Dino

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This is my special Halloween gift to you:

Nathan in a PINK women's jogging suit.

You gotta love Halloween when it means that you can dress up your husband in an outfit like this!! And this a man who refuses to wear pink EVER. I guess since this is really a purplish pink that makes it OK.

His accounting friends at work have won the group costume contest every year for the last few years. This year they decided to dress up as characters from the Flintstones. Nathan said they went around giving assignments based on the character they thought each person could pull off the best and when they got to him, "Dino" was all that was said. Apparently his persona at work is that of a big, goofy, lovable, pink pet. Sounds about right to me. So we went to Walmart (that is where we shop for everything) and found this women's jogging suit in the PERFECT Dino color. The I added a few little detail items, the pipe cleaner hair on top of his head being my favorite, to make him look as much like Dino as possible. I really hope that his group wins the contest and I really really hope that in addition Nathan gets some other individual title, like funniest or most original, because each person that wins an individual category gets 8 hours of paid time off. That would be SO awesome if he could get an extra day off work! I'll add a little note to this post at the end of the day to let you all know if he won anything. Have a great Halloween and don't eat too much candy!

Update: Nathan didn't win an individual category :( But, he and his accounting friends did win the group contest, which means they get to have a lunch party on the company dollar one day soon. Most importantly though, he got a lot of good laughs and had a great time today!

A Yummy FHE

Sunday night we were invited to join the Thompsons for family home evening (which also counts as Nathan and Heath's home teaching visits). The temperature was beginning to drop just a bit outside, so it was a perfect time to enjoy a little fire. Kelly shared a story with us to help us remember that Christ is the Light of the World and that when we see light, whether from a fire, a candle, or even the sun, we can be reminded of the love of our Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus Christ. Then she invited each of the kids to name something that they can do to show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ how much they love them. As expected, the kids just named random things, from flowers to exercise, that somehow we were able to find a way to tie into the original question asked. After the lesson, we roasted marshmallows and made smores, which just happens to be one of Dallin's very favorite things to do. He loved it. I think he ate about 10 roasted marshmallows and then made himself a very yummy ooey-gooey smore. Mandy stuffed her mouth with marshmallows and then licked all of the chocolate off the graham cracker. It was such a pleasant evening. They have such a wonderful spirit in their home that it is a pleasure just to be there. They are the kind of family that I want mine to be like. Kelly is an amazing, loving, wonderful, energetic, caring, giving, sweet mother. When I think of her I always think of Mary Poppins and how she is "practically perfect in every way". I know you are not supposed to do this, but it is something that I have done for as long as I can remember and I just can't seem to get out of the habit. I constantly compare myself with the people that I am around and I always find myself lacking. I don't know why I torture myself that way because in my head I know that the lives of the people I am comparing myself to are not always what they seem. But I do it anyway and then I feel sad that I don't measure up to the standard that I perceive that others live. And I feel really guilty doing it right now because that very Sunday I based my singing time on the page in this month's Friend by Elder Holland who taught that we should speak as Jesus Christ would speak. I discussed each principle presented by Elder Holland with the children and then we sang a related song. One of the principles that we discussed was "speak positively, including about yourself". I even took it one step further and told the children that you should "think positively, including about yourself". Why is it that I don't take my own advice? It is not that I think that I am a BAD mother, it is just that I know I could do better. So maybe I shouldn't think of my crazy habit of comparing myself to others as a bad thing, but rather as a way that I can take the good that I see in others and try to find a way to put that goodness in me.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween Portraits:

Columbus sailed the ocean blue...

in fourteen hundred and ninety-two.

These past two weeks Dallins class has been learning about Christopher Columbus and all the fun interesting things, like boats, oceans, pirates, sea life, discovery, explorers, etc., related to his coming to America. Each student was asked to make their own boat out of household items and then bring them in to set sail on a very fun day of learning, discovering, and exploring. They started the day out with a pirate expedition that took them throughout the school where they found loot that had been hidden just for them. Next they sailed their boats, played pin the treasure on the treasure map, tossed a parrot, and colored a pirate ship. Then they followed their treasure map to dig for hidden gold in the playground sand.

Zoo Day

Zoo quote of the day:

"I'm nocturnal. I do things at night. I talk to Mandy after we go to bed at night."

~Dallin H. Jarvis

It has been a while since we had been, but we finally took a little trip out to the zoo to spend a few hours enjoying the animals. The weather was perfect and the animals were up and moving a bit. Except the lion that is. As many times as we have been to the zoo, I don't think that I have ever seen the lion move. Dallin's favorite parts of the day were the snakes, the frogs, the bats, and playing at the tree house. Mandy's favorite part of the day was the riding the carousel with Daddy. She loved it so much that she cried when it was time to get off. Dallin on the other hand didn't like the carousel so much. He refused to even sit on one of the animals, instead I sat with him on one of the little benches that they have on the ride. I think he was afraid of going up and down and possibly falling off. I can't believe he was so scared of it! Layton of course just enjoyed being outside and seeing so many new and wonderful things. This was actually his very first trip to the zoo! Nathan got see what I keep telling him about how everywhere I go so many people constantly tell me how cute he is. I think almost every third or fourth person that we crossed paths with told us how cute Layton looks. And who am I to argue with the masses? We had a great time and can't wait to go again!

