Christmas Morning.....Didn't quite Start Out the way it was Supposed to.

In our family, we all line up and enter the Family Room together, at the same time, on Christmas morning (no one is allowed to go in there on their own before the agreed upon time).
First, everyone kind of just looks around, and finds "their" spot where their things have been left, and then they sit down and soak it all in.

 

Then, everyone is free to leisurely go through their stockings and see what is in them - and act ALL excited AND thankful AND jubilant!!!  :)
After that, we start opening presents, in turn, one by one.

So....we all got seated, AND BEFORE WE'D OPENED EVEN ONE PRESENT, all of a sudden, Kyle says, "Look, I cut my hand!" as he holds up his hand in front of Matt's face.

From across the room, in my dazed state (very LATE nights/mornings for the previous few nights), I look over and I can't figure out WHAT he's talking about.  I mean, we've literally ONLY been in the family room a couple of minutes TOPS, so HOW do you cut your hand by just sitting there or pulling things out of your stocking???

Did Santa put something sharp in there?

Since my mind was running so slowly, I was just staring and thinking, but no words actually made it out of my mouth.  (I know - shocker, huh?!?)
Matt, on the other hand, immediately asks, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" 

Apparently, Kyle had wanted to open up some socks that he got, and he took Matt's Swiss Army knife (without him noticing) to cut those plastic barbs that hold new socks together.

AND he missed or slipped, and got his finger.

Matt informed him (& everyone) that ONLY HE should touch the knife!

So, then Kyle started to bleed pretty good, so Matt told him to get over to the kitchen, so we could get a towel to put pressure on it (and so the blood wouldn't drip on the couch/carpet!)

But, then he started to get freaked out by the blood.
Side note: he has a history of this - NOT doing well at the sight or thought of blood. ;)  In fact, earlier this year, when all the kids had to go in for labs, Kyle about passed out and was given a ice pack and had to lay down.  Katelyn locked herself in the bathroom, crying.  And Brookelle was totally calm and fine and cooperated perfectly and was done in 20 seconds.  Hmmm....what is wrong with this picture?!?  ;)

But, when Kyle got up to move to the kitchen, he started to feel faint, so we had him sit down in a chair.

And then his face got all white.

And he started to sweat.

And breathe irregularly.

And was demanding to know how bad it was bleeding, as he was bouncing his foot up and down and putting his head down on the table and groaning.

Meanwhile, Matt & I are playing nurse/doctor.  I go to get or look for cloths and gauze and Neosporin and antiseptic spray and butterfly band-aids (couldn't find a single one!) and Matt applied pressure and performed all the treatment.  And the girls just continued to look through their Christmas stockings - No, I'm sure they were worried sick about their brother instead!  ;)

It was difficult to ignore the mayhem going on in the kitchen!!

Well, Kyle was feeling sick - that was for sure - he thought he was going to throw up, so I went looking for our bucket.  It wasn't in it's usual spot, and I was told to go look in Katelyn's room since she had felt sick in the middle of the night.  So, I go up to her room, and I found it......WITH vomit in it already!  So, then I go to the bathroom and rinse it out, then run back downstairs with the clean bucket for Kyle.  Luckily, he hadn't needed it yet.

Then Kyle says he can't feel his hand.
Or his arms.
And his head hurts.
His skin looks kind of gray, too.
And then he starts to apologizing for taking his dad's knife!  (His form of "death bed repentance?")

I get him a drink of water and a cold washcloth, his sister comes to his side and rubs his back.
Matt stops the bleeding, and dresses the wound after multiple attempts on the tricky finger bends, but Kyle doesn't even want to lift his head up to look at the damage.

We finally get him back to the couch, and laid him down, put his head on a pillow, feet elevated, and cover him with a blanket.....because NOW he has the chills (and he wants the cut hand to be out of sight!)
His face was still super white (it was funny/not funny)...and his previous enthusiasm for Christmas morning had disappeared!

