Our FEBRUARY HOMESCHOOL Plans!

It was so nice to get back to a sense of normal in January! Since Oliver was born, we were in survival mode and then holiday mode, so it was a chance for us to slow down and breath a little. It took a little adjustment for the kids (Rylee would wake up everyday at first and ask what we were doing and where we were going, since we did something "special" pretty much everyday in December). 

Homeschool went well for the most part. We got into a rhythm with Oliver's nap schedule. The girls get up around 7:30 and do their list (they all get dressed, eat, and clear their dishes; Parker sits on the toilet and Ashtyn practices piano and typing). Once their list is done, they get to play or draw until I'm done with my own morning list. If I have time while Oliver is still napping, I do an activity with the girls. 

Once Oliver wakes up from his first nap, we all sit on the couch while he nurses and I read to them. I start with a couple picture books, then something out of The Friend magazine, then a chapter from the novel we're reading (right now we're almost finished with Ella Enchanted). Oliver usually finishes nursing while I'm reading out of the novel, so when I finish a chapter, I read a couple board books to Oliver. 

Then Oliver goes on the floor for some floor time while I help the girls work on their goals. Ashtyn wants to learn piano, typing, and Esperanto this year. I open up Duolingo on my phone and help her do a lesson and then she goes and gets her flashcards (she practices the first two earlier). Parker wants to learn to read, so she reads an early reader book to me and then we work on phonics on a drawing app on my phone (she gets to draw on it afterwards, so she loves it). Rylee wants to learn her letters, so I let her watch a YouTube video on my phone about letters each day.

I have loved this routine for getting the things done that I most want to. The one thing we have not been doing is any extra activities on top of this. Of the activities I planned to do with them in January (I planned 17), I did five of them and four of those I just got out and they did on their own. I would like to find a way to do activities with them more again, but mornings right now are obviously not working. 

 I'm going to try doing the activity in the afternoon or after dinner. Some activities work really well while listening to an audiobook, which the girls love to do in the afternoon while Oliver is sleeping and some activities (like science experiments) I think would be fun to do as a family after dinner. If I wait until after dinner, Oliver might be asleep or Ben could help watch him if he's grumpy. 

We'll still do cleaning and movie night on Fridays, so I won't plan an activity for then. I want to add science videos (I get them emailed to me each week) for Ashtyn on Friday afternoons. On the weekend (whether we have time Friday afternoon or wait until Saturday to do it), I want to try doing a science experiment with the girls. They love them, but I tend to put them off because of the work involved. 

Monday, January 31 

Since February's biggest holiday is Valentine's Day, I thought we could get out the colored paper and our cookie cutters and make Valentine's Day paper hearts for decorations. It'll be a simple activity that the girls can mostly do on their own if Oliver needs my attention, but that I can also sit down and do with them for awhile. I thought I could also help them each make a paper heart wreath, which looks cute and easy. 

 

Tuesday, February 1 

Today I wanted to play a board game with the kids. We have a ridiculous amount of games for how often we play them. Rylee isn't quite old enough to enjoy games like this yet, but both Parker and Ashtyn always love it. 

Wednesday, February 2  

For Groundhog Day, we will watch and see if the groundhog sees his shadow or not, watch Homeschool Pop's video about the holiday, and do a simple coloring page.  

Thursday, February 3 

Today is going to be a playdoh day! The girls love playing with playdoh and it's actually an activity I can really enjoy doing with them as well. 

Weekend:

For our science experiment this weekend, I want to make glow in the dark slime with the girls. You use the inside of sharpies to make it glow in black lights. 

Monday, February 7 

This is Send a Friend a Card Day. Since Valentine's Day is so close, I thought we could make Valentine's Day Cards together. We will keep it simple and just use paper and markers, though I might get out our heart shaped cookie cutters and let the kids trace and cut out hearts for them.  

Tuesday, February 8 

I've had a game saved that uses chocolate kisses. I thought Valentine's Day would be a good time to play it!

Wednesday, February 9 

Today is National Pizza Day! I thought I would cut out some circles and let them "make" paper pizzas. We did something similar last month and they loved it. We can also get out our wooden play food pizza for them to play with. And of course, we'll have pizza for dinner. 

Thursday, February 10

For a last Valentine's Day activity before Valentine's Day, I thought we could do a heart hunt. I will hide paper hearts all over the living room and kitchen and let the kids find them. 

