Logan's Preschool Christmas Program

Logan did a great job at his Christmas program for his Preschool. He was so excited to sing song and to meet Santa! He told Santa he wanted a Green Robot for Christmas. He also insisted we write a letter to Santa too (because that's what the Bernsteine Bears do when they meet Santa). I told Logan previously we could mail Santa's letter, but he was insistant we give it to Santa. And man, it was a nightmare trying to not loose that letter in the two weeks between writing it and meeting Santa.

Dustin had a grand time too. He didn't tell Santa what he wanted, but he did wave and yell loudly "HI SANTA!" every time he was looking in our direction.

After the songs all the kids traded White Elephant gifts. They were supposed to be $5 gifts, but we came home with a $20 Olaf toy. Logan and Dustin have been really good about sharing it.

Logan giving his letter to Santa

Getting ready to sing!

Sick, Sick, Sick

We've all been sick with a cold for the past week! It's been rough, and we had hoped we would be over it by now, but it's still holding strong. This week was supposed to be the week to Deep clean the house for Christmas, but that didn't happen! Hopefully we will be feeling better by Christmas.

This week I turned in the clothing and household supplies we collected for the local refugees. It was great the response I got from everyone! I had a full car of stuff to drop off. It might be something we do every year between Thanksgiving & Christmas. Maybe different causes, but we'll see.

The boys have been really into music lately. Logan requests either Bastille's Pompeii or Church Music. Dustin's favorites are Pharrell William's Happy and "Spicy Girls".

I also finished sewing 13 scripture cases for the Young Women in our ward (green, turquoise, blue, purple, pink, and red). They turned out pretty good. The leaders will give them to the girls for Christmas. It was an easy way to make some extra money.

Decorations & Exciting News

We've had a fun week! Slowly over the week we got out all the Christmas decorations (finishing with the Tree on Sunday). The boys are in HEAVEN with all the decorations. They love the nativities, and I've only had to threaten them 3 times today that if they keep playing with the ornaments we'll have to take the tree down (they were playing baseball with the glass bulbs). Each time I get a real repentant "Sorry, we'll never do it again"... and then they hug the tree and apologize to it too.

This week was also big for Dave! He accepted a Graphic Design job at IBI Group Inc. They are an international architecture firm based out of Canada, but the Salt Lake office is just down the street from where he currently works. We're all excited for him to start in January. 

We also got to go on two dates this week! The first was Dave's work Christmas party. The food was fabulous, and we had a good time, second we got to go to the temple Saturday and do sealings! We were glad to get to go early in the month (since they're closed from the 7th - 21st and my parents will be in town for Christmas).

So life's been good and we're looking forward to Christmas! Hopefully we can get everything ready in time!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We didn't plan a lot, and it was a nice break not to have to do anything we didn't want to. It snowed for the first time this winter at our house. It didn't actually snow any more than the pictures, but the boys didn't need an excuse to play!

Dustin spend 90% of the time eating the snow (whether catching it on his tongue, scooping it off the floor, or licking it off the car). He just loved it!

He also made two little snow men. The first Logan jumped on (ending in Dustin's tears). Thus the need for the second one (with strict rules no jumping on it).

The boys were so excited, they decided to shovel (not at all necessary)!

For Thanksgiving day we had a casual morning, and went to dinner with Dave's family. It was good to see everyone. Logan and Dustin also decided to make book marks for gifts for a few people, and they had so much fun punching them out and decorating them.

Saturday we decided to head out to Temple square and see the lights! It was tons of fun, not too busy, but really cold! We parked at Dave's work and took the train to the lights. We always love seeing all the colors and  we really enjoy the big Nativity (with life size plastic people).

Over the past two weeks Dave and the boys got sick. It was a stomach virus, and it wasn't pretty. But fortunately everyone was better by Thanksgiving.

I decided over the weekend to start a collection of gently used clothes and blankets to donate to local refugees. I've wanted to help for a while, and this is the perfect opportunity. I'm so excited to help, and have collected 3 trash bags so far.

