last of the year

any guesses what Juliet, also known as "thinks she's a dinosaur," or "enormous repository of dinosaur trivia" calls her favorite present this year? 

I love Christmas dearly (we've been listening to Christmas music since September), but I think New Year's just might be my favorite part of the holidays.  Free from the pressure and expectations of Christmas, it's always a time when I feel incredibly motivated to make all kinds of changes and get excited about the next year. And as a compulsive list-maker and organizer, it's right up my alley.

This morning I've been tearing through my house pretending that I am moving abroad and only keeping the things I really really love.  I said goodbye to my long-cherished collection of magazines--it was a little hard at first, but then incredibly freely to carry out armload after armload to the dumpster.  And now I have SO much more space in my bookcases, which means that Neil can no longer say "but we'd need another bookcase" when I'm contemplating purchasing yet another armful of books (sorry, honey!).  I love the energy and excitement I always feel at this time of year (having my treadmill fixed probably contributes to that too, it has been COLD outside those last few runs!!). 

We're keeping things low-key here tonight.  We had a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful week in Michigan with all my sisters, parents, and grand-parents.  It was the perfect vacation where you're not dreading going home, but you're not ready to leave three days before you actually go--we were sad to leave, but we were also excited to get back to our own beds (sorry, Isaac, but it is SO nice not sharing a room with you anymore!!).  So while we contemplated throwing a New Year's Eve party with friends, we ultimately decided to just cosy up with our own little family.  We're making some of everyone's favorites:  cocktail shrimp (which the girls adore beyond all reason), Neil's favorite "heaven in a bowl" salad, a few baguettes, olives and gherkins, frogs' eye salad, and some "sparkly drink" so we have an excuse to get out the punch bowl.  And some brownies.  :-)  I'm looking forward to an evening of board games and cuddling with the kiddos by the fire. 

Happy New Year, dear readers!  I hope it's everything you've wished for. 

Something you may not know about Juliet:  she can hold food she doesn't like in her mouth for an unbelievably long time.  Like an entire meal.

Funnies from the kids lately:

• I told Abigail I was really hungry and I was going to eat her.  She stuck out her arm and said, "No, Mommy!  I'm skinny like a chicken!  There's no meat on these bones!"
• Another one from Abigail:  yesterday at dinner she was trying to tell us just how fast she was running at recess, and she finally said, "running so fast--so very fast, like horses in the wind."
• Juliet has been loving the holiday frequency with which the UPS truck stops at our house.  Every time she says, "Mom!  The chocolate milk bus gave us a present!"
• And last but not least, Isaac is firmly convinced that Juliet's name is "Choo-Choo."  And he makes a noise like an engine (high-pitched whistly kind) every time he calls for her.  It's the cutest thing ever.

counting down on the paper chain

Our things-to-do-before-Christmas paper chain is getting so short!!

Last night we drove waaaay out to a living nativity sponsored by a local church.  It was really pretty impressive--they had 14 different scenes enacted, with live actors and live animals (the kids' favorite part).  I thought it was really neat that the story they presented didn't just end with the birth of Christ--it went on through his life, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection.  We decided to walk through the scenes (since the wait to drive through was 50 minutes), and boy, that 15-degree weather was no joke!  We were very excited to enter Bethlehem, where the gates were guarded by Roman soldiers and enormous torches made of propane tanks.  Nice and warm.  :-)  We were SO impressed by the number of volunteers they had--it was really amazing how many people were involved in putting this thing on.  It was HUGE.  The walking tour concluded in their community center, where they had lots of hot chocolate and cookies (Isaac garnered tons of "isn't he cutes!" at his happiness at being given his very own cookie).  It was a fun little trip and the kids really enjoyed it, despite the cold. 

The narration that went along with each scene was a little different from the way our church would have presented things, but Neil and I were talking later that night about how great it was to see other religions doing something really neat and wonderful like this.  That's one thing I really enjoy about living outside of Utah--I really like getting to know many people of other faiths who are passionate believers and dedicated to being the best people they can be.  As we walked through, I kept thinking how impressed I was with this church's willingness to put on this ENORMOUS production for the community, free of charge, and how grateful I was for the chance to visit--I got very choked up several times during the various scenes. 

