december: everything elllllse

Okay, usually I spend some time putting all the pictures in some kind of cohesive-ish order but that sounds like a lot of work right now and I want to get this posted while I'm still motivated to do so, SO... this is going to be random! Fun! Maybe!

The Nampa Library is amazing and hosted a way fun Star Wars Day. We didn't make it for the whole thing, but the boys loved making balloon light sabers, being officially christened Jedi Knights by Obi Wan Kenobi, and finding and deciphering all the clues hidden around the library - each was a quote from one of the movies. Wayyyy fun:

So all through the month tons of cool people posted about various service projects they did as part of the Church's "Light the World" initiative. I just kept running into situations where other people served me ;). Like this one! Our freaking van (that I love! So much!) has been having battery issues, and it awesomely died while we were out and about one day. Multiple people stopped to help us, including a way nice CableOne guy whose own battery terminals were too corroded to give us a charge and then this other way nice guy who got us up and running. Did I mention this was all in slushy rain/snow? And that I sat in the van the whole time while Chuck and these good samaritans did the work? The prompt this particular day was to be an answer to someone's prayers and I'm so grateful for kind strangers who were just that.

Ohhhh my beautiful, beautiful books. These pictures were on my phone from December because every so often I take pictures to reference when I'm at D.I. and can't remember if I own a certain book ... or how many copies I own of a certain book haha. 

Oh, yeah, so I wasn't alone in the van while Chuck and random nice strangers jumped us - I had these two cutie pies for company! We got to steal Jaxen one day and I bribed him with gummy worms to love me!! 99% sure it worked! ;)

We got a decent amount of snow throughout the month that we thought was a LOT of snow... until January rolled around and reallllly opened our eyes haha. But in the meantime, it was pretty!!

The last school day before the winter break ended up being called as a snow day! Chuck was home, so it was perfect - we shoveled and played and Clyde made a pretty sweet sled run over on Muskrat Mountain that Will and I tested out with him.

Every so often we participate in the coloring contests at the library - when we remember to grab the coloring pages... and color them... and return them... Luckily, the stars aligned in December and all four kids entered. Here are Carma and Jack working on their masterpieces:

We were all pretty psyched when the library called and told us that Carma June won for her age division (ages 0-2. Probably not the stiffest competition out there). Suuuuper fun. We went down to the library to admire her picture posted amongst the other winners and excitedly accepted her gift bag, with a stuffed animal, book, and crayons - all of which we took him and wrapped for her to open on Christmas. We're thinkers ;).

Speaking of Carma, have I mentioned she's hilarious? Here are some adorable examples. She continues to love dance and looking at books and pretty things and shiny things and she already looks wayyyy too comfortable in high heels, and her grasping all the Costco samples ever is my favorite. I tried to help her balance them but her grip just got tighter so we rolled with it hahaha:

More cute kiddos throughout the month.

Chuck and the boys had some adventures one afternoon - blessedly Jack did not come home with that bike helmet (from Walmart), Will didn't come home with a dog (from Reading Tails at the library) and SADLY no one came home with leftover ice cream for Mom (from Arctic Circle).

My kids are snuggly and I need to remember to be grateful for that, even when I feel claustrophobic and fondly remember something called personal space...

More randomness: yet another trip to the library and then some painting at home and then Carma being Carma haha

Jackers loves legos. Like a lot. He loves making battles and he loves rebuilding sets and he's also so creative - these are two robots he designed and made. 

We had a way fun night at Chuck's work party (that we lamely missed last year). Sean and Melissa generously hosted again, and Melissa had fun craft projects for the kiddos to do - although Clyde seemed quite content to play video game hockey (of course!) with Zane :). Customary staff gift exchange was equal parts hilarious and inappropriate and a good time was had by all - even Carma, who tried to steal Jaelyn's snow boots and was QUITE distraught when I wouldn't let her:

The Hornes miiiiight have an even more incredible lego collection than we do (which is saying something ;) ) and I loved this nativity they had on display! I feel like I should look into getting one...

My mama's house - Chuck made that star in her kitchen window and I loved it!

I found these pictures on Chuck's phone - I can't remember what Will was up to (something Christmas present-related I think?) but he was so cute about hiding it when Daddy came into the room!

Speaking of Will, this Thanksgiving story came home in his backpack in December and I'm a little biased but I think it's an instant classic.

I mean, if you live somewhere kind of cold or kind of hot and you DON'T have screenshots on your phone of the more extreme temperatures, do you really live there?

This handsome guy was my date to a lovely, chilly December wedding! Granted, I ditched him (and missed the actual ceremony ha!) for a possibly even cuter date named Jett who had a pretty impressive diaper blowout haha :). 

I love weddings because I'm cheesy, and I loved this thought that Elder Ballard shared on Facebook about the incredible potential that husbands and wives have as they learn and grow together and support each other. 

