Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks
Today I'm thankful that we can be with family. My brother, sister in law, and their 3 adorable kids are here. Damon has only cried maybe 3 times today...not 50!!! Tommy loves having so many people around. I love talking with other adults and feeling reassured. My 2 favorites of the day were seeing my little niece wear her construction paper turkey headband almost all day and watching a movie with a couch full of little kids that laughed at all the funny parts. There's nothing like family...especially on a holiday:)
Friday, November 19, 2010
No Pictures
So I don't have any pictures to post. Well, I really do, but when I went to load them to the computer from the camera, ALL 1200+ pictures on my camera were going to load!! There wasn't an option to select the ones I wanted to load. I'm afraid to delete the pictures on my camera until I burn those same pictures from my computer to a disk. I have a lot of pictures on the computer that need to be burned! My picture posting will be postponed until I can figure things out. I'm bummed because I think I have a couple really good pictures.
I figured I'd share some things we've been doing so I don't forget.
We have been making a turkey wall in our kitchen. We have 5 different types of turkeys we have made to hang on the wall. 1. we took a coffee filter and colored it with markers, then dropped water on it and waited for it to dry, then cut out a turkey body and glued googly eyes on it. 2. painted our fingers different colors for the tail and painted our foot for the body. 3. traced our hands on different colors of paper for the tail and cut a body and used googly eyes. Tommy wanted his turkey to have 4 eyes. 4. used a paper plate and painted it different colors and made a body. 5. used half a paper plate and glued fake leaves onto it (our leaf collecting was all in vein...they grew mold or crunched apart before we could use them) then colored a turkey body to glue on.
We painted all over a big brown piece of paper that had come in a package all crumpled up. After it dried, we cut out leaf shapes and glued them to a paper plate that I cut into a spiral. They are our falling leaves. (I modified this idea from No Time For Flashcards).
We've been trying to learn and sing new turkey songs. We made a turkey treat by putting chocolate frosting on a graham cracker, a whopper candy for a head, and candy corns for feathers. We made an apple gumdrop turkey at the library.
Sadly, Tommy has entered the Terrible Twos. He still has his super cute moments like when he's singing songs and talking about spooky ghosts and praying for his trick or treat candy, but he can be really ornery a lot of the time now and has a big temper. Last Saturday we all discovered he can climb out of his pack n play (yes, I don't own a crib and my children sleep in pack n plays when they're babies). This means nap times have not been happening!! I try every day to put him down, but he climbs out and bounds down the stairs then does a victory lap to show how awesome he is for escaping. Actually, he only did that a few times, he wisened up and plays upstairs in my room so he won't get caught. I've tried driving him around until he falls asleep, but then Damon falls asleep and I don't want him getting too much rest then he won't go to bed until late. One day I was trying to sing to Tommy and he was squirming, so I asked if he wanted me to put him in his bed. He replied, "I get out." As if to say to me, "mom, I'll just get out of my bed, go ahead and put me in there, I won't stay and I'll just get out!" So, I've been trying to decide if I can face yet another power struggle with my kids. I'm really tired of the power struggles and the tantrums. Sigh...
So, because I now have to entertain both boys during the afternoon hours, I made pumpkin pie playdough that I found here . It has been magical. I pulled out an old rolling pin, tongue depressers, toothpicks, canning rings, pumpkin cookie cutters, little heart cookie cutters, and pie tins. We've spent hours playing with this playdough. I'm so glad I made it, except I didn't have the recommended pumpkin pie spice, so I dumped in cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg. I think I put way too much ground cloves in...the scent is a little strong.
The other day Barrett and I were talking about Tommy and hoping he wasn't getting more teeth. Damon piped in, "If I grow more teeth, I'll grow into a shark!!" Pretty funny.
I didn't really change our "school" calendar for November except the word "November." I told Damon the letters to write and he did it. He wrote the first letter then started doing something funny to it. He did the same thing with the next letter. I asked him what he was doing and he told me that the other words had little spiders on them(it was a Halloween font with little spiders hanging from each letter) and these letters needed pumpkins. He drew a little pumpkin on every letter!! He made his own font!!!! It was a super happy moment for me...I love cute fonts and it was pretty creative of my 3 year old!
