Neal & Keri's Blah Blah Blahg

We Heart Valentine's Day

2012-01-25T11:36:00.000-06:00

This week we hit the dollar store and spent $3 to spruce up the house with Valentine's decorations. Sophie kept asking for us to put up decorations that we didn't have. Now we have a lovely wire heart garland swagged over the window treatments in the living room, pink hearts doilies on the windows of the dining room, and puppy-love themed window clings on the kids' bathroom mirror.

Today we tried our hand at making yarn hearts with cornstarch glue which is wonderfully nasty. Sophie made two and let me know she was ready to go play. She pushed through one more before mom relieved her of the "enforced fun." We have to wait a day for them to dry but we plan on hanging them from light fixture.

Hip Hip Hooray for Rhys!

2012-01-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

Rhys received his annual evaluation for developmental services this week and did wonderfully. He not only made a years growth in his cognitive ability but has also closed any gaps. That is very good news indeed! All that "play" really paid off. He also has receptive language skills on the lower end of the average range. His social/emotional scores were above average for his age level by quite a bit.

Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) has undergone some changes due to, we have no doubt, funding. A child can no longer qualify for services with just an articulation delay (how they pronounce their sounds when speaking). So we were quite pleased that he barely qualified under expressive language delay by 1%! Now he can still receive services until his birthday and we can focus on expressive language (2 word utterances and basic concepts) with his developmental specialist, and articulation (his phonological processes--for my SLP friends that are in the know) through his speech-language pathologist.

We are so pleased that he has really increased his understanding, overall communication, and maturity over the past year. He has developed a wonderful personality! Now we can focus more fully on expressive communication, pronouncing sounds, and toilet training. We are currently making plans for preschool which should start in August if he is fully potty trained. We have 8 months so we are assured he can do it.

We are so proud of our son!

National Popcorn Day

2012-01-20T16:12:00.000-06:00

So Thursday was National Popcorn Day and apparently, Keri was not the only one to know this. Sophie's preschool was celebrating all day long.

We started before preschool by making a new popcorn seasoning; our old go-to being salt. This was a dill seasoning. Sophie filled the bowl and Rhys gave it a good shake to mix.

While at school, Sophie played in popcorn, finger painted a large popped kernel, and decorated a paper bag that was filled to bursting. She was so excited to bring it home for us to all share.

On the way home from school we picked up more popping corn at the store. Once home we ate up the popcorn she had bagged and popped more for our project. While Rhys slept, Sophie and Keri strung popcorn to hang on the tree for the birds.

That night we used our seasoning liberally! Neal having misunderstood Keri's directions, whilst she yelled down the hall, busy bathing the kids, and he poured 3 times the amount of seasoning called for. It was very salty but we pushed through and enjoyed celebrating the end of National Popcorn Day.

Waiters and Bankers and a Case of Pink Eye

2012-01-13T11:47:00.001-06:00

Thursday, Keri got to finish up her preschool week by teaching about two other members in our community--waiters and bankers!

We talked about being a waiter first. We talked about when we go to a restaurant we get to choose what we want from the menu. The kids were given two choices and they stood on the side of the room that represented their preference several times.

Then we moved to the table and talked about how a waiter gives you a place setting. We made our own and served (glued) food to our plate.

After that was real snack time. We participated in dramatic play and took a friend's order (circled their snack choices) and went to the kitchen to prepare their food and served it to them.

After we finished snack we wiped up after a friend because a waiter cleans up after us.

After a little more play time we switched to talking about bankers. We talked about piggy banks and that a bank is like a building with a big piggy bank called a vault. We reviewed the letter V. We labeled several V work pictures and hid one in our vault (a box!) and had to guess which one was missing.

Then we had show and tell. Everyone had a different V item or picture. It was great discussing each one.

Then we shook a piggy bank with coins and sang "I have the money, yes I do, I have the money, how about you" (pointing to a friend). Then we handed it to them and sang again until everyone had a turn.

We labeled the 4 coins and talked about color and size. Then they picked a coin from the bank and tried to match it to the 4 displayed. We labeled again.

We had a good time playing at "work" today.

To prove the fun never stops, I got a call from Sophie's preschool that she had pink eye and was off to pick her up immediately after Rhys' preschool. That afternoon we had eye drops to start treating and had to alert all our co-op preschool pals that we had a case of pink eye in the house.

Sophie has been a great sport about getting the eye drops and cleaning her eye. We are all washing our hands like crazy and checking our eyes to the point of paranoia!

Sadly, we were not able to join Rhys' friends for a special trip to our local fire department due to the infection. Did I just touch my eye?...

Do You Love Your Job?

2012-01-10T14:38:00.003-06:00

Keri gets to teach preschool this week and we are talking about different jobs people have in our community. Today we got funky with hair as we discussed what hairdressers do. We compared our hair and talked about our salon experiences.

We read What I Like About Me! by Allia Zobel-Nolan. Then we talked about if we don't like what God blessed us with, we can go to the hairdresser so they can try to change it. Okay, not really. We talked about how we all have different hair and can style it different ways.

We introduced that a blow dryer is one of the tools used by hairdressers and other objects they may use, i.e., hairspray, comb, ribbon for bows, curlers. Then we experimented with the blow dryer and they got to pick something to blast across the table with the blow dryer. We discussed light, heavy, soft, forceful, hot, warm, and loud.

Then we got to our art project. We discussed long, short, curly, and straight hair. They drew faces on paper plates and choose the best 'do' for their hair, using colorful strips of construction paper. Keri taught them how to wrap strips around their pencils to get it curled (great for fine motor) and a few attempted it.

For snack, we introduced what office workers might do. We got out our computer keyboards and found the letter V, the letter at the beginning of their names, and a few others, and covered them with the carrot coins and raisins. Then they gobbled them up.

At sharing time, we shared our office supply finds with our friends and talked about what each one is for and experimented with using it. They loved that, especially the hole punch.

We discussed that office workers have a lot of paperwork they need to keep neat. We categorized pictures of orange, blue, and pink items into color labeled folders. Then counted how many of each color we had.

We learned that some office workers go to work in tall buildings and they may have to take the elevator. We did dramatic play of going to work, getting in the elevator, pushing the buttons and counting as we went to the desired floor. For number recognition and counting practice Keri did include a 13th floor. She's teaching math here, not superstition!

It was a fun and hectic morning and she is looking forward to Thursday when she covers waiters and bankers. Never a dull moment on preschool days!

Previous Quote of the Blog

2012-01-04T13:42:00.002-06:00

Christmas, in its essence, is much more...enduring than the many minor things of life [that] we too often use to adorn it....We feel and know in our heart—that Christmas is about the Christ. -- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, First Presidency Christmas Devotional

We Started a Blog!--AGAIN!

2012-01-02T21:26:00.000-06:00

We've just got it going and I'm sure we'll be making tweaks here and there but please visit our new blog: PUT THAT IN MY MOUTH for a glance at our food/recipe interests.

Blunt Force Trauma

2011-12-29T21:52:00.001-06:00

Today Rhys got to go to the hospital. Neal was in the backyard with the kids and I was in the kitchen when I heard Rhys crying pretty hard. He had left the backyard and made his way into the garage and to the door connecting it to our house dripping blood the whole way. When I opened the door the red stuff helped me register that there was something wrong. I quickly called Neal in for back up and we put pressure and ice on the wound until we could see what we were working with--a deep jagged gash on his chin. These pictures were taken with my phone so I apologize for the quality but you get the idea.

Neither of us saw anything happen. Neal was busy pulling out old tomato plants on the side of the back yard when whatever happened. Later we looked and think it was an old bike he must have fell off of or something.

We ended up at the ER and waited about 3 hours before they were able to stitch him up. He had stopped crying back at home was was rather content waiting. He even fell asleep during peak nap time hours for about 30 minutes. The ER was crazy! I got up once to change his diaper and there were no seats when I got back to the waiting area. I later found out that they typically get 5 people per hour on a slow day and today they were getting about 30 people an hour!

We finally got stitched up which was not fun for Rhys or Mommy! Two inside and 5 more to close him up. He did pretty good though and the man stitching him was sweating but being patient because Rhys was moving quite a bit. He did a great job getting through it and was pleasant the rest of the day. He occasionally tells us "ow" -- a total understatement! Stitches should be out in about 6 days. It's under his chin so scaring shouldn't be to noticeable.

You're a trooper, Rhys!

National Thank You Note Day

2011-12-29T17:32:00.001-06:00

Did you know that December 26th is National Thank You Note Day?! I don't know who said so but I'm a nut for the bizarre, mostly unknown observances as well as the traditional, popularized one. So we sat down and as part of our Family Home Evening, discussed gratitude briefly and went to town writing thank yous. Here, the kids are making their thank you letters for Santa.

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T20:50:00.001-06:00

We all slept well. When everyone was out of bed, we let the kids unload their stockings first. Rhys was not pleased that we had disrupted his usual morning routine of cartoons and breakfast and had to be coaxed into exploring his stocking. Sophie noticed Santa had accepted her gift and left not a crumb of the cookies. She checked and saw that the reindeer had eaten all the carrots.

We had breakfast next. Neal made up some hash browns and bacon while Keri made eggnog french toast.

Then we helped the kids open their presents from family and Santa.

Then we were into our church clothes and off to a Christmas Sacrament meeting. I know the clothes don't matter to God but everyone looked so merry in their holiday red and green. It took some time for the priesthood holders to pass the sacrament as there was a lot of family visiting. The music and narration of the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon and the Bible was beautiful.

Back at home we played with new toys and games, rested, and then started prepping dinner. Rudy and Becky joined us after spending the morning in Louisiana and driving back to Plano. We caught up on family and then sat down to Neal's choice for dinner--tamales (black bean, cheese, and chicken-tomatillo), Spanish rice, corn on the cob, and salad.

After dinner we opened presents from Oma and Opa, played games, ate sweets, including Neal's pie that turned out so yummy. It was a wonderful, low-key, joyous Christmas.

T'was the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-25T23:08:00.001-06:00

Had an awesome Christmas Eve. Took it pretty easy--did minimal grocery shopping, went out to lunch, played games inside and then got started on dinner.

For Christmas Eve dinner, Keri chose to make breakfast (Neal got to choose Christmas Day dinner). We had Orange Waffles with Cranberry Syrup and they were great. Used whole wheat flour and corn starch for the cake flour and nearly doubled the zest.

Then Neal finished up his pumpkin-butternut pie. Don't ask Neal to cut butter into flour with two knifes. He turns into Scrooge. But when his pie comes out perfect he turns into the spirit of Christmas himself. Although he did state that the color of the pie looked like "baby crap." The coloring looks great in this photo though.

We watched The Nativity movie, which is minutes, a few times and talked them through the Bible's Christmas story while it played. Then we got the carrots put out on the back porch for Santa's reindeer and Sophie put her present to Santa and cookies near the fireplace.

Then it was off to bed and Sophie got the Three Wise Women of Christmas as a bedtime story. Rhys got the simple version on Jesus' birth from his board book New Testament.

Neal and I wound down and flipped channels catching a few scenes from A Christmas Story. It was a very good day.

Something Crumby for Kriss Kringle

2011-12-23T22:24:00.001-06:00

This week the kids and Keri heard a little Christmas gem on the radio:
How Many Cookies Can Santa Claus Eat? by Tom Paxton

How many cookies can Santa Claus eat?
How hungry will he be?
We'd better pile the plate so high
With cookies nearly to the sky
To feed Saint Nick so he can fly
To kids like you and me

Well, it certainly got Keri thinking about one of our favorite traditions--making treats for Santa. It was our advent activity for tonight. This year we did a Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookie that turned out great. Used whole wheat flout, crunchy PB instead of creamy, and added chocolate chips instead of chopped peanuts. The kids had a blast pounding the pretzels into bits.

Everyone got to sample before our little cubs were scooted off to bed. Somehow, Neal and Keri just know Santa will love them too.

Getting My Craft On!

2011-12-23T11:56:00.000-06:00

I started these at a Super Saturday back in September. Or was it August? Anyway, Super Saturdays are a part of Latter-Day Saint or Mormon culture it seems, at least in the States. The women of the church get together, usually without their kids, and get their craft on for the morning/day. There are a variety of projects one can sign up for and they happen whenever someone is ambitious enough to organize it.

So, I completed these cute little books for my kids Christmas gifts. They can actually use them in church on Christmas morning. We are hoping to provide options that will help them feel reverence during our sacrament meeting. They have been doing progressively better so good for them!

Also, I finished this word art just in the nick of time!

Bah Humbug!

2011-12-22T20:32:00.000-06:00

On Friday of last week Keri started feeling sick and went down with a stomach bug over the weekend. And now Keri's good but Neal is feeling ill. Not fun, especially around the holidays. Thus, the "humbug." Needless to say we have been flexible with our Christmas family activities in our attempt to enjoy the season without undue stress.
On Friday, we just grabbed some candy and shoved it in the advent box in lieu of the activity so we didn't have to think.

Saturday, instead of the whole family, only Neal and Sophie went to a movie matinee of Arthur Christmas while Rhys and Keri napped.

Sunday, Neal and the kids "ate Frosty" when they made the bagels we did in Rhys' preschool class, as seen in this post. Keri slept in. Thank you, Neal.

Monday, we were all well but Sophie passed out at dinner and did not wake fully until morning. Needless to say, we adjusted. Our family Christmas shopping trip to the dollar store was a date for Keri and Rhys.
Tuesday, Neal started feeling bad but we made it out to one of our local shopping areas to take a holiday trolley ride and see their lights. But, that night in particular, the managers of the shopping center were trying to locate the trolley company because none of them were present or running as they had planned. So, we went for a chilly walk and ended the evening at a cookie shop. Poor us, right?!

Wednesday, Neal was in bad shape and we cancelled our activity to roast chestnuts. Instead, we went with an idea Sophie started earlier in the day. Than morning, she asked Keri, from the back seat of the car, "Does Santa have a Christmas tree?" Learning that he most certainly did, she suggested, "We should give him a Christmas gift so he can put it under his tree." How sweet is that?!

