tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29693102501038478082024-02-07T18:26:17.217-08:00Neil and Brittney Baxter Family BloggFor the reading and keeping up with the crazy lives of our family!Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-30172771622681113522015-09-19T22:01:00.001-07:002015-09-19T22:01:58.524-07:00Loving Lincoln<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNSVHrE5hUlKBTpB-CX-rN-QGtptKg2F_RxK_e3hOUFcyBeaSR6W0gYybHePNt3Y3fR-kMuqUl2oYVJ2BmQDZ3-_XfT9hKjLL8zSQG_PNeOLEPcxYraHOyg1-h1dXSUbZYOlYqmYL8Axx/s640/blogger-image-2129575247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNSVHrE5hUlKBTpB-CX-rN-QGtptKg2F_RxK_e3hOUFcyBeaSR6W0gYybHePNt3Y3fR-kMuqUl2oYVJ2BmQDZ3-_XfT9hKjLL8zSQG_PNeOLEPcxYraHOyg1-h1dXSUbZYOlYqmYL8Axx/s640/blogger-image-2129575247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Ruth wanted to sit next to Lincoln and "share" the iPad with him...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXphk3Rr6cDEnYmDcfKuu8YhJ2rvDAx_YWe3AIkce7kYyU4Puk6n7a8Dan39pzez36GbKEk5xwaXFJ618kDX6Cl6YPUO5HUbdLBMRNPLy8x3jjjnnQPz2kjyKkcDPr6XvF01i5Ov-XzMr/s640/blogger-image--947515174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXphk3Rr6cDEnYmDcfKuu8YhJ2rvDAx_YWe3AIkce7kYyU4Puk6n7a8Dan39pzez36GbKEk5xwaXFJ618kDX6Cl6YPUO5HUbdLBMRNPLy8x3jjjnnQPz2kjyKkcDPr6XvF01i5Ov-XzMr/s640/blogger-image--947515174.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">He sure is a cute little guy! He's 11 days old and extremely chill. He rarely cries unless I take too long to feed him. Or that one night when he cried every hour all night and I got him on reflux meds the very next day...</div><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNSVHrE5hUlKBTpB-CX-rN-QGtptKg2F_RxK_e3hOUFcyBeaSR6W0gYybHePNt3Y3fR-kMuqUl2oYVJ2BmQDZ3-_XfT9hKjLL8zSQG_PNeOLEPcxYraHOyg1-h1dXSUbZYOlYqmYL8Axx/s640/blogger-image-2129575247.jpg"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Today Ben prayed that Lincoln would get faster at eating so I could play more games with the boys. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Twice today Ruth was going to be apart from me (going downstairs to play and taking a nap in her room) and before she left me she said "will you be ok without me?"</div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-19256824976358470562015-01-20T16:03:00.001-08:002015-01-20T16:03:40.216-08:00Christmas & moreWell it has been quite the crazy time!<br />
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We of course celebrated Christmas. This year, we did a 4-gift thing with our kids. I also had a few "family" or "all kids share" type gifts, like a fort kit and a big lego set.<br />
The gifts go - something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. I didn't have to spend too much, and it made me really think about what the kids were getting, rather than just buying random, cool looking toys on deals because "they'd probably like it."<br />
For something to wear, Ruth got a coat and some boots. Ben & Tristan, I made them each a shirt that they had requested, and I also made them panda hats. Ben wears his to school EVERY DAY.<br />
For something to read, we had plenty of good choices, so they each got a few books. I get them at thrift store and $1 book orders and save them for holidays/birthdays.<br />
For something you want, the boys got Amiibos. I can't even explain this, it's basically a figurine that links in to the Wii and unlocks content in different games, or allows you to play them and level them up in Smash Bros. Ruth got a dollhouse (pictures to follow).<br />
For something you need, that was the tricky part. There wasn't much they really NEEDED, so I got a little creative. Ben needed a new lamp, Tristan needed a coat, and Ruth didn't really need anything. I put Ben's lamp and Tristan's coat with a Lego tray that I made for each of them. I don't know that it was technically a "need" but I wanted them to have the trays so they could save their creations :)<br />
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So, the dollhouse. When I was 3 or maybe 4, my mom and dad MADE me a dollhouse. My mom put in carpet and wallpaper. There was even a section on top with some kind of plastic grass for the "backyard." At some point, my mom sent it to my house, but I didn't have any girls yet, so it just stayed in storage for a while. Obviously Ruth is old enough to use it now (and she LOVES it). But, this is what it was looking like:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu1LjyL64nGF4WqCjJ90WFxilXATtbp92wuJvirPaKFOsxYaQPwUrR-ZATMaH6LWbKk9h_lpuj9xs8w2d0QHcW5IOgmIoxOko_ovu1E8qUvhqKgqOoT5rfene1plqR95nW5_Z7DCtamIN/s1600/IMG_2286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUu1LjyL64nGF4WqCjJ90WFxilXATtbp92wuJvirPaKFOsxYaQPwUrR-ZATMaH6LWbKk9h_lpuj9xs8w2d0QHcW5IOgmIoxOko_ovu1E8qUvhqKgqOoT5rfene1plqR95nW5_Z7DCtamIN/s1600/IMG_2286.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVA7KLkTaq6qUNCpQfPr9t1bIXX-KETKcd1Zzm3DhPfgftGJO19QNt6iF1kw9CnPQILS1NIpOHThh6nausTYpsoe-cfvcxQsvTS6V50q_j2IDS3BOsoVYWvmQHjWP8PR4ieE7RYflbNrt/s1600/IMG_2288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVA7KLkTaq6qUNCpQfPr9t1bIXX-KETKcd1Zzm3DhPfgftGJO19QNt6iF1kw9CnPQILS1NIpOHThh6nausTYpsoe-cfvcxQsvTS6V50q_j2IDS3BOsoVYWvmQHjWP8PR4ieE7RYflbNrt/s1600/IMG_2288.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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I know those aren't very good "before" pictures. I blame Neil. But if you enlarge them, you can see I had to pull one section of carpet out, and a lot of wallpaper was gone/peeling. I wasn't in the mood to do wallpaper, so I pulled all of it out and painted all the walls white. It was also missing a lot of trim (1st photo) so my dad helped us put new trim on (2nd photo). And I used some leftover carpet from the office to finish off the last section. Then I set it all up with furniture/barbies and covered it with a blanket for Ruth :)</div>
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It looks really good! And Ruth plays with it a lot :)</div>
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Here are some pictures of the fort kit I found at Savers for $4 (the balls/sticks anyway. I bought used king size sheets for $4 each as well). They set this up with Neil as a rocket ship. They'd get in, "fly" somewhere, and then get out and explore! So fun!</div>
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On Christmas Day, I really felt that I needed to go visit my stepmom's parents. They are amazing people who have always sent us birthday & Christmas cards (and money), and even Easter cards. Since my parents were leaving to go build houses in Mexico, we felt like we had the time to spare. I haven't seen them in many years, because my dad (Daren) and my stepmom (Jennifer) had been separated for 5 years. I hadn't even seen Jennifer in more than 5 years. We'd never really had a relationship, when they got married she was trying hard to put her 3 boys from a previous marriage together with Daren and make that family unit work, and I just wanted to keep doing fun things with my dad. She was there at her parents house when we arrived, and we ended up talking for a long time about what had happened between her and my dad and some of the reasons behind why he has never really been able to have a relationship with anyone. It was really good, and she was really grateful that this opportunity to reconnect had suddenly come up. We had plans to get together on New Years Day to play games and get to know each other, but she ended up getting a week in a condo in St. George, 2 bedrooms (not Worldmark). She invited us for a couple nights, and with gas being CRAZY cheap ($1.75 last time I went to Costco), we agreed. It was really fun. She has 2 younger kids, ages 10/11 and 8 I think. Ruth loved playing with McCall, the older one. And of course Ben and Tristan loved playing with Chase. We played games, did puzzles, and just talked a lot. It was a great experience.<br />
