And a new year has begun

January was mostly quiet, except in the mornings, when Beckett was getting ready for school, which were not quiet due to the protests about going to school. At least I didn't have to literally drag him out of the house. On the other hand, he has gotten smart enough to know that drawing out getting dressed keeps him from going to school a little bit longer. Smart little monkey.

On a positive note about Beckett and school, he has such a good class. I found out that Beckett's teacher has talked with his class so they understand that he has challenges and he needs their help and support to deal with his challenges. Mrs. Struthers said that the class is very willing to help him, sometimes too willing. She has also asked a girl in the class to be Beckett's mentor (I guess that would be the right word). He always stands by her in line and she helps him when there is a substitute. She is also the biggest kid in the class, so she totally looks like his body guard, which is good for Beckett because he is the smallest in the class. The nicest thing about this is she seems to like to look out for him. It seems like she genuinely wants to help Beckett. There have been a couple of times when she has told him to come stand by her in line, and the way she says it makes me want go up and give her a big hug. She sounds like she really wants him to be by her. I don't know her name though. Beckett is horrible with names and can't tell me what her name is. Maybe he just doesn't know who I am talking about. Communication is definitely one of his biggest challenges, and I am having a hard time thinking outside the box to come up with different ways to explain stuff to him. (If you can't read between the lines, this is a source of frustration right now.) 

Anyways, back to this class. I have a question to pose to the readers of this blog. Do you have any ideas of what I could do to thank his class for being so wonderful to him? I have thought about taking doughnuts or asking the teacher if we could have a special movie party one afternoon. I don't know. I want the kids to know how much we appreciate them being so good to Beckett and helping him with his challenges. I kind of want it to stand out in their mind so that they will hopefully remember how important it is to accept and help everybody all throughout their lives. That might be asking a little much though, so I am okay with just thanking them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Beckett's class went on another field trip during January. We went to the Ogden Nature Center. Our family has never been before, so I was excited to see what was there. It was super cool. The kids got to go snowshoeing and look for animal autographs. They had so much fun walking around in the snowshoes, and it was fun to watch. Many, if not all, tripped at least once. They also got to pretend to walk like animals, to show the different gates that animals have. They got to touch stuff like snake skin, teeth, skulls, fur, etc. There were stuffed animals all over the place for them to look at. And they had a few animals in cages too. The snake in one of the cages was very active and it really freaked Beckett out. I'm glad that was at the end because he kind of became unglued at that point and was done with the field trip and wanted to go back to school. For the most part, I think he really liked the field trip. But it just wasn't part of his routine and the snake and this one little boy kept annoying him, so by the end of it, he was spent. His teacher said he had to spend the last little bit of the day in the Special Ed room because he kept falling to pieces. This Aspergers thing can really ruin fun days sometimes.

Other days, it makes things so funny and cute.

I love that kid.

On to Anabelle. She is still Little Miss Spunky Pants. I think she wants to add cheerleading to her list of things she conquer someday.

She has also become quite the dancer. She has been a dancer for quite a while, but she has really started to dance a lot lately and she is getting very good at it too. I think we need to look into dance classes.

She is still a budding fashion designer. Her best outfit of January consisted of the dress in the video above, with lime green leggings and a jean mini-skirt underneath the dress. On top of the dress she wore the blue and white striped shirt in the last video with a pink T-shirt on top of that. On her feet, she had these purple slippers that matched the skirt in that same video, with her black Sunday shoes on top of them. I hope you have a good image of her, because I couldn't get her to change before we went to pick up Beckett from school, so I had to take her all dressed up like that. As we were walking to the door that we meet Beckett at, there were people walking behind us. So I said, "Next time we come to get brother from school, we can't wear dress-ups. Okay?" She is a hoot and keeps me on my toes.

Speaking of keeping me on my toes. I have already had to come up with ages for when she can have sleepovers and wearing make-up. That's right, MAKE-UP. I didn't know I would have to come up those numbers already!. Have you guys already decided on them? This girl is going to give us a run for our money before she is even 5! Despite wanting to be an adult at 4, she really is a joy to have. She loves help me clean and tries to be a mother to Beckett whenever she can get away with it. She still loves school and has taken to primary like a duck to water. I can't believe she is in Primary already. Her teacher told me on the second or third Sunday of Sunbeams that she was spelling Anabelle's name on her paper, and Anabelle said she was spelling it wrong and then told her how to spell it correctly. She is just too much. I love my little Bananabelle.

Here are some cute pictures of the kids that I want to share, just because they are cute.

He found my old swim cap and thought it was hilarious.

Vogue!

My 31st birthday was also in January. My sisters and I went to Brian Regan for all of our birthdays this year. It was so much fun. He is so funny. I was dying when he was talking about dancing. It was such a good routine. I haven't laughed that hard in a while and I loved it! Also, Matt and I went to dinner with my parents to Zupas, which is one of the best places to eat. Their chocolate fondue is the best I have ever had. (Even better than the Melting Pot's, except for their smores fondue. That wins them all.) Their soups are heavenly and they have amazing sandwiches and salads, all for pretty decent prices. Go there if you have never been. I promise it is worth it. 