I figured I'd share some things we've been doing so I don't forget.
We have been making a turkey wall in our kitchen. We have 5 different types of turkeys we have made to hang on the wall. 1. we took a coffee filter and colored it with markers, then dropped water on it and waited for it to dry, then cut out a turkey body and glued googly eyes on it. 2. painted our fingers different colors for the tail and painted our foot for the body. 3. traced our hands on different colors of paper for the tail and cut a body and used googly eyes. Tommy wanted his turkey to have 4 eyes. 4. used a paper plate and painted it different colors and made a body. 5. used half a paper plate and glued fake leaves onto it (our leaf collecting was all in vein...they grew mold or crunched apart before we could use them) then colored a turkey body to glue on.
We painted all over a big brown piece of paper that had come in a package all crumpled up. After it dried, we cut out leaf shapes and glued them to a paper plate that I cut into a spiral. They are our falling leaves. (I modified this idea from No Time For Flashcards).
We've been trying to learn and sing new turkey songs. We made a turkey treat by putting chocolate frosting on a graham cracker, a whopper candy for a head, and candy corns for feathers. We made an apple gumdrop turkey at the library.
Sadly, Tommy has entered the Terrible Twos. He still has his super cute moments like when he's singing songs and talking about spooky ghosts and praying for his trick or treat candy, but he can be really ornery a lot of the time now and has a big temper. Last Saturday we all discovered he can climb out of his pack n play (yes, I don't own a crib and my children sleep in pack n plays when they're babies). This means nap times have not been happening!! I try every day to put him down, but he climbs out and bounds down the stairs then does a victory lap to show how awesome he is for escaping. Actually, he only did that a few times, he wisened up and plays upstairs in my room so he won't get caught. I've tried driving him around until he falls asleep, but then Damon falls asleep and I don't want him getting too much rest then he won't go to bed until late. One day I was trying to sing to Tommy and he was squirming, so I asked if he wanted me to put him in his bed. He replied, "I get out." As if to say to me, "mom, I'll just get out of my bed, go ahead and put me in there, I won't stay and I'll just get out!" So, I've been trying to decide if I can face yet another power struggle with my kids. I'm really tired of the power struggles and the tantrums. Sigh...
So, because I now have to entertain both boys during the afternoon hours, I made pumpkin pie playdough that I found here . It has been magical. I pulled out an old rolling pin, tongue depressers, toothpicks, canning rings, pumpkin cookie cutters, little heart cookie cutters, and pie tins. We've spent hours playing with this playdough. I'm so glad I made it, except I didn't have the recommended pumpkin pie spice, so I dumped in cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg. I think I put way too much ground cloves in...the scent is a little strong.
The other day Barrett and I were talking about Tommy and hoping he wasn't getting more teeth. Damon piped in, "If I grow more teeth, I'll grow into a shark!!" Pretty funny.
I didn't really change our "school" calendar for November except the word "November." I told Damon the letters to write and he did it. He wrote the first letter then started doing something funny to it. He did the same thing with the next letter. I asked him what he was doing and he told me that the other words had little spiders on them(it was a Halloween font with little spiders hanging from each letter) and these letters needed pumpkins. He drew a little pumpkin on every letter!! He made his own font!!!! It was a super happy moment for me...I love cute fonts and it was pretty creative of my 3 year old!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Funny
Here's some cute and funny things the boys have been doing and saying...
1. While in Utah, Damon and Grandma were driving in the car. Grandma said, "Look! A Horse!" Damon replied, "Is it driving a buggy?" ---This makes me laugh every time! Can you tell we live a few short miles from Amish farms?!!
2. We have been putting Tommy in the zipper jammies with feet. When I put them on him I tell him we're going to make him warm and toasty. Once they're on, I ask if he is toasty warm. Now, he calls those type of pajamas "toasty warm". It is pretty cute.
3. One morning I came home from seminary and found Tommy watching tv in a diaper with his "toasty warm" jammies on the ground. I guess he knows how to unzip and get undressed...oh boy.
