Countdown to Christmas

 Last Sunday we had in person church which is always so nice. It was great to be able to talk to a few of my young women in person, I have had such a disconnect with them lately. I really wish we could get back to in person church more often. It's so easy for the young women to drop it all when everything is virtual. I worry about them a lot and sometimes feel like a failure because we only get about half the girls at activities and lessons. But I try to remember that ultimately it's their decision and that more is on their parents than me, and unfortunately a lot of their parents are just not super supportive.

Last Sunday also started the countdown to Christmas- where we get to open an envelope each day for a special thing/activity. Sundays activity was to make cards for people. I feel like in the past the kids don't love this one but they really seemed to enjoy it this time. I had printed our cards that they could color in and they had a lot of fun with this and a lot of fun choosing who to send the cards to. They sent to grandparents, cousins, friends, and primary teachers. The only kid not big into it was Steven and quite honestly, he was that way for pretty much every countdown activity this week. Apparently he's getting too "cool" for such things.

Monday we had a movie night. I bought the kids The Garfield Thanksgiving/Christmas movie and we picked up some candy and popcorn. Tuesday they had a Christmas craft. This year it was coloring door hangers. I think that we've already broken 2 of them so apparently not a high quality craft.

Wednesday the kids got new Christmas headbands/hats and socks. I had bought them last year and thought the kids could have fun wearing them to school or church Christmas parties but thanks to Covid neither of those things happened this year. So instead they wore them to homeschool.

Wednesday night I had a virtual activity with the older yw, they did cardmaking. Only 2 girls showed up. I know it's midterm time but that was such a sad turnout. On the bright side it was really nice to be able to chat with the older girls. Especially one of them that I have had some struggles with in the past. I felt like I got to know her a little better and form a better connections with her.

Thursday we went to the Wayne County Lightfest. We brought along our neighbor, Jacob. This is a tradition the kids always seem to look forward too. We had a little hiccup with Google Map on the way there and somehow ended up a part of a line of cars that was a Scout Troop. Coincidentally enough, Tyler knew the Scout leader and they chatted for a minute before we got to the proper place. The car line for the lights was long but not too terrible. It was mostly fun looking at all the displays but near the end the kids started to get obnoxiously loud and words were exchanged. Then on the way home Steven decided to be an know it all about something he didn't actually know and we had the most ridiculous fight with him ever. Sometimes, tweens.

Quite honestly, Steven had a rough day Thursday in general. I had gotten lazy about checking in on him with Science because I was working closely with him on math, history and language arts. I guess I had hoped this would be the one subject he could do independently. It turns out that for the last month he was picking and choosing what lessons he did. If the lesson seemed challenging or he just felt like Googling random things that day, then he skipped a lesson. I was so frustrated with his choice. The consequence was no screen time until he got caught up. He was not so happy with this.

Onto better things, on Friday we had our annual Graham Cracker House party. This is always my favorite party. It's always such a hit with everyone involved. This year we had my friend Stacey's family and then Jacob's family. Usually we have Stefanie's family but they were worried about covid so they opted not to come. I decided to do prizes this year and that was a good choice. Everyone tried a lot harder when it came to decorating their houses. In the end Jacob's brother Ethan won for most fun house. Jenna won for most beautiful. And Steven won for most unique. 

Saturday for the countdown, the kids did a white elephant gift exchange with Jacob and Ethan. This was not enjoyable for me. They did not do well with passing, stealing, switching. So much drama. They also never could remember which way was left and which way was right when passing which was super annoying. I think my hormones are also a bit out of whack today because I felt unreasonably angry during it all. Hopefully they at least had some fun. Penny ended up with a farting coloring book, Lucy with a Fart Zone sign, Steven with a puking doll, Ben with an annoying hamster that repeats what you say, Ethan with a flying monkey and Jacob with a taco cat shirt.