Temple Square

We decided to take Max to see the lights, nativity and Temple at Temple Square. It was a snowy and cold day but the weather was only going to get worse so we decided to just bundle up and go. As bundled as he was I still think we need to get him some snow pants.

He was intrigued by all the people and the lights, but I think he mostly just enjoyed being outside. He especially enjoyed seeing the horse and carriages and the sidewalk snow machines.

His favorite part was the Christus. I wish I had a video of the moment he ran into the room (in the middle of a tour group, during the presentation) pointed and said "Jesus." It was so sweet.

More Alpha-Bits

While at the grocery store I picked up a box of Alpa-Bits for Max to try. He loved them. I haven't seen him take to any food faster. He has been so independent lately and we heard the sound of the cereal as it was dumped out and turned in time to see this...

Guess he wanted more.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we opened Max's book Teddy Bear Teddy Bear, from Grandma Fullmer and read it for bedtime. Max was absolutely enthralled. Every night after bath-time James carries Max out of the bathroom in his towel and says, "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn out the light" and Max turns out the light with his toes. So he was familiar with the phrase and seemed so captured by the book. We had to read it over and over and over to him. Then we went to the computer to Kellie's blog and watched Andie read the book while we turned the pages. Again he was so captured and amazed. He waved goodnight to Andie and then held on to the book while he was drinking his bottle. Thanks Grandma!

Christmas Ornament

I have so many ornaments on the tree that are special because they were given to me and have memories. I want Max to have some of his own ornaments and I thought it would also be a fun way to remind us of his interests each year. This year we got him a little train ornament. He has left it hanging on the tree but looks at often.

Growing Up This Week

~ Max understood "if you do this then I will do that". He woke up at three in the morning asking for a bottle. This is unusual and normally I would have worked him back into bed without giving him one. But I said to him, "Come and give me a hug and then I will get you a bottle." He came running down the hall and threw his arms around me. How could I not give him a bottle after that???

~ He has accepted the "new" puppydog. A few nights ago as he was going to bed we switched out the puppydogs. His old one is so worn and smelly and no matter how often I wash it it starts smelling again in no time because he chews and sucks on the ears. I showed him how soft the new puppydog was and he has accepted it as his. (And for some reason he is not sucking on the ears like he did with the other one.)

~ He has started to actually build things with his big lego blocks.

~ He has learned to tell me when he is poopy and needs a change. (He used to tell me he needed a change whenever he had gas. He still does this occasionally but mostly he just giggles and says WO!...Boys!)

~ He is brushing his teeth with me in the morning. He would watch me brush and play with the little tooth brush I have for him. It started when he wanted to taste the toothpaste. So I put some of his toothpaste (edible) on his toothbrush and he mostly eats it but he does make the motion of brushing. It is a cute little part of our morning routine.

A Visit From Cami & Co.

Cami, Ben and George came to visit a friend who was flying in and we got to have them stay at our house. It was a really fast visit, they arrived Monday evening and left Tuesday afternoon. There wasn't much chance to visit as we were both taking care of our little boys but what time we had together was enjoyable. It was fun to meet George and to see Cami being a Mom. She is a really good Mom and he is a cute little boy. I loved holding a newborn and remembering how tiny and sweet they are. It made me even more baby hungry.

Making Chex Treats

James calls he and Max my sous-chefs because they do all the prep work, but I do the actual cooking. Max loves to measure.


Max is sneaking the cereal.


The finished product. These are the Chex treats which Mom made every year for Christmas but they have become an all year round treat at our house. Our cupboard always has boxes of Corn Chex, Rice Chex and Rice Crispies, not that we eat as cereal but so that we can always make these treats. I think it takes too long (translation: I'm lazy) to make them into individual treats so I just spread them out. (Hint: We found that if you put them in a casserole dish the peanut sugar mixture sinks to the bottom, so it is best to lay them out flat.)

Honestly I had forgotten that everyone in the world doesn't have this recipe but I have received requests so here it is...