Today we went to visit the children's museum in Indianapolis.  We rode the Yule Slide--so fun!!--and revisited all the familiar exhibits.  Juliet is super into dinosaurs right now, so we stayed in the dino zone for a looong time (Juliet is so into dinosaurs, in fact, that she cut Abigail's hand yesterday with her "T-rex claws"). Isaac's favorite thing was the jingle bells near the area where you could groom the reindeer and "feed" them lichen (quite a bit of which ended up in Abigail's hair).  We also stayed to see a live theater performance about Dorothy returning to Oz (based on the book Ozma of Oz).  Abigail wasn't very impressed, but Juliet and Isaac found it riveting (Isaac scared the daylights out of the kid in front of us several times when he [Isaac] was very fascinated by something onstage and said "WHOA!" really loudly right in the kid's ear). 

PS--thank you SO much for all your comments on the last post.  They have been really helpful to me and to my state of mind.  :-)

Santa Claus is stressing me out

The first "non-believing" memory I have is when I was probably seven or eight.  My sister Mary Beth, who slept by the window, was sitting up in bed, hugging her knees to her chest.  She had been sitting like that ever since bedtime, waiting patiently for a sight of Santa and his sleigh in the sky.  I remember lying there watching her and feeling so sad.  She was so bright-eyed and eager and hopeful.  And she was prepared to wait all night, fully expecting that she would be rewarded with the sight of the reindeer landing on our lawn, prancing and jingling their harness bells.

When I saw a plane flying across the sky, I jumped out of bed and ran over to her.  "Look, Mary Beth!  See that blinking red light?  That's Rudolph's nose!  Quick, go to sleep so Santa can come!"

She promptly plopped down, pulled up her covers, and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could.  I went back to bed and just lay there feeling a little guilty, a little sad, and a little wistful. 

*****

We haven't really pushed the idea of Santa Claus to our kids.  I didn't want them to feel really let-down when they found out the truth (although I don't ever remember feeling this way, I do remember how awful it was when my youngest sister Rosalind found out and THEN told her older sister Elise, who was one of the ardent faithful).  So we have talked more about it being a celebration of Christ's birth and about how exciting it is to  give other people and see how happy they are when we've thought about what they would really love.  But while we haven't taken our kids to sit on Santa's lap, we still read things like "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and hang our stockings by the chimney. 

Today Abigail asked me if Rudolph was real.  I asked her what she thought, and she said she wasn't sure and she'd like to know whether she should believe or not.  I said maybe we could throw some oats on the snow on Christmas Eve and see if there were deer tracks the next morning (can practically guarantee there will be).

Then today after lunch she looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mom, will the Polar Express ever come for me?"  And I seriously felt like my mother-heart was breaking there for a minute.  I told her that it had never come for me, but that didn't mean it wouldn't come for her. 

Yesterday at school they had a Polar Express day, and she has been wearing her little jingle bell necklace nonstop and carrying around her Polar Express ticket just in case.  When she left for school today, I watched her run out to the carpool with her boots thumping on the snow and her bright aureole of hair flying behind her--and her little red ticket clutched firmly in her hand.

Your thoughts?  How do you do this with your kids?  Was it traumatic for you to find out, or did it just sort of gradually dawn on you? 

image

a reconciliation letter to my old bff

Dear treadmill,

I am really sorry for all the times I referred to you "the dreadmill," or "the hamster wheel," or other such epithets.

Because no matter how much I prefer running outside to running on you, you are infinitely better than running around the inside of my house two hundred and seventy times (I had plenty of time to work out the math). 

Sincerely,

The penitent runner

****

So apparently I am actually addicted to running.  In addition to horrible headaches, I've been having nightmares about not being able to run.  Last night in dreamland I went for a 4.4-mile jog wearing my sheepskin slippers, and  I kept tripping over slippery wet leaves.  I've been having trouble sleeping at night, because I have too much extra energy.  Today Jules and Isaac miraculously both napped until Abigail got home from school, and I was seriously going crazy trying to be quiet (Jooj was asleep on the couch by the computer, so I couldn't do anything in the kitchen or main areas of the house).  I ended up reading By the Shores of Silver Lake front to back, pacing around like crazy, and staring longingly at the treadmill. 

Neil and I both agreed that it was too icy and cold outside for me to try running (please melt, bad ice!!).  If I wasn't 19 weeks pregnant I'd chance it, but at this point it's not really a smart choice. So tonight when Neil went to basketball I decided to look up aerobics videos on YouTube.  I did this one (yes, I really did) and then I decided to just run around the inside of my house. 

