Aug. 30, 2008

Alex's Batman costume. He got the cape and mask for his birthday, and then he saved his allowance to get the belt. He can pull the string over one shoulder and it closes the wings, and he can pull a string over the other shoulder and it will open his wings. He really loves this costume.

He's showing his friend the costume.

Nathan riding his trike.

Aug. 29, 2008

update... This is what Nathan decided he wanted to be for Halloween :)

Aug. 29, 2008

When we were at the mall, I tried this adorable Halloween costume on Katherine! I love Halloween! Alex is going to be Batman and Nathan wants to be a T-Rex skeleton, though I don't think I can find that costume.

Here's the back...

Nathan decided to get a T-Rex at Build-a-Bear with his allowance. Alex got a Batman belt to complete his costume (I'll take a picture of him in his costume later...he's really cute)

We are still learning about Australia in history. Alex and Nathan are scuba diving (notice the mask and swim shorts) in the Great Barrier Reef looking for sea life.

Here is a house in Provo that I just love.

My aunt Nancy (my mom's sister) and uncle scott brought their son David to BYU and we all ate dinner together. Kelly, Shannon's sister, is next to Shannon and she moved out here, too.

Aug. 27, 2008

I found this quote that I really like:
"It matters little what others say. What matters is how I react and what I believe."

Aug. 26, 2008

Today for science they got to be scientists! They could explore with the balance to learn about mass and matter. I was letting them be curious while I was changing the baby and they had the t-rex on one side and all the feathers on the other:) I thought it was cute.
the scientists!

Aug. 26, 2008

Me and the kids went to the Utah art museum to see a traveling art exhibit of famous painters like Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Picasso, etc. with the boys' K12 school. We liked it. We're going to go back with Todd. When I was pulling out of the parking lot, though, I hit another car who was pulling out at the same time and my back tailgate got dented really bad and the back window shattered. It scared the boys, though they said they weren't scared they were just worried about our car being broken. No one was hurt, I'm really surprised that it did as much damage as it did. I'll post a picture of the car later. We had to drive from SLC without a back window to the Saturn place in Orem. The insurance got us a rental car. It was quite a long day!

I am doing home school with the boys this year. It's K12, a program through the public school where they give us the supplies and curriculum (at no charge to us!) but I teach them at home. We still have to mark attendance because it's public school even though it's at home. They have activities and get togethers for the kids to interact. So far me and the boys have really liked it. The curriculum is really great and I love teaching the boys. I am teaching them both first grade, and Nathan is doing just fine! Alex is reading really well so I do a different reading lesson with each of them, but everything else they do together. We took down the playhouse in the loft and made the loft our school. They both really love to learn-- it takes us about 4 hours to do everything and they don't complain, they just love to learn! Nathan's attention span has REALLY improved and he is doing really well with that. Not too long ago he couldn't sit for longer than 5 minutes before he was up running around pretending to blow stuff up. Alex has always had a really good attention span. I look forward to teaching them each day. The curriculum is fun. They have phonics (reading), handwriting, math, language arts (literature), art, history, science and spanish, but we haven't started the spanish yet because we are waiting on them to send us the microphone. We also do scripture study and then they memorize scriptures and they are on their 7th memorized scripture (that's not part of the curriculum though). They are so smart! I decided to do home school with them because Nathan really wanted to go to school (he's not in school until next year) so I was getting a curriculum for him and told alex he could do home school if he wanted, he could choose. He chose to do home school this year, and next year I'll let the boys decide again. I really like having them home, too:). Yesterday we were eating lunch and laughing and I was so glad we were together. We also have a fun "recess" at the end of their lessons. When they finish their lessons, we go to Jumping Jacks, the pool, the Dino Museum, etc.

