General Conference Report

It's either really funny or really sad that I have had this draft half done since last April and am now realizing I better add the pictures and post it before the next General Conference comes and goes!

A few days before General Conference this time around I happened to stumble across this article where the lady talked about her paradigm shift regarding General Conference. Basically, she realized that since the talks are published in multiple formats after Conference, she can always read, listen to, or watch them later. But she only has that one weekend to build bonds of love and testimony with her children. So instead of shushing them the whole time or getting frustrated when they didn't sit still and eagerly do every Conference activity she'd prepared in just the way she'd envisioned, she decided to do more smiling, snuggling, playing, and enjoying with them. I took that to heart. And...it turned out to by our favorite General Conference experience as a family to date!

Yes, I still prepared coloring pages, match the speaker with the picture, conference journal activities, etc. But I didn't stress if they didn't do those activities.

I also prepared some non-conference related crafts, and also puzzles, train tracks building, etc. Quinn and I had so much fun just spending the time doing those things with the kids while Conference played and we all listened, but without shushing kids and getting frustrated. Heck, they're only 4, 2, and 1 years old! (Um...now 5, 3, and 18 months -- things change when you wait six months to publish a blog post!)

I want my kids to associate General Conference and hearing the voices of our prophet and apostles with feelings of love, kindness, happiness, and goodness. Because, really, those are the feelings that come from the Savior so if you think about it, it's ridiculous to create feelings of stress and anger over something that's supposed to be leading your family closer to Him. Right? Anyway, I was grateful to have seen the article and loved our stress-free General Conference!

We ended General Conference with a picnic dinner at the park and talked about the things that had stood out to us from Conference (Ok, well, Quinn and I talked and the kids responded to our questions with one- or two-word answers. We're in the tradition-establishing stage right now and hoping that the traditions will flourish a little as our kids get older.)

p.s. Sadly, I've turned into a bit of a city slicker. It grossed me out to think of eating on the grass where people let their dogs do their business. So instead we spread our blanket on the cement!

First Day of School!!

My baby is in Kindergarten. It's hard to believe.

Yesterday was her first day at the most awesome school ever! She's had some bad experiences with school in the past, so I was determined to find a school that would be perfect for her.

When I took her to visit this school and meet the teacher, I asked her afterward what she thought and she said, "I finally found the school I love!" And then begged me everyday to go back (glad I didn't take her there until a few days before school started!). She was super duper excited for her first day.

She's way into posing for the camera.

I tried a second time and said, "Ok, for this one just stand up nice and straight!" But she couldn't resist popping a little knee up.

When I went to pick her up her teacher said she had a great first day. I decided to take an "after" picture. She was yawning in this one (first-day overload).

But by the second picture she was back into her posing groove. :-)

Love you Caitlyn! I'm so glad we found a school that is so perfect for you!

When daddy takes the kids to Costco...

They come back with an Elsa costume and a Spiderman costume, and they are the happiest kids alive.

Then Caitlyn gets out the fan and stands in front of it so her dress blows in the wind for real just like Elsa.

Then Nathan adds his super hero cape to his costume so he can stand in front of the fan too.

Then Caitlyn shows off her most dramatic Elsa face.

Costco is good.

Daddy's are great.

Kids are awesome.

No wonder he was so grumpy!

Caitlyn's Preschool Volcano

A couple weeks ago it was Cait's turn for show and tell at preschool. I didn't feel like we had any incredibly remarkable toys to share but I didn't want her to feel bad about not having a toy as cool as some as the other kids had brought to share. So I had an idea and helped her demonstrate how to make a homemade volcano. She had a blast doing it. It was fun!

Nate and His Cars

Every night when I put Nathan to bed he requests something to sleep with. Not just anything. It has to be one of his cars. Not just any car. I usually have to try several times before I come up with the right one -- the one he feels like having 'keep him company' that night. Or usually a few cars/trucks actually.
The other morning when he woke up I went to get him and found him with all his cars lined up.

If he could he'd have all his cars in there with him. Or for a while he requested his gigantic dump truck every night and I had to tell him it wouldn't fit in the crib with him and he'd be uncomfortable. Such a funny boy.

BST Revisited

When Caitlyn was a baby I did a blog post with a video of her signing, here. I didn't think about it at the time, but since then I've realized that I should have given some credit where credit was due. I've just never gotten around to doing it. But now that Benjamin is starting to sign I've been thinking about it more and decided to sit myself down and do it this morning.
My friend Amy Thayer of Oh So Savvy Mom introduced us to Baby Signing Time when were in our first BYU married ward together before we even had kids. I made a mental note that as soon as we had kids I wanted to use these awesome videos to teach our babies to communicate early through signing.
My video of Cait was inspired by her video of her baby boy signing on her blog. Since then we've introduced the video to lots of our family members and friends and we've loved watching each of our kids experience the excitement of communicating with us at a very early age. Thanks Amy!
P.S. What's a blog post without a picture? Or two. Or maybe three.

P.P.S. We pulled up at the grocery store the other day the same time as "our" fire engine (the one the kids got to climb in last year and have lovingly claimed ever since.) One of the firemen saw the kids' excitement and was nice enough to wait for us to get out of the car and over to the engine and then let them climb around in it again. Pure happiness for the kids.