Nauvoo Take 2.

We went for business -- Steve is selling a Resort Golf Course there.
Two of our friends went for pleasure -- neither of their families had ever been.

Put that all together and we had a weekend full of fun and great bonding with our family, friends, oh yeah, and this adopted pet. 

The kids named her Mammy.  I guess they're up on their Gone With the Wind trivia.  Sweetest cat ever!  We've had lots of discussions about taking this cat home with us.  I've never met a cat so attached to kids, letting all 3 of mine, and the 4 other kids that came hold her, chase her, and play with her, and not be afraid of them at all!  Best cat in the world.  What's holding us up from bringing her home?  The litter box deal.  I'm not a fan.  ... But I'm torn; "And please bless Mammy" has been in oh, so many prayers at our home.  And when I told the kids Steve was going back to Nauvoo yesterdy they lit up, "To Mammy's house?"  Yes, to Mammy's house. 

But there were other highlights, too, like all the history in Old Nauvoo;

The old school playgrounds, and YES, Addison is still sporting a beautiful bruise from the dangers of the traditional see-saw;

Of course, the Nauvoo Fudge Factory (nigh unto a criminal offense if you go to Nauvoo and miss this);

 Bonding with the family with the warm weather and the fall colors; 

 Temple Sessions at the Nauvoo Temple -- very sweet, I'm so glad we all did this by swapping babysitting times!

 And Sunsets down by the Mississippi.

So looking forward to going again!  Anyone up for the drive?

Super Model cured by Super Villan

Who do you call when Barbie gets hurt?

Doc Oc, of course!

What a natural solution.

At least they were all playing together!

Alana's "Puppy Coat"

The fact that I said "puffy coat" is apparently completely irrelevant.

Volcanoes in the Park

Not to sound like weather.com, but HELLO to Indian Summer!  It's been shorts week for sure, rising up to the mid 70s again!  YEA!  It feels so good!  For a few days at least we are back into bike rides, walks, parks, and backyard lunches!


Tuesday afternoon was a blast -- pun intended, weak though it is.  Two other friends joined me at our neighborhood park for an afternoon play date.  And not just a normal play date....oh no, this was a park date with a mission in mind.

We built volcanoes in the sand.  Yep.  The vinegar.  The baking soda.  The works.  It was a blast!  A messy blast, true, but totally awesome none the less.  With 6-7 little people working in the sand at a time with sometimes 5 volcanoes erupting at once, it looked like a mini preschool science lab :)  It was pretty darling.

Of course, the time spent walking to and from the park together was not bad either!

Addison, with Ali and Amelie

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime at our house is like baking chocolate chip cookie.  Most of the time it's really really sweet.  There's a lot that goes into those final moments before turning out the lights.  It's a lot of work, but when it's all done it's so sweet.  And the little morsels of goodness exist in moments like this, when everyone is peaceful and calm.

The other day 2 friends joined us at bedtime while their parents were out and it was the most peaceful evening ever!  Carter read with the boys for an hour,

while the girls read to each other, too, ...and colored, and read, and colored some more.

Reading bedtime stories is the best part of our day.  While I'm putting Alana to bed, Carter reads to Addison until I can come into their room.  Then we read a story or two, and you all know how much that helps kids settle down.  Our newer rule is that I read while their head is on their pillow.  I show the pictures when I'm done with a page -- a small trick, but it has really helped the bedtime roudiness.  The other thing we loved was reading big chapter books together.  We just finished Indian in the Cupboard.  I read with the lights off as much as I can, and often I could leave the room after with a hug and a kiss, and not another word from the kids.   Ahhh....see how that is as wonderful as a chocolate chip cookie?

A is for Arachnophobia

I am Lovin' the preschool coop life, but you know that already.  I mean, look at these kids!  This was the B is for Bread day, when they came home having made wheat cinnamon swirl bread AND breadsticks shaped like their name letter:

Today was C is for Cobwebs.  Um...I'm an arachnophobic...and I chose this topic...good going.

