Toy Story must be True

This nativity we have out for Christmas, keeps changing. No matter how many times I rearrange them, they always seem to move and gather around the baby Jesus.

I think they might be doing it on their own while we're not looking.Actually, L's the culprit, he spends quite a bit of time looking and playing with this nativity set. This is his favorite way to arrange them. At least they are all gathered around the right person!

What if....

L: What if Dad was a real King and you were a Queen?

Me: That would be fun, but what would that make you and K?

L: (after a brief pause to think) Servants. We would do what you told us too.

Me: Wouldn't you guys be prince and princesses?

L: No, the new baby will be the princess and when we have a baby boy, he will be the prince.

Hmmm, do you think we ask them to do too much?

It's beginning to "sound" like Christmas

Since no decorations have been put in place, there is no snow on the ground to speak of, and the weather is supposed to be really nice the next few days, so I can't say it's looking like Christmas. The sounds, however, are everywhere. Christmas music is already filling the radio stations, but most of all, it is the toy catalogs that started everything. Last week, the little man and I made a trip to Wal-mart. As we walked in the door, there they were, the stacks of toyland catalogs. I picked one up and let lil' L look at it while I shopped. The entire time in the store, his eyes were glued upon the toy filled pages. That afternoon, we had one in the mail, thus we had a catalog for the two children. I can't tell you how many hours....yes, hours, those catalogs have been studied. I told the children to look and circle the things they like. Didn't take too long before their vocabulary had changed to "Do you want to see what I am going to get?" Never did I promise any of the toys in there. After a few circles here and there, I thought, this will be great, we will have narrowed it down to a few things the kids would like for Christmas. Not so, for the more they looked at it (namely lil' L) the more there was to like. After a few days, we saw a commercial advertising the toy catalog for Target. F said I should stop by and pick one up. My thoughts, "Great, more toys for them to say they really want." F's reply, "Think of the hours they would be busy looking at the catalogs." We have not moved on from the Wal-mart ads, and those have been put aside, and indeed, it has helped to move us in the right direction for Christmas. We have been blessed to have each other, and I am grateful we can provide the kids with not only the bare necessities of life, but a few extra fun things, too. And yes, I will be present at some of the very early black friday sales. My sister and I are already scheming.

Disney on Ice

A friend of mine called and told me she had 3 extra tickets to Disney on Ice, wondering if we wanted to come with her. Of course! So Friday afternoon, we drove to her house, loaded up the kids (2 adults, 4 kids - one for each hand), and drove downtown. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or me! It was hard to keep the kids from asking to buy everything they had there. We had a great time and I loved being able to spent time with the kids and with my friend.The stories they featured were The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Peter Pan.

I had not been to one of these performances before and have always wanted to go. I'm glad it worked out! Thanks, Liz!!

Halloween

This Halloween (unlike most) F and I actually coordinated and dressed up, mostly because we had been invited to a Halloween party at a neighbors house. I had a hard time coming up with a theme that I liked and F wouldn't mind wearing. Just a few days before the party it came to me...Popeye and Olive Oyl (believe me, I know I don't have the height or the slim figure of Olive Oyl, but forget that!). I had the shirt and skirt for me - that held out for the holiday, the sailor hat for Popey, but Popeye's outfit and the accessories would need to be found. I drove L and I to our local DI and started searching. I found a black polo shirt (one F could wear anytime) and bright blue scrub pants (for some reason they don't make bright blue sailor pants or at least the DI was fresh out). I spent the rest of the day/evening using scraps of fabric to make Popeye's collar and Olive Oyl's collar. I think it turned out well and we got our $6's worth out of it at our ward Trunk-or-treat and on Halloween (both nights F said we should dress up!) For our party, F sprayed my hair black (don't expect to see that color on me anytime soon - black is not for me). I did not attempt that again for the other parties, seeing as how it took me 2.5 washes in the shower to get my fingers through my hair, and a total of 4 washes to have my natural color and feel back again.

