First Snow Fun

Grant was a wee little baby when he first experienced snow, then the second winter in his life we lived in Henderson, NV where it doesn't snow, soo this is the first year he has had the opportunity play in it. He has a couple snowman books and likes to talk about snowmen but he didn't really know what they were until yesterday. Friday night it snowed and stuck. Saturday morning after breakfast we played outside.  It amazed me that even though he had never really played with snow he was super excited to go outside and experience it.  So here are some pictures  and videos of the experience:

So this picture is obviously not of Grant playing in the snow. This is Grant and his friend Coleman at Roll-Up Crepes, holding hands, while their daddies play a little gig.

Half of Perry's band called "On the Radio." Check out their web page here.

Somersaults! He just learned how.

Peaking at Grant to see what he's doing oh so quietly. He had closed the door and started doing this.

Being silly on the couch.

Grant was jealous of the snowman's carrot so I got him one too. 

I'm always behind the scenes. I wanted to be in at least 1 pictures.

Stealing the snowman's carrot nose.

Silly.

Eating snow. Not the yellow or brown snow. 

Hugging his new friend.

Just had to add this one. Grant shimmied out of his pjs a little during naptime.

Joy

Lately I have been finding joy in everything I see and do. I find joy in the sunshine. In the mountain range outside my window, in the satisfaction of a clean house, in the simple smile and things my son learns, in the companionship of my family, in the opportunity to exercise, in the ability to make good bread. I have joy! I am studying how to be more charitable (the way God loves us and everyone around us, and how we should love others) in my scripture study. I have learned that when we feel joy we are feeling God's love. When we express gratitude for that joy and what we are finding joy in we are loving God with the kind of love he loves us with. Joy is a great topic to think about especially when Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner but I haven't been thinking about it just because of the holidays. They are more of a pleasant afterthought. I just love life and all the possibilities of things to do, learn, and teach. Life is so interesting and we have the privilege to explore what its all about.  Be joyful! And let God know you are and for what reasons! You will feel blessed because you are blessed.

"This is Halloween!"

This Halloween holiday we have painted pumpkins, raked leaves, ate roasted pumpkin seeds, made pumpkin chocolate muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting (courtesy of my friend Karissa ), danced to Halloween music, decorated the apartment, carved pumpkins, read ghost stories, juiced my own apple cider, trick or treated, made pumpkin smoothies, and ate lots and lots of candy!  I love Halloween. I know some members of the LDS church choose to do something else with their families on this day but really we are celebrating the people who have died. So there is nothing to be ashamed of in celebrating the holiday commercially. Its not evil. Also celebrating holidays makes life more interesting.  Here are some pictures and videos of a few of the above mentioned activities and some other random pictures:

Silly boy.

Halloween decor. We made the spiders.

First time painting. Painting pumpkins.

I think he got just about every thing.

The damage.

It happened to a really warm day hence the onesie.

Showing elmo the washer.

First haircut with the electric razor by his daddy. I gave him the last one.

Hugging the pumpkin. He did this when I said to smile.

Elmo

Farmer boy.

Farmer girl.

So we are the farmer's who harvest our pumpkin.

Love the on demand smile.

Sorry about the lame angle. I forget sometimes that I can't rotate a video.

Dang Appliances!

So there's a thing about appliances that have great similarities to cars. They break down. So we bought this snazzy old whirlpool thin-twin stacked washer/dryer when we moved in. We thought we could only buy the small versions due to the door. But I figured out a way to open it that could allow any large appliance into the room. Our old washer dryer wasn't going to live long and I have learned my lesson buying old appliances, or at least buying them when I know they are at the end of their lives. I have learned a lot of about washers and dryers. I have learned that depending on the brand they live either 5-7 years old or 7-16 years old. So if you buy a 10 year old appliance you shouldn't hope for much. Our washer was leaking. So we got a pan. I did like 12 loads of laundry last week and when I was on my last 3 loads the agitator got stuck and it quit spinning and draining. It would fill up, then drain, then fill up, then drain. By the end of the 14 minute cycle (short I know) it would be half full of water. Great.  We already are poor enough. But now we have to worry about the washer dryer. You know people don't last long on their own with out one.  We also have a problem with our car we are going to figure out this weekend.

