Election Day

The boys may not be able to fill out a ballot, but here's their vote, America!

Thumbs up for Romney!

Clapping for the results . . . we hope!

My handsome boys.  They liked having me explain election day and that I hoped Romney would win, but we would find out tonight.

Gotta Love Conference!

How is it that conference used to seem like it would never end back in Junior High school and now I can't believe it when a session is almost over!  I can't tell you how happy it makes me every time Brayden recognizes a speaker and yells out the name.  I can't help but smile.  I know he can't comprehend what they're teaching, but I am just glad that besides seeing that conference is a special weekend, he is actually happy about what is going on.  He's just preparing to go on that earlier mission :)  There is so much I would like to say about conference, but it's bedtime in the Brown house.  The joys of early morning seminary teaching. . . up at 4 means to bed at 9:30.   At least I was wise this session and recorded my overall thoughts/feelings in my notebook after conference.  So, this isn't my only record.

Oh, and I couldn't help but post Brayden singing "the prophet song."  I just want to brag for him that he also knows a lot of the faces with the names.  Pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old!

Zander's Doc Update

The stats are here for Zander.   He is now 13 months, but when we went to the doctor a month ago, he was:

29 1/2 inches (30%)
19 lbs. 4 oz. (5%)
head was 45.7 cm. (25%)


Overall, our little buddy is now little for his age.  I like them like that.  Maybe because I can relate.  Haha.

He is growing nonstop in personality though!  He is definitely picking up on all social cues and habits, exploring everything in his reach, trying to lengthen his reach by climbing all the time, and enjoying more rough play. 

He still only has 6 teeth (which he's had since he was 8 months) and I don't see any that are coming any day soon.

He talks a lot.  He says "Daddy" whenever Preston comes home.  He'll say "birdy," "Doggie," "Brayden," "Hi," "ball," and his favorite word for telling us what he wants (acompanied by pointing) is "that."  If I don't show that I understand what he's looking at and wanting, "that" soon turns into "THAAAAAT."  Hahaha.  He really is a very expressive boy.  But, his new desire for exploration or knowing what he wants also comes with more whining when he doesn't get it.  Opposition in all things, right?  Haha.  But, I do love this stage.  We're out of the hardest stage in my opinion.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was a couple weeks ago. . . and I am just getting to this now.  Can you believe it?  Well, I definitely got spoiled this year.  We went down to Orlando and used our Disney passes for a day.  Possibly our last day :(  The Bells (a new fun family who just moved here) came with us and we had fun with them.  We brought a bunch of games and only played one, but that's how it usually goes.  Especially when there's a BYU football game on my birthday. . . .

Besides Disney, we went swimming the next day and got to go to the temple.  All in all it was great!  Of course, I did have to go get a new battery for our car on my actual birthday, and nowhere seemed to have the right one in stock.  But, I also got cupcakes at our park playgroup, yummy cake dessert on Sunday (thanks Porters!) and I got sung to twice in primary.  Haha.  Pretty special.  Of course, our camera got left behind (along with the boy's suitcase... ) on our little trip.  But, I have so many Disney pictures anyway. 

Here's the yummy ice cream cake we enjoyed for our birthday FHE!

General Conference FHE

As you can tell, I'm trying to document my Family Home Evening ideas while I'm actually putting forth effort and time.  So that when I'm in those down times I can go back to get ideas :)  Last year for General Conference we read about King Benjamin talking to the Nephites and likened it to general conference (we set up a kid tent and everything).  Then for the actual conference, we made a room-sized fort to watch conference in.  And, since it was around Easter time, we offered Brayden a jellybean any time he heard them talk about Jesus (to encourage listening).  We also had the photo page from the middle of the conference edition Ensign that we helped Brayden put a sticker on each apostle when he spoke.  It was affective!  I loved seeing Brayden actually enjoy conference time!  Even though he wasn't sitting and listening and soaking up their message (c'mon, he's 2), he did understand that we were hearing from the prophet and apostles of our Lord.  It was just awesome to see him begin to understand that it is important.

This time we're trying some different things to see if it works.  We made little Conference kits (one for each apostle) with activities or snacks.  It was Brayden's first experience with a glue stick and he very much enjoyed helping glue pictures to the bags.  He also remembered a lot of the apostles' names from last time.  I did get a bunch of my ideas from online, but it's sort of a mesh of ideas that have stuck in my head.  So, I don't have a specific link for ya.  Here's how I did it:

Preparation: (there’s a lot this time!)
Print and cut out a picture of all the apostles and first presidency.  I used apostle cards found on ourhandshishands.blogspot.com.
Get an old conference edition Ensign (or look it up online) and remove/print the middle page with all the apostles on it.
Decide what you want your activities and snacks to be for each apostle and gather the goods. Also print out a description of each snack or activity with the apostles name so you remember!
get glue sticks and paper bags ready.

Song: “We Thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet.”

Spiritual Thought: Being prepared for Conference helps me feel happy and ready to listen.

Lesson: General Conference is this weekend!  That means we get to listen to our prophets.  Let’s see if you remember all their names and faces!  Spread out the apostle pictures and pull out the page with all the pictures and names.  First name Monson to see if they can find the picture.  Then see if you can name them all in order! Whenever the children can’t find one, look at the page from the ensign (or printed from the ensign) and help them find the right picture. Once you name them all (or as many as you can until attention is fading) explain that we’ll hear from all of these brethen this weekend.  Today we’re going to prepare conference packages to use when we listen.  Being prepared will help us to be happy and listen during conference.

