Winter 2017

My mom took us to a real farm in town. It was so great because Ammon is really in love with barnyard animals right now. He can "moo" and "neigh" and does so often when he sees cows or horses. Here's a short video of him moo-ing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0zC0pi-QaQ

The cows were really loud and kind of scared the boys

Their favorite animal: the friendly barn cat

Ammon has two new favorite hobbies: unloading the dishwasher (clean or otherwise) and flushing the toilet. He just loves doing what the big people do. I can tell he wants to be a big boy and talk so badly!

Here's a video of him talking on the phone (it's acually a TV remote) https://youtu.be/nkBNvjMP_Ec

 

Ammon loved decorating for Christmas

We went on the Candy Cane Express. It's a train ride with hot cocoa and popcorn served by elves. Santa and Mrs. Claus were also there. Quin pointed at Santa and said "that's the Christmas guy. He's wearing a costume." I'm not a fan of Santa Claus so I haven't actually taught him anything about Santa. Everything he knows comes from books, movies, and what other people say about it. I'm not anti-Santa, I just don't feel comfortable deceiving Quin, even if it's for fun.

It was cold and drizzly but we had a great time.

Next was the city of Lebanon holidays at the park. It was also cold and wet.

We rode on a horse drawn wagon through downtown Lebanon and sang Christmas songs with the other passengers.

We stayed for the Christmas lights parade and as soon as it was over we went home.

We drove through the Pastega lights together.

We went to Storybook Land. I loved how it was a combination of the Pastega lights and Enchanted Forest. You walk through awesome animatronic stations that depict scenes from nursery rhymes and children's books. There were a lot of Disney sections and two huge train sets in the back. There was also a large Christmas village on display.

Quin really wanted to sit on Santa's lap. I realized it was because he wanted to get a candy cane. When Santa asked him what he wanted Quin said "a candy cane", which Santa gave him. It's not every day Santa grants your Christmas wish on the spot!  Way to keep expectations realistic, Quin.

 Quin's gingerbread house. It was really difficult to build because I made the frosting wrong. Michael finished it for Quin when I gave up. Not long after Quin destroyed it like Wreck it Ralph. Next year we'll just not do gingerbread houses.

This is what I made for my mom, grandma, mother in law, and previous piano teacher. It's called string art. You print a picture, put the paper on the wood, and then hammer nails in the outline. Then you rip the paper out and thread string to make a pattern. Each one is unique, just like each musical mentor in my life is unique.

Ammon helped.

Quin wants to be a "firefighter doctor." He's been studying my old college anatomy textbook.

Best taste tester

Quin's 4th Birthday

Christmas 2017

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!
This was our first Christmas at our own house. It was so great! I'm not a huge fan of Santa so we're not doing the "Santa" thing with our kids. I don't have any real memories of Santa because I found out about it so young (and then ruined it for all of my friends). I guess it's fun but maybe the magic isn't there because I don't have any childhood attachment to it. So we decided to start some Christ centered traditions this year.

We opened presents very slowly. In fact, we enjoyed the stuff in our stockings for a while and didn't even get started opening presents until after 8:30 AM. It was all very civilized and I appreciated that.

We would open one and everyone played with it for a while. We had a really great time with these giant blocks.
 

Just look at that fireplace roar

Daddy fell asleep on the floor so grandpa and Quin built a tower on him

 

Yetti in my spaghetti was a hit

Ammon really enjoyed these hand puppets

For dinner, we had a Bethlehem dinner. Some people call it a Jerusalem dinner or an appetizer dinner. Basically, we just tried to eat foods that Mary and Joseph might have eaten back then.  We ate carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate, hummus, goat cheese, pistachios, dates, dried figs, dried apricots, oranges, and flatbread. We turned off the lights except the Christmas tree and a few electric candles and ate on the floor with no utensils. It was fun and made the Christmas story feel a lot more real to try to imitate the setting. Ammon thought it was the best meal ever. He walked around the picnic blanket eating whatever he wanted off of unattended plates.

After dinner we had a birthday cake for Jesus. It was a red velvet cake made with beets and I made the most amazing goat cheese and cream cheese frosting. We turned off all the lights except the candles and sang "O Holy Night."