4. One night Damon and I were pretend playing hospital with lego guys. I was being silly and Damon was laughing. At one point he stopped laughing and froze with a panic look on his face. I asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. He thought about it, but decided not to, so I told him if he laughed again he'd wet his pants. He never did, but eventually had to use the bathroom. A few days later he wanted to make me wet my pants from laughing so hard at his made up jokes. He kept making up jokes and I would give a courtesy laugh...I think he was a little disappointed he wasn't super funny.
5. Tommy is always saying, "wats of tandee trih uh treeting pop-e-pops" which translates to "lots of candy trick or treating lollipops." He even says this in prayers and whenever he wants to say something.
1. While in Utah, Damon and Grandma were driving in the car. Grandma said, "Look! A Horse!" Damon replied, "Is it driving a buggy?" ---This makes me laugh every time! Can you tell we live a few short miles from Amish farms?!!
2. We have been putting Tommy in the zipper jammies with feet. When I put them on him I tell him we're going to make him warm and toasty. Once they're on, I ask if he is toasty warm. Now, he calls those type of pajamas "toasty warm". It is pretty cute.
3. One morning I came home from seminary and found Tommy watching tv in a diaper with his "toasty warm" jammies on the ground. I guess he knows how to unzip and get undressed...oh boy.
4. One night Damon and I were pretend playing hospital with lego guys. I was being silly and Damon was laughing. At one point he stopped laughing and froze with a panic look on his face. I asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. He thought about it, but decided not to, so I told him if he laughed again he'd wet his pants. He never did, but eventually had to use the bathroom. A few days later he wanted to make me wet my pants from laughing so hard at his made up jokes. He kept making up jokes and I would give a courtesy laugh...I think he was a little disappointed he wasn't super funny.
5. Tommy is always saying, "wats of tandee trih uh treeting pop-e-pops" which translates to "lots of candy trick or treating lollipops." He even says this in prayers and whenever he wants to say something.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Winterthur
Election Day was really exciting this year. Barrett had the day off work!! Woo-hoo! We went and voted then headed up north to a beautiful place called Winterthur. Since living on the east coast, we have only been here one other time and were only able to get a quick feel for it. We have been desperately wanting to return. It was a pretty chilly day, but so beautiful.
(I know...I probably could have narrowed the picture selection down more)
We rode a shuttle bus over to the museum and asked for directions to the Children's garden. The person helping us was awesome...she helped us out a lot throughout the day. We were able to borrow a little backpack with all kinds of fun stuff for kids to use to enhance their experience...notebook, binoculars, pictures of things to look for in the gardens, things to listen for, and lots more fun! Tommy has entered the stage of running and not wanting to be distracted, so he ran up and down the steps and all over the courtyard overlooking the bath house. He paused long enough to see the Koi pond with gigantic fish!
The leaves were awesome. The colors were gorgeous and they were falling on us all day...it was so fun. Damon found these huge leaves and even showed me which tree they fell from.
We finally made it to the Enchanted Woods children's garden. It was sooo fun! We had the entire place to ourselves!! We loved the giant nest, the little chairs, the rocks to play on. Our absolute favorite was the fairy house. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen! There was a little table inside, so we ate our lunch there. There was a strong cinnamon smell throughout the house and it smelled so good. It must have been fairy magic because we felt like we should be little fairies living there. After our lunch, a group of girl scouts joined the fairy land and we no longer had it to ourselves. One little girl showed me some cute little surprises in the garden...she most go there often:) The boys loved exploring and running and jumping and playing.
On our way to the children's garden, we had to walk through this little hallway. Damon froze and couldn't believe the amount of gold he was looking at! He is obsessed with gold...gold jewelry, gold swords, gold crowns, people wearing gold, kings that love gold, gold treasure... So, when he saw this (see picture below) he was in heaven and HAD to have his picture taken with it. His expression doesn't show how excited he really was...it was pretty funny!
