six

Today is Lydia's birthday.   This is good and fun for many reasons but one added benefit is that she is much closer to being back to her normal easy going self.  The weeks leading up to her birthday are, like clock work, some of the worst weeks of the year with her!  Maybe its a post holiday reaction but we suffer in January.  So her birthday is a much celebrated day! Plus she really is a great kid and we love her so much.

As we talked about her day at talk time tonight she asked if she could tell me her top 3 favorites:  They were:
1. Being surprised by the balloons in her room (which is funny because we have done it every year since her 2nd or 3rd birthday).
2. Working with beads at school.
3. Cake and presents with her friend Abby from her class (and Jared's friend Marcus) after school.

She requested crepes and eggs for breakfast but since crepes are a rather time intensive breakfast we made them yesterday since there was no school.  We did make sure to save a crepe for her to have on her actual birthday.  We actually have scrambled eggs for breakfast every Tuesday and two months ago Lydia didn't like eating them much at all but the past 3 weeks or so she has been excited to have them but I still was not expecting that request. Awhile back a friend offered a really cute (and really large) ice cream truck to Lydia so I decided to save it for her birthday.  I had it on the table for her to see when she got up and she and Jared were both impressed by the size of it. It is actually for a doll like an American Girl doll which Lydia does not have but it has so many cute things its fun to play with by itself.  After that they were off to school.

Funny story:  Typically Mark picks up the balloons for our kids on his way home from work. Then they can be a surprise and its right on his way home.  This year the timing was off so I texted him to tell him we were going to pick them out so he didn't need to make a separate trip into town to get them.  For whatever reason he did not check his phone before heading back into town (unnecessarily) and picked up balloons for her.  So instead of 4 balloons she ended up with 10. Lucky her! Also she looks so old here. 

After preschool (man they were crazy today maybe it was the 60+ degree weather, a little spring fever?) I finished working on her cake. I baked the cakes yesterday morning then did the crumb coat and made the cute add-ons last night.  It was a late night for sure.  I needed to get as much as the cake done as I could plus do some decorating last night. Her cake came together pretty quickly and I was really pleased with how it turned out.  If we come up with a simple enough plan I feel pretty good I can make it happen. I believe it was last year on her birthday that she decided she wanted a fox cake for her 6th birthday. After searching pinterest and a little help from a Christmas present from my Mom, we were able to modify it a little and there was a fox on it. I made arrangements with Lydia's teacher to come to her class at 2:00 for a birthday treat, so I just has about an hour and half to get everything ready.

At school we handed out ice cream sandwiches and then brought Abby and Marcus home with us.  They had a great time playing.  I thought Lydia and Abby might have more fun if Jared had a friend to occupy him and the more people we had to help eat cake the better. We had cake and ice cream opened presents and there was not a single disagreement the whole time.  It was lovely.  Abby's family is sadly moving this summer so we will just have to enjoy seeing them while we can.

Lydia is a fun sweet girl.  She is always happy to have people play with her but enjoys her alone time too and isn't shy about telling you friends when she wants it. She loves Barbies, dressing up like a Ballerina and stuffed animals. She has lost 4 teeth and wants to wear leggings all the time. She is reading great and says math is easy and her favorite. Her favorite activities are ST math on the computer (screen time) and play time.  Her love for school has sadly diminished some. I personally think she might be getting bored, she passed all the Kindergarten benchmarks in the Fall and I think the newness of school might have worn off. Last Fall she was disappointed when there was a long weekend now she doesn't seem to mind.  She doesn't dislike school or complain about it which I'm grateful for.  Her teacher sent home a note this week commenting that her behavior was not a problem bus she seemed distracted and less interested in her work. We talked about it together and she commented that she was missing my Dad.  (Total curveball there)  Lately she has been talking about missing people a lot.  She mentions missing Mark frequently and she also brought up my Dad this week.  We were talking last night and she asked if we had any pictures of them together and if so could I print 2 of them so she could have one in her room and one to take to school with her.  I wasn't expecting that at all. * Her teacher sends home a daily behavior chart where she can earn a happy face in 3 categories: Morning and rug meetings, showing respect and following directions.  Last Fall she got her only sad face and it was for helping a student with their work when she had already been told not to.  Not the worst thing to get in trouble for.  So even though she is less enthralled with school she is doing really well and being kind and helpful. Lydia loves watching movies or shows on TV.  She is always the one to ask about family movie night.  She also has a serious sweet tooth.  Anytime she is going to eat something she asks for something sweet so she gets told she can have a banana a lot. She has been a much more selective eater the past few months.  I remember thinking last summer that packing her school lunch would be so easy but it has not been. She is a sensitive girl and loves snuggling and reading books together.  Me too!  She is my most favorite six year old.

Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color? Purple

2. What is your favorite toy? Barbies

3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

4. What is your favorite movie? Newsies

5. What do you do well? Play Barbies

6. What do you like to do with Daddy? Play Barbies

7. What makes you happy? Mommy and Daddy

8. What is your favorite scripture story? Noah and the Ark

9. What is your favorite song? Give said the Little Stream and You are My Sunshine

10. What is your favorite animal? Koala

11. What is your favorite book? Fancy Nancy

12. Who is your best friend? Abby

13. Where is your favorite place to go? Home 

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Be on trampoline

15. What is your favorite drink? Root Beer Floats

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to do with Mommy? Play Barbies

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Crepes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Meat Tacos

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Kindergarten Teacher

Height: 45 inches (51% her height seems to have slowed down some this year)
Weight: 48 pounds (71 % )


*I took a quick look through pictures I knew he would likely be in and could only find 2 pictures of her and my Dad together.  Thank goodness we have those!  Looking at those pictures of my Dad and talking to Lydia about it really made me miss him.

Freezing

The first week or so of January was so so cold.  There were a couple of 1 hour delays (which I really enjoyed) and one school day canceled.  Last Monday school was canceled and we thought it would be fun to go over to the church to play in the gym.  We went inside and saw that another family was there too.  After playing for about 10 minutes the fire alarm started going off.  Back in the Fall our building had some ongoing issues with the pumps for the water/septic system. Therefore, when the alarms went off we weren't really that concerned even though the pumps had supposedly been fixed. I mentioned to Mark, (thinking it was just the pump again,) that he better call the fire department because they would be responding to the alarm. He went outside to call and they said they would be over shortly.  I did a quick walk around the building just to make sure I didn't smell any smoke.  The alarm repeatedly telling us to leave the building and not re enter was getting to me.  The fire department showed up and did a walk around the building.  I did another walk around the building and saw a fire fighter outside the library.  Once I stopped and listened I could hear water gushing into the library.  Mark got the door opened and this is what we saw: (You can see it best by the lights and then the floor)

A sister in another ward showed up around the same time as the fire fighters. It turned out that her brother is the East Coast Building facilities manager and he had asked her if she could stop by the building and let him know what was happening. Mark and the firefighters went up into the attic to try to locate pipes and turn off the water.  Along with the other family at the church we tried to remove as many items as we could from the library.  All the electronics and copy paper.  We grabbed all the trash cans from the classrooms and positioned them under the biggest leaks.  It literally felt like it was raining inside the library.  Because there was so much water in the pipes it took a long time for the water to stop coming through the ceiling.  It turns out that a pipe right outside the library had burst because it was so cold and then warmed up some.

The fire fighters and the facilities manager commented that they had been seeing this all over Albemarle County and the East Coast. It was not the afternoon I expected when we went over to the church but I am glad we could help out.  Mark is the acting Bishop this year so all these kinds of things will be his responsibility.  2 weeks down, 50 to go.

At home we had some winter themed fun.  We made snowflakes out of coffee filters and a fun snowflake snack.  I did both of these activities in preschool and previously with Jared and Lydia and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.  Jared had a harder time figuring out the snowflakes this year which was odd because he did great last year. It was a bit more frustrating for him than I expected it to be but he did manage to make one or two snowflakes.

I cut hearts in this snowflake and Lydia was impressed. 