Matt has started his last semester of School. We are so excited for him to be done. There is light at the end of the tunnel. He is taking a Spanish class this semester and it is kicking his butt. Other than that, he likes his classes. His job is still awesome. So life is good for now. I hope I didn't just jinx us.

All we are is dust in the wind, Dude

December 1st, 2011 - One of the craziest and scariest days of my life. We woke up to the wind howling outside. I knew it was going to be rough getting Beckett to school that morning because he is afraid of the wind. Also, Matt had school that morning so I was flying solo. I decided that it was going to be okay to be late to school that morning. We took our time getting dressed and mentally prepared to go out the door. The power went out before we woke up, so that meant I had to go outside and open the garage doors by my own power. I am so grateful for electric garage door openers. That thing was so heavy and hard to lift. At one point, I almost said, "Forget it! He will just miss school today." I eventually got it open - Anabelle and I had to get breakfast since the power was out anyways. We drove to Beckett's school, only to find a telephone pole leaning towards the street, hanging only by the wires attached to it. There was a cop car parked in the middle of the street to prevent anyone from driving under it. Well, I turned around and went the other direction to his school. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot, and they were all starting to pull out and leave. I put two and two together and realized that school was canceled that day. BK breakfast for everybody!

Driving in the wind was one of the most frightening things I have ever done. Billboards had lost their signs and tons of big debris flying all over. White knuckles the whole way. We went to a Burger King attached to a gas station (the one closer to us had no power either, which I found out after I got the kids out of the car and through the door of the place. grrrr). We had a nice, leisurely breakfast of french toast sticks, one of the best breakfast inventions ever. When we were finally done, I took a deep breath and braved the wind one more time to go home. Our house was pretty cold without power, especially because the power went off just before the heater was supposed to come on in the morning and heat the house back up to its day time temperature. Couldn't it have just waited a half hour to go out? I mean really? I tried to think of what we could do to waste some time and keep warm and came up with the idea to put up the tent in the living room. The kids would love it and hopefully it would consolidate heat inside the tent and keep us warmer a little longer. I called our friend Livia and invited her and Aspen to come over for our "camping trip". I wanted to make sure they had somewhere warm to be, but really, I just needed a sane adult to be with me to keep me calm. I had a very hard time handling the storm. I kept envisioning the huge trees in our back yard falling over or breaking the power lines that run through them. Part of our fence was already down, and some of our shingles had blown off. I was sure those trees were going to come down next and it really scared me. It also didn't help that we could hear the wind really well inside our house because our windows are a joke. They are so bad that the curtains were moving because the wind was coming through them. I was really frazzled. Livia and Aspen coming was such a blessing. (Sorry for being terrible company, Livia.)

On the plus side, the tent idea worked. It was noticeably warmer inside the tent and the kids had a ball. Also the wind started to die down not long after our guests arrived. We talked and kept the kids happy with cereal until it was time for Livia and Aspen to go. After they left, I realized that the house was just too cold to stay in any longer. Lucky for us, a friend invited us to her sister's house that had power. I braved driving again, which really wasn't bad but I was a basket case at this point. The kids played with all of the other kids there and had a great time. I just sat in a chair with my coat on the whole time and didn't talk much. I was totally checked out mentally, plus I felt like I was never going to get warm again. I tried to keep conversation going with my friend Sharice, but I just couldn't focus. After Sharice asked me if I was okay, I decided I needed to calm down and relax. I don't think I was able to really relax until I climbed into bed at my brother's house that night. I felt embarrassed about how much the storm affected me. Once I heard how bad the wind really was (hurricane levels), I didn't feel as embarrassed.

I figured there was no school the next day. I thought our power was still out and Davis county's schools were closed, so Ogden should be too. I was wrong. We had power and they had school that day. Funny how the day of the storm I did everything I could to get Beckett to school, and then end up missing the day that he did have it. Oh well. We enjoyed our free day just the same, and were very relieved to find no more damage had been done than the bit of fence that was down and some shingles that were on the ground instead of on our roof.

I was surprised how the kids weren't bothered by the storm, not even Beckett was upset after some pep talk. It has made me think about the scripture about becoming as a little child. Here they were in an unpleasant situation, even scary, but they were happy and not worried, because they were with Mom. They didn't whine about how unfair it was that this was happening to them. They didn't wish it away. They didn't even complain about it (I am sure playing in the tent had to do with that). They just knew that everything was fine. They had faith that I would protect them, that they would be safe no matter what. It sheds a new light on how I handled that day. I spent the day praying in my mind that those trees wouldn't come down and that our house would be protected, but never felt like it was enough. I just needed to keep praying about it, as if he couldn't hear me over all of the other people praying for the exact same thing that day. Shouldn't one sincere prayer be enough? Shouldn't I have prayed and then trusted or had faith in Heavenly Father that it was going to be okay? Even if we did loose our roof or one of those trees did come down, wouldn't Heavenly Father have taken care of us? And this goes for other problems that come up in life. I find myself having pity parties and "Woe is me" moments all the time. I guess I need to take this lesson from my kids and just trust that everything is fine. No matter what storms blow around me, I will be fine, as long as I am with my Heavenly Father.