This week we've been preparing for Christmas! We got the decorations up and I've made a list of all the things that need to get done before Christmas. So I've started cleaning and baking (and freezing). That way Christmas won't be a big stress, hopefully we can just enjoy it. Last night Logan and I made 9 apple crisp freezer kits. It was necessary (the apples were starting to go bad, and I think I'll give 3 of them away as a VT gift and use the other throughout the winter).

The Christmas Quilt is DONE!!!

It's done! It was a ton of work, but I finished in time for December!!! And I love it. Dave thinks it's cheesy, but I'm the decorator, so I get to pick what goes up ;)

Dustin's Birthday!

This week was Dustin's 2nd birthday! Logan has been counting down for a week and helped me to wrap his gifts. Dustin loved all the attention and the presents.

Dustin wanted Minion cupcakes, so I found an 8 pack of little Minion toys at Walmart, and we put several on each cupcake. Both boys have loved playing with these little guys since then. And they're pretty cute too.

The boys had fun taking pictures. I found 100 pictures on the camera from Logan and Dustin. They were a mess! But fun to look at.

Dustin's favorite gift was probably his Batman hoodie. It has a mask attached that he pulls down to look like Batman. He'll pull it up, laughing, and tell me "Is Dustin, not Batman!" What a stinker!

My favorite was an early birthday gift. I finished Dustin's big boy blanket a few weeks ago, and Dustin insisted on it being on his bed immediately. I love how it turned out!

This weekend we winterized the yard too. Logan helped us bag 12 bags of leaves. We have a few more leaves on the tree, but it's supposed to snow this week, so we wanted to get most of the leaves off the grass. Logan loved climbing up on the wall and jumping into the big pile of leaves.

To Infinity and Beyond!

We had a fun Halloween weekend! We're still working on getting the house reorganized from the renters moving out, so we spent a lot of time cleaning and moving stuff, but we also had fun! 

Logan decided MONTHS ago he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and he wanted Dustin to be Woody. Dustin was pretty agreeable, so we slowly started collecting costume pieces. The fleece I had in my stash (free!), so I had to buy Dustin's shirt material ($1.00) and his gun ($1.00). So it was a lot of sewing, but a cheap costume year.

I started working on costumes for Dave and I, but it just didn't happen this year! We were going to be Barbie and Ken from Toy Story... Oh well!

The boys had so much fun! For weeks  now Dustin would randomly yell out "WOODY"! Then I would have to explain "for Halloween he's going to be Woody from Toy Story"

Dustin loved his gun and Logan loved his lazer (and his flip open communicator). I'd find Logan talking to his wrist "Come in Star Command!"

So, while at DI a few weeks ago I found Logan a Wolverine costume. So the boys have been dressing up as Wolverine when not the guys from Toy Story. How could I say no to $3?!? And Dustin fit into Logan's old costume from a few years ago. 

Logan wanted to take a silly picture of Dustin and I. He did a pretty good job!

Sunday Logan got up and bore his testimony. He's been practicing for two months and did a good job. We'll keep working on it, but he was proud of himself. Next week is his Primary Presentation, so now we're working on memorizing that.

Sunday a lady from church dropped off a punch to make gift tags (I'd ordered it from her friend a few weeks ago) and I was so excited I made 20 gift tags for Christmas presents, and a few general gift tags. I don't make cards often, maybe twice a year, but it's fun when the mood strikes me. So now I'm one step ahead for the Holidays.

Monday the boys and I helped set up for a funeral lunch at the church. I woke up at 6:15 to run to the church and get ingredients for Funeral Potatoes and we whipped that out before heading over to the church at 9:30. The boys were great! They helped put the table cloths on, carried the pitchers of flowers to the tables, and put out cups. Then they played the piano in the EQ's room while the ladies and I rolled up silverware in napkins. We got it all done pretty quick then we headed out.

