Bekah the Photographer

Bekah loves electronics, especially the camera since Daddy showed her how to push the button and take a picture. Here are a few of the pictures Bekah took (with Mommy's help.)

Panning

In class the other night, we were taught the technique of panning and even went out on the street to practice. I was actually able to get a few good shots that demonstrate how panning is suppose to look. The trick is to have the subject of your photograph in focus and everything in the background streaked, but not blurry.

Aunt Mary came to Visit

Benjamin the Photographer

Here is our little photographer at work. Dad had his camera out and was able to take pictures of Benjamin taking pictures.

The other night I was looking at pictures on the camera with Michael and Benjamin asked if he could take some pictures. Here are some of the best ones he took. Not bad for being three and just pointing and shooting.

Benjamin the Tiger

Since we are into silent movies (my camera does not record sound), here is a silent movie about Benjamin pretending to be a tiger.

The Aunts Go Marching

The other night we were singing "The Ants Go Marching" and Benjamin stopped in the middle of one verse to say "Kristina is my aunt!" So we came to the conclusion that Benjamin thinks that the song is about his 'aunts' not the 'ants' that live in an anthill. To get a visual of Benjamin's thought process here are pictures of all of his 'aunts.' I think it would be pretty fun to watch all of our sisters walk 2 by 2 into the ground to get out of the rain.

The Walking Machine

While my sister Mary was here, Bekah decided to walk by herself. She would just stand up and walk from one point to another without regard of how far apart they were. Now she wants to walk everywhere that she can and though she is still wobbly, she is getting more and more balanced every day.

I went Domestic!

A couple of weeks ago my friend Jenna gave me an amazing gift. She taught me how to simplify canning (and do it properly so that your jars seal.) Since then I have done more canning than I thought possible. With my sister Mary's help, we canned peaches and peach jam. By myself, I made and canned salsa, pumpkin, and apple pie filling. We also made peach pie filling and freezer jam. I really appreciate her taking the time to help me with this newly acquired skill even though she was on vacation when she came to visit.

Benjamin wanted to help us do the canning. Most of the time I had him supervise, but he was good at helping sort the peaches into the ripe, not so ripe, and too ripe. I appreciate his helpfulness and his desire to learn.

The Wonders of Zucchini

I have decided that I hate zucchini! Not because it doesn't taste good and I can't come up with things to do with it, but because it grows too fast and in ABUNDANCE! I pick at least two 5 gallon buckets worth of zucchini each week. I made the mistake of planting too many plants and letting 6 to 8 of them live.

I have come up with a variety of ways to use zucchini. The number one way to use zucchini is as an excuse to go visit people from our old ward to try to share our abundance. Even if I don't get to share our zucchini I at least get to visit some of the friends we made and left behind on the other side of town. I have discovered that zucchini works great when added to the cottage/ricotta cheese layers of lasagna, as a filler in meatloaf in addition to breadcrumbs or rice krispies, in muffins and bread, and even in a cake or brownie recipe made especially for zucchini. I also discovered Italian, sauteed zucchini and a zucchini cornbread casserole recipe that are really yummy. We have steamed it, fried it, shredded and froze it, and made a zucchini crisp that is much like an apple crisp.

Having a garden has opened up avenues to me that I never dreamed I would be venturing down, and I have discovered a whole new level of determination to use the things we are blessed with. I have also learned the richness that comes from having your own garden and enjoying the fruit of your labors. Not only in the money it saves you, but in learning more about yourself, working with your hands, building endurance and perseverance, and realizing that what you are harvesting and eating is something that you took the time to create with the help of the wonderful earth that we live on. I have also strengthened my testimony of personal preparedness, food storage, and self reliance. It is amazing the comfort that comes from being prepared and knowing that a lot of the preparation was your own hard work and not just another trip to the grocery store. There is a great measure of peace that comes from having food storage, no matter how little or how much.

Anyway, zucchini has been abundant this year and next I plan to plant two plants and pull up the weaker one, if I plant zucchini at all. Anyone want some zucchini?

