Theater Class

When we first moved here I contacted my high school drama teacher and asked her if she needed any help with anything. I was hoping to volunteer somehow. Well, she e-mailed back and asked if I wanted to teach a community theater class. Hahahaha. That was my first reaction. I'm not qualified to teach a theater class. I haven't done theater in...well, forever. But it was an intriguing idea. So, I did it! I stepped out of my comfort zone and told myself that I was qualified to teach and that I could do this. I taught two classes. A beginning class (one I was able to bring Kember too...that was fun) and a Character and Dialog class. At first I really enjoyed the younger class and the older class really intimidated me but as time went on I had a lot of fun with the older guys. I only had girls in both my classes, but I would occasionally help out another teacher with her class that only had boys in it. The picture is from the last day of class and we performed our vignettes for each other and I got picture happy! I may not have been qualified to teach the class, but I really enjoyed it. It was fun to see the girls grow a little bit and try new things. In the younger class it was fun to watch a really shy girl who didn't want to participate gain a little confidence and start to join in the activities. She was a real sweet heart.
It was a little stressful because Caden normally had soccer the same day, and most of the other things we did tended to all be on these days, but the great thing was that if Dan had to work it was completely okay for me to bring my kids along. It was awesome, and I'm glad I was able to do it!

Little Coley's Birthday

Okay, so I realize that Cole's birthday was you know...almost two months ago...but it needs documentation, right? Right. So, here is documentation of my little boy turning 3. Which, by the way, I have a really hard time remembering. I keep thinking he turned 4 and I have to think about how old Kember and Caden are to remember. Mother of the Year award, I know. Cole was super easy to shop for. When I asked him what he wanted he said Knight stuff and shoes. Awesome! Since his birthday is around Halloween the dollar store had the Knight stuff and he needed shoes anyway! I found this out by grandma and grandpa...They bought him new cowboy boots and when we went to the store to try them on we realized that he was in a size four and needed, oh, a size 7. His poor little feet. Never once has he complained about his shoes being too small. I could put them on okay, so I never really thought about it. Well, hopefully now his feet feel better! Caden was really excited to buy Cole a present with his own money. He went and bought him a Lego set. I love having generous kids. It makes my heart happy. And it's something I need to learn. Funny how they are teaching it to me, and not the other way around. With the Johnson cousins going out for ice cream for Cole's birthday. Had to take a picture with the Tow-Mater truck. It's kind of cute...just like the kids in front of it!Just a little daddy love!We had family come over to open presents and eat monster cupcakes. I didn't go all out with anything, but it was still fun. We love living close to family.

Well, happy belated birthday buddy! Thank you for your smiles and your songs. We love you!

Oh my little Milee

How dare you turn one year old! You are growing up sooo fast. Even though we aren't doing anything fun or fancy for your birthday I just wanted to let you know how much your dad and I love you. We love watching you grow and develop. Quite frequently you will hear us yelling to the other "Come see this!" Your brothers and sisters especially love to come get me when you are doing something they think is pretty neat...and it happens everyday.
You have the cutest walk ever (and just for posterity purposes, you started walking a month or so ago), and you can tell that you are proud of yourself for doing it. My favorite thing is your laugh. It's distinctly unique and truly yours, and the best part of it is that you share it so freely with others. Anytime someone laughs you join in no matter the reason. Same thing with clapping. You really love to clap. You are a great eater (minus the fact that you throw everything on the floor when you are done...but that's to be expected I suppose). You are one of the most stubborn people I know (wonder where you got that from). You will not learn to do something until you want to do something, and then when you want to...it's almost immediate. You aren't speaking yet, but you are able to get your point across quite clearly. When you are thirsty you will bring me your sippy cup, throw it on my lap, point, and say, "Da". We are still working on the sign language, but I'm assuming it will be like everything else and you will get it when and if you want to. You have two bottom teeth right now, but a whole mouthful waiting to come in. I think I counted 4 on top that were close, and maybe one more on the bottom. You love to be held and you love to be entertained. My favorite is when you play with your siblings. You will copy Cole the best you can, and you will even play with their light sabers with them. That's super cute to see because the foam light saber is bigger than you, but you hold on to it and swing it around just like your brothers. For all you love playing with your siblings, you are pretty independent too. If no one is paying attention to you, you will find your own thing to do. You love animals and get very excited when you see one. You start pointing, bouncing, and loudly proclaiming "Da, Da, da!" Don't worry, you will get hair sometime in the near future. I promise. I went through it and Kember when through it. It will come. But you probably already know that because you already love to comb your bald little head. You do a pretty good job combing too! I love your cheesy grin, and can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young woman. Thank you for being apart of our family. We all love you.

Sunday Thoughts

Today in Relief Society we had a lesson on the signs of the times...or the second coming. I will admit to not really enjoying this topic, or lesson (the teacher did a great job...I just don't like the topic). I've decided I don't like it because whenever people talk about it, it all becomes speculation. Whole bunches of it. Don't get me wrong...I normally like speculation, except in a church setting. Church lessons should be doctrine...lessons should be prepared with church approved material...not speculations. It makes me uncomfortable. But there you have it. What I did get out of this lesson was interesting for me though. One girl made a comment (it really did fit to what we were talking about, it just doesn't seem like it on my blog) about how people don't really let their kids play outside anymore with the neighbors...and it's true...I don't. I need to get to know my neighbors. This has been something I've been thinking about since we moved in. So hopefully sometime this week I will make cookies and take them to the neighbors. Also, I was thinking a lot about since we don't know when the second coming will be we need to use our time wisely, right? Well, last night I got to thinking about putting first things first. I tend to do the not important things first, and then run out of time for the important things...so...I need to re prioritize things (and I'll deny I ever wrote this, but I should probably get up earlier in the morning too...which means going to bed earlier....sigh/groan). So those were the things I got out of church today, and just my own musings about my life. Isn't that the great thing about the gospel? Personal revelation...got to love it....now to follow through with it.

