Bits and Pieces

Some old old updates (super quick):

1. Austin has a cat. It doesn't belong to us. I don't have to change it's litter box. But he loves it like it was his very own (aka - sporadically). It belongs to our backyard neighbors and comes to visit every so often. Austin has named him "Filbert". It's either after Calliou's cat Gilbert, or Sid's dog Filbert - or both.
2. We went to Thanksgiving Point's Cornbellies in October (ancient news, yes). The kids loved it and I am totally planning on getting a membership for it this year.


3. I came in to my kitchen one day to discovery this.... Austin used the step stool to climb up the wall, to the fridge, to the cupboards, and eventually made his way in to the pantry. Hopefully he got in enough trouble to never do it again (but not before I could get a picture to remember how secretly proud I was of his bravery and skills).

4. We carpeted our living room in December. Love it! It has cut down on the echos in the house 10 fold. We roll around and wrestle on it pretty much daily. It has made our home so family friendly.

5. A month ago we wrapped up our singing group. We went every Wednesday for 6 months to Brie Frank's "Cherubs" group where we sang kids songs, played instruments, danced with puppets, and had fun. Pictured below is our Valentine's Day party.

Germany

Ah, the perfect vacation. It will be a long time before we can do something like this again. Anthony has been wanting to take me to his old mission for a while, but between finances, pregnancy and nursing babies, it's never been a good time. This year, he had a work conference in England in January, so we thought, "why not?" My parents heroically accepted to watch our kids for 10 days. So we met in Germany after his conference - Jan 18-27 (counting air travel days).

Day 1 (Tuesday) - Stuttgart

Anthony wanted to see a little of south Germany, but still be close enough to get to Berlin. So Stuttgart became our starting point. Turns out it's not really a tourist site, but it was a great place to catch up on jet lag, see a busy modern German shopping district, buy a fun new game, and get some insanely delicious doners and gelato (I'd return to Stuttgart just for those)!



Riding the Rails

One of the big treats of Europe is experiencing superb public transit. We used the U-bahn, S-bahn and Strassen-bahn (did I forget one Anthony?) to get around. (Anthony informs me I forgot the Regional-bahn). I loved traveling by train from city to city. We talked, ate, read and slept without any driving stress. It was also fun to see the countryside of Germany - even if it was covered under feet of cold January snow. I got a kick out of seeing the rented gardens along the rail. People in cities who want to try their green thumb can rent a 50-square-foot garden in the country to tend. Clever idea. And it makes me grateful for all my free backyard dirt!



Our travels took us from Stuttgart, to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, to Dresden and finally Berlin.



Day 2&3 (Wednesday-Thursday) - Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Recommended by the Duffin clan, we were so delighted by our stop here. Rothenburg over the Tauber river is a well-preserved medieval city. The houses, streets and protecting wall all stand much as they did 500 years ago. We stayed in the atmospheric Gasthof Goldener Greifen (the mayors old house). I discovered one of my most favorite German meals here too - Spaetzle.

We spent Thursday visiting the church and two famous museums in town. I learned some crazy things about old-time laws and punishments. In some ways it sounded barbaric, in other ways it kind of made sense. I mean, if you were caught quarrelling with a neighbor, you both had to stand in the town square locked to each other for a day. How many poor sport soccer parents would we have with punishments like that? It kind of makes me wonder how people 500 years from now will view our system of lawyers and courtrooms to "prove" (or artfully convince) one's innocence. The big claim to fame of the city is the original well, which brought life-giving, fire-stopping, water in from the river. It's underground canal was kept top secret so enemies couldn't destroy it.


The most unique feature of Rothenburg is the fortress wall surrounding the entire city. Significantly bombarded in WWII it has since been restored. It's a blast to walk along the ramparts of the wall looking down into 500 year old history and out the loopholes (windows) at modern day Germany.


Day 4&5 (Friday-Saturday) - Dresden

Moving further north, Dresden gave us a taste of German art culture as well as WWII destruction.

A few fun pictures from Dresden I took to show my kids.

Home of the famous Saxon king Augustus the Great, this is where he commissioned and collected hundreds of amazing vessels and sculptures in all different forms. The vault consisted of 10 rooms each with a different theme - such as bronze, silver, amber, crystal, etc. This was perhaps my favorite art collection I've yet seen. We also visited the famous "Old Masters" painting museum, where I discovered that I'm not a big fan of looking at the same 5 Biblical stories painted over and over again in various forms of nudity. Sculptures rock. Paintings bore. And so we moved on to...