So, not the way we normally start out Christmas morning.  ;)

So, about an hour later than intended, we resumed our stocking discovery and eventually started opening gifts, too.

And then took a break when a special Skype call came in:

It ended up to be just what the doctor ordered.  Because Kyle was able to perk back up for that! 

Big Shot Treatment for Being just Run-of-the-Mill?

We got this flyer in our email last week:

Does anyone else find it odd?
There's a "National Eat Dinner with Your Family" Day???
Since when did that "special day" start?
Since when is eating dinner with your family a big deal?
(Ya gotta have dinner, don't ya?)
AND it's FREE?
It was put on by Davis Behavioral Health - Are they so desperate to get families to eat dinner together, that they will feed the masses (because if it's FREE in Utah, people will come out in droves!) to make it happen?!?  And they're luring you to come even further by offering discounted swimming afterwards!
Apparently so.

Hmmmmm.

I said, "Let's go!"  (Kyle gets out of planning/making dinner for that evening, and I don't have to buy the groceries for that day!)
My husband said, "What's the catch?"
Here's the thing; there really wasn't one!  They are just trying to inspire families to eat together!  As part of the ParentsEmpowered.org initiative, they have done studies that prove that The family that eats together, beats underage drinking together.

So, we went to the event (again, no biggie, we have dinner anyway, last night was just a different location), and there was a line, but not nearly as many as we'd anticipated - maybe it really did reflect what they're so worried about; people can't find the time to have dinner together as a family!?! 
(Matt, who can't bear to miss a meal, couldn't quite grasp WHY families are not having dinner!)  ;) haha.
There was a huge committee of people who were serving at this event, and the very first one we came in contact with (the lady who gave us our plates) said [very sincerely], "THANK YOU for coming to dinner with your family tonight!"   
And I'm thinking, Why are you thanking ME?  We're eating YOUR food (for FREE!)   
Then, as we moved down the food line, practically everyone else else thanked us or said some other encouraging words about us and our actions.  It seemed strange that they were treating something SO NORMAL, as dinner with your family, as a huge accomplishment.  

They even gave us a "gift bag" for coming.  (It had a spatula, hot pad, snack bag clip, and a sticky-note pad, plus a informational brochure in it).  
 Then while we were eating dinner in the park, the youth volunteers came by and gave us another gift.
THEY GAVE US GIFTS FOR COMING TO THE FREE DINNER?!?
The second gift we received was a "Chit Chat" card game for parents and children to play together.

 Do some people have trouble with "stale dinnertime conversation?"  

Come on over to our house!  You'll learn/hear more than you ever bargained for; the boy who's been 'in love' with our [elementary school] daughter for 5 years, personal hygiene issues, their latest Halloween costume ideas, inappropriate bodily noises, complaining about the food, the awkward/stupid/hilarious/outrageous things that happened that day, the "Remember When" conversations where all the past "scandalous" acts of the siblings are brought up, teasing/taunting/trash talking, the weekly haircut/style change of someone we know, the teenage drama of who's asking who to the high school dances, the misbehaving kids in their school classes and what the teacher does about it, the history of one child's "crushes" - all this while usually talking over one another, laughing out loud, then someone else calling out for everyone to be quiet and listen to them!

Anyway, the game had some good topics, too - perhaps more proper than what we're talking/not talking about:

 {The top row was from the "Ask a parent" stack, and the bottom row was from the "Ask a kid" stack.}

That first card makes me snicker - I just don't see my children voluntarily coming up to me and asking, "How can I help you at home?"  ;)

We had an entertaining speaker, too, who ALSO commended us for having dinner with our family that night.  What?!?  It's very natural and ordinary!

At any rate, they treated us like VIPs! 
I'm still taken aback that they have to practically beg and bribe us to have dinner with our family - but it also make me sad if it is (and it appears it has with all these programs in place to bring it back) a disappearing tradition.

