December Happenings

Beth and Jenna testing out art project idea for story time. Beth repeatedly tried to eat the paint.

First snow fall of the year before Thanksgiving. Dad shoveled the yard to make a snow man this big. He was fun while he lasted. 

Seeing Santa at a ward Christmas party. These girls were thrilled! Natalie wants Bo Peep from story time and Jenna wants Jessie. They decided a month ago and haven’t waivered. 

I love Jenna showing her two green pointer fingers in this picture. She is really a kind sister to Beth and most of the time tries to listen to mom. All my girls continue to refine and teach me daily. 

Begin Again

I have a returning thought of needing to put more effort towards recording our daily family life. I always answer that thought with, “I don’t have time.” 

I think this is something I will regret if I don’t do it now. So here is to starting again! I hope. ☺️

When Justin left Monday morning he told me he didn’t have any breaks until late afternoon. That didn’t sound like it would work very well for my day. I was bummed as it was Valentines and wanted to connect at some point that day. The younger two and I headed to town with the intent to purchase a treat and leave it on his desk with a note. The bakery I planned to buy from was closed. We headed to Red Apple and found Justin just getting out of his pickup in the parking lot. What a serendipitous moment! We decided to quickly go on a walk back at the campus together. It wasn’t long, but truly joyful to get to spend a short amount of time together on Valentines! Beth and Jimmy enjoyed it too. 

It has been cold enough most of the winter that the girls have been able to play on the ice in the canal. It was not this way last winter. We only got one weekend or so previously. 

Our house is full of Valentines Candy from school parties. It seems many classmates gave multiple items, not just a single Valentine.  I am asked a couple times a day, “What color is my tongue?” I told her she looked like a lizard! 

This boy turned four months last weekend. What can I say about him?

He brings an incredible amount of joy to each person in our family. Snuggling and talking to him helps each of us live in the present and remember to smile!

He is doing well grabbing things with his hands. He has found his voice and loves to squeal and talk or get mom’s attention when he isn’t happy. 

Loves to be outside and take baths.

Has changed from being a newborn to an older baby as he aged from 3-4 months.

Has great head control and likes to ride in the baby pack facing out. 

One day Natalie came home later than her sisters. When she walked in he just laughed and cooed at her. He seems to really enjoy talking to her.

We can’t imaging life with out him. Having him has shifted our world dramatically and there have been hard things, but equally or more wonderful things. 

Happy four months Jimmy Jim!

Jenna after she finally had her way with my makeup. I think she was embarrassed she got caught and not happy to have a picture taken.  

Pig tails for the girl who won’t leaver her ponytail in. I was gushing over these all day. She plays the toddler roll well. 

This girls loves to read and be read to.

Life with these two during the week is a blessing even when it is hard. 

The Armor of God

While studying Ephesians for Come Follow Me we took advantage of teaching the ‘Armor of God.’ I knew this concept would stick a little better if we could create some armor for the girls to dress up in. Thankfully, the Friend had a simple wonderful idea for this. 

The shield of faith was a muffin tin and the sword of the Spirit is a light saber! I learned while studying these scriptures that as we think on the fact that the sword is what we use for our offense in fighting, the sword represents the Holy Ghost. Our prophet is asking us to increase in our ability to receive personal revelation because we will be better able to fight the adversary and his attacks. 

I have loved studying and teaching from the Come Follow Me manual this year. It has helped our family come closer together and learn the scriptures better. We have not been perfect at it, but have tried. How grateful I am for the change our prophet saw our church needed to make so families can better teach their children and take responsibility for their own gospel learning. 

One more picture from our studies this year

General Conference Weekend

Natalie filling out her General Conference notebook during the first session. 

We try to do fun activities and traditions to get everyone excited about Conference. This year the swimming pool was handy from the carnival the night before. A last minute idea came to fill  it with blankets and pillows for the girls to sit and lounge in during the sessions. 

  

After Conference was over and we needed a break from our living room, Justin and the girls harvested all our pumpkins. It has been such a delight watching these plants grow all summer long. We would think wow, there are a lot out there and yet another would sprout out and grow. I feel so blessed as we harvest from our garden and from the abundant spirit we felt listening to our Prophet and Church leaders speak this weekend. Now to implement and apply what was taught. 

Summer Days

I haven’t taken many pictures at all of our summer days. Many of them feel so ordinary, but I know I will look back and be grateful for the ordinary days. I am trying to figure out the balance of work, play and rest for our family.

It is amazing to me what a year does for the development of a child. My two oldest are definitely needing more responsibility and teaching, rather than time to imagine, explore and play like babies and toddlers. I had a hard time imagining this day would come. It is so nice to have help with sweeping the floor, vacuuming, doing dishes and weeding. 

We have also been busy trying to read for enjoyment and passing off the summer reading  hours. This has been a really good challenge and goal to work on. Everyone enjoys the time reading. Beth loves books just like her older sisters and can often be seen toting a book along to bring to us to look at with her. 

Justin made donuts with the girls while I was gone at a long series of church meetings. Everyone was a fan. 

Other big achievements for our family is that Beth started real walking while we were away on Trek. She is getting faster and more balanced every day. I love watching her toddle    along. Here she is using our heater as a seat during one of her walks.

Lastly, the girls are enjoying the water activities summer brings. Especially their cousins pool. Jenna borrowed this swim suit for the first swim of the season. She looked like she had a ballerina tutu on.

I feel like the days are flying by. The Fourth of July will be here swiftly. We will keep soaking in the sun and trying to make the most of our days. 

Last Day of School

Picture on the left is the first day of school, picture on the right is the last. This girl has completed her Kindergarten year. What a year of growth and change. Shas learned to read, ride a bike, tie her shoes, do addition and subtraction and is still working on getting up with a good attitude in the morning (but then again so am I). We are grateful for the wonderful teachers she has had and the friends she has made. The dual language program has been a good fit for her. It is amazing to watch her learn a new language and be able to understand it at such a young age. 

Education is such a gift and I am grateful we had the opportunity to be part of a good school this year. Now it is time for summer with less structure but hopefully different kinds of learning, growing and fun. Justin put in garden beds two weeks ago and I am looking forward to including the girls in the work and reward of gardening.