The Last Six Months in Photos, Part 3

December-New Year's Week

My mom and Sara packed up the car with 3 week old Axel and spent the weekend here so that we could construct our Gingerbread houses together.

George and Grant's first stop: my bathtub.

Creed is a regular baby hog. If there is a baby around, he wants to hold it. His talent at calming a crying baby is uncanny.

Stella and Creed helped my mom decorate her G-bread house.

Grant has recently been introduced to Star Wars so he was thrilled with my Star Wars Pancake skillz.

 When Eddie came we took him & his friend Lani on a local hike.

Newspaper rock from above: Jack & Eddie.

(Not pictured: Christmas. Duh! See this post for a Christmas Re-cap.)

The Roses came for New Years. 

Creed . . . . holding baby Peyton.

Robert's mom, at 69 years old, decided it was high time she learned how to ride a bike.

I suspect that dodging the kids who were running around the backyard made it extra challenging.

After a couple of hours and a few skinned knees, she had it figured out.

And she was pooped.

I have 15 minutes, and I thought I'd write

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately.

It has been a few years since I actually set New Year's Resolutions. I used to set goals for the year that sounded like "No Fries in 2004." Or "Floss every single day in 2003." I'm quite good at keeping to those types of things. I really didn't eat french fries for a whole year. Eight or nine years ago I promised myself that I would read with my children every single day. That one has lasted a lot longer than one year. These seemingly simple promises I make to myself have changed my life in profound ways, and I know the value in having good habits.

Setting goals is a good thing.

It is.

Recently, though, I have felt a shift in my January Goal Setting. And when I say recently, what I mean is: over the last several years. Holy moly, that makes me feel old. That in my world, the word "recently" spans many rotations of the earth around the sun. Other things that make me feel old lately: Miley Sirus and Selena Gomez. See also: mirrors.

Back to the shift: I seem to be more focused on broad themes in January. Things like: More Celebration. More Joy. also: Less. Less of everything: less anxiety, less self loathing, less noise, less stuff.

Anyway, that's what has been on my mind. There's more, but I have to go to book club.

We are discussing "Little Princes." That's been on my mind, too.

Right Now

We are in the midst of one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Our days consist of sleeping in, boxes of chocolate, movie marathons, Wii dance-offs and a fridge full of leftover dips and treats. My kids keep begging me to play games with them and I indulge in hours of guilt-free face time.

Am I the only one who feels guilty about just hanging out with my kids? I'm genuinely happy that they actually still WANT to be with me and include me in their lives, but at the same time I'm thinking about all the work that needs to be done that I don't always Enjoy the Moment.

Not this week.

This week, laundry gets done. Sometimes.

Meals are irregular because nobody is very hungry. (See: the fridge full of leftover treats.)

Sometimes we get dressed.

It's the post-Christmas haze and I'm not saying that we haven't had the Traditional Christmas Meltdown or that I haven't been Bursting Out of My Jeans (see: that darn fridge full of leftover treats), but all in all I'm enjoying the week.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

2010: A List

The Highs:

• After years and years and years of sacrifice, Robert finished his Residency and took a job here in Des Moines.
• We have amazing local friends who recognized the significance of the above event and the fact that we might be feeling lonely with no family around with whom to celebrate and surprised us with a steak dinner. Having friends that celebrate your triumphs is a true blessing.
• Jack is now old enough to be left in charge for short periods of time.
• Robert and I dated each other more this year than we have in a long, long time.
• Hot Chocolate for Haiti was a huge success. The kids raised over $200 from generous friends, neighbors, and church members (including the Mons kids' piggy bank) and donated it to the Red Cross. They had their picture in the Red Cross Newsletter and were hailed local heroes. I don't know any other kids who devise and execute plans like that. They teach me so much every day.
• The boys are doing their own laundry which means that instead of announcing to me that they have no clean socks, they blame each other when their socks run low. That's okay with me, because guess what! I don't have to do their laundry anymore.
• Everyone is participating more in all household duties, so I (mostly) don't feel so overwhelmed.
• Stella began taking piano lessons, Creed continues to study piano, and Jack started taking guitar lessons. They all performed in our Christmas Eve talent show. Creed's talent wasn't actually musical. His talent was "Beating My Crocodile Senseless."
• Jack and Creed both continue to be active in Scouts. Jack earned his Arrow of Light and Crossed Over from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. His Scoutmaster is an inspiration. Creed is a Bear Scout for another two months.
• Stella is still a little ballerina. Her life motto seems to be "Why walk when you can dance?"
• My mom married a wonderful man with an incredible family. He flew us all to Seattle so that we could participate in the celebrations.
• I gave my first Wedding Toast.
• We got a Dog!
• My brother, Elder Scott Wait completed his mission and came to spend a few days with us.
• Many of our Iowa friendships were fortified with lots of fun time together.
• Our family relationships were fortified with lots of time together.
• Our front room was only one color during 2010 . . . and . . . I don't anticipate changing it during 2011.
• We are honored to have a close family member serving in the military in the Middle East.

The Lows:

• Lolo was diagnosed withr Cancer (but he keeps defying the odds!)
• Great Grandma Rose passed away. I need to write about her, she was an amazing woman.
• I consumed significantly more calories than I burned this year.
• Although we travelled over 30,000 miles all over the country from one coast to the other, we spent zero time on any beach anywhere.
• I still haven't met any of my dad's wife's kids.
• Eddie moved away.
• Our hamster, Guilty Spark, died. We held an intimate memorial service in the backyard.
• We all had moments of loneliness or hurt feelings at one time or another this year, and we tended to blame it on the fact that we live in Iowa instead of Utah. Lame and unfair, I know.
• Although we took many trips to Utah in 2010, we didn't get to spend much time with friends. I miss everyone so much.
• We read fewer books together as a family this year than we have in any previous year.
• We have a close family member deployed in the Middle East away from his wife and child.

The In-Betweens:

• We have cell phones.
• We are keeping cleaner bedrooms.
• We started repaying student loans.
• We installed hardwood floors.