Conference Stations

Every year I feel like conference is somewhat of a negative experience for our family. I always try to find something to keep the girls busy but it always seems to turn into a big disaster where the girls are in constant need our attention and Josh and I get nothing out of the talks. While attempting to prepare for conference this year, I came across an idea one lady had that I fell in love with. She had her kids help set up stations for conference and one of the stations was always taking notes with Mom and Dad. During conference the kids would work quietly and switch stations with each new talk. I decided to give it a try and feel like it was our biggest success in a long time. The girls each got to decide what they wanted to do for one station and I got it ready. Then Josh and I came up with the remaining stations. We also had two different sets of stations so that we could alternate activities between sessions. I loved it because each girl had to work on something on their own. It seemed to eliminate the competing, collaborating, and fighting for supplies that we normally have. We walked through the stations before each session so that the girls knew what they were doing without needing help. Then I helped whoever was at the note taking station while listening to conference. The girls liked it as much as I did. I think that means it was a success.

The Fire Station

Ashlyn got to go to the fire station for a preschool field trip and loved it...all but the hat. She wore it just long enough for this picture and then gave it to me. Emma tried it on too and was all smiles for all of about 10 seconds. I guess firefighter hats aren't any fun for girls. At least Ashlyn loved the fire station. Every time we've driven by it since the field trip, she has made sure that I know we are about to drive by her fire station.

Big Jobs

Josh has decided that we need to do a big cleaning job each Saturday as a family. It takes a few hours each time, but I am loving it. I've tried doing it with the girls in the past but it's just too much on my own. With Josh and I working together to divide and conquer and keep the girls involved, it has turned out to be a huge success. I feel like our home is cleaner than it has been since we moved in six years ago and the girls are learning to appreciate the time and effort it take to get things clean. I can't wait until we've done the entire house.

Ashlyn

What a rough birthday! Yesterday afternoon, Ashlyn wasn't acting like her normal self and we realized she had a fever. I was hoping it would go away quickly but was pretty sure it wouldn't and I was right. She ended up with fifths disease and felt miserable.

Thankfully there were moments of brightness. She got to open her presents in the morning and got all four Frozen Barbies, which was just what she wanted. It was a great way to start the day.

The rest of the day was quite busy. Grandma and Grandma Bohman had their mission farewell and Dad had meetings in the evening.We knew it would be like that so we asked her several days earlier if we could celebrate her birthday with extended family on Monday. She thought that was a great idea until tonight. She really wanted to have grandmas and grandpas over. Instead we frosted cupcakes which seemed to take her mind off of things.

I thought she was pretty lucky, though. She got to eat cake and ice cream two days in a row! Fancy cupcakes the first day and.............

Ariel the next. And even though we had to uninvite her cousins (to avoid spreading the virus), she got to spend time with her grandmas and grandpa which put a smile on her face.

Some Things We Love About Ashlyn:

Her face is so expressive. Her eyes smile before her mouth does and they get big when she has something exciting to say. She is such a good big sister. She is always helping Emmalyn do something and loves to share with her, especially her food. She is very very smart and likes to tell us what she has learned at school.  I can't believe how well she knows her letters, numbers and shapes and she still has another year of preschool before kindergarten. 

Kid Fun

We spent the evening tonight with our good friends Zach and Brandi and their kids doing kid stuff. It was an evening put on by SLCC's early childhood education department and the kids loved it. They spent time crafting, eating candy and then later got to sing and dance.

Best Friends

These two spend a lot of time together with Kali and Sadie in school all day and there's nothing better when they're playing like best friends. I sure hope they feel that way about each other. So cute!

The Title of Liberty

Josh did an FHE lesson on the Title of Liberty and The Family: A Proclamation to the World. The girls loved it, especially because they got to make their own flag and march it down the street. I loved it too because the spirit was very strong as we talked about the proclamation. Families can be together forever and I feel so blessed to know that I can have that blessing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The girls woke up to a surprise from a Leprechaun. They had golden coin and golden cereal as well as green milk, mind game puzzles and green stemmed roses.

And since the girls have to wear uniforms to school, we had to be creative to get green on them. We painted their nails green and added some green strips of hair.

Ouch!

While running through the house singing songs, Emma somehow stumbled and fell. It wasn't pretty. I was in the same room as her but didn't see her fall. She either hit the floor or a chair nearby and almost bit through her lip. It swelled up so large that it looked like a marble was in it and the skin just below her lip started to scab over. It was so sad. But as soon as she calmed down, she had Ashlyn and I laughing so hard we could barely stop. She started sucking on her lip and moving her mouth into some of the craziest contortions. I'm sure it was because it felt funny after swelling that much. It was hilarious! Had I thought of it, I would have caught it on video.

Talk Time

About a year and a half ago, I was having a very tough time as a mother. I felt like I was so busy doing the day to day things that I didn't have time for my girls.  There were many days when I realized I had gone the entire day without even making eye contact with my children. I didn't know what to do about it until I received the prompting to spend time talking with them one on one. I thought it was crazy at first but eventually worked out a way to do it. Now it's a tradition that both the girls and I look forward to. Once a week at the end of the night, all the girls get some quiet reading time while I take one girl into my bedroom at a time and talk with them for about ten minutes. We get comfy on my bed and they tell me whatever they want. Emma and I always read a book and sing several songs while she runs circles. We go through her ABC's and numbers and practice spelling her name out loud. And we always finish up with Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam while she jumps on my bed. Ashlyn likes to tell me what she learned at preschool and her favorite part of the day. I love that her face lights up as she talks with me. She also likes to have me read her a book and we practice her ABC's and numbers. I also make sure she knows her full name, her date of birth and how old she is. Then we finish up with Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam while jumping on the bed just like Emma. Sadie and I talk about whatever but she usually likes to focus on what she did at school or at dance. She's funny too because she loves to be goofy and is constantly moving while talking with me. She's either bending her body and head in crazy positions or she's rolling around or crawling deep under the covers. She always feels like her time ends too quickly, as do I. Kali also talks about whatever but often focuses on the books she reading or her friends. She's growing up so quickly and we already talk about boys and about girl problems. I can tell the time I spend with her makes her feel so good. I'm so grateful to have been given the prompting to do this because it has changed my relationship with my girls. I feel like they know they can talk with me about anything and that is so important to me.