After eating cake my plan was to write down our gifts to the Savior, which are like New Years resolutions but it's a gift of changed behavior that we give to Jesus. We ended up doing this the next day, but Michael and I wrote down our gifts on a piece of paper and put them in a stocking. I'm hoping that every Christmas we can review these gifts and see how we progressed during the year.

Does your family have any Christ centered traditions? If so I would love to hear about them!

Quin's 4th Birthday

Pin the cape on Superman

Quin really liked his cake. He stood there and made up songs about it to the tune of "do you know the muffin man" for half an hour.

Homemade pinata nearly as strong as the man of steel

Fall 2017

Forgot to post this while it was actually fall.
Ammon:
Favorite song: Old MacDonald. He sings "ei ei eee." He also likes "Jump Jump Went the Little Green Frog". I played Old MacDonald on the piano for Ammon with him sitting on my lap and he kept wanting me to play it over and over again.
Says "wa" for water or when he wants to watch a show. He has been saying "wa" a lot lately.
We pet sat a kitten for a few days and Ammon fell in love. He followed her around and meowed.

He points out cats every time he sees a picture of one with an enthusiastic "ow! ow!" until the cat is acknowledged.
Ammon has also learned to dance to music. He will either bob with his knees or wave his arms.
I got him to poop on the toilet twice. The first time he thought it was pretty great. He kept climbing back on to clap and shout hooray over and over.
He loves dental floss. We have a cinnamon flavored floss and Ammon blew on it to make it less hot.

Quin:
Has been speaking more clearly and acted more compliant since starting preschool. He is so excited to go to school on school days and seems reluctant to leave when I pick him up. On non-school days he sometimes asks to go to school and is very disappointed when I say no.
He is a budding vocalist and can sing several nursery rhymes on pitch.
 His Captain America obsession has faded into a Superman craze. He has been superman most days lately. He and Ammon were Batman and Robin for Halloween.

Downtown Trick or Treating with grandma and Uncle Curtis

Quin's preschool Halloween Party

Ward Halloween Party

I have been writing down the funny things Quin says and I'm so glad I did! Here are our favorite Quin quotes: 
"Da baby is wuvs you" and "Captain America is wuvs you."
"I have muscles like batman."
Fighting sound effect is "wha push" and it's really cute.
"Good job solving your problem!"
"Almond milk is so much fun!"
Playing with nativity dolls, made Mary take baby Jesus out of the swaddling blanket and said "The mom gets the baby out of the baby toaster."
"A little bit yes."
"My strong muscles will be there at the fight."
"It's a part of my life to love you."
"Look! There's Christmas over there. Are you ready to be a Christmas mom?'
He heard Ammon waking up from a nap and ran upstairs, then said, "I am a good helper. I help babies get out of their beds."
"I love Mr. Grinch so much."
"Breakfast is not for breakfast."
When asked "What did the pilgrims eat?" Answer: "Play and dragons. Vegetables, carrots, and ranch. Buffalo and dragonfruit." He actually ate buffalo and dragonfruit at preschool.
"Deoderant is full of wonderful things."
"Let's go follow the prophet!"
After I accompanied a song in primary he ran up to me and said, "Good job playing the piano!"
"This is the color blue. The color blue helps me be happy."
"This is the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree helps me be happy."
"Momma is the best."
"Look at my back. There's muscles on my back! One, two! They're really big."
I was having a rough day. Michael asked Quin what he could do to help me be happy. Quin's response: "Make things die."
"I need to eat some green beans and apple so I can get big... and fat."
"Look at my sword! It's so magicy."
"I'm so beautiful because I'm wearing my church clothes."
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Bigger and bigger and bigger!"
You could be a firefighter or police officer. He added "or superman..."
"There are so many superheroes I want to be!"
"Quin is a tall boy. He is going to drive a car and a fire truck."
I have been trying to notice the times he is being good and point it out. Today he did the same to me. "Look at you! You're stirring the pot!"

We had a lot of fun in the leaves

Ammon loves to help and do "big people" things

We accidentally put the leaves in the recycling bin, so Quin helped me dump it out and put them in the yard waste bin. After playing in them.

They are so sweet!