Speaking of the chilllllly weather (weren't we? a couple pictures ago? I warned y'all this would be random...), we always have a water bottles in the car because we're a thirsty group, but in December that meant we were usually pulling out completely frozen water bottles from under the seats haha. Will and Jack took to utilizing the heaters in the car to melt them and I took to laughing heartily at the view in my mirror every time they did!

Don't let Jack's stoic facial expression fool you: he was beyond ecstatic that Santa and Mrs. Claus came to his preschool class for a visit. Ohhh man, he can recite all of their answers from the Q&A and it's adorable. Also, can we enjoy his shorts and tall socks look up close? #classy

Speaking of Christmas, I found this shirt for Cody on 50% off day at Savers and I'm not sure I'll ever purchase a more perfect gift for someone....

I found this image on Instagram and I'm not sure I'll ever find a more perfect depiction of how I sleep... or don't sleep AHHHHHHHH. 

Another screenshot of something amazing: this rock Nativity scene. I'm in awe.

Aaaaand another amazing truth via Facebook. Infants just cry. Tweens cry AND sass.

If you text me that I'm the best, be prepared for me to save that for posterity, yo.

SPEAKING OF GIRLS NIGHT, December marked our 5th anniversary - holy moly. We marked the occasion by returning to our original stomping grounds, aka IHOP and it was a good reminder of why we left haha. Overall, amazing night, sorry again to Kara for yelling at you when you gave us gifts ;). Just for fun, let's take a quick look back and how far we've come, how many different hair colors and styles we've had in the last five years and how often we were all pregnant haha:

The beginning! Pictures aren't in order but are (mostly) labeled - the top left is the very first girls night back in December 2011 for Nicole's birthday. Originally our outings were sporadic - birthday months, right before a baby was born, etc. When Paulina moved out of our ward in the summer of 2013, she had the brilliant idea to choose a night every month and stick with it. It was a total game changer! Not everyone makes it every month, but it keeps us consistent and it's amazing.

2014:

2015:

aaaaand 2016: 

 Happy anniversary girls!! Here's to 50 more years ;). 

Bonnie L. Oscarson gave a talk in 2014 about sisterhood and said: "To be sisters implies that there is an unbreakable bond between us. Sisters take care of each other, watch out for each other, comfort each other, and are there for each other through thick and thin. The fact of the matter is, we really and truly need each other. Women naturally seek friendship, support, and companionship. We have so much to learn from one another, and we often let self-imposed barriers keep us from enjoying associations which could be among the greatest blessings in our lives." 

This girls night group has meant so much to me over the last five years. Pro tip: if you are a girl and don't have a girls group, make one! Ours seriously could have fallen apart as EVERYONE BUT ME moved away, but Paulina's genius idea saved us. Start basic. Grab a couple friends and sneak out for hot chocolate. Then do it again. Then do it again. Maybe invite another friend. Keep doing it. Have fun! Uplift each other! Don't sit and gossip about other women you know. Don't sit and nitpick about your husbands. Laugh! Ask for advice. Share random stories. Commiserate about parenting. Gently tease each other. Compliment each other. Encourage each other. Mourn with each other. Use each other for sounding boards for work stuff or family stuff or church stuff or hair stuff. Laugh some more. Pretty soon you'll be five years into an amazing sisterhood ;). 

Aaaand that's December! Wooo!

Except that we spent New Year's Eve in Utah which is half December and half January.... but we're rolling that into January so that I can say I'm done with December and go eat a Hawaiian sweet roll haha!

december: Grandma and Grandpa Izatt come to visit!

We were thrilled to welcome Grandma and Pops for a few days after Christmas - especially since they brought Bri and Eli with them as well! Grandma's traditional Star Wars pancakes are even more fun with cousins to help make the batter:

Lots of time was spent at the table playing games (Headbandz and Uno pictured) and at the lego table working together there...

and of course we took advantage of the snow and went sledding! So so fun to watch the different pairings of cousins head down the hill - Carma and Will both loved hitching a ride with Bri, and Jack and Eli were a pretty good match up as they raced over and over:

Jack loved heading down the hill with Grandma on a sled next to him :).

Clyde and Carma and I got a bit ambitious with both of them riding down on my back - soooo painful and yet soooo fun!

Grandma Pam met us at the park and hopped on a sled with Clyde a couple times. From this adventure we get possibly my favorite pictures ever. Like EVER:

Come on though! Can't we all die laughing now?? My mom's face in the first picture as Chuck starts to push them. My mom's face in the second one as she realizes this IS happening and she better get ready. Chuck's face in the second one as he remembers how many holes he puttied and walls he painted in my mom's old house... and her new house... and how great revenge feels. The random guy in the background's face as he watches 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Aaaand this picture of Jackers and Chuck just melts me.