Proof?  When I was little, Cheri would chase me around the house with the S encyclopedia open to the pics of spiders and ughhhh...I still shiver thinking about it :)  Steve is known to come home finding little cups along the floor like a land mine--housing spiders and bugs b/c I just can't stand killing them (not b/c I'm some soft-hearted kind soul, but b/c it just grosses me out! yuck!  Plus, then Steve supports the catch and release philosophy...to each his own) Yet somehow as a Mom I've learned to stomach those fears for at least 2 hours to give the kids a lesson they'd love.

C is for Cobwebs:  We did some cute crafts, like making cobwebs by cutting slits in paper plates and then threading yarn in and out and every which way to make the web.  Kinda tricky at first, but they soon got the hang of it. And making paper spiders hanging by a web to hang as a halloween decoration.

Then we read this:

and of COURSE we then had to go see if the eensy-weensy spiders came to OUR house.  So they found all of OUR water spouts and were SO excited to see the webs on them!  

And lucky for us, we had a beautiful big web on the top of our garage the kids LOVED to see, and we even found the eensy-weensy spider in the web and watched it move along!

The downfall was that I had Steve catch a spider and put it in a jar for the kids to observe.  A great idea, yes, and they loved looking at it, but ew, it made me shiver everytime I glanced its way.

Raffi's "There's a Spider on the Floor" song was a hit, too, and Hap Palmer's "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

And to top it off....what a snack!

Who do you think is having more fun, the kids or the moms?  

I think it's a tie.

My Mystery Mums

Fall 2010:  Bought mums on sale.  Perfect fall flower.  Splash of color near everyone's entrance.  Threw some in a pot, and why not--Let's just stick some here in the ground for the season.  No big deal.
April '11:  What IS that green thing coming up?  Agh, weeds.  Pull, pull, pull.  Throw away.  Throw away.  Throw awa--Uh oh, what if that was a plant?  Do Mums come back year after year?  Huh.  Maybe.  Well, maybe I'll just sneak this one back in the dirt and see.
May '11:  Really? It's still growing...huh...who knew?
And by Oct '11:

I didn't even know they would come back!  Not even a clue.  Which explains how 5 other plants fell victim to the weeding casualty.  Oh well.  I'm happy with what I have!

The Velveteen Rabbit in our house

For 2 years, The Velveteen Rabbit has been one of Addison's favorite movies.

My heart laughed when he chose a bunny at Build-A-Bear with Grandma.

It smiled as he slept with that bunny every night.

But it absolutely melted as I watched Addison and his bunny jump on the trampoline together.

There is no doubt that this bunny has become "Real".

General Conference

It just keeps getting BETTER and BETTER!

I know I post about what our kids did during general conference every 6 months, but I do it so that I can remember again for next time!  My kids have come to really REALLY look forward to General Conference weekend, ESPECIALLY when we go spend the days at Grandma's house.  (They get it straight to their TV, unlike when we've ghetto-rigged our video camera to our laptop to show on the TV...*sigh*).

We loved every session of conference!  Here's some of the things that kept the kids attentive/busy/quiet through the total 8 hours of watching old people talk:

Our cliched favorite, Conference Bingo.  I've learned to laminate our cards so that...

a) I don't have to make them over and over again and 

b) the melted chocolate or sugars from the M&Ms or Jellybean game pieces can easily be washed off

 I made these cards 3 years ago!  They're 9 topics that we'd hear in conference, and the kids put a sticker up when they heard it.  Addison was the rockstar of this activity!  He was listening so much he would say, "Where's _____" and repeat back a whole phrase that was said.  We eventually made him a "Good Listening" paper, so he could put a sticker down and we would write down the phrase that he caught.

And sometimes they just wanted to sit and do nothing, like coloring or beading with spools and fruit loops.

And other times the wiggles got the best of them, and they wanted to build tracks.  Since cars are rather loud whizzing down the track, we've learned that marbles are an awesome substitution.

