Christmas Tree

The kids were so excited to decorate for Christmas this morning.  They have been asking to put up the Christmas tree for weeks now.  Wyatt got all excited when he saw all of the fun things he could get into.  I love when he will say "cheese" for the camera.

Jonah was excited to put the star on top this year. We put the tree in the front room this year in hopes that Wyatt won't get into it as much.  We usually put it in the great room, but since that is where we spend most of our time I'm hoping that out of sight will be out of mind for Wyatt.

Caitlyn and Jonah could hardly stand the wait while they were waiting for Keith to put the tree up.  They had their decorations in hand ready to go.  It is so fun to see them get so excited.

Wyatt didn't so much help us decorate as take all the ornaments off the tree.  We managed to get him to put one or two on.

Wyatt got all excited when he saw this old picture of Jonah.  I think he thought it was him. 

Caitlyn asked me to take a picture of her posing.  Funny girl!  She is so sweet. When we say family prayer she will say, "please help Wyatt to understand that Christmas isn't just about presents, that it is really about Jesus."

They did a great job decorating, with minimal help from me.  After we finished inside we headed outside to decorate.  Jonah gave up quick and rode his bike, but Caitlyn wanted to help the whole time.  The girl loves to decorate.  Hopefully she will have more of a flare for it than I do.  I'm so excited for Christmas this year, it is going to be great.

Say What????

Notice my cute little boy with no cast on? Tonight I got a phone call that went like this,

"Is this Wyatt's Mom?"

"Yes."

"I'm calling from the clinic to check on him and see how he is doing?"

"He is doing pretty well, he is adjusting to the cast and getting around."

"Is he leaving the cast on?"

"Yes, he is a little annoyed by it, but he seems to be getting used to it."

"That is great, I just wanted to let you know that the radiologist looked at Wyatt's x-ray and said there is no fracture."

"What?"

"Yes, so go ahead and leave the cast on for a couple of days for your comfort and then just kind of watch him."

"I have an appointment at primary children's to get his permanent cast on, should I cancel that?"

"Hmm, that is tough, these little kids are sometimes hard to read the x-rays on."

"Well is it broken or not?"

"The radiologist says no and the doctor now agrees." 

I end the call by telling her that I think I will go ahead and take off Wyatt's cast if it is broken.

This resulted in one happy boy.  He was so happy he could take a bath and he just kept running around the house laughing.  I guess he has gained a new appreciation for his leg.  I'm so glad he is okay and won't have to be in a cast.  I'm going to have primary children's look at the x-ray just to double check, but judging by the fact that he his running around the house laughing, I'm guessing he is okay. 

He was so excited to turn on his music and dance in his room. He was such a good sport about the whole thing.  I tried to find a good balance with helping him and letting him figure out how to do things on his own.  He adjusted quickly and learned how to get around.  He even went up and down the stairs today. 

We all love watching him dance.  This isn't the first time we have had a frustrating experience with insta care.  Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it to go in.  I wish sometimes doctors could just say, "I don't know," instead of guessing, but acting like they are sure about it.  I don't know what happened here, but I do know I am grateful that Wyatt is out of that cast.  The other thing I find funny is that no one can admit fault or say they are sorry.  The lady on the phone was very careful not to say sorry or admit fault.  I understand that they have to be careful because they are afraid of being sued.  I just wish we lived in a society where people could say sorry and other people could accept the apology and move on.  I can understand if a doctor makes a mistake, I have even made one or two in my life.  All is well that ends well and now we have a funny story to tell!

On that note with tomorrow being Thanksgiving I have to write how grateful I am for my wonderful life and my beautiful family.  Over this past year I have thought a lot about how blessed I am and how content I feel with my life.  It isn't anything fancy or glamorous, but I love it and I find so much joy in raising my children.  Top it off with a great husband and I have nothing to complain about! I keep thinking about a talk that President Uchtdorf gave in September at the general relief society broadcast.  If you have not heard this I highly recommend that you go to lds.org and listen to it.  It is entitled, "Forget me not."  One of the things he talks about is not waiting for something to make us happy, we have to be happy now.  I have learned over and over again that our circumstances don't determine our happiness, we do.  One of my favorite quotes from the talk is:

 "Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life.

