Redneck Christmas Tree

I received these pictures via email and thought I would share. Sandra L. had this to say in her original email, "How is this for recycling LOL I think it is really pretty but we don't drink Mountain dew. But 7 up would work too." Thanks Amber, for sending this to me. It gave me a good laugh!

What's New, Little Man?

Benjamin talks a mile a minute these days. He craves learning and never stops having questions. He wants to know how the world works and how to do everything Mom or Dad is doing. Sometimes I run out of answers and explanations to his questions.

He has discovered that he can sit and look at books as well as having his parents and our guests read to him. He loves to pick out books and see if they 'have too many words.' Mom explained to him one day that if we find books that have a paragraph or less of words the books are more enjoyable for Benjamin because they require less attention and have more pictures than words. So Benjamin helps me find books that we both can enjoy.

Benjamin can recognize most of is letters and numbers by sight now and he has started asking what different combinations of letters or numbers mean. The next step is to teach him writing when he is ready for that. I find myself wondering what he will want to learn next and find that if I let him come to me with something new he is more willing and ready than we I try to make him learn it when I think he is ready.

The foot fetish continues. He loves bare, female feet. I don't know where it came from or how to cure it, but he loves to play with female feet. When I am sitting in the family room with my feet up he often asks me if he can play with, touch, tickle, or head butt my feet. My feet are so sensitive that I do not understand how other people stand to have their feet touched, or why Benjamin loves feet so much.

Benjamin is our little superhero. He loves pretending to be Batman or Spiderman and saving us from the bad guys. Lately, he has also started loving to pretend that he is Kung Fu Panda and practices his karate moves and getting the 'scary leopard.'

He also continues to be Mommy's helper. He is good at cleaning up and helping Mom cook. He loves to help load the groceries in the car and sort the laundry. He has been a lifesaver over the last several weeks in helping Mom do the things she finds difficult or impossible to do by herself.

Boys and girls are so different and so special. We love having one of each bless our home. Benjamin is a delightful child that helps me view the world from a different perspective that I find very enlightening.

Climbing Stairs

Our precious daughter is growing up so fast! It was only 2 months ago that she started walking. Now she can walk up and down the stairs by herself! As long as she has the wall to hang onto she does it all by herself. Today was the first time I have seen her do that with so much confidence and ease. I am so surprised by how much she changes every day and the things she is learning. Our children grow up too fast.

Bekah is also our little "mini-me" these days. She is at the stage of imitating to learn. Right now, she is sitting next to me on the couch playing with the toy laptop. When brother runs or dresses up, she wants to do the same thing. When Mom does her hair Bekah wants to brush her own hair. If someone is leaving, she brings us her shoes and asks to "Go!" too. When someone is reading Bekah has to sit down and read a book too.

She loves to help. If I give her something to eat that comes in a wrapper she wants to put the wrapper in the trash for me. When I am cooking she wants to supervise or help put things in and stir. Bekah has even helped put the dishes on the table for mealtime. When it is time to put toys away, she sings "Clean up, clean up" even when she doesn't put the toys away. Sometimes she is even too much help because she moves things from one place to another and those things become hard to find.

Her vocabulary is also growing quickly. She says bye, hi, sorry, g'ma, g'pa, 'Namin (Benjamin), brother, yes, no, see ya, go, snack, candy, cookie, Daddy, Mommy, wow, uh-oh, oops, drink, and her own variety of made up others. Bekah loves to talk on the phone, even if it is only for a minute or two.

We love have Bekah in our home. She brings us so much joy and teaches us a great deal on a daily basis. I love listening to her sing and watch her imagination grow in develop. There is no greater joy in life than sharing your life with another and sharing your knowledge and experience with your children.

