~A little bit overdone~

After a week of negativity, I really tried my hardest to focus on what matters most: my family. 

It helps that it's Christmas season and so there is a constant reinforcement of 

family time, service giving, and just being Christlike...

... and it also helps that I stopped praying for patients!!!!!! ha ha 

Here are the highlights from our week of celebrating Christmas, and really focusing on putting the kids and our family above all other errands and to do's!

Monday

We had some friends over for our annual Christmas House decorating, 

and an "Elf Dinner." 

Essentially we ran out of time for dinner and ate SOooOO much candy while decorating that we made ourselves sick. Travis told the boys "It's like the Elf movie; we just ate 3 of the 4 food groups," referring to corn syrup, sugar, etc. :D The boys said they'd prefer healthier dinners from now on...

... so I guess it's a parenting win for us!! 

Tuesday 

Elf dinner backfired when Aaron woke up throwing up! ha ha. So he stayed home, and we LOVED having him home!! The best part was getting he and Addie into the stroller and going for an afternoon walk. 

Wednesday 

Had lunch and wonderful adult conversation with some of the ladies. 

Went to a game night at YW's. 

Practiced a Christmas duet for Sunday.

Thursday

prepped cookies for an exchange, made class treats, and put together gifts for some community members. 

That evening my friend and I attended a cookie exchange and I don't know what was more fun: the wonderful company or the BEAUTIFUL home it was held in! 

Friday 

Had a kitchen in disarray from all the baking... and blew it off to tear apart the toy room and reorganize it to now fit the kitchen table. I got rid of a ton of junk and donation toys, sorted them into labeled totes, and turned the couch so it now faces the fireplace; we are loving the new flow and open feel of the actual kitchen area. 

Our Friday Family Movie Night: Santa Claus 2. 

We attended a Christmas party at a friend's home; once again, good company, delicious food, and a beautiful home. 

Saturday 

Prepared for a Chaotic and CRAZY trip to Minneapolis... The Saturday before CHRISTMAS! 

We passed 4 accidents on the way there from rushed holiday drivers; this seemed like a bad sign; however, our first stop to Costco couldn't have started off better. 

The lady at the desk worked some magic and ended up scoring us a free membership for this next coming year! This REALLY started the day off right! 

The crowds weren't so bad, we found everything we needed quickly, and the check out lines were short... hotdog, the first stop was went swell!! 

(Sorry, I'm currently watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time so I'm picking up some of the older "lingo.") 

Next, the Mall of America... the Saturday before Christmas!!!! 

But as luck would go, we found parking and instantly had a shuttle pull up and offer us a ride up to the entrance; yes, please! 

I then had to take care of business at GAP, which I was expecting to be TERRIBLE, but once again, it was great. There weren't any lines and the girl that helped me was extremely understanding. 

So we celebrated our great day by going to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe before heading home. 

Addie napped (awesome, since she hates the carseat). 

We got home, so exhausted, barely willed ourselves to eat dinner, and got the kids to bed. And then fell asleep in our newly moved around toy room, in front of the fire. 

Sunday

Woke up with a KILLING throat and a cold that just WON'T go away! It's been lingering, and I think this week I just overdid it! 

And today I was expected to sing my Christmas duet. I felt like so screechy, but received a lot of kind words, which I appreciated. 

We had a REALLY lazy afternoon and also delivered our neighbor/friend gifts. 

Now Travis and I are watching It's a Wonderful Life and eating Muddy Buddies (yum), and Travis just can't believe I've never seen this before! 

Sidenote: You may have noticed my attention to beautiful homes throughout the week. Well, Travis and I have just had our minds in the clouds in the few moments we've had together. We just feel like, with the holidays here and about to pass, there is nothing standing in our way between now... and the baby coming... the baby coming... and Residency ending!!!!! 

And between a 4th baby and residency coming to a close (feels unreal to say) we've just felt like these little dreams we have to fix up the house here and there are actually more than dreams! 

Anyway, that was our week in a nutshell. 

Next up, Christmas time!!! 

25 weeks

SoOo Proud of Aaron; he is such a good boy

Intently watching the recycling and garbage men come get their gifts
as they did their jobs. 

Wonderful brother, trying to keep sissy happy
on the drive to Minneapolis

This was about 30 seconds after heading
home from our big outing! 

For M and A's Class parties 

 Cookie exchange box, a Joanna Gaines collection. 

And the cookies I came home with! 

This girl LOVES her necklace; basically carries/wears
it everywhere each day. And now she LOVES the hat! 

~Merry Christmas!!~

Needing to Take a Step Back

This week I mentally struggled. 

I yelled. 

I was short-tempered. 

I didn't really enjoy the parenting moments I was afforded. 

I felt down for a dear friend of mine. 

Travis worked a lot and was tired for the short time he was home. 

Ive been a little under the weather.

Each of my children seemed to have moments of unbearableness, as did I. 

I feel bad that I basically spent a week in a negative mood, even though there were some very fun moments. 

We've had opportunities to give/receive much service. 

The weather... oh my, it was HEAVENLY!!!! 

We even played outside a few time. 

We hosted the YW Christmas dinner at our house and it was a great night. 

A friend and I played a hilarious racquetball match in which we laughed so hard I nearly peed myself; thankfully she is pregnant as well, so she gets it. 

Lots of Christmas scriptures.

Fun-Friday-Family Movie Night: Little Foot

Christmas movie snuggles. 