Tonight we did a FHE on Gratitude. I want make a list of what we're grateful for every day until Thanksgiving. Then on Thanksgiving we can read over them all.

Casper WY

We spend 5 days last weekend visiting my parents in Casper WY! It was great fun to see them and to explore their new home. We got to do a few hikes and see the fall leaves.

They also had a playground with old tractors and 4 wheelers and old playground equipment that wouldn't be aloud now (which was so much fun!) 

We also got to go to Martin's Cove and see some Pioneer stuff.  In one of the old cabins they had an old wolf skin. Dustin kept saying "Wolf" so my Dad took him over to see it up close. But Dustin was scared, so he kept bawling! so the whole rest of the day he kept telling us about "Scary wolf!" On up side, the boys were fascinated with the handcarts! We drug them all over all the sites in a covered one. It was a windy day, so it gave them some coverage.

 We also got to visit Independence Rock . We hiked up to the top of it, then down the other side and around back to the cars. Ww got to see tons of pioneer names, boy scout names, and graves.

 We saw so many animals on our trip! We saw antelope, deer, bunnies, squirrels, and birds. Dustin calls antelope "white bums" so whenever he saw one out the window he would yell as loud as he could "WHITE BUM!" Which would make all of us laugh.

We also got to hike up to a waterfall. It was beautiful and the boys collected some pinecones for decorations.

It was a great trip! We got to do some hiking, visiting and catching up. We drove home very relaxed and rested. The drive was long (5.5 hours) but the boys did fabulous!

Pirate Initiation

It's been a busy week, but a good one! Dave has been working late nights all month, which is hard for all of us. But we're looking forward to taking some time to visit my parents in Casper, WY soon. We can't wait to see them, do some hiking, and just all around relaxing. Maybe I should start packing (I like to get started 2 weeks in advance), but that would require me to get out our winter clothes, as it's supposed to be 50 - 60 when we're there.

Sunday was a good day! We enjoyed church, and Logan has been practicing his line for the Primary program Nov 8th. His teacher said he got up and said it from heart! I was so proud, I didn't know he had it memorized. We also went on a walk, cut the boys hair and watched a movie together.

We've been doing a lot of cleaning over the past week too. The renters moved out, and we're all working hard to make the space ours again. This weekend Dave helped me move around furniture and storage crates. Today I got the upstairs almost all put back together, and thoroughly cleaned out the basement bathroom. My friend had a work meeting today and asked if I could watch her two kids, so you would think it was an unproductive day, but the kids entertained themselves so well I got a lot done!

Logan's really been enjoying Preschool lately. He has a fun time playing with his friends and even got in trouble for talking when he was supposed to be listening (I know I shouldn't be happy for this, but it just shows me he feels comfortable there). He even has made little presents for his teacher.

Some time in the past week Logan tried to pierce Dustin's ear with a corn on the cob holders. I was doing laundry and heard Dustin scream bloody murder!!! When I came upstairs his ear was bleeding like crazy and it took forever to stop. The boys had been playing dress up, and I guess Dustin wanted to be a pirate. We take dress up seriously in our house.

October

It's been a crazy month! We've done a lot, and had a good time doing it. Somewhere in there we went free apple picking, visited the widows in the ward, and enjoyed General Conference. The first session of each day was hard, but we got Dustin to nap during the second and bribed Logan with TONS of junk food. We had to make rules like (1) you can only snack during the songs and (2) The Day of Rest does not mean it's time to Wrestle. Even if it sounds similar.

Last weekend we picked pumpkins. Dave, Dustin and I picked big ones, and Logan wanted his to be different and get a little one. He's been sleeping with it at night and reads books to it. This year he's excited to carve his pumpkin too.

For FHE this week we made salt dough Halloween shapes and painted them. The boys had so much fun painting them. As we were painting, they would tell me "I want to give this one to Grandma/Grandpa/my teacher/etc." so we have a stack of decorations to give away!

