December crept up on us fast this year. With Thanksgiving so late in the month of November it felt like we hadn't even cleaned up the turkey before December arrived. We hit the ground running to fit everything in.
December 1 I subbed for Mrs. Stinson again. The kids and I were getting to know each other fairly well and we were even getting along and having a great time. I loved that I could call them by name. I will always remember this day though because it was the day that I learned about the "s" word. Riley came to me complaining that Brodie was saying the "s" word. I had been subbing in the 8th grade and had to get my mind out of 8th grade vocabulary and back into first grade vocab.
Me: Did he say "stupid"?
Riley: No
Me: Did he say "shut up"?
Riley: No
Me: (in my head) crap (out loud) Tell Brodie to come here please. Brodie, I hear you said the "s" word.
Brodie: (softly while looking at the floor) Yes.
Me: Mrs. Cannon does not know what the "s" word is. Will you please tell me?
Brodie: No. It's a bad word.
Me: I need to know so I can help you, ok? You won't be in trouble. Please tell me just this once.
Brodie: (He looked me right in the eyes sighed and then whispered) Sexy.
Me: (Trying not to laugh) You have older brothers and sisters at home don't you?
Brodie: Yes
Me. Between you and me, Brodie, that is not a really bad word, but I wouldn't say it anymore around Riley because it is really upsetting her. OK?
Brodie: OK (very relieved to not be trouble)
Me: Now hurry back to your seat and get your work done (...so Mrs. Cannon can laugh).
Never a dull moment with first graders.
December 3rd I woke up with complete laryngitis. There was absolutely no voice left and I had to substitute at the middle school. Let's just say that the kids got a big kick out of my lack of voice. I made it through the day with very little incident.
December 5th while Naomi was at Emily's birthday party I went shopping for my own birthday presents. It was fun to wander around Target and pick out slippers and a couple of sweaters for the kids to give to me. Steve has been slammed at work with one employee who moved to a different department, one employee who is about to have a baby any day and a new employee to train. He is doing all this on top of his scoutmaster responsibilities which are big right now because he has three more scouts finishing up their Eagle paperwork for submission before the end of the year. When I got back to the party to pick up Naomi the room was in chaos and the kids were having a grand time. They were at a place called "Defy Gravity" which is wall to wall trampolines and obstacle courses. It looked really fun.
December 6th Jeremy went to the paintball fieldtrip with the Outdoor Club. Nick spent the day at Matt's house. When Jeremy got back from paintball he had just enough time to shower and get to Jose's party. Both Nick and Jeremy said it was the best day ever. Naomi loved it because her brothers were gone and she had me all to herself.
December 9th I woke up, got everyone off to school and work, did my Zumba, read my scriptures, showered, ate breakfast and went to visit with Sister Ford before heading to the LNC library to volunteer. I got to talk with my parents in the afternoon before heading to choir practice that night. A day full of my favorite things.
Me and Sister Ford.
December 10th I spent the whole day at home working on projects for Christmas. When Naomi got home from school she was so proud to show me she had lost a tooth during the day. I told her she needed to put it under her pillow so the tooth fairy could bring her some money. The tricky little girl decorated an envelope and attached a quiz for the tooth fairy to complete. She was shocked and thrilled when the questions and picture had been completed the following morning.
December 12th we had another girls lunch. This time we celebrated Christy's and my birthdays. Sara and Julie had fixed Pad Thai and cheesecake for me. It was great. Christy had a German chocolate cake all to herself. As always, we laughed until our faces and sides were sore.
That night was the ward Christmas party. We had dinner and our traditional slide show of then and now pictures. I submitted the following pictures and our then and our current family photo for the now.
December 14th Steve started the day at Urgent Care with acute bronchitis. I was getting laryngitis again but not as bad this time. My voice held out long enough to complete the ward choir Christmas sacrament meeting. This is no small thing because there are only three altos and if I bailed...It went very well and the music sounded the best it ever has. The Activity Day Girls choir sounded amazing as well. Naomi loved singing in both choirs.
That night we went to the Todd's house to say goodbye to Zach before he left on his mission. He is going to be a dynamic missionary. I haven't met anyone that does not like Zach.
This year for Christmas Rick and EllaRene sent the kids money and they were to pick out a present for someone in need. They wanted us to help make someone else's Christmas a little better. Every year our church has an angel tree and the kids picked someone off of this. We took the kids shopping and let them pick out the items for their person. It was a fun night.
December 16th was a marathon day. It started with me exercising and reading the scriptures, like always. I then ran to Target to try and find some Duplo blocks for a 4-year-old we had taken off the giving tree at church. I got the last set in the store. I then picked Jeremy up from his half day at school. The high school was taking mid terms and so they only had to attend for half the day. I had a quick bite to eat at home and them went to visit with Sister Ford. At my last visit she had told me how much she missed crocheting so I told her I would bring her some supplies the next time I came. When I handed her the yarn and hook she immediately started crocheting. It was completely muscle memory. I hope it helps her stay a little more calm on her upcoming flight to Vegas to be with family for Christmas. She hates flying and airports. After chatting with Sister Ford and Sandy for a bit I went to the middle school library to volunteer. On the way home Nick was telling me that his back wire was really eating up his cheek. I tried calling the ortho to see if they could trim it for him, but their line was busy. Since it was just the two of us and Jeremy could get Naomi off the bus I drove straight to the ortho. The reason the phone line was busy was because so many people were coming down with the flu they were all calling to cancel their appointments. They got Nick in right away and fixed the wire problem. He is much happier. Back at home I fixed dinner. Steve took the boys to the caroling activity and I took Naomi to the church for her Achievement Days activity. Sister Jarvis pulled me aside and said that some of the girls hadn't brought a present for the gift exchange. Would I have time to run to the store and pick up a couple of items? I was happy to help out. I got back just in time for the gift exchange. That night I fell into bed grateful that I was able to get so much done.
