Another Scavenging of Missionary Letters

Hola Elder!

We had a lovely, quiet Christmas.  JDawg and the kids have been home since Thursday and will be until Jan. 3.  I am currently loving the time we have to spend together.  Ask me in a week and a half; I might feel differently!  I have been comfortably ready for Christmas for awhile now and got a huge kick out of myself for going to Walmart on Christmas Eve eve to smugly weave among the last minute shoppers buying the makings for laundry detergent and castor oil and a cuttle bone and other odds and ends that had nothing to do with Christmas.

 I read that castor oil mixed with olive oil make a good face wash so I'd like to try it.  I am also restarting my baking soda and vinegar hair wash and rinse.  The effect on my curls were pretty immediate and I would like to bring them back again.  That lice business threw me for a loop last week!  We are still in the clear ten days later.

Anyway, we watched a Muppet Christmas Carol, read a story, and acted out the nativity  last night.  After the kids went to bed I finished a little fairy doll for Eugenia.  I won't deny that I am totally pleased with myself at how cute it came out and I used stuff I had at home!

I now have four books stacked up to be read and a quilt to finish and a set of jammies for the family waiting to be started.  I guess those will carry me through the rest of winter.

Sheesh, we should just call this a peek into my stream of consciousness!

 JDawg used his GI Joe money (he started selling off the mountains of GI Joes that he has been rebuilding) to buy the family the big Hogwarts Lego set.  Alder got the smaller Hogwarts set so when we put them together we have tons of guys and a fun Harry Potter set up.  We had fun building that today.

 Church would have been a nice and spiritual reminder of the Savior's birth had Ginger not thrown a fit every time I sat down in the pew.  I stood at the door or sat out in the foyer for the entire meeting holding tightly to Ginger so she wouldn't wiggle away.  My efforts to make it as boring as possible in the foyer failed to induce her to go back in the chapel. Of course, it occurred to me AFTER church that she might be hungry since we hadn't eaten lunch. Even though we had a large, late breakfast, she had not touched it and so was going on virtually nothing but candy at 1:30pm.  Oops!  

Oh! I made the kids watch a Christmas episode of Dr. Who that involved A Santa band whose instruments were really guns, a killer Christmas tree, and the Sycorax.  It was awesome! I'm not sure the kids were as impressed by it though.

Did I tell you that all five of my hens are laying eggs now?  Even Truly Scrumptious is laying light brown little eggs.  They are so noisy when they are announcing that they have laid an egg.  The other day though, they were extra noisy and I think it was because they all use the same nest box (even though they have two) and it was currently occupied when Coco wanted/needed to use it.  Kind of like when sisters want to use the bathroom while you're in it.  They follow me around the yard.  It is kind of fun to be loved like that.  Even when i try to shoo them because they are underfoot they don't scare off easily; well, except Truly.

 We are taking care of Alder's class pet; a box turtle.  I have felt some compulsive need to make it as comfortable as possible (I attribute that to Mom) so I made it a bigger enclosure with a pool and a rock, etc.  Alder's teacher had rescued the turtle from previous neglectful owners.  It has a very long beak and even longer nails.  I'm gathering the courage to file his beak and try clipping the nails.  In the meantime, he has perked up since I moved him to the new space.  According to the Internet, this turtle is at least 20-30 years old.  Like I said, a compulsive need to research and improve this critter's quality of life.

We are headed to Oregon on Tuesday for a couple of days.  I am looking forward to seeing the Tanners and the folks (too lazy to write their names but not lazy enough to not qualify my laziness while writing more than it would require had I simply written their names.  But this is much more fun, isn't it?) and a few friends (Sarah? You reading this? I am going to hunt you down and make you talk to me!).

Whew!  Apparently, I needed to vomit in words. 


Aaaaaand that is an edited for relevance letter sent to my brother.  This is currently the only way I am getting in blogging/journaling/letting my friends know what I/we are doing.