Anyway, so what else did I learn? I want a washer  dryer set that is under 5 years old.  I also wanted a front loader because it uses half the water and you can fit 15 more items in it than a top loader. I found a wonderful tacky deal online. First it sounded like a good idea to buy a portable washer from Wal-mart for 260 because its cheaper than all the rest of the washer at the stores. It is also the same size as the washer I had. Our dryer still worked fine. Then I got over my fear of buying used appliances, because I got afraid since we bought this one used, but then I discovered the age thing that I should buy a newer used appliances. Anyway, so I found this deal that a woman was selling a set for 250. Perfect! We could have a larger washer and dryer for the same price as a tiny washer from Wal mart.  I could do more than twice as much laundry at a time. It is tacky though because they aren't matching brands. If it bugs me enough, which it probably won't because as I mentioned in a post long ago, most things in our apartment are quirky, I could buy a another dryer that is the same brand as my washer. We bought the set with thorough inspection. I did take a gamble, however, on the dryer because it wasn't near where it could be hooked up so I just trusted the girl that it worked. Perry and I manned up and brought it home together, lifted it together into our 5 steps into our home and asked a couple neighbors to help swap the hoses since we didn't have a clamp plier. And Voila! We have a Frigidaire front load washer, max capacity, and pretty little buttons that light up the settings. And a older looking Kenmore dryer. I'm still trying to figure out the little nuances that machines have. The dial successfully turns on its own when I have the dryer on a timed dry but on auto dry it doesn't seem to move. Maybe it isn't supposed to. I'm not sure. I can't seem to find the model number anywhere online to find the manual. Luckily I did find the manual for the washer though because I really wanted to clean up the soap dispenser thing. Underneath where no one could see was mold so I clean all the mold out. Now it is almost in pristine condition. I just need to really scrub some soap scum out of the rubber part before you get to the stainless steel drum. It has built up and I doubt anyone thought to clean it.

Anyway we are happy for our new buys and I rearranged the furniture in Grant's room so that it will fit and things are hunky dory. The dryer wasn't closing all the way and it was missing a part that held the door up to latch. Oh I forgot to mention we are recycling our old washer/dryer and someone is picking it up on Friday or Saturday. So I found the part on the old machine and took it off and will put it on our new set so that the door will latch! Yay!

Day 5

So I wasn't planning on continuing my report on Grant's napping but this story was too funny to withhold. So I put Grant down for his nap like usual and he didn't go to sleep. He was in there for 2 hours playing, sometimes whining and crying but mainly playing. Then I see his pants are a little baggy and he is walking on them. Then his pants are off. Then I texted Perry and told him about it and said that I hope his diaper doesn't come off. I could hear him saying "peepee" "poo poo". I thought, well maybe he isn't sleeping because he filled his diaper. Then next thing I know I see a bare bum on the tv monitor. I ran upstairs and went in to immediately put another diaper on. Thank goodness he was dry and so was the bed! And that ended his nap play/quiet time for the day lol!

Obedience and Napping Update

Grant is getting to the age where he really uses his autonomy. Its a great feeling to know that he is learning about exercising our God given gift of agency.  He is learning what is right and wrong by the boundaries I set for him and he gets millions of opportunities during the day to choose whether or not he will obey me. Of course if I set a boundary I will never back down unless I quickly realize it probably wasn't the best idea. Either way, its exciting to see how he will react every way and especially satisfying when he does do what I ask him.

For example, today we had just gotten back from a long walk and playtime at the park and library. We started walking inside when Grant noticed his new found favorite outdoor toy: The rake. But after a day of fun with it yesterday Grant decided he wanted to haul it up the stairs to play with it indoors. I noticed this when he was almost to the top and said, "We play with the rake outside Grant, not inside." He proceeded to tell me in his own words something about the xylophone and the drum, so I'm suspecting he was planning on using it to play with those instruments. lol. Funny guy! Anyway. I repeated my self about 10 times. He got a little upset and bit the handle of the rake and then proceeded to bring the rake back down the stairs and put it upright next to his bucket of balls. Wow all that effort to do the right thing (obeying his mother) and even place it back where it was supposed to go lol. Those things I adore about him among many others. He is becoming quite the toddler wanting things just the right way for his pickiness.

Here is my little goober just last October. Look at his cute Halloween pjs courtesy of Gma Flora.

In other news, it is day 3 in the new napping schedule and this time when I put him in his crib he immediately rolled over to a comfortable lying position. He is currently babbling about something and has been in there for about 15 minutes. So so far he is taking longer to fall asleep but at least he isn't crying. :)  I love the fact that his new nap routine of singing while rocking him makes him sleepy. He was rubbing his eyes when just 10 minutes before he was wide eyed.