And I won't go to St. George without going to the children's museum. They had an extra exhibit upstairs, a tribute to Frozen. They had little booties to put on and "skate" around the wood floor, train tracks, coloring, cutout photos (as below), and stuffed "snow"balls to throw at each other. I really didn't get many pictures, we were too busy chasing after Ruth. Er, I mean, "playing" together.<br />
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Last little bit of fun, Ruth thinks the treadmill is a great thing. Like, when you put marbles on it, they make a really cool sound. But when you put marbles on it, mom will probably try to push you away with her foot. So I started letting her get on with me during the cooldown section since it's going so slow. This was my attempt to take a picture while sharing the treadmill and walking. </div>
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Other than this, we've been working hard to get prepped for tax season as well as the 4th quarter payroll taxes, which take more work than normal, so of course they happen in January. It's not like we weren't already busy making sure we have supplies, appointments set up, organizers sent out. Oh boy! I think we mailed ~120 organizers and ~200 appointment letters out to people. It was a lot, but it's all done and it only took about one full day to get them all printed, enveloped, and mailed. Now we just have to get all the payroll taxes done in the next week and a half - appointments start on January 31st! WOW!</div>
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<br />Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-25768435568815861632014-12-15T08:06:00.000-08:002014-12-15T08:06:06.339-08:00Elf on the Shelf & other Christmas fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Have you heard of Elf on the Shelf? I think the basic idea is that Santa sends an elf to your house. This elf does silly (and sometimes naughty) things at your house while you're sleeping, such as toilet-papering your tree or maybe making a "snow" angel in flour/sugar. The elf also visits Santa at night to tell him if the kids are being good or not. I just didn't really like that idea for a few reasons. For one thing, some of the "elf ideas" would make a huge mess that I would just have to clean up later. Second, I teach my kids not to tattle - but the elf gets to do that every night? Plus, on top of tattling, the elf gets to be naughty without any consequences. So, I tried to find a way to combine Santa & Christ with our elf. Last year, he did a few silly things and we were supposed to help "teach" him to be a good elf. This year, I thought I would combine our elf (Elvin) with the scripture advent calendar Heidi gave us last year. Elvin visits Santa each night and Santa sends him back with a scripture and activity for us to do. This way, we can have some fun but still keep the focus on Christ. Elvin is always found in a new place and the kids do love looking for him. I think I've got an even better idea for next year, but you'll just have to wait for that!</div>
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The first night when Elvin came back, Santa suggested we go see the lights, so we headed to Thanksgiving Point. We had a few pairs of holographic glasses from last year, which make the lights look like little snowflakes.</div>
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Some activities our elf has suggested: make paper stars (after reading scriptures about the star that appeared with Jesus' birth), watch the First Presidency Christmas devotional, hug everyone in your family, write your testimony of Christ, wrap Christmas presents, donate mop & bucket to the ward for our ward project, and more. Each activity comes with a related scripture :)<br />
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We also had the Andrews family Christmas party. They played "what's that great-grandkid's name" which most of us failed, and bingo. The night ended with everyone getting a candy cane from Grandpa & Grandma Ruth.</div>
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Ruth isn't a huge fan of the dark. As in, she tells me "I can't sleep, I'm scared of the dark..." She already has a nightlight, but it doesn't cut it for her. I bought a glass block and a strand of white Christmas lights from Hobby Lobby. I sprayed the front and back with frosted glass paint and cut out a Minnie head out of vinyl. Add a bow, and you have a Minnie night light. Ruth loves it.<br />
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This is how my boys usually fall asleep. Tristan will have a comic book open on his pillow and a lot of the time, he's hanging off the side of his bed. Ben has gotten better about turning off his lamp and taking off his glasses, but he still forgets sometimes too.</div>
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<br />Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-68883409885345411902014-12-01T21:06:00.000-08:002014-12-01T21:06:05.278-08:00Thanksgiving and more!It looks like I've missed a week - I better get caught back up with recent happenings!<br />
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My sister is in Arizona for master's school and she's all alone... :( We sent her a box full of sunshine to keep her happy and hopefully tide her over until Christmas break!<br />
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I'm not sure what happened, but all of a sudden Ben lost 4 teeth within a couple weeks. Including his 2 front teeth, just in time for Christmas. Now I'll have to teach him the song! He's asleep and I don't have a nice closeup shot, so I guess you'll have to wait until next week for that :)<br />
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Tristan is SUPER into regular Monopoly right now. It's the strangest thing - he really doesn't have to concept of saving some money just in case you land on my high priced property. He just spends as soon as he can and trades properties to get full sets. I think I have beat him once in all the times we've played!<br />
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Ruth has a big personality as always. She took the lid for a game and wore it as a hat. Didn't want to go to the store without it! Who am I to say no to that? :)<br />
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Wednesday before Thanksgiving it was Free Zoo Day at the Hogle Zoo. We did get to see quite a few animals, but we had to go in the afternoon, and Ruth deteriorated pretty quickly... My sister Brooklynne was here on Thanksgiving break from Snow College, and my mom & younger siblings were also out of school, so we made a big trip of it. We even had Bostyn! She's at that stage where the most interesting thing is the monkey's butt. LOL. Brooklynne is the one in the picture.<br />
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This year, with my mom doing her student teaching, I put myself in charge of organizing the Thanksgiving feast. I brined a turkey, but the most frustrating thing happened. Despite having thawed for 3 days in my fridge plus one day in a cooler of brine, it apparently still had some frozen parts! We didn't realize it until we went to carve it and found a completely raw section :( We cut off the outer layer and put the rest back in the oven - which ended up making the rest of the meat tough and dry. I think part of the problem was getting a 20 lb bird. I just really wanted some leftovers! I didn't take any food pictures or even group table pictures. I don't think anyone did to be honest...<br />