So, after a bit of discussion and thought, Sophie chose one of her less loved toys to wrap up for Santa that evening. It's sitting under our tree for now but we will place it next to his cookies and milk so he doesn't miss it.

Tonight, Neal took his turn at sleep while Keri and the kids popped corn and jumped in the car for a tour of lights. We visited a nearby neighborhood and really enjoyed ourselves. In fact, this has been a very trying day for Keri and she finally felt calm and enjoyed the kids.

There were beautiful lights at many of the houses but we appreciate specific houses that brandish their Texas pride through the medium of Christmas lights, lest we forget which state we live. Tonight we saw Santa with cowboy hat, a team of reindeer led by, not Rudolf, but a long horn steer, and the not-so-uncommon outlined state of Texas with "Merry Christmas Y'all" emblazoned across it--each at a different house. It was a good time.

Sibling Fun or Rivalry?

2011-12-18T20:55:00.000-06:00

So I hear Sophie nicely asking me for help and I make my way down the hallway to witness her in this predicament. That's our hamper with Sophie inside and her little brother atop. I knew Rhys was climbing more but I'm not sure how he managed this one. Anyway, I'm pretty sure he "won" this one--just behold the look of gratification on his face!

Sophie's Preschool "Winter Party"

2011-12-15T22:10:00.000-06:00

Today, the family was able to visit Sophie for a short time during her "Winter Party" which we all know is code for "Christmas Party." Neal came during his lunch and I just love that he works in the city we live. Sophie was surprised to see me but was really impressed that her daddy was there.

She and her classmates enjoyed Christmas stories, cookies, bingo games, cookie decorating, Christmas memory games, present opening, and singing. Rhys loved playing in the play area and eating cookies too.

Here Sophie is decorating a snowman cookie, and below she is sneaking a candy corn "carrot" nose! When she actually started applying decorations to the snowman I drew her attention to the fact that the snowman was up-side-down, otherwise the candy corn nose she placed would have made our snowman anatomically correct. Good save, Mom!

More Yuletide Family Fun

2011-12-15T21:49:00.000-06:00

As we continue to open the advent boxes, we continue to enjoy ourselves this Christmas.

On Sunday evening, we were able to visit family friends and drop off goodies (a roll of Christmas gift wrap with a tag stating, "Hope you are getting all wrapped up in the spirit of the season." Cute, inexpensive, practical, and calorie free so we weren't tempted!).

While making our visits, we really had a great time viewing all the Christmas lights in the neighborhoods. The kids were in the back seat going "Ooooo" and "Aaaaahhh" at the extravagant displays.

Monday was an awesome activity. For Family Home Evening, we opened with prayer and a children's Christmas hymn. Then we rolled out some butcher paper and Keri drew out the first Christmas with a magic marker while Neal read the account from the bible. The kids loved coloring the scene with their crayons. When we were done, we had a beautiful mural put up on our play room wall, and as we had hoped, the kids have referred to it often. It has been a great visual reminder for us all.

Tuesday, Neal and Keri planned to attend the temple in the evening so the kids and Keri made treats to share with the family that would be watching over the kids that night. We dipped pretzel rods into chocolate and sprinkled them with Christmas candy. The kids were really into it!

Rhys annihilated the delicate art of sprinkling and went with the "more is better" method. Yep, that a complete bottle dumped in the corner. The kids enjoyed sampling sprinkles and cleaning the sweet, gooey pot. The counter was a field of chocolaty fingerprints when all was said and done.

And at this point, Keri had to actually put down the camera and parent our death defying toddlers.

On Wednesday, we returned the favor as our friends attended the temple and had Kenzie as our guest. We had the kids coloring pictures and signing Christmas cards to send to a couple people they were missing.

And tonight, we had special guests over for dinner. Elder Park and Elder Dunbar are missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

They were very gracious and we enjoyed some good conversation with them. Keri warned them that they were serving as guinea pigs for a new recipe: Autumn Vegetable Pot Pie. They ate dinner with a smile and Neal provided a high score (and Keri knows he is brutally honest) so we may be having it again. It was a nice, easy-going meal and we were glad to have them as guests. They even tolerated me taking at picture of them for the blog--See! Mormon missionaries are the best!

Again, we'll post more holiday happenings as we open more advent boxes.

Advent Activities

2011-12-10T23:24:00.001-06:00

A few of our advent calendar activities we have opened this past week include:

Listening to Christmas hymns, talking about why we like particular ones, describing what the Holy Ghost feels like when he is testifying and revealing truths to us, singing and dancing as a family.

Visiting a light and music show at our local shopping area. This was not the best experience but that's okay because that's not what Christmas is about. We got there entirely too early because the website had the schedule posted incorrectly, it was COLD and I forgot Neal's gloves (he was meeting us after work), Rhys dirtied his diaper and we had no diapering supplies because I thought we'd be home by the time the actual show started (given the incorrect schedule on the website) so he went cammando for a short time. Then when it did get started is lasted less than five minutes! Kooky times equal funny memories.

We also made hot cocoa and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas together as a family. This is one of Neal's favorite holiday shows.

One night we made a holiday craft together. We used a little kit and made holiday door knob hangers for the kids. They each have one hanging on their bedroom door.

On Friday we went to a children's Christmas party in the morning provided by Early Childhood Intervention, the agency that provides services to Rhys and our family for his development. They did an awesome job and we got to hang out with a good variety of kids and parents. They got to decorate and eat their own sugar cookie,

make Christmas posters, go artic fishing for prizes, take photo opts with Sesame Street pals and Santa,

go through a wintry maze with tons of sensory experiences (roll on huge "snow"balls, bounce white balloons and step all over bubble wrap, toss "snow"balls into jingle bells, dig in "snow" (rice or cotton) for prizes, and "sled" on a rolling board).

They also got to say hi to all our amazing service providers, left to right: Ashley (Speech-Language Pathologist-SLP), holding kids, Carrie (Developmental Specialist), above, Cassie (past SLP that went part-time after having a very cute baby), and Shawna (Case Worker). All awesome at what they do!

Tonight, Saturday, we attended our church's Christmas party. We helped with and enjoyed a yummy dinner, chatted with friends, and watched the children (ages 3-11) preform. Sophie had a special part. They sang the 12 Days of Christmas and she had to sing her part "and a partridge in a pear tree," well, 12 times. She did great! Rhys was pretty excited to see his sister up on stage and "sang" along off and on.

We look forward to having more good times together as we open more advent boxes this coming week.

Enjoying Our Kids

2011-12-09T13:42:00.002-06:00

It is so funny to see things through your children's eyes. Just wanted to share some cute things about the kids and what they're up to.

On Thanksgiving night while cuddling with Sophie for a few minutes before turning out the light for bed, we were chatting about the day. Mom: Did you like going in the bounce house? Did you like going on the train? Did you like all the yummy Indonesian food? Sophie answered in the affirmative to all the above but then sincerely added, "Mom, next Thanksgiving can we kill a turkey?" Sophie, our traditionalist.

This season we have taken the opportunity a couple of times to donate money where The Salvation Army bell ringers were present in front of our local grocery store. Today, on our way toward the front of the store Sophie says, "We have to pay to get in, huh?" So I had the opportunity to explain that we are just helping out someone who needs it, but we have to pay for our groceries before we leave.

Also today Sophie brought home a paper gingerbread man wondrously decorated with real candy, chocolate chips, and cookies. I suggested that we tape it up on the back door in our dining room. She wanted to put it somewhere else and that was fine by me. Not an hour later, I hear cries of terror as she has discovered her brother scavenging off her precious creation. At mom's "No! Yucky! Glue!", Rhys has burst into tears! We gave Rhys glue-free snacks and Sophie dried beans and seeds to glue in place of the missing marshmallows, cookies, and what not. Peace reigned in the house once again. The finished product was then taped to the back door as previously suggested by one wise mother.

It's been cold as of late. Getting into the car, I tell Sophie, "My hands hurt they are so cold!" She is confused so I let her feel my cold hands. "Oh Mommy, you colded my hand!" was her response.

Our garage door has been touchy for some time and as I play with the clicker for a few minutes to get the door to achieve adequate vehicle clearance, I have the kids convinced that if they wiggle their fingers at the door and say "Happy Powers!" it will eventually work! Though David fixed the door's issues while in town for Thanksgiving, we thank him that we have significantly less opportunities to practice our magic. Thanks David!

We are blessed to have Neal come home for lunch nearly each day. Rhys fully acknowledges his father's presence from the time he walks in the door but feels it necessary, mid way through our meal to point to Neal and gleefully say, "Dada! Hi." A well loved man.

I will be at the computer and suddenly feel quite chilled only to discover our Rhys has climbed up on a chair or unstable toy with wheels to play with the switches. He's also been quite adventurous climbing up on the kitchen island, and half walls to get in on the action or start dancing. I'll turn around and there he is--much taller than I expected!

Sophie and her parents have been arguing about what clothes are appropriate to wear during these now cold winter months. She will often run and change her clothes to shorts and a short sleeve shirt and being in cold given her poor choices has not been the unsatisfying natural consequence we were hoping. Done with all the fits and whining about her desired summer clothes, I finally said, "I hope the summer fairy doesn't come and take the summer clothes. She takes them to where it's summery." Then a day or two later I emptied her closet and drawers of all summer clothes including her swimsuit, light PJs, and all.

Later she came to me with her sad, whiny tone about how all her short sleeve shirts were gone. "Oh my gosh! Do you think that - gasp - the summer fairy came for the summer clothes?! Let me see!" Indeed a brief survey of the closet did reveal the nymph had done her handy work. She began to cry asking if she would ever bring the clothes back. I said that she probably would when it was warmer weather and summer again. Apparently, that is all it took to appease our child because she responded with a matter-of-fact, "Oh, okay." and was instantly off doing her own thing like nothing had happened. Yes! Thank you mythical creature! Mom remains the good guy and wins!

Or so I thought, because now I have to tell her endlessly to pull her sleeves and pant legs down!

And I have no idea where our little Rhys gets the idea he can climb up there and teeter around invincibly!

Oh, look! A rare picture of us in contentment. I love my napping babies!

Keri Turns Preschool Into a Winter Wonderland

2011-12-09T13:22:00.000-06:00

Keri had the opportunity to teach Rhys' preschool class this week (Tuesday and Thursday), introducing the the theme of winter in the woods. Her emphasis was on dressing for cold weather and snowmen, familiarizing the kids with the letter W, square shape, the numbers 4 and 14, and the colors white and red.

Tuesday we browsed the story Christmas in the Big Woods, talked about what the woods are like, winter weather, and proper winter clothing. Then we sang "If You're Cold and You Know It...pull on your boots, put on your hat, scarf, mittens, etc., to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It."

Then we made a mobile of said articles of clothing to take home.

We ate a snack that took the shape of a snow hat using bread, radish, and condiments.

We then made our W word wall which included the show and tell items they brought from home starting with W. We traced a giant W.

We used the giant W to play a game. The kids pulled on their imaginary snow boots to go stomping in the imaginary snow. When the W was raised, the kids yelled, "W! Walk!" and stomped away until the W was lowered so they could freeze. We did the repeatedly and the kids each had an opportunity to hold up the W for their friends.

Then we read Three Little Kittens and hunted for hidden mittens throughout the room in red and white. We had to match them according to color and pattern.

The next class we quickly reviewed winter clothing. Looked at winter scenes from The Best Christmas Hunt Ever book and looked for particular woodland creatures, what people were wearing, etc.

We traced squares on paper and talked about the distinguishing characteristics of this shape and then pretended it was a window. We talked about what we might see outside on a winter day in the woods and glued related pictures clipped from magazines into the window.

We sang "Roll, Roll, Roll the Snow" to the tune of "Row, Row, Row your Boat" and used hand motions to build a snowman.

Following that we created snowmen out of paper plates, buttons, crepe paper, pom poms, etc.

For snack we used bagels, cream cheese, baby carrots, and raisins to fashion the face of Frosty.

For show and tell they brought something that represented "cold" to them.

We crumpled paper into snowballs and had a snowball fight over a giant square taped on the floor. We counted the snowballs that landed in the square and out of the square. We put the snowballs in the corners, on the sides, and played all over again.

Keri always enjoys letting the creative juices flow and preparing for and teaching preschool. It's a bit of work but the fun is great and the kids are so excited and proud of their creations.

The Anderson's Annual Ornament Exchange

2011-12-09T13:13:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Liz for hosting another fun ornament exchange, our tree will be adorned with a beautiful purple glass heart with silver embellishment. Keri always looks forward to this gathering each year. It was good to meet and talk with some people she didn't know well, as her usual posse wasn't there. Still enjoyed the fun, conversation, and sweets!

Previous Quote of the Blog

2011-12-06T22:30:00.000-06:00

Gratitude turns what we have into enough. --Melody Beattie

Let the Fun Begin!

2011-12-04T22:01:00.002-06:00

Christmas celebrating is in full swing at our house. We started by attending a Christmas tree lighting at our city hall on Friday night. The weather was great and we were able to stroll along, visit Santa and the Mrs., carb-up on cookies, cotton candy, popcorn, hot cocoa, and hot cider. It took two tries but our second countdown brought on the luminous glory of the giant tree and the blaze of fireworks. A nice night indeed.

On Saturday morning, we headed over to the annual Nativity Exhibit our church puts on for our community. Thanks to the donations of trees, fabric, lights, and nativities, not to mention the hours and hours provided by the members of our church, this event is a beautiful way to invite the Spirit into our hearts and keep us focused on our Savior.

This year there were many from around the world, as usual, but we really enjoyed the gingerbread nativity, made from replica molds of ones found in Europe ranging from 100-500 years old. The original molds are being housed in museums.

I thought this print was quite endearing.