Profile Update

I finally decided the truth is that even though this blog is about our family, I am really the only writer. This is because blogging has become my hobby and I don't want to share 'my blog' with my husband. Selfish, I know. But it has been a great way for me to share things and express myself. Thus, I have finally declared myself as the single writer of this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving

Last week, for Family Home Evening, we mad turkeys from our handprints and made a list of things we are thankful for. It was a nice, simple activity that helps our family remember the purpose of Thanksgiving and be creative at the same time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sleepy Snuggles

I love to snuggle with my children. Michael got the camera out one day while I was holding Bekah during nap time. Usually, when she wakes up from her nap she doesn't go back to sleep, but this day she did. I took her to lay down with me and she burrowed into my side and went back to sleep.

I love these precious moments that make being a mom so worth it!

Christmas Lights

Yesterday, Michael took Benjamin to run some errands after dark. Benjamin loves the Christmas lights on the outside of homes and they had this conversation.

Benjamin:We should get lights on our house, too.
Dad: Well, we'll see. Dad needs to get more money. Everything is expensive these days.
Benjamin: Well, Dad. All you do is get some glue, and you put on the lights and you put them on the house. Then you have lights on the house.

Oh the simple joys and imaginations of childhood. I never would have thought to use glue to hang Christmas lights!

Bowling Pin Putting

Our precious daughter is very observant and creative. On Sunday she pulled out a bowling pin and bowling ball and decided to "putt" the ball around the family room with the bowling pin. She was having so much fun that her brother joined in by getting out the other bowling ball and another bowling pin.

Cousins come to Visit

Michael's brother Scott and his family came to visit from out of town. They live so far away that we haven't seen them for over a year. It was so great to have them here! We took them to the Dinosaure Museum and here are some of the fun things the cousins did together while we were there.

A couple of months ago I posted a picture of the head of this triceratops. Our friend, Brock, has now finished the rest of the dinosaur and it is on display at the museum. It is the largest triceratops I have ever seen.

What did you do with your Sunday?

I am usually good about being productive, but not on Sundays lately. Since we have late church we literally have all day to get ready. Instead of focusing on getting physically ready for church I find myself doing things around the house or on the computer. Then, when we get home it is so late that I either try not to doze off while we wait for the children to take naps or I get on the computer again, etc. Oh well, I guess I have a lot of room for improvement in this area. Anyway, here are some of the going ons of my Sunday.

Our ward finally gave us callings (assignments or responsibilities). I say finally because we have been without callings since we moved into our house. Callings are important to me because the responsibility helps to feel like I am a contributing member of the ward instead of just taking up space. Anyway, Michael and I are the Activities Committee co-chairs. That means we are responsible for activities that involve the whole ward and not just individual auxiliaries. Not too overwhelming until the member of the bishopric extending the calling (asking if we would accept the assignment) goes and we are having a ward Christmas breakfast that you get to plan in TWO WEEKS. Aaah! I was expecting something like that but not so soon. Oh well, we will do our best and hopefully have a few committee members called in the meantime. I am glad that someone has faith that I can plan and pull off events that people will actually want to come to because I seriously doubt this myself. Not the preparation and production part because I am very organized and goo at things like that. It's having people actually show up. Almost every time I try to plan something I have very few or zero people come up. But if it is a ward function more people are bound to show up, right? I guess we will see. Beyond that I am excited to have a calling.

Today I also spent some time on Facebook. I am always amazed at how many people are on there and the amount of personal information exposed. I also discover that the people I know spend a lot of time using this website rather than emailing or blogging. I must have missed the boat on this one because I find it hard to spend much time on Facebook without getting bored. To me, it is just not a user friendly application and has too many pop ups. Did I miss the boat on this one? Or am I just dating my technology abilities? Anyway, I would love to keep in touch with more people but I am not quite sure how to. Any suggestions?

I also spent some time thinking about Thanksgiving. I will be grateful when it is over with. I appreciate the opportunity to be reminded to count my blessings and spend time with family, but sometimes I wish it would be a much quieter event and that our family would be allowed the opportunity to develop and maintain our own traditions. It would be nice if we could provide some more unification for our family and create traditions that we all enjoy and that can be continued throughout our lifetimes. I do have to say that I am thankful for the simple things in life.

