Books

11/22/11

From the time the kids were born Paul & I would read to them.  

When I consider the many things I want to instill in my children, reading is always near the top.

My own love of reading came from watching my parents who are avid readers.

  

I don't remember doing this, but my mom tells me that as a 3 year old I would sit in my closet and read for long periods of time.

  

My kids don't read in their closets, and they never have, but they do love to read.

Our collection began with a few picture books I picked up before we had kids, hoping that someday I would have some children to share them with.

  

They were books I remembered enjoying as a child:  Beatrix Potter, the Giving Tree, the Little Engine that Could, and some Berenstein Bear books.

 

More books came from a friend as we prepared for the birth of our first child; she gave me a large box of picture books that her children had finished using.

  Then Dallin was born just two weeks before Christmas.  

One night Paul stayed home with him while I went out for a little while.  One of the places I went to was the bookstore in the Bozeman mall.  I found a book called The Littlest Angel.  I enjoyed the story so much as I thought of my own little angel at home.  I picked this up for him and thus began his collection of books and a Christmas tradition that continues still today with all the kids.  

He also received Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever from Nana & Papa and a collection of Nursery Rhymes from Aunt Katie.

  We've been collecting picture books ever since. 

A few family favorites through the years, 11/22/11 (the "Ston" is Jon J Muth's Stone Soup)

As the kids have grown, many of their books have become favorites and read many times over.  

When Parker was 2, he was able to retell There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer from memory.  

As a 6 year old, Dallin loved to read Superdog by Caralyn Beuhner & imagine himself a superhero.  

When the boys were very little I would read to them while they were in the bathtub.  Audrey Wood's King Bidgood's in the Bathtub was a favorite read for this activity.  

The Berenstein Bear books have been a favorite of Kyralyn's.

In years past, I would spend many evenings sitting in the hallway, reading chapter books to them as they'd be laying in bed.  

We enjoyed several stories this way:  the Charlie Bone series, the Chronicles of Narnia, & the Chocolate Touch just to name a few.  

We also read during long car rides & sometimes at mealtime.  Fablehaven, Wednesday Wars, & some Harry Potter were enjoyed this way.  

Several weeks ago, we had the privelege of a quiet evening; dinner was cleaned up early, homework & piano practice were done, and Dad was out reffing a game. 

Kyralyn's pile of books from our after-lunch reading, 11/22/11

 I got the kids tucked in a bit early and then spent the rest of the evening reading to each one of them in turn.  

That night I realized that some of the picture books we held on our shelves were a sort of memory of my children's younger days.

Kyralyn still loves picture stories & sometimes chooses books off of Dallin's & Parker's shelves that take me on a walk down memory lane so to speak as I remember reading these same stories to my "little" boys.  

Sometimes they will still let me read picture stories to them but usually we pick up in the middle of a chapter book we are working on:  Candy Shop Wars with Dallin & Wednesday Wars with Parker (he doesn't remember it from the first time we read it several years ago).  

One thing particularly close to my heart is the time Paul takes most evenings to read stories to the kids.  He and Parker are reading 39 Clues, Hardy Boys, or Wierd But True (by National Geographic) while he & Dallin are reading My Side of the Mountain, 39 Clues or Hardy Boys together and many others over the past several years.  This is a favorite time with Daddy, especially as he adds his own unique twists to each story & personalizes many to whichever child he is reading to.

I don't want to forget the kids' favorite picture stories & the memories that come with them as the kids get older and the picture books are used less & less.

So in an effort to remember, I've captured some of the kids' favorites: 

A few of Dallin's, 11/22/11

A few of Kyralyn's, 11/22/11 ("Jamb" is Jamberry, by Bruce Degen)

A few of Parker's, 11/22/11

Some of my favorite picture book authors & illustrators are:

Audrey & Don Wood

Steven Kellogg

Caralyn & Mark Beuhner

Mercer Mayer

Will Hillenbrand

Bill Peet

Holly Hobbie

Jerry Pallotta

Jack Prelutsky

Another family favorite through the years, 11/22/11

Merry Christmas!

