Christmas Break

The first part of Derek's two week break was spent at home relaxing and spending time together, doing pretty much nothing. That is especially nice at the beginning of any break! Then we traveled to see our families and had some fun. First we went sledding. An adventure for sure. We started out to the big hill and found the road was not plowed, so we made the first tracks and fought hard with the snow. It won, we got stuck...twice...but no worries. Eventually we got not stuck and played hard.We had a snow machine there to take us to the top of the hill...it's interesting to figure out how to cart a Peyson, and a pregnant Laura and a sled all behind the driver...I had to turn into a stunt women at the last second...grabbed my kiddo and bailed off when it felt like we were rolling. Don't worry, we were all safe. It was pretty fun. But it wore me out, so I think that was my last time up the hill. Peyson was up and down a bajillion times though. He found the perfect trail for his sled that did not include crashing or white washing or the help of anybody else and so we went up and down time after time till we (mostly I) were too cold and tired to do it again.We ended the trip wet and cold and tired and hungry...but our time on the mountain was tons of fun!


Christmas was at the Hoopes house this year. My family's traditions start on Christmas Eve. We drive around town and look at Christmas lights. We come home and drink egg nog and open one present before bed. Then all the kids stay up all night playing games and having too much fun. However, now that there are only 2 kids left at home, the bed time tradition doesn't really work. So Peyson had a movie party with Dallin. Derek was not about the whole slumber party idea so he went back to his parents house for the night to actually get some sleep. And I had a movie party with Kyla. The boys fell asleep and we painted our toes. We stayed up till after midnight and I totally crashed. I know...LAMO! And somebody was a little too excited, because the alarm went off at 6:00am. Such a rude awakening! We woke up the boys and texted daddy to come back and join us and dug into the presents.

Christmas time is so much fun with a little boy. He soaks in all the excitement and holds onto it for days. He didn't like waiting for everybody to take turns opening presents, so eventually he was opening them whenever he felt like it. He got to do Christmas twice and was totally spoiled. It was a good day.

We got to talk to Skyler on Christmas day. It's always fun to talk to your missionary! I love to see and hear the change that happens within each of them, as they leave a boy and change into a man. It was great to talk to him and hear his voice, but it's even better that he will be home in just 5 weeks! Hurray!

Christmas was so fun. Our vacation was great. But it has been even better to be back home just our little family together again. The simple life, just being us.

Big Sigh. . .

This post warrants a really really really big sigh!
So.........SIGH!!!!
Ok...now that that's over with, here we go.

So we are all ready to go out on errands and head out to the garage to get in the car. Funny thing, the garage door is frozen shut. Imagine me, squatting down over my belly pulling with all my might with no success. What do you do when your manual garage door won't open? Well, you grab the snow shovel and beat the poo out of the gravel under the doors edge until it's clear. Then you squat down one more time, and with all your might, heave and ho until it opens. I'm sure it was quite a sight:)

While on errands, Peyson was very well behaved. I was very impressed. He thinks he is big enough to walk now instead of riding in the cart. I gave it a shot and he was so good. When we were done shopping we went to the library...Peyson's favorite place. We picked out books, movies, and a puppet. It was my turn to find a book, I was on the phone with my mom and right as I picked the book off the shelf, Peyson disappeared. So I hung up and went to find him. Just on the other side of the book shelf where I was, I found him, behind a desk, spraying Goo Be Gone ALL. OVER! I peaked over the desk to see what damage was done...and damage there was. We went to the bathroom to get some paper towels, and when I got back to clean up his fun, I found the extent of his masterpiece. It would be easier to list what didn't get sprayed. He got what looked like a brand new book, opened to somewhere in the middle. He got the phone and the stack of sticky notes next to it. He got the nice leather chair and the keyboard. And guess what else? The computer monitor. Ya...the computer monitor. I sat him in the chair out of his path of destruction and in my sight so he couldn't make matters worse. I started wiping up the oily mess hoping nothing was ruined. The women who occupies this desk came and started cleaning as well. I began apologizing profusely until it sounded stupid and meaningless. When all that could be done was done, I made Peyson say sorry too. I don't think he understood that what he did was bad until I made him say sorry. I left my name and number in case anything needed replaced.

