Family Tree

I found this old picture recently and did a double-take.  Tall, thin, high-cheek boned contemplative fellow with crossed arms, and floppy sun hat--a picture of a young Morris Mauss, which has a striking likeness to his grandson, Dallin.  Fascinating.       

Happy Place

On our windy, sleeting, hailing, and/or snowing should-be-spring-but-not kind of days, you are likely to find me and the kids in one of our favorite places--the plant nursery.  We are on the slow warm-up track this month; the weather keeps reverting, and we keep retreating to our pseudo tropical paradise.  I think we have visited six different nurseries this month.  Each nursery offers a great variety of plant material, creative inspiration, and late winter/early spring solace.  When my garden is still buried under snow, I crave the warm sun and humid air of the greenhouse; it really rejuvenates me. 

A visit to a plant nursery is such a wonderfully satisfying sensory experience--for all of us.  We can run our fingers along the rows of ornamental grasses, smell the honeysuckle blossoms and lavender flower spikes, marvel at the brilliant red geraniums and rainbow colors of delicate pansies, and even taste the spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint leaves.  

Most of the nurseries have plants, as well as other wonderful add-on features: resident baby ducks, indoor koi pond, working (viewable) bee hive, kid play area with sand box, lounge chairs, and 8' x 8' play house complete with dormer windows and front porch, a cacti collection as large as my family room with several 12' specimen, rows and rows of fairy garden paraphernalia, statuary, and wind chimes from around the world--to name a few.  All in all, our visits are refreshing, entertaining, engaging--and free.

Ezra and his new toad friend.

Koi pond, bee hive, and fascinated children!

Grateful

I'm grateful that I get to be a mom.  And, even more, I am grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home mom.  I had several sweet conversations with my children this week; conversations that made me feel especially grateful for this season in my life.

Ezra, my thinker, said, "Mom, why do we have so many weeds?"

I quickly scanned possible technical science answers, but felt inspired to simply say, "Because we live in a fallen world."  And that led to a lovely talk about the plan of salvation, the creation, Adam and Eve's choice in the Garden of Eden, and the fall of man--and all other living things.

On another day Ezra asked, "Mom, why don't I have just one eye or three eyes?  Why do I have two eyes?"

Again, the answer came instantly to my mind, "Because you are a child of God, you are created in the image of God.  He created your body to look like His.  Heavenly Father has two eyes, and so do you."

Ezra replied, "Thanks Mom, I'm glad I was created like Heavenly Father."

Yesterday after an ugly round of Ezra-Maren fighting, and my own silent prayer, I felt inspired to try a new approach.  We talked about the role of the Holy Ghost, our need for his influence, and how to invite him into our lives.  I quietly explained that fighting and contention pushes him away, and when we are left without his comforting help, we struggle more.   And then we all sat very still for a moment as a sweet, peaceful feeling filled the room.

Ezra said very quietly, "I don't want to be alone.  I like the peaceful feeling better."
Maren followed up, "I love one another.  I love the Holy Ghost."

Happy Easter!

March has been a wonderful spiritual month for our family, and our gospel study efforts have been aided by amazing on-line church resources.  At the end of February, Ezra and I made a goal to read from the Book of Mormon every day in March--and we have!  We were inspired in our effort by a story from the March Friend called Scripture Power.

We have been following the monthly Book of Mormon reading schedules and supplementing with our own additional reading.  What a blessing to study King Benjamin's and Abinadi's prophesies of Jesus Christ in anticipation of Easter!

Ezra and Maren loved the Hallelujah Easter video, and were so excited that the words from Isaiah were included in Abinadi's message (see Mosiah 14).  We watched it together at least 20 times.  After listening to Handel's Messiah, and especially the Hallelujah chorus throughout the month, Maren began to sing bits and pieces during routine daily activities.   Maren watched a full hour, fully-engaged of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra live stream of Handel's Messiah on Friday night.  I imagine she would have stayed for the entire thing, but it ran into her bedtime. 