The simple things in life make life more enjoyable if not easier.

• I am thankful for people who are conscientious of others. This includes people who are courteous in driving and other public venues, children who help clean the house and use their nice voices to talk to you, people who pick up after themselves, and guests who are helpful and keep their stuff in the space provided for them and not scattered all over the house.
• I am thankful for a husband who makes breakfast for our family every Saturday so that we can have a special family meal. Michael is also good about helping with meals during the week too and this helps me feel like we are more of a team instead of just sharing space and leading parallel lives.
• I am thankful for toilet paper, running water, natural gas for heat and hot water.
• I love homemade gifts. This is more personal and simple to me than anything elaborate that can be bought at the store (I love those gifts, too!) because I feel like I get a piece of the person when I receive something homemade.
• I love thoughtful gifts. Gifts of something I have asked for or something that I have mentioned liking. A gift that is a reflection of who I am and what I can do or something I love doing. I feel like the gift giver really cares about who I am and pays attention when I say or do something that is important to me.
• I am thankful for craft supplies that allow me to express my creative and learn new talents. It is amazing what a simple skein of yard can turn into. Or a board when the right tools are applied. I love a few simple things that expand the variety of things I can do when I combine them with each other.
• I appreciate the simple act of clearing the table and wiping it off after a meal. That way the table is ready for the next meal and reduces the amount of preparation that needs to be done to serve the next meal.
• I am grateful for a washing machine and dryer. It makes doing laundry less time consuming than if I had to wash every item by hand. These appliances make it possible for me to do something else while our clothes are washed and dried. I appreciate a dryer that makes it possible for me to do multiple loads in one day instead of having to hanging each load up to dry and doing laundry every day because my clothes rack is only big enough to accomodate one load of laundry.
• The simple act of being able to pick up my children using two hands is something I took for granted before and am grateful I will be able to do again soon.
• I am so thankful for a simple smile from a stranger or a wave from someone I know. These simple acts make me feel important and worth remembering and brighten my day.
• I appreciate so many simple things that I think I am going to make it a list on my sidebar so that I can update it regularly as I think of something else.

I spent part of the day blog hopping and catching up on what is happening in the lives of friends I have lost with. I really enjoy reading about what is happening in other people's lives and experiences that make me smile. It is great to find the blog of someone I wished I knew better and finding that they have similar experiences or interests to me. It is like finding hidden treasure. Plus, I love seeing what other people include in decorating or outlining their blogs for ideas for my own blog.

Another part of the day was spent in making phone calls. I am thankful for the invention of telephones that help us be less isolated and provide us with the opportnity to share information easily and swiftly.

Then I spent some time crocheting while I asked the children to put their toys away. I was working on some Christmas presents and trying to kill some time before it was time to go to church. I actually killed a little too much time and had about an hour to get ready before we needed to leave. Then on to 3 hours of church and trying to get people to sign up to bring stuff to the Christmas breakfast.

After returning home and putting the kids down for naps. Well, Michael actually did that. I turned on my computer to update our blog. I think I could use a nap but right now I know that if I go to sleep this late I will be up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. And, I need to call my Mom back since she should be home now. So there is a typical Sunday for me lately.

Swimming in November

That's right. Tonight we went swimming. It is the first time we have gone to a public swimming pool this year. No the pictures above are not from tonight, but since I didn't take my camera I decided to use these pictures instead.

We went swimming in an indoor pool that, thankfully, was heated. At first Bekah didn't know what to think of so much water and she just liked sitting in the kiddie pool that was complete with two slides and rotating swings. After a while, and a floatation jacket being strapped on, Bekah finally decided that she like the pool and splashing the water. We had to literally carry her out because she did not want to leave when it was time to go home.

Benjamin had fun climbing through tunnels, rotating steering wheels to change water flows, being dumped on by the huge bucket, swimming, jumping, and sliding. He wanted to be everywhere and do everything. His dog paddle was pretty impressive as well as his ability to hold his breath without plugging his nose. Benjamin also like having a floatation jacket on because it gave him more freedom to move about the pool without falling beneath the surface. That kid is fearless and nothing fazed him enough to upset him! I need to put him in swimming lessons so that he can learn to swim from someone who is more skilled at it than I am.

