HS: December

This month Jacob and I just took a step back a little with school.  I don't know what happened this year, but the holidays were just crazy!  I took on a lot of projects that took a lot of time and I was just not able to do more.  Plus, Jacob had a nasty, super high fever for three "school" days so we didn't get as much as we would have liked.  But we are both pretty excited to kick things back up in January!

We didn't do any science or handwriting this month.  We DID do language arts, math, and read aloud every day though so that was good!

Jacob has enjoyed being in his "green book" for language arts.  I really love this program and feel like it is a great fit for Jacob and I.  We've been moving slowly, but surely.  We've been working on his phonics cards which have been really good for him.  He finished up two of his sight word ladders.  And things are clicking with spelling, when he's in the mood :).  We reviewed vowels and consonants and the short and long vowel sounds.  Did some poetry!  And worked on one and two letter words, simple words, word families, and ending consonant blends.  He's also doing really well with his mini books.  

Jacob is really enjoying the math, as well.  We both really like the approach that it is.  Since we just started this new curriculum in November, we are still mostly reinforcing things he already knows but it's still been good.  Plus, stronger foundation is never a bad thing!  We reviewed numbers 0-9, introduced rectangles, circles and patterns.  

We did two art projects this month!  The Shape Train and a Winter Landscape!  In the Winter Landscape we talked about perspective and foreground, middle ground, and background. 

We read a lot this month!  We finished The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and really liked it.  We also read a poetry book by Mary Ann Hoberman called, The Llama Who Had No Pajama.  I wasn't sure how poetry was going to go but I think we both really enjoyed it.  Then we read, Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book which was a lot of fun - and it's been great to reinforce some manners that we have been trying to teach at home.  Now, we are reading The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose which has also been lots of fun and crazy - I had NO idea there were so many Mother Goose rhymes!

New Home

We are homeowners...AGAIN! 

{Hopefully for more than eight months this time...haha...but seriously...}

I have been excited and yet kind of dreading writing this post for almost two months now.

When Mark and I decided to move from Idaho Falls to the Bear Lake area the first {and logical!} step is to look for a new housing situation.  We really wanted to buy a home but there was just nothing drawing us in at all!  A lot of the homes seem to be very affordable but around 100 years old or more {I am really not exaggerating!} which is NOT a bad thing at all but would just need a lot of remodeling to get it where we would want it - which with three little kiddos does not sound nearly as exciting as the movie Up would have you believe.  

On the other end of things - there are many beautiful homes that are half a million and up which are gorgeous but not really in our budget at the moment...or ever...which is totally fine.  There just isn't a lot of middle ground.  

Mark and I have always talked about building and it was something we were both really interested in.  We thought that we should just dive into it now and then wouldn't have to worry about being stuck with something we didn't love down the road.  

So we started the home building process.  To describe this process in one word I would say...tedious.  Every single step was so tedious.  

We knew exactly who we wanted to have build it and they were wonderful - we first met with them at the end of September of 2016.  However, to start building you have to have land first.  They recommended some people that might be willing to sell us some land and we began trying to make contact.  We finally got to see properties in January and immediately fell in love with one of them.  It was 1.3 acres of pure dreaminess.  I loved it.  

However, from looking at it initially in January it took a tedious five months to hear back from the owner.  I consider myself a mostly patient person but this pushed me.  We had countless conversations about what to do but we didn't want to let it go because we loved it so much.  Finally, in May we thought we had everything squared away with that.  We agreed to wait to purchase it until our building loan could go through so we could just lump it in one.  

Luckily, I had been looking at hundreds {again, completely NOT an exaggeration} different floor plans online to find something we liked and read every article possible it seemed on what to make sure to include when building a home.  We were going for the dream, folks.  

We hoped that everything else would move quickly and smoothly once we got the lot figured out but sadly it didn't.  Every. Single. Step. took an enormous amount of time.  It was mentally and emotionally exhausting.  If there was a hiccup in the process, we somehow managed to find it, it seemed.  Mark and I spent so many nights making deadlines on our decisions that we needed to make and it never seemed like it was a priority on the other ends.  It was hard.  

Now, rewind a little, and Mark and I were a little unsure about this at several times.  Even making the initial decision to build was a little nerve-racking.  We knew we definitely WANTED to but we were unsure about whether it was the right timing.  This same feeling crept in many many times over the course of the last year.  But we always suppressed it because we WANTED it.  

Finally, finally, in October we thought we were ready to start.  We had a groundbreaking date and we were thrilled to finally get to that step.  However, we had yet another hiccup in the plan happen.  A BIG hiccup.  Mark and I had talked earlier in the month, that if one more thing happened we needed to rethink things - and a BIG thing happened - and we knew we had to hit the pause button.  

