Spaghetti Night Always = Bath Night at our House

Quack! Quack!

Solid

Well, we had Rhys' 4 month well check and he is one solid, yet proportional, baby boy. He is 18 lbs., 5 ounces placing him in the 94th percentile for his weight. Rhys is 27 inches long placing him in the 96th percentile for his length. And his head measures in the 93rd percentile. He is approximately the size of an 8 to 10 month old baby! He got 3 vaccines today--one oral, two shots and is doing well thus far. We are blessed with a peaceful, happy, healthy baby boy!

On a Roll

Hooray for Rhys! In an awesome display of strength and coordination, Rhys, a few days short of 4 months, rolls over. Now if he could just figure out how to get off his tummy, he and the rest of the household would be happier for it. He fusses until flipped back over and then within seconds gets himself in the same predicament.

The Toilet Is Our Friend

Check out Sophie's cool action shot! She is sporting her new Dora panties which she is proud to be wearing now that she's a "big girl." In just one weekend she went from her "yucky" and "gross" diapers to her stylish and dry panties. Thanks to our friend, Toni, and her great potty training advise, Sophie was a shining star by day 2! No stickers. No charts. No toys for rewards. She's just proud of herself and that's enough. No diapers for bed and does #2 in the potty too! You go, Sophie!

And Rhys continues to be cute as ever...

Balloon Festival

Friday night, we packed a picnic dinner and despite some undesirable showers, headed for the Plano Balloon Festival. There was not a balloon nor a balloon bearing van in sight when we got there but the weather cleared up enough for them to come out later and do the "balloon glow." We had a great time!

Why Keri Loves Being a Stay-at-Home Mom

We took a brief walk on our neighborhood streets again today and while Rhys took in a bit of sun and fresh air, Keri and Sophie were pointing out discoveries to each other. Here is what we saw and talked about on today's walk:

Things Sophie felt were worthy of collecting in her pockets and toy baby stroller:

1. acorns, acorn tops, twigs off acorn tops, and a cracked acorn (talked about how the parts went together and that squirrels eat them for food but we do not).
2. a wood chip (talked about how trees are made of wood)
3. tiny flowers found in grass (one yellow, one purple. She actually picked the first and presented it to her doll, saying "Here you go, baby." Talked about little and big).
4. a brown oak leaf

Things that were neat-o but best left where they were:

1. mud (talked about water + dirt = mud)
2. kitty turd
3. a live dragonfly
4. toadstool (new vocab)

Nature rocks! And so does motherhood!

Neal Gets Involved

This past Tuesday evening, for Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Night, Neal presented a class on couponing to the women at our church. The night started off with lessons regarding Heavenly Fathers view of women vs. the world's view of women and communication within the family. Then the ladies were able to split off for a cooking class on garlic or Neal's couponing.

We had a good sized group of ladies. They had lots of good questions and Neal provided lots of good answers. At one point, a lady got a revelation and said, "You mean I can use a manufacturer's coupon and a store coupon on the same item? I can use two coupons?!" To which Keri quickly and enthusiastically piped in, "Isn't he HOT!!!" Everyone wants Neal for a husband but they can't have him! He was just happy to share information on one of his favorite hobbies.

Also, this week Neal begins his CERT training at one of our local fire stations. He was looking for a way to get more involved in his community and thought his experience in hazardous waste could prove useful. His family is very please with his efforts to assist others.

Butterfly Festival

It rained all day but the Butterfly Festival was still on so we went! We attracted butterflies with watermelon and helped them transfer to our fingers, shirt, or whatever. They were lovely. We saw a butterfly egg which was light blue and VERY small. After that we had lunch as The Corner Bakery and headed home. Sophie played in the rain and we had a hard time keeping the nudist in clothes. Later that night she went off to bed in her butterfly jammies.

Experiment with Fluffy

So, yesterday Sophie learned that some toys are water friendly and others are not (like her stuffed kitty). He dried out just fine. More of our kids...

Butterfly Fun

There is a butterfly festival coming up soon so we have been enjoying prepping Sophie with all things butterfly. We started by watching Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Then Sophie made (with a bit of help) a paper chain Caterpillar...Grandma Sue saw what we were up to and gave Sophie a little stuffed caterpillar toy. Throughout the past few weeks we've taken some opportunities to sequence The Very Hungry Caterpillar story using cards...

We also did a bit of dramatization and acted like a caterpillar in a cocoon (pillowcase) and coming out as a butterfly and dancing around flapping our wings...

She colored a cocoon...

And finished with a toilet paper roll/tissue paper butterfly, complete with chenille antennae...

It's been a lot of fun!

What a Weekend!

Friday Night: Church Social--Pinewood Derby and Pie Baking Contest. Neal raced one of his cars from years past and did not place but we had a great time. Saturday: We attended the baptism and confirmation of Briana, daughter of our friends, Dave and Liz. She is eight years old and a cutie! Briana was baptized and confirmed by her father, Dave.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we believe that baptism by immersion in water by one having authority is the first saving ordinance of the gospel and is necessary for someone to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to receive eternal salvation. We believe all who seek eternal life must follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

After the baptism we met back at Dave and Liz' house for lunch and conversation. Keri was able to chat with her high school jewelry teacher, who is now Dave's step-father.

Later that day we attended the sealing of Dave, Liz, Briana, and Jake in the Dallas temple. A sealing is an ordinance preformed in the temple eternally uniting a husband and wife, or children and their parents. It was a very special moment.

Following that we and a group of our friends went out for Mexican food and had a blast being kid free for the evening.

Sunday: We attended church and took it easy. We pulled out Keri's wedding dress and it still fits!...if you don't zip up the back. :-) We took lots of photos of it, in detail, so Keri could remember it and packed up the dress to send off to one of Keri's favorite charities, Brides Against Breast Cancer through the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. You too can ditch that space consuming wedding dress that your daughter will never wear and do some real good. See http://makingmemories.org/

Monday: Hooray! Neal had the day off! We went bargain shopping in the morning and swimming at Opa's and Oma's in the afternoon. We finished up the day with Family Home Evening. Kari, our friend, taught a great lesson about making correct and wrong choices and how that affects ours and others feelings. She emphasized that we are filled with love when we make good choices and made a fun visual for the kids. We traced them and they got to glue hearts all other themselves for good choices and black spots for wrong choices. Sophie felt pretty sure of herself and only chose hearts.

What Can You Get for Under $3

2 half gallons of 100% juice, 4 boxes of pop tarts, 6 bags of skittles, 6 baby bottles, 3 mini artisan loafs, 4 boxes of snack bars, 8 cheese sticks, 5 containers of ice cream, and 6 cereal cups.


Dinner for 3: shredded BBQ sandwich with green pepper and lettuce, 2 ears of corn, and a glass of water each person. Grand total: $1.10. Approximately 37 cents per person.


All thanks to coupons and a husband that knows how to use them.

Did You Know We Have Kids? No?! Oh, Well Here's Some Pictures Then...