Pizza, Playing, Pets

Personal pan pizzas made at home while listening and dancing to The Greatest Showman and still hanging out in pajamas seems like the perfect way to end a wintery day.

Pizza done family size with a variety of toppings also ends any day well.

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I have learned, through raising five boys, that the imagination often plays gender neutral.

But, even the prettiest of wands can be turned into a weapon.

We have not a speck of bowling skill among us but we know how to have a great time!

However, the boys do have great basketball skills and they very much enjoyed spending a couple of months playing in the city leagues.

Because of their ages they were in different leagues so we were running from one school to another for overlapping games. Hyrum is used to playing with all the older boys in our neighborhood so he struggled with the immaturity of his age group. Nathan's team was great to let him in on practices and gave him hope for future seasons.

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Charlie is pretty easy going, especially with Harrison flaunting his seniority around.

At 14 years old, we pretty much let the old guy have his way. When Harrison plopped himself down on the edge of Charlie's bed, Charlie thoughts that all the room he would want. A few stretches later and Charlie moved to the couch while Harrison curled himself into a comfy crescent and snoozed away the afternoon.

I've watched Nathan and Hyrum fight over the bathroom sink for brushing teeth but this was a first to see Oliver and Harrison fighting over the faucet for a drink.

Charlie's fluffy ears make the perfect messy bun!

With the trampoline frame as their training platform, Hryum and Oliver pretended to be in the circus.

Justin has admitted that he didn't fully understand how much he appreciated the unspoken love of a pet until he left home and returned months later. A fact that was proven when he actually paid to adopt not only one but two cats during his first semester of college.

 It never fails, when he is home he is a magnet for pet cuddles and shedding fur. It's nice to see him relax into them, setting aside the stress of school, work and training.

Justin's cats are rather skittish, especially the momma cat, Belle. I seldom saw them when I visited because Belle was always hiding and Gus was usually near her or hiding under a bed. However, after spending the night there, I woke up to find them both snuggled up with me. I cautiously reached for my phone, careful not to frighten them, and quickly snapped a couple of pictures, knowing that at any sound, they could both bolt.

Happy Valentine's Day

Grandparent's and siblings were blessed with this cute homemade valentine from Nathan and Hyrum.

Strings were strung and the boys had fun! Their exclamations at the increased difficulty since last year was very satisfying since I only had two strings to run this year and needed to put all my best pranks into it.

We all enjoyed animal cuddles, a few sweets, and lovey story time at the end of the stringy adventure.

The boys and I took Levi and Daymia a basket of dinner and a big ball of yarn (nestled with treats tied randomly throughout yarn) for their evening entertainment. I loved Levi's excitement at being able to participate in a tradition from his childhood.

On a random day in February, LeRoy received messages from both Levi and Justin. He wondered if I had prompted it because they came a day apart and at the same time, but it came spontaneously from them.

It's wonderful when our children start to see the best in our quirks and personalities.

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The Valentine Lion

Hyrum is not particularly fond of stuffed animals. He tries to be because Nathan would sleep with an entire bed full of them if I let him, but he doesn't attach to them. Over the last several months he hadn't been able to sleep well and kept ending up in our room on the floor like he did from ages 2-6.
It always frustrated LeRoy that I would let him sleep on the floor at my side of the bed but I didn't know what to do other than force him to just "get over it" in his own bed, which I didn't see as building a healthy nighttime routine. He finally grew out of it around age 6 so I was surprised when it came up again when he was nearly 10.

We had moved the boys downstairs into the empty basement so that Papa wouldn't have to do the stairs when he was here for Levi's wedding. They were really excited about it and it lasted for about four months. Then Hyrum started crying nearly every night that he wanted to sleep with me or at least upstairs on the couch. He would usually end up there during the night without us knowing and then Nathan started to get frustrated that he was downstairs alone. After a couple months of this, I moved them back upstairs.

It didn't work. He still cried and went into a panic nearly every night at bedtime and even with me reading with him, praying with him, snuggling an extra long time with him, he still could not sleep. I researched the subject and tried teaching him breathing methods, thinking tricks, calming patterns and though he gave it a good effort, they didn't seem to work. I talked with teachers, asked probing questions about friends at school, strangers, activities he had been too. I wasn't finding any reason for this happening. He wasn't even complaining of bad dreams, just that he couldn't sleep. He would literally stay awake for most of the night. I know because it was keeping me up as well. The days were becoming tough with exhausted emotions and he couldn't focus during school because he was so sleepy.

