Catch up 3!

We have had some fun times together lately. First on November 10th we made a paper mache volcano. We were trying to complete a "circle of learning" project. It is a program that PBS does where if you read a book, watch a show, and do a project that all teach about 1 topic, then they send you a free book. Unfortunately, I still haven't written in to get my free book yet, but at least we had fun doing it.

We started by constructing a base out of an empty Downey fabric softener bottle and some wire. Then we did paper mache over the top of that and waited for several hours till it dried. Emma loved the paper mache. She had a great time getting her hands all goopy, as well as my pants, my shoes, the floor, her pajamas, etc. Bugsy mostly watched and tried to pull the whole thing apart. It was fun!

While it was drying we made a dinosaur and a palm tree out of some clay she had brought home from her Sunday school class. (yes, I know, my sculpting skills need a little work) Then we painted our volcano which Emma also loved helping with. Matthew was of course trying to put his hand in the wet paint the whole time. Then, after the paint dried we put the baking soda and vinegar in and watched the "explosion" which was a little less than awesome. It did bubble up and the kids enjoyed it, so that was the important part. All-in-all we had a great time doing this project together.

Another fun thing we did on December 9th. Emma was asking me all day on the 8th if we could have a tea party, so I told her we would have one the next day when Bugsy went down for his nap. When I finally got him down on the 9th, part of me hoped that Emma wouldn't remember that I had promised her a tea party because I had so much to do. She did of course remember as she almost always remembers things like that, and now I am so glad that she did. We ended up having a quick little tea party together and it was so great to spend some time with her. We both had a great time laughing together and I'm so glad that I took time to play with her. I need to do it more often. She is such a sweet little girl, and I know I am going to look back and wish I had spent more time with her. Oh well, at least I took time that day, and we have even done it again since then. That's twice in 1 week. That's pretty good! :) Here are a couple of pictures!

Catch Up 2!

On October 27th it snowed!!! Emma was so excited and of course wanted to make a snowman. We decided to get all bundled up and go out and build one. Emma had snow pants, but I had not purchased any for Matthew yet, so he had to use Emma's old ones which are of course pink. Besides that, his coat is enormous, so he basically ended up looking like a big bundle of snow clothes. He was darling, however, he was not excited about being all bundled and not able to move. He was really excited to go outside though. Here are some pictures.

Emma loved the snow! She was having such a good time rolling around and making snow angels and helping build the snowman.

Matthew did not love the snow so much. He didn't like the fact that it was cold and he kept falling down because of the fact that he was a big marshmallow. Poor little guy. He was totally ready to go in by the end.

Here's the finished product! We had a great time building it. Of course, because of the fact that it was a fairly warm day, the snowman inevitably crumbled an hour later. Oh well, we had a great time, except of course Bubbers!

Some Serious Catch Up!

And I'm not talking about the tomato base condiment either! :)

I have needed to do several blog posts, so I am going to start back in October and work towards December. Hopefully I will catch up with a couple of quick posts.

In October, Emma's preschool class had a field trip to Hee Haw Farms. Daniel had the day off that day so we decided to take Bugsy and go as a family. We also took one of Emma's little classmates in our car. Her name was Kiersa and she was darling. Emma loved having a buddy to stick with.

They all seemed to enjoy seeing and petting the animals. Bugsy had just started doing his "cheese" face as you can see from the pictures above.

We got to go on a tractor pull. Bugsy was excited until he discovered that he did not actually get to ride on the tractor and had to sit in the trailer behind. Then he was way bugged. Emma and Kiersa had fun though. We each got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to take home with us.

Emma LOVED the big white slide. She was even brave enough to go by herself. She also enjoyed jumping in the little hay trampoline thing they had there.

This is Emma's whole class on the tractor and then a close up of Emma and Kiersa. We all had a great time!

Inadequate!

