I am Thankfull for...

Zoe had a homework assignment the week before Thanksgiving to write down a thing or two she was thankful for. Her initial response was the Prophet. This made me smile, but I thought we should do something a little different since she attends a community based program. In an effort to achieve this we made the following lists. One for Noah and one for Zoe. I find their answers and reasoning very comical.

Zoe (in the order she gave me)

1. The Prophet - he leads the church
2. light switches - to turn lights on and off with
3. light bulbs - they light the rooms
4. TV - to watch shows on
5. houses - to keep us warm
6. Heavenly Father
7. Jesus - he's our savior
8. brothers - they help me
9. Mom & Dad - they make us food
10. baby brother - because he's my baby brother
11. jackets - because they keep you warm
12. coloring books - to color
13. crayons, pencils, paints - to draw with
14. toys - just to play with
15. chairs - just to sit in
16. attics - so you can get air
17. friends - they help us
18. cars - to go places in
19. diapers - because they're for babies
20. fans - they keep you cool
21. clothes - because they keep you warm
22. pets - so you can train them
23. cups & straws - to drink
24. refrigerator - to get water
25. shelves - because you can put stuff on them
26. wallets - to put you license plate and money in
27. phones - so you can call people
28. vacuum - you can clean your house
29. baby sitters - they can watch your kids while you're gone
30. cd's - to listen to songs and watch movies
31. cousins - to play with
32. homework - so we can learn
    

Noah (in the order he gave me)

1. water - because it's good for you and good calories
2. bathrooms - because they help you in an emergency
3. Heavenly Father
4. Jesus - he's our savior
5. rain - because it gives you water
6. exercise - it gets you energy
7. food - so we don't starve
8. outside - because it gives you fresh air
9. veggies - because they're healthy
10. plants - they help us grow
11. beds - they help you get sleep
12. families - because they help you learn
13. clocks - because they tell time
14. books - so you can read
15. fans - because they keep you cool
16. bags - because you can put stuff in them
17. airplanes - so you can get somewhere fast
18. brothers & sisters - because they can help you do stuff
19. grandparents - so you can visit them
20. Mom & Dad - because they can help you

It was so hard to hold in the laughter with a few of their responses. However, it was nice to see all the things we have to be thankful for.

I wasn't feeling so thankful at the time. I was having a little trouble seeing the blessings around me. I was more frustrated with our continual furnace problems. The money it was costing us to get it fixed. Them not fixing it right the first time. The hassle of flipping the breaker to get it to work in the mean time. How long it was taking to get it fixed. Finding out that the builder installed it wrong and that it shouldn't have passed code. And that it still might not be fixed completely and that we should consider replacing a third piece or buying a completely new furnace. Basically I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.

I'm glad I have my kids to remind me of the good things around me.

Thanksgiving 2011

I didn't get any pictures of our Thanksgiving Celebration. I guess I was too busy visiting. We had a fun filled Thanksgiving weekend. We got up early Thursday morning and headed over the hill to Roseville, California. We were lucky enough to make it over the pass before the snow started sticking to the roads. Our destination was Aunt Charlynn's. We were the first ones to arrive and were able to help with the many preparations going on. I got to help cut up vegetables for the stuffing and scoop out the corn fritters. Dan got to help with the gravy and other side dishes. The kids got to help gather eggs from the chickens.

Zoe was spoiled rotten by Lindsey. She got her hair styled several times. She got her fingernails and toenails painted. Along with other girly things. Noah got to rough house with his Uncles: Matt, Jason, and Cameron (all 3 of Dan's brothers were there) Tommy.

Dinner consisted of two types of turkey. One oven baked and one smoked. We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes with and without marshmallows, broccoli, stuffing, rolls, two jello salads, corn fritters. It was good, but dessert was amazing. Uncle John brought the yummiest pies ever. He brought the best Pecan Pie ever. I am not a big fan of pecan pie as it usually just taste like super sweet sugar to me. However he made one that actually tasted like pecans. He also made a marscapone pie in a chocolate cookie crust with chocolate chips and homemade carmel to drizzle on top. It was heavenly. There was also a chocolate cream pie, a coconut cream pie, a berry pie, and a pumpkin pie.

After dinner we headed up the hill to Grandma Sandi's house. Papa Tim was kind enough to watch Noah and Zoe while the rest of us went Black Friday Shopping. Walmart was crazy, but we had a pretty good system. We almost got everything on our list. Dan waited in line for the electronics that went on sale at midnight. He also held Jack most of the time. My mom and I took turns watching carts and scouting out merchandise. We'd grab the right sizes and then meet back together and decided what to keep and what to keep back. We helped a few fortunate people by letting them pick out of our carts. Checkout was kind of a nightmare but we all survived. Dan and I splurged and got us a nice gift that I'll talk about later. Most of the stuff we picked up for the kids was very unexciting. We found a Rio blue-ray combo pack for $10 that we gave them early as an incentive for good behavior. I was also able to grab a few long sleeved plain colored tees at a cheap price.

