When I was visiting DeAnna we went and saw my grandparents one of the evenings we were there. We spent a couple hours visiting with them and my Aunt Mary. My Grandma’s short term memory is not very good sometimes but she was really good while we were there. I asked her to play the piano for me which she did. I wanted to ask her to play her trumpet too but didn’t want to wear her out. She decided to do it on her own which was awesome. She is absolutely amazing on both instruments. She has played them both all around the world throughout her life. She taught me piano lessons for a little bit when I was younger. I remember I was practicing one of my songs once and she was listening in the kitchen. I hit a wrong note and she told me the wrong note I had played, the correct note I needed to play, and the correct fingering so I could play it smoother. From the kitchen!
My grandpa always has a silly poem or rhyme to tell, or a song to repeat. He read us one while we were there from an Irish song book that he thought was clever.
I had a really nice evening with them. I enjoy seeing other extended family but I was glad to get to spend some time with just them. They are wonderful people.
NOTE: The process for loading videos has changed. I am trying to figure it out but haven’t quite got it yet. Each video should be different but I think instead it is showing all six videos over and over. So…there are six different videos listed here even though it just shows one. Click on the upper left hand corner and it will let you select what video you want to watch.
We had some Southwest Airlines credit that was going to expire so I used it to go see my sister DeAnna in Utah. I left Kansas and the sub zero temperatures from the polar vortex that was blowing through and had a very uneventful flight (best kind of flight to have) to Utah, which had nice 50’s temperatures when I arrived.
DeAnna had baby number six, and boy number five on December 10th, so I got to meet my newest nephew for the first time when I got there. Joseph is a sweet little baby. He is so chill, he didn’t fuss very much at all but has almost a constant string of grunts. I loved snuggling him as much as I could. In the few days I was there you could tell his eye sight got better and he was getting better at controlling his hands. I think 8-10 weeks old for babies is a really fun exciting time. They start becoming a little more adjusted to life and start trying to figure things out and you see their personalities more. They had his baby blessing the Sunday I was there so it was nice to see that. I think it is the first one I have been to for my nieces and nephews. I loved getting my fill of new baby Joseph snuggles.
I loved seeing my other 4 nephews and 1 niece as well. They have all grown up a lot since I saw them last. Tyler is still as smart as a whip and can build some pretty amazing things with Lego’s. He was great at getting all of his jobs and things done so he could have the rest of the time to play. I got two hugs from him while I was there that made me happy too.
Hannah let me use her room, which I appreciated very much. She is a sweet little girl and does a great job at helping watch out for her brothers. For scriptures one night we read a conference talk and I was very impressed with her reading skills. We drew and colored a picture together one night that was a lot of fun.
Michael and I read some books together. He wanted to cheer up his brother Peter, so he picked out all his favorite books when we read. I thought it was very sweet. He almost always had a snack in his hands and most of the time was very willing to share. He colored several pictures for me to bring home.
Nathan knows what he likes and doesn’t like. He is pretty good at explaining it to you too. I loved his drawing and explanations of why every detail was the way it was. He has a great imagination. He also loves to pose with his food for pictures and if you weren’t in the mood to take a picture, he was good at convincing you to do it anyway.
Peter and I were on a good road to being friends, he would give me a big sweet smile and come sit next to me. The poor little guy got sick shortly after I got there though and then no one would do but mom or dad. I get that though. He would let me wipe his nose without protest before I left though.
We spent most of the time doing things around the house, especially once kiddo’s started getting sick. It was nice to visit and chat. I got to do a little organizing too. John and DeAnna have many talents but organizing is not one of them. I love it though so I don’t mind going through a few closets and drawers one bit while I am there and organizing stuff. We went to lunch and got our nails done and did a little shopping. We stopped at Kneaders Bakery a few times too and sampled many of their desserts. We still have many to go. We watched movies, played games, and talked some more. We talked about having another sister’s trip soon with Sherri, a cruise would be awesome!
It was a nice trip. I enjoyed getting to spend time with all of them and be an in house aunt and sister for a few days. I wish I could live closer to her. I always learn something about being a better mom when I am with DeAnna. She is so patient and consistent and kind with her family. She takes everything in stride and does an amazing job taking care of her them. Her and John are a good pair.
