elf time

Imagine our excitement when we got back from my parents' house to see this little guy waiting on our shelf. Emma, the little mommy that she is, made him a cozy bed and wrote lots of notes for him to take back to Santa.

Hermey's our favorite. And he's even on TV tonight!

He's gotten off to a slow start in terms of remembering to hide every night. I think we need to get a "hide rock" (like a prayer rock) and put it on his pillow. Because remembering at 3 a.m., and then scrambling and stumbling around, gets old real fast.

We're glad he's here for the next month. Let's just hope this I'm-tired-and-baby-still-wakes-up-a-lot-at-night mom can make her brain function enough to keep the Christmas magic going strong...

8 is great

8 years ago I waited--with a bunch of grooms--for Spencer. For 20 minutes. We had just been married, and were about to go outside the temple to see everyone and take pictures. Yes, I waited for him. That image still makes me laugh - me waiting with a bunch of men. He blames food poisoning but I sometimes wonder if nerves caused the upset stomach. :)

I can't believe it's only been 8 years because it feels like we've done so much, and have gone through so much. He's smart and good and righteous and I am so grateful he was and is still so persistent. We are perfect together.

Can't wait for the next 8!

times and seasons

I've had some internal guilt the last few months, since school started.

Last year I helped in Emma's class for 2 hours a week. I went to snack recess with her, where she much preferred hanging out with me than her friends. I know that won't last long. At our elementary school, you can really only help in the classroom during kindergarten. So you have to get creative to get into the classroom after that. Tyler is in kindergarten now and I wish I could make a weekly commitment to be in his class. It's just not possible with a baby.

One of my friends gave me some good advice: Do those things that will directly affect your children. So, at this point of my life, when my time and situation doesn't allow me to be in Tyler's classroom to volunteer, and I don't really have many options to be around Emma during the day, I had to figure out a way to make it work. Being in the PTA is a great thing, but it's not what is most going to affect my children. I decided to become an art docent in their classes. It's just once a month but I went one time already and they absolutely ate it up. Tyler was so flattered that I mentioned to his class how much he likes to paint. Emma's friends/classmates were so enamored that "Emma's mom" came to talk to them about art and music. I'm trying to squeeze every minute out of them still thinking that their mom coming to their class is "cool."

I like being in direct contact with my children while they're at school, even if it's just for 45 minutes once a month. While there are lots of things I could be doing that would benefit the school, I like knowing I'm benefitting the kids. Maybe someday in the future I'll be PTA president (ha). Right now I'd rather spend my time with my kids and their friends, even if just for a short time, than with a bunch of other parents.