The next day (Friday) Auntie Tiffany was willing to watch the 3 kids while my mom, dad, Dan, and I headed down the hill to check out the deals at Kohl's. We then made our way to Burlington Coat Factory. On the way home we had fish tacos at Rubio's. It was a nice kid free day. We made it home in time to make dinner for a big crew. My brother Trevor happened to be in town with his 5 kids, visiting his in-laws. My nieces also decided to come home early from their Thanksgiving celebrations when they heard so many cousins were in town. By the end of the evening we had a grand total of 10 kids running around the house creating noise and chaos.

We were pretty lazy Saturday and didn't head back over the hill as early as we would have liked to. But we made it home in time to get everyone ready for bed so we could go to church the next morning.

Too Much Help

Is it possible to have too much help? Or maybe the wrong kind of help? That's what I'm dealing with these days. Especially when it comes to doing the laundry or emptying the dishwasher. I'm starting to think Jack has built in sonar. He knows the minute the dishwasher is opened or the minute the washing machine is opened. He comes running and starts emptying it or filling it. Once in awhile he gets the job right.

Like here:

He was actually taking wet clothes from the washer and putting them in the dryer. He was so proud of himself. He was doing such a good job.

However, I turn my head for a moment and find him doing this:

Emptying out the wet clothes from the dryer. Putting them back in the washer or mixing them with my nice clean and dry clothes. So 50% of the time he is very helpful, the other 50% of the time he is creating more work for me.

When it comes to the dishwasher he is really good about taking out the dirty dishes and scattering them throughout the house. Or worse yet sticking them in his mouth. Other times he is emptying the drawer of clean bowls and putting them in the dishwasher full of dirty dishes. When the dishes in the dishwasher are clean he takes them out and puts them in his mouth. Creating more dirty dishes. I'm trying to remember to do it when he is in his highchair, or taking a nap.

I know these are good teaching tools. Plus he really isn't hurting anything. He's teaching me patience. Sometimes it can be a fun game and I often find it very entertaining. I just need to relax a bit and remember what is most important. Spending quality time with my children. Not keeping a perfect house.

Who knows, maybe he'll be good at doing the laundry like Noah is. Or learn to love doing the dishes.

Twins

Noah was so excited to find matching PJs for him and Jackson.

(As you can see Jack didn't want to cooperate for a picture.)

He loves dressing like his little brother.

I don't know how much longer we can pull this off. It's getting harder and harder with how fast Noah is growing.

This is what Jack wanted to do instead of posing for a picture.

Eagle Project

We had the opportunity to assist Colton Egbert with his Eagle Project. The task at hand was to deliver 72 Hour kits to some elderly people through out the Reno, Sparks, Fernley, Fallon, and Silver Springs area.

We were fortunate to get a family route, so we loaded up the van and headed into town after a short instructional meeting and some yummy doughnuts. Our route took us to some very different areas of Sparks and Reno.

Our first stop was in a poorer area of Sparks, behind the drive in movie theater. The lady was really sweet and surprised to see us at her door. She was dressed in her robe and was so concerned that Zoe wasn't wearing her jacket. She offered us a sweater, but I assured her it was in the car and that she'd refused to put it on.

Our second stop was in a very upscale neighborhood of Reno. On the outskirts of where the Coughlin Ranch fire was. The lady opened the door, quickly said: "Sorry, I'm sleeping," and then shut the door. We left her kit on her doorstep along with her newspaper. This really confused and bothered Noah. He couldn't understand why she would lie. She couldn't be sleeping if she answered the door.

No one was home at our third stop. It was in a nicer apartment complex. Just a few blocks from police barricades due to the fire the day before. So we left his kit at the door.

Our fourth and fifth stop where in a run down trailer park near the Summit Sierra mall.

Unfortunately no one was home, so we left them on their enclosed porches.

So we had a pretty quiet and uneventful route. We found out the next day that others in the group had much more entertaining stories to share.

It was a good day doing service and spending the time together. I think it was a very eye opening experience for our kids to see how others live and how fortunate we are to have a nice house to live in and nice car to drive.

Since we were in Reno already we took advantage of the time and ran a few errands. Had a nice lunch, stocked up at Sam's Club, and got our tire fixed at Costco.