This involved a whole lot of crying on my part.  But as soon as we prayed about it, and really listened, we knew that this wasn't the right time for this.  Even though we could make it work, we shouldn't.  This was hard.  It was really hard {and embarrassing} to call a handful of different people and let them know this decision - knowing the amount of time that they had invested in our project as well.  It was really not a fun week at all.  We were so grateful with how supportive and truly kind everyone was about it though.  Even though it was incredibly hard on our end, they made it as good for us as they could.  

We immediately, were back to step one, finding a place to live.  We were hoping to find a place closer to Montpelier, since that is where Mark works, but nothing was feeling good for us.  One night, when we were looking at house after house online, Mark and I came to the realization that maybe the right choice for us was literally staring right at us.  

We have been renting a home from a sweet woman who is currently serving a mission.  We immediately started to see things in a different way and started praying about it.  Mark and I knew that this was right.  That even though it was a hard decision, that this is where we need to be.  We are hopeful that Mark can work closer someday and we love the community that we live in here.  

So we asked if we could buy the home - and everything has finally come together!  She had left most of her things in the home so her family came and packed them up and we closed on Tuesday!  It was a great belated Christmas present!  We are very excited to make it our own and finally stop thinking about moving again.  

We have no doubt that this is where we are supposed to be.  We feel a lot of peace about it and that has been a huge blessing.  I finally had to move the plans for our dream house to the back of a closet and I just can't think about it too much.  Even though we know it is right, it is still sad for me.  And I still can't bring myself to drive by the lot that we were going to build on - I was almost just as excited for the lot as I was the house.  

But, this is life - and that's okay!  I truly am grateful for the lessons that we come to earth to learn.  Even if it is hard to learn them.  And maybe next time, I will be better at hearing the Spirit over my own wants.  Isn't that the hardest though, sometimes?!  

So that was a really long explanation (but trust me, I left out a lot!), that we now have a home!  A home we can grow into and raise our family in.  I cannot tell you what a good feeling that is.  

Also, we have an enormous mountain of boxes if anyone wants them, we are NOT going to be needing them!  ;)

I took this picture this summer - our new permanent home!

Christmas

Christmas was magical and lovely as always.  This last week, preparing for Christmas has honestly been delightful.  We had a great family home evening lesson about the birth of Jesus Christ and, let me just say, it should have been recorded.  Jacob and Sarah were so sincere in their questions and in our discussion that it was just pure adorableness.  Mark and I, more than once, just looked at each other and had to fight back the giggles at what they had to say.  

Sarah could not stop talking about how much she wanted to hold baby Jesus while Jacob tried to explain to her that he wasn't a baby anymore.  And then we were talking about the wise men and the gifts that they brought and then moved on to talking about what kind of gift we could give Jesus.  He could not figure out WHY we couldn't just make or find some gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Sweet kid.  He thought that sounded better than just being kind.  

Christmas Eve was wonderful.  We went to church and all worked to make Christmas cookies for Santa and made our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  We opened our present that Santa's elf always sneaks under the tree on Christmas Eve - new book and Christmas jammies!  This year was The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. 

She looked so grown up...

We took baths, got in our new jammies, read our new book, and then ended by reading the Christmas story from the Bible.  Perfect.

Christmas morning, Mark and I turned up the Christmas music at 7:00 and the kiddos all began to trickle down!  We opened our stockings, loaded up on breakfast, and then finished what was under the tree.  As always, we are so grateful for how blessed we are. 

I felt like this Christmas was just especially good.  I felt like we were all a lot more meaningful in our presents to one another and it just made things oh so good.  We played and enjoyed our time together until about 4:00 when we left for North Ogden.  The canyon was a little tricky but we eventually made it there.  

We had a great evening with Grandpa and Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, friends and lots of cousins!  We got home late but were so grateful for how full and wonderful our life is with one another. 

"We seek Christ.  

We seek to learn of Him.  To follow Him.  To become more like Him.  

...During this Christmas season and throughout the entire year, may we seek with our hearts and souls our beloved Savior, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel.  For this desire, in large part, defines not only who we are as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but even more who we really are as Christ's disciples."  

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Lost Tooth

Jacob lost his FIRST tooth!

This story is already so funny to us and I imagine we will all laugh about it for a good long while!

We were eating dinner the night before Christmas Eve, having beef stew in bread bowls.  Jacob asked me what the red was on his roll and I just assumed it was from the beef stew.  A couple minutes later he looks over at me with a big grin and says "LOOK!".  There he was, missing his bottom front tooth!

Turns out the red on his roll was most likely blood...oops!

We look everywhere for his tooth and can't find it.  Mark and I start laughing because that must mean he swallowed it.  We ask Jacob over and over if he had the tooth, if he remembers swallowing something hard, etc.  NOTHING.  He is totally confused with the situation and Sarah is all concerned that her teeth are going to start falling out.