I enjoyed the heated water and being able to do something so active with my family which has been challenging since my accident. It was refreshing to follow my son around the pool as he explored all of the things to do and watch the excitement on his face when he discovered he could float on his back or climb the stairs built into the wall. I loved feeling like I was a part of the family activity instead of just observing while trying to protect my injury. We had a great time and I look forward to doing it again.

Physical Therapy

I completed my second week of physical therapy today. When I started last week I could only straighten my elbow to 17 degrees. Today I straightened it to 0 degrees! I have more appointments for next week, but I am getting closer to having the use of my arm back fully.

The Applesauce Substitution

One of the things that I have discovered this year is the healthy substitution of applesauce for eggs and/or oil. I use 1/4 cup of applesauce in substitution for 1 large egg in cookies, muffins, and breads. This practice makes things lighter and fluffier while adding a natural sweetness. I use equal parts of applesauce for oil and am able to acquire the same texture for baked goods that call for oil.

The only thing I have found that the substitution does not work well in is cake mixes, at least to try to take the cake out of the pan and decorate it. The cake was delicious but it did not turn out very pretty when I tried to flip it out of the pan.

We are trying to eat a little bit healthier every day and this is one small step I am making for our family. I recommend trying this substitution next time you make cookies or muffins. It is delicious!

I Want Cookie

Bekah is learning all kinds of words lately. In fact, Benjamin likes to teach her words. The other day the children were playing and it would go something like this.

Benjamin: Say triangle.
Bekah: Triangle (or her best imitation of it).
Benjamin: Mom, Bekah said triangle. Say circle.
Bekah: Circle.
Benjamin: Mom! Bekah said circle. Say line.
Bekah: Line.
Benjamin: Mom, Bekah said line!

. . . . and so on.

A couple of days ago the children and I made chocolate chip cookies together. Bekah loves food and usually grunts to indicate that she wants something, and if she wants it more she grunts faster in a higher pitch. So we have been trying to teach her words to reduce the grunting but she hasn't been too interested beyond saying 'snack' for wanting something to eat.

Anyway, I tried to get her to say cookie when she wanted a cookie. She caught on to that really quick. Can't imagine why. It's not like children are easily addicted to sugar. Anyway, today she looks at me and says, "I want cook-ie" while pointing to the cookie jar. I guess she is starting to speak in sentences now.

Spending Time & Labor

In 2 Nephi 9:51 of the Book of Mormon, it talks about not pending time and money for things that are not of worth or do not provide eternal satisfaction.

To me this means not only living within our means, but also not spending so much time worrying about the things of this life because if we are focused on Christ and taking the time to develop our relationship with him and learning his teachings we will not have a need to worry. I realized that I spend a lot of time worrying about things. Less than I used to, but still a lot of time worrying. This practice only causes anxiety and fear and does not draw me nearer to Christ.

I also realized that being focused on accumulating worldly, perishable things does not help me learn and practice the teachings of Christ. I can acquire all of the things this world has to offer but at the end of this life those things will be left behind. If my focus is on accumulating the things of this world I will be wasting time that I could be spending developing positive relationships with others and inceasing my knowledge.

The other half of this verse talks about drawing near unto Jesus Christ and "feast(ing) upon that which perisheth not" to find joy in this life and the life to come. I find this concept so true. I feel more joy and peace in my life when I am developing Christ-like attributes and caring for others. It is not always easy to do this, but when I do I find a lot more satisfication in my life than we I buy that one item I having been wanting for a very long time.