School Pictures

Kember got back her school pictures yesterday and I think they turned out pretty cute! She isn't smiling like we practiced, but it is far and a way better than her last years pictures. Those were bad...which is saying something because I think she's a beautiful girl. I don't understand why it costs so much for the pictures though...and why they have only a few package options. I really liked at her last school how I could just buy the CD for a few dollars. That way if I hated the pictures I wouldn't be out too much. Or if I loved them I could spend as much as I wanted reprinting them.

But here is my beautiful girl who is growing up way too fast. Love you Kember!

Sunday Happenings

Does anyone else just love this time of year? I don't mean Fall (truthfully it's not my favorite season..don't get me wrong, it's great, just not my favorite). I mean General Conference. Every April and October I just can't wait for. Good times, good messages. I've decided that my kids do better at listening and being quiet when I don't have a lot of things for them to do. Today I just sat out crayons and some scripture puzzles and they were really good....until Dan started wrestling with them :) Even though I couldn't hear I didn't want to stop it cause it's soooo cute watching them play together and laugh together as a family. I LOVE IT! So many good things we heard. Aren't we so lucky to hear from a prophet and apostles every 6 months? I made a goal to read all the conference talks before this last session. Which may not seem like much of a goal, but considering I started like a week before conference started...well, let's just say I was up reading late Friday night. And I was kicking myself. Do any of you remember Elder Robbins talk, "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?" Holy cow it was good! The whole time I was reading it I was thinking, "Why didn't I read this earlier? I could have been working on this stuff for 6 months!" Anyway, it was good. You should read it if you can't remember it. From this conference...where to start...where to start. I really enjoyed Elder Cook's talk where he was telling a story about when Pres. Monson was talking to him in an elevator and Pres. Monson said, "It's better to look up." Which I think is rather profound, and something that I should do more of. I mean, not literally looking up, but looking to God. We are happier when we are looking up. I like it. I liked Elder Oakes talk when he said something like, "What do you really believe about Jesus Christ, and what are you doing with that belief?" Anyway, the point is, I can't wait to read and listen to these talks again. There was so much good stuff that was said!

After conference today we had a birthday party for Cameron. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERON! Actually his birthday was yesterday, but we celebrated today. I had a lot of fun thinking about things to make, and even though Cameron isn't a big dessert fan I put together a dessert bar (cause I like dessert :) I meant to have balloons and a banner and stuff too, but I think it still turned out pretty cute. It sure got the kids excited for Cameron's party :) We had Collin and Andrea's families over and we ate a lasagne dinner (tradition for Cameron's birthday you know...although the lasagne didn't turn out like grandma's...sigh...maybe someday). It was good to just sit and talk with family. I will admit to loving being closer to a lot of my siblings (we missed you Rorie and Nate and Mom and Dad!)I have to laugh at the next two pictures...not because people are making funny faces, but because one was taken at the beginning of the party, and the other was taken almost before everyone left...and look at Cameron. Hahahaha...different seat, same activity :)Well Cameron, I hope you had a great birthday! We love you, and wish you years of happiness and success.

I feel like I had another domestic day today...and the GREAT news?! I didn't lose any of the kids! Course Dan was home today, so that probably helped a little :) After we went to Park City to get some wood for Dan and his projects I started on the jam. I bought a flat of strawberries a couple days ago, and today was the day. Course, yesterday should have been the day...a lot of the strawberries were bad but what can you do? Now, I'm just going to clarify...making jam is easy, but it sure is time consuming. And more than half way through I remembered that I didn't have everything ready to go and I was not at a point where I could stop and get things ready. So, Cole became the messenger and I pulled Dan from his projects so he could help me! Isn't he the greatest. Batch two went a lot better. I made sure I was prepared with everything this time. So, all in all I got 11 bottles of strawberry jam. Someday I will get brave and mix flavors, but for now I'm a one flavor type gal. Want to see one of the projects Dan whipped up?Yep, it's a dog house. No, we aren't getting a dog. This wouldn't even fit the kids stuffed animals. Caden just told Dan that he wanted him to make him a dog house. Then Caden got me and I painted it. He tried, but his little fingers aren't strong enough for spray paint. It's not exactly the color scheme I would have chosen, but blue and black were his choices. Anyway, I thought it was cute of Dan to make one.

While he was working on other things and one batch of jam was done, I took Caden on a mommy date and we went to the store so I could finish another project of mine. Finally, I present to you, homemade magnetic robots!
Hopefully this will keep the kids entertained for awhile. My boys really like Robots, and this way they can make them however they want. I had fun putting these together :) Doesn't my creativity astound you? Go ahead, be astounded...and then know that I copied the idea from someone else...like I do with all good ideas. So now the kids have these robots, some story stones (huge fan of those, p.s. by the way...you should hear their stories...super cute), and someday I will finish the Alphabet lacing cards. I'm trying to actually finish projects now, and I'm doing better, but it still takes me a month or so. Good thing you can't wait with food, huh.

On a random note, my sister Rorie was able to bring her babies home today from the hospital! She sounds good, and it sounds like the babies are doing great. They are identical twins and she mentioned that they have a hard time telling them apart, but considering she had them a few days ago, and today is the first time she's really seen them I think that's okay. The question is, will I ever be able to tell Caleb and Micah apart. This remains to be seen. So, congrats Rorie and Nate. Our little family is super happy for you guys!