And this one baffled us and left us questioning what we had been taught in the scriptures. :-)

He had a twin?!

We enjoyed listening to the music, both live and piped in, and viewing the nativities. Sophie was intrigued by the live nativity. She wanted to go up on the stage and look in the manger to see the baby Jesus. We got close to the stage but not close enough to see in the manger, then she knelt on her knee and whispered to me that baby Jesus was in there. I was struck by her simple faith and reverence and told her, "That is what Christmas is all about." Our quiet, hallowed moment was over in a flash and she was off twirling herself around but I was grateful for that special experience.

On Sunday, we were off to church and glad to have started singing the Christmas hymns in our sacrament meeting. Sophie has been waiting to wear her Christmas dress for about a month now and today she got the green light from her parents. I put her hair up and she looked like little Miss Christmas.

And okay, so it's the 4th of December, but today we finally got our advent calendar up to help Sophie and Rhys understand that Christmas is not today or tomorrow (so please stop asking).

Our first box was opened and the activity revealed: Write a letter to Santa. It was a great time to practice writing and fine motor skills as they wrote, colored, and peeled and applied stamps and sealed them up. Sophie made the following requests: snowman, snake (stuffed animal--to be friends with the one Aunt Kira and Uncle David bought her), dolphin (pillow), candy, and a duck. Rhys had some help from Mommy and requested Elmo stuff and candy. Santa does not need any help from anyone reading this blog so feel free to keep your wallets tucked away. We just wanted to keep it in on record since this blog is very much our family journal.

Other tender moments from tonight--the stuff that makes all the crazy day-to-day stuff seem like fluff--
1.) Neal and Rhys cuddled up in blankets, listening to Christmas carols on daddy's phone.

Neal and Rhys have a cute ritual when "loving" on each other. They will kiss, hug, and touch foreheads. Here they are finishing up.

While Rhys and Dada were enjoying their tunes, Sophie helped mommy put up the nativity. She was careful and arranged them well. This is the nativity my parents brought me from Israel. There were probably 5 like it at the Nativity Exhibit but they space them apart.

Definitely a miracle worth pondering!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-02T16:58:00.000-06:00

With our company departed we have begun to bring out the Christmas decorations and all that goes with that. Neal cleaned out gutters while stringing up the outdoor Christmas lights yesterday. There were several tomato plants growing quite healthily in our gutters! Now we know where the seeds ended up after the birds gutted so many of our tomatoes.

We were able to deliver our nativities to our church for our community's annual Nativity Exhibit this weekend, finished and sent out the Christmas cards, started decorating the inside of the house, wrapped a few gifts and packaged them up. Whew!

This is a busy time of year but so much fun and we always make sure to stop numerous times to focus on what we are truly celebrating, the gift of our Savior. It helps us not kill each other.

Enjoying Aunt Kira and Uncle David

2011-11-30T11:58:00.000-06:00

While Neal's sister, Kira, and brother-in-law, David were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, we had fun seeing some of the local attractions. We visited the Heard Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary for their cool dinosaur exhibit.

Caught this little gem on video:

We also went to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch and enjoyed seeing the animals and learning a bit. We were not all properly dressed for the chilly weather but Kira was sweet enough to share her coat--I LOVE HER for this.

We had many up close encounters with different animals. We got to pet a lemur, joey, deer, horse, zebra, and camels. Nothing is more funny than a train of camels galloping out to be fed!

Mike Rowe taped a "Dirty Jobs" episode here!

World's Most Painfully Cold Tram Ride Ever!

We also enjoyed having Opa and Oma over, visiting, and eating! They had to share their time between families and states! We spent our last day window shopping at local outlets and going out for yummy Chinese food at Zen Chow.

We already miss you, Kira and David! Come back soon!

Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving Activities

2011-11-24T23:25:00.002-06:00

We were out the door early this Thanksgiving morning to participate in the Dallas 5K Turkey Trot. It was foggy and a chilly 46 degrees!

Brrrrrr!

It was a mad house! Approximately 38,000 people had registered to run BEFORE race day. It was crazy running, trying to find holes between walkers, darting parking meters, and avoiding dog leashes. It was also fun to run in those conditions and with a bunch of turkeys--really, people dressed for the occasion.

Keri ran the entirety and made the time she expected. She was happy to be cheered at the finish line by family (Oma and Opa, Kira (Neal's sis) and David) and friends (the Garvin family).

The Garvins made her a sign!

It was great to be able to accomplish this goal a year after finishing chemotherapy for skin cancer. Heavenly Father has blessed us with health and we are truly grateful.

Back at home we spent the afternoon having our non-traditional Thanksgiving feast--Indonesian food! Everyone pitched in and the eating was good!

Afterward we hung out ant chatted and the topic turned to techy stuff as it often does in our family. They even got out the scale to compare their phones' weights. Thanksgiving fun at its best!

Then we went for a nice walk before it got dark. When we got back we did a few family photos.

Tah-Dah!

We fooled around a bit more and lost one to exhaustion--on the bathroom floor of all places..

Before sending his sister off to bed, we sat and read all the notes that had been placed in the "thankful jar" that week. Our family has been greatly blessed and it is great to feel our Heavenly Father's love.

It was a fun day and we were all pretty tired by 8 p.m. which just goes to show we are getting old. But we had a great time with our family and friends and made some memories.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too!

Previous Quote of the Blog

2011-11-22T21:26:00.002-06:00

If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give 'em a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves. --Douglas Adams

Thanksgiving Fun with Our Two Turkeys

2011-11-21T15:14:00.000-06:00

We are keeping things pretty low key here until our family arrives for Thanksgiving but we have had some fun. Sophie and Rhys both enjoyed preschool activities revolving around the day of thanks. Sophie made a Thanksgiving themed place mat and used it at her preschool's Thanksgiving lunch feast. Rhys was happy making the time honored hand print turkey.

At home, we made cool turkey hats with some friends and played a variation of hide and seek wearing them. Sophie would hide and "gobble" and we would come and "hunt" her.

Later, Rhys worked on decorating our family's "thankful jar" with holiday themed pictures. Sophie practiced her cutting skills to make slips of paper for us to write our blessings on. Sophie will dictate to her parents and Rhys will use pictures of items he is thankful for.

Hope you are enjoying your own personal and family traditions this year. Feel free to share some of them in a comment.

Live in Thanksgiving Daily

2011-11-20T23:06:00.002-06:00

Neal and I both had the wonderful opportunity to speak in church on the topic of "Living in Thanksgiving Daily" and "How Gratitude Brings Us Closer to Jesus Christ." What a terrific topic! After pondering, praying, and studying we both delivered the messages we feel our Heavenly Father desired of us to share.

Neal expounded on how we could "live in thanksgiving daily" by touching on Elder Wirthlin's 2000 talk by the same title. He suggested that to live in thanksgiving we must:

Open Our Eyes--"Our minds have a marvelous capacity to notice the unusual. However, the opposite is true as well: The more often we see the things around us—even the beautiful and wonderful things—the more they become invisible to us." (See Video)
Open Our Hearts--"We must let go of the negative emotions that bind our hearts and instead fill our souls with love, faith, and thanksgiving. Anger, resentment, and bitterness stunt our spiritual growth....You can cleanse your heart. You can repent of uncleanliness. That is the miracle of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. You can cleanse your heart of impurity."
Open Our Arms--"Every time we cheer another’s heart, every time we ease another’s burden, every time we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude to that God to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are."

He closed with this uplifting thought: "As we strive to open our eyes, hearts, and arms, our step will become a little lighter, our smile will become a little brighter, and the darkness that sometimes broods over our lives will become a little lighter. Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been an especially grateful person. Rejoice and think of what an impression you will make on those who thought they knew you. Think of how delightfully surprised they will be."

My speech focused on these points:

1. Christ was a perfect example of living in gratitude.

"The Savior, Jesus Christ, lived a life of gratitude. He expressed gratitude to His Heavenly Father in prayer when performing miracles (see John 11:41) and for earthly things such as food (see Matthew 15:36), and He gave credit to Heavenly Father for giving us all things (see Matthew 11:27).

The Savior did not seek His own will, but showed gratitude and appreciation to His Heavenly Father through obedience to all He was commanded to do." --Elder Wirthlin, 2001

2. Practicing thanksgiving regularly helps us to build a relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Through expression of prayerful gratitude and thanksgiving, we show our dependence upon a higher source of wisdom and knowledge—God the Father and his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." --Elder Hales, 1992

Richard Edgley (Oct 2003), in observing church member throughout his travels noted, "As I have pondered these faithful members, I am struck by two qualities they all seem to have. First, regardless of social or economic status or position, their humility leads to submissiveness to the Lord’s will. And second, in spite of the difficulties and trials of life, they are able to maintain a sense of gratitude for God’s blessings and life’s goodness. Humility and gratitude are truly the twin characteristics of happiness."

I loved that sentence. "Humility and gratitude are truly the twin characteristics of happiness." God wants us to be happy in this life, now.

"To the Lord Jesus, who bought us with a great price, we owe an undying debt of gratitude. It is impossible for us, weak mortals as we are, to fully comprehend and appreciate the suffering he endured on the cross so that he might gain for us victory over death. And even less can we understand the suffering he endured in Gethsemane so that we might obtain forgiveness of our sins.... But nevertheless, he endured it for our sake....All people who understand what Jesus did for us ought to love him and demonstrate that love by rendering to him, in a realistic manner, thanks and gratitude." --Pres. Romney, 1982

3. Pride is in opposition to humility and gratitude: "the twin characteristics of happiness."

"The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done.”

It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous."--Pres. Benson, 1989

Bonnie Parkin (2007), stated "Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord’s hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize; so often we are not grateful. In the Book of Mormon, we learn that those who murmur do not know “the dealings of that God who … created them.” (1 Nephi 2:12)."

Neal and I were so grateful to be able to take the time to dig a little deeper and reflect on such a beautiful topic. The speaker always learns the most through preparing and we thank our Heavenly Father for teaching us. We hope these thoughts on gratitude will help all of us to feel God's love for us as we all "live in thanksgiving daily."

Now We Can "Remember the Alamo"

2011-11-13T19:09:00.002-06:00

Hooray for getaways! This Veteran's Day weekend we took off to San Antonio for the first time. Despite Neal, Sophie, and Rhys all fighting colds, it was a weekend of fun family togetherness and famous food stops. We made our first stop just outside of Austin at he Salt Lick for dinner. This restaurant was featured on several Food Network shows, The Travel Channel, and The Today Show for their tasty BBQ cooked over an indoor open fire pit.

We sampled the sausage, brisket, and turkey with sides of beans, slaw, and bread. It was all good and especially the brisket and beans. Then we were back on the road for a couple more hours to our hotel in San Antonio.

The next morning we visited the Alamo first. Everyone told us that it's really small compared to what they expected so we had that in mind but still it seemed small. We toured the grounds, went into the church, observed a special gathering for the Marine Corps, and whizzed through the gift shop.

Look! We were Photobombed by some kid with a T-Rex! Rwar!

There, that's better! Scram kid!

It was interesting to learn the history, this being the 175 anniversary of the battle of the Alamo. Overall, we learned a bit and were not allowed to touch or photograph much.

Then we set off across the street and strolled along the River Walk. It winds and loops along the banks of the San Antonio River, under bridges as two parallel sidewalks, lined with restaurants, shops, hotels, etc. We took a boat tour and kicked back while we learned about it's construction history, and businesses. Some of us "kicked back" a little more than others.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Brackenridge Park and The Witte Museum. In the park we had lunch among a huge variety of aquatic fowl and hit the playground. After that we boarded the Brackenridge Eagle miniature train that chugs along the tracks skirting the banks of the San Antonio River, as it makes its way through the park.

We braved the train even given its spotty history of collisions, derailments, and even a modern day robbery (in 1970) just to see the kids smile and hear both of them exclaim "Choo Choo!" repeatedly.

We finished our afternoon at the park with a visit to The Witte and letting the kids go wild in the Science Treehouse where they were able to experiment with air power and simple machines. We all had fun here!

Science--it'll blow your mind! Just look at that face!

We only were able to explore one of the four floors before they closed. That was okay because we were hungry and off to our second restaurant.

The Cove was spotlighted on Guy Fieri's Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives or "Triple D." We would have never know to look for it unless we saw the show for it is squeezed into a little corner of a not so great neighborhood and has an attached laundry mat and car wash. Yep. We just stopped for the food though.

See the sudsy car on the right?!

They boast sustainable, organic, and local and it was really good. We got two different sandwiches to share, the Lamb Burger with Latin Spices and Cotija and the 09er Burger - a beef burger with roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and pesto aioli. Guy Fieri called the Lamb Burger the "Best Lamb Burger ever!" and it was tops! The 09er lacked nothing in flavor either though. We had a great time filling up on the burgers and fries.

On Friday, we were off to another of the five missions in the San Antonio area, Mission San Jose. After a short video reviewing the history of the people and viewing the artifacts in the adjoining rooms, we were off to see the mostly reconstructed mission. Not always accurately reconstructed either, we learned from one of the rangers. For instance, in the quarter where the native people lived there are fireplace like structures that do not have any chimney's or flues but those reconstructing put there in the 1930s. What those structures were based on is anyone's guess.

The church was really the only original structure standing and it was undergoing some reconstruction on the artistic stonework around its front doors. The kids were most excited about the water that powered the gristmill. Rhys was grinning from ear to ear saying, "ya ya!" for water. I explained to Sophie that the mill did the same thing as our hand grinder at home but a lot faster and a lot easier.

The gristmill

Then we took our irritable and snotty-nosed children to the Mercado, the largest Mexican market in the U.S. We hit the bakery first and got the whole family sugared up.

We sampled sugary cookies, macadamia nut pralines, coconut candy, etc. Then walked through the shops and enjoyed the colorful flowers and clothes, the funny skeleton figures for El Dia de los Muertos, and the leather work.

