November Randoms

Favorite quote of the month:

Sunday night and we're all watching Thomas Edison movie...
Thomas: "There IS no substitute for hard work!"
Austin (loudly):  "Awwww... Seriously?!?"

He was seriously so disappointed.  George and I could not stop laughing.  Even the next day.

----------------

after a date to a Tanner Clinic Welcome dinner - woot, woot!

twiners!

We went with a bunch of families to the fun center in Layton.  Elise was determined to rollerskate.  I have such a big belly that I couldn't help her.  There were a TON of people there so I thought she'd be a bit nervous.  NOPE.  She slowly skated around til she got better and better.  I bet she fell 40 times.  But she did it!  She's one determined girl and we were so proud of her!

These two helped me dig the rest of a trench for our fire pit

fun new hairdo.
Lucy doesn't like hair experiments as much as I do.  :)

Oddly enough, I had two women's retreats in Nov.  One was a ward sleepover retreat up at a cabin in Morgan the first weekend of Nov.  We had speakers and get-to-know you games and talked and laughed.  It was great fun.  We slept on the floor and it wasn't bad.  I only got one picture though and its kind of a lame one of the cups.

The second girls weekend was Time Out for Women in Salt Lake City Nov 21-22.  Gemmie and I went together.  This one was a biggie...it was held in the Maverick Center in West Valley. We heard Sheri Dew speak (her talk was one of my favorites), Noelle Pikus-Pace, Elaine Dalton, and many other great ladies.  It was fantastic and I loved it.  We stayed over at Little America and had a ball.  Two totally different girls weekends, but both were fantastic.  I come home inspired to be a better person.  Bless George for watching over the kids both weekends.

We've seen some gorgeous sunrises!

 Our first snowfall was Nov 14.  The kids were so excited that they tried to sled in 2 inches of snow and came in as mud monsters.  We haven't had snow since.  It's been an oddly warm year.  I'm not complaining, but the skiiers sure are!  Erik was really interested in snow.  He learned the word "snow" and "brrrrr...." :)

I found the twinner of my mom's old couch at the DI!  What a beauty!

Erik loves to "read."  He walks around saying "book-ie, book-ie, book-ie".  Whenever we sit down, he'll throw a pile of books and climb right up on our laps.  Sitting time = Reading time.  Or he'll climb up in the chair and start reading himself.  He's destroyed a few books (some bad enough for the rubbish, but most were tape-able).

Cole and I play a game almost every afternoon when Erik is asleep and the kids are at school.  Zoominoes is a favorite.  Stratego is another one.  He lines up both sides and then picks the side I get to be.  It works out quite well.  He is learning bigger/smaller number relationships without even noticing.  :)  When about 75% of the pieces are dead, he gets sick of it and just tells me where his flag is but tells me not to get it.  Then he'll tell me where my flag is.  ha! 

This is life... pillows are rarely on couches.

 When we make the boys' bed, one person throws the pillows up and the other person puts them where they go.  Usually it's Cole as the thrower and Austin as the placer, but this day it was me as the thrower.  Erik got into the action too.  We did it over and over.  They thought it was SO funny and I couldn't help laughing right along with them.  One of those magical moments.  Erik likes to be involved in whatever the big kids do these days.

I decided we were going to participate in Operation Christmas Child this year.  I'll admit, it didn't go quite like I planned.  We watched the videos and I think I was expecting them to immediately be grateful and giving children.  ha!  We went shopping as a family and packed the boxes together.  The girls actually got into it a bit, but the boys didn't care at all.  I asked if Austin would like to have the things he chose for his Christmas child... "No.  Not really."  hmmmm....  

Erik's first day at nursery... Nov  30 (technically 1 day early)
He was thrilled!  Cole will be in there with him for about a month.
I'm always on the countdown... that 15-18 month range is hard at church,
but the last couple weeks before he went in, I was a little sentimental.
My baby is growing up!

Erik's first time with playdoh.  fun!
I love mornings with the boys.
Wish I could keep the girls home for a few.

-----------------

Austin:  So mom, why haven't you like... invented anything?

---------------

Items Erik has washed in the toilet:  board book, hair bows, Cole's church shoes, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, bath toys, his hands (lots and lots of times), and the list goes on...
-----------------

In prayers...
Austin:  And we are thankful that we are 61 days smarter.
Elise:  Please bless the Elf on the Shelf that he will get healed.

----------------
Elise:  I am the queen of ALL the animals.
Austin:  except for bats.  I am the king of that.

A lot to be thankful for

My little Turkeys

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving season.  One thing we’ve done the past few years is have a “Thankful Wall”.  We usually put it up early in November and the kids get to draw things they are thankful for all month long.  I love it!  The stuff they come up with is great!  In fact, I have a hard time taking it down each year.  Here’s a bit of a sampling…

I thought Lucy’s cross name poems were so funny.  I loved that Elise’s all had hearts around them and the girls all had buns.  I loved that Austin drew the details in his birthday celebrations… like the birthday banners, gifts, etc.  And I loved Cole’s squiggly lines all over the place.  We tried to keep the markers away from Erik as much as possible.  I am very thankful for these sweet little children the Lord gave to me.

For Thanksgiving this year, we ate at the Tripp home.  We contributed the sweet potatoes and a banana cream pie.  I threw the sweet potatoes in the oven, but other than that, Lucy made the whole dish.  She did a great job!  I was really proud of her.  George was gone at the hospital for a good portion of the morning and the girls really stepped it up to help.  Elise helped with the pies and I love her "grown up commentary" she uses all the way through.  I figured she was an expert when I found these instructions she wrote:  

I used Gemmie's yummy recipe for the crust with coconut in it, but it has a ton of butter too and our whole house was smoky.  I think I need to change pie pans for next year. (note to self!)