And of course, we've GOT to get the wiggles out SOMEHOW between sessions!

This was a very quick fix, plus walks around the block.

A HUGE tip is for EVERYONE to get outside and get some fresh air and some sunshine to refresh yourself before soaking up 2 more hours of straight TV watching.

But best of all, the kids LOVED sharing conference with these people.

Sure, we have our fair share of reminding the kids to quiet down.
Sure there are times they wander in to another room.
And you bet I'm not always able to take as many notes as I would have liked,
and I may not remember all the talks.
But the important part is what we've all felt during Conference Weekend.
And that is that we felt good.

Why is General Conference such a big deal in our family?

Because of the traditions we've set of gathering together to hear the words of the prophet and apostles.

We try to make it a positive experience for everyone -- not boring, or have to.  But help them know that it is so important!

And we love it every time!

I like going to conference listening for 3 things:

1. Any repeated themes throughout the talks.
2. What is the prophet's message to the church?
3. What do they want me to do between now and the next conference?

Perhaps you've heard of the conversation between two people, when one told the other that there is a prophet on earth today.  Shocked and astonished the other said, "Really!  And you gather to hear what he has to say twice a year!  What did he say last time?"  And he couldn't remember.  This time I really listened to hear what that message was so that if I were asked, "What does the Prophet say to us now?" I might have the answer.

The message this past conference was to stay strong to the commandments.  The 10 Commandments; not the 10 Suggestions.  Remember that Heavenly Father has set up laws and standards that are unchanging.  The moral standards around us have changed, so much that what unacceptable to God is now considered acceptable to the world.  But we are to remember God's ways and live accordingly.  I felt strength and courage to follow Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and the truths we find in the scriptures.

And I loved his closing remarks to remember to be kind, and kind to ourselves.

And what are we to do in the next 6 months?  Pray.  And read the Book of Mormon. Every day.  President Monson has never missed a day of prayer in his life.  It's too late for me to make that claim, but I can try to live that challenge until next conference.

What repeated themes did you hear?

Emailing Grandma on a Sunday Morning

= Awesome.

Capturing it on Video = Precious.

Maxin' and Relaxin'

The Mom way...

As Our kids played at an enormous indoor playground, Cassie and I enjoyed some down time.

Family Fun Day!

Saturday was National Family Fun Day!  Maybe not "National", but it felt that way to us!

It started out as any Saturday morning...My first coherent thought of every morning is "What day is it" followed by "What do I have to do today", which is directly related to "how urgently do I really have to get up and get going?"  Which is why I love Saturday mornings.  It goes like this.  "What day is it?"  "Saturday."   "Aaaaaah".

My "aaaaaaaahhh"ness was shortly diminished when I realized our gift certificate to a Fun Center would be expiring soon and this would be one of the last chances to use it.  So off went the mental snooze button and on went the showers so we could get out the door to maximize our day of fun.  Yeah, we were gone for 7 hours;  Consider it maxed. 

We started at Mini Golf.

Lots of fun.  Lots of encouragement and cheering on.  And lots of holes-in, say, 8 or 16.  But also, lots of sibling patience!

And we learned lots about our kids, too:

Carter's confidence: (since he's been asking to take golf lessons for a while now):  "See, I told you I am REALLY good at golf!"

Addison's excitement: "WOW!  I DID IT!  YEAH!"  After EVERY Hole!  I never tired of it!  Or his, "Wow!  Good JOB, Mommy!"s.

Alana's pink preference: Nothing new, but still all the more adorable when she only wanted a pink ball and a matching pink club.

Then we moved on to the Go-Carts!  Since we were the only ones there at the time, they disregarded the "have to be 4 yrs old and this tall" rule and let me take the two little ones on a joy ride of our own while Steve and Carter whizzed around the track with all boyhood recklessness.

While Steve and Carter lapped us a bazillion times, 

Addison STILL thought we were always in the lead.