We also tried many of the Easter activities and lessons recommended in this article 7 Family-Friendly Ideas for a Christ-Centered Easter.  On Good Friday we had a candlelight dinner and read select passages from 3 Nephi 8-10, describing the darkness and destruction, and the hope that came as Christ spoke to the people from heaven.  We ate in complete darkness, and then, as we read 3 Nephi 9:18 ("I am the light and the life of the world"), we lit a candle.  Ezra and Maren loved our special dinner.  

Dallin played in an amazing local production of Rob Gardner's Lamb of God, and I got to attend too.  The music is so deeply moving, and many of the songs have been re-playing through my head for weeks.  Go here (Lamb of God) for a lovely sense of the music, and several short song excerpts.

Our Sunday morning sacrament meeting was filled with music that testified of Christ.  Dallin played two beautiful pieces on violin and sang in the ward choir.  The Easter program definitely touched my heart. 

My little sunbeams were amazing too!  We had our best lesson yet.  All seven of my sunbeams were hanging on every words as we talked about how sweet Jesus had to die, but then rose again.  We made tombs out of salt dough, and re-enacted Jesus' burial, the closing of the tomb (with a small rock), and his glorious resurrection.  Happy Easter!

My cute sunbeam class

      

Spring?

Spring is wonky here. 

Here is a short history of our March weather:

• The first weekend in March we had intense 46 mph winds that blew over our southern neighbor's fence and significantly tilted ours.  
• By the second weekend in March, temperatures were in the 70s.  We noted wasps, flies, and lady bugs flying, and spent many glorious hours in our shorts at the park.  Many of the perennials in my garden were waking up from their winter sleep, and the earliest of the crab-apple trees had leafed out.  Saturday March 12 we hauled in 2 yards of compost to amend our garden beds.  The garden was dry as dust, but the weather was glorious.  
• March 14 we had 49 mph winds again, which dropped the temperatures by 18 degrees in a 24-hour period.  And by the weekend we had nearly seven inches of snow.  I was ecstatic; the garden got a free watering!
• March 19 the daily high was 37 degrees.  March 20 the daily high was 57 degrees.  March 21 the daily high was 72 degrees.  March 22 the daily high was 71 degrees.  Today, March 23, the daily high was 35 degrees, and we got 20" of snow with blizzard-like winds.  Yesterday we were in bare feet in the back yard.  Today (tall man) Dallin was up to his knees in snow.  Wonky, yes?   But actually not too unexpected.

Here's a visual of our "spring" weather.

Here is our lovely little 7" snowfall

Snowy, but sunny & pleasant--out for a neighborhood walk

Here is our surprise 20" blizzard

Ezra, half buried in 20" of snow, and loving it!

 Dallin, our snow shovel hero, rescued at least three stuck cars, shook the snow out of the neighbors heavily-laden trees, and shoveled our driveway, making a very impressive embankment.  Thank you Dallin, we love you!

What's New

We usually don't have much to report over here.  The "And what's new at your house?" question is often a little difficult to answer.  There is certainly newness--every day is a new adventure--but not always of the sharing kind.  In the last month, though, we have a few noteworthy happenings to document:

• Maren is potty-trained!  And, I should quickly add, I had almost nothing to do with her near instantaneous success!  She was done with diapers, ready to be a big girl in another official way, and essentially handled it all herself.  I shouldn't be too surprised about that either--that is the way my little miss does most things.  I offered the panties, a lot of moral support by way of sticker chart, chocolate chips, and much cheering, and that was all she needed.  She had about four accidents total, and by the end of day five was telling me every time she needed to go to the bathroom.  We are now about one month into it, and she is very confident, and still very motivated all on her own.
• My mom came for 10 days for "no-particular-reason-but-she-does-wonders-anyway" trip.  She did several wonderful little make-my-house-pretty projects that I had nothing to do with, except to be amazed by her many talents.  We found fabric, and she made these pillows and cushion for my living room.  Then we bought flowers, and she made a lovely arrangement over the piano.  And, we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, which is even more lovely than house projects. 
  