There was a snow storm the night before I left and they had school canceled for the first time ever the next day. Instead of getting to play and enjoy it thought Peter had RSV and an ear infection, Joseph was coming down with RSV, and Michael, Hannah and Tyler all had sore throats. 😢 I didn’t feel like a very helpful sister by leaving. I have been praying that they will all get better quickly.
We went to the Jordan River Temple together.
Joseph in his blessing outfit.
Heading to church.
We spent an evening with my Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They played the piano, trumpet and read us stories.
Sweet little Joseph.
One of Nathan’s many poses with his dinner.
Despite the snow storm, flights were still only 30 minutes delayed.
Our Stake President spoke in church a few Sunday’s ago about different titles of the Savior and Satan. He focused mostly on the titles of Satan as an Accuser and the Savior as our Advocate. It was a really good message. Ryan and I both talked with the kids about how we should be advocates for each other in our lives, and not accusers. This has been on my mind a lot and I have been trying to catch myself when I am being an accuser and change to advocate. Not always easy.
A few days after his talk the kids went back to school from a three day weekend and I found myself looking around the house and saw mess after mess that they had been told to clean up, and other jobs they had done but not well. I started thinking about how it was time to have yet another lecture on doing what you’re asked, doing things well, blah, blah blah. As I was mulling over what to say and how to do it as an advocate not an accuser I had the thought to make a jeopardy game.
It didn’t take very long at all to get ready. It took about 20 minutes to make up categories and then five questions for each one. After dinner I set it up and we had the kids play. I was the game show host, dad was the score keeper and played the Jeopardy theme music when we needed it. The kids were a little unsure at first, but after a few questions they started to get into it. Allison was the most enthusiastic, she loved it and gave really good answers. They were so thorough we started giving her a time limit for answers. Matthew was s little bit of a stinker at first because he was having a hard time beating the girls to the buzzer but by the end they were all participating. It was a little surprising the answers they got right or wrong. I need to give Emilee a little more credit and responsibility. She is a little to good at playing the ‘I don’t know how’ or ‘I need help’ card. According to all her answers though she is quite aware of what she is supposed to do.
The final winner was Allison followed by Emilee and then Matthew. They were all on pretty even playing fields which is hard to get most of the time. Allison loved that she legitimately beat Matthew at something. She wants to play Jeopardy every week. I don’t know about every week but it is something I think we will do again on occasion. It is really easy to fit the categories to whatever we want to talk about. It was a fun family activity, we had lots of good, non-confrontational conversations, and had a few expectations clarified or explained.
For example, all of our kids are aware of what the “Golden Rule” is but a little fuzzy on its application and meaning. I remember not quite getting that when I was younger. I remember pondering it many times trying to figure out what I was missing. It might be helpful if it had a second line about treating others the way you want to be treated, regardless of how they are treating you.
Ryan and I learned we need to give the kids more credit as far as what they are capable of around the house. We also need to be more consistent in holding them accountable for what they are asked to do more and remind them less. They are good smart kids.
As a side note, to make it interesting we let the kids have a say in the prize for the winner before we played. The majority vote was for money. The winner got $5 and the other two got $1. When we gave Emilee her dollar she was a little sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I don’t really like dollars, all I do is lose them.” Haha! I thought it was pretty funny. Allison can’t have more than a dollar without it burning a hole in her pocket so she wanted to go to the dollar store the next day and found many things to add to her slimes. Emilee was happy to trade her dollar for a coloring book before she lost it.
Favorite Category- I should know this by now.
Allison is the winner!
Matthew needs to review how to correctly make the ‘loser’ sign.
I order the first two volumes of my blog earlier this month and they have arrived! I have a few kinks to work out when I have them printed but for the most part it is pretty awesome. I have about 400 pages of posts and pictures from last year!
The kids read my blog sometimes but they like looking through the book and reading that a little more I think. It’s fun to remember things. Even from a year ago I forget lots of the details. I read what I said about January last year and then this year. It made me laugh that it is almost opposite. What a difference a year can make.
I also need to proof read a little more use the word ‘too’ less. 😁 I’m ready to blog another year though!
I am not a big winter person but I enjoy snow while it is falling and the day or so after it is on the ground when it is still pretty and white. I am always impressed with how quiet it is when it snows too, it makes everything seem so peaceful.