Approximate time to complete one circuit:  8 seconds.

Time I "ran": 36 minutes (hopefully I got 4 miles or so in, which is my standard run). 

I'm sure I looked like some kind of demented crazy, but it actually felt SOOOO good to run again, in whatever form.  Plus I pulled up iTunes on the computer and ran to my last half-marathon mix.

But I still can't believe that I spent 36 minutes running around my house 270 times.  That has got to be one of the weirdest/saddest/most obsessive things I've ever done. 

serendipity?

So I was seriously miserable all day about my broken treadmill.  Amidst everything else that was going wrong, that was the one that really haunted me.  Neil spent a couple hours working on it last night, and declared it officially broken.  We called the manufacturer and ordered a new part to the tune of $150 or so.  "Merry Christmas," Neil said to me.  I heaved another huge sigh. 

I woke up at 1 AM with one thought in my mind: 

The treadmill has a three-year warranty on parts.

So I checked my email this morning.  Sure enough, the treadmill delivery had been delayed by two weeks when we bought it three years ago.  I had a lengthy (email) paper trail from Customer Service where I was sayinig things like, "I'm going out of town!   Where is my treadmill?!" that ultimately resulted in an email on their end saying, "We apologize--your treadmill will be delivered on 12/17/07."

So I called the manufacturer again.  They said, yes, you do have a three-year-warranty, but we need some kind of actual documentation of the date you received the treadmill in order to honor the warranty.

Which I had. 


And we're set.  Part is on its way, with three days left until the warranty expires.  It's funny how these things work out, isn't it? 

PS:  we bought our treadmill here.  I have loved, loved, loved it.  If you're in the market.  :-)  We have run literally thousands of miles on it, and it has been phenomenal--it is my favorite of any treadmill I've run on, including the fancy ones at the gym.   (Plus that three-year warranty on parts and a lifetime warranty on the motor is pretty awesome.)  And they have great customer service. 

i spoke too soon

today the treadmill broke.

also, the house doors froze shut.  stupid stupid storm. 

today we ordered pizza for dinner.  it seemed like the only thing to do.

And it went downhill from there

Usually I have saccharine-laden posts about our weekend on Monday morning.  But this weekend was a completely different story.  I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but some of it was just so farcically awful that it has to be shared.

• Friday night: I baked the above cake to take to a party.  I couldn't remember how long to let a bundt cake cool, so I Googled it, and read "cool in pan until completely cool."  BAD ADVICE.  I called my mom frantically and she advised me to try gluing the pieces back together with glaze (which is what the gooey stuff all over in the picture is--the glue stage, before I actually glazed the cake).  Good advice, but the cake was too far gone.  So it arrived at the party sliced on a platter instead of atop the planned cake stand.  
• Friday night, part II:  when we got home from the party at 9:30, our kids were still awake.  First clue that Saturday was going to be Not Fun.
• Saturday:  Joseph Conrad said it best:  "The horror!  The horror!"  It was truly awful.  Instead of going to the ward party, all the kids were in bed by 6:30.  Typical instance of the day:  loading all the kids into the van to finish Christmas shopping, the van didn't start, switching everyone over to the Jeep (cue screaming, punching, hitting, and crying all around town due to the close proximity).  Starting the van now requires  permanent application of a rubber mallet to the ignition. 
• Sunday:  Isaac did his best impression of being possessed by demons all through church.  Neil spent most of the 3-hour block roaming the halls with Demon Baby.  Had to start the van after church using aforesaid rubber mallet.
• Sunday dinner:  we found a worm floating in the orange juice halfway through the pitcher.  Thoroughly grossed out, I got up to get something from the pantry and found another worm crawling over the lid of the jar.  Then nobody wanted to eat their spaghetti for some weird reason ("No Mommy!  Not eating the worms!").
• Sunday night:  drove around town in what turned into a  serious blizzard dropping off Christmas treats.  CRAZINESS.  
• Sunday night: kids in bed:  retreated to the shower needing some isolation from the world.  Lathered up, and the water inexplicably turned off.  Cue hysteria-induced laughter at the awfulness of the entire weekend.  (eventually the water did turn back on).

And guess what?  That was the detail-sparing version.

Have you ever just had a day--or sequence of days--so awful that you think "This can't get any worse" and then hah hah, IT DOES!!!!