2 cups Rice Chex
2 cups Corn Chex
2 cups Rice Crispies
(We also like corn flakes. Just substitute equal amounts of cereal for cereal.)

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy to your preference.)

On medium heat bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil stirring constantly until smooth. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth. Pour over cereal and mix well. Place on cookie sheet, spoon into individual treats or into muffin cups. (Spray pan or cups)

Christmas From Donya

Look at the amazing gifts I received from Donya...

Both the necklace and blocks are double sided for double uses!

Max loves the binder with the life of Jesus.
He brings it to me three or four times a day and we sit and look at all the pictures.

Thanks Donya!

Christmas Stockings/Neighbor Gifts

Mom finished Max's stocking and it arrived in the mail today so we hung all our stockings. We don't have a fireplace so the mirror will have to do. I think Max's stocking is beautiful! Thanks Mom!

For the neighbors in our cul-de-sac I put together spaghetti dinner gifts. I wanted to do something other than candy or treats. They were inexpensive and turned out pretty cute. The little tag says...

We know how hectic the Holidays can be
With all of the Christmas rush and fuss.
So relax a bit - Open this MITT
And have some spaghetti on us!

For a few of my friend who have kids I did bags of M&Ms with a "Don't Eat Pete!" Game. Attached is a little poem about turning the M into an W, a 3 or an E to tell the Christmas story.

I delivered one to Tiffany tonight and she and her little boy were so excited to tell me that they had just been talking about the game today. He plays it in kindergarten and was so excited to tell all the other kids how to play. He was very disappointed that they couldn't play until after dinner.

Merry Christmas Photo

I could wish for a nice professional family picture but instead I will face reality and accept that this is probably going to be the best family picture we have this year. Max threw a fit at wearing a hat and another fit when I tried to take his puppydog away. (I am really trying to get him to stop chewing on it.) James is wearing the hat around the house thinking that Max might want to start wearing one. It worked for a ball cap so why not this? I will try again during the next few weeks but in the meantime; here we are.

As Grandpa Hawkins would say,
"It's a terrible picture, but looks just like ya."

A Mother's Book of Secrets

*This is a long post with notes about what caught my attention. If you don't want to read it I highly recommend reading the book.
This was one of the books for sale at Time Out For Women. I made a note of it and checked it out from the library. I thoroughly enjoyed it and made many notes of helpful tips and things I would like to do with Max, now and in the future.

Wit's End
I first heard this quote at TOFW. Victor Hugo said, " Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."
The author continues to say, " It makes me feel at peace knowing that after I've done the very best I can do, there's someone more powerful that can fill in the gaps."

One of the things I really took away from TOFW was this principle; that the Lord fills our insufficiencies. That when we are at our wit's end He asks what we have, then takes it and multiplies it. And then I read the same thing in this book. Maybe it just stood out to me because I hope as a mother for this blessing.

The Balancing Act
The author gives three "secrets" that she has used in raising her family of nine children. Each day she writes down three things:
1. One thing that you will do for yourself. (Could be reading the intro in the book you have been dying to read, writing a letter you have procrastinated, etc.)
2. One thing that you will do for someone in your family. (A child, spouse, mother. Some little thing that will make a difference, complimenting a child, calling Mom.)
3. On thing that you want (need) to do in your world. (Clean out the junk drawer, serve a friend, send a note to someone you appreciate.)

I liked this idea as I am very much a list person and these days it feels like I accomplish so little on my lists. I like the idea of simplifying it to these three things will help me feel that I have accomplished something as well as better my relationships and environment. However, the part that really made an impression on me is the fourth tip.

4. Serendipity: Finding something good while looking for something else. The unexpected will happen, so instead of being caught of guard by it, watch for it. Instead of thinking in the morning, "What do I have to do today?" you might be able to think, "I wonder what's going to happen to me today?"

This is so common in my life. I have plans for the day and nothing goes the way that I had hoped/planned. I am working at seeing the serendipity as a positive thing rather than letting it get me down that my day didn't go as planned.