First Talk

Dallin has given the scripture and prayer a number of times in primary, but somehow he has missed out on giving a talk until this past Sunday. He was so excited about it and was really happy that Daddy, Nana, and Grandpa could watch him say it. I wish everyone could have seen his face when Sister Shaw announced that it was time for him to give his talk. He looked over at me with biggest grin on his face and a little twinkle in his eye. He did a great job saying it (with my help of course). We based it on the story that we had read in the Friend the previous week for family home evening. His talk:

The Prophets and Apostles teach me how to serve. In the Friend this month, President Eyring told a story about how his Aunt and Uncle helped his family after his mother died and gave them a special gift of homemade canned cherries. President Eyring taught that giving gifts has three parts to it. First, you have to try to understand how the other person feels. Are they sad? Do they need help? How can you help them feel better? Second, you have to give with all your heart and not expect anything back. Third, your gift should be a sacrifice. You could sacrifice your time, your money, or your things. Heavenly Father gave us the greatest gift of all. He understands us and knows that we would make mistakes and that we would need a Savior. Jesus gave his life for us freely and willingly. I love my Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I love the prophets and apostles and all that they teach me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

So Proud

After school last Friday:


Dallin: "Guess what Mom? You get to find out how good I am."


Me: "Oh, really, did you get your report card today?"


Dallin: "It's a surprise. You'll have to look in my backpack."


Me: "Ok."


Dallin: "You're going to be so proud of me!"


And SO PROUD of him I am. At this age they only receive grades of either S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, or U for unsatisfactory. Dallin received all S's. His teacher wrote a little note on the bottom that said:

"Dallin is an excellent student with a very pleasant and friendly personality. He has a wonderful attitude about school and learning. He is making steady progress in all areas. His coloring is beautifully done. It is such a joy to teach him."

I really am just so proud of him I could pop! He even got a special coupon to get a slushy at Sonic for perfect attendance.

Pumpkin Patch FHE

Last Monday night we decided to go to the pumpkin patch for family home evening. Dallin had been asking to get a pumpkin for quite a while and when I told him on Sunday what we would be doing the next day he was so excited. He even went to school and told his teacher what he would be doing that evening :). Monday afternoon he helped me get the table all ready to decorate our pumpkins. He put a black marker and paint brush at each place mat so everyone would have one.

While I do love to look at the really cool pumpkins that other people carve, I'm not much on actually carving the pumpkin myself. Mostly it is just laziness. Carving pumpkins is pretty hard to do, especially for little kids. And besides, if I only decorate the outside of it, then I can still cut it up and cook it later. I don't know about you but I love pumpkinny things. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cream cheese roll, pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin souffle. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Maybe I shouldn't write blogs when I'm hungry, it makes me get too far off subject. Anyway, back to FHE. Just as we were heading out the door to the pumpkin patch it started to rain. We loaded up in the car anyway and drove up there. Nathan was supposed to meet us there on his way home from work. I had to break it to Dallin that maybe we wouldn't be able to get a pumpkin that day and he started to cry.We got up there, waited for a while and still the rain didn't stop. We left to go home and then just as I was about to turn onto our road, Nathan called me and said the sky was clearing. And suddenly so was the mood in our car. Dallin was all happy again and so we went to get our pumpkins. We picked out one BIG pumpkin for the family and then Dallin and Mandy each picked out a pumpkin for themselves. Then Dallin decided that Layton needed a little pumpkin too, so he picked out one for Layton. We took them home and decorated them. They had a great time. Dallin is really into Halloween this year. It is so fun seeing how much he is enjoying it.

The finished product:

Talents

Dallin trying to teach Layton to walk. Isn't he a good big brother?

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

On the Sunday before last, in his primary class, Dallin had a lesson about talents. His teacher, Sister Clarkson, asked him what talents he and each of his family members had. She wrote them down and shared them with me:

Layton's talent: he can move around on the floor

Mandy's talent: she can dance

Dallin's talents: (he has the most talents of anyone) he can jump, he can do a flip, he can stand on one foot, he can skip, he can put his hands on the ground and put his feet in the air, and he can run really fast

Daddy's talents: he can pick people up, he can jump over fireworks, and he can drive

Mommy's talents: she doesn't have any, all she does is pretend that feeding Layton is a talent because that is what she does all day long

When Cassie told me this I laughed until I cried. Sometimes it really does seem like all I do is nurse Layton all day long. Speaking of crying, I think I hear Layton. I guess it's time for me to go practice my "pretend" talent!

Beautiful Day for a Party

The kids' cousin Chloe celebrated her 4th birthday a week ago Saturday. It was such a beautiful day outside. The day started out looking cloudy, but by the time the party got going the sun was shining and there was a wonderful little breeze blowing. Dallin, Mandy, and Layton all had a great time playing with all of their friends. Since he wasn't allowed to open the presents, Dallin contented himself with handing each present to Chloe so that she could open them. Layton spent most of the time relaxing with Sister Roberts on the swing. I think he found the weather to be just perfect too and soon fell asleep. The only downside to the lovely breeze was that when it came time to light the birthday candles, Nathan found it to be an impossible task. We ended up just having Chloe "pretend" to blow out the candles while we sang Happy Birthday to her. I don't think she minded though. I think that by the time we got to the cake she was so happy about the presents she had received that nothing could have spoiled her day :)