Traditions

The song, "Tradition," from "Fiddler on the Roof" is on repeat in my head. Hopefully it's stuck in your head now too. Both Andrew and I come from families that make the holiday season special with established traditions.

DITTO TRADITIONS

ABH Premier

The "All Brothers Hike" has been going on for over 20 years now. Although I don't get to go (darn! Camping is life),  Kelly puts a video together with footage of the hike each year. The kids think their dads are celebrities when they see them on the screen.

We were happy to be in WA for the ABH premier earlier this month. To start the night off strong, we typically do a "pizza potluck." This is right up my alley. Everyone brings pizza to share. You can find all the toppings your heart desires (although, why you would want anything other than pepperoni is beyond me?) and people bring pizza from a variety of places, so if Domino's isn't your jam, there are plenty of other options.

Favorite Things Gift Exchange

The adults in the Ditto fam do a favorite things gift exchange for Christmas. I always look forward to it and ponder all year what to buy. This year, I gave Lehi Mills blueberry muffin mix and a candle from Bath and Body Works. As I mentioned in my book post, Andrew gave the book "Project Hail Mary" for his favorite thing. I came home with such a variety of things from our gift exchange-- earings, makeup, food, a journal, and more.

DENNING TRADITIONS

Chips and Salsa

There are always so many sweets around Christmas time. I've been guilty of throwing away perfectly good plates of cookies because I simply can't stomach another sugary dessert. I love that my parents give out chips and salsa to their neighbors. Having something salty to even out my palette during this time of year is needed. All of their neighbors look forward to their salsa each year and we have quite the assembly line going to get the salsa making done as effectiently as possible. I'm usually in charge of filling bags with tortilla chips.

Christmas Eve

This day involves opening matching jammies, acting out the nativity in full costumes, PIZZA, wrapping presents for each other in the same room, usually a Christmas movie of some sort, and games. Yes, you read that correctly. We wrap our gifts for each other all together. It makes it kind of like a game and you'll hear, "Jenna, don't look over here because I'm wrapping your present," and see a plethora of afghan blankets covering gifts. We do our sibling gift exchange that night and thinking about it warms my heart. My siblings are so thoughtful! 

NEW TRADITIONS FOR MY LITTLES

Wrapped Christmas Books

This is a common tradition and I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I'm so happy I did! I didn't have 24 Christmas books, but found a good deal and bought more. I wrapped the Christmas books and placed them under our tree. Each night, the kids traded off opening one story that we read as family. While listening, the children got to eat a piece of chocolate from their advent calendars. This was hands down the best time of day. I'm now quite proud of our Christmas book collection and am avoiding putting it away.

Themed Wrapping Paper

Instead of labeling our kids presents this year, I wrapped their gifts using wrapping paper that I thought they would like. It was pretty obvious which gifts were for James and which ones were Izzy's.

Family Sleepover

To change up movie watching this month, we did special things. The most-liked by far was the family sleepover. We put an air mattress in our room and the kids got to watch, "The Grinch." Who knew this would cause so much excitement!? I don't think they'll always want to sleep near us, so I'll take it while I can. Adding to the extravagence, we went to the movie theater and bought popcorn to eat at our house. Izzy had 3 large bowls of that buttery popcorn. It's hard to stop eating that goodness once you start.

Obviously, we kept some of our old traditions like seeing Santa, decorating a gingerbread house, buying each other presents at the dollar store,etc. 

Can it be December 2022 already?? Experiencing the magic of this time of year is amplified surrounded by children.

2021 in Books

According to Goodreads, I've read 32,048 pages this year and 98 books so far. 100 is a much more round number and I'm sure I'll get there, especially after the long road-trip we're going on.  As someone who has devoted a lot of time to reading, let me share some books I've liked. I forced myself to rate every book I read this year which was challenging for me. Some consider me a harsh critic. 

5 ***** BOOKS

• "Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of Life Uninterrupted" By: Suleika Jaouad--This is about Suleika and her cancer journey. She writes on her blog during this difficult time and connects with people throughout the country. It is heavy, but the message is beautiful. 

• "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less" By: Terry Ryan--Don't judge this book by it's cover or title. It's about a family of 12 trying to get by. Their alcoholic father makes paying bills nearly impossible, but their ingenious mother writes poems and jingles to earn prizes and extra cash. It's also a movie.

• "The Midnight Library" By: Matt Haig--I have thought so much about this book since reading it. It's all about what would have happened to Nora if she had made different life choices. This was relatable. I often second-guess my life decisions. It you want to avoid the f word, don't read this.

• "Other Words for Home" By: Jasmine Warga
• "When Stars Are Scattered" By: Victoria Jamieson
• "Nobody Will Tell You This But Me" By: Bess Kalb
• "Book of Mormon"
• "Doctrine and Covenants"

 4 **** books: 
(I didn't include all of the books I gave 4 stars to because there are too many.)

