Dezi's snowman

A snowman Dezi was very proud of that he made for school.

Saying Goodbye

So we seem to have a neverending supply of stuffed animals, even though we try to give some away each year. We took a picture as our way to say goodbye, but they haven't actually left the house yet. The big bear got a pass to stay and the others are in a box. We does it fill me with such guilt to give away perfectly good stuffed animals that the kids love that were all gifts from people they love? Even with getting rid of these, each boy still has about a dozen animals left! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

What are you looking at?

Ah, the days of flexibility. I remember when I was the one impressing friends and family with this skill!

My little reader

Few things warm a mother's heart more than seeing her budding reader reading to a younger sibling for fun. Dezi and Cai are particularly liking the "Fly Guy" books along with the Elephant and Piggie books. I LOVE when Dezi reads to Cai. At school, he has sped through enough reading levels to be at the end of first grade level and is too bored with the school books. We have started checking out a variety of graphic novels (like Avatar: The Last Air Bender) and easy readers. For now, I want him to be excited to read to Cai rather than "forced" to read to me.

Dezi has also started reading one chapter of the Book of Mormon Stories each day for our morning "Devotional" and I LOVE it! He wants his own "real" Book of Mormon and I promised he could have one once he reads the whole "kid" Book of Mormon first. He is excited to do it and might actually finish it in time to get his own Book of Mormon for Easter!

Dezi - "Star Student"

Dezi was nominated by his teacher to be the "Star Student" for "Responsibility."
We were all very proud and he was very excited to get all his vouchers for local resturants and entertainment.

Caí's "spiders"

Every time I asked Cai about this drawing, he said it was something different. Basically, I think it is he and Dezi as spiders. My favorite part is that the eyes are on top of each other, not side by side. So awesome!

Chores

Our "chores" are going great! I'm really making the effort to include the kids on household duties. It is a lot of extra work for me in some ways, but the payoff will be great as they grow in responsibility and skills. Cai is always in charge of putting silverware away while Dezi unloads the dishes. For things that are too high for him to put away, he stacks them in like piles on the counter so all I have to do it move the stack into the cupboard. Dezi also loves washing dishes by hand like pots and pans that I don't like to put in the dishwasher. They set the table and clear the table. They "fold" their own clothes and put them away. They sort laundry and help me put it in the washer. They wipe down tables and counters and help sweep, mop and vacuum. All in all, they are pretty willing to help at this age so I figure I better take advantage and teach them family responsibilites now, before it looses the allure! They love helping make dinner as well, but they are still a bit young. I will definitely teach them to cook someday. With so many girls losing "domestic" values, for all I know, they might be the ones cooking dinner!

Happy Brithday to Mrs. Thayer

How insanely adorable is this card that Dezi made for his Kindergarten teacher's birthday? I love that he chose to draw the two of them holding hands with flowers and balloons. So sweet!

Death defying super heroes

I'm assuming it might be a boy thing, but my boys get a little carried away when playing superheroes. They "imagine" so well that they actually start to believe in their super human powers. This day was full of climbing and jumping off EVERYTHING high in our house.

St George Narrows

So, every time we go to St George, the boys insist on going to visit the Narrows. 

I love that they love a place that I loved as a kid.  Did I get enough loves in there? 

We spent the week after Christmas in St George and had good times playing with the cousins and both sets of grandparents.