In a Movie Theater, Not so Far Away

We saw the latest Star Wars with Rowan!  It was so fun to take him out to his first PG-13 movie and one that we all loved seeing.  My little man is growing up and still hates getting his picture taken.  Rowan liked it so much, he went to go see it again the next day with Grandma Dorothy.

 I'm pretty sure Steve isn't the only one who is mildly annoyed with my incessant picture taking.

Don't worry, that expression left the moment I put the camera away.

Snowman Sundaes

We seem to have started a tradition.  Last year I volunteered to provide the refreshments for Rowan's Christmas classroom party as a "birthday treat".  This year I volunteered to do the same.  Snowman sundaes have been a hit each time.  I hope to do it for Nadia's class next year if she has a stable teacher by then.  This year I brought in Snowman Kristy Kremes for her class treat. 

 Some of the kids came up with really creative ones.

 Smile for the camera Rowan!

 Rowan's "fly man" eating a marshmellow

Yes, he really loves getting his picture taken.

 We made some at home with Nadia and Elsa too.  They were thrilled.

Yankee Doodle

December 2015 was a busy month for our little family.  I received my American citizenship after living in this country for over 16 years.  I left Canada when I was 17, so it seems fitting that I should become a citizenship after spending almost half my life here. 

The process to become a citizen was SO much simpler than getting my permanent residency.  I remember many tears over that initial process and scads of complicated paperwork.  The citizenship paperwork, on the other hand, was direct, simple and only a few pages long.  I didn't even need a lawyer to look over it or rather I didn't want to because just that alone would cost $380.  I was concerned that they would find something wrong or reject me for whatever reason, but it was a very smooth process.  The interviewer found out Steve worked at BYU, his alma mater, and he seemed to go pretty easy on me from that point.  I had to study for my American exam where you are asked maybe 10 out of a 100 possible questions about relatively basic trivia.  Thankfully, I passed with no issues.

The most difficult part ended up being finding a day when my family could come with me to the naturalization ceremony.  I felt it was an important day and wanted everyone with me.  Vesta kindly came too and helped with the kids while I was going through the motions.  It's a good thing she did as someone stepped on Elsa's hand in the crowded room and she didn't quite recover from that point.  Vesta had to take her out screaming at least twice.  We kind of expected that though.

She was probably overheating too, but she is obsessive about having all her winter gear on and will fight tooth and nail if you try to take it off when she doesn't want you to.  Especially her mittens.  Kids are weird.

 Waiting to get called back to the ceremony room.
 

 And after it was all said and done.  We said our oath, listened to a few speeches, and watched a video from Barrack Obama with some strange music video afterwards.  There was an older immigration worker who spoke and his words had some impact on me.  He teared up and said this was the best part of his job and spoke of his ancestors coming to America and seeing shades of them in our experience that day.  It was touching and unexpected given his gruff exterior. 

While I was getting my certificate, I felt extremely humbled.  With the Syrian refugee crisis being in the forefront of news and opinion articles, it was hard for me to swallow having citizenship of two great countries that people are literally dying to get into.  I am thankful, but probably undeserving.

Early December

 Meowy Christmas!  Our cat has been going a little crazy with the colder weather.  The Christmas tree gave him something new to explore indoors.

This baby swing has gotten a lot of mileage over the years.  Sage used it every time she got sick or had trouble sleeping.  These days, the girls clamor over it to use as a comfortable seat or just to swing in.  Occasionally, Elsa will have a turn with it, but it has been clearly marked as Sage's territory.  To the point that she will sit on you if you are using it.

Festival of Trees

I have wanted to go to a Christmas tree festival for a long time.  The last one I remember going to was back in Chicago at one of the museums there.  This year, I decided last minute to go and I called up my sister to join me.  It turned out to be a nice outing together.

 I was amazed at the extent of this event.  We only perused the large tree section, but there were wreaths, small trees, quilts, and gingerbread house sections that we passed by.  Next year I'll plan for more time.  Elsa wasn't super cooperative at first, but once we utilized her idol, Viktoria, everything went a lot more smoothly.

My favorites ended up being mostly flocked trees, which I never thought I would like.

 Elsa's favorite trees were the Halloween themed ones (surprise!) and the Curious George one.

 Everyone was a lot happier after we took advantage of the freshly made cinnamon rolls.

 Rows upon rows of trees!  I wish my mom could have been there with us.

 We found a tree to match Elsa's hat.

 Nadia's favorite trees were the wildlife (surprise!) themed ones and the wolf themed one.

 Howling her approval.  Love this crazy kid.

 The girls found what would have been Grandma D's favorite tree.

This is only half the space.   It's an amazing event that I hope to make a traditional part of our Christmas celebrations. 

Speaking of Christmas traditions, I now know to get the gingerbread house kit from Walmart instead of trying to do one with graham crackers and icing.  I also now know that I should check said kit to see if the pieces are broken prior to bringing it home.  I also have learned that if I get two kits for two little girls, the kits should be exactly the same to avoid massive fighting.  I learned so many lessons this year!

 Gingerbread fail.  Also, Rowan picture taking fail. 

Eventually we did get it all worked out and I don't have a picture of said success, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

We watched the Christmas First Presidency Devotional and Sage had a grand time "conducting" the choir.  She got a little camera shy when I pulled the camera out, but Nadia helped coax her along.

Our Songbird

One thing about having girls in the house is someone is always singing.  Elsa seems to focus on one song at a time.  There was "Let it Go" and "Once Upon a Dream".  Now we are on a special selection composed by Grandpa.



Here's some other selections.  I tried to get her to do some old ones she liked, but she wasn't having any of that.

Medical Mysteries

It seems like my kids keep introducing me to new ailments.  Sage had a weird virus called roseola the other week.  Elsa had a joint infection, which I didn't even know was possible.  Nadia had selective mutism and now we are onto another adventure with her.

For the past year she constantly is clearing her throat or is coughing.  CONSTANTLY.  Every time I took her to the doctor for other reasons, they would comment how she has unusually large tonsils.  This past week I had had enough, so I took her to the doctor and asked if we could have her tonsils removed.  The doctor said they don't do that anymore unless you have 4 documented cases of tonsillitis or you have sleep apena and that it is more likely she has what is known as a "habit cough" and it is just a nervous tic.   I'm pretty frustrated about it.  She coughs at night and snores.  Today she stood next to me and I could hear rattling when she was breathing normally.  It's clearly more than a psychological thing, but apparently doctors don't like to remove tonsils anymore.  The doctor told Nadia to "stop it" and this video is the result of Nadia trying not to cough (she hams it up at the end).  Thanks doc.  Great solution.

Reflections on Preschool and Life