Much power is found in the scriptures and I am grateful to have both the King James version of the Bible and the Book of Mormon in my life. I find joy in the revealations of both sets of scripture and how they compliment each other. It is amazing how much a single verse of scripture can teach us as well as the stories and parables about the people who lived before we did on the face of this earth. I find it amazing how much our Father in Heaven is willing to bless his children on this earth and the many things that He will teach those who seek after Him and follow the example of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Our Gingerbread Houses & Forrest

We were inspired by the festival. Benjamin and I went out first thing in the morning (before breakfast) to get decorating supplies. We discussed possible supplies and collected a variety of candies and marshmellows (Benjamin wanted marshmellows for snow, even colored ones). Then we spent most of the day coming up with "gingerbread" creations.



Daddy made a snow covered church house.

Benjamin made this cool house with toothpicks and Mom helped him cut up marshmellows for the roof.

This is Mom's log cabin complete with path, log pile, snow man, sled and Santa decorations.

Our family forrest. There is one tree for each family member. Benjamin also helped me add a doggie snowman, sleds, cars, santas, snowballs, and one house.

It was a great way to explore our creativity and use our imaginations. The best part is that everything, except the toothpicks, is edible. The Christmas is fast approaching.

Gingerbread House Festival

We went to a Gingerbread House Festival on Friday when Michael came home from his business trip. There were a lot of amazing creations, not limited to the traditional idea of a gingerbread house. I also was able to practice some of the techniques I have been learning in my Photography class. Benjamin was so excited that he had dreams about gingerbread houses last night. Here are some of the creations that were on display.

The stories were literally coming off the pages.

I was working on more 'night time' photography which is equal to limited lighting and adjusting the ISO and shutter speed according to my instructor. This moving ferris wheel was a good way for me to practice taking slow shutter speed pictures without a tripod.

I think they were going for a "Who" look on this creation. Benjamin liked the car.

I had to take a picture of these TINY cookies.

They aren't much bigger than my pinky finger.

All of the jewelry is made from candy, cookies or frosting.

Pretty neat, huh!?!

A very edible tree house.

A Haunted Mansion. Can you see the ghosts?

This is what happened when we tried to get our children to sit down by the gingerbread house cutout. They didn't want to sit down for a minute because there was so much to look at. Benjamin did sit down to watch the amateur performances being put on. He loves to watch things on the stage. Hopefully, that will last all of his life.

The mansion house was huge! The details ere exquisite, right down to lights behind the 'stain glass' windows. I think it was about two and a half feet tall. This was Michael's favorite.

The 'Pirate's Chest' was my favorite. I couldn't believe how detailed the 'treasures' were and still looked edible.

I had never seen a Halloween gingerbread house until this year and this was one of several on display.

We had a lot of fun and saw some amazing creations. I enjoy sharing things like this with my children and seeing the wonder in their faces as the explore something new and discover new things. I wasn't ready to make our own gingerbread houses until after the festival. It was a lot of fun!

Night Time Photography (& other randomness)

Tonight I hope we are covering night time photography in my class. I am having a hard time realizing that my photography portfolio is due next week. This class has flown by way too fast. I need to take a few more pictures in the next few days to finish up my assignments, but I am still hoping to learn a few more things before the end of the semester next month.

In the meantime, I am trying to finish some Christmas projects before Thanksgiving gets here. I have a half a dozen projects that I am hoping to finish. I am glad that I got started early this year instead of waiting until December like I usually do. It has given me something to concentrate on while being laid up.

I am wishing that I could go to Vegas for my cousin's sealing next weekend but between the medical bills and company coming into town the same day we won't be able to make it. I wish that there was some way I could schedule things so that they wouldn't overlap after having weeks of empty weekends.

I am looking forward to going to the Gingerbread House exhibit this weekend. I am fascinated with the creations that other people come up with and gingerbread houses make me fill more ready for Christmas and snow. I hope the children will enjoy it as well.

When I was in the emergency room one of the nurses commented that my injury was a lot like having a baby except I wouldn't have something to cute to show for it in the end (By the way, Congratulations, Justin & Jillian!). I didn't believe her at the time, but I definitely have been hampered by fatigue and reduced mobility with this injury, much like pregnancy. Though I don't mind the absence of gaining weight, hormone fluctuations, and nausea. It is a little like being pregnant but not much and the only thing I have to show for it is a nice long scar and an elbow full of metal.

