Just shoveling snow

Just a little over three years ago, we saw a small shovel in a store and thought our two year old daughter would like to help Daddy shovel snow. It was super cute, and she always managed to push a tiny bit of snow around, but more than that, it was something that she looked forward to whenever Daddy went out to clear the driveway.

I would always hear about it if I was too fast doing my work and finished before she was able to join me.

More recently, it has been a good way to motivate her to eat all of her breakfast quickly, so that she could get the coat and mittens and boots on and join Daddy for some fun clearing the driveway.

More often than not, she was as much harm as help. She would trample some of the snow that I hadn't cleared yet, and I would have to scrape the driveway a few times in those spots to get all of the compacted snow up.

That was fine with me. I didn't mind a minute or two of extra work if that meant she was having fun just being there with me. Then something happened last week that I didn't expect.

We had a pretty heavy storm and ten or so inches had accumulated, so my work was harder than usual. I was only half-way down the driveway when she came out in her gear ready to do some shoveling. The snow was still coming down, so the circumstances weren't all that fun to work in. I asked her to please work on the sidewalk while I worked on the driveway.

I went back to work and I let her work on her area. I figured the usual pattern would repeat. She would work for two or three minutes, then decide it was time to play in the snow instead. By the time I got finished with the driveway and went to inspect her progress, I was shocked to see that she had done the majority of the front walk to the porch.

This was not light fluffy snow either. Much of the snow had melted to slush, but she persisted in her efforts until she turned around a moment after I had taken her picture. She informed me that she was tired of shoveling, so she was going to play in the snow now. I talked her into helping me do the last bit of the front walk because I wanted her to have the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing a difficult task.

It was so much fun to tell Mommy about the big job she had done with only a little help from Daddy. It also changed my perspective on other things she likes to do with me. I know she loves to join me washing the cars. Maybe sometime soon she'll surprise me by getting more of the soapy water on the car than on herself.

Christmas

Well, here I am again in catch-up mode.Oh well! December was busy, with ups and downs, but we had a really nice Christmas and New Year's and I thoroughly enjoyed the downtime and change in routine.

The month started out very crazy with me helping out significantly with our church Christmas party. The bishopric wanted it to be a special evening so we went to a lot of work to make it really nice. It turned out well. There was a really good turnout and I think everyone enjoyed the evening. I felt bad that the talent show/program that I planned started going later than some people wanted and we had to cut out some of the numbers. I had a major meltdown after the whole thing was over and have vowed to never take on another ward Christmas party!

We bought S a pretty gold dress for the season and she love, love, loves it. She likes to get out her bouquet of flowers and pretend she's getting married in it. Such a cutie pie! I love this picture that Nathan captured of her.

Some of our attempts at fun Christmas traditions did not go well this year. We like to visit Temple Square and see the lights there. We pick Nathan up from work, go out to dinner, and then walk around the square. This time I realized on the way that I didn't have my cellphone. Uh oh! But after we got to City Creek I borrowed a nice woman's phone and called Nathan and we were able to meet up without too much trouble. I was having some digestive issues but decided to eat dinner anyway, and that was a mistake because then I started feeling like I was going to lose my cookies. As we got to Temple Square I wasn't sure I was going to make it! And then there was a line to the bathroom! I was ready to lay down on the floor anywhere I could find a spot, but thankfully I finally found a bench. Phew! I was not thrilled about the idea of puking in a crowd of people! So I laid there in the visitor's center while Nathan and S took maybe 20 minutes to walk around and enjoy the lights. By then I was feeling a little better, but we decided to just go home. I guess it could have been worse, but it sure didn't go like I had hoped.

my resting spot in the visitor's center

us and the lights at...City Creek :)

Another night we drove around our area to look at Christmas lights on people's houses, but S did NOT want to go and she was grouchy and angry and made the whole experience miserable for all of us. Merry Christmas.

Since S is in preschool this year, we got to have our first experience as parents at our child's Christmas program. It's one of those bust-your-buttons kinds of things ;-) It was really, really cute. They mostly sang songs, but that also included some sign language, ringing bells, and lots of actions. S made it a point to curtsy after every song (even if no one else was 😊). Santa came in at the end and each student got to sit on his lap for a picture. Very fun!

S doing a curtsy

There was also some cookie decorating at grandma's house and S made sure each of her cookies had at least one mini-peanut butter cup on it (that's my girl!).

Christmas Eve was one of the best days of the season for me. Everything just went well without rushing or hurrying and there was lots of fun in the day, too. First we had a yummy breakfast, which, for S, meant a snowman pancake with chocolate chips and some hot chocolate.

We also spent some time making graham cracker houses. I found a blogger post about a simple way to make them and it worked out really well and was a lot of fun. It was S's first time and I thought she'd really have fun doing it and she did. She kept trying out different things she'd see me or Nathan do and she stayed with it longer than I did! I think that would be a fun tradition to continue.

construction phase

S's

Nathan's - he sliced gumdrops for the roof tiles

mine

We spent the eve with my mom, sister, and brother. We had dinner, read the scriptural account of Christ's birth, and then opened some presents. 

It was fun just being together. S devoured the chocolate orange from her Uncle Mark. 

Nathan posed and strutted around in his new Darth Vader tie.

And we laughed that my mom was a fortune teller with her new fancy moo moo and her new, spherical yard ornament.

S helping open a present for Stella

Lori and her new picture of Stella

We woke to a snowy Christmas morning, which is always a beautiful way to start such a special day. We were grateful to still have church at 1pm. S was delighted with her gifts from Santa and wondered how he could know everything she wanted. At church, Nathan sang in a men's trio and I played in a flute quartet. We had a lovely, delicious dinner, again at my mom's and came home before it got too late.

Christmas dinner

Christmas family picture

My in-between holidays time was spent hiding out from responsibility and routine. I finally organized my recipes and that felt incredibly good. I also made a valance for the window in our library and I've wanted to do that for some time. I also did various other organizing and cleaning. It was great. Usually I'm ready to get back to routine life, but this time I could have hid out for a while longer, but, thankfully I've been able to just ease back into busy life and that's been a blessing.

We spent New Year's Eve with Nathan's sister, Susan, and her family. We had a great time together. We snacked and watched "Pete's Dragon." Nathan finally dropped S in her older cousins' laps and they talked to her and got her to open up. They helped her feel comfortable and she ended up having a great time, too. We actually got to bed before midnight, but the next day we clinked our Martinelli-filled wine glasses to celebrate the New Year. Fun times!