Five Little Pumpkins

The kids loved Halloween music this year. Every time we were in the car they would request the spooky music their grandma gave them (Wee Sing Halloween).

One of my favorite things from the month October was listening to them do their own version of Five Little Pumpkins. They all do a little bit different version of the song. I am sure it doesn't help that Ms. Tami taught Hyrum who taught the twins a different version of the song than the one I sang to them at home. Here are my cute little monkeys singing one of their favorite Halloween songs.

Papa Van

Even though it is a little late, I thought that I would share this video that I filmed of the kids. In the video they are talking about their beloved Papa Van who recently had a birthday.

I am so lucky to have such a great dad. I love the fact that he takes the time to truly love my kids. He is never to busy to talk to them or myself. Some of those talks with my dad have really helped be a better person. I love my dad so much.

I'm So Glad...

These are videos I filmed in Utah of the kids singing the song I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home. I was going to try and post them on the blog why we were in Utah for Father's Day, but I left the cord for the camera at home. Oh well, better late then never right? At least Brandon will know that he is loved. We missed him a lot while we were in Utah. He is such a great daddy!

Three Little Monkeys

I just wanted to share this fun video of the kids singing and acting out their favorite song. They love to jump on the bed much to my dismay. I heard them singing the Three Little Monkeys song and had to get my camera. If you listen closely, you can hear Emmy and Hyrum singing. For the most part, they love to play together and have great imaginations. They worry about each other all the time. If someone is missing (went to preschool) and then they come home they are met by many hugs and kisses. I am so grateful that they love each other so much and are perfectly content to be in each others company.

Strawberry Picking

Last Monday, for Family Home Evening, I decided that I would take the kids to pick some strawberries. Brandon was busy studying for finals at school, so I thought it would be fun to take the kids out of the house and do something. I had seen a strawberry patch close to our house that allows people to pick their own strawberries and decided that picking strawberries would be something the kids would really enjoy.

On the way to the patch, I talked about how Jesus Christ created the Earth and how one of the reasons plants were put on the Earth was for our enjoyment; one of the plants being strawberries.

After I got our bucket I told, as well as showed, the kids what strawberries were good to pick (completely red ones) and the strawberries that were not good to pick. Also, I told them that we couldn't eat our strawberries until we got home since they are dirty and we need to pay for what we pick.

The kids did a great job picking. They stayed close to me, they listened, I was so pleased about how well they did. For the most part, we ended up with mostly red strawberries with a few stray green ones. Also, there were only one or two strawberries with bite marks in them.The kids were so much fun to watch as they were picking their strawberries.Ben was very serious when he was picking the strawberries. He had to carry the bucket the whole time. He was very protective of the strawberries. One time he fell while he was carrying the bucket. He was too busy cleaning up the strawberries that fell out that he didn't even take time to cry. Also, some grass got in the bucket, which he didn't think should be there, and he got the grass out really quick. Ben also would follow behind Hyrum while they were looking for strawberries. Hyrum would look at a strawberry and decide it isn't ready to be picked yet and soon after Ben would come up behind him and grab the same strawberry and jabber to himself and put the strawberry back. It was too funny.

Emmy would pick any and every strawberry she saw. I think she was so excited to be picking the strawberries. Check out all the band aids on her legs in the picture below. I think she put five on that day in a matter of minutes.

Hyrum was so cute picking for strawberries. He would make sure that the strawberries didn't have any white on them before he picked them. He wanted to make sure the strawberries were all red. If a strawberry had a tiny spot of white or green it wouldn't pass the Hyrum test.After we finished picking, we had the strawberries weighed and put into a paper bag. Ben about had a nervous breakdown. I think he thought that the man was taking his strawberries away and wouldn't give them back. As you can see below, Ben was quite happy and pleased once he realized that he would get the bag full of his strawberries back.

We all had such a great time. It was such a fun activity. Also, it was nice to have such a yummy treat to go along with our dinner that night.

Month of Birthdays!

As most of you know, Brandon and I celebrated birthdays recently.