Day 6-7 (Sunday-Tuesday) - Berlin

The city where Anthony served his mission. Anthony planned to be in Berlin on Sunday so we could attend the East Berlin ward he served in. (I nearly froze to death in my nylons walking to the church on the coldest January day Germany has seen in 100 years!) Anthony had a great time being back and reminiscing with familiar people. We were invited to the home of Werner Riedel for dinner (authentic German cooking!). He spoke fair English, his wife spoke none, but still I hardly felt the language barrier as we enjoyed talking about their many travels. On the way home we snagged pictures of Anthony's first mission apartment and the familiar street he walked everyday.


On Monday we explored the city. We started with a freezing morning walking tour (which we almost skipped because of the cold and we're both glad we didn't). We stopped in the U-bahn to see pictures of the burning Reichstag, visited the Jewish memorial, the Bradenburg Tor and of course, the Berlin Wall. We spent the afternoon at Checkpoint Charlie and then swung by the Reichstag that night (next collage). That picture of my feet - that's me standing on the Berlin Wall! Red bricks mark the original path of the ripped-down wall throughout the city.


With all the build up of 14th century Rothenburg, 17th century Dresden, it was at the Berlin Wall that the great panorama of history gelled and came alive for me for the first time. On Tuesday we visited the German history museum where I saw for the first time the great cycles of history. Peace, war, new maps. Over and over again. The world I once imagined was stable and flat is actually volatile, cyclical and round. Amazing. Unsettling. It made me anxious to want to learn more of the story. What will happen in the next 50 years? 1000? It's exciting. Too bad I won't know (except in the afterlife), but cool that I get to see so much of that history now.

A few more fun pictures: Alexanderplatz and the TV Tower (think Bourne Supremacy), the top of the Reichstag, old school pinball and "cannons" at the German History museum. Washing our clothes, German "art" (aka graffiti), the famous home of the missionaries' favorite doner spot, rotegrutze (raspberry gelatin in vanilla sauce).


One of the best bonuses of the trip was that we came home with new friends. Irene and Oliver Luedtke and Irene's sister Tine. Irene and Tine grew up in the ward where Anthony served and Anthony helped teach Oliver the first missionary discussions. Anthony was surprised to discover that Oliver is now the ward clerk and that Oliver and Irene had gotten married. They graciously hosted us at the German History Museum and then took us out to an authentic DDR (old Communist) restaurant. All three spoke excellent English. I had a blast getting to know them, hearing their perspective of the fall of The Wall (when they were about 10) and learning all about German vs American culture. Hanging out with them made me want to learn German because I think it is awesome to be able to make friends half a world away.


Of course, while we were away, we missed our kids terribly. We talked with them online most nights - the only way to go with kids so young. They wiped my parents out, but they also bonded like never before. Thanks Mom, Dad, Austin and Ruthie for letting us have this magical trip to Germany!

Tenessee Christmas

Christmas season officially begins with the decorating of the tree. Shortly after, we blockaded the tree with the couch to prevent little miss curiosity from pulling it over. Every morning, Austin hurdled the couch to plug in the Christmas lights for the day.

Another important family tradition is the annual grandma picture with Santa Claus. Ruthie did not dig this tradition too much. Austin got into the spirit of it, informing Santa he wanted train tracks for Christmas.

We started (hopefully) a new tradition this year - a Christmas mailbox, where elves and mommy can deliver Christmas surprises all month long. This included Christmas stories, crafts, movies, decorations and treats. I didn't bother taking a picture of the mailbox because it was just a diaper box with one end pulled out (you can see it the picture below by Ruthie's table). In the future I hope we'll have a fun day decorating the new mailbox each year and anticipating the fun deliveries.

We celebrated this year in Tennessee. Thankfully, I wasn't pregnant this time, so we could all fully enjoy the trip. Before we left, we had a mini Christmas at home, opening a few family gifts that were too large to travel.
We arrived late on the 23rd, so before we knew it, it was Christmas! The kids lined up on the stairs Christmas morning ready to go. (Christmas PJs were supplied by Grandma Duffin). Some family members were still sleeping in (the thrill is lost in adulthood), but Oma, Opa and Hilary joined my little early risers. One of Anthony's gifts was Jazz tickets (really a gift to me too - we enjoyed watching them win that game against the Nuggets by the way). Everyone's stockings included some traditional items - fruit, m&ms (which I devoured), mini Baby Ruth's, and a bag of Cheetos (which Austin devoured).