    
• I checked off another bucket list item last month, "Play my clarinet in public."  There are four ladies in our current ward who play the clarinet (including me), so I thought it might be fun to do something with one or some or all of them in our annual late February talent show.  I got brave and initiated the idea, found the music, and then made an official commitment to play.  My embouchure is sad after all the years of non-playing, but after practicing as a group every Wednesday night for six weeks, I had enough endurance to play our two pieces.  I was definitely the weak link in our group; the other two ladies in our trio have played more consistently than me in stake music events.  But, I did alright.  We made it through, and I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie of group playing.  Huzzah for making a goal, and accomplishing it.
• Currently, we have a resident artist in our ward. She supports her family with the art she makes, and has her work in galleries all over the west, and is starting to be accepted at galleries on the East Coast as well.  She is a fabulous, dynamic, exuberant, deeply compassionate person, and I feel so grateful to be her friend. On Thursday nights when she isn't traveling, she hosts a pastel class with several other art-loving ladies in our area.  We get together and talk, laugh, and make art.  It has been the highlight of my winter, and has given me that much needed creative outlet without children.  We have been following Jackie Simmonds Pastel Workbook: A Complete Course in 10 Lessons.  I must note, that we simply use her step-by-step instructions to recreate what she has already created, so is not original art, but still very instructive and enjoyable.  Here is one of my drawings: 

•  And finally, Ezra swallowed a quarter on Friday.  Why?  I haven't the foggiest.  We never have money out and available, but when Ezra and Maren starting fighting over who got to go in the favorite swing first, I resolved it by flipping a quarter.  Ezra picked the eagle side, Maren was heads.  Later that day, Ezra and Maren helped me wash dishes, got soaked, and had to go change.  In less than two minutes after they went upstairs, Ezra came downstairs sobbing hysterically because he had swallowed the "eagle money" accidentally.  We called the pediatrician, and when Ezra was complaining of his "swallow ball" hurting when he was asked to eat some bread, the nurse advised us to go to urgent care and double check its location.  Wonder of wonders, our children's hospital has a north campus that is an easy 10 minutes north of us.  We were bumped up to the top of the list and were seen very quickly.  Ezra was so, so scared, wouldn't look anyone in the eye, and teared up if anyone asked him questions.  Maren chimed right in several times, and told the whole story!  Eventually, we went to radiology and had two x-rays taken.  The nurses and radiologists were as good as gold, and by the time we got to the x-ray room, Ezra was giggling.  This head profile picture came up first, showing that the quarter was not lodged in his throat, which could have meant immediate emergency surgery (whew!)  When the second picture came up, I had to chuckle--yep, quarter in tummy--we are here for a reason!  The whole afternoon was unexpected, but so, so positive.  I have never seen such a lovely, energetic, sweet group of doctors and nurses.  Ezra is not brave in unfamiliar situations, but they set him at ease, and helped him feel relaxed.  A quarter in a stomach is not ideal, but not problematic; in most cases it passes on its own without any complications.  As we exited, Ezra and Maren were both gifted blue Gatorade, goldfish crackers, and stickers.  They were tickled, and the quarter was all but forgotten.      

The Tree Lady

Reading children's books is one of my great loves.  I am interested in all sorts of genres, but I recently found one at the public library especially suited for my particular interests.  The Tree Lady is a non-fiction book about a determined young woman named Kate Sessions who broke the mold of her time, earned a degree is science in 1881, and then pioneered the effort to transform dry, desert San Diego into a lush garden oasis.  

Katherine Sessions was a horticulturist, a naturalist, a landscape architect, an educator, a green-thumb, a tree-lover, a pioneer, and a wonderfully inspiring person.  Her most notable accomplishment, as the book details, is her creation of Balboa Park in San Diego.  She is lovingly remembered as the "Mother of Balboa Park".  (Now I have one more reason to get to Southern California!)

The Tree Lady gives a lovely glimpse into Kate Sessions life, but also encourages its readers to pursue their own dreams, and to be driven, courageous, and determined.  I appreciate that message!  My personal green-thumb dreams are not as lofty or public, but dreams nonetheless, and I love the encouragement from a children's book to be true to them.  I resonate with Kate's underlying desire to make the world a more beautiful place; I have that dream too.

p.s.--Jill McElmurry's illustrations are fantastic, sort of folk art in style and reminiscent of Barbara Cooney, another fantastic children's book author/illustrator.

      

Maren Funnies

My little Miss Maren is lovely, except when she is not well-rested, and then she can be an emotional roller coaster at best and a screaming terror at worst.  She is very open about expressing precisely how she feels, which is a good thing--I like honesty--but sometimes her honesty can be a little startling. 

