I have to be careful where I leave it!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Katie the Climber
Katie has lately started climbing the step stool if I don't put it away. I guess since she's gotten so good on the stairs, she's looking for something a little more challenging!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Katie's First Birthday
I can hardly believe that Katie is one already. Since her birthday was on a Saturday, we had the whole day together. She took two naps as usual and woke up in enough time to have her very own cake!
On Sunday, we invited both sides of the family over after church and had dinner, cake, and ice cream. Katie was pretty tired by the end of the night. She got a bunch of great gifts, though!
On Sunday, we invited both sides of the family over after church and had dinner, cake, and ice cream. Katie was pretty tired by the end of the night. She got a bunch of great gifts, though!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Not-Easter-But-Fancy Dress
Eliza is very particular about her clothes. It's come to the point that I don't dare go clothes shopping for her without her. Even when I DO take her, she later won't wear the clothes that she picked out. I think it's because she has a few favorite outfits and doesn't like to wear anything but her favorites.
Last year, I made the mistake of telling her that the dress was for Easter. So she wore it on Easter and refused to wear it again. I got her to wear it one more time with the understanding that we would give it to Ashleigh if she did.
With that in mind, I wanted to buy her and Katie matching Easter dresses. My mom offered to pick her up and take her shopping for a "nice dress". Never did I make the mistake of calling it an "Easter dress". Luckily, they found a dress that Eliza liked that was also in Katie's size.
Here they are on Easter Sunday:
By the way, Eliza has only worn the dress once so far...
Last year, I made the mistake of telling her that the dress was for Easter. So she wore it on Easter and refused to wear it again. I got her to wear it one more time with the understanding that we would give it to Ashleigh if she did.
With that in mind, I wanted to buy her and Katie matching Easter dresses. My mom offered to pick her up and take her shopping for a "nice dress". Never did I make the mistake of calling it an "Easter dress". Luckily, they found a dress that Eliza liked that was also in Katie's size.
Here they are on Easter Sunday:
By the way, Eliza has only worn the dress once so far...
Celebrations
My birthday was expensive this year. First I got braces, then Michael bought me an anniversary ring (to replace my wedding band that I lost), and I went on a shopping spree to Dress Barn. It was great fun, though! On my birthday, Nathaniel insisted that he and Michael make me breakfast in bed. It was fun, even though I had to get up to get the kids off to school! Then for lunch, some friends, family, and I went to Olive Garden to celebrate. The only sad part was that my teeth hurt from the braces, so I was a little limited in what I could get. The portabello mushroom ravioli was so good, though!
The week before Mother's Day, Scott and I built a raised vegetable garden. I've wanted one for the past two years, but we just hadn't gotten to it yet. Thanks for your help, Scott! Saturday was a busy day and I could tell it would be difficult for Michael to make his usual fancy breakfast on Sunday, so I told him that if he just wanted to do cereal, that was fine with me and that my favorite is Cocoa Puffs... So that's what I got. It was nice because lately I haven't been buying cold cereal. It was very crunchy (remember my braces?), but yummy! At church, the kids sang to the mothers, like they do every year. That is one of my favorite parts of Mother's Day! Then, after church, we went to my mom's house and had dinner with my mom, dad, Aaron and his family, and Scott. The kids love spending time with family!
Michael and my 14th Anniversary was on a Monday, so we decided to go out for dinner on Saturday. We went to NB and walked around, then decided to go to Old Man Rafferty's. That place always reminds me of Sara, since the two times I've been there, it was with her. On our anniversary, our whole family went to the church and deep cleaned it with the rest of the ward and the NB Branch. It was pretty fun and satisfying to see how clean it looked and smelled when we were done.
