Two days until Christmas!

We've been counting down with our nativity calendar. A friend gave me a foam nativity kit from the Oriental Trading Company the first year I was married, so I put it together and made pockets for all the pieces. We've been using it ever since, and the kids really look forward to putting a new piece up each day.

My mom made a block countdown that displays how many days until Christmas that goes up with the other decorations at the beginning of December, and whoever wakes up first gets to move the numbers. They also get to plug in the Christmas lights on the tree, the mantel over the fireplace, and in the kitchen. I looked for an outside plug to hang some lights on the front door, but I didn't find an outlet so we had to make do with a wreath on the door.

We've been singing Christmas songs and carols and listening to Christmas music on the radio. Current kid favorites are "Jingle Bell Rock," "Feliz Navidad," and "Picture a Christmas." I love, love, love this version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" by the a cappella group Straight No Chaser.

This year when we set up our decorations and nativities, I told the kids about how I got my Mexican nativity, and the tradition they have of starting the wise men far from the scene and moving them closer each day. They were excited to do the same with ours, so I've let them be in charge of that, after telling them to be careful because they break easily. I found one wise man on my vanity countertop a couple of days ago with a severed head. When I asked the kids what happened, Rose told me Elijah played with it. How could Elijah get it? He's not that tall. Rose answered, "Maybe I gave it to him." Okay. Thanks for letting me know, and next time, please tell me if I need to glue something back together.

We've made treats. I'm not that great at English toffee, and I definitely prefer peanut brittle made in a pan on the stove to the "easy" microwave recipe I tried, but we've had some yummy gingerbread cookies, and the Reindeer Treats were a hit at the family Christmas party yesterday. 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 package butterscotch chips, melted, remove from heat and stir in 1 plastic canister of dry roasted salted peanuts (make sure they don't have garlic powder on them!) and then stir in 1 package mini marshmallows. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool completely, and then make sure you have someone to share with, because you may just end up eating them all on your own.

The kids and I made a small army of ornaments from green and red fabric circles sewn into yo-yos and stacked to make mini Christmas trees to give school teachers and Primary teachers. We also made and decorating gingerbread houses with friends, which was so much fun. I took Rose and Elijah with me to make special gift deliveries to the ladies from church that I visit teach.

We took a weekend to visit cousins in Houston, and then spent the next weekend having cousins visit us in Waco for the first annual Jackson family Christmas party. Oh, and I spent some time organizing said party. It was really neat to have 39 of us at Dad's house to act out the nativity. Since most of the kids wanted to be angels, we had no problem assembling a heavenly host to visit the shepherds. We plan to make the nativity and dinner a standing family tradition, so let us know if you'll be in Waco around the holidays and want to participate!

We have been generally enjoying the season (and not blogging about it). As I told the kids today, they get two weeks out of school and we haven't even started counting that down yet, so there's lots of fun and family time to go.

I did write a guest post for my friend Sheila over at Pennies of Time, so check it out if you're interested in her amazing project to teach children about serving others and providing children of any age meaningful opportunities to serve others. Perfect for the Christmas season and always.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

1. That song came on the Christmas music radio station while I was driving somewhere with the kids, and Ellen said, "Oh, Mom! I love this song!"

2. We decorated gingerbread houses for Family Home Evening on Monday. We did this every year when I was growing up, but I had never actually made my mom's recipe for gingerbread until now. I made it ahead, and it was almost a mess foaming out of the pan, but it turned out to be a success.

3. Now I want to try to make ginger-caramel popcorn. Right now.

4. This was also the first time I've tasted that gingerbread straight out of the oven, and it is amazing! Who knew? We were never supposed to nibble on the gingerbread houses until the family New Year's Eve party. Definitely not great week(s) later.

5. On a whim I wrote questions on paper strips and set them on a plate on the table. Tonight we got around to letting the kids each pick one and have everyone answer. It was a hit. What is your favorite Christmas song? What is your favorite Christmas activity? What is your favorite Christmas memory? What is your favorite Christmas symbol? Who is your favorite character in the Christmas story?