Brought to you by the number 30, letter B, and trains

So I am finding myself once again having to play catch up on here. Last time we left off, Beckett had started spelling CAT and Anabelle was starting up her photography business. Since then, I have turned 30, Beckett started up school, Belle started teaching an exercise class, and we all have gotten sick.

We will start with Anabelle. She has been very busy. She has traded in her photography business for teaching exercises. Lately she has been taking me to the exercise place (which is Beckett's room), and then has me lay down on the bed. She then has us put our legs up in the air and then we grab our legs and moves them rapidly in and out. The first time we did this, I laughed so hard. I don't know what exercises she has seen me do to give her this idea, but it sure is fun. One time, we had Beckett join us and that was not easy to fit all three of us on there. It was a hoot though.

Anabelle received a tent from my brother's family. His daughters had out grown it and so they passed it along to her. She and Beckett both love it. It is a princess tent in the shape of a castle and it even has little flags you put on top. It is pretty sweet. I probably would have loved it when I was little.

They especially love to watch movies in it. You can see Beckett peeking through the window to watching one.

She is still very much involved in her fashion designs. Here we have a lovely little number:

If you can tell what all is there, she has a pioneer hat on, upside down, a swimsuit that is much too big for her on top of her shirt, accessorized by orange and purple plastic necklaces and a beautiful yellow hand bag.  She is going to be such a famous designer. Maybe Matt can retire early.

The kids have also been into playing with my laundry baskets lately. Belle especially likes to turn them upside down and crawl in and just play in there. Beckett got a picture of her playing in them one time.

It reminds me of when I looked out the holes in the Bridge of Sighs, in Venice.

While they were sick, they made the baskets into little beds and watched movies all snuggled up inside with their blankets and pillows. Such creativity!

Beckett has been super busy. Not only has he been busy taking pictures of his sister (which I discovered was a lot when I put the pictures on the computer from the camera), but he has started school. I found the perfect preschool for him. When I opened the phonebook to start my search for a preschool. I saw one that had a train in its advertisement. I thought to myself, "There is the perfect school for him." I called around to get an idea of how much it would cost for Beckett to start up school and they were all ridiculously expensive (most of them included a meal or two in their prices, but still) and when I called Preschool Express, I was so pleased to find out that they were much cheaper than the rest. Now it really was the perfect school for us. The kids and I went and checked out the school and it was great. The teachers are mother and daughter and they were so kind and fun. They showed me everything they did at their school and how much they teach the children there. I couldn't believe what all they started teaching them (fractions?!). I am really pleased with this school. I have seen some good improvements in the month that he has been going.  Beckett loved his first day. Because it is a train themed school and they have lots of train toys, and he was pretty stoked to play with them. His first day also happened to be the day they had their "Hundred's Day" party. They count every day and each day add another number until they get to 100. Then they have a party. That happened to be Beckett's first day. So it was a fun day with games and cake. The weekend after his first day he got sick though, so he wasn't able to go all the next week. Then that next weekend, he got pink eye, so he wasn't able to go back to school until Wednesday. So he was gone for a week and a half. Luckily, his teachers allowed him to make up those days he missed. He was very excited to go back for his second day, but he hasn't been as excited about going since. I think he realized that he really doesn't get to play with the toys all the time and he has to do work and so he doesn't love it so much anymore. In fact on the way to school for his 3rd day, he asked me, "Mommy, can you go with me?" My heart broke. I hated school as a kid, so I totally felt his pain, but it is so good for him to go. He has learned so much more than I can teach him at home. I have been pleasantly surprised he hasn't had a problem with me dropping him off though. I was so nervous that first day that he would freak out about me leaving him there with a bunch of strangers (we still have a hard time with dropping him off for primary), but he hasn't had any problems at all. He has asked me on the ride to school for me to stay with him, but that is as bad as it has gotten. I am so relieved. 

He has really struggled with writing and coloring. He has never been one to sit down and color. Even in primary, he would give me his little picture they gave them to color and it would barely have been colored on. But I now realizing how important coloring is. It makes total sense now that I see the connection between coloring and writing. So new moms, make sure you take time to sit down and color with your kids (even if they aren't all that interested in it and try to make you do it for them), and help them gain control over that motor skill. He is improving though. Here is a "B" he drew hours before his first time going to school:

You want to know something funny. When I saw him draw this, I thought to myself, "Oh my goodness, his teachers are going to be so surprised at how much he knows without having gone to school yet." Man, was I humbled when his teacher came out with his first worksheet and told me how little he could do. He has improved a bit since then. His last worksheet they gave me, you could see that he tried to color in the right places and even with the right colors. I was so proud of him for his improvement and effort. I have bought a few writing books and things that will help me help him, so I feeling confident that he will catch up with his peers soon.

