November 2012

November was a fun and busy month for us. We finally took the kids to Avila to get our apple cider for our Thankgiving and Christmas dinners. It is one of our annual splurges- raw apple cider is the best! We hit up the barn so Emma could feed the animals too. Of course, she loved it. 

 We have a funny dog. James made a new rule that he can't sleep on the bed anymore. Too much hair and mess. Marley is very insulted. One night when James was working, one of his pillows fell on the floor and Marley capitalized on this moment. I took a picture of Marley laying James' pillow and texted it to him! James was so upset and told me to get him off.

I was going to, but when I looked back he had curled up like this and I just couldn't do it! Doesn't he look so comfy?

 The Littles watching a show.

 Brad received his Wolf Badge and is now just enjoying the last few weeks of being a Wolf scout before he moves up to a Bear in January. They took a trip to the fire station. Emma loves it when she hears the sirens of a fire truck or a police car or an airplane. She will stop whatever she is doing and ask to go see whatever she hears. We thought she would love seeing the fire trucks up close and personal. She did like the trucks but just wanted to crawl inside them and was super shy around the firemen.

Ben is still enjoying his photography class with 4H and takes his camera with him everywhere! I got him his own digital camera for Christmas which he is going to love.

 Bradley is finally done with soccer! The rain postponed his final jamboree tournament twice. It finally happened today. It was eventful, but not in the way he had hoped. They not only lost all 3 games but he got hit in the face with a soccer ball, cut his lip, and chipped his front tooth. It was a total bummer. He handled it so bravely but the poor guy was really upset!

 One of the James' fellow officers gave the boys camouflage nets when we visited the station one morning. They built forts and hid under the nets all day. James came downstairs and Brad was lying flat on the living room floor, frozen, with the net thrown over him. James said, "Dude, I can totally see you." Brad got up very frustrated and yelled, "I know! This thing is worthless!" That was the end of that.

Our Thanksgiving was quiet but lovely. We had a beautiful dinner which we were able to enjoy with James on Thanksgiving for the first time in 5 years! He left for work and I hit some awesome Black Friday sales! I got these darling boots for Emma along with almost all of our other gifts. It was a bit hectic and crazy (and there were some totally rude people out), but overall it was worth it! I saved on average 50%! I wish I could say that meant I spent less but I just ended up getting everyone more! We will be having a nice Christmas. I am so grateful for the ability to do that for our kids. Not all of our Christmases have been so fortunate.

James' early birthday present! I am 15 days into it now and I absolutely LOVE it!  I finished the first phase of my Rev Abs strong and lost several more inches but then decided to try out Asylum. It is only a 30 day program, and then I will get back to the last 2 phases of Rev Abs. It's fun to switch things up, and MAN does this program kick your butt! It is hard and crazy, but super fun. You are constantly moving, changing exercises, using cool tools like an agility ladder, jump rope, and free weights- it's an amazingly good workout.

 Here are my current reads! I wish I had more time to read. I have finally come to terms that this is not the season in my life where I will finish every book, take long notes, write thoughtful responses, and share all my knowledge. I may do that some times with some books, but it is okay to just dabble; to learn a little here and there when I get 10 quiet minutes to myself.  Learning is fun, and I have much of it to do!

Emma trying out the agility ladder.

 The boys learning to jump rope.

Boo!

 We had a great Halloween this year. We started it out early by attending the ward's Trunk or Treat celebration, followed that up with pumpkin carving later in the week, and then ALL 6 of us dressed up on Halloween for the first time EVER for an evening of fun! What were we you ask and what did we do? Well, keep reading and you will find out!

 Brad and Ben's pumpkins (Brad's is the one on the right that looks like it has some sort of oral trauma- he was very impressed with how "scary" it looked- scary indeed)!

 

 Minnie Mouse all ready for the youth Halloween party!

 Little China Doll (or Mulan as the kids called her).

 Our little vampire. The missing teeth made him look like he really had fangs! Someone asked him if he was Edward. He said, "Edward? Who's Edward? I'm Dracula!" Duh!

 And no Halloween would be complete without a superhero- Holy Candy Bars, Batman!

 James was actually home most of the evening and was able to be with the kids on Halloween for the first time in FIVE years! We headed to Chipotle for an early dinner (if you go in costume you can pick anything off the menu for $2! We fed our whole family for $12!). 

 We then stopped at Costco. If you ever want to shop at Costco and have the store to yourself, go there at 6pm on Halloween. It was a ghost town! No lines, nothing!!

 Finally we went to our old neighborhood for trick or treating, and the kids got a TON of candy! As usual I let them pick out 15 pieces to keep and Dad took the rest to work. It was a really fun night, but I am glad that it is over and that the candy is out of my house!!

Oh, and here we are: Scout Master and Fed Ex Delivery Girl (It was the best we could do on short notice)!

And here is what is left of our garden pumpkins. We are going to make pumpkin turkey chili on Thanksgiving- simple and yummy. One holiday down!

October 2012

June/July Events 2012

Once again another month has come and gone without any blogging! I looked over my calendar to see what excitement I could share from the past month. The majority of it looked like: grocery shop, piano lessons, plan menu, exercise, laundry, church, mutual, smog the car, library, wash dog, etc. etc. But here are some high lights:

Some wonderful friends from church invited us over for Family Home Evening. They had just bought chicks, and the kids got to hold them and we learned all about caring for chickens (which we hope to raise some day).