The week of Halloween was busy! That Wednesday, we not only did I have a dr. appt & glucose testing, our ward held it's annual Trunk-or-Treat. F handed out candy at our car which was not decorated. I took the kids around and we gathered a little bit of candy. The next day was K's parade and party at school (which L and I attended). I love helping out in K's classroom and helping with the parties. I read the kids Halloween books and handed out donuts.

Saturday, we celebrated Halloween. We started our progressive Halloween by visiting F's grandpa at his assisted living apt. It was the first time we as a family have visited him there, and I wish we had done it more...which we will. He was pleased to see us and we had a great time visiting him and just being with him, he is 94 yrs old. After that we headed over to my grandpa's house to visit him. My sis and her kids were there, we had another great visit, but it was hard to keep the kids hands (and mine) out of the candy. From there, we went to F's parents and had pizza with them and F's sis's family before heading to their ward trunk-or-treat. It was kind of chilly and rainy, but not enough to keep the kids away! Our last stop was my parents for a little visit and some delicious "halloweenies" that my mom makes every year. We rolled into our driveway, and regrouped before heading down our street. The kids trick or treated at a hand full of houses. K told us she had enough candy and wanted to stay home and hand out candy for the rest of the night. While we were home, we only had 3 groups of people come to the door. Good thing most of the candy went out on Wed.

As for costumes: K wanted to be a witch. She and I picked out fabric and I made the dress for her. I think it turned out beautifully...if I do say so myself.

L changed his mind a few times from being Frankenstein to being a skeleton. Frankenstein won out. We have a cute book my mom gave us a few years ago called "Frank was a Monster who wanted to Dance." This is where L got his idea, but he wanted to be scary and not silly like the one in the book, who puts ants in his pants and falls apart on dancing on stage. Thanks to my sis who had a black suit, and my parents for the wig. I spent time hand stitching on the little bones on his gloves.

I think our costumes turned out great and we had a great Halloween!

4 Years Old

My, where has the time gone! Early this month, we had a whole weekend of celebration for lil' L and his 4th birthday. He was so excited that it lasted for 3 days! The actual day was filled with lots of other busy-iness, so the night before we went to dinner as a family. Usually the kids will choose a fast food restaurant, but we found it to be useful to use the coupons for free kids meals (since we don't go out to eat as a family much). He chose to go to Joe's Crab Shack, which the kids both loved. We had the servers sing to him, he was a bit surprised by the strangers singing to him and having to wear a strange hat, but I think he enjoyed it, definitely loved the playground right next to our table in the restaurant. On his birthday, he opened presents from our family. It has been a tradition from my family to have a "birthday outfit," but the one we gave him was pants and long sleeve, but the weather was quite warm, so I pulled out a new pair of shorts and t-shirt we had. lil' L has begun to like superheroes more and more, he requested an Iron Man cake, therefore he got an Iron Man and Spiderman action figures. Spiderman came with a car that shoots out a web to catch the bad guys. He also loves Toy Story, so we bought him a Toy Story car racer. He was in heaven playing with his new toys. For his big party, that came Sunday night, we invited grandparents, Patty, and Cameron. lil' L opened his presents and loved the fireman kit (with a working fire extinguisher-shoots water), his batmobile, and a car that flips over when it runs into something. Patty game him a Toy Story domino game, coloring book, and a mosiac kit (which he has loved putting together).
After working all afternoon on his cake, he told me he wanted Iron Man to be standing up so everyone could see him, but he was excited about it, and I was just glad it turned out.
lil' L never ceases to amaze us. He is so weet and very smart. He is all boy, loving to run and dress up as Superman or just dress up. We are so glad he is a part of our family. I am amazed how well he and his sister get along. They love to play with each other. He loves to cuddle, spend time with dad doing "boy stuff." He is always wanting to do things for himself, such as making himself a sandwich or his favorite lunch - quesadilla. I love spending time with him while lil' K is at school and is my little helper when we have errands or places to go. Love you, Buddy!

