Saturday

We had such a fun Saturday!!

The morning was pretty laid back.  I did some shopping, took Courtney to the library, went to the Church to put together some food baskets for people in the ward and then cleaned out the Church fridge (seriously, no one cleans it out and it is SO gross!).

At about 1:30 p.m. we took off for the Cox Auditorium at Dixie State College for Plaid Tidings.  It was a funny musical play that is a continuation of Forever Plaid.  Forever Paid is about a musical group (The Plaids) who are killed in a car accident on the way to their first real gig.  They are granted one chance to come back to Earth to do their big gig before being taken back to Heaven.  Plaid Tidings is their chance to come back to spread Christmas cheer and do their planned Christmas special.  It was pretty hilarious and these guys were really talented.  The kids loved it and Ethan was laughing so hard I was afraid he would pee his pants!  The rap of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" was classic.

After the play, we went to my parent's house to meet up with them and wait until it was time to go to dinner,  Last Christmas, Bryan was given some gift cards to Samurai 21 (a Japanese hibachi restaurant) but we have never used them.  We went there with Bryan's firm for the firm Christmas party and decided it would be fun to take our family.  So we loaded up and drove to Mesquite.

Ethan was in heaven and loved the experience.  He kept telling us that we had to tip the waitress and chef really well because they were "awesome!"  Courtney wasn't so sure about the place.  She was pretty nervous about eating new foods (although she ordered rice and shrimp which she loves) and the big fires scared her a bit.  She ended up eating some white rice and drinking a couple of rootbeers.

The rest of us had a lot of fun.  I caught a piece of shrimp in my mouth.  The hibachi chef slices up a piece of shrimp, flattens it and then tosses it into your mouth.  I didn't try it last time (because I didn't want to be embarrassed in front of the whole firm) but my family h as seen me in worse situations.  But I caught it!  Ethan and Bryan did too!

It was a lot of fun and Ethan has decided that Samurai 21 is now his favorite restaurant.  He was awed by how nice it was and kept telling us that he loved it!  Courtney, on the other hand, asked if we could get her a babysitter and leave her home next time we decide to go there.  I predict that she will go to Japan on her mission someday.

But then again, this is coming from the person who ordered a plain cheeseburger in Maine when everyone else was eating fresh seafood.  But I grew out of it!

Courtney's Class Party

I am the room mom for Courtney's class.  I love simple parties where there isn't a lot of stress.  This year we did it really simple.  At the end of November, the class made Christmas stockings from paper bags.  All through the month of December, parents volunteered to go into the classroom and read a Christmas story to the kids.  They left a small treat/toy in the stockings to remind the kids of the story.

For their class party, I invited a man from our ward (Don Martindale) to come in and read his favorite Christmas story to the class.  Brother Martindale is really cool because he is a professional Santa.  Up until this year, he was the Santa at Tuacahn.  But he has retired now and is finding it really hard to give up.  He was thrilled when I asked him to read to the children.

Thursday afternoon I met the Martindale's (his wife, Shannon, came along too) in front of the school so I could show them where the classroom was.  After signing in and getting guest passes (a new procedure thanks to the recent school shooting), we began walking down the hall to Courtney's class.  Now, he wasn't dressed as Santa.  He was in a red vest, Santa hat and church pants, but kids came running out of their classrooms saying "Hi Santa!"  It was cute and he loved it!

Once in Courtney's class, he was right at home with the kids.  He sat right down on the rocking chair and began reading the story of Nicholas' early life.  Did you know that Nicholas (i,e, Santa) was an orphan who didn't have a home?  He lived on the streets of a town and would whittle toys for the kids in the village and give to them on Christmas day.  One day a woodcutter saw what Nicholas could do and took him in as his apprentice.  The old woodcutter was mean and didn't like children (because of something that had happened in his past) but Nicholas' kindness soon melted his heart.  One year rhe old woodcutter helped Nicholas make the small toys for the village children but they soon realized that Nicholas couldn't deliver the toys on Christmas day because the woodcutter needed help making a delivery to a woman 20 miles away.  They finally came up with a plan to have Nicholas leave the toys for the children on their doorsteps on Christmas Eve.  Nicholas liked this because he didn't like all the praise and thanks that the children heaped on him when he gave them their toys.  And that is how Nicholas became St. Nick.