I figure this week has to be great, because we can't go anywhere but up, right?  (Once we manage to shovel ourselves out of the house, that is.  Stupid snow, you are worthless without ski slopes or even a decent sledding hill.)

a jumble

Things that have made me happy lately:

• Our little advent chain.  So far it's managed to remain fun without being stressful (tip I picked up in Abigail's kindergarten class--gingerbread houses are way more fun for the small fry if you hot-glue the bases together rather than using icing.  No tipping!  No cracking!  No roofs giving way to an overabundance of candies!  We used icing to stick on the candies, but that hot glue sure made a difference in the amount of tears and frantic "My house is BREAKING!" cries).
• Last night I had a few friends over to swap bread recipes (I made this one) and baking wisdom.  We munched on each other's whole-wheat bread, trading what bits of wisdom we had to share about gluten formation and storing freshly-milled wheat flour.  Neil had lit a fire earlier and the whole house was so snug and cozy.  We finished the evening off with mugs of homemade hot chocolate.  It was lovely to just relax and chat with friends--the day had been rather frantic, and I felt so rejuvenated after just a few hours away from my normal busyness and worries. 
• Speaking of bread, one of my goals has been to phase out buying bread products at the grocery store.  I love baking--it's one of my very favorite things to do--so why do I always end up in the bread aisle?  Up until now, it's been for two things:  1) bagels and 2) sandwich bread that doesn't go all crumbly in a packed lunch.  Thanks to Kayli, I have been experimenting like crazy with this bagel recipe and I got some great ideas last night about keeping my homemade bread fresher longer.  
• When everyone had gone home last night, Neil and I ended up in the living room in front of the fire.  He drank the rest of the hot chocolate, I lay on the sheepskin rug and dreamily watched the flames dance and flicker.  I looked up at the stockings and thought about how Neil had driven in an extra nail that night for the new little stocking that will be hanging there next Christmas.  I lay there with my head pillowed on Neil's arm while we talked for hours (we went to bed reeeaaally late because we lost track of time).  Every so often I felt a little fluttering kick from the baby.  Snow started falling outside.  It was lovely.  I cherish time like that with Neil--it doesn't seem to happen nearly as often as it should, but it's lovely when it does. 
• So...when I got up this morning, I was really tired because I stayed up so late last night. After Neil left for work, the kids and I sat in our pajamas finishing a very leisurely breakfast.  Isaac, who has been feverish for a couple of days, wanted to snuggle in my lap.  He cuddled down against my shoulder, put his hands in one of mine, and then closed my hand around his.  I sat there enjoying the moment and luxuriating in the fact that my children are still so young that we can have these lovely slow-paced days.  
• Speaking of children, the other day Abigail (who is a bit of a dramatic) dropped a celery bag on the floor.  She asked Juliet to pick it up for her, since Abigail was standing on a chair at the counter helping me make dinner.  And then she re-bagged the celery, looked down at Juliet with a very woeful face, and said, "Oh Juliet, can you please put this back in the 'fridge for me?  If I have to get down from this chair, I'm afraid it would be a long and terrible journey."  Oh, funny kid.

let's just skip to the good bits, shall we?

Dear family,

Let's just pretend it's Christmas already.  Nobody needs to take finals.  Or grade finals.  No more school.  No packing to fly home, no cleaning the house for Christmas parties.  We'll pretend that the neighbor treats are baked, the presents are wrapped, the caroling is done, and it's just fun time.

Sound good?

P.S. Nobody can get sick this Christmas.  It's a law. 

(Anticipation is all well and good, but today I am feeling ready to get going on the good stuff.  I want to see my kids running around existing on nothing but clementines, my sisters wandering around in their fleece pajama pants, rows and rows of sheepskin slippers all over the living room, and dripping boots lined up near the back door.  Christmas!  Come now!!) 

bright lights, big city

This is not the clearest picture, but I really love it.  I think I will look back on it lovingly when Isaac is six and a half feet tall someday.

This weekend we went up to Chicago overnight.  Neil and I each did a temple session, and we spent most of the day Saturday in the Museum of Science and Industry.  Thanks to a year-long pass we bought for Neil's birthday, we can get into museums all over the country for free, and we've made the pass pay for itself in the last three weeks.  Our kids were unbelievably excited when we listed off all the museums we can now go to for free whenever we're in the Windy City.  Woo-hoo!!  (If you haven't already done this, check out that link.  It is an awesome program.) 