Free scrapbook design generated with Smilebox

Our Summer in a Nutshell

We had a great summer. Big plans to do many fun things was cut short by my lack of energy and drive (thanks to the pregnancy). But we did have fun! Both of the children took a few sessions of swimming lessons (some with their cousins), we put their skills to the test nearly each week when we made our trip over to my aunt and uncles pool. My cousin was nannying two girls and they would swim with us. It was great to lounge by the pool! The kids swam to their hearts content each and every time.

In early June, my mom hosted a picnic for the grandkids. She provided a lunch for them and a little pool for them to swim and play in. It was great to sit in the shade and chat while the kids splashed and played. We also made it up to the Museum of Natural History. They had a really cool exhibit about bugs, the down side was the crowds and the heat! Old building, no a/c. Good time though. We did make it back up there in August and wasn't as crowded or hot (mainly because we got their just after it opened).

In early July, we made one of the many summer trips to the zoo. The day we went as a family (just befor Independence day, the zoo was hosting an Armed Forces Day. Military and their families received free admission, we just happened to be there too. They had booths set up for all the different branches of the armed forces. I enjoyed seeing this old army ambulance.

On July 9th, some family and friends met up at This is Place for the Days of '47 Family Fun day. It was hot, but water and popsicles were provided. The kids had a blast riding the ponies and making crafts. We packed a lunch and enjoyed it at the playground. That was probably one of the top things to do there (at least that is what the kids would say, I could barely get lil' L out of the train!) We stayed a little later than some because the kids just had to ride the train.

On July 19, my sister and I took the kids to see the parade floats. The kids loved to see the big floats and I loved telling them about each one and it's significance. I got emotional every now and then telling them about the pioneers, but that's just me. K's favorite float was with the seagulls eating the crickets, and L's was one with a Chinese dragon and Arches National Park. Before leaving, we lined up to get balloon animals for the little ones. We were in line behind a friend of ours and the kids were all over the place. I looked and couldn't see L. I started to panic and started pacing around trying to find him. After a moment, I went toward the front of the exhibit and finally spotted him with a securtity guard, just mere seconds away from making an announcement over the intercom. In our journals the kids made of the summer, these are L's words about the whole ordeal...

"We went to the parade floats. I saw the Chinese Dragon and it was my favorite. I got lost. The fire guy came and got me. Mom came and found L. I felt sad when I was lost, but felt good when Mom came. The fire guy game me a fireman sticker."

I felt terrible that he got lost, but so grateful he was found by capable and caring people! He thought we had walked away, so he tried to find us. We stayed together and waited for-ev-er to get balloon animals, but the line hardly moved, so we ended up with no balloon animals, but we did leave all together!

In August, my family held the third annual family reunion. This year, my sister and bro-in-law made the arrangements. We spent two nights at my bro-in-laws' uncle's place in Deer Valley (did you get that?) The place was amazing!! Each suite included a full spacious bath and king size beds. The kids spent time running around in the toy room/sport court. I arranged for our whole family to get family pictures taken (especially since it has been 6 years, one new daughter in law, and six new grandchildren since the last one). The day began with terrible thundering rainstorm, but when the time came for pictures, it was absolutely beautiful! And we were successful in getting everyone there! - which was quite a feat, I was stressed about it quite a bit.

Great family pictures from my friend Emily

The second day, we spent part of the day boating/skiing/playing at Jordanelle resevoir. K was looking forward to riding on the tube and had fun doing that. L wasn't so sure, especially after his first run ended with and my youngest brother in the water. F was able to get L back on the saddle with him and give him a better run.

Our last full day, we went to Park City and rode on the Alpine Slide. K did it all by herself twice. L went one run with Dad and one run with Mom. When I rode with him, I had to try and release his kung-fu grip on the brake. We were going so slow, my mom caught up to us toward the end. The Tour de Utah was finishing up on Main Street, so a few family members went to see the bike riders, our little family met back home with my bro and his fam for some much needed rest. Because it was also, my bro-in-laws birthday, we went out to dinner as a family to Loco Lizard. It was a great vacation. Not too far from home, but far enough to get away.

