Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
9 Years.....SHEESH!
On the ninth, Jason and I celebrated our 9th year of wedded bliss. Our fabulous friend, Erin, watched all three of the kiddos so we could go out. We tried Thai food for the first time. I really liked it, but Jason.....not so much.
I made a little book to give to Jason. I used a bunch of pictures from when we were dating and first married. Here's a few jems that I thought I would share.
This is at an Institute dance that we went to. I can't remember what the theme was or why we are wearing those hats.
This was at USU Homecoming 2000. Don't we look young!
This was the night we got engaged. I'm sad that this is the only picture I have to remember this happy day.
I think this was the Halloween after we got married. We're supposed to be roads. We dressed up for a ward party that we went to with some friends. I remember having to explain our costumes a lot.
I feel very blessed to be married to my sweetheart, Jason. He does so much for me and makes my life easier and happier. Life, in general, overwhelms me more than I'd like to admit, but he helps me not to take life to seriously. I am a lucky woman.
I made a little book to give to Jason. I used a bunch of pictures from when we were dating and first married. Here's a few jems that I thought I would share.
This is at an Institute dance that we went to. I can't remember what the theme was or why we are wearing those hats.
This was at USU Homecoming 2000. Don't we look young!
This was the night we got engaged. I'm sad that this is the only picture I have to remember this happy day.
I think this was the Halloween after we got married. We're supposed to be roads. We dressed up for a ward party that we went to with some friends. I remember having to explain our costumes a lot.
I feel very blessed to be married to my sweetheart, Jason. He does so much for me and makes my life easier and happier. Life, in general, overwhelms me more than I'd like to admit, but he helps me not to take life to seriously. I am a lucky woman.
Weekend in LA
A couple weekends ago we partied it up in Los Angeles. We started it off with a trip to the LA Temple. We stayed overnight at the Temple Apartments that they have on the grounds. It's $40 a night and it made for a very enjoyable trip. I went to the 7:30 pm session while Jason got the kids settled and then he got up and went to the 6:30 am session while I got the kids ready for the day.
After Jason was done, we walked with the kids around the temple grounds and talked. As you can see, Graham was pretty ticked he couldn't go in.
It was so fun to see all of the beautiful flowers in bloom the first week of March. I absolutely love living in Southern California!
With Jason's deployment and then Benjamin's birth, it had been a while since Jason and I had last been to the temple. We left feeling renewed and motivated to keep up our goal to visit every month.
After the temple, we met our good friends, the Rendulics, for lunch and a trip to the Museum of Natural History. To be honest, I wasn't too sure how the museum thing was going to go over with a 3 and 6 year-old, but it was fabulous! What made it even better was that it was free for all active duty military and their families! Score! That saved us 24 buckaroos!
Lucy enjoyed learning about the dinosaurs and was fascinated by the rock collection. It was fun listening to her get excited about her favorites. Graham loved the lizards and just running around the exhibits (although he wasn't too crazy). Ben was a champ the whole weekend! He spent a lot of time in his car seat and gave us very little lip.
The Rendulics have two little kiddos that we have so much fun with. Here's Graham with Logan. These two are crack-ups. They are either the best of friends or bitter enemies. Today they were having a great time and always looking for one another.
We will definetly hit the museum again in the future. We had a great time!
Monday we hit Disneyland! Lucy had school off, so Jason got out of work and we were on our way. We have season passes, so come see us and we'll go!! I didn't take any pictures.....just refer back to our pictures from our Disney trip in October. Subtract the Grunigs, imagine me a bit thinner, then add Benny and you've got a good summary of our day.
After Jason was done, we walked with the kids around the temple grounds and talked. As you can see, Graham was pretty ticked he couldn't go in.
It was so fun to see all of the beautiful flowers in bloom the first week of March. I absolutely love living in Southern California!
With Jason's deployment and then Benjamin's birth, it had been a while since Jason and I had last been to the temple. We left feeling renewed and motivated to keep up our goal to visit every month.
After the temple, we met our good friends, the Rendulics, for lunch and a trip to the Museum of Natural History. To be honest, I wasn't too sure how the museum thing was going to go over with a 3 and 6 year-old, but it was fabulous! What made it even better was that it was free for all active duty military and their families! Score! That saved us 24 buckaroos!
Lucy enjoyed learning about the dinosaurs and was fascinated by the rock collection. It was fun listening to her get excited about her favorites. Graham loved the lizards and just running around the exhibits (although he wasn't too crazy). Ben was a champ the whole weekend! He spent a lot of time in his car seat and gave us very little lip.
The Rendulics have two little kiddos that we have so much fun with. Here's Graham with Logan. These two are crack-ups. They are either the best of friends or bitter enemies. Today they were having a great time and always looking for one another.
We will definetly hit the museum again in the future. We had a great time!