This is the "first day of school" picture.

The necklace on this beautiful boy is what they made at their 100's party. It has 100 beads on it.

One more thing about Anabelle and Beckett's first day of school. During the morning, after I had talked about Beckett going to school, Belle came up to me and said that she wanted to go to school. I told her that you can't wear diapers when you go to school. A few minutes later, she came in the room without a diaper on. Then I said that she had to use the potty and wear big girl panties. A little while after that, she ran to me and said she had gone potty and was wearing panties. I had to think fast for another excuse. Luckily she isn't three yet, and so I told her she had to wait until after her birthday before she could go. She pouted a bit, but then gave in that she couldn't go with Beckett. It was pretty cute. But I was in a state of shock. I thought, "Is it really going to be this easy? Was school all the motivation I needed for her to want to go potty?" Well, it was short lived. After school, she peed one more time in the potty, but had accidents all the rest of the day. I was a little saddened. I was really hoping we were all done. Alas, we are still in pull-ups. I am thinking about really cracking down after her birthday. Anyways, here is a picture of Anabelle on Beckett's first day:

Notice the long face and the backpack. So sad.

We also have been lucky to babysit for our friend Livia. The children just adore her baby Aspen. Here they are all snuggled up together watching Despicable Me (a very good show if you haven't seen it):

Another cute picture of the kids with some more friends. I couldn't resist snapping this picture.

Beckett had his first field trip last week. We went to Macey's grocery. The kids had a hard time with it at first. Beckett was nervous about going on a field trip all that morning. I think because he just didn't know what they were and didn't know what to expect. Plus, he has always had a hard time with crowds, noise and strangers. And that all was going on and so he was really scared at first. They took us to the dairy section first and into the back to the refrigerator where they stock the dairy. That really made Beckett, and Anabelle, upset. He really refused to go in the butcher shop (which I wasn't too sad about missing). We waited in the front for the group. We looked at the fish and shellfish they have on ice in the display case. I think that helped him calm down because he was willing to continue on with the group and even put on his hairnet. I am sure that the fact that he was going to get a cookie in the bakery had nothing to do with his willingness to participate. He was fine after that and even left my side to go look at things and get samples of food they were giving out. Belle on the other hand was just nervous the whole time. I am sure the next time will be a little easier for both of them. Beckett has even asked if we are going on a field trip again. I wonder if he is going to be disappointed when he doesn't get cookies and cream popsicles on the next one.

Valentines was pretty boring the kids had just started their colds and so we just spent the night at home, which was fun. We watched Red, which was a good movie. I recommend it. And no, it isn't a weird, independent film. It has Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren in it. It is a fun spy/action film. Go rent it if you are in the mood for some laughs and some action.

We also went to the Train Show at the Union Station again this year. It was awesome. They had an entire train set made out of Legos. It was so cool. I couldn't believe all that they had built using Legos. Beckett liked it so much, he just kept moving. He couldn't look at anything for very long because something new would always catch his eye as soon as he stopped. Matt said he was like a crack addict at a needle convention. I think we have just started a new tradition in our family.

I turned 30 in January. I don't feel any different. It wasn't a big deal. I don't think I am old now. The thought that my brother could be a grandpa in 6 years kind of weirds me out, but I don't feel old. It was a pretty low key birthday. I have never been one that enjoys a lot of spotlight, so it was great. I did get to go out with my parents and have frozen hot chocolate at Kneeders in Bountiful. It was pretty good. I rather quite enjoyed it. I got some presents and went on a date. I can't really remember what we did (is that bad?), but I am sure we had a great time. Maybe that is a sign that I am getting old.

I got pink eye with the kids. In fact, twice. That has to be one of THE MOST annoying diseases to have. That burning feeling and you can't itch it or touch it. And it feels like you have a hair poking your eye all the time. Urgg! So annoying. I'm getting all worked up just remembering it.

I have started prepping my flower beds. I am just itching to get started on planting and tending to them. I think this is the first time I have wished that winter would move on its way and let spring move in. Usually I am content to wait until April or May, but this year I can't wait to get my hands dirty.

Matt is doing well. He is still busy with work and school. This week is Spring Break, so that is nice. He is using the time off to read "Two Towers" from the Lord of the Rings. He has been playing a little bit of disc golf with some friends lately. He has really been enjoying that. I can't think of much else to say about him. Things have been pretty quiet for him since last I updated.

I am getting ready for Anabelle's 3rd birthday next week. She wants a princess cake (surprise, surprise), so I am thinking one of those cakes with a Barbie in the middle of it and looks like her dress. Does anyone know how to make one of those? I was thinking of using a bunt pan, but I don't think it will be tall enough to go to the dolls waist. We will have see. Wish me luck!