We spent the rest of the afternoon napping in the hotel room while the kids wrestled each other the entire time (and we thought they needed sleep?!). Then we went to our third famous food place: Big Lou's Pizza, as seen on Adam Richman's Man vs. Food on The Travel Channel.

Adam signed a Big Lou's pizza box.

They really wanted to put themselves on the map so they invented Big Lou's 42" pizza! 42 Inches!!! We like good pizza but knew that was sure death for our family so we got a picture of this group of friends about to kill themselves with volumes of food.

We ordered two 12" pizzas for ourselves. We still had plenty of leftovers to snack on the next day. We got the BBQ Brisket pizza and one of our own creating. We loved both for different reasons. The BBQ had a great sweet-salty mix, the other had fresh toppings and the best sauce ever--super fresh! Both had the same light, chewy, yet crisp crust. Great experience.

We were prepared to leave San Antonio Saturday morning. We really enjoyed the speed version of the city and had a great time despite the colds that hung on. We said our adieu by hitting one more restaurant for breakfast: The Magnolia Pancake Haus featured just this week on Triple D. The wait was long (just over an hour) but that is pretty typical for this place even before the Triple D fame.

Guy Ate Here employee T-shirt

Guy stenciled on wall with his autograph.

We ordered an apple pie pancake or the Authentic Munchener Apfel Pfannekuchen, a Smoked Turkey Arugula Frittata, and Corned Beef Hash and were very happy. Service was great too.

We were happy to be home and sleep in our own beds but had a great time seeing and doing new things as a family. Great little getaway.

Non-Stop Weekend

2011-11-08T17:55:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was non-stop fun for Neal. Friday night he enjoyed getting together for Game Night with freinds. They play pretty involved board games for hours. Then on Saturday, he was off to the NASCAR races with his dad, Rudy. He was just back in time to catch a nap before going to the evening's Guns N Roses concert what he thought would be two decades too late but was pleasantly surprised. He took the stage at 10 and played 32 songs!

He still managed to wake early enough Sunday morning for our family to run off to the Huff's baby blessing in Grapevine. We were happy to have the chance to visit afterwards as we always enjoy their company. Congratulatkions to Liam who is an adorable little guy.

Our Family's Healthier Lifestyle

2011-11-01T15:17:00.006-05:00

Here are the pictures some have been asking for to see the difference.

Before: 228 lbs. Aug 2009 After: 162 lbs. Nov 2011

People are noticing we've lost weight and are asking how we have done it. The weight loss is great! I, Keri, have lost 66 pounds (size 12ish or L) so far and am in a healthy weight range. Neal has lost 60 pounds himself! The truth is we are not just lighter or smaller but HEALTHIER!

Here is the Long or “Fat” Version (Scroll down for the “Skinny”):

My starting weight after having Rhys and finding my groove was about 228 pounds, plus size 18/20 or 2X (I was as high as 239 after having Sophie). Before the skin cancer diagnosis I was already trying to lose weight. I was walking more and trying to cut back on snacking and I lost about 4 pounds doing so. I didn't have any real knowledge to work from though. I was just doing whatever as I had for the past two decades.

Then the diagnosis and chemo started in December 2009/January 2010. I was on chemo for 11 months and ate whatever I wanted but found near the end my appetite was less and my weight was dropping. I did not exercise at all. Sweeping the dining room floor was a challenge. By the end of chemo I had lost another 14 to 15 pounds just from the treatment. BUT this was exciting for me, although an unhealthy way to lose it, because I thought, “My pants are loose. I bet I could keep this going with healthy weight loss.”

From November 2010 to January 2011 I was just trying to get back into life and function again. For a the past couple of years Neal and I had been trying to move in the right direction, reading books, reading labels, and learning.

What gave us clear direction was our visit to a naturopathic doctor in late January. We wanted to see what she had to say regarding fighting cancer off naturally. Our insurance did not cover her, of course, but we really came away with a lot of knowledge of what direction we needed to move in. We started making the changes a little at a time. We still do not follow all her instruction to the letter but feel we are coming as close as we can.

I also started walking on the treadmill at home. I started slow and low and as I felt I could, I increased things.

In February, our home teacher from church told me about http://www.loseit.com/ and that has been another “can't do without it” tool for me. It's free and helps me track my calories for food and exercise (knowledge!). It tells me where my calories need to be each day to reach my goals. I record everything I put in my mouth every day. It keeps me knowing what I'm doing, my goals visual, and, most importantly, it keeps me accountable.

I have now moved from walking to running and am planning to run my first 5K on Thanksgiving Day. It is my way of celebrating my good health and just one way to demonstrate my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the blessings we have received and lessons we have learned.

I know our healthier lifestyle may not make me cancer proof but I have truly felt joy and excitement living in this body and look forward to trying new things, physically. It has brought my husband and I closer because we share the same interests. I also feel that the direction we have moved in is invaluable to my children and am so happy they are learning these things young. We couldn't beleive it when we had to "threaten" Sophie with "You can't have anymore tofu unless you eat more of your broccoli."

Here's the “Skinny” Version (What you really want to know.)

What we do:

We eat mostly vegetarian with a little poultry (or sometimes fish) 2-3 meals a week.

We seldom eat processed foods – no white sugar, no white flour, seldom any item in a box or bottle that came from the middle shelves of the grocery store. We use fresh food first, frozen seldom, and canned almost never. We are trying to eat more raw foods (not raw meat).

We do most everything from scratch-jam, bread, desserts, dressings, spaghetti sauce, etc. We are feeling quite chef-like in the kitchen and try 2-5 new recipes a week.

We grind most of our own grain, thus we eat whole grain. We store flour/meal in the refrigerator and use them within two weeks so their oils don't go rancid.

We use natural unprocessed or less processed sweeteners – dried fruit, raw and unfiltered honey, raw agave nectar, pure maple syrup, raw cane sugar (Not Sugar in the Raw), or demerara sugar.

We eat full fat. We use whole fat milk, cheeses, yogurts, etc. We use healthy fats in our cooking and baking including grape seed, olive, peanut, and coconut. We use butter, not margarine. We don't eat diet or reduced anything.

We eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains. We try new things regularly. We try to think of meat more as a condiment than a main course but are happy to eat it as a main course, as well.

I track what I eat so I can be accountable, know what I am putting in my body, and adjust as needed for well-rounded nutrition. We weigh ourselves on a regular basis.

We started with dinners which, almost without fail, become our lunches the next day and with snacks. Then we moved away from boxed dry cereals (chex, cherrios, corn flakes) and started providing real nutrition to our family in the morning, as well.

Our kids get the same meals as we get.

We exercise regularly and have fun doing it!

We talk to people that are doing similar things and read about various related topics.

Do we splurge occasionally? Yes. Do we have the infrequent beef In-N-Out burger? Yes. Do we freakout and go hungry if our friends serve pork? No. Did I eat some of my kids Halloween candy? Yes. Do we eat out? Yes. Do our kids devour every healthy option we place before them? No. We are careful of what we put in our bodies the grand majority of the time so when little things come up, it's not even an issue.

We are doing what works for us and are sure to make changes along the way. We are not perfect at it but we are so much happier.

What we do is TIME CONSUMING but worth it to us! We don't feel like it's getting in the way of our lives because it has become part of our lives and we actually feel like we are LIVING!

Whew! So that's for those who asked.

Trick-or-Treating

2011-10-31T22:34:00.001-05:00

How adorable are they!?

We joined our neighbors this Halloween evening. Keri took the two cutest kids in the world around to door to door collecting loot and practicing good trick-or-treater manners, thanking all bestowers of candy. Neal got out the bug spray and camped out at our front door to give out goodies. Sophie enjoyed seeing the jack-o-lanterns and commenting on scary decor while Rhys was very content to walk from house to house with his bag and newly found dead leaf in hand.

They kids went down for bed on time as tomorrow is preschool and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed rummaging through the children's spoils. Happy Halloween!

Carving the Pumpkin

2011-10-31T22:16:00.001-05:00

Pumpkin, pumpkin I've been thinking
You're the finest one I've seen.
Soon you'll be a jack-o-lantern
All lit up for Halloween!

Sunday night we enjoyed more family time by carving the pumpkin and making treats. Sophie indicated what shapes and features she desired on the pumpkin while Daddy outlined them. Once Neal removed the top it was great to see the kids reaction.

Eeeeeeeeeeewww!

While Neal finished carving, Keri served up hot apple cider and roasted up the pumpkin seeds. Neal's was a spicy Cajun and Keri's a sweet cinnamon and sugar. Great way to use up more parts of the pumpkin!

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

Saturday was our church's Trunk or Treat so we got our little witch and pirate in the car and headed over.

The kids enjoyed popcorn and cotton candy before the parade of costumes. Sophie won "Most Colorful Costume" and was pleased to be recognized as such.

Dad took the kids around to get the goodies while mom handed out Halloween themed toys to the little and not so little trick-or-treaters. The kids had a good, safe time and we adults enjoyed chatting with friends and viewing all the cute kids.

Hot Stuff

2011-10-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Keri is still having a blast trying new recipes several times a week. Our new way of eating has been fun and satisfying.

Pear-Cranberry Upside-Down Gingerbread

Sweet Potato-Cauliflower Gratin with Crispy Sage Leaves

Other dishes we have enjoyed recently are Acorn Squash Quesadillas with Tomatillo Salsa, Apple Cider Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Apple Slaw, Okonomiyaki (savory Japanese style pancake), Maple Balsamic Dijon Salad with Strawberries and Pecans, and Gorgonzola Garlic Bread. So good! We tweak things when needed to meet our updated healthy eating standards but splurg when we see fit. We've had some less than memorable meals sprinkled in there too but who wants to hear about those, right?!

Cattle Drive

2011-10-31T21:05:00.001-05:00

Keri and the kids raced to one of our local parks to meet up with Daddy again this year for the second annual Cattle Drive to kick start the Texas Stampede Events. Some of the long horn cattle moseyed kind of close so we got a real good look at them as they walked down our city streets to the event center. Rhys was happy to converse with them with his happy "Moo! Moo!"

Day of Service

2011-10-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

Our stake (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that live in a designated geographical area) performed a day of service for our communities. Hundreds of hours of service provided by men, women, and children of all ages blessed the lives of those in and not yet of the church. Fire hydrants were painted, land was cleared of brush, fences repaired, care packages created, materials for the local women's shelter collected, and so forth were just some of the acts of kindness provided.

One side of the tree remaining after the other side had been removed down to the bottom of the split.

We were also grateful to personally receive help with felling the remainder of our large front yard tree. It was removed down to a stump and hauled away in one morning. It was split down to one foot above the ground and we did not want it to cause harm to our neighbor's or our own property. We were very appreciative. What would have taken several hours and hundreds of dollars was done in approximately 3 hours at to cost to us.

While Neal assisted with the tree, Keri and the kids met at the church to decorate items for care packages. We colored, glued, and tied ornaments that will be included in Christmas care packages to military service persons and missionaries. We were happy that our littlest ones were able to give back to others as well.

Thanks for all the help we received and for being able to participate in such a well organized event.

Roar!

2011-10-31T17:18:00.002-05:00

Awesome Dad

2011-10-31T17:16:00.000-05:00

Tender moments: Daddy, kids, and cartoons!

We've All Done It

2011-10-31T17:13:00.001-05:00

Our kids discovered that crayons on windows can be fun until you have to clean it up. Sadly, Sophie did not fully embrace this lesson and used crayons on the walls, doors, switch plates, and dresser a couple weeks later. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

Child-Free Getaway

2011-09-30T12:21:00.001-05:00

Last Christmas we were generously gifted with a getasway to Fort Worth. We cashed in this past weekend. We dropped the kids and all there stuff (which took up 3/4 of our trunk, leaving just our single small suitcase) at Oma's and Opa's house (Thank you!) and took off to Fort Worth.

We checked in at the Hattie Mae Inn, a late Queen Anne style residence that was built in 1904 and is a registered Texas Landmark. The second owner of the house, James Liston was robbed and killed on his back porch in 1917 but we couldn't report any hauntings. A bullet hole remains on the back porch were it missed it's target.

That Friday night we enjoyed walking around the Stockyards and the rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum. Cowtown Coliseum has a proud history. It was built in 1908 and in that year held the first exhibition round-up of cattle ever held under a roof in the United States. In 1918 it housed the world's first indoor rodeo, and in 1934, bull riding was first introduced to the world of rodeo there.

While we were there, a live news was shot with the newscaster standing directly to our left. They were spotlighting Hay for Horses an organization trying to save livestock because of the shortage of hay due to the terrible drought we have had. They are shipping in hay from surrounding states and it costs $4 a mile to do it.

After a good food and company at the breakfast table we headed out to the local art museums. We visited the Kimbell and Amon Carter and took it all in without whining children pulling at us. It was great.

Keri in particular enjoyed this painting of paper wrapped oranges. Her paternal grandmother, Lena, used to do this as a job. Lena said they had to be wrapped with the paper twisted just so and then put twist side down and the oranges had to neatly line up in the box. Now they just dump them in a box.

We had a great time enjoying our first getaway since the kids were born. It was fun just to hang out with each other on an extended date!

A Family Tradition Deflated

2011-09-30T10:55:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed the first hour of the Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival this year with a picnic dinner - Turkish green olive turnovers, blue cheese coleslaw, and oatmeal raisin cookies. They postponed the sky divers and then cancelled the sky divers. Then they postponed the balloon launch which was no surprise because not one had been inflated yet. All this was due to developing storm conditions. Then they asked us to go wait out the rain in our cars. We checked out the weather radar on our phones and saw that it was not going to clear for much longer than the event people were saying so we left for home. Found out later we made the right decision. Still had fun! Hopefully balloons next year.

Rhys Starts Preschool!

2011-09-06T15:08:00.001-05:00

Just look at our little man!

Our baby!

He went off to his first day of preschool today! With only a bit of dismay that mama was leaving, he regained composure pretty fast, we were told.

