Shoes

Every Sunday Brett has to try on my church shoes. He loves it. He loves to walk around the house, and the clopping that they make on our hardwood floors.

Family Home Evening

Family Home Evening is always very interesting. It used to be very frustrating, Brett would insist on playing the piano. I am always tired and not willing to hear the banging on the piano. That was until I realized the kind of joy that he gets, by being a part of the program. We decided that Brett get to pick and play the opening and closing songs. Mom or Dad get to do the lessons. I will tell you, that it makes such a difference and brings such sweet spirit to our Home Evenings. It is fun to watch him try and decide what songs we are going to sing. Sometimes we get three measures into a songs and he stops playing the piano, looks at us and announces, “No, No, No, Snowman.” Of course we change the songs and go on. I am grateful for the Brett's love and passion of ALL things.

What Would You Say?

I want to do some vinyl lettering on a 14 1/2"w X 5'5"l living room wall. The biggest struggle is what to say. What can I say that is not offensive, that is inspirational, that is not written on everyone else's wall? This is something that will be seen by EVERYONE who walks into my house, so I need some serious help. What would you say, if it were your wall? Post your quote or saying in the comments section below, and feel free to post as many as you want. At the end of one month(Oct 9th) I will announce the winning quote, and I will send a surprise gift to that person. Good Luck!

Brett and Kate: Our Perfect Pair in the Kitchen

Brett LOVES to cook in the kitchen. You so much as turn on the blender or pull a whisk out of the drawer, and it takes him less then 5 seconds for him to get to the kitchen from anywhere in the house, that includes scaling a gate. He love to try snitches from the mixer, unless we are cooking for other people. Then he shows some self restraint. Anyway, Kate loves to help clean up the cooking mess. What a perfect Pair.


She is so Yummy!!

Working and Playing on the Tractor

I ABSOLUTELY love Brett's imagination. He can create, some of his favorite things out of building blocks. One day while Jon was at school. Brett brought me some Duplos and asked me to build him a bathtub. I told him that I couldn't make a bathtub, but he insisted that I could, so I gave it my best shot. Upon finishing my "bathtub," I announced to Brett that I had completed the tub. He looked at me, then he looked that the "Bathtub." Then he said, "Mama, that's not a bathtub." We argued for a little bit, and I even pointed out some of the cool feature of my bathtub. He however, was not convinced. That night when Jon got home, I had him show me how to make the bathtub. I was pretty close, but there were noticeable difference. Jon's Bathtub had a shower head, a drain, working knobs, and a facet.
Here is Brett with His Tractor.Working on the Tractor

Gas Pedal


Working on the Tractor, again.

Driving the Tractor

Sleep Study

We are super blessed to be in Michigan at this time. The Program that Jon is in, is amazing. We have been afforded may blessings and fun opportunities. One of the greatest blessings that we have received is, super health insurance. By super, I mean that we really only pay for minimal co pays. On big things like, Kate's surgery we didn't pay a thing.

Recently I have been struggling with being overly exhausted. I am so tired that I can fall asleep doing pretty my anything. When you have two very active kids, it is very had to find the energy that I need to keep up. In fact I don't keep up. We stay home, and watch movies. Desperate to find a solution, I went to the doctor and they referred me to the sleep clinic. It isn't really my idea of fun, but I hope that we will find some answers.

I am not telling you this, to gloat about my amazing health insurance. I am telling you this, because I am grateful to my Heavenly Father. I am grateful for his guiding hand in my life. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father, who knows me personally. Link to temple post 3 years ago, When we where praying , trying to find out where we should go. We didn't get a definite answer. We got the distinct impression that we needed to find out about health care. I had originally thought that I needed to be covered, for when we expanded our family. Upon inquiring to Penn State and U of Michigan. We found out that U of M was the only one that would cover our whole family. Looking back at the major things that have happened in our lives in the last three years, I know that thought was inspired from heaven. I know this is where the Lord needs us right now. I know this is where the Lord wants us right now, at a university that has lots of top specialist.

We are Blessed.

Note* Yes, I have pictures. No, I will not post them.