Out with the old, and in with the new.

Merry New Year! It sounds like everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I guess that is one of the advantages of doing my Christmas post this late, I have already read all of yours, and now I will try to outshine you all.
Christmas started with Matt's work party at the beginning of the month. Santa showed up and "surprised" us. He gave Matt his Christmas gift from the company ($50 gift cert. to Chili's - I kind of felt like Micheal Scott picked it just for us - and some chocolates). Then, all the kids were invited to go up and sit on Santa's lap. Belle was hesitant, but she still did it. Beckett was placed on Santa's lap and would only remain there as long as Matt was next to him. Oh, and as long as Beckett didn't have to look at Santa either. See what I mean.

Belle on the other hand, couldn't stop staring, possibly out of fright.

Our next encounter with the jolly red guy was at WSU's bookstore. Santa came to visit and brought his reindeer and a lot of student elves, to help the kids make some Christmasy crafts. We made a picture frame for our pictures with Santa to go in and Beckett won an ornament craft to take home and do later. Pretty cool. Then we stood in line for the Big Guy. We waited probably close to an hour. I was able to get the kids sit in the stroller almost the whole time. I was surprised how well they did. As we got close to Santa and could easily see him, I held each of them up so they could get a good look. Belle got to see the crying, frightened children when she looked, so as we got closer, the more she wanted to run away. When it was our turn, it was all I could do to keep her from crawling over the top of me and running down the aisles of the bookstore. I tried to convince her to just sit in the stroller while brother saw Santa, but she kept trying to climb our and run away. I quickly got her to the other side of Santa, so Beckett could get his picture taken (which they still haven't sent me - grr). I was afraid Beckett was going to freak out having to go up all by himself, but he marched right up there, sat on Santa's lap, told him what he wanted (a train toy), and gave a wonderful smile for the camera. I was amazed. Santa then gave us our candy canes and I quickly got out of there so as not to traumatize my daughter any longer.

Outside of the school's bookstore, they had set up a Grinch Stole Christmas photo shoot thing. The kids loved it.

After our photo session, we went outside to see Santa's reindeer. I think this was Anabelle's favorite part. She does love a good craft though.

You can just barely see that she is smiling really big

We were able to get together with Matt's roommates the week before Christmas. It was wonderful, full of good food, lots of laughing, and of course, "School of Rock", their movie from when the boys lived together. We ended up staying the night because we were just having too good of a time and couldn't leave. Thanks Sam and Jenny for having the party and letting us crash there, and thanks Caleb and Jessica for coming back from Omaha so we could see you guys. We had a wonderful time and Matt is now boxer-puppy hungry.
The last Holiday thing we did before the big day was go to the Christmas Village in downtown Ogden. If you haven't been there, you should go. They have some really cute displays. Dress super warm though. I can't believe how cold it was. I was surprised the kids wanted to go through the whole thing and didn't complain once of freezing. I for sure complained, especially when the Coffee shop taunted us with their fire barrels that you can't use unless you bought something. How Christmasy is that?! It was fun though.

We spent Christmas Eve with Matt's sister, Analisa and her family. We had a wonderful time. We ate delicious glazed ham and my yummy new gourmet mac and cheese. It was quite the feast. Then the kids painted ornaments. Beckett had a Santa Claus and Belle an angel. In the end, they were unrecognizable because they just mixed all the paints together and so they turned out a funky brown-grey. They had a blast though. I was just glad it was at Ana's house and not mine, especially when she said she loves to let her daughter paint and get messy.

After that, we did the Jacob family tradition of busting open a pinata. Not your standard Christmas tradition, I know, but it is super fun. After the candy all fell out, Beckett quickly grabbed a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and immediately started to chow down on it, as if that was how he was going to keep all of his candy. Matt had to explain that he needed to pick up the candy and put it in his sack, then he could eat it afterwards. Lucky for him, the only other children there were Anabelle and their cousin Ally, who is a month younger than Belle, so there wasn't much competition to worry about.

Then we let the kids play downstairs (not with their candy), while the grownups played games upstairs. It was great. Finally, we read about the Christmas Story and our little family headed home. This was our first Christmas night spent on our own. It was really nice. The kids fell asleep on the way home and went straight to bed. Santa came and put out all the presents and Mom and Dad got a wonderful night's rest. It was awesome. I know this wont last for long, but we definitely enjoyed it this year.

Anabelle's gift from Santa

Beckett's gift from Santa

 Our living room is typically set up with the couches against the wall. Santa decided it might be nice to have them surround the tree and make a nice little nook for us all to be close and enjoy Christmas together. Unfortunately, I think it kind of upset Beckett because when he woke up and came out of his room Christmas morning, he said, "Oh no, what happened to my room?" He repeated it a couple more times until I could jump out of bed and go tell him that Santa had come. Then we grabbed Belle and Matt and proceeded with the festivities.