Santa did his job well - Austin got his train tracks and Ruthie got a new puppy.

Later, when the rest of the family woke up (poor Amber had a stomach virus!), we opened family gifts. Tia Claire got the kids adorable Disney PJs, and Buzz Lightyear gear, plus a membership to the Childrens' Discovery Museum in Salt Lake! Ruthie got toys and books, Austin got an airport (one of his favorite toys still), I got a cash card which I am using to get a couple much needed massages and Anthony received some stylish new business apparel.
Other notable events included the traditional Christmas candlelight ceremony, a game night at the Barnes (bottom right above), the Gatlinburg aquarium (thanks Amber for planning that!), a lively religion discussion, a trip to the park, lots and lots of fun with cousins Olivia, Sophie, Rosie (Kerry's kids) and Henry (Amber's boy). Ruthie also became a savvy little traveler this trip.

Ruthie learned her first distinguishable word - "Henry"!
(Of course, 3 months later, she now has several good words)

It Starts With P and That Rhymes with T and That Stands for Trouble

Yep, I'm talking potty training. I was intending to wait until after our Christmas trip to TN to tackle this, but it suddenly hit me that we had another big trip in January and that I'd really be waiting until almost February! So we plunged in.

Look at that cute little underwear boy helping to decorate the Christmas tree! There is nothing cuter than a 3-year-old in underwear.

So how did we work it? We started on a Sunday afternoon after church (the day of the picture taken above). I told him he was done with diapers and he was going to wear underwear now. He gave no argument. The first 2 days I gave him 3 M&Ms for every time he sat on the potty. I set my timer to go off every 30 minutes and had him sit on the potty and try. After 2 days he was getting tired of that routine and so was I. Plus, I could tell that he had fully accepting this potty thing, he just needed to "own" it and figure out for himself when to go.

So I introduced this sticker chart. He got a sticker every time he went potty and kept his underwear dry. I thought he'd fill the chart in 3 days, but it ended up taking 5. Five rip-my-hair-out days. It seemed like Austin announced his need to go potty 1 second before it came out of his body. We changed a lot of underwear and spot cleaned a lot of carpet. Obviously, we didn't go anywhere that week. I suppose I could have used pull-ups, but I wanted to get this over with, no handicaps. Finally, on day 7, I had a heart-to-heart with him and asked him if he was trying or if it was just hard. He sincerely told me that he was trying and that it was hard. He was cute. And I decided to have more patience. But, joyously, we woke up the next morning and bang! he'd figured it out. He went dry that day and many a day since!

This was Austin's prize for filling up the sticker chart. For the first 3 days he asked every time he went potty if he could play with his "surprise" now. It was so hard for me to hold out and not give it to him but I wanted him to have a reason to keep trying. It turned out to be just right actually. When he finally earned this, he was so happy! He played with this toy for a solid straight week.

Looking back, the potty training actually went fast, but that one week was excruciatingly frustrating. He only had one poop on the floor incident (phew) which I made him clean up - and I'm pretty sure that convinced him to never do that again. Now he's doing great. We still get wet underwear about once every other day, but he knows how to get himself cleaned up so I'm feeling patient with it. Last week we did another sticker chart to practice wiping himself (that's so nice!). The only big thing left is night-time training and I'm not sure when I'm going to tackle that.

I'm so happy the hardest part is over. He seems so much older and more responsible now. It's definitely changed the way I perceive him and what I expect of him. My little man is truly growing up. And he's at that magical age where he couldn't be prouder.

Ruthie is 1!

My little baby turned 1 on Nov 15th! How did she get so old so fast? I swear the year has flown by. We celebrated her birthday in style with the whole family and her very own cake to destroy. Everyone commented that Ruthie was the most bold of all the kiddies - digging in almost right away. Her big bday gift from mom and dad was a stroller and baby doll that she instantly loved.


Here is the video montage of the cake destruction. Can she get any more cake in those little hands?



