General Conference with Kids

As parents of young kids, our General Conference experience has changed from trying to get as much as we can out of it for ourselves to trying to find ways to get the kids to at least stay quietly in the room for all of the sessions and maybe even get them to listen to each talk, even if it is just for the few seconds of each one.

For April's conference, I found a great general conference folder on Pinterest (http://www.allisonkimball.com/my_weblog/2013/09/conference-is-awesome-folder-free-download.html) where you find the picture of the person talking and put them at the pulpit and then search for pictures of different keywords they say. I decided I'd make 3 of them because that will probably the most kids I'll have at one time that would be at the ages this folder would be good for. Unfortunately, I underestimated how long they would take for me to put together, so I only got a small part of one of them done. But I got all three of them completely done for October's conference.

For Family Home Evening the Monday before conference, I put up the pictures of the First Presidency and quorum of the twelve and got clips of several of the talks from the last conference so we could practice using our new folders.

All my hard work paid off. The girls absolutely loved their folders and couldn't wait to use them the day of.

Though they would lose interest after a few minutes of each person talking, they would get so excited again each time a new person would start. The time in between was spent coloring or doing some epic Lego tower building with Robert.

Rapunzel got the honor of being at the top of the tower.

And it all came tumbling down!

So from the standpoint of trying to keep the kids somewhat engaged through all 4 sessions, I'd say we did our best job yet! But the drawback to this is that Robert and I were not able to get as much out of it in the moment as we maybe could before we had kids. So now it's on us to study it on our own. My goal is to listen to or read through all of the talks 5 times before the next conference in April. So far I've only made it through 2 of the sessions, so I better get cracking!

Instagram Revisited - September

9/1/2014 - So excited! Excuse me while I disappear for the duration of this read. #spiritualgiant #oneofmylifeheroes

9/1/2014 - We've entered the age of dressing ourselves. I have not been looking forward to this daily battle. #ilovemykids

9/2/2014 - This happened today, and they loved it! #ilovemykids

9/2/2014 - Frozen overload! Thanks for the accessories, Grandma Richardson! #ilovemykids

9/2/2014 - Robert challenged my ability to not get a brain freeze. I proceeded to eat this entire Costco frozen yogurt in 3 bites in less than a minute. No brain freeze. Robert just got served! #superpower

9/3/2014 - On the open road... again! To St. George and back in 36 hours. Here we go! Can't wait to see family and celebrate the life of my amazing grandma! #familiesareforever

  

9/10/2014 - The amount of satisfaction I get from laminating leads me to believe I'm definitely OCD. #ocdmuch

9/11/2014 - Robert just submitted his first of many, many, MANY applications for a job post graduation. The process has begun! #theworldisouroyster #ilovemyhubby

9/12/2014 - Are you ready to rock?? Game faces ON! #datenight #bandhero

9/13/2014 - It's been so fun watching these Santa Cruz babies grow together. @hewittfam Another month or two and we'll have 3 toddlers on our hands! #scary Thank you @marinaeyre and @bartonmama5 for the onesies! #ilovemykids #ilovemyfriends

9/17/2014 - We were having an uneventful day. Then the sliding door of our car fell off... #cartroubles #wecantstoplaughing

9/19/2014 - Sometimes you have to ignore everything, sit at the piano, and play and sing at the top of your lungs. #myhappyplace

9/25/2014 - Record of all the games we "threw down the gauntlet" and played 1 on 1 this summer. I am the champion! The Autumn Gauntlet has begun. Will I continue to reign supreme?? Only time will tell #ilovemyhubby

9/27/2014 - Totally did a Color Run this morning. The after picture doesn't do it justice. We were covered! @hewittfam #livinghealthy #friends

9/28/2014 - My view for today. It's that time of year! #headcoldsstink

9/29/2014 - General Conference prep for FHE tonight. What do you do to prep your little kids? #fhe #ldsconf #imamormon

9/30/2014 - This boy! He thinks he's so clever. 10.5 months old, he finally had his 9 month well child check today. Still 100th percentile head (50cm) and 100th percentile height (31.5 inches). He dropped from 98th to 95th percentile weight (24.25 lbs). Clearly, he's on his way to being a featherweight ;) #sarcasm #heishuge #ilovemykids

Run or Dye!!