My sister teaches piano closeby and she asked if we could trade lessons for K and me watching some of her brood while she taught. So, each Tuesday, she came over, taught K at our house and then left the other children to play. It was great, the kids could not get enough of each other. They are all different ages, but got a long splendidly! At the end of the summer, we had a little reading day, in which the children brought their pillows, blankets, and several books. The spent time reading to each other and keeping track of books they had read. After that, we laid out the slip n' slide and let loose outside, well the girls and lil' L did.

What a summer! I guess we did do more than I thought!

First Grader!

There has been excitement in the air as K looked forward to starting first grade. We got a surprise a few days before school started that K's class would be splitting up after lunch and heading into other first grade classes. K's teacher is needed to teach a second Kindergarten class in the afternoon. K has done so well riding the bus like a pro, excited about taking her own lunch to school and rolled with the punches of two teachers and classes. I am excited about how the school has a new class this year of children with disabilities and are integrated into the classrooms. K has already told us about the two that visit her class. She is absolutely loving school and being with her friends, as well as making new ones. Yesterday, I was at the school doing some things for PTA and saw K at the library. She showed me she had lost a tooth. She had pulled it out while "just trying to loosen it." She proudly wore a tooth necklace to house the baby tooth. When she got home that day, I asked to see her tooth. Her reply, "I lost it." She was looking at it later that afternoon in school and dropped it. So technically, she lost her one tooth twice at school. I told her since she had no tooth, the tooth fairy wouldn't be able to give her any money, K replied that it was okay because she already has enough money. I think if she writes the tooth fairy a note, she still might be able to get a little bit of money.

Goodbye Kindergarten! Hello 1st Grade!

This last year, lil' K has grown up too much, gained more independence and enjoyed trying new things. We enrolled her in a little ballet class in January, in which she loved to get dressed up in her ballet clothes. After the first day, she wanted to wear a tutu like so many of the other girls in her class. The last week, they performed the dances they had learned and lil' K looked so pretty out there. She was embarassed when I wanted to get pictures of her.

In March, we got a piano and thus began lessons. We just happen to live one mile away from a great piano teacher who happened to have an opening for us. It does help that she is my sister. lil' K has loved taking piano, and in April, just weeks after starting lessons, had her first recital. She said an introduction and played her piece, Old McDonald had a Farm. She was very nervous during her introduction, she held it together, but I could tell she was nearly in tears. lil' K had her part and her piano piece both memorized. She played the best Old McDonald I have ever heard, and I have heard it many times in the last few months. Her next activity after finishing dance was soccer. lil' K was invited to play with a few girls from our neighborhood and school. Most games were cold and windy, the last game (which was a make-up game) was the warmest, we just didn't have luck with the weather. In her last game, lil' K scored two goals!! We were proud cheering parents on the side line. Her second goal, she ran all the way from the other end of the field. After she made that goal, she came over to me and asked, "Is that how you play soccer?" Last game and it finally clicks. She was most proud of her trophy and instead of reliving her glory goals, she would ask anyone if they wanted to see her trophy.

Also, in the last few weeks of school, her top two teeth became very loose. At two different instances, I wiggled and pulled until they came out. She is excited to have new front teeth for 1st grade and checks everyday to see if they are coming in. We are proud of all she learned and how well she reads. She is excited to start school again. For now, we will enjoy the lazy summer days, swimming lessons, and plenty of fun outings. In the last few weeks, she has mentioned wanting her own Book of Mormon, so this last weekend, I took the kids to the Distribution Center and bought them their own books. lil' K wanted her name on hers, so I found some stickers and I put their names on their books. Yesterday she took her scriptures to church. When we got to sacrament meeting, she told us she read her scriptures in primary and had marked a scripture in her book. She was trying to find that scripture and told me it was blue, which side of the page it was on and added, "It was Nephi, I think 12." As I flipped through, I found it in 3 Nephi 12:8-9. I was impressed she remembered so well where it was. She spent a great deal of the meeting reading that scripture and bookmarking it. I was glad her teacher helped her find the scripture and mark it in her scriptures. I am so proud of her! She is growing up and loving our new surroundings and making new friends. She has befriended an inactive member in our ward, who needs a friend. lil' K has been a great friend to her and is so kind to everyone and is so much fun to be around. She is a terrific big sister and loves to write little notes to people and help anyone who needs it. We love you, lil' K!!

