A little about us... Jim works for L-3 Communications in Camarillo right now and loves his job! Joy stays at home with the girls, teaches piano and tutors on the side. Elizabeth is five and is enjoying Kindergarten and learning all she can! Miriam is four now and loves playing with her friends at preschool! Rachel is our little toddler and loves to explore everything, read books and sing! Hope you enjoy the blog.
Hours and hours of fun! I bought Mimi some "birthday balloons" for her party. Mostly they were to help our new guests find our house. (For some reason, it's amazingly hard.) I forgot they were outside and the girls reminded me. They certainly cheered up a cranky baby fast. I have to say the dollar store is the ONLY place to buy balloons. However, I try to reserve them for special occasions so that the fun doesn't become commonplace.
Miriam was also "riding" her pillow pet. This was her favorite present of the day. She had seen them on TV and I told her she could ask for one for her birthday. Lizzie has a ladybug one on her Christmas list. It is super soft and comfy. She carries it all over the house with her.
Today we celebrated Miriam's birthday with a Scooby Doo themed party. She's been asking for a Scooby Doo party since last year's "Sleeping Beauty" party. Of course, by now, they don't really carry Scooby Doo party stuff in the stores. I had to buy the Scooby stuff online. She got to have a pinata this year (since Lizzie had one at her 4th birthday), so that was a big treat. I found the cake image on Ebay. They personalized it for me and it's printed on edible paper. I thought it turned out pretty well! We had the two girls in her primary class, Cam and Brie, we also had Gem, our neighbor, and Chuck and Riley from school. Chuck is in Lizzie's class and Riley goes to Miriam's preschool. We carpool together to pick up the preschool kids, so we hang out a lot.
The kids colored some Scooby Doo pages when the guests arrived. Then we played "Scooby, Scooby, Where's Your Bone?" which is very similar to "Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?" After everyone had a turn, we went outside and played "Red Light, Green Light" and ran the way the gang runs in the cartoons (fast). Then we had a little relay where they carried a dog bone on a spoon.
Finally, it was time for the pinata. We had a pull-string pinata again. This time, we did it on the front porch. The kids took turns pulling the strings and when there were about four left, Mimi pulled it open!!! They had fun filling their loot bags with Goldfish, Skittles and Starburst. Then we came inside for paw print and bone shaped sandwiches, chips, fruit and veggies. We found a couple more fans of the chocolate sandwich too!
After lunch, Miriam got to open her presents. She had so many beautiful gifts from her friends. She got walkie-talkies from the Ross's. And a Tinkerbelle doll (similar to Lizzie's Rosetta doll) and fun coloring kit from the Langs. She also got a pretty princess charm bracelet from her Auntie Jules. Both girls were thrilled to get another Barbie movie. (Chuck was trying to hold onto his manhood in the background.) Rachel kept getting in front of the camera and posing for me, so I had to take her picture. Mimi was excited for her pillow pet from Grandma and Grandpa, but a little overwhelmed by the party at the time. After presents we had cake and ice cream. Then the kids just played for a little bit. It was fun to visit with the Langs and Ross' and my folks. I think Miriam and the rest of the kids had a good time. I'm mostly just glad it's over. I love doing parties for my girls, but I get very stressed out by all of my real and imagined insecurities. It went well though and I don't have to do another one for 8 months. :)
This morning, we went to the Veteran's Day Ceremony at Lizzie's school. It was really nice and very sweet. There was a color guard from the naval base, we said the pledge and then sang the national anthem. At the end of the anthem, they released a flock of white doves. It was pretty cool. They had a few guests such as the chief of police, the chief (?) of the county sheriff's department, and Captain Scott Heller USN. Captain Heller was the guest speaker. He is an engineer on base and has two children attending the school. He talked about how important it is to do well in school. He also urged the kids to be honest and do the right thing. He explained that was integrity and it was very important, especially in serving our county. He explained that not all who serve our country are in the military, there are over 2,000 engineers on base and most of them are civilians. At one point, he asked the kids to raise their hands if they had a parent in the military and about a fifth of the kids raised their hands. I'm sure there are quite a few more who have civilian parents that work on base too. After the speaker, they had a bag piper play "Amazing Grace". Then they sang "This Is My Country" as they filed out to the beach. The kids each got a red carnation to throw in the ocean. The bag piper was playing on the beach and the Harbor Patrol Fire Boats were in the water too. It was a great ceremony and I'm so glad we went down there. Mimi got to throw in a flower too and was such a good girl during the ceremony part. Rachel really enjoyed clapping for everything and screamed every time she saw a bird (which was often). The kids loved standing on the beach and watching the waves wash away their flowers. Then it was time to head back to class.
