Christmas week

• Lily started eating a meal each time we have one (different food than us),
• Elsie proudly announced to her nursery friends that she had on underpants,
• Timmy found out how to fit all his downstairs cars and dinosaurs into two small plastic bins (thanks Meg),
• Abby gave up the doll house for Elsie’s use,
• Kate gave up her pillows, explaining that she used her stuffed animals to lie on (thanks, Bron),
• Gina finished sewing together granny square stockings for each of the 4 older kids,
• and I switched our main computer over to JAD, a remastered version of OpenSUSE (Linux) optimized for musical composition and performance.

Christmas Day.

I don’t plan to make a habit out of including entries here, but for the sake of a brief history of Christmas Day, here’s my journal entry for today:

The kids actually slept in fairly well.  That was fortunate because we were tired but it was also fortunate because we needed to get the batteries charged up to video record.  The camera was on the fritz as well, so the video is all we got.

Anyway, Timmy woke up first, of course, and I stalled him by reading with him.  We read out of the third book in the series of red books.  He’s progressing, slowly, and I plan on working with him regularly for the next little while.

Eventually the kids all woke up and we had them go into the kitchen area to look through their stockings.  They were delighted.  Elsie started out too tired to appreciate what was going on so I got to take her on my lap and go through the items one at a time.  It was fun to hear her say, excitedly, “my apple,” and so on.  One thing that I loved was that each kid focused on what they got rather than on what the others got or on how the gifts compared.  That must be part of why they were all so happy.

We went over to breakfast and ate Pop Tarts, oranges, hot chocolate, and cereal from our stockings.  Most people didn’t finish eating their cereal what with all of the other things.  Abby discovered new slippers under her chair and all the kids quickly looked to find their slippers hiding in the same place.  They were very happy.  The camcorder battery finished charging while we ate but I still had the kids wait and enjoy their stocking things while Gina and I cared for Lily and cleaned up the kitchen.

We had them line up to come into the family room where the presents waited under the Christmas tree.    Elsie was in the lead and broke rank by sprinting over to the tree.  We had the kids choose gifts of each other to open.  Each time they chose to have the others open the gifts they gave.  I think they were as excited about the presents they were giving as they were about the presents that they received.  I opened one present from all of them.  It was a shirt that Gina had helped them decorate.  I love it.  It has handprints from Lily, Timmy, and Elsie.  It has art from Kate, Abby, Timmy, and Elsie.   Kate and Abby both wrote a bit and Gina dated it on the back.  I think the shirt looks great and it’s what I wore for the rest of the day.

We opened most of the presents, having a lot of fun.  Gina’s present for me was a CD that I had wanted called “Primary Colors.”  I put it on and the kids grabbed streamers that the Cooks had given our family and started dancing and jumping around the room.  It was a wonderful intermission.

At the end we had the kids look under a blanket where Gina and I had put their main presents, large stuffed animals to sleep the night before.  They each grabbed the stuffed animal that we had planned for them, Kate the giraffe, Abby the jaguar, Timmy the tiger, and Elsie the lion.  They gave them names and some of the names stayed with them over the course of the day.

We talked with family and found that the kids were mostly so engaged in what they were doing that they weren’t too talkative.

For lunch we had some whole wheat flat bread that Gina made with goat cheese, olives, dried fish, dates, and honeycomb.  The sandwiches that I made out of the fish, cheese, and dates using the flat bread were wonderful.  I’d like to do that again.  We had a short pageant after that.  By the end of the pageant I could tell I was getting sick and needed rest.  I went down for a couple of hours and then it was dinner and time for the kids to go to bed.  Since then it’s been a quiet evening.  Goodnight.

Christmas Eve Day

I just finished my journal entry for tonight.  After I wrote it I decided to put it up for all of you, our loved ones who are not with us this Christmas.  Our prayers are with you.

It’s been a beautiful day.  We started out with the normal waking up and having scripture study.  We had a special breakfast and did a bit of cleaning.  Gina cut my hair.  At 10:00 we had a gathering with the Nelsons making cookies together.  It was fun and the kids would have been happy to stay there all day.  They had kids foods like chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese and we watched Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  At the end Kate told me that she would have enjoyed staying there all day.

Afterward, I went to the store to get a couple of stocking stuffers for Gina and to get some food for our Christmas lunch.  We wanted to eat things we guessed Mary and Joseph might have eaten.  We figured they would have eaten traveling food of Mediterranean origin.  So we’re not doing anything original: flat bread, goat cheese, raisins, and dates.  I couldn’t find figs.  We’ll have grape juice too.  It’s a funny balance because on the one hand you want to try and recreate the meals but on the other hand you want to make a festival.  We’ll try to hold back.

After shopping I focused on cleaning.  Mostly I worked on tiles.  I watched a little DVD on learning to play the guitar while cleaning the tiles.  It seems like it will be helpful.  Technique is something that is difficult to get out of books but seems more possible to get out of a video.

While I was working on the floor Gina was getting goodies together to bring to different families.  We brought goodies to each of our neighbors and also to some others.  We set up luminaries and so did most of the neighbors.  It was really pretty.

Gina entrusted me with 7-layer bean dip and made green chili chicken enchiladas.  I loved the resulting enchiladas.  She said that the bean dip was the best one she had tasted.  The kids enjoyed dinner and we had them get in pajamas.  Gina had hung a pinata from a hook for plants in the large room and we let the kids whack it down.  They each got a fruit snack, a little pack of crackers and cheese, a little baggy with gummy bears, some craisin-raisens and a candy cain.  The kids were delighted and Elsie was sharing.  Gina said that each could choose something to eat tonight.  Timmy said “Hmm.  I have so much stuff!  It’s hard to choose!”  We feel really blessed that the kids can be happy with little things.  May they stay blessed in that way.

