Another compelling reason

So I found another compelling reason to head into NYC, and this time with just me and the kids. I've been doing some research on different methods of educating children as I decide how I want to teach Kaia (I'll most likely be homeschooling as long as we live where we do). I'm most interested in knowing more about the Montessori method and the Reggio Emilia approach. A couple of nights ago, I researched a lot of books on Amazon and came up with quite a list of books I wanted to read that would have cost a small fortune to buy, and our local library only carried one of the dozen books I wanted. In a flash of inspiration, I thought I should check the NYC library catalog (FYI: anyone who works in the city can get a free library card, so Peter has one). Sure enough, the library network in the city had most of the books I was interested in. Getting to and from the library was fairly uneventful and the kids were quite good in the library (after I gave each of them some Smarties to bribe them :). Here's the loot:


Now for the part of the story that proves this was a New York experience. On our walk from the train station up to the library, we were walking by Lord & Taylor's where they still have their window displays up. We decided to get in the short line and see them. My kids were enthralled, their noses pressed against the glass. I made sure we were scooted up as close to the glass as possible, and people easily walked around us to continue down the line. Well, all of a sudden I hear a guy behind me loudly declaring, "Keep it moving, everyone! You can't stand still! There are lots of people waiting!" I didn't turn around until the guy said, "Lady with the carriage!" I turned around and he said, "You have to keep moving; there's a long line!" I was really quite frustrated. What is the point of going to all the trouble of making the window displays if not to have two adorable little kids staring in awe at them? Were all the adults around us really getting so much more out of them than my children? Fortunately, the kids didn't hear him and it didn't affect their experience, but it did sour mine a bit. Ah, New York.

My Superman

My husband is awesome! He cleaned poop out of the crib (thanks, Ash!) and dismantled the dishwasher to discover two pieces of broken glass inside making awful sounds, all in one evening! I was right on when I picked these Superman pajama's to give him on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day

We had a fabulous Christmas. I seriously think I was as excited as the kids. There's just something magical about Christmas for young kids and I couldn't wait to share that with them. I even woke up at 6:30 thinking it was time to get up until I realized there had been no pitter-patter of feet. The kids didn't even wake up until about 7:45.

We haven't emphasized Santa much at all, but kids still seem to pick up on who he is. We saw him at the children's museum in Utah after Thanksgiving, but neither of my kids would sit on his lap (which I'm completely fine with). When Santa was mentioned before bedtime on Christmas Eve, Asher voiced a concern: "Santa no hold me!" I had to explain that Santa was coming not to pull him out of bed to hold him but just to bring a few presents. And Santa did come:




Both the kids got some gifts that they should enjoy for a long time. Santa brought Kaia a little pots and pans set; after seeing it, Kaia exclaimed, "Santa knew just what I was looking for!" She also got a number of arts and crafts projects, including an umbrella with princess pictures that she gets to color with permanent markers and then use as a real umbrella. Again she exclaimed, "How did you know just what I was looking for!?!"


Asher's big present was a Thomas the Train train set that I found for a good price. He LOVES the trains at his Grandma Vickie & Grandpa Vern's house, so we decided having one at home might help us survive the winter a little better. :)


I was really excited when I found out my mom had given Asher a Superman and a Batman costume for Christmas. I was hoping these would break him out of his princess phase. :) Sure enough, he had to try them both on as soon as he opened them. I explained that the Superman cape would help him "fly" when he ran around, and he spent the rest of the day telling us, "My can fly!" When he opened Batman, he recognized the logo on the shirt right away and put that on, but when he saw the hat/mask he said, "My no wear that." Later he decided he was brave enough and he tried it on. I took him in the bathroom to see himself in the mirror and he said, "My scared," so I asked him, "Are you scared?" Then he said, "No, my just pretend." I think he's just downright cute.

"It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your child is?"

This is said every week right in between "The Office" and the news. We found Asher at almost 10 o'clock last night in his bed with absolutely no clothes on! That's what happens when he gets naps for 4 days in a row - he has way too much energy at night! And he's really into potty training now...at least at bedtime. "My need go potty!" he repeatedly tells us. And he does go, but he needs to go to sleep!!

City Festivities

I rarely go to the city anymore, but when Peter had an unexpected day off on Friday we decided to head in as a family to see all the Christmas sights. We were supposed to get a lot of snow that day (and we did); I think that forecast scared off a lot of people who might have otherwise come in, so none of the sights were very crowded. Also, we hit all the trains just right - every time we approached the platform, the train we needed would just be pulling up. I loved that! And we decided to not bring the stroller into the city. Asher rode in the backpack and Kaia walked a lot and I carried her as needed. We had a great time.

On the train on the way in:


The Rockefeller tree:


We went to see the large train display at the Citigroup Center building at 53rd & Lexington. Asher loved it! This is the last year they'll be displaying it.



I thought Central Park looked gorgeous blanketed in snow. If we weren't all so cold by this point, I would have wanted to go and enjoy the quiet and snowy magic in the park.

What a good night of sleep will do...

