Thanksgiving

We had a busy week last week. On Tuesday Caleb was in his preschool program. It was new for me to see him up there with his class...Later that day we trucked down to Utah because Wednesday my brother Preston returned from his mission in Chile! Tons has happened since he left!

Thursday was a calm and relaxed Thanksgiving day. Calm because,well, we didn't have Thanksgiving at my mom's house. We went over to Nana's. It was great to see everyone and to celebrate Thanksgiving together. All of the food was delicious, as always.

Friday we went downtown to see the lights on Temple Square as a family. (Meaning just Devin, Caleb, Adelle, and I just a family.) That was so much fun! Both kids loved it! Caleb liked getting to go up and touch the temple. He even told a few random people that that is where mommy and daddy were married. He also informed us that he is getting married there. Caleb and Adelle were not even fussy while we were out, despite the coldness. When we got home we made hot chocolate.

Saturday we had Thanksgiving again! This time it was at my mom's house. We had lots of mom's family over this time. Ya know, Thanksgiving dinner was just as yummy the second time around as it was the first time around. That night Devin and I went to see my cousins sing in their Christmas concert while the kids stayed with Grandma.

Sunday was Preston's homecoming. Once again loved ones gathered in my mom's home. It is always so wonderful to get together.

Now we are back in Rexburg. Yesterday I put up our Christmas Tree. Now if only it would snow enough to stick! (pleaseopleaseoplease)

Double Blessings

So, we have lived in our house for over 4 years. It's been a good house! When we moved in everything from the carpet to the light fixtures was original to the house. (orange swirly carpet, handles in the middle of the cupboards, etc.) One of the great original features of this house was a double oven. How incredible is that! Unfortunately, the guy we bought the house from told us that the upper over doesn't work. He figured one of the heating elements had gone bad or something. Over the years Devin had tried to figure out how to fix it multiple times with no success. The particular brand of oven that we have no longer exists, the sticker with the model number is burned beyond readability, etc. Darn. At least the other oven works. Basically the upper oven has been a decorative fixture. Remember that because I will be coming back to it...

Well last Tuesday our washing machine broke. Yes, it happened on my birthday. Devin took a quick look at it that day, but couldn't figure it out. This morning I was with some friends and I happened to mention how I currently had a broken washing machine and I hoped Devin would be able to fix it today. My friend responded by telling me that her husband was a washer repairman and he would be happy to come take a look at it. Really! Great! So, this fine brother from our ward came over and within minutes of taking the front off of the washer knew how to fix it! Yahoo.

So, jokingly I asked if he fixed ovens too. He said he did. So we went over to the oven. He asked questions and turned knobs a bit. He told us why he did not think the problem was the heat element. Then Devin showed him how the timer does work and we talked about how supposedly there is a 'start time' 'stop time' feature on this oven and fiddled with those knobs. That was all it took. Oven fixed! All these years the problem was the start time stop time feature being turned wrong! NO WAY! All this time I had two working ovens and I only have been using one! I then asked if I could make him some brownies in my now fully functioning oven.

What an awesome guy! He fixed my washer and my oven in under an hour. Out of the goodness of his heart! I love nice people! What a service!

So, today's list is a list of Double Blessings!
-two working ovens
-washer and oven fixed in the same day
-two children
-a furnace and a fireplace
-a fridge and a freezer
-slippers and fuzzy socks
-his car and her car
-a sink and a dishwasher
-mom and dad
-gramma and grampa
-cell phones and internet
-scripture and prayer

How many times in life to we go around not even realizing what we have! There are so many blessing we are given daily that we don't even know about. Sometimes God gives us blessings and we are just to stubborn or prideful to notice or accept. This experience has reminded me that I need to be grateful for the blessings that I don't see.

Rexburrrrrrrg!

Caleb is in a stage of not wanting to cooperate with the camera. I seem to have a plethora of pictures featuring the top of his head. Therefore I admonish you to enjoy the few pictures there are of his sweet face. He is such a cutie. And such a gentleman. Great big brother.