6. I've been listening to a station on Pandora named "Straight No Chaser Holiday." Apparently I cannot get enough of male a cappella groups singing Christmas songs. Love it.

Company chicken salad

I used to just make chicken salad for girls' nights, book club, baby showers, and lunches with friends over. Then Jack asked why I never make it for him, because he likes it. So I started making it for dinner, too, with homemade bread and lettuce leaves so you can have a sandwich or a wrap or both.

My favorite secret ingredient for chicken salad is leftover fried chicken. You know, Bush's, KFC, grocery store deli: the crispy, salty, deep-fried, fatty chicken that is not good for you at all. It makes really, really awesome chicken salad.

We went to a family gathering last weekend and ended up coming home with a bunch of fried chicken, which we ate for dinner once, and then I deboned the rest, including removing most of the crispy fried skin (awww, but that's the good part!), and made a gigantic chicken salad. Yum.

So, sorry the recipe has no measurements. It depends on how much chicken you have and how much sweet and crunch you like, but ratio-wise I probably make mine with equal amounts of grapes and celery, a fourth as much onion and parsley, and twice as much chicken. Then I start with a scoop of mayo and stir. If it sticks together, it's good; if it's too dry, I add more.

Fried Chicken Salad

several deep fried chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, bones and skin removed
red grapes, quartered
celery, diced
green onions, sliced
fresh parsley, minced
a scoop of mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix well, serve with fresh baked bread and lettuce leaves.

Ice lanterns

One of the more impressive craft projects

with the least amount of work

and most fun for the kids

(fire AND ice?!? you're the best mom ever!)

we've ever done. Twice now. And again soon.

But I like Daddy!

Jack has to go to a work conference for a couple of days, so today he was telling the kids that he would be out of town. His conversation with Ellen went like this:

Daddy: "I'm not going to be sleeping here tomorrow night, Ellen."
Ellen: Immediately bursts into tears, wailing, and sobbing.
Daddy: "What's the matter? It's just for a couple of days. I'll be back."
Ellen: "But I like Daddy!"

Sheesh. She's only seven. I can't wait to see what we get when she's a teenager.

Farm Day

The Heritage Homestead Fair was so much fun! We met up with cousins the Friday after Thanksgiving and spent the morning petting goats, holding puppies and bunnies, running the hay bale maze, washing our hands, watching sheep shearing, plowing, a barn raising, eating kettle corn, pretzels, cookies, and going on a hay ride. I was the mom who dressed all my kids in t-shirts because it was sunny when we left the house. Then it got cold so we borrowed what we could. The kids still had lots of fun, and when Elijah's lips started going blue we called it a morning. :)

Joshua, Eva, Ellen, Caleb, Aunt Rebecca, Maylee
Evan, Jack, Claire, Garin, Aunt Heather, Lucia
Karen, Rose, me, Elijah (13 out of 23 grandkids)
Not pictured: Uncle Travis, Uncle Allen, and Grandma Shutt

Ellen was not feeling the cousin picture. She was cold.

Rose hanging with the boys

This plowing was serious business. Super manual labor here. No John Deere.



Uncle Travis helped raise the barn.

Waiting for the hayride and finishing off the kettle corn.

Thanks for a fun morning, cousins!

Grateful for love

I'm so glad we went to see Jack's brother get married last weekend. Such a cute couple. Also, I am glad that out of the very few pictures we got of our kids, they turned out like this:

And this:

I forgot the shirt that normally goes under Rose's dress.

And this:

And this:

The other picture I have of Jack shows him picking his nose. Hmm.

And of course we have no pictures of Jack and I, even though people were snapping pictures right and left. Thanks for inviting us to your wedding, William and Jessica!

Creativity

Today I am thankful for a sister who lives close, and kids who love to play with their cousins. I can't post pictures because I don't want to ruin the surprise, but who knew glue guns and fabric scraps could be so fun and cute?