I've also been sewing like crazy trying to get ready for Halloween. Logan decided he and Dustin are going to be Buzz and Woody. So I have sewn Dustin his costume, and Logan's is in the works. I sewed his shirt and gloves, and have the pattern for his hat. They've been practicing trick or treating too.

I've started watching a friend's two kids (2 years & 5 months) one day a week. Logan's at preschool in the morning and with naps for the little people he doesn't get to play much, but Dustin LOVES playing with his friends! And both boys just love baby Jovi. The boys fight over who gets to feed her and keep her happy. It's been fun.

Labor Day & the First Day of Preschool

It's been a busy two weeks! We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Dave and I got to go to the temple Friday night and do some family names from my Dad. It was great! I always enjoy when we get to go. Saturday we had a Plastow Family gathering at our house. It was small, but we had a great time visiting with family. Logan had so much fun with his cousin Lindsay, he decided they should move back into our basement so we can play more often.

 Monday we took a day trip up to Park City and made our maiden voyage in our new canoe! The boys loved it! The whole time they were either sticking their hands in the water or telling us what they saw from the boat. Logan named the boat Fox, and Dustin just calls it boat (he likes to keep it simple). We rowed for about 2 hours and had a picnic lunch on the lake (we were going to get out on shore, but the boys didn't want to).

There were a few sail boats, canoes, and other various boats out there. The weather was perfect!

 While Dave was tying the canoe on top of the car, the boys decided to go "wading". They had fun watching the waves, throwing rocks, and watching the other boats.

It was great to get out and enjoy the warm weather! Now it's cooling down so it was good to have one last warm adventure before the Autumn.

Thursday Logan had his first day of Preschool! He was so excited to go to school, but didn't understand why we couldn't just go to the Elementary School across the street.

He wanted a silly picture too, so here he's acting like a Dinosaur.

Dustin (who needs to do everything his big brother does), of course needed to take pictures too. This is his "nice" shot.

And his silly shot! He loves sticking out his tongue.

 
Logan will be going to Miss Margene's Preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hours in the morning. We weren't planning to send him to Preschool, but Dave and I decided since change is hard for him, it might be good to do something part time to transition him into Kindergarden next year. And the first day was a very hard day. He cried a lot and wouldn't follow directions or participate in any of the activities. So Dustin cried when we left his brother, and Logan cried because we left him with strangers, and I cried because Logan didn't have a great first day. I guess Dave's the only one not weepy.

But the second day went better. He told me he had fun and brought home the projects they had worked on. His teacher said he participated in all the activities and followed directions. We had talked a lot about why school was hard over the weekend and had him come up with ideas to solve those problems. Ex. he is shy and he was nervous when they broke into groups because he didn't know anyone. So we asked his teacher if he could be in his friend Briggs' group so he would know someone. It really helped, as did carpooling with Briggs. I'm sure we'll still have hard days, but I'm so relieved the second day went better!

We also went to cheer on Dave for his second half marathon of the summer! I didn't expect much a difference in score a month later, but he finished this one in 1 hour and 49 minutes (13 minutes faster than last time).

We loved cheering on Dave! His parents had Logan spend the night Friday night with his cousin McKay, so they came to cheer too. It was crowded, but we were right by the end arch.

We also got a fish this week! The boys just love it. Logan calls it 7th and Dustin calls it Timmy (after his cousin we suspect). The boys love feeding it, and will climb up by the counter to watch it swim around. It's a feisty little guy! He swims all over the place. 

Although Logan loves the fish, I think Dustin loves it more. He talks to it, says bye bye to it when we leave, good night, and when we are away from home he talks about how "fish home alone!" with such a forlorn voice. It's pretty cute.

Dustin has also gone through a language explosion lately! He's using small sentences and I'm always surprised by what comes out of his mouth. He's so convicted too. He'll tell me "Mom! Need Cheese, come!" and he drags me to the kitchen for a snack. Most of the time we can figure out what he is trying to tell us, although he is having a hard time when the answer is no. He's such a cute little guy!