...all is calm, all is bright...

****I wrote this a few days ago and am now just getting around to posting it.***

Calm. Really , most days that is all I can ask for, for at least 5 minutes. But, the children are all nestled, snug in their beds, Brian is watching football, the soft sprinkling of rain hits against the windows and the quiet nights of lights sparkling on the tree are slowly slipping away. We have had a calm, peaceful and very relaxing vacation. I remember the not too distant years when the weeks of December were no different from the weeks in May or October- kids weren’t in school and they were around all day. Now December is a pausing point, a rejuvenation of sorts. No having to get up and make lunches, no two shifts (or three if you count Zach) of breakfast, no trying to get A-Z done before bed, no scouts, no meetings….breakfast can happen anywhere between 7-10am, everyone can eat leftovers for lunch, we head to the park to just run in the sun, snuggle on the couch to watch movies… we pause from the everyday  to just enjoy each other. (this is not to say we are all happy all of the time- there have been plenty of choice moments! )

Matthew turned 9! We celebrated the beginning of December with a Percy Jackson party. All blue foods,   god and goddess trivia, a hunt for blue pearls, decorating shields, spear throwing and lots of energetic boys. As I sat in the backyard, whittling the points sharper on the spears, I chuckled to myself,  add this to my list of “ how can you tell if a mom has lots of boys”- she doesn’t bat an eyelash getting out a knife and making spears for a birthday party. On his actual birthday, the present he opened first was a  new set of golf clubs, so everyone enjoyed an afternoon at the driving range.

A sweet sister bore her testimony this month, which happened to fall the day after the HS Football State Championships. Both her sons play football, one played on varsity the other on the freshman team. They played to a heartbreaking nail biting loss the afternoon before. She shared with the ward (and I hope my boys were listening) the pride she had in her boys and the accomplishments they had on the field this year, but even more important to her and a deeper joy and admiration for them came when she watched them perform their priesthood duties and worthily hold the priesthood.  I so appreciated her thoughts- I need more women like her in our ward, she has older kids and has been through those phases in life we are just starting to enter.

We enjoyed a FHE with the Bishopric and their families. Such good families and good men. The boys loved a hot chocolate bar- mix-ins, whip cream, all the good stuff and cookies to top off the sugar high.  

Brandon got his braces off. Most kids his age are just getting them on, I’m glad we are down one kid- I’m positive two of the other three will be sitting in the ortho chair in the not too distant future. The only issue is he has to remember to keep his retainer in, since it has his missing tooth in it, and his mouth looks a little peculiar  with a large gaping hole. We need to address a more permanent solution because we all know what happens with kids and retainers, they generally don’t stay together!

The annual Christmas concert- the school finally has it down to a science, we have been through the years of growing pains, but we can be in and out in forty minutes now! I appreciate the theory and techniques the teachers are trying to teach the kids, but I feel bad when the kids don’t look like they are having fun up there. In 5 and 6^th grade they start singing in harmony, but the songs they sing are slow and very “reverent” sounding. The other grades are singing funny Christmas songs, amusing parodies or energetic renditions of classic songs, which the audience thoroughly enjoys and the kids do to. Guess it is another growing pain.

Zachary never made it to a 100 % love of Nursery-  his last few weeks of Nursery we still left him screaming at the door. But, by the time we came to get him, he was happy- so there was progress made. Sunbeams should be interesting.

Matthew loves science, anything and he is all over it. He came home 6 weeks ago with a paper detailing out the lunar eclipse which was to happen on Dec 21^st. He desperately wanted to stay up and watch it. Realizing it would fall during break, we agreed that he would go to bed and we would wake him up at 1 am if there was anything to see. The clouds had been fairly intermittent and the forecast was for increasing cloud cover through the night. By 12:30 the moon was half covered, and could be seen on and off through the clouds, so we quickly woke them up. Andrew took one look and said, “where’s the couch?” Brian and I decided to carpe diem so he laid out towels and blankets for us on the back lawn, while I made hot chocolate and we laid there and talked and watched with Brandon and Matthew. By the time the moon was fully eclipsed the clouds were thick, and I was about asleep. I appreciate these moments which aren’t fully planned that turn into wonderful memories. I don’t know which made those two more excited, seeing a full eclipse of the moon ( which admittedly was pretty neat to watch in person) or being up at 1:30am?

Christmas morning came- thankfully not any earlier than they boys normally get up- around 6am. They were able to stay entertained with stockings and Santa presents- remote control cars and battle trucks for another hour. Zach wanted to open any and all presents. It was difficult to keep him away from the unopened gifts. We were finally able to put all the “family” gifts and mine and Brian’s in a pile separate from the boys, which he could open. And of course he was interested in all the gifts other than his own.  Brian and I each got each other a gift which complemented the other perfectly, without knowing it. He got a smoker and I got bottles of Joe’s BBQ sauce ( which I love). As of this writing, we have already smoked ribs and pulled pork, and with a dash of this sauce  we have been in heaven. The kids found a Rip Stick and a Green Machine at the end of their treasure hunt and have spent plenty of hours perfecting their spins and hip wiggles. Even Brian has managed to get the Rip Stick down, me not so much- I think they like me to ride it for the comic relief.

I had been trying to find something for my mom, which we all know can be a difficult prospect at times. I came across a camel for  the nativity set she has, one I have loved for years. I thought it would be perfect, it was the one piece she was missing. When I opened up my gift from her Christmas morning- there was the Baby Jesus,  and sheep in my hands. The rest of the pieces would be delivered later.  I cried. And then had to try to explain to the boys why I was crying on Christmas morning.

Karen (my SIL) surprised us with a call one morning, wondering if they could stop by for an hour. They live in TX, and were out visiting her Grandmother. As we visited, and the kids played, and then as they left, I got wistful/wishing we had cousins for our kids to know. Their cousins on both sides are spread out in five states and now one is across the pond. We see at least one set of cousins a year, when we can coordinate a trip in SD or if someone surprises us, like Karen did. Thanks- now they all want to learn to make light sabers in photoshop!

Football is over, at least the sleepy eyes have persuaded him it is time for bed. A new year is in the horizon, not sure what it will bring, but I find great fulfillment in where we are in life and what we are doing. Truthfully, days can be wild keeping up with all the doings, but we are calm and sure of where we are and that is comforting.