Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas










Sunday, December 14, 2008

Our Week

On Monday, we decorated the sugar cookies we made last Sunday. Then Monday evening we took several plates of cookies to some friends. As we were getting ready to go I couldn't find Logan...I found him (poor kid, he always scrounging under the kitchen table!) under the kitchen table...he had found a misplaced sugar cookie and was happily munching away.

On Wednesday, we got a friend for our guinea pig. Rascal joined our family. There was some fighting at first as they worked out their hierarchy. We set up a make-shift separation in their cage for a few days. But they are doing fine now.

We had a busy weekend. On Friday night we enjoyed a yummy dinner and a nice program at our ward (church) party. On Saturday Kessiah and Jenessa put on their dance recital at two different locations. And Saturday evening was the annual town bowling party. Ryan was having an off night...he tied with Jenessa! (yes, we were using a lane with bumpers)

Logan has definately entered the "I like to play in the toilet phase," This has become a problem because Sienna is just getting really good at going potty by herself but is not so good at getting the bathroom door closed when she leaves! So, I'm constantly on bathroom door alert...looking for Logan and checking the doors!

Cute Sienna quote: "Mommy, can you turn the sun off?" In the morning when she sits down at the table to eat breakfast, if the blinds are open the sun is shining right in her face and she hates it! So, I hear this often in the morning as my clue to shut the blinds!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Dance Recital


Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I want to be just like you

I had such a nice mommy moment yesterday...Kessiah said "I'm going to be just like you when I grow up. I'm going to make my kids do chores and we are going to homeschool and do gymnastics and karate." Isn't that great...one of those moments that make everything worth it.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Our Week: Guinea Pig and Christmas Tree

We have a guinea pig! Kessiah has been waiting patiently to get what she wanted...which we still don't have quite what we wanted so I guess she is still being patient. We had intended to buy 2 guinea pigs at the same time, but we haven't been able to get 2 of the same gender with the colors that she wanted. So, we went ahead and got one male and hope to get another one soon. He has been named Milky Way and doesn't suffer from a lack of attention! I am almost looking forward to getting the second one because I think there will be less fighting! I have to set the timer when we have him out because Jenessa wants to hold him as much as Kessiah does. The first day we had him, it was pretty hard to keep the girls focused on school but it has gotten better. For anyone who might think "Ew! Gross...a guinea pig!?!"...he reminds me of a small rabbit without the ears...so he's not too bad!

Friday night was our annual light parade and Civic Center lighting. It wasn't too cold (especially compared to some other years) but of course the girls were still cold and glad to get inside after the parade. We got to see Santa and tried to take a picture, but Kessiah and Jenessa were the only ones who thought Santa was nice enough to have a conversation with!

We bought our Christmas tree yesterday and decorated it today. Ryan really likes to have real trees...so that's what we do. All three girls had a great time pulling out all the Christmas tree decorations and putting them on the tree after Ryan and I put the lights on. It was fun to hear Kessiah and Jenessa commenting on the decorations as they pulled them out of the box..."I forgot about this one," or "I made this one last year."






 Kessiah, Jenessa and I also made several batches of Christmas cookies this afternoon to take to friends. Sienna had fallen asleep during our baking frenzy so it was a little bit easier to manage...although because she took a late nap she is still awake now at 10:00 p.m.! (Just for the record, she finally fell asleep at 11:00 p.m.! I just LOVE this stage when they are trying to work themselves out of an afternoon nap)

Ryan put child safety locks on all the kitchen cupboards yesterday. Yeah! Logan has been quite the menace lately getting into the cupboards and creating quite the messes with the treasures that he finds! So, we have put a stop to that! He has been pretty funny lately when I talk to him, he answers my questions with "ya" quite frequently. I ask him if he is tired... "ya", if he is hungry... "ya." It's cute and makes him sound so grown up because he answers appropriately. He has also started bring me his milk cup when he wants more milk. It's nice to know that he is learning to communicate his needs!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Our Annual Gingerbread House





I think this was our 5th annual gingerbread house creation, I'll have to go back and look at pictures to check. Always fun...and a bit chaotic! I did put Logan to bed before we got started, sometimes Sienna and Logan involved in the same activity is just a bit too much! It was fun to have Nana and Papa there to enjoy the activity with us.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Kessiah turns 8!











Wow! It's a little hard for me to believe that I have an 8 year old! Kessiah had a great day on her birthday. It started out with a yummy breakfast of hashbrowns, bacon and eggs. We went to church and she gave a talk in Primary (she loves giving talks and volunteers for them whenever she can!). After church, we enjoyed a delicious chicken dinner and she opened her gifts.

We had her baptism that evening. She has been looking forward to gettting baptized for so long it's hard to believe that it is over now. Ryan did have to bapize her twice because her big toe popped up the first time. We ended the day with chocolate cake and ice cream back at home! It was a wonderful day and I hope she has some great memories from it.

I am so grateful to have Kessiah in our family, she is such a good example for her younger siblings. She has a helpful and obedient attitude that is a positive influence in our family.

Our Week: Thanksgiving





We had a great Thanksgiving week. Before the big day we did a few craft projects including making individualized placemats and a thankful tree. On Wednesday Kessiah and Jenessa helped me prepare some of our yummy side dishes. They were both very helpful. I let Kessiah cut some things with a real knife for the first time. She was very proud of herself and kept wanting to know what else I had for her to cut. Jenessa tried cracking some eggs, we just had to remind her to crack them hard enough on the island to break the shell. She was a little timid because she was afraid they would break and make a mess!