The best gift, that I was able to receive for my birthday, was having my parents take time from their busy, busy lives to come see me. I have been really homesick and it was a treasure to have them come and see us.

We did the "Easter Bunny" on my birthday and went to the ward Easter party You can read what I did on my birthday day here and here.

The end of the day, my wonderful cute mom made dinner for me. She made round steak, mash potatoes and gravy, rhodes rolls, steamed veggies and a great fruit salad. Doesn't that just make your mouth water thinking about it? It was a divine dinner.

For dessert, of course we had birthday cake. The kids loved doing a practice blow after my turn.

After the kids went to bed, Brandon, my mom, my dad and myself watched Twilight. The Twilight movie was a gift I received from my birthday. I was shocked that Brandon and my mom watched it. My mom isn't into movies with any suspense in it all. She gets too nervous. I think Brandon watched it with me since it was my birthday.

For Brandon's birthday, after soccer practice, we went to Chuckie Cheese and had a great time. The best part was that it was free. I was able to find coupons for free tokens on string cheese packages. The kids had a great time.
Emmy loved riding in what looked like a princess carriage. She spent many tokens there until the machine broke. My guess is that it had too many tokens in it.

Shooting hoops with dad

After Chuckie Cheese, we came home for cake and ice cream. The kids,especially Hyrum, were so excited that it was Brandon's birthday. Emmy was running around telling Brandon Happy Daddy all day. Ben was also telling daddy Happy Birthday any time he saw him. It was too cute.

Hyrum was the official passer out of the presents. He loved it. Hyrum was so excited to give Brandon some pens for his birthday(pens for a gift, what can I say, they were nice pens and we are college students still). When he was giving Brandon his pens he was giving him instructions. I was trying to have him reenact what he was told Brandon in the video below. Too cute and funny!

Happy Earth Day!

Today, we celebrated Earth Day by heading to our local mall. I heard from one of my good friends, about how the Disney store would give you a free reusable water bottle if you brought in three recyclable plastic bottles. I decided to make a date out of the adventure with my kids since Brandon is extremely busy studying for finals.

The kids are in heaven when we go into the Disney store. They can't get enough of it. When we first go into the store Hyrum heads straight over to the Lightening McQueen section. As you can see in the picture, he wanted to bring some money. I don't know what he thought he could buy with two quarters, but he really wanted to bring some money. I kept Ben and Emmy in the stroller for this trip and they would grab anything if the stroller got close enough. Emmy was even able to snab a shark, one of her favorite Nemo characters. Ben and Emmy just jabbered about everything they saw and oohed and aaahed.After we picked up our free water bottles we headed over to the food court and split a sandwich from subway. The kids loved their sandwich. They are big veggies eater and couldn't get enough of them.

Of course we couldn't leave the mall without stopping to see the neighs (aka, the Carousel). The kids love it, especially the twins! Emmy gets so excited when she hears the bell go off signaling that the carousel is about to start. I think she is the one who gets the most excited about the "neighs", but they all enjoyed themselves.Hyrum decided that he wanted to use his two quarters to use on a race car game in the arcade. I know it is a waste of money, but oh well, it made him happy. He still tells everyone he wants to be a race car driver when he gets older.

As we were leaving, I decided to splurge and let the kids ride the train they have been dying to ride for a very long time. The kids were so excited and had grins plastered on their face the whole time as they were riding the train. As soon as they got in the trains they didn't waste a moment shutting the doors. I think they were worried I would change my mind and also because they were so excited for their ride. All in all, it was a great break from the house. Oh, the water bottles, the main purpose of the trip, were later used to dump water on each other and make huge water spots on the floor.

Singing Songs

Below are videos of Ben and Emmy singing some of their favorite song. The first song is Ben singing I am a Child of God. He fell down halfway through, but got up and finished the song even though I stopped the video to help him up.

The second and third videos are of the kids singing Wheels on the Bus. This song seriously has to be one of Emmy's top favorites. She requests this song every night for bedtime. She calls it the Bus song. They are growing up so fast!

