Thanksgiving!

I am grateful for many things in my life. Loving husband, three silly and amazing children, hubby's secure job, the truthfulness of the gospel... I could continue to count my blessings (and name them one by one) and have a very long list. I'm grateful for all these things every day, not just once a year.

But it is once a year that we get together and make some awesomely tasty food.

Turkey! And stuffing!

Potatoes! (I made those)

Rolls!

Fruit salad!

Cranberries!

Veggies!

PIE!

And, of course, the post-dinner nap.

Good times.

Baby boy loves shiny things

When you give a baby an iPad

He's going to figure out how to turn it on.

He'll push all the buttons

And take lots of silly pictures of himself

Playing with food

I came downstairs one morning to find Audrey's latest art project -- froot loop style!

Ice Cream Makes Everything Better

When I picked Audrey up from school today, she looked rather upset. She sadly replied that she had had a fight with one of her friends. So, on the way home I thought about how I could cheer her up. I ran inside the house, grabbed a coupon off the fridge, and whisked her off to Arctic Circle for an ice cream cone. 

Because ice cream makes everything better.

And apparently, so do indoor playgrounds.

I know this won't be the last fight she'll have with a friend, nor do I want her to associate eating ice cream with feeling sad (that just takes us to a whole 'nother level of emotions we don't need to explore right now), but I want her to experience being happy for as long as I can give it to her. It was nice to sit down and just ask her questions about her day and how she was feeling.

It's something I need to do more often before she decides she's too old for it.

Kids of the Round Table

Wrestlemania: church edition!

Today Ammon gave a talk in sacrament meeting, so he was sitting up on the stand while I was down in the pew wrangling the kids. My friend leaned over and asked who got the better deal, and I said I would rather sit with the kids than get up and speak.

Nathan was in one of his moods (I'm not sure what happened at home; I had to be at church early for a YW meeting) and he was already sulking by the time I sat down with everyone. He refused to sit quietly, complained when I tried to give him something to read, etc. Some days are definitely better than others. Sam was just being his adorable self, getting into my bag and hunting down any fruit snacks he could find, while Audrey was pretty content to sit and draw.

So Ammon gets up to speak and I did the best I could to listen (which is a feat with three attention-seeking children). He finished up and the bishop got up to conclude the meeting.

Somewhere in the middle of the bishop's talk, Nathan moved to sit and play on the floor between the our pew and the one in front of us. Normally this isn't an issue. Sam was standing on the bench, flirting with the family behind us and bugging his sister. Then he caught sight of Nathan below him.

Here's where it all went crazy.

In what seemed like a slow-motion wrestling move, Sam leaped from his spot to pounce on his unsuspecting brother. Nathan went flying into the back of the pew, bonking his head on the hymnal holder and having a 25 lb. baby land on top of him. Sam was just as shocked and they both cried out at the same time. The two families surrounding us tried to reach over and help me untangle the boys, but neither of them would have any of it. I grabbed Sam and got him calmed down, but Nathan scooted away into the corner and didn't budge until the meeting was over. 

I glanced in Ammon's direction up on the stand and he was trying hard not to laugh. I almost lost it myself (once I knew the boys were both unharmed).

We thought it would be funny to get Sam to wrestle with Nathan now and then. But really, how do you teach a 15-month-old that there's a time and place for that and church isn't it?

Playing Games

I've fallen behind a bit in posting (not surprising) but I got more pictures uploaded today so now I have something to share.

Ammon has been trying to hold monthly interviews with the kids. They're still young and so not too busy yet, but we want them to know that we care about their interests and likes. It helps us to stay on top of things happening at school in particular.

Today was Audrey's turn. Unfortunately, Ammon came down with a nasty cold this week so they weren't able to go out and do whatever she had planned, so we did the next best thing. 

We played the game of Life. It's been updated since Ammon and I played it as kids. You can sue other players now, as well as play the stock market. (We opted not to do that this time.) Even with me landing on all the lawsuit squares and getting lots of money, Audrey still managed to win by a landslide. She's starting to get the hang of strategy when it comes to games. We played Uno after this game and she kept the wild cards for the very end, ensuring her victory.