"Funemployment"

Fun⋅em⋅ploy⋅ment- noun 1- The condition of a person who takes advantage of being out of a job to have the time of their life. 2- A happy time in one's life when one is not employed and is not wanting to be employed. 3- A term that I came across in Real Simple Magazine and I thought it nicely described Stephen's situation.

Technically my husband has been unemployed for the past 2 weeks. He preferred to call it "between jobs." Which it was. We knew his previous position was coming to an end and he had the foresight to line up another job that would begin at the beginning of January. We didn't think his position would end so abruptly. We thought he would do both jobs for a while. But it didn't turn out that way. All I can say is, "Whatever. I'm glad a job is lined up to begin in a few weeks and until then, I have a few jobs of my own for you to do."

So I happily employed him to do a few jobs around the house. Before Stephen ever lost his job, I told him for Christmas this year I wanted his help in refinishing our kitchen cabinets. I guess his unemployment made my wish come true.

"I'm dreaming of a white kitchen" (to be sung to the tune of I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas). I LOVE the way the kitchen turned out. We painted the cabinets white, added beadboard and hardware. I am very pleased with it. Though it was a LOT of work and I don't know if I ever want to do it again. But I do think the finished product was worth it.

Stephen was a HUGE help. He did all of the drilling, sawing, and tending (taking the girls out of the house so I could paint). I couldn't have done it without him. And we couldn't have done it without this window of extra time.

I asked Stephen to pose by his work and this is what he did. Sorry if you are grossed out. Just be glad you don't live with him.

I don't know how much fun Stephen's funemployment has been for him. I am sure he is more than happy to start work on Monday working for any boss other than me. Other funemployment jobs he has done: fixed the car, set up the girls' new bunk bed, helped move the girls into one room, reclaimed and organized our office, rearranged our bedroom, shoveled snow, fixed his mother's computer, broke and then fixed my mother's computer. Oh and I can't forget the most important job of all: made breakfast every morning!!!

Merry Christmas

Printer problems prevented me from sending my own creation Christmas cards this year. The problem was that my old printer died and the new printer took toooooooo long to come. I truly get excited and find joy in designing and printing my own cards each year. I was disappointed that I had to resort to sending traditional store bought cards. If you got a card from us consider yourself very lucky. If you didn't get a card from us consider yourself among the majority. I wasn't able to send out as many cards as I would have liked. If the printer would have arrived in time this would have been your Christmas card.

Visitors from Jerusalem

The Lewis family on a weekend getaway to the ancient city of Petra.

My brother Glenn and his family are coming to town for Christmas. They live in Israel and I don't get to see them much, so I am really excited to have them here for the holidays. Since they used to live in my ward I am hosting an open house for them. It will be this coming Sunday, December 20th from 7-9 p.m. You're invited to come and see how Glenn and Erika are doing and just have fun catching up with friends. Refreshments will be served. Due to the lack of space, I prefer it to be adults only, but if you need to bring babies and kids they are welcome. Hope to see you there.

Winter Wonderland

A few years ago I would have gotten upset by neighborhood boys walking through my yard and disturbing my pristine snow covered yard. This year however, I am overjoyed to see footprints size 5 and 8 (and even neighborhood boy size) scattered across the once pristine snow.

This past week’s snow storm and warmer temperature made conditions perfect for two little girls to play in the snow.

Check out the snowflakes piled up on Eva’s eyelashes. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to suffer like her with such long and thick lashes?

 

Scary Claus

In our home we prefer to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of our Savior, because frankly that "Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas" guy is far too scary.

See.....................

This is as close as Mallory was willing to get to the jolly old elf. Now for Eva’s turn:

Oh, the TERROR!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Click In-the-Spirit-of-Thanksgiving and smile. I am thankful for you. Happy Thanksgiving.

A Case of the Wiggles

Our primary program was this past Sunday and apparently they didn't sing the "wiggles song" beforehand to get the wiggles out of my daughter.

The previous four years I have been involved with the program, having been in charge of it for the last three. So this year was my first year free from the stress of the program. I didn't think much about the program until a friend and counselor in my primary presidency turned to me to say how weird it felt not to be involved. I had to agree. As the primary children began to sing, there was a moment when a wave of panic hit me and I thought, "Am I in charge? Ah, I don't know what's supposed to happen." But that wave quickly passed, only to bring with it a new wave of nerves as I realized my contribution to the program this year was to provide a wiggly sunbeam, Mally. These are the wiggly things she did during the program:

• Picked her nose and ate her boogers.
• Licked the top of the wood half-wall she sat behind.
• Waved and said out loud, "Hi mom and dad" at three different times.
• Faced backwards for one whole verse of "How Firm a Foundation."
• Stood up and down at random times.
• Turned to her neighbor to show her where her mom and dad were.
• Sang opera style anytime a note was held out. Meaning she would wiggle her head with her mouth wide open and eyes closed.

In her defense, I was proud to see her singing her heart out. To watch her from a distance performing and thoroughly enjoying singing was truly a moment when I could see she was my daughter and just like me. And for a moment she even looked like me. Maybe that was when she was singing opera style.

Maybe none of you noticed Mally's wiggles because like me you were too busy nervously watching your own child. Apparently this is the case, because when talking to a friend about the program she hadn't noticed Mally's weirdness at all. She wanted to know if I noticed her girl sleeping one moment and then pushing her neighbor the next. I hadn't noticed. And I guess I also missed one boy punching another girl and making her cry and another boy looking ridiculous as he over-enunciated every word in the songs. Strangely, I find great comfort knowing other kids are maybe just as wiggly as mine.