Monday we hit Disneyland! Lucy had school off, so Jason got out of work and we were on our way. We have season passes, so come see us and we'll go!! I didn't take any pictures.....just refer back to our pictures from our Disney trip in October. Subtract the Grunigs, imagine me a bit thinner, then add Benny and you've got a good summary of our day.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
One of our recent Family Home Evenings....
We've been having some issues with the kiddos talking very unkindly to one another lately. Lots of fighting and too many "I hate you's" are thrown around, so I decided to have one of our Family Home Evenings focus on how we should speak in our home.
I showed a couple pictures of the Savior and talked about his life. There are a few pictures of him as a boy and so I showed them and asked if they thought Jesus screamed and yelled when he didn't get his own way. I asked about what they thought he did when someone made him mad or got in his way. We discussed that for a bit. Then we talked about how it makes us feel when someone says, "I hate you!" or "Get away from me!" , etc., etc.
So, then I pulled out these little jars with our pictures on them. Each jar represents that person. I talked about how we are in charge of filling each other's "jars" with kind words. Kind words were starbursts, mean words are rocks. So, if Graham screams at Lucy, then Lucy gets a rock in her jar. We're going to evaluate the starburst-to-rock ratio each week and chat about that. Maybe there will be a prize or fun outing if the ratio is to my liking.
That evening it was pretty funny. I kept hearing Lucy say things like, "You're the best brother ever, Graham!" Graham would say the same thing back and then they'd both look at me expectedly. That has died down a little each day, but it's been nice to hear them talk a little better to one another. The only times it has backfired is when I have lost my cool (very rare occasion, of course) and Lucy steps in with, "Now you have to give me a rock!" You can imagine the reaction she received. Not among my finer parenting moments.
After the lesson we made these little guys. This treat sort of evolved. I was originally trying to think of a way to make mouths, being how we were focusing on paying attention to what words come out of them. Lucy wasn't impressed with my initial attempts, so these little monsters came to be. She still wasn't too impressed. She ended up just doing her own thing.
I got the jist of this lesson from a website I found a long time ago. It's nataliesfhespot.blogspot.com. It's a good resource for lessons for families with young kids. She has a lot of simple lessons that I'm able to add to or take from and make my own. It's my "go-to" place on Monday afternoon when I don't know what we're going to do.
I showed a couple pictures of the Savior and talked about his life. There are a few pictures of him as a boy and so I showed them and asked if they thought Jesus screamed and yelled when he didn't get his own way. I asked about what they thought he did when someone made him mad or got in his way. We discussed that for a bit. Then we talked about how it makes us feel when someone says, "I hate you!" or "Get away from me!" , etc., etc.
So, then I pulled out these little jars with our pictures on them. Each jar represents that person. I talked about how we are in charge of filling each other's "jars" with kind words. Kind words were starbursts, mean words are rocks. So, if Graham screams at Lucy, then Lucy gets a rock in her jar. We're going to evaluate the starburst-to-rock ratio each week and chat about that. Maybe there will be a prize or fun outing if the ratio is to my liking.
That evening it was pretty funny. I kept hearing Lucy say things like, "You're the best brother ever, Graham!" Graham would say the same thing back and then they'd both look at me expectedly. That has died down a little each day, but it's been nice to hear them talk a little better to one another. The only times it has backfired is when I have lost my cool (very rare occasion, of course) and Lucy steps in with, "Now you have to give me a rock!" You can imagine the reaction she received. Not among my finer parenting moments.
After the lesson we made these little guys. This treat sort of evolved. I was originally trying to think of a way to make mouths, being how we were focusing on paying attention to what words come out of them. Lucy wasn't impressed with my initial attempts, so these little monsters came to be. She still wasn't too impressed. She ended up just doing her own thing.
I got the jist of this lesson from a website I found a long time ago. It's nataliesfhespot.blogspot.com. It's a good resource for lessons for families with young kids. She has a lot of simple lessons that I'm able to add to or take from and make my own. It's my "go-to" place on Monday afternoon when I don't know what we're going to do.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Where does the time go??
Ben-O hit the 4 month mark on the 16th and as you can see, he's a healthy little guy! In some ways it seems like the time has flown by, but it's so hard to remember what life was like before he joined our fam.
I don't have his stats for the month until his appointment for next week. People are always a little shocked when I tell them how old he is. Most assume he's 6 or 7 months.
He is such a smiley guy. His grin goes from ear to ear and we can't get enough of it. It's been fun to watch him interact with Lucy and Graham. Lucy just has to look at him and he lights up. He's very patient and doesn't cry a whole lot. When he does fuss, it usually just sounds like he's complaining or whining (takes after his older siblings in that department). We're still having a little trouble when it comes to sleeping. I can't complain too much, though. He's not a very good napper and likes to wake up around 5:00 am and fuss for a bit, but it's all manageable (that's the new "go with the flow" Maggie talkin'.....we'll see how long that lasts).
I kiss that sweet face all day long! Our lives have changed so much since this little man joined our family. He is already teaching me so much about myself. Everyone warned me that the third child would send me for a loop and they weren't kidding! This parenting thing has taken a major jump into overdrive these past few months, but I'm starting to feel like maybe I CAN get up every morning and be the Mom to these crazy kids I've been blessed with.