A few fun memories of my little one-year-old, as recorded on her first birthday:

• She has the funniest head shake when she's "talking". For any Johnsons out there it's rather reminiscent of her Opa.
• She picked up a little phrase from cousin Tyce who frequently calls out "Heidi" whenever I'm around. Now Ruthie walks around saying "Ei-Eee", "Ei-Eee". I get called Heidi before I even get called Mom!
• She plays "duck duck goose". Seriously. Somehow Anthony taught her this. She pats his head saying "du. du." and then runs around with him. It's pretty much their favorite game.
• She climbs onto the kitchen table. So not my favorite thing. That would be quite a fall!
• She loves containers. Loves to move items from one container to another.
• She can say "bye", "hi", "da" (dad), "ma" (mom) and "ei-ee" (Heidi)
• She can sign the words for "bye", "more" and "dad". Actually, when she says "da" she waves her little hand bye. She's associated her dad with waving bye to him when he leaves for work.
• She has yet to refuse to eat anything - except ground turkey.
• She has recently been going through a mommy-hold-me phase. For a long time she has been content to just wander around doing her own thing, but lately she wants to be in my arms, so I'm having to relearn my one-handed skills.
• She's learned to cry whenever Austin gets near her. It gets mommy to come running before Austin can even pummel her.
• She goes down the kiddie slide all by herself, feet first on her tummy. No fear.
• She feeds herself almost exclusively. She accepts it if we feed her sometimes, but she's had to learn early to feed herself since I'm only too happy to have my hands free for other things.
• She currently takes 1 90 minute nap each day. Very consistent. Very easy to put to bed. Definitely the easiest kid to put to bed I've ever heard of. Often she doesn't even want a wind down time - no stories or songs. Once you get her in her PJs she starts to cry until you lay her in her bed. Then she's instantly happy, sucks her thumb and is ready for sleep.
• She still wakes up in the middle of the night. We're working on that.
  
• She is a forager, constantly ready for food. If you are eating anything, she will come up to you, hold out her hand and make begging noises until you share.
• She has just started to watch TV. This is important to me because this how I sneak in my extra naps.
• She loves bath time.
• She smiles every morning.
• She has a funny fake-sounding laugh.
• She has fine blond hair and deep brown eyes.
• She loves her cousins, aunts, grandparents and all.

Disneyland!

This past November I finally realized my long anticipated dream of taking my kids Disneyland! (It started when I was miserably sick in my pregnancy with Austin. I got through the vomiting and pain by visualizing my future little boy at Disneyland.)

November 1st, the day after Halloween, my whole family got on a plane and flew to sunny California. This included my parents, Heather, Debbie and her family too. My wonderful parents gave us this trip as a gift so we could all go play.

We were there for 5 fantastic days. Already I can't wait to go back! Anthony laughs a little when I say that because my memories of the trip are already rose-colored. I have hopes of putting together a scrapbook dedicated to all our future Disneyland trips. If I ever do, I may share online. For now though (and because I'm so behind on blogging) I will keep it super short.

Here is a collage I printed and framed for everyone for Christmas. Just a smidgen of the good times:

1. Outside the new Monsters Inc. ride. One of the little kids' favorite rides - including Austin. Austin was pretty freaked out by all of the "dark" rides (the black-light lit rides). We took him on Pinocchio and that sealed the deal - no Snow White, no Peter Pan, no Mr. Toad, no Alice and definitely no Haunted Mansion. I was totally fine with this because I wanted his memories to be happy, not painful. We did coerce him onto Pirates because I had to see the Jack Sparrow updates. Austin spent the entire ride with his head in my lap. Just for the record, the Pirates changes were nicely done and a fun way to pull in more of the movie.
2. Grandpa and Makayla strolling through Critter Country eating churros. Mmmmm.... churros.
3. Me and Austin in front of the Brother Bear playground area. Austin and Ruthie had a blast here. I never understood why Disneyland put this boring old playground in their park. Now I get it. Disneyland caters to all ages - playgrounds for kids, farmer's markets and wine galleries for the "elderly". Those Disney guys are pretty darn smart.
4. Anthony and Austin with their "A", all decorated with a Christmas Goofy. Ruthie and I got a similar picture by the "R". I thought this would be a fun picture to take every year and compare. Turns out, though, that California Adventure is about to get a major overhaul and the letters are going away.
5. The gang with Minnie. We had a great time playing in Toon Town - a section of Disneyland I'd mostly ignored until this year.
6. The most awesome parents on the planet! Tigger is my mom's favorite character to collect. She has about 50 Tigger memorabilia.
7. When we arrived, the park still had it's Halloween face on. This Goofy pumpkin sat atop the entrance gate. By the time we left, most of the Christmas fun had arrived.
8. On the bus. The kids came to think of the shuttle as being as much a part of Disneyland as any of the other rides. Whenever Austin and I "play Disneyland" at home, it always begins with the bus ride.
9. Me and Ruthie on the carousal. This girl was amazing. She was so easy. I thought a 1-year-old would be kind of tough, but she completely enjoyed herself. She gave up her afternoon naps for a week (despite a few of my half-hearted stroller nap attempts) and was basically happy and easy going the whole trip.
10. Kalyana and Makayla with Snow White. Character greeting is another piece of Disneyland I've always ignored. But these kids got into it (as we knew they would). Grandma gifted them with autograph books and they filled them up!
11. The gang with Pluto. Seeing Pluto at Disneyland holds a special sentiment for me and my sisters. Back in the day (when I was 5ish) my Dad worked for Disneyland. During a park worker's strike, the business guys (my accountant Dad) were called in to run the park. My Dad spent one day operating Small World and another day playing Pluto. We didn't actually see him do that, but as kids that story felt magical.
12. The entire group in the Tiki Room. A little Disneyland wisdom my Dad passed on to us early in our park-going youth - escape the hot afternoon with some pineapple ice cream and a nice air conditioned animatronics show.
13. Grandpa and Tyce aboard the Astro Blasters. I still think these rockets were funner when they were on top of the people mover platform. You could see the whole park then! And for the record, I miss the Skyway too.
    
