The Four F's of Thanksgiving

Faith, family, food, and, well, football, of course.

Last year on the Monday before Thanksgiving we made a "Thankful Tree" for Family Home Evening. We wrote down what we're thankful for on leaves and taped them on a tree trunk. The kids were pretty small, and I couldn't even get Netty to put the leaves up once I put tape on the back. At the end of the activity, I took a picture of the kids with the Thankful Tree.

2013

This year, I was a little smarter. I laminated the tree and the leaves so that we can use them again next year, and we taped the tree to the wall so the kids could reach it.  I wrote in wet erase markers, and not long into the activity, Netty started helping too. Both Netty and Atticus put the leaves up on the tree. Atticus didn't understand why the leaves wouldn't stay up without tape, so he spent most of the time trying to put up the same leaf.

2014

I am so grateful for Family Home Evening. It is not always easy to come up with an activity that the kids are going to "get." It's frustrating when I put thought and planning into a lesson or activity and the kids scream through the whole thing. But even though these evenings are not always easy, I am grateful that they bring us together. Netty and Atticus are learning little pieces of the gospel. I love watching their faith and knowledge grow as we learn about following the prophet and praying. I love that it's a built-in opportunity to share my testimony with them. And I have faith that someday there will be even a small payoff.

My children bring me much more joy than I ever could have imagined. Although it can be frustrating at times, these two kidlets love to help. They especially love helping HoneyGram with anything and everything she does. On Thanksgiving Day they helped her wash the potatoes. By the end of the activity they were dirty and wet, but they had a ton of fun. I am grateful that my mom is patient with them, because she certainly could do the work a lot faster without their "help," and it would have been a lot less messy as well.

Netty found a potato with a "nose." She said, "Silly 'tato."

Netty threw a fit right as we were sitting down to eat, so I put her down for a nap while everyone else was eating. By the time I got back upstairs, Atticus was about done with his meal. His favorite was the stuffing, followed by everything else, all mixed together. He was covered head to toe in mashed potatoes and green jello. And immediately following his meal, he went straight into the tub.

After dinner, cleanup, games, and dessert, we settled in for the Seahawks game. Netty was in another room watching Sleeping Beauty, and every time the cheering got loud, she would come out and scold us. Atticus, however, loved the cheering, and eventually settled in to watch it with Stephie. Thankfully, our Hawks didn't disappoint,

Oh How We Love Costco

A lifetime supply of toothpicks. Ten gallons of maple syrup. A 25lb bag of carrots. And diapers. Lots and lots of diapers. I love Costco. I love how you can buy practically anything, even things you hardly ever use, like 900,000 paperclips, at Costco. When I walk through the door, I feel as though I've entered a magical world, like Disneyland, and suddenly everything I see seems like a good idea.

And it doesn't just work on big kids. It works on little kids too!

Okay. Enough magic.

What Costco trip isn't complete without a ginormous hot dog?

And frozen yogurt? (Hey, it's fat free!)

This is Halloween

HoneyGram bought The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, and it quickly became Netty's favorite book. Suddenly, Netty called any house that had any kind of Halloween decoration or light on a "pooky house." We drove around one night to find all the spooky houses in the neighborhood. The best part was listening to Netty talk later about the giant spiders ("Ewwie! We don't eat them!") and the ghosts and other spooky things she saw. 

On the Monday before Halloween we decorated pumpkins. At first I set the kids' pumpkins down on newspaper on the table in front of them and gave them markers. Instead of coloring on the pumpkins, they colored on the newspaper. Once I drew faces on their pumpkins, they got the idea and started drawing on them as well. After the kids were done with their pumpkins, Jon and I carved ours.

Atticus with his pumpkin

Netty with her pumpkin

Atti trying out pumpkin guts -- When I was about ten, my sister told me that the inside of a pumpkin tasted like pumpkin pie. I told her that I didn't believe here, but she said, "No, really. I just tasted it." So then I took a big bite of the pumpkin innards. It did NOT taste like pie.

Deathly Hallows -- Halloween isn't Halloween without some kind of nod to Harry Potter. Unfortunately, the whole center triangle fell out just as we were leaving the house to go trick-or-treating. At least it lasted as long as it did.

Phelps Family Pumpkins

And Jonny said he never wanted a kitten -- Netty said she wanted to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween, but I couldn't find mouse ears anywhere (at least for a reasonable price and in time for Halloween). Instead I bought cat ears and turned them in to mouse ears.

Last year I decided it seemed silly to spend $20+ on a Halloween costume that would probably only be worn once. For the last two years we have either used what we already had (the skirt and shoes) or we bought things the kids would be able to wear again (the black hoodie jacket). 

We practiced trick-or-treating with the kids for family night ahead of time so that the kids knew what to do. They went around to the bedrooms and HoneyGram and Papa opened the doors and gave them treats. Then, in the days and hours leading up to the big event, we continued going over what Netty needed to say and do. By the time we got to the night, Netty was a pro. She said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at almost every house. The only ones she wouldn't say anything at were the ones with fire pits in the driveway because it was too scary.

I was sure Atticus would be pulling off his ears and/or hood all night. Maybe it was because Netty had them on too or maybe it was that he was too busy with everything else going on to notice, but either way, he left them on all night. Both kids carried their pumpkin buckets the whole way down the street and back, and Atticus walked the whole way. He even said "thank you," and at a few houses where they held out the bowl in front of him, he grabbed candy by the handfuls and went back for seconds. This kid knows what trick-or-treating is all about.

Yep, we were those people.

My mom got some toothbrushes from work to pass out on Halloween, but then she and my dad made a last-minute trip to Washington for the weekend and Jon and I were stuck handing them out. Surprisingly, parents and kids alike were excited about the toothbrushes.

By the end of the night the kids were exhausted. They hung on just long enough for bath and jammies, and then as soon as we put them in bed, they went right to sleep.

Falling

Fall is my favorite season. I love the colors and the crispness and the excitement of the coming holidays. This fall has been much warmer than any that I remember--especially since I've been in Rexburg in the fall for the last eight or so years, and it's much colder there. We tried to take advantage of the warmer weather with walks to the park and the library, and playing in the backyard leaves.

Atticus loved riding in HoneyGram and Papa's jumbo Radio Flyer.

Netty too!

Enjoying the last of the sun before bath and bed.

Getting ready for a trip to the library. Our stroller is a "sit 'n stand," and this was the first day that we took out the back seat so Netty could sit on the bench or stand on the pedestal. 

Atticus "helped" Papa fix our brakes.

After almost a whole year wearing her beloved red boots, Netty's feet grew too big. She squeezed into them as long as she could before we finally passed them down to Atticus. And now Atticus loves them just as much as Netty did.

Playing outside with Stephie

Darling "Yu-di" - Julia (pronounced "yu-di-ah") is my parents' "adopted" Asian grandbaby. Her dad is Japanese, and my parents stayed with his family when picking my brother up from his mission. Now he and his wife live in Salt Lake City, and my mom coached the births of both of their daughters. Netty and Atticus adore Julia and her little sister Erika.

Netty dancing in the leaves

Giving Daddy some love

Netty was sad when we finally had to pass her red boots on to Atticus. I told her that we would let her pick out some new boots. I didn't know that our Kmart in Utah wouldn't have galoshes like the Kmarts in Washington, so we had to order them online. She picked out green. She was thrilled the day they finally came, and they are now every bit as much favorite as the red boots were.

The kids helped HoneyGram blow out the candles on her birthday cake.