Random notes

Last night Jess stayed up very, very late to finish a good book.  We are talking the milkman is making deliveries- type late.  And he did most of it standing, leaning against the counter with his elbows.  That man can really get into a book.  I told him from now on, only picture books will be checked out from the library for him.

Every time I am looking my very best, I run into someone I know at Target (I say sarcastically).  But really the difference between my best and my not so good is quite minimal, so it's not all that bad.

Oliver has decided that our next child will be named Colt.  I cannot be sure where he got that name idea, but it has stuck with him.

And finally, did you know that Christmas was officially declared a holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870?  I learned that from my sister's Christmas card this year.

Holly jolly-ness

I hope your holiday season is going merrily. Ollie likes to plug in the lights the moment he wakes up. Jess and I start up the Christmas tunes daily and nightly. And we are all enjoying the sweets of the season. I had a chance to make stockings for my little fam, thanks to my great sister. We sewed away at these things for a couple of hours yesterday. And this morning, Oliver stood under the mistletoe and said, "It's time for a kiss!" Gladly.

12:12pm on 12/12/12

Playing downstairs listening to Christmas music. What were you doing?

Time is flying by

These last couple of weeks have been full to the brim with stuff, and so I find myself at December 10th thinking it should be November 30th.

Before I get into anything else, I must write that Oliver is in the mode where he asks lots of questions.  For instance:

What does "tilt" mean?
What does "flee away" mean?
What about "lean"?
Or "lonely"?

Sometimes my explanations aren't too good.  Like the time I tried to explain "understand."  I told Oliver it's when you comprehend something.  His response, "What does 'comprehend' mean?"  Which I followed up by explaining that it's when you understand something.  I caught my circular explanation and tried again. "It's when you get something or when something makes sense to you...Does that make sense?"  Nice.

Not only does Oliver like the meaning of words, he's also sounding them out and reading a bit.  He's getting the hang of it.  The best was when I went upstairs to find him spelling things out during his quiet time.  Here's his spelling of "QUIET."

Jess and I are getting the hang of living in our new place.  We've officially bought a new tree trimmer, a hand saw, a snow shovel, and a toilet handle.  I used to wonder why people shopped at Home Depot.  Now I know.  It is because they took care of their home, instead of a maintenance man doing it.

If we were in DC this year, I can imagine what my life would be like.  It would be good and we would be doing good things surrounded by good people.  This year, we are in Utah.  And we are still doing good things surrounded by good people.  And I am grateful for each day.  And I am grateful for this season.  And I am trying to enjoy each minute of it one Osmond Christmas tune at a time :)