Right now Nathan is VERY interested (obessessed, really) with size. His standard of measurement is a T-REx, either the whole T-Rex, or its head, tail, tooth, toe, etc. Sometimes it's also a long-neck. He asks all day which is bigger, a T-Rex or a ___? Or, is this as big as 2 T-Rexes? etc. He asks these kinds of questions all day long (literally!) Especially now that we are doing school, they think about everything and ask questions about cute random things. They also will have discussions between the 2 of them, and will ask "what do you think about...?" The other day Alex asked nathan in the car, "Do you think Satan sent germs?" The boys really love their baby sister. They hug her and kiss her and rub her head all the time, especially Nathan. They are really loving and sweet with her. They are also very patient. Today at the art museum the baby woke up right as we were going in, and she had to eat, and then we were going in again and then she pooped, and then she wanted to eat some more. We were joking that we'd never get to go in the museum and they were so patient. The other day Nathan was pretending that the baby's head was the moon or a planet and was blasting a pretend rocket off her head.

Baby Katherine (or Kate or Katie) has grown 1 inch and gained 2 pounds since her birth 4 weeks ago! I think she'll be a chunky baby like the boys were. She still sleeps almost the whole time, but when she is awake she's more alert and likes to look around. She hates her arms to be wrapped up in a blanket, she likes to be able to move them. And she hates to have any tiny bit of poop in her diaper. We literally change more than 10 diapers a day. At night she likes to have her pacifier (nathan calls a "sacrifier") and she likes to sleep on her side and she likes sleeping snuggled with me best. She usually wakes up about every 3 hours to eat at night. I'm still having fun putting dresses, bows and bracelets and pink, pink, pink on her! Everywhere we go people say what a cute little tiny newborn she is! She sleeps while we do home school, but if she is awake I just hold her while we do lessons (and then she falls asleep again).

Todd is working still at Platinum, a security system sales company. He did a really cool program so they took all the programmers and their wives to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Salt Lake...yummy!! He still cooks and is an AMAZING cook, as usual. Our favorite recipe lately is a steak with a kind of sweet rub/glaze and plantains on top also in a sweet glaze. It's very very good. He brought eclairs to work and now he has a reputation. The boys like to visit him at work and he gives them a candy. He also brings them home a cool paper airplane every day when he comes home from work, a fun little tradition he started. Todd is already smitten with his daughter. He's going to spoil that little girl like crazy! He is a really great dad with all of the kids. Last night he told the boys a story he made up about "Sir Jupiter" when they were going to bed, and it was about 30 minutes long! They boys really really love to hear stories. Unfortunately, mom isn't very good at making up stories. Good thing they have dad!

Aug. 26, 2008

We have a meaning for all of our kids' names. Richard Alexander is named after my dad and Todd (Richard Todd). Nathan John is named after John the Baptist. We decided to do Katherine Lily because here is the meaning behind "Lily":

Lily:
Purity & Royalty

The lily's scepter or trumpet shape makes it a symbol of royalty. Its white color indicates purity, innocence, hope, and virtue. The white lily, with its implications of purity, is linked to chastity. Sometimes the Child Jesus is portrayed handing a lily to one of these saints as if granting him or her the gift of chastity. To be "lily-like" is to be of a gentle demeanor and to love others with a pure love. To "gild a lily" is to waste time and energy trying to improve something which is already perfect.

The Lily of the Valley is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. Its fresh appearance after a long winter and its purity make it a symbol of both Christ and the Virgin Mary. Mary is thought to be Solomon's "lily among thorns," (Song 2:2). To both Jesus (who was the only male without sin) and Mary are attributed the words, "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys" (Song 2:1). In the second century A.D., Origen? declared that the lily represents the pure life of Christ and the valley symbolizes the sinful world He overcame.

As an emblem of purity, rebirth, and eternal life, lilies were used to decorate the pillars of Solomon's temple (1 Ki 7:19, 22). This flower is associated with the Resurrection because its bulb is buried in the ground like a human corpse, and yet from this apparent death a beautiful flower arises.

There are many other legends about the lily. The earliest is that the first lilies were born from Eve's beautiful tears of repentance as she left the Garden of Eden weeping over her transgressions. Others say they sprang from Christ's sweat of blood as He agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lk 22:44). They are sometimes called the "white-robed apostles of hope."