• "The Last Thing He Told Me" By: Laura Dave-- I couldn't put this one down. It won the Goodreads award for the best mystery & thriller this year. Well deserved.
• "The Chilbury Ladies Choir" By: Jennifer Ryan
• "Encylopedia of an Ordinary Life" By: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• "The Exiles" By: Christina Baker Kline
• "Project Hail Mary" By: Andy Weir--Goodreads winner and I can see why! This book is science heavy. I still found it to be worth my time and read it aloud with my husband who chose this as his "favorite thing" to gift his siblings this year.
• "The Mother-in-Law" By: Sally Hepworth
• "The Holdout" By: Graham Moore-- One chapter is worth skipping.
• "The Inheritance Games" By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• "The War I Finally Won" By: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley --This is the sequel to "The War That Saved My Life." Both books are fabulous.
• "The Four Winds" By: Kristin Hannah
• "Better Than the Movies" By: Lynn Painter--This book has language. It's a charming YA romance book. I immediately made a playlist of all the songs listed throughout the book.

The "Naughty" List 
(Books I enjoyed, but they have language or content, so I don't recommend them to everyone.)

• "The Guest List" By: Lucy Foley. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. That being said, there is language and sex
• "The Rosie Project: By: Graeme Simsion. Watch out for strong language, but this will have you laughing out loud.

The "Nice" List
(Self improvement books I read.)

• "The Self-Driven Child" By: William Stixrud
• "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" By: Dale Carnegie
• "The Gifts of Imperfection" By: Brene Brown

It's important to note that not everyone has the same taste in books and that's okay. If you hate one of my recommendations, I understand and I'm sorry. If you're all about Fantasy, get in touch with my husband and you can chat about Brandon Sanderson for hours. Different books ring true to different people. I have not finished every book I've started this year. It's freeing to finally decide to give-up on a book. One of the books I stopped this year just won a Goodreads award, so clearly it's good. I made it halfway through "The Firekeeper's Daughter" before giving up. 

Another book I stopped is "Cloud Cuckoo Land." It's sometimes painful to quit books. I had such high hopes for this book. At over 600 pages, it requires a lot of time. I finally gave up on page 141. This is a hot book that I've been on-hold of for awhile, but oh well. The jumps between characters, time periods, and genres was too much. I didn't have the energy to devote to reading this at the time and that's okay! 

I'm now a part of 2 book clubs! Lucky me. Last month, my UT county book club read, "Lovely War" By: Julie Berry which I enjoyed and recommend.  My SL county book club read, "Apples Never Fall" By: Liane Moriarty. The family dynamics in the book were spot-on, but the last 70ish pages of the book blew it for me. 

I'm always looking for book recommendations, so shoot me your favorite titles and I'll add them to my road-trip list. I'll be reading, "The Out of Sync Child" By: Carol Stock Kranowitz because there's always more to learn about parenting. Here's to hoping that my kids are entertained on the drive for hours on end and let me read to my hearts content. 

Online Shopping

Call me a millenial, homebody, or even go as far as using the word lazy, but I do a lot of online shopping. It's so convenient. It has its drawbacks though.

Might I suggest refraining from ordering wrapping paper online? I've had two mishaps. My first online wrapping paper order didn't even come on a roll. It was wrapping paper folded into a rectangle instead. Why did I even attempt to buy more wrapping paper, months later? Because it was cute. Guess what happened this time though? Fortunately, the paper actually came on a roll, but it was mini. It was half the size of a regular sized roll of wrapping paper. This was probably stated somewhere, but clearly I didn't notice. It has been an adventure wrapping items with such short paper and honestly, it would have been worth the hassle to just return it.

I do have one success story buying wrapping paper online from a couple of years ago. I found a killer Cyber Monday deal and purchased wrapping paper in bulk. We delivered the wrapping paper to neighbors for Christmas. It's good to know I'm capcable of buying functional wrapping paper. From now on, I'll be hesitant before ordering any "cute" wrapping paper and read all the size descriptions. You should do the same.

Grocery shopping online has been a game changer for me, even pre Covid. Managing 2 rascals and pushing a heavy cart, all while trying to stay underbudget, is nearly impossible. To be fair, my online grocery buying habits started pre-kids. Teaching full-time is exhausting and grocery pick-up seemed like the answer. Ordering groceries online helps my budget stay on track too. Those impulse buys while strolling through the aisles don't happen. I'm able to see my total and adjust my cart without having to embarass myself in front of a cashier. 

My biggest complaint with grocery pickup is that someone else picks out my produce for me. Some of my personal "shoppers" are thorough and choose just what I would. Others don't even bother to put apples, onions, or other produce items in the special clear bags. They're simply tossed into a regular grocery sack. This is disappointing.

