My weekend.

Well, I'm back. I got as far as the title and then had to go clean up and bathe a VERY poopy little baby, but at least I did my damsel in distress yell so well that Brett helped clean all the little spots on the carpet. I guess too many grapes at once wasn't such a fabulous idea. Hmm. And then, Hazel (who was very tired and whiny so she got sent to her bed where she fell asleep) woke up because she had wet the bed (I was afraid that would happen), so I changed her sheets and we got Jethro in his p.j.'s and prayers said and off to bed. So.

But that's not really the parts of my weekend I was going to share. On Friday night we had our ward Christmas dinner/party. (There's Jethro on Santa's knee--you can see that he paint all over his face from the kid's table where they were doing face painting and other stuff. He did it himself. :) ) When we got home, there were a couple packages from grandparents, so we took out the presents and put them under the tree. Then, after the kids went to bed I opened them all up. I just can't wait. Brett shakes his head at me, but I was very glad I did, because they each had some p.j.s, and usually I have a tradition of giving p.j.s on Christmas Eve (my family did this too) but this year I had some for Jethro from a garage sale earlier, but not the girls. I looked at Once Upon a Child, but there wasn't anything great in Hazel's size, and both girls already have a lot of p.j.s for their current size, so I just thought I'd forgo the tradition for this year, since I didn't want to buy new when they weren't really necessary--but turns out I didn't have to! So I took their p.j.s out and rewrapped them individually for Christmas Eve. Yay.
Here are some Christmas Eve jammies pictures from last year and the year before. That's my brother Ethan and sister Lindsay in the middle one.


Then on Saturday morning I went to a baptism to play the piano, and I actually got a little bit misty when the mom was giving her talk about baptism and she said how she was packing her son's bag today with all the things he'd need, and how it reminded her of packing a bag 8 years ago before he was born. Then I started thinking about how in a short two and a half years MY son will be getting baptized! It's pretty unbelievable. It makes me think I need to teach, teach, teach him. But he is already a very good kid. What a lucky mom I am.

Then I came home --and though I had been feeling chipper all morning, I started feeling a tad bit sick. I ate lunch, and then Brett took Jethro and Hazel to the library, and I stayed home because Ethne was still napping. There was a lot of things I should have been doing, (dishes, folding laundry, etc.) but I decided I would take a quick nap on the couch to hopefully feel better. Well, I slept a little bit, but then someone came to my door, so I hopped up really quick, answered the door, chat chat chat, and then when they left I suddenly felt AWFUL---soooo terrible. So I went to the bathroom and was hoping to maybe thow up so that perhaps it would make me feel a little better. Well, gradually my vision started clouding and I felt like I might die (not literally, I just felt really sick), and then I guess I fainted because I was on the floor and my head hurt from smacking it on the tub. It was so weird. I sat up and I broke into a sweat immediately, but after sitting for a little bit, I gradually started feeling better.

Ethne had woken up when the people came to the door, though, so I was quite worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything, and I wondered if I should phone the library and tell Brett to come home right away. Fortunately, he walked in the door right then, and I told him what had happened. He said I looked as white as a ghost, and he was a wonderful guy and let me lounge on the couch the rest of the day while he took care of everything. Actually, Ethne was pretty feverish too--she had gotten her 12-month immunizations the week before and the doctor told me she might have a fever reaction in a week. So, I laid on the couch and she laid on me, and I got to just pat her back and rub her forehead for a while. It was quite nice, since normally she would never do that.

Anyway, I felt better and though I was worried about whether I would be sick the next day or not, I pretty much was good after that. Except for a tender head.

So, today was our special Christmas program in church, with lots of hymns and musical numbers. It was planned for last week, but switched to this week because of church being cancelled for snow last week. (Which is why I was pretty worried about being sick--I could've called someone to play the organ, but that would have been VERY mean!) I even played one hymn sans-practice because the ward choir had too few people there to sing, so we did it for the congregation. Luckily it was an easy hymn and it sounded about the same as the other hymns that I had practiced (which is good or bad depending on how you look at it ;) ).

But the highlight was definitely when this guy in our ward with a P*H*E*N*O*M*E*N*A*L voice sang 'O Holy Night' (which is one of my favorite songs). His voice is amazing. He is somebody who doesn't use a microphone and it actually really fills up the whole room (many people don't use a mike when they should). And I thought that all my humiliations and embarrasments of playing the organ were all worth it because I was sitting right in front (and a little to the side) of him. Man. It really made me wish I had an incredible voice exactly like his (except that would be a little weird, because I'm not a man (at least I could have inherited a little of my mom's voice, which is also amazing and beautiful, but I didn't, so I'll have to settle for inheriting a bit of her fantabulous good looks. ;) )). Anyway, that song is awesome. Some of my favorite lines:

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Anyway. Moving on. I got to go to primary today to play the piano, and it was really fun because I like primary and because Hazel got to come visit with all the other nursery kids who will be the new Sunbeams in January. She's excited. She LOVES nursery, but we're trying to psych her up for being in Primary where Jethro is and everything.

And I got to wear my new black dress! So, I'll post a picture per request. (I know they aren't that great, I'm tossing around the idea of getting nice pictures taken with the girls with all of us in our black dresses, cause that would be fun!) I felt very stylish, but apparently I had misunderstood when I said that Brett didn't like the neck but liked the rest, because he said it looked like I was walking around in a bathrobe. Hmmm. How very honest you are, honey. Oh well. At least when he tells me I'm beautiful I know he really means it. :)

Anyway, have a very very Merry Christmas!!!!