Merry Christmas Sickness and a Barfy New Year.

I feel like I always hear of a family sick the week of Christmas, and this year it was US! Or IS us, as it is still going on.

We've had some really good non-sick hours though and have filled those with lots of fun things.

Christmas Eve brought my favorite event of the year. My friend Annette hosts a big Christmas Eve party at her house. There are tons of people of all ages, and there is a fantastic dinner, games, singing, and chit chat. Annette's family is Swedish, and we participate in a bunch of Swedish traditions, including St. Lucia and gifts to the people who find an almond in their rice pudding (yours truly TWO years in a row, baby! Dan found one this year too but he had to eat all of the kids' pudding in order to do it. Haha!)

I love it. I used to think I didn't want to Christmas Eve with people outside my family, but I have changed. I love the feeling of family within the larger community. I love that my little family still does some stuff on our own before the party. I love that my kids get worn out at the party and go straight to bed after the party. I love the feeling while we sing the sacred Christmas hymns. Dan told me on the way home--I felt the Spirit so strong during the hymns. He was right.

I need to carry this event on to the next place we live. I'd miss it too much if we didn't have it.

We came home and lit the tree and left out the cookies and went to bed. And Dan and I got to work putting presents under the tree. We can't put any presents under the tree or the babies (Beck and Harris) will rip them open. And then I went to bed, and Dan hid the Santa presents and made a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their Santa presents.

The next morning, they all lined up. And we led them to their stockings, where their first clues were. 

June's Santa gift was a new bike, Gwen's was a soccer net, and Harris's was a little basketball hoop.

And then we opened presents from each other and grandparents.

June was very excited to give Dan this nutcracker. She got it at her last dentist appointment. Our dentist always has really fun prizes. She picked it specifically to give to Dan, which touched my heart.

And June gave Gwen a "cat" she made out of a toilet paper roll.

And Gwen gave the family a picture of herself she made at kindergarten.

And Dan gave this to me. Can't wait to play it.

He also bought me a spa day at spa in Hershey. I'm so excited!!!

And I bought him a kindle.

The kids also received books, toys, gloves, art supplies, etc. Harris received a racetrack. June received an art tracing projector. Gwen received her beloved magic wands that she has been begging for. And poor Baby Beck got new crib sheets because that's what you get when you're a baby.

It was a great year.

Oh! And Harris got this most-coveted-by-all-the-kids gift of a recycling truck from Grandma Sandy. This is no regular truck. It does LOTS of things, and the older girls have stolen it from him many times, which results in many tears. 'Tis the season!!

Another awesome thing we ALL received was tickets to the science museum from Papa and Grandma Kristi. Kristi had asked me what she could send, and I thought an experience the day after Christmas would be nice. And it was! I want to do this instead of a material gift every year!


At the Liberty Science Center:

In front of the beehive. Dan LOVED the beehive. He probably could have stayed all day at this exhibit. They had plaques up describing how they have tracked some of the bees' journeys throughout their lifetime, and that just really pulled at Dan. I think he wants to find more meaning in his life by tracking bees.

The music and sounds room.

My favorite part was the animals exhibit:

Harris and a turtle.

Monkeys and our monkey:

It was the best exhibit except for this. Cockroaches. So disgusting. I took a picture to punish myself for anything wrong I had done that day.

Btw, I read an article earlier this year that cockroaches have become immune to almost all pesticides and will not be killable in the foreseeable future. So instead I will be exiting the earth. We cannot co-exist, cockroaches and myself.

The girls with whatever this weird, big fish was.

This suspended-in-air play area.

Snake class!

Rock climbing!

Dinosaur Train Exhibit!

Captain Forced Fun attempting to force Harris to wear the pterodactyl wings that were available. The forced fun did not happen. 

Beck taking a nap during the museum, making it a much more wonderful experience!

Playing with the big blocks!

And the "touch tunnel" (they should really come up with a better name) where it's pitch black and you have to feel your way though. Somehow I was volunteered to take the girls through that one. The employees sit you down before you go through and explain what to do, what not to do, how to get help if you need it, etc. I truly felt like I was about go on a space ship or tightrope across the Grand Canyon. And then the whole thing was as easy as could be and only lasted like a minute and a half, but one of the girls must have looked pretty freaked out because they flashed the lights on for us. 

Dan took a picture of us up on the camera. Pretty comical.

There was also an amazing Angry Birds Exhibit, and it was truly cool. We were at the museum for four hours, and then the Angry Birds Exhibit turned into the Angry Jolleys Exhibit, and everyone was crazy hungry and then everyone got crazy cranky and mean, and we had to run to the car before the whole museum exploded from our wrath. Luckily, I packed sandwiches in the car.

And then the sickness. Here is the sickness order: June, Harris, Beck, Me, Gwen, and Dan got the final touch last night. 

So we've been lying around ever since.

Including today, which is why I have no Sunday church picture. We figured they were better off without us.