12/15/11

Dear all of our family & friends,

I am ashamed to admit that the first thing that goes out the window when the Christmas-craze arrives is the family picture/letter.  The other thing to go are neighbor gifts.  The third thing that goes (sometimes the second) is food.

We love to get all of your family pictures & letters.  Although I may not see many of you often, you are regularly in my thoughts.  As for us, I had hoped to get a nice family picture done this year so I didn't get to putting a card together in November.  But the family pic just never happened quite right.  And in all honesty, I knew that I could "post" a family letter with a quick picture if necessary.  I did intend to write up something of the reflections of our year, a few funnies, and a nice inspired message of hope & Christ-centered love at this time of year.

Instead, Merry Christmas is about all I've got. 

(Oh yeah, and read the gospel of John in the New Testament & 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon which is the account of the prophecies & signs of Christ's birth being watched for by the people on the American Continent, the faith of the believers, and later Christ's visit to these people after his death & resurrection.) 

As for neighbor gifts, I made raspberry-jalepeno jam in September.  So I thought I had that covered.  Just package it with a small thing of cream cheese & a box of Wheat Thins.  Oh, wait.  Not enough jars of jam.  Should have made a third batch.  Oh well.  Pioneer Party's gift bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears are easy to come by.  Shoot, still didn't buy enough.  Oh look, ready-made white chocolate covered pretzels.  Add to a bag of mixed nuts & Clementines & what a nice give-away gift.  Oh, boy.  Still not enough.  Guess we have to pull out the mixer, turn on the oven & start the popper.  Parker made chocolate chip cookies & we shared a favorite snack - homemade caramel popcorn.  Wait, still haven't given local family members anything.  Well, we did share at the white-elephant party & we do get to spend time together & share food at other special family gatherings.  

Had I known that doing neighbor gifts would turn out the way it did, I probably wouldn't have done them! 

But maybe I would have...I do enjoy the work of it all.  But I really enjoy the quick visits during this crazy wonderful holiday time that come with the deliveries.  I am so grateful for so many people in my life who lift, support & love my family & I.  

We just want to share a piece of us with you. 

Of course, I don't want to miss out on any of the goodies that you are sharing either!  (Stop, I'm totally kidding!)

And food?  Yep, with all the goodies coming in who needs regular food?  And all the shopping?  Why bother eating?  Its 3:00 & no lunch yet?  Get your own!  You know where the food is.  8:00 and you haven't had dinner yet?  Oh well.  Go eat a yogurt or an apple.  That's not enough?  Have a bowl of cereal.  Its not really that bad, but I would love for Santa to bring me a few instant meals.  In the true spirit of keeping Christmas (!??!), I have promised my family a real dinner of taco salad (even with taco meat, a rarity in our taco salads - & not for lack of beef!) tomorrow.  Hope we get the table cleared off in time to serve it!

Now, it hasn't been all work the past couple of weeks.  We've taken time to play together.  

Kyralyn's dance showcase was fun to see (for now you can see it on youtube - search for Kyralyns dance showcase).  
We watched a couple of Dallin's bball games.  

We've done lots of shopping.  

The boys had cousin sleepovers.  

Paul coordinated a wonderful Awards Ceremony for Cub Scout Pack Meeting, with a great Arrow of Light ceremony and awesome cookies!  

We had a birthday party (so grateful for a church building to send several 12 year olds to play basketball in -thanks for doing this Paul).  

Paul took the kids swimming.  

Parker & Tylan went swimming the next day.  

We had a family night out watching Daddy ref a game with Greg & Tammy (an adventure as we sat in the mouthy section of the crowd - a bit hard on the ears of the ref's family, but even the kids have learned to be in good humor as they hear the comments yelled out.)  