For example, she doesn't always love all the children her age in nursery.  Often, when their names are mentioned, I get this response:

"I no like [fill-in-the-blank].  I knock her.  I push her.  I bite her.  I put her in prison" (angry eyebrows and growler voice included).

Play with me and my little friends= best daddy ever!

So, we change the subject and talk about her other friends of the inanimate sort.  She is very attentive to them.  They are all regularly fed and swaddled and put down for naps and invited to picnic parties.  They join us at the breakfast table, at story-time, on errands, and bedtime.  She likes to report their status to me on a regular basis:

"Mommy, bunny had a nightmare.  I love her."
"Mommy, Cora (baby-doll) pushed me.  I put her in time-out right now."
"Mommy, baby Emma is crying.  I comfort her."
"Mommy, Kanga needs a drink.  I help her."

Last week I was invited to one of Maren's picnic parties.  We very carefully laid out several large blankets on the floor and then assembled every stuffed animal we could find.  When all the friends had arrived, Maren invited the group to sing "Happy Birthday" to every attendee in turn, and eat celebratory ice cream after each verse.  I think we sang about 20 renditions of the song, and Maren was positively tickled.

Maren's new bed, with bumper pad so she doesn't fall out

Maren recently graduated to a big-girl bed.  She now has a twin mattress and box spring (on the floor) just like Ezra, and she LOVES her new bed.  But, when the crib left, so did her remaining nap.  She absolutely, positively, refuses to sleep.  Apparently, some children her age will go to bed and stay in bed at a parent's request without door locks or crib-cages to keep them in place.  I do not have that type of child.  Interestingly enough, she makes her friends all take naps every day!

Supervising her friend's nap-time, but she doesn't sleep!

Earlier this week I invited Ezra and Maren to make stain glass pictures with me.  We found lots of fun paper scraps and string and laid the bits on contact paper.  Ezra loved the idea and jumped right in.  Maren, who is very much Miss Independence, would have nothing of our craft.  Mostly, I think because it was my idea, and not her idea.  So, she pouted, fussed, and observed from afar, and then, she had an idea.  She found her partially eaten container of yogurt from breakfast, and started painting the window with yogurt.  I saw her, and almost said something, but then, in a moment of inspiration, shut my mouth.  She didn't know I was watching her; she was so free and expressive--she had found her way of creating!

Our creative window art!

Maren's favorite book this week was I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen.  I read it to her at least twice a day every day, and then she "read" it to herself at least twice a day every day.  She is also in love with several Maurice Sendak classics, and was often found in quiet corners reading aloud to a stuffed friend or two.

Maren loves doing laundry, eating cuties, wearing mommy lotion and chap-stick, singing, and playing hide-and-seek.  Oh, and she loves to do things without my interference!

Ezra Funnies

Ezra is about 4.5 years old, and I really like his age and stage.  He is bursting with ideas and scenarios, and new twists on the normal.  He seems very genuinely happy with life and content with his little world.  Everyday he comes up with a new version of his favorite theme: the life and times of sea creatures.

One day, four of Ezra's toughest creatures (horseshoe crab, polar bear, Ankylosaurus, and great white shark) were generals in an army battling against one horrible foe--Tyrannosaurus rex.  When I checked back later, the generals had amassed a battalion and they were all in formation in neat rows and blocks advancing toward the enemy aggressor.  

Marching into battle

Another day he built several aquarium tanks out of building blocks.  In the first aquarium he assembled all his sharks; the menu of the day was a good chunk of meat--the poor T-rex.  In the second aquarium he assembled all his whales (the non-carnivorous types) and they were gorging themselves on a several different types of vegetables from Maren's play food collection.

The vegetarian tank

This week the building blocks were put in many groups of short lines as life-boats after pirates capsized the dinosaur cruise ship.  Each little block life-boat held one or two dinosaurs, and each little life boat was being pushed along to shore by a friendly local whale.

Sometimes the train station is managed by aquatic life.  Other times the used car lot of Matchbox cars has been over-run by sharks eager to acquire a set of wheels.  Almost always there are towers, creatures, and a story to tell.  I love that he is so entertained by such simple things.