I recently read "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn". It's the story of a girl growing up in early 20th century Brooklyn and her observations on life as she does so. The main thing I took from the book was how much I have now. Part of the difference is the technology that we have today allows us so many conveniences. But even not counting that, I have been given much.
As I sat down to plan our Family Home Evening lesson, I pondered on what to teach about. I decided to teach a lesson about gratitude and make it a theme for the month, instead of waiting until the Monday before Thanksgiving. We read D&C 78:19 and then I summarized part of the For Strength Of Youth section about gratitude. I focused on showing our gratitude in our prayers. The girls are very good at the "Please bless _____" part of the prayer, but often forget to include what they're grateful for. We brainstormed some things we are grateful for and then drew pictures of them. As I looked at the pictures this morning, it made me so happy! Lizzie drew a picture of our house. They are doing "I like ____." statements at school, so she wrote the sentence all by herself (with a little help on "house"). Miriam wrote her name without any help and drew a picture of a purple horse, everything she does is purple. Daddy drew a cow and her sippy cup for Rachel because she is grateful for milk and then she had fun coloring/eating crayons. I drew a picture of my house and one of my favorite pink outfits. As I looked at the pictures, I decided we're going to do this each week until Thanksgiving, with no repeats, so we will be forced to dig a little deeper.
I'm hoping that with the repetition throughout the month, the girls will learn the different ways we can show gratitude. Next week's lesson will have the story of the ten lepers and focus on immediately saying "Thank you." After that, we're going to talk about how we can show gratitude through obedience. And our final lesson will be about showing our gratitude through service for others. I'm looking forward to this month as we focus on an attitude of gratitude.
Miriam Rose turned 4 years old today!!! She was so excited for her birthday this year. Before Dad left for work, he gave her a present. It was "Scarlet" from GI Joe, one of the two coveted girl figures that Daddy has. Now Miriam has her very own Scarlet. The girls spent the morning playing/fighting with Scarlet. After we dropped Lizzie off at school, Miriam, Rachel and I ran some birthday errands.
That evening, we had pizza and juice boxes for dinner. (Miriam's request) After everyone had a bath, we had Family Home Evening. Then we let Miriam open a present from Mom and Dad and her gift from the Bowles. She got a Disney Magic Oven and some refill cake mixes. Then we sang Happy Birthday and she blew out the candles on her doughnut!
Rachel was very interested in what we had on the plate and followed it closely. Miriam is such fun to have in our family. I call her my "Bouncy Tigger" because she never really stops moving...even in her sleep. She dances her way through each day, hopping, bouncing, skipping, prancing. She has an infectious smile and sweet dimples. She still loves her burpcloth and sleeps with one each night. She has a sweet disposition and is kind to others. She loves going to school and participating in all the fun activities there. She also enjoys primary and participates in giving prayers and talks as often as she can.
She can make her own bed, get herself dressed, buckle her carseat, open the car door, get on her shoes and socks, and write her name. She eats a chocolate sandwich everyday for lunch (Nutella) and has quite a sweet tooth. Some other favorite foods are Goldfish crackers, Cocoa Puffs, and milk. She enjoys playing games on the computer, playing with all her little Barbie/princess/character figures, playing with her sisters, playing GI Joe with her Daddy and playing "handbreaker" with her Mommy. (Notice a pattern?)
I love her very much and can't wait to see all the fun things she'll do and learn in the coming year. Happy Birthday Miriam!!
We made it! We survived Halloween. Okay, I survived Halloween. The festivities started with Miriam's dress-up day at school on Thursday. The kids in her class all looked super cute! She came home with four goodie-bags and a ton of candy! She was a good sharing girl though. Friday was Lizzie's class party. I got to help with the party and spend almost the whole time with Lizzie's table. We had so much fun carving a pumpkin, doing a craft, decorating cookies, making a book and playing a counting game. I loved playing with the kids that she is with everyday and seeing their different personalities.
I volunteered (again) to be in charge of our ward trunk or treat this year. Mostly for selfish reasons. It's a really easy activity to put together and if I do this one, then I don't feel at all guilty about not doing the Christmas one. It just takes a lot of energy on the day of. Jim was super helpful though, and that made it a lot easier. I also did the trunk or treat part with my kids this time instead of just cleaning up. I have to say it was a ton of fun! I still stayed and cleaned up, but it made the night more enjoyable. The girls had a fun time. Lizzie was very anxious for the cupcake walk. As soon as she was done with dinner, she disappeared. I found her helping to setup the cupcake walk! (Probably also for selfish reasons!) The girls played the games and even did the spook alley with their Daddy. Jim and I traded off carrying Rachel. I don't think she was feeling very good (she woke up this morning with a fever), but she still looked super cute as a candy corn/pumpkin. By the time I got home, I was exhausted from running around for four hours. But the girls were all in bed and I enjoyed the rest of the evening "counting" candy and vegging in front of the TV with Jim.
