Albuquerque Turkeys: January 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

January Snippets

1. Arthur took the four oldest skiing up at Durango before they winter break ended. They drove up to Farmington on a Thursday night and skied Friday. The weather was great and they all had a glorious time!

2. One of my resolutions this year to declutter and organize our house. I have been purging, purging, PURGING our belongings in preparation for adding another person to our home! Since that person is a boy, I have been getting rid of all our girls clothes/shoes/accessories that no longer fit Sydney. It was a little shocking to me how difficult that was. I cried quite a lot as I packed up the darling shoes, the frills and ruffles, florals and sparkles.

I've been getting rid of excess wherever I can, not only all the little girl clothes. But trust me, no tears were shed as I got rid of these thrashed little boy pants:

Boy clothes are way easier to give up than girl clothes.

In January, I filled our trunk with donations several times and it felt GREAT!! (And no, I didn't donate Bennett. He just wanted to be in the picture. ;0))

3. Journals and Juice

With our church meetings beginning at 1 pm this year, we have more time in the morning for this fun tradition. It's not a weekly occurrence, but we squeeze it in when we can. Daphne added cookies to our journals and juice, and truth be told, it's the only way to get the boys to participate. Me and my girls enjoy journaling much more than the guys in our family.

4. Just want to remember this cute little incident. One day, I packed the kids lunches for them instead of making them do it themselves, as per our usual routine. And on a whim, I quickly wrote a note on a paper towel for each of them. I was taken back when both Sydney and Hayden came home and thanked me for the note in their lunches, and Sydney even saved hers and brought it back home for me. Just made me realize I should try to let them know I love them in creative ways more often. Their appreciation surprised me.

5. January 28-30th. Dallin and Daphne both made it into All-State Choir this year. They took a bus down to Las Cruces along with over 20 of their choir peers from Eisenhower Middle School, and rehearsed Thursday and Friday. Arthur and I and the four youngest drove down Friday night to be there for their performances on Saturday morning. Daphne and these cute friends sang in the Elementary Choir which included 6th graders. And Dallin sang in the Middle School choir which was grades 7-9. They both had a great experience working with wonderful conductors and other kids who love music. It was fun to hear how much they'd accomplished in those few days of rehearsal.

6. We celebrated Arthur's birthday on Sunday, the 31st, (a few days late because of All-State Choir conflicts.) Well, funnily enough, Bennett's birthday had been recorded wrong in the church records and the nursery had him on their list of birthday kids for that week. He came home with a birthday crown and was thoroughly confused that the birthday cake was for Daddy and not him. He kept insisting that it was his birthday, and he needed to blow out the candles. So Arthur shared his birthday candles with Bennett, since, after all, it's really confusing to celebrate Dad's birthday when you think it's yours.

Friday, January 22, 2016

House projects

Awhile ago Daphne mentioned that her room was making her depressed. I looked around at the walls with things hung up all helter-skelter, mismatching blankets on the bed, and a big hole in the ceiling where we have had a perpetual leak since we moved in, and I also felt depressed. Most of our house kind of looks like that--so far from the Pinterest version of our home that is in my brain.

So I decided, it's time to start improving where we can. This isn't our dream house. We probably won't ever live in our dream house, but we can care for and beautify what we have so we don't feel depressed when we look at our house.

So I immediately got online and ordered some bedding and drapes. They were a little different than I thought they would be, but they are cheery and they coordinate, so we're keeping them.

Next, I decided to do something I'd been meaning to for a long, long time, and that was painting the dressers white. That project took way longer than I anticipated, (and as it turns out, Arthur and I have different opinions about painting wood furniture, so I only did one) but I think it is a big improvement! I painted it white and put new knobs on it, and I LOVE it! (I may just have to sneakily do the other one when Arthur is out of town so they match.)

Also, Arthur and I FINALLY finished this shelf I started last year. I got stuck on the moulding that goes up near the top and Arthur had to help me reconstruct my shelf so it would fit properly. Again, a project that took WAY longer than it should, but I love how it turned out, and it makes me excited to build more stuff with Arthur!

So here is our improvement for January:

After we finished, there were several days when Sydney would randomly say, "I'm just gonna go up and look at my room, Mom." So much better! And now my girls aren't feeling depressed when they look at their room.

Saturday, January 02, 2016

Hayden's Baptism

January 2, 2016

Hayden's Baptism Day

Even though Hayden turned 8 in November, he had to wait all the way til January to get baptized because of when his birthday falls (last day of November) and the holidays. He got baptized on the first Stake Baptism day after his birthday, but it just felt like a while. He was so excited!

There is always a beautiful spirit at baptisms, and when it's a baptism for one of your children, it's even more special. Arthur baptized and confirmed him, and Hayden asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. He also wanted our family to sing "The Miracle" and specifically wanted to be a part of it. So after the baptism ordinance, we waited for him to get dressed and then he sang the first solo in that song. It was really gratifying to play the piano and hear my family sing the chorus in 4 part harmony, Arthur on Bass, Dallin on Tenor, Sean on Alto and Daphne and Hayden on Soprano.

We are so very grateful for all the friends who came to support him in his decision to be baptized. Living so far from family really makes us appreciate friends who are like family to us.

Albuquerque Turkeys