We decided to start Rhys in preschool at the age of 2 instead of three because A.) the opportunity presented itself for Keri to participate in a parent-led preschool co-op, B.) it would be good for Rhys to have social time with others around his age, C.) he would have other children model good speech and language , and D.) it could be a lot of fun if it is the right placement for him. We gave this a lot of thought and we thought we would try it out and see how it goes.

On his first day, he did not participate in painting but the teacher said he sat and willingly observed when he chose not to participate. That works for us! We just want him to be exposed and learn to follow the routine. He has 2 more preschool years to get all the other academics.

Hooray for Rhys! Way to grow!

And They Did Go Forth and Labor...

2011-09-06T14:29:00.001-05:00

We had told a few of our friends that our main tree in the front yard would have to come down sooner than later because it was at the end of its life and it had recently split all the way to the ground. With a few winds, it would be a danger to our house, possibly car, and the chance pedestrian. We asked if anyone was available, to come out for an hour or so on Labor Day morning.

Upon returning from Westfest on Saturday afternoon both our mouths dropped open when we drove up to the house and saw this...

Yes, half of the tree lying on our lawn! Tom, our friend and home teacher and Rich, another friend, had given us a head start! We were so thankful!

On Labor Day morning, we with Tom and, our friend, Carter did, well, labor. The chainsaw and loppers were out and in a little over an hour the branches were all stacked for removal later in the week and the limbs, in part, had been converted to firewood and stacked, and the rest awaited a new chainsaw blade. It would have taken us all day without the help of our friends and we are grateful for their willingness to serve.

We will get to the rest of the tree later but for now we feel the chances of it suddenly splitting have been greatly reduced.

Polka Pride!

2011-09-03T20:58:00.001-05:00

Today we headed south to West, Texas for Westfest and embraced all things polka and sausage. Westfest is a Czech/Polka festival. It includes food, culture, dance, and Czechoslovakian fun! We started out by ordering some kolaches (both fruit and sausage) and gobbled them up while listening to polka and watching a few brave couples dance. Who doesn't love a little accordion, right?!

After that we perused the wares and I didn't know "bedazzled" camouflage pants and tied-dyed shirts were part of traditional Czech dress but to each their own. Keri had to be strong. Didn't even touch the tied-dyed stuff. She knew once she did her college years addiction to it would resurface. (Kelly, you'd be so proud of me!).

Doesn't tied-dye just make you feel happy, though?!

We made sure we did fun stuff for the kids too. Played with blocks, visited the petting zoo...

Then we enjoyed some of the cultural dancing and parade of costumes. It was shaded and we had a breeze there! Whew!

The folk costumes were traditionally worn at wedding, funerals, and important occasions. The decorations revealed what area the person was from, marital status, and often included symbols depicting their religious beliefs, such as designs repeated 3 times to represent the holy trinity. The embroidery and lace on many of the clothes was amazing. And the sleeves were puffy beyond belief in some cases.

This couple has been married for over 50 years!

We had a great time even though it was still in the triple digits out and our kids held up pretty well. On the way home we stopped in Waxahachie to venture into a crazy little art studio we'd heard about. It was funky as all get out! There were several toothpick sculptures - an Eiffel tower, zeppelin, Ferris wheel, wind mill and other craft, each made with thousands of toothpicks. Thank goodness for Elmer's glue! Couldn't get a decent picture with either glare from outside and back lighting from inside! Oh well, you get the idea.

Also, just a few steps away we saw this beautiful Ellis County Courthouse, constructed in 1895. Gorgeous!

Very full day! Lots of fun to try something new!

Sophie Heads Off to Real Preschool

2011-08-23T09:39:00.000-05:00

As you may know, Sophie and I participated in a parent-led preschool co-op last year to introduce her to academics and develop those social skills. We had a great time. This year, however, Sophie is enrolled in "real" preschool. She is attending two days a week in a play based program.

Today was her first day! She was not hesitant at all (no surprise to those who know our Sophie). Today Sophie got to pack her favorite teddy bear for some teddy bear fun and Mommy got to pack her first of over a thousand school lunches. Hooray for our little girl!

Sophie in line to get name tags for herself and her bear. Ms. Debbie (above) and Ms. Louise are her teachers.

Grandma Sue Comes to Stay

2011-08-22T22:54:00.001-05:00

Susan, Neal's mother, came for her annual August visit. It was great to spend time with her. She had lost 80 pounds since last year and looked great. She also had more energy to play with those grandkids of hers and run around town with the family.

We had a lot of fun. We went out to Lake Lewisville to beat the Texas heat. We finally got Rhys to put his feet down on the sandy ground when in the water.

We went for a nature walk at the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary but at the end of the walk we took a wrong turn and ended up hiking up steps and wearing everyone out before making it back. We did see a water snake, though. That was cool. Also, as a lovely souvenir, we took home some chiggers--just Sophie and Keri. Maybe our cat brought some in, we are not sure how we got them we just know that we got eaten good.

We also had the chance to see the Barnett side of the family and get caught up. We missed Alvin, though, who passed earlier this year. They are a kind, accommodating bunch.

From Right to Left: Susan, Melba, Dorothy, Frank, Diane

We also shopped, watched the kids play in the fountains, visited the farmer's market, hit a few restaurants, and went for some walks. Neal and I even went on a date to the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas. The museum was spotlighting the mystical arts of Tibet. We were able to observe monks preparing the mandala surface for the sand and an outdoor blessing for adults and children encompassing emotional well-being, wisdom, and healing. Which sounded like chanting, singing, chanting, singing, followed by yet more chanting. It was interesting to see another culture and religious view.

It was a nice 10 days with Susan. Because we live in Texas, we had to send Grandma off with much fanfare! The day before leaving we parked ourselves along the parade route for Allen's High School Band. Every year before school starts they march the city through neighborhoods and parks to kick off the new year.

Neal was in band in California but band is BIG here. It is actually cool to be in the band here. The band is huge! Neal was in a band of approximately 30. Allen has well over 600 members! and includes band, color guard, and drill team. They just kept coming and coming. They had police escort, a prop plane doing fly-bys, and all! It was fun and a great way to show Susan that we do everything big here in Texas.

Glad you came Grandma Sue! We love you and will see you next year!

Nasher Sculpture Center

2011-08-06T17:18:00.001-05:00

This morning we threw together a chicken gumbo in the crock pot and took off to the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas' arts district. Admission was free today and we beat the heat by wandering through the sculpture garden and viewing the art indoors as well.

We had fun participating in an art scavenger hunt. We were provided with 4 images showing only part of 4 separate sculptures, had to recognize the feature, and write down the title and artist. Kids got some snazzy sunglasses as a prize.

Neal and I both saw this shot at the same time and made sure we got it. The "Hammering Man" was in the Nasher Sculpture Garden and The Museum Tower was being constructed across the street. Rather befitting.

These stairs were so cool! With every step someone took up or down it played a piano key following the scale up or down.

Do you see that wall behind us? It is a room absolutely stuffed with large, gold balloons. People were allowed to go in there but we didn't think the 90 minute wait with two hungry kids was a good idea. Sad kids, happy parents.

What Neal and I do best.

We were lucky enough to come during story time and the kids each got a free book.

Not too bad for only paying parking! Spent the afternoon napping and hanging out.

Anticipation

2011-08-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

Our kids sitting in the empty swimming pool, chatting up a storm with each other, waiting for the garbage truck to rumble down our alley. So cute.

Braving the Texas Heat

2011-08-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

We are trying to break a record here in the Dallas area. The mercury has hit at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 consecutive days in the DFW area. The record is 45 days, set in 1980. The "cool" thing about this heat wave and drought is that receding Richland-Chambers Reservoir has revealed a small, unmarked 19th century cemetery. Two persons remains found thus far.

But on the less somber side, we have still been able to enjoy ourselves despite the heat. We headed to the Arboretum this week and spent the morning there before the more severe heat hit. We had not been there for over a year since Keri was sick last year. It was great to stroll the grounds again.

They had several fairy tale castles on display depicting a variety of tales from around the world. It was fun for the kids to go in them and try out some of the thrones.

There were still some beautiful blooms and the koi kept the kids entertained, especially because one of Rhys' favorite words is fish.

Here Rhys is saying and signing "water."

After we walked around for some time, we decided to cool off at he frog fountains. Keri brought extra clothes and towels because there was no doubt with the weather that we were going to miss the fountains. So Keri found a nice spot in some shade and let the kids enjoy.

Oh My YUM! -- Carrot Cake Pancakes!

2011-08-04T16:10:00.001-05:00

This morning I made Carrot Cake Pancakes and my life was changed forever. I posted this on Facebook and many of my friends were interested in the recipe. I used the basic dry pancake mix recipe from The Thrifty Mama. Yes, we hand grind our wheat--it's good exercise! I used hard red wheat because that's what we have and it turns out great. Yes, we use raw sugar. We have made A LOT of changes to our eating. And yes, I keep the mix in the freezer because although pancakes are quick, I am not a morning person and the sooner I can go from sleep to indulging myself with delicious food the better.

I got my inspiration form Picky Cook. Her recipe and toppings sound absolutely decadant. You may want to check that blog out. She also has a Lemon Poppy Seed Pancake recipe I am going to adapt slightly in the near future. I mean, I can't have pancakes EVERYDAY. I 'd miss out on some other super yummy options.

In a bowl, I put 2 cups of that dry pancake mix (from The Thrifty Mama) and added:

1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (get out your microplane--makes me feel so chef-like)
1 pinch of ground ginger
Mix that up and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the following wet ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (I always cheat and put 1T of lemon juice in a 1 cup measure and fill the rest with milk and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. This makes buttermilk. You can also use 1T vinegar instead of lemon juice, I hear.)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon coconut oil (also new to our family and SO yummy, especially in baked goods. You can use canola but the coconut oil is really something of a pleasurefest.)
1 1/2 to 2 cups finely grated carrot
1 Tablespoon of orange zest (use that microplane. I would not make the pancakes without this ingredient. It's a must in my book)
Lightly give all that a whisk and dump it in the dry mix bowl. Stir until combined.

I do my pancakes over medium low but you know your stove. I lightly greased my griddle with real butter. You can use more coconut oil if you want; it does well with high heat. You can even try it out without a greased griddle because it already has oil in it and see how that goes. These make moist, thick pancakes so I use a 1/4 cup measure and pour them on the griddle. I use the bottom of the 1/4 cup measure to spread them out a touch. Should make about 8 pancakes.

I served mine with just 1 teaspoon of pure maple syrup per pancake. No pats of butter or anything else. It really doesn't need it because it's moist and sweet and oh so tasty all on it's own.

If you make them let me know how it went and what your personal touches were.

Rhys Lends an Ear

2011-08-01T11:25:00.001-05:00

This morning Rhys had his hearing not just screened but, evaluated. This was important information to have due to his speech delay; although, we did not suspect hearing loss. Turns out his hearing is fine as far as they can tell for his age and developmental level. And it was painless, even fun, for him to participate.

A House of God

2011-07-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

This month the children (ages 3-11) at church are focusing on the theme, "The Temple is a House of God." Sophie has pretty much memorized, "Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally." from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We explain difficult vocabulary to her and talk to our kids about how we love to be in the temple, how we were married in the temple, and that we need to be worthy to enter the temple. She often states how she want to go to the temple too. So we planned a Family Home Evening on this past Tuesday evening to do just that.

If you're wondering "What's with Mormons and temples anyway?" -- there is a brief, accurate explanation here.

See our sweet, dear children on the temple grounds. They were so sensitive to the Holy Spirit...

Okay, okay! So they were actually squabbling with each other a bit! So it's a good thing that God loves children because sometimes I think they can be down right irritating. But we move on. They quickly got it together with a touch of parent guided distraction and enjoyed walking the grounds fairly quietly, asking questions, and listening to our brief and simple answers.

We even got permission to let them come into the foyer so they could see the beauty there, feel the Spirit, and see our Savior in several pieces of art. We showed them the recommend desk and our recommends. We told them that mommy and daddy had to be living a good life in accordance with the gospel to enter. If we made "bad choices" we would have to get things right before getting to go again.

It was a simple, good experience for the kids and for us as parents--not only to teach our kids but also remind ourselves of the significance of the temple and family in God's plan.

Everyday Super Heros

2011-07-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Comic Con International: San Diego hosted it's convention by the same name. The convention showcases comic books, science fiction/fantasy and film/television. It is the fourth largest convention of its kind in the world. We, as a family have not dabbled in graphic novels but our friend, Carter, is a real fan. We decided to have some fun with the kids, introducing this hobby/media to our family.

Things got off to a good start when, while eating breakfast, a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode came on and we watched how Goofy tried to become Super Goof, a super hero. We talked about how he had to be fast, strong, and be able to fly.

We decided to head to the park with our tennis shoes on and do what was required to become a super hero. We stretched, jogged, went up and down the stairs several times, tried balancing on a wall, jumped repeatedly. We even practiced good flying posture laying on the picnic bench. Sophie decided all that was left to do was try and lift something heavy. So we tried some immovable objects to build our strength.

Obviously, with our training behind us, we talked about how super heroes help people and that we can super heroes everyday. We went to work the next few days finding ways to help others. We used our super hero powers to help mom bring in the groceries, open doors for people, push each other on the swings,...

...bring games and puzzles to a local assisted living facility, walk newspapers up to our neighbors door step, and so on and so on. We made sure we had healthy snacks and naps so we could keep our strength up. It was a lot of fun!

We also, borrowed several age-appropriate comic books from Carter and have been reading them with the kids. We talk about villains and super heroes and who we want to be like and why. It's been great! We have decided that although it would be cool to fly, this power is not necessary to make others happy. My job as a mom is always more fun when I can get my kids excited about something.

Taking a Dip

2011-07-25T12:05:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday we drove out to our freinds', the Huffs, and went to Grapevine Lake with them. It is always great to see them--just really good people.