But it still doesn't seem that hard to me to eat dinner with your family - what would be hard is listening to the 6 other humans in my home whining because they are hungry, and badgering asking me WHAT there is to eat, all night, if I didn't feed them any dinner earlier.
(And that's not even taking into consideration all the facts and tips that the professionals are giving IN FAVOR of this bonding time called "dinner.")

One Happy Island

My family just spent the last week (Matt) or 5 days (the rest of us) in Aruba! 

{The JOYS of standby flight benefits!} ;)

ARUBA has been on my travel "Bucket List".....and it did not disappoint!

It is [appropriately] nicknamed, "ONE HAPPY ISLAND."

Our Family's FAVES:

1. White, soft, fine, powdery sand (great for sandcastles!)
2.  We stayed/played on Eagle Beach (ranks among the top 10 beaches in the world!) which was so CLEAN (no kelp, no seaweed!)
3.  No peddlers on the beach (can you say, "peace & relaxation?")
4. Crystal clear, warm waters of the Caribbean Sea (with a smooth ocean floor, nothing to hurt your feet on!)
5.  Delicious, safe drinking water (better than where we live!)

Even after Ryan has been out on his mission for 9 months, it's still so weird to look at "my brood" and think to myself, "Who's missing?  This group seems SO small!"  I count them up, and realize all who should be there, ARE there - why does four children seems so much less than five children?!?

And WHILE I was walking along the awesome beach, having an amazing time one day with one of my daughters, she actually [had the gall to] ask me,  
"So, what are we going to do this Summer?"

OH. MY. WORD.
You've got to be kidding, right?!?
Nope.  True Story.
(Needless to say, she heard a thing or two from me!)  ;)

Of Course it Happened That Way

Probably for my first time EVER, I did not dread Mother's Day!  This year, there was actually something to look forward to.
It's because Mother's Day is ONE of the two-times-a-year that missionaries are allowed to call home!!! :)
Christmas is the other day that they are allowed to call.  And last Christmas, Ryan informed us he'd be calling at a certain time.....and then we waited 3 HOURS until he actually did! (When they are at someone else's house, they have to wait until they can set them up on their device - and if they're busy making dinner, it isn't a good time to ask for help, etc.)
So....we were kind of suspecting that his Mother's Day call would be the same; we took the time he told us, then added 1+ hours.

With this theory in mind, we had our children stay at church for Primary.  It is tradition in our ward that the Youth take over teaching/leading/directing the Primary children on Mother's Day, so all the usual Primary workers (many women) have the "day off" and can attend the adult classes in church that day.  Well, Kyle & Haylee got assigned to sit with and teach Brookelle's class.  They were so excited!  Especially Brookelle! 
Kyle & Haylee planned together.
They divided up the sections of the lesson.
They studied the concepts and the scripture stories.
Haylee even put together a bag of props to use in the lesson.
AND they assigned their other helper to bring a treat for the class.
They were ALL set!

Meanwhile, Matt & I returned home, just for the odd chance that he called on time, and set the Skype up.
Before the time he said he'd call, I went upstairs to my bathroom to brush my hair and teeth and put on some lip gloss.....and lo, and behold, he called EARLY!!!
Only Matt was in the room when Ryan's face filled our TV screen.
Apparently, Matt started calling my name, but I can't hear a thing from anywhere else in the house when I am in my bathroom....so I didn't even know he was already on.
When I did come down the stairs, just on my own time (without knowing he was on yet), I heard voices.
This is what I overheard:
Ryan: "Hey, Dad!  How's it going?"
Matt: "Good."  And then....silence.  (Seriously, he said just one word....to our son who we haven't seen in real life for 8 1/2 months!?!?!) 
Ryan: [laughing out loud] "Oh, wow, Dad.  You're still not a man of many words."
Matt: "I need your mother!  Where is she, to help me out?"
(Then I enter the room)
Matt: "Oh, good!  Here she is!"
And then he sat back, and visibly relaxed, and mostly listened to the rest of the [1 hr. 40 min.] conversation!
Hahahahaha hahahahaha hahahaha.

