I had just tucked the boys in and sung them Christmas songs and went into tuck Gracie in.  After tucking her in she asked what I had said that had made the boys laugh.  I told her I didn’t know, maybe when I called Ryan an elf?  She said that wasn’t it.  I told her how I sung Away in a Manger and instead of singing Asleep, asleep for the chorus, I sang, “Go to sleep, go to sleep”.  She just giggled away at that.  I guess that is just her type of humor.

Yesterday I overheard Gracie and James talking. 

Gracie: “What does Boo Bopper mean?”

James:  “It means the same thing as love bug.”

Gracie: “What does love bug mean?”

James: “You know.”

When Ryan and I pick Gracie up from school, he runs up to the gate to wait for her and they give each other a big hug.  He is almost as tall and as heavy as her now.  She is quote upset by the fact that he runs faster than her and reminds Michael and me about that every so often. 

The other day Ryan came upstairs while I was folding clothes.  He gave me a hug and kiss and then went downstairs . This pattern repeated.  He’d come upstairs, give me a hug and kiss and go back downstairs.  On the final time, his hug and kiss were followed by him telling me to not go downstairs.  That little mess maker is one smart little cuddler.

Michael was working at home today so I put Ryan down for a nap before walking to the school to pick Gracie up at 1:00.  What a joy it was to walk home alone with her.  She was singing songs, picking flowers and the weather was perfect.  She came home excited to draw pictures of the flowers and has been sitting peacefully drawing since.  Thank heaven for a girl.

Jonathan stood in front of me the other day just looking at me.  I asked him what was up and he said, “I just thought you’d like to see your biggest accomplishment in life”.  Thanks kiddo.  I interpreted that as, “I want a hug”.

Jonathan planted a peppermint plant in a pot at scouts.  We keep it in the kitchen and he calls it Pep.  He takes very good care of Pep and doesn't like me to eat leaves from it.  Sometimes I will find Pep on the floor in random spots where it gets the most sunlight.

 Christmas time has once again arrived bringing along with it various teachers at church and school telling our children about elves and Santa.  I had no idea that not telling our kids about Santa would be such a big deal.  Jonathan and James have dealt with this enough years to get it but Gracie and Ryan are as confused as all get out. 

I keep meaning to document that James is the tetherball champion of the second grade.  He takes this position very seriously and is all smiles about it.

Ryan is as sweet as ever.  He literally keeps me on my toes.  The other day I found myself running in bare feet after him as he sped away fast as he could on his red tricycle down the cul-de-sac.  This all before 8:20 in the morning.  He loves to wrestle with his brothers, sing, and give and receive lots of hugs and kisses.  He really enjoys preschool with “Miss Delene” and asks if he has school every single day.  He takes his empty backpack everyday so he can be just like his older siblings.  The other day I called him my little frog since he was wearing a green shirt and singing 5 Green and Speckled Frogs.  He loved that.  He has a very obvious receding hairline and looks like quite a cute old man if I say so myself.

Grace is quiet as could be during kindergarten.  She holds her own with her brothers at home and recently has told me that she doesn’t like kisses or hugs or the word “love”, even though secretly she does.  She likes to play house and to give and take pretend spelling tests that she likes to grade.   If she hears music, she instinctively starts to dance.  Last night at the ward Halloween party while everyone was eating dinner and she stood by my chair, I noticed she couldn’t help but dance a little to the music playing.  The other day she came home from school saying she got a sunburn on her bum.  When I asked about that, she said she got it from sliding down the hot slide in her skirt.

James is into reading Calvin and Hobbes right now.  I insist that he and Jonathan do swimming and piano and he is just a step behind Jonathan in both.  It’s been really fun for me to watch them progress.  He can be just as sweet as he looks and has a sweet tooth to match it.  He does very well in school too although sometimes I have to remind myself of that since he lives in Jonathan’s academic shadow.   The other day he yelled for me from the upstairs bathroom.  I thought he may need more toilet paper, it turns out, he just wanted me to get his math homework and a pencil for him while he was sitting on the potty.

Jonathan was awarded in a school assembly for being the first student in the school to make it to the North Pole in Reading Counts, a program where the kids take tests on books they read.  This is especially significant for him since he can’t take tests on books he’s already read and he read tons of books the last few years.  So my job is to find enough good age-appropriate books that my speedy reader will find interesting.  I carry the huge red Rio bag Michael gave me into the library and leave with marks on my arm from how heavy it is.  On district and state assessments his scores are excellent, even scoring 100% on the math portion of the new state test, which everybody said would be difficult and to not worry if your student’s scores looked low because it is the first year of the new test since they started Common Core.  His teacher describes him as brilliant and likes the way he can explain concepts from a different perspective.  She seems to be an especially sharp teacher and wants to challenge him in handwriting and art, which is much appreciated.  He has a strong sense of justice and is very honest which comes in handy when he gets in fights with his siblings.  He makes funny jokes often.  The other day he joked that these scientists better make up their minds about a global ice age or global warming because, “I want to know if I can have a pet wooly mammoth or not”.     

Michael started a new job with Genii this week.  He’ll cover the Southern CA region and up to San Francisco.  Hopefully, it won’t require more travel than the travel he’s already been doing to AZ.  It’s been a treat to have him around a little more these last few weeks.

I stay busy just taking care of the day-to-day.  I’m enjoying teaching the Laurel class at church.  In my spare time I workout, read, do Family History Indexing and sing in the ward choir.