Jared was much happier with the snack we made. 

Lydia's birthday is in less than 2 weeks.  Hard to believe she will be 6 years old.  Six is kind of the age where kids just don't seem that little anymore.  She can do all kinds of things, is pretty independent and is physically not that small. They just seem older to me once they turn 6. We spent some time looking at cake ideas online and have a good plan for what she wants.  We will do our usual traditions and then since her birthday is a Tuesday a friend from her class is coming over to play and have cake after school.  It will be fun to celebrate the great kid she is. Now we just need a huge snowstorm so we can go sledding because really if it is going to be this cold I would really like something to show for it! 

The world today

Awhile ago a friend posted a video on Facebook about Human Trafficking.  It was put out by the Michigan State Police and highlighted how people in the services industry who are regularly in peoples homes need to be aware of the signs of possible human trafficking.  I watched the video and then got really creeped out because one of the signs shown was locks on the outside of bedroom/basement doors.  

These are Lydia's and Jared's doors.  Our basement has one too.  The basement I can understand for security but the bedrooms, from the outside?  I noticed them when we moved in 2.5 years ago and didn't really think anything of them but once I saw that video I was freaked out.  Does this mean this happened in my house?  Most likely not but still super creepy.  I removed them and threw them away after seeing that video.  I mentioned the video to Mark and had him watch it without telling him the background. I told him that now that he was working at the airport even if he rarely sees passengers he should make sure he knows the signs to look for reminding him about the flight attendant who helped save a girl on her flight.  The next night he went to the airport for a shift and after they finished the first plane he sat down to do some online training and the first one was about human trafficking.  It was weird. 

This past week I started training for a 10K in March.  It is the same one I did last year and I am really looking forward to it. On my runs I have started listening to podcasts and one my good friend recommend was Story Corps. The stories are interesting and personal and get me thinking.  They make my runs go quickly and I feel like I am learning about things as I train.  I am not selecting which stories I listen to, just downloading a bunch of random ones.  One podcast I listened to on my last run was about the Opiod crisis. Hearing personal stories about families and whole towns suffering from this crisis and thinking about the video I watched on human trafficking has made me think a lot about our world today.  I have not thought of any great solutions or had any profound thoughts as to why these things are happening but one thought I have had a lot (and its not the first time I have had it) is how I have to make sure Jared and Lydia are informed of things like this and are aware of things happening and the consequences involved.  Its as if I believe if they just have examples of the bad things that happen from peoples decisions (and on the other side, the amazing things that happen from peoples selfless actions) it will help them avoid them. That it will magically help them be logical and see the cause and effect and be smarter than that. Is this just wishful thinking?  It feels like I am just assuming life will really be that straightforward. Wouldn't that be nice?

Shortly after my Mom visited in October we were talking about parenting styles and she mentioned that she noticed that I was and always had been very straightforward with Jared and Lydia. I used real words and examples (striving my very best for age appropriateness but still facts) about events that happened.  On one hand you want to preserve their innocence and let them just be kids but there are also real things happening in their world and I want them to know that Mark and I will talk to them about it and desperately want them to trust us and come to us when they see things or have things happen to them.  I am not a gloomy negative person.  I am not afraid to leave my house or let my kids  play in our front yard or go to public school but I do want them to be informed and aware of things.  Sometimes its just hard to learn about things and then know what to do with that knowledge. 

2018!

New Years Eve falling on a Sunday is not my favorite. Easter, Christmas or Christmas Eve on a Sunday, great but New Years?  Regardless we had a fun time ringing in the New Year.  We are all getting over colds so we did not meet up with any friends which was a bummer, but we enjoyed celebrating with each other. We had to split up our festivities this year because of Mark's Sunday schedule and Monday work schedule.  He was at church yesterday from 11:45 - 6:30.  It was longer than usual Sunday.  Normally he is home by 5:30 but not yesterday. Once he got home and we ate dinner we went downstairs for our Glow party.  I think Jared and I enjoyed it the most this year.  As I was talking with Lydia before bed she told me that she had a hard time with the glow party "because she forgot her dance moves from last year."??  She cracks me up but it was a very sad moment for her so I did my best to empathize. I'm really not sure what dance moves she is referring to but hopefully she finds them before next year.