Emma Leigh has started "helping" with family chores. She loves the little Swiffer mop that picks up all the dirt and Marley's hair. I wasn't paying attention though today and she took it outside. I found her mopping the dirt under the swing set and on the patio!

LOVE the shoes! 

I have a couple videos where you can hear her cute, little voice. It's not always cute and little (she has a BIT of a temper) but she sure is talking a lot and she understands everything you say.

  

I found this great article in a church magazine about a Family Home Evening idea that we implemented this year. We (the parents) at the end of each school year make up "clues" listing some of each child's accomplishments from that school year. Everyone guesses who it is (yes, it's quite obvious) and the child is rewarded with a little present. It was cute and positive, and just for fun I thought I would share what we had to say about Savanna.

-Played the piano at 3 baptisms and once in Sacrament Meeting 

-Completed her first year of Seminary and was awarded the Stake President's Award for reading all of the scriptures assigned in the Old Testament 

-Survived her first rafting trip 

-Completed her first semester of Algebra I  

-Was called to be the Mia Maid President 

-Bought her first Smart Phone 

-Completed 90 days of Turbo Fire 

-Perfected the art of tortilla chip and popcorn making 

-And....(drum roll please) is a self-taught front-flipper and fishtail-braider! 

Savanna has been having a wonderful summer so far. She had a blast on her white water rafting trip. Then she went to girl's camp in Santa Ynez, then she headed to UCSB for a week long Especially for Youth camp, and she leaves AGAIN tomorrow to spend 3 days in Ventura for Youth Conference. She met some very nice girls at EFY and her dorm even had an ocean view. She was asked to speak in Sacrament about what she learned at EFY, and she talked about how her testimony grew, how she has a strong feeling that she has a personal mission to accomplish, and that keeping the commandments would help her find out what that is- sounds good to me!

Savanna and her roomie, Grace, at EFY.

 Benjamin is doing great- he joined a summer reading group at the library and has been reading a bunch of books on his own. I am going to be starting a classic book group for him and Brad in the Fall which they are both looking forward to. Ben hopes to also start 4H or possibly Karate. He has also been practicing his break dancing under his big sister's mentorship! Some of Ben's accomplishments this past school year:

-Became class president of his Sunday School

-Read his first Dr. Seuss book without help

-Memorized Article of Faith #5 and D&C 88:119-126

-Gave a great talk in primary, also without any help

-Fixed our coffee table

-Is an amazing artist, tracer, thank you card writer, and painter

-Made a tank out of a cardboard box

-Loves his baby Emma

-Is the Co-Creator of the World Famous Salad Bar

-And....is a basketball STAR!

Funny Benjaminism of the month: 
 

"Do you think that guy in the Insanity videos is PhotoShopped?" To which Brad replied, "No way! He's just really that ripped!"

Bradley's ankle is finally healing but is STILL swollen. We took him to the doctor and he said that the swelling would eventually go down on its own. Fortunately it's not causing him any pain. He is having a wonderful summer riding bikes with the neighbor kids, reading a TON, jumping on the trampoline, and playing with his brother. Some of Brad's accomplishments this past school year:

- Completed his first year of piano lessons

-Completed his fourth year of soccer

-Received many belt loops and badges in his cub scout den

-Was baptized!

-Read his first two full-length novels (Harry Potter)

-Has transitioned into the Love of Learning phase

-Loves his family

-Is the Creator of the World Famous Salad Bar

-Wrote the hit single, "Dead on the Street" for his music belt loop

-Wrote his first primary talk, by himself

Funny Bradleyism of the month:

While watching the first Harry Potter movie he says, "I have a question." I figured that even though he read the book he may not have understood it all and was waiting for him to ask about some crucial part of the plot or character development. But then he asks, totally serious and pensive, "How do they get Draco Malfoy's hair to look so good ALL of the time?" I just didn't have an answer for that one!

 James is off on Sundays!! It's been awesome going to church together. He still has training until mid-August and then we will find out his permanent station and shift.

Emma's first time picking strawberries at the Rutiz farm! They now have chickens which she insists on feeding every time we pick up our produce. She REALLY likes chickens!

Ben and Em at the annual 4th of July Breakfast.

 I am going to update my fitness blog this week so I won't take too much time here to share (you can go to www.teambeachbody.com/holliwyett and click on blog for more details). BUT, I just started a new program this past Monday. It's actually a hybrid program. I am doing Les Mills Pump (based on BodyPump, a group fitness class) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I am doing Insanity on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Yeah, this makes P90X and Turbo Fire look like child's play! Wow, it's a good work out! I have been slacking a little since James got home. I re-did all of my measurements and pictures and I am COMMITTED to getting these last few pounds off and toning my mid-section.

I will post pictures mid-October when I complete this 90 day program!!  

Oh, and just had to share this cute menu board Benjamin helped me make! The kids and I made index cards of all of our favorite dinners. We wrote the ingredients and instructions on the back so each week I simply pick 7 cards, jot down the ingredients on my shopping list, and we are good to go- simple and useful! Benjamin did an awesome job decorating them too!

June/July 2012