We Are Thankful!

I was feeling crafty today so I went to the local Hobby Lobby and picked up a few things and made our family a Countdown to Thanksgiving jar following this tutorial from Somewhat Simple. I went ahead and printed her list of things to be thankful for and the corresponding activities for this year and next year I'll change a few of them to fit a little better with our own family.


I LOVE how it turned out and I'm excited to start using it tomorrow with the boys. I hope it becomes a fun family tradition that we continue through the years. I'm looking forward not only to counting my blessings, but to also do some fun things with Jonathan and our boys that will strengthen our family and make some fum memories.

Happy Halloween

Ok, so this post originally was a lot longer and had more pictures but Blogger is being stupid and keeps deleting pictures or text every time I upload more pictures so this is all you get tonight :)

We had a great Halloween this year! Benjamin was a golfer and Daniel wore Benjamin's goldfish costume from 2 years ago.

I already posted this on Facebook, but I'll tell it again here for the fun of it. I took Benjamin and Daniel to the local library's costume contest the week before Halloween. Both boys were in the 0-2 years old group and Daniel won the 3rd place prize and Benjamin won the 1st place prize! We were so surprised and excited. They both got 3 childrens books each for their prizes. Nice, huh?

Phasing Out Bribery

Benjamin has been "potty-trained" for a little over week now. We still have accidents, but he does know how to use the potty and he can hold his bladder until it's time to sit on the potty and go. The problem is that he won't do it without some sort of reward- and the reward he wants is a cookie or a piece of candy (curse you Halloween- Benjamin's too smart to be tricked into believing the candy is all gone.)

So here's my idea on how to phase out the bribery. I made this potty chart last night and these stickers (oh how I love Photoshop, but that's a post for another day...) I put his name on the top because A. he loves to see his name and 2. I'm hoping it gives him a sense of ownership and therefore responsibility. (Who knows if that's even going to work, you'll need to ask my psychologist husband and his brainy theological friends. I say it can't hurt)

In case you want to make your own- I printed the chart and the stickers on 81/2 x 11 photo paper and put the chart in a sheet protector thing. I cut off the white strip with the 3 hole punches in it because I liked the way it looked better. But I'm weird like that. Then I mounted the stickers on cardstock, cut them out, and ran them through my Xyron machine and turned them into REPOSITIONAL stickers. That way we can use them again and again. We stuck the stickers to another sheet protector and hung it up next to the potty chart on the fridge.

Starting today every time Benjamin uses the potty he gets to pick a sticker and put it on a square. When he gets four stickers in a row (or I guess on his potty chart it's a column) he gets to put a star sticker on his chart and pick out a treat. A. Small. Treat.

I'm hoping that after awhile he'll start to forget about putting a sticker on his chart since the instant reward of a treat has been taken away. If he doesn't start to forget on his own, I'm hoping some well-placed distractions may help. ("Let's go put a sticker on your chart, but first let's go tell daddy that you used the potty. Oh, look! Daniel's playing with the train set. Do you want to help him set up the track?)

So, that's my idea. I really hope it works. I came up with this idea myself so be nice if you need to tell me that I'm being too optimistic that it's going to work. Really, I'm not a child psychologist. I'm just a mama trying to stop feeding my kid crap all day just so he'll use a potty.

By the way, don't tell your kid that he can't eat crap all day because he MAY just start walking around the house singing "crap all day" to himself for the rest of the day. Just sayin'

Interesting Advice

Yesterday my back was bothering me (I think I slept weird) and while stopped at a red light I was trying to massage my lower back where it hurt. Benjamin noticed what I was doing and this is the conversation that followed:

Benjamin: Mommy tummy hurt?

Me: No, my back hurts.

Benjamin: What do?

Me: I don't know. What do you think I should do?

Benjamin: Eat banana.

Me: I should eat a banana to make my back feel better?

Benjamin: Yes, two bananas.

Things I Never Thought I Would Say While Potty-Training...

"You can see my belly button once you go pee in the potty without wetting your big boy pants."

Tessa is AMAZING!

I'll be back to regularly updating our blog someday soon. I've just been too busy having fun with new friends and working on home decorating projects to make us feel more comfortable in our new house. But, I'm going to make time for it again...someday... soon. Promise

MEANWHILE... let me introduce you to my [favorite] cousin's wife Tessa. She is one of the best scrapbookers I know, and I'm not just saying that because she's family :) Her work is AhhhMazing. And, to make it even better she also has an Etsy shop Precocious Paper where you can buy some of her coolest embellies for your own scrapbooking/cardmaking skills.

I have had my eyes on these for awhile now...

and these

And I would LOVE to have these on hand for birthday and baby shower cards or gifts:

And this little abc album is to die for... I actually squealled when I saw it. I just wish I had my own little girl so I would have an excuse to buy this.

Check out the detail:

LOVE!!!

Right now she is having a giveaway on her blog- and you could win THIS:

If I win, I can't decide if I would use it for Halloween pictures from this year or from the past few years... I MIGHT want to give it away to Grandma or someone, but it's too darn cute and I'm thinking I'd just have to keep it all to myself.

Seriously, why are you still here- run over to her blog and enter to win it!

Fishing in Mill Pond

The community we live in has a fishing pond and it's just a couple minutes walk from our home. Benjamin loves to go out there and fish with dad and feed the ducks. One night last week we all went out and caught quite a few tiny sunfish. Benjamin and Daniel had no problems touching them.

What better way to pass the time in between catching fish than by eating the bread we brought for the ducks and fish!

Benjamin and Dad did manage to catch a big catfish after Daniel and I walked home and took the camera with us. Jonathan has a picture of it on his cell phone but I haven't downloaded it to my computer yet.

