Trying a little harder

This morning I made the kids barnyard waffles. I used to make them all the time, but I got out of the habit after we moved here because, well, I just got busy I guess. But I made them today and the thrilled kids chatted all breakfast long about them.

Sometimes all I can think about is this (momma-loving baby, wanting nothing more than to be held)

and this (newly mopped floor stamped with blackberries via snow boots, representing messiness in general).

But lately I've thought, "Amy, you can do better than that!" I'm trying to make my way out of survival mode and into something, well, something more fun. I'm realizing that a lot of my self-worth relies (for better or worse) on how happy my kids are. So I'm trying a little harder.

Exhibit A: biking!

I let Zachary ride his bike up the long path to get Jacob from school yesterday. We spent five minutes trying to fit that pom-pommed hat into his helmet but finally gave up and had him wear his hood under the helmet instead. He fell off once on any icy patch over the bridge, but there were some "big kids" walking home who cheered him on, and he got up smiling.

When Michael came out biking one day, he told me after a few minutes that "Velma is cold. Velma is FREEZING!" and so we all went inside and thawed ourselves with hot chocolate. (Michael would be warmer if he could keep his mittens on, but he won't because he loves his thumbs.)

Exhibit B: building! Last night I cut up a Costco diaper box into 4-inch(ish)-wide strips to make a modular street building set. The kids used other toys to create a town and we had a fun night building different set-ups.

Adam just chimed in over the baby monitor, so there's my reality check! It's a busy, joyful house here.

Christmas break

Seriously, Christmas break has been this fun:

I did most of my Christmas shopping online, on my iPhone, on Interstate 80. We were coming back from Utah. Good heavens, what bargains I found--free express shipping, at least half off on everything. When we got home we had (terribly exciting!) daily deliveries. Then Santa came, which was even more thrilling, because honestly, the only thing better than the FedEx guy bringing you a bargain is Santa bringing you something for FREE. Fun, right?

My favorite gift of the year, though, goes to the biplane that Jacob spent two hours making for Zachary. I wish that this picture showed the cabin and the wings on top. They were really cool.

Aside from all the gift-giving, though, this Christmas season has been especially memorable because we've had plenty of family fun. We hung out with my parents and siblings throughout the week for sleepovers, hiking at Gunpowder State Park, and a trip to the D.C. Temple lights display. Here's everyone but Eric (working) and Adam and I (picture-taking):

Zachary is Grandpa's little tagalong:

And here we are outside the temple on New Year's Day. What a beautiful temple, and what beautiful boys! Here's to a great start on 2010!

O Tannenbaum

We weren't going to decorate for Christmas this year because we just got back in town on the 17th from Utah, but it turns out that Christmastime without decorations is pretty lame. Even our Jewish neighbor next door has a tree! So last night, after Eastern Time bedtime but before Mountain Time bedtime, we headed over to a tree lot and poked around...until we found this little beauty and decided to give her a home:

Today we're expected to have a foot and a half of snow and darling Eric is on a 30-hour shift at the hospital, so the kids and I are going to have a cozy book-reading and cookie-making day. And won't it be especially wonderful with the tree and stockings up?

Utah

We arrived in Utah just before Thanksgiving Day, when we held an unconventional celebration on a houseboat at Lake Powell:

Then we went water-skiing. On Thanksgiving! Now I'm a very traditional girl, and I have to say that I felt like I was breaking the Sabbath when I was doing these untraditional things on Thanksgiving Day. But I soon got over my inhibitions, and we enjoyed a fun few days there.

We did other normal Lake Powell things, like playing in the sand,

relaxing on the beach,
and jet skiing.We came back to Salt Lake the Saturday after Thanksgiving, where Eric spent some weeks training at his dad's ophthalmology practice. We also had a chance to catch up with family and friends and visit our favorite places.

We started Salt Lake off right by spending the first evening there with two of my sisters (Sandra was visiting from CO):

Although you won't be able to tell on this post (spotty picture-taking!), visiting friends was a huge highlight of the trip. What great friends we have in Salt Lake! Maybe I was just too excited to take pictures, because I was savoring every minute visiting with our old neighbors, ward members, and college buddies. (Unfortunately, I didn't plan well enough to visit everyone I had intended to...good thing that we'll probably be visiting Salt Lake frequently in the coming years!) Jacob was ecstatic to see some of his old buddies,

and we all loved cousins days,

plus more time with Aunt Kim.

I can't quite explain how relieving it was to be in such a familiar place, doing familiar things. We cozied ourselves at Midway one night
and then soaked in the Midway hot pots.

We attended the Utah Symphony's annual Messiah sing-in and ate at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Kyoto.

Eric and Jacob went skiing at Alta, our fave resort (because there's a free lift after three o'clock!).

And of course we played for hours in the snow, thinking that we would never get the chance to do it in Maryland. (The joke was on us...it snowed almost two feet right after we came home!)

So long for now, Utah. Sure love ya.

Road trip

Eric had a chance to take an elective rotation at his dad's practice this month, so we all headed out to Utah with him. In case you're counting, this is the fourth time that our entire family has driven between Utah and Maryland in the past year--and we'll do it again in two weeks! This time we took the southern route, which followed "The Mother Road" for a good portion of our trip. Here are some of our adventures on our journey, but especially on fascinating Route 66.

More unstructured time

For a few weeks I've been carrying this book around with me in my diaper bag, sipping it in a couple pages at a time. This particular book has turned out to be perfect for sipping--I've been reflecting on the subject daily, more consistently making efforts to apply the reading.

Mr. Louv's most pressing concern is that kids (and all of us, really) are missing out on the benefits of unstructured time spent in natural places. I'm convinced that we are! So I've been trying to be better about taking the wooded route home from school,
or bringing the kids down to the creek,or encouraging them to get dirty in the mud,

or letting them have time to play in nature. (Here they are "fishing." "What are you catching?" I asked. "Salmon...salmon and trout.")
The book has also helped me think about how I can be a little less structured at home, which does nothing for tidiness but good things for their happiness. Here's fort #1:
fort #2, and

fort #3 (with a friend and a flashlight, double bonus!).

Have I ever mentioned before how I love boys? Boys, fall, creeks, forts...what more could a girl want?

Halloween haunters

I didn't sew a single stitch this Halloween season!

Instead, we chose something old,

something new,

something borrowed,

some things…BOO!