The week before Mother's Day, Scott and I built a raised vegetable garden. I've wanted one for the past two years, but we just hadn't gotten to it yet. Thanks for your help, Scott! Saturday was a busy day and I could tell it would be difficult for Michael to make his usual fancy breakfast on Sunday, so I told him that if he just wanted to do cereal, that was fine with me and that my favorite is Cocoa Puffs... So that's what I got. It was nice because lately I haven't been buying cold cereal. It was very crunchy (remember my braces?), but yummy! At church, the kids sang to the mothers, like they do every year. That is one of my favorite parts of Mother's Day! Then, after church, we went to my mom's house and had dinner with my mom, dad, Aaron and his family, and Scott. The kids love spending time with family!
Michael and my 14th Anniversary was on a Monday, so we decided to go out for dinner on Saturday. We went to NB and walked around, then decided to go to Old Man Rafferty's. That place always reminds me of Sara, since the two times I've been there, it was with her. On our anniversary, our whole family went to the church and deep cleaned it with the rest of the ward and the NB Branch. It was pretty fun and satisfying to see how clean it looked and smelled when we were done.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
New Easter Tradition?
Every year for the past few years, I've tried to put more of Christ into our Easter celebration. Last year and the year before, I got the kids some pictures of Christ to hang up on their walls. That was nice, and I'm sure it would've been even better and more effective if I had ordered them earlier so that they had gotten here BEFORE Easter Sunday...
Again, this year, I thought about buying them something from the LDS Distribution Center, but yet again, I was late placing my order, so I decided not to do it. So, I tried to come up with something else Christ-centered to do.
On Saturday, Michael and I had put our heads together (via cell phone while he was at the store) to come up with some new ideas for how we wanted to celebrate Easter. In the past, I've put together an Easter basket filled with goodies for each child. It gets a little expensive and do the kids really need a bunch of candy and toys that just get added to the stuff we already have? Michael suggested we get the kids the sugary kind of cereal that I don't buy too much anymore. I suggested that we have them do a follow-the-clues to a special treat at the end, but that they would have to answer questions about the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection to go on to the next clue. So Michael got all the "materials" we would need for our celebration.
On Sunday morning, we had everyone sit down in the living room. Then I read the story of the Atonement and Resurrection in the New Testament Stories book while Michael made up questions to ask. Then I went and got the sweet cereal and prizes. I showed them the boxes of cereal and told them which one was theirs and that they could earn their box if they could answer a question about the Savior. They each answered their questions correctly, sometimes with help, and got their cereal and prizes. They were so excited about having their very own box of cereal and I'm pretty sure I guessed their favorite cereals: Jonathon - Trix, Christian - Lucky Charms, Nathaniel - Cocoa Puffs, Eliza - Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Timmy - Cinnamon Life, and Katie - Cheerios. The prizes were: a game for the older kids to play, a Thomas toy for Timmy, and a shape-sorter for Katie.
Church was excellent with all the talks and lessons centered on Christ and the Atonement. Eliza gave a talk about the Resurrection in Primary. It was so cute.
After church, we had a family gathering at our house. After our yummy ham dinner, we did the follow-the-clues game and all of the kids did great with their questions. Our "exercise" in the morning seemed to have been very good because they all answered every question correctly and without hesitation. I could tell that my dad was impressed... At the end they each got two bags of candy, one from us and one from Grandma and Grandpa (Katie and Spencer each got a small box of Cheerios). Scott and Linda had to leave to put Spencer to bed and the older kids (Eliza up to Jonathon) went hunting for eggs outside. Luckily, my mom brought colored eggs since we didn't do them this year. It was cold, especially since it was windy. But, it just wouldn't have been the same if the kids hadn't looked for Easter eggs outside!
It was kind of weird to have so few of us together. My parents, Scott, Scott, Linda, and Spencer came. Aaron and his family were in the Poconos this year and John and Kathy usually spend Easter with her family. Still, we had a great time! We might do something like this every year!
Again, this year, I thought about buying them something from the LDS Distribution Center, but yet again, I was late placing my order, so I decided not to do it. So, I tried to come up with something else Christ-centered to do.