When the story was finished, the kids gave him a huge "Thank you!" and he was free to go.  They loved the story and Brother Martindale loved reading it. 

Brother Martindale even brought them an autographed picture of Santa!  The kids thought that was so cool.  This is actually a photo of Brother Martindale that was taken 10 years ago when he was playing Santa in New York City.  It was a handout they would give the children after they sat on Santa's lap.  He has special connections that made it possible to get it autographed!

Caroling!!

On Thursday, right before school let out, all the classes gathered in the cafeteria for caroling.  I was there because it was after Courtney's class party (more on that later) so I went in to watch.  The kids were hilarious so I thought I would video a bit of "Jingle Bells" that there were singing.

Courtney is in a bright green shirt in the center of the picture when the video begins.  I panned over to Ethan's class but I couldn't ever really find him.

You may want to turn the volume down on your computer because these kids sang REALLY LOUDLY!

Ethan's Foot

I am only posting this for posterity sake and to gross out Ethan.  He had a ...thing...on the bottom of his foot that was really bothering him so I took him to the podiatrist on Wednesday after school.  The nurse looked at it and said, "That's a wort."  The doctor came in and said, "That's a wort."...until he decided to just "slice a bit off the top to see" and then he realized that it wasn't a wort.  He has no idea what it is.  When he sliced it, a bunch of puss came out and there is a hole in the center of the mass.  Weird! 

The doctor thinks it may be a sliver or something Ethan stepped on (he kept saying it had to be "pet hair" but we don't have a pet!).  So now Ethan is soaking his foot every day and trying to see if the "thing" comes out.  Gross, but true.

I took this photo at the doctor's office right after he sliced a bit off the top of the mound.  Ethan wanted to see what the big fuss was about and so I showed him the picture.

Shopping

Our family activity on Wednesday was shopping for Coins for Kids.  They actually hadn't raised as much money as they needed and were several thousand dollars short of their goal, but somehow it all worked out.  The newspaper article the next day said that there were kids on their list who, upon further investigation, didn't need Christmas purchased for them.  So it all worked out.

We went to the Bloomington Walmart at a little after 5 p.m. on Wednesday and there was a line of people ready to shop.  We were given a clipboard with a wish list on it from a family.  We were given a $75 per person limit.  The kids were able to help us pick out clothes, jewelery, and some other things for the boy and girl on our list.

Now, I try to get all my shopping done before December because I HATE holiday shopping crowds.  All the good sizes are gone, people are shoving, your legs gets assaulted by carts and you have to really watch your kids.  I don't enjoy it.  I never really thought of shopping for Coins for Kids as being like that, but it was.  On one hand, it was great to see all the volunteers there to help out, but on the other hand, it made for a crowded Walmart.

We finished our family and turned in the cart so it could be purchased.  It was fun and the kids want to do it again next year.  I will be better prepared next year because I'll know what to expect.  It was nice to help out.

Temple Lights

We went to see the lights at the St. George Temple on Tuesday.  Courtney had a Pizazz Christmas party so she was later than usual, but we made it all work.  We ate a quick dinner, made hot chocolate, loaded in the van and drove to the Temple.  Each year we have done this tradition and each year it has been raining.  This year was no exception.  The only difference is that this year the lights weren't shorted out by the rain!!  Bonus.  So they were actually on when we got there.

It was pretty crowded because there were a lot of youth groups looking at light also.  But we had fun walking around.  The kids wanted to go into the visitors center, so we did that to get warm.  It's so fun to go there because the kids always ask great questions.

Ethan Playing the Piano

Here is the video of Ethan playing "I Saw Three Ships" at our Ward Christmas party.  He has a rough time finding the last notes, but he did an awesome job!!