December 2021

 McKenna learned from the Andreason's how to make Top Ramen in the microwave so she decided to try it when we got home. Unfortunately, she didn't think about the fact that our microwave is up much higher and as she went to pull the bowl out of the microwave, the hot water tipped out and splashed all over her arm and leg. She had a few tiny blisters on her leg and on the other side of her arm but the underside of her left arm got the full brunt of it. It looked pretty bad the first day but then the blister just kept growing and growing and became HUGE. Poor thing was in so much pain and it took weeks to heal. 

We found Oreo houses to make this year instead of gingerbread so we decided to try it. The package had four little houses so it was perfect for all the girls to make their own.

McKenna apparently learned her lesson after getting burned by the ramen that she subconsciously decided it was better to leave the water out all together! She forgot to add water to the bowl and we had no idea until I looked over at the microwave and wondered why it looked so smoky. I opened the door to the microwave and a huge plume of black smoke poured out. The ramen was very black and the bowl was completely ruined. Even with the doors and windows open and all the fans going, it took a while to air out the gross smell from our kitchen and even longer to get it out of the microwave!

A family in our ward was waiting for their green card application to be accepted and were not allowed to work or use any kind of government support until it went through (so ridiculous!). So the ward was helping them with a lot of things and we decided to pack up a few boxes with food and fun things for the girls to do. I told the girls about the time Mom, Kristi and I dressed all in black and helped Scott propose and they wanted to do the same. They dressed up like ninjas and did a great job secretly dropping the boxes off on their porch and running away. 

Holly was having some scary health issues and they weren't really sure what was going on. She went to the emergency room on the Saturday before Christmas and was there almost all night. The next day, they sent her home but she was still having these scary episodes where she would shake uncontrollably and was dizzy and nauseous and she just felt awful. Richard had taken the week off from work because we had planned on having the Andreasons here for the week but instead I drove to Holly's house by myself to help her and the kids. My job was to mostly entertain the kids since Holly could barely get out of bed and nothing seemed to help her feel better. Madsy and I went on lots of walks and played a lot of games. I took the kids to a playground for a few hours, walked the dog, cleaned the house, went grocery shopping and planned some fun activities for the kids. I also bought a bunch of activities from Michaels (with the help of Julie and Kristi pitching in) for the kids to do once I left and Chase was still at work. One day we did an escape room where I printed everything off from the computer and set it all up in their spare room. Another day, Madsy and I worked together to plan an Elf party. Somehow I managed to not take any pictures of the fun things we did except when Madeline and I built a school from Legos, which she christened Imagine Academy.

While I was gone, Richard and the kids had way too much fun. They went to their favorite metro park to play, out to eat, and explored the Christmas scene set up at Easton Town Mall. They discovered an area where a fake ice skating rink had been set up and they let the kids put on ice skates and "skate" around (although the kids said they had to lift their feet up and do steps instead of skate). They also got some energy out at the Shops at Worthington where there is a fun toy store, a big fountain, and "secret" stairs that they love going up and down.

One of my favorite traditions is our sibling exchange because I love to see the girls put thought and creativity into the gifts they make. I thought they made some really cute things! McKenna made a candy jar and an original Elephant and Piggie comic for Brooklyn. Kaylee made her a calm down glitter jar.

Kaylee made a vending machine from cardboard for Kenna and it was a huge hit! She spent so much time on it and I thought it turned out great. Brooklyn painted a reindeer and created a candy sleigh for Kenna.

Brooklyn printed out a book of the play that we made up over the summer (and that Kaylee was the star of) called "Stuck in a Good Book"and also made Kaylee a Santa decoration.  McKenna made her a babysitting kit that had a matching game and different printables in plastic folders that the kids can do again and again with a dry erase marker. 

November 2021

 We went to one of our favorite spots to "hike" Ohio style and to explore: Batelle-Darby Creek Metro Park. It was a gorgeous day and we took a LOT of pictures. Kaylee and Brooklyn were hams and definitely didn't mind their pictures being taken a bunch. McKenna tried to pretend like she wasn't going to pose or smile but couldn't hold it for long! I love this family of mine.

Speaking of hams, I took out Brooklyn's "bear bun" hair style and it left her with super curly pigtails. Apparently she was shocked by how cute she is!

Brooklyn and McKenna both had a pair of camo pants and so we had to capture them twinning on their way to school. 

Richard and I went on a lunch date to a new spot we were introduced to by friends- Rebol. The food was delicious and we then walked across the new bridge in Dublin to finish off our quick date.

We had our Primary Program and it went SO well! We had the oldest class give mini talks and every single one of them knocked it out of the park. The rest of the classes each had their own question that a teacher would read and then each kid read the answer they had given. We ended by singing a new song called "My Own Sacred Grove". It was very beautiful and special. As much as I love the results, I will be very happy if this is my last program to prepare! After, we let the teachers have the second hour off and had the kids watch the first Friend to Friend broadcast. I was shocked that it actually kept their attention the whole time. 

We got a tiny bit of snow but that didn't stop the girls from building a tiny snowman!

Brooklyn had to disguise a turkey so he wouldn't get caught for Thanksgiving. She chose to disguise him as a gymnast to be like her! She glued him on like he is in the middle of a cartwheel. 

Kaylee had her first orchestra concert. I was nervous going in that it would sound terrible since this is the first year that most of them have played. But they had music on in the background that went along with their songs and they plucked some of their songs but also used their bow as well. I was very impressed!  And Kaylee looks and seems so grown up. 

We spent the week of Thanksgiving at Holly's house. Brooklyn was attached to Mio all week and barely left his side. Chase and Holly made us amazing food the entire time but Thanksgiving dinner was really great. Holly wanted to make caramel to put in an apple pie but it kept messing up and creating a hard block of caramel. Kaylee and I tried to bite through it and it almost broke my teeth but she managed to get a bite out of it. 

They took us to a thrift store that people rave about in Newburgh. Holly and I were dying laughing when we started walking around and realized how many creepy things there were. It was very entertaining. We also went and walked along the river and played at a park nearby. 

We spent one night driving around to see cool Christmas light displays. Most of them weren't worth the drive but we stayed for a good 45 mins at one house that had timed lights going to really fun songs. 

Mostly the kids were happy to just hang out and play together. Mostly they wanted to play Among Us but the girls also did plenty of karaoke and it was fun to see them belting their hearts out! They also had fun going around the lake behind their house and even tried to do some makeshift fishing with a pole they tried to make themselves.

We also got to celebrate McKenna's 10th birthday at Holly's. She got a new skateboard and Madeline taught her how to ride and she also got tips from Chase, who is an expert. She wanted a Harry Potter party so we got sorted with drinks with a drop of food coloring in the bottom, made a cool potion with Alka-Seltzer, had wand duels with glow sticks, played an HP version of Danger Word, did an HP scavenger hunt, and played Guess Who I Am (where everyone has a character on their forehead and has to ask other people questions to guess who they are). We even had snake pretzels for lunch!

We had another big surprise calling in our family. Richard was asked to be the 2nd counselor in the Spanish branch presidency! He is excited to have a calling where he is actually doing something again and they need people really badly but we are very sad to not attend church with him anymore. This will be a big adjustment for our family!