Weekend: 

The experiment this week is called Dinosaur Toothpaste. You use hydrogen peroxide and dish soap with yeast to make it foam up and can add food coloring for fun.

Monday, February 14 

This is Valentine's Day! Ashtyn has an activity through our church in the afternoon, so I wanted to do something simple. I thought it would be fun to make heart shaped rice krispie treats! The girls love helping me make treats and also love eating them, of course. We will also do heart shaped pizzas for dinner.  

Tuesday, February 15

I want to focus on learning about different countries this year. We didn't do it last year (though we did have beans and rice and watch capoeira videos on YouTube). In February, I want to learn about Chinese culture. I have these printables that we can fill out and I also have this book they can make. 

 

I'm going to look at the library to see what books they have on China. National Geographic Kids has some facts about China online that we can read and we can watch some YouTube videos together (I know Homeschool Pop has one on the Great Wall of China). 

For an activity, I thought we could do some Chinese Shadow Puppetry. You place paper figures behind a thin screen with light reflecting so that it makes a shadow. Then you tell a story with the shapes and music. I think the girls will love this and I think I can find a way to do this pretty easily. 

For dinner, I thought we could get take out from a local Chinese restaurant. I don't know if the kids will like it, but Ben and I really enjoy it. I considered making a traditional food, but the other activities we're doing today already, I think it's going to be best if I keep dinner simple. I did want to try making a dessert with the kids and I thought this recipe of fried milk didn't look too hard. 

Wednesday, February 16 

Something that Ben and I want to do is teach our kids how to tell a good story. I thought today we could do a little lesson about how stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Then they can each take a turn telling a story while I type it for them. They love doing this. 

Thursday, February 17 

Today, I thought we could do a simple and fun spelling/physical activity. This spell-your-name activity is one I found on Pinterest. I think all the kids will have fun with it and it will help reinforce for Rylee (who is currently learning how to spell her name). 

Weekend: 

For Christmas, Ashtyn got a science kit with lots of different science experiments in it. This weekend, I wanted to let her pick one out of that to do. 

Monday, February 21 

For President's Day, I found a printable on Pinterest that I thought the kids would find fun.  

Tuesday, February 22 

Something I've been learning more about recently is Game School, which is helping kids learn through playing games with them. I love this idea! I found a fun math game I can play with the kids called Roll to 100. I found the rules for it here.

Wednesday, February 23 

Last month, we all did a drawing tutorial together and had a lot of fun with this. This month, I have one to draw a cute little donut. I think the girls will have fun with it and if I'm feeling ambitious, we could even make donuts to go with it. 

Thursday, February 24

For today, I have a game that is also fun exercise. I thought it would be a fun way to get moving with the kids!

Weekend: 

We have a book that outlines different science activities that kids can do. The kids are always looking through it, but I'm not the best at actually doing the activities with them. One of the activities is make a flip book, which we have the right materials for. I also thought this would be a good one to do with Ben, since he's an artist and has a lot of experience with animation. 

Monday, February 28 

It's a little late, but I saw this little book and thought it went perfectly with when we were learning about the creation of the world. I also think Rylee will have a lot of fun with it, because she's recently started to really enjoy coloring. 

I'm excited to try this new system for activities! We'll see how it goes!

Small Habits lead to Big Gains

I want to share an experience I had in 8th grade. 

We were studying the Old Testament in seminary and our teacher challenged us to read the Old Testament that school year. 

I love a challenge, so I got pretty hyped about it. However, I had never read the Old Testament before. In fact, I had never even read the BOM cover to cover before and wasn’t reading in the scriptures daily at the time. 

Finding the time was a challenge as well. I had school, work right after school, and then homework and dance and friends. Life can get busy as a teenager. 

At the time, I woke up at 5:30 to shower and get ready for school, so I decided I was going to wake up at 4:30 every morning to read in the Old Testament for an hour before school. If I was going to read the whole thing, I had to read a lot---The Old Testament is long! 

 

Well, you can imagine how it went. I did manage to wake up that early for awhile. Some days, I would start and fall asleep again while reading. Other days, I was so tired that I didn’t really pay attention to what I was reading. I attempted this habit for about a month or so before giving up and going back to getting an extra hour of sleep in the morning. 