Oh, and I texted Kyle that Ryan had called and to come home now, so he gave his Primary class over to another young man, gathered up his little sisters, and they ran home to see/talk to Ryan!

And they didn't even get to teach their Primary lesson!!!  :(
It's because they were actually prepared.
YOU KNOW if they would've just bagged the lesson, thinking they wouldn't have to teach it, Ryan's call would've come late again, and they'd been lookin' like idiots in front of the Primary children!!

So, the moral of the story....
When you're expecting/counting on something, it doesn't/won't happen.  (I told you my life is governed by Murphy's Law!)
When you're NOT expecting/counting on something, your expectations are EXCEEDED (in this case, an EARLY call).

*****************************
As another interesting side note about the day, my other teenager son started asking me to take a picture with him.
WHAT?!?
Since WHEN does he want to take pictures with me?
When I couldn't get to it right away, he kept pestering asking me to do it.
Finally, I obliged.

Turns out, he had an ulterior motive.
Our photo ended up on Instagram later that day.....just like A LOT of his friends & their moms pictures did.  He can't miss out on what "all the other kids are doing" now, can he?!?  ;)

P.S. Besides the Skype with our missionary, everyone made & cleaned up a fabulous breakfast & dinner (the menus of my choosing), the talks at church were done well, I got a gift I had been wanting for a long time, I had the opportunity to read my book (undisturbed while everyone else was busy), and we stayed home TOGETHER.
I think this was my BEST Mother's Day to date!  ;)
(Lest you think I'm now a different person with a new opinion [or that someone is impersonating me on this blog post].......under different circumstances, my previous recorded feelings about Mother's Day still stand.)  ;)

It Owns Me

Ever since I started wearing my new Fitbit (first full day was Dec. 26) I HAVE to get my 10,000 steps a day.
 
If it is 11:00 p.m. and I haven't yet achieved my steps, I will "sneak out" to go walking around the neighborhood to get them.  Apparently, the first time I did this, someone at home "needed" me (WHEN don't they need me?) and they couldn't find me, and no one knew where I was, and mayhem broke loose.  When I returned, Matt requested I please inform them in the future if I am going out.....ya know, in case something happens to me.  Like what?!?  Get abducted by aliens up the street?!?
If the day is almost over, and I don't have my steps AND we're experiencing inclement weather, I will pace back & forth on our covered porch.  Or run up & down the stairs.  Or do laps in our garage.
If I'm thirsty and need a drink of water, I STOP myself from asking someone else to get it for me......because if I get up and get it myself, that tacks on several extra steps.
If I need something while I'm making dinner from the cold storage room in the basement,  I don't call for Kyle anymore like I always used to......I want the steps myself!
It's no longer one of my kid's jobs to go and get the mail.....because if I get it, I know that's another 250 steps!

I'm telling you - I'm a SLAVE to this Fitbit.
I WILL NOT let myself NOT get my 10,000 steps a day.
EVERY day.
EVEN on the weekend.
If I let myself go just one day without getting my steps, then it'll just be easier to go another day, and then another, and another.....and I DON'T want that to happen!

 (BTW, it says 0 on the water because I would have to manually enter it in....and I don't.  I just like the Fitbit to crunch all the numbers for me.)  

I mostly wanted to start doing it for health & fitness, but ya know what's ALSO happened?  That was a pleasant surprise? 

I'm spending MORE TIME with my family and children!  The kind of TIME where I'm really WITH them.

Because I'll ask if anyone wants to go out and walk with me - and someone usually does.  Katelyn & I just walk & talk about her favorite subject - The Pioneer Woman (she's the one who "introduced" me to the Fitbit in the first place).....and then Katelyn asks when we can do that again!  ;)

Matt has decided he has to protect me against those "aliens," so he'll come out walking with me at night and we walk & talk.

