angel we had a star that lit up for our tree topper and it was always the last thing to go on. We couldn't wait for dad to put it on and plug it in.
- Hanging our stockings up was always the last thing we did on Christmas Eve and always required a picture
- We got new jammies every year. We got to open them on Christmas Eve and when we were really little it was a surprise every year that that's what was in the box. As we got older we knew what to expect but the excitement was still there. They were the only presents under the tree until Christmas morning and sometimes they were matching and sometimes they weren't.
- We spent quite a few Christmas Eve's out at Grandma and Grandpa Robinson's farm with all of the cousins. Lots of food and little space. There always seemed to be someone somewhere and we had lots of fun and lots of TV trays to eat off of.
- Christmas morning dad always got up extra early and went to the feedlot to get the cows fed. We were usually up and waiting for him when he got home. I think it added to the anticipation of seeing everything under the tree and the stockings and having to wait for dad to get home.
- As long as I can remember we would all do our stockings - kids first and then mom and dad - then have a special breakfast before opening presents. Some years it was fun cereal like Captain Crunch, some years it was sweet bread and other yummies. As we've gotten older it's morphed into quite the breakfast spread that we all pitch in and help with.
- Before my Grandma Knibb died we would usually finish opening presents, get ready and then head to Taber for dinner and presents there. Grandma and Grandpa had the tree downstairs and it just killed all of us kids that we had to wait until after dinner AND dishes before we could start on the presents. Mom and her sisters did all the dishes and now me and my sisters do the dishes. After dishes were finally done and the kitchen declared clean we would go downstairs and dad would hand out all the presents. Then the grandkids took turns one at a time opening our gifts. Then on to mom and dad and her sisters, and finally grandma and grandpa. It was fun to take turns and see what everyone gave and received.
-One year mom and dad and her sisters gave grandma a family ring and hid it in an mandarin orange box. Grandma was so confused when she opened the box but loved the ring when she found it.
- Another year dad got really sick with the flu Christmas eve and by morning the rest of us were all sick to. Grandma and Grandpa Knibb packed up Christmas - turkey included - and brought it to us. I don't think we ate much of anything but we didn't miss Christmas.
- The first Christmas I was accomplished enough on the piano I played every Christmas song I could out of the Reader's Digest book while my family sang along
- Mom was a Relief Society teacher one year and put together a slide presentation that went along with one of our Christmas tapes - A Children's Christmas - it tells the story of Christmas with songs, scriptures and a great script. Every year since we have watched that presentation on Christmas Eve and we can still sing all the words to the songs.
- The goody table - always loaded with soooo many good things to eat
- Christmas advent calenders with the gross chocolates. I would always gobble mine right up - Alisha would hoard hers and it always made me so mad that she had all these chocolates left over.
- Our first Christmas in our 'new' house we spent the whole afternoon downstairs under blankets with tons of yummy treats and watched movies together. I think we probably watched 3 or 4...it was a lot of fun.
- Going to look at all the beautiful lights around the town. We didn't do it every year but I loved it when we did.
- The Rotary Carol Festival. When we got older one or more of us were usually involved in some way or another - singing with choirs, me accompanying a choir....and although we did our fair share of grumbling I was always glad that we had gone
- Colored popcorn from Piersons. Oh so yummy.
- Dad always passed out all the gifts under the tree before we started opening them. We would take turns oldest to youngest between us girls and then mom and dad would open theirs. We still do this when we're all together - grandkids, then kids, then mom and dad. And Zane has been dad's elf for the past couple of years. I think he'll have 2 helpers this year!
- We've never been allowed into the living room where the tree is until dad has gone and plugged in the lights and started Christmas music - I think it enhances the magic of the moment! When we got a little older mom and dad thought we might cheat so dad would rig a sheet across the doorway that would fall if you touched it. I never tried to peak because I liked the surprise and anticipation of everything....I don't know if Lish or Kizzy ever tried to snoop.
- I've always woke up early on Christmas Eve and I still do. I just LOVE the magic of the whole day and I'm usually awake by 5:30. When we were little we had to stay in bed until 7:00 and it just killed me to wait. The 3 of us girls used to camp out in one room or another Christmas Eve night and giggle away until late and then start again early in the morning as we waited for the clock to move!
- The last Christmas I had at home before Cliff and I got married the 3 of us girls decided to sleep upstairs together which involved dragging a mattress up the stairs -if you've been in my parent's house you'll understand how difficult this might be for 3 giggly girls as we tried to get the mattress to bend around the landing corner and up the stairs. I ended up getting smushed between the wall and the mattress and all 3 of us were laughing so hard that dad eventually had to take over and get the mattress up stairs.
