January Tidbits

Liesel: And next is Ariana Knockoff Grande!
Brigitta: AAAaaaAAAahhhhHH! I'm SUCH a good singer!

Speaking of Gita, have I mentioned she has stunning blue eyes?

They are a little harder to see when she is mischievous (which is pretty much all the time).

Now and again she can be caught in a pensive mood and there they are, like two jewels.

I overheard Liesel singing really loudly in her room so I quickly opened the door and sang loudly back at her. She was pretty startled... and annoyed- haha!

Sydney and I set a New Year's Resolution to read A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. This one feeds my soul:

While I was slaving away on her baptism quilt, Sydney kept my morale up by beatboxing:

I saw Liesel run into Gita's room and grab her Dakota pillow. When Sydney ran in after her, Liesel screamed, "You wouldn't hurt Dakota, would you?" Apparently then Sydney punched the pillow and apparently before this whole episode Liesel "accidentally" threw food in Sydney's face.

Some fire hydrant installation art courtesy of our hilarious neighbors!

I mentioned to Liesel and Ireland that they don't draw me pictures anymore, ask for stories or play with their American Girl Dolls anymore. 
Ireland: That's because her doll is mean.
Me: Liesel's DOLL is mean?
Ireland: *dead serious* YES!
Liesel gave no explanation or defense. She just quietly agreed. 

I texted my friend Malcolm about how black holes make me sad and asked if they make him sad. He said, "No, but I've never encountered one. If I was getting torn apart by one I guess it would." HA!

I read Way to Be by Gordon B Hinkley and as a descendant of Vikings, was charmed by this:

Brent received a voicemail on his cell phone purporting to be the NYC sheriff stating that now he's arrived in the city, he needs to quarantine for 19 days. Brent's first thought? Spam. My first thought? Maybe it was Joey making a prank call...

Nothing brightens a dull, winter day like sharing a cheerful box of colorful macarons! The lemon and raspberry were favorites.

Since we were already at the mall, I couldn't resist these Up themed face masks- they're just so bright and happy.

I had planned to work on Sydney's quilt by the fire but when the girls wanted to make s'mores, that plan kinda went out the window- especially since we had little peppermint patties which is my favorite!

Not that I'm complain, mind you.

In the end it was a win-win. Win.

Brigitta was obsessed with the odd shape of this marshmallow...

...which she promptly burned to a crisp.

It was a nice distraction from the mammoth task at hand.

We've had this adorable shamrock frame for Ireland for ages and I finally found the perfect pictures to fill all the spaces.

I especially love this one of my Dad with the girls when they were younger. The election created many rifts in many a family and I'm grateful for this reminder of what's really important.

Me: You are destined to live an extraordinary life! I don't know what you are going to do, but you are going to blow everyone's mind someday.

Gita: Welll... I don't know what I'm going to do either!

For one breathless day (pun intended) I had all the masks located, sanitized and hung up. I think it should be recorded that did, in fact, happen, even if just once.

The Nielsen family gift rotation needed to be updated for the next decade so I took a (blessed) relief from quilting and created new magnets.

When I got wind my parents don't do stocking stuffers for each other, we made one tiny adjustment. Everyone is supposed to buy for them and then one sibling but once a year, one of the siblings will just buy stocking stuffers for Mom and Dad.

Love my family!

I never get tired of these sweet drawings from my sweet Sydney. As previously noted, I've been a mom long enough to know they stop drawing them as they grow up.

The girls were hanging out on my bed after a particularly bad day when I ran to Portillo's and even though they'd eaten, they were looking longingly at my spoils.
Me: This is my sad food so you aren't allowed to have any.
Liesel: I'm OK with that!
Ireland: I'm OK with that!

Gita: *sneaking a French fry* I'm not OK with that!

Brent received a generous Target gift card from his boss at work and put it towards a new bike for Brigitta. She suffered with a beater bike all summer and I insisted she also get a basket on the front. She had duct taped a red Solo cup and darn it all that thing worked for her all summer long. No more duct tape cups for this girl!

