F.H.E.

Geocashing:

We don’t really do Family Home Evening at our house.  I guess I’ve just felt that the kids are so little and we spend so much time together as a family anyway what is the point.  It’s like we have ‘family home evening’ every day.  Well, we had a recent Relief Society activity ALL about F.H.E. and it got me pumped to start planning F.H.E more regularly.  Since Rob is at school on Monday nights till about 10:30pm I’ve decided we will have it on Tuesday evenings instead.  The first night I decided we would take the kids geocaching.  I downloaded a free app on my phone for it and found a cache less than a mile away from the house.  James LOVED it.  I told him we were going on a treasure hunt.  He thought it was so cool.  After we found the cache and came back home we related the map on my phone that helped us find the geocache to the Liahona from the book of mormon.  It’s was a really fun activity.  I think it would work great for all ages of children as well. 

Independence Day:

This week I decided our lesson would be center around the 4th of July since it was coming right up.  We talked about why we celebrated the 4th of July.  What it means to be Independent.  A little about the history(not too much detail since my kids are only 4 and 1).  Then we talked about Captain Moroni and the title of liberty.  Then we made 4th of July T-shirts.  Both the kids really loved this part.

I bought plain T-shirts from Michaels crafts store, painted their hands with craft paint and stamped them on the shirts.  Then I took fabric puff paint to add their names, date and embellishments.  Katelyn’s shirt is way too big for her(they didn’t have her size).  James is a little big but he loves it and he wore it like 3 days in a row. 

For now on I’m going to try and be more consistent with Family Home Evening and post what we do on my blog.  Maybe I can give you some fun ideas.  Sorry, I don’t have any treat ideas yet.  I wasn’t that ambitious.  But if you have fun F.H.E treat recipes send the my way.

Technorati Tags: Family Home Evening,crafts,4th of July,Geocaching,James,Katelyn.

Next we went camping…

About a month after Robby came home we met up with my family in Gunnison, CO for some camping.  My parents have one of those cool hybrid trailers that sleeps about 10 people.  Since our tent isn’t big enough to sleep all four of us anymore we like to stayed in my parents trailer.  James favorite thing in the world is going camping with his Grandparents and uncles.  The campground we stayed at had two small ponds.  One with paddle boats and one was a fishing pond.  He caught his second fish while we were there on Daddy’s fly rod and he had a blast on the paddle boats with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Steve and Aunt Eleena.  Both James and Katelyn slept like angels the whole time we were there.  It was amazing!  I LOVE CAMPING!  There is nothing like spending time outdoors, hiking, camp food and relaxing by a warm fire with family.  I can’t wait to do it again.

Then…

the last day we were there we went to this HUGE pioneer museum they had right in the town of Gunnison.  It actually didn’t have much “pioneer” stuff but they had a real train.  James got to pull the bell and climb into some of the cars.  They had an old school house and a building full of antique cars starting from the early 1900’s.  James LOVED it!

It was perfect because the kids tuckered themselves out just before the 4 hour drive home.

Life is going so fast…

Once again it has been a while since I last posted anything.  Of course, a million things have happened since then. 

First, Robby has come home from his mission in Russia.  Two years flies by a lot quicker than it used to.  He came home over Mother’s day weekend.  It made for a pretty awesome Mother’s day.  The whole family was at the SLC airport anxiously awaiting his arrival.  It was so exciting to see his cute face for the first time in two years.  I spent the whole next week in UT enjoying family time and hearing some crazy mission stories from Robby. 

Me and my bros.  Aren’t they cute!

New loves, new hobbies, and the kids of course…

(Skip the first paragraph if you don’t want to read about Jimmer or BYU)

I have discovered a new love for BYU basketball this year.  Rob has been a big supporter of BYU sports but didn’t watch many of the basketball games on TV.  He always kept tabs on how they were doing though.  Rob talked to me more and more about how the team was doing and this “Jimmer” kid.   I always enjoy hearing that BYU was doing well and I just had to see Jimmer in action for myself.  Then it happened.  I was enthralled.  I became a victim of Jimmer-mania.  I couldn’t get enough.  I was excited and nervous to watch the games.  I screamed and yelled at the TV along with Rob.  I watched the game when Jimmer scored 52 points and it was epic. I felt like I witnessed a part of BYU history. I’ve read many articles about Jimmer.  This one is definitely worth a read. (Jimmer has devoted fan base within New York prison system ) His talent and hard work never ceased to amaze me.  I think it’s GREAT that Jimmer Fredette has been getting so much positive attention from the nation. He deserves it.  Plus, it just means positive attention for BYU which results in positive attention for the church.   I was praying that BYU would come here to Denver for the tournament.  As soon as it was announced Rob and I got online to find tickets.  We went, we had incredible seats, they won, and it was jimmepic! (it was Rob’s B-day present.)  We witnessed Jimmer in action in person and it was a glorious thing.  Yes, I am very saddened by their loss last night.  I am also sad that we won’t get to see Jimmer and Emery play for BYU anymore because together they were unstoppable.   And for those that think that there has been too much Jimmer love and not enough going around to the other players the fact is Jimmer is the one that’s setting records and scoring 30+ points per game.  The boy has worked hard and I think he deserves every bit of love he’s been getting.  Not to mention he’s adorable ; ) That being said I am very pride of BYU this year.  Lead by Jimmer they made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years and that is something to feel proud of.  Cougars, you have forever made a fan out of me! As for Jimmer, I will be watching for you in the NBA!

