Potty training, pots, and plant propagation

Yes, this IS a pirate ship which Paxton built with his "sliding Legos" which are actually called Tikestix.  He loves them and Bennett is starting to learn how to use them too. Paxton continues to love school and reading. Bennett continues to say silly things. In his car seat the other day he said, "Hey, my head can move alright but my body can't move!".

And we are now past the point of no return with teaching this one how to sit in the oval office. He has LOVED the big kid underwear, but not the idea of doing his duty if you know what I mean. But it's going pretty well overall. We hope this parenting challenge is nearing its end!













This is one of the latest of Jared's bowls to come out of the old kiln. This close-up shows chatter, a technique that creates a pattern you see here.

The more brown bowl on the left is a store glaze (coating on the bowl) I purchased for Jared as a Christmas gift. The previous glazes have all been home made. It still needs some more testing to see how thick it should be.

These are test tiles to show how different glazes overlapping each other would look.  The triangular shaped marks Jared pressed into them are to show how texture on a piece would be affected by the glaze.

 These are my favorite type that Jared has done so far. They are made using a dark and light clay which he combines to a certain degree then throws a pot out of it. They remind me of marbled cheesecake or a chocolate sundae.

Thanks to my mom and Jared watching the boys, I have been able to take a greenhouse class and plant propagation class at Thanksgiving Point. They were both fun with a good instructor and others who share my obsession with plants. These are thyme, romaine lettuce, and some perennials started in the class. I learned that I'm not ready for a greenhouse (good news for Jared) but I have "just enough grafting knowledge to be dangerous" according to the instructor.

Ready for more!

We are now APPROVED through LDSFS as an adoptive family. So help us spread the word that we would love to adopt again! Anyone can search as a guest as well as registered expectant parents who have contacted their local ldsfs office. Find our profile by searching our first names and state at itsaboutlove.org.

Jared said we couldn't post this pic because we are not Cougars. Too bad since I do the blog. It's true, we are AGGIES (whew!), not cougars but we live closer to the cougars so we do frequent their sporting events.

This was a men's volleyball game which are a lot of fun. Bennett got into clapping and cheering (he liked the NOISE) and Paxton loved his big bag of popcorn.

We took the boys to a model train show and they had a good time. Bennett is holding one of the Thomas the Train engines (the guy who it belonged to was very protectively holding the bottom but he did a good job staying out of the picture).

Paxton will dress up any chance he gets so this conductor's hat was right up his alley. Behind him is actually a LEGO display built with every conceivable set imaginable including castles, towers, Back to the Future, huge aircraft carriers, trains, and on and on. I would've taken a few more photos but I only brought the phone and it's camera quality isn't the best...these worked better than I thought they would.

I like this picture because it's out of the ordinary for Chica to stay this close to Bennett. He is NOT gentle with the cats so they are usually cautious around him. But Bennett managed to lay still long enough that his back looked inviting.

One of the hit gifts for Christmas was this building set given to the boys by Jaylene. She knows how to pick them! In fact, I have tried to buy more of them and haven't found them in stock yet. This is one of many structures, space ships, guns, cars, (you get the idea) that Paxton has dreamed up. We are impressed with his imagination and ingenuity. The boys also got a floor puzzle from their cousin Zoe and Bennett has done it over and over and over. We put it away and he gets it right back out.

Christmas

This was a really fun year. We thought more of things the boys wanted to do and that made all the difference. This little ceramic nativity set was given to us by Jaylene, and at first I wasn't sure if they were old enough. I was wrong, it turned out so cute and I LOVE it...I'm sad to put it away actually. You can see Paxton took on the stable with help from little bro.

Bennett decided the camel should be blue and Joseph should be green. Makes sense to me, why not paint them in your favorite colors? He and Paxton both like to paint and this coming year I hope to facilitate that more since I do have a few supplies and some know how.

They seem happy with their project, Bennett is also happy with a sucker in his mouth.

I would't call it a tradition, but we did take the boys on the commuter train up to Temple Square to see the lights. We went on a Wednesday night and there was still a good crowd around the Temple grounds but there weren't too many on the train so it was nice.

The older I get, the more I actually like snow. Maybe it's because I aspire to be a landscape painter and snowy scenes are beautiful. The kinds of winters I hate are those that are bitter cold and just dry. So I say let it snow! We need the snowpack anyway, and the boys totally love playing in it, especially Paxton.

This IS a tradition, and I fear it won't be around forever. Then again, my Grandma Jackie's endless energy makes me wonder. She hosts a Christmas Eve party and we have delicious food, a talent show, Christmas carols and the real Christmas story in Luke. Thanks Grandma!

Luckily our boys still sleep in (the late bedtime the night before helps) so we didn't get up until maybe 7:45 on Christmas morning. It's great how little ones are so happy with the first gift that they get busy playing with it instead of tearing through the rest of the packages.

Both boys love Scooby-Doo. I thought that was just a passing trend of my own childhood but apparently (other parents tell me) it has some kind of timeless appeal.

Thanks to aunt Denette and her family for this great gift idea! They gave us a beach tote filled with great stuff for the pool. We don't have a single beach towel in our house so it was perfect. This could get me out to a pool or two this year instead of sending Jared.

My niece gave these to the boys...she knows what kids like! Paxton in particular loves to dress up and Bennett usually follows.

