Thankful Time

We are thawing out after our snow storm on Monday.  Things got cold and we got snow, about three inches by the end of the day. It was pretty to watch the big fluffy flakes.  The kids came home from school and wanted to go out and play in it.  Like Andrew said, “we have to play in it, it is the first snow fall of the year!”  We dug out their boots and gloves and they had some fun.  Ruth was out there too, I guess I missed getting a picture of her.

I took pictures when it first started to snow, but then it kept coming down.

The back yard a couple of hours later. 

Caleb loved making snow balls, Spencer had fun making tracks.  Andrew got out the snow shovel and said it was fun to clear the walks. 

 

Last week I was in charge of cub scouts.  It went well. We had a brother in our ward who is a firefighter come talk to the boys about his service to the community.  Then we made crafts out of recyclable things. The boys are always cute to be with.  They are a fun bunch.  Today we will be doing a service of weeding at the elementary school by the church building.  I am glad that it is sunny and the snow is mostly gone.  Spencer loves being in the den and has made many good friends there.

Andrew enjoys going to his den meetings on Thursday with the Webelos.  He is learning and working hard to earn his pins.  Ruth enjoys going to young women’s activities.  She had fun hanging out with friends last Wednesday.  Then on Friday evening she went with a group of girls and a couple of mom’s to a teen jewelry store.  Ruth had fun seeing all the pretty things and bought herself a necklace.  Then they went to a store to get a treat.  She had so much fun hanging out with her new friends.  It is different to adjust to her being older and wanting to go out with friends. 

Andrew had fun making an apple pie with me Sunday.  He did well.  He likes cooking and learning how to do things.  We got out our apple/peeler/corer thing we have.  The boys loved turning the handle and watching the apple get peeled and sliced.  It worked well for the pie and made it fast to get all those apples peeled and cut. The pie tasted great too.

Caleb earned the Respect award this month.  Last month he earned the Trust award.  Only one boy and one girl is chosen from each class each month for these awards.  So for him to get it two months in a row is pretty good.  He was mostly excited about eating pizza at a special lunch on Friday and eating five Oreo cookies.  He came home from school tired.  That evening I was helping the boys get to bed and Caleb was crawling along.  He climbed into bed and started to cry.  I asked what was wrong and he said that he was just too tired and didn’t know why he was crying.  I calmed him and got him to close his eyes.  He was asleep fast.  He enjoys going to school and does well with his class.  The other day he said he loved his teacher and wanted to be in her class forever.  I told him he could stay with her through kindergarten and he said that was what he meant.  

Saturday afternoon the weather was so nice. We took the family over to a park.  Neal and the three older kids rode their bikes over.  I brought Caleb with his trike in the car.  We enjoyed walking and riding on the paths at the park.  The kids also enjoyed the play ground.  It was fun to get out and play with everyone. 

We are thankful for our family.  As a family will finish reading the Book of Mormon this evening in our scripture reading time.  I am thankful for this wonderful book that teaches us about Christ and his love for his people.  I was able to go to the temple on Friday.  I am thankful I can be apart of so many wonderful things. I am thankful at this Thanksgiving season.

Fall Weather

The weeks go by so fast sometimes I wonder if I really have anything to say.  Last week Neal traveled to our house in Hewitt.  He was gone for a couple of days.  We missed him.  He was able to check on the house and get it signed up with a property manager to try to rent.  He also did lots of cleaning and maintenance around the house and yard. We were happy that he made it back to us and we enjoyed a nice Sunday.  Sunday morning we had a regional broadcast conference.  We had some excellent speakers and I enjoyed listening to their messages.  

Friday the elementary school was doing a Thanksgiving lunch.  I worked out with the teachers to be able to eat with all three boys together.  We went to the Kindergarten time slot and Spencer and Andrew were able to get out of their classes for a bit.  It was nice to sit and eat a special meal with the boys.  I haven’t eaten lunch at school with any of the kids before, so it was new for me too.

Saturday for lunch I took Andrew on a date.  His choice of activities was to eat at a pizza restaurant and buy a whole pizza that he could bring home and eat over a couple of days.  We enjoyed our time together and he enjoyed his pizza.  After our lunch we got all the kids and went to the park.  It was a pretty day, cold but sunny.  The kids had fun playing.  Caleb enjoyed seeing dogs at the park.  One dog was a beagle, just like his favorite stuffed puppy.  He ran up to the dog and said, “My favorite kind of dog! I love beagles.”  The owner laughed at him and I think she enjoyed his cuteness as he crawled along side the dog for a few minutes talking to him.  The dog was friendly and cute too.

Last night Ruth and I went to a dinner for Relief Society and Young Women.  It was a nice dinner and we enjoyed visiting with the sisters at our table.  Ruth also got with her friends and planned a get together for today.  She is at Anna's home this afternoon.  I am sure there is lots of giggling going on.

