So Much to Catch Up On!

I'm always amazed at how quickly time flies. You think you have a ton of weeks and then poof, the day you were waiting for is already here. Example: Our ward was collecting hand-tied fleece blankets for Project Linus. I bought our fleece back in November knowing we'd have plenty of time before the Dec 8th due date. Well, Dec. 6th came and I stayed up one night tying two blankets all by myself because I simply forgot/ran out of time. I guess everything is busy this time of year!

At church I'm working in the nursery. Yes, that's laughable. I'm not sure it's the "right" place for me but I am adapting as best I can. It's mostly the easiest thing I've ever done but seeing that I like to stay busy, it's also the most brainless thing I've ever done. I decided we had to do something fun (I cannot build another robot lego or eat another piece of fake food....) I brought in paints and had the kids paint sled ornaments for their parents. "Paint" with 18 month-3 year olds was not my brightest idea. But we managed to only have one dress ruined. I offered to buy her another but the mom laughed at me saying this was her 5th child and promised she had just about grown out of it so it wasn't a big deal. Phew! (It was washable paint... but "washable" doesn't really apply to tulle....) The ornaments turned out cute though.
 

 I tried an experiment called a Black Snake or something like that. It was one of those "on the internet it looks really cool" type things. It consisted of filling rocks/dirt/sand with lighter fluid. Then adding sugar and baking soda to the top and lighting it on fire. Sounds smart? Right??

I made the kids stand behind the door :) 

The wind blew the flames into the stray leaves, which caused them to catch fire. Then I was running around trying to stomp everything out while I could hear Lee inside the house saying things like, "Look kids, mom's hair is going to catch fire!" "Look kids, mom's shoes are going to catch fire." It was quite comical.

In the end, the experiment only "kinda" worked. I'm sure me almost burning myself (and our backyard) was more the show.

A friend of mine hosts a Holiday Running Streak every year. The idea is simple- just walk/run at least one mile everyday from Thanksgiving to New Years. Simple in theory, not so simple when it's freezing cold. We have had the coldest December since we've moved here. I dressed like this the first 2 days and haven't done it since. I'm such a wimp. I'ts 23 degrees today, I probably won't go out today either.

We played a silly, but fun game. A friend told me about it- it's called Telepathy. It's simple. You have several sets of the same objects. You then put up a divider and you try to "read the mind" of the other person and hold up the same object at the same time. It provided a lot of laughs. And Lee's creepy eyes are hysterical. For the record- Amy and I got it right most of the time. I don't think the boys ever made a match. 

Will's class went on a field trip to TPAC which is the fancy theater in downtown Nashville. They saw a show called 1,2,3 Andres (meant to read Uno, Dos, Tres, Andres so it rhymes.) It was a spanish/english 2 person and a band show. They did a cute job. I was most amazed that we sat about 10 rows from the front, in the orchestra section. I would never be able to afford seats like that for a normal Broadway play. (I LOVE musical theater but man, the tickets are so expensive!) 

Nashville State Capital. It was a beautiful day, but it was freezing cold!

Will is loving Cub Scouts. He got his first advancement to Bear (?) I know nothing about this program. But he loves it. The church is bowing out of the Boy Scout program in 2020. At this point we are unsure if we'll find another troop or go with whatever new program the church puts forth. He is loving it though!

I believe those are all the pre-Christmas updates.... now, onto CHRISTMAS!