December GBOMB

The final GBOMB of 2019! Here is the Good, the Bad, and what was On My Brain for the busy month of December.

G O O D
+We had our church's holiday party near the beginning of the month which the kids were stoked about. Any type of "party" gets the kids excited.
+December is such a fun month for Christmas movies and books in our house. This year I made a book advent calendar counting down to Christmas. Every night the kids got to unwrap a new Christmas book to read before bed. All it took on my part was wrapping up existing books we already owned, but it was a big highlight in Taylor and Olive's day.
+Olive turned 3! We didn't have a party or anything, but she got a few gifts and a cake made of donuts. I think for Olive just being able to say, "it's my birthday!" over and over again was gift enough for her.
+I turned 28. I'm not a big fan of my own birthday just because I don't really like extra attention so I always request a quiet day at home. It was wonderful.
+Andrew's company shuts down for the holidays which meant we got lots of time to be with family. Just a few of the many things: gingerbread house making at Grandma Donuts, Olive attending The Nutcracker with Grandpa Snow and cousins Emmy and Piper, an hour spent at Uptown Jump with the cousins, a joint birthday celebration for Olive and the twins, time spent with Papa Tracy on his birthday, Christmas Eve dinner and talent show at Grandma and Grandpa Snows, Christmas morning with cousins, Christmas dinner and hot chocolate at Grandma Donuts, and a quick trip up to Vegas to spend time with Andrew's cousins and all of their kids. It was a action packed holiday break spent with lots of family.
+We lied to the kids and counted down to the New Year at about 8pm. It's nice that they're young enough to fall for that. No one teach my kids to tell time.

B A D
+I mentioned that Eliza had a stomach bug in the November GBOMB, but unfortunately that stomach bug continued into December. It ended up being 7 days of throwing up which is a scary thing when you're dealing with a tiny baby. Luckily it's over and everything is roses.
+The volleyball court is still not done. It's getting closer, but there's still things that need done. Maybe by the end of January it will finally be finished.

O N  M Y  B R A I N
+Reading. This month I read quite a few books. I go through lulls where I won't read anything and then I go through times where I read a ton. I want reading to become more regular and not let it fade to the background as it does sometimes. I had set a goal to read 40 books in 2019, but only read 22. I'm setting the same goal of reading 40 books in 2020 and I'm determined to reach it this go-around.
+I'm in a Marie Kondo mood. This usually happens after Christmas when we get an influx of new things. I'm not a minimalist by any means, but I am trying to make more meaningful decisions when it comes to what stuff we have around.
+I've been thinking about resolutions. I'm not real big into setting super specific goals for the year, but I do think the New Year is a great chance to make changes and try new things. Not sure what soft goals I want to do, but I am contemplating a few things. The kids and I are trying to do the "1000 Hours Outside" challenge. It's a big goal and we may not hit the actual 1000 hours, but it will definitely get us outside more, and there's no down side to that.

November GBOMB

I can't really think of anything for the "On My Brain" section so this is really just a GB instead of a GBOMB.

G O O D
+We finally got Harley and Pancho Villa back. They lived at my brother Blake's house for the year while we were in California and then once we moved here, they lived at Blake's house for another six months while our fence was built. The kids are very excited to have them back although it took Olive a bit to warm up to Harley.
+Soccer finished up. I'm not sure if we'll do soccer again next year. Maybe for Olive since she'll be old enough and I think she would enjoy it quite a lot. Taylor really liked going to soccer practice, but soccer games were not his favorite. He tended to casually walk around the field during games and complain about what hard work running was. Honestly, can't blame him - I don't like running either.
+We started on our sand volleyball court in the backyard. It has been a lot more work than anticipated, but it has provided hours and hours of entertainment for the kids. They love playing in the sand. Hopefully by the end of December we'll have it finished up.
+We decorated for Christmas. I used to firmly be in the wait-until-Thanksgiving-is-over camp, but since having little kids that get so excited for everything Christmas, I can't help but put up decorations and start listening to Christmas music early.
+We had a great and easy Thanksgiving. We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family. Taylor and Olive got to go see Frozen II with Grandma and Grandpa Snow and cousins Josh, Jude, and Adele. And I got an afternoon of wandering Target on Black Friday. Just a few days
+Since moving into our new house, Taylor has been complaining about how small his toddler bed is and that he wanted a big bed. Well it only took 7 months, but we finally bought him a twin bed. This also meant the toddler bed was passed down to Olive. Both are excited about their new sleeping arrangements.

B A D
+We have been so, so busy. Between foster care classes for both Andrew and myself, soccer practice, doctor appointments, being gone for Thanksgiving, and general errands/to-do lists - November has felt incredibly busy. But when is life not busy?
+Eliza caught some sort of stomach bug. The poor thing couldn't keep anything down for the two days after Thanksgiving. Plus, she's getting the four top teeth in right now too. Hopefully she's on the mend.

I'm in shock that it's already December which means it's it's almost Olive's 3rd birthday and then it's Christmas and then it's 2020 and then Eliza turns one and then I'm off on a Twitter Mom Disneyland trip like last year and then I get to go on a trip to Italy and then we'll most likely start taking foster placements... and then and then and then. Life is a marathon sprint.

October GBOMB

G O O D
+The beginning of the month the kids got to spend a few days with cousins. It's always so fun to have all the kids together.
+We went to a very budget version of a pumpkin patch (if you consider 30 pumpkins pre-picked on a few hay bales a pumpkin patch). The kids had a blast even if it was a pretty lame petting zoo/pumpkin patch.
+Our church put together a really fun Halloween party that the kids looked forward to all month. The night ended with a trunk-or-treat that filled Taylor's and Olive's bucket to the top. When we got home, Taylor dumped out his candy and organized it by color. Olive took each candy piece by piece and asked me what it was called. I would tell her, "Those are skittles/starbursts/tootsie rolls/etc." and she would reply back after each one, "Oh, I love skittles/starbursts/tootsie rolls/etc!" I also taught her the "gimme a break" Kit-Kat song and for some reason I think it's the funniest thing that she'll sing "break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat bar" every time she sees a Kit-Kat.
+ We went to breakfast with Andrew's family to surprise his dad for his birthday. All of Andrew's siblings were there for the surprise and it was so fun to spend the day with everyone.
+The same day as the breakfast surprise, we went to a second trunk-or-treat in Andrew's home ward. Taylor and Olive weren't mad about more candy.
+Apparently two nights of Halloween festivities wasn't enough. We also went trick or treating around our neighborhood on actual Halloween. I was convinced that our little neighborhood wouldn't have anyone out, but there were tons of kids out and it was so fun to actually go door to door. Taylor and Olive are Halloween pros after this year.

B A D
+We all got sick this month. Flus and colds of various degrees.
+Andrew, Taylor, and Olive got in a car crash. No one was hurt (thankfully), but our minivan is totaled (unfortunately).
+All the Halloween festivities and quick travels led to kids who's schedules were thrown off and resulted in grumpy kids which is never fun.

O N  M Y  M I N D
+I've slowly been telling people about this, but Andrew and I are in the process of becoming foster parents. Andrew just started his state training (I'm taking mine in January) and our agency training together will start in November. It's a lot of time and very overwhelming, but I'm just trying to accept the fact that our lives will be hectic for the foreseeable future. Even though it's a stressful process, we're very excited to start fostering.