Help the children glue an apostle’s picture to a paper bag and fill it with the appropriate activity or snack.

While you fill bags or after it’s done, sing “The Prophet Song.”  It’s all the first presidency and 12 last names in order to the tune of “The Books of the Book of Mormon.”

At the end either have a fun fall treat since it’s now October, or enjoy some of the conference treats that look yummy! (the extras of course)

And here's the list of the activities and snacks I came up with:

Thomas S. Monson
Monson is our prophet!  See how long you can sit and listen! If you make it through the whole talk, you’ll get a prize!

Henry B. Eyring
“Eyring” sounds like Eye. Play “Eye Spy” gospel style as we spy with our ears.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Uchtdorf flew planes.  Here’s your airplane to hold while you listen to Uchtdorf.

Boyd K. Packer
We “Pack(er)ed” some pretzel sticks for this talk.

L. Tom Perry
Perry’s always smiling, so make your own smiley face while you listen.

Russell M. Nelson
Nelson was a heart surgeon.  Your heart pumps blood to your body.  Healthy blood has iron in it, just like these Graham Crackers.

Dallin H. Oaks
“O” is for Oaks and Oatmeal.  Eat an Oatmeal Cream Pie!

Russell Ballard
“Ballard” has the same first sound as “banana.” Eat a banana while you listen to Ballard.

Richard G. Scott
Scoot on your bottom whenever Scott says “Jesus Christ” (or the equivalent).

Robert D. Hales
The “D” stands for Dean.  Donut sticks also start with D.

Jeffrey R. Holland
Take a sip of water every time he mentions Christ.

David A. Bednar
Start playing BINGO when Bednar starts to talk! Continue until you have 5 in a row.

Quentin L. Cook
“Cook” a bag of popcorn to enjoy!

D. Todd Christofferson
“Christofferson” starts with “Christ.”  Color a picture of Christ. If you hear him say “Christ” in his talk, get a sucker!

Neil L. Andersen
Snack on animal crackers while you listen to Andersen.

I Can Choose to be Happy FHE

Today we talked about choosing to be happy.  Surprisingly, it kept Brayden's attention even though he was in a very tired mood.

Preparation: 

Print and cut out the wordstrip “I can choose to be”

Print and cut out each letter of the word “happy”

Print (or draw) and cut out a happy face

hide the happy face somewhere in the room

come up with some things that help us to be happy (or use my list below)

Song: “Smiles” (CS #267) 

or When We’re Helping We’re Happy (CS #198)

Prayer

Scripture: Psalms 146:5

^aHappy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

Lesson:

Set out the “I can choose to be” word strip with the scrambled letters for “Happy” underneath.  Since my oldest is only 2 1/2, I will spell the word and let him help me with the letter sounds.  Once we make the sentence, repeat it all together.  (this is where I would share the scripture)

Help the children remember things that made them sad and point out what made them happy.  Then tell them that there is a happy face hiding somewhere in the room. You may either hide it in a hard spot and let a spouse or older child find it or let it be easily found by a toddler.  I had my husband look for it :) Once the happy face is found, explain that sometimes it’s easy to find a happy face/feeling and sometimes we have to try really hard to find it.

Lastly, you can ask what sort of things make us happy.  After hearing some answers, list some things you have come up with.  Maybe present them in a fun way? (ie- on the back of the letters to “Happy” or hidden around the room)

Repeat the phrase “I can choose to be happy.”

(optional): sing “If you’re Happy and You Know It.”

Helpful Resources:

“How to Be Happy” by Marlin K. Jensen.  http://www.lds.org/new-era/1999/08/how-to-be-happy

A printable version with the words and everything can be emailed.  Just leave a comment.

Birthday FHE

This was our FHE activity a week ago.  Because it was my birthday last week and I just get really excited about it.  So, I adapted this idea from Chocolate on My Cranium, but her idea was way too much for my little young family.  So, I used her cake and found some other candles to print just by searching for candles. Here's the idea.

BIRTHDAY FHE

Preparation:
   Print a cake
   Print an outline of candles on yellow paper
   Cut out the candles and have tape ready
   Make birthday cake or cupcakes for a treat

Song: You've had a birthday

Prayer:

Lesson:
   The way it worked for us, my boys were both just interested in my printed cake and wanted to hold the candles, so while I got tape ready, we all took turns saying one thing we liked about birthdays.  The last candle was used to introduce the lesson and I said "I like birthdays because they remind me of why I'm here on Earth."

Then I summarized the lesson from chocolate on my cranium and it was something like this:

In heaven, we all made a good choice to follow Heavenly Father and come to Earth. Because of that good choice, we got our bodies as a gift on our birth day!  (from Birthdays: A special Celebration by Stephen C. Duncombe)

Even my short summary of the message was quickly losing attention, so I focused on the gift of our bodies and how they can do amazing things.  I asked what our hands can do?  No response. . . so I suggested clapping.  When I suggested that our legs could jump I got a great response! Gotta love little boys! I came up with a few suggestions of what our bodies can do:
   hands - clap
   feet- stomp
   legs- jump
   eyes- blink

Finally, I bore a testimony that if we keep making good choices, we get more great blessings.

Of course the biggest his was our ice cream sandwich cake that Brayden helped make.  I got the recipe from pinterest. Here's the link: http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/2009/02/ice-cream-sandwich-cake.html