Harris is currently in my lap with his eyes closed while I type this. But no one is allowed to move him to his bed because he'll scream. 

I wish he would have left that wrath at the museum for the general public instead of for his sweet mother.

Me, guys. I was talking about me.

The End.

Christmas Card and Letter 2019

November 29, 2019

Dear Friends and Family:

It’s 7:24 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, and we all know what that means—I’m full of turkey and snark. The kids are all up, and still I tease myself by trying to get something done. Who am I kidding? Even as I type this, June is tapping my shoulder to show me that the Lysol bottle IS recyclable but the label is not and tells me of her plans of removing said label as soon as the last drop of house cleaner is gone. Such urgent updates are regularly provided at the Jolley house, and yet there is no urgency to get shoes and socks on in the morning. This remains a mystery to me.

Despite the kids’ continued efforts to thwart my goals of being prompt in the morning, we’ve had a great year. There have been many highlights (Baby Beck was born! And he sleeps! He can stay!) and lots of the mundane (feeding, working, bill-paying), but we feel blessed to do the mundane. Our big news is that Dan has accepted a job offer with The Hershey Company, and we are moving to Pennsylvania in January! We will greatly miss our friends, ward, and school in New Jersey, but we anticipate a great experience in our new location as well. And now, some more non-Lysol updates of my own:

Beck Douglas Jolley was born June 13^th at a whopping 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Though Harris’s delivery was famous for being so fast I couldn’t have my beloved epidural, Beck’s was a bit more traumatic because they couldn’t get him out fast enough. His heart rate dropped, and the doc had to vacuum him out. He was fine despite having a weird vacuum-bubble atop his head for a couple of months. He’s the wiggliest baby that ever wiggled and is about one minor brain connection away from crawling, at which point I’m nervous we’ll never see him again.

Harris is two and loves hide and seek (he always hides under the bed), throwing and catching a ball (I’m a perfect match for his 2-year old hand eye coordination) and sleeping in Gwen’s bed whenever she gives him a chance. He wears the cutest little glasses, which beg the nickname Harris Potter. He learned all of his colors from a tv show, and it’s the best preschool I never paid for. His gravity-defying bouncy walk makes me want to be 2 again.

Gwen. Loves. Kindergarten. And frankly, kindergarten loves her. Every day after school, usually while wearing a ghost headband or turkey hat or whatever else they made that day, we get a full report on which table earned “table points” for good behavior (curiously always a table other than her own). She loves NOT being home and is my buddy for going on walks and running errands. She’s fiercely independent and is my resident pancake flipper, outfit picker outer (lots of tutus) and checklist doer.

June seems to be the mascot of her elementary school. I’ve grown accustomed to my title of “June’s Mom”. Every time I run up there, I have teachers of grades she’s never attended come up and talk to me. The school police officer knows her very well, and it all seems to be due to non-felony related reasons. They just like each other. She is equal parts affectionate and stubborn. Only with June can you have a foot-stamping argument followed by time-out, during which time-out she needs a “hug break”.

Dan and I are being consolidated into one paragraph this year. I guess that’s what having four kids does to a family. We are happier and tired-er than ever. We have been extremely blessed with four kids who drive us bonkers. We are grateful for the Come Follow Me curriculum the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided us this past year. Our family scripture study has improved by leaps and bounds. We are especially grateful for the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are also grateful for friends and family like you.

Love, 

The Jolleys

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve.

Today's blog post is a girls' post. Because I have one of my girls on each side of me making comments as I type. We shall see which of their comments make it into the actual post.

First off, this week was Spirit Week (again) at school. There was Crazy Sock Day, Ugly Sweater Day, Pajama Day, etc. We did Pajama Day but didn't have stuff for most of the other days. HOWEVER, we were able to fully participate in Red/Green Blue/White Day. Gwen was our Christmas girl. June learned about Hanukkah this year from a Jewish classmate and has been Team Hanukkah ever since. So she wore blue and white.

(June: Tell them about my bows! Gwen: June is holding a Math Monster she made.)

Once upon a time, Gwen had her ears pierced. And then she got an infection, and we took them out. It's been awhile and so we tried to put some earrings back into her ears. We were successful with one ear, but the other has completely closed. But Gwen won't let me take the one earring back out. So she wears one all of the time. She's totally pulling a 1990s too-cool-for-school-bad-boy look, and she's doing it well. If only she would let me shave an initial in her hair.

Did the cool boys from 1990 wore pink flower earrings?

(June: Mom, did they wear pink flower earrings? Let's find out!)

Traditions that have carried on this year:

Every December, I read my girls all of the short stories in this book. They make me want to own a pet (but I won't). They are set around Christmastime in the English countryside. Delightful.

(Gwen: Mom, your thumb is pointing to the pig. Is your favorite character a pig? My favorite character is the brown horse. And the cat. Actually, my favorite character is everyone.)