Very Bad Brakes

I got my first car when I married Jon. Sadly, our great little car always needed something repaired. It always seemed to break down when I was driving it, so I learned to listen to my car. Since then we have gotten a new car, and I have become equally attentive to it. On the 27^th of July, I was heading to Cub scouts. My brakes sounded funny, which is nothing new. In the two years we have had the car, we have replaced the brakes TWICE. The weird thing is that we are not hard on the brakes at all, I guess we just have not had much luck with them. Anyway, I dismissed it, until I was on my way home. The brakes sounded awful. I decided to drive very slowly, so that when I had to brake for a light, I would not have to put a lot of pressure on the brakes. When I got home, I voiced my concern to Jon. He took the car out and when he brought it back, he took the tire off so that he could get a good look at the brakes. After a phone conversation with his dad, we knew pad on the front brakes had fallen completely off. The brakes had to be replaced. Unfortunately, Jon did not have the experience to change brakes himself, and taking it to a mechanic would cost too much money. We got lucky the next day, and one of our friends in the ward works for Ford. He also does extensive work on his own cars, so he has all of the tools and know how. Our friend’s schedule was tight and he didn’t have a lot of time to help us, but that was before he decided to take half the day off to help Jon. We were so blessed, and fixing out brakes cost us $50.

Good Brake


The Brake pad, that fell off of this.....
The whole brake in pieces.

Learning the Sippy

This is what Kate looked like a 4 months ago when she was trying to learn how to use a sippy. We would always know when Kate got a hold of Brett's sippy. Today she is a pro at the sippy, and will drink everything in it, except for milk.

It doesn't help, that after she had a drink, she spit it out and started gasping.

Playing the Piano With Dad

My favorite thing to watch, is my kids playing with their Papa. The greatest thing is watching all of them play the piano. To some, it is super noisy and very annoying mixed with a slight hint of classical. To me it is a great sound, and shows me that my kids love their dad and want to do the same things he does. It is super nice to sit on the couch and listen to their musical medley.

Conversations With Brett

B:Mom, I need a bluetooth.
M: What?
B: I need a bluetooth that I can use in the car.
M: uh, ok.

B: Mom where is the jack in the box?
M: Uh, at the store.
B: I need to turn the handle, and then...
M: It goes pop!
B: then I stuff it in, and close the lid.

B:I am going to get married in that(Salt Lake Temple) temple.
M: Who got married in that temple?
B: Mama and Papa.
M: You want to get married there?
B: Yep.
M: You have to keep the commandments and be good. Can you do that?
B: Yep.
M: That sounds like a good plan.

(Were are at church, Brett is looking up at the ceiling in the Chapel)
B:Dad we need a train on the ceiling.
D: a train on the ceiling?
B: yeah.

(We are have potato soup for dinner. Brett thinks that it is too hot.)
D: Ok, Brett let me put it in the fridge for a little bit. Ok?
B: ok.
D: 1, 2..
B: No Dad, he can do it on his own!

Build. Learn. Create.

I know a few of you were disappointed when you found out, that Lowe's doesn't offer the Build and Grow program in your area. My Mom, told me that Home Depot has a program called Build. Learn. Create. It is held the first Saturday of every month, at ALL Home Depots. Along with the kit to build, the kids will receive an Orange Apron and an Achievement pin (Which I think is better then a patch, cause then I don't have to sew it). The only downfall for some of you in the fact that the age requirements are 5-12 years old. Where as Lowe's has a three year minimum. I think that I will put in a little call to Home Depot and ask if my three year old could come. he is better with a hammer than I am. The worst they could say is no. I'll update this post with their response.

Good new with Lowe's, is that when I signed Brett up for the Activity yesterday, they had a little survey. I have a slight feeling that they maybe gearing up to sell the kits in the store. Yeah, you have to pay for them(Even though I can't imagine them being too expensive). However, it would still be a fun activity for kids and parents to do together. If they ask for any more input from me, I'll tell them that I think it is stinking, that they don't offer this program in Utah!!

***UPDATE***
So I called Home Depot today. The Lady said that they were not strict on the age limit, and that if I brought my son in they would not turn us away. She did say that we would have to be with him at all times, but I figured that. Since I would not leave him alone with a screwdriver around my house. I would recommend calling your Home Depot, just to make sure that they do not care.

Happy Building!!