It was discouraging, to say the least. 

What was I doing wrong? 

Lack of motivation? Lack of discipline? Was I simply lazy by nature? 

Honestly, it felt like that.

There were some principles I didn’t understand and once I understood them, I was able to make changes that actually lasted. Those principles all come back to small changes.

Alma 37:6 

By small and simple things are great things brought to pass 

Small changes work. Becoming one percent better doesn’t seem like much, but it can make a big difference over time. 

In Atomic Habits, James Clear shares the Sorites Paradox: Can one coin make a person rich? If you give a person a pile of ten coins, you wouldn’t claim that he or she is rich. But what if you add another? And another? And another? At some point,  you will have to admit that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him or her so. 

The same can be said of small habits.

One reason small changes are so important is consistency. Would you rather try to make big changes that you cannot stick with and end up back at square one in a month, or would you rather make a series of small changes that stick and actually make progress? That’s the question I had to ask myself before I could start making real progress on my own goals. 

Henry B. Eyering recently said, “There is power in steadiness and repetition.” Consistently showing up to do something is better than doing a lot in spurts and then other times doing nothing. 

Reading a verse in your scriptures everyday is better than reading three chapters every Sunday.  

Brushing your teeth every night is better than piling on the toothpaste at the end of the week to make up for days you didn’t brush. 

Michael A Dunn, in his talk One Percent Better from this past conference, said, “What if we applied the one percent principle to the very sweet and savory second principle of the gospel, repentance? Rather than being stymied by the churn and dramatic swings between sin and repentance, what if our approach was to narrow our focus? Instead of trying to perfect everything, what if we tackled just one thing?" 

Everything we do determines how we see ourselves--our identity. If you eat healthy foods, you’ll see yourself as a healthy person. If you sit on the couch and watch TV a lot, you might see yourself as a lazy person. 

Our identity, then, feeds our actions. If you see yourself as a healthy person, you are going to eat healthy foods. If you see yourself as a lazy person, you aren’t going to make much effort to get up off the couch. 

This is part of why consistency is so important. Every time you act on that small change, you are voting for the kind of person you will see yourself as. The more you see yourself as the kind of person you want to be, the more you will act in ways that are consistent with that kind of person. The more you act in ways that are consistent with the kind of person you want to be, the more you will see yourself that way. And it becomes a cycle. 

This is part of why really small habits can be helpful. In Atomic Habits, James Clear shares what he did when he wanted to build a running habit. He didn't start with a marathon, a mile, or even five minutes. He started really small: by putting on his running shoes. At the same time each day, he would put on his shoes. He wouldn't even go out running--yet.

Once that was a habit he didn't even have to think about, he started to put on his shoes and step out the door. Then he'd come back inside. This helped him to start forming his identity as a runner with small enough actions that he would continue to do them consistently. As those things became easy, he added on more. Pretty soon, he was running miles, but he wasn't pushing himself so hard that he did it in spurts or gave up. By the time he reached that point, it wasn't hard for him to do it consistently.

Uchtdorf shared a story in a past General Conference entitled A Matter of a Few Degrees:

"In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (so 2 degrees changed their trajectory by 28 miles!) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. 

As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet.

As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees.”

So that’s a pretty sad story. But it’s also really powerful, it really shows how much of a difference a small decision can make. 

What is trajectory?

A trajectory is the path of an object through space, or the path of life that a person chooses. It is where you are expected to end up down the road.

Where we are headed is more important than where we are now. If we can make a small change that will stay consistent--and then another, and then another, those changes will ultimately change where our lives end up. 

It doesn't mean much to have a million dollars if you are moving towards losing it all. It's much better to have very little money but be heading in the direction of gaining a million dollars ten or twenty years down the road.

Elder Neal A Maxwell taught, “Each assertion of a righteous desire, each act of service, and each act of worship, however small and incremental, adds to our spiritual momentum.” 

Small changes compound. For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to write novels, but for years, I never could finish one. Then, over the course of the year in 2020, I wrote 500 words a day and made a writing habit. Now I have an 80,000 word novel and am working on my second. 

500 words a day added up to an 80,000 word novel! More than that, though, it helped me create a writing habit that I can sustain for the rest of my life.

The small change of writing a little bit everyday changed my entire trajectory in that area of my life. 