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Thursday evening I went to Walmart with my mom and little brother Tanner to try and get a big Lego brick set. The deal was quite good - about 3x the normal amount of Legos. We finally made our way around the store to where they had about 20 of the sets and probably more than 20 people in line. We thought we'd try our chances anyways and got in line. It was about 5:50 and the deals were supposed to start at 6:00. Tanner said he'd be right back and went to go look for something else. Just after he left, an employee starting tearing off the plastic wrap on a pallet of toys next to us, and it was seriously pure chaos after that. People figured it must be time, and they charged the Legos. I ran up there and tried to get my hands on a red box of Legos, but as I reached in, the last 2 were grabbed. They did have a couple of Duplo sets in green boxes but I really wasn't interested in those larger Legos. I just kinda stood there, a little disappointed, and waited for my brother to come back. The Lego line disappeared as they (I assume) dashed off to get other deals. One guy walked down the aisle towards me and my mom with a cart full of 6-8 Lego boxes. As he walked past, he handed me the red box I wanted. I am still shocked that he did that! I thanked him very much and now I've got an awesome set of bricks for the kids to create with! It's just another one of those tender mercies to remind me that Heavenly Father knows not just what I need, but what I want too :)<br />
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Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-51151794821422458312014-11-16T14:17:00.000-08:002014-11-16T14:17:42.835-08:00Tender Mercies<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm grateful for some tender mercies this past week. With Neil being a tax accountant, most of our income happens by May and almost none of it happens in Nov/Dec. Adding to that the (necessary) purchase of a ground floor office this year, and I was getting worried about this Christmas. We are switching to the 4 gift system this year, which will definitely help with our budget. The 4 gift system is: something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. It seems like I've given my kids too many toys and not spent enough time really thinking about what will be useful or helpful to them. It's already been amazing this year, really thinking about what gifts to give them in each category. Ruth for sure will need a new winter coat, so I went to check the thrift store to see what I could find. She's small enough that I can still get clothes in really good condition from thrift stores. I found a really cute everyday coat as well as a good winter coat. On top of that, I found a "construction fort kit" by Discovery Kids for $4 (new is $35) and a Minnie Mouse doll with clip-on clothes/shoes/hats. It is quite literally the PERFECT gift for Ruth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I had been stressing about having enough money for the extended family on my list, plus my kids, without having to sacrifice Neil's gifts too. Gifts is one of his love languages and while we both agree that we'd rather make sure the kids are covered, I didn't want him to end up with nothing. 2 weeks ago, it really did look like he wasn't going to get anything for Christmas, and since his birthday comes in January and tax season doesn't really start until February, I was really upset at the thought that he wouldn't get either gift this year. I'm a crier, big time. So I'm crying and I say something like "What if you don't get any gifts for Christmas and I still can't get you anything for your birthday?" right when Ben comes in the room. He immediately left - to get his wallet, so he could give me all his money so we could get Dad a birthday present. It was the sweetest thing :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Early last week, I remembered I had a love seat, a heavy-duty shelving unit, and a foosball table that don't get used anymore that I'd been intending to sell on KSL. I posted them, and they all sold within 24 hours, which gave us some extra funds for Christmas. Between that and finding some really great things from the thrift store, I think we'll be in GREAT shape come Christmas :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">At Walmart this week, Ruth and I were in the checkout line and one of those really awesome guys came up behind us in line. He had a nice round belly and a white beard. He saw Ruth and said "Oh ho ho ho! Have you been a good girl?" I don't think she was totally sure what was going on, but then I told her it was Santa. The rest of the time in line, she kept saying "Santa, what you doing here?" or "Santa look at Ruthie!" It was really cute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today marks the beginning of tithing settlement, which is usually the day that we try to get in and get it done :) It also means it's the day of the year that I actually WRITE my tithing check. It was kind of funny last year, we paid just before going in to sit with the bishop. He asked if we were full tithe payers, and we said yes. And he stared, kinda confused, and the tithing statement that he had (which wasn't updated) showing $0 paid. We set aside our tithing with each and every paycheck that we get, and I have never touched that money during the year, but I choose to pay it annually rather than monthly.</span>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-20408059487247561952014-11-10T14:16:00.000-08:002014-11-10T14:16:00.100-08:00Reading and FunOne thing that all my children enjoy doing (although at varying degrees of interest) is reading. Ben is my biggest reader, and constantly causes his glasses to loosen because he falls asleep with a book on his chest and his glasses on. I caught this cute picture last week when Ruth asked to read a book and Tristan was happy to help :)<br />
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For dinner one night, I did roast and potatoes. My roast comes from bottled roast, and it's super tender and falls apart into little pieces of deliciousness. I love it :) Ruth wasn't so excited about it though... she showed me her fork which had a "snake" on it (or a strand of meat, as you can see below). I picked it off and ate it, and she said "thanks for eating the snake mom." She wouldn't eat any more of the roast/potatoes.<br />
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On Friday:<br />
Tristan (working on homework, picks up school folder): WHAT? Who poked holes in this?<br />
Mom: I don't know... you? Someone at school?<br />
Tristan: And who poked holes in this paper? And there's a hole in the couch too.<br />
Mom: UGH! Ruth....<br />
Tristan: Well can we go to the school tomorrow and get a new folder?<br />
Mom: No, no one will be there.<br />
Tristan: (blank face) You mean Mrs. Vander doesn't live there??<br />
Mom: Uh... no.<br />
Tristan: Well then can you text her and ask her to meet us there so I can get a new folder?<br />
Mom: No! (explains how it's like dad going to work at the office - she will be at home on Saturday and won't want to come in - besides I don't even have her number)<br />
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Ben has a BIG crush on the cutest little girl at school. She's in his class but she is a full head shorter than he is. Some things he's said:<br />
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"I don't want to take a sandwich for my lunch because Eve is allergic to peanuts."<br />
"I told Eve a joke and she laughed and I like that."<br />
"When I saw Eve today she smiled and HUGGED ME."<br />
"Can I take 2 treats because I want to share with Eve."<br />
"The shorter the girls are the more I like them."<br />
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And last, here a couple pictures from our family session with my aunt.<br />
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<br />Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-45867541117195906792014-11-02T08:06:00.000-08:002014-11-02T08:06:17.752-08:00Happy Halloween!Every year around Halloween time, my aunt Angie sets up a Halloween scene in her studio and offers free portraits to anyone who wants to come! We love taking advantage of this :)<div>