Kansas City usually gets 1-2 snow falls a winter of about 1-3 inches. This year has been well above our average. We have had 5 snows so far, 2 of those 6+ inches. The first big one we drove home from South Dakota in at Thanksgiving. It was blowing and not a very ‘pretty’ storm. This past weekend it started snowing giant beautiful snowflakes on Friday evening and they kept floating softly to the ground until late Saturday afternoon. It was a very pretty storm. We ended up getting about 11 inches! It is a nice wet snow so the kids have been making snowmen and snow angels, building forts, having snowball fights, sledding, and having a great time in it. I also really love how the snow sits on top if trees and bushes and looks so pretty too.
In our church we believe that everyone has to be baptized to live with Heavenly Father after we die. Not everyone has that opportunity while they are on the earth so one of the things we do in the temple is act as a proxy for our ancestors that weren’t baptized before they died. Once you are twelve you can do this so we got a babysitter for the girls and Ryan, Matthew and I went to the temple last week. Matthew is a good kid. He has a kind, good heart. It was a nice night with just the three of us. We stopped at Freddy’s afterwards for some ice cream.
When we drove up Matthew noticed that the shadows above the windows look like little temples. I thought that was pretty awesome.
When school starts in August there is a steady buildup of energy and activities that comes to a big crescendo with Christmas and New Years (mostly just Christmas). Then January comes and I used to think it was kind of boring. I actually still do think it is boring but it is a nice, peaceful, relaxing boring. If I think about it, January is the only month that there isn’t some big event (New Years is more like the end of December) that requires a bunch of planning and preparation and whatever else. It is a nice refrain before the year starts to ramp up again and takes off with one busy thing to the next. Once Valentine’s Day comes there is a steady stream of holidays, school events, birthdays, vacations, activities, sports, and more until the next January.
So I have been trying to slow down and relax and enjoy the nice things about January, so far it has been working splendidly.
Last little bit of break. The first week of January is usually still Christmas break for the kids. This year we enjoyed it playing games, and doing things around the house. We got all the Christmas things put away. I went through each of the kids rooms with them too and purged them of paper, trash, and whatever else is crammed in there. They don’t really like doing that but I feel amazing once it is done, they all like the end result too. When we were done there were five full trash bags for the garbage man, and two for donating.
Purge my house. I also go through every closet and other room in my house and organize, clean out, get rid of old stuff, broken stuff, do lots of the little things that have been sitting on desks or in drawers waiting to get filed, sewn, fixed, or whatever else. Basically all the things that I haven’t wanted to do but for some reason in January I don’t mind doing. I hate having clutter and stuff laying around, even if it is crammed in a drawer. When you have kids, it is amazing the things you find crammed in drawers. A couple months ago I did some rearranging and Ryan built me some storage shelves in our storage room and I turned it into a little work out room. This month I finished up the floor and getting it set up. Matthew and Alli have both been using it for lifting weights, running, and stretching. I have a few more things I want to add eventually like a punching bag, pull up bar and a few more weight things but it is a handy little room.
Soup weather. I like soups-because they’re good, easy, and easy to have leftovers with. January is a perfect month for cooking soups. We usually just have a few different soups each week. So many choices! This week I made a broccoli cheese soup. With a little hesitation everyone actually ate it without to much fuss and most even dared say they liked it, which always shocks me. However, the next day no one was very willing to have leftovers. I get it though, I think broccoli cheese soup is a bit of a conundrum. It doesn’t look very good and it doesn’t even smell very good, in fact I think it stinks, but it tastes delicious. I even find myself deterred from eating it but once I take a bite it is always so delicious.
Reset. I usually try to re-motivate and re-focus on my goals and our family goals. Our big family one is keeping on track and doing regular family study of the new church curriculum Come Follow Me. We are sticking with our before school reading/study time we have been using since school started. It works really well…when there is school. We need a better plan of attack when there isn’t school. Matthew’s bus route was rearranged for a few days when school started last week and we had to start reading at 6:20. It was a little painful. It has since been switched again and we are back to our 6:45 and we are all much happier.
Try something new. I decided to stop paying for piano for my kids and fighting with them to practice everyday and instead take piano lessons myself. I will appreciate it much more then my kids did. I took lessons in elementary school and have just played fun music since then. I want to work on better technique and timing. I had my first lesson this week and I am already well on my way to being a counting fiend! Ha! I will try and get Allison to play again in a year or two. Matthew will most likely fall into the category of people that regret not sticking with it longer when he is older. I told him I have never met someone that regretted taking piano lessons, but I have met many that regret stopping their lessons. In 20 years when he regrets it, here is my proof. You should have stuck with it.