I have being posting a lot of deep stuff lately and I am trying to come up with some fluff to talk about instead. Maybe when it stops being gray and bleary outside I will fill more "fluffy." Oh well.

This blog will go on . . . . Safety on Blogging

About a week ago there was a KSL broadcast about the dangers of blogging. The story summed up how one family was harassed by comments on their blog and another family had pictures stolen and posted in a dangerous site. Also, the reporters talked about the personal information available on blogs such as first and last names, birthdays, pictures of inside of homes, count down to family activities, and even address information.

A lot of people are choosing to go private because of this, but I am choosing to remain public because I like finding the blogs of people I have lost touch with and having them find me. Here are some precautions I have considered in leaving my blog public.

1. Do not use your last name or the last name of friends and family on your blog. This is especially import for the address of your blog and the links to other blogs. If you have a link to our blog please remove our last name and either use our blog title or our first names.
2. Under 'settings' do not allow your blog to be part of an search engine or public display to increase privacy and reduce how people are able to find you.
3. Do not post birth dates, especially of children. To me this is like putting a sign in your yard announcing your new arrival but instead of limiting that announcement to people who drive down your street, you are broadcasting the information to the entire world if your blog is public.
4. Avoid naming the town you live in or local attractions that are easily googled and can assist in pinpointing your location. For example, living near Disneyland is pretty vague but saying we went to the Denver public library (never been there, by the way) is pretty specific. I mention this example because I found it on the blog of someone I used to go to school with.
5. A post about anniversaries or birthdays are different than posting the information as part of your profile information. Posts are archived but they get bumped when new posts are made whereas the profile information is always available to view (unless made private or hidden) and the information becomes readily available to anyone who clicks on your blog.
6. Avoid posting information about when you or your spouse will not be home. I like to post pictures AFTER a vacation or talk about the trials of being home without my husband AFTER he gets home.
7. Do not allow 'anonymous' comments or moderate comments so that you can approve which comments appear on your blog. This is not a fool proof way to avoid harassing or spiteful emails but it limits them. The family in the KSL story was harassed by a family member, not a stranger.
8. Remember that most threats, unfortunately, come from someone you may know or someone who lives in your area. This is true for abductions, molestations, and abuse because most victims know the perpetrator. So, be aware of your surroundings and the people you spend time with.
9. Know that there are no laws that regulate the blogosphere or things that happen on blogs or to bloggers. The laws have not caught up with technology so complaints can be made but know charges will stick or be prosecuted.
10. Remember that blogging and sharing family information is a risk and be sure to calculate and weigh those risks when publishing information.

Another story that was in the news was about a family who had a very sick child and someone stole every post and personalized it as their own 'pretend' child. The pretender was doing it to fraudulently collect money from people who contributed to her 'child's' health care just as people really did on the original blog.

One woman has turned blogging and privacy into a business that provides all of the income for their family. Her name is Heather B. Armstrong and her blog is called Dooce. This was another story covered in the news several months ago and when she was asked if being so popular and widely viewed scared her for her daughter or family's sake she said no. She felt that she had a story to tell and wanted to share it with as many people as wanted to hear it. Her story actually inspired me to blog more and find a variety of things to do with my blog though I am more private about it than she is.

I love to blog and occassionally share very personal information about my feelings and experiences and I post a lot of pictures of my children. Right after the news broadcast mentioned above I decided to see what I could find on my own blog by googling. The information I found was very limited and very old. All I can say is that be as careful as you can when blogging, but remember that there are risks involved.

Playing with Collapsible Toys

At one of our recent outings the children had the opportunity to play with these collapsible toys. The toys are great! They fold down to about a couple inches, but expand to full sized tunnels and vehicles and the kids love to play in them. I had a hard time getting Bekah and Benjamin to leave when it was time to go.