As my Christmas break winds down I come to the realization that I have not blogged about any of the happening in our family since early/mid November.
With a birthday, a baptism, a ballet recital, and of course, Christmas, we have been fairly busy. It was quite fair for me to say, on Christmas Day, that my break was really beginning (9 days after my last final). So here a month by moth explanation of what has been going on here.
NOVEMBER
Josh turned 8 in mid November and he was one excited boy! He always feels that he has to wait the longest for his birthday to come around (Kate is in June and Eric, October). I try to explain to him that he waits as long as everyone else, but, well, you know how logic works with kids.
His favorite part was, obviously, the gifts, and he sat by them while everyone else around him played. He was patient, while being impatient.
We are members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and when a child turns 8 we give them the opportunity to be baptized. Josh made the choice to be baptized and we did this special event on November 20. Josh was baptized by his Dad. It was such a special day. Brandon and I sure are lucky to have such a great kid like Josh as our son. We are so proud of him for making this decision.
For Thanksgiving, Brandon's Grandma came from Ohio to spend some time with everyone. Here is a picture of her with all of her great-grandchildren.
DECEMBER
December brought in Katie's first ballet recital, the reality of finals, the threat of snow (at the same time) and Christmas!
Katie took ballet with Miss Sarah over the fall and LOVED IT!! She tries really hard to do her best at each class and was so excited for her recital. She even performed a solo!! I was amazing to watch her dance with confidence and with pride. She was not afraid and we all loved watching her.
The very next week brought my finals, the kids last week of school (with all of its accompanying parties/gift exchanges) and SNOW!!!!!
Thursday afternoon, the day before my last final it started to snow and it never let up! The picture of the kids playing is from that same afternoon/early evening.
Don't you just love Albuquerque snowmen? All in all, we received 6 inches up in the highest part of the northwest section of the city (where we live). I studied while watching the news hoping for a delay at UNM so that my final would be cancelled. UNM has a policy that if the final is cancelled for a delay or a school cancellation then your grade stands as it was on the last day of class. I was good with that since my final was with my hardest professor in my hardest class at 7:30 in the morning. No such luck as UNM was the ONLY thing running in the city on that Friday morning. But, whether it be a gift for showing up to the exam or my incredible knowledge on the subject, I discovered that I did EXTREMELY well on the test and managed a B+ in the class (I had an 84 before the final). I don't normally acknowledge my grades (because I doubt anyone really cares) but this professor is very difficult and hardly ever hands out A's. I was happy!
Next up came Christmas. I had the great idea that I would make a lot of gifts for people and the kids. Not sure that I will do that again. So stressfull when you cannot devote a lot of time to making them before the 17th of the month. But all went well and we had a nice Christmas.
So that is just all the big stuff that we did. I also...baked through several pounds of butter, flour, and chocolate, took kids to various play dates watched a TON of college football (quack quack) and hung out with friends and family. I also finished painting the bottom half of Katie's room and sewed some curtains for the half bath (that I messed up on and must redo), cleaned out closet and small rooms. I read books that I did not have to report on or remember in anyway. Brandon and I finally made it to Harry Potter and had some other time together (thanks Steph) to take care of things that needed to be done. I also watched a ton of tv and learned to digi-scrap (thanks Steph). It was busy, but it was good.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled life.
