Staying home for the holidays

As one might suppose, we have no plans for traveling this holiday season. In fact, with the baby due any day now, we've made very few plans at all--our schedule has been almost completely clear. But I did sign up at the last minute to play some Christmas music for a mini-concert at Respite Care last Saturday. One kid was so excited to see my cello, he came right up and practically stole my bow from me.

Otherwise, we've just been home--accepting visitors from Illinois! My parents flew in on Sunday night and have been immediately put to work (and play) between my final nesting projects and the girls' demands for attention.

Jii helped the girls put together some miniature snowmen, scraping together what snow remained from the little storm more than a week ago.

 

 

  

He also helped me wash the minivan and clean out the entire garage.

On Monday night, we gathered together in the music room to play Christmas carols for family home evening. 

 

Ramona performed Jingle Bells again, and also Silent Night.

 

Baachan and Ramona have been busy making little paper crafts to decorate the dining room wall.

 

Tuesday evening, Paca stopped by on his way to Utah. He is going to help out as Connor recovers from his tracheotomy. It was a short visit, but the girls made the most of it and climbed all over him.

 

 

 

 

 

We finished off the night with some egg nog ice cream and strawberry ice cream.

The next day was cousin Connor's sixth birthday--sadly spent at the hospital in lots of pain. Here is the most recent picture of him Crissy has posted, the day before the trach went in. We are praying that he gets some relief soon.

The same day was also Jii's sixtieth birthday. He didn't exactly get the party of the century, but we did a few little things to celebrate. Hopefully he had a good day.

Mika entertained him with PEZ dispensers and puppets while Ramona was at preschool . . .

 

 . . . and the weather was so nice, we all made a trip to the neighborhood park after lunch.

 

 

Ramona helped me make a chocolate cake for him . . .

. . . which we ate after dinner, popcorn, and a movie (Jii chose "The Fox and the Hound").

Happy Birthday, Jii! We love you.

 

Today was Ramona's preschool Christmas party. With no imminent labor signs, (and free childcare for Mika) I was able to go and spend some time with my little big girl.

At the party, she made a bag of reindeer food and a Santa face, decorated a sugar cookie, and played some snowman games.

At the end of the party, the kids donned some elf hats and put on an epic performance of "Jingle Bells."

Now we are on break from preschool until January, and just get to enjoy one day at a time as the season unfolds. Life is good here at the Dixon home--baby Paula, you really should come and join us!

Getting with the times

Up until a month ago, these were the cell phones Forest and I used:

They worked fine . . . but they weren't very smart. Now we have joined most of the rest of the world and purchased smartphones. So long, flip phones of yore.

Up until yesterday, this was the TV we used:

It also worked fine . . . but wasn't smart, or flat, or fancy like the TV's that have been trending for quite some time now. So look what we picked out as an early Christmas present to ourselves this year:

Mr. Smartflatandfancy! (perfect for watching Strawberry Shortcake).

I can't say that any of these upgrades have drastically improved our quality of life. I'm not aware of many electronic devices that can. But they are kind of enjoyable to have, and I have to admit that I now feel a little more caught up with the times.

Christmas cramming and jamming

Around this time of year, people like to ask the question: "Are you ready for Christmas?" I'm never sure exactly what this means--I suppose it means something different for everyone. At any rate, for me personally, I have felt an increased urgency to be "ready" this year . . . because in addition to the standard December 25th deadline, I also have a more ambiguous deadline surrounding the unscheduled events of labor, delivery, and new baby. Although it's hard to feel truly prepared for the birth of a new child, I have made an effort over the last week to get most of the holiday preparations squared away so they don't get left hanging if I for some reason pop earlier than expected.

As a family we've also tried to cram in some other activities to celebrate the season and thankfully I've found time to keep my fingers on my cello as well. Last Friday I got to play some Christmas tunes in a string quintet, providing background music for our church Christmas party. Then my friend Paige and I kind of flew out the door to make it to our orchestra concert shortly thereafter.

It was a frigid night, but we still had a respectable number of audience members, and pulled off the performance despite being short a rehearsal. Before our final piece, Maestro Silvestri decided to call attention to the two visibly pregnant women on stage, who happened to be the concert master and me. (How embarrassing). Sheri is due December 24th, just four days behind me, so we are both up for possible "Christmas babies." Here we are below with our baby bumps popping out of concert attire following the performance:

The next day was "Date Day" for Daddy--Forest got to spend some one-on-one time with each of us girls in the house. Mika accompanied him on a trip to Lowes (pretty lame, I know--but she didn't seem to know any different and was happy to drive the blue car cart). After Ramona and I attended a Ladies Christmas Breakfast hosted by my lovely neighbor across the street, Forest took her to see the much anticipated movie "Frozen." It was Ramona's first time experiencing a movie theater, and it all seemed to be quite magical for her. I'm glad she enjoyed herself--she had earned this privilege through improved behavior and dedication to house chores the last week and a half.

