The Happenings

Some of you may be wondering if I survived my snow day with 10 kids since I haven't written since that day. It was a CRAZY day, but I did survive. :-) The kids went out to play 3 different times that day, they watched movies, they played, and they ate, and ate, and ate. It was so quiet the next day when the kids were back in school and I just had Kate and Noah at home!

I went to my first Cub Scout meeting last Wednesday and I learned how to tie a square knot. :-) I am so unqualified to be a Cut Scout leader! I will be learning right along with the boys.

Zoe had 2 basketball games last week and her team won both games. Yay! We missed her away game in Blue Hill on Friday night because Matt and I went out to dinner at Bugaboo Creek (our new favorite datenight spot) to celebrate our 14th anniversary. Zoe scored 2 baskets at that game. Emily and I went to the game on Thursday night. We were all going to go, but Noah was sick that day with a fever and he threw up once, so Matt stayed home with Noah and the rest of the kids.

Kate had a fever on Friday and slept most of the day. The older kids were worried that they were going to get sick too, but they never did.

Eleanor went on a field trip on Thursday with her class to the Farnsworth museum. The kids viewed paintings, played a scavenger hunt game, and they each made a collage mitten ornament. Sounds like a fun time!

My Mom came over Saturday morning to watch the kids while Matt and I helped my grandmother move into her new apartment. She lived in Bradley, which is about 45 minutes from us, so it will be so nice to have her 10 minutes away. She lives right near the schools, so I plan on visiting her often before I go pick up the kids from school, just like I did today. Matt and I helped her unpack a bit on Saturday and I unpacked some more this afternoon. She is liking her apartment already and she has super nice neighbors who have given her a warm welcome. :-)

Emily started a new basketball program on Saturday. This program is run by the rec department and will be every Saturday for an hour until February. Emily will get Christmas off...she was concerned that she would have to go to practice on Christmas.

We had our Branch Christmas party Saturday night. We had a really nice potluck dinner with lots of yummy side dishes and desserts to go along with the ham that was provided by the branch. After we ate, the kids acted out the nativity play. They were so cute and they did a great job! Zoe and Emily were angels, Eleanor was supposed to be an angel, but we forgot her white dress, so she ended up being a sheep along with Kate, and Zach was a shepherd. Noah was a sheep as well, but he clung to me and wouldn't go with the rest of the sheep. Our Primary President, Sunshine sewed CTR on pillow cases and Mere, who is a counselor in the Relief Society made CTR bookmarks to give to the children after the play. All of my kids LOVE their pillow cases! Now Kate and Noah want "real" pillows to put in their pillow cases.

Zoe and I gave talks in Church on Sunday. I was able to work on my talk here and there throughout the weekend and I helped Zoe with her talk on Saturday. This was Zoe's first Sacrament Meeting talk and she did a fabulous job! She tends to talk really fast when she is nervous, but she talked slow and clear and she didn't even sound nervous. We were able to sit up on the stand together during the meeting, which was nice.

So, I am alive and well and busy as usual. :-) This Christmas season is going by too quickly! I feel like it is going to be over before I have a chance to do everything that I want to do! I have Christmas music to listen to, Christmas movies to watch, gifts to buy, gifts to wrap, gifts to send, people to visit, activities to go to, goodies to make, and a Christmas tree to get and to decorate.

I have neglected to mention that all of the beautiful snow that we got last Monday is GONE. The rain has washed it away. I must have a white Christmas. I have ordered snow, but it must come on the weekend or on Christmas Eve!