One day, I needed a bunch of steps, so Brookelle, Katelyn, & I went up to our church.  I thought we'd just do laps around the church, but, NO, they had a grand idea to play "Tag."  So I obliged.  We were up there all night.....or at least an hour!  And I was "It" the majority of the time! (Because I kept getting caught!)  They LOVED it and didn't want to quit, even though I kept "suggesting" we did. (my bladder can only take so much "Tag!")  Again, Katelyn repeatedly asks when we can do that again! 

I ask her, "WHY?" 

And she tells me, "It was so fun." 

And I say, "Really?!?  'Cause I totally stunk at it."  

And she says, "No, you didn't.  You were really good.  You can run fast.....for a Mom your age!" 

And I say, "No......you always tagged me, and I couldn't catch you very much."

And she said, "THAT'S why it was so fun!"

Instead of driving my child to her friend's house to play, I walk her over there......and then I walk back when it's time to come home.  And Brookelle talks my ear off the whole way.

Same goes for getting Katelyn to Activity Days.

I'm also walking to the school after school to meet my girls and walk home with them (& their friends - gotta take advantage of that while it's still happening).  I heard Katelyn explaining to one of her friends, "Ya know how some moms pick their kids up from school and give them a ride home?  Well, our mom picks us up from school and then makes us walk home!"



I'm liking this "by-product" of my Fitbit (more time spent together with my fam) that I didn't realize would be one of the results.  My family is all on board with the idea.  They will frequently ask where I'm at for the day - and WANT me to accomplish my 10,000 every day.  Good thing, because my obsession dedication would exist with or without their support. ;)  I love it!

I ALSO overheard Katelyn tell one of her friends, "My mom has a Fitbit, and she HAS to get 10,000 steps a day.  She's going to do that EVERY day until my brother gets home from his mission, and then she's going to be SKINNY!"

Oh, WOW!  The pressure's ON!

These are a Few of my Favorite things -- THIS Christmas

My favorite "Neighbor Gift" we received:

It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed [E.O.S. lip balm] Reindeer!

The Christensens are always so clever/cute with their gift & "packaging."

My favorite reaction to a gift I gave:

Haylee was SOOO happy (like jumping around & talking giddily) about her PJ's this year!  Namely, she loved the hood, the pockets, & the owl print.

She opened them on Christmas Eve and actually said that she'd be JUST FINE if that was her whole Christmas!  She was fulfilled!

It reminded me of a Christmas several years ago when she had a very emotional reaction to a ROBE she received.

{She doesn't have extravagent wants!  I LOVE it!}

This is not MY favorite, BUT the kids' favorite Christmas wish came true:

The kids were having a hard time FEELING like it was the Christmas season because we hadn't had any snow in December - AND it had been in the 40's & 50's (no coat weather!)

But, THEN they got a WHITE CHRISTMAS.  

It literally started snowing late Christmas Eve, and we woke up to a blanket of snow everywhere. 

THEY thought it was the best thing ever!

My favorite part about Christmas 2014:

Talking to/Seeing Ryan (Elder Brenchley) via Skype!!!

We waited forever - he'd told us it would be in between 3-3:00p.m.......we finally heard from him at 6:05p.m.

BUT, it was worth the wait!

It was so fun to talk to him - we got to be reminded of his playful, amusing personality, but also got to see HOW WELL HE IS DOING and how mature and solid in the gospel he is becoming! 

He absolutely loved the #sharethegift focus this Christmas season.

He testified again & again to us that HE IS THE GIFT.
We got about an hour with him, and 10 min. with his companion (he talked to us while Ryan HAD to go to the bathroom - some things never change! ;) haha. 
We didn't want to hang up and have him call us back because it took SO LONG for him to do it the first time!!)
He also witnessed Haylee smack Kyle while we were skyping....he laughed his head off about that!
Like I said, some things never change!  ;)

**********

What were your "favorite things" about Christmas this year?