After many requests and not finding it on Shannon's blog. (I could have sworn she posted the recipe last year.) Here is the famous Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe! (See pictures in post below.)
1/2C butter 1/2C shortening 2C white sugar 2 eggs 2t vanilla 14-15oz pure pumpkin 1 1/2t baking soda 1 1/2t baking powder 1t salt 1t cinnamon 1/2t nutmeg 4C flour 12oz milk chocolate chips
Cream butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with wet ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips. Spoon generously on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 11-12 minutes. Enjoy with milk!
We had the two girls in her primary class, Cam and Brie, we also had Gem, our neighbor, and Chuck and Riley from school. Chuck is in Lizzie's class and Riley goes to Miriam's preschool. We carpool together to pick up the preschool kids, so we hang out a lot. 
And a Tinkerbelle doll (similar to Lizzie's Rosetta doll) and fun coloring kit from the Langs.
She also got a pretty princess charm bracelet from her Auntie Jules.
Both girls were thrilled to get another Barbie movie. (Chuck was trying to hold onto his manhood in the background.)
Rachel kept getting in front of the camera and posing for me, so I had to take her picture.
Mimi was excited for her pillow pet from Grandma and Grandpa, but a little overwhelmed by the party at the time.
Captain Heller was the guest speaker. He is an engineer on base and has two children attending the school. He talked about how important it is to do well in school. He also urged the kids to be honest and do the right thing. He explained that was integrity and it was very important, especially in serving our county. He explained that not all who serve our country are in the military, there are over 2,000 engineers on base and most of them are civilians. At one point, he asked the kids to raise their hands if they had a parent in the military and about a fifth of the kids raised their hands. I'm sure there are quite a few more who have civilian parents that work on base too.
After the speaker, they had a bag piper play "Amazing Grace". Then they sang "This Is My Country" as they filed out to the beach. The kids each got a red carnation to throw in the ocean. The bag piper was playing on the beach and the Harbor Patrol Fire Boats were in the water too.
It was a great ceremony and I'm so glad we went down there. Mimi got to throw in a flower too and was such a good girl during the ceremony part. Rachel really enjoyed clapping for everything and screamed every time she saw a bird (which was often). The kids loved standing on the beach and watching the waves wash away their flowers. Then it was time to head back to class.
As I looked at the pictures this morning, it made me so happy! Lizzie drew a picture of our house. They are doing "I like ____." statements at school, so she wrote the sentence all by herself (with a little help on "house"). Miriam wrote her name without any help and drew a picture of a purple horse, everything she does is purple. Daddy drew a cow and her sippy cup for Rachel because she is grateful for milk and then she had fun coloring/eating crayons. I drew a picture of my house and one of my favorite pink outfits. As I looked at the pictures, I decided we're going to do this each week until Thanksgiving, with no repeats, so we will be forced to dig a little deeper.
Rachel was very interested in what we had on the plate and followed it closely.
Miriam is such fun to have in our family. I call her my "Bouncy Tigger" because she never really stops moving...even in her sleep. She dances her way through each day, hopping, bouncing, skipping, prancing. She has an infectious smile and sweet dimples. She still loves her burpcloth and sleeps with one each night. She has a sweet disposition and is kind to others. She loves going to school and participating in all the fun activities there. She also enjoys primary and participates in giving prayers and talks as often as she can.
Friday was Lizzie's class party. I got to help with the party and spend almost the whole time with Lizzie's table. We had so much fun carving a pumpkin, doing a craft, decorating cookies, making a book and playing a counting game. I loved playing with the kids that she is with everyday and seeing their different personalities.
The girls had a fun time. Lizzie was very anxious for the cupcake walk. As soon as she was done with dinner, she disappeared. I found her helping to setup the cupcake walk! (Probably also for selfish reasons!) The girls played the games and even did the spook alley with their Daddy. Jim and I traded off carrying Rachel. I don't think she was feeling very good (she woke up this morning with a fever), but she still looked super cute as a candy corn/pumpkin.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted from running around for four hours. But the girls were all in bed and I enjoyed the rest of the evening "counting" candy and vegging in front of the TV with Jim.