14. Heather and Austin on Autopia. What kid doesn't love driving a car? The crazy thing is that even though the park was nearly empty when we went (an average 5 minute line) Autopia had a 40 minute wait the whole time! And for some reason the Fast Pass wasn't working for this ride. We still rode it twice though - and reminded ourselves that Disneyland is way more fun in the no-line off-season.
15. Tarl and Tyce on Mr. Toad's. It was so great to be on this trip with the whole family. We spent part of the time all together and part of the time in our own families doing our own thing. It worked well. And I love that all the kids have this very memorable experience to reflect on and share (and they do talk about it often).
16. Perhaps the favorite character meeting - Woody! All the kids are crazy about Toy Story. Kalyana may vote for the princesses, but I'm sure the rest would pick this guy. Sadly, Buzz doesn't do appearances anymore (I'm picturing parental mob scenes perhaps).
17. Debbie, Makayla and Tyce on Dumbo. The very first ride on the very first day (not counting the bus)!
18. Grandma and Austin on Tuck and Roll's Bumper cars. Bug's Land was completely empty on Tuesday. Seriously, it was us and two other families. We walked right on to the rides and then stayed on them three or four times before getting off. If you'll notice, my Mom is chatting on her cell phone here. This was a reoccurring theme in many pictures. Mom did a great job of keeping the group together.
19. The Lambsons with Mickey. We all got pictures with him at his house in Toon Town and again at CA Adventure. No trip is complete without the big guy. (Oops, two #19s. The second is of Sleeping Beauty's castle - the defining icon of the park).
    
20. Me and Kalyana on Splash Mountain. This girl, now just above the height limit, discovered roller coasters big time! She was tall enough for all except California Screamin'. I believe she picked Splash as her favorite coaster - despite the cool weather and all. A girl after my own heart.
21. Mom and Heather with Mr. Big Cheese. Heather knows the parks better than any of us and has probably gone an average of once a year her entire life. She spent the $40 to upgrade her pass to a season pass and is planning to go back with some friends before the one-year mark. $40 extra dollars for another 5 days? Pretty smart.
22. The family at the Princess lunch. We debated about spending the money ($30 per head) for this character meal, but in the end (and thanks to mom and dad taking the tab) we all felt like it was one of our favorite events. It was so nice to sit, relax, eat great food and recharge our batteries in the middle of the day. The kids had a blast meeting 5 princesses - including the boys (and we saved ourselves 45 minutes of standing in line to meet them).
23. Anthony, Austin and Grandma on Toy Story Mania. A new family favorite! As Mr. Potato Head says, "It's a ride that's a game. It's a game that's a ride." Tarl ending up pulling in the family high score (of course), but I had a pretty close second. We rode this one twice, but like Autopia, the line was consistently 30 minutes long with no Fast Pass, otherwise we would've ridden it a ton more.
    