- Mom reminded me of one - our Christmas dresses! When we were all little mom would make us a new dress every Christmas. I'm not sure how many years that lasted before changing into new Christmas dresses from the store...and of course they had to have crinolins! We loved to spin and have our dresses twirl out around us. We used to "dress up" in our crinolins and pretend we were ballerinas with tu-tus. I think the tradition lasted until I was a teenager...
I have been so blessed to have such great memories of Christmas and every new one brings even more. I'm sure as the season continues I'll remember more and I'll try to add them. I think I'll do them in a different color so you'll know if there's new ones or not. Feel free to check if you want or not. Like I said earlier, this post was for me and my kids and their kids....
- One Christmas Eve we went over to Holt's house and I don't really remember what we did but I do remember listening to the radio as they "reported" sighting Rudolph and Santa's sleigh. All of us little kids were so excited as we rushed to the window to look at the sky to see if we could see a red blinking light moving across the sky.
- Mom always made tons of homemade yummy fondant chocolates and carmels. It was quite the process of making the fondant, adding the flavor, hand whipping it, rolling it, chilling it, dipping it and chilling it again. She made so many so she could sell them and use the money for Christmas presents. Of course when we were little we didn't realize that's what she was doing it for. I'm sure that we were quite the nuisances....what a lot of work with 3 little girls underfoot! As we got a little older we were able to help mom roll the centers which helped a little but she still did the majority of the work by herself. Thanks mom!
- Mom used to make rosettes every Christmas. My memory is that it was a tradition from her family and came from the Ukraine or something like that. Basically she had long metal sticks that attached to different metal shapes - I remember the butterflies very well - and she would dip the shape into a batter and then fry it in oil. When the batter was crispy it would come off the mold and then she'd start over again. I remember ice cream buckets full of these and they were yummy treats.
- When we were little mom would make up goodie plates for friends in the ward and we would go caroling and drop off the plates. It was fun and sometimes a little scary because we would visit the "old" people in our ward.
- Decorating the tree - when I was little we still had the colored lights that you unscrewed and put the reflector on and then screwed the light back in. And we had a real tree for a long time. Dad would bring it in and let it warm up in the basement before bringing it up and screwing it into the stand. After the lights came the garland and then the ornaments. We had a few "special" ornaments that we all wanted to put on the tree but eventually we just had Miffy Mouse - a little mouse in a walnut. And we would take turns every year finding the perfect spot for her. Until my Grandma Knibb made mom a porcelain angel we had a star that lit up for our tree topper and it was always the last thing to go on. We couldn't wait for dad to put it on and plug it in.
- Hanging our stockings up was always the last thing we did on Christmas Eve and always required a picture
- We got new jammies every year. We got to open them on Christmas Eve and when we were really little it was a surprise every year that that's what was in the box. As we got older we knew what to expect but the excitement was still there. They were the only presents under the tree until Christmas morning and sometimes they were matching and sometimes they weren't.
- We spent quite a few Christmas Eve's out at Grandma and Grandpa Robinson's farm with all of the cousins. Lots of food and little space. There always seemed to be someone somewhere and we had lots of fun and lots of TV trays to eat off of.
- Christmas morning dad always got up extra early and went to the feedlot to get the cows fed. We were usually up and waiting for him when he got home. I think it added to the anticipation of seeing everything under the tree and the stockings and having to wait for dad to get home.
- As long as I can remember we would all do our stockings - kids first and then mom and dad - then have a special breakfast before opening presents. Some years it was fun cereal like Captain Crunch, some years it was sweet bread and other yummies. As we've gotten older it's morphed into quite the breakfast spread that we all pitch in and help with.
- Before my Grandma Knibb died we would usually finish opening presents, get ready and then head to Taber for dinner and presents there. Grandma and Grandpa had the tree downstairs and it just killed all of us kids that we had to wait until after dinner AND dishes before we could start on the presents. Mom and her sisters did all the dishes and now me and my sisters do the dishes. After dishes were finally done and the kitchen declared clean we would go downstairs and dad would hand out all the presents. Then the grandkids took turns one at a time opening our gifts. Then on to mom and dad and her sisters, and finally grandma and grandpa. It was fun to take turns and see what everyone gave and received.
-One year mom and dad and her sisters gave grandma a family ring and hid it in an mandarin orange box. Grandma was so confused when she opened the box but loved the ring when she found it.
- Another year dad got really sick with the flu Christmas eve and by morning the rest of us were all sick to. Grandma and Grandpa Knibb packed up Christmas - turkey included - and brought it to us. I don't think we ate much of anything but we didn't miss Christmas.
