Stice Family

I braved story time with Ashton again. He actually did really well. Is it terribly pointless to go if we purposefully skip the story part? He just doesn't stay quiet enough for everyone else to hear. But we went the last two weeks for the songs, craft, and snack! And he loves those parts. It gets him out doing something different and fun.

Friday, the 5th I had another Dr. apt. Todd was in town for work,even though he wouldn't normally be because he doesn't work Fridays. He got the things done that he had to do about the time I drove in, so we met up and he took the kids home for me. Being alone in Boise, I took the opportunity to get a lot of Christmas shopping done. I shopped 'till I dropped! Which only takes an hour or so these days. I'm gaining a steady 6.5 to 7 pounds a month! Ah well, what do ya do?

I had a guy at church tell me once, not in any way kidding, that he'd never seen me wear the same thing twice. Now, why he was paying attention in the first place is really weird. And no, that's not true, would be exciting to be able to do. But the reason he must think that is that I go through so many sizes when I have a baby! I start at my normal size, grow to a non maternity bigger size, then maternity smalls, mediums, AND larges, have the baby, wear a larger non-maternity size, shrink down over a period of about 6 months another 6 sizes or so. And finally, after the year and a half or so, I'm back to or close to where I started. That's a lot of Sunday dresses! Especially if I don't want to wear the same dress over and over again while I'm one certain size. I wish I could be like the women who wear the same size the whole time, only with a growing tummy! I grow EVERYWHERE. A LOT.

Monday the 8th, Todd and I went with his brother and sister in law, Kris and Amber, to the Christmas Sweater presentation Glenn Beck gave. It was really really cool. He is a convert to the church of about 7 years and has overcome such a PAST. His story is softened and altered a little in his presentation to make an uplifting analogy for the Christmas season. It's about the atonement being a gift like a sweater to be worn and cherished not set aside on a shelf. I was so impressed with his talent. We had a great time.

The 11th I took the kids in to town to do some more Christmas shopping. We drove back to Fruitland about the time Todd got off work and went to dinner. We had a tithing settlement apt. a while after that and rather than go home and soon just load back up into the car again, we drove around looking at everyone's Christmas lights. The kids liked that, but we were surprised how few people did lights here this year! It has been kinda cold this year. Our neighbor 2 houses down and across the street did the peppermint thing Todd did on our house- switching out every other white light to put in a red one. They REALLY jazzed it up with peppermint windows and bushes. It looks really cool. But weird that they used our idea the same season two weeks after us being so in such "close proximity". And amped it up so much. I don't know, I feel odd about it, not knowing them really. Should that be weird? The only two peppermint houses in all of Fruitland are two houses apart...

Friday the 12th, Brielle and I did a mommy daughter night and went to the Nutcracker Ballet in Boise. She loves ballet from watching "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses." And she's seen the "Barbie and the Nutcracker" too. I LOVED seeing The Nutcracker the very few times I went as a kid in Anchorage. So I was VERY excited that she's finally at an age to sit through it and enjoy it with me. I think I'll make it a yearly tradition for me and my girls from now on. But WOW were we under-dressed. We had taken the kids to Boise earlier to finish Christmas shopping by switching kids and dividing to help them buy gifts for the other parent and other sibling. Then Todd and Ashton drove home to catch a football game while Brielle and I went to the Ballet. So we looked like mall rats. Almost all the other people in the auditorium were in formals. The many little girls there with their mom's were in nicer dresses than I see in church on Christmas Sunday!!! We showed up in jeans! At least we know what to expect now. I felt super awkward, but it was really fun to watch. Just the right length for a child to sit through.

The next day was Todd's company Christmas party. We went early to greet the guests. It was fun, his mom was in charge of it this year and she had a few fun games to play like Christmas Bingo and Family Feud. Kris and Amber's kids were being babysat at our house with our kids. So we carpooled in together and decided to catch a movie after the party. Little Ashton, with all the other kids, was still up when we got home at 11:00! They were all having the time of their lives. But he's been kinda cranky ever since and it's been a week now! I would say it's been a long recovery, but on Tuesday I realized why. When I was getting ready for the Christmas party in the bathroom, Ashton was standing on a stool at the counter beside me babbling and pointing at what he thought I'd need to use off the counter next. He'd point to different things of make up or the brush. At one point, he actually touched the curling iron and started to scream. I quickly ran his hand under cold water. He seemed perfectly fine afterward and when I put him to bed that night, I was surprised to see there was no sign of being burned on his hand.