After they went to bed Gina and I had fun getting their stockings ready and figuring out how to hide some of the most exciting presents.  The kids have all gone to sleep and have been very quiet.  I imagine we’ll be awakened at some point during the night . . .

We plan on having the pageant with the kids after Christmas morning and perhaps before our lunch.  It’s a wonderful time of year.

A happy child is the cleanest thing,
and love flows out and joy can bring,
A happy child means the world is well,
gives reason upon this earth to dwell.

Well, it’s been a really fun day.  Tomorrow should be great too.  I just hope that we can get a good enough sleep.  Maybe ping pong with the kids tomorrow.  I’ve been so wanting to play.  And the step will make them taller compared to the table.  Goodnight.

Coping with transience

Time is passing so quickly.  In a talk today a man said with pride that he and his wife had been married for a great 26 years.  I heard the figure simultaneously from two perspectives.  One said “that’s not actually so long.  You’ll be there mighty soon.”  Another said “wow, that’s a long time.”  The first sentiment predominated where it wouldn’t have just a few years ago.  So it’s flying.

Here’s my main strategy for coping:

I try to keep on remembering to live life by days rather than by years.  I try to make sure that each day there is something that I can be happy about for that day.  Maybe I learned something. Maybe I served someone. Maybe I created something. That’s the best way I know to turn this fast flow of time from a tragedy into something that is alright and maybe even exciting.

The week before Christmas

• Lily decided that she liked chocolate,
• Elsie took great care of a little girl in nursery,
• Timmy wore his bear slippers almost every day,
• Abby “surprised” her mother nearly every day by laying Gina’s pajamas out by the fire,
• Kate melted her slipper socks at the fire while trying to warm her feet,
• Gina made hundreds of chocolate and peppermint pretzels, and
• I bought and installed a DVD burner for our desktop.

Playing in a winter wonderland

• Lily has begun seeking out small objects from the floor to put in her mouth,
• Elsie refused to put on a coat while she stood freezing outside,
• Timmy dictated a song/story to me,
• Abby made a Pegasus sculpture,
• Kate played “Jingle Bells” and “O come O come Emmanuel” for her first piano recital,
• Gina finally found a use for the drain-off from cranberry-salad cranberries (a great batch of sorbet),
• and I got to start parking the car in the garage with the van.

Timmy’s first song

Once there was a little seed.

Then it was one size.

Then it went two sizes.

Then it was three sizes.

Then it was four sizes.

Then it was five sizes.

Then it was six sizes.

And then it was seven sizes.

And then it was eight sizes.

Then it was nine sizes.

And then it was ten sizes.

Winter’s coming and I’m sad.

Because it’s already winter and the flower’s dying.

Now it’s Christmas.  I’m kindof sad and kindof happy.

And why I’m sad and happy is because I like presents and I like the flower.  And he opened his presents, he went to stalkings, got the stuff out and it came with hot, hot, hot.

It was summer then it was Easter then he got candy.
He got candy
a lot of candy
in his Easter thing.

And then it was spring
he liked it a lot.
Still he saw his flower tot.

Then he saw his flower alive
and then he made a plan to grow more flowers.
Then he put a little seed in.
It grew the thing he wanted to grow
like the first one grew
Then he grew them all around his garden.
Then he went inside and ate breakfast in the morning.
Then he ate his lunch
Then he ate his dinner.
He went outside later before dinner later to see his cute flowers.

Round 2

I tell the girls that they have to try something 150 times with different ideas each time before they can say they can’t do something.

That first attempt at a group of songs was fun to do and I learned a lot in the process.  Now it’s time for try two.

I’ve gotten some great feedback.  I guess that’s one of the big benefits of an early release.  Anyway, the main takeaway for me is “make the music better.”  People suggested using guitar and adding extra voices in.  They let me know what their favorite songs were.  For this next round I think I’ll keep 4 of the songs and try to improve them and then add some others.  The 4 I’m planning to take to round 2 are
Shaving
Our Backpacks
I love you
flashlight won’t work.

The first two were the runaway favorites.  Flashlight is my favorite.  “I love you” has lyrics that I love but the tune is a failure so I’m going to try and resuscitate it.

Into December

• Lily ate two helpings of cereal in one sitting and went into a fit when Gina confiscated an oat cake,
• Elsie went back to angelic behavior in nursery after 2 weeks of frightening her teachers,
• Timmy slept a delighted first night in a fire truck bed,
• Abby read to the kids,
• Kate sang songs like “Jeri- Jeri- cho-cho-cho” and  in the shower,
• Gina organized a meal for 80 people, and
• I got my first album recorded.

In which Kate had an interview

• Lily stayed in bed for a nap of several hours with no crying,
• Elsie decided that she wanted to not only sit with another family during sacrament meeting (we let her) but also go home with them (we didn’t let her and she cried all the way home),
• Timmy started playing ‘don’t let the balloon touch the floor,’
• Abby said “I can cut anything thing with a butter knife . . . except bones, metal, and houses . . . those are the hard things,”
• Kate had a baptismal interview this week with the bishop,
• Gina made pizza even better than last week, and
• I realized that I’m enjoying myself enough and am happy enough with our family situation that I wouldn’t mind it if my degree took a few more years.