Love her self confidence!

After the inauguration the Bernie memes were a bright spot in a rather depressing month. These two were my favorites:

My friend Becky sent me this one in anticipation of Girl Scout cookie season:

This picture of these cute girls in their vests helped sell some boxes- thanks to all who supported them!

I finally finished Sydney's baptism quilt!!!

I'm so tickled that the lily of the valley flowers are quilted with lily of the valley fabric. Katrina generously talked me through it when I needed someone to cheer me on and when she heard I was having a hard time finding the perfect backing, she dropped everything and headed to a great quilt store near her home in Utah. 

Not only did she track down the perfect backing, but she used her birthday discount for my yards, even though she had fabric of her own to buy. She also sewed it together and shipped it to my quilter. She was heaven-sent as I wrapped up the very last baptism quilt I will ever make! I tossed all of my templates and heaved a HUGE sigh of relief! I'm so glad this one is done!

Liesel's Girl Scout troop played a game where they have to answer questions that begin with a specific letter. One ground was I and the question was Reasons to Get a Divorce?

Intentional stinkiness

Idiot

I don't like you anymore

Ink on shirt

Then they did the same question with K

Kause of you

Knew all your embarrassing stories

Killed my favorite kayak- how dare you!

Liesel was rolling.

Liesel: What's up with the girl who took an hour to eat a donut?

Me: Do you know how long it takes you to eat sometimes?
Liesel: Yeah, but not a donut!

Book Review: With Malice Toward None by Stephen B. Oates

Every year I set a New Year's Resolution to be a better reader. When I was single and traveling a lot, I read all the time because I had a lot of downtime in airports. My coworkers would recommend and loan me books and I loved talking with them afterwards. I've been to book clubs and I've decided they aren't my journey. However, I still enjoy book recommendations from friends!

This one came from Janeal and I actually started it a couple of years ago but didn't finish. I decided to see it through to the end this time. I liked it, but I don't have a good memory for names when it comes to history- they all tend to blend together and then I get lost and it's no longer interesting to me. However, Janeal and I attended a class at BYU Education Week on Abraham Lincoln and that really made me excited to learn more. Not to mention living in the "Land of Lincoln" makes me feel like I have a responsibility to know and understand the history surrounding Abraham Lincoln.

I should state from the get-go that I'm not going to be able to do this book justice, but I can share some of my favorite parts and nuggets of wisdom I gained. For example, this one:

I love that! I've always thought it's better to be an outright sinner than a sanctimonious hypocrite- this is along those lines.

Here's another great Lincoln quote:

Lincoln's absolute commitment to honesty came up again and again in the book. "When Douglas learned of Lincoln's nomination, he confided in a fellow Democrat that 'I shall have my hands full. He is the strong man of the party-full of wit, facts, dates-and the best stump speaker, with his droll ways and dry jokes, in the West. He is as honest as he is shrewd, and if I beat him my victory will be hardly won.'"

As the BLM movement has gained recognition, it was really good for me to review the issues, politics and positions on slavery. What a quagmire! Back then and now. The speaker at the BYU Education Week class referred to this Lost Speech so I was happy to read about it again. 

"This they said and this they meant." I love this quote as well:

Lincoln had some very loyal friends- and man alive did he need loyalty during his presidency. I would love to be someone's "first, last and only choice" for something!

I loved this insight to Lincoln's House Divided speech. In the following chapter Oates states that in regards to the ultimate elimination of slavery, Lincoln said, "...may not be completely attained within the term of my natural life." And he was proud, "in my passing speck of time," to contribute what he could to that consummation. Not only was he ahead of his time, he really knew his place in the grand scheme of things. Although he told Mary he would be satisfied to just be a senator.