Flashback Friday- March 2006

For this Flashback Friday I am doing a post about when we took Hyrum to the beloved duck pond at BYU during March of 2006.

One thing that makes me sad is that I don't have very many pictures of Hyrum at this fun age of around 15 months I was so busy with school, got pregnant with the twins etc. that myself and Brandon didn't take very many pictures of Hyrum. Also at that time we got our first digital camera and I didn't know how to work it very well so I got frustrated and didn't take very many pictures. It doesn't help when you don't have a willing subject who was and still is a very active little boy.

This day we went to feed the duck was perfect. We had such a great time together as a family. Hyrum for the most part was well behaved. This particular trip he would turn around and try to crawl backwards to try to get into the water to get those ducks. He did it many times. Then it was a little frustrating, but now, super cute.

He loved every minute of being outside that day after being cooped up for all winter. Plus, he had not truly been able to try out his walking skills outside since he learned to walk in December of the earlier year.I love the video of his little run. He had such a cute little run and would run everywhere, not walk at all. I am sure the people who lived below us loved listening to him run every day. He had so much energy and kept us on our toes.He loved animals then, he still does now, but I think he is a little bit more careful.

After we went and visited the ducks we went to a local pizza buffet. We had a coupon for the dinner for Brandon and myself and Hyrum ate free then so it was a steal of a deal.This day was a dream. One day that I will always look back with fondness. It was one of our last fun filled days together before I got sick and before the twins came. I am glad that we took the time to enjoy the moment just three of us. Taking time to laugh at all of Hyrum's little quirks and antics and to savor just being together.

Snowy Sunday

This past Saturday afternoon I came out from seeing a movie with my friends and there was a good inch of snow on the ground (maybe less, but it looked like a lot). Brandon and I still went out on our date that night and had a great time. We went out to eat and got our food in no time since no one goes out here in Memphis when there is snow. Below are pictures of the kids watching the snow fall before we took them to the babysitters before our date. My handsome husband getting ready for our date.The next day, Sunday morning, we received a phone call around 7:30 or so saying that church was canceled. I don't remember a time in my life when church has been canceled. Here is what it looked outside.We took full advantage of that day and enjoyed ourselves. We played many games with our kids and read them stories.

Below is an account of some of the things we did that snowy Sunday.

Emmy decided to play bowling (actually all the kids went bowling for awhile, but I only got a picture of her). She did a great job lining the pins up based on their colors.Ben loved playing with the blocks. He does a great job of making pretty big towers for his age. Of course, his favorite part is knocking them down.Everyone played the duck game. Once again Emmy as well as Ben practiced identifying colors and sorting the ducks by their colors with daddy's help.Talking about what color is on the duck!

While Ben and Emmy were playing the duck game, Hyrum and I played the Cars Memory game. I am always amazed every time we play of how well Hyrum remembers. He does such a great job! The kids enjoyed their string cheese snack.A lovable singing dog that has been by far one of the favorite toys in this house (It was the toy that encouraged the twins to walk) was found and played with.Of course, what type of day would it be if we didn't read stories in this house or played with cars. Hyrum started playing with his cars on the couch after the twins were old enough to bug the cars on the ground. Now both him and Ben play with their cars on the couch.

Emmy packed around her Valentine from her beloved Aunt Millie.Later in the afternoon, after it warmed up a little, we bundled the kid up and took them out to play in the snow. The snow wasn't "good snow". We weren't able to pack the snow into balls for snowballs to start a snowman. The kids still had fun in the snow. Hyrum loved the fact that he was able to make footprints. He said footprints really cute. Hyrum also had a great time making a snow angel. He tried hard to make snowball to get mom and dad. Emmy and Ben spent most of their time marching around in the snow trying to figure it out. I think they enjoyed themselves. At the end of playing in the snow, they all came in and enjoyed some nice warm chile after playing in the snow. We ended the day off with inviting some friends over to play some games. It was a great day!