Gingerbread Houses

The girls had a blast building their gingerbread houses. They made a pond with a bear fishing and a rope swing. So fun!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Via Zoom I met with the girls' Cloverleaf teachers. Even though they have only seen my girls 7 times this semester, they know my girls pretty well because they have actually had them for several years.

I especially wanted to talk to Audra's teachers as we are planning on Audra going to the local high school next year. I think that Audra is a straight A student and should take honors for English and History next year. I told them my thoughts and said, "I don't know if I am just being a mom or if I am thinking correctly on this, and I would love your professional opinions."

There were three teachers all in on the call and immediately Ms. Penry said, "Audra is the best student we have ever had at Cloverleaf. She should absolutely be in Honors, 100% that is where she belongs." Her science teacher was also there. That is one area where I don't feel as strongly that Audra is Honors level, but her teacher immediately assuaged those feelings. She immediately said, "Yes, for honors- she is an honors kid. She will be challenged, but she will excel."

It was pretty awesome to hear what they said! I was feeling pretty confident, but that truly made both of us certain that Honors is the path for her to take next year. Her art teacher said that she hopes Audra continues with art because she has a real talent.

When it came to Claire, it was really sweet. They said, "And, likewise with Claire. She is a wonderful student, one of our best. She and Hannah are so great together and work so well together. They could speak up a little more in class, but they are top students." They also talked about her Animaker skills- a computer program they use to make PowerPoint type presentations. They said, "She was by far the first to finish the project and she really excelled in her ability to use it." Her art teacher talked about what a special talent she has for art and how creative she is- which is definitely a gift of hers.

Camille's conferences were also excellent. Here is what her PE teacher said: "She is a very respectful student who always participates in class. She does a great job in all the activities we do." Camille is very shy, but her science teacher said that because of the smaller classes she is more willing to speak up so she is enjoying seeing Camille's personality more. 

So, it was pretty cool to hear how great these kids are doing! They really are pretty special!

Our Family Book of Mormon

This year, our family has done a deep study of The Book of Mormon*, a scriptural account of The Savior (prophecies of Him, His dealings with the people, His birth, death, resurrection, etc) in the Americas from roughly 600 BC-450 AD. As part of this study, we made our own Book of Mormon, drawing a picture for each of the chapters. This is an heirloom I will treasure always!

*I love The Book of Mormon with all my heart. I have read it many times, and each reading brings me closer to Christ and increases my testimony of my Redeemer. It truly is a testimony of Jesus Christ.

 

Baking!

 Whew- baking day!

This is such a wonderful and long day! Ben hates it- it does make a mess, it does take ALL day, it is a major production because I can't do anything just a little bit.

But, the girls were excited and they were a huge help this year. We put on some Christmas music, took a day off of typical school, and baked, baked, baked.

I wasn't sure if people would want homemade goodies with Covid, so I asked some friends and they all said they would eat them. In the end, I decided that Christmas baking brings me joy. And, everybody receives joy getting goodies- even if it ends up in the trash can. So, I decided we would just do it.

What did we make? A lot! Peanut butter balls, Rice Krispies, Peppermint cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge (both with and without walnuts), Grinch cookies, chocolate marshmallow candy canes, Magic Cookie Bars, Eggnog cookies,  and candy cane puppy chow. 

I am happy to report that even though we delivered 47 plates with two more left to go, we have plenty leftover for us to enjoy!

Ice Sculptures

We are trying to find ways to celebrate the holidays in the era of Covid. Evergreen has a bunch of ice sculptures around town, so Ben took the afternoon and we drove up and looked around. It was fun!

Root "Deer"

 Some "deer" friends just dropped off this cutest gift- isn't it so great?

I had literally just been thinking this morning about how different this year is with Covid, but how I'm determined to still make it memorable and wonderful for my family, and hopefully for those around me as well. I know that tensions and stress are off the charts. I know there are concerns about social and emotional health--and those concerns are real and valid.

But I also firmly believe that we can still look for the good and the positive and have a beautiful holiday season, even if it is different.

These reindeer have absolutely made our day and are proof that goodness, kindness, and giving happiness can still occur--even during a pandemic.

Thank you to our friends for the remindeer! (OK, no more puns!)

Renovation

 A couple of months ago I posted this picture on Instagram to get some advice on how to add a few shelves- nothing big, just a couple of shelves to add a little more storage:

The answers were unanimous: Ditch the red and do way more than just shelves. I was told the credenza (which Ben and I LOVE as it is a beautiful piece and it was the first piece of furniture we picked out together) was too small for the space and I needed to think much bigger.

So, off to Ikea I went. I walked around Ikea and I fell in love with this piece the second I saw it. I loved the doors, the look, everything about it. I wanted it to be taller and with drawers, so I said to myself, "if I can get it with drawers, then that is what I am getting."

Originally going into Ikea I thought I wanted Kallax bookshelves, but when I saw them they looked really cheap. That's the thing with Ikea- some of their items look as cheap as they are, but others look really nice. These Besta units that I fell in love with were quite a bit more expensive, but they look so much better. I didn't even call Ben to tell him how much money I wanted to spend (well, actually, I tried but I don't get cell phone reception there, so I had to just make a decision). I really just knew that as soon as I saw the Besta unit, I loved it.

I went over to the Besta section, and low and behold- the employee built me the perfect, exact unit that would fit perfectly into my space and provide tons of storage and look beautiful on the computer. He gave me a long list of things to find in the warehouse, and I got shopping. Sadly, most of the items were not in stock as supply issues have been a major problem because of Covid.

But, we still had a ton of work to do anyway.

Painting the red wall took two days. This is Ben painting, but really it was me who did it- he did the top two inches of each side of the pillar because that's what I couldn't reach. The hardest part was we had to rent a 12 foot ladder from Home Depot. Minivans are amazing and somehow we were able to fit the ladder in the car, but moving that ladder around- wow! It was a pain. But we are very, very happy with how it turned out. 

Camille loved climbing the ladder!

Then, I built a base for the cabinets to sit on. I didn't want the cabinets sitting on the floor, and this way they would look like custom built ins- always a plus. I borrowed power tools from some wonderful friends and used all those skills I honed back in my Habitat For Humanity days.

I had to make several trips to Ikea to get all the parts! In fact, I started this project before Halloween, and just barely finished it today because that's how long it took for the base cabinet doors to come in. It took us an entire day to build the cabinets and secure them to the walls. That was a pain!

Then, I spent an entire day finding studs. I built the shelves- I bought pine wood and stained it. 

Then came the fun part- decorating! Thankfully, the shelves can hold a lot! On the top shelves we were able to put Ben's grandpa's China. His grandpa bought it in Japan a very long time ago, and it's pretty cool to have it on display.

Then, yesterday the doors came in. We put them on last night, and today I placed the final pieces- a glass top- on the top.

It is officially finished, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I can stare at it for hours. It's my favorite part of the house now. There's tons of storage space, it looks stunning, it is just....perfect! It is absolutely everything I ever wanted!

In the end, it was way more money and a much bigger project than I originally bargained for. But, I'm so glad we did it and that my friends talked me into it. This is not a stop gap, this is a long term solution that I think really adds value to our home. At any rate, it makes me so happy!

We ended up selling the credenza for $100. While it was sad at first, I no longer miss it. This is just so much better.