November

I guess I better get November and Thanksgiving posted before Christmas...

Nov. 1-
We made paper bag turkeys. Aren't they cute?

We liked them so much that we made a big one and added "thankful feathers" throughout the month.

Nov. 11-

Veteran's Day. Justin had the day off so we went to the Bean Museum.

Nov. 14-

We were in Ogden for a funeral. Lucky us-not about the funeral, those are never lucky-my family had planned a pizza and bowling night so we got to go!

Nov. 20-

We've never paid Molly money for doing chores. Then we went to Disneyland and she picked out a Jasmine piggy bank. For a while she did all sorts of {extra} chores and I gave her a coin each time. Truthfully, it was hard for her to part with 10% of that hard-earned money, but she made the right decision and handed her envelope over to the bishop at tithing settlement.

Nov. 24-

Thanksgiving! Such a great holiday that is often overlooked because of the one that follows. We were with the Goodriches this year, although we didn't go to Vernal/Tridell for the first time ever. I will admit, it was nice not being at the church although that was the only time we ever saw some of Justin's cousins. Grandma and Grandpa had a new toy-a parachute. Can you see how much Stockton is enjoying it? He loved running underneath it.

Luke and Stockton.

More family pics

The original six.

+ four

+ ten

More of those ten. Lucky them to have such awesome grandparents!

And here is our little family.

Fall photos

Sometimes being a mom is tough. Some days are long, exhausting, and frustrating. Does anyone else have those days, or is it just me? Most days are good, though, with the happy times far outnumbering the crazy times. Or maybe I'm just learning to accept, embrace even, the craziness. I am learning and growing...stretching....so much these days. Life is good and I often find myself counting my blessings. My list always begins with 4 certain people...

Molly, 5 years

Stockton, 2 years

Brynn, 7 months

There were so many cute ones it was hard to choose which to post!!

Molly's a pro at pictures now. She loved posing and kept asking the photographer to take more pictures. Stockton was a pain in the you-know-what. He wasn't going to let anyone "pose" him so all pictures of him are pretty candid. I think the photographer did an awesome job at capturing his personality. Some of his pictures make me laugh out loud. Brynn was good but a little shy and she did not like wearing that hat.

We tried to get some of all three of them but that was a joke! It was at the very end and everyone was done. Stockton was being a complete goof.

There were a few other good ones that belong in a "random" category...

And since Justin was there to help me, we decided to try for a family picture. This is the best one we got.

This was just the beginning. We got together with my family for more pictures the week after these were taken. I haven't seen them yet but they should be coming soon!

Mom School

Molly missed going to Kindergarten this year by 15 days. Darn-she is so ready! But that means I get one more year with her at home and she'll always be the oldest in her class, which seems nice. After two years of doing the joy school thing, most of us moms were pretty burnt out so we decided not to do that. We considered enrolling her for preschool and then decided that it really wasn't necessary, for her at least. Enter "Mom School." We have school on Monday and Wednesday, preferably when the others are napping. Molly seems to look forward to it. We don't have too much of a schedule but there are 5 things we always do.

1. Workbooks. We do three pages.

2. Reading/Writing. She has to be able to recognize sight words as well as be able to spell them without looking at them.

3. Calendar. Just learning the months and days of the week.

4. Memorizing. We are working on Articles of Faith right now.

5. Piano. She's using some old books that I used. They are working well but I think I need to find some that are geared toward younger kids. I took a video but she was too nervous and couldn't remember what she was doing. I'll have to post one when she gets a little more confident.

We realize that she is missing out on some things...particularly the social aspect of preschool. But we're not too concerned. She is great at making new friends and she is a confident little girl. It might be a bit of a stretch going from no school to 5 days a week but she adjusts quickly and we know she'll love it once she finally makes it there!!

October's Post!!

This month-by-month thing seems to be working out well!

In the fabulous month of October, we...

...went to the pumpkin patch!

love this place, and it's free

...took a drive up Payson canyon to see the beautiful leaves!

seriously, if you live in Utah and don't do this every year, you are so missing out

...decorated sugar cookies with Sister Couey and Carver!

...saw the witches at Gardner's Village!

...partied with the Moyes cousins!

...strolled down SF Main Street to see all the scarecrows displayed!

...partied again, Goodrich side!

...carved pumpkins!

there was no "we" involved, mostly just "dad"

...decorated the piano.

molly's idea

...went trick-or-treating!a fireman, Rapunzel (wig made by yours truly, thank you), and the cutest kitty you'll ever see