Rollerblading

I totally roller bladed for 3 miles tonight and I only fell down 3 times! I have probably spent less than 50 hours on roller blades in my entire life and I was so proud of myself for not falling down on an unfamiliar, outdoor trail this evening. I managed to survive swarms of mosquitoes, slightly bumpy asphalt, rocks, sticks, cracks in the pavement, other walkers, and pushing a stroller for a good chunk of our the the 3 miles all while remaining upright and on roller blades. It was exhilirating to become more comfortable rolling around the longer we were out and be able to go faster and faster without wobbling horribly. (I started out very slow and VERY wobbly. )

I do have to admit that I am grateful that just Michael and I went rollerblading for about 1 mile last night without the kids so that I could get used to being on wheels without our wonderful distractions. The three times I fell down were because I was distracted by my children (poor excuse, I know). We even were able to take a break and through some rocks in the river next to the trail we were on. Benjamin was a good coach though: Go slow so you don't fall down, hold my hand so you don't fall, way to catch yourself like I do so you didn't get an ouch. Bekah was also very encouraging with her little wave and smile every time she passed me with Dad pushing. It was so much fun that I can't wait to do it again!

Random Pictures of the Gardens

The other night I had the opportunity to take some pictures of my own of the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point. I also went to my first photography class. The class outlines sounds really good. I did feel a little out of place because I am taking the class for fun and already have two degrees so I don't need the class for credit. I also realized the age gap from those who typically attend two year school versus a four year school. I am even more excited about the class and hope I can learn a lot from taking this class.

Regional Stake Conference

This past weekend we atteneded a Regional Stake Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The stake conference was broadcast to 135 stakes in our area much like General Conference is broadcast to the whole world. The talks were amazing and I felt they really hit on some of the things that people in our area struggle with (myself included). Here are some of the notes I took.

President Jensen of the Quorum of the Seventy

• We live with many cultural expectation on life patterns, ideals, and life outcomes.
• We do not need to lower the ideal, we need to become more understanding of how everyone is striving for the ideal even if they have not yet achieved it.
• Seek for spiritual gifts and perfection like the perfection of Jesus Christ.

Sister Ann Dibb, 2nd Counselor, Young Women's Presidency (daughter of President Thomas S. Monson)

• We are constantly making judgements about every day things.
• We need to learn to discern that which is of real worth from those things which are counterfeit.
• Seek to learn the difference between pleasure and happiness, and seek after happiness.
• Commit to what is real.
• Do not judge the efforts of other according to your standards of righteousness. You do not know where they are coming from or where they are at on working towards perfection.

President Boyd K. Packer

• Take time to think about the sacrifices of those who made living comfortable in this valley possible.
• The growth of the church makes personal contact with members from General Authorities challenging. (The regional stake conference via broadcast is evidence of this. There are now so many stakes around the world that it is hard to have a General Authority visit each and every stake conference individually.)
• Anyone who has a physical body has power over the adversary.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

• We are linked by technology, but united in our testimonies of Jesus Christ.
• We need to prepare and encourage young people to serve missions.
• We need to use the "Preach My Gospel" manual in family home evenings.
• There is a great need to reach out to those around us, especially those who are less active in church.
• Ponder the question(s) of what are you doing as families to strengthen testimonies, to strengthen eternal marriages, and increase your faith individually and collectively?
• You will be taught from on high, through the Holy Ghost, when you are prepared and ready to learn the things you need to know.
• Focus on the essential things, not just the good things.
• Set spiritual goals as well as temperal goals.
• Use internet resources wisely.

To my knowledge, none of my note taking included direct quotes from any of the speakers. My notes simply include the things that stood out to me the most from the talks that were given. It was nice to come away from stake conference uplifted and ready to move forward with some positive goals and perspectives to work on.

Crawling

Bekah has decided to become very proficient at crawling. Though, she does more calling outside, on the grass, then anywhere else. The other day we were at the Gardens and I was trying to get her to walk up a hill. She wasn't not being as cooperative as I would have liked (it was nearly bedtime) and so I sat her down about halfway up the hill and climbed to a bench at the top. The result was that she crawled up the hill without much fuss and was quite proud of herself in the end. The video describes it all very well. She is too smart for her own britches!

