Through the eyes of a child

I'm always amazed that every year my kids (starting with Caleb when he was 2) would always rearrange my nativity scene and put all the people and animals in a tight cluster in a circle. It would drive me nuts because then I'd have to rearrange it back to the way I thought it should be- so we could all see each animal and each person, especially the baby Jesus. Then one day I stopped myself and asked them why they set up the Nativity that way. Their reply was so sweet- "So they can all see the baby Jesus!" That's probably more a resemblance of how things were that sacred night; everyone probably huddled around the baby Jesus to worship and adore Him. Ever since my kids gave that sweet explanation, I've left the Nativity scene the way they choose to set it up. It's their way of telling me that small as they are, they truly know Christ's birth was a miracle and a joyous occasion for all who were there.

I finished!!

On Wednesday night I finished the Book of Mormon! That means I completed my final ticket for my Woodbadge requirements! Woo-hoo!! I'm so excited! It was good to read the book and remember the things I learned in Seminary. Such amazing stories in there!

Just a few days ago, while I was focused on reading the BOM, Jared comes and stands on the couch next to me. He rests his hand on my shoulder and asks what I'm doing. I explain to him that I'm reading the scriptures and then proceed to read the next verse. Suddenly he says, "Look Mom! A candycane!" So I ask, "Where?" He then points to my scriptures and sure enough, I see the candycane!

Caleb's Choir Concert

Wow! I didn't realize I hadn't posted since Nov. 27th! I guess I was just waiting for something noteworth to blog. There's all kinds of little things to mention that I just never got around to posting.

Tonight, Caleb performed in his school's Choir Concert. He is taking choir as a "filler" class. He really insisted that we didn't need to come and see him perform. I told him singing is a good thing and he said something like "yeah, if you're not singing soprano!" It seems his teacher thinks all the boys can sing soprano. I know their voices are changing and stuff but these boys have to be singing falsetto in order to sing that high! I'm afraid she's going to ruin Caleb's desire to ever be a part of a choir again. They sang a few of the usual fun songs and even "Silent Night" (imagine that- in a school even!). They also sang a couple of patriotic numbers in honor of a soldier present in the audience who had just returned from his tour of duty in Iraq. (We've had a couple of soldiers from Pocatello die while serving in Iraq in the last year so they wanted to do something for this soldier.)

In the picture above, Caleb is in the middle row, right in the middle of the picture (probably about 8 kids from the right side).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I set up the tree over the weekend and wish I could say it went without a hitch. For the first time in years I actually had a problem with the lights! Two strings of lights I had half burned out. Rather than try to find the one that's burned out, I went and got new lights. Then come to find out that the plug on one of them is faulty. Of course it's 12:30 on Saturday night when I discover this so rather than go all weekend without lights on the tree, I made do. The kids love helping to decorate the tree. Kenny G's Miracles, Faith and Jim Brickman's The Gift was playing in the background while we drank hot chocolate and watched the twinkling lights. The magic of Christmas filling the air with each ornament we put on the tree.
One of the things I have on the tree is the little baby Jesus (a little plastic baby wrapped in "swaddling clothes" laying in a walnut shell). It was so sweet to see Jared's face when he discovered this. I purposely put it on the tree at his eye level so that he would see it. Of course it hasn't stayed on the tree much. He carries it around with him every where he goes and is always telling us about the baby Jesus.
Throughout this season as we go about our busy lives, don't forget the reason we celebrate this special season: the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving at our house

I know Thanksgiving was last week and most everyone I know already posted their pictures. So I'm a little late but who cares!

Yumm!! Seeing all this food makes me want to go eat dinner! All the food was so declicious! I didn't get pics of everyone there. Just those who were cooperative for the camera!

Pictures from Kaitlyn's party

I promised pictures from Kaitlyn's party so here they are! Everyone thought I was crazy to have 8 girls over here. I didn't mind it at all! Sure it was a little noisy but as long as everyone was having fun, I didn't care!

After all the girls arrived, they ate cake and ice cream. Then went on to open presents. After that, they watched the movie Ratatouille and ate caramel popcorn. About half way through, some of the girls were bored with the movie (they had seen it already) and wanted to dance. watching a bunch of 9 year olds dance is pretty entertaining! Sorry- I didn't get a picture of that.

Woodbadge

I know it's been a long time since I have made a post. Let me explain why. First of all I've been working more hours to help out with the finances. Secondly, I've been trying to finish a goal I set while at Woodbadge during the summer of 2006.

Woodbadge is a leadership training course put on by the Boy Scouts of America. The course teaches leadership skills and communication/listening skills through games, skits, lectures, campfire ceremonies, flag raisings, etc. It is not just for scouting people. They encourage anyone who wants to become a better leader to attend it. Of course it helps if you have scouting background because they refer to it a lot. When I attended, the course director was a judge from the juvenile court system here in Pocatello. Since he was the director, he assigned a lot of people who work in the juvenile system to attend the course. About 1/3 of the attendees were there because of their affilation with the Judge (most had no scouting experience). Anyway, one of the things you do at Woodbadge is set 5 tickets (goals) to work on and complete over the course of the next 18 months. They have to be fulfilled within that time in order for you to receive "beads" and a neckerchief. I have completed 4 of my 5 tickets and the last one is still in progress. That goal was to read the Book of Mormon. I am so close to being done. So, between work and reading the BOM, family, and church calling, my evenings have been pretty full.

I had a blast at Woodbadge! While I was there, they organized everyone into patrols. There are 5-6 people in a patrol and each patrol has a troop guide to teach us things that make us better leaders. I was assigned to the Bobwhite Patrol. Our patrol had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed our time at Woodbadge. Here is a picture of us.


My patrol still communicates with each other often and we are working on our goal of having our beading ceremony together.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

So, yesterday was Kaitlyn's 9th birthday. She's been talking about it for like 4 months. Not a day went by where we didn't hear how many days away her birthday was! She is so excited to have a party! We decided on a "late night" party for her and her friends. It's like a slumber party except the girls don't sleep here! Which is great because then I don't have to feed them breakfast and deal with all the picky eaters! Providing popcorn for the movie and cake/ice cream for dessert is something all the girls will like! Last night we worked on the invitations for her party. Kaitlyn just can't wait until Friday! I'll be sure to take some pictures of the party to share with you all!