Isaac was really fascinated by the anti-aircraft guns from the U-505 submarine.  Right after I took this picture, he took a header over the bar, and Neil retrieved him just before the poor kid managed to reach his goal and get the gun.  Oh well.  (Actually, I think the real lure was just climbing on the bars.)

So remember when we went to the Field Museum, and I was so excited about all the exhibits that played right into our recent learning days?   We lucked out again--last week we read up on the Apollo capsules and the first moon landing, and wouldn't you know it--huge exhibit on the Apollo capsules (including several of the capsules themselves), and a nice little recreation of the moon landing!  The kids were so excited--this next picture is Abigail in front of one of the capsules (being really, really excited). 

I love museums for this reason--it brings such an added depth to everything we learn about at home.  You should have seen Juliet's face when she realized just how cramped John Glenn was (that was another of the this-is-the-real-one spacecraft on display).  And I loved hearing Abigail yell excitedly when she saw the models of the shuttle and rocket boosters and extra fuel tanks, "Hey!!!  I know when all of those fall off!!" 

Just so fun.

I was behind the camera most of the day, except for times like this where we were all taking turns making "very scared astronaut faces."  You like?  

 

One of the places where we spent quite some time was the chick hatchery (do you know how long it takes a baby chick to fluff up after it hatches?  We watched all those feathers sloooowly lift).  We were there so long that Neil joked that there was a good chance that one of the chicks had imprinted on Juliet, who was eye-to-eye with it as it progressed from sodden limpness to fluffy little peeper. 

Best part of the day in the museum:  nobody complained once about being tired, or their feet hurting (well, at least the kids didn't...Neil and I were both totally worn out by the end of the day!) 

We finished up the day with a trip to our favorite Chicago restaurant.  I have to say that my heart swelled with maternal pride as I watched Abigail use her kiddie chopsticks to scarf down three servings of pad Thai (Jooj ate about three bites, then fed herself baby carrots and grapes with her chopsticks).  We had such a good time talking and laughing together. 

It was  a lovely couple of days.  Neil and I were originally planning to go to the temple by ourselves last weekend, but it didn't work out since I was so sick, and I'm glad that it didn't, because this weekend was just perfect. I am so grateful for the counsel that our stake president gave us a few years ago to prayerfully consider as a family how we can turn temple attendance into temple worship; the changes that we've made since that time have made the sometimes nerve-wracking Chicago trip into something that our whole family looks forward to.  I love it because not only do Neil and I get our spiritual batteries recharged in the temple, but our focus on making it a fun experience for the kids makes it so all of us get really excited to plan our next temple trip.  Then we come home spiritually rejuvenated and totally in love with being a family all over again, because we've had such a good time together.

What a wise stake president.  :-)

Abigail's Thanksgiving play, Neil's birthday, and yes, there's really a baby in there

Last Tuesday we went to Abigail's kindergarten class as a family to watch her class play.  When I was there a week previously, I helped the kids paint their paper-bag vests and then got to be the the audience for one of their rehearsals, and it was so fun to see how much they had improved over the intervening week.  Abigail's teacher is really amazing--she works SO hard with these kids!!

The play was called the "ABC Thanksgiving."  Abigail and her friend Elise introduced the play, and then each child got up in turn with a turkey feather that had a letter written on it (Abigail was "I is for Indian").  Afterwards, they sang five or six songs with great and abundant enthusiasm.  And abandon.

Abigail had taught Juliet both her parts and all the songs, so Jules sat in her seat next to me and whispered all of Abigail's lines, then sang the songs and did all the motions.  It was really cute. 

The shots I have of Abigail by herself were all blurry, but I did get a couple of good ones of Abigail and Elise when they introduced the play to the audience. 

After the play, all of the parents and children went into the cafeteria and had a feast (we all brought assigned foods and had a potluck).  It was perfect for our family because the kids filled up on massive amounts of grapes and cheese before we drove to Michigan, and we actually had quite a peaceful drive.  Neil ate more pumpkin pie than any person should rightly be able to consume. 

As a sidenote, I am so grateful for how much Abigail is loving kindergarten--she has an amazing teacher (who has some incredible aides).  I have loved seeing her bloom and just absorb everything she can this year--I am so glad that kindergarten is showing her that learning is awesome!!!