The best perk about online grocery shopping is the substitutions. If Walmart is out of an item, they always give you a better brand than the one you originally asked for. For instance, this week, "Great Value" spaghetti noodles were sold-out, so instead, I got the "Barilla" brand--fancy. Additionally, Walmart gave me 2 packages of noodles instead of just the 1  I asked for, due to the inconvenience. Walmart, you can substitute my items anytime! Well, scratch that. One time I ordered 6+ cans of enchilada sauce, and instead of mild, hot sauce was substituted. No thanks! It took months to get through those cans and I think I eventually donated them. Could I have just said no to the hot enchilada sauce substitution? Yes.

After unloading groceries once, I noticed my milk was missing! I drove back to the store to pick it up and the worker told me to pick out anything in the store because of this error. Obviously, the first thing that came to mind was my favorite candy bar. If only I'd asked for a new 60 inch TV. Lesson learned. 

Last week in my grocery pickup order, I bought Crisco among other things. When I took the Crisco out, it was mini. Seems to be a theme! Did I intend to do buy such a small amount of Crisco? No. I can maybe make one batch of cookies with that much Crisco. Online shopping is making me re-train my brain. I can't always go for the cheapest item! I have to consider that it's probably so affordable due to the size. 

Let me show off my latest online shopping find. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Thank you, Black Friday for saving me over $300 dollars on this beauty. She's a keeper and adds the perfect pop of color in my home. Seeing the kids reaction to this new rug was unforgetabble. Izzy elegantly danced and twirled on the rug and James pulled out acrobatic moves I didn't know he had. We can now kneel again for family prayer, pain-free. 

The rug is from Wayfair

I seem to have a love-hate relationship with shopping online, but I'll take it. The good in this relationship far outweighs the bad. I'm eager to begin my next search for light fixtures all while in the comfort of my pajamas and warm sheets.

Hosting Thanksgiving

We intended to spend Thanksgiving in Spokane this year. Our plans changed when we learned that my mom has breast cancer. The doctor operated to remove the cancer on Tuesday, November 23. Being away from my mom during this time was unfathomable. We cancelled our WA trip. My sister Jill dropped everything and flew in from MA to be here too. One perk of this cancer news is that all of my siblings were able to be together for Thanksgiving which was special! 

My kind mom tried to suggest that she would be up for hosting Thanksgiving dinner 48 hours post-surgery. I shut her down and volunteered to have everyone over at our new house. 

I had so much help with the food! I didn't even have to make the turkey! (Although, that didn't stop me from getting my free turkey at Winco after spending over $100 in groceries.) My brother Jeff smoked brisket which was incredible. Apparently brisket is popular because he had to go to several different stores to find some. We all appreciated his sacrifice to make this! I think he said he was up checking on the meat 4x throughout the night. Can brisket become a new tradition? 

I made: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies, Pumpkin Bread, Deviled Eggs, Green Beans, Mac and Cheese, and Mashed potatoes. If you're looking for a fatty, but spectacular mashed potato recipe, try this one: Unhealthy Potatoes. I think cooking the potatoes in chicken broth makes a difference. 

Chris took on the turkey! He even did a practice turkey earlier in the week. It paid off-- the turkey was very moist. Joel was in charge of drinks and he went all out! The drinks took up an entire table. The homemade strawberry lemondae was divine. Strawberry Lemonade Recipe. (Minus the basill) Jill made sweet potatoes, a Thanksgiving classic that the Dennings don't always have. Lindsey made so much food! Her pies were scrumptous! Lemon typically isn't my thing, but after eating Lindsey's lemon pie, my mind has been changed. Recipe Here. Mentioning every dish that we had would be impossible. 

It was truly a feast. We had oodles of leftovers! My siblings were teasing me because I instantly started making shepherd pie casseroles with all the remaining food. (The Dittos taught me that.) Jessica even came over and decorated the tables for me!  We had an abundance of flowers, due to lots of well wishes for my mom. My siblings assisted so much and I couldn't have done it without them! I'm a newbie at hosting Thanksgiving, and found myself frantically texting my mom questions like: "Do you heat up cranberry sauce?" Even with so much help, I was very worn out by the end of the day. I have a new appreciation for everyone who hosts Thanksgiving! 

In the past, my mom has had us do some type of service on Thanksgiving. I wanted to make sure that happened this year. With the help of everyone, we were able to make Afghan refugee kits. We put together 30 kits. Some were cleaning kits which included: all-purpose cleaner, disinfectant wipes, sponges, etc. Some of the other kits we made were paper-goods kits which included: toilet paper, paper towels, ziplocks, etc. We donated the items to Lifting Hands International. 