Andrew got out his recorder the other day.  Spencer was really interested in it and wished we were still in Texas so he could learn how to play the recorder from Mrs. Music at the school.  Ruth got out her recorder and told Spencer he could have it.  Then Andrew started giving him lessons on how to play.  In fact they even pulled up a recorder music book that Andrew used that he found on the internet again.  They were going through the pages and Andrew was helping Spencer learn things.  It was neat to seem them working together.  The boys are all doing well with their piano right now too.  Caleb is more excited about learning and is progressing through the Primer book quickly.  Ruth enjoys playing the clarinet.  I am thankful for music in our home.

It is cold today.  I am having a hard time getting warm.  I don’t have snow though like many do further north.  I guess it is that time of year and I hope we can all enjoy it and be safe.

Spencer trying to stay warm

Halloween!

We made it through all the Halloween activities.  I was able to finish the boys costumes without too much stress.  Andrew put his on and said “it doesn’t look like a rat.”  I just told him to pretend he was a rat when it was on and he will enjoy it.  Of course it doesn’t look like a rat, he has a boy’s face.  Anyway, they had lots of fun with it.

Wednesday after school we carved the pumpkins.  I let Ruth and Andrew do their own pumpkins.  They did a great job and enjoyed being creative.  Spencer, Caleb and I worked on a large one together.  They boys cleaned it out and designed the face, I cut it out.  We had a fun afternoon doing it. Yesterday I finished with the cooking and processing the pumpkin.  I ended up with 20 cups of pumpkin puree.  I guess that is minus the 2 cups Ruth used to make a pumpkin pie on Sunday.  We will enjoy all that good pumpkin.

Thursday evening we had our ward Halloween party.  It was a good dinner of soup and rolls.  I brought a soup to share.  It was like I made our dinner but we took it to the party to eat.  We did a truck or treat in the parking lot.  It was a bit cool and things were wet, but thankfully there was no rain during the activity.  The kids had fun with their costumes.  Ruth wore a t-shirt for a character in the Percy Jackson books.  Andrew and Spencer were rats and Caleb was a dog. Neal and I were parents.  Someone asked if I ever dress up.  I thought about it and said I didn’t think I had dressed up once since I was married.  I guess we just don’t get into it.

Friday the boys could wear their costumes to school.  They were excited for the activities of the day.  I went over to the school in the morning to watch the costume parade.  They had the whole school parade by and walk around the school grounds.  It was cold and I was glad that the boys had warm costumes to wear. Just as a side note, I was surprised that there were other rats at the ward party and at the school.  So it wasn’t a unique idea.  

Saturday evening the kids had lots of fun walking through our neighborhood with Neal to do trick or treating.  They came home all excited and with full candy bags.  Andrew said he was working on gathering his year supply of candy, I think he did it.  I am glad that the kids are good with their candy and don’t stuff themselves with it.  It is nice that they can have a treat once in a while through out the year.

Wow, that was a lot about Halloween.  Ruth didn’t have school on Thursday and Friday for parent teacher conferences.  I went with Ruth to the school Friday for our conference.  She is doing well with A and A+ grades and no problems.  She is loving school and loves our ward.  I am glad that she is so happy.  Last night she had fun going with the young women to rake leaves, in the dark.  She said it made it more fun.  I am thankful she has made so many friends.  After our time at the school we went out to eat lunch at Blake’s Lotaburger.  We walked in and saw another mother daughter from our ward eating lunch.  We all ate together and enjoyed it.

Saturday afternoon Neal and I went on a date.  We went out to lunch and then played miniature golf. It was a pretty afternoon and we enjoyed time together.  

Sunday Spencer was asked to play the piano for Primary prelude.  I had noticed that kids in the ward were assigned each week to do the prelude for senior primary.  So I told the President that my boys could play church songs and if they could be put into the rotation.  Spencer had his first turn Sunday.  He said he did just fine and wasn’t even nervous.  I could hear him starting his song as I went into my class room with the kids.  Then Monday evening at our family night we were signing “Book of Mormon Stories,” a song Spencer knows, and he asked to play it for us.  He did it perfectly.  At the end of the song he got off the bench giggling, he had a huge smile on his face and said “that was fun.”  I am glad he is enjoying learning piano.  Another thing with our family night is that it was Caleb’s turn for the lesson. Usually he doesn’t want to do it and I plan a lesson and try to get him to help with something with it.  This week he wanted to take his turn and do it all.  I still helped a little.  He picked out 12 Primary songs he likes, I typed out the titles and then he cut it out and hooked the papers on toys.  All the toys were in a bag and he had us take turns pulling the songs out and we sang the first verse of each.  Caleb loved it and sang so well.  I enjoyed having a singing time with the kids.

Sunday evening Ruth and I went to the Stake youth standards night.  It was an excellent meeting and I enjoyed hearing the Stake president talk about his dating experiences with the kids.  Ruth had fun seeing her friends afterwards and visiting with them.  I am thankful for these good experiences.  

I am enjoying being here in this area.  I feel like we have been blessed to come here.  I am thankful we can be here as the kids get older and have such a strong youth program to belong to.  I know it will be a blessing to them as they go through their teen years.