The swimming area was small but not crowded. We enjoyed watching boats and people on paddle boards go by. The kids did great with their arm floaties--which we call water wings.

We applied sunscreen twice but still ended up with uneven minor burn spots wherever we missed or weren't liberal enough. Today marks the 23rd day in a row with heat in the triple digits so we hope to go out again this summer.

The highlights of the lake trip, besides seeing the Huffs, was with only 2 feet visibility in the water, Rhys still thought it was great way to quench his thirst. Neal got nibbled on twice by fish, Keri attempted to do the butterfly after 2 decades void of competitive swimming, and Sophie learned that she has the ability to pee in the lake and was not afraid to announce it loudly to all in ear shot. She actually told us, "I'm going to go potty in the lake." and a fellow lake goer not in our group said, "Oh wait, let me pass by first." Good times!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

2011-07-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

We love our local library! This summer we signed both kids up for the Summer Reading Club. They both read 25 books with Mom and Dad's help and received a certificate and a Chik-fil-A lunch. They also got the chance to pick out a book to take home for keeps!

July is National Ice Cream Month!

2011-07-17T22:14:00.001-05:00

Back in 1984, Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the 3rd Sunday as National Ice Cream Day, stating that these two events should be observed with "appropriate ceremonies and activities." Given the great love and esteem my dear husband has for this past president (I jest not)...

we decided to honor Reagan's wishes and enjoyed reveling in this delectable dairy dessert. Besides, it sure beat recognizing July as Lasagna Awareness Month.

First we introduced the idea with ice cream crafts. We built an ice cream cone 4 scoops high so Sophie could practice her cutting skills and Rhys could become acquainted with glue. We talked about flavors, shapes, and cone to bowl preference.

Later in the week we polled our neighbors and house guests regarding their ice cream flavor preference when given the boring choices of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Rhys held a picture of the three flavors so the participants could point to their choice. Sophie marked their responses on a chart. Vanilla and strawberry tied for the most adored of the boring flavors. Chocolate only lagged behind by one, however. In total, we asked 23 persons.

Another day, Sophie filled some of her time by sorting hot and cold items. We had pictures of the sun for "hot" because July has been sweltering, and an ice cream for "cold." Then she categorized a number of pictures onto the appropriate side of the paper. Here Sophie is putting a BBQ grill on the cold side because I am distracting my sweetie with taking pictures. Way to go Mom!

Our ice cream antics culminated by preparing homemade ice cream today, on National Ice Cream Day. This morning, before church, we made the mixture and tossed it in the ice cream machine so it would have adequate time in the freezer while we were at church. We chose to make strawberry, but as previously stated, strawberry may be considered boring. So we went with a more sophisticated version--Strawberry Balsamic Basil.

It was delish and not overly sweet. And admittedly, it was not a true ice cream but a frozen yogurt. But it was good. We even splurged and used cones. We were happy to have Oma and Opa over to share with.

Thank you Ronald Reagan for suggesting another way for our family to have fun together! We'll have a bowl tomorrow expressly in your honor.

A "Turn" of Events and an Upgrade

2011-07-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

Sophie has started gymnastics for the summer. She was so excited she wanted to wear her gym suit all day. For her first class they had a Wild West theme. She warmed up to "Rhinestone Cowboy" and they threw in plenty of cowgirl analogies to get them performing. She followed directions just fine.

Here is Coach Mike helping her keep her form for a summersault. She has 7 more classes to go.

Rhys is now in a Big Boy Bed! At least the bed is in his room. How long he'll stay in it is still to be determined as this is his first night.

Our 9th Anniversary

2011-07-13T11:34:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrate 9 years of attempting to master the art of marriage and quite swimmingly too. It has been a wild ride--crazy, exciting, and fun mixed in with a lot of the everyday. I think Neal put it best: "It's been a 9-year lesson in enduring to the end, but there's no body else I'd rather endure it with!" We're not sure we'll make it to our 50th with that whole mortality bit; however, we know we have an eternity to look forward to because of the covenants we have made with a loving Heavenly Father.

Healthy Kids

2011-07-11T12:03:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again! We went to say "hello" to the doctor and make sure all was in order regarding our children's health and development.

Sophie weighed in at 36 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall. She is at the 50th percentile for her weight and the 65th percentile for her height. She is healthy and happy.

She was a champ about getting 4 vaccine shots. The doctor and nurses were shocked about how well she quietly sat to receive her shots. She only cried for a bit. I think after a year, she simply did not remember how painful shots can be and that's why she didn't fight it. Afterwards she kept asking why she had to get shots and telling me they hurt. She did so good.

She also passed her vision and hearing screenings and we got all the health forms filled out for preschool starting up at the end of August.

Sophie is kooky, fun, and happy. She is doing better with monitoring her own whining and pouting. She bounces back pretty quickly. She is doing great with learning to share with her brother and friends. Sophie has become more of a cuddle bug in the past 6 months. I'm glad she sits still long enough for me to love on her. You never have to guess much about her because she will openly tell you what's on her mind. We chuckle at how many nonsequiters occur in a single sentence at times. She like trying things and participating. One could say she lives out loud.

Some of my favorite things about her is when she says "That was really getting me frustrated!" or tell her brother, "Shoo away!" At night we have the sweetest routine when being tucked in. Kiss, then butterfly kisses, then nose rubs, then sniffs! The fact that when she gets her afternoon movie, she falls asleep and naps during it about 50% of the time. To Sophie, "ridiculous" is a swear word. We don't know why but as soon as one of us says it, as in, "Let's exit, this traffic is getting ridiculous."--she is lightning fast with a "Don't say "ridiculous! That's not nice."

Sophie can remember the smallest details from so long ago (i.e., we had our family vacation back in February and today she told me out of the blue, "When were at our vacation, the hotel had a swimming pool and when you looked out the window, I could see my church." We went to the indoor pool twice and yes, when you looked out the windows on one side of the room, there was a little white church not far off. Or when we are driving to the store, she'll say so-and-so's house is that way and she is right!

Sophie sporting her cool swim goggles

Rhys is a big kid. He weighed in at 33 pounds and measured 38 inches tall. He is in the 90th percentile for his weight and the 98th percentile for his height. The medical gods smiled upon Rhys and he did not have any scheduled immunizations this visit. We did get a referral to an audiologist to have his hearing evaluated. Although we do not suspect a hearing loss, we want to be sure given his speech delay.

Because of his speech delay, they screened for autism (which is present in Keri's family history) and Keri answered a long list of questions regarding his communication and social skills. It was actually a very satisfying experience because there were no red flags and it was great to hear a long list of skills that he did have. Especially with speech and play therapy, some previously lacking skills had been acquired. It was a great way to celebrate our little guy's achievements.

Rhys has responded well to the additional help he is receiving in speech and play. He is verbalizing consistently and is approximating more words, even hitting it on the head sometimes. He now has all his long vowels although are not consistent yet. He says some words spontaneously. His new favorites seem to be "mine" and "uh oh."

He is also working on understanding what we are saying. He is doing better at following simple directions, identifying objects and pictures we label, We are working on transitioning from one activity to another with more ease and using picture cues to help him.

He is feeding himself with a spoon and trying to manage an open cup, He likes to point to indicate his choice, given 2-3 picture options. When putting away the toys, he categorizes them into their correct places better than his sister. He is newly showing interest in books and picks out several board books from our local library each trip.

His play skills are increasing in that he now demonstrates appropriate play with dolls, doll house, cars, blocks, balls, books, kitchen and play food, as well as other toys. When we first started therapy, he was usually just opening and closing things and placing items in and out. So we are very pleased with his success.

Cute things he does right now are watching the chorister during the hymns at church and waving his arm around to mimic her. Running into the living room when he hears Mickey Mouse Clubhouse's "Hot Dog" song and dancing. Rhys' love of songs and finger plays. His excitement when daddy comes home--"Dada!" and running to meet him.

We are very grateful that our children are healthy, happy, and developing beautifully. They are a joy to behold.

Let Freedom Ring!

2011-07-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

We love being Americans! We love the freedoms we enjoy! We love all the fanfare that comes with Independence Day! We love having Neal home for long weekends!

This 4th of July, we started the day with a scrumptious red, white, and blue breakfast then headed to the McKinney parade. We try to provide Sophie with lots of opportunities to help prepare meals.

The parade was perfect for having toddlers and being in the Texas heat - short and sweet! Sophie was very pleased that handfuls of candy were thrown at her feet. We had fun seeing the creative decorations and cheering those passing by. We enjoyed the bikers, classic cars, and the antique ladder fire department truck best.

At midday we sliced up some fresh watermelon and joined several family friends for a BBQ. We feel so blessed to have a large, supportive group around us. We always have a great time with everyone.

We finished out our evening with an impressive pyrotechnic experience. Keri has LOVED fireworks since childhood and that excitement has never lessened. Every time Sophie saw a red and green firework, she'd say, "Christmas!" Christmas in July, we suppose.

It was a wonderful day and we loved spending it with our family and friends. We were happy to have several moments to reflect on our country's blessings and feel grateful.

In Dog Years, Neal's Dead

2011-06-30T19:31:00.000-05:00

We finally top off our month of birthdays with Neal turning 35. He had to work but his dad took him out to lunch at Brio, an Italian restaurant. That evening, we took the kids over to John and Carly's and went to dinner at In N Out Burger. Then we headed over to Watters Creek and took a dance class offered by Aurthur Murray. We learned the basic steps of the fox trot and had fun doing it. We even slipped in a few of the swing steps we used to do before moving to TX. This weekend Keri is baking up some sweet glazed lemon bars for the birthday boy.

4 is Fantastic!

2011-06-30T16:48:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again, Birthday Month! From May 28th to June 29th we do nothing but party, party, party! This time Sophie was in the spotlight as she turned 4! My little girl is growing up so fast! All that Sophie wanted was a cake and people at her party. This year we went with a Water theme - fish cake, beach towels for a table cover, and lots of opportunities to get wet.

The Party:

The kids really didn't fully embrace the slip 'n' slide until a little coaching was provided by Neal and John with a water noodle.

Our kooky kid singing along to "Happy Birthday."

Last year on Black Friday, we got Sophie a bike inexpensively. That was her main birthday gift and she did really great. She only fell 3 times her first go around our circle. We told her falling was part of learning to ride a bike and she doesn't get to upset when it happens.

Sophie gave herself two thumbs up!

Her birthday party was on Saturday and her birthday wasn't until Monday so she partied for a while. Here she and Rhys enjoy Sunday breakfast with Ducky Mo Mo (a well loved character from one episode of Phineas and Ferb). Neal actually had it made by a friend since Disney is not marketing Ducky Mo Mo. As a side note, one weekend morning this month, our kids crawled in bed with us and watched the Ducky Mo Mo clip 16 times in a row on Neal's phone.

Sophie got this cute dress from Oma and Opa and wore it to church on Sunday.

When Sophie gets the occasional card in the mail, it is quite fun to watch her shred the envelope to pieces to get the card out.

On her actual birthday, we made pancakes with 4 and a happy face on them for her. That afternoon we attended the David Chicken Show. Who is David Chicken?! This is David Chicken, an Emmy Award Winning Family Entertainer! It's a young man with a cape, a chicken hat, and an appreciation for the King. He truly rocks! As an adult, I even think he's ultra cool.

Rhys slept through it but Sophie even got to go up on stage to shake jingle bells and her booty.

More cake and sugar coma has set in.

We love our Sophie! She is very talkative, energetic, and a beauty. She comes and wakes us each morning with two immediate questions, 1.) Will you make me breakfast? and 2.) Where are we going? She keeps us on our feet! Happy Birthday, Sophie!

Summer of Fun

2011-06-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

We have been filling our summer days with fun ways to stay cool. We love our local libraries' events and storytellers. Here are Sophie and Rhys with their new friend, Slappy, at the Ringling Bros. Clown Show.

When it is cool enough or the right time of day we sometimes venture out to the parks to be with friends and burn some energy. Sophie got her first bee sting, poor things (things being plural as the bee did not fair well from this experience either). She was pretty good about it all. She does pretty good at taking things in stride unless she is overtired. I actually saw the bee land on her but didn't want to alert her to it, hoping it would fly away. Well, she noticed it and then in her panic, smashed it between her arm and her body. At least we know she isn't allergic.

And then there's always the pool and the local public spray parks to keep cool.

And it seems that even though they have just begun, the annual Summer Sounds concerts in the park are already over. We attended all of them. It's always to kick back, sing along, watch the kids run around, and hang out with friends.

We are loving this summer and always find fun things to do.

He's got "Dad"itude!

2011-06-30T15:02:00.002-05:00

Neal is a kind, loving, patient, and fun husband and father. We love him so much we wanted to surprise him with something he had expressed interest in doing. So to celebrate Father's Day, he was awakened at 5:00 in the morning the Saturday before. Keri had planned a fun day for the family. She handed her groggy husband a can of bug repellent with a sticky-note attached saying, "You're gonna need this!" Then told him to get dressed in the clothes she had laid out for him while she got the kids up, dressed, and in the car. After a short stop at the local donut shop we were on the road. We got to our destination after about an hour just south of the OK/TX border.

We were the third to arrive at Bailey's Berry Patch and were soon picking thornless blackberries in the morning sunlight with the kids tagging along. In about an hour and a half or so we were leaving with nearly a 5 quart bucket of berries.

The blackberries were pretty much picked clean by the city folk after an hour so I was glad we got there early as instructed by the owner. There were still loads of people coming in to get started as we left. They would have to fill their buckets with the other wonderful option still remaining, blueberries.

Then we were on the road for another 30 minutes or so when we came upon fiberglass statues in the middle of nowhere, which, might I add, was right next to the Red River Peach Orchard we picked at next.

This time the orchard offered a wagon for us to haul the peaches and kids--a lot less whining this way! There was a nice breeze so it didn't seem too hot. After a lemonade stop we were on our way home.

The real "peach" in this photo is Neal!

