Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas family and friends!

A Suggestion for Sean

While discussing the gifts we wanted to give to Jesus for Christmas, Brady gave Sean some suggestions. He suggested that Sean work harder at not "stealing mom's thunder".

Apparently, I am not the only one that has noticed. ;)

Gifts to Jesus

When I was growing up, we had a tradition of giving the baby Jesus a gift for Christmas. Each of us would choose something that we wanted to do in the next year that would help us to be a better person.
This year I would like to write down the gifts that my little family has chosen to give. This will help us to remember throughout the year as we look back.

Sean- He has chosen to be in charge of making sure our family reads the entire Book of Mormon together in 2013. He would like us to have more meaningful family scripture study.

Amy- Will make sure that she spends more "quality time" with her family. One of the ways she will achieve this is by making sure not to let the electronics get in the way of her family time.

Bethanie- Would like to make a greater effort to help us feel peace and love in our home. She will do this by being more patient and loving with her siblings.

Sadie- Will do better about helping with chores and cleaning her room when asked, and even when not asked. :)

Brady- He would like to learn how to write his letters this year.

Wesley- Is going to learn how to walk, which will allow him to reach more things and get in to more trouble. ;)

We are grateful for this Christmas season and that we are able to celebrate it together. We are grateful for the loving gift of our Savior. He brings us hope in a time of darkness and sadness. He is the perfect example of love and light.

A Gentleman

Brady: "Mom, why is that man kissing that little girl's hand?"
Me: "Because that is something that gentlemen do."
Brady:" Why doesn't dad kiss your hand?"
Me: "Because it is something that gentlemen do."
Sean: "Hahahahahahaha"

The Boys Club

Brady: "Mom, I am sorry to have to tell you, but I just like dad better. He is a boy, I am a boy. I like him better. Maybe if you turned in to a boy then I would like you just as much."
Me: "Sorry Brady, I don't think your dad would like it if I became a boy."
Brady: "Well then, we will just have to say that I like him better."

And If That Doesn't Scare You...

Brady woke me up last night because he had a nightmare. He dreamed about aliens. I told him that I would tell him what my dad told me; "If we were made in our Heavenly Father's image, and many worlds were made, there is a chance that there are people out there that look a lot like us."
Brady seemed to be relieved. That was when Sadie piped in; "Sorry, mom, that was my fault. We were pretending that there were aliens and it kind of scared me too. We won't do that again. Next time we will pretend there are zombies."
-Palm to forehead-

So Long, Farewell...

Jeff, my baby brother, is reporting to his mission in Salt Lake City tomorrow morning. He will be working in the church office building with the media department for the next two years. He will assist with the Mormon message videos, magazines, etc.
We are so very proud of him. He worked so very hard to be able to serve this mission.
I have been in Utah this week visiting with my family. We had the opportunity to go through the temple with Jeff. It has been a fantastic trip.

Making Messes

Spying 101

I am getting lessons in spying from Brady this morning. This includes; "move your arms like you are jogging when you walk", and "Hum this little song while you walk carefully".
I also had to wear a witch hat to camouflage myself.
Anyone need a good spy? I am trained.

I Concur

Brady: "Mom, I have a diagnosis. I think Wesley has 'I always have to be held-itis'."

A Biker Chick

Brady: "Mom, I think I want to drive a pickup truck when I get older."
Me: "Oh yeah, why is that?"
Brady: "So I can carry stuff around in it."
Me: "Like what?"
Brady: "A toothbrush if I travel, a power wheels for my son to drive, and my wife's motorcycle."

...and Finding a Christmas Tree

We put up our tree tonight and the kids wrote letters to Santa. I still can't believe the holiday season is here.
My favorite quote from this evening,
"Do they make a 'baby's 34th Christmas' ornament?"- Sean

We Kept You, Too!

Brady: "Mom, we've had that baby for a really long time..."
Me: "Who, Wesley?"
Brady: "Yeah, him."

Hoover

Brady accidentally dumped a newly poured bowl of cereal on the floor. I handed him a roll of paper towels and asked him to clean it up. A few minutes later I noticed that he had not used a single paper towel. I looked over at the mess and saw the milk in a puddle, but no more cereal.
At least he isn't hungry anymore.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the fab four!

Fall Break

We took advantage of what was supposed to be the last nice day of the year. It was in the 70s, and the perfect day for a walk through a state park. Why not throw in a picnic?
We picked the perfect day! The next day's high was in the 40s!

A Decade

Unbelievable. My beautiful Bethanie is 10.
Bethanie is currently participating in THREE different choirs; church, school, and ICC. She is involved in the spell bowl team at school. She is in a tight race for the highest "AR" points for reading in her grade. Her favorite word is still "Moo". She is a fantastic big sister and assistant to mom.
We love her sense of humor and are grateful for her desire to do what is right.
Happy Birthday, little girl!

