Oh my goodness, has this year passed us by! It is so crazy how fast time flies. It truly is. So many wonderful things have been going on this year. I hardly get the quiet time that is needed in order to update this rarely visited blog spot of mine. Cute/silly things happening often, hilarious comments spoken, accomplishments made, kind gestures done, fun family bonding times shared, child developmental skills mastered, gospel principles being applied and so much more...so many things in this life are happening and I feel like time just zooms by us. I may not get the time to write down everything that goes on but, I am not without gratitude for the blessed ability to store and keep memories in my heart and mind because lets face it, this written journaling thing has been pretty tough to handle. I am also SOOO grateful for the creation of the CAMERA!!! I may not journal but I swear I take pics every day of our lives!! That has been such a blessing for me to have. I categorize my pics by Events in Month and Year formats and save them all on my Toshiba hard drive. That in itself in my life journal. It is so amazing for me to be able to connect the device, pull up the year then month and then event of the past and see from time to time how much things have changed over the years and all of the fun and things that we have been through. It is the perfect system for me since I prefer to not have date stamps on my pictures...lets me still keep track of the age my kids were in pictures. :)
My family is my everything. Of course, the testimony of the Gospel and my faith in it is ultimately what makes my family mean so much more to me. I had no idea when I was younger how truly amazing it would be to get married and create my own family unit. My little family is my dearest treasure here on earth (next to the gospel). ALL of my extended family on my side and on David's mean so much to me. Friends are amazing to have but having good family is even more of a pretty grand way to live life happily.
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UPDATES OF THIS YEAR AND OF THE KIDS:
1: My parents have been serving a full time couples mission in Montevideo Uruguay since March 19th of this year. They have been doing tremendous and continue to enjoy serving the good people of Uruguay. The kids receive plenty of written letters from their grandparents and they enjoy having them as their missionary pen pals! We get to keep in contact daily through Skype, phone calls or emails. We sure do miss them but next month will make them a third of the way done so we can tell time is flying..!!! We love our Missionaries!!!
2: We decided not to put Breyonna in another year of preschool (since she no longer needed anymore speech therapy and I would rather spend precious time with her this one last year before she has to start going) so I am trying my best to do some Pre-K teaching with her at home until she starts Kindergarten next year. Also doing some learning Ed with little Ethan! They are always eager to learn.
Additional update on Brey: This year she was proud to have taught herself to whistle! She has always had Grandpa Crawford doing the most amazing whistle music ever and by golly she wanted to learn to whistle too. She had a hard time at first believing in herself that she could do it. Every time she tells me that she cant do something then she gets a wake up call from MOM who reminds her with conviction that SHE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING SHE WANTS -IF- ONLY she KEEPS trying!
Breyonna is a complete doll!! I just love her to death!!! She is always saying the most hilarious things ever! She loves playing dress up still, putting on make up, singing, lots and lots of singing that girl does!! Grandma Allen taught her God Bless America when we were in Utah this spring. She sings it all day and even records herself singing it on my little camera! She loves our education time. She loves to take her little brother for rides on their little ATV. She loves swimming, riding bikes, making crafts, pretty much anything a little girl loves and more. She is very observant in so many ways. It amazes me the things that she notices and remembers.
Breyonna loves Peppa Pig, Cat in the Hat, Sid the Science Kid, Team Umizoomi and Wild Kratts. I noticed that she switched her interest in cartoons this year to more of learning ones. While Dora, Bubble Guppies , Wubbzy and a couple more were ok last year to her, they no longer spark her interest...and I am grateful...Dora was no offence...getting annoying to listen too..hehe!! She wants shows that teach her more things. She is always asking me questions through out the day and saying, "Tell me more please, mom!!" or asking me,"Why, mom?". I am glad that she has such an interest in learning.
Young minds are like sponges. They soak up so much info and data at this age!! That is especially why I am making it such a point to teach her the gospel and of her individual worth. Next year she starts Kindergarten and she will be in the hands of the world. I am praying for ways of how I can instill that divine knowledge to her so that she can learn and choose for herself to stand out above the crowd and remember ultimately who she is....A Child Of God!!!!!!!! I am so glad that she LOVES primary and loves to learn the songs from the Children's Song Book!!! She loves to say family prayers. Some are short and sweet while others are super long and go into such detail of the desires and gratitude of her heart. She loves to remind up to read our scriptures as a family. Uncle Jesse gave her a mini blue B.O.M a while ago and although she cant read too many words, she loves to turn the the right page we are at and follow along. SO PRECIOUS!!!