Something else that comes with hosting is entertaining. I looked into various holiday games. We ended up playing a "Price is Right Thanksgiving" version. Apparently, I made it too hard. We played "Price is Right" rules, and nobody could go over the total price. Everyone did, but Chris was within a couple of dollars. Uno, and Thanksgiving Charades were popular with the kids. It was also wonderful for my kids to discover that they still do have a trampoline. Thank you Simon and Esther for actally wanting to jump on it. My parent's did a craft with the children and made turkeys out of apples, marshmallows, and gumballs. The turkeys turned out cute! 

After the surgery, we learned that my mom's cancer is more advanced than the doctor expected. I was grateful to be in UT when we got this news. Thanksgiving was a nice distraction.

I have so much to be grateful for. It was touching to listen to everyone share what they're thankful for this year. I talked about how blessed I feel that we moved. I love living so close to family and it helps that our house is beautiful. Obviously, we're all extremely grateful for my mom and that her cancer was found early-on. Someone at the dinner table brought up how thankful they are that COVID and politics haven't broken our family apart. Amen to that! Now that I have my first time hosting Thanksgiving under my belt, bring on more! I don't know the next time that all of us will be together for Thanksgiving, so I will look back on this year fondly.

Frozen

Our "Frozen" tickets, dated for May 2, 2020, were finally used on November 13, 2021-- a year and a half later. Because of the pandemic, the show got post-poned.

My mom surprised the girls with tickets to see "Frozen" at Eccles Theater in Salt Lake. When she purchased the tickets, Izzy was a tiny baby, so she didn't get Isabelle a ticket. It worked out that Isabelle was able to go. Watching Isabelle's reaction to the show was the best part of the evening.

Mom, Alexa, Jessica, Grandma Langlois, Izzy (in her Anna dress), 

me, and Grandma Lynda

The show started at 8:00pm which is quite late for a 2-year-old. It's pretty late for me too. We had big plans to get Izzy to nap before going, but she didn't agree. I didn't know how she would do being up so late. I couldn't have asked for a better behaved toddler. No big meltdowns, bathroom incidents, or heavy eyes. She stayed awake for the entire thing! We didn't get home until 11:45pm. She definitely snoozed in the car.

Isabelle sat on laps for the majority of the show, even though she had her own seat with a cushy booster. I didn't mind having her on my lap because I got to experience her reactions firsthand. She was so excited. She exclaimed loudly in the middle, "Is that magic!?" When asked what her favorite part of "Frozen" was, Izzy said, "the dancing!" No surprises there. She also wanted to know if Elsa and Anna were real. Before the show, Isabelle went on a walk and saw the orchestra pit. Izzy thought that there were ghosts and monsters hiding there. She insisted on going back to look at the orchestra pit again during intermission, just to be sure. 

They went all out with the show! I was extremely impressed! Gloves went flying, dresses were changed in the blink of an eye, and during "Let it Go" there was basically a full-on light show. Someone was even dressed in Sven's reindeer costume. Boy, that must have been hot. Olaf lived up to his part well. I guess they had plenty of time to make this show so spectacular during the months of cancellations. Their hard work showed.

I drove. Why am I telling you this? Well, you see... there was a parking garage incident. I can laugh about it now, but in the moment, it was stressful. As soon as we turned into the parking garage, I noticed a steep hill. It wouldn't have mattered if we didn't have to stop multiple times on the hill due to traffic. Can you see where this is going? I noticed that some of the cars ahead of me started to roll backwards everytime they started going. Well, the same thing happened to me. We rolled back each time I took my foot off the brake. It was scary!

At first, the car behind me was extremely close. They learned their lesson and gave me more room from then on. I realize now that I should have used both feet on the pedals to prevent the rolling from happening. I'm sure you don't believe me, but I actually can drive a stick shift. I'll admit, if you were neraby, you definitely heard my tires squeeling. You could probably even hear my heart pounding for that matter. 

By the time we made it to the top of the never-ending-hill, the worker chipperly asked how I was doing. I pretended I was good but inside my head I was thinking:"Sir, I'm shaking and nearly plowed backwards down this abrupt hill. Can you tell that my arm is trembling as I hand you the credit card to pay to park in this autrocity?" Whew, the hill is over.

What an enchanting evening. The parking garage incident couldn't even ruin it. Thanks, Mom! It was worth the long wait. Izzy is now going to have an extremely high bar for plays.

A Witch Cast a Spell on Us

If I have to wipe another runny nose, clean up more puke, get a wake-up call from a sick child in the middle of the night, or get glared at because my children aren't covering their deep coughs properly, I may scream. Apparently we made a witch angry this month and to get vengeance, she cast a terrible spell on us. My kids have never been so ill.