But, as Elder Dunn says, “For small gains to aggregate, there must be a consistent, day-in and day-out effort. And although we won’t likely be perfect, we must be determined to mirror our persistence with patience.” 

It can be hard to be patient with habits. Sometimes it feels like what we're doing isn't actually making a difference. You're never going to improve your heart health, lose weight, get fit, or run a marathon by putting on your running shoes. It takes patient effort to increase your habit in increments and to slowly get better.

It makes me think of the ice cube example from Atomic Habits. If you increase the temperature to 20 or 25 or even 31, the ice cube isn't going to melt. It will stay as frozen as it was at 5 degrees. However, you can never reach 32 degrees without first reaching 20 and 25 and 31. At 31 degrees, it seems as if nothing is happening, but suddenly, at 32, the ice cube melts.

That is exactly how it is with habits. We expect our growth to look like a straight line on a graph, continually making progress, but really it's exponential: At first, our gains are small. But the longer we persist, the more we gain.

Elder Dunn said, “Even if the changes needed in your life are wholesale, begin at a small scale. That’s especially true if you are feeling overwhelmed or discouraged. 

This process is not always accomplished in a linear fashion. Even among the most determined there may be setbacks. Having experienced the frustration of this in my own life, I know that it can sometimes feel like 1 percent forward and 2 percent back. 

Yet if we remain undaunted in our determination to consistently eke out those 1 percent gains, He who has “carried our sorrows” will surely carry us.” 

I love that! I know that as we continue to put in effort, we will blessed for it. I know that as we make small changes, we will see great rewards in our life. And I also know that no matter how hard we try, we will never become the kind of people that God wants us to be without His help. And He will send us His help. He will bless us with strength, courage, and faith.

My Current Cleaning Routine

 As I've had more kids, I've found it harder and harder to keep up on the housework. We live minimally (for the most part, though we still probably have too many toys) and clean everyday, but it can still be hard to keep the house as clean as I like it. And, a lot of the time, I don't. I try to make sure I'm doing the most important things first (like writing and reading aloud and spending time with each other), so sometimes it falls by the wayside. 

What our house looked like this afternoon

Today I just wanted to share what I do to try to keep up with it all. 

One of the things I'm doing this year is creating some family habits to keep the house from getting messy in the first place. This month, we are focusing on putting away shoes and jackets as soon as we come in the house. I redid our coat closet so that it's easy for the kids and it has worked really well so far. Next month, we'll pick a new thing to focus on together. 

The kids have a container for their jackets/coats, their shoes, and their snow gear (in the summer, it will be swimsuits). I don't care if they mix them up, but so far they haven't. Ben and I hang our jackets up (I also hang up the girls' snow pants) and then have a hanging thing on the door for our shoes.

I also have some daily personal habits. I make the bed and tidy our room (our bedroom never gets very messy) every morning while I'm getting dressed. I unload the dishwasher while I'm making breakfast (and Ben loads/runs the dishwasher every night before bed). I start a load of laundry in the washing machine in the morning and switch it the dyer in the afternoon (I'd like to fold and put it away each day as well, but I don't have that habit yet). 

We have times when we clean as a family. We'll do what we call a "family pick up" usually once a day, where we turn on music and clean up whatever is strewn about the house. Usually this is before or after dinner. We also have a "family clean up" on the weekends, where everybody (including Rylee but excluding Oliver) spends five to ten minutes doing a cleaning job that doesn't usually get done (like washing walls or vacuuming out the couches). When I fold laundry, it's usually at night as well, and so the kids will put away their clothes before bed and the kids pick up their rooms while I'm feeding Oliver right before bed as well (it's usually really easy because we don't keep a lot in their except their clothes and their bed stuff). 

The big chores I have divided up by day. On Mondays, I go grocery shopping. Tuesdays, I clean both the bathrooms on the main floor. Wednesdays, I sweep, vacuum, and mop all the floors on the main floor. Thursdays, I clean the carpets or do another deep cleaning job that's been bothering me. Fridays, I help the kids clean the bathroom upstairs and pick up and vacuum their rooms.  Saturdays, we do our family pick up. 

I am learning to lower my expectations for how clean our house is. I also am lucky to have a husband who helps around the house often: taking out the trash, spot mopping, holding Oliver while I clean, and participating in our family clean ups. I am really hopeful that as the kids get older and we work on family habits that our house can also stay cleaner with a little less effort. 