I hadn't even talked about the "tooth fairy" or anything with Jacob before.  It definitely wasn't really on my radar yet!  So Mark and I start talking about it and we told Jacob that we better write a note explaining what happened to the tooth fairy. 

Jacob and I wrote a note for the tooth fairy and I, once again, try to explain what happens.  

The next morning, I ask Jacob if the tooth fairy came {all excited because that's what you do!} and he replies, very matter-of-factly, that "no, she didn't come, because I never saw her."  Now, I was positive that the tooth fairy had indeed come and visited Jacob's room.  So I ask him if he was sure, and he said he was.  

We then walk up into his room "to make sure" and there was his $1 bill sitting right next to his note.  I excitedly told Jacob that the tooth fairy had come and left him some money.  He then replied, very calmly one again, "yea, I saw that.  It's just money, it's not a present."  

And that, my friends, was the story of our first visit from the tooth fairy.  

Oh, and then we went downstairs to get breakfast and I proceeded to step on Jacob's tooth that had somehow managed to find it's way onto the pantry floor.  So there you go!

Winter

Our first day of winter started with some sadness!  As soon as the kiddos got up and I wished them a "Happy First Day of Winter" they both ran to the window and immediately started lamenting that there was "NO SNOW!!!"  They were so disappointed.  They were not alone. 

We spent the day doing school and making lots and lots of gingerbread cookies!  

We made some beef stew in bread bowls with wassail - YUM! - and then when Mark came home we went caroling.  I absolutely love this tradition!  And as we walked down our cold cold street, singing and delivering our neighbor gifts, I felt so much joy with our little family.  I love us.  

We've spent the last couple days anxiously watching the weather waiting for snow to come and it FINALLY did last night and all day today!  We want a dumping, and it can dump again tomorrow, and the day after that!  WE LOVE SNOW!!!  

Happy Winter from all of us!

Temple Square

Last weekend, we went and played down in Draper.  The kiddos and I went down Wednesday and the fun began!  We went down to City Creek with Melina so she could take them down to The Disney Store.  

Thursday, I finished up some of my Christmas shopping and we snuggled at my parent's house.  Thursday night, we went and did Christmas in Color.  Sarah was a little upset that she couldn't get OUT of the car!  Haha, but once we got going, we all had a great time - and stayed warm!

Mark joined us late Thursday night!  WOOT WOOT!

Then Friday, we went and visited Great Grandma Moldenhauer and that was delightful, as always.  It was fun watching and listening to Jacob talk with her more.  They are so lucky they get to have relationships with so many of their GREAT - Grandparents {we are too!}!  

{I took the most darling pictures of the kiddos with Grandma but I took them on Mark's phone which died later that day and we can't figure out how to get his pictures back...boo}

Friday afternoon we headed down to City Creek again to look around - this time with Mark! - grabbed some dinner and then headed over to Temple Square for the lights!  We must have gotten there at the perfect time because it was surprisingly not very busy yet!  We had a great time walking around.  Jacob loved the big red tree, Sarah loved all of the pink trees {shocking, I know, she normally really hates pink ;)}, and I am pretty sure Benjamin didn't move the entire time we were walking around!  He was so bundled I am not sure if he was able to move if he wanted to but he seemed pretty content nonetheless.  

Saturday, we did some more last minute shopping in the morning with Benjamin.  Jacob and Sarah stayed at home with my parents and made some ornaments made of bird food for my parents chunky little birds that love their yard.  They thought it was great!

Saturday night we had a wonderful family dinner and Melina was able to come over for that, too.  We got the kiddos to bed and then Mark and I hurried to the movies to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was great to get out, just the two of us, it definitely is a rarity!  We had a great weekend - it's always hard to leave Gramps and Grammy's house!

Benjamin's 1st Birthday

Happiest of Birthdays to our squishy, lovable man!

Some of Benjamin's favorite things are...

Favorite Books - Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, Peek-a-Boo, I Love You by Sandra Magsamen, and The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
Favorite Activities - Being held and kissed, crawling and exploring every place he can, and sucking on everything. 
Favorite Food - Yogurt
Favorite Game - Peek-a-Boo
Favorite Song - I Am a Child of God

We decided to do a monster themed birthday!  We started the day with some monster waffles, bacon and orange juice. 

This was the first time we had a birthday party in the morning which meant that we were doing lots of prepping while partying but I think it all went well and, most importantly, I think we were all having a good time. 

We started off by making some monster crowns!

Then we played a game of pin-the-eye-on-the-monster!

We then opened presents with the little man. 

We all set down for some monster beef enchiladas and spanish rice with orange sherbet juice. 

And, of course, his monster cake!  Benjamin needed some coaxing to eat his cake - getting his top two teeth was making his day a little rough.  Poor little guy.  He was a trooper though!

We hope Benjamin had a fun day - despite his sad teething time!  We love him so very much and we were so glad to spend a whole day celebrating our favorite little one year old!