Belle got her art easel, chalk and crayons for the easel, Candyland (which she loved and we played that morning), and play food.

The children enjoying their toys after all of the unwrapping was done

Beckett got a Gordon train, a car for his Dinosaur train that came with a dinosaur, cars (for his road rug), a Sponge Bob Memory game, and a big model train that let off steam from one of his uncles that just couldn't help himself. The model train was his favorite. He played with that all morning. It went too fast around the track for him to really watch the wheels go or keep it's cars attached to it, so he took it off the tracks and held it in place while he watched the wheels go around. Unfortunately this broke it. It no longer goes. It still gives off steam, but doesn't move. I felt bad when it happened, but honestly, what do you expect from a 4 year old. Besides, he has more fun making it move himself while it is making noise and puffing steam.

This was Christmas night

I got a beautiful new Thomas Kinkade 1000 piece puzzle (which I will never get to do until I no longer have children, believe me, I tried) and some new puzzle books. Matt also ordered me a kitchen tips book (totally awesome) and a vegan recipe book. I actually wanted a vegetarian cook book, but he gets an A for effort. I can't decide if I want to exchange it or keep it. I am trying to incorporate more veggie dishes in our home and try to have a little less meat, so I need recipes to help me with that venture. The vegan book has some tasty looking recipes in it (especially the soups), but it is a little extreme (they don't even let you use honey or sugar!). Plus they look super complicated. I want recipes that I can just run to the Stop and Shop down the street and get what I need (which, by the way, does not carry Asiago cheese. They hadn't even heard of it! What is wrong with those people! So maybe it will be Smiths that I run to)

Funny story, Matt and I both ordered each other books from Amazon, and all of them did not arrive in time for Christmas. Luckily, I had a brilliant idea. I got two empty boxes and printed off the pictures of the two book I got him. I cut them out and placed them in the boxes. I was going to just wrap them like that, but then I thought, he will get suspicious if they are both lite as a feather, so I went and grabbed our clothes iron and placed it in one of the boxes, on top of the picture. Then I wrapped it up. I put the other picture in an empty Quaker oats bucket and wrapped that up. He had no idea and was mad that my gifts had arrived before his, especially since I ordered mine the day after his. His face was so confused when he opened the one with the iron in it. I was laughing so hard. I told him to move the iron and then he saw the picture. It was some pretty smart thinking on my part. In case you are wondering, I got him books written by his favorite TV show, Top Gear, the British one (which is much better than the American one). He also got Bananagrams, which is one of our new favorite games. We also bought each other Lindt chocolates for each other's stockings, his milk chocolate and mine hazelnut. We are too much a like sometimes it is borderline cheesy.

We spent the rest of the weekend with family and had a wonderful time. Possibly one of the best Christmases so far.

I cut my hair during the week after Christmas, but you have already seen those pictures, so no need to put them on here again.

Matt had to work New Years Eve - Lame. But we did get to spend the night with my family playing games and making a cornucopia of delicious foods - fondue cheese, shrimp, clam chowder (I would not have ordered this dish), salmon, and I made brushetta for the first time (which was awesome, I am so going to make that again). We also watched the fireworks going off all over the Bountiful valley. It was wonderful and made up for the fact that Matt had to work that day.

On to the new year. I was able to visit with my roommates again on New Years Day and see some of them that weren't able to make it to the last one we had in November. It was great. I love those ladies. They all have super cute kids too.

Things have been pretty quiet so far, which in my opinion, is a good sign. My counselor has gotten mad at me for not doing my assignments lately, so I am starting the year off with making those my goals for the new year. One of those is making sure Matt and I have a date once a week (one of those can be one where we stay home and after the kids go to bed, we have a datish night, playing games and watching movies). Last weekend, we went bowling up at WSU. It was fun, but you could tell we were out of practice, both at bowling and dating. We acted so normal, not at all like the flirty couple we used to be. I think it might be because most of the dates we have been on since having kids have been to the temple, and you can't really flirt much there. I am positive this will improve as we go on more dates that don't involve the temple, not that we aren't going keep up the temple dates, just have other ones too. :)

My reason for bringing up the dating thing is because of this picture:

My little sister came up and watched the kids for us while we went on our date. When we got home, they all wanted to sleep together in the pull-out bed in Beckett's room. This is the results. Precious!

Remember our friend that was in the Doritos Xbox contest? Well he got 2nd place, but because the games did much better than the companies expected, both finalists were given the 1st price winnings. So everybody won. And now his cute wife has quit her job so she can be home with their cute little boys, who I have been watching for her two times a week (which has been nice to add a little extra income to the budget). This week was her last week. Their oldest is a couple months older than Anabelle. We joke with our friends that they are betrothed. This picture was taken on Tuesday, as they were leaving.

Wont that just be so cute if they do get married? I mean, how cute will that picture be at their wedding reception.