2022 Goals!

 It's that time of year again when we talk about goals. I love the feeling of a fresh start that comes with the new year! 

This year, I have eight areas I want to focus on: writing, YouTube, family time, marriage, gospel, finances, exercise, and diet. I have a spread in my bullet journal that I can evaluate how I'm doing each month and make a new, small change to become better throughout the year. 

In writing, I would like to finish my Cinderella retelling (I'm about 1/3 of the way finished with it right now), get my Rapunzel retelling to beta readers, and start a newsletter. 

With YouTube, I'd like to post at least one video a month and do a post a week to Instagram. I'd also like to keep more involved in the bookish community. One thing I might do is switch most of my content over to written content so I can produce more content in less time. 

For family time, I'd like to focus on more quality time together, being more present when I'm with the kids (ie not on my phone as much), and not have the TV on as much. 

With marriage, I'd like to focus on showing love better. This will consist of more exploring with love languages and then finding ways to consistently show Ben love in his love language. 

For gospel, I'd like to rebuild some of the small spiritual habits that have been harder since having the baby. This includes Come Follow Me with the kids, going to the temple more often, and daily prayer.

With finances, I'd like to focus on spending. Between nesting and sleep deprivation, I haven't been the best at sticking to the budget in 2021 and I want to set up systems to do better at that in 2022. 

For exercise, I just need to start doing it again. I was really active during my pregnancy and loved how I felt. Since having Oliver, it's been harder to get into it again (partly just because of the time it takes). I am going to slowly start adding more movement and exercise back in this year. 

And with diet, I want to eat healthier and have a really good relationship with food. I tend to yo-yo between extremes of trying to be strict with food and treats to indulging too much. I would like to eat healthy in a way that I can consistently maintain while allowing myself treats at times. I would really like to lose about 30 pounds this year, but that's secondary to my mindset around food (though I think if I can figure out my mindset, I will be healthier and therefore lose some weight). 

These aren't actually "goals" but more the direction I want to be heading. That way, each month I can see if what I'm doing is getting me closer to where I want to be or further away, and then make small course corrections to improve in each area. 

Our December and Christmas Fun!

 December was so busy and fun! We spent so much time with family and did a lot of Christmas activities. And Christmas was wonderful this year! 

Christmas Magic is so beautiful when you have children 💓

During December, we unwrap a Christmas book each day as an advent countdown. With the book, we do an activity (sometimes they match thematically). This was our pile of books this year. 

November 30 Activity: 

Make Paper Countdown Chains 

Ashtyn's was left, Parker's was middle, and Rylee's was right. Ashtyn is old enough now to do her chain on her own, Parker is half way there (she did about ten of them on her own before I helped her). Rylee was actually asleep on the couch when we did our activity, so I did hers for her. 

December 1 Activity: 

Make Gingerbread Cookies

It was especially fun to decorate these cookies because their cousins from North Dakota were still in town. It was really fun to do some holiday activities together before they went back home. 

December 2 Activity: 

Visit Santa

We went to Milk and Cookies with Santa through a local real estate group and it was so cute. Santa was really cute with the kids and they loved seeing him. 

Navy and Rhen came with us. 

These two are such cute little baby cousins. 

December 3 Activity: 

Polar Express Party 

We had pizza for dinner and hot chocolate for dessert (like in the movie) and everyone came in their pajamas to watch the movie. The kids ended up playing more than watching and it was so fun having everyone there. 

The two baby boys in their Christmas PJs!

Ready for the party in their Christmas pajamas! 

How the kids when I want to take a picture 😂

These three cousins were born within months of each other and had a blast running around together. They also loved being diaper girls together.

December 4 Activity: 

Decorate the Christmas Tree 

December 5 Activity: 

Make Gingerbread Houses 

We had family come over to decorate with us. Ben cut the graham crackers and then Melissa and I put them together for all the kids. I was a little worried because we had so many kids but it went really well. We had tons of candy at each table and the kids were really independent about decorating. They all had a blast. 

December 6 Activity: 

Drop off a Basket to a Family in Need

A few years ago, we stopped exchanging gifts in my in-law's family and use the money instead to help a local family in need. It's one of my very favorite traditions and I'm always so humbled to watch my girls give so much of their own small amount of money. 