After living through the most contentious presidential campaign in my lifetime, I loved that he said, "let us do nothing through passion and ill temper." Such wise advice that is applicable in our times now! I did not know that at the time, it was customary for Presidential nominees to do no campaigning for themselves. I talked to Brent about what that would be like- to have all candidates silent and only have those they know and trust speak on their behalf. What a different campaign it would be, for sure!

Somewhere in the back of my mind I'd heard this- about his premonition that he would not live through his second term- but it was so interesting to read about it. I also loved that he decided to grow a beard upon the recommendation of a little girl who wrote him. We have a houseful of little girls who love their daddy's beard so this spoke to me personally.

Apparently as they traveled to Washington DC, "they stopped at Westfield, New York, long enough for Lincoln to kiss Grace Bedell, the little girl who'd convinced him to grow his beard." At another depot, "he brought out Mary, short, plump, and smiling, to stand beside him on the platform. This, he announced, 'is the long and the short of it.'"

I was so saddened to read about all the troubles he faced before he even made it to the Presidential office. How he was constantly pestered for government posts and all the threats he received. As the war ramped up and I read about how General after General failed him- often just too scared to fight, not due to a lack of supplies and men, I was again saddened. I didn't realize how delicate an issue the Emancipation Proclamation was- I just took for granted that it happened. Lincoln told one unhappy Democrat, "broken eggs cannot be mended. I have issued the proclamation, and I cannot retract it." I didn't even know he was pressured to retract it!

I didn't know part of the reason the Gettysburg Address is so short is because he was so bogged down with work he hardly had time to write it. Once he returned to Washington he came down with a mild form of smallpox as did his son Tad. 

I didn't know that Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe and in reference to her book Uncle Tom's Cabin he said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war." Who run the world? Ha!

I went down a rabbit hole about his funeral and was shocked to discover the wood box on top of which his coffin lay in state is still used. It has been repaired and modified a bit, and the black fabric that hangs on it updated now and again, but the same box that held Lincoln's coffin is the same one that held Ruth Bader Ginsburg's.

As soon as I finished the book I voxered Janeal- the most optimal way for two busy mothers to actually have a conversation! I loved sharing the tidbits I learned and she loved sharing with me more details she knew off the top of her head. Lately I've been eager to scale down our books- especially since so many things are online nowadays. My highlighted copy of With Malice Toward None is staying put- it's such a gem and I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it!

Wonder

We had a windy, snowy, icy storm that left the trees coated in a frozen layer of white. I was eager to get out for a walk and enjoy it and as I reviewed which of my daughters might be game, Ireland immediately came to mind.

She's always happy for some one on one time with me and the feeling is mutual.

Behind these trees may look like a field but it's actually a lake that has frozen and then been covered in snow. It's so beautiful it makes me eternally grateful we get to witness this transformation every year. The weeping willows are especially stunning!

Everything look like it had been gently dusted in powdered sugar. Usually this look doesn't last long- even on a cold day the power of the sun will melt it off or the wind will blow it off. 

The unique combination of the storm combined with the overcast day left our neighborhood in this magical state the entire day.

Such beauty lends itself to opening up the soul and as Ireland and I walked through the crisp air, we had a heart to heart conversation about dance, Harry Potter, and whether she should visit Belfast or Dublin first when she goes to Ireland someday. I could actually focus solely on her and not throw an "Uh huh, honey" over my shoulder as I tried to deal with other distractions in front of me. All we had was nature's lace in the branches of the trees, all frosted in white, and the road ahead of us.

It was glorious!

Chocolate Challenge

In a year where chocolate might have provided some comfort and solace, these girls stuck to their guns and saw the Chocolate Challenge through all the way to the very bitter end of 2020.

Brent took their requests for treats and made sure the table was full of everything they desired.

After this fete, all four girls are giving it a go for 2021. 

 I do lots of things wrong as a parent but I think this one... this one is a winner and I'm so very proud of my girls for their determination to get what they want most, not just what they want now.