It's a fact that this sickness has taken up the bulk of the month of October. We have had to cancel so many plans it makes me depressed, and no I wasn't being abundantly cautious. Izzy missed 2 weeks of nursery, James missed multiple days of preschool including a field trip, and Isabelle missed back-to-back weeks of ballet. Andrew and I had to cancel a treasured game night with friends, an outing to the pumpkin patch, a dinner with our niece and nephew from BYU, the list goes on.

Here's the nitty gritty because I'm sure you're dying to hear all about bodily fluids. It all started back on Sunday, October 10. Izzy woke up and immediately threw-up. It was just a one-time thing, so we thought we were lucky and had kicked that stomach bug. Boy were we wrong. It became clear Monday morning that James had caught this stomach bug, but to a worse extent. I'll refrain from sharing all the details, but know that he didn't only puke once. The stomach bug seemed to be mostly gone, but then came the next phase of sickness-- horrific deep coughs, runny noses that could create rivers, and fevers. I took the kids to get tested for COVID seeing as how they had about every imaginable symptom. I was relieved when both of their tests were negative and kept hoping things would improve.

The kids hacking and coughing was terrible! We went through so many cough drops, gave the kids medicine around the clock, tried a humidifier, you name it. After the weekend, there still wasn't improvement. Finally, on Monday, October 18 I took the kids to the doctor. Both Isabelle and James had double ear infections. We started 10 days of antibiotics immediately. Isabelle was miserable and looked absolutely terrible with red circles around her eyes. James couldn't get a good night of sleep in due to his constant coughing. I had to hold poor Izzy nearly full-time for 2 days in a row. It was sad to watch my kids feel so miserable. Let's just say our TV got good use this month which meant I got to read even more. (2 of my favorite reads were "The Mother In Law" and "The Book of Lost Names." Both are clean.) One perk of this sickness was super early bedtimes-- like 6:30. Another silver lining is that a good chunk of our Christmas shopping is done thanks to online shopping!

Just when the kids were finally starting to be able to breathe without strain, I got their cold and cough, and then Andrew. The illness dragged on. I lost my voice for a couple of days. Even after 10 days of antibiotics, the kids still have their coughs! Things seemed to be looking up but then on Thursday, October 28, James was acting weird and took 2 naps. He woke up Friday, October 29 and threw up. Will the sickness ever end!? Thankfully, we're ok now. Although, there were some sniffles and sneezes even today. 

I think I can blame the daycare I had the kids try for all of these sick germs. They will not be returning. One day was enough. The children haven't really been sick in the last year and a half which plays into it as well. Their bodies aren't used to fighting. We all eagerly got our flu shots this week (James had to be pinned down while kicking and screaming) and are hoping for healthier days ahead.

Here wicked witch, you didn't manage to ruin our Halloween, so there!

I'm in Love

I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who knows it! I will shout it from the rooftops! To Andrew, yes I'm in love with you and have been for nearly a decade. Sorry, but that's old news. To my new vinyl flooring, you hear me. You know I love you and I have been waiting for your installation since July 2.

We can now walk barefoot without being in pain. Our feet are relieved to be rid of the jagged tile edges. 

We can now get more barstools for our island and not have to worry about the fact that carpet falls up against it. Who puts carpet in a kitchen!?

We can now walk on clean floors. No matter how many times I tried, our old tile and spotted carpet never felt immaculate. Black, dirty feet were the norm around here.

We can now hear our children's echoes and the piano acoustics even more.

We can now use our washer and dryer again! I have never been more excited to do a load of laundry.

We now have a working oven! You better believe I made both muffins and cookies within hours of that puppy being plugged back in. I didn't get to making dinner, but priorities...

The process: 

The tile removal was incredibly dusty. I'm still finding dust as I open blinds, cupboards, and the pantry. 

We were told to expect this flooring project to take 2 weeks-- it was a big project. They removed carpet in the office, playroom, piano room, hallways, and family room. The workers also took out tile in the kitchen, entryway, laundry room, and bathroom. Lucky them. It's hard to explain the amount of joy I felt when I learned they worked so hard that they would finish the project in only 1 week! I felt like we were camping and everything was displaced. I'll let you in on a little secret... Okay, it's not so much of a secret. I'm vocal about the fact that I dislike camping. 

We ate many meals in our garage on camping chairs. Our trampoline box was a great makeshift table.

We ate cereal every morning on a blanket on the floor in the master bedroom. Dreamy.

The kids limited T.V time went out the window. We were locked in the master bedroom for hours on end. What else were we to do? Our master bedroom is humungous and we were able to store lots of the furniture from other rooms in there. (A couch, 2 end tables, a bookshelf, the piano, extra lamps, a filing cabinet, a chest, etc.)

I walked above my average amount of steps that week. Our walks grew longer because we were in no rush to get back home. 

Did I mention how loud it was? The first night, I had a headache and ringing ears. They sure did have to pound hard to remove that stubborn tile.

