Here She Is!














Grandpa: "A person only turns 80 once." Ammon: "Actually, Grandpa, a lot of people never turn 80."

The theme of the party was to come dressed as Grandpa at some time in his life.

I think Audrey has a good likeness.



It was a great party!

It was a lot of fun to see all the different things people remembered about Grandpa.




Public School?

We have been feeling like home school may be right for us. Has anyone else thought about it?

Here are a few things we have considered:
1)We don't think public school provides the best education for every child.
2)We like the idea of learning outside of the traditional "classroom" setting, and challenging the standard teaching/learning styles.
3)We question whether we could better use the 6hr block of time that public school requires every day. More time could be spent on developing personal talents.
4)We feel like public school could potentially be detrimental to our children's emotional and spiritual well being.

I loved elementary school as a child. I think there is great benefit to be had in learning from other adults who aren't your parents.

The most common concern is, "What about socializing your child?"
While public school may provide meaningful social experiences, our question is, at what cost? Kids are taught by their peers for good and bad. (Has anyone ever had a good junior high experience?) Public school really isn't the only place that a child can socialize.

Another point of view we have encountered: "You can't protect your kids; they will face bad influences sooner or later and they need to learn how to deal with them." The more we have thought about this idea the more we disagree with it. We say you can protect your kids. There is always enough bad to deal with. Let the bad influences happen as "later" as possible. Are they morally mature enough to face the challenges that arise at school? (I wasn't.) Teach them the good first, help them build a strong foundation while they are young. Help them gain a testimony before it is challenged. No way can you fully shelter your kids, but you can try! :)

Neither of us had a glowing experience in public school. We don't know if home schooling would really be any better. There are pros and cons to each alternitive. But we do have a choice, and we want to honestly consider what would be best for our kids. I'm exploring my options.




6 months old!!


Audrey is already 6 months old!
When Audrey was born she was almost 9lbs and only 18 in. long. At her 6 month check up she was in the 95 percentile for weight (17lbs 12oz) and in the 25th percentile for height (25 in.). Short and chubby!
She has recently become all about "Stranger Danger;" she always keeps mom in veiw.
Whenever I pick Audrey up from her crib she giggles at me and puts her little hands on my face. She likes to pull my face close to hers and give me a big open mouth kiss.
We had her pictures taken today by Allison at Pretty Little Pictures. Stay tuned, to see!




New Discovery




Does anyone actually like cleaning their microwave? For me, it's equal to cleaning the toilet.

I'm all about this $4 microwave cover.

No more egg, spaghetti sauce, and "who knows what" to clean out of the microwave!




CHEESE! or something like it?

I pulled out the camera today and Audrey posed like this:


She did this every time I tried to take a picture of her! Silly girl!

P.S. Hyrum tried dog food today. Yummy. Don't get to close; you can smell it on his breath.





"Mom, Baby cute."

It looks like he's starting to really like her.

Audrey awakened during her nap and I intended to just let her cry herself back to sleep. I was surprised to hear Hyrum calling her name, "Daudrey, Daudrey," as he walked down the hall and into her bedroom. Still calling her name he climbed up on the rocking chair and leaned over her crib and said, "Hi Daudrey, you wake up!"

A couple hours later...

I put Audrey back to sleep and I was cleaning up Hyrum's room. (It's actually one of my favorite things to do... line up the books and toys...stack the blocks...put the puzzles together...) I realized that Hyrum was being very quiet and went to investigate.
I looked down the hall and saw Audrey's door open.
I saw Hyrum in Audrey's crib! In about one second I analyzed the situation: Hyrum was in Audrey's crib; He appeared to be crawling right where Audrey was sleeping; Audrey wasn't making any noise; I pictured him somehow smothering her, sitting on her, blanket over her head... I started to run.
To my astonishment Audrey was sound asleep, with full respiration! Hyrum, as quite as a mouse, just nuzzled down next to her and patted her back. He motioned for me to leave.
I just stood back and watched my cute little babies cuddled together. I was able to bribe him away with the idea of getting a snack. As I carried him out of the nursery, he said, "Mom, baby cute."




Looking Back


Do you think they are related?
My eyes turn into little slits when I smile too. So do my mom's.





$3.00 at Maceys