Dec 26th & 27

 For the Dec. 26th fun, we hit up Spin Alley.  Not to brag or anything, but I killed it!  Best bowler by far in our first game...and one hour was only enough for one game.  Derek was starting in much better, so glad that game ended.

Libby was by far our worst bowler of the day, but made up for it with a good attitude.  Sarah got discouraged off and on.  Ben kept trying new strategies to get the ball down the lane. ...but all of the kids (okay all of us need some more practice :)  I got so many 9s!!!

The 2nd part of our plan was to finally get that Chinese food--but all the places were closed.  Then the Mexican place and Greek places were also closed.  Thank goodness Ezell's was open.  I was getting hangry (since the bowling alley kitchen wasn't open yet.) We ate the entire 2 lbs of strips in the car on the way home. 

December 27th fun was having the Ware kids over.  Ben, Noah, Sienna & Sarah had a blast.  Then Derek took the kids to Avatar.  I busied myself taking down Christmas (I refuse to go to 3 hour movies).  Usually I don't take down Christmas until after New Years, but not getting to UT kinda sucked the wind out of my Christmas spirit.  It's all down and it's Dec. 28th.  Got a few loose ends to tie up--but ready to move into what is going to be an INSANELY BUSY January.  

Christmas Day--All the Feels....

 I was really looking forward to spending this week in Utah with all my siblings.  We were all going to be together for the first time in a LONG time.  But Emily's flight from Maine was delayed and they missed their connection in NYC, so they ended up going back home.  We had such CRAZY weather in the week leading up to Christmas that I was worried for us, but then by Christmas Eve it had cleared and was just normal 40 degrees and wet.  But after my shower on Christmas morning I got the text, Flight Cancelled.  I cried off and on all day. I was so looking forward to being with my family!  

I held it together pretty well through church.  The girls sang, "O Holy Night," and I played the guitar.  Except for a weird chord in my intro, it went off well.  Ben's "Do you Hear What I Hear" wasn't as good as it was the night before (I gave him chapstick--oops.) 

We ate a delicious brunch at Maren's and opened gifts with the Nortons.  I was really glad not to be rushing off to the airport.  But also so sad.  My gifts were well received...the calendar cover got some good laughs.  Worth the efforts.

Libby enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--until she crashed emotionally.  Rough.  It's a big up and down rollercoaster!

Cara is officially "Team Norton"

Ben's Bestie! Margo

Got the group shot! 

Anyway, the rest of the day was strange.  It was Sunday, so Derek's order Chinese plan didn't work.  And I had no energy to plan.  So we ate junk and played games.  Love Splendor, our new favorite.  And Sarah got me a game that is all about planting beans which was also super fun.

Anyway, we brainstormed some ways to make this week fun...So stay tuned for Christmas Fun posts. 

Christmas Eve

 I was so excited to host Christmas Eve this year.  I spent hours crafting (with & without my cricut) to make gifts and the table scape.  I also decided to use my cricut to remake The First Noel Bell Chart.  Huge fail.  It took SO LONG and wasn't the best choice.  In the end it threw off my timing (I was finishing as people arrived) and the whole evening felt rushed and wonky.  But oh well.  It looked pretty cute.  I didn't get a group picture because I was in such a hurry to get the hot chocolate going.  Then the kids talked Grammy into going to get the pajamas.  But no one told me they left.   So I found out when they were already on their way back.  Ugh.  Maren and her crew took off unexpectedly also. Thankfully the Barretts helped me throw the stockings together.  We opened all our gifts because we were leaving the next day. It was fun and great to be able to clean it all up.  But it was also kind of a let down as well.  I also took no pictures of the kids and their gifts or their stockings.  So much work and no photo evidence!  Darn!

The girls got Chromebooks.  And Ben got Tetris (which unfortunately he already had :/) and a big pack of metal fidget puzzles (that he picked out).  Derek got a weather station that he said he wanted but that he has yet to unbox.  (I may just return it and he won't even notice.). I got a candle and a couple of puzzles.  Turns out I am hard to buy for?  Everyone except Derek seemed to love their SW gear I made them.  I hope they hold up okay in the wash.  

Here are the pics I managed to get (by handing Maren my phone for the tablescape pics.)    

Anyway, as a mom at Christmas, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I screwed up.  And, I've had way too much time to marinate in the Christmas frustrations with what happened on Christmas day...see next post. 

Pajamas!

The nativity.  One of the sweet girls I minister to is pregnant, so she was our Mary.  

Ben played his trumpet "Do you Hear What I Hear?"  He nailed it!   

I was quite proud of using to use my circut pen to do the cute name tags. 