I did my first official race! It was just a 5k and I didn't pace myself right or do enough uphill training that it totally killed me so I sped walked a lot of it instead of running, but I DID IT! It was the "Run or Dye" Santa Cruz event and I was asked to do it with my friend Kris. We had a great time and chatted the whole way (since we were going at my turtle pace, chatting was possible ;)

Before

And one on her tiptoes because my tallness made her feel short.

AFTER!!

We had dye in places that dye should never be. As soon as I got home Robert cracked up and pointed out that the dye outlined my bum sweat. GROSS!

One last pic before I got cleaned up.

It was a great time, and I definitely would do it again. I'm hoping to do a 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, but I definitely have some work to do! Yay for living healthy!!!

Broken Doors and Depression

Once upon a time, 3 weeks ago, Robert took the girls to the grocery store. They got the necessary items and Robert loaded the newly purchased groceries and the girls back into the car. He slid the door closed and it bounced back. So he tried again and this happened...

Of course his first reaction was to take a picture so that I'd believe him. Some bystanders then helped him hold it in place while they gorilla taped it back on so he could drive home.

In the thick of my postpartum depression this would have totally pushed me off the edge, but both me and Robert could not stop laughing at the whole situation, and continue to laugh about it again and again over the past few weeks every time we thought about it. This made it apparent to me just how much I've improved. I'm not completely out of the woods yet. There are still rough times, especially around my period, but I'm improving and it feels so good.

We were so thankful for all the tender mercies with this random door dilemma. Thankful that nearly immediately people offered to help Robert in the parking lot. Thankful that Robert was in a parking spot by a planter so the door didn't damage another car when it fell off. Thankful that a member of our bishopric was able to get it back on fairly easily the next day and show us what to watch for so that it hopefully doesn't happen again. Just SO thankful!!

Grandma Lorraine

This beautiful lady is my Step-Grandma Lorraine. She married my Grandpa Lane Wilcken after his divorce with my Grandma Millie. She left this world on August 30th less than 4 weeks short of her 99th birthday. She was such an amazing, classy lady. I don't know all of the details, nor do I need to, but due to some misunderstandings that I was not a part of, I have not seen her for a dozen years, but I've not ever stopped loving her and cherishing the memories I have of her. When I heard of her passing I immediately decided I needed to attend whatever funeral services there were. She asked that there not be a service, so there was only a viewing and family prayer. It was great to see all those who were able to attend and celebrate the vibrant life of this special lady.

We love you Grandma Lorraine!!

First Day of Preschool!!

We decided to enroll both of the girls together in an official preschool this year. They were counting down the days until the first day weeks in advance .

  

The preschool we enrolled them in is through the city's parks and rec department. It was the only one within our budget. Every other one was at least double if not triple or quadruple the price of this one. After being there for a month, I'm noticing it's basically just organized play, or in other words more like a daycare than a preschool. There's not much teaching going on. Maybe they will teach more as the year progresses, but for now in a 3 hour day they sit and do circle time for 10 minutes in the middle and the rest is just playing either inside or outside. But you get what you pay for, and I think having a school type schedule has been great for the girls and they are making lots of friends. So we're happy. I've also started supplementing at home, working on a few worksheets of 1 or 2 letters a day and that's been going great. So for now we've found a good balance, we're happy with it, and the girls love it. And I feel like I've been promoted as a parent. It's not just tending babies any more. I'm sticking a toe into the realm of chauffeuring kids to school and play dates and whatever else fills their schedule. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. Oh the life of motherhood.

Instagram Revisited - August

8/9/2014 - You know you've played 2048 too much when... #roadtrippinagain

8/11/2014 - Decided this time around it'd be best/more practical to run in the area surrounding our apartment instead of driving to the coast. Not a bad second choice though if you ask me  #livinghealthy

8/11/2014 - Throwing paper "stones" at Goliath. #fhe #ilovemyfamily

8/12/2014 - If things go according to plan, we have about a year left here. I don't know how we're ever going to leave this place. #lovethebeach #santacruzlife

8/13/2014 - Only saw 15 deer on my run this morning. I wonder where the rest are hiding  #livinghealthy

8/13/2014 - Hey James, you have a little something on your face there. #lovethebeach #santacruzlife #ilovemykids

8/18/2014 - She keeps lifting this above her head and yelling "I am Thor!" #proudmommymoment

8/23/2014 - This pretty lady's birthday is today. She is such a blessing and example in my life. Love you Grandma!

8/23/2014 - Remember that one time that I said my house was spotless. Well, this happened... #life

8/31/2014 - A month straight of being early to church. Go us! #winningatlife