Lets just say I may or may not be replacing a computer monitor.

As we walked out to the car I explained to him that what he did was very naughty and that if he couldn't be a good boy at the library we couldn't go anymore and that he was not allowed to touch things that weren't his. He knew he was in trouble. As I was strapping him into his car seat, I looked down at him and saw him looking up at me with his "I'm really cute, please don't be mad" smile. That always gets me, but I told him that wasn't going to work this time. He said ok and kept smiling at me. I hate that! It's really hard to be mad at that face!

It's just a computer right? But a computer we can't afford...hmph. I sure hope her call never comes!

Spoons

We moved in to an amazing neighborhood! Jam packed with amazing people and super fun traditions. They started a tradition long before we arrived, we were lucky to be invited.

At Christmas time they have a caroling party...everybody bakes yummy cookies and everybody piles on the flat bed trailer. They pick a route in the ward and off they go, singing and delivering cookies. But that's not all. When all the cookies are gone the party continues at the Falslev home with snacks and hot cocoa. The kids are banished to the basement or upstairs, while the adults join in a game of Spoons! And trust me, being banished is the safest, see the adult game is much like a war zone...not safe for children...or the adults really. It gets pretty feisty. But way too much fun!

So while the kids are entertaining their selves, and totally being neglected:) the adults are battling it out, head butts, cuts and bruises, breaking fingers and spoons, ripping cards and lots of laughing, all in the name of J-O-Y.

The pictures don't portray the intensity. You would have to be there at this particular game to understand. I mean seriously, they have a trophy!

See? The passing of the trophy:)
So obviously I didn't win. It was interesting to play with my big belly, and most likely, if I wasn't sitting next to my sweet Derek who would occasionally flip a spoon my way, I probably would have been J-O-Y(ed) out much sooner than the top 5. But I did hold my own at least half the time:) I had to sit sideways, it was the only way I could reach the middle where the spoons were. My hip was cramping after a while but it didn't stop me from trying.

It would have been cool for the pregnant girl to win, but it just didn't happen:) It's ok though. I can't remember the last time we had so much fun, without kids, with lots of really cool people! And I didn't go into labor:)

Sitting on my Shoulders

You know on TV when people are fighting with a decision in their head between right and wrong but aren't sure what to do, then poof, an angel and a devil appear on each shoulder? I feel like that is happening to me a lot. But with everything. Not just big decisions or life and death situations, or even right and wrong. Just basically every thought that pops into my head. A great thought will arrive in all its angelic heavenly glory...wings and halo included...then the contemplation or rationalization or justification begins accompanied by the little red devil with horns and a tail.

I should take treats to the neighbors just because:)
They won't taste good anyway, and that would require you to get off your bum and make them:(

You should go visit (name withheld), she is sick and not feeling well, probably lonely:)
You would have to take Peyson, which would be a nightmare, or find somebody to watch Peyson...put somebody else out...plus its hard to communicate with (name withheld) anyway and you would be there for hours:(

You should do something sweet for Derek just because:)
Maybe he should do the dishes or clean the bathroom or rub my back!:(

I should add her/him as a friend on facebook to stay in touch:)
Who wants to be friends with you? They will only accept the friend request because they might see you in public and don't want to seem rude:(

Your back hurts A LOT! Maybe you should ask for a blessing:)
Will that really make it any better? Maybe for a second...till I fall asleep:( (seriously...where is my faith on this one?)

You should read to Peyson:)
He's watching a movie right now...don't bug him...you don't feel good anyway...you are off the hook:(

You should do the laundry so you have something cute to wear:)
Eh...I'll just wear my sweats all day, and go nowhere, and hope nobody comes to the door:(

So you see...these are silly little experiences in my every day life that don't have a lot of weight on the outcome. Most of them would benefit somebody else with little expense to me. But even when it will benefit me and only me, I still go through the process. And while these really good ideas pop into my head all day long, sadly, most go unanswered and vanish from my thoughts altogether.

Why is it so easy to allow the little red devil to influence our decisions in such a big way? Why do we allow her to sit on our shoulder anyway? Why don't we act on ideas, PROMPTINGS, when they first enter our thoughts? We all have room to improve...so why do we leave so much room for idle living and selfish activities?