Garden Update

I haven't posted pictures of my garden in a while. Here is what my garden looks like at the height of the growing season. I even have a close up of the pumpkins that took over everything else. (Next year the pumpkins will not be planted so close to the rest of the vegetables.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my 25th birthday. For my birthday, Michael planned a surprise weekend away from the kids. On Saturday, we dropped our children off at Victoria and Roger's (Thanks you two!) and headed south on the freeway. We made a few stops during the day to do some shopping and go out to lunch before we went to a concert in the evening.

It was so nice to have a break from the children and their schedules. We stopped where we wanted to and when we wanted to without worrying about nap time or snacks or keeping the children entertained while we tried to focus on what we were trying to do. I love my children immensely, but it has been so long since I have had an extended break from them that I had forgotten what spontaneity felt like and having time to kill instead of trying to cram as many errands into as short a time as possible.

Saturday ended with the Jon Schmidt concert. Every year he does a concert in the Waterfall Ampitheater in September and we have tried to make it every year since we the year we were married. Jon Schmidt is an amazing (and humorous) piano player. His concerts are entertaining as well as enjoyable because of the musical talents he shares with the audience. If you have never heard Jon's music check out his website http://www.jonschmidt.com/. There you can listen to his music and check out who he is.

After the concert we went home to an empty house and on Sunday we went to Stake Conference just as a couple. It is amazing how sensitive you are to child noise even when you do not have yours with you. I even squeezed in an uninterrupted Sunday nap. It was a nice and relaxing weekend. Thank you, Michael!



Michael and I waiting for the concert to begin.

This picture has the best lighting of all the pictures we took.

This is a picture of Jon Schmidt's piano. I didn't get any pictures of him because we were not suppose to use flash photography during the show, but if you want to see pictures of him you can visit his website listed above.

Learning to Walk

Bekah is learning how to walk, and every day Mom and Dad play the "Walk to Me" game. These three videos are a pretty good illustration of how the game is played out. We are so excited that she is trying to walk both on her own and with help and insistence from Mom and Dad. She is making miles of progress every day.

Potty Mouth

No, Benjamin does not swear or say bad words other than stupid. I am talking about another faze of potty training. I have come to realize that getting children to use the toilet instead of their pants is only one step in a many step process. Potty training includes, but is not limited to, the following steps.

1. Teaching the child anatomy. Which parts are where and do what.
2. Teaching the child that they can recognize and control the need to use the bathroom.
3. Teaching the child where to use the bathroom (in the toilet or potty chair, preferably, and not on the carpet or in the yard.)
4. Reminding the child to try to use the potty often to avoid accidents.
5. Cleaning up accidents, both at home and away from home (though I have yet to decide which one is more complicated and/or disgusting.)
6. Teaching the child to pull down his or her pants and underwear to use the bathroom.
7. Demonstrating and enforcing the need to wash our hands after using the toilet.
8. Teaching the child to pull up his or her pants and wipe when necessary.
9. Teaching the child to communicate the need to go to a parent or supervising adult.
10. Teaching the child the appropriate language to use (I need to go pee, poop, or potty) and where to use it (public, private, at a friends house.)
11. How to talk about our bodies and using the bathroom respectfully (not announcing what specific body parts are 'telling' you to do.)
12. Remembering that it is an ongoing learning process that will occassionally have its slid backs and imperfections.

We are currently working on number 10 right now, thus the name of this post. Benjamin is well aware of everything else, maybe a little too aware. But for you moms who are just starting this process, these are some things I have learned on our journey of potty training Benjamin and I am sure I will learn more things when it is time to potty train Bekah. I do have to say that Benjamin was trained to go in the toliet and pull his pants up and down by himself and staying dry through the night by the time Bekah turned one (2 weeks before he turned 3), and we had been working with him steadily for 3 or 4 months up to that point. It is a long process, but well worth it.

Playing Computer Games

Dad "field tests" some of his work with Benjamin. Both of our children love to play on the computer and Mom usually finds herself spending at least 30 minutes a day with two children on her lap while she plays internet games.

Pigtails

Bekah's hair has gotten so long that I was actually able to put it into two pigtails at the back of her head. On the side of her head you can see one of her curly pigtails. She is a pretty good sport about letting Mom play with her hair. She is so darling!