December 18th I subbed the 1/2 day for Mr. Willits at the middle school so he could conduct the mid terms at the high school. The kids were finishing watching the movie "Hairspray". It was fun to watch them watch the movie. I met Mr. Willits after the half day was done so he could give me all the stuff I would need to conduct his classes for him during the month of January. (Did I forget to tell you? I am subbing for Mr. Willits the entire month of January while he is out recovering from shoulder surgery). By the time he was done giving me everything I was completely overwhelmed, but excited. I ran Jeremy to the orthodontist and then we went out to lunch before I had to be back to the middle school to pick up Nick. On the way home from school, Nick decided he really wanted pizza for dinner so we stopped at Aldi and picked up what we would need and then went home to chill.
December 19th I subbed for Mrs. Kochever (she was out due to a death in the family). This is of note primarily because today was the day for all the grades to have their Winter parties hosted by the PTA. My class was scheduled for first thing in the morning which meant ice cream with crushed Oreos and chocolate sauce at 8:30 am. You can imagine how the day went from there. The kids were so excited about the Christmas break they could hardly sit still. And they did hardly sit still. To relax I went to the grocery store after I dropped Naomi off at home. That says it all. I really don't like grocery shopping, but...
December 20th the boys went with Steve to stack wood as a service project for scouts. Naomi had a practice at the church for the upcoming Stake Christmas Musical Fireside. She was singing with her Achievement Day Girls choir. Haylie Tufts came home with us and played for a bit until we had to go to a family party at one of Jeremy's friend's houses. The Gerrard's really know how to throw a party. There was food everywhere and the entire basement was an entertainment mecca for the kids. We had a great time.
December 21st was a marathon church day. I spent the morning getting all the cookies ready for the kids' teachers at church. We packed a picnic dinner and headed to church at the normal time. Steve had an Eagle Board of Review for one of his scouts directly after church and then it would be the stake fireside after that so we had a picnic in my room during the board of review and were ready for the program when it started. Naomi and her group sounded amazing and she had a great time singing with her friends.
December 22nd I woke up to the realization that I hadn't taken the kids shopping for their presents for Steve or for each other. Nick and I headed out first thing and spent the morning looking all over town for the one present he wanted to get Jeremy. We finally found it at a great little shop called "Video Game World". We could have gotten lost in there all day, but pulled ourselves away so we could finish what needed to be done. Just as Naomi and I were arriving at the mall to get Jeremy's gift I got a panicked call from a sister in the ward whose refrigerator had died during their move and she needed help getting the new fridge to her house. Could they borrow the truck? As luck would have it, we had just the right amount of time between getting Jeremy's present and getting to our hair cut to help them out. It was actually a fun thing getting it loaded up, tied down and driving it to their house. Naomi and I made it to our haircut with minutes to spare. We both feel like new women now with our new haircuts.
December 23rd I was in the doctor's office getting a prescription for my sinus infection. I was shocked when he told me I had an ear infection as well. No wonder the right side of my head hurt so much more than the left. After picking up my prescription I ran home to make sure Nick was ready to go to his friends house when they arrived to pick him up. Naomi was laying on the couch wrapped in a blanket and not feeling well. Oh boy. Later that evening, when I picked Nick up he was not feeling well either. His throat was on fire and he had a barking cough.
December 24th I took Nick to see the doctor. He had been up during the night unable to swallow because his throat hurt so much and his cough was making it worse. They did a strep test on him and it came back negative. The culprit was most likely a nasty virus since there was no fever or other signs of infection. We relaxed the rest of the day and went to bed early.
December 25th was also spent relaxing. We had cinnamon rolls and cinnamon roll waffles for breakfast and opened presents all morning. We got to talk with family from all over the US and Ecuador as well.
'Nuf said.
Nick's dream car in his favorite color.
Just what she always wanted.
Nick was so sick he had to wear this mask so he didn't share with the rest of us. He was a good sport about it.
A fusion of art and science - GENIUS!!
Jeremy in his new coat, Tardis tie and Soul Republics. He is one happy boy.
'Tis the season to eat...
December 26th and 27th I spent the whole day getting my curriculum together for the dance classes at the middle school. I had a blast doing some research on the history of dance and putting together a Power Point presentation (complete with videos).
December 28th I was released, after two years, from Sunbeams. Bitter sweet day for me.
December 31st we fixed a huge Chinese New Year dinner. We had gyoza, won tons, Mongolian Beef and Broccoli and Shrimp Creole. We had so much left over that we called the Todds and the Stewarts. Julie and Shelli came right over to help us out. They took a bunch back to their families for the following day. They even helped with the dishes before they left. That is a win-win situation if I every heard of one. We watched fireworks in the cul-de-sac with our neighbors, watched a year in photos and rang in the new year at midnight before crashing well into the new year!!!
...and eat and eat.
Yummy!
A goofy picture at midnight. We are all a little tired. Can you tell?
January 1st, Nick spent most of the day putting this Brick Em Young temple together. He loves Legos and when my mom saw this earlier in the year she know Nick would love it. He certainly did. See the proud look on his face. It was not an easy project, but he loved every minute of it. He wanted me to include these pictures in my December blog since I hadn't posted it yet.