Our little Greek Goddess

Makes Perfect Sense

Bethanie: "If I had three legs, I'd be able to braid my hair!"





(Bethanie with her pajamas on her head. aka- striped hair)

Good Question

At church on Sunday someone asked me where Wesley got his curly hair.
My response... "Um....?"

(Wes- 8 months old)

Maturing

Bethanie had her first health presentation in school with the girls. She and I have had discussions leading up to this day for a while, but I knew there would be questions. There were. She asked 45 minutes worth of questions and I am sure there are more to come.
My favorite moment of the day; after a few of her questions were answered she sat down, put her fists in the air, and yelled, "This is all too much!"

Oldie

Brady brought home a scroll from church. He misplaced it.
Brady:"Oh no! I can't find my paper with the old fashioned writing."
Sadie:"Don't worry Brady. Just have mom and dad write words from when they were kids."

Sadie's Birthday Week

Sean says that my family doesn't celebrate birthdays, we celebrate birth weeks. Sadie gets a couple of birth weeks this year. Her birthday was this past week, we celebrated her baptism today, and she gets to have a birthday party next week.
We love our Sadie and her joyful spirit. Everyone who gets to know Sadie, can't help but love her.
Right now she is currently obsessed with frogs, she loves reading, and she loves playing with her sister and brothers. She is a fantastic big sister and a great friend.

Not only did we have Sadie's baptism today, we started the day with the groundbreaking of the Indianapolis, Indiana Temple! We are ecstatic that they will begin construction on this new building! What a great day it has been for our family.

The Sandflyer

The Sandflyer

By: Bethanie Gehen

(Fourth grade writing project)

The sandflyer is a funny looking animal that lives on tropical islands. They are related to kangaroos. They have two long, scaly legs. Their body is covered with feathers and it has wings. It has orange feathers and beige scales.

Sandflyers live in caves and sand burrows. They are used to hot weather. To keep cool they fly around in circles. Sandflyers use lungs to breath. To get around they fly or sprint around on their feet.

Sandflyers eat tropical fruits and toucan eggs. Komodo dragons eat sandflyers. When a sandflyer sees a komodo dragon, it flies as fast as it can away from the dragon. Sandflyers know how to fly when they are born. This helps them as young to stay alive. Sandflyers  screech to let other sandflyers know when there is danger.

One of my favorite things about this animal are it’s feathers and wings. Those make  my animal really unique.

(Sandflyer made of clay.)

Stow Away

Brady caught a grasshopper at preschool today... and brought it home in his backpack.

Females

Brady and his friend, Isabelle, recently started going to pre-school together. Her mom and I decided we would carpool, so the kids sit next to each other on the way to and from school.
On the way to pick up Isabelle the other day, Brady said, "Mom, Isabelle talks and talks and talks. She never stops talking. Sometimes I just want to ask her to be quiet for a while."
I had to explain to Brady that it was all part of having friends that are girls. Girls will always want to talk and he is just going to have to politely listen, because that is what friends do.
He sighed. I think the task seems daunting to him.

He Looks Just Like...

Everyone we come in contact with has an opinion on who Wesley looks like in our family. People are so certain about their opinions. What I find funny is that not everyone has the same opinion.
Here is a line up of all four kids at around Wesley's current age.

 

They almost all look like the same kid to me. Ha!

Things to Ponder

I think some questions in life can be answered, and some you just have to have faith that the Lord will take care of things. Brady was thinking hard about the life after this one, when he asked;
"Mom, are there toilets in heaven, or do they all just pee behind a tree?"

I hope there are toilets, Brady. I really do.

Worse

Brady: "Mom, if you don't let me watch that video I am going to start calling you 'window' for the rest of your life!"
Me: "I have been called worse."
Brady: "That works too! Hi, Worse!"

A Little Bieber?

Sadie has her baptism coming up and she asked Bethanie if she would sing a song as part of the program. At first the songs "When I Am Baptized", and "Baptism" were discussed. Bethanie was concerned with the "Baptism" song, as it reaches a very high note that she is nervous about hitting in front of a crowd.
I asked Sadie if she had any other favorite songs that maybe Bethanie could sing at the baptism.
That was when Sadie broke out in "Love me, love me! Say that you love me! Fool me, fool me..."

In the end we decided that a Bieber song may not invite the Spirit.

Homework

The girls both came home with homework yesterday. They had to make a poster about themselves so that their classes could get to know them. Brady was going crazy wanting to make one too. This morning he and I put something together to tell everyone a little bit about him and his favorite things.

It's Like Christmas

Bethanie and Sadie had the usual level of nervous excitement for their first day of school. Bethanie said that she woke up all night long and looked at the clock, just like on Christmas eve.
I had my own reasons for feeling like the first day of school is like Christmas. ;)
Actually, I was more sad then I thought I would be when I watched the bus pull away this morning. I still have my little Brady and Wesley here to keep me company, but the three of us will miss the girls!