We still haven't gotten rid of all the flies that were let in while the doors were left open for days on end. Nothing like nature and the great outdoors... Love me some bugs.

Antonio and his teammate worked tirelessly! They were here for 12 plus hours a day, and bedtime got delayed which is rare around here. Antonio even enlisted the help of his wife and FIL one evening. They were enamored by Isabelle and said she has "princess eyes." Lack of sleep always adds to a good camping trip.

I taught piano lessons in the master bedroom. "Why hello, students! Do you fancy my bed?"

The toilet in our half bathroom was removed. The bathroom situation might be the WORST part of camping. Hmm, it's the middle of the night. Let me find a flashlight to make the trek through the wilderness to a smelly stall. (if there even is one)

We appreciate all the help we had during this time. Some friends had us over for dinner, my mom brought us dinner, and family helped us move our appliances not only once, but twice. I also enlisted Jessica and Lindsey's expertise to help me pick the color for the floors which was stressful for me. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars and not love the end result.

This is where we started.

This is where we are now.

I've never been so eager to mop! Even before all the big footprints disappeared from our new floors, I knew we made the right choice. 

The end result is LOVE. Pictures don't truly capture love, so you'll have to come visit or use your imagination. Vinyl flooring, you were worth the wait!

Smidgens and Dabs

I have been racking my brain trying to think about what to write and what we've been up to. Now that I look back at this month, we haven't had a spare second. I'll give you some "smidgens and dabs" of what has been going on for each of us.

Family

    1. Labor Day Weekend. I didn't want this long weekend to be completely lame (or filled with yardwork as most weekends are), so I got planning. On Saturday, we saw the new "Paw Patrol Movie." James ate up every second of that movie. It was cute to see James so excited. We  got popcorn and I didn't know Isabelle was capable of eating so much. I thought she was going to get sick.

    On Labor Day, we went hiking. We hiked the Willow Lake Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Full disclosure here-- I was disappointed. Many online reviewers said they saw Moose, but we weren't lucky enough to. Also, the water/lake at the end of the hike was nearly non-existent. Apparently it's best to go earlier in the year. It was great to get out as a family though! I love how friendly people are when you see them hiking. Unfortunately, we thought we'd be warm enough and left our jackets in the car. (Big mistake) The hike back to the car was much warmer though since the sun decided to come out.

    2. New sod. I have been watching Facebook Marketplace like crazy in search of free sod. I found some less than a mile from our house and jumped on it. The timing made for an extremely busy week, but we couldn't pass up the free sod. Watering the new grass has kept us busy. We will need to get sprinklers figured out for that area in the spring. The sod didn't cover the entire space, but we'll get more eventually. We're very grateful for all the free sod we got.

   3. Dropping off Jacob at the MTC. We were able to spend some time with Jacob before he had to go to the MTC. I made lasagna and rolls for dinner. I also found a fantastic deal on a brand new trampoline that day, so after dinner, Andrew and Jacob put the tramp up. It was perfect timing to get the trampoline up the night before Andrew left for his brother's hike. Later, Andrew and Jacob went to Winco and we played Munchkin. Jacob is a quick learner-- that game is intense! Wednesday morning we went on a walk, had Papa Murphy's for lunch, and stopped by Sodalicious on our way to the MTC. Jacob had never been before and was a fan. James was extremely sad to say goodbye to Jacob and cried a lot.

    4. Simon's Baptism. This event was already post-poned once, so we were extra glad it could happen. It was a special day. The spirit was strong, especially when Lindsey spoke and Jessica played the violin. The doughnuts afterwards were the best I've ever had which is saying something. (I've had more doughnuts than I should admit.) Hit up Day's Market in Provo.

    5. Oquirrh Mountain Temple. When we drive to preschool, we have a spectacular view of the Oquirrh Mountain temple. The kids thought it was called the "Ogre Mountain Temple" and were not thrilled because in James' words, "I don't like ogres!" It was hard to want to correct how they said the temple name. I explained to the kids that Andrew and I got married there and they have asked many times to go visit. We finally made it happen and had family home evening on the temple grounds. We brought pizza and took a walk around. It was an unforgettable night.

Andrew

• Recently moved offices for work. His company recently got some exciting news and Andrew now gets the last Friday off every month. I put him to work on his first Friday off and substitute taught while he stayed with the kids. We then went as a family to the rec center pool since we now have passes.
• Played on a Softball Team with Chris (BIL), Jake (my cousin), Doug (my uncle). Joel (my brother), and others. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. I had big plans to, but their team had to forfeit the last 2 games because they didn't have enough players. The kids cheered so loudly for Andrew and it was precious! Andrew was the pitcher for many games and was good at that. One night (when we weren't there of course), he hit a home run! Unfortunately, all the other teams in the league were much better, and Andrew's team got destroyed every game. (Like 23-3 not joking. It was sometimes painful to watch.)
• Drove to Boise and went on ABH. He forgot his hiking boots in his car, but was able to borrow some hiking sandals. Andrew talked about this when he spoke in church on Sunday. I spoke as well.