On Saturday, Michael and I had put our heads together (via cell phone while he was at the store) to come up with some new ideas for how we wanted to celebrate Easter. In the past, I've put together an Easter basket filled with goodies for each child. It gets a little expensive and do the kids really need a bunch of candy and toys that just get added to the stuff we already have? Michael suggested we get the kids the sugary kind of cereal that I don't buy too much anymore. I suggested that we have them do a follow-the-clues to a special treat at the end, but that they would have to answer questions about the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection to go on to the next clue. So Michael got all the "materials" we would need for our celebration.
On Sunday morning, we had everyone sit down in the living room. Then I read the story of the Atonement and Resurrection in the New Testament Stories book while Michael made up questions to ask. Then I went and got the sweet cereal and prizes. I showed them the boxes of cereal and told them which one was theirs and that they could earn their box if they could answer a question about the Savior. They each answered their questions correctly, sometimes with help, and got their cereal and prizes. They were so excited about having their very own box of cereal and I'm pretty sure I guessed their favorite cereals: Jonathon - Trix, Christian - Lucky Charms, Nathaniel - Cocoa Puffs, Eliza - Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Timmy - Cinnamon Life, and Katie - Cheerios. The prizes were: a game for the older kids to play, a Thomas toy for Timmy, and a shape-sorter for Katie.
Church was excellent with all the talks and lessons centered on Christ and the Atonement. Eliza gave a talk about the Resurrection in Primary. It was so cute.
After church, we had a family gathering at our house. After our yummy ham dinner, we did the follow-the-clues game and all of the kids did great with their questions. Our "exercise" in the morning seemed to have been very good because they all answered every question correctly and without hesitation. I could tell that my dad was impressed... At the end they each got two bags of candy, one from us and one from Grandma and Grandpa (Katie and Spencer each got a small box of Cheerios). Scott and Linda had to leave to put Spencer to bed and the older kids (Eliza up to Jonathon) went hunting for eggs outside. Luckily, my mom brought colored eggs since we didn't do them this year. It was cold, especially since it was windy. But, it just wouldn't have been the same if the kids hadn't looked for Easter eggs outside!
It was kind of weird to have so few of us together. My parents, Scott, Scott, Linda, and Spencer came. Aaron and his family were in the Poconos this year and John and Kathy usually spend Easter with her family. Still, we had a great time! We might do something like this every year!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Delicious Activity Days
Last week for Activity Days, we had a garden-themed activity. We started out planting a couple of seeds in cardboard egg cartons. Then we talked about the benefits of gardening. We rounded out the activity by making Chocolate Fondue and dipping strawberries in it. Even though it would have tasted better if the strawberries were home-grown, it was still delicious!
Guess which part of the night the girls liked the best?
Guess which part of the night the girls liked the best?
Basketball Champs
Jonathon played basketball on our ward's young men's team this year. The season didn't start out all that great, but by the time the tournament started, they were doing pretty well. In fact, Jonathon's team ended up winning the championship on March 14th. Go YM!!
Here are a few pictures of the game:
Here are some fans:
Nathaniel, Jewel, and Katie
Needless to say, our Saturdays during the months of January, February, and half of March were pretty busy! Jonathon seemed to really enjoy it, though. In fact, right after the season was over, he started asking Michael and me to buy needles so that he could re-inflate Michael's and his basketballs. Once he inflated them, he was outside shooting baskets in our basketball hoop for the first couple of days (not so much since). I'm glad because the hoop has been sorely neglected for the past couple of years! Hopefully, he and Christian will practice since both of them will be playing next year!
Here are a few pictures of the game:
Here are some fans:
Nathaniel, Jewel, and KatieNeedless to say, our Saturdays during the months of January, February, and half of March were pretty busy! Jonathon seemed to really enjoy it, though. In fact, right after the season was over, he started asking Michael and me to buy needles so that he could re-inflate Michael's and his basketballs. Once he inflated them, he was outside shooting baskets in our basketball hoop for the first couple of days (not so much since). I'm glad because the hoop has been sorely neglected for the past couple of years! Hopefully, he and Christian will practice since both of them will be playing next year!
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