And so it goes...

Christmas just keeps coming this year.  Woot.  Cecily's school program was a few days after the church program.  She didn't want to wear her Christmas dress to school, which was fine by me, but then she really didn't have anything else Christmas-y to wear.  She ended up in a nice sweater; "It'll have to do."  ha.  And they have so many kids packed up on the stage you can't even tell what anyone is wearing so I don't feel guilty.  

Emmy's outfits are just... interesting.    

 So I subbed one last time and since it was just a few days before my birthday, and the last day of their semester I brought cupcakes!  Boron-11 cupcakes to be precise.  (chosen randomly because there are 15 kids in the class and 1 extra just in case...)  When you have a mid-December birthday you pretty much have to force people to celebrate with you.  I don't think the kids minded too much. And general science shared their homemade ice cream so it was a pretty good morning. 

 Saturday was the Day of Days.  Yay for Wyss Christmas.  We started with the best breakfast I'll probably get all year, then some singing from the (as far as I know) as yet un-named but practically brothers in faith: the next generation.  

 Then presents!  

 More kinetic sand!

 Emmy very bravely went with Grandma to tell Trent thank you.  It was so cute.

 Cecily thanking Great G & G and telling them all about the magnet tins the girls got from them. 

 There were snacks and games and naps and then we ate supper.  Emmy spent most of it showing us all how she can sing "The Twelve Days of Christmas"... 'and a part-turge in a pear tree!'

 Shells made taffy to pull in the evening.  It was a smidge too hot inside.

 So they took it outside.... and then I slipped while trying to help stretch it out and scraped my elbow. Woe is me... now that I'm over 30 minor injuries hurt a bit more than they used too...   

 There was some play testing of Bob and Nathan's game.

 Then we came home. And I was so tired the next day at church.  
So the girls and I were at Hobby Lobby and Emmy kept picking out things to give me for my birthday... and then she pretty much claimed them when we got home.  Silly kid.

 The day of my birthday was pretty good. Not all that exciting, but it never is.  The girls and I finished up our Christmas shopping after school and met Bob for supper at Portillo's.  They have a cake shake, which I love.  

We were outside one afternoon and Cadence decided she needed a snack. 

 Remind me why we bothered with Christmas presents?  It's the classic they-like-the-cardboard-boxes-best...  (I don't. Somehow they take up so much more space than anything else!)

 The Beutel Christmas was last Sunday.  Cecily was the star in the nativity play. Ha.  Emmy for some reason didn't want to put a costume on, and then was sad, and then she was fine.  

 Christmas Eve we were back at the fellowship hall for the Koch Christmas.  The girls did a lot of running around and eating cookies.
We were not up very early Christmas morning... 

 But we did make it church on time!

 Emmy and Cadence are wearing reruns, I found the same dress still available in Cecily's size !  Yay for matching as long as they'll let me. 

 We spent the afternoon and evening with Bob's family and we came home with a ridiculous amount of large balloons.... I put up with them for a day or two and then they all mysteriously sprang leaks... we don't have that big of a house! They take up so much space! (If I calculated correctly, approximately 1.7 cubic feet each... times 7 balloons...yeah.) 

 Cecily wanted me to take a picture of her favorite hatchimals.... these are hatchimals.  

 We took the next day off and caught up on laundry and played with new toys.  Then on Thursday we did our family Christmas.  

 Some excited girls...

 This is the face of one pleased little middle child.  Hehe.  They still all like to use hooded bath towels, but Cecily has one with her name embroidered on it, and ribbon trim... "Why does Cecily always get the pretty things? I want my name and pink flowers with yellow centers on my towel too!"  So I quick sewed her a hooded bath towel and Aunt Amy's friend came through with the embroidery in time for Christmas and her day was made.  

 Legos!

Emmy made us smoothies all afternoon.

 Cadence put lots of babies and kitties to bed in her new little pack-n-play.