Texas weather

My grandmother sends out a family newsletter, which I love, and in addition to all the cute pictures of babies born and graduations and weddings and mission calls, she mentioned that she had twenty-four inches of snow in her front yard and was without power for a few hours.

Today I wore a t-shirt and flip flops to walk my kids to school. We spent some time at a friend's house this morning and played outside. We're planning some outside activities for our upcoming days off of school for Thanksgiving. My kids ask me several times a week when it's going to be winter because they're anxious to build a snowman. They may feel a little cheated when we get to spring and they realize that it just doesn't snow much in Waco. In my life, the average is about every seven years, and it's not enough to build a snowman.

I'm grateful for the mild winter weather today.

Here's a quote I reread today that I heard and loved during the most recent General Conference:
"Although His time is not always our time, we can be sure that the Lord keeps his promises. For any of you who now feel that He is hard to reach, I testify that the day will come that we all will see Him face to face. Just as there is nothing now to obscure His view of us, there will be nothing to obscure our view of Him. We will all stand before Him in person. Like my granddaughter, we want to see Jesus Christ now, but our certain reunion with Him at the judgment bar will be more pleasing if we first do the things that will make Him as familiar to us as we are to Him. As we serve Him, we become like Him, and we feel closer to Him as we approach that day when nothing will hide our view."

Music and Mom

Today and everyday I'm grateful for my mom. I'm so glad she left volumes and volumes of written ideas, thoughts, and feelings. I find journals, notebooks, planners, and random notes when I'm least expecting it. Recently I found something else completely unexpected.

A few years ago one of my brothers recorded Mom playing the piano and made a CD. I was looking for some Christmas CDs I have and found my mom's piano CD, which I don't think I've ever listened to. I turned it on and it was like she was in the other room playing the piano again. She recorded all her favorite songs to play, songs I've heard my entire life. She also included an arrangement of "Love One Another" that I did for my grandmother's 80th birthday, and it took me a minute to realize why it sounded so familiar to me. One track features my brother Matthew singing with my mom accompanying. I am so, so, so glad she took the time to make the recordings.

I had the CD playing while I was getting breakfast ready and making lunches for Jack and Ellen before school. Ellen came out and said, "I know these songs! Grandma played them on her piano." So sweet.

That's my mom in the picture with Ellen on the day she was born and the day Mom found out her name was Ellen, too.

Fall

I have a love/hate relationship with fall. I love school supplies, sweaters, long sleeves, fun socks, jeans, playing outside in the cooler weather, and feeling cool sheets around me as I go to sleep. I love how the kids sleep better when it's cooler. I love the anticipation of the holidays and happy memories of years past. I want to really love fall. But I don't.

The cold, darker days make it harder to get out of bed, the kids sleep later and don't want to get ready for school, it's harder to motivate myself to do things, and watching the leaves and grass turn brown and go dormant is a little depressing. It's easy to feel nostalgic, miss family and friends, and remember how short and fleeting mortality is.

Which leads me back to what I absolutely love most about fall. The physical changing of the seasons and the word itself, fall, always reminds me of my own imperfections and complete dependence on the only one who overcame death and brings life and light to the world.

When my kids argue with me or fight with each other or just need a time out, they get to sit in the kitchen and work on memorizing a scripture with me. Right now we're working on a verse that describes our relationship with the Fall really well:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19

I'm thankful for fall, for the constant reminder of what the Savior did for me, how much I need his sacrifice, and how much he loves us all.

The gang's all here.

The kids were anxious one Sunday for a photo shoot with all their friends. Elijah insisted on holding Pooh, so Jack posed with Tigger for the group picture.

My sister made this awesome set of life-sized crocheted Pooh and friends.

Pooh.

Piglet.

Eeyore.

Tigger.

Mom got in on the fun, too!

Birthday, birthday, coming to Earth day. . .

Elijah recently turned two. He was super excited about his new car.