When I was looking for items for their end-of-string treasures, this lion caught my attention. He was meant for Hyrum. I initially thought it odd and brushed it aside but the lion kept popping into my thoughts. I knew I couldn't give Hyrum a stuffed animal without giving Nathan one because Hyrum wouldn't care and Nathan would be sad. So, I created their treasures around this little lion.

I soon realized that he wasn't just a stuffed animal, he was to be a protector of sleep. After our string treasure hunt and stories, I explained that when I saw him, I knew he was meant for Hyrum. We discussed qualities in a lion: strong, brave, protector, and in our imaginations, cuddly. I also told him that the kiss lips on the lion represented me; a gentle kiss on his head to give him comfort. I also explained that I had chosen his valentine book specifically for him because it was about a mom who loved her little cub and I testified that Heavenly Father loves his little Hyrum even more than I do.

Shockingly, he fell asleep without tears and slept through that night with his arms held tight around his lion. Not every night was perfect but over the next month he got to where he no longer fought sleep and did quite well. A few months later and his sleeping struggles were a thing of the past.

Hyrum still isn't attached to a stuffed animal. He continued to sleep with the lion right up until the day school ended. Now he sits on the bookshelf by his bed, seemingly unnoticed but with his purpose complete and a glance of appreciation from me.

Birthday Boys: Levi & Justin

2000 - Levi age 8, Justin age 1

As the boys birthdays came in January 10th and February 9th, I found myself looking through old scrapbooks and found this first glimpse of their futures.

Our budding computer geniuses are now flourishing in 2018. Levi and Justin are my go-to tech team. I don't understand a word of their coding/tech/computer language and possibly only half of what they explain to me, but I trust them completely! I'm so proud of these men!

2018 - Levi age 26, Justin age 19

The computer got much smaller but the boys have grown in many ways. They are both establishing successful adult lives and I couldn't be more proud of the men they are becoming!

Kailee, Lindsey and Labelle

Kailee Jo continues to have us all smitten by her charm, laughter and hugs. We were able to go to one of Justin's competitions in Utah and this Little Miss was quite taken with Derek. She also has her Grandpa wrapped around every finger she's got. Seeing him uncomfortably crouch down to watch Moana with her while she took the comfort of the office chair, I saw all his chivalry at it's finest. He'd do anything for her.

She was a bit confused when Grandma Fullmer said, "come see grandma". Kailee looked at her quizzically and then walked right over to me. It's still an adjustment for my mom to not be the only Grandma in the family.

Though Bret and Erika are in Utah, we still get to see them frequently. We sure love this sweet, adventurous family.

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Nathan, Hyrum and I went to the BYUI campus for a Lindsey Stirling concert. It was so well worth it and a perfect first concert for the boys.

Hyrum had been fluctuating between cello and violin, not knowing which he would choose to play in the 5th grade orchestra, but after this concert, he chose violin. Lindsey is not just a great musician, she is a wonderful entertainer and has the perfect balance of music types to reach each person. I liked her slower, more peaceful songs. The boys loved those with a more lights, dancing, and drums.

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I started to see pictures on Facebook of a colorful ice castle in the area so naturally, we had to check it out too. We invited Levi and Daymia to join us for a family night in Labelle, Idaho.

The ice castle was massive, cold, colorful and beautiful. Surrounding "buildings" created a maze of beautiful ice sculptures. The boys laughed their way down the ice hill more times than we could count.

We were in awe at the man standing in freezing cold weather without a coat, juggling and eating fire. He had a fun show prepared and it gave an element of danger just right for the boys.

Derby, Basketball, Readers

Hyrum and I started the year off with a crafty wood project, followed by a derby race of the pinewood kind. After having five boys in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race, I was worn down by nagging LeRoy to help them in a skill that is not his or bugging a neighbor to sponsor my child in an attempt to make their race car dreams come true.

I admit, I spent far more time researching how to build a speed-worthy car than I spend on most quality projects that I take on. I learned about sanding down and tweaking the tires, the most beneficial weight placement and the proper nose shape. I also cheated and purchased a pre-cut car online. No tools needed.

I left Hyrum with a bottle of paint, a brush, and stickers to apply after it dried. He was completely content to do it on his own without the rush of the race taking place that evening (which is how all previous races went). We then applied the weights and tires and adjusted as needed to get to the required weight. It took us a full week to perfect it with multiple attempts at a track to see that it would indeed glide gently to the left to "ride the rail".