Let me first give some background. I have long known that Asher, when he's in one of his sweet moods, is irresistible. He's recently begun telling me at random times, "You boo-ti-ful, Mommy!" I was twitterpated all day the first time he said that! Another time recently, I was sitting by him and he said, "Kiss me, Mom!" After a kiss, Asher exclaimed, "My love you!" Oh, boy, was my heart a-flutter after that one. :) Well, Kaia has begun to fall under his spell, at least at bed time when they're supposed to be going to sleep. A week or so ago, we went in to find 20 books on the floor next to Asher's bed - Asher had apparently been asking Kaia for books, so she gave him one after another that he read (in the dark). We threatened to shut the door (the ultimate threat for Kaia), so she stopped giving him books. But we still hear her telling him dinosaur stories and she told me that she's climbed into bed to help him put his pants back on (not sure why they were off in the first place??) and to pull his blanket up over him. If we try to tell Asher he doesn't need anymore water in his sippy cup, she is his advocate, "It's okay, Mom/Dad. He can have more water. Really." This was all pretty cute - I like that they're buddy-buddy at these times - but it was starting to take a toll in terms of the sleep deprivation it was causing. I didn't let Asher nap on Monday so that he would go right to sleep, which he did at 6:45. Kaia was put to bed shortly after 7:00, so by the time they both woke up around 7:30 yesterday morning, they'd both had a great night's sleep.

So back to the title of this post...Kaia woke up yesterday morning the chipperest thing I'd ever seen! And I woke up to her saying, "I'm making a cake for you, Mom! A birthday cake!" When I asked her why she thought it was my birthday she said, "I saw the invitation that it's your birthday today." It wasn't my birthday yesterday, but the kids were having a blast mixing sugar and water and who knows what else to make my cake.

I LOVE this picture - isn't it crazy?!

Mixing the frosting:

Following are some of the highlights of our conversation during this experience:
*Kaia: Do you want to help along with me, Mom, making my cake? Oops! I mixed up my words. I meant to say making your cake?

*Kaia: You're going to be such a good helper, Mom.

*Me: You got a good night's sleep, didn't you?
Kaia: Yeah, I'm not going to do anything wrong today.

*Kaia: I'm being so nice to you today, Mom. I'm going to kiss you all day!

*Asher (about the frosting): That be boo-ti-ful!

Then the kids were nice enough to sing happy birthday to me. Watch carefully...right after they finish singing Kaia literally spits on the "cake" to put the candles out.

Weddings and more

We spent a couple of weeks in Utah over Thanksgiving to attend my brother Jordan's wedding to his sweetheart Brighton. The whole vacation was wonderful. It was great to see so many family members and friends at the reception that we haven't seen in years.

One of the kids favorite experiences was going to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We went with my mother-in-law, Vickie, and also met my brother and Brighton there. Jordan encouraged my daughter to pick the flowers in the flowerbed to give a beautiful bouquet to Brighton (or if he didn't encourage her, he at least didn't stop her). In the museum, she was scared to go in a cave because she kept seeing a red light flash in the cave. She said it was the shining eye of a sharptooth, as she ran the other direction (it was really a red flashing light on my camera). Asher loved spending time with Jordan and acted like everything Jordan said was a joke. Uncles are the best!


One of my favorite things about the trip was meeting my nephew, Eamon (ay-mon). He is so adorable, and he makes the greatest, funniest faces in the cutest way possible. I loved snuggling with him. I ADORE being a mom, I really do...but it is really so much more fun to be an aunt. I got all the cuddling privileges with none of the responsibility!



Eamon's baby blessing was the Sunday before the wedding. The following is a picture of the whole family, including a cardboard cutout of my brother Micah (who is currently serving a mission in Taiwan) to use at the reception. It always seemed like someone was watching us.


The pictures in this slideshow highlight some of our experiences on the wonderful wedding day. Although a tad bit chilly, the weather really couldn't have been better for a November wedding (which ours also was - our 7 year anniversary was the previous week!).


We spent the day after Thanksgiving with Peter's family, and we drove to northern Utah where we cut down a Christmas tree for their house. The permit was $12, so they got a 12 foot tree for only $12! Kaia loved playing in the snow.

Holiday Gifts

Since we were heading to Utah for Thanksgiving, I decided to make and take all our Christmas gifts to family at that time to save on shipping. As an added bonus, now that we're back and Christmas is rapidly approaching, I can pretty much relax and enjoy since I'm mostly done (although I was very busy the month before we went to Utah). I thought I would share a few of the things I did in case anyone else is still looking for ideas.

A rainbow of mini-albums:


Block ornaments with pictures of the kids (this was a good project to have Kaia help with):


Some simple thank-you notes for some of the Chinese speaking males in the family:


My personal favorite, a jewelry holder for my sister-in-law Anneke, who makes her own jewelry (jewelry pictured not included): (I found the idea to use a cutlery set as a necklace organizer here.)


This is the wedding present I made for Jordan and Brighton. For years I had wanted to do something with pictures of the "Jordan Ave" and Phelps Ave" signs that I found in our area, but I'm glad I waited because it all fell into place when Jordan got engaged to Brighton and when I received this amazing picture of them in their announcement.


Does anyone have any suggestions of things to send in a Christmas package to a missionary? I'd like to send one to my brother and I don't have any ideas yet.