Christ made the lily a symbol of what would be done for those who trust in divine providence when He said, "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Luke 12:27-28; see also Mt 6:28-29).

When Jesus is pictured holding a lily in His mouth, He is taking His place as Judge of the World. The lily in His mouth symbolizes His divine mercy and his perfect judgments. The lily was used as a symbol of perfection and beauty when God said of Israel, "I will heal their backsliding...I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily..." (Hosea 14:4-5). Because He is merciful, the aim of the Lord's judgments is the perfection of His people and not their destruction.

He is said to feed his flocks "among the lilies," meaning that the children of God find nourishment in the Church and in pure company, thoughts, or activities (Song 2:16). Snakes, a symbol of the devil are rumored to flee from the pure aroma of the lily. The Beloved's lips are described as "lilies, dripping liquid myrrh" because of the sweet aroma of the words of Christ (Song 5:13).

The Fleur-de-lis is a stylized triple lily signifying royalty, perfection, the Trinity, and the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. It was believed to have been given to King Clovis by an angel when he was baptized around 496 A.D. as a token of the gifts received in Christ. It is an attribute of kingly saints and the Queen of Heaven.



Royalty- child of God

I also happen to really love flowers

Aug. 25, 2008

We had a lot of fun doing school today. In history they start out the first half of the year by going to every continent and learning about a few countries in each. Today we flew to Australia. We were all running around the room pretending to be in an airplane. They had worksheets of pictures of a suitcase that we colored and glued to a manila folder, and a passport that we put their pictures on. After we read a story and some info about Australia, they colored and cut out some animals that are found there, and I hid them around the living room. They went around finding the animals and taking pictures of them, which they then glued into their "suitcases". We also listened and sang to the song "Kookaburra" on the CD that came with the course. There's a song on it for every place we go, and a song to help them remember all the continents (8, right Allison??).
Here is Alex taking a picture with his telephoto lens of the koala (taped to the lampshade) for history. (read post)

Here's where we do school. These are the boys in their school uniforms:). The calendar is the orange thing, some of their work is hanging up, and positive affirmations (I can do hard things, etc) are above their desk, the organizer has art supplies and school supplies, and the blue poster is tracking the temperatures as they drop for the fall. The boxes on the floor is some of their curriculum and supplies they sent us.

My only baby who takes a pacifier

She's growing! This was one of my favorite outfits on her. It's for preemies and doesn't fit her anymore now that she gained 2 lbs!

after the car accident...

the kids at the art museum.

Here we are doing school.

Nathan is starting to like to play computer games more. This is Diego's Dinosaur land or something like that.

Alex got to choose his birthday dinner. He chose ribs and a batman cheesecake. Todd put yellow food coloring in white chocolate for the top, and the bat is out of blackberry sauce.



Ryan and Dad are buffalo fighting, and Alex and Nathan are the riders:

Aug. 25, 2008

Nathan got the camera and took a picture of himself (and other random things)

Alex's birthday cake. It's Indiana Jones with balloon candles.

Nathan swimming at Alex's party

Alex's birthday party at Nancy's pool (behind our house).

This was on Alex's 6th birthday (Aug. 12). He went to work with Todd for a little bit and everyone gave him candy. He said "they spoiled me".

Ryan and Kate both fell asleep in the chair

These funny boys REALLY wanted their picture taken (more Nathan really) with the trains when we went to get Katherine's picture taken. They're not really dressed for a picture, but they are still really adorable!

Aug. 25, 2008

a little smile:)

Katherine Lily Carlson. She is in her blessing dress, the dress my dad and his siblings were christened in 55 years ago.

This is the boys favorite spot... the mud pile in the backyard. I have them go out in their underwear so they don't ruin their clothes. They'd spend all day every day in the mud if they could.

alex is really good at making paper airplanes by himself. he just looks at the instructions in the book and can make all sorts of paper airplanes. It amazes me!

Ryan and Dad at the park

We played a lot of games of Settlers with Ryan and Shannon and mom

Alex was excited to start science. This is the day we got our stuff in the mail for K12 (homeschool).

Here is Ryan helping me take down the playhouse.