One more thing, Matt has started up school again this semester. Hopefully he can be done next year in the spring (fingers crossed).
Well, we are all caught up now, and hopefully I can keep it that way. Happy New Year to you all and I hope this year brings you all much joy and happiness.

August Update

Here we are again. Another month gone and school is in session again. We started the month out by going to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I had a friend on Facebook that said she had some extra tickets for the very last day it was open, so we totally took advantage of it. It was so beautiful. The outside reminds me of that little model of Solomon's temple at the visitor's center on Temple Square. Inside it has so much glass. The sealing rooms had fogged glass doors and one of the big sealing rooms had a fogged glass wall on one side of the room. I have never seen that before in a temple (not that I am a temple connoisseur). The kids did better than expected on the tour, but I think they still got pretty bored. I hope they still felt the spirit of the house of the Lord, despite being tired. Also, they had cookies at the end of the tour. How awesome is that!

After almost every other mom has blogged about going to this place, the kids and I finally went to Discovery Gateway. We went with some friends that have some cute kids too. They had a blast. That place is pretty awesome. There is so much to do and look at, it is a wonder that the kids don't go into sensory overload. Here they are playing with balls that you can put down all kids of tubs that do all kids of things. These particular holes make music when you put balls in them.



This was the kids' favorite part. It is a big water play area. They have ping pong balls that you can watch float down the pipes and lots of water toys. It was a huge hit. Anabelle's chest was soaked.




In the area geared more for the big kids, the kids found more fun stuff to play with, such as these magnetized shapes so you could create boxes and other 3-d shapes. Belle just thought they were cool to hold.




In that same area, they had a this wall where you could take tubes and make a route for balls to go through. Beckett tried to put as many balls in the tubes as he could old in his hand.





Over all, it was a fun time. I think we will go back, hopefully when it isn't so crowded (yeah right).

The 6th of August marked our 5 year Anniversary. It was wonderful. Matt planned the whole thing and did a great job. He got a babysitter for the weekend (thanks Ben & Kim) and we got out of dodge. I knew we were getting away for the weekend, but he surprised me with where and what we did. He took me to Logan and to the musical/operetta "Mikado". Matt thought I hadn't seen it before and so was extra excited to take me to see a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta that I hadn't seen yet. Unfortunately, I had, but I loved it anyway. It is one of those shows that is done differently every place it is performed. It was so fun (and a big sacrifice for Matt, he does not like musicals).

We stayed at the Crystal Inn. One of our favorite places to stay in Logan. (Check out getawaypackage.com for a great deal at this hotel from September to the end of April) They have free breakfast and they now have a lite dinner too. We only had to buy lunch on Saturday, which was a feast, both for the eyes and the stomach. We went to a sushi restaurant. And it was to die for. I loved it. Unbelievably good. It was so beautiful to look at too. Like art that you can eat. We had to take pictures.



The restaurant had menu of sushi rolls named after movies. The one at the top of that picture is called the Last Samurai. That one is the best of all. The one in the middle is a spider roll and the bottom one is your standard California roll (which was the least tasty of them all). After we ate that plateful, we had to try some real raw fish, so we talked with the chef and he made us a plate of "French Kiss" which had raw salmon on top with extremely thin slices of lemon on top of it. This one was the most beautiful to look at.





The avocado just makes it look so beautiful. It was well worth what we paid for it, even if we did go over budget. Probably the highlight of our Anniversary.

Other things we have done this month is hang out with family. Here is Belle playing dress ups with her cousin Allison (Munhall that is. We have one on each side).




I got to have a girls night out with some friends from college. It was a blast. I had such a good time. We ate at the Spaghetti Factory and then went to a concert in the park by the church office building. We didn't listen to the music much, there was just too much catching up to do.



Matt both finished and started school this month. He will hopefully be all done in May and then we'll see what happens from there. We have started some rumors that we are moving to Omaha, but they are only rumors right now. We haven't decided completely yet. It will be sad for me to leave my family, but I think it will be a great learning and growing opportunity for me. And I think it is about time Beckett and Anabelle got to know more of the Jacob side of the family. (It looks like by the time Matt's mom gets home from her mission, almost all of her kids will be back in Omaha)

I finally gave in and gave Beckett a haircut. It was my sister's Sara's fault it happened, but I am glad she made me do it. His hair was so long and shaggy. She tricked him by telling him we were going to have a party, a hair cutting party. He climbed up onto the stool and let her put the apron on him. Christa was a good sport and wore one too so it really did seem like a party. Then we put on music and danced while Sara snipped discreetly at his hair. Eventually he got suspicious and wouldn't let her do anymore. So I busted out the clippers because she was only able to get the crown of his head. He did okay. He cried the whole time, but didn't try to grab it or push it away. So it turned out okay in the end.



I have a new favorite room in my house. It is my new office/craft/train table room. My wonderful sister-in-law Ana, came over one day and helped me totally organize and de-junk that room (which was no small task). It looks awesome. I can't even believe it is the same room.





