Service and Burnout

We did so much that first week of December. I wanted to get things in before the tradition of being sick during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Actually, nobody was sick for that this year. Yay. We did enjoy watching it together.

In Sacrament Meeting that morning, our bishop talked about doing simple acts of service, which as you know I've been thinking about and trying to do lately. He shared an experience where he offered to throw away somebody's trash for them because it looked like they were done eating. Simple acts of service. I offered to take someone's cart back for them in the Costco parking lot. I was already taking mine back and he had one arm already full. Simple acts of service. At church, I complimented a couple men on their ties because the Christmas season brings out some awesome festive ties. Simple acts of service.

I also took some time Sunday afternoon to make paper bag puppets with Jet. He loved it. 

So I tried to do service. I tried celebrating. Then Monday and the burnout came. I had my nice little breakdown, feeling the overwhelm. I managed to clean and vacuum the living room. I did not manage to catch up on dishes. Did you know baking uses a lot of dishes? I still haven't caught up on the dishes. I'll just admit that right now. And I want to do more baking (read that with a whiny voice).

I still managed to do service when a couple people asked me to help with things. I mean, when someone needs a balloon blown up and you have access to balloon pumps... 

Monday evening, I dragged the kids (a couple were grumpy and didn't want to go- everyone's feeling the burnout and overwhelm) over to the mall for something new. 

They had a live nativity. Students from one of the local high schools were the performers. I knelt down with Jet to explain who the different people represented. When we get to the different groups (shepherds, wise men, etc.) in our family scripture study, I'll be able to remind him of what we saw. 

We also got hot chocolate and brownies there which we were excited about because December 8 was National Brownie Day.

Jet wanted to go inside the big Christmas tree while we were there. It is so cool looking inside.

 

We enjoyed the holiday lights (including the lights of the fountain). 

Here's a funny story. We sat down by the fountain to let Jet eat his brownie because he was just carrying it around for a while. While we were sitting there, Lucky handed me his napkin which he had shaped like a flower and said, "Here's a pretty flower for the lady." Awwww. When Jet finished his brownie, he handed me his crumb covered napkin and said, "Here's a napkin for when you finish your brownie." Ha Ha Ha Ha. I think he did it in a similar voice to what Lucky was using which is what made it hilarious. Have I mentioned I love my kids?

 

We got to see live animals as we walked back to our van, including a camel.

The weather was so good that day. We were really fortunate. I think the student performers were also really fortunate because when Nichole went to the mall just a couple days before that, it was so cold.

The grumpy kids didn't stay grumpy very long which I am grateful for and Jet was very well behaved.

We talked about how many years ago (November 2017), most of us got to ride a camel, so when we got home, Jet got on his brother's back and told us, "I'm riding a camel."

Since it was also Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day, we had "fish fingers and custard" at home.

Huh. I guess going to a live nativity also works for that holiday because we went back more than 2000 years to when Jesus came to Earth as a little baby.

 

Yesterday, December 9, was National Llama Day so my mom said I could share a couple pictures she took of her neighborhood llamas. She shared some llama thoughts with me as well. I love that my mom helps me celebrate. 

Light the Family Tree

December 9 Light The World was "Light the Family Tree," learning about ancestors or anything about family history.

So I shared some generational family history with the kids... with food.

For after school snack we had ice cream with potato chips just like their Grandpa likes. I asked my dad why it was a thing for him and he told me about some of his unique tastes which I shared with the kids. He likes sweet and salty together.

At dinner we had eggs and bacon. I told the kids that when Jeremy and I would visit my grandma (their great grandma) and stay overnight, she would make us eggs and bacon for breakfast and put potato rolls in the toaster oven. Good memories of Grandma.

For dessert, I made oatmeal cookies, but the kids had to eat them while reading Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mysteries. 

My mother used to sit on her grandmother's porch and eat oatmeal cookies while reading those books. So the kids got to experience something from their grandma and great great grandmother's history.

I stopped by the library earlier to pick up Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books for this reason. I made sure to wear my llama mask for National Llama Day on December 9. I then wore my llama mask to the grocery store to get some potato chips for our after school snack.

We finally got some real snow. The day started out with rain just like I remember from my Winters growing up in Oregon. The day ended with snow like my family's Winters in more recent years in Oregon.

Grasshopper Friends

One day, Jr. Jr., Lucky and I were going out for a walk.  On the way out, we saw a grasshopper who didn't want to move... so I was able to get some pictures of it.

Then we took our walk.  While on our walk, Jr. Jr. stopped to look up at one of the trees.  He said it looked like there was a giant spiderweb in the tree.  It did look cool but it was just branches.

We also saw alpacas and quite a few barking dogs.  Jr. Jr. made sure to wave at the dogs since they were all just trying to be friendly so he was being friendly back.

When we got back from our walk, Jr. Jr. noticed our grasshopper friend had a friend.  There were two grasshopper friends.  We even got to watch one of them eating.

 Later, Jr. Jr. spotted yet another grasshopper in the area.  Three grasshopper friends.

Squeak Squeakers Squeaken

Silly me.  I forgot to mention that besides Penguin Awareness Day, yesterday was also Cheese Lover's Day.  That's why we had cheese on our fish stick sandwiches.
Today, January 21, is Squirrel Appreciation Day.  It is also National Hug Day.  There was plenty of hugging in our home.

To appreciate squirrels, Jeremy and I watched a couple of videos online about squirrels, including one about white squirrels in Olney, Illinois.  We also watched parts of two movies that either mentioned or showed squirrels in them.
The kids earned a movie again.  Jeremy and I were tempted to check out The Sword in the Stone from the library since it has squirrels hugging in it.  However we had been talking about watching The Emperor's New Groove for a while so that's what we checked out.  It has a squirrel in it and as a bonus, in one scene, the squirrel makes a balloon animal.  I appreciate that.
There is some hugging in the movie as well.
When I showed the kids the DVD case, Nichole said she remembered that movie.  It's the one where the emperor gets turned into a donkey.
It was fun to see the incredulous look on Jeremy's face.  He couldn't believe she didn't realize it was a llama.
Later, as we were watching the movie, Jr. mentioned how he was turned into a horse.  Sigh.
It's a good thing it's not Llama Appreciation Day.