24. Ruthie looking out the porthole on the Finding Nemo submarines. It was so much fun to watch this little girl enjoy the park. In my visualizations of Disneyland I always pictured Ruthie as being like a 6-month-old blob. I'm glad we didn't go until she was 1. She had so much fun on this trip and delighted and surprised us all with her squeals and laughs and animated faces. This ride was a huge crackup. Every time she saw the bubbles rush past the window she'd point and pant like she'd just won the lottery.
25. The Johnsons outside the teacups. Notice Ruthie's apple? Grandpa gave that to her. It was literally as big as her head. She loved it.

Oh the joys! Ok, now to recall one or two small drawbacks:

1. We made Austin wear a leash around his wrist. He hated it. He was the only one forced to wear it and I think he was aware of the unfairness of it. But that boy has always been a boundary pusher. When you say, "Stop!" it's often an invitation to take one more step...and then another. I'm glad we insisted, because momentarily loosing him would've ruined the trip completely (I've lost him before and it is devastating). However, one morning in particular, us Johnsons spent an hour outside the entrance while Austin threw the biggest and longest tantrum of his life, smacking his head on the concrete and giving himself the biggest goose-egg I've ever seen. At long last he gave up and then we had a great time for the rest of the day!
2. Lack of sleep slowly crept up on us. Us parents went to bed at the same time as the kids because we were that exhausted. Plus, with everyone sleeping in one room, the rest isn't quite as restful.

And finally, three stories I wish I had pictures of:

1. Austin discovered a love for swimming on this trip. The hotel pool (we only went once) had a 20-foot diameter area that was only 3-feet deep. Austin loved the freedom of being able to run around in the water on his own.
2. One morning Austin and I got an early start in the park (Anthony and Ruthie took it easy at the hotel for an extra two hours). We did our own thing, including the Playhouse Disney Live On Stage show. Spending that one-on-one time with my boy was so much fun. He finally had the freedom to take the park in at his own speed - walking slowly, looking at decorations, going on Monster's three times in a row, etc. It was wonderful bonding time.
   
3. Ruthie slept in the bathtub. She's the lightest sleeper in our family and we didn't want every shuffle of the sheets to instigate a crying attack. Our extra small playpen fit perfectly in the center of the bathtub. So that little girl got to sleep in her own room.

Did I mention I can't wait to go back?!

First Talk

Austin gave his first talk in church last week - the First Article of Faith. After one Family Home Evening lesson he had it memorized! He gets quite an astonished reaction from anyone he shares with, so he loves to share. In church, when it was his turn, he got up and recited this without any help. We were proud parents.

Halloween

When we last left our heroes, they were anticipating a sugar-filled Halloween and a trip to Disneyland. Let's see how it all went down.

Halloween night we took the wee ones, plus the L kids to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. We had a couple fairies, Buzz, Baby Ruth, and me - Jessie, the yodeling cowgirl. Ruthie only went with us to a couple of houses so I could show her off, then my mom took her home. The L girls were all business, running from house to house trying to max out their candy horde. Austin was the opposite, he walked slowly enjoying all the decorations and saying hi to all the neighbors we passed. I ended up carrying him piggy-back from house to house so we could keep up with the girls. Austin did eat plenty of candy that night - licorice, nerds, and lots of suckers. Anthony I got all the good chocolate stuff.


Unfortunately, having our first real neighborhood Halloween, I overestimated the number of trick-or-treaters we'd get. Recognizing the upcoming holidays, Anthony insisted that I not keep that much candy around for us to fatten up with. Crazy, I know, but I'm pretty sure my cub scout parents would not have appreciated me unloading 5 pounds of sugar on their kids.

After a fun Halloween, we got up the next morning and flew to... Disneyland! Finally! That was an awesome trip - and for the next blog post.

Share Your Christmas Fun Ideas

I'm ramping up for a month of fun in December. I'm excited to have a kid old enough to enjoy the holiday season and I want to play! I'm trying to come up with ideas of things to do and need your help!! Please share with me your favorite family Christmas ideas. Here are some categories to get you thinking:

Movies (TV specials)
Crafts
Early gifts (decorations, toys)
Books
Food
Games/Activities
Outings (that's the big one - stuff like temple square lights - what's out there that I've never heard of or haven't thought of in ten years?)

Thanks everyone!

Nativity Re-enactment 2008

That's Creative

The kids got creative for Halloween. They made a gingerbread "house", except that if it were to be a house, it would've been my project, so instead they made gingerbread cookies. After gobs of mess on the kitchen table, we moved upstairs and painted the tub with frosting.