Benjamin's New Bike!

Benjamin had quite a little fortune in his savings account from his past 2 birthdays/Christmases so before we left Utah we decided that we would let him buy himself a bike when we got to Georgia. We've been looking around at different bikes and finally this past week we found a good one for him. He LOVES it. And he's even willing to wear his helmet ("bike hat" according to Benjamin) and the knee and elbow pads.
It's been raining all week so we're letting him keep it inside for awhile before we take it outside and it gets too dirty to bring back inside. We have plenty of room and hardwood floors for him to use :)

Atlanta Braves

We went to the Atlanta Braves game last Tuesday night. We had a good time. It was both Benjamin and Daniel's first professional baseball game. When we were leaving Benjamin kept saying, "More baseball game" so I think he enjoyed it!

Brown Bear and Super Why?

Benjamin really enjoys the cartoon Super Why? It's a cartoon about a group of kids who live in Storybook Land who find answers to their kid-sized problems in books. Problems like, what can I do if I'm scared or what do I do if my brothers and I are arguing? Here's a picture of Super Why to give you an idea of what he looks like...(notice the big question mark on the end of his super zapper pen thing)
I think what makes me like the show so much is that Benjamin calls it "sleepy pie" instead of "super why."

Well, one of Benjamin's favorite books to read is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? The other day in the car Benjamin was reading it aloud and when he was done he went back to the title page and was naming off the letters in the title:

"B R O W N B E A R B R O W N B E A R W H A T D O Y O U S E E"

(short pause as he stares at the question mark )

"Sleepy Pie!"

We're Still Here :)

I haven't posted in awhile because I really haven't felt like I've had anything interesting enough to post about.

Oh, and I spend a lot of my free time cleaning up after these guys...

But now I feel like I have something fun to share so expect a few posts in the next couple days. Just a few updates before I get to the good stuff:

The boys have so much fun playing together. They are best friends and worst enemies and will probably stay that way for much of their lives. One of their favorite things to do right now is take showers in the shower in our bathroom. They love to wipe all the steam and water off the shower door and play "peek-a-boo" through it.

We've started potty training Benjamin. And by "started" I mean we bought a potty and he sits on it when he feels like it. We have a lot of diapers left in his size so my plan is to let him get used to sitting on the potty as much as possible before we run out of diapers. And once we're out, then it's time for big boy underwear. I have a few ideas of how we'll "train" him when the time comes... we'll keep you updated.

Daniel has been sick lately and hasn't been sleeping well at all. The last three nights have been rough and I'm soooo tired from getting up with him 4 to 10 times a night. He started with a stuffy/runny nose and now has had a cough for about a week and a half. And he started pulling on his ears today :( One of our new Church friends is an ER doctor and he said there's a really nasty virus going around. He is going to make a "house call" tomorrow and check Daniel out to make sure he's not getting worse.

And He's Off....

*I already shared this on Facebook, so you may have already seen this*

Today I feel that I can say Daniel is officially walking. Friday morning Daniel was still only taking 2 steps before falling down. By bedtime on Friday he was up to about 8 steps at a time. Today, he took off and never looked back. He also figured out that playing basketball is more fun when you can stand up to dunk the ball instead of throwing it while sitting on the ground.

Benjamin Singing to His Brother

I've been trying to upload this video for 2 days and I'm glad I finally got it to work. Enjoy :)

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Today was a wonderful day and I'm completely wiped out from all the fun. So I will do a birthday recap post sometime soon, but for now you get this:

oh, and this:

and this one:

ok, ok... just this last one:

Silly Boys

Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Child...

"You have to take 2 more bites of pizza before you can have more water."

Me, Myself, and I

I have to brag about my little brother Blake for a minute. He is turning out to be quite the film maker and is getting better and better. Although this video isn't perfect, it's pretty impressive for a 14 year old. His ideas are creative and he has a natural talent. We can't wait to see where it takes him. Good job Blake! Keep up the great work :)

Random Findings in Bed

Lately when I go in the check on Benjamin before going to bed or when I go get him after nap I have been finding random things in his bed with him. The most common things are dirty laundry from his laundry basket and books or toys.

The other day I found diapers and wipes (luckily, both were unused) while he was napping:

And last night I found this:

That's his red plastic chair that I threw in his room when we were trying to make room in the garage for our car.

It's funny because I never hear him awake in his room after we've put him to bed and I'm almost excited to see if something new is waiting for me when he wakes up.

Gateway Arch in St Louis

We really didn't do much on the drive from Utah to Georgia besides stop at gas stations, rest areas, and hotels. But we saw a lot of the country... We traveled through 9 different states to get here: Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, and finally Georgia. I honestly think Georgia was my favorite- it was so green and pretty and a very enjoyable drive. I am loving it here!

We drove through St Louis on our way to Georgia and decided to stop at the Gateway Arch and take a ride to the top. It was a fun experience to do once and I'm glad we did.

Views from the bottom:

Views from the top:

That's the Mississippi River, by the way.

Packing Up and Leaving

Here are a few cute pictures of the boys while we were packing up our stuff for our move to Georgia:

It's all fun and games...

until Big Brother joins the fun.

Daniel's Almost Birthday Party

We decided to have a birthday party for Daniel before we left Utah so we can celebrate with our family and friends. We were so happy to see so many people and spend time with them before we left Utah. Here is the cake I made:

I patterned it after The Very Hungry Caterpillar, one of our favorite books to read to the boys. I don't know what it is with my boys, but neither liked their first birthday cake. Weird kids :)
Benjamin loved the cupcakes though!