- The first Christmas I was accomplished enough on the piano I played every Christmas song I could out of the Reader's Digest book while my family sang along
- Mom was a Relief Society teacher one year and put together a slide presentation that went along with one of our Christmas tapes - A Children's Christmas - it tells the story of Christmas with songs, scriptures and a great script. Every year since we have watched that presentation on Christmas Eve and we can still sing all the words to the songs.
- The goody table - always loaded with soooo many good things to eat
- Christmas advent calenders with the gross chocolates. I would always gobble mine right up - Alisha would hoard hers and it always made me so mad that she had all these chocolates left over.
- Our first Christmas in our 'new' house we spent the whole afternoon downstairs under blankets with tons of yummy treats and watched movies together. I think we probably watched 3 or 4...it was a lot of fun.
- Going to look at all the beautiful lights around the town. We didn't do it every year but I loved it when we did.
- The Rotary Carol Festival. When we got older one or more of us were usually involved in some way or another - singing with choirs, me accompanying a choir....and although we did our fair share of grumbling I was always glad that we had gone
- Colored popcorn from Piersons. Oh so yummy.
- Dad always passed out all the gifts under the tree before we started opening them. We would take turns oldest to youngest between us girls and then mom and dad would open theirs. We still do this when we're all together - grandkids, then kids, then mom and dad. And Zane has been dad's elf for the past couple of years. I think he'll have 2 helpers this year!
- We've never been allowed into the living room where the tree is until dad has gone and plugged in the lights and started Christmas music - I think it enhances the magic of the moment! When we got a little older mom and dad thought we might cheat so dad would rig a sheet across the doorway that would fall if you touched it. I never tried to peak because I liked the surprise and anticipation of everything....I don't know if Lish or Kizzy ever tried to snoop.
- I've always woke up early on Christmas Eve and I still do. I just LOVE the magic of the whole day and I'm usually awake by 5:30. When we were little we had to stay in bed until 7:00 and it just killed me to wait. The 3 of us girls used to camp out in one room or another Christmas Eve night and giggle away until late and then start again early in the morning as we waited for the clock to move!
- The last Christmas I had at home before Cliff and I got married the 3 of us girls decided to sleep upstairs together which involved dragging a mattress up the stairs -if you've been in my parent's house you'll understand how difficult this might be for 3 giggly girls as we tried to get the mattress to bend around the landing corner and up the stairs. I ended up getting smushed between the wall and the mattress and all 3 of us were laughing so hard that dad eventually had to take over and get the mattress up stairs.
- Mom reminded me of one - our Christmas dresses! When we were all little mom would make us a new dress every Christmas. I'm not sure how many years that lasted before changing into new Christmas dresses from the store...and of course they had to have crinolins! We loved to spin and have our dresses twirl out around us. We used to "dress up" in our crinolins and pretend we were ballerinas with tu-tus. I think the tradition lasted until I was a teenager...
I have been so blessed to have such great memories of Christmas and every new one brings even more. I'm sure as the season continues I'll remember more and I'll try to add them. I think I'll do them in a different color so you'll know if there's new ones or not. Feel free to check if you want or not. Like I said earlier, this post was for me and my kids and their kids....
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Our 4th Annual House!
For FHE last night we decorated our annual gingerbread house. I cheated a little bit this year and pulled out the glue gun and glued it together about 4 hours BEFORE we were ready to decorate it. Last year we had a little too much candy, icing that wasn't quite dry and a collapsed house. Go here to see last year before the collapse. This equalled one sad little boy. And if you'll notice...I'm not in any of these pictures! I just completed the journalling of last years pictures a couple of weeks ago and noticed that we only had ONE picture of Cliff for the whole holiday funness and celebrations. So, after raising that issue Cliff bravely volunteered to be the icing piper for our fun project! The boys had a hard time waiting for enough icing to get on the house before they started decorating but all in all I think it turned out great! Rhett LOVED eating all the candy and icing and Zane and I ate our fair share too. Zane had fun putting candy anywhere there was bare icing and Rhett put a few things on....but decided eating it was way more fun then wasting it on the house. This is the first year that we've done the house in the evening....and next year I think we'll do it Sunday afternoon! They were just vibrating by the time we got them into the tub around 8 and it was almost 9 before we got them settled into bed. Still it was lots of fun and thanks to my fabulous gluing job we were able to move it to a safe spot for display. I had a few spots in mind but decided the top of the fridge because I reasoned that Rhett wouldn't be able to get to it and pull the candy off! So enjoy the pictures and the countdown to Christmas!
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