Cinco de Mayo - a bit late, I know

For Cinco de Mayo this year, we invited mi familia for a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta!! Everyone brought some food to share and we enjoyed the food, friends, wearing our sombreros, and oh, we did watch Los Tres Amigos (english with spanish subtitles...next time you watch this, it is hilarious!) My dad came in, saw we had on the movie and went straight over to watch it. We did miss a few family members who couldn't make it, or left early. The only major hiccup of the night was our microwave started to short out and our rice was left uncooked, we salvaged it on the stove (I usually don't cook it on the stove because I always burn the bottom and our rice cooker would have taken to long). From then on our microwave cooked at 50%, but we have a new microwave now, problem solved. We had a blast and the kids loved watching the movie and the adults loved watching it and seeing the translations (especially My little buttercup).
Our menu included: enchiladas and black beans (thanks to my sis);
homemade salsa (thanks to my hubby);
guava, orange, passion fruit juice;
baked chicken taquitos;
cilantro lime rice;
real fruit popsicles (thanks to mom);
and a lime margarita and ice cream smoothie (thanks to costco demostrators).

Easter - and a bit of Memorial Day

On Easter Sunday (even with GC) the kids got new church clothes. They did wear them to church the week before Easter. The Easter bunny made his way to our house leaving the kids: new flipflops, a sandwich container for picnics, a few pieces of candy, cookies, and an egg with a baby chick inside (given by grandma e, the egg is placed in water and over time cracks and reveals a plastic baby chick). We watched confernence and let the kids play during the day and went to F's parents for dinner and met at my parents after to have an easter egg hunt. Since the weather did not permit it to be held outside, my youngest bro had to hide all the eggs in the house. They were everywhere!! You could stand in one spot and find 10+ easily. This was one 2 floors! The kids had a blast finding all of the eggs and stuffed animals. My mom loves doing things for the kids and I would have to say this is one of her favorites. She has got it down to saving the eggs because she has written the grandkids names on them, making sure each child has the same number of eggs. She does a fantastic job.

This year, with the kids being a little older, we tried to focus more of Easter on the real meaning...the resurrection and life of Jesus Christ. We had a fhe about it and hung pictures on the mantel about the last few days of Christ's life, in the center the picture of the resurrected Christ. I am trying hard to help the kids to understand more of the holidays and not just the gifts. We have been reading the scriptures with them (children's scriptures) and they are learning. It helps me to feel I am doing the right thing and teaching them what is right.

This was not on Easter, but just this last Sunday in sacrament meeting. lil' L was looking at the Children's New Testament at the pictures and maps found in the back. He asked his dad, "Is that where Joseph fell out of the window?" That previous week, we had finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants. Both of the kids are listening and this is one of the many examples that confirms what they are learning. I am grateful to have the gospel and teach my children about Christ and the sacrifices He has made on our behalf. We took the time on Memorial Day to visit our grandparent's grave sights with the children. This was a good experience for us to teach a little bit more about the plan of happiness. The kids kept asking, "Is this where they died?" We corrected them telling them it is where they are buried after they died, and how they are now with Heavenly Father and Jesus. We also explained how we are sad to not see them on earth right now, but we will be with them again. Each of the headstones had a picture of the SL Temple, and I thought that was neat to show the children how important the temple is. lil' L was convinced he has been inside (we did take them to a temple open house last year). I love to see the kids learn, but they are growing up too fast.

