Happy? Halloween

Jonas kept repeating over and over in a matter-of-fact voice "He's a sad mouse."

Poor Harland.

I had to ditch the costume right away.

Then as we were preparing to go to the mall he finally saw enough of the rest of us happily settled in our costumes he decided to try it.

Jonas requested a red puppy and apparently I delivered.

I took 5 minutes to cut out some felt ears and safety pin them to a red hoodie and he could not stop gazing delightedly at himself in the mirror.

Later I took a ribbon and a hot glue gun to make a collar (because I'm hardcore like that) and he told me it was a "cool costume". 

It was so sweet. 

He was thrilled with my slacker mom costume skills (I think I was still burnt out from last year).

Rhett as Tigger.

As soon as Harls ditched the Mickey Mouse costume Rhett was desperate to have a second costume.

He cannot get enough dress-up, this guy.

At the mall with Aunt Karen, Eva, Tommy , Laura, Ashton and Renne. 

We were almost the only trick-or-treaters at a small mall I'd never been to in Lethbridge. 

It was brilliant.

I have been eating only unprocessed food the last five days so not a single treat for me.

I consoled myself with homemade baked salt and vinegar chips.

These were intense, in the best sort of way.

http://umamigirl.com/2009/11/salt-and-vinegar-broiled-fingerling-potatoes.html

I don't update often enough...

Jonas found Matty's work notepad on the kitchen table and decided to write speeding tickets for the babies.

Rhett loves animals and animal books so much. If he sees me parked on the couch he will bring me animal book after animal book after animal book. He can't get enough!

Jonas and Rhett love the play silks.

Actually Rhett loves anything dress-up!

Look at those theatrical hands!

Jonas uses his play silk as a cape of fire.

Identical expressions.

The puppy house. 

Two days ago Jonas pulled up a step stool to the front and grabbed a cash box. Rhett had to use a bus card to get on. It is hilarious the make believe games Jonas comes up with everyday now. 

That boy's imagination is on fire!

Jonas named this sculpture "Sunflower".

Harls is an artsy boy. He has a great concentration for coloring.

"Storm" or "Crash". 

Jonas started to use his paint plate to smash this design on his plate.

Jonas made this track by himself.

Engineer-in-training.

Peeping on the neighbors' truck.

Aunt Karen's juicing machine.

Direct quote: "Extra yummy!"

Unfortunately after the mint beet juice he hasn't tried another.

It was really gross!

Loves kale sesame chips.

His train.

He labored over the couplers.

It's a steam engine, tender and hopper car.

Later he heaped balls of soil for coal.

Parenting

Matt and I have been taking a Neufeld "Vital Connections" parenting class, which as the instructor pointed out it not mainstream. I've found I actually have to look very consciously at cultural norms to decide whether they are good for our family. Supports that have been traditionally "crypted in culture" to strengthen families have been lost . Add that to the fact that there are boundless and conflicting parenting books and research. And tremendous pressure to push kids through academic hoops before kindergarten and ferry them between activities. It is a confusing and often times misleading parenting culture we are living in!

I'm (very) slowly unravelling problems and figuring out how to be a more Christlike parent. When I look back to three and a half years ago I am amazed at how different my ideas are! Now I need to work on the doing more. There is a huge gap between my knowing and doing as I try to process the information and weave it gradually into the tapestry of daily family living.

A lot of what has helped shape my ideas has been finding some really good resources (they are rare gems that require some library mining)!

"Hold Onto Your Kids" by Neufeld was the first parenting book to resonate completely with me. Right from a ten-minute Relief Society seminar by an member instructor a year ago I've been hooked. It is really all about having unconditional, Christlike love to build relationships with our children.


My other top 5 parent reading picks:

"The Joyful Child" Susan Mayclin Stephenson
"Child of the World" Susan Mayclin Stephenson
"Calm and Compassionate Children" Susan Usha Dermond (currently reading)
"Simplicity Parenting" Kim John Payne and Lisa M. Ross (currently reading)


On that note, this short article on what parents in other countries around the world are doing better was a fascinating read today:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-grossloh/have-american-parents-got-it-all-backwards_b_3202328.html

The second half of summer

At the Pincher Creek parade. We had lots of fun with Baba and Grandpa at the farm, swimming at Waterton Reservoir and sightseeing around Waterton. 

I'm amazed that every time we drive to the farm and back the children are perfectly contented. 

The babies devouring Dani's zucchini muffins (made from the gigantic zucchini Dani grew in our garden).

Check out those biker legs!

This boy needed a cup of water after he pushed the babies in our stroller all the way to 

Shoppers Drug Mart!

Just in case you were wondering the French bullet train, ATV, is his favorite.

Just chummin'.

Jonas "plowing" our backyard.

He calls picking flowers "harvesting".

A perfect afternoon picnic at the park with Haylen, Violet, Dani and Elliott.

Rhett seriously loves bugs.

I've seen him delighted as a ladybug walks across his eyelids a couple times this summer.

"Wolfie" is Harlands lovey and does he love him!

That little wolf is lavished with the sweetest head caresses and chin nuzzles!

Jonas is so creative with his building. Aside from playing outside and reading on my lap, building by himself is the most "immersed" he gets in an activity.

D&C 50:40-46

Some of the most beautiful scripture.

 40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot ^abear all things now; ye must ^bgrow in ^cgrace and in the knowledge of the truth.

 41 ^aFear not, little ^bchildren, for you are mine, and I have^covercome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath^dgiven me;

 42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be^alost.

 43 And the Father and I are ^aone. I am ^bin the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.

 44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the ^agood^bshepherd, and the ^cstone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this^drock shall never ^efall.

 45 And the ^aday cometh that you shall hear my voice and ^bsee me, and ^cknow that I am.

 46 ^aWatch, therefore, that ye may be ^bready. Even so. Amen.