Funny Adeline moments. 

Watching Maddix perform in his latest piano recital. 

Prepped for the Christmas party

Freshly brushed... Man she's shedding! 

Cute "thank you..." notes for our neighbor

Can't see, but Travis had built a large fire to complete
our Christmas Dinner

Nala had a small surgery to remove two cysts. We put her in
a shirt to hide the stitches. The hat was for fun.
The result= Hipster Nala

Baby piano time!

group snack time

~Future Dreaming~

I don't know where to start. I began writing this with the negative points of having to live in Iowa; however I don't think that is fair. I don't want to rag on this place that has seen so much growth from our family. 

This is the longest we've ever lived somewhere as a family. We've gone from a family of boys to an even split (soon to be, anyway) of two boys and two girls. We've become home owners and really created a home that we love to be in. And we have fun dreaming about finishing the basement, opening up the kitchen, etc. 

The people in the Midwest are seriously some of the kindest people, ever. Friends and neighbors come together to support each other when the winds whip the trees into everyone's yards, to rake the endless leaves, shovel drive-ways, provide meals and daycare to women who've just had babies. I don't know. There is something here... it's stronger than saying "there's a sense of community." People invest in each other. Care about each other. And they don't really care about much other than that (w/ the exception of Hawkeye football ;), so it is really just a relaxed place to raise children; and for that, I'm so so grateful. 

Now that's I've said nice things... ;D I'll just be honest with how badly Travis and I would like to be closer to family. To be back around mountains. To live in a climate where we can live outdoors for 9 months of the year... instead of INSIDE for 9 months of the year (I don't feel like that's an exaggeration). 

In our future we see a lot of boating, skiing/snowboarding, mountain biking, rock climbing, triathlons, and even the occasional campout! We get so excited thinking about living back home where we can also share these experiences with our family members since they won't be 1200 miles away! 

So anyway, that's where our mind as been quite frequently since we came home from our trip. 

But also, we've enjoyed celebrating Travis's 33rd birthday, as well as Christmas festivities!!! 

For Travis's bday he got to start the morning off playing Racquetball with a group for guy friends from church that get together and play each Saturday morning. The boys about had a heart attack that they had to wait for his bday breakfast until he was home and out of his relaxing and LoNg shower! For lunch we were able to go to Mr. Taco for street tacos before the storm rolled in. We watched Dog Days as a family, ate his favorite meal of Split pea soup for dinner and had tres leches for dessert. After the kids went to bed we watched Crazy Rich Asians (which Travis has declared as his new favorite Rom-Com). He said he had a nice day. And I'm glad it was a relaxing day for him before he had to go work his 24hr shift the next morning. 

Maddix came out and helped me shovel our driveway one morning. Then volunteered to accompany me across the street to shovel the driveways of our single older lady neighbors. 

We've had lots of snuggle time. 

Christmas movies. 

Hot Chocolate bars. 

Travis's Work Christmas party 

McNider Art Museum Christmas Event

Christmas at Clear Lake Event (which if I'm being honest, wasn't fun. We went with the intention of creating a fun Christmas-themed memory, however, the boys whined the whole time, the baby just cried, and it was SO cold that if you stopped moving... you probably wouldn't have ever moved again! So we stayed 30mins and just went home; Christmas outing FAIL)

And then we are having an FHE tomorrow themed around Free Agency and Missed Blessings. 

Maddix said something negative about himself the other day so I told him, "Maddix, we don't say mean things about anyone, that includes ourselves." To which he quickly replied, "I thought that we have free agency?" He asked this earnestly, not sarcastically. So THAT (among other less than pleasant moments in our days) is what is driving the topic of our FHE. 

So then we're going to relate having free agency and blessings that H.F. has for us into relatable things we can focus on in our daily lives to help us not miss out on opportunities day in and day out. 

I've been contemplating for a few months now, the possibility of creating some sort of "positive attitude" chart, but I didn't want it to have punishments attached to it. I didn't want it to be tied to the wrong type of rewards. So I've just been waiting and collecting different pinterest ideas until I found the right combination that would reach both Maddix and Aaron in the ways they learn the best. 

Presenting... dun don don DUN!!! They're new charts! 

There are 10 topics for each 7 days of the week. At the end of the day if they had an overall positive attitude within each topic then they get to color in a star. That way they can make mistakes and learn to calm themselves down without losing out on a star opportunity. And if they don't get all their stars, it's okay too... there is no punishment or major missed out opportunity. But each star equates to 1 minute of video games (for Maddix) and iPad time (for Aaron); these are things that mean a lot to my boys, but that they rarely get to do, so definitely motivating and something we will do together as a family. At the max they earn 70mins a week, so I don't think that's too much either. 

I'm very hopeful. 

I really hope these charts will be something easy to commit too. Easy to adjust into without some big change or major commitment, but something they themselves can stay on top of. At the end of the day they can reflect on the choices they made decide for themselves how they did. 

Like I said, I'm hopeful this will help create a more positive environment in our home and get some of us in the habit of seeing the world in a more positive light. 

Anyway, I'm tired and have rambled quite a bit. 

So the End. 

Enjoy the pictures if you have hung in there this long. 

23 weeks... and look more like 32! 

She was watching a dog on the tv... who
was watching on dog on tv!! lol! 

Found this, among many other photos, on my phone :D 

Me and my Minnie 

Saturday morning cartoons with your brother just can't be beat