Jenna

• Found a friend in the ward and neighborhood that I love-- Valerie. Valerie invited me to join her Book Club and I had the best time. I also convinced Valerie to try High Fitness with me. We go to High Fitness together every Wednesday. We do lots of playdates and even went to the adult session of Stake Conference together (since both of our husbands happened to be out of town). 
• Enjoys listening to Andrew read aloud the book, "Project Hail Mary." Andrew talks in accents that are out of this world. Finding a book we both want to read is rare, but this one was on both of our lists.
• Loves subbing!

James

• Had to say goodbye to one of his best friends, Philip, who moved to Oregon. Luckily, he got to go to Philip's pirate birthday party before they hit the road. James and Philip have been friends since they were babies. Shaylee and I started the book club in Pleasant Grove together (which is still going strong even though both of us have moved).

Isabelle

• Started ballet. She's only gone once and I promise I will get pictures. It's absolutely adorable to watch her. She has so much fun dancing and did not want to leave at the end. Often at home, she asks google to turn on ballet music and wears her "ballet dress."

Life keeps us on our toes, but I prefer it that way. Our home is currently a construction zone and our tile and carpet are gone! I'm so eager to see the end of this project. Don't worry, I'll show you everything!

The Countdown is Over

It's finally September 9th! James started Pre-K today. When I mentioned preschool about a month ago, James' reaction was not quite what I hoped. He was scared. Since then, I've worked hard to change his perception and talk him through his fears. Last year, James enjoyed preschool most of the time, but sometimes fought going.

I started a new tradition. James got to go back-to-school shopping with me. It was a mommy-son date. James got to pick where we ate dinner, and he got to choose some new clothes. My day was made when James picked Cafe Rio for dinner. I splurged and got James a quesadilla with meat. James was giddy as we strolled through Target and definitely had his eyes set on specific things. The best part of the evening may have been the fashion show when we returned home. James loved showing off his new clothes and Izzy was ecstatic for him. (I expected jealously and was pleasantly surprised.) I explained one thing to James-- he had to wait to wear his new clothes until preschool began. Suddenly, going to preschool wasn't so bad after all. Mission accomplished.

We created a paper-chain countdown to help James visualize how many more days until preschool. James' feet were itching to break in his new Paw Patrol shoes and he eagerly put them on this morning, several hours before school began. He even considered an outfit change, but I convinced James that the outfit he had on looked perfect. 

Since we didn't know where our new home would be, I was later than some to sign-up for preschool. This meant that all the morning preschool spots were taken. At first I was disappointed, but I've since realized it might be a good thing. Afternoons go by slowly for me, so breaking them up will be a relief. James has preschool on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoons for two and a half hours. So far, I've been impressed with his preschool. There are only 9 kids in his class which might be my favorite part. Andrew pointed out that this preschool is over double the price of his last preschool, so no wonder it's better.

Getting a good picture turned out to be quite challenging. Izzy didn't want to stay away and I haven't found "the spot" to take photos at our new house yet. Isabelle can't wait for the day she gets to go to preschool and told me many times that she is big enough to go now! Luckily, I was able to convince her that coming home with me would be worth it-- I painted her nails and we ate chips and dip together. 

Classic Andrew face. Notice Izzy's feet.

In addition to going to preschool, we're supplementing and doing a free, at-home preschool program called Upstart. I actually interned at Upstart back in the day and know a lot about the program. Kids learn to read using the computer for 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Watching James learn brings me so much joy. He's curious and is catching onto letters quickly. He even wrote his name on his own this week. At first I wondered what I got myself into when James couldn't maneuver the mouse at all. Thankfully, that was short lived and I no longer need to click for him.

When I picked James up from preschool, the first thing he told was, "Someone told me they like my whole outfit. First, they told me they like my Spiderman shirt, but then they said they like everything." Maybe I put too much emphasis on the clothes this year, but I hope the excitement for learning and school stays. I just hope Miss Debbie can handle James' smarts and energy. 

Here's to a wonderful, tear-free school year for James!

Bye Bye Bye

We've said lots of goodbyes lately. Some of the goodbyes were sad, but some of the goodbyes were necessary and a huge relief. I'm giddy to be done with: 1) The water feature 2) Diapers. 

1) Water Feature

The water feature in our new backyard has been the bane of my existence. We convinced ourselves that removing it would be an "easy fix." What an understatement that has been. Initially, we were going to wait to tackle this project, but I want a functional backyard for my kids stat.