Hyrum was on cloud nine as his car won six of eight races. Nathan was a tad pouty, complaining that I had never helped him with his cars, while Hyrum insisted that I would be helping with nexts year's car as well. He took fourth place overall and walked away with a superhero car that has since been across my kitchen floor more times than I can count.

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LeRoy has been waiting 27 years to have a sports kid; someone to watch and play and cheer and yell through basketball and football with him. Finally, his dreams are coming true. Both boys wanted to play basketball instead of previously played sports of soccer, swimming, and gymnastics.

Hyrum was randomly placed on a team but Nathan had to go to a "try out", which simply divided the talent as equally as possible between teams. Each boy gained a new coach and a team of all new friends and a season of new experiences. Throughout the season, I was so grateful to be inside instead of on the freezing cold soccer fields and I look forward to many basketball seasons to come.

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One of the highlights of January was everyone getting a pair of reading glasses. The idea is to be able to read laying down with the book on your belly without needing to hold the book above your head or cranking your neck up on a pillow.

The fun advantage/disadvantage is that you only see the book in front of you, not people sneaking up at the side and sticking their hand in front of your book, which is quite startling! It's also very entertaining to try walking around the house when all you can see is your feet directly below you. We know, we tried it.

Welcoming in 2018

We opted to keep our New Year's Eve festivities pretty low-key this year.

To honor the Sanders tradition from Daymia's childhood, we pulled out Monopoly...the game sure to last long enough to ring in the new year.

LeRoy took it quite seriously, as he always does, even bargaining on the side quite illegally, and getting frustrated when we wouldn't bow to his raised eyebrows and sales pitch. He did knock out a few of us (at which point, I succumbed to sleepy eyes and headed to bed) and the boys watched as gradually, the game, and the year, came to a close.

In the end, and shortly after midnight, Daymia took over and won! I was secretly very happy about that since it is her family tradition. Also, this win was a good start and sign of the wins to come for her in 2018!

Christmas

 Christmas Eve Eve (Saturday) started with a hearty breakfast sponsored by LeRoy and LeRoy Jr.

With each contributing their specific culinary skills, LeRoy made pancakes, Justin LeRoy made eggs, and the microwave made sausage.

After two decades of making Christmas Eve Jammies, I submitted to the lure of on-line shopping and ordered a full family set.

When the boys stood together we realized they all had matching socks on and they were practically already standing that way. We only had to have Nathan, Hyrum, and Bret fix their arms to match the others. Even Charlie wanted to fit it.

It will be interesting to see where Nathan and Hyrum fit into this line of height in the next few years. We suspect that Nathan will stand next to Derek and Hyrum will be right between Levi and Justin.

As soon as packages were opened, there was stripping...right there in the living room, in plain sight and hidden behind the chair. Even Charlie got new jammies.

The red and black plaid was the perfect holiday fit for our family!

Something in those jammies triggered stunts and loads of laughter.

It was an absolute joy watching my kids of all ages play together and cheer each other on.

* Seven months later I was asking Nathan and Hyrum what their favorite part of Christmas was and they both responded that having matching jammies and doing stunts was their very favorite memory. Neither one of them could remember even one gift they had received.

All the excitement and silliness woke Kailee Jo up so we took the chance to get a family picture instead of waiting for bedhead and sleepy faces Christmas morning.

Once Erika got Kailee back to bed we probably all should have gone to bed, but we were still wide awake so we stayed up even later (1:00am) playing games.

We had a holiday pool tournament that got a little crazy when Justin stated his legs were too hot and Hyrum followed him right into a poor fashion choice.

Taboo was set up for those waiting their turn in the pool tournament.

We gradually dragged ourselves out of bed Christmas morning and the gift-giving began. There were large and small gifts, meaningful and silly gifts, and most of all, gratitude and love shared throughout the whole day. Kailee was most in love with a rocking unicorn that Daymia gave to her.

After the mess was cleaned up, Daymia made her signature cherry turnovers...with a twist, literally. She shaped them into two candy canes. Somehow they did taste more festive that way.


* A week before Christmas we were at church and after the power flickered a couple of times during sacrament meeting, it finally went out for good during Sunday school. Since we live out in the country, that isn't a matter of just being without light and we can just open windows for the remainder of the meeting, that means we are also without water and sewer because the church is on its own well and septic tanks. So, after LeRoy made a phone call to the power company (nice to have a direct connection!), the remainder of church was cancelled and we all went home. I admit that two, instead of three, hour church was really nice!!

