Merry Christmas!

Needs and Wants

Yesterday I found a paper in Rio's school folder with a list of "Wants" on one side and "Needs" on the other. Here are Rio's wants: a sister, crayons, markers, colored pencils, and a bulletin board. And here's what she listed under needs: house, clothing, family, scriptures, and church. I know her kindergarten teacher was expecting her to write food, clothes, shelter, etc. under needs, but I'm so glad my little girl knows she needs the church and scriptures in her life. I'm grateful for a 5 year old's testimony at this time of year that reminds us to keep our perspective on our needs and wants.

Giving Thanks

For my happy, healthy children,

Our brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews,

For my hardworking, handsome husband,

And my mom who shows strength through
adversity, generosity and love for her
children and grandchildren.

That's just the tip of the iceberg too!
For a few more words on our
Thanksgiving trip to Virginia view
my sister's blog.

How To Use the Potty

But seriously, Jack has (almost) mastered the art of using the toilet. He's doing great and I'm so glad to be down to one kid in diapers. Hopefully Nathan will get the hang of it soon too.

So Stinkin' Cute

I took these pictures of Nathan today before church. He was so stinkin' cute I just had to capture it forever. My baby's getting so big!

Halloween

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! We had fun decorating Halloween cupcakes and carving a pumpkin. Rio wanted the pumpkin to have a scary face and drew a picture of what she wanted it to look like. That night when it was time to go to sleep she started to cry. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was scared of the pumpkin. I reminded her that she asked daddy to make it have a scary face and she said, "Not that scary!"

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating

Nathan really enjoyed getting all those treats!

Flag Football

Harrison played Upwards Flag Football this fall. It was a great season and he learned a lot about the game of football. The highlight for me was during the first game. Harrison was on the field and before the first play he turned to the crowd, found me, and smiled and waved and yelled, "Hi Mom!" His favorite moment was when he was playing in the rushing position and ran so fast and grabbed the quarterback's flag. He raised it triumphantly in the air and waved it around yelling, "I'm on fire!"

Way To Normal

Last night Micah and I went to the Pageant Theater downtown to see Ben Folds. He's been one of my favorite musicians for years now and we were so excited to see him again. The opening show was Missy Higgins who did a great job. She's a folksy new artist and you'll probably hear "Where I Stood" on the radio soon.

I first saw Ben Folds (then Ben Folds Five) in D.C. almost 10 years ago. He is such an amazing, talented (strange, disturbed) pianist who puts on a fabulous show. Wikipedia says "his oddball lyrics often contain nuances of depression, melancholy, self-conflict, and humorous sarcasm." That's about right.

He was promoting his new album - Way to Normal - but what was funny was that before the release of the album, an anonymous user posted what they claimed was a "leak" of Ben's latest album on a fan site. The file contained nine tracks along with a PDF of supposed cover art, and was a mix of what appeared to be legitimate songs from Way to Normal, dry humor and melodramatic pop interwoven with bright, energetic melodies. Ben admitted on Triple J radio that in one overnight session in Dublin he and the band had recorded 'fake' versions of songs from the new album and had his sources leak it to the public as a light-hearted joke on his fans. So the band actually played the 'fake' versions along with what's really on the album last night. The 'fake' songs were just as cool as the real ones!

Watching Ben Folds play the piano the way he does is incredible. At one point he took 2 empty boxes of Altoids and put them inside the piano on the strings along with a brick to secure them in place, added a distortion mic and made the piano sound entirely different. It was amazing. I love watching his fingers and never can believe he can play so fast and accurately, but he does! The guy's got a potty mouth, but I put up with it because hearing what he can do with a piano makes up for it to me.

If you've never heard of him and want to experience some Ben Folds, start with The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Or just email me and I'll put some of his greatest hits together for you. Everyone should have a little Ben Folds in their lives.

Nathan's 2nd Birthday

My baby is 2 years old! Nathan had his 2nd birthday on Monday, Oct 6. He had a great time playing with balloons and opening presents.

He really loves Thomas the Train right now and his favorite present was from Grandma - a Thomas flashlight with choo-choo sounds. We had cake and ice cream cones - a special request from the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Remembering Laney

We had to say goodbye to our little friend on this day last year and I just wanted to take a minute to remember the best cat - Laney. We miss you!

Called to Serve

I've been called to serve as the Young Women's president for our ward in Florissant! I'm excited and more than a little overwhelmed with my new responsibilities. But I've felt love for the girls and love from the Lord and am humbled to know that He knows and loves me and has faith that I can do this.

Star Wars

I'm excited to be part of the blogging world. I hope this page will let our family and friends see how fast our children are growing and shorten the distance between all of us.

Last Saturday I took the kids to Pottery Barn where they were hosting a Meet the Star Wars Characters event. The kids had a great time meeting Darth Vader and didn't even cry in his overwhelming presence.