 I won the wife-of-the-year award and gave Bob this *cough* amazing piece of artwork.  Haha.  There is now a large picture of a space ship hanging on the office wall.  At least you kind of have to walk around the corner to see that part.... from the kitchen it just looks like a lovely landscape... kind of... 

 And he bought me a saw, which I love.  

 We also gave the girls paintable light up fairy houses.  I was picturing them being extra night lights, but they flash colorful light so... not so much.  

 And then I went all out for Christmas dinner and we had roast turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy (not all from scratch, I'm not that ambitious)... and we ate off of china just because.  Days like these make me wish I had a dining room so we could have a fancy dinner and not be surrounded by the detritus of everyday life... oh well.  

Friday we were supposed to go out to Bob's parents for adults only Christmas.... but there was illness in the house and I had no desire to expose myself to germs.  We've been healthy so far and I really don't need to deal with that with more Christmases to go.  So it was postponed to Saturday.  The girls went to the farm for the evening, which they love.  
So we are officially done with 5 out of 7... I love Christmas, but I'm starting to get tired of Christmas cookies...  and I'm praying we all stay healthy for just a few more days.
Blessings. 

And so it begins

Cadence loves to get out Cecily's piano books and play her own version of "hot cross buns."

 Little miss I-don't-need-a-nap was down in the basement by herself and it was very quiet...

 They were only a little bit excited to decorate their little tree.

 Uncle Cleo turned 100 years old!  There was a birthday open house for him after church.  We went- the girls were kind of a disaster.  After church plans are always a gamble, and man were they not very good that afternoon.  But the cake and ice cream were delicious and the personalized chocolates were excellent, so there's that.  Plus, it's not often you get to go to a 100 year old's birthday party.  

 Emmy dresses herself.  At first she had on the floral leggings with the striped shirt, then right before we left for the grocery store she added the skirt..... someday kid, someday.  

 The week following Thanksgiving was fairly quiet.  I subbed for my friend Victoria on Friday.  She's teaching chem at co-op this year- and she just had a baby.  (Unlike me, she has boundless energy and seems to thrive on having a very full life.  Pretty sure she also just finished up her masters in nursing, while working as a nurse.... yeah.)  I teased her that she planned her maternity leave well since she gave me the two most math intensive chapters to cover; also the most boring chapters in the whole book.  So I wore my mole shirt and tried to be as nerdy as possible.  The girls were both excited to play in the nursery again- no hesitation from either of them.

Bob and the girls wrapped up a present a day for me for my birthday.... I love packages.  :)  

Saturday morning was the Santa breakfast at school.   The girls and I went to the book fair and I let them pick out gifts for each other... then I had signed up to work at the book fair so Bob came and took them on a carriage ride (behind a mule! hehe) and to the library for crafts.  

We had some weird weather later that evening.  There were bad storms southwest of us, and at one point the tornado sirens went off in town.  We all went to basement and stayed down there for a while even though the radar showed the storms missing us... well, it's an ill wind that blows no good because while we were down there we discovered that one of the toilets was leaking when it was flushed.  Nothing a bucket can't fix for a few days... haha.

But, since this particular toilet has always been an under performer... like pathetically easy for the girls to clog with toilet paper even if they do use too much... we decided to try and find a better one.  It must have been an early low flush model because it can't hold a candle to the good old 3-gallon flush workhorse in the other bathroom.  We've never had to plunge the older one in the 7 years we've lived here... this one required plunging several times a month.  Anyway, after spending way too much time reading toilet reviews online and getting my favorite plumbers opinion, I picked a new toilet.  
Unfortunately, it's not a pretty toilet like this one...

...since I didn't feel like paying almost $400 for a toilet.  Instead we got the best reviewed, in stock at Menards toilet which is not as pretty, if a toilet can actually be pretty.  Someone took the instruction to 'do not touch the bucket in the basement; it has icky poop-water in it' to heart. "Icky.  Poop." *sigh*  We do try not to be vulgar around here.  

