Motherhood, Playing Catch-Up, and Other Things

I've had my #1 job on my mind lately. Last week we were watching Family Feud and the question was something along the lines of "how much do you think a housewife's/homemaker's job is worth annually?" I was shocked when the #1 answer was $30,000 a year. I really realized how devalued my job is by society, and that is somewhat depressing. I do know that the only thing that matters is that I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing.  I read this article this week from an old Ensign and really loved this quote:

“I used to long to be out in the world working with adults, using my brains and my education,” says Diana, a 34-year-old mother of five. “But one day I realized the flip side of that argument—does that mean that only someone without any brains or education is suited to rearing a family? That wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to raise my children. I wanted them to have the smartest, most educated, most spiritual person I could find. That realization became an incentive for me. I stopped feeling that my skills were being wasted at home and started to make myself worthy of this important calling.

“Besides, I didn’t want my children to be raised by a committee of sitters, teachers, relatives, older siblings, and parents. Sure, I need help occasionally, but I wanted to be the principal player here.”

Just a good reminder to me.

Warning! The following content is extremely sentimental picture heavy! If you are not related to me and even if you are, you might find this next part somewhat boring.

First, Christmas
I love everything about Christmas. This year was great with just our little family at home. Well, Christmas morning Luke woke up and snuck through our barrier and got to the presents and candy before us. That sneaky kid! Oh well. We had a great morning.

 Love this expression! Funny thing is, he pulled it out of Grady's stocking.

The gift I was most excited about giving them were the superhero capes that I had a friend make for them. They are customized with their first initial on the backs. I was so glad that Grady liked his cape and liked wearing it too. He wanted to be just like Luke. Grady calls his cape his "Dun Da Dun!".  I have about half a bazillion more pictures of them in their capes that I have taken that I'll probably share sooner or later. This is them opening their capes.

 Super Luke flying off the couch.

 Luke also got a Nerf gun which went great along with his super hero cape.

 Grady even loved his cape too.

 Grady's main present was this dump truck which he calls "tractor". Luke got one when he was Grady's age, and he still plays with it almost everyday. Grady knew just what to do with it.

 It's an Allen family tradition to bury the kids in all the wrapping paper after all the Christmas fun is done and the kids pop up out of it.

Next, Jeffrey's Homecoming
Well my little brother finally came home from his mission Dec. 30th. He extended his mission for 6 weeks so we had missed him for 3 Thanksgivings and 3 Christmases! He's a hard guy to live without, but I'm so proud of his service. He served in the Germany, Frankfurt mission, and yes he brought home chocolate! Jeffrey went off to BYU on Monday so we only got to spend 3 days with him. We had a lot of fun! And thanks to my cousin Courtney for snapping all these great pics at the airport and my cousin Celeste for letting us stay at her house!

Jeffrey's friends and Luke with my cousin's son Carter.

Me with a couple aunts, cousins, and Necia.

 Necia and my Uncle Pete comparing bellies. Just 3 more weeks til Necia's due date!

 My sister Necia and Jeffrey.

At first Grady didn't know what to think about Jeffrey. Then my mom put this fruit loop lei on Jeffrey and suddenly Grady was Jeffrey's best friend.

The next day we made our way up treacherous roads to my parent's house. Luke and Grady absolutely loved playing in the snow. I was really surprised at how much they loved it.

My mom cross-country skiing in their front yard.

Luke's first snow angel.

 Just love Grady's face in this shot! We had to keep pulling up his hat in order for him to be able to see properly.

Action shot!

Grady also had possibly his worst injury ever at my parents house. He tripped over Luke and his tooth went into his upper lip and he tore his frenum (I learned a new word). The frenum is the little piece of skin that attaches your lip to your gums. Poor kid. He just wouldn't stop crying and  his mouth wouldn't stop bleeding. He looks pretty funny now. He has a huge black piece of skin that is dangling over his upper lip about to fall off in the next few days.