Ezra also loves art projects.  This love didn't just drop out of the sky; I love to create, and I make artistic projects available most every day.  He has definitely taken to that freedom of expression.  Sometimes, the first thing he says in the morning is, "Mom, I need to draw.  I need paper."  As you may have guessed, most often he is author and illustrator of his own sea creature adventure series.  "Mom, this narwhal got trapped in the fisherman's net and all these dots are the mice coming to save him."  Only on a very rare occasion does he draw people, and most often, his drawings don't really look like much to me, but they are so very real to him!  

My favorite Ezra drawing--a portrait of the beloved Bear!

Ezra loves trying to sound out words and group like letters.

He is also in love with letters, books, and pasta.  And speaking of pasta, here is a darling little Ezra conversation from last week:

I was making dinner, and Ezra discovered it was pasta.  He approached with a troubled look on his face, "Mom, I was thinking that I needed to learn some words, but now I can't."
"Oh, really?  Why is that?"
"Because pasta is too distracting!"

Last week Ezra came to me all distraught with a bundle of papers covered in neat little rows of chicken-scratch.

"Mom, I have a big problem.  I need someone to say the prayer at church, but the only one who said he would do it is Bear!"  (Dallin is executive secretary in the ward, and he has to find people to say prayers every Sunday for sacrament...it can sometimes be a difficult responsibility.)

New Year

I love the sentiments involved with a new year, and truly feel a new desire every January 1st to try again, make a better effort, recommit, and start fresh.  This year I knew what my goals for the year would be in late November, and had them written, posted and started on the first day of the year.

Because I am a Primary teacher, a new year also can mean a new class assignment.  For the last two years I have been with the same class, which includes one sweet, severely autistic non-verbal boy.  Based on a lengthy conversation with the Primary president, I felt certain that I would continue on one more year with that same group of kids.  Toward the end of last year, our class had a terrific established routine in class that was working great.  Everyone was happy and learning, and I felt successful.  To my great surprise, the last Sunday in December I received my 2016 Primary binder with a new assignment--Sunbeam teacher!  I was completely surprised, and delighted.  So, my Primary experience this year will be all new.  I am a little rusty though; the last time I taught a Sunbeam class was when my now 23-year sister Kristen was three...

One of my students from the previous Primary class, a cute boy named Elliot, brought me cookies and this hand-written note after we had our last class.  We had our ups and downs in class, but his note made me feel like the ride was all worth it!

Breckenridge

I hope these Breckenridge winter wonderland excursions can continue to be a little part of our holiday tradition because they are such a fun treat for all.  Our quick two-day trip to the mountains (before Christmas) was much anticipated, especially by the kids.  This year our visit coincided with the last few days of Grandma and Grandpa's ski week, so we were suite neighbors and enjoyed visiting and dining in their spacious rooms next door.

Grandma introduced us to two different sledding hills, one just around the corner from our condo, and the other in the next town over.  Maren would have none of the sled.  The one time she sat in the sled with me, she howled and cried from start to finish.  She did enjoy holding my hand and just running down the hill; I think she felt more in control.    Ezra loved the sled, and was happy as a new puppy racing down the hill at Breckenridge.  The other hill farther away was much larger and probably quite overwhelming for a little person; he chose to be a spectator.  Once again, snow was quite the novelty, but the biting mountain cold wasn't quite as fun.  Despite three or four layers each, we were all done after about an hour.

My little miss and I on a winter walk.

Daddy used this wood and metal runner sled when he was a boy.

The kids wouldn't do the big hill, but we did!

Aww...this needs to be the cover photo for a ski magazine!

The heated pool and hot tub is definitely the highlight for Maren and Ezra.  Maren was a little grumpy about the snow, but was all smiles in the pool.  Ezra was ridiculously giddy with the abundance of water and his new life jacket.  He was all confidence with a little flotation help, and was our busy little fish!  Maren loves the "dolphin pool", a one foot deep pool featuring a dolphin tile motif and a little circular current.