We went back into the museum and they opened up the Please Touch room just for us. Once again, we were the only ones in there, so the boys played with the food and props and old plates and bowls and baskets. They made us a feast! Other children came and went, but we were there for an hour! We tried to take a tour of the house (more like mansion/estate), but Tommy was at the end of his little rope. I'm pretty sure the tour guides were so grateful we decided to leave instead of taking the tour. We picked up some Dominos Pizza on the way home and we all devoured it!! We had such a fun day and were so glad we finally made it back to Winterthur. )
(I know...I probably could have narrowed the picture selection down more)
We rode a shuttle bus over to the museum and asked for directions to the Children's garden. The person helping us was awesome...she helped us out a lot throughout the day. We were able to borrow a little backpack with all kinds of fun stuff for kids to use to enhance their experience...notebook, binoculars, pictures of things to look for in the gardens, things to listen for, and lots more fun! Tommy has entered the stage of running and not wanting to be distracted, so he ran up and down the steps and all over the courtyard overlooking the bath house. He paused long enough to see the Koi pond with gigantic fish!
The leaves were awesome. The colors were gorgeous and they were falling on us all day...it was so fun. Damon found these huge leaves and even showed me which tree they fell from.
We finally made it to the Enchanted Woods children's garden. It was sooo fun! We had the entire place to ourselves!! We loved the giant nest, the little chairs, the rocks to play on. Our absolute favorite was the fairy house. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen! There was a little table inside, so we ate our lunch there. There was a strong cinnamon smell throughout the house and it smelled so good. It must have been fairy magic because we felt like we should be little fairies living there. After our lunch, a group of girl scouts joined the fairy land and we no longer had it to ourselves. One little girl showed me some cute little surprises in the garden...she most go there often:) The boys loved exploring and running and jumping and playing.
On our way to the children's garden, we had to walk through this little hallway. Damon froze and couldn't believe the amount of gold he was looking at! He is obsessed with gold...gold jewelry, gold swords, gold crowns, people wearing gold, kings that love gold, gold treasure... So, when he saw this (see picture below) he was in heaven and HAD to have his picture taken with it. His expression doesn't show how excited he really was...it was pretty funny!
We went back into the museum and they opened up the Please Touch room just for us. Once again, we were the only ones in there, so the boys played with the food and props and old plates and bowls and baskets. They made us a feast! Other children came and went, but we were there for an hour! We tried to take a tour of the house (more like mansion/estate), but Tommy was at the end of his little rope. I'm pretty sure the tour guides were so grateful we decided to leave instead of taking the tour. We picked up some Dominos Pizza on the way home and we all devoured it!! We had such a fun day and were so glad we finally made it back to Winterthur. )
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Hallo-week
The week of Halloween was full of Halloween festivities. We went to storytime at the library and the boys were each able to chose a small pumpkin to wash all clean then take home. That night we went to the pumpkin patch to choose bigger pumpkins to carve. The boys loved it! We also decided to get a bag of apple seconds to make some applesauce and other tasty apple dishes.
One morning we made jack-o-lantern pancakes. We started off with blueberry faces, but switched over to chocolate chips when we realized the berries were a bit freezer burnt and dying my fingers. Tommy had chocolate all over his face before too long!
Meagan hosted a Halloween party for the little boys. They ate cupcakes, painted pumpkins, hunted for pumpkins, played a ping pong ball drop game, and went trick or treating at the front door. It was really fun!
We went to a Halloween storytime at the library on Thursday (Damon's age group). Damon was a pirate and Tommy was Superman. After we got home, Damon informed me he wanted to be a king. So, that afternoon he painted a crown and decorated it. We also painted cuff bracelets. I had to use the superman cape for his costume which meant Tommy needed to be something different. I looked in his closet and found an Eagles football jersey, so that's what he was.
Friday we went to another Halloween storytime. Tommy couldn't handle sitting next to the table of treats and kept crying for cupcakes. Damon liked seeing everyone's costumes. That night we had our church party. I made white chili to take, but we were too late for anyone to enjoy it, so it was basically a wasted effort...although it was so good to eat it a couple times as leftovers. We ate, went on a hayride (driven by 2 real Amish boys), and trunk or treated. The boys loved getting the candy!
Saturday morning we carved our pumpkins. I helped Tommy with his little pumpkin. After it was done, he sat there forever putting the piece to one of the eyes back in and taking it out. Damon drew his face and I helped him carve it. He was dead set on Dad carving the scarecrow pumpkin head guy from the carving book we had...so after what seemed like hours, the jack-o-lanterns were done.