And Saturday, we made sugar cookies. Always fun and always a huger mess than I anticipate.

My genius idea this year: giving each kid a "work station" i.e. a cookie sheet to keep all of their sprinkles in. Much less mess.

(June: Mom, please start a blog for me. Gwen: Me too! June: Please start my right now. Gwen: No, please start MINE right now.)

And we went caroling. I know lots of people don't enjoy caroling--both being a caroler and also receiving carolers. It can be awkward. But we're going to keep at it. It's been good for our family. And our neighbors are nice about it.

Not pictured: Dan in a Santa hat. 

We added some props this year to make it more exciting. A George Washington picture to hold up at the end of Rudolph. Some more red noses.

(Gwen: Mom, please put that picture on my blog.)

And church today. 

The End.

(The girls are still fighting over who I'm going to make a blog for first. I will try my best to make everyone equally unhappy and so no to both requests.)

The Real End.

Merry Christmas, Musicians Everywhere!

'Tis the time of year when musicians everywhere go into hiding. You think that nothing was stirring, not even a mouse? Try a musician. We are behind closet doors, holding our breath for 38947 minutes so that no one can ask us to do one more musical number.

I kid, I kid. I actually LOVE music and LOVE performing. It's just that half hour window right before a Christmas program when I wonder what in the world I was thinking by signing on to play several piano solos and accompany various groups. It is at this moment full of Christmas "cheer" while I am frantically trying to be on time to said event, but can't because I need to help a child who can't find her Christmas tights, that Dan always says, "The next place we live, we aren't telling ANYONE you know how to play the piano!" I'm always shocked to hear this, and quizzically look up from the fourteen piles of laundry I've dumped out of myriad hampers, face red, hands frantically throwing items behind me to find those BLASTED tights and with a hurt expression on my face, reply "How can you SAY THAT? I love playing the piano!!" at which point I race to my piano to run through a song one last time, making a huge mess of the giant chord at the end, which makes me feel like I'm going to lose my Christmas cookie lunch from earlier.

And then afterward, after everything ended up being just fine or even maybe a little better, and we get back into the car, and my face has returned to a normal color and full of relief, I turn to my family and apologize for being crazy before and we return home to try to forget what a neurotic person Mommy is in December.

But besides that half hour, it's a great time to be a musician. And I'm not the only musician from our family this year! This past week was full of events where I played, the girls played, and the girls sang. It was stressful, and it was fun.

Yesterday, the girls played in their very first piano recital. It was a very low key recital my friend Kim hosted in our living room for any kids from our local congregation who wanted to come play. And yet, I was still a little stressed about it. The girls had been progressing along just fine, but the morning of the recital were playing like they had just been deposited here from another planet and didn't know what a piano was. They were skipping whole lines of music and messing up parts they have never messed up before. I should have known this is just the general Murphy's Law (Music Edition) that always happens right before a performance, but I was too scared it was going to happen at the recital.

And then they both got up there and played their songs perfectly.

Gwen played "We Three Kings of Orient Are".

And June played "Up On the Housetop" which is what I played at my very first recital!

We had our ward Christmas party on Friday, and I was able to play several numbers, including one accompanying my friend Jenny, who is a professional opera singer. My life will forever now be divided into two parts, "Before I accompanied Jenny" and "After I accompanied Jenny." She sang "O Holy Night" and it was the most amazing thing I've ever been a part of. And I hardly did anything. It was a good reminder for me that I've been too comfortable for far too long with my level of playing, and that there is a whole world I haven't even gotten close to. And I'm accompanying her and her husband (also a professional!) this coming Sunday, and it's going to be amazing.

If I don't blow it.

There is this great group of older boys in our ward, and they always let little Harris play with them. It's awesome. He was right at home sitting at their table, and they helped him eat and do whatever else he needed. Bless these boys.

Okay, this is just getting ridiculously out of order, but I'm going with it because I have to leave for a doc appointment in ten minutes. Here are the church pictures from yesterday:

And we bought and made a gingerbread train kit from Aldi (7 dolla!!!) on Saturday.

Okay, back to music. The girls had their school concerts this week:

It was raining, and I had them wear their rain boots to school, with their church shoes packed in their backpacks.

But Gwen forgot and sang with her pretty dress and rain boots on. Hilarious. I was in the front row and pointed to her boots from my seat and she looked down, realized her mistake, and look horrified and ready to cry. At which point, I thought to myself, "Why did I do that?!??!" I reassured her from my seat that it was fine and that she should just laugh about it. So she did.

And June's program was great too. She was the kid that came in a full measure early on one of the songs, and I don't think she even noticed. So she wasn't sad and it was entertaining for me. Win win.

My mother-in-law makes all of our stockings, and Beck's came in the mail this week. It's the best one yet! A full nativity on it. She does great work.

And we had friends over one night while their parents were in the city, and we were able to introduce them to Battle of the UFOs, our favorite game.

The End.