An opener

I think I love January.  I love how open the house feels after Christmas stuff is put away.  I love how open my calendar is after all the holiday celebrations.  I love how open I am to making needed changes and settling back into worthy routines.  It's been a little more stressful this year starting a new school, but still, regular life is a treasure.  

Here are the January snowflakes.

I have some funny things from my text conversations with myself that have been building up for months that I think I'll put down here first.  I need to remember to record more of these.  

Annie asked if I was going to do "moy oil?" while I was baking muffins one day.

Vivien was watching a spiral animation on a website where I was printing off handwriting paper.  She said, "That thing is hyponophizing me!"

Here is a funny walk Vivien's been doing lately:

I had a weird dream the other day that some friends that just moved out of our ward recently were renting my parents' house.  I was trying to take a shower in the bathroom upstairs, but the kids would not stay out and the shower curtain was clear.  I tried for like 7 minutes to keep the doors closed but they weren't locking so I decided not to care if they saw me naked and were traumatized, and just showered with everyone coming and going.  Right when I finished someone pulled me downstairs in my towel to get a quick stake temple interview done.  We were weaving through a big crowd of people who had gathered in the entryway for an event when someone else came crying over to me and told me in a panic that Merrick and Gabe Richardson had wandered across the street (which was now a NYC street right outside my parents' house) to a doughnut shop and had started eating all the doughnuts in the display case.  I ran across the road and into the shop and was trying to gather up all the doughnuts and all the kids without losing my towel.  

Merrick getting dressed: "Up, pants!"

Vivien, looking at art in frustration: "It looks like a bowl of meaningless spaghetti!"

Also Vivien: "I'm almost finished with this book, and I'd never read it before because I'd never bucked up the courage to!"

Rafe, playing a game: "My STRAGEDY has commenced!!!"

Rafe dancing on top of the zip line post.  

Rafe learned how to read the notes on the staff in C position. He was quite pleased to discover that he could read the Dinosaur Song in our Sandra Boynton Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs! book.

Merrick calls ornaments "ordaments."

Vivien's homework was about ounces and pounds and she kept calling them ozzes and lubits.  

I can't remember why but I asked Rafe and Annie what they like about themselves.  Rafe likes that he's weird, that he's bald and that he loves to wear shorts.  Annie likes her silky hair, her laugh, and that she plays with friends happily.  

That's all for phone funnies.  I will recommit to recording them!

We started at the Coyote Willow Family School on January 5th.  The kids are in the 80/20 program, so theoretically they are supposed to get 80% of their instruction from their teachers and 20% from me, but the school also wants to limit the kids' screen time while we're stuck in virtual school, so that makes things tricky.  They issued Vivien a Chromebook and Rafe and Annie got iPads.  When I was setting up Annie's iPad for her I opened the photo album and found a bunch of videos and pictures of Bruce and Gabe, so I had to sit there and cry for a bit.

We have to be mindful of who's in meetings since our desks are in the middle of everything.  Go Fish is a highly appropriate activity for school times.  

I have to write all their meeting times up on my whiteboard to keep them all straight.  We missed a lot of meetings at first because I would get distracted and the kids weren't paying attention, but we're all starting to get the hang of it.  Please enjoy Vivien's "Stain alive."  She listened to the song on repeat for a good half hour the other night.  

I reinstituted the allowance system because Vivien complained one too many times about getting a Baby Yoda toy. "I've wanted a Baby Yoda toy for so long it's crushing me!"  Each kid has 4 checkmarks to earn daily: Morning 5 (pray, make bed, get dressed/put away jammies, brush teeth, go potty), Chore (Annie feeds the rabbits, Vivs and Rafe switch off between emptying the dishwasher and taking out the trash and recycling), Practice, Schoolwork.  I write their schoolwork for the day on the whiteboard and if they get it all erased by the end of the day they earn their check.  One complete day is worth a dollar.  If they complete all 5 days Monday-Friday, they get an age bonus (so Vivien could earn $9 if she finished all 5 days).  We do pay day every 2 weeks.  I am motivated to make it happen because they have to save 50% of whatever they earn, so that's like me saving for their future, but in a way that they're directly involved.  They get to practice paying tithing, and then they have money to spend on the ridiculous things they choose to spend money on.  

It is a fairly motivating system for the kids, but we still had to have the object lesson on prioritizing our time and putting first things first, so we don't end up doing our practicing at 8:50 at night, like Vivien is doing right now.  

We might as well do some kid updates.  