We also took a tour through the town of Breckenridge and made a candy stop at Fuzziwig's, a cookie stop at Mary's Mountain Cookie Shop, AND a toy stop for early Christmas presents--all courtesy of a most generous Grandma!!  Ezra was invited to pick his heart's desire within a certain monetary value, and within two minutes in the store, he had made his selection.  A small toy replica of a sperm whale, a great white shark, and a narwhal (fancy that!)  Maren fussed and wandered over the prospect of picking one toy from such a impressive collection.  In the end, she settled on four quarter-sized pink rocks, and a little heart with a pleasant bell-chime inside.  Go figure.

Sharks and whales--found!

Snow Day!

Last week we had our first good snowfall, a solid nine inches in one night.  We do get snow here, but not often a lot at one time and not very long-lasting.  Both Ezra and Maren were most insistent on having snow play time, and they had fun for about an hour and a half.  They played on the fort, swung on the swings, scooped and piled snow all the over the yard, filled dump trucks, and plowed snow with the toy lawnmower.  We started a snowman in the front yard, but it never amounted to much more than a lumpy hill about two feet tall because our snow is so light and fluffy when it first falls.       

Maren and Ezra on the run, pretending to be polar bears in the Artic.

Maren loves the snow this year--hooray!

Happy boy!

My Maren-girl & My Ezra-boy

I am not sure why I have had such a hard time blogging of late, but it has all but fallen off the radar for two months.  No excuses; other things were just higher priority.  Instead of trying to redeem Halloween, Thanksgiving, and half of December, here is a picture of where we are currently.

Maren has three inseparable friends, Baby Emma, named for the newborn sister of one of her friends; Baby Daniel, named for her new cousin; and Baby Cora, named for a friend in nursery.  The first two babies are about the size of an adult's hand, so she carries them around inside her shirt (genius!), which means she still has two free hands to hold a blanket, a purse, a baby bottle, and Baby Cora.  We usually don't go anywhere without at least one of the babies.  She also loves to cook in her play kitchen.  Today she made me beef patty soup, a vegetable medley bowl, and chocolate cake with copious amounts of black pepper.

Hardly a day goes by without some musical performance.  She sings bits of lyrics from "I Know My Savior Loves Me," "I Love to See the Temple," "I Hope They Call Me on A Mission", and "I Am a Child of God".  She absolutely adores her nursery leader Lori, and talks about singing with Lori, doing lessons with Lori, coloring with Lori, etc.

Maren says most words clearly, and can talk a blue streak if anyone will listen.  Just this week she recounted Tigger's sad day when Rabbit banned him from bouncing.  It was complete with the "he said", "she said" of different characters, Tigger facial expressions, and Christopher Robin's response.  Pretty adorable.  She likes to carry around The Book of Mormon and tell me about different characters.  Abinadi, Joseph Smith, and Baby Jesus are her current favorites.  She is a wonderful little praying girl.  She is always first to kneel and fold her arms, and can already say her own simple prayer without help.  Sometimes in church, if she sees someone at the pulpit praying, she will start praying too.  She seems to have come with a special love of prayer. 

Some of her common phrases include:
"Probably yea" (she says this instead of just "yes")
"My Ezra-boy" (her pet name for her brother)
"I'm OK Mom!" (she hollers this as she climbs on counters, pulls random things out of the fridge, removes all my pots from the cupboard, tries to pour her own glass of milk, or starts furiously pushing buttons on my cell phone, etc.  Anytime she thinks she might be doing something she shouldn't, she will first say, "I'm OK Mom!")

Ezra is still enamored with sea creatures.  He wants to talk about what they eat and where they live all the time.  With the aid of the world map on our kitchen wall and the "OK Google" feature, we discuss such things as the migratory route of humpback whales, the eating habits of orcas, and approximate growth patterns of the colossal squid.  Ezra is a curious little guy, who loves to understand his world.  Today he was concerned about our neighborhood squirrels out in the snow, and said, "Mom, quick, ask Google if squirrels have blubber!"

Bear is still his loyal friend, three + years after they first met.  Earlier this month his right leg was hanging by a few tired threads, and in danger of falling off, and after a talk about Bear's future mobility, I finally convinced Ezra that sewing Bear's leg on again was in everyone's best interest.  Happily, with his leg sewn on again, we no longer has Bear fluff in the house.  I was beginning to know where Ezra had been on any given day because he would leave a trail of fluff everywhere.