December

Never did I imagine that I would have a kid who was excited for snow and it has surprised me even more that it is Levi. I'm so glad he has found a way to enjoy the gloomy winter months and avoid seasonal blues.

I cope with the winter gloom by searching around me for beauty in the clouds and ice and snow and cold.

However, though the blue skies may appear, they also bring with them a cold inversion which puts an invisible cap on the atmosphere which holds down all exhaust from vehicles, furnaces, fire places and any other place possible. This is a perfect migraine concoction. This picture is the first time I have actually seen the inversion as it held down all the burn-off from the local plant.

In happier notes, Nathan's holiday orchestra concert was festive and impressive.

Jeff and Nathan have been good friends since they were about four. It is fun to watch them grow up and develop talents together. They have also been blessed with a wonderful primary teacher who surprised them (including Taylor, from the primary class) by coming to their concert. We followed up the night with our traditional Kiwi Loco stop.

The kids continued sharing their talents as sang andplayed the bells at the ward Christmas party. We are so blessed to have a close community to share our beliefs and celebrations.

As Christmas drew near, I boxed up and sent gifts to our Fullmer and Edwards grandparents. Oliver and Charlie were quite helpful!

As the Eve of Christmas drew near, Erika and LeRoy set up a wrapping station in our room. The holidays did not slow down this year like in previous years so LeRoy was busy right up to the last minute. It was wonderful to hear him put on Christmas music and sing his heart out in relaxation.

Holiday Projects

When Justin moved out, he left a pile of washed and folded Madison and Airbound t-shirts in the bottom of his closet. There sat a pile of memories from four years of gymnastics, orchestra and cheer. Our  red, white and gray Madison Bobcat was moving on to be a purple and black Weber Wildcat. 

I awkwardly folded the shirts the best I could to show the main graphic so that I could arrange a pattern. I figured out a size to cut them and had a tentative plan but by the time I got them all cut, no matter how I rearranged the squares, I could not get the columns to match up without odd spacing. After nearly two hours, I was starting to go a bit cross-eyed and get a little frustrated. I realized that I needed another shirt but I had already used up all that he had, including one of his actual cheer uniform tops (big "CATS" and the pawprint). 

The answer finally came when I decided to walk away for a bit and went to take a shower. As I went to undress, I realized that I was wearing a Madison shirt that was not a duplicate graphic to any of Justin's other shirts. It was my fan shirt that was given to all the moms of the cheer team. It was one of my favorite comfy shirts that I wore every single week. I considered it throughout my shower and decided that the best  addition to the quilt would be my shirt because I am his number one fan! 

Though the idea was wonderful, it still took a good pause before I cut it up.

With a soft flannel backing, I tried a new quilting method using my sewing machine and had it bound and ready to go for Christmas. 

Justin loved it (measured by the tears he tried to hide) and sent me a couple of Snaps of it in gratitude.

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Daymia inherited a Christmas village set from her parents and wanted to be able to display it in her apartment without it feeling crowded so she researched (thank you Pinterest) and found a wooden display tree. 

Derek to the rescue. A couple of hours on CAD to design it and come up with measurements, a trip to the hardware store, an afternoon full of cutting, drilling, whistling and singing and it was complete. He literally makes dreams come true!

Perhaps a little taller than she had expected, but it worked beautifully!

And will be an annual decoration in her home.

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After having the idea in mind and the fabric in the closet for a good two years, I finally put together a Christmas runner.

As with most of my sewing projects, I tried new techniques and it has it's own "personality" woven into it. 

I love the vibrant colors! It turned out better than I had imagined.

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There was a time when my home was full of kids and my mantle full of stockings lovingly cross stitched by Great Grandma June Hawkins and Grandma Trudy Fullmer. 

Five of the seven kids moved away and took their stockings, leaving only Nathan and Hyrum to fill a big house and a big mantle. Our four mismatched, differently angled stockings left our mantle looking a bit like a cartoon block from Charlie Brown's Christmas, so it was time for a makeover.

No worries, our hand-crafted Grandma stocking were placed over on the staircase where they could still be adored but also hang their individual direction without hurting my OCD.

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For an early December Family Home Evening we decorated ginger bread houses. With just the four of us, our ginger village census was down from previous years.