Christmas Tree Lighting on Base

So I know I was a buzzkill on the whole "do one Christmas activity a day" phenomenon, and I apologize. I hate being a downer. The thing is, I do really love the idea of making an effort to enjoy the season as much as possible. I want to do ALL THE THINGS and make the most out of it, but it's just not realistic with our schedule.

But in the spirit of finding fun and celebrating the Christmas season, we headed out to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on base.

There were cookies and hot chocolate to enjoy while Scarlett ran around and we waited for the program to start. They had a choir from the chapel (I think) come out and sing some Christmas carols to start off the festivities. They passed out sheets of music for everybody to participate, so that was fun. 

Then the wing commander and his family invited the family of a deployed member to light the tree. So fun!

=

And then, Santa arrived by fire truck....

 ...and took his place next to the plane for pictures.

Scarlett couldn't have cared less about Santa. She was busy fastening the buckles on her stroller.

And running on rocks.

Super comfortable for mom to chase her on too.

But she did discover the joy of the Christmas "yights." I'm pretty sure we photobombed a lot of pictures that night because she didn't want to leave the tree, and of course it was the hottest spot for pictures. Who wouldn't want a picture of this cute kid anyway?!?

Christmas Advent Days 5-8

Day 5

Jesus is the Savior      

Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

--2 Nephi 2:9

Day 6   

Jesus is the Savior

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

--3 Nephi 11:10-11

Day 7

Jesus Taught Us

And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

--3 Nephi 12:6

Day 8

Jesus Performs Miracles

And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them.

--Matthew 15:30

Our Advent Calendar

I can't tell you how many pins and blog posts I've seen devoted to advent calendars. There are some really cute ideas out there, but so many are overwhelming to me. I would love to come up with a Christmas activity to do every day and have the time to pull it off, but I know something like that would just stress me out and then I would resent the obligation. 

The scenario would go something like this: I would be upset that I didn't have the time to do the activity that I created and imposed on our lives, and be convinced that Christmas was ruined because we didn't do something Christmas EVERY.SINGLE.DAY, and my husband would shake me and yell "You made this up! There's no law that says we have to do this! Nobody cares!" And then I would be convinced that I was destroying our kids' childhood because their friends were doing something fabulous and they weren't and I was the worst mom ever.

I paint quite a picture, don't I?

So I created this little advent scripture book several years ago, and it has been one of the best things I ever did for our Christmas spirit.

A certain little girl got a hold of it and made some modifications, so I'll be remaking mine in the near future.

I shared one of the scriptures from it yesterday, and then I decided that I would share a scripture a day from now until Christmas. Since this occurred to me 10 days late, I'll have to spend the next couple of days catching up. 

Some things about this little book: There are 25 scriptures, one for each day leading up to Christmas, and then one on Christmas day. I decided for this collection of scriptures that I wanted to focus not only on the Savior's birth, but on His life, mission, and teachings, as well as the true miracle of His atonement and resurrection. The scriptures are taken from the Old Testament, New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine & Covenants.

Merry Christmas!

Day 2

Jesus's Birth is Foretold

And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name. And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day. Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born. And behold, there shall a new star arise, such as one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you. And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven. 

-- Helaman 14:2-6

Day 3

Jesus’s Birth is Foretold

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. When she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

--Luke 1:26-33

Day 4

Jesus is Born

Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given. 

--3 Nephi 1:13-14

Mocktail Monday on a Tuesday: Holiday Punch

I started writing this post last night, but then my computer died and I was super sleepy and didn't feel like plugging it in, so I went to bed instead. I'm sure you understand.  Anyway, Christmas is here, which for me this year means parties, parties, parties! Sometimes it's not feasible to bring a homemade mocktail to the festivities, but if it's in someone's home it's definitely doable. My go-to Christmas punch is so good even the drinkers will want some.

I made this Sunday night to watch my church's Christmas Devotional. I started making it earlier in the day and I was so excited for my first taste of Christmas punch of the season. On another note, the Christmas Devotional broadcast is one of my most favorite things of the season. If you have an hour to spare, you can watch it here. It is WORTH IT.

I found this recipe several years ago on All Recipes here and I'm obsessed with it. The almond extract is key, but I use less of it than the original recipe calls for.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup white sugar

1 quart cranberry cocktail

2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

2 tablespoons almond extract

One 2-liter bottle ginger ale

Instructions:

1. Combine sugar, cranberry cocktail, pineapple juice, and almond extract.

2. Refrigerate for up to one day so flavors can combine and sugar can fully dissolve.

3. Add ginger ale when you're ready to serve. I also like to freeze some of the sugar/juice/extract mixture into ice cubes to keep the punch cold and not water it down.