Ezra's new interest is letters.  He uses scrabble games, my cell phone keypad, a Microsoft word document, chalkboards, notebooks, and alphabet refrigerator magnets to practice his letters.  He likes to try to sound out little words, try to find the letters on a keyboard, and then type them.  His favorite (or most practiced) letters on scrap paper are Q, D, O, A, H, L, and E--the E is drawn with at least ten horizontal lines).  Cute!

Books are Ezra's chosen happy place.  If he is feeling sad or needs some downtime, I often find him on the couch with a stack of books, quiet as a mouse, in deep concentration.  He loves a select few shirts, and will get very motivated to do the laundry, and sort an entire basket of kid clothes by himself in order to find a favorite shirt.  He likes to do art projects with me; recently he has tried watercolor pencils, pastels, and acrylic paints, as well as other cut/paste/glitter type creations.

This month Ezra and I have had a number of deep conversations.  I love his thirst for truth!  Yesterday he asked me, "Mom, can God give wicked people blessings?" and "Why doesn't Coleman (our neighbor) go to church?  Is God mad that he stays home?"  Earlier in the month he wanted to understand why poor kids needed our help at Christmas since Santa should be giving them gifts.  He also was confused about how Santa came into our house without a chimney and without a key.  "Is Santa just a Spirit like the Holy Ghost?"  And, "How does Santa know what I like?--we didn't talk at the Christmas party."  He keeps me on my toes, and I love our talk time! 

Sightseeing

My parents came for a visit earlier this month.  We decided to spend our time seeing some of the unique natural wonders in our local area.  My dad is a geologist at heart, and thrilled over the formations at Red Rocks.  The bottom wall of the amphitheater offered good climbing opportunities for Ezra.  The stairs and trails gave us all a good bit of exercise on such a perfect fall day.  We also stopped at the Dinosaur Ridge museum, which certainly helped me appreciate what a treasure trove this area is for the paleontologist. 

I love this picture!  Ezra is saying, "I love you," with fingers, and Maren is trying to say, "Thumbs up!," with fingers.  She hasn't quite figured out how to stick up just a thumb, so a raised index finger is her way of saying it.

We also walked through a section of downtown Golden, and enjoyed the view along the creek trail.  Ezra and Maren couldn't leave without throwing several pounds of pebbles into the creek.  We picked a safe looking rock outcrop and gave them some throwing time.

Butterfly Pavilion

The Butterfly Pavilion is our new favorite place.  We recently got a dual children's museum/butterfly pavilion membership, so we can visit as often as we like.  Sometimes we stop over as often as once a week.  The best time of day is usually 11:30 or later, after most of the school field trip groups are winding down, and the museum is quieter.  If we head over to the pavilion directly after Ezra finishes preschool, its a quick ten-minute drive.  We bring a picnic lunch and stay awhile. 

The butterfly pavilion is devoted to butterflies, of course, but also celebrates many other types of invertebrates.  At the facility you can pet live hermit crabs and starfish, see a baby octopus, lobsters, fish, sea urchins, shrimp, and dozens of types of insects and spiders.  Rosie, the Chilean Rose Hair tarantula, is available to hold--briefly, and Ezra got up his nerve and did it!  The half dozen varieties of scorpions are always fascinating and frightening.  Ezra seems to have a special love/phobia of these nasty critters.  Maren loves to go digging for earthworms in the indoor soil bins and watch the indoor bee hive buzz with activity.  The butterfly conservatory is actually their least favorite part; they aren't too keen on hundreds of small winged creatures swooping in random flight patterns over their heads.
    

Science and biology are fun topics for me too, and I am excited to have an interesting, indoor, nearby destination for the kids when the weather turns colder. 

Snapshots of Summer Fun

Playing in the "sand dunes" at the Children's Museum

Fill bucket, dump, repeat...30 minutes of uninterrupted fun.

Little firefighters in costume and truck at the Children's Musuem

Ezra found this awesome tree on a mountain hike

Enjoying the great outdoors at 9600'

Homemade fishing poles and good fisherman squats--no fish

Primary temple trip and some of our favorite friends