Tuesday night, when I was changing his clothes into pajamas, for the first time I saw the burn on his wrist, an inch above his hand, where it was covered by long sleeve shirts for three days. I had never noticed it getting his clothes changed until now and he hadn't complained about it specifically yet either. But it was not only burned, but blistered, broken blisters, and really super infected. I felt so bad! We took him to the Dr. Wednesday and they put him on an antibiotic and gave me a prescription cream to clean his burn with. Poor little guy. All these burns!

Wednesday I also did my visiting teaching and ran a gazillion small Christmas prep. errands. It's amazing how I can think I'm done, so many times! And then remember that I'm missing part of a gift or something. Maybe it's that pregnancy forgetfulness. I think I have that all the time, though.

Friday, the 19th, my sister in law, Katrina, had her baby boy! She was induced that morning and delivered in the afternoon. They named him Camden. We stayed away to give them some space throughout the day. We went to the Christmas party for Orion Home Health at 6:00. Todd and his brother and mom own it but don't run it. So we weren't in charge of any part of the party and it was nice to sit back and enjoy it. It was really fun.

Heart 'N Home hospice is several years older and has grown a lot and expanded to 4 offices in the area whose employees drove out here for that Christmas party. So greeting, games, and food and things all took a lot of time to finish up. Orion's party was just the right size and length of time for everything. But anyway, we left the party and headed to the hospital to visit Adam and Katrina and they're new little baby. He was precious. Gosh it's hard to be pregnant and hold a newborn! Super temptation to get impatient! I gotta go the distance with a positive attitude!!!! He was adorable. After that, we went to ice cream with Kris and Amber and then caught the new movie that came out that night, "7 Pounds." That was a crazy movie!" I still can't decide whether I liked it or hated it.

Today we went to Todd's mom's side of the family's Christmas party. She hosts it every year at her house. The grandkids do a white elephant gift exchange. The oldest grandkid, my niece Jordan, opened an etchasketch first. Ashton sat at her lap for the whole remainder of the gift opening as they went from oldest to youngest opening gifts. He didn't care what anyone else got, he wanted that little etchasketch OR ELSE. Which was good because that meant she could pick from all the other opened gifts something more age appropriate for her when Ashton stole it at his turn. He loves those things. Brielle opened princess pez dispensers. She was thrilled!

I've been wrapping presents here and there each night. I think I'm all done. I'm ready for the family names we drew, shipped out my side of the family's gifts, got Todd done, the kids done, visiting teaching gifts done, friends gifts done, stocking stuffers done, Christmas cards done, I think I'm done. But it wouldn't be the first time I said that! I'll remember someone/something else I'm sure! Like the cat. He could use a warm pillow to sleep on now that it's so cold!

Speaking of which. I taught a lesson in primary last Sunday about being kind to animals. When I got to the part about Jesus loving the animals because he made them and wants them to feel joy too... and wants them to feel loved too... I started to feel kinda guilty. We did such a horrible job with our last dog. She was a yellow lab. She was the apple of Brielle's eye when we got her as a puppy. Brielle was obsessed with dogs. But on the first day being home, she severed the chord on my iron, knawed the wooden dowels on my dining rm chairs, peep and pooped on carpet, barked and whined all night long, and was about to sever our computer cable when I caught her and banished her to the outdoors forever more. She sat in her kennel or at times around the yard destroying anything left out, for many long cold winter months. And couldn't come out of her kennel to play when the neighbor kids came over because she was too hyper being trapped up all day. Just such neglect. We loved her! We put her through a really nice training class, but we dropped out because work suddenly got crazy for Todd and he no longer had the time, I was pregnant and lacked the energy. Finally, close to her second birthday, she chewed off and swallowed a chunk of the chord to her heated water dish, which ruptured her gut, and she had to be put under as she was dying with no hope. We felt awful. What a miserable life! I felt too guilty to quit on her and give her away, but it would have surely been a favor to her.

Now with our cat, it is an OUTDOORS ONLY cat. I just don't do the whole indoors thing. We had every pet under the sun in our house growing up and the smell and stains and hair everywhere made me solidify that decision for my future home. But the neighbor cat comes and plays during the day, then goes home and sleeps inside on a nice fluffy pillow while my cat shivers outside the back door all night. He sits on a plant box outside a living room window and watches cartoons with the kids, he sits outside the glass door to watch when they play. He LOVES the kids and loves to play with them. SO. I read the part about loving animals to help them feel the Savior's love and about lost it. It reminded me of my Grandma Jackman. She nursed cats BEYOND their death beds with such loving care. To some, went too far. But she sure cared about every living thing with such compassion. So the cat upgraded to sleeping in the garage at night. We'll see where my conscience takes me from here.