VIVIEN

Vivien finally earned enough for the Baby Yoda she wanted (well, I don't know if it's actually the one she wanted, or just the one that she could afford first.  I tried to convince her to save a little more for the Build-a-Bear one, but she would not hear the word "wait").  She looked online and saw that the one she desired was available at the Coors Walmart. I told her one Monday that if she got all her stuff done I would take her to purchase it.  She hustled, so we loaded up in the car and then I drove on autopilot to the Walmart where I usually shop.  We walked in and saw no Baby Yoda, then I realized we were at the wrong place, so we drove to the Walmart on Coors.  It was not there either.  A guy said he'd help us, then he disappeared for at least 15 minutes while Vivien cried silently in despair.  I flagged down another worker, who told us it was at the other Walmart on Coors...southwest.  So, we got in the car again.  It was a very long errand.  But, we got to drive home across the mesa, which is always beautiful.

And she is very happy to have her baby.  It is front and center in her rat's nest.  Her "office" is on the left behind the blanket and is also full of snuggly things:

Vivien's decorative style is very distinctive.  Her school desk is similar.  Please note the can of peaches.  It is one of her favorite lunches.

She has had the hardest time adjusting to the new school of all the kids.  Part of that is just because 3rd grade isn't as fun as kinder and 2nd.  There have been many tears.  But, during one of her meetings the other day she actually laughed.  Drew and I were standing in the kitchen when it happened; we froze and turned to each other with wide eyes and Drew said, "Praise the Lord and pass the tax rebate!"

I think she's going to be ok.  She's a smart cookie and we are working hard on all those character traits you need to be a good adult.  

She is already a great older sister.  

And if she can just have a play date with her friends every now and again the school woes don't turn into an all consuming depression.  We found out Iliana didn't go back to Puesta either, so that's helped her feel better about being at a new school.  And it's made coordinating playdates a little easier.  

One more of a Vivien who is getting very long.

RAFE

When we went to the dentist in December they referred Rafe for early orthodontics.  His top left 7-year old molar was growing in under a baby tooth that is supposed to stay for another couple years and needed to be redirected.  We called and got scheduled for an intake appointment where they took some x-rays.  He has a little traffic jam with his right bottom lateral and canine as well, but that's less urgent.  

Dr. Dunn came in and talked to us about the plan and then they got us all set up with insurance paperwork.  We had a lot of fun "biting" each other with the models while we waited.  

A week later he got 4 little brackets placed with a spring between the 3 ok teeth and the problematic molar.  He did exceptionally well.

They gave him a voucher for a free blizzard at the Dairy Queen next door, so we redeemed it right away.  There was a road runner by the pick up window, looking as though he wished he could have a blizzard too.

Here is Rafe's favorite outfit: shorts and long socks.

Every time he pulls them up past his knees I see this:

He's a very...active pianist.

He loves to read the Dog Man books that Elliot has.

He also enjoys reading the Avatar graphic novels on the Kindle Fire.  Here's a little Couch Kindle Party:

Rafe is our best worker right now.  He just gets his stuff done instead of crying about having stuff to do.  Consequently, he has the most money.  

ANNIE

Annie's kindergarten focuses on learning long vowel first.  So, the books she's reading look like BABE LULU MA BI A NU BO (Baby Lulu may buy a new bow).  One of her books was about a MITE LADE.  The main characters saw a Mighty Lady by a bay--the Statue of Liberty!  When they see her they say, "WO! HI-DE-HO MITE LADE!"  It has become a favorite thing to say randomly.  In fact, when she graduated to the next level of long vowel reading I sent it to her teacher as a comment of celebration.  It made her laugh.  Annie's doing great in school!

And she's doing pretty well with violin too.  She has progressed to Flower Song.  We are working very hard on making it sound less...

When she's done practicing she loves to tuck her violin in "with its head sticking out."  

We love her wonderful laugh.  

And when she wears the little elf hat.

MERRICK

Merrick looks cute in it too.

Here are some more nyo-nyos he made--Daddy, baby, and regular.

He loves to build big sprawling compounds with the magna-tiles right now.  They are always out and underfoot.

One of the thousands of selfies on my phone right now.  He looks like someone from a movie in this picture, but I can't place it.  

Here he is opening a letter from long lost Gabe.  He carried it around all day.

I have a bunch of pretty sky pictures to tuck in here.  Masters swim was at a good time for catching sunrises in January.

Ooooodelaly!

Here is a picture from a run out on the mesa.

And another run around the neighborhood in the evening.