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We were planning on doing the pictures on Wednesday at 4:00 and then heading to the Traverse Mountain outlets (at the point of the mountain) for stories, a craft, and trick or treating around the stores there. That meant on Tuesday I was frantically trying to get Neil's costume in a good place. I should have ordered a good beard for him off of Amazon weeks ago, but I kept thinking I didn't want to pay $10-15 for one small part of his costume if I could make one out of yarn. At some point, I had to admit that I also just don't have time to make EVERYTHING. I mean, I made wands for the boys, and Gryffindor patches for their robes, and an owl eyes headband for Ruth... something had to go. So I went to Zurchers, which had a decent beard for $10, but it ended up being the same color as Neil's robes and it was just... bleh. So I returned that beard and went to Halloween City. I had looked up their beards online and they had a good long white one. Sadly, the store didn't have that beard, nor any white beard. They recommended I get a different beard and some of the white hairspray. You can see in the pictures how well that ended up working. </div>
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I already had the fabric for my robe, and the felt for Ruth's owl feathers. The boys robes are made of DI men's shirts and Neil's costume was made from $1/yard clearance fabric from Walmart. I think I probably spent $25 on our costumes. I feel very blessed that I have the ability to make my own costumes every year and save so much money!</div>
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Halloween day, we stopped by Cabelas for a little bit more trick or treats - they had about 8 stations set up through the store. I probably wouldn't care to go, but since they also have a big fish tank and other (stuffed) animals in the store, it's a more interesting place to go. Last year, they hid small pumpkins around the store that could win you big prizes. We didn't find any, and they didn't do it this year. Oh well. </div>
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Ruth was really getting the hang of the trick or treating deal. She wasn't even upset that we weren't eating the candy yet. The only problem we had was that some houses have dogs. She's not scared of the dogs, she just wants to go into people's houses and pet the dogs. And not everyone's dogs are the "petting" kind... so we started having meltdowns when we tried to get her to leave the house. Eventually, Neil took her back home and I kept going with the boys until they started complaining about wanting a drink and being tired of walking. They got quite a haul though. 2 houses in my mom's neighborhood were giving out full sized candy bars, and most people in my ward give 3-4 of the small candies. </div>
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Tristan came down with a stomach bug yesterday, and I'm just grateful it happened the day AFTER Halloween so he didn't have to skip trick or treating.</div>
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Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-36329489452034770722014-10-26T14:19:00.001-07:002014-10-26T14:19:38.815-07:00October 26th 2014This past week we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. It was just one of the regular, busy weeks. Well, I guess I shouldn't say "out of the ordinary" because we've been working on quarterly payroll filings, which don't come up EVERY week, but it's definitely not something we're taking pictures of to share with you! :)<br />
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I've also been working on the kid's costumes (and the adult's too) but I don't have any pictures of them yet. They all still need some finishing touches before I'm willing to share.<br />
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I do have family pictures though! My amazing aunt is still working on touching up the photos I chose, but you can see the unedited photos here: http://sweetmemorygarden.pixieset.com/baxterfamily/<br />
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Next week you can look forward to some Halloween pictures!! :)Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-19831086428012842922014-10-19T18:38:00.000-07:002014-10-19T18:38:49.881-07:00Cornbelly's!In the last 2 weeks, we had our last filing deadline for tax returns. It looks like we were actually in better shape this year than we were last year, so that's good! Last year I think we had 31 to still complete ON the filing day, and this year it looks like we only had 23. Still more than we'd like, but it seems we are improving!<br />
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We had a Friday off of school 2 weeks ago, so we went to Cornbelly's for some fun. I love doing this every year and I can always find a good deal on tickets. They have big bouncy houses/pillows, a corn pit (like a sand pit, but with corn kernals), mini mazes, big wooden toys to play on, and tons more. We were there for as long as we could be while Ruth was still cooperating. <br />
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We also got some free tokens, so we used them to shoot some corn out of air cannons. The kids loved it. They had a couple metal cow cut-outs and some broken down cars caged off to shoot. I shot some apples out of a bigger cannon and managed to tip over one of the cows!<br />
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This last weekend was fall break, so we had Thursday and Friday off of school. Bostyn came over to play on Thursday and we did some Halloween hand/footprint painting. Ruth can apparently unscrew the lid from the paint though...</div>
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On Friday we met my amazing aunt Angie up AF Canyon for family pictures. We are so lucky that she is willing to take our family photos for free. I always bring her a thank you gift and we keep trying to get her to let us do some tax work for her in exchange. I wish I had some previews to share but it was only a couple days ago so I guess you'll have to wait until next week :)Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-11491935634465209122014-10-09T14:21:00.001-07:002014-10-09T14:21:53.359-07:00Apples and Grapes and Workshops, OH MY!I don't think I realized how busy my life was until I tried to really keep track of it!<br />
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Last Monday, we had dinner at Bart & Jaclyn's house and picked apples from Afton's tree. We should have gotten a picture of me climbing around way up there in my flipflops!<br />
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Fast forward past the "boring, everyday busy stuff" to Friday. We went back and made 66 pints and 2 quarts (plus a little for a tupperware) of applesauce! Tristan and Ben loved helping!<br />
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We also picked all the grapes before we left on Friday because some of them were shriveling and some were falling off and we were worried we wouldn't get to them in time. I took the jars of applesauce home and sealed them all on Friday, and processed the grapes while watching conference on Saturday and Sunday.<br />
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To close out our Friday night, we tried out Pizza Cake. It was delicious! Ruth couldn't wait for me to finish taking a picture before she tried to dig in!<br />
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Saturday morning before Conference started, we headed over to Home Depot for their free Kid's Workshop. This month: build an EMS truck. It's a really cool truck with doors that slide on and off so you can actually put someone in the back!<br />