When you hear the phrase, "water feature" I bet you're envisioning a quaint little pond with some rocks. If only it was. Instead, our water feature (ugh, I hate to claim it) is over 5 tons worth of massive rocks pilled on-top of each other. I imagine at one point it was nice, but it has been neglected by renters for at least 2 years. Needless to say, we decided to hire someone to remove the water feature. About halfway into the project, Alfredo, the man we hired, told us the rocks were too heavy and he couldn't proceed. (He didn't have equipment.) Booooo. We were back to square 1 with a large hole in our wallets and an unfinished project.

Look at this beauty

We attempted to sell the colossal rocks. Even after listing them multiple times, nobody was interested. Can you blame them? The rocks are so humongous you cannot lift them with 4 muscular men. Apparently, "you'll need to haul them yourself" was a turnoff. We were starting to feel desperate and eventually even listed the rocks for free. Our attempts were futile. 

The pics don't do it justice. Note how high up against the fence the rocks go.

In the meantime, we had some other bids to remove the rocks and one was over $7,000. Another bid that was lower, but not quite as low as we wanted (especially since we'd already had to pay Alfredo for doing half of the job). We decided to weigh our options and hold off for awhile. Someone knocked on our door and it was one of the contractors! He said he found a place that would take the rocks for cheaper and came down on the his original estimate. We decided to move forward with Paul and boy am I grateful we did.

The more rocks Paul took out, the bigger they got. We had considered renting some equipment to take this eye-sore of a water feature out ourselves, but decided against it. Thank heavens we didn't go that route. It has been quite the job. The rocks are so gargantuan that some of them could not fit in a Bobcat and Paul had to break the rocks. Imagine having a magnitude 10 earthquake in your backyard. This is what it felt like while he was breaking the rocks. I'm glad we can still hear.

Broken up. This puppy was huge.

We've also drawn a lot of attention to our home. Yes, we're the newbies and we've made sure everyone knows. The rocks were coned off in front of our home for several days, expensive and large equipment have been parked blocking the road, our fences were down, everyone experienced the said earthquake, chips of rocks were scattered, our grass is barely hanging onto life by a thread, and boards covered our grass (for the equipment to drive on).

I anticipated this project being a 1 or 2 day thing. Here we are, over 2 weeks into this mess and the rocks are FINALLY gone. Everything that could work against us did. The biggest rainstorm UT has seen in decades (over 5 inches in less than 2 days) made for a muddy mess, and the Bobcat broke not only once, but twice.

What a thing. Good riddance, ugly water feature. We didn't like you and I think our bank account agrees. We will be planting grass and replacing the useless water feature with something much more kid-friendly immediately. (Hello trampoline or swing-set!) Dirt has never looked so good.

2) Diapers

Isabelle is smart and mature for her age. She talks in full sentences. For awhile now, Izzy tells me right after she dirties her diaper and asks to be changed. She has also asked to go to the bathroom. I put off potty training because of the move. I don't have any excuses anymore, so I went for it. She was seriously SO easy to potty-train. She was definitely ready. She didn't want anything to do with her diapers after picking out special Minnie Mouse and Frozen underwear. 

The first day of potty-training was disastrous. I thought, "what was I thinking?" so many times. I eventually even put a diaper back on Isabelle. She hadn't had one success going in the potty and had only had accidents. She asked for her underwear to be put back on later in the afternoon and had a successful potty trip. All hope wasn't lost. She woke up the next morning and went #2 in the potty. Day 2 of potty-training was a whole different story. She caught onto the idea quickly and ran with it. I even took Izzy to a park, IKEA, etc, all within the first couple of days of potty-training and she kept her underwear dry and even used public restrooms. In my experience, potty-training a girl was definitely easier.

My big girl. Thanks mandiraephotography

Here are some of my potty-training tips. I'm no expert and truly think the timing and child play into this process far more than the teacher:

• Read lots of stories beforehand about going to the bathroom. 
• I did not teach Isabelle to go to the bathroom using a small-sized toilet. From the get-go, I put her on the normal sized potty without an additional seat. I learned with James that using a toddler sized toilet added another step and transitioning to a regular sized toilet was tricky.
• I used lots of skittles to reward success and I bought my favorite kind because I deserved a skittle just as much as Izzy did. Potty-training is no joke. 
• Be positive. Compliment any possible thing you can. "Thanks for stopping your pee and putting the rest in the potty!" Don't ever react negatively. Izzy felt really bad every time she peed on herself and would cry. She didn't need any additional comments to make her feel worse.
• Plan a time to get out and leave, so your partner gets the chance to tackle potty-training with your child. Potty-training took about every ounce of patience my body has.

ADIOS DIAPERS. You will not be missed.

Soon, we'll be saying yet another farewell. Can it be September 27th already? We're delighted to say bye to our jagged tile and the carpet that lies up against our kitchen island. The 72 boxes of vinyl are patiently awaiting their install. I'm getting good at goodbyes.