What's the difference between a 3-yr-old and a 1-yr-old? About 2 pounds of mess.

We had our first snow of the season two days ago. Austin and Anthony went out to play and this is what they built.

Austin has beaten me to the punch - he wrote a book. His creativity also included writing it on post-it notes in green ink in some form of Swahili. But here's the interpretation... (if you compare this video to the one of Austin's tonsils, you'll notice his voice has changed. Less nasally and higher pitched.)

The full story is as follows. Look for it in stores near you:

Once There Was A Spider

Once upon a time there's an Austin and a mommy and there's a scary spider named Ruthie. And she scared mommy. And the spider walk walk walk to mommy. And the spider went up to mommy's head and the spider pulled mommy's hair out of her head. And mommy said, "Oh spider, spider. Where's my hair?" And the spider said, "It's right here in my hand." And my spider friends want their hairs. And mommy said, "Guys, I want my hair back! I want my hair back! I want my hair back!" And the spider said, "Ok. Ok, ok, ok." And the spider get the hair on mommy's head. And the spider get mommy's hair on her. And she drove. And the spider and mommy drive, drive to my house and the spider drive to my house too. And mommy and the spider drive the fastest. And Ruthie and Austin go to work at their office. The End.

Playing Together

Don't you love it when your kiddies play together? Austin and Ruthie recently discovered yet another game they both enjoy - WALL*E! Austin and Ruthie spent half and hour making trash in Austin's WALL*E box. Ruthie fed the trash in and Austin crushed it. This appealed both to a 1-year-old's love of putting objects into containers and a 3-year-old's love of imaginative play.

31-5-31

31... years ago (last month) Heidi J. was born.

My little clone was born 30 years later. Is she me, or what?

5... years ago (2 weeks ago) the J Fam began.


31... years ago (last week) Anthony J. was born.

My Tonsils Are In The Trashcan

Here's the whole tonsil history. Mid June, Austin started waking up 5-6 times a night crying, sounding like he'd just had a nightmare. We often laid down by him to comfort him back to sleep. That's when we noticed that his breathing often sounded like this:

In August Austin had his well-child check up where a very exhausted mother complained about his poor sleeping patterns to the doctor. He suggested it might be sleep apnea. We followed up with an ENT who said that his tonsils were definitely large and getting them out would significantly improve his breathing. (To help you decode this picture, his tongue is in the foreground and you can see the uvula almost dead center.)



We scheduled surgery for three weeks later. In the mean time, I did my best to prepare my little man. We checked out a handful of books from the library about hospitals (Froggy Goes to the Doctor, Franklin Goes to the Hospital are both highly recommended). When I saw this Halloween costume and doctor kit at the store, I couldn't resist getting it for him - in an attempt to create a positive association with all the paraphernalia. His cousins were very willing patients and nurses.

Austin did great at the hospital. He was very nonchalant about the whole thing. He was super excited to get his name bracelet, and quite content to watch TV while he waited. I can't help wondering just how much he remembered from being there almost exactly one year ago for ear tubes. (Which fell out just before his surgery and which dropped Austin's ear infection rate from 7 the previous year down to 0 last year). On the left, Austin 1 year ago for ear tubes. On the right, the recent tonsil surgery.

15 minutes before surgery, they gave Austin an oral tranquilizer, which basically made him drunk. It was hilarious to watch him try to sit up like his arms and legs were two sizes too long. We had to put the bed rails up to make sure he didn't fall off. Too bad I didn't get video of that.

The surgery went quick and one hour later we heard him crying as they carried him back down the hall to us. He cried loudly for about 20 minutes, then fell asleep in my arms. When he woke up an hour or so later he was groggy, but great. The next day he seemed almost back to his old self. He was a little more aggressive that first week, which I attribute to the pain killers making his head foggy so that he really didn't "know his own strength." And for 5 days his voice sounded like he'd been sucking helium. I tried to get some comparison video, but the helium sound is a little harder to hear on video. Video 1: The night before surgery, grandma came over to give Austin a Woody doll to take to the hospital with him. Video 2: A few days later.



Austin is now 6-weeks post-op and doing great. I'd throw in video of his breathing now, but he breathes silently now, so there'd be nothing to hear! I'm so glad we did the surgery. He breathes so beautifully now and he wakes up only once a night (sometimes zero). When you ask Austin what happened to his tonsils he reports, "The doctor threw them in the trash can."