 I have a new hobby!  I’ve always enjoyed crocheting but never really new how.  I could do a straight stitch and that’s pretty much it.  So, for the past few weeks I’ve been watching Youtube tutorials on crocheting.  So far I’ve learned to make small flowers and Easter eggs.  I find it relaxing there is practically no clean up required.  That’s my kind of craft!

As for the kiddos.  They are doing great! 

Katelyn is cuddly, energetic, loves playing with other kids, and LOUD!  Oh boy, can she scream.  She screams when James bugs her, she screams when she wants out of her crib, she screams when she wants food in her high chair and screams when she wants out because she’s done eating.  She is definitely different them James.  She says a few words out loud like Mom, Daddy, uh-oh and thank you.  She also knows a few in baby sign which is helpful with the screaming.  She’s my little Diva! 

Then there is James.  He’s my little smarty pants.  The kid loves books, letters, writing letters, and practicing reading.  He walks around all day telling us what letters different words start and end with.  He can also read a little which is really exciting!  Just small words that can be easily sounded out so far.  Words like set, get, ship, dog, etc.  It’s fun to watch his little mind work.  

I just realized I never wrote a post about the Denver Aquarium.  Well, we took the kids a few weekends ago and it was fabulous.  The kids enjoyed every second of it.  They even had tigers.  Four of them.  The family favorite was the Otters though.  They were so cute! 

 

 

blogging catch up...

Ugh! I hardly ever blog anymore. I guess I would rather just be lazy after the kids go to bed and watch a good show then blog. Not to mention my computer broke recently so I have to use Rob's old computer which is just not the same. A lot has happened since we moved to our house. So, I will just give you the quick version.

- I was called to be the Relief Society secretary. I wasn't to worried about it till they told me I had to teach. Then I freaked out. I was so upset for several months. I know it sounds dumb but I had never taught adults before and I was terrified. When the actual day came I wasn't even that scared and everything went pretty smoothly. I wouldn't say I was awesome but I don't think it was completely lame. Hopefully, I won't be as scared next time around.

- Rob started school again. He's getting his MBA. It's not too bad so far. He just goes twice a week in the evenings. He was off the whole month of December which was nice.

-I went on a trip to CA to visit my friend Ashley. It was just a weekend trip and Rob stayed home with the kids. It was AWESOME! I think it needs to become and annual thing. We hiked, shopped, went to Hollywood blvd, and shopped at Downtown Disney, and just had some much needed girl time.

-Christmas was spent in UT. Where Rob works (Lockheed Martin) completely shuts down for two weeks during Christmas. So, we spent the whole time in UT. We had a blast. And of course we all got spoiled. We got a Wii from the Grandparents and James is obsessed with it now. All he talks and dreams about is MARIO! I'll admit, I'm a little obsessed too : )

-The kids have been sick sooooo much. Ever sense James started Preschool in September they have been sick with colds and/or throwing up off and on. Rob seems to catch it all and gets the worst case of it. I guess I should have done flu shots this year. I'm so sick of getting puked on.

-Today it is freezing! Quite literally! It is -13 degrees outside. OH, and it was 65 degrees on Friday. We didn't get to go out though cause the kids were sick. We've been having fun inside instead. Yesterday we made salt dough and played with it. Then we cooked up what we made and painted them today. Those are the pics up at the top.

Family photos…

We had some family photos taken recently.  I’m a huge nerd and realized at the end of the session that I forgot to put lipstick and mascara on.  You have to give me some credit though because I was throwing up the night before.  I guess I was bound to catch the stomach flu sooner or later since Rob had already caught it and the kids just went through it for the third time in the last couple months.  Anyway, I had to do some serious photoshop work to my face.  Here’s some before and after photoshop pics.  Tell me what you think.

Home Decor…

Having a house is so much fun!  I love that I can decorate it the way I want to.  Only if I had the money, right!  It’s going to be a slow process but we are getting there.  I decided to start with the kid’s rooms.  Mostly Katelyn’s room.  I’ve made a bunch of things and I’m feeling pretty excited about it because I think they turned out pretty darn cute.  Which is not a normal occurrence.  It seems like a lot of the time when I try to be creative it doesn’t turn out the way I pictured.  But these things turn out just how I wanted them to.  Yeah for me!

Here’s a look at Kater Bugs room…