Crystal, the Elf on the shelf

Oh, how I have enjoyed being Crystal this month! Last year, Crystal was only with us for 12 days, because I didn't have the energy to keep her around for 25 days. But the kids as soon as Thanksgiving was over, the kids started coming home with stories of elves visiting their friends from school, and I thought I'd be a cool mom for bringing her back for 25 days this year. It was actually fun, most days, especially when Crystal was in the mood to be EXTRA mischievous.

Day 1: Welcome Crystal package with rules and Build-a-Bear bears for everyone

Day 2: Sunbathing

Day 3: Zip-lining on a candy cane

Day 4: Writing on the kids' faces while they were sleeping. (This one was tricky, because I didn't want to get caught, but it was by far my most favorite! Logan and Kendall woke up before Taylor and went into the kitchen looking for Crystal. They immediately saw the pictures on the counter, then looked up at each other, pointing and exclaiming, at the same time, "Crystal drew on your face!" It was hilarious! They didn't even notice the writing on their own face! Haha!)

Day 5: Gift bow climbing the window

Day 6: Late night pizza snack
Day 7: Family elves
Day 8: Toilet papered (This one was probably my 2nd favorite. Honestly, I should have saved those 2 ideas for last because it's really hard to step up your game when the best jokes were played first.)
Day 9: Elf with a snack (Spaghetti with syrup, marshmallows, M&M, skittles, and candy cane pieces)
Day 10: Caroling with the fruit

Day 11: Snow angel (with salt)
Day 12: S'mores
Day 13: Hot air balloon
Day 14: Trapped in the bedrooms with gift ribbon (This one was super time-consuming- for future reference.)
Day 15: Hiding in the Christmas tree (I was still tired from the previous late night, so this was super quick and easy!)

Day 16: Marshmallow igloo (Taylor was ready to eat those marshmallows as soon as he saw them, but then he noticed the hot glue and decided against it, to which I made one of the best joke I ever came up with, "He glued (sounds like igloo-ed) it together, so best not to eat it.")
Day 17: Reading gift. Each kid got a book or more. Taylor got a Joker comic book, Kendall got a recipe Shopkins book, and Logan got books about rocks and gems, their favorite things right now.
Day 18: Chocolate chip poop
Day 19: "I farted. Wanna smell?" (This one was funny because as we were trying to come up with ideas of gifts to put in the Christmas box for the Hights, Logan and William thought it'd be funny to send a jar with nothing in it except a note telling them to open the jar and smell inside the jar. I told the kids Crystal must have heard them and thought it'd be a good idea.)
Day 20: Underwear ornaments

Day 21: Sugar cookies (We made real sugar cookies that day.)
Day 22: Trapped by the soldiers
Day 23: Super-Crystal to the rescue (The funny thing is that the kids were sleeping under the tree that night, so I had to be super sneaky!)
Day 24: Mapping the way back to the North Pole
Day 25: Goodbye letter and snuggles with the kids without losing magic

Goodbye, Crystal. We will see you next year! If I can remember where I put you because I couldn't find you after taking you from Kendall's bed on Christmas night, and hiding you until I could put the Christmas decorations away, and now the decorations are away and I can't remember where I hid you. Woops... One thing is certain, we will miss you, but especially Kendall. And I have a feeling she will be a great helper in playing tricks on Alexis when the time comes.

My little peanut

Aww, my little peanut... When Alexis was 12 months, I introduced peanut butter into her diet. She took a tiny bite and right away wasn't a huge fan. I didn't push it, though, especially after noticing a rash on her chin. The rash went away within 30 minutes, and I kinda brushed it off, while keeping my suspicions to myself. Again at 15 months, I re-introduced peanut butter. It probably wasn't the best day to do it because Alexis had missed a nap and was tired and fussy. But the rash on her chin showed up again, this time with red, swollen, and itchy eyes. I shared my suspicions of a peanut allergy to William, which he brushed off, saying that Alexis was just tired. At her 15 months check-up, I brought this up to the pediatrician, who recommended testing her. She wanted to test her anyway because of the slow progress in her weight since her last check-up. 

Lo and behold, the blood work showed a peanut allergy. And may I just pause here and applaud Alexis on being so brave when the nurse took her blood. She didn't cry, didn't fuss, and didn't even flinch. After the pediatrician got the results, she called me and recommended an allergist, who we scheduled an appointment with that same week. She wanted to make sure the results were correct (not false-positive) and did a skin test that tested many other things. Fortunately, Alexis' results only showed a peanut allergy and nothing else. But still, peanut allergy is one of the most serious allergies out there. I have to carry an Epi-pen everywhere we go. We also had to have a very serious conversation with the kids about not sharing food with her unless approved by William or myself. They also know to come and get us quickly if they notice Alexis having difficulty breathing or if a rash develops on her body. And finally, I was trained on how to inject the Epi-pen if it comes down to it. I hope I won't ever have to use it. And I hope this is something she grows out of. But for now, she has to be peanut-free (we're not taking any risks). And we will have to keep testing her every year to see if it gets worse, better, or the same. Prayers for our little peanut.

