So long, farewell

To 2011, that is. It's been a good year, but that's not a surprise. I have a wonderful husband, two daughters that bring me so much joy, a comfortable (although usually messy) home, a job I enjoy with coworkers I like, good health, supportive and loving family members always willing to help us out, and my two furry, four-legged kids, Alley and Loki.

Biggest surprises of the year? I never would have dreamed that we'd buy a second home! Or that Kari and Rainier would give us a new nephew!

Looking ahead to 2012? The obvious one is finishing the new house and getting it rented - without overspending, marital tension, or trips to the ER. I also want to get back on track with exercising and eating well, but I'm already registered for a sprint triathlon on my birthday and a repeat of the muddy obstacle course in the summer!

Strange things are happening

Kennedy told me that she wanted to make a special day for me, but that I had to stay in bed. Jake had already left for work, and I could hear the girls downstairs in the kitchen playing "guess the villain I'm thinking of." Kennedy had already gotten dressed by herself and made her bed. Next thing I know, she's serving me breakfast in bed! She fixed a bowl of Cheerios for herself and Macy, and then brought one up to me. Apparently she used a chair to climb onto the counter in order to reach the bowls and cereal. She even managed to pour the milk without spilling. My only complaint, if I'm being picky - mine was a bit soggy. All three bowls must have been poured at the same time, but mine sat out while the girls ate. At least it was a small bowl. Kennedy is so thoughtful and loves to do nice thing for others. I couldn't be more proud of her.

 

Just now she said to me, "Mama, I don't want you to wake up until I say for you to. Just like we did the other day, okay?" Looks like I'm in store for some special treatment for the new year.

The weather on Friday was so nice. Temperatures were in the 50s! It felt more like spring than the end of December. Our neighbors were outside trying to fly a kite. We saw golfers out playing in shorts! It was nice to have the day off for the holiday. We did some things around the house and went to Whole Foods where I bought crab legs of all things! I'm not sure why I let the fish counter guy talk me into that!

Some very slow progress is being made on our new house. Jake and I took out all the sub-floor in the bathroom (which felt like progress in the wrong direction), but with some help from Ben and Brent, it has been replaced, along with the pieces cut out of the kitchen wall and floor. I also did some serious paint scraping to reveal a beautiful swan patterned wallpaper in the bathroom. Today I had the important job of getting sandpaper, plumbing parts (which come to find out Home Depot does not carry), and a bucket of chicken. Luckily, I made it back from my errands in time to hear the end of the Utes bowl game...they won in overtime!

Macy was not nice tonight. I know she didn't have a nap, but that is not an excuse for the beating she gave Kennedy. In the tub, Macy was upset about not getting the washcloth she wanted, and started hitting Kennedy with a toy torpedo. I pulled her out, sat her on the potty to cool down, but then gave her a second chance - with the warning that if she hit again she would be going straight to bed. Well, something else set her off and she started hitting again. Macy was not happy with me, but I followed through (something they talked a lot about at a positive discipline presentation at her school.) I don't know how to put a stop to this behavior. She is like Jekyll and Hyde lately.

Care Bears

Last night we got the keys to our new house. The girls are calling it "Ryan's House." He's our real estate agent (and the father of a boy who was in Kennedy's class last year), and has always been there with us. I guess it's hard for a kid to understand why anyone would need a second house, especially if they don't ever live there. When we pulled into the driveway, there were some people out caroling a few doors up the street. They were singing Macy's favorite Christmas song, "Jingle Bells." We listened until they finished and then went inside to put in a few new light bulbs, set up a timer for a lamp, tape up some broken windows in the basement (I mentioned that this house needs a lot of work, right?), and set off a bug fogger.

When we were driving away, Macy asked, "Where are the Care Bears?" The what? "The Care Bears!" Oh, do you mean the singers? "Yes, the Care Bears!" Ah, they are called carolers, and they went inside because it's cold and snowing.

Kennedy

I'm always amazed at how observant Kennedy is. Last week after ballet class, we went to the little framing store next door. She noticed a painting up on the wall and pointed out that it's just like the one Kathy and Tim have in St. George, but it's not exactly the same. True enough, it was a work by the artist Fritz. When I told my mom the story she remembered being amazed at Kennedy's ability to see cars just like the one I drive (a Honda CR-V), even in other colors, but know that it wasn't my car when she was just a little over a year old. She's very good at the search and find books like "Where's Waldo" and it got to the point where our villains and princesses game was getting too easy for her. Now we play it more like 20 questions. There's nothing like Disney characters to build a child's capacity for logical reasoning, right?

Monday night she was playing by herself in her room. Kennedy had set up a school and she was the teacher. There were about six different Montessori-like works laid out. She wanted to show me how to do the Pink Baby work. First you take all the blankets out of the basket. Then you spread out the biggest one, making sure the "U" is facing up, in the basket. Next you fold one of the smaller ones to make a pillow. Then you carefully put in Pink Baby. Then you cover her up and tuck her in. Then you have to prepare her food by laying out the place mat, bowl, spoon, and bottle. It was all very deliberate and well planned.

Last night Kennedy decided to do her own workout while we had our training session with Jake Phippen. She must be paying attention when we're down there because she was doing some pretty advanced stuff. I was amazed to see her doing the same steps we do back and forth over the little bench. After dinner I suggested we go on an adventure to the Christmas Utah house. Macy was so excited by the music and light display! Kennedy was convinced that this must be Santa's house. She said the Santa in the second story window looked just like the real one, and she waved every time he looked out or walked by. It's actually a projection, but it does look very life-like. I tried to ask her "doesn't Santa live in the North Pole?", but it didn't seem to matter. That was Santa in the window, and she was excited because she was on the nice list. We aren't too sure which list Macy is on yet.

School week

Monday, November 28

Macy had a good morning. She worked on the perception board, read books, and used the dress up clothes. She was very snugly today; she wanted to sit in a lap and just snuggle.

When I took Kennedy into her classroom, it was so cute to hear the kids saying, "Kennedy's back!" I guess they missed her while we were on vacation last week. After school, the girls and I got to meet baby Jonah for the first time - that's what they call him, "Baby-Jonah". He's a sweet, little guy. I was relieved that holding him didn't stir up any kind of crazy ideas of wanting a newborn. I'll be happy to be an aunt to any new babies born in the family. Just as well, the girls didn't want anything to do with him.

Tuesday, November 29

Macy had a great morning. She played with the farm, paper cutting, read stories, and played with the tutu.

Wednesday, November 30

Macy had a good day. We got to play outside today. She enjoyed being outside until she got too cold.

Thursday, December 1

Macy had a great morning. She worked on play dough and played in the gym.

Thursday was windy all day. The newspapers said it was the strongest winds blowing through Utah since 2000. Gale-force winds, reaching 90 mph in some areas, flipped semis, uprooted trees, ripped off roofs, and downed power lines. After we met with the home inspector at our new house (it feels funny to say that!), we spent some time at the Nelsons' since Kari, Rainier, and Jonah are leaving on Monday. Kennedy still didn't want to hold him, but she was much more interested this time. She had her own "Baby Jonah" (but told me, "it's just for pretend, mom") to take care of.