Next, inside for Pizza and Arcades.  DANG, it took a long time to waste 80 tokens!  Arcades are NOT my favorite places.

And after ALL of that, we finished off the day with a game with Lazer Tag (sorry, no pics!)

It was total and complete AWESOMEness!  The room was perfect for our family :)  They gave us the room to ourselves, having the hyper-birthday-party-of-10-yr-olds wait until we were done...I guess they were as worried of our kids being trampled as we were.  They even turned down the music for us, and turned on the lights since Alana was scared.

Not sure there's a lasting effect of teaching our family to shoot at each other (says the Mom who does not allow toy weapons in our house), but pretty sure there IS a lasting effect of the bonding we shared!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a GREAT family gift and getaway!

Bishop Carter

Good Job in the Primary Program, Carter!  You rocked your speaking part!

"In 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World' we read: Sacred Ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

Quite a mouthful for a 5 year old, but you did it perfectly and confidently, and I had to laugh as you casually leaned on your side arm on the pulpit, just like the Bishop.  And you were even looking side to side as you recited your part from memory.  What a nut!

Our Little People's Preschool

4 Little Learners

Addison, Oliver, Benny, Shayla

 and the Moms Who Love Them

Ashley, Me, Stacy, Marianne

This year, finally, I've gathered my courage and am participating in a coop preschool!  Addison was even accepted into a great preschool program a few weeks ago, but I chose to pull him out so that we could experience this time together.  Courage is the only word I can think of to describe that decision.  Courage to follow my heart.  And faith. 

And today was his first day of preschool!

"I'm just SO Excited!"

Waiting for our Ride
Yes, our ride, since leave it to me to lose my keys on such an important day!

We'll each teach once a month, with themes, letters of the days, numbers of the day, interactive reading, large motor activities and music, crafts and projects.

When the kids arrive, they sit at the table for quiet table activities until everyone's there.

Puzzles Today!

Then they move to circle time, with carpet squares to sit on, and this AWESOME TriFold Display we all worked on .  It has our calendar, weather, letters and numbers of the day, and the job chart!

Way to Show your Enthusiasm, Ollie!

That will travel to each of our houses when it's our turn to teach, along with a bin of all our supplies and their progress binders.

After that pic, it was parents' cue to exit so Miss Marianne could start class, with the letter A and her lesson about "All About Me!"  So Ashley and I left our boys there, and with our 3 girls, headed off to -- where else? -- the mall!

When we came back we found 4 TOTALLY happy kids who were so engaged and had a GREAT time together!  They didn't even get to the "free-play"/recess at the end of the schedule because they were so involved in Marianne's projects!  SO EXACTLY what we've all hoped for!


I've admired and envied you moms that are doing these kinds of things, and finally feel like I can try my hand at it :)  I'd love your tips and ideas along the way!

Storage--Moving--and Restrooms!

While driving by this Uhaul Self-Storage center the other night, those orange indoor storage doors were really well lit...so much that we laughed hard when one of our sons piped up from the back seat,

"Wow!  Look at all those restrooms!"

Happy Labor Day!

Nope, Still doesn't have the ring to it to qualify for a Hallmark Greeting Card.


But an old fashioned 7-mile bike ride does!

It was a PERFECT bike ride with our friends Dean & Marianne and their 3 boys.  With 4 adult bikes, 2 trailers, a tandem kid's bike, and Carter's bike, we were SET!  

32 Geese crossing in single file; really?  Come on, now....kinda like being stopped at a railroad crossing!

"No really, take your time..."

Our bike ride started in a forest preserve and wound our way along the river until we arrived at this little piece of Holland...or Germany...or many of the other places around the globe with working windmills.

We all LOVED the destination, the tour, and the break!  And it's a GREAT place for family pictures (though maybe next time, not so sweaty!)

The Treuhafts
I'm not a photographer by any means, but I love how this one turned out!

In the end, 7-miles was a GREAT workout, not only for our 5 year old who rode the whole way,

but apparently even for those who did no work at all!