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

I think one of the greatest ways to be happy is to be grateful.  It can change your outlook very quickly when you are looking for things to be grateful for.  There is always something to be grateful for no matter what our circumstances are.  I'm so grateful for my wonderful family and my membership and testimony in my Savior, Jesus Christ's church.

Gingerbread houses and broken bones!

Matt and Lori came into town on Saturday.  My kids have been so excited they could hardly stand it.  We went over there on Saturday and they played with their cousins all day.  Lori and I went to lunch and when we came home the girls were looking for Jonah and Cody because they were playing hide and seek.  After about 20 minutes when no one could find them I started to panic.  We had searched the whole house and the back yard and all I could think is they went outside and someone took them.  I grabbed my keys and was headed out the door when they finally came out from under the bed where they were hiding.  They had put stuffed animals around them so no one noticed they were under there. What was the most surprising thing was that they stayed quiet for thirty minutes.  We all agreed they were the champion hiders.

On Sunday we had fun making gingerbread houses at Grandmas with all of the cousins.  This is something the kids look forward to every year.

Caitlyn and Jonah were happy with their finished products.

Wyatt was asleep while the other kids made them so we let him make one when he woke up.  All of the girls gathered around him and laughed while I put all the candy on his house and he pulled it off and ate it.  It is so cute to see all of his cousins give him so much attention.  He loves it.

Finally I realized he was going to sit there and eat every piece of candy I would let him, so I piled all the candy on the house, took a picture and called it good.  I think Wyatt will like this tradition too.

Here is part of Wyatt's fan club.  Atayia has always loved holding him and playing with him. She is so good with him.  It is nice because I can sit and visit while she entertains him.

I love this picture of Wyatt in Ataiya's glasses.

Yesterday Wyatt broke his leg.  I always knew he would be my one to break bones.  He is our climber and loves to be daring and push the limits.  Yesterday a friend was watching him and the other kids while his wife and I were visiting teaching.  We weren't gone very long, but I guess he cried the whole time we were gone.  I figured it was because I was gone and didn't think much of it.  I guess he was on the second stair and fell down and must have landed on his leg wrong.  He always climbs up and down the stairs without a problem.  When I came to pick him up he was crying, but calmed down when I picked him up.  After we rushed home and ate dinner and then headed out to a birthday party for Jonah's friend.  When we got there I realized that Wyatt wouldn't walk, he would only crawl.  Lincoln's mom offered to keep Caitlyn and Jonah at the party while I ran to an instacare, which was so great.  They did an x-ray and said he broke his bone.  They put on a temporary cast and he will have to go in tomorrow to get his permanent cast on, which he will have to wear for four to six weeks.  Wyatt was a trooper last night and had fun showing off for all of the nurses.  When we got home he turned on his music and tried to stand up and dance.  When he realized that he couldn't, he put his head down on the ground and started to cry.  That was so sad to watch.  He doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain (he does seem to have an unusually high pain threshold), but he is frustrated that he can't get this thing off his leg and walk around.  Hopefully he will adjust quickly and the next few weeks will go by quickly.

I'm so glad that Jonah was off having fun while I was at the doctor with Wyatt.  They had a blast on the bounce houses and playing laser tag.

Caitlyn was glad that she found some girls to play with.  I was talking to Cailtyn and this little girl was standing there and finally said, "I want to play with you."  It was cute.  Caitlyn is so sensitive she cried when she heard Wyatt broke his leg. She woke up early this morning to check on him.  I was happy that Wyatt slept in my arms for thirty minutes this morning.  It has been a long time since he has done that. 