Cheer performance

My little Kendall is a cheerleader, and a great one! I didn't sign her up last year because I felt we were already really busy, but she's been wanting to do it for a while now, so when they started taking applications for the fall season, I hurried and snatch one of those 40 spots, and make room in our schedules. It helps that her teacher is the coach and that she absolutely loves her. 

Sadly, I didn't take a solo picture of my cheerleader, but I have some awesome videos of my cute little flyer, with her jumps, kicks, and cartwheels. 

One of my regrets is that I never tried out for cheer. Then again, I was so shy and introverted that I'm not sure I would have been a great one. But Kendall,... it fits her personality beautifully. She is a cheerleader at heart. I can see her doing this for the rest of her school years. 

(Kendall, second one from the bottom right.)

Piano Recital

The kids' first piano recital :-0 I was super nervous for them, remembering my own anxiety and my numerous mistakes, due not to my lack of practice or lack of talent, but to my anxiety. I always hated performing in front of an audience. And I kind of hate putting my kids through that, knowing how much I hated it. But they're not like me. They held it together. Sure, there were some nerves playing in front of 30-and-some people, but they all looked calmed and relaxed, even though they had just memorized their songs THAT week. Honestly, I was impressed at how well they did. They didn't let their nerves get the best of them. They played it cool and they looked cool doing it. They've only been playing for 3 months, and were by far the newest, youngest kids there, but they played awesome. So proud of my little piano players. (And no, I don't have a picture of Taylor at the piano because I forgot to take the picture while I was recording the video.)

December bucket list

To say that December flew by would be an understatement. I specifically remember the kids asking me when Christmas would be, and I answered, "Not for another 25 days. Today is only December 1st." Then I blinked, and opened my eyes to a Christmas tree decorated with a bunch of presents underneath it.
We didn't check every item on our December bucket list, but we did our best while still doing school and every activity in between.

Visit the Mesa Temple Lights: This one was an important one because the temple will be closed for the next 2 years to undergo some renovations. I'm not sure if the Phoenix Temple or the Gilbert Temple will take over this tradition, but we may not have temple lights these next 2 Christmases.

Visit the Princess Hotel: This hotel knows how to do it right. We ate some yummy, fancy food, then went out into the AZ cold (aka 65 degrees) to sled, go on the Ferris wheel, and ride the carousel.

Check out the Christmas lights in various neighborhoods: The first picture was taken on a street that is well-known for going all out with Christmas lights. It was pretty busy when we went on a Monday night for FHE. The whole street has their lights synchronized to music, and the neighbors are outside their house to greet people and chat with them. We even saw Santa.
The second picture is a picture of our house. We did a little more than we have in the past, and have loved it. In fact, our house was the most lit on our entire street, and maybe even neighborhood.

Make neighborhood gifts: I wanted to make lemon-poppy seed bread loaves for our neighbors, but they turned out to be so time-consuming that I resorted to getting some dough and sprinkles with a sticker that read "We could all use a little extra dough this holiday season." Cute and simple.

  
Play in the snow: I thought this one could be crossed off our bucket list after we moved to AZ, but thankfully, Layton Lakes is the best community and brought snow for the kids to play into. It was strange to play with cold snow in a 72 degree weather. This was Alexis' first time seeing snow and her face said it all (confusion? fun? cold? gross?).

Write letters to Santa: How cute is she???

Service: We went to Feed my starving children as a family (well, without Alexis) and it was a wonderful opportunity to teach the kids about service, children with much greater needs than us, and appreciation for what we have.

Decorate gingerbread houses: We tried to do this one after Alexis went to sleep, but she wasn't having it. She wanted to take part in the tradition.

Decorate sugar cookies: There was so much frosting and so many sprinkles on these cookies that only we could eat them.

Sleep by the Christmas tree: They look so peaceful when they sleep. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly they fell asleep.

Makes cookies for Santa: Maybe one day I'll tell the kids the cookies ended up at the bottom of the trash because even Mommy and Daddy couldn't eat that much frosting on a cookie.

I am so grateful for this Christmas season. I love how friendly and selfless people become around this time. It stops being about me, me, me, and becomes about serving, helping, and loving others. Christmas makes me feel all warm and fuzzy with love and compassion. I love reading stories about Jesus' life on earth by the Christmas tree. I love writing about what we're grateful for in our journal, as a way of focusing on what we already have instead of what we want. I love cozying up together, as a family, and enjoying time spent together. And I love going out on walks in our neighborhood, with just a light jacket, and the flip flops I wear all year around.