Sunday night I got our envelopes and crowns out and made sure all was in place for our Monday celebrations.  This year we played: 

9:00 Marshmallow toss

9:30 Categories

10:00 M&M transfer

10:30 Post It Race

11:00 Cottonball transfer

11:30 Sparkling Cider, International firework displays, New Years Mad Libs

12:00 Silly String Fight and chocolate fondue for lunch (can you tell eating healthier did not make the list of family goals for 2018...)

I was tossing to Lydia and Mark to Jared we both managed to get some marshmallows in their mouths.

It was so cold outside, like barely 15 degrees.  Lydia stayed inside and watched the Silly string fight. She is not really a fan of silly string to begin with and 15 degrees was not inviting at all. It was quick and fun and cold. 

We read over the goals Jared and Lydia made for last year and were happy to see that they reached all their goals.  We had completely forgotten about one of Jared's goals he had set.  He wanted to be able to identify all 50 states on a map so we printed one out and he sat right down and did it. He only struggled with Kansas.  I was impressed.  When he was little we played with a magnetic state set a lot but we really didn't talk about them or make an effort to learn them this year so it was extra awesome that he knew them all.  Must be that carpet in his room... We also noted that he started with the East Coast not West Coast.  Mark has observed that his students in Colorado would always start with the West Coast and here they always start with the East Coast when labeling a map.  Jared was born in CO and lived there till he was 4 and learned a lot of the states before we moved so I was curious to see which way he would go. I fully expect Lydia to start on the East Coast since she was just 2.5 when we left Colorado. End side note. 

Lydia's goals were too:

Be reverent at church especially Primary

Get ready for Kidnergarten

Improve her coloring and writing no scribbling

Ride her new scooter

Jared's were too:

Run a 5K

Prepare for his baptism

Look people in the eye when talking (he made good progress here)

Identify the 50 states on a map

Their goals for 2018 are:

Lydia:

Take a dance class
Not be afraid to play in the basement alone
Write upper and lower case letters in the right spots
Paint pictures

Jared: 

Travel lots of places
Follow my morning routine: make bed, get dressed, read scriptures and practice piano

Improve my handwriting
Play songs on the piano

One of my big goals is to go through our thousands of pictures and delete extras.  So often I take three pictures of an outing or Jared or Lydia. I would like to go through them and quickly pick the best one.  We will see.  Mark looked at me like I was crazy but I think I can do it!  Heres to a great year ahead!  

Organization

I love some good organizing time.  For years now I have wanted to buy large storage tubs to keep all my holiday decor in.  I always think about it then don't think I should spend the money on storage tubs when the boxes they have been in work perfectly well.  That being said, this year I just did it.  I went to the store and carefully selected storage containers and came home and made a huge mess.  I have been storing all my seasonal decor in Lydia's room since she has 2 closest in there and really only needs one.  Then it was easily accessible.  For some reason though I really got this bug to want to use my attic for storage, you know what its there for.  I have been wary of it because it gets so humid here but we are going to try it out.  I took everything out of the boxes and reorganized it into tubs and then moved it into the attic.  We also took down our Christmas decorations and put them into the attic too.  Our house looks so bare now yet also beautifully organized.  For Christmas my Mom got me some really cute winter decor for January and I loved putting it out.  After taking care of the upstairs I made Mark go down to our storage room in the basement with me.  It has been a dumping ground for months and was driving me crazy!  I hated to go in there.  So we made another huge mess and now it looks beautiful. We made a quick trip to Goodwill and got it all done in one day.  It was lovely.  Saturday night I planned out all my preschool lessons and activities for the month of January and now just have to prepare it all. Today I organized our linen closet upstairs.  2018 is starting off on a great foot: quality family time, organizing time, good preschool time and my cold feels way better today than it did on Saturday so that is improvement.  Heres to 2018 and good use of time!

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