Have you ever felt inadequate? I can tell you I have felt inadequate so many times in my life, but I don't think I have ever felt it as much as I do now. On Sunday I was sustained as relief society president in my ward, thus my feelings of inadequacy. I believe very much in revelation and I do believe that this is where the Lord wants me, but I cannot fathom why. For the 12 days after I met with the bishop until last Sunday when I was sustained, I kept thinking maybe it was just a dream, but I am quite certain now that it is not. :) I feel the weight of the responsibility that this calling entails and it makes me feel a little unhinged at times. Believe me, I have been very humbled lately. How do you wrap your mind around something like this? I know it will all come in time, but it's like getting new job and you don't know how to perform any of your duties yet. I feel quite lost at this point. However, I do believe that "whom the Lord calls, He qualifies." I know that the only way I am going to get this is with His infinite mercy and help. I do have a testimony of this work and am grateful to be able to serve in this capacity. I will just have to keep praying to understand how to do all that I need to do. :)

Fun in the Sun!

We went to California last month on a little vacation. Daniel and I had a dance competition the weekend of the 17th so we decided to take the kids earlier that week and go to Sea World. Emma loves Shamu and was SO excited to go. We started our trip on Monday afternoon.

We drove about 6 hours on Monday and 6 more on Tuesday. Matthew definitely did not enjoy it, but considering his age he did quite well.

On Wednesday we went to Sea World to see Shamu. We were lucky enough to be able to sit on the very front row. Emma was so excited to get splashed and boy did we ever get wet. It was awesome to be able to sit so close and see Shamu so close and Emma loved getting soaked.

Matthew on the other hand had no idea what was happening. He spent the first half of the show trying to escape over and under the rail in front of us. Then he spent the second half screaming and crying because he was a lot less excited about getting splashed. However, since he wouldn't let me put him under the poncho, he got soaked and was definitely not excited about it. I thought I had lost some of my hearing after he screamed in my ear for about 2 minutes straight.

However, Matthew did not mind getting soaked by the little splash pad they had there. He loved it. Then we went back again for a little while on Thursday. We saw Shamu again, but sat further away this time so we didn't get wet.

Thursday morning before we left to go to the dance event, we went to the beach for a little while. The kids did not care for the water very much but LOVED the sand! It was beautiful, but the water sure was cold!

That weekend, we went to the dance event near LA. The kids got a little board watching us dance, but we had a fun time and we even did pretty well.

It was a lot of fun and we were lucky that Melissa's parents let us stay at their house for a night on the way there and on the way back. It was so nice of them and they were so hospitable. It was especially nice to be able to save money since this was a very low budget trip.

It was great!

You Are A Strawberry

Conversation between Daniel and Emma about 1 hour ago.

Emma: "Daddy, you're a strawberry."

Daddy: "Why do you say that?"

Emma: "Because, you have pokies all over your face." (He didn't shave this morning.)

Precious Moments!

We had a very precious moment on Sunday. We were trying to get Matthew to eat breakfast so he wouldn't be quite as fussy during the conference sessions. He was being his charming self and screaming about everything we offered him. He wouldn't eat a bite! Emma suddenly jumped down, went over and grabbed "grey kitty" (the most coveted toy to Matthew because Emma does not have to share it) and her blankie and walked over and gave it to Matthew. She said she wanted him to feel happier so he would eat. It may seem a small thing, but to have Emma do that without any prompting whatsoever was amazing. Matthew always wants her kitty, and I don't think she has ever shared it with him. It was PRECIOUS! We gave her so much praise that she has done it 4 or 5 times since then and is always so sweet when she does it. I don't know if it was listening to all the conference talks the day before or what, but it was fabulous.

Another precious moment took place the night before the above mentioned one. Daniel's grandparents had come to visit that night. Emma was wonderful! She read stories with them, and showed them all of her favorite toys. She got up and sat right in between them both and was just such a doll. This was especially wonderful considering her previous shyness. She used to hide behind me and act very scared whenever most people came to visit, but she has blossomed so much, and it was the icing on the cake to see her be so sweet with grandma and grandpa!

Matthew was not quite as excited about grandma and grandpa at first. However we did have a precious moment with him as well when he ran around the room giving everyone hugs, including grandma and grandpa! Then he sat on grandpa's lap for a couple of minutes. It was so darling! He can be so sweet when he wants to be. :) He really does have such a sweet personality.

We got some great pictures, I will post them when I get them!

I'm so grateful for these precious moments! It really makes it all worth it. (As if it wasn't anyway!)

Here are the pictures!