Our House of God

Each Monday night, Ben & I try to teach our children about God and his teachings.  

In the Doctrine & Covenants we are taught, "And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of  wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith;  Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High."

While browsing through Costco, I saw their Gingerbread display and thought of these scriptures.  So I thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone.  We sat and read these scriptures together as a family and discussed what they mean and what we can do to have a 'house of God'.  I love learning through the mouth of babes! And I love as our little house sits on our counter that my children call it their house of God and they talk about ways that they will make our home a better place and that our "incomings and outgoings may be in the name of the Lord."

Wheelchair Races

Grumpy only has 2 wheelchairs--and we are learning that 2 is not enough. Every one wants their own.

Little Music Lover

I was putting Abby to bed and as I started to walk down the stairs I noticed Violet--conducting her orchestra. This girl LOVES music. 

Determined

Abby sure likes to think she's as big as the others!  Our little playroom window has become a jump spot (is it bad that our kids climb onto the ledge and jump out the window??)  Abby thinks it her right to climb on to the ledge and jump but she can't do it.   This particular day, she threw quite the tantrum about it.

Christmas Tree Hunting!

X & his turn at felling the tree

E using the ax

Daddy & A

V preferred this tree. I told her it would be ready when she could drive

It was a gorgeous sunny day and the kids were so happy to sit and eat their candy canes!

Following the tree felling we went and visited our friends who just happened to have resurrected this amazing toy that I once played on as a kid.  We had a BLAST! (pun intended).  I even went up once--WOW-it is a tall toy and that slide goes FAST!

We came home, had dinner and got to decorating!  The Christmas music inspired some dancing

And the random decorations and their wrappings inspired imaginary play of all sorts

Nana & Grumpy came over to decorate.  Everyone wanted to sit on Nana's lap.  A & Nana

E & Nana

Grumpy & X

My desire to decorate this year came early.  I think it's because I've been practicing Christmas music for several months now but I was super excited to decorate.  I was grateful that every one was with me.  After the kiddos went to  bed, my parents & I enjoyed some Tom & Jerry's.  (a warm drink that just brings happiness to my heart and sweet memories to my soul!)  I'll post finished decorations soon!

Cookies

 My little man was bored one day and so I said, Why don't you make some cookies?  And he said he didn't know how.  So I said, it's just a matter of reading. I got him a recipe and he made me some cookies! 

 

I was super proud of Xander.  The only mistake he made was because I handed him the wrong ingredient. (I gave him baking powder instead of soda).  But the cookies still tasted great!

Thanksgiving

I got a little carried away with breakfast because the kids surprised me by sleeping in!  They were thrilled with their breakfast.

Ben carving the turkey--check out that eye! It's recovering!!!

The adults outnumbered the kids this year.  Here's Papa & Abby.  Not picture are GG, Grandma, Nana & Grumpy.  Good times were had by all!

Eating our feast

We minimized this year for Thanksgiving and it was LOVELY!  Don't get me wrong, we had the important stuff: turkey, stuffing (sourdough artichoke & Parmesan stuffing to be exact), stir-fry green beans, roasted sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls & pumpkin pie.  Oh and GG made her family's recipe of jello salad. :)  Not to be forgotten!  It was a fabulous day and it was actually kind of relaxing.

#8

Some people like to spend their anniversaries gazing into each others eyes, or going to fancy restaurants, or taking the day off work...Ben and I have some how managed spending ours a little differently each time.  But we've noticed a trend: anniversary #1-Xander was hospitalized for jaundice, #7-I had kidney stone surgery, and #8- Ben had eye surgery.  Are you catching my drift? Ben's eye has slowly been getting worse.  The doctor in OR told us what it was ('a wrinkled eye') but said that the surgery did not have a high success rate.  Fast forward 3 years, and an almost blind eye later, and the Ophthalmologist said that things have really improved and that we should go ahead with the surgery.  (Never-mind, that Ben is their youngest patient by about 30 years).  So Ben had eye surgery for our anniversary.  And now his vision is 20/25!  Whoo-hoo!

 

On the day of his check-up, we had to go into Sacramento to take him.  So the kids and I found a park nearby and played while we waited.  It was a GREAT park--a little too big for one Mom with 4 kids but we had a blast.  On the way home we went to a pet store to see the animals and then we went to Baskin Robbins to celebrate our anniversary, family style!

 I can't believe how fast the kids are growing up!  It's weird that really soon, I won't have a baby any more.  We're heading into a whole new phase.... Are you Ready?

PS. We did celebrate our anniversary for real, don't worry!  We went away for 24 hours without the kids! WHOo-Hoo! 