This one happened while we were coming back from taking Ocean home.  I love how the sky is a part of the landscape here.  

Drew and I decided to start another 8-week healthy habits challenge for January.  We invited family members to join us and a couple people jumped in, so we have been supporting each other, drinking our 64 oz of water, not eating after 9, eating 2 fruits, eating 3 vegetables, staying away from sugary treats 6 days a week, keeping a food journal, and exercising 30-45 minutes 5 days a week.  Drew and I are both tracking our food on My Fitness Pal.  Drew gets a lot more calories than me.  I know I like to eat a lot at dinner, so I usually skip breakfast and eat a salad for lunch and enviously watch Drew eat his snacks and his hearty foods for lunch.

Since it is winter, sometimes it is more fun to have a vegetably soup for lunch, especially if it is as hot pink as borscht.

And sometimes it is fun to spend a few more calories and have a vegetably noodle bowl.

We look forward to our treat days intensely. Here is a strawberry rhubarb pie that counted as a dessert and a fruit one day.  

McKenzie left me with a boulder of frozen rhubarb that will probably make at least 7 more pies, and 4 bags of frozen apples that will make a pie each.  I'm going to get really good at this crust.  Please enjoy the squishmallow that Annie designed in the top left.

We had our MLK Jr Day celebration, and we didn't even have to go to the ER this year!  For the soul food feast Krista made cornbread, the Morgans made 5 cheese macaroni and some pecan cookies that were divine, Bo made some Korean friend chicken, and we made jambalaya, collard greens (gross) and some wonderfully flavorful Hoppin' John (I made it from dried beans--go me!).  Afterwards we all watched Remember the Titans.  

And speaking of watching, Drew and I were inspired by Haley's SheffTalk on the MCU and have been spending pretty much every evening watching the Marvel movies in chronological order.  We start one and watch till one of us falls asleep, then pick up where we left of the next night.  I finished making a scarf with the yarn Kate gave me for Christmas while we watched.  

I love it!  

I wore it to film my latest Primary Singing Time.  I didn't feel up to Zoom Primary this year, but it was time to do something, so I've been filming a 20-30 minute video, editing it on iMovie on my phone, and uploading it to YouTube for the kids to watch whenever it is helpful for families to have them watch it.  They are fun to make.  I try as hard as I can to do it in one take--mistakes and all--so it doesn't get to be too much of a burden to do.  And every week I try to have kids from the Primary involved in the video in some way.  It's been funny/weird to interact with the kids since I started doing it, because they are starting to know me very well, but it doesn't go both ways.  A week or so ago I got to meet the kids in a family that recently moved into the ward and they all already knew me from the videos, even though I had never even seen their faces before.  But I have had so many people respond positively (I even got a call from one of my little Sunbeams Sunday night who wanted so much to talk to me after watching), I will brave the weirdness and continue on.  I do very much want to know which punk of a kid disliked my last video...but I would have to agree with them that it wasn't my best.  

I had the last weekend in January off of work, so we went on our first hike of the year together.  It was quite snowy.

But that just meant that the kids all got to wear their nifty animal hats!

The trees were mostly little, but there was one impressive ponderosa pine close to the beginning.

Rafe collected a bunch of "pine leaf needles."

I wanted a picture of both pairs of hiking buddies, but Rafe didn't want to hold hands, and Merrick far prefers Daddy as a hiking buddy anyway.

It was funny to see all the cacti poking out of the snow.  

And we saw the cutest squirrels which I had never seen before, that I can remember.  They are Abert's squirrels and have black bodies, white tails, and awesome pointy ears.  

The kids had all insisted on bringing their own backpacks, which was irritating when the trail got steep and they got tired and wanted to take them off.  

We made it to the sign for the South Crest Trail and then decided we had reached the limit of our children's marginally good humor and turned around.  Hiking is hard.  But it's such good practice for developing mental toughness!

The three older kids hiked ahead with me on the way back.  There was a pretty view around one corner.  

We stopped to wait for Dad and Merrick for awhile in this flat spot where someone had built a bunch of shelters.  

While impressive, they were still not as warm as one would have hoped.  We are so lucky to have houses that don't let the bitter wind in through tiny cracks.  "There!  A draft! A cold and sickly draft!"

There was a fun swirl back at the trailhead.

There was also this sign, which is my favorite way I've ever seen of saying, "We are not going to do much for you, for you!"  

I shall close this January post with a picture Annie drew of our family.  I can't remember why she said Rafe is scowling, but I like how she got Merrick's smiley eyes.