Primary Program

Sunday was the primary program. I have always loved watching the kids every year, but now that I have my own up there it is awesome.  They both did great.  They had their parts and all of the songs memorized.  Last year Caitlyn got a little nervous and had to read her part, but this year she stood right up there and said her part with no problem.

Wyatt enjoyed playing with Grandma and Grandpa during the program and the kids were excited to have them there watching.  A few different people have told me how cute Jonah is when he sings the songs in primary so I was really looking forward to seeing him sing.  He was so serious about it.  He stood so still and sang his little heart out.  He would enunciate each word, it was so cute.  I'm so grateful my kids learn so much in primary and have such wonderful leaders and teachers.  Lately Caitlyn has been saying this in her prayers, "and we are thankful that we can pray to You and ask You if we think our parents are wrong."  Isn't six a little too young to think her parents are wrong! 

Every year the kids are excited to play in the leaves.  Last week we raked them up and Caitlyn and Jonah had fun throwing them up and running through them.

Wyatt helped me rake them.

Wyatt would laugh every time the kids threw the leaves in the air.  I love that kids can make everything fun.

Every night we say family prayer in Wyatt's room.  He sits down and folds his arms for about two seconds and then he gets up and turns on his ball popper music and starts dancing.

The other night Caitlyn and Jonah jumped up and joined him.  It was so cute they all danced for about ten minutes. 

Yesterday afternoon the kids danced on the deck while I was getting dinner ready.  It is so funny to watch them because they are just having a great time jumping and dancing around. 

Beauty shop and basketball

The other night Caitlyn wanted to play beauty shop.  She wanted me to paint her nails and put her hair in curlers.  It was fun because she was so excited.  She said she was going to sleep in the curlers, but then decided they weren't comfortable.  She couldn't believe that I had to wear them every Saturday night as a little girl. 

Jonah had his second basketball game on Saturday.  Things went better this week because he knew what to expect.  He got the ball a lot more and seemed to enjoy it, even though he is still not totally sure what is going on.

Here he is dribbling down the court.  It is funny to see all the kids just pick up the ball and run.  Jonah is pretty good about dribbling most of the time.  He made an awesome basket here so he was a happy boy.

Caitlyn gets so excited to play with Wyatt when she gets home from school.  The other day she was pulling Wyatt around the house on her blanket.  He loved it.  Wyatt knows he can get Caitlyn to do anything for him. 

Whenever I pull out the camera Wyatt goes and stands by the door so I can take his picture.  It always makes me laugh.  He is always folding his arms for prayer now and even reminded us the other day that we hadn't said a blessing on the food.  We were all eating and he folded his arms and said, "uh uh uh."  So cute.  He also said his first word a week ago, "Jesus."   We have a picture of Him in his room and he said it while we were looking at the picture.  He also said, "kitty" and "fish."  I forgot how fun this stage is.

I love how Wyatt walks around like he owns the house.  He struts around and slams open doors and charges in rooms.  He knows he can get the kids to give him whatever he wants.  Jonah was making him smile while he was taking a bath.  I love that smile.

Fun in the snow

The first snow of the year is always exciting.  The kids were so glad that the snow was still on the ground when we got home from church on Sunday.  They headed right out to build a snowman.  They were so proud because they did it all by themselves.  I love that he is looking up!

They were so excited to show Keith and I the snowman.  They were able to talk Keith into a snowball fight.  I took a few pictures and then went back inside the warm house.

Caitlyn still hasn't learned that less is more.

While they were outside playing in the snow Wyatt was inside napping.  It always makes me laugh the to see the different positions that kids sleep in.  The snow is making it feel like Christmas.  I don't know who is more excited me or the kids.  I love this time of year.

Exciting Stuff

This week we went on a field trip to the fire station with Jonah's class.  He was so excited.  He loves everything about pre-school, especially the field trips.