Turkey Bingo Night

Cottonwood Elementary School held it's annual Turkey Bingo Night. A fun family game night and fundraiser for the school. You bought bingo cards 5 for $1. There were supposed to be 18 rounds, but due to time they cut out a few. It wasn't just regular bingo either. A few rounds were "blackout", "Picture Frame", "L", "T", I never knew there were so many ways to play.

Here is my Bingo partner.

He lasted through all the rounds. In the end he was even using multiple cards. I think it was a really good learning tool. By the end of the night he was really good at recognizing his numbers. Zoe lasted about 2 games. Lucky for me Jack slept through a good chunk of it or was very content to eat the snacks I brought for him. Especially since we had to go without Daddy. He wasn't back from training in Phoenix. Our efforts paid off...I won a Ham in the Blackout Bingo round.

The kids came home with bags full of free books. They sold raffle tickets for a chance to win different themed baskets. Noah was very disappointed that he didn't win the craft basket as they had some cool feathers in it. He really wanted to make a turkey with them. They also sold refreshments.

The best part is that Daddy showed up in time to help us all out to the car. I was struggling to carry the ham, a sleeping baby in his car seat, the new books, the diaper bag, and to keep track of the two older kids.

It was a fun evening I can't wait to participate again.

14 Months Old

Another month has come and gone. The days go by so fast. My little guy is getting so big these days. For starting out as my runt, I believe he is quickly passing them up. I'll have to dig out the height and weight stats and compare. For that matter I'll have to put Jack on the scale.

We've managed to stay well since our hospital stay in June.

His personality is developing more and more each day. He is such a clown at times. He loves laughing, making sniffing noises, and clicking his tongue. He also thinks it it hilarious to stick out his tongue and move it back and forth.

He loves playing with toy cars or anything with wheels and can make car noises.

He laughs like the count on Sesame Street.

He is still a boy of very few words, but he has no problem letting you know what he wants. He points to his bottles or the fridge when he wants milk. He brings you a diaper if he wants changed. He grabs a plate or bowl if he thinks you are going to eat with out him.

He is a master at shaking his head yes and no. Not always for the right reasons.

One thing I get a little tired of is his shrieking. He doesn't really cry, but if he wants your attention, wants something different, or someone has taken something from him, or just out of frustration...he lets out this ear piercing shriek. Hopefully this will subside as we add to his vocabulary.

He raids my pantry for cereal and crackers and helps himself if the door is left open.

He loves, loves, loves ice cream cones. He loves the ice cream, but I'm beginning to think it's more about the cone.

He loves chocolate, marshmallows, and popcorn.

He is still a major "Daddy's Boy" I think it has gotten worse over the past month. He cries and cries when Dad passes him off to me. Plus he tries his darnedest to reach the pulpit during Sacrament Meeting every Sunday.

He loves dancing and has added a few new moves over this past month.

He knows what kind of music he does and does not like. He's not a big fan of Country Music, we so have to work on this one.

He's got 4 teeth fully in on the top and 2 on the bottom. 2 molars are almost completely through on the top.

He loves tormenting his siblings by destroying what ever they are playing with in the toy room.

He feels our days with so much joy.

Jack's Table Manners

I have forgotten how entertaining meal time can be with a toddler. We have a long way to go when it comes to table manners. We have to learn that bowls and plates are not hats, food doesn't belong on your head or the floor, we don't play with food, and so on. It doesn't help that he is so cute about it and that it is hard to contain or refrain from laughing at his antics. It probably doesn't help that I grab the camera because I want to document his creativeness.

Here he is playing with his bowl of rice...

Why eat the bread when you can make silly faces with it?

Look you are all green if I look through my plate.

Maybe my plate will taste better than mom's cooking.

Maybe my plate will help keep my head warm, since the furnace isn't working all the time.

Noah's Award

Noah recently got an award at school. Too bad his teacher forgot to notify me so I could have attended the assembly. Luckily Noah didn't mind, his response was, "I didn't see you so I figured you weren't there." I felt bad for missing out. I had driven by the school earlier that day and had wondered why there were so many cars and parents there. Turns out it was the 1st quarter awards.

He was given the "Random Acts of Kindness" award. "For showing kindness, courtesy, and respect to fellow students and teachers....your actions prove that one person can make a difference."

It's nice to know that my efforts to teach him to be kind and respectful are working.

His teacher told me during Parent Teacher Conference that they have have had a couple of "Student of the Month" awards so far this year. She hasn't given him this honor since she knows he will be good all year. She's saving him for the Spring when it is harder to find someone who fits the criteria.

I'm glad he is such a good kid. Especially when I am not around to remind him.

Meet Twinkie

Twinkie is our "Elf on the Shelf." Auntie Laurie was kind enough to send him our way last year.