Jack and Ellen made cards: "Dear Eli, I love you. You are the best kid evr."


"Happy birthday Elijah. I love you Elijah. Speshole baby Love, Ellen"


He's big enough to drive the cars at the kids' museum.


Eyelashes are going strong.


Last week he had his first diagnosed ear infection, and it was in both ears. The congestion had him running in the low 80s on oxygen, but he's recovered, and definitely two, talking more, opinionated, sassy, running, and loves the word NO.

Ellen is 7!

We let Ellen choose a friend party or a family party this year. She chose to go out to eat as a family. We had lots of fun.

Ellen loves school and was so upset to miss a day last week when I had to take her to get her ears checked. Ear infection. One day absent.

She is a sweet older sister, and sometimes bossy, but she loves to teach her siblings what she knows. She loves crafts, and asked for art supplies for her birthday.

Ellen is creative and independent, and very kind.

She's so grown up. Sigh.

Veterans

I took Rose and Elijah and met some friends at the Veteran's Day Parade yesterday. I get emotional just hearing patriotic songs or the anthems of each branch of the Armed Forces, so just imagine me, watching my friend's children with their homemade cards that said, "Thank you. Freedom is not free. Thank you for your service. From (signed by child)" They walked up to veterans walking or riding in the parade and handed them a card. One man said, "Thank you. Let me give you a hug." It was the most precious thing I will not forget soon. My friend commented that next year her kids will be ready with about 20 cards each instead of just two or three. I was thinking the exact same thing about my kids.

I'm grateful for my grandfather, my dad, Jack's two brothers, and other members of our families, as well as friends, who have put themselves in harm's way to keep us free and safe. The presidential election year comes with lots of news, people getting worked up on line and in the media and in person, election day comes, and the next day we continue with our lives. There are no riots, no martial law, no fear as we go about our daily activities at the grocery store, the library, the school, the church, and workplaces. I am so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy that are the easiest to take for granted.

Some recent reading

I got an email inviting me to vote for Goodreads books of the year. I clicked on over, expecting to have read at least one of the books, but it wasn't until I got to the young adult section that I found anything I was familiar with. And I was actually shocked that the hardest voting category for me was the childrens/picture book section. Out of the four or so that I had read, I ended up voting for the book my kids loved the most, rather than the one I liked best.

We had just checked it out at the library the week before, and it quickly became required reading several times a day. Behold:

My kids picked up a $10 vocabulary word: affirmative. Elijah says "Boh bot" instead of "robot." The pictures take up most of the page and there is just enough text to make a lovely story about friendship that I can handle reading over and over and over. You might like it, too!

I picked up this next little gem at the library also. It's a picture book written for children, but no child on the face of the planet will get this book. They may find it amusing at best or at the very least, confusing. We had to discuss for several days how a baby could also be a boss. Every parent I know would find this book alarmingly accurate and more than a little hilarious:

We used to call my youngest sister "The Boss." She has no recollection of this, but if there were a girl version of this book, she would have been the star. Same sister was visiting a few months after one of my own girls was born and commented, as we were all sitting around the table, that my baby looked for all the world as if she were conducting a meeting to which she had invited all of us. She was thumping her little fists and making eye contact and babbling on and on about who knows what.

Please read The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee. If you don't have any kids of your own, this should be required reading for potential parents.

Not even half-way in, and I've already missed a day.

You may not notice, because blogger lets you backdate posts. Shhh.

So yes, we did have several pictures of Elijah, and I vaguely remembered taking a group shot, and it turns out we took two. One of the day of the ward party and one as we started out for our first trick-or-treating experience ever. It was a surprisingly fun way to meet some of our neighbors.

The robot stayed on for about 10 minutes after these pictures were taken. She couldn't walk very well, and she couldn't sit, move her hair out of her face, scratch her nose, or see her toes. Once she fell backwards, and I caught her as before she hit the ground, but then she was like a turtle on its back. It was pretty funny, and pretty alarming to Rose to be immobile. Ha.