Happy Birthday Xander

Xander's birthday got planned early this year when we got an email about a BYU football game in Santa Clara on his birthday.  He was SO excited to go with his Dad & Grandpa!  We told him he'd get to go to a "tailgate" and the game.  He wasn't sure what it all meant but he thoroughly enjoyed himself.  We had originally told him that since he was going to the game all day that we would skip the party.  They ESPN decided to change the game time.  So I secretly invited his friends over for a breakfast surprise!  They came over, watched some Saturday morning cartoons, ate doughnuts and had a blast.  Xander didn't react very much when the kids all walked in but he was very excited.

 I got texts throughout the day from the boys:

 Xander was really excited about the cheerleaders but I guess when Ben asked him to stand with them he got really shy.  But he let Ben take a picture!

The boys got home really late but they were very very happy!

We celebrated with the family the next day with a yummy football cake.  Not the most beautiful but we had lots of happy helpers :)

Freecycle Party

I am trying to learn how to live within a budget right now.  I have been using our local freecycle website to do so.  And then I had a faint memory of a friend who once invited friends to bring their old clothes to her house and then we took what other people brought.  I thought it was a great idea but of course my crazy side asserted herself and I invited people to bring clothes & toys!  I gave everyone a week to bring stuff and then a day later they could come shop.  As you can see it filled my house. Actually it filled my front room and my garage.  After everything was picked over--I donated the rest to Deseret Industries in Sacramento.  I have to admit, I did set a few things aside before sharing: some diapers & pull-ups, a few sweaters and shoes for myself and 1 toy for each kid.  I LOVE free or nearly free things--the adventure in looking and finding what you want is kind of addictive.  Christmas this year is going to be huge and I spent less than $75 for everything--which you'll have to wait and see what it is because I don't need any spies reading and figuring it out. (I have 2 readers now so I have to be VERY careful). 

But, was it successful? Yes and I think I'll do it again. And I would recommend doing it in your own area with your friends!  Just make sure every one sorts the clothes into sizes for you--otherwise you may be overwhelmed and exhausted at the end!!

Photo Shoot

One thing is for certain--my kids LOVE when I take pictures.  Sometimes, when they are being fussy, I pull out my camera and all of a sudden, through tears, I hear "Cheese" and see faint smiles. I may or may not do that to get them to be quiet. :) Here was a fun shot of the girls one day because they all wore dresses--they wanted to have pictures taken

 And then came the day when I realized that V & A had the same shirt!  I couldn't help but dress them the same!  :)

Soccer Ended!

Having 2 kids in soccer was a LOT more than we thought it would be.  PHEW!  It was exhausting.  This mama was not sad when the last game finally rolled around.  Here are the kids receiving their trophies:

Eliza w/ Coach Jim & Coach Spoto:

Xander w/ Coach Bill: 

 

 

 

 The best part of the last game? 

Xander scored the final goal! 

Movie Night

I picked up Little Rascals and thought my little rascals might enjoy it. 

 It took Abby a few times to figure out how to enjoy the movie-

 

 

But when she got it--she was so happy!

Love chill days & nights like this!! And I love how cute my kiddos are!

Potty Training

I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint and save a few bucks by helping this beauty potty train!  At this point, i am definitely more potty trained than she is but hey, if I get her to the toilet and don't have to use diapers than I'll take it.  It's still a lot of work right now but she is happy to get to do fun things like paint her nails or have a candy as a prize.  WOW, there is a lot of growing up going on around here.  Hmm, not sure how I feel about that.

Hair & Owies!

One of my biggest fears when I found out I was having a girl was HAIR.  I do not do hair--I rarely do more than blow dry my own.  I had flashbacks about my Mom braiding 4 girls heads before school each day and I just did not want a part of that.  Well, now I have 3 little heads to worry about and it is just as frustrating as I thought it would be.=) Eliza has decided though that she can do her own hair and somewhere I have some fun pictures of her first few days of that.  She has slowly gotten better though and I was so happy for her when she came down from quiet time with the start of a braid!  You can see her excitement too!  So, if you happen to see us and Eliza has a fancy hair do--please know that she is so proudly wearing it her own way!

You know those parenting moments when you just feel like you have totally failed?!  I've been trying really hard to teach my kids that they cannot be in the kitchen when I am cooking. The other day, I was making popcorn on the stove and Eliza came over to talk to me.  I lifted the lid to check on the oil and a kernel shot out and flew down her shirt.  She freaked out. I had no idea what was happening.  She was dancing all around until I stripped off her shirt and got the kernel.  This is a shot of her burns.  Thank goodness for Burn Free!  But man, I felt so bad all day!  Needless to say but Eliza doesn't have any problem remembering now where she shouldn't be when I am cooking. =(