They had a real fire truck there too for the kids to look at, and a firefighter at a table to ask questions to the kids. My favorite:<br />
Firefighter: What do you do if your clothes are on fire?<br />
Ben: Take them off and put new clothes on. And call 911.<br />
Tristan: NO! STOP DROP AND ROLL. I learned that in my Kindergarten class. (said with the tone of "are you really that dumb?").<br />
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That's my literal Ben. If your clothes are on fire, take them off and put new ones on. Seriously.<br />
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Last bit of fun: Ben has a cute little female friend at school and he says he loves her "on the inside, because I don't want anyone to know." He told me he likes her more than Grandma. :)<br />
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<br />Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-85710903685144357352014-09-29T16:10:00.003-07:002014-09-29T16:10:34.274-07:00A year later...Well, it looks like almost another year has passed before I came back to blog again. I post on Facebook sometimes, and I guess I didn't realize it had been a whole YEAR since I tried to actually blog something!<br />
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This time my renewed commitment will be due to Steve & Afton Baxter's mission. I figure if they are going to write us once a week to keep us updated, I should try to do the same. In reality, "write blog post" has been on my recurring Sunday to-do list for a few months now, but I really don't look at my to-do list on Sundays! Maybe this will be the time that sticks??<br />
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This last week I've felt more accomplished than usual. I got some projects off my list that I've had for a long time, including Ruth's princess towel. I think I need to go back and add some jewels to the crown though, since it doesn't look as good as it did in the tutorial online...<br />
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Most elementary schools have a special playground that is just for Kindergarten, which I think is great. Except Tristan's school didn't have the rubber flooring installed until last week. It was KILLING him. He'd get in the van every day when I'd pick him up from school and say "Had another GREAT day... but the playground isn't ready yet." He was VERY excited when I picked him up today because it was the first day they actually got to play on it!</div>
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I also got school pictures back last week. I don't pay for them because I can get individual shots of the kids when we do family pictures, but I loved what came back this year. Tristan was "star student" during the week of school pictures, and I guess he forgot to take off his crown. And I have no idea what's up with Ben's smile.</div>
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Last Saturday we went hiking on the Bell Canyon trail with some ward members. We didn't go very far because it was very steep and hard to carry a 40 lb child. We stopped at a large pond (small lake?) and some of the kids took off shoes and waded in a little bit. When they got out, we discovered leeches. Luckily there weren't too many to pick off the kid's feet.</div>
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<br />Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-33376434256995294522013-10-15T11:42:00.001-07:002013-10-15T11:42:34.145-07:00October 15thWow, what busy times these are....<br />
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First of all, October 15th is when all personal extensions expire for our tax clients. As of this morning, we had 31 (THIRTY ONE???) clients that thought they were going to give us the info we needed to complete their returns. Neil is going to take tomorrow off, but then we jump right back into quarterly payroll filings. Now, I do most of those, and since it's not year-end reports yet, it will only take me a couple solid days at the office.<br />
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Ben is doing great in the Chinese Immersion program. On the english side of learning, he had his first spelling pretest, words like "fix", "in", "it", etc and since he got 100% on it, they sent him home with extra words to be tested on, like "suffix", "quick", "into", and "appendix." He said he got 100% on the real test yesterday. :)<br />
We asked his Chinese teacher for extra/harder math homework (I can't handle the simple math he is working on....) but since they learn the math AND math lingo in Chinese, she didn't think it was a good idea. She suggested he do extra math at home in English and also explain his homework to me in Chinese. He said he couldn't explain HOW to do it, but he was able to say "7-4=3" all in Chinese, so that was great!<br />
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Tristan is doing great too - we opted not to do preschool because he can already read and do simple math. I do need to have him practice his writing more, because he wants to write questions for me to answer but he doesn't know how to form the numbers very well. I also need to get him signed up for tumbling! He would be great at it :)<br />
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Ruth is as mobile as ever and likes to empty whatever she finds - tupperware cabinets, silverware from the dishwasher, toys from the bath, shoes from the basket.... you name it. She is adorable and super fat. She is 13 months old but has to wear 24 month clothes because not even 18 month stuff will fit, for the most part....<br />
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Neil and I have been working on a health challenge for a while, and while I'm not very good at the "no sweets" part of it, I have made sure to be more consistent about exercising, eating better, drinking more water, and reading scriptures. Unfortunately, Neil hasn't been as good about it, and now we're both paying the price. He was over his weight at his PT test in September, and they said they wanted him to lose 3-8 lbs between then and Oct 26th. It wouldn't have been a big deal if he had kept up with it, but now he's up 6 lbs from that Sept weight, and he has 13 days to lose 9 lbs. I made him a list of things he should do to make sure he's keeping weight down, and hopefully that will help him. Going to bed by 10, eating slowly, only a small (as in, 5 peanut M&Ms or a mini candy bar) treat per day, exercising 2x day, more water, etc.... I told him I didn't know that I could commit to cutting back that far on treats, and I wouldn't exercise at night with him, but otherwise I'd do everything else. I'm sure it will be good for me in the long run, I do have plenty of weight to lose.... But no one ever likes making those kinds of changes!Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-53475474219717853772013-10-03T20:03:00.001-07:002013-10-03T20:03:46.785-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">80 lbs of chicken bottled!! Ok, so a bit of it was put into some freezer crock pot meals... But wow!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsLeUx1llukaK-hPPLLgX7Nk6e-plGo9-6bPVgMvggEyEyxzuK7SQJSwoDA_o-inZxoGhZiDShZpWMD0qazUkC91uE9TqnQ-mD9cZXD4ibdoEWvlnHG_6EJITdFBlDdM-0_2cahY_f1RJ/s640/blogger-image-186836925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsLeUx1llukaK-hPPLLgX7Nk6e-plGo9-6bPVgMvggEyEyxzuK7SQJSwoDA_o-inZxoGhZiDShZpWMD0qazUkC91uE9TqnQ-mD9cZXD4ibdoEWvlnHG_6EJITdFBlDdM-0_2cahY_f1RJ/s640/blogger-image-186836925.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8XP5JfT7ZgvH5g1Xm-RluIuTFcqlq4T4G0s9PywGvBTI4gfEXIS76EA6YGqzv7nmRD9paT-E51kwp2CV9taPi_Zifx2kTk6a_TtHoiYQVRfX4XLoqujVidn15xR9UrNXL5QlHb0LYNyn/s640/blogger-image--1216995412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8XP5JfT7ZgvH5g1Xm-RluIuTFcqlq4T4G0s9PywGvBTI4gfEXIS76EA6YGqzv7nmRD9paT-E51kwp2CV9taPi_Zifx2kTk6a_TtHoiYQVRfX4XLoqujVidn15xR9UrNXL5QlHb0LYNyn/s640/blogger-image--1216995412.