Sunday, June 9, 2013

Cub Scout Day Camp

Grant had a great time at Cub Scout day camp this past Thursday and Friday.  I only have these pictures of him because another child's mother is better at taking pictures of my own child than I am - waaaaa!  At least we have memories of this fun experience for him.  ~Andi
















Monday, June 3, 2013

Recent and Not-So Recent Pictures

Grant's Baptism - February 2, 2013




Cub's Carrot Castle Cake - February 3, 2013
Our entry in the Cub Scout cake contest for February's pack meeting.  Yes, we won.

Foosball game from Santa - December 25, 2012
Pictures obviously not in chronological order.  Get over it -  I have.
 Still need to figure out how to rotate pictures on Blogger.  I see how to move them left & right, change their size, and remove them, but there's no way to rotate them!?

Lots of snow this winter - February 2013.  The boys had fun making giant snowballs!

Grant's Pinewood Derby car - May 1, 2013.  Won best design and third place in the race.

Not Halloween, it just looks like it.  Some of my daycare children (and Justin) playing dress-up as they often do.  From left to right: Tyler (R2D2), Kaitlyn (ninja), Leah (pirate), and Justin (Jedi)

Justin's 4th birthday - 2 days ago.  Brian built him a rocket cake per Justin's request.
 Justin opening his birthday presents (wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper because he doesn't care).  He had plenty of help!  I'm so glad Grant is old enough to put together all of Justin's gifts for him now.  The giant cardboard pirate ship that Grandma gave him looked like it would be less than fun to assemble, but Grant had it put together (as well as everything else) by the next morning!  Will get a picture of that posted soon.  ~Andi

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Happy Puppets

Sometimes Grant is not the nicest big brother to Christian and Justin.  He can be bossy and selfish.  I guess that makes it all the more heartening when he does something sweet for them...like yesterday.  I returned home from some errands yesterday morning to find Grant hard at work building a detailed compound out of our large cardboard bricks.  As I looked closer at it, I noticed that parts of the construction were labeled with signs: "Puppetsburg", "Duck Land", and "Penguin Village".  I knew that Grant did not build this for himself, but for his little brother.  Christian's most prized possessions are his duck and penguin hand puppets, and now, thanks to Grant, the penguins and ducks have an enormous, lovely, cardboard brick retreat in our playroom.  Those are some happy puppets!
~Andi

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Our Money Worries Are Over

Look carefully!  These are not $8 bills that Christian made...they are infinity dollars.  With an infinite amount per bill, I think we could have gotten by with only one, but Christian made "five times infinity" (he always phrases what he says like a math problem).

Christian had his 6th birthday on the 10th of this month.  He got to go swimming (indoors, of course) the next Saturday and have frozen yogurt "funness" at Orange Leaf afterward.  That's one of the best things about Christian - he doesn't expect much, doesn't ask for much, and is easily excited by little things that I take for granted every day.  He has added so much joy to our family.  We love you, Christian!
~Andi  (P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom!)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Pictures: Better Late Than Never

We have a great digital camera...unfortunately it only holds about 20 pictures at a time, which limits how often I take pictures and how many I take.  Our video camera is much smaller and more convenient to use, so I end up taking more videos than still pictures.  It's fun for us to watch the videos, but I doubt they are equally amusing to everyone else.  I know that I always skip over the videos in other people's blogs unless they are family.  So I'll spare you the videos (for now) and just post a few pictures.  Another installment from my phone's camera will be coming soon though.

Here are a few from the zoo, including Christian enjoying a "frog spit" popsicle.  The next two are from the Kansas City Temple Open House and the last two are from Justin's birthday party/Memorial day.  We had fish cupcakes at his request, with scales made from M&Ms.  He ate three!  I guess he needed three since he was turning three.  I still can't believe he's that big already.

~Andi


Monday, May 21, 2012

The Power of the Pole

After reading Andi's post this morning I'd like to shed some light on this fishing subject.

Early last winter I found myself searching for many things.  During the course of this pathless wandering, I thought that purchasing a fishing and hunting license might help me find some of what I was searching for.  Six months later, I had done no hunting and no fishing.  In searching to satisfy my own desires, I'd found exactly nothing.

A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly realized how wonderful the weather was that particular day, and I decided that it was the day to go fishing.  Andi threw all the food she already had on the table into a picnic basket and we all packed into the van and headed to a local park that had a small lake.  I didn't catch a thing, but the boys had fun at the playground and Grant got a small taste of what it's like to try and catch fish with gear built for someone twice his size.  I was unhappy with the results of the evening.  I had failed to show myself and my son that I could catch a fish, and I was displeased to see him get worn out so quickly by trying to use my equipment.  But I had made the effort to GO and TRY, and that changed everything.  What I didn't know was that there were higher powers involved with my fishing interests, and until I showed the willingness to put in some effort I was going to receive no benefit.

Two days later, this message was clearly shown to me.  I was 40 miles from home installing a new movement in a customer's grandfather clock.  I knew I had my fishing gear still in the van from two nights before, and I was considering driving to a nearby public lake after finishing the job.  I am fortunate to work in a situation where I am paid for the work I do, never "on the clock," so if I choose to run an errand or go fishing in the middle of the day that is fine.  This job was a good one that paid me well, so spending some time in the sun with a rod and reel sounded like a good way to spend a couple hours alone.  I shared my plan with my customers as I was fixing their clock, and the man of the house insisted that I not waste my time driving to the public lake.  He told me that I would have better luck right there on his private pond that was well stocked with fish.  I had taken notice of his beautiful pond upon entering his driveway a few weeks earlier, but I never guessed I'd be invited to fish there.  So I accepted the invitation and was blessed with two of the most pleasing hours of my life.  I was rewarded with a little success, and a TON of positive mental energy.

To this point I had not given much thought to the timing of everything, but in the passing weeks much has become clear to me.  I'll elaborate more in the future, as I am taught more, but I will do so on my personal blog, enduringcreation.com, so that I can leave this as a place for Andi to tell her side of our family's adventures without me stealing her thunder.