It's been a while!

I'm not very good at blogging, but when I do post a blog, it is always long overdue and I feel like a just accomplished something huge, so I am about to accomplish something huge.

Where do I begin? Summer was great, but then I topped it off by getting reconstructive surgery on my ankle and was off my feet for 4 weeks and in a walking boot for 3 weeks. Amidst all of this, Milly started preschool, and Taysen gets smarter and busier everyday. I recovered pretty quickly for the nature of the surgery, and now life is back to normal and we are enjoying beautiful Fall in Cheyenne, and looking forward to Christmas. I have so much to be grateful for in my life. I am amazed at the grace and mercy from my Heavenly Father as each experience in this life only makes me better and stronger. I am grateful for a wonderful Husband who works hard, is kind and loving, righteous, and patient. I am grateful for two beautiful children that make me smile each day and bring me so much joy. I am grateful for a beautiful home, health and strength, and the abundance of knowledge and blessings I am given.

Summer Fun So Far

I can't believe how fast this summer is going. This summer has been busy for us, seeing family and traveling. We went to Mount Rushmore with my family, spent the 4th of July weekend in Preston, Idaho with Tyler's family, lots of other things, and to top it off, the kids and I leave tomorrow to spend 3 weeks in Star Valley with my family. We are so excited, especially Amilya!

Happy Birthday Taysen!!

Taysen turned one year old this last week! It's amazing how fast time has gone by this year has gone by. Taysen has been walking since for 2 months now and is constantly on the go. He is so fun, though. His favorite things are going outside, taking everything out of drawers and cupboards, unraveling toilet paper, pulling hair, and playing with balls of all colors and sizes. He now says "Uh-Oh." It is so cute.

Spring is Finally Here!

We are all doing great and enjoying the warm Spring days that we get and look forward to summer. Milly and Taysen love being outside, and never want to come back inside. Milly will be four in August, but already acts like she is five years old. She is enjoying her Tumbling class and is looking forward to going to Preschool next year. She is so smart and says some of the funniest things. Taysen will be 11 months old next week and is already walking all over the place. He is so fun and goes around saying, "Da da da." Tyler is busy with work, reading the Percy Jackson books and working on our yard so that it will look great for the summer. I am busy taking care of rug rats, teaching tumbling, and keeping the house clean. But life is great and we are loving it.

Our New Approach

I thought I would share our success with family scripture study. Tyler and I have tried to read 5-10 verses every night out of the Book of Mormon as a family, but have not had a lot of success keeping Milly's attention, including our own at times. I was contemplating on what to do and the Lord led me to a friend who gave me an idea that turned into the answer I was looking for. I typed up all the scripture references that I had highlighted throughout my Book of Mormon. I then cut them apart and put them in a jar. So our new approach is this: We try to read a story out the Book of Mormon Stories book most nights, but most importantly we try to read one verse out of the Book of Mormon every night. Milly picks a scripture from the jar; we then read that verse slowly and talk about the verse. Then I let Milly color that verse with a scripture marker. I just wanted to share this because it is working a lot better for us. We all pay attention, and we are actually discussing gospel principles and the Savior everyday.

Me

Me...

-I've decided that I am meant to have short hair.
-One of my goals this year is to become a more content mother, and I am already starting to see this goal come to pass. Most days, I really enjoy being home with my children.
-I find it very fun and fulfilling to find cute activities for Milly and cute Family Home Evenings.
-After almost six years of marriage, I still find my husband absolutely adorable and get excited to see him and be with him.
-I finally admitted to myself that my right leg is never going to look that normal again, so I just look forward to the Savior's coming when I will have a perfect body again.
-I am looking forward to being a tumbling instructor for 3-5 year olds. I start in March and feel very blessed for this opportunity.
-One of my favorite moments is when my house is clean and vacuumed, it's evening, the lamps are on, gospel music is playing in the back ground, and the kids are contently laughing and playing. It's one of those moments when life feels so good.
-I realized that I actually love to vacuum. I vacuum almost everyday. I think it's the sound; it drowns everything else out and I'm in my own little world. Plus, my kids think the vacuum is fun.
-I hate doing dishes. My whole house can be clean, and there the dishes sit in the sink, waiting... and waiting to be done. The other thing I hate to do is clean toilets! Tyler always gets stuck with cleaning the toilets and unloading the dishwasher. Toilets should be cleaned by guys, though. Hello!
-I will always and forever love dancing, singing, and playing the piano
-The more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know very much and that I have a long, long way to perfection.
-I love the gospel with all my heart and love all the resources that the Lord has given us to stay close to him.

I just wanted to throw a little update out there for everybody who was wondering. We are doing great and loving Cheyenne. We live on the Air Force Base and have met so many great people. The base is beautiful and quiet, but with the city just outside the gate, there is plenty to do for us. I am loving the fact that there has been hardly no snow here all season, except for a few snow storns that dumped snow and then melted, so we've been able to continue playing outside at the park occasionally, going on walks, and riding bikes. I enjoy staying home with Taysen and Milly. The sure keep me busy! Taysen is almost nine months old and is trying to do everything that Milly does. He stands up to everything, crawls, and climbs stairs. He also thinks he is too big for baby food. Milly is a good sister and makes Taysen laugh with her silliness. She is very creative and lately loves to "help" wash the dishes, and she loves playing dress up. I am excited to be starting a tumbling class for 3-5 year olds next month here on base. This is a huge blessing and will be fun for me as well as Milly. Sorry that there is no pictures with this post. Life is busy, but great!

Sharing ideas

Here are some fun ideas to help your toddlers learn their colors

-Use colored foam letters in the bathtub or create a "water table" with a deep tupperware lid or deep pan. Have your child pick different colors and different numbers of that color out of the water, or have your child put certain colors into the water.

-Fill a ziplock baggie with shaving cream and put a few drops of color in it; let your child squish it around to mix it, then they can use it as finger paint. Freezer paper makes a good art paper for this kind of stuff.

-Use a twister game mat and a small bean bag to toss. Let your child throw the bean bag and then name the color that it lands on.

-Put a different color sticker on each hand of your child. Sing the Hokey Pokey song. "You put your green hand in; you put your green hand out..." You can also add, "You put your green hand up; you put your green hand down..."

-Make different colored streamers or scarves and put them in a container or a pile. Turn on some music and dance; stop the music and call out a color. When the children have picked that color of scarf, start the music again so they can dance.