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-89024079906357787362013-10-02T22:24:00.001-07:002013-10-02T22:24:26.792-07:00Sometimes when you read the bible, you get really confused. What is Genesis 38 all about?? They didn't put that in the musical!! Good thing tho, it's not for kids, or anyone else for that matter... I shall have to do more digging to see if I can understand it!<div><br></div><div>On another note, the mobile baby got herself into this situation today. She was not at all thrilled.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPic5zgn-K1w7uUqm_HvCZV9VB9JPz-sPLvajplzuzF99La2kRgtEwgXv-AOniKkrvjL_savJyFL1nAso-dQhqNLdH0LuMhQ9QPsgggXrv9jELNFUR5HUaYzmsGcyZ4auCDhy_W9AhlHpj/s640/blogger-image--1240986477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPic5zgn-K1w7uUqm_HvCZV9VB9JPz-sPLvajplzuzF99La2kRgtEwgXv-AOniKkrvjL_savJyFL1nAso-dQhqNLdH0LuMhQ9QPsgggXrv9jELNFUR5HUaYzmsGcyZ4auCDhy_W9AhlHpj/s640/blogger-image--1240986477.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">She also 'fell' ie climbed out of the tub today. She is too big!</div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-73516504844805396712013-10-01T22:24:00.001-07:002013-10-01T22:24:30.544-07:00Arrow of Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvHHaB-J184y0Lt_D0nCfKik2iLN2ZLzhWjNn7SbBlbQVJJM1xsog-dygRYHl6SEXbYQ4W6sNYiWyGGz2TYKf0fz2thoTXQJx8E7iWmVPVKaJo-AaNQSlzVqClBl4L9wP8Fu2Ujxmc3FE/s640/blogger-image-1269112103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvHHaB-J184y0Lt_D0nCfKik2iLN2ZLzhWjNn7SbBlbQVJJM1xsog-dygRYHl6SEXbYQ4W6sNYiWyGGz2TYKf0fz2thoTXQJx8E7iWmVPVKaJo-AaNQSlzVqClBl4L9wP8Fu2Ujxmc3FE/s640/blogger-image-1269112103.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Back when we lived in AF and we were joint Cubmasters, I found this idea somewhere online and had my bestie Jess design it for me. I have probably made about 15 since then! The boys could probably care less but the parents LOVE them :) We had 4 boys receive their Arrow of Light tonight and it was great!</div><br></div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-20215424248062092162013-09-29T22:22:00.001-07:002013-09-29T22:22:19.935-07:00Primary ProgramIt's always fun when the primary kids do their program. I always wish I could just sit and watch, but I think I have played piano for every program I can remember!!<div><br></div><div>The program was wonderful, and the only thing I would change would be that the chorister had a poster for EVERY song, even the ones the kids obviously knew. I was a little disappointed about that, but the kids did great with their parts and music was great too!</div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-36364534662154544652013-09-22T19:23:00.001-07:002013-09-22T19:23:56.950-07:00Hungry againSorry Ben, you had dinner and 2 cookies, you don't need anything else...<div><br></div><div>But then I'll be so hungry I'll eat 65 bowls of cereal!</div><div><br></div><div>Ok, sounds good!</div><div><br></div><div>Wait, that will take forever. Maybe 6 bowls...</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I love his logic :)</div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-10620080128839886992013-09-21T22:32:00.001-07:002013-09-21T22:32:13.870-07:00Mobile bloggingToday I was talking to my mom on the phone and she said she wished I could do blog posts easily from my phone. I installed the Blogger app, so here is what you want- a pic and a little text! Now it's sleepy time!<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4FYlgArNwY7_t2up6THYuLB5kr143NfJoza28vO6fdeQp2beR8zhSieOESUFpoR0s4km0ISUgze87TOoTFLdkIm2I8M-LB0hslIqHCmXpPwRnuC_9LamqgscJ21sCF-d1m4tMr9ITUfr/s640/blogger-image--495533844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4FYlgArNwY7_t2up6THYuLB5kr143NfJoza28vO6fdeQp2beR8zhSieOESUFpoR0s4km0ISUgze87TOoTFLdkIm2I8M-LB0hslIqHCmXpPwRnuC_9LamqgscJ21sCF-d1m4tMr9ITUfr/s640/blogger-image--495533844.jpg"></a></div>Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-2423924465482541562013-09-19T20:31:00.001-07:002013-09-19T20:31:17.810-07:00Health challenge day 2Now, before you get spoiled thinking I'm going to make a blog post every day for 60 days, think again! I am also going to start working on a journal of spiritual things for my kids. I'll be sorting through my journals and seeing if there were any experiences I would want my kids to be sure to read. I think I'd like my spiritual journal to be left out where my kids can read it all the time...<br />
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For today's funny:<br />
After dinner we ran a couple errands and on the way back, Ben said he was hungry. They hadn't behaved well at the store so I told him he already had dinner and he'd have to just wait until morning. He said "Ugh! I'll be SUPER hungry by morning. I'll have to eat SIX BOWLS of cereal!" in his best 'angry' voice. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the things your kids say.Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-24732864351171240332013-09-18T21:37:00.000-07:002013-09-18T21:37:26.787-07:0060 Day Health & Wellness challengeI just started a 60 day challenge with not only my husband and my best friend, but a whole bunch of other people that she knows. It's not just about losing weight - it's a point-based system with 10 points per day available:<div>
1. No sweets</div>
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2. No junk food (chips, etc - or fast food!)</div>
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3. You have to stop eating at least 2 hours before you go to bed</div>
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4. You have to get enough sleep - 8 hours recommended but 6.5 is enough for the point</div>
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5. Regular exercise</div>
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6. Write in your journal, blog, etc </div>
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7. Read something wholesome (scriptures?)</div>
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8. Drink enough water (72 oz for women, 96 for men)</div>
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9. Eat 2C fruits and 2.5C veggies each day</div>
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10. Make your own goal</div>
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Today wasn't so bad - Neil and I are already part-way through a 5 day inferno with meal plans and exercise routines that came with my TurboFire DVDs I bought a few years ago. We've made some substitutions or repeated some of the meals though, because who would honestly have 8 oz cottage cheese and 2 pineapple rings as your breakfast?? Instead, we had 2 pieces of toast, an egg, and a slice of turkey bacon.</div>
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So, all I've needed to add in is reading & writing! So here's today's blog post :)</div>
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Other highlights of today: doctor appts with all 3 kids. Regular checkups on Ruth & Tristan, and Ben "hurt his heart" (tweaked his chest and made some cartilege sore) when we were in OR. He will just keep feeling better - apparently it's like when you get a bad cough and your chest starts to hurt, but it will fade over time. He also chose to get a flu SHOT instead of a nose squirt because he REALLY wanted to earn $1 for not crying when getting a shot. Tristan opted for the nose squirt :P</div>
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Lastly - during scriptures tonight, Tristan was reading. There are some long words, like "according" or "therefore" that we help him sound out. I didn't even let him try to sound out "Lachoneus", I just said it for him, which prompted him to say "I already KNOW that one!" My bad... I suppose we have been reading about Lachoneus for the last couple days so he probably really did recognize the word. He was able to say it again in a later verse with no parental help.</div>
Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-16222668869632609402012-12-19T14:01:00.001-08:002012-12-19T14:01:18.085-08:006 more days!We have a Christmas countdown, and Ben and Tristan have been vigilant to change it and remind me of how many days I have left to finish up Christmas projects. Lucky for me, I'm almost done now (no thanks to the sewing machine that didn't want to cooperate). Ruth gets a picture frame hairbow/flower clip holder and a floor pillow. I kind of faked it on the pillow but it turned out pretty well. We started using it immediately because for one thing, she had no idea how to open a present. Also, we have a hardwood floor in our main living area so I wanted something comfy to put her on.<br />
The boys get some Angry Birds plush, a pillow shield (for pillow fights) + a dollar store foam sword, some little marble mazes for church, and a geoboard. I even made a couple thing for Neil, as well as a gift for each of his parents, but I can't reveal them yet in case they see this before Christmas.... :)<br />
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This cute baby was my first Christmas 'decoration' to get out :)<br />
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We make pizza every week (and by we I mean Neil), and since it was Christmas we decided to cut ours in the shape of a tree. The boys thought it was pretty cool!<br />
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Second big snowfall of the season - this time we made a snowman! Isn't he cute? Of course, since it's Utah, it rained the next day and melted him down....<br />
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And in other news, Ben was accepted into the dual immersion program in our school district. It means we'll have to drive him to Draper Elementary each day, but he'll love it! He's going to learn Mandarin Chinese!<br />
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What a crazy weekend it was with the snow! I swear it basically snowed non-stop for about 36 hours! We dragged out the snow clothes for the boys and they went out to play for a little bit when it first started. <br />
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I ran out to take a few pictures and as I was snapping this, Ben was saying "Ok Tristan, close your mouth..." and then he threw that snowball in Tristan's face! Luckily Tristan didn't get upset about it, and I convinced them to only throw snow at the back fence. They went out again the next day...<br />
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They didn't last as long this time - too exhausting wading around in knee-deep snow!<br />
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We also had Ruthie's blessing on Nov 4th. Lots of family, including Preston flying in from Oregon! It was fun getting together afterwards to play some games too :) And we finally got a picture of Grandma Ruth with Baby Ruth :)<br />
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We love Grandma Ruth (and Grandpa) and we hope that little Ruthie grows up to be as loving and giving as they are!<br />
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Here's some funny things I have heard recently:<br />
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Neil (to Tristan): DO NOT jump over the baby!!<br />
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Ben: Who made our van?<br />
Tristan: JESUS!!<br />
Ben: Do you mean Heavenly Father?<br />
Mom: Well, He made the stuff FOR our van, but someone else put it together...<br />
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Ben: Chris, you have hair kinda like a girl. I think you need a haircut. You should ask your mom for one. Where's your mom? OH, there she is! (taps my mom on the shoulder) He (indicating Chris) needs to tell you something. <br />
At that point, Ben turned away, his job done. A week later, at Sunday dinner, Chris had a haircut, and Ben noticed it! I think he said something like "you don't have girl hair anymore..." <br />
To be fair to Chris, when my boys hair gets long I tell them its starting to look like girl hair, and they got their hair cut just before church when Ruth was blessed and Ben sat with Chris.<br />
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Lastly, I posted this on facebook, but I got my pictures back from Angie, who does amazing work. But, the face you bring is the face you get. Tristan brought the face that says "I will kill you in your sleep...."<br />
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Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-9543269706857117072012-10-26T09:51:00.004-07:002012-10-26T09:51:54.190-07:00Kid FunWell there are some times, late at night, when we've been trying to calm the baby for close to 2 hours when I think "what did we do???" But then there are times like this morning when she lets me know she's bored of the hippo toy and I go say hi to her and she grins and coos at me :) Then I remember that she'll grow out of this fussiness and she's really quite cute... ;) <br />
Ben still asks to hold her, perhaps as often as once a day, but it's usually only for about 5 seconds, then he wants to give her back. I think he'll have fun when she gets a little bigger and can at least sit up and smile at him. He'll have a blast when she can join in on the rhyming and alliteration games he likes to play so much... <br />
Yesterday we were at the office doing quarterly payroll taxes for our clients and Ben wanted to do alliteration with P (he can't remember "alliteration" most of the time, so he says "can we do rhyming with the first letter? What's that called again?"). He always makes you feel good about yourself when you tell him a word, especially if you use it in a sentence. "Do you want some POTATO chips with lunch?" "POTATO! Awesome!" Tristan can even play, though sometimes he gets mixed up with where the 'p' is supposed to go (chiPs! It has a 'p'!). So Tristan's coming up with some words, and then I smelled something. "Tristan.... (groan) are you poopy?" Ben: "POOPY! Nice one!!" Neil and I busted up.<br />
In other news, Ben got sent home with a note that he needed to do an eye exam. Turns out he's pretty far-sighted and he has a stigmatism in one of his eyes. We ordered some glasses online from Zenni Optical.<br />
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Some other funny things I've heard recently:<br />
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Ben: Do you have some double fudge (cakebites) you can share with me?<br />
Mom: I do, I'll share one with you because I love you!<br />
Ben: I love double fudge. And you. I think I love you more than double fudge.<br />
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We have 2 shallow bowls that the boys use at dinner sometimes.<br />
Mom: I think these are plowls. Plates + bowls = plowls.<br />
After some laughter...<br />
Ben: This is my tummy. Or sometimes we say belly. Maybe we could call it 'telly'.... or... bummy! BAHAHAHAHAHA. <br />
(He wasn't the only one cracking up. Tristan was in hysterics which put the rest of us into hysterics too)<br />
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You know how your child picks up on what you say?<br />
Tristan: So Ben, what did you do at school today?<br />
Ben: (doesn't answer)<br />
Tristan: Hello?? I'm talking to you, Ben! WHAT DID YOU DO AT SCHOOL TODAY?!?!?<br />