I had to post these because it was just so darn cute. As Adelle was exploring and entertaining herself (which does not happen often) she came across a little drawer full of bibs. She figured those bibs needed to be put to good use! She is such a little GIRL. She loves necklaces, bracelets, hair pretties, purses, and accessories of any kind. Including bibs. She is already a trend setter;)

I am still making bows like crazy! I like making bows. Most of these I made yesterday and today. Looks like fun huh?

When the weather turns cold we get the fire going. Adelle and Caleb love to help out. I have enjoyed reading by the fire again. The fire makes our home so warm and cozy, I love it! I am starting to think about using the fireplace to cook soup and tin foil dinners. MMmmmmm.

Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween! I can't believe how much candy my two kids got. We gave a bunch to Grandma K and Trevor and we still have tons! Caleb had fun being Lightning McQueen.

Life is Good!

We Love to Read!

A few days ago a friend of mine asked me how I get my kids to be so good with books. Looking back, I should have clarified if she was asking how I get them to not rip them appart or if she was asking how I get them to sit and listen to a whole book. Regardless the answers are the same.

How I foster a love of books and reading:

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  I read, read, read. They see me enjoying reading. They see me taking good care of my books. Kids don't miss much, they notice everything!


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  We read together. Every. Day. We always read at bedtime, but we also read whenever we want.


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  My kids get books as gifts. Giving books as gifts isn't necessary, but it does somehow make books extra special. It is like giving them a love of reading, piece by piece.


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  I let them hold, touch, and handle books from a very young age. Age appropriate books of course!


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  Library visits. Building a home library isn't cheap, but books from the public library can be borrowed for free! Besides, then you can have a pre-view and know what books you want to own.


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  When it is time to read, I let them pick the book. I also let them turn pages. I think this is pretty normal, but hey, it is something that I do that contributes to how my kids are with books.


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  I don't worry so much about getting to the end of a book. It isn't about getting to the end. This is especially the case early on. Reading can be an amazing tool for increasing a child's attention span, but not if you force them to always make it to the end of a book. If my kids lose interest in a book and we are only 4 pages in, so what? We might put the book down and start some other book, or we might start just looking at the pictures. Being able to listen to a whole book comes later.

One last thing before this post is done. I just want to say how super cute my Adelle is with books! She loves them. I often catch her sitting and 'reading' a book. More often however she will get a book, find me, sit me down, climb on my lap and have me read to her. She does this at least 8-10 times every day.

There is no limit to where you can go when you are hooked on books!

We are Gamers

One day I came into the kitchen after putting my baby to bed to find my toddler sitting at the table with Settlers of Catan. He looked up and me and asked me very politely to play a game with him. Now, I could have told him no or that we needed to pick a different game that he could play. But instead I sat down and said ‘ok’ and figured out a way to play with him. He knows that his daddy and I love to play games. So, now we play a game together almost every time my baby takes a nap. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t playing the games ‘the right way’. What matters is that we are having special just him and me time. Since I take the time to play adult games with him he doesn’t try to sneak and play with them while I am not looking and lose pieces. Yeah, we play Hi Ho Cherry-O and Memory now and then, but we play mommy’s games too.

Adapting games to play with your preschooler:

Othello-Practice taking turns placing the pieces on the board. Arrange the pieces into shapes, letters, or numbers. Practice simple patterns.

Uno (at our house we have uno attack!)- Take turns taking cards. Practice identifying numbers and colors. When the deck is gone sort the cards into piles according to color. When your child has mastered sorting by color try sorting by number.

Dice games (such as Yahtzee)- Practice counting and numbers! Count the dice, count the dots, match up dice with the same number facing up, how many times you roll, etc. Also practice fine motor skills by stacking the dice, see how many you can stack up!

Settlers of Catan- Let your preschooler practice fitting the pieces together. Build designs, patterns, letters, and numbers with the little wooden pieces. I don’t get out all of the many parts of the game, but my preschooler loves to feel like he is playing by just using parts of the game. He can’t tell that he is only playing part of the game!

Scrabble- Practice identifying letters. We like to ‘match up’ I will say something like “I found an A, can you find another A?” We also like to add in letter sounds now and then. For example I might say “Look D for d-d-d-Daddy! The sound for D is d-uh.” For older preschoolers you can also start building words.