The Day of Awakening

You gotta get through 18 3/4 years of the [back breaking, heart aching, mind going crazy, blue-in-the-face] daily grind FIRST, but it finally comes.....it's the day when your child realizes AND admits JUST HOW GOOD HE HAS IT!  (and always has had it.)

We got this letter from our missionary son, Ryan, this week:

The letter was partially spurred on by him receiving some family photos we had taken before he left on his mission this summer.  They finally came back from the photographer, so I sent them to him in a little album:

We were kind of surprised to have our letter addressed to us in such a way, "My Eternal Forever Family" - such an upgrade from the usual, "The Brenchley's."  ;)

Then the content of the letter provided even bigger "revelations" to us:
"I am so grateful for what a great family I have!  The pics are just too precious!  Maybe it's the great color scheme or all our great smiles, but The Pictures just glows every time I look at it.  I took the album to church with me Sunday to show to some families and it got passed around to a couple of the other sisters in the ward.  Everyone who saw it was all, "Oh, what a Beautiful family you have!"  The other missionaries around the house were all commenting how much younger my family was.  (They're just jealous because their family grew up and isn't as cute as my family!)  I love you all so much.  You are all one of the main reasons I'm serving a mission.  I KNOW the happiness I have knowing my family can be together forever and I want nothing more than to share this message with others, and have them have the same Happiness I have!  I Love You all so much!"

(I think I want him to stay with this current group of missionaries who refer to us as the "YOUNG" family amongst the group!  ;)  In fact, when Ryan was telling his companion that his parents went on a 20th anniversary cruise, his companion pointed out that he's older than Ryan's parent's marriage!  His companion was born a few months before we were married....and he's the 4th child in his family to give ya an idea of the age difference in their parents!)


So, basically, now Ryan thinks we really are great!
(That's why we send them away!)  ;)
One child down, four to go!

When Your Camera is Smarter than You Are

After Ryan's missionary setting apart blessing, we wanted to take a family picture, so we set the camera up on "Auto" while we all posed together.

Here is that photo:

Then Matt proceeded to return to where we had set up the camera to take a look at how it turned out.  And while he was walking there:

SURPRISE!!!  The camera flashed & took another picture.

So, Matt was like, "What the heck?" and started examining the camera (while still on it's original picture taking perch) and....

FLASH!  The camera goes off again!

At this point, Kyle thinks Matt needs some younger generation "help" (read: mocking) and starts heading over to him, when....

It happens AGAIN!

Everyone is now confused AND amused - and half of them take off to investigate (rather than stay in the right position to get our picture taken - like ME!) and then we discover....

The camera IS NOT DONE, yet!

(Notice Haylee's jeans showing under her skirt?  I told her to dress up [her least favorite thing] for the setting apart, and I didn't notice until AFTERWARDS that she'd pulled THAT stunt!)

So, now everyone (except me, who just wanted our family to pose for a picture in front of the fireplace - dang it!) wants to run to the camera's rescue - since Matt still hasn't been able to stop the possessed thing - but Kyle can't allow his sisters to beat him there, so he.....

....gets caught on CAMERA being a bully!

By, this time everyone is going, "What the.....?" and I'm hoping they can all just get back into position for a family picture!!

 When the camera goes off for the 7th time!

 Then the 8th time!

(I'm still in position)

 And the 9th time!

(I'm still in the right place.)

And, finally, the 10th (& last) time.

APPARENTLY, our camera has a function where it will "AUTO" TAKE 10 PHOTOS IN A ROW (if you push the button for THAT option, which Matt [unknowingly] did), so you don't have to keep walking back to it!  WHO KNEW?!!?  OBVIOUSLY, NOT US!

After the camera was done with it's theatrics, I managed to get The Brood lined up again and got a "planned" family picture - to appease Mom.  ;)

(Don't ask me what Miss B is doing....?)