Saturday was our town's trick or treating night. We took the boys to a few houses. They both LOVED trick or treating. Unfortunately I don't think very many houses got word because there weren't many porch lights on but so many trick or treaters. I realized how weird it is to go to random neighbors and ask for candy. The weather had gotten a lot colder too. We were able to convince the boys home by offering hot chocolate! Damon likes to play with his candy, but Tommy knows how to unwrap his candy and cannot be trusted! Now he is always saying, "wats of tandee trih treeding".
Sunday was the Primary Program and I was asked earlier in the week to play the piano. I was nervous for Damon because it was his first Primary Program and he's super shy in big groups and we were out of town for all the practices. He was really nervous, but he said his speaking parts! For dinner, we made bread bowls that look like pumpkins (found here). Unfortunately they were a bit too small for our leftover white chili, so we just ripped them apart and dunked them in bowls of chili. Meagan had given each little boy a glowstick sword. Shockingly, no one got hurt! They loved them! We also had a Halloween jello dessert!
For school, I had Damon dump out his candy and sort it. We made a chart and I showed him how to make a tally mark (we didn't discuss the diagonal for the 5th). I thought he would get really bored, but nope, he made it through 3 different categories! We did have to take turns pulling out candy and being the tally marker. It was really fun to discuss the "one candy in the package" or "lots of candies in the package" and how he knew where it should go. Damon even changed some of his answers after awhile. Usually for school we just do craft projects, but after this activity, I felt like he really worked hard and succeeded!!
Sighhhh....I'm almost caught up on my blogging. It has been driving me crazy! I took tons of pictures of our adventures on Tuesday when Barrett had the day off, so after that I'll feel caught up.
One morning we made jack-o-lantern pancakes. We started off with blueberry faces, but switched over to chocolate chips when we realized the berries were a bit freezer burnt and dying my fingers. Tommy had chocolate all over his face before too long!
Meagan hosted a Halloween party for the little boys. They ate cupcakes, painted pumpkins, hunted for pumpkins, played a ping pong ball drop game, and went trick or treating at the front door. It was really fun!
We went to a Halloween storytime at the library on Thursday (Damon's age group). Damon was a pirate and Tommy was Superman. After we got home, Damon informed me he wanted to be a king. So, that afternoon he painted a crown and decorated it. We also painted cuff bracelets. I had to use the superman cape for his costume which meant Tommy needed to be something different. I looked in his closet and found an Eagles football jersey, so that's what he was.
Friday we went to another Halloween storytime. Tommy couldn't handle sitting next to the table of treats and kept crying for cupcakes. Damon liked seeing everyone's costumes. That night we had our church party. I made white chili to take, but we were too late for anyone to enjoy it, so it was basically a wasted effort...although it was so good to eat it a couple times as leftovers. We ate, went on a hayride (driven by 2 real Amish boys), and trunk or treated. The boys loved getting the candy!
Saturday morning we carved our pumpkins. I helped Tommy with his little pumpkin. After it was done, he sat there forever putting the piece to one of the eyes back in and taking it out. Damon drew his face and I helped him carve it. He was dead set on Dad carving the scarecrow pumpkin head guy from the carving book we had...so after what seemed like hours, the jack-o-lanterns were done.
Saturday was our town's trick or treating night. We took the boys to a few houses. They both LOVED trick or treating. Unfortunately I don't think very many houses got word because there weren't many porch lights on but so many trick or treaters. I realized how weird it is to go to random neighbors and ask for candy. The weather had gotten a lot colder too. We were able to convince the boys home by offering hot chocolate! Damon likes to play with his candy, but Tommy knows how to unwrap his candy and cannot be trusted! Now he is always saying, "wats of tandee trih treeding".
Sunday was the Primary Program and I was asked earlier in the week to play the piano. I was nervous for Damon because it was his first Primary Program and he's super shy in big groups and we were out of town for all the practices. He was really nervous, but he said his speaking parts! For dinner, we made bread bowls that look like pumpkins (found here). Unfortunately they were a bit too small for our leftover white chili, so we just ripped them apart and dunked them in bowls of chili. Meagan had given each little boy a glowstick sword. Shockingly, no one got hurt! They loved them! We also had a Halloween jello dessert!