December 7 Activity: 

Decorate Mini Tree 

The girls have a little tree they get to set up in their room. They love it. 

Their fake "presents" for each other 😂

December 8 Activity: 

Christmas Crafts 

I was crazy this year and got out a bunch of "extras" for the crafts. The girls were in heaven and the clean up was pretty messy.

I'm not sure they understood "Christmas crafts" 😂

December 9 Activity: 

Write to Santa 

The girls, of course, tried to change what they wanted from Santa last minute and I had to remind them what they had already told Santa. 

Then Santa brought their new wishes too 😅 

December 10 Activity: 

Make and Deliver Cookies 

This is one of my favorite things to do at Christmastime!

December 11 Activity: 

Make Ornaments as a Family

Rylee was feeling pretty sick the day we did ornaments, but we managed to do it at a time when she was doing a little better. 

This year, we put paint inside plastic bulbs. They turned out pretty good, though we have some ideas for how to do it even better sometime in the future. 

December 12 Activity: 

A Birthday Party for Jesus

We made an apple pie with vanilla ice cream (Ben and I love the pie, the girls love the ice cream) and sang Happy Birthday to him. Then we looked at the present we gave to Jesus last year and wrote down something we would do this year as our present to him. Then we watched The Child. 

You'd think, kids. 

No. Dad. Dad put the Santa on him 😂

December 13 Activity: 

Candy Cane Party

We did a candy cane hunt with cousins, ate candy canes while we read The Legend of the Candy Cane, and made paper candy canes. I also had a science experiment planned, but the girls ate the candy canes before I had the chance to do it with them. 

December 14 Activity:

Christmas Playdoh and Fake Snow 

December 15 Activity: 

Paper Snowflakes 

After we make the snowflakes, we put them up in the girls' room on the ceiling. 

It was one of their favorite things. 

December 16 Activity: 

Fingerprint Christmas Tree 

December 17 Activity: 

Engineering with marshmallows and toothpicks 

I wanted to do gumdrops, but I couldn't find any to buy. I figured marshmallows (with the hot chocolate tie in) were festive enough.

December 18 Activity:
Look at Christmas Lights 

December 19 Activity: 

Christmas Dinner and Carols 

December 20 Activity: 

Make Sibling Gifts 

This is one of my favorite traditions! Ashtyn made Parker some paper dolls, Parker made Rylee some Octonauts toys, and Rylee made Ashtyn some bookmarks. 

December 21 Activity: 

Wrap Kids' Presents 

December 22 Activity: 

Dot Sticker Wreath 

December 23 Activity: 

Make Christmas Cookies for Santa

December 24 Activity:

Play Games

Christmas Eve 💓

Christmas outfits!

This is how Parker really felt about taking pictures 😂

We have a friend in Norway that we do a Christmas exchange with each year. She loves Sloths, so this year, Ben painted this picture for her. 

Is it even Christmas without a Brandon Sanderson new release? 

Ashtyn put a kiss on top of a ginger cookie, like the peanut butter kiss cookies. 

Christmas: 

Ben's aunt put together this cute surprise for the kids, to have Santa come visit on Christmas Eve morning. It was super cute and the kids were really excited. 

Christmas Eve night, we went to Lindi's house for soup and to do the Nativity. Ashtyn was a shepherd, Parker was Mary, and Rylee was a sheep with Navy.

Monson was the donkey and riding him was Parker's favorite part of the Nativity.

When we got home, we each opened a new blanket and then read The Night Before Christmas before setting out our stockings and cookies and milk for Santa. 

Ashtyn was super surprised to find a Baby Alive Doll in her stocking. She'd decided after talking with Santa that she wanted one, so she had asked for a science kit and was going to save up for this doll. 

Rylee really wanted underwear and Dashi and got both. She wanted to put on her diaper and start potty training right then, but I told her she needed to wait until the beginning of January. She has loved her Dashi, carrying it around with her everywhere. 

Rylee got play food that you can cut (fruit and a pizza) from Ben and I. She wasn't over-the-top-excited to open it (just happy), but it's been the most played with toy since Christmas. 

Ashtyn got three new games for her DS and has really enjoyed playing them. 

