Bloopers from our family commercial

I know ... you are dying for more, aren't you?

Here are the bloopers to our family commercial ... plus some more ...

Our Family "commercial"

For our Family Reunion "talent show" we were asked to do a mormonad type commercial or poster. We opted to do a video.

We had a lot of fun making it - Julia did an amazing job editing the video we took on Windows Movie Maker.

Kendall LOVES to watch it over and over and over and over. In fact, now he quotes the video as it plays and laughs whenever he hears himself laugh on the video.

Enjoy! And get ready to laugh!!!

Don't Feed The Bears

Jaley survived her first year of Girl's Camp. She didn't feed the bears ....

A bear was spotted just outside of camp on our second to last day.

He giggled

When Kendall saw me, he giggled. It was music to my ears.

I was away for 4 days at "Girl's Camp" - our yearly church camp for girls ages 12 - 17.

After a hug and a kiss, I told him I needed to go take a shower.

"No go," was his reply.

I missed him too. And Julia. And Kerst. And John.

It is nice to be home. Flushing toilets. Showers. My own bed.

Me and You

Kendall has "me" and "you" mixed up.

"Hold you," is what he says when he wants you to hold him instead of saying "hold me." (Julia said "Hoe-shoe-me" at this age (hold you me)." Sometimes I have him sit down on the chair and hold me because he said "hold me" - to take advantage of a teaching moment.

So, we have been working on helping him with the saying me and you correctly.

While at the reunion, we wore our favorite university shirts for the group picture.

Kendall will tell you who we represented ..."B, Y, 'ME!' "



We still have to work with him ;o)

New car!

Well ... not really.

Julia has had several friends who have obtained a driver's license. Several now have cars. You would think that would be motivation ... but, no.

Julia has no interest in driving. We insist that she learns (although I am not looking forward to that new worry in my life).

Julia fell in love with this truck. She calls it Mater - you know, tuh-mater but without the tuh. (From one of our favorite movies, Cars).

It is still for sale if anyone is interested ... No takers at $1,500 - plus there wasn't any contact information. Exit 38 on I-70 in Utah.

We pee in ...

To reinforce anything and everything with Kendall, I ask him closed ended questions - only has one answer (usually) or have him fill in the blank with the missing word.

Since we were at a family reunion, his "potty" schedule has been off. He has been "holding" #2. I keep waiting for his huge deposit.

After dinner yesterday he said he was done eating. I proceeded to ask him the "potty questions" - or the fill in the blank statements.

Me: "We poop in the ..."

Kendall: "potty ... no undies."

Me: "We pee in the ..."

Jaley pipes in with "tree."

Kendall corrects her, "No. Grass."

Trees work for cover ;o)

Happy Kendall ... 3

I saw these fun cupcakes and thought of Kendall. He LOVES Dumdum suckers. Perfect. Simple and sweet. Perfect for my non-ability in decorating cakes.

It is still hard to believe that my baby is 3. We had a tough and rocky start (Toxemia - 2 months early delivery) ... but boy have we come a long way!

Just this year he has changed so much from finally saying "Mommy" for the first time (very special day for me) to talking non-stop. Potty trained in March with his buddy, Cousin Cade. Left the dark confines of Mom and Dad's closet in December to sleeping in his crib in Kerst's room to requesting to "snuggle with Jaley" in her bed. Starts to pray . Is tortured by his sister. Hits the polite stage and many other milestones!

Happy Birthday Bitty Buddy.

103.2

Julia has been very ill since Thursday; we took her to the pediatric urgent care center this afternoon. 103.2 fever is what they clocked her in at the center - with Tylenol. She had the Dr and nurses baffled - we are kind of boring over here. We haven't gone anywhere so where did she come down with this bug? It is not the flu (although all of her symptoms matched up perfectly with his checklist)- they ran a test on her that took 30 minutes to process. It is a virus. 24 hours after the last symptom (fever, etc) she will be considered not contagious. Ugh.

I hope none of the rest of us get it. We are good hand washers and Julia has been sleeping the entire time so not tons of contact with the other kids.

Get better Jewlz!

FYI: Bolster dose of Advil is working like a charm! Thanks Doc.

A Dump

Kerst and Kendall were excited to see the truck come and dump the 5 tons of rock on our driveway two weeks ago. (Wish I was there so I could have taken a picture ... I was picking up two very tired girls from a 3 day youth conference).

The boys sat on 2 chairs in the comfort of the garage and watched. The truck back up and dumped the rocks on the driveway.

During lunch Kendall told everyone "The truck pooped rocks."

Boys.

(Kendall showing us his dirty feet after helping with our rock project. He does not like to be dirty).

Changes

Need I say more?

TONS of Fun!

That's what we had! Tons ... tons of fun.


John and I went out on a date the last Friday in May in the afternoon (my favorite day ... every other Friday John has off). We went to Five Guys burgers. Yum.


We then headed off to a landscape place and placed an order.


5 tons.


Rocks.


They were delivered the next day right around noon.


2 tons of fresh rocks for our play yard.