He has been a little shy lately.  He won't talk in front of people, but he was happy to go up and see the fireman in his gear.

Wyatt is at that tough stage where it is difficult to take him places.  He wants to get into everything he shouldn't.  I had to chase him around most of the time.  He was finally happy to stand on the back of the fire truck.

Jonah had his first basketball game today.  He was very excited, but I don't think he knew quite what to expect.  Ten five-year-olds running up and down a court chasing a ball is a little crazy.  I guess that they have a rule that you can't steal the ball so I think Jonah was a little confused as to when he could take the ball. 

He liked shooting baskets to warm up and he was really cute sitting on the sidelines talking to his team when he was out.  He played a good game and he said he had fun, so that is good.

Last night Keith's work took us to a movie.  It was fun to get out together.  The kids and Keith liked the movie.  I was busy trying to entertain Wyatt.  He did pretty well, I only had to take him out a couple of times.  The kids were so excited when we came out of the movie and it was snowing.

They were even more excited to wake up this morning and see that there was a lot of snow outside. As soon as we got home from Jonah's game the kids went straight outside to play.  Caitlyn went back out later with friends.  She always lasts longer in the snow than Jonah does.

Jonah was so sweet and said he wanted to shovel for us.  He has been so helpful this week.  He has asked me what he can do to help a few times.  He will do anything to earn playing the wii!

Halloween

The boys and I started Halloween off by going to story time at the library.  Jonah loves to go with his friend Max.  They both looked so cute in their super hero costumes.  Jonah was happy to see that all of the kids were dressed up this time.  After that Keith and I took the boys to lunch.

After lunch I had to rush off to Caitlyn's Halloween party.  I was glad that I just got to show up and help and didn't have to come up with the games and crafts.  The kids all had a great time.  It is nice that they are so easily pleased.  Just give them a treat and let them play a game and they have a great time.  Caitlyn's teacher loves to have parent volunteers so I go in once a week and Keith has been going in also. I love to go in and just get a feel for what Caitlyn does all day.  I also like to get to know the kids in her class so I can know who she is talking about.  It was fun to get to know some more of the mom's yesterday.

We did our usual dinner and trick-or-treating with all the cousins.  Wyatt was a little cranky yesterday.  He wouldn't go to anyone and kept throwing himself on the floor and crying.  Keith had to carry him trick-or-treating the whole time.

His mood changed quickly when we let him eat a sucker.  I really shouldn't have let him since he only ate two bites of dinner, but oh well, at least he was happy.  Funny how much more relaxed I am with Wyatt than I was with Caitlyn.  We hardly ever gave her candy when she was young, now with the third, it's like oh well whatever keeps them happy!

I had to get a picture of the old men.  EJ and Elijah's costumes were so funny.  I love that they even shaved their heads for them.  The night before I was talking to my Dad and asked him what he was going to be for Halloween, I told him he could just be an old man.  So here are the three old men!

Caitlyn is such a crack up lately.  She loves to make people laugh. A couple of weeks ago she had Melanie laughing so hard because she was telling her that she was an orphan and was too poor for food so she had to sleep in the street because she couldn't even make it to the sidewalk.  She uses a funny, dramatic voice and says "perhaps" a lot.  Since Mel thought it was so funny she has been doing it nonstop to try and make people laugh.  She is certainly coming out of her shell.

My kids always have to switch off.  Jonah has never been shy or timid, but he seems to be shy lately and nervous about things.  I guess he has to take over since Caitlyn seems to be so outgoing lately.  He has been very clingy to Keith and is almost in tears when he goes to work every day.  I'm really hoping this is just a phase that will pass quickly.

The kids had a great time running from door to door and I had fun showing off my cute kids to everyone in the neighborhood I grew up in.  We came home and were able to visit with the neighbors around here and let the kids play for a little while.  Wyatt laughed the whole way home while he pulled out all of his candy.  It was a fun Halloween.