We had 28 people!  It was quite the full house! 

Uncle Clark Day!

 This year it was harder than ever to find a date that worked for everyone. 

But they made it work and got some great pics!  It was well below freezing (like 20 degrees), but they still had fun.  Maybe I'd like downtown better if I went on an Uncle Clark day.  But I had fun staying home and getting things ready for Christmas eve.  I used my cricut to make name cards.  I made lots of trees for the table scape.  So I had fun too.  (I also listened to 2 or three books during the week as I wrapped and prepped.) 

 

Christmas Fun & SNOW!

Well, we had an early white Christmas, which turned into an ICE Christmas (SO SCARY!).  Which thankfully melted before Christmas.  But the extreme weather was bad enough to cancel our SLC flight on Christmas day.  Bummer! But we did a Gingerbread house day.  

Buddy got Christmas gear! 

Ben decorated his room. 

And Ben & Libby played in the snow (before it got so icy it was crazy)

It wasn't great packing snow, so this was a very tiny snowman.  But adorable! 

 

Wrestling So Far...

 The Stormrays are having a pretty successful season...considering they have a pretty young team (except for some senior studs.) I've been able to make it to a few things--but not enough.  So many other things going on! Libby didn't have a match at her first match--so I was glad I didn't change everything to be there. At her next match, she won 2 of 3 (losing to a rockstar from Lake Stevens that also beat the other very experienced girl on our team.) 

I got to run the clock for the boys match last week.  It's a pretty fun/stressful way to watch a match!  It was a lot of forfeits, so not too intense. Good way to get back into it.

Also, I barely recognize myself with this hair still.  Haha.  I'm going to go back to a more natural color in Feb.  I really don't love it.  

SCC Christmas Concert 2022

 Sarah was the only singer from our family this year, but she did sing in both Camerata and Arioso, so we got our money's worth! (Plus it's just always a great concert.). Ben went up and sang with the alumni for the Lord Bless you and Keep you.  It was adorable. 

After the concert we went and picked up Libby so she could cheer on her wrestling teammates!  Libby was regretting that she couldn't do both!  (She also had a headache because of the tight buns! When people pushed on them it felt better.). We finished the night with a Shorewood Stormray Taco Bell run.  The poor Taco Bell was struggling!  But we had a great time. It was a day with a lot of driving--but so fun to see my kids rocking it in their activities! 

Drill Comp #2

 Libby got to compete in one more drill comp before wrestling was in full swing.  I took my good camera and caught some great pics.  Her hip/hamstring still wasn't up for competing in pom, but she got to do a fun stunt in the military routine. I got to see the military routine before I headed over to Sarah's choir concert.  Shorewood took 1st in the military routine! 

Lake Washington Drill Comp

It has been a struggle for Libby to add wrestling into her already busy schedule.  And it has made her really sick of drill.  But she had fun at the comp yesterday (her hip still bothering her too much for pom routine) so she just did military.  She loves having her own special stunt! 

I'll try to get the video uploaded.  I got a new computer for work and it's being weird! 

SNOW!!! OH NO!!!

 As a teacher I kind of dread snow days.  So much uncertainty--will they cancel, or won't they.  Will it be a late start?  Will activities be cancelled?  How will I redo my schedule?  All the things.  So when it was snowing little flurries on Tuesday--I was actually quite calm.  It was supposed to turn to rain.  And then it didn't.  So--no school Wed.  (I will say, I was fine with Wed.  Okay, one day you can miss.). Then Thursday was a late start.  Best of both worlds.  I don't have to get up for seminary (and they announced Wed. evening--so no uncertainty!).  Thursday the roads were sketch, but school was good.  I had 100% attendance! (Which is saying something during this cold season.). Then Friday, I woke up to another late start announcement.  Okay--I can do this.  But then, at like 8:30--they called off school for a few big flakes falling.  So ANNOYED!  Now we will be finishing school on June 26th.  The roads were FINE!  Then it snowed again on Friday night.  But it was warm and slushy--so despite worrying and losing sleep, the ward breakfast, the drill comp, and the wrestling tournaments all still happened.  Today it was pretty icy.  But church was fine.  There's still quite a bit of snow out there.  I hope they announce a late start tonight (or that we just have normal school!).  And we are done with this round of snow.    

The kids, of course have been delighted to have snow and days off of school.  

Thankfully the ward Christmas breakfast still happened.  Sarah helped plan it, and Ben, Sarah and I sang "What Child is This" (I played guitar--mediocre performance by me, but they sounded great.) And Ben was Joseph in the brief nativity. 

Lots of snow day puppy snuggles. 

Libby taking a photo shoot as the Little Match Girl?