My parents got here late Wednesday night and have been able to share the long weekend with us. It has been really nice to have them here and spend some time with them...plus Ryan and I have been able to get away and do some Christmas shopping together!

My dad's birthday was on Friday, we enjoyed being able to spend that day with him and have an excuse to eat more cake! (Can you count how many cakes we've had this month...Sienna's birthday, Kessiah's birthday party, Pa-pa's birthday and Kessiah's birthday...not to mention the banana cream pie and pumpkin dessert on Thanksgiving!)

Ryan also got the Christmas lights up outside this weekend. Yeah! We look so festive! Now, we just need to work on the inside.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Fun with Nana and Papa

My parents are with with us for a few days.  We have enjoyed spending some time with them.  We went to a gingerbread festival in Prescott where the kids got to decorate their own gingerbread men.







Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Karate Belt Promotion







Kessiah and Jenessa both promoted to green leader belts today.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thanksgiving Theme

OK, this is mostly for my own benefit in the future but if anyone can use it great! I will be adding to it in the next few days... do you have any more ideas for me?

Books:
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott
If You Were At The First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma
Let's Celebrate Thanksgiving by Peter and Connie Roop
Pilgrims by Mary Pope Osborne and Natialie Pope Boyce
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas
Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson
Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons
Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation by Diane Stanley
The First Thanksgiving by Jean Craighead George
The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Crafts:
Crafts for Thanksgiving by Kathy Ross
Thanksgiving Fun by Ronne Randall and Annabel Spenceley
Familyfun.com

Books I want to check out next year!
Grateful: A Song of Giving Thanks by John Buccino
Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
Thank You, World by Alice B. Mcginty
Giving Thanks by Jonathan Landon

Monday, November 24, 2008

Favorite Quotes

"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons." Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker

I read this quote today and thought it was pretty powerful...the more I have thought about it throughout the day I'm amazed at how it relates to so many areas of my life. It reminded me of another quote that I wrote down recently.

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

I love quotes like this, they help me from getting sidetracked on unimportant things and stay focused on doing the things that really matter and make a difference in my life and to my family.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Our Week








Our big project last week was getting Kessiah's pinata finished for her birthday party. (See post about Kessiah's birthday for more info)

We spent some time last week talking about Thanksgiving. I've even learned a few new things! For example, did you know that at the first Thanksgiving the children served the adults and had to eat last! The children also had to eat standing up, only the adults got to sit down! Kessiah and Jenessa are worried that I'm going to start some new traditions! As we were talking about the Indians one day, Sienna said "I a Indian and go to the candy party!" She was referring to Halloween when we went trunk or treating in the church parking lot. I thought that was pretty cute to refer to it as a "candy party" And now that our Halloween candy is gone, she thinks we need to go to another "candy party!"

Our fun science project of the week was measuring out the length of our intestines with yarn. Kessiah and Jenessa thought it was really strange that our long intestine is so much shorter than our small intestine and there was some discussion about the need to change the names!

One evening at dinner Logan was making quite a bit of noise while sitting in his high chair so Ryan put his finger to his mouth and said "Shhhh!" Logan copied him by putting his finger to his own mouth and blowing. He has done it several times since then as well (with encouragement). What a cutie and such a copy cat!

Kessiah's Birthday Party, Pinata and Guinea Pigs!








Kessiah had a birthday party on Saturday. We had six kids show up for pizza, a pinata and games.

Kessiah had decided that she wanted a pinata for her birthday party. I was just going to buy one until Ryan thought it would be a fun family project to make one! Thankfully, Ryan was there on Monday night to make the form of the bear with balloons and cover it with the first layer of newspaper and flour paste. Unfortunately, his schedule made it necessary for me to be in charge of the rest of it! It really wasn't too bad except for putting on the crepe paper pieces which was very time consuming, we ended up just putting the pieces on flat on the bottom of the bear so it wouldn't take quite so much time. We did make some memories and Kessiah thought it was great!

After her party we went to a pet store and bought the supplies for her future guinea pigs. (She really wanted a pet last year...don't ask me why since we already have 2 dogs. I told her she had to wait until she was 8 years old and prove to me that she could be responsible enough to take care of them. My real reasoning in making her wait was so that she could use them as a 4-H project but this fall I realized that she wasn't quite old enough...but it was too late for me to tell her she had to wait another year! She has been discussing what pet to get for the past year and waiting as patiently as she could for this birthday to come. After doing some research I felt like guinea pigs were the best option for our family...next to fish which were not an option in her mind! We didn't get the guinea pigs at the same time as the supplies because she didn't like the colors they had. They should be getting more in on Wednesday, so I'm sure we will have 2 little piggies living with us before this week is over!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sienna turns 3!







Sienna's birthday was today! Last night I asked her if she wanted a cake or cupcakes...the answer was cupcakes. So I then let her pick out which cake mix she wanted..the answer was our traditional polka dot cake mix. She has made it clear over the past several days that she wanted a pizza party (probably because Kessiah has been talking about her pizza birthday party coming up soon). So we made pizza for lunch today and enjoyed some yummy cupcakes. It took her a few tries to get her candles blown out, but she managed to accomplish the task! I wonder what she wished for!

She received an electronic computer toy and some dress up costumes (dragon, horse, and supergirl). Her favorite costume was the dragon, she put it on almost immediately. She also liked the horse but didn't pay much attention to the supergirl costume today.

It's a joy to watch Sienna grow and learn. At times she is so exasperating and at other times she makes me laugh out loud! I can't believe my baby girl is 3!