3 tons of crushed gravel for our pathway.



We had fun working together. The backyard is looking so much better!

The family chore for the following several days was to go walk on the path to compact it down. Instead, it rained for 3 days straight. It did the trick! No need to walk on the path to mash it down!

We had some drainage issues in the front of our house which caused some major erosion in the pathway heading down to the gate. We dug up the downspout that went underneath the path right and under the rocks that were used as steps. We re-routed the underground downpout to have it drain in a better area. We added quite a bit of the crushed gravel to this area as well.

Own It

"OWN IT" - That is my theme this summer.

Each kid (me too ... I'm still a kid ;o) ) is assigned their bedroom, bathroom and another area. They "own it".

We will change the extra area weekly or once I feel like they have really owned it.

Before any playing they must do their normal ... brush teeth, get dressed, reading, etc...

AND
Straighten their room. Straighten their bathroom. Make sure their extra area is cared for (picked up).

By the end of the week(s) in their "own it" areas they must:
Vacuum or mop all floor areas (kitchen will require this more often)
Dusted (any surface that can be dusted) - piano requires this more than once a week
Cleaned base boards
Clean window sills, windows and blinds
Clean bathroom
Wash AND put away laundry

The "own it" extra areas:
Kitchen
Dining Room/Living Room/Laundry Room
Family Room and steps (up and down) and hallway
Library
Basement Computer/TV/airhockey areas

John gets his office and the garage ;o)

Also ... breakfast is only once a day. Not when you decide to wake up. You miss breakfast, you wait until lunch. If they need a snack, that is fine. They must make it look like I never knew they got one (but must still ask anyway ;o) ...

We are also doing a group chore in the morning ... we are focusing on the yard currently. We have thrown rocks that congregated to the bottom of the hill up to the bare spots of our foundation. Helped Julia tape and prepare her room for paint - and helped her clean it up. This week - more rock throwing, rock cleaning and washing the van and we might even attempt powerwashing the deck and playset.

Jaley's first talk in Sacrament Meeting

Jaley gave her first talk in Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday.

She read the Conference Address to John and me while we were working on re-routing some underground downspouts this past Friday (John's day off of work!). We had fun discussing it.

Here is her talk ...

When my mom was a little girl, her dad had the entire family sit on the front pew of the chapel. This encouraged the kids to be reverent. My mom told me that she remembered sitting on that pew as still as one could be without moving an inch. She remembered concentrating on how many times she would blink during the talk. If only she had been taught the words to a Primary Song that she later learned as an adult.

The song goes

Rev’rence is more than just quietly sitting:

It’s thinking of Father above,

A feeling I get when I think of his blessings

I’m rev’rent, for rev’rence is love.

She was reverent on the outside, but not on the inside.

My talk today is on respect and reverence from a talk given by Sis. Lifferth from April’s General Conference.

Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and teachers by example. This spirit of reverence that is taught will strengthen the children and youth and will invite the spirit of worship into our homes and chapels.

We live in a loud and busy world. TV, movies, music, friends just to name a few. If we as children and youth are not taught how to seek and recognize peace from being reverent and also recognizing the promptings of the Holy Ghost we will become accustomed to the loud and busy world.

Boyd K. Packer gave a conference address 20 years ago entitled, “Reverence Invites Revelation.” That phrase alone speaks volumes. We must create reverence in our hearts, our homes and our meetings. We must create places of reverence that will invite the Spirit to comfort, guide, teach and testify.How can we develop this reverence? We learn this as we learn to pray using the proper language of prayer. We can handle the scripture with respect. We refer to our adult leaders and peers by calling them Brother, Sister, Bishop, Elder, President (just to name few) while we are in a church setting.

Parents and leaders MUST set the example of reverent behavior in our church meetings. Our conversations must be held in the lobby before and after our Sacrament Meeting so that those in the chapel can be prepared to be taught by the Spirit. The prelude music helps to invite that spirit and reminds us of where we are. Our reverent behavior is key in inviting the spirit of reverence to our meeting. This is shown by how we act when we enter the chapel.

"We encourage reverence," says Sis. Lifferth, "when we take a crying child out of the chapel and find another room where we continue to listen to the meeting until the baby is calmed down or a disruptive toddler is soothed. Reverence includes turning off our cell phones and BlackBerry devices. Texting or reading e-mails in a church meeting is not only irreverent; it is distracting and signals a lack of respect for those around us. So we exemplify reverence by participating in the meeting listening to the speakers and singing the hymns of Zion together."

I am grateful that my parents and teachers have taught and encouraged me to find reverence in my life. My parent’s instruction was key in helping me get through my first year on the bus and in middle school. The language was terrible. I found peace and reverence by finding a reverent place in my mind to think of what my Heavenly Father would want me to be. It is a loud and busy world that can drive the Holy Spirit away. I feel at peace when I am reverent on the outside and on the inside.

I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

A new addition

Julia and her best friend Blakelee changed my wallpaper on my computer. Don't you just love technology? (Click on the photo to see our new addition ... we have always claimed her as one of our own ;o) ).