We enjoyed a meal out with Tanya to Chile's.  Delicious.  And we always love your company.  
We watched the Hale Center Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol - from the front row.  We were all enthralled by the amazing ability of these actors & actresses as well as the stage effects.  
We did a lot more shopping.  
We visited Grandma Locher.  
We got a tree put up this year (after a little bump last year - we used a little fake tree - the ward's Giving Tree - as our own Christmas tree).  
Paul & I even escaped twice for an evening out just us together. 

Phew.....

Its been an amazing Christmas holiday.  
 Filled with family, fun & lots of service.  

(And yes I am very grateful for the service opportunities my Relief Society (in the link you can scroll down a bit for a description of this part of our church) calling provides.  I work with amazing women who believe strongly in the purpose of Relief Society & really make my job much smoother!  I also try to involve the kids where appropriate too.  They are very helpful in carrying food dishes, fielding phone calls, visiting with people, loading up giving tree gifts & folding laundry.)

I hope to sit by the tree, soak in the magic of my favorite holiday album (Boston Pops Orchestra's "Holiday Pops") and sip on a cup of hot cocoa with a mint candy cane stirred in.

Maybe in March.   

We love you all & hope you have yourselves a very 

Merry Christmas!

Remembering Fall

Although Christmas is fast approaching, I wanted to make sure to record some of the other things we've been doing this past Fall.   

In September we went out west of Utah Lake for an afternoon activity.  We drove through fields of sunflowers in full bloom. 

9/10/11

Who says chores can't be fun?  Especially when you have your own music attached to your ears!

11/5/11

Kyralyn held school for some of the neighbor boys on the porch.

11/5/11

11/5/11

During the first several weeks of Kindergarten, Kyralyn's favorite after school activity was to play with a friend.  

She'd sometimes even forget she was hungry so she could get to playing.  

Sometime during the month of November I realized that this had not happened for quite a while.  

She seemed to want some alone time.  

I would often find her immersed in imaginative play of some kind:  being a teacher to her babies & animals, being the "hair-cutter" lady, creating art, or rearranging & decorating rooms in the house.  

One day she called me upstairs and asked me to read to her on her bed of pillows & blankets.  

We took some pictures too.

11/15/11

11/15/11

One of the many things I appreciate in my children is the initiative they often show.  

As a child, at Grandpa Locher's house, he would occasionally ask what certain words meant.  

Initiative was one of these words.  

After I'd stumble trying to get out a definition, he would simply state, "initiative is doing the right thing for the right reason, without being asked."  

But then integrity was close to that too (or maybe I'm just remembering it that way...), "doing the right thing for the right reason even if no one is watching." 

One day I looked outside and found Parker raking leaves.

I did a double-take.

First of all, we don't have a leaf rake.  This meant he must have asked one of the neighbors for the use of theirs.

Second, I had never even asked this of him in any way, shape or form.

I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside that he would take care of this outside chore for us.  

11/16/11

 A few seconds later I laughed as I realized what he had in mind for the pile of leaves he was building.  

Sounds like the right reason to me for a 9 year old!  

Chalk one up for initiative.

(Sorry for the fuzzy picture.  The settings were all wrong but in my hurry to catch him I just pressed the button!  I pleaded for another chance, but the moment was gone.)

11/16/11

Dallin loves his iPod touch that he bought with his hard earned money!  One morning I found him sharing it with Kyralyn.  

12/3/11

Parker came home one day so excited to get his report card because he had been told that Krispy Kreme gives the kids a donut if they bring in their report card. 

When the report cards came home, we had to give it a try.  

Paul was off in Rangely, Colorado reffing a basketball game and the kids and I decided to head out for the evening.  

With report cards in hand, they walked in to get their donut.

Much to their delight (& my chagrin?), it wasn't just "a donut."  

Oh, no.

Because who can eat only one Krispy Kreme glazed donut?

No, it was "a donut" per "A" on the report card.  

The nice boy at the counter stamped their papers and opened up three boxes.  

Into each box went 6 donuts.

And into 3 mouths went donut after donut after donut.  

(To their credit, the kids only ate 2 that night, AND waited until after church the next day (Fast day) to finish them.)

12/3/11