winter wonderland

Levi David Reed

Easter

We had a great Easter with the kids this year! Fin was very excited to decorate eggs and go egg hunting.For some reason Fin decided to call his eggs 'monster eggs' instead of Easter eggs. We tried to get Ava involved but she didn't really seem to be very interested in the colorful eggs. We helped Ava find a couple of eggs, which Fin proptly stole from her (as seen in the photos!) I suppose in the end, it really didn't matter whose basket the eggs ended up in - neither one of them ate them anyway.

A New Baby

We are excited to welcome a new baby to our family! Our little addition can be expected to arrive around October 17th. Reed and I feel very blessed and are looking forward to meeting our sweet new baby. I know that Fin and Ava will love having another friend to play with. We are so thankful for our growing family.

Fin snowboarding

Fin has always been fascinated with snowboarding. He loves to watch everyone get dressed up in their snow gear (Fin calls them robot clothes) and ski in and out of the cabin. He always begs to come out with us, but has had to settle for sledding instead. This year Reed decided to take Fin for a little ride on his board. We bundled up our little thrill seeker and hiked up the hill right next to the cabin. Fin was so excited to go boarding! He loved it! He kept yelling 'Faster Faster!' and would hurry back up the hill as soon as they reached the cabin. It will probably still be a few years before we get Fin his own board and let him tear up the mountain on his own.

Swimming night

Reed and I decided to take the kids to family swim night at the pool. We all had a great time playing in the water. Fin hadn't been swimming since his swimming lessons last summer so he needed some time to get used to the water again. Ava seemed to like the water and loved playing with the straps on her huge life jacket. Reed and I took turns paddling the kids around. It was a fun evening, we'll have to go swimming more often so Fin and I can both get over our fear of water.

Tiger House

One of Fin's favorite things to do is to build forts with me. He likes to pretend that he is a tiger and calls his forts 'tiger houses'. Usually we just use the big couch to make a long hall and the ottoman to make a 'room'. This was the biggest tiger house we've made. Fin spent the whole afternoon crawling on the ground, growling and playing in his house. As you can see Fin filled 'his room' in the tiger house with all his toys and even made himself a bed.

The letter of the law

Fin is constantly testing the boundaries (and his parents patience). He is always trying to find loop holes in our rules so he can do what we say without doing what we want. If Fin were born in ancient Israel there would probably be a 'book of Fin' out there filled with all his crazy rationalizations.

example:

Rule: Don't hit Ava

Fin's Rationalization: If I hit Ava with a toy truck, then the toy truck hit her -- not me.

The New Rule: Don't hit Ava with your hands, feet, head, toys, chair ....ect.

Here is Fin observing our 'food stays in the kitchen' rule - by an inch or so.

Cake Class

About two months ago I was asked to teach an enrichment class on fondant cake decorating. Despite having plenty of time to plan and prepare I was really nervous about it. I had so many different techniques that I wanted to demonstrate but not much time. I decided on this cake design (inspired from one on cakes wrecks, sunday sweets) but was considering changing plans an hour before the class! There were about 25 ladies that showed up for the class. It was kind of intimidating making a cake with so many people watching. I didn't get to finish it during the class, because I wanted to move on to some different techniques but I felt like the everything went well. I felt like I was able to cover all the basics, and show people some of the fun possibilities they could accomplish with fondant.

"It's nice to share"

Sharing can be kind of hard for Fin sometimes, but he's starting to learn that, "its nice to share."
Fin loves his little sister and here is the proof:

Happy Halloween!!!

When I was a kid halloween was my favorite holiday. For months I would plan my costume and dream about filling my pillow case with candy. I still love halloween even though my costume is usually thrown together from stuff in my closet and I can (and do) buy my own candy whenever I feel like it. I love seeing my kids dressed up and teaching them about the importance of free candy. The day before halloween Fin and I practiced trick or treating at home. I opened a pack of smarties and whenever he said trick or treat I'd give him one. When the time came for trick or treating Fin was prepared. Our little crocodile made us proud and brought home a bag full of candy. Our little pumpkin just slept most the night, I guess we'll have to wait till next year for her to contribute to our candy stash. Happy Halloween!!!

pumpkin farm

Last week for Family Home Evening we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends. The farm had some great activities like a petting zoo, dried corn pit, and a tractor ride. Fin had such a great time his favorite things were the mommy pig and the red car toy. This was a great fall activity.