That afternoon we made low sugar blackberry peach jam. Yum! It was fun and tiring. We were refreshed by joining Oma and Opa for a swim and dinner at their house. It was a terrific day and a fun, new experience.

Provident Living

2011-06-30T08:41:00.007-05:00

The prophets have urged us to live providently — in other words, to live in a way that will provide the necessities of life not only today, but tomorrow as well. But living providently encompasses all areas of life. If we want to face the future with confidence and peace of mind, we must prepare ourselves in six areas: literacy and education, career development, financial and resource management, home production and storage, physical health, social-emotional and spiritual strength.

All individuals and families have strengths and weaknesses in these areas. As a family, we continue to work on these areas but recently we have specifically addressed continuing education, gardening, canning, grain storage and grinding, weight loss, and more consistent evening family prayer.

Neal and Keri took a Saturday morning class offered through our city to learn about rain water harvesting and build a rain barrel. The parts were cheap but it did take a bit of time to hook it all up. We have had very little rain this year and are experiencing drought conditions but have been able to provide additional watering to our vegetable garden with the harvest water. Our garden did very well this year. We even were able to learn canning to store up some of the bounty from the cucumber and pepper plants. Our friend, Heather, also reintroduced Keri to canning beans. It's easy! Just takes a bit of time and the right equipment.This year we added a grain mill to our kitchen tools. We went with a manual grinder because it is fun, easy to crank, and usable in a black-out. It takes about 10 minutes to grind 3 cups of flour but it's good exercise and, again, fun. Sophie does need a little assistance but is very excited to grind wheat. She should have no trouble turning the crank by age 7 or so. We refridgerate our freshly ground wheat and use it within 2 weeks otherwise flour goes rancid and loses its nutritional value--on of the reasons we try to avoid store bought flour.Our friend, Jessica shared some of her whole wheat sourdough starter with us. We have been pretty busy and haven't baked bread with it yet but have enjoyed some yummy sourdough pancakes.
Learning these new skills has been a blast and we are thankful to our friends that willingly share their knowledge with us. Thanks for blessing our family!

Birthdays - The More You Have, The Longer You Live!

2011-06-30T08:08:00.002-05:00

Keri partied like a 37-year-old with two toddlers on her birthday! Neal went to the car races with his dad on Saturday so Keri was treated to a bit of celebrating by her best bud, Kari. All Keri wanted for her birthday was a cinnamon roll. Kari picked her and the kids up and took us for cinnamon rolls at Panera at Watters Creek. Afterwards we enjoyed the live concert on the green and hung out for some time while the kids ran around and got extra energy out. It was a perfect birthday - good food, good music, and a great friend!

Neal took Keri out a few days later to try some salvadorian food (um, Yum!) and then a movie. We were thankful for John and Carly who took the kids for us. Undistracted adult conversation over a nice meal was very appreciated. We saw Midnight in Paris, a Woody Allen film. We liked it very much. It was fun! And Woody Allen did not star in it which was a plus in Keri's book.

Memorial Day

2011-06-29T23:02:00.006-05:00

Our computer gave up the ghost so I took a month long blog vacation until it was fixed. Hello pretty new computer!

Okay, Memorial Day we got together with a large group of friends at the Lindemans for breakfast. We ate, chatted, ate, laughed, and well, ate. It was great. That afternoon the family took naps except Neal who got some things done around the house. In the evening we joined some of the same friends for a game night. We were all tuckered out after a late night.

Rhys Turns 2!

2011-05-29T14:46:00.007-05:00

First of all, let me say, it was the most pitiful birthday party ever! Rhys was sick on his birthday with a runny nose and cough. Poor guy!

I baked the cake the day before and although it was a bit feminine with the frosting and sprinkle colors, it was what I had on hand. Sophie was very interested in eating birthday cake and Rhys was whining and fussing that this whole birthday experience was even happening. So Mommy blew out the candles and served up the cake. In a whirl of gift wrap, snot, coughs, and chocolaty crumbs, he was soon down for a well needed nap.Happily, he was doing much better after sleep and medication so we went to play in the fountains and watch the water show for the rest of his birthday. See! There's our happy boy!Besides a few falls and scraps, he had a terrific time! He loves playing in the water.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Rhys! We love you very much and couldn't imagine life without you!

Municipal Services Open House

2011-05-23T12:12:00.005-05:00

So we've been up to some serious business around here...no really. Saturday morning we went to the Municipal Services Open House since we tax payers just spent $7 million on it, it seemed only right to see what we got for it. They had several info booths with games for the kids about recycling, storm water, hazardous waste disposal, and such. Then we had the chance to tour all the city equipment like fire trucks, amulances, the back hoe she saw on our street a week prior, tree spade, and our kids' favorite the garbage and recyling trucks. Every week they bring a bit of joy to my little ones by roaring into our alley and doing what they do best.

Pat, May I Buy a Vowel?

2011-05-14T20:58:00.005-05:00

Rhys, who started speech therapy with 3 consonants and one vowel ("uh"), is now using a lot of different consonants and, in the past couple of weeks, 2 vowels! It has been near murder to get a vowel other than "uh" from him in the past. We are now hearing him say the long e (especially when he requests Teeeee for TV) and long i (like when he melts my heart with "hi").

We just started him in Developmental Services, as well, which looks at overall development. We will be focusing primarily on receptive language (identifying things we label, following directions) and age appropriate play (such as feeding a baby doll, rolling a ball back and forth, pretend cooking).

We are grateful for the services being offered to him and feel pleased that we are slowly closing some of the gaps in his skills. Rhys is such a delightful little guy. We are glad to help him catch up in his early years.

Y is for Yippee!

2011-05-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

As in "Yippee! I just taught my last class!" Next week marks the end of our co-op preschool but it's not my turn to teach so I'm done! This week we letter Y took center stage. Some of my favorite activities planned for Y were :

Bug Yoga in which we practiced yoga poses titled as Butterfly, Moth, Dead Bug, and Spider

Finger painting with yogurt

Watching a short yodeling video and having a yodeling contest

And the BEST of all was our yellow hunt we took outdoors

On our yellow hunt I was hoping the kids would see more than dandelions but wasn't planning on it. They had sharp eyes, though, and found yellow leaves, paint, and a ball, as well. Shockingly, at the end of our street we came upon a huge yellow back hoe! The kids thought that was pretty cool and I thought I was pretty cool as a teacher to have "arranged" this surprise. We asked the worker the name of this tractor type thing and he informed us it was a back hoe and that they were digging to find a leak in the water line.

I thought that was very generous of them to talk with a lady with five preschoolers. When we started to make our departure, Rhys started to cry because he wanted to stay or at least complete walking in the direction we were going when we came upon this contraption. Well, one of the workers said that they were at a standstill until other workers arrived so he offered to move the back hoe, settle it down securely on the ground, and let each kid climb in to sit in the driver's seat! His name was Ben (who has a three-year-old of his own).

Thanks to Ben, 4 of the 5 kids took the opportunity to try it out (the seat, not the controls), even my little Rhys who was thrilled! I even got to try (all while silently chiding myself for not bringing my camera or phone to get pictures of the kids). We thanked them profusely, looked into the deep hole they had dug, and said our goodbyes. It was a fun experience and made me appreciate good people that take time to help and serve others.

Another fun activity we did was play In n Out restaurant while practicing money sense with pennies and nickles. With the first two In n Outs opening in Texas yesterday, and one being in our town, I thought it appropriate to celebrate with the kids!
Neal made a late night run after the kids went to bed and was lucky enough that a friend of ours was in the drive-thru line (for 2 1/2 hours already) and let Neal into his truck to order with him. They passed the next hour in line chatting. Thanks Sterling! The restaurant had been open approximately 12 hours and their order number (at least on that register) was 4,613. There are a ton of Californians in Texas and we have been waiting for them to do business here. The place was insanely busy the entire day with no advertising. That's how much people love their burgers.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T17:10:00.005-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful and influential women in our lives. We are better people because you have touched our lives. We love you and appreciate you very much.

My day was great! Slept in, put together a recipe with my husband, talked with loved ones, attended church, and hung out with my family. Not too bad at all. Sophie and Rhys even got me a lovely "Mom" pendant. At church they always honor the women by gifting them with a musical CD (I have a wonderful collection of uplifting, peaceful music because of these gifts over the years) and chocolate.Even with all the craziness, I LOVE being a mother. My kids keep me thinking, playing, and learning. They are a delight to watch develop and grow. They help me look at things with a new perspective. For this, I am very grateful...and somewhat exhausted.

Back in the Game

2011-05-07T21:45:00.004-05:00

Last year was such a mess that we stopped doing couponing and making deal runs. It was just too much to keep up with back then. Thanks to a friend of ours (M.M.) and her amazing stock pile, we are excited about couponing again. Tonight's deal was 35 items for $1.90!There's cheese, strawberries, cereal, pasta, cottage cheese, pudding, yogurt, chips, almond milk (something new to try), and gum! For personal care items there's toothbrushes, flosser, body wash, breath and air fresheners! For $1.90! Isn't it exciting!

This is the kind of thing that gets us all giddy. This past week has been mostly uneventful with two exceptions: 1. Keri enjoyed a Girls Night Out on Thursday and 2. Sophie spent last night throwing up! I liked 1 way more than 2! She's holding everything down fine but is fighting an occasional moderate fever.

I spent much of the day doing loads of laundry to clean the sheets, bed skirt, blankets, and towels that were casualties of last night's events. I leaned the mattress up against her dresser to strip the bed skirt off. Later, and feeling better, Sophie discovered that if you push the mattress over it creates a spiffy makeshift slide!

Previous Quote of the Blog

2011-05-07T10:29:00.001-05:00

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. --Mother Teresa

Going Green

2011-04-30T21:24:00.002-05:00

It was a very green kind of day. Neal woke up early to pick up our produce order from our local farmers. Took the kids to drop off recyclables such as old electronic equipment and clothes/household items for the Goodwill at Allen's Great American Clean Up. Took a free tree home from the event. Neal and I then attended a rain water harvesting class and made our first rain barrel. Then we piled the kids in the car and attended the Green Expo at the Heard Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary.

A Hunting We Will Go

2011-04-23T21:12:00.006-05:00

We wanted to reserve Easter Sunday for religious observance. Throughout the week we have been explaining Christ's suffering and atonement in the garden, his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection in the simplest of terms and with appropriate visuals.

This Saturday morning, we did our Easter egg hunt just before Grandma J left for the airport. It went about as expected.

Rhys did not know what he was suppose to do. When we got him started with an egg he was quite delighted by it. So much so that we could not interest him in searching for other eggs without much chagrin. In his frustration, he threw his egg--busting it open, revealing all it's sugary bounty. He sat down right there in the grass and ate the candy.
This was old hat to Sophie. She collected all but two of the eggs and had fun doing it. Fortunately for Rhys, Sophie was willing to share her spoils.Once the candy was consumed from his first egg, Keri tried to engage Rhys into opening his second egg. He didn't know what to do, got upset and wanted to be held so he pushed his dear mother over, turned himself around and had a seat. Then when all was well in the world, he could more fully devote himself to candy eating once again.Hope next year is a better experience for him. At least Sophie enjoyed herself.

Earth Day

2011-04-23T20:54:00.003-05:00

We decided to head out to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary on Earth Day. We were gifted with an annual pass this year and are so glad. It's great! We meandered through the museum which was very hands on. Then we decided to try one of the shorter trails (1/2 mile) given our young companions. We had to tell Sophie to stay where she could see us or she would have left us in the dust. Rhys did very well on the dirt trail and only wanted to be carried for a short time at the end.
We saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and lived and another tree that had been attacked by a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker Woodpecker. These woodpeckers peck the holes, let them fill with sap, and then suck it out.Earth Day was the perfect day to get out of the city, smell the fresh air, and pay attention to the details in God's handiwork.

Ovumania!

2011-04-23T20:44:00.001-05:00

Coloring Easter eggs is a favorite tradition! To the parents that is. Sophie lasted maybe 5 minutes and Rhys never showed interest especially when the other option was to have Grandma push him on the backyard swing. Neal and Keri decided to go super vibrant. Fun as always. Can't wait for those egg salad sandwiches!

Busy Busy Busy

2011-04-23T16:45:00.009-05:00

Because Grandma J is in town and also to use up some vacation time, Neal took a week off from work. It was no vacation though--he worked on the house and yard all week.

He accomplished a ton: installed an irrigation system for the vegetable garden, installed surround sound (thanks K & D!), mowed and weed treated the lawn, replaced light and fan switches, replaced door stoppers, shimmed the toilet so it wouldn't rock, planted a variety of flowers, plants, and aquatic greenery, stocked the water lily pot with fish and minnows (pictured releasing them)...

cleaned out rain gutters, put up vinyl lettering and artwork in two rooms, installed a rain meter, cleaned out the garage, attempted to repair a used swing/play set we recently acquired.

Keri was busy spending time with her mom, tending the kiddies, and having some fun of her own. She baked an amazing pie, including the crust. It was a pie featured on Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives and she found a recipe copying it online. Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie with basil in the list of ingredients. It was crowned with a lovely topping of sliced almonds, sugar, and butter. It was very good and not as weird as we thought it might be.

Also, Keri had been wanting to do something cute for Rhys because she often makes bows, bracelets, and the like for Sophie. So she got a hold of a cheap, easy pattern and went to town sewing up three adorable neckties to spiff him up at church. And she has picked up crocheting once again--still the same duck blanket.

Keri Parties with the Preschool Crowd

2011-04-21T13:59:00.006-05:00

Keri always enjoys teaching preschool when it is her turn, even when she had the letter Q. This week was a lot easier to prepare for because it was our Easter party week. The co-op preschool started with 6 kids and we are down to 4 but this week we only had 3 because one was on vacation with his family. So Keri's job was even easier although the more the merrier still rings true.