 Poor Bob puts up with a lot.  Sometimes we disagree on what home improvements projects are within our skill set.  I did not see any need for a plumber and he was at work when I threatened to replace the toilet while he was gone, because, I can.  (Or, I could if not for my present delicate condition. I really can't currently bear hug a toilet and lift it straight off its bolts...)  He threatened to call a plumber unless I at least got some help.  hehe.  So my dad graciously offered to help me the next day when he was in town picking up taxes.... #bestdadever #stubbornwysswomen

Instead of plumbing the girls helped me cut out Christmas cookies.  Cadence is surprisingly adept with that rolling pin and the cookie cutters.  Probably because Grandma lets her use play-dough every time they are at the farm.  "No. My turn."

 The big girls aren't too bad at it either.

 Emmy loves to bake.

 The next day, Grandpa came over to put in our new toilet.  They were so excited.   They did not really want to stay out of the way... and the bathroom is too small for spectators.  

 There was only a minor flood of tank water... but otherwise removal and re-install went really smoothly. (I totally could have done it.  Next time.)  Cadence has told me all about it several times since with a very serious face- "Bappa, icky poop. {wild gesturing showing me where he carried the toilet} outside."

 That evening we went to Matt and Lena's house for Jack's birthday party.  

 Somebody had refused to nap and then fell asleep in the van.  It took her a little bit to wake up, but then she didn't want to leave. 

 And the next day.... didn't want a nap, fell asleep on the couch.... I'm sensing a trend.

 The big girls got to go to program practice on Thursday.  I helped in the kitchen so I got to watch.  They were sooooo excited, and it did not disappoint.
Friday morning we went to co-op again.  I really have not missed having to get the girls up and out the door that early in the morning... we all have fun once we get there, but getting there is such a struggle.  In the afternoon we picked up Cecily and went and got a Christmas tree!  

 They all helped decorate it and it didn't look too bad!  I love Christmas decorations; they make the house look so cozy.

 Friday evening we went Christmas caroling!  Bob was home sick all day so I picked a place I knew how to get to, knew people there, and didn't require multiple stops (and re-buckling of children)- Restmor! Cadence wouldn't let me put her down... she did let Liz hold her for half of it, thankfully.  Emmy was also not impressed and wanted to go home half way through.  Cecily can read this year so she followed along in the books and sang great! They were excited for food back at the fellowship hall and playing with all the kids.... they didn't want to come home at all.  

Saturday morning I sang at little Joel's funeral.  When they emailed for singers I said I was available (it was a Saturday! I wouldn't need a babysitter!) and then pretty much immediately regretted it... funerals are hard enough without it being for a baby in my present hormonal condition and lack of emotional control.  Trying to sing through the unfamiliar, and super poignant songs the day before was rough, so it's a wonder I made it through without totally losing it.  I only missed a few notes when I couldn't keep the wall up... definitely the weakest link in the soprano section.      

Then I got to come home to the beautiful lively chaos of the girls + Jack.  They were having a great time and could barely be bothered to eat lunch.  

We decorated Christmas cookies in the afternoon.  Cecily was not very into it.

 Emmy was in her glory.  Piping bags! Sprinkles!  Life is good! Hers turned out really well.

Sunday was a big day- church was exhausting since Cadence has decided to try and exert her will at every opportunity and it rarely lines up with what she should be doing.  Then in the evening was the long anticipated Christmas program! Every year I think we'll start getting ready early and get there in plenty of time.... every year... This year, Cadence decided to fall asleep on Bob's lap right before we were going to eat supper and she was OUT.  So we had to drag her out of her bed at the last minute and she was NOT.HAVING.IT.  We got the girls to their classrooms right on time, and Cadence cheered up as soon as she saw Grandma Kathy, but man.  All of the other girls had freshly curled hair and looked all put together and had cute family pictures to post on Facebook.... not us.  Next year. Ha.  

Today I was as lazy as possible, resting up for the next round of craziness.    
Blessings.