This Week at Our House # 52 Christmas 2016

1. John and I decided to make it a bigger than usual Christmas this year. We bought most of the kids each an expensive lego set. The 4 who did not want legos got more than the normal 3 small gifts each. We were also generous in buying some clothes and needful things that we have not been able to afford for a long time. We had everything for the kids bought and paid for before the brakes on the van died, otherwise it would have been a small Christmas. So I was glad that we did all the shopping early and so was John. John worked up through the 23rd and was back to work today. Because his job is  a contract with monthly pay, he doesn't ever have official vacation time.
2. John was the last minute husband shopper this year. I thought I would not get any Christmas presents. He spent a lot of time looking and shopping, but by the 23rd, he still had not found anything that he wanted to get me. I had given him a list of Books and clothes that I wanted, but he didn't want to get any of those. By the evening of the 23rd, he gave in and went to the book store and got me a bunch of the books from my list. I thought he had just gone out to buy some chocolate so I would have something under the tree. I was very surprised when I opened a box of books. 
3. Ruth took the driving test and failed because we did not know what a 3 point turn meant. Now we know, and she will take the test again on Thursday and hopefully pass. We only have a 15 passenger van and that makes it really hard to both learn to drive and take the driving test. I have always been unsure about what to do with Ruth and driving. She was always terrified of the written test. She hated drivers ed. She hated driving. At first I pushed her along and made her get her permit before she was 16. She hated that. She hated when I took her out driving. I decided that maybe she was just not ready, so I gave up and quit making her do anything until she turned 18. At 18, I started nagging her to get he North Carolina permit. She was afraid to take that test. Finally in June I told her I was just going to drop her off at the DMV and not come and get her until she passed the test. She then said she would be willing once school ended. She got her permit and had to learn to drive on the van. I had to do all of the work. John was too scared to drive with her. Before she left for college, we did not have the money for the test, and she was not anxious to take it. At college just before Christmas, Ruth talked to her Bishop about a mission and he said she had to have her licence before she could put in her papers and that did it. Ruth changed. Ruth has been a bit of an emotional mess, but she has been determined to drive and practice driving. She actually did take the driving test and even though she did not pass, she is anxious to do it again and get this over with. I have no idea what I should have done differently or what I will do differently with the other kids as I have both pushed and laid off for the same child with not great results. Hopefully next week I will be able to say that Ruth has a driving licence. Other than that drama. We have been enjoying Ruth and having her home for Christmas. Her time with us is short. 
4. Kate of course is happier than she has been in a long time because her best friend is home. Kate and I bought each other the same book for Christmas, so we spent much of Christmas day reading the whole 270 page book. We still managed to get dinner made, the house cleaned, take a nap, and take care of the kids. Kate got books and clothes for Christmas and she was quite happy about it.
5. Johnny spent all day Christmas building lego sets with his brothers.
6. Adam got a big lego set but he also got candles because he loves them and a wallet. He has kept the wallet in his pocket since he put his money and temple recommend in it. It's been pretty cute.
7. Rachel only wanted legos and dresses for Christmas, so she that is what she got. I spent a couple of days looking for a pretty white dress for Rachel and Anya and only found one that was modest, so I got them the same dress. They both loved it and wore it all day Christmas.
8. Anya got a lot of art stuff and a smaller lego set. She put her legos together by herself and she loved them. It's always nice when you get just the right thing for your kids.
9. Joseph had 3 big lego sets because we bought him one, Kate bought him one, and Johnny and Adam bought him one. I think he was pretty happy about it. 
10. When Christmas presents were all unwrapped Joshua sat there unhappy because he did not get everything on his list. But then he happily went and built legos and played with them all day.
11. Arwen took charge of both her and Susan's Christmas gifts. Normally, I would be unhappy about that, but Susan and Arwen played so well together that we didn't need to say a thing.
12. This was the first Christmas that Susan cared about. Her present from Santa was a little porcelain tea set in a wicker picnic basket. She was absolutely delighted with it. She immediately set up the dishes and started opening her stocking candy to put on the plates. She played tea party all day. 
13. Sam got candy for Christmas and I ate it all to make sure he would get the benefit of it ;). He is 6 weeks now. Pretty soon I will forget how many weeks he is and start counting months.

Tender Mercies

1. Ruth felt like she needed to get her driving test done as soon as possible when she got home for break. That turned out well because we misunderstood what the dmv guy said a 3 point turn was. Since she took the test early, she has enough time to retake it before heading back to college.
2. I am so glad we got all the presents bought early and could give the kids a Christmas full of kids. The kids went without a lot of things this year and I was so glad to be able to end the year with some nice things that they really wanted to have.

Pictures