Matchy-Matchy & more

We had our Primary Program today, and at the 11th hour, I decided to make Keetley a dress.

I had made awesome "ugly" ties for my brother's wedding last year, and had a tiny scrap leftover....so I turned it into a dress.

It was a quick sew, and it SO much cuter in person, but this fast snap I was lucky to get as we walked out the door will have to suffice.

Trust me, when I say that our boys have suits that fit.  LOL!  They all jumped on the couch and slid down to where they are sitting, hence the highwaters.

And after church, we got a picture with Grandma and Grandpa.  It was fun to have them in Sacrament Meeting to help with the littles, as I was the pianist for the program. The boys did really well, and overall, the program was great!

G & G Crandall came up yesterday to watch the practice program, and afterwards, I went to the temple with them.  Such a welcome break from the crazy days at home!  Clay and Deseret stayed home to babysit, and made a MONSTEROUS snowman!  

For reference, that yellow shovel is a kid shovel, and that snowman is HUGE!!!

this little girl

She is so much fun, we don't know what to do with her!  She loves blowing raspberries, and sticking her cute little tongue out, mimicking us, if we're up for the challenge.

She's always sucking on her hands, her shirt, her blanket, her binky, her headbands, her shoes...well, you get the idea.  She loves exploring!

She's found her toes, and loves looking at them.  She's very inquisitive about patterns on her sleeve cuffs, or clothes.  She will hold her hands up and look at her fingers for hours if we let her.

She's got the sweetest disposition, always happy, rarely crying, and is developing an attitude of her own.  If I walk past her and don't pick her up, she lets me know!  Most of the time she is content to just "BE".

She's a rolling maniac....I can set her down, put something away in the next room, and come back to find her gone!  I often find she's rolled off our one step and is in the next family room.  It's like her personal playground, with one step and two rooms full of brothers' toys!

She is such a lovely part of our family, and we don't know what we'd do without her!!!

♥♥♥ We love you, Keetley Ann! ♥♥♥

Learning Gratitude

As a mother, I strive to teach my children to be grateful.  To say "Thank You", and to show appreciation.

One evening, I grabbed an old roll of Christmas wrap, that was brown on one side and started in on it with a pair of scissors.  I wasn't sure how well I'd turn out a tree, but it worked out well enough.

I snatched some construction paper from the craft box, and Tanner's water colors.  I had quite a fun time making such colorful leaves (purple paint on red paper, red paint on orange paper, and green paint on yellow paper), and cutting them out was even more fun, as I instantly had a pile of colorful papers for us to write on.

Each day (or whenever we remember) we write what we are thankful for.  On occasion, I find leaves with little boys' handwriting that says "I luv mom", or "I am a child of God", and my heart swells.  Each member of our family has a leaf.  We even have leaves for oxygen, flushing toilets, forks, and whipping cream, matching socks, soap and books.  Anything we can think of, really.  

Hopefully we'll find so many things to be thankful for, that I'll have to cut more leave out and buy more tape!  Hopefully our children learn gratitude; to be thankful for all that we've been given.  To be grateful that we have good health so we can work hard, love each other, and learn and grow.