Nails, Nativities, & Naps

When I went in to check on Autumn before I left this morning, this is how I found her.  She sleeps w/ lots of stuffed animals and dolls on her bed.  She’s such a cutie pie!

It was good to be in the temple this morning.  After the session, I stopped in the distribution center to get a pocket size set of scriptures for Autumn for her birthday next month.  I’m so excited to give them to her so she’ll have her very own set!  Plus, the pocket sized ones are so much more affordable.

I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home & got breakfast for Nick & Autumn & I like I usually do.  I changed clothes and went and got my nails done at 11:00.  Autumn opted to stay home so she could watch cartoons and do her rainbow loom.  I stopped in at the kids consignment store to see if they had any pants for Autumn.  She loves wearing leggings, but she gets holes in the knees all the time b/c it’s thin cotton fabric.  She refuses to wear jeans b/c she says they aren’t comfortable.  I found some super cute green ones w/ dots on them.  The problem is that she’s so tall but she inherited my big hips.  I got a size 10 and they barely fit her hips, but they were a little too long. She loved the color so she insisted she would wear them even though they were tight.  Poor girl … already dealing w/ how clothes fit at the age of 7!

I came home, got Autumn ready, and we rushed over to the church to see all the nativities.  I am SO GLAD they didn’t want Mom’s collection of over 100 nativies this year.  It was really well done and I enjoyed how they had it set up this year.  The reason we went at the time we did is that 2 of my Laurels were being Mary in the live nativity scene.  I went when they were switching out so I could see both of them.  While I was waiting for one of them to get dressed, I noticed that “Joseph” had picked up Baby Jesus.  For some reason this was incredibly touching to me.  So often we think of only Mary when we think of Baby Jesus.  However, Joseph was right there with her and parented Jesus during his childhood too.  I am thankful that Joseph was humble enough to listen to the angel that told him about Mary & her situation. I am thankful that Joseph had enough faith to believe the angel.  I am thankful that the family Jesus grew up in wasn’t the “ideal” family and that he was raised by a step dad.

After the nativity we went over to Mom & Dad’s house for a while.  Autumn wanted to do some floor puzzles, and it was fun/interesting trying to do it w/ a baby on the floor.  Olivia kept taking the pieces and just throwing them as far as she could.  LOL!  We finally got it done, even with her “help.”

 

Mom & Dad said they had a treat for us that they brought back from Utah when they were there from Monday – Wednesday this week.  Every year Rufio buys a pound of handmade chocolates from a pair of sisters that took over making them after their mother died.  They are the BEST chocolates and something we look forward to every Christmas.  I guess the pair of sisters came over and delivered them to Rufio since she’s not doing well and obviously couldn’t come pick them up.  That was so kind and thoughtful of them to do that!

I was doing dishes and it got really quiet, and I looked around to find Autumn.  I thought she was in the formal living room playing w/ Legos.  Nope … she had laid down on the floor and had fallen fast asleep!!!  She must have been super tired, b/c she slept for a good 2 hours.

I helped Dad put up the big ornaments from the ceiling between the living room & kitchen.  I also helped Mom put up the stockings.  This is a crummy picture b/c it was dark and I took it w/ my iPhone.  But I LOVE and cherish all our handmade stockings that have been made by 3 generations of women.  My Great Grandma Taft, my Grandma Johnson, and my Mom!  So much talent and time and love when into each and every single one of these stockings.

It’s a good thing that she took such a long nap, b/c they had open gym at one of the local cheer gyms, so I took Autumn there from 7 – 9:30.  Not bad for just $10!  Plus, she got to run around and play w/ some of the girls from her Lions cheer team that were there.  She had picked out her outfit earlier in the day and told me that she wanted her hair in a braided bun.  She cracks me up!

While she was at open gym, I had 2 1/2 free hours to myself.  I decided to go to Ross b/c I haven’t gotten any new clothes in a while.  It was SO NICE to try on 24 shirts & dresses w/out feeling rushed.  I texted this picture to Mom to see what she thought about this one.  I ended up not getting it b/c it was about an inch too short, plus it was $20.  I did get 6 shirts and most of them were on clearance.  SCORE!

The open gym was until 10:00, but I knew that was WAY too late for Autumn to be out, even w/ her nap.  I got back to the gym by 9:00 and we left a little bit after that.  It was fun to see Waverly & Max & Olivia again from cheer.  Autumn’s making a lion’s claw in this pic, which is why it’s blurry.  We came home and I got her right to bed.  I was really tired too, and then I remembered that I had been up since 6:00 am!