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Also, at Ben's Kindergarten assessment (before they assigned him a classroom), part of their instructions on every portion was something like "and if you need help or get stuck let me know and I'll help you." We had already looked over the list of what they planned on asking him, and he knew all of it. But he's a literal child. After a few little tests, he started finding things the teacher could 'help' with. One of them was a missing number test. When the teacher read the part about needing help, Ben said "I think I don't know how to say 8." As he started the test, he was naming off numbers. All of a sudden he said "Oh, I think I don't know that one." The teacher said "Just go to the next one." And Ben said "NO, you're supposed to say '8'."Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-8757609849147213302012-10-15T13:30:00.002-07:002012-10-16T11:29:48.700-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4JDwo3B0R8zIRR8RV_DNZKtbaVh-dvenfZNyAtzPFtnqw6IuuAqQHt8cPSEKeGiKoISb85aSVZZalnO__609pOGuGbWnFC4XOzoOUOosc13yiyMgwCym-6JANj5qh4lPDP1mxp2SBUwY/s1600/Ruth+Newborn+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4JDwo3B0R8zIRR8RV_DNZKtbaVh-dvenfZNyAtzPFtnqw6IuuAqQHt8cPSEKeGiKoISb85aSVZZalnO__609pOGuGbWnFC4XOzoOUOosc13yiyMgwCym-6JANj5qh4lPDP1mxp2SBUwY/s320/Ruth+Newborn+3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
First of all, I'm super grateful to my Aunt Angie for taking beautiful newborns, and I apologize for waiting so long... I swear I'll remember next time that we should come closer to 5 days, not 25... :)<br />
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So, Ruthie is 4 weeks old now. We are still working on her routine. Sadly, the generic Zantac they had her on for reflux wasn't quite doing the trick. They changed her to Prevacid last week - which made us jump through a couple of insurance hoops, but they covered it - and she's still really having a hard time with daytime sleeping. She'll be totally passed out, dead to the world, and all of a sudden she's awake screaming, rinse and repeat every 20 minutes or so. I think it's actually gotten worse the last couple days :( It seems like before, she'd do that maybe twice, and then she'd be asleep for at least an hour before waking up again. I called the doc today, but the one I see isn't in the office today. I opted to have them call me tomorrow rather than do a "sick" visit today. Neil has drill and I'd rather not try to pack all the kids with me...<br />
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Ben had a field trip today to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. He told me "It was pretty fun, but you took me there before." We did, last year, on their $3 special - I guess with his memory I shouldn't be surprised that he remembered that.<br />
He's been having a hard time when I go to pick him up from school. He wants to go home with someone else, or have someone come home with us. Today was extra bad, I think he watched his friend Josh go home with someone else and he wanted to go too. I texted Josh's mom to ask her when they could get together again. She texted me back and said I could pick them both up tomorrow after school. I showed Ben the text and then I had to go care for Ruthie. When I came back, I found that he was texting Josh's mom! Luckily all he had sent was "ok" to her saying she'd come get the boys after her appointment tomorrow, but he was in the middle of texting something like "If you want to do" (he had tons many spaces between each word, which isn't showing up on here). He told me he was going to text "if you want to do that it's ok" I'm glad he can read and even respond to digital conversation, and I'm also glad I can catch him before he makes me look weird :)<br />
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Tristan is energetic as ever. We were showing the house to my dad and we were in the backyard at the swingset and I'm pretty sure Tristan was about ready to climb across the top of the monkey bars. I'm sure it's a matter of time before he ends up with a broken bone or stitches...<br />
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The boys have been a little more interested in Ruthie now, they both like to talk to her when she's hanging out after eating. Ben has been holding her, and once he ran in her room when she started fussing and said "I'll rock her!!" Tristan like to inform me about what she doesn't like, identified by her crying when I'm doing it. For example, if she cries when I'm changing her, Tristan will say "Mom, she doesn't like it when you change her."<br />
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As for Neil and I, things are busy as usual. I've got my new Ebay store, The Scrap Barn, up and running and I've already filled a few orders. There's still lots for me to do, and after comparing my actual inventory with what was listed in my store, there's quite a bit more for me to post, plus the Paparazzi jewelry I picked up... Neil is working on the extensions for personal tax returns (today is the deadline) and then it's time for quarterly payroll filings... <br />
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Here's one more look at the princess!<br />
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Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2969310250103847808.post-27141991923519929992012-10-02T16:02:00.000-07:002012-10-02T16:03:29.989-07:002 Weeks OldWe reached that 2 week mark yesterday! She did see the doctor last week, the day after I posted I think, about her reflux. They gave her generic Zantac, which is what the boys all had. The doc said if it worked for the boys it should be fine for Ruthie. She, like the boys, has "silent reflux" which means she basically has baby heartburn and sometimes spits up but swallows it back down again. Before the Zantac, she'd make a terrible face when that happened, but now she doesn't. Unfortunately, she's still having a really hard time staying asleep. She'll fall asleep and I'll lay her down, but then she starts fussing again. I was thinking we'd have to change her to Prevacid, which the insurance will cover but only after I submit a couple forms. At her 2 week appointment, the doctor said that they ask parents to wait until the baby has had the Zantac for 2 weeks before determining whether or not it's working. He said it's possible that her throat needs to heal a little and that's why they ask for 2 weeks, so I've got another week to go. It wouldn't be so bad except during the day I'm in her room about every 10 minutes until she finally falls asleep for reals, and in the evening it seems a little worse. She also wants to "eat" except if I let her eat again she usually spits it all back up. I'm guessing eating soothes her throat, so even if she isn't hungry she wants to nurse. Of course, spitting it back up just hurts again... :(<br />
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In other news this week, we finished putting together all the desks at the new tax office. We originally wanted to get the office up and running for quarterlies (due Oct 31), but it looks like we won't quite be ready for that.<br />
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A couple nights ago, I was rocking Ruthie and Neil was getting the boys in bed. Tristan decided his name was "Ben" so we had Ben 1 and Ben 2. Then Neil said his name wasn't "Dad", it was "George." Tristan said "Ok Da- I mean, Ok George! His name is George... I can't believe it!!!" I was trying so hard not to crack up and disturb the baby, but it was hilarious!<br />
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The boys also watched me painting some Halloween decor just before Ruthie was born and they've been waiting for October so that I would put them up. I heart Tristan say one day "It's almost October, and I'm gonna be SO EXCITED because Mommy is gonna put BOO UP ON THE DOOR!!!" He now points out the door every time we're in the front yard :)<br />
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Brittneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09820549054263024551noreply@blogger.com0