I am a big fan of  drink dispensers (like the one above) as opposed to punch bowls, and this looks especially pretty in the dispenser. Sure, I get that some punches have fruit in them that can clog a spout on a dispenser, but my dislike of punch bowls was confirmed this weekend at a party when the ladle disappeared into the punch bowl and we had to fish it out. I am so NOT a germ phobe but it was seriously gross.

Merry Christmas!

For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him. And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.

--Mosiah 3:5, 8-10

Mocktail Monday: Meatloaf

I don't have a mocktail for you today. Between back to back meetings this morning, clogged plumbing, and sewage that kept coming up into my bathtub, I didn't have time for a mocktail today. 

But I did have time for this:

That is the Pioneer Woman's meatloaf, which we made tonight (this is PW's picture -- mine wasn't so pretty). Do yourself a favor and go make it right now. Except instead of just ground beef, do a mixture of ground beef and ground pork (3 parts ground beef to 1 part pork). It is the best meatloaf I've ever had (sorry Mom). And it's the only meatloaf I'm ever eating ever again.

And yes, we did grind our own beef and pork, thanks for asking. 

What's in a Name?

Family pictures one year ago

People always ask me how we came up with the name Scarlett. When I introduce her, I generally get a very surprised "oohhh!" It catches people off guard, and I'm never sure if it's a good or bad reaction. I kind of expected this would be how people reacted when we chose the name, but I honestly felt like I wasn't the one making the choice. I liked the name, and loved the idea of it, but I wasn't sure if we were bold enough to have a kid named Scarlett. Ultimately, naming Scarlett was a very spiritual experience for me. Her little spirit knew exactly what she wanted to be called, and she let me know it. 

About a year before I got pregnant with Scarlett, my friend (who is incredibly spiritual and just KNOWS things) randomly said to me, "what do you think about the name Scarlett? I could see you with a daughter named Scarlett." I liked it but I thought Todd would never go for it. So imagine my surprise when I mentioned it to him and he said he really liked it. But then we thought that a first name ending with a "t" and a last name starting with a "t" would be hard to say, so we nixed it.

When it came down to actually choosing a name, the process was horrendous. I never thought I would marry someone as opinionated as I am. So we decided to look up the Social Security Administration's top 500 names from the previous year and each highlight the names we liked separately. We would then combine the lists, and whichever names were on both lists would comprise our final list. Why the top 500 names? Because 100 names is too narrow a pool, and 1000 is way too many. The names that are ranked 101-500 are generally common enough that you've heard them, but you don't know 10 people with that name. Names 501-1000 include the freaky names that you've never heard of, can't spell, and your kid will hate you for. 

So we had a solid list of 10-15 names, including some of my most favorite names that I've loved for years and years and years, like Clara and Anna. Scarlett was not on our list. We would try out different names for days or weeks at a time, and nothing felt right. I was so sad when I just couldn't call the baby Clara, it just didn't fit.

One day old

I was determined to have a name sooner rather than later -- I'll admit it, so I could get everything in her room monogrammed -- but I was also just so impatient and was ready to start calling her by her name. One night Todd said he didn't think the name we would choose was even on our list, and I about had an emotional breakdown. How was that even possible? We had combed every book and internet name website imaginable. 

Then one night we had some friends over for dinner and we were talking about how they named their kids. They asked what we were thinking. We told them all about our naming saga, and --there is some confusion as to who brought this up, whether it was Todd or one of our friends -- somebody mentioned the name Scarlett. We said we liked that name but it didn't really go with our last name. They were both like, no it sounds normal. And we looked at each other and we both just knew, that was her name. 

Roasting marshmallows on Veterans Day

Later that night I looked up the meaning of Scarlett on some baby name website, and the definition was "a vivacious woman." BAM. I got goose bumps. I knew it. It was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want some name that meant something like, "loves the wind" or something absurd. I wanted something real and spunky and fun. 

Even then, when I would think about it later, I would think well maybe it wasn't quite right. I would think maybe we should keep looking. And then I would tell somebody what we were thinking -- hesitantly -- and I would get the biggest case of goosebumps you've ever seen. I knew I wasn't choosing her name, she was choosing her name. 

There is a lot of debate over the best way to name a kid -- some people choose a name before the baby is born, and some people don't believe they can name a kid until they meet it. All I know is that my girl is curious, incredibly determined, full of energy, and has a hot little temper. If that's not vivacious, I don't know what is.

What Makes a Boy Strong? What Makes a Girl Pretty?

I am so excited to say that one of my dearest friends just published her first book!

What Makes a Boy Strong? What Makes a Girl Pretty? is a 2-in-1 flip book teaching kids how to build confidence in themselves and love themselves for who they are. 

It's only available for sale from the publisher right now, but it will be available on Amazon on January 21, 2014. I just bought Scarlett her very own copy (hopefully to be autographed by the author very soon), and I'll do a review here. I can't wait!