Rummikub- Identify the different numbers. Sort numbers and colors.

Monkey Bread

I had an 'A-Ha' moment today. I have always wondered why Monkey Bread is called Monkey Bread. Well, one look at Adelle while she was eating Monkey Bread solved the mystery.

And a cute little monkey she is too!

For Cutes

Today was the first time I tried to put Adelle's hair in anything. She looks good in pig tails don't you think? I sure do. One day in the next year I may get to use some of the super cute hair clips that I have made for her.

The month of September

• Caleb is in preschool! If you ask him how preschool was today he never fails to answer 'It was FUN!' He loves it.


• Devin is back in school. Last semester at BYU-I. Wahooo!


• Emily Jean is facilitating gameplays.


• Big Yard Sale, and it went well.


• Chopping wood. Stacking wood. Getting ready for a Rexburg-cold winter.


• Monday Park Day with friends.


• Wednesday get togethers with cousins.

She is 1

My little girl turned 1 yesterday! We celebrated with friends, family and cake. Caleb chose a special tea set to give to her for her brithday. Nana made

Pictures of August

Just a taste of how our August has been! Homemade Rootbeer, Jungle Jims, and Sharing. We are loving our last few weeks in Utah!

Four Wonderful Years

check this out

and check this out

and check this out as well

so. stinkin. cute.

Yes, life is good. Very good.

July

• Quick trip to Idaho
• Fireworks
• 4th of July parade (Caleb got to sit up with grampa who was driving the horses through the parade. Devin, Adelle, and Emily enjoyed from the sidelines)
• Gameplay (for Emily)
• Devin working out at ATI
• Adelle almost walking
• Caleb rare accidents potty training
• Smurthwaite Cousins in Utah for Cousin Camp
• Lagoon (thanks mom!!! Devin and I loved our Lagoon all day date!)
• Cup-O-Sno
• BBQ
• Nef family reunion, Christmas in July
• New flexipans to try!

Goodbye July. I don't know why I never posted. It isn't that we didn't have stuff going on. We just are kept so busy here in Utah. Being around family all of the time is fabulous!

Hello August

• I can't believe that Devin and I have been married for 4 years!
• Wow! my baby is gunna be 1
• Wow! my baby still doesn't sleep through the night
• Time to say goodbye to Utah
• and always available babysitters
• Cooking Classes here I come
• Caleb starts Preschool

I like what the old turtle says in Kung Fu Panda "Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present" I couldn't agree more.

Three

Caleb turned 3! We celebrated at Jungle Jim's with cousins then had pizza and ice-cream cake at home! It was a fabulous day for Caleb. (Except when I cut his Thomas cake. He loved his Thomas cake so much that he didn't want it cut up. He was very upset about it being cut. That is until he started opening Thomas presents!)

Adelle

"My love her" Caleb says. He gives her a kiss first thing every morning. It's so sweet.

It's a Cave!

Devin didn't know that when people around here talk about Mt. Timpanogos they are talking about a cave, not a mountain. So, when I told him about this hike I wanted to do and that there was a charge per person his first reaction was No WAY! People don't pay to hike! Now he understands that the money is for the tour of the cave.

Caleb was a trooper. He hiked the whole way up and all through the cave, then a good way down before Devin put him in a carrier. Wow! That is a pretty big deal for an (almost) three year old. (we did the hike the day before his birthday) I carried Adelle the whole way! Let me just say that I love my baby carrier! Not a backache at all afterwards. Woot!

(Side note, notice how caleb is showing off his Thomas shirt in the

Day out with Thomas

For those of you who don't know, Caleb is my Thomas boy. He is Thomas the Train's #1 fan. He knows the name, color, and number of all of Thomas's friends. He takes at least 1 of his Thomas toys everywhere with him, even to bed!

So, when Grandpa told us that Thomas was coming to visit from Sodor over Memorial Day weekend we just had to go! Caleb meeting Thomas was a huge highlight of our time here in Utah!

Caleb even got to be one of Thomas' passengers!

What a lucky boy!