Day One:
We sorted plastic Easter eggs by color and then matched upper to lower case letters.Then we lined up the letters in alphabetical order. Following that we played a game to see how many eggs we could toss into the not-too-distant Easter baskets. Everyone got at least one egg in.

For snack we had bunny and carrot shaped pretzels.

After snack the kids cut and glued bunny ears out of construction paper and wadded up white tissue paper to make their own bunny tails. Once properly trimmed in bunny garb we enjoyed a playful rendition of the hokey pokey and put our paws, ears, and tail in...

Here are James, Ben, and Sophie cute as can be.Still donning the ears and tail, the little bunnies toured our backyard garden and sampled foods rabbits would eat like cabbage, lettuce, kale, and arugula.

Day Two:
We started with making hand print Easter bunnies with paint and later embellished them with googly eyes, pom pom nose, and bow. We talked about the different items we see around Easter regarding the secular side: chicks, bunnies, baskets, flowers and the like. We decided before Easter week that the parents would address the religious significance of the holiday in our own homes as a family.

We practiced number recognition and 1:1 counting up to the teens with jellybeans. They got to eat several for work well done.

Following that we played a guessing game and tried to figure out what was in each of three plastic eggs. We compared weights, shook them and listened, and held them up to light to see the shape.

Near the end of class we decorated cupcakes to look like Easter baskets. We colored shredded coconut green by shaking it in a bag with a couple drops of green food coloring. They loved that! They topped their frosted cupcakes with the coconut grass, added several jellybean eggs, and a chenille/pipe cleaner for an mock handle. They made one for themselves and one for their sibling to eat later. Then they got to sugar-up on a plain one before their parents came to pick them up. We filled in the last few minutes with more games of egg tossing and egg balancing (on a spoon).

The kids had a good time and Keri had a blast as well! The fact that these kids rock and are well behaved is icing on the cake.

The Past Little While in Pictures

2011-04-16T21:13:00.010-05:00

Grandma J (Judy), has been in town. Our handsome boy got his first "salon" cut. He did great. Still gets a bit dreamy when getting his hair cut. He likes it. Rhys gives himself a butternut squash pasta sauce facial. Those eyebrows are like magnets for sauce.

We attended the grand opening of Cabela's. We have never seen so many men in one store and with the giddiest of smiles on their faces. Cabela's never fails to display grotesque amounts of stuffed dead animals throughout thier stores. Neal did not appreciate my blatant comments about how the animals are even more beautiful when alive. Shockingly, these fish were actually living.

See, here is a perfect example of taxidermy overload in these stores. Here a bear drags a dead sheep. A dead dead sheep. Isn't this a little bit redundant?

Today we enjoyed the Easter Eggstraviganza down at our city hall. Fun for the kids-airbrushed tatoos, pictures with the Easter bunny, balloon twisting artists, plastic eggs generously handed out with more toys than candy (thank goodness), crafts, games, and the like. We were happy to see our friends the Goodes, Garvins, and Voges.

Tonight we went for an evening walk down at the old stone dam. There are abondoned train tracks there so we took the kids across them and then on a little trail to the dam. Instead of heading back we felt rather daring and climbed down, over, and up the other side of the dam.

The nice thing about the abondoned tracks is that the bridge has only positive graffiti on it. Nothing distasteful, just scripture, inspirational thoughts, and the usual declarations of love.

Here Neal is swinging my dear baby boy over the spill area of the dam to my mom as sweet Sophie walks on totally unattended. Who's earned the parenting award?!

Here's what we crossed. Not too big a deal but fun!

Public Speaking

2011-04-13T18:49:00.002-05:00

Sophie had her first opportunity to speak in the children's primary at church this past Sunday. She was chosen to prepare and share a scripture focusing on the theme, "Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer." She did great! She marched right up to the podium, spoke into the microphone, and recited from memory Articles of Faith 1:3:

"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

Quite a mouthful for a three-year-old! She only needed a quiet prompt of "We" to get her rolling. Sophie did beautifully!

Rhys is also enjoying the gift of gab. A reminder that he started speech-therapy, about 2 months ago with only 3 consonant sounds. He is now approximating the words baby, bye-bye, dada, kitty, more, milk, TV, juice, Opa (Dutch for grandpa), and mama. Rhys is working to shake his head "no" rather than throw a fit to decline or reject. He is working very hard and we are so happy it is paying off.

Foolin' Around

2011-04-01T21:05:00.006-05:00

For April Fool's Day, today, we had breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. My kids were totally cool with having macaroni and cheese for breakfast. For dinner I made super yummy Chunky Monkey pancakes with peanut butter maple syrup also known as dessert for being so sweet! Want to see it?! Want the recipe?! Click here. The only changes I made were including cinnamon chips as well as chocolate chips and slipping a little whole wheat flour in the mix.

And for my sweetie--I played a sweet little joke placing a "parking ticket" on his windshield at his work, with a little note inside saying, "I'm a FOOL for you!" It was a simple and fun day!

March was Youth Art Month

2011-03-30T13:28:00.011-05:00

To acquaint my kids and I with the arts a little better, I featured some specific categories for Youth Art Month.

Music: We made a guitar by slipping rubber bands around an open box and strummed an kooky tune.

Dance: We put on the kids favorite Dora CD and rocked out, making sure to use both our upper and lower body. Talked about how Buzz Lightyear does good Latin ballroom dancing at the end of Toy Story 3. Literary Arts: Read poems from Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Two Dimensional Art: fingerpianted and brush painted. Three Dimensional Art: sculpted snowmen, snakes, and alphabetical letters out of play-doh. Architecture: Discussed how different buildings have different roof lines including, slant, flat, and dome. Searched for examples while out running errands.

Textiles: created beautiful tied-dyed fabric with cheap baby wipes, rubber bands, and markers. Most importantly we had fun and explored a few types of art that we may not have even considered art before now.

We're Good

2011-03-29T15:01:00.003-05:00

Recent body scans came back negative for cancer again! Hooray! Don't have to be scanned for another 6 months. Last set of scans did show some possible degeneration in my spine and ankle. Will be meeting with a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) doctor who will view the scans and tell me what he thinks. Not shabby at all.

Joy

2011-03-26T16:21:00.006-05:00

Joy is helping your husband garden, watching you kids play in the sprinklers, and enjoying a beautiful spring day. Peace is napping with a soft breeze coming through the window while your sweet husband takes the only non-dozing child to run errands.

Artfully Said

2011-03-21T21:01:00.002-05:00

I finished up my second day of routine (every 3 months) body scans at the Cancer Center today (results Monday the 28th). In the lobby they had artwork on display that was created by cancer patients, survivors, family member/friends, and caregivers depicting their experiences and their comments.

Two paintings really helped me put words to my own experience last year. Despite the positive attitude, last year was tough--tough for me, the family, and some friends. In the comments on one of the pictures, the cancer patient described her cancer treatment as "swimming up stream." That is it! I thought. You are doing it. You are exhausted. And your fighting to move forward in almost unnoticeable increments. Fighting cancer is like swimming up stream.

Another painting showed a staircase ascending but with a few consecutive steps torn up and unusable. That is what last year felt like too, at times. Like you were making your way and then suddenly you are stuck. Everything is on hold. You can see the plans ahead but you are just stuck, unable to move while you and everyone else deals with the cancer.

Did I grow from yet another cancer experience? Yes. I learned some things and really felt my Heavenly Father's love for me and my family. I gained some patience, humility, and gratitude--although I know those don't appear to be blatant characteristics of mine. But if there is to be opposition in all things, I thought it was appropriate to share the other side of cancer as well. You know cancer isn't all fuzzy bunnies and rainbows!

Proof

2011-03-18T14:58:00.002-05:00

Proof that we were not lying about Sophie running away with the idea of the mischievous leprechaun:

Today while our friend Carly was watching the kids, she heard this (a direct quote):

"Caree (Carly), Caree, come and look! The leprechauns turned my poop green!"

Later, at home with Keri, Sophie reminded her that her green poop was "GREAT for St. Patrick's Day."

Thank you, Sophie. You rock!

St. Patty's Day Happenings

2011-03-17T18:27:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Sophie used her best cutting and gluing skills to disguise our homemade leprechaun trap. We set it up last night and baited it with a gold coin Sophie had and other items she thought he would enjoy like a bead and small green ball.In the morning, the trap had been sprung but there was no little magical Irish person in sight, only a wee note left by our visitor. He stated that since the kids had tried to play a trick on him he had played a few of his own on them. Sophie was very sad when she realized the leprechaun had taken her gold coin, near tears even.Well, it was not long before we happened upon his tricks. He turned the milk green, turned the dining room chairs backwards, turned an empty trash can upside down, moved Sophie's green shirt to a high shelf in her room, and pre-buckled the seat belts in the car. And yes, magically, that gold coin (rescued from the kitchen trash can) was later discovered under her pillow to her delight (good save parents!).

Sophie's imagination went wild with this leprechaun mischief idea. Anything that even seemed out of place to her had been a trick played by the leprechaun.Later that afternoon we made rainbow cupcakes to enjoy with friends. It was a lot of fun! Maybe we'll catch one next year!

Playing in the Dirt

2011-03-12T16:38:00.002-06:00

Well the vegetable garden is almost fully planted. We have spent the last 3 years building up our container garden in the backyard. We love it. It's healthy, gives us quality time as a family, gets us outside, provides an opportunity to learn ourselves and teach our children, and, oh, it's fun!

This year we added a small orange tree in addition to the pomegranate, blackberries, and blueberries from last year. Our newly planted herbs are cilantro, basil, thyme, dill, and parsley. We planted onions (bunching), arugula, radishes, lettuce, microgreens, carrots, sugar snap peas, several varieties of tomato, hot and sweet peppers, red cabbage, kale, corn, beans, and cucumbers. Soon to be planted are summer and winter squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, and watermelon.

It's a fun Saturday afternoon with the kids playing in the hose water and us parents getting dirt under our nails.

What's That You Say?

2011-03-09T15:43:00.002-06:00

Rhys is making gains in his speech little by little. He started with 3 consonant sounds - m, b, and d. He is now using those more consistently and he has added n, t, and p with h emerging. What a champ!

Sophie says things her own way and it makes us laugh. To exclaim surprise, she says "Oh my cow!" which we think is a combo of Oh my gosh and Holy cow!

Also with spring approaching, she likes to point out the common red breasted robin, labeled by her as "Christopher Robin." "Look, a Christopher Robin, Mom!" Love it!

Nothing Much Here

2011-03-05T15:28:00.002-06:00

That's the answer to "What's been going on?"

Neal and Keri are continuing their upholstery class once a week. They have spent four hours removing staples, thus far. Staples like the sands of the sea! Someday they will learn a new upholstery skill besides how to remove staples and band-aid up cuts and puncture wounds.

Rhys is starting to use his 3 consonant sounds more often. He is becoming more expressive, more communicative, but the words are going to come slow as of now. We now are sticking him time out for pulling his sister's hair. His favorite job is pushing the buttons on the washer, dryer, and dishwasher to get them started.

Sophie is growing so tall but she is skinny! She loves preschool. She loves riding her tricycle. She loves spending grandma's money to buy the occasional ice cream sandwich from the ice cream truck. She is fascinated by the fact that different foods and liquids turn her tongue various colors. She can talk endlessly. When we are out running errands, she always requests "one more store."

Today we attended the Arbor Day celebration at our city library. It was cold. Only some of the trees got planted by various volunteer groups because it was so cold. No matter! The city plants any unloved tree soon thereafter.

We also picked up our 'bountiful basket' order today. We get mostly local grown veggies and fruit every other week. Never know what's going to be in there which is half the fun. We learned we liked kale this way and now are going to try turnips for the first time. It's fun to find out what's in the basket and what we are going to do with it.

So just everyday stuff going on.

Family Trip - Glen Rose, TX

2011-02-24T20:38:00.013-06:00

This is the first time we were able to leave town since having Rhys and with Keri's health back. We thought it would be good to choose a place fairly close by and Glen Rose is approximately 2 hours away.

We left on Monday (Presidents' Day) and by late morning we arrived at Dinosaur Valley State Park. There we got to see the footprints of 2-3 different types of dinosaurs preserved under water. The best sets had been removed and taken to a museum somewhere.

Can you see them? They are 3 toed prints. Anyway, that was neat but the fun part was playing in the water.

At the start of day 2 we drove through the wild animal park. We opted not to buy feed for the animals but had a bag of romaine lettuce to share if they were interested. We didn't need the food. They were so used to being fed, the animals would come right up to the car looking for a snack. We got plenty of up close and personal shots.

This was a great experience for the kids. Sophie was not fond of the ostriches but was fine with the other animals. She handled this friendly visit by a deer perfectly.

Yep, he licked her!

Neal's favorite part was seeing the rhinoceroses.

We left for Dinosaur World that afternoon where the kids got to dig for real fossils and take them home.

Then there was the photo op at the decapitated T-Rex head.

There were over 100 life size dinosaurs at this tourist's trap.

On Day 3 we ended our trip by visiting Dublin, TX touring the oldest Dr. Pepper factory. We each enjoyed a Dr. Pepper while learning how it was invented, produced, and advertised. They even had Dr. Pepper Jelly in their gift shop.

Ahhh, the good old days...And today...Why does Keri love Neal? For one, how he flies into framed shots at the perfect time.

We had a great time as a family. There as plenty to keep us entertained and we enjoyed making memories together. Now where to next?

Happiness is Homemade

2011-02-20T21:48:00.002-06:00

Keri, who is not always comfortable in the kitchen, is feeling a little bit more at home lately. She has been making some yummy stuff despite her "helpers."Recent successes: Dinner-a.) an amazing Black Bean Pumpkin Soup, b.) Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff, Breakfast-a.) Fried Egg over Asparagus, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, b.) Lemon Blueberry Scones with Lemon Icing (see below, and they were NOT dry), Dessert- Cinnamon Rolls with Icing.

And the real marvel is that we foodies are not gaining weight!