I don't have his stats for the month until his appointment for next week. People are always a little shocked when I tell them how old he is. Most assume he's 6 or 7 months.
He is such a smiley guy. His grin goes from ear to ear and we can't get enough of it. It's been fun to watch him interact with Lucy and Graham. Lucy just has to look at him and he lights up. He's very patient and doesn't cry a whole lot. When he does fuss, it usually just sounds like he's complaining or whining (takes after his older siblings in that department). We're still having a little trouble when it comes to sleeping. I can't complain too much, though. He's not a very good napper and likes to wake up around 5:00 am and fuss for a bit, but it's all manageable (that's the new "go with the flow" Maggie talkin'.....we'll see how long that lasts).
I kiss that sweet face all day long! Our lives have changed so much since this little man joined our family. He is already teaching me so much about myself. Everyone warned me that the third child would send me for a loop and they weren't kidding! This parenting thing has taken a major jump into overdrive these past few months, but I'm starting to feel like maybe I CAN get up every morning and be the Mom to these crazy kids I've been blessed with.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Visitors!!
Our Valentines/President's Day weekend could have been kinda gloomy with Jason out of town for work, but my parents saved us. They came for a visit! The kids being sick put a bit of a damper on things (although I must say, it made me all the more glad that they came to help), but we still had fun.
Monday it was 75 degrees here in sunny California! We made it to the beach! It was nice to be out in the sunshine. After Graham got some major sand in his eyes and started in on a coughing fit, we decided to head home. But it was sure fun while it lasted!
Here's Ben-O checkin' out the waves.
I included this one because of Graham's scowl. This is a new face we see quite often. It cracks me up.
On Sunday, Grandma made some Valentine sugar cookies for the kids to decorate, and for me to eat (which I did....I love me some frosted sugar cookies).
This is what we gave the kids for a little Valentine's Day surprise. I remember my Mom and Dad giving us small gifts to help celebrate and I want to do the same for my kiddos. I decided that we'll do books every year. Graham's book was a major hit. I've read it to him at least twice a day since he got it. It was fun to hear Lucy read hers on her own. She's getting to be quite the reader. I'm always impressed at how well she does. I spotted the lucy cookies at the store and thought they would be a nice addition. They were sugar and gluten free and claimed to be delicious, definitely not the case, but Lucy loved seeing her name in print. Don't we all?
We were lucky enough to have my Aunt Bev and Uncle Jim come stay with us for a night, too! We had a great time visiting with them. We went shopping and went to dinner at Yolanda's, down by the marina (Lucy calls it Malonda's....it cracks me up every time).
I appreciate Mom and Dad making the trip out to see us. We always count down the days until their arrival and then pray the time will go slow while they're here. Every night before bed Lucy would get upset that they weren't staying longer. It breaks our hearts when the time comes for them to leave.
Now we're just trying to survive until Jason gets home. 10 days down, 11 to go. Wish us luck!!
Monday it was 75 degrees here in sunny California! We made it to the beach! It was nice to be out in the sunshine. After Graham got some major sand in his eyes and started in on a coughing fit, we decided to head home. But it was sure fun while it lasted!
Here's Ben-O checkin' out the waves.
I included this one because of Graham's scowl. This is a new face we see quite often. It cracks me up.
On Sunday, Grandma made some Valentine sugar cookies for the kids to decorate, and for me to eat (which I did....I love me some frosted sugar cookies).
This is what we gave the kids for a little Valentine's Day surprise. I remember my Mom and Dad giving us small gifts to help celebrate and I want to do the same for my kiddos. I decided that we'll do books every year. Graham's book was a major hit. I've read it to him at least twice a day since he got it. It was fun to hear Lucy read hers on her own. She's getting to be quite the reader. I'm always impressed at how well she does. I spotted the lucy cookies at the store and thought they would be a nice addition. They were sugar and gluten free and claimed to be delicious, definitely not the case, but Lucy loved seeing her name in print. Don't we all?
We were lucky enough to have my Aunt Bev and Uncle Jim come stay with us for a night, too! We had a great time visiting with them. We went shopping and went to dinner at Yolanda's, down by the marina (Lucy calls it Malonda's....it cracks me up every time).
I appreciate Mom and Dad making the trip out to see us. We always count down the days until their arrival and then pray the time will go slow while they're here. Every night before bed Lucy would get upset that they weren't staying longer. It breaks our hearts when the time comes for them to leave.
Now we're just trying to survive until Jason gets home. 10 days down, 11 to go. Wish us luck!!
My Super Cute Quilt
Check out this gorgeous quilt my sister-in-law, Shellie made me.
I absolutely love it! It has my favorite colors and my favorite flower all over it. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Thank you, Shellie!
I absolutely love it! It has my favorite colors and my favorite flower all over it. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Thank you, Shellie!
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