As far as learning goes, she wanted to learn the states so she knows about 38 US States so far and where they are located, works on her penmanship( she always writes left handed and rarely uses her right hand. So she is doing awesome with the writing since I cant teach her to write left handed). Learning how to read, learning some math and a few other things here at home. She is doing great!
She is super sweet and loving. She may not always listen to me the first time, she may throw tantrums at times like any other kid and push me to the end of my rope...BUT, she is, like I said, the sweetest loving, kindhearted little girl who is full of spunk, silliness, life, heart, and spirit with a great love for her family and who is always doing the very best that she can in everything that she does. I love my LITTLE BITTY BESTIE!!! :)
3: This month I went out with Ethan and let him pick out some BIG BOY undies so we can EX OUT the diapers from our lives! Like Breyonna, I introduced him to the idea and concept of Potty Training way before now (he's 2 and a half) and he was eager to do it for over a week. But life got in the way and slowy lost interest. Since getting into a serious learning mode with him in the past couple of weeks, he has LOVED wearing his Diego and Toy Story underwear during awake hours. He only had one accident the first day of wearing them and since then, its been clean smooth sailing in the PT world. He loves to holler to me that he has to go to the bathroom and is so proud when he goes in the toilet and when we tell him what a big boy he is. I am so lucky that as a little boy, he has not been too hard with this daytime training thing. Not sure how it will be trying to get him trained to go to the potty during sleep hours though! Hope it goes well!
Additional update on Ethan: Ethan's uncle gave him a balance bike(no peddles) that he used at the beginning of the year. Last month David and I found the coolest bike for him that looked like a little dirt bike so we got it for him. He picked up on using peddles and the brake really quick! We store it in the house and he is always ZOOMING past all of us any time we are home!
Additional update on Ethan: This summer we have slowly introduced the world of swimming in a pool to Ethan. First it was getting him to get his face wet , then his head, then learning to kick. He hated getting his head wet. I decided to buy him a noodle because I hate those dang arm floaties especially when teaching to swim. They are huge and just get in the way...anyway, I got him the noodle, had him hold it with his arms outstretched in front of him and taught him to move himself by kicking. After he learned that, david or i would hold him by the belly and teach him to move his arms and kick. Now, he can swim about 5-6 feet on his own without assistance! That is not pure swimming on his own yet but hey, we will take it! He is doing awesome. I also taught him a long time ago how to hold onto the edge of the pool and move his hands along the edge until he can get himself to the stairs (just something in case he ever fell in a pool and of course i had him jump in the pool to teach him to turn around and reach for the edge first.
Ethan is my baby! He is not what I imagined when I found out that I was having a boy. He is the sweetest little guy (I had heard horror stories of how little boys act so mean, loud and rough). He has his not so grand moments like Breyonna does, BUT, he is truly a blessing in my life like his sister is to me. Ethan is a Mama's Boy! He LOVES his daddy (just like Breyonna does) and he loves playing with him every day but when it comes down to it, I am his comfort. He loves to wake me up by 6am EVERY single day if not earlier because he is so eager to start his day. He wakes up wanting FOOD FOOD AND MORE FOOD and then CARTOONS and iPad while he eagerly waits for sister to wake up so they can go play. This year his favorite cartoons are Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi Peppa Pig, Cat in the Hat, and Micky Mouse Club House. On the iPad, he is awesome at kid puzzles and the memory matching games. But he plays everything on there for kids. He knows how to work that thing better than David or I. No teaching him how to at all.
He loves to be rough and tough with daddy at times. He knows he can only be that way with daddy and Uncle Andy not sister or mom....!!!.. :) Sometimes he momentarily forgets when he gets the urge to be tough and I'll have to remind him. ;) He LOVES the outdoors!! He loves dirt, trucks, tractors and everything BOY!! He loves to tease us, trick us and make us laugh. My favorite thing has come from teaching him how to move his eyebrows up and down....it is HILARIOUS! He started flashing that eyebrow thing my way when he wants something and needs me to say YES. HAHA. I LOVE my LITTLE STUD, Ethan!!!
4: Life in general is going pretty well for us. We love our home, community, ward and life. We have had a pretty great year. The summer is HOT but has still been fun. We do however look forward completely for this AZ summer heat to be gone for the year so that we can play outdoors so much more! I love my David. Love him coming home to us each night after work so that we can spend time together. He's a great catch! Love him to pieces. Ya, life is GRAND!!!
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