Neil turned 30 last week.  I had big plans (and even a calendar planned out) of something nice to do or a treat to sneak into his bag every day for the 30 days preceding his birthday.  With all the bedrest, I probably hit about a third of them.  I didn't even make him a cake--he made his own key lime cheesecake with fresh lime curd.  Poor guy.  (But I did manage to make his mom's lasagna for him.) 

It drives me crazy when I start "showing," because it takes SO LONG to start looking pregnant and not just like I've had a little too much to eat.  I don't mind if people know that I'm pregnant, I just don't want to look pregnant until I'm about six months along. 
For the past couple of years I've been so much better about liking my body and being happy with the size and shape that I am instead of the size and shape that I wish I was, but pregnancy is really difficult for me.  Despite my husband's assurances to the contrary, pregnancy does not make me feel beautiful or glowy, it just makes me feel awkward and frumpy.  I have never resented the baby or the weight gain or the pregnancy itself, but looking in the mirror is always an uncomfortable shock to me.

Advent chain

On the last day of November we sat down as a family and made a list of things to do--one for each day--until Christmas.  Some were little, like reading a Christmas story as a bedtime story.  Some were bigger, like making gingerbread houses.  And some were much bigger, like going to the Children's Museum to ride the Yule Slide, or going up to Chicago for some festivities there.  I was so glad that we actually planned this out, because last year I felt like the holiday season whizzed by and there were so many things I'd wanted to do as a family that just sort of fell by the way because we didn't have a plan in place or the right ingredients on hand or a time set aside. 

I wrote all our ideas down on strips of green and red paper, and Abigail and Neil made them into a paper chain (Juliet and Isaac were busy jumping on the couches and ignoring the rest of us).

For the first day in December, we made gingerbread cookies (we were kind of sad that the girls have outgrown calling them "ginger-baby-mans").  The kids LOVED this, as you can see from Isaac's face.



We used this recipe and I was really happy with how it turned out. 

thankfuls

This may possibly be one of the most out-of-focus pictures I've posted yet, but believe me, it was the best of the lot.

Today we took down our "thankful chain" that we wrote on during breakfast every day through November (well, at least until we left for Thanksgiving).  We did this last year as well and I really love it; it reminds me to be thankful for the little and the big things.

Like being thankful for the fact that when Juliet lured Isaac into his room right after this picture was taken and gave him a haircut and then gave herself a haircut, she made the haircut for Isaac that I've been putting off (I love the soft fluffy hair!!  I love the way it fluffs up when he runs!!) inevitable. 

Or being thankful for the fact that Juliet tried to share her gingerbread man with Isaac, and the resulting horrific crumb mess just ensured that the living room would get vacuumed. 

Anyway, in no particular order (meaning Juliet ripped up the chains and left them in a pile on the carpet, and then Abigail sorted them out by name and retrieved the ones Juliet threw in the trash), here are our thankfuls.



(PS--as a family, we are thankful for Juliet.  Just so you know). 

Juliet's list:

• Watching family movies
• Sausage
• Unicorns
• My baby brother
• Mommy
• Dogs
• Christmas
• Eating (2)
• Daddy's work
• Abigail (3)
• Hippo
• Trick or treating
• Izy's blankie
• Daddy
• Marshmallows
• Horses
• Isaac
• Winter
• Muffins
• Shelly (the neighbors' cat)

Abigail

• Fences
• Clementines
• Food
• Swingsets
• Houses
• My body
• The earth
• Puppies
• Chandeliers
• Pictures
• Cats
• Friends
• Flowers
• Shelly the cat
• My baby brother
• Fridges
• Snowmen
• Prayers
• the thankful chain
• Books
• Family
• Thanksgiving

Rachael:

• Grooveshark.com
• Baby giggles
• Running
• Kids who eat without complaining
• Sleep
• Public libraries
• Saturday morning snuggles with everyone together
• Clementines
• Christmas music
• Clean water
• Pie (2)
• Winter citrus
• Scriptures
• Brooms
• Pens
• Financial independence
• Books!!
•  A warm soft bed
• Nebulizers
• Chapstick
• Prayers
• Scented candles

Neil:

• Textbooks
• Christmas tress
• Fire
• Heaven-in-a-bowl (his favorite salad)
• Frying food
• Christmas music
• My wife
• Power tools
• Music
• Daddy-stay-home-day
• Sweet rolls
• Family
• Fall
• the priesthood 
• Movies
• Colors
• House
• Library search engines
• College
• Syrup
• Isaac's smile
• Jack-o-lanterns