Then it was my turn--Forest took me out for dinner that evening and we got a chance to appreciate some quiet time together (when I wasn't making trips to the bathroom).

 

Last night we were invited to another Christmas party--this was at the home of my friend Marian who is the stake Relief Society president at church and my current "boss." We were asked to bring a dessert to share, and Ramona was eager to make another batch of snowflake-shaped cookies, so we came up with a platter of finger-food type treats.

 

 

After dinner, we all gathered in the living room and Marian passed out some chimes and Christmas carols for us to (attempt to) play. Even Ramona and Mika were included in this activity (when Mika wasn't busy playing with the nativity set). Next, Judy and I got to play my favorite arrangement of "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and Judy performed "Sleigh Ride" for solo piano. She let our girls add some percussion by playing the jingle bells together.

 

Then Marian read us a Christmas story and shared a spiritual thought while the little ones colored pictures. For a finale, Ramona got up to plunk out part of "Jingle Bells" on the piano. It was all a very special and Christmas-y evening.

Yes, the countdown is on, for both Christmas and baby #3, but I think we are finding ways to enjoy this time as well. If nothing else, it is probably the relative calm before chaos. As I type this, I realize  I should probably be in bed right now, capitalizing on that "calm," instead of being up writing a blog post. Maybe I'll go back to sleep after one more trip to the bathroom . . .

Thanksgiving helpers

Here are my little helpers for Thankgiving 2013--washing fruit for the cranberry relish . . .

. . . whisking up the goods for our green bean casserole . . .

 . . . and below is Ramona on Thanksgiving day, forming the dough for potato rolls.

Forest was in charge of brining and roasting the turkey. Once the bird was in the oven, he caught a nap in front of a football game before our guests arrived. It's been a couple of years since he accomplished that feat (in reference to the nap, not the turkey).

Around 3:30pm we enjoyed quite the feast: Korean barbeque beef and sweet potato noodles (courtesy of Anabel's family), in addition to all of the American fare that came from our own kitchen. Dessert was apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake pie. I ate my fill with no remorse--the doctor had just told me I should pack on some more pounds before the baby is born, and here was my opportunity, right?

After the meal was over and our guests had left, my littlest helper was eager to tackle some dirty dishes (or play with dish soap and water, however you prefer to look at it).

The next day my bigger helper, Ramona, assisted in putting up the artificial Christmas tree, complete with lights, tinsel, and ornaments. She was thrilled to be involved with this task, and chattered so rapidly as she worked I'm not sure when she found a moment to breathe. The words "admire," "exquisite," and "fabuloso" were used frequently in her tireless talk, and I had to wonder if she was just a little bit excited for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

As tiring as it can be to have such tiny little helping hands around me, I am grateful to have them. Sometimes it seems like most chores would be easier (and less messy) to complete by myself, but it would be much lonelier (and way too efficient) without the little helpers at my side, wouldn't it?

Cello Studio

Since September I have had the chance to do cello lessons with three wonderful students: Drew, Ginny, and Maya. It has been so fulfilling for me to teach regularly again, and having my own music room in this house with a piano, music cabinets, and plenty of cello space has made the whole experience a dream come true.

On Saturday our little cello studio presented its first recital to showcase our progress over the past 10 weeks. My students brought in so many supporters, our front living room was packed with people. I may have to look into a different venue for future recitals!

Candy, anyone?

The past few days our girls have been basking in post-Halloween candy glory, and have shared a fair amount with me and Forest, as well.

Candy Collection Site #1: Church Halloween party & Trunk or Treat

Mika dressed up as a bat . . . and found a bat picture to color. But if you asked her about her costume, she would tell you she was Batman.

Ramona wanted to be either a princess or a witch this year. Luckily, we had the perfect hand-me-down witch costume from Cousin Aubrey. Her church and preschool bestie, Emersyn, dressed up as a witch also, further enhancing their sense of comradery.

Here is my little witch on Halloween Day, all dressed up for her preschool party.

 

 

Candy Collection Site #2: Avago Trick or Treat
Every year, Forest's company hosts about 300 costumed children who weave between cubicles begging for treats. Ramona and Mika were part of this army on Halloween afternoon, and hauled home more loot at this event than ever before. Mika's bucket was cracking from the immense candy weight it incurred, but she wouldn't let us carry it for her until the very end.

 

 

 

 

Candy Collection Site #3: Neighborhood Trick-or-Treat
This was our first Halloween since moving to the new Timnath neighborhood, and we had heard that our neighbors would be taking the holiday very seriously. We invited Ramona's friend Anabel (Snow White) to join these festivities.

When our little troop set out for Trick-or-Treating, there were plenty of house lights lit, as well as some intricate graveyard decor two doors down and a haunted house one block over. The haunted house had a talking brain in a jar on the front porch, which thoroughly amused Mika.

After visiting most of the houses on our block, the girls were content to return home, enjoy a treat, and pass out candy to the other kids.

Perhaps we should schedule another time for the neighbor kids to come over and take our candy--there seem to be mountains of it still sitting around at our house.