Prayer Works
A fun idea about prayer by Norman Vincent Peale. Their family synchronized their watches at morning prayer so that they could pray for each family member who had specific worries at certain time of the day. (For a child taking a test, Dad in an important meeting.) What a fun way to think about and pray for each other throughout the day.
The author told of a very hectic time in their lives when whoever was leaving would yell "huddle" and whoever was in earshot of the front door would have a prayer. Sometimes it was just the one child and one parent, sometimes two or three or more joined the circle. I wondered if there were times that they had three of four prayers each morning, sometimes one on one with a child. What an opportunity to pray with each of your kids. It seems this is truly seeing the serendipity rather than dwelling on the fact that the entire family didn't kneel for family prayer each morning.

Chieko N. Okazaki in her address, "Lighten Up!" talked about how as mothers we tend to compartmentalize our lives. We have different cubbyholes for different things: family, church, gardening, and so on. She said instead of thinking of our spiritual lives as one of our cubbies, it should be more like the scent in the air that drifts through all the rooms.

She relates this story:
"Suppose the Savior comes to visit you. You've rushed around and vacuumed the guest room, put the best sheets on the bed, even got some tulips in a vase on the dresser. Jesus looks around the room, then says, 'Thank you for inviting me into your home. Please tell me about your life.'
"You say, 'I will in just a minute, but something's boiling over on the stove, and I need to let the cat out.'
"Jesus says, 'I know a lot about cats and stoves. I'll come with you.'
"'Oh, no,' you say. 'I couldn't let you do that.' And you rush out, carefully closing the door behind you.
"And while you're turning down the stove, the phone rings, and then Jason comes in with a scrape on his elbow, and the visiting teacher supervisor calls for your report, and then it's suppertime, and you couldn't possibly have Jesus see that someone forgot to turn on the dishwasher so you're eating off paper plates, and then you have to drive Lynn to her basketball game. So by the time you get back to the room where Jesus is still patiently waiting for you, you're so tired that you can barely keep your eyes open - let alone sit worshipfully at Jesus' feet to wait for those words of profound wisdom and spiritual power to wash over you, to make you different, to make everything else different - and you fall asleep whispering, 'I'm sorry. I'll try to do better. I'm so sorry."
The author continued to say, "Isn't this how we are as mothers? When we really need the Savior's guidance the most, sometimes we tend to shut it out. The secret is to use prayer to our advantage. Let the Savior "follow us" around and help us out when we're at the end of our ropes."

A Plan For You/The Five-Facet Review
The important thing for mothers to remember is that you are the greatest asset your family has. In taking care of yourself, you preserve the asset.

The author had what she called a "Sunday Session." Her husband would keep the kids from pounding down her door for half an hour while she contemplated her plans for the week (and then did the same for him.)

One night a month the author and her husband would go out to dinner and have only one thing on the agenda: the kids. They went through five facets of each child's lives as they discussed how each was doing physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. With five areas to discuss about nine children it might seem this would be an overwhelming task, but each time they would have just three of four things written down to work on with different children. One time realizing that a child might need glasses as they discussed her physically and remembered a passing comment about not being able to see the board. She learned things she didn't know she knew and her husband learned about what was going on while he was at work. They were able to problem solve and exchange ideas. This allowed them to not only realize problems that could be solved, but areas that the kids were doing well and they were able to compliment them in and build them up. This monthly ritual was a great offense to catch little problems before they became big.

Random Tips That I Want To Remember
*Late Nights: The kids get to rotate each getting a turn once a week to stay up 15 minutes later than the others.
*Give Ownership: Key to changing your job description as parent from taskmaster, referee and drill sergeant to one of consultant.
*Dinnertime: Everyone tells their "Happies" and "Sads." Helps the kids tell about their day instead of just saying it was "fine" or "bad."

Cleaning The Fridge

This morning Max helped me clean out and fix the fridge.