Easter Camp

For nearly 40 years, a group of families steal away the weekend of Easter to camp, ride atvs and dirt bikes, and spend time in the desert. The number of families has changed over the years, but one family you will find there most years is the Ericksen family. I have attended the Easter camp regularly (about every other year for 6 years).

This year we left home in a snowstorm/near blizzard status to head south. We camped 2 nights and had beautiful weather (no snow!)

Our crew included: our family of 4,

my father-in-law,

my brother-in-law +3 kids,

my sis & bro-in-law +4 kids,

my sis-in-law, husband, +3 kids

and their friends +4 kids

Grand total: 26 people in just our group.

For most of us, this was camping at its greatest (or worst). Tents, bring in all supplies - including port-a-potty. Two families had trailers, but we did the old fashion tent and sleeping bags.

lil'K waking up cuddled in her sleeping bag and blankets.

We were the largest group there. With the combination of teenagers, the 3 atvs from our camp were out riding constantly. Saturday morning, my niece finished up breakfast and said, "I am going to put on a helmet so I can ride the 4 wheeler." She went down put on a helmet and stood there waiting for someone to bring an atv back in. We noticed there was a line of 3-4 kids wearing helmets just waiting for a ride. Apparently, standing with a helmet on is the universal sign for "I want a ride." If the kids were riding, they were climbing the rocks, exploring or playing in the sand.

lil' L and Grandpa ready to ride.

On Friday afternoon, a group of us drove a few miles down the road and went to some Native American petroglyphs. We've seen them before, but we took the Easter camp newcomers to see them. I still think they are amazing.

The kids at the petroglyphs.

Both Thursday and Friday nights, we convened as an entire group to enjoy delicious popcorn cooked over the campfire, as well as s'mores.

Saturday morning, after breakfast and we had cleaned most of the camp up, we had the annual candy hunt. We split the kids into groups. The oldest group got to ride the atvs around to find their clues and treasure, while the younger two groups walked around familiar sights of the camp grounds. After the kids found the candy, we divided and packed to come home. What a great and successful camping trip!

This is our garden....

and this was our spring crop this year....

We spent the majority of our Saturday digging up rocks. As you can see from the tank and chairs, these are not your average small rocks. A portion of the rocks had been used as a border, but about 75 percent of these were buried in the ground, only to be dug up and removed. Did I mention these came from about 1/3 of the garden? 2/3 of the garden is great fertilized, ready-to-go soil filled with worms.

In our garden we are planting:

banana peppers

blackberries

blueberries

cantaloupe

carrots

chili peppers

cilantro

cucumber

green beans

green onions

peach tree

pear tree

peas

pumpkin

snow peas

tomatoes

zucchini

Hopefully we'll get a good crop this year. Definitely a trial run a some of them.

As for the front yard, we have grass and what is supposed to be a flower garden.

This is what it looks like now, but we will be planting here soon and will be taking out grass to make room for the shrubbery and visual appeal.

The Year of the Book

So, I have been completely wrapped up in reading books this year. I guess that is what happens with no internet (until last week) and I also just joined a bookclub with ladies from our new neighborhood. I thought I would share (and keep my own record) the books I have read thus far. I have included links to the books to learn more about it. These books are all different from one another. I love getting lost in books. My list needs more books....what books have you read??

The Senator's Wife

by Sue Miller

domestic fiction (not my favorite)

Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America

by Barbara Ehrenreich

nonfiction

Jane Austen Ruined My Life

by Beth Patillo

fiction

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley

mystery fiction

The Heretic's Daughter

by Kathleen Kent

historical fiction

the one I have just begun this morning

Eat, Pray, Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert

book on deck:

Honolulu

by Alan Brennert

domestic fiction

and waiting on the library

Committed: a skeptic makes peace with marriage

by Elizabeth Gilbert

follow up to Eat, Pray, Love