For school, I had Damon dump out his candy and sort it. We made a chart and I showed him how to make a tally mark (we didn't discuss the diagonal for the 5th). I thought he would get really bored, but nope, he made it through 3 different categories! We did have to take turns pulling out candy and being the tally marker. It was really fun to discuss the "one candy in the package" or "lots of candies in the package" and how he knew where it should go. Damon even changed some of his answers after awhile. Usually for school we just do craft projects, but after this activity, I felt like he really worked hard and succeeded!!
Sighhhh....I'm almost caught up on my blogging. It has been driving me crazy! I took tons of pictures of our adventures on Tuesday when Barrett had the day off, so after that I'll feel caught up.
Chronological order...boo
So, I loaded pictures of the BYU game we went to one day, but never posted it until yesterday. It posted chronologically...so if you're really interested in seeing BYU football game pictures, you need to scroll down like 100 pictures...I know, I posted so many pictures of our adventures in Utah the ONE week we were there!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Grandma's Halloween Party
While we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa, we had an amazing Halloween Party. Grandma and Damon had been talking about it forever! It started off with carving pumpkins, making apple cider, dinner of all the childhood Halloween favorites (sloppy joes, chips and dip, and other good stuff), then the festivities really began. Damon and Tommy looked through Grandma's costume box and decided they wanted to be pirates. They dressed up and so did Cailin...Ainsley made her costume and it was adorable! Grandma had so many fun things at the party. The 3 little kids got cute Halloween bags then went trick or treating to people in the family. They received stickers, Halloween books, candy, stuffed Ghosts, and a dancing monster singing The Monster Mash. We sang Halloween songs and had a really fun time! Ainsley and Paul were in charge of the Donut game at the end...Damon loved it. I thought I had taken a lot more pictures from it, but even the ones I had didn't turn out very well. Grandma went to a lot of work to make it a fun Halloween party and it was awesome! Thanks Grandma for such a fun time!!
Apple Press, Pellet Gun, and Pumpkins
Grandma and Grandpa have an apple press that is part of their decor in the kitchen. It is beautiful, but I've never experienced the actual purpose of it...until this trip. The boys put the apples in the black part and spin the wheel to grind the apples. Then, they take them and press them and really good juice pours out. It was the most delicious apple cider ever!! We were sad that this was one of the last days we were there so we couldn't enjoy the 2 refrigerators full of it!!
Somehow during the apple pressing work, the big boys started throwing apples against the rocks. Before long, the pellet gun was out and apples were being stacked and targeted. I looked over and saw my husband helping my 3 year old hold the pellet gun that was probably taller than him. I have no control over my family on vacation...so poor kid shot his first pellet gun and caught the kick back in his face. His dad helped him try again without getting hurt.
Tanner and Damon picked Grandpa's pumpkins. I guess it was muddy or dirty, so they were showing how messy their hands got.
I was surprised when Damon dug his hands in the pumpkin to clean it out...he is usually so picky about getting things on his hands. He then drew what he wanted his jack-o-lanterns to look like.
Paul and Ainsley carved the one of the left, then Damon's creation, then Grandpa's, then Damon's second one.
I loved the green on the pumpkins...it gave them so much character.
Somehow during the apple pressing work, the big boys started throwing apples against the rocks. Before long, the pellet gun was out and apples were being stacked and targeted. I looked over and saw my husband helping my 3 year old hold the pellet gun that was probably taller than him. I have no control over my family on vacation...so poor kid shot his first pellet gun and caught the kick back in his face. His dad helped him try again without getting hurt.
Tanner and Damon picked Grandpa's pumpkins. I guess it was muddy or dirty, so they were showing how messy their hands got.
I was surprised when Damon dug his hands in the pumpkin to clean it out...he is usually so picky about getting things on his hands. He then drew what he wanted his jack-o-lanterns to look like.
Paul and Ainsley carved the one of the left, then Damon's creation, then Grandpa's, then Damon's second one.
I loved the green on the pumpkins...it gave them so much character.
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