Story of the Nativities

I pulled out some of my Christmas decorations this weekend, and as always, my favorite part is setting up the nativities. I have collected a few over the years and thought I would share them with you.

This is my very first nativity (and first Christmas decoration for that matter). John's mom gave it to us during our first year of marriage to help start our holiday collection. After 12 years of marriage, our decorations have grown, but I will always treasure this first one we received.

My sweet sister, Christy gave me this one after her trip to BYU-Jerusalem. It came with an Israeli card for my birthday (which I still have and read every time I pull out the nativity). She wrapped all of the figurines with their newspaper as well. I thought it was so cool that I have kept them wrapped in the same newspaper all of these years.

Our dear friends gave this nativity to us one year, only it didn't come in one piece. Ten days before Christmas, a small shepherd appeared on our doorstep with no note attached. I remember thinking it was a bit unusual, as I had no idea it was part of a set. The next night, a wise man appeared. Each night after that a piece of the nativity appeared on our doorstep until the last night when baby Jesus arrived with our friends finally in tow.

This is the last nativity added to my collection a couple of years ago when I made this nativity under the tutelage of my sister-in-law, Marian. She created one for our parents, and I fell in love with it, so had to make one for myself. The box took a slight spill yesterday as I was pulling it out, so John lovingly epoxied up the cracks since I don't want to make another one! Too many hot glue gun burns the first time around.

I love the holiday season and am looking forward to this Friday when we'll go pick up our tree. I hope you are all having a joyous season as well and enjoy reflecting on our Savior's birth.

Making Dinner and Fun in the Same Sentence?

Once again, the dreaded Sunday night chore was upon me yesterday...cooking dinner.

What is supposed to be a grand, lavish meal is in my fact my least-favorite meal to cook each week. I take Sunday rest to heart and truly don't feel up to snuff when it comes to lifting my fingers to make a sabbath feast. My ultimate favorite meal to make on Sunday is pancakes. Sigh...a meal made in heaven with minimal prep, eating, and clean-up.

Yesterday I had put off the inevitable as long as possible while the girls contently played Star Wars Monopoly with John and I made some phone calls to family. I found myself scouring through my cook book at 6:10 p.m. (I know, that is what time we should have been eating, not starting the meal process) trying to find something quick and easy when I came across an idea my sister, Marian shared with me many months ago.

Omelets in a Bag! I cut up ham, broccoli, cheese, and tomatoes and had the girls do their own meal prep (this I like). We opened up the Ziplock freezer bags, added 2 eggs to each bag and mooshed the eggs. Then we put the bag into a large cup so we could add our toppings without the bag tipping over, then squeezed out as much of the air as possible, sealed the bag and popped them into a large pot of boiling water. We cooked them for about 15 minutes, then slid the omelets out onto a plate and wa-la! I think I found a new favorite Sunday meal. Now to start the process all over again and figure out what we're making for dinner tonight.

Baby Kangaroo

A friend of mine through scouting has his own magic show. One of the programs he runs is for schools to promote reading. Through a series of tricks, he turns a book about Australia into a live Kangaroo. Meet Roxie, a very friendly 6-month old Red Kangaroo. Because one cannot own a Kangaroo, she is being leased to my friend from a local breeder. She gets a lot of attention wherever she goes.

Kimberly and Alicia got a pleasant surprise when they came with me to drop of some scouting things.

Preserving

I opened up the freezer and discovered this...


a bowlful of snow.

I guess the girls thought they wouldn't be seeing any more snow for awhile. Unfortunately...it has only just begun.

All Things Related to the Bathroom

Two very exciting things have happened in our bathrooms this last week...er, that sentence sounds a bit strange on its own.

Let me fill you in...

John has finished the tile on the floor in our bathroom and the floor in the shower. It looks gorgeous, not to mention the fact that we can see an end to the construction! I am looking forward to the day I don't have to share a bathroom with 4 other girls. It's an especially tight squeeze on Sunday mornings when we are all trying to shower, do our hair, etc.



I also don't like sharing the throne with a newly potty trained two-year-old...the other exciting news at our house. I keep forgetting to wipe the toilet seat off before sitting, so I usually get an unpleasant surprise after I get seated. Too many unpleasant details? Hey, at least I'm not posting any pictures of Natalie sitting on her cute froggie potty seat (trust me, I did consider it for about 2 seconds).

I know all of the potty training books tell you NOT to potty train when you have a new baby in the house, and trust me...I really tried to post pone the process, but when your two-year-old is sitting on the potty doing her deed several times during the day, several days in a row...it was time.

On a completely unrelated bathroom note,

here are some random pictures from the last week...

My mom came down to help me with the new baby.
It was so nice to have her help because I no longer feel like I'm drowning. It also helps that Megan is learning how to sleep a little better at night (meaning that she is still eating every couple of hours, but at least she goes back to sleep quickly afterwords).

While mom was here, we went to the zoo. It was glorious weather.

...and then the not so glorious weather lent itself to this picture...

Letter to a Long-Lost Friend

Dear Sleep,

Oh, how I've missed you. I am so sorry we haven't been together as much as we used to be. Know that I think of you incessantly and am looking forward to our soonest rendezvous. Please be patient with me. No, I am not seeing anyone else, but I have been tending to another one's sleep training, which is unfortunately riddled with feeding sessions every 2 to 3 hours - definitely not conducive to a deep slumber for you and I. Hopefully I will be able to join you before too long...

Your non-slumbering friend,
Dana

Halloween Fun

Realistic enough for you?

It's tradition at our house each Halloween to make fingers. In fact, many of you have adopted the tradition in your homes as well. It all started with John's Grandma Rimington. I still remember how excited she was to show off her homemade fingers to everyone. Kimberly loves talking about traditions and the different things we do as a family that are considered a "tradition." I believe that traditions are often the glue that help us feel tighter knit as a family.

fyi - Kimberly is Princess Amadala from Star Wars ...yes taking after John's
love of Star Wars. She even checks out the Star Wars fiction books at the library!!
Alicia is Snow White courtesy of my mom's awesome sewing.

Of course Halloween includes the usual trick-or-treating to the neighbors houses. John and I actually take turns each year taking the girls out since going around the neighborhood is far more preferable to staying home and making the trek to the front door every couple of minutes. This year was my turn heading out - woohoo! We started out as a big group with all the neighbor friends, but all too soon, Alicia and her friend were lost. It took about five scary minutes to locate her. Apparently she had turned left down the street when the rest of the group turned right. Scary!!

And of course, the usual pumpkin carving fest...

Phew - I didn't have to clean out Natalie's pumpkin.

Carving pumpkins wasn't very entertaining for the littlest one.