Another highlight of the week was ROGUE ONE!!!!! Oh my gosh, I (spoiler alert) sobbbbbed like a baby through the final few minutes... which isn't a real surprise, I do it at the end of basically every Star Wars movie. Sheesh. Way good though!

Cousin line-up! 

One evening was dedicated to nerf battles and it. was. hilarious. (Minus the part where I shot Eli in the nose - SO sorry buddy! I promise it wasn't intentional; my aim isn't that good!!) The kiddos loved watching Grandma and Grandpa get into it and sneak around and it was the perfect end to a great visit!!

Can we all enjoy Chuck in the bottom left picture mid-collapse? I can't remember which kid shot him, but they got their money's worth watching his demise haha!

december: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were really lovely this (er, last?) year. I loved reliving it as I sorted through these pictures.

We opted for some sledding on Christmas Eve afternoon and it was brilliant - so so fun and very effectively tired out the kids. As always, I was a fairly apprehensive sledder, even down the mild hills over at Lakeview where we went:

Oh my gosh, Carma and Jack kill me in their hats!!

Carma loooooved sledding. Like, a lot. The crying pictures are when it was time to go:

The boys all had a swell time:

despite the occasional crash... or, you know, thanks to the occasional crash ;).

Ohhhh man this guy is cute!

And a good kisser ;). Will covered his eyes when he scrolled through these pictures earlier, so deepest apologies if anyone else finds this one offensive to the eyes hahahaha.

Aaaaand a family shot, courtesy of a nice fellow sledder:

And a solo Will shot, because I couldn't not post this one. I thiiiink it's a variation of his 'selfie' pose...

And then we came home and ate dinner and read the Nativity while the boys acted it out with the toys and then Clyde adorably read to Carma and then we attempted a cute kiddo picture by the tree that went smashingly ;), and then it was off to bed... for everyone but Carma, who helped herself to Santa's cookies haha.

He must not have been terribly affronted by only finding crumbs on the plate, because he came and left alllllll of this for our wee mostly-nice-somewhat-naughty children.

 Recurring themes: cereal, books, and socks!

The kids delightfully made it until 6:45am to bust out onto the living room scene and were sweet and excited and gracious upon finding their stockings (aka they didn't have to go back to their rooms and try again, a la last year hahahaha).

 Socks were a big hit, as were the legos, swim goggles, pens/pencils, and crayons tucked deep inside. Carma was still half-asleep but seemed pretty psyched about her princesses and stethoscope.

We paused the materialistic celebrating at this point to head to church for some spiritual celebrating - novel concept, eh? The kids were hiiiiiiigh on life and The Worst during sacrament meeting... maybe we should have held on to the stockings and gotten a few more hours of Santa-related motivation to be good? Because apparently religious guilt has no effect on these hooligans as we were in church on Jesus' birthday and they were that wild ;).

Grandma Pam came home with us which was wonderful!! 

We had some brunch (holidays bring out our classiness) and then busted into some presents. We usually have the boys open gifts together, so first up was nerf guns, wooooo:

..... and here's the lego wave.....

and the new clothes! Complete with some skin showin' as Will made sure his new Star Wars t-shirt fit ;). 

As is hard-wired tradition, we made our way to the kitchen table for the mass assembly of new lego sets. 

More random pictures from the day - I feel like I took a nap somewhere in there? I hope I did at least haha. 

Carma was sosososo fun this year; super into the presents and fun atmosphere. Grandma Pam gave her a set of Daniel Tiger toys and I think that's the moment Christmas became real to Carma ;).

All of that frozen, somewhat untouched snow in the front yard proved too tempting for Chuck and he ran through it. He tried to get Clyde to come along, but Clyde was mindful of the 'fool me twice, shame on me' idiom and declined the offer (having accepted it last winter and regretting it!). 

Will completed his maiden voyage in this, um, fun activity. Don't let the big smile fool you - he instructed me to write "Will did not like it. It was COLD!"

All of our 'no nerf on Sunday' rules flew out the window - the boys pleaded 'family bonding' as justification and I rolled my eyes and put on safety goggles haha - and we ended the day with a few epic nerf battles:

Favorite guy, favorite nerf gun, favorite styling of my bangs.

So it's pretty Charlie Brown tree-esque, but I loved this totally fake tree we used the last few years. This was its swan song which brings sadness to my heart and joy and relief to Chuck's - we might foray back into the realm of 'real' trees for the upcoming Christmas season. We'll see how many times I have to vacuum and then assess if it's worth it...

The good thing about being 10 months behind on my blog is that instead of feeling sad and missing Christmas music and Christmas lights and Christmas spirit, I'm excited to only wait six weeks or so for it to return! I love the extra reminders to think about others and serve and honor our Savior by treating others as He did during His life. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!