Later that night, I had Matt help me hang some curtains in there so now the room is pretty much done. I still have some wall hangings to hang and some other little things, but it feels so good to have a room completely organized and useful. Thanks loads, Ana. I never would have done it without you!



Belle is starting to get her molars I think. I can at least feel them through her gums. I feel so bad for her. One major milestone for Anabelle this last month was to become completely weened. I love nursing, but I have always felt that I should start weening when they turn 1. Belle did not like my plan and it wasn't until our anniversary that I was able to make it happen. Thanks again to my wonderful sister-in-law Kim, for helping us quit cold turkey. She said Belle didn't even care that I wasn't there to help her go to sleep and went down without a fuss. When she told me that, I knew that it was over. Belle fought it for a few days afterwards, but finally realized that she could still cuddle with mommy and feel loved without nursing.

Belle is still a little girlie-girl and a climber and trying so hard to grow up faster than she should. She is saying a few more words, but would still rather show you what she wants, rather than say. She is learning more animal noises and loves to listen to Beckett and I make them. She has become quite the little dancer. She will just start bustin' a move whenever there is music on. It is so cute. She still sleeps with all her babies and has now included puppies into the mix. When she wakes up, I have to take her, all her babies, her blanket, and her sippy cup out of the bed each morning. It is quite the juggling act.

Beckett is still in love with Thomas, but has recently added Sponge Bob into the mix. We babysat my brother's kids last month one weekend and they watched Sponge Bob while we were there. He loved it. Since then my little sister has given us her old Halloween video of Sponge Bob and he watches as much as I will let him. He can sing the famous song from the opening credits and says lines from the movies too (like mother, like son). It is hilarious. I will try to catch him sing the song on video one of these days. I still need to get him sing his ABCs, but he wont sing them on command, only at random times when I don't have a camera near me. He sings it so cute.

One other event of this month was that we had a mouse in the house. We tried to get ride of the mouse with a humane trap, and had that out for a while, but the mouse didn't know what was good for him. So we put out these nasty traps that guaranteed death (I wont describe them to you, but they certainly looked like they could make that claim). After two days of having them out, the mouse was a goner. I felt bad for the little guy at first, and then I remembered the poop he left in my unmentionables drawer and I wasn't so sorry anymore. He is in a better place now.

And thus ends our summer. I hope you all had a wonderful summer too.

Time for a change

Well, the Hanukkah background is gone. (sniff, sniff) We just wanted to hold onto it as long as possible, but change happens.

The latest in our life is not much. Anabelle has cut her first tooth (for real this time, last time I think it got scared and went back in). Now we are anxiously awaiting the second. She is also extremely close to walking (as stated before). She took about three steps last night, but she isn't steady enough to walk completely. My bet is that she will be walking by the end of the month. (That will be our goodbye gift for you to take on your mission, Mom Jacob) She is also getting more of a little personality. She is very determined and wont be distracted easily. She has mastered the stairs and unless you block them completely, she will find a way to play on them. Maybe if she would have a tumble on the stairs she wouldn't like them so much, but, fortunately, that has not happened yet.

Also, Belle has her own room now. The kids did fine together in one room, until Christmas. For whatever reason, sleeping at other people's houses has destroyed my kids sleeping habits. Beckett now comes and crawls into bed around 3 or 4 am. Due to the fact that Beckett leaves the door open when he comes to join us, he would let out all the warm air in their room, so Anabelle would then wake up around 5 or 6. When we tried to take him back to his bed, he would cry really loud, which would then wake Baby Belle. In the best sleeping interest of all, we moved Belle into the front room, across from our room, so that she wouldn't wake up when we return Beckett to his bed. She is sleeping fine now. Naps are working out better also because they can now take naps at the same time and Beckett doesn't wake up Anabelle playing for an hour before he conks out. So, all in all, this move has been good for everyone. (except that Beckett still crawls into bed with us, I think we just need to get one of those things you put on door knobs so kids can't open them, that should work for at least a month until he figures out how to work around the door knob thing)




This was the typical arrangement prior to the room switch. You can see Beckett's head resting right next to Matt's. When I got out of bed, Belle was more than happy to take up the space that I had been using.

Beckett is growing up more and more each day. Sometimes when I look at him I don't even recognize him. He now likes oranges. I shouldn't be surprised because the boy loves fruit, but I am. Neither Matt nor I like eating oranges. I don't like to peel them (which I now have to do so Beckett can eat them), and I especially don't like the stringy stuff leftover that you can't get off. But hey, it is one more food that Beckett does like, so that is a positive. Usually it is the other way around.

We are missing Matt terribly (and it is only the 3rd week of school). Hopefully he can test out of one of his classes and then he will be home one more night during the week. Hooray!! Keep your fingers crossed. It is also looking good for him to get his Bachelors in December. Things are looking good.