He decided to re appear with the ending of Day Light Savings time. I guess he figured Noah and Zoe needed an early reminder of the importance of being good to one another. You see his job is to sit and observe all that goes on in our house during the day. Then every night he flies back to the North Pole and reports all the good and bad things to Santa. He returns before you wake up ready for another day. The fun part is you never know where he is going to show up. The kids have to hunt for him every morning. The one major rule is no one can touch him or he loses his magic.

Here are a few of his hiding places:

So far I think the extra reminder to be nice to one another is working. We will have to see how long it lasts.

Need a Nap?

Can you tell that it's been a long week at the McDonald Household? Too many late nights with Halloween festivities and setting up for the Monthly Relief Society Activity. This is what I discovered when I noticed my house had gotten a little too quiet.

They were all watching Cars 2 for who knows how many times when they all 3 crashed out. The boys on the couch....

Zoe on the chair...I wish I could have joined them, but I was doing many last minute preparations for a very successful activity.

We held an "Angels Among Us" night for November's Relief Society Activity. Everyone was given the opportunity to submit stories about another sister in the ward who had helped them out in a time of need. Who had "saved" them so to speak. They had the option of revealing their name or in submitting stories anonymously. In the end we ended up with close to 43 stories. That night we enjoyed a nice meal, read through the stories, had a musical number, and even had enough time to visit. Things went so great, we were done and cleaned up by 8:30. I'm re-leaved to have it over with. It was the first activity that I was in charge of completely. The counselor over me was released about a month prior and I didn't think it was fair to make her work on it. She was however helpful in putting together an musical number. We'll take December off, since Relief Society is in charge of the ward party and then we'll hopefully get things organized for January.

A Special Day in Our History

Look what I got today...

Dan surprised me this evening with Roses. What's the occasion you might ask? Nine years ago today he asked me to marry him. The proposal was a complete surprise to me.

Here is what I've written down about it in the past:

Dan proposed on Friday, November 1st, 2002. A lot of interesting events lead to it. A week full of weird excuses as to why he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Several questions about if and when my dad was going to be in town, or back from a business trip. A stressed "Trunk or Treat" the night before. At one point he went around to the front of the building and was supposed to open the locked door for me, but never came. Plus there were a lot of strange comments from family members such as : Trenity can say "Uncle Dan", "Fix your hair," after a long stressful day at work doing the monthly inventory count, and "not yet, but soon," overheard in a telephone conversation.

Our parents were going out to dinner together that evening, a first but not too unusual since our Dad's talked all the time at church. Then he called saying he needed help carrying things in from his car, after getting off of work late because he had to run reports to Nick, and not seeing his car in the driveway. I kept chatting away on the phone and he was in a big hurry for me to open the door.

I opened the door to the biggest surprise of my life. I'm still not sure how he managed to set it all up with the front window open and me sitting on the couch. So, when I opened the door there were 12 roses, one on the door mat and the rest on each step, leading down to the driveway. I almost stepped on the 1st rose, I was that clueless at first. But in my defense it didn't take me long to catch on, each rose had a hand written note attached to it, asking if I'd be his wife for Time and all Eternity.

Dan was at the bottom of the stairs waiting with 12 more roses and the ring. When I reached the last stair, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes!

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So, I guess some times it pays to be oblivious or just not to read too deeply into things, or ask too many questions. It turns out that my whole family and a good chunk of his family were in on it all along. How he got so many people to keep their mouths shut is beyond me. He got my ring size a few weeks earlier while we were with his parents at Seagull Books after a Stake Temple Trip. He was stressed out that my Dad was never going to be home so that he could ask his permission. When he left me locked outside at the church during Trunk or Treat, he was finally talking to my dad. He has a very funny story about that, I should have him write it down sometime. My mom had told my sister thus the "Uncle Dan" thing. Some of his sisters knew, hence the cryptic phone calls while I was around. Fun memories.

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Back to today, it was a pretty fun day. I wish I could say I remembered earlier in the day what significance this date holds, but that would be a lie. However, we made it an extra special day quiet by accident. I had a doctor's appointment in Reno for my annual, so I left the kids with a friend. My appointment was done in time for an early lunch so I had made arrangements to meet Dan. We were finally able to use a gift certificate I was given before Jack was born. We went to this nice Sushi Restaurant. Since we were early it wasn't crowded and the service was fast. It has been awhile since we've shared an uninterrupted meal. On the way back to the office we stopped at Target to buy the Cars 2 DVD. We kept dinner simple that night, take and bake pizza, and enjoyed the movie.

Thank You for remembering to celebrate that life changing night.