My Mom made these fantastic quilts for the boys. They both are ready for bigger blankets on their beds so we got new pillows and sheets to go with them. The next step will be a new bed for Paxton. Maybe Christmas 2016 When our woodworker is back in town? I'm not sure it can wait that long...

Our dog is very adept at unwrapping gifts too. She leaves them alone until we make the first move then she's off to ripping each piece of wrapping paper until there's confetti on the floor. That's her brown nose down at the bottom of the photo, Bennett can barely get out of the way.

Inside that big box was this gift from Jared's Mom and Dad. These were on sale and shipped for free so we went with this heavy duty tube in the hopes they'll last a while.

 Bennett loves his shades.

We found a school nearby had the perfect hill for us. Jared and I jumped on here and there to try to beat each other's distance. I usually won since Jared defies the laws of motion and doesn't tube straight.

We feel very blessed in so many ways and find our little family grows happier each year.

Maybe some of you feel like this after the holidays.

November

We have been using The Friend magazine to help plan our Family Home Evenings and this thankful tree idea came from it.  Each day in November we would ask the boys what they were grateful for that day and then write it on a leaf to put on this tree. They didn't have a hard time thinking of things until toward the end...there were some cute things, Bennett said "M&Ms and smarshmallows". Paxton said things like his room, his toys, and his friends, and Mom and Dad.

As you can see Bennett is grateful for cake batter...this was probably his first time licking a beater. He gets as messy as I do.

















If this mustache looks familiar, it's because Paxton, at a similar age, had some kind of minor cut on his upper lip and said he needed a bandaid. So Jared suggested to Bennett that he put one his upper lip and he was happy to do so. He is in the stage of wanting a bandaid for everything, not only because he thinks it will instantaneously cure his wound, but also because he actually does get more scrapes here and there. 

 I still remember when Paxton put this on his lip. He was totally serious and we could hardly keep a straight face.

Bennett has gotten in to more messes lately, he finds it amusing to write on himself with marker....our fault for keeping the dry erase ones accessible.  He got my makeup one day and tried to put mascara on his eyelashes, which ended up looking like a black eye.

Thanks to my folks for raking up their leaves in a big pile just for the boys to play in. They had a great time. It's fun to see such simple pleasures and remember what that's like as a kid.

Jared's sister planned a fun activity to make some Christmas gift bags for the primary children in the Philippines where their parents are serving a mission. We took some pictures and hope to see the photos of when the children there open them. I was really pleased at how all our little ones got to work and didn't even ask for any of the fun things for themselves.

Paxton has a good buddy in his cousin, they are very cute together and have the red in their hair to match.

After the gifts were put together and everyone ate dinner there was still time to play. Bennett is always up to be with other boys, he sure acts like a bigger kid all the time. My neighbor said to me recently that some days your kids can't grow up fast enough and other days they grow up too fast.  So true, most of the time I am saddened a bit at how they change and mature every day but none of us can stay small forever.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my Grandmother's. It's always delicious food and a nice family time. I was glad to have my cousin's kids there to play with our boys. The adults outnumbered the children this time, unlike when we visit Jared's side which is kid mania. Personally I enjoy both kinds of holidays for different reasons.

Paxton's Favorite Month

My sweet aunt invited us to her Halloween party and the boys loved being with the other kids. They had games to play and then a hay ride pulled by tractor to another home for dinner.

They'd made grilled cheese sandwiches and soups, perfect for kids and adults...my new favorite cheese is Havarti. Yum.

This is evidence of Paxton's involvement in the silly string fight. The adults had just as much fun chasing the kids. The whole yard was covered and Bennett kept picking it up saying, what is THIS?

Paxton was also very adept at the candle squirting game that Bennett is doing here, it turned out to be a challenge for just about everyone else.

Paxton does enjoy Batman like so many boys. He asked for chocolate cake...this is simply chocolate frosting under the black spray food coloring. Eating anything black isn't too appetizing so I didn't try to color the cake inside.

This is the current craze in toys at our house. Bennett loves them too, particularly getting a reaction out of us when he puts them in his mouth. Paxton can build a whole set with very little help. And we tell him doesn't follow directions well?

Since Bennett got to be Superman at the other party, I didn't feel too bad convincing him to wear the bear costume. But I'm guessing this will be the last time he lets me dress him up in what I want. They both enjoyed trick-or-treating.

Another great part of our week was meeting up with Jaylene to see her and their new little baby. We went to the children's museum at the Gateway. This cylinder sucked in light objects and swirled them around before they blow out the top.

 Paxton was acting as foreman to the crane operator. They had so many different things to do it's not hard to spend hours there.

The boys are sitting in an actual helicopter they have next to a play children's hospital where the kids get to take emergency calls, push gurneys, and dress like doctors.

This perfect little piano was so cute. Everything in the house, including the kitchen, was sized just right for Bennett.

At this station you can build block houses then choose an earthquake magnitude to see if the houses will stand or crumble. For little boys the only thing better than wrecking a house must be getting to push a button to do it.

I got some Christmas ideas out of the outing...both boys loved this wheelbarrow.

We had some dinner and I got to hold sweet Ellie. She is beautiful and I am so happy for J and J. They have been amazing to our family.

Is that a tiny smile?