Gratitude

We just got our family pictures back and I am so happy with them.  Kassie Crapo took them and did a fantastic job! She is reasonably priced, very talented, and great with kids! I was especially happy with the shot she got of little Hagen, he is very hard to photograph because he has a hard time focusing on anything and so he is never really looking at the camera! Also sadly enough this is the first professional picture I have of Weston and I since our engagements 8 1/2 years ago.  I love it! I have hundreds of great pictures of Kallie and Cole but Kassie is able to catch their personalities perfectly! I highly recommend her, that is if you can get in.  She is in high demand, I actually scheduled Hagen's 1 year pix at his six month birthday, so good luck!

With Thanksgiving this week (2nd only to the 4th of July as my fav. holiday) I can't help but reflect on how grateful I am for my happy, healthy little family.  My gratitude list could be a mile long but these four people are definitely on the top of my list. 

How the Cowboy Became a Ninja

Fact, Cole is a Cowboy;

Fact, Cole has wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween for 3 years running now,

Fact, This year was no different until.....

A month or so ago he saw a sword in Wal Mart that he desperately wanted. Now you must know something about me to fully comprehend this story, I was NOT deprived as a child I was in fact very blessed and spoiled. However we never got a toy or a treat at the store for no reason, it had to be a birthday or Christmas. We never purchased costumes, they were always homemade. Quite honestly I don't remember making ample trips to Wal Mart a month, when we went to "town" it was the local Broulims grocery and if we were lucky enough to even get out of the car we quietly marched in line next to our mother. (Okay this is an exaggeration, I am sure I wasn't quite the angelic princess I remember being) Once in awhile we were allowed to pick a treat to be shared between the five of us kids.  It was then that we decided that my mother should have never had that fifth child, splitting a Twix in four ways is doable but five?? 

Back to the story; I have held on to the belief that kids don't need something every time we go to the store. In fact they appreciate a treat instead of expecting it. I feel strongly in teaching appreciation to my children.  So the story goes, Cole found a sword in the Halloween isle at Wal Mart that he HAD to have.  I said no, he asked a few more times, I still said no.  We got to the check out counter, he asked one last time.  My answer still 'no' came with an explanation that if I purchased the said sword that I would be unnecessarily spoiling him. Mr. Quick Wit replied with; "Then buy two and give one to Kallie, I don't care." I laughed and we went home without the sword.  

A couple weeks later we are back at said store, Mr. Quick Wit is still asking for said sword.  Mean mom is still teaching 'appreciation' and the answer is still no. (Not to mention that I happen to know what kind of havoc a plastic sword in the hands of my four year old would wreak upon our home)

Another week or so later, it is a Wednesday. Preschool Halloween party is the next day.  Cole has been telling me for months that he is going to be Cowboy Woody for Halloween. I asked him if he was just going to wear his chaps, spurs, boots and hat for his costume.  He said; "No my Cowboy Woody costume".  This is a problem because; 1. it is hideous, 2. it is too small, and 3. it is in shreds.  A trip to Wal Mart is a necessity at this point and besides that, the baby needs more diapers and baby food.  It is off to Wal Mart for the 3rd time this month. 

We stop off at the Halloween isle first, checking for a Cowboy Woody costume because lets face it I am just not quite as crafty and frugal as my mother.  First thing we see in the isle.... The Sword... $2.97 and shining in the eyes of Mr. Smarty Pants like a million bucks.  I can see his mind working and quick too. I am skimming the costumes for Mr. Woody with no luck.  Cole however has changed his mind on costume choice for the first time since he could talk.  He is pointing to a ninja costume and I can hear his silent train of thought. The boy in the picture is holding "The Sword".  Cole's mind is made up, he wants to be a ninja for Halloween.  I am so in awe by his genius that I can't even try and change his mind.  He picks the costume and puts it in the cart and off we go to the baby isle. He says nothing of the sword and neither do I . This kid is playing it smart.  We are almost done with our shopping and the boy has been an angel.  He finally gets the nerve up to ask or rather state his lingering thoughts.  "Well I guess if I am going to be a ninja I am probably going to need to get that sword too!!" I can't help but laugh out loud.  I have been manipulated by my four year old and I can't even help it.  I bought the sword, I had no choice.  I laughed all day and he was the happiest ninja in the world!

Since this event I have been asking myself; "Did I lose?" "Did i teach my kid to manipulate me?" I think not, I think I still taught him to appreciate.  Had I bought the sword the first time, it would have been played with for a day and then forgotten.  Left for the next load to the DI. The same probably would've been true if I had bought it the second time.  However by making him WAIT and WANT I think he learned to figure out a way to WORK for what he really wanted. I realize that his work wasn't in the form of sweeping the garage and earning the $2.97, but in making his mind work and formulating a plan. I can't help but think this world would be a better place to live if every child was taught to work for what they want. 

 These two were pretty cute in their costumes too! (Thank you to the "hand-me-downers")

Please share your thoughts on how you teach this value to your children.

Things that Have Made Me Smile Lately

 Fresh cuts for both me and baby,

 putting his own binky in and going back to sleep on his own, (Love it upside down!)

 Being big enough to bath in the kitchen sink,

 a big brother who loves to feed the baby (and does a darn good job of it)

 big sister who rocks the baby to sleep while mom is cleaning and completely unaware that the baby was even fussing, (I found her in the nursery just like this)

Lastly, cute cold weather gear! Even if the spuds are still in the ground, it was fun to pull out a cute hat and sweater!

Recent Happenings

Kallie: Just started 1st grade and is loving it! She has made a lot of new friends already and is thrilled to eat lunch at school. The first time they served mashed potatoes with an ice cream scoop she was ecstatic that she was getting ice cream for lunch until they dumped a load of gravy on it. We have giggled about that story a bunch lately! She is just so darn funny! Kallie is "in the pink" books at school which apparently is really cool and means she is reading good. She couldn't be more excited about that! Kallie also just started piano lessons and clogging and loves both. We are thrilled to have her around!!



Cole: Cole is always bursting with energy and attitude! He has a stubborn streak that is unmatched by anyone. (I am positive he gets this from my mom) I am teaching preschool again this year and Cole definitely keeps it challenging for me. Cole's favorite toys of late are his stick horses and stick cows, they go everywhere he goes! Cole asks about every day if he can go to the farm. He spent a little time in the tractor packing corn with my dad and some time with Cowboy Ryan herding cows and chopping corn. He and Ryan are buddies and I think it is so cute. I am sometimes sad that Weston doesn't work on the farm so Cole can't go with him every day, but am so grateful for Ryan and others that will tote Cole along! We sure love this boy!

Hagen: Growing like a weed this one is! I can't believe he is already 7 months old! He is such a gem though, in the last month he has really taken off and hit lots of milestones. He spent about a week rolling from one end of the house to the other, this phase ended as ubruptly as it started as he realized that he could scoot much quicker and without getting so dizzy! He scoots on his back and digs his heels in. He is fast though and shockingly hasn't rubbed ALL the hair off the back of his head. Hagen is sitting up really good and loves to be left alone with a bucket of toys. He eats like a pig; his favorites being sweet potatoes and bananas! Hagen laughs and giggles like crazy but his all time favorite activity is the jumper. He sits in it every morning for over an hour while I exercise and happily squeals the whole time. Almost without fail he will fall asleep when he is fully exhausted and satisfied with his workout. I have decided he may become a fitness extraordinaire because he usually spends another 30 or so minutes in