Wii-ing All the Way

Uncle Fireball really, really, wants a Wii. He worked and saved and finally had the required funds...and couldn't find one. CAN'T find one. J and I were at Big-Box-Mart Friday morning, just to see if a shipment might have come in that morning. But, shipments don't come in until noon. And UPS doesn't deliver on the weekends. And a clerk had told J's mom previously that they would get just one more shipment before Christmas- Friday or Monday it would be, folks! So...Friday it was not. But a game store two doors down had started a Wii-Wait List that afternoon- sign your name, PAY YOUR CASH, and you would have a Wii in your possession by January 20th. Apparently they can promise this, even though they have no earthly idea when the next shipment might come in? Let's hope so, for Uncle Fireball's sake. He's number 3 on that list, and all Friday afternoon he'd chirp the store's name whenever the phone or doorbell rang. We're thinking maybe we'll put a phone next to his head early tomorrow morning and call him just to hear him say it one more time. For his sake, I really hope it comes tomorrow. For our sakes, too.

On the Ernie front, she finally hit her limit today. After being warned not to put a certain toy in her mouth and chew the rubber globe, she did it again and Daddy confiscated the precious toy until tomorrow morning. Oh my- kicking, screaming, arching back- she had it all. She came to me- I confirmed the confiscation's time limit. She went to her beloved Nana- nope, Daddy said no. She went sobbing into Nana's room, and tried to climb under the bed in her misery. A few minutes later she came out to confirm how MAD and completely distraught she was. I scooped up my flailing, wailing, bundle off the floor and carried her away to lay her on our bed to cry it out. Didn't work, but after about 15 minutes she decided that maybe reading a story, sniffling and occasionally laughing in my lap, would be an OK substitute for her beloved "eeyight" (light) toy. For the record, it's a rubber globe over a color-changing strobe light, on a flexible wand. It's a Disney park toy, and looks REALLY cool in the dark at their Electric Parade I'm sure. We really don't need that rubber globe getting chewed off and filling her mouth cavity. She also doesn't need to put found objects in her mouth, period. Right? I could hear J's mom in the other room explaining to her kids "See, all kids do this. It's part of being 2." And I might have imagined it, but I hope she said something about needing to stay firm, because for me sometimes it's hard to know which struggles to pick!

We're Up In the Air!

After many more nights, we made it to Nana's house! It took 11 hours of driving to the airport, flying to Vegas, connecting to Pheonix, driving 2 hours...we're here! It's 5,000 feet elevation and 20% humidity and this sea-level, lots of rain, girl is feeling a little parched. Nana and Grandpa, and all J's siblings, are over-joyed to have Ernie here. We walked in and Nana handed her a candy cane and it's only gone up-hill from there.

Yesterday we did shopping and J and I visited with a childhood friend of mine and his wife. It's so amazing to realize that the last time I spent any large amount of time with him was 5th grade. Back then we went to church together, and caught the bus at the end of his driveway between the wheat fields in the country. It was a family of 4 boys, so my sister and I were his mother's adopted daughters, and her official daily hug. His wife is an AMAZING knitter- she even makes her own yarn sometimes. She's making an adorable set of mittens for Ernie, and she gave me a gift of a beautiful knitted washcloth. I promised her a fabric roll-up for her knitting needles, ruler, and other items she needs on hand to knit. Her home is amazing- felted cat beds, knitted rugs, afghans and quilts (a childhood hobby with her mother.) She was able to make all of her Christmas presents this year, except her husband's.

One last thing: Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you!

What to do?

What do you do on a Sunday, with a sick toddler? We both have runny noses and achy everything else (including eyeballs.) So, I kept her out of nursery and myself out of Relief Society. Nursery has children who get so close they bite beads off her necklace WHILE SHE'S WEARING IT, and Relief Society has women who are 85 years old, and mothers of children who will soon be out of school and needing their moms firing on all cylinders. So, what do you do on a Sunday with a toddler? Movies are out, of course. I guess we could go for a walk but it's blinkin' cold outside. My mom and brother need birthday cakes- we could make those, if we wear surgical masks. She's filled the memory card on my phone taking pictures, and then called the nursery leader. We've had pancakes with syrup, read books, taken showers, and she picked out J's tie (it's her job to pick it out every Sunday.) We can clean the kitchen- she likes to put the dishes in the dishwasher, and the drain board.

At least there's only an hour left until nap time!

No, I don't know why she's starting posing like a movie-star for photos, or why she loves her monkey shirt so much, or why she wants to chew on this medicine dropper all day. No, I don't.

Blessings

This is a great season to remember blessings. President Henry B. Eyring recommends writing them down every day! So, here are a few of our recent blessings.

1) Aunt LoLo found my church keys in the bottom of a bag of baby toys, at the bottom of the toy chest, in the basement. That's some deep digging!
2) Aunt LoLo went to the grocery store for me this morning, to get ready for a wedding reception I'm putting on tomorrow.
3) J passed a section of the CPA exam.
4) Ernie isn't sick this week.
5) We get to visit my grandparents every Thursday.
6) My Dad is taking Ernie overnight, which frees up a lot of time to get ready for tomorrow's piano recital and wedding receptions, Christmas, and our trip.
7) 4 years ago I was sealed for eternity to my husband.
8) 1 year ago I was called as Relief Society President.
9) We're leaving to see J's family next week, and we're staying for his brother's sealing.
10) Ernie.

What are you thankful for today?

Family Night

For our Family Home Evening activity last night Ernie and J helped me make another tray of this year's Christmas treats: pretzel-rolo-pecan bites. (I don't know what they're called!) Basically, you stack a Rolo candy on a small pretzel, bake at 250 degrees for 4 minutes, then smoosh down with a pecan half. Let them cool for a few hours, and peel them off the tin foil you used to line the baking pan. (You can put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes to start the process, but my counter is much larger than my fridge.) They are absolutely amazing little candies, and MUCH cleaner to make than 200 cookies. (I have a big Christmas list this year.)

Ernie is a very organized little girl, so this activity was right up her alley. In this shot we see that Daddy had put one on upside down, by accident, so she started to flip them ALL upside down. What happened to my little girl to make her this way??


Ernie is still busy topping her pretzels, but do you see what Daddy is doing? He's sorting pecans, pulling out the "whole" ones for us to use.


Any more questions about my daughter? Yeah, not so much.