These were some second  hand magnetic dolls that the girls were super excited for. Not pictured (not sure where the picture went), Parker got some My Little Pony figures that have already gotten a lot of play time out of them as well. 

This was the girl's surprise present: Skyward Sword. They were so excited and have loved playing it with Ben so far. 

Oliver got some teething toys (he can hold them if you hand them to him, but he is still growing into them) and a mirror that he absolutely loves. 

I had a very bookish Christmas and loved it!

The week leading up to Christmas, Oliver started struggling with sleep some at night. I wondered if it was a sleep regression, but then on Christmas Eve, he had a runny nose. Christmas morning, he was doing great and we decided to drive out to West Jordan to see my family after opening presents. About an hour after we got there, he started acting really fussy and got a fever. He didn't feel good at all and it was stressful to be away from home while he was sick. Christmas night, we slept really well and was doing a lot better by the next morning. 

This is Rylee dressed up as "a grand finale" at my mom's house 😂

Some of the food at my mom's party (I took the pictures to show a friend).

Oliver loves Grandma and Grandpa!

Playing with cousins 💓

Rylee fell asleep (she was up late and woke up early because of traveling), so I didn't get a picture of her with Sophie. 

My mom made these adorable crocheted horses for all the grandkids. They are blankets that can folded up into toys that the kids can ride. The girls love them!

Playing in the snow:

Oliver:

Cousins:

Little Jonathan 💓

Oliver kept crying, I think because Jonathan was so mad 😂

These three were born within five months of each other. 

We loved being able to see these cousins so much this year and miss them!

Parker's block mermaid

Ashtyn made a beach out of blocks

This is a beehive that Ashtyn made

Parker's favorite  thing to make right now with the blocks is a rainbow

Parker was mad at me for doing her hair, so she bit this face into her apple. 

Oliver never lacks for attention or stimulation 😂

We did a little girls' date while the dads stayed home with the baby boys to see Encanto. It was the first time I had taken the girls to the movie theater and they loved it! Encanto is also now Rylee's favorite movie and she wants to watch it every day. 

Later in the month, Ben and I did a date to go see No Way Home in the theaters. It was super fun to get away from the kids for a bit and I loved the movie!

Oliver is such a big boy 💓

Playing Skyword Sword and just relaxing after Christmas.

This is real life, so you can see how messy the house was 😂

Ashtyn snuggling in the horse blanket Grandma Dee made 💓

Aunt Melissa made this adorable matching game for the girls and they've loved it!

It's nice because not much keeps Rylee occupied, so anything like this that does is amazing!

Ashtyn doing a science experiment from her science kit!

Aaaaand we're all sick. Again. Rylee always gets it the worse, her immune system is going to be amazing after this winter. 

Ashtyn reading books from Grandma Dee to Parker 💓

Rylee has gotten three ear infections this year (each time from a cold). 

Luckily, we've been able to get rid of them each time with an onion poultice. 

Playing on the switch with their new controllers!

Oliver's favorite toy 😍

He loves to sit and look at it!

I love doing a walk through of my bullet journal every year on my YouTube channel and it always does so well!

Talking with cousins after Christmas 💓

Oliver's favorite things are looking at his hands or eating his hands!

He also got this adorable Avatar onsie from Santa 😍

My birthday: 

I made an apple pie (my favorite dessert right now 😂) and homemade ice cream the day before my birthday so I could have it on my birthday.

We went to a local pizza place called Antica Forma for lunch (I knew I could get Ben to agree to bring the kids with us since it was my birthday 😂). 

Parker didn't like pizza, but she loved the little cup of Gelato that they got. 

Ashtyn and Rylee both liked their pizza, which was a pleasant surprise. 

Ashtyn made me this book (the blank pages at the end are for me to add to it). Parker drew me a picture and Ben wrote me a story and put it on my Kindle. Rylee and Oliver gave me lots of snuggles 💓

New Year's Eve, we had a special dinner of steak and nachos and salsa with ice cream. Then we let Ashtyn stay up a little later (9:30, not midnight yet 😂) with Ben and I. We played a new game we'd gotten for Christmas, Exploding Kittens. 

Ashtyn's Christmas concert: 

An interview video for Grandma and Grandpa: 

We had such a wonderful year in 2021 and loved the holiday season! We can't wait for all the wonderful things 2022 has in store.