The Harden’s came to the party too...always nice to see them.  The food was delicious (of course) and we ate ourselves sick.  Well, maybe I should speak for myself.  We played some guessing games, had gunny sack races, and the kids (especially Elise) made ornaments.  It was a fun, relaxing day.  (I don’t know if the hosts would say that though - Big THANKS to Tom and Liz!)

Later in the evening, we hung out at my mom’s for a bit, but were too stuffed to eat more pie.  I had the beginnings of another sinus infection and felt really crummy.

Lucy woke up in the night throwing up, but felt better in the morning.  I wasn’t quite as lucky.  It was black Friday shopping, but I wasn’t really cheerful.  My poor mom had to put up with a grumpy, tired lady.  We did have a good time watching the girls try on lots of dresses and spin around… pretty cute!   We joined the Gundy ladies for lunch at the Olive Garden.  Fun to chat with the cousins and aunties.  There was quite the crew… probably 40 or 50?  Bless the waitresses.

Some of the children's school projects:

Lucy made this cute banner in Activity Days

Elise

Austin

I helped Austin make this at school.
I only got through helping half the kids.  Erik was a wild crazy man.
I think I'll have to take a break from voluntering in Kindergarten for a few months.

We feel like we have been richly blessed and the gospel and family tops the list!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Austin is 6!!!

Day after Austin's party... we spent a great morning
building his 3 in 1 lego creator.  He did most of the building
and I was the assistant...basically handing him pieces and
fighting off Erik from destroying it all.
Austin:  "So... it's a pretty sunny day.  Maybe I should
wear this hat to keep the sun out of my eyes."

I sure love my Austin.  He and I are good buddies!  He is loved by many... gma Liz, gpa Tom, and Ben stopped by Monday to bring gifts and visit.  Grammy Cindy and gpa Ed gave their gift on Thursday and his class sang on Tuesday.  What a great birthday week for Austin!

Austin and his buddy, Blake H.
They go to reading group together and have lots of fun!

 Austin got to bring treats in the day before his birthday.  He really wanted to bring in Kool-aid pops and peanut packets.  ???  However, he was happy when dad could only find chocolate chip cookies and capri sun.  He loved it when the class sang to him and thought it was great fun to pass out cookies.

On his big day, he ate Lucky Charms for breakfast and headed to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.  This time, the kids spent lots of time in the "hospital".  Just like dad.  :)

We couldn't find a McDonalds with a play place nearby so Austin decided Wendy's was good enough.  At the end of our meal, Cole threw up all over himself/table.  Good thing it was at the end of the day's activities.  We got home and opened presents.  Like usual, Austin was happy with everything.  He is easy to please, but he still lets you know what is on his mind.  He said, "Well... I really wasn't thinking you would get THESE legos for me... but I like them!"  (the generic building set)

terrible lighting in these pics, but happy faces :)

favorite - Lego batman car w/ Riddler car and the Flash
(Can you tell Legos have been a "thing" lately?"

putting together the lego stuff.
Austin was thrilled!

Austin got the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" so we ended the day with that.  He was one happy boy!

Love you, Austin!  Happy 6th!

1. What is your favorite color? yellow and black
2. What is your favorite toy?  I haven't decided.  I like my Lego Batman set, my remote control alligator car, and lego creator that you can make into a regular plane, a biplane or helicopter.
3. What is your favorite show/movie?  How to Train Your Dragon
4. What do you like to do with your family?  play.  Just play anything.  I like to do many things with my family.
5. What is your favorite outfit?  brown shirt that says "Supersonic" and dark pants (its really green.  poor kid)
6. What is your favorite game? The Game of Life
7. What is your favorite snack or fruit? Gram Crackers and Milk
8. What is your favorite animal? shark!
9. What is your favorite song? I don't really know.  Does it need to be a regular song? Ok.  I'll do "Wise Man and Foolish Man" for church and "Everything is Awesome" from school. 
10. What is your favorite book?  Vehicle books.  and Lego Comic Book.  My Father's Dragon.  
11. Who is your best friend? Will (Bennett)
12. What makes you happy? Well, many things make me happy... hmmm...when Elise plays Legos with me.  We'll just go with that. 
13. What makes you sad?  When I only want to play legos and both of my sisters say "no". 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  go on the swing
15. What is your favorite drink? root beer
16. What is your favorite holiday? my birthday!  and Christmas!  Because I get presents on both of them.
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? my stuffed animal Froggy.  
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereal.  Lucky Charms
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? spaghetti
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a pilot

After I finished, I asked if he was done or wanted to answer more questions.  And more it was.  :)  It cracked me up because he really thought hard on each question.  He takes this interview pretty seriously.
1. What is your happiest memory?  When I go to the Fun Center.  There is a playground there.  It's called Pirates Cove.
2. Why do you like being a kid?  Because I have lots more toys than parents do
3. One word to describe you would be funny.
4. What advice would you give your parents?  to have my dad not trick us
5. If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?  I would like to be a shark because I like ocean animals.
6. Tell about a funny time in your life.   When I was little, I heard dad sleeping and I said "Oh!  It's a pig sleeping!"
7. What is your favorite thing to do? Why? When mom reads stories with me and when I play fun stuff downstairs.  Like legos.
8. What is your favorite thing to do with your friends?  play outside.  I like to play power rangers, transformers, super heroes, and fly planes.
9. What was the nicest thing you did for someone?   when I give them gifts
10. What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?  Is that older than missionary work?  Then I'll be playing with big kid toys.
11. What is your favorite thing to do in the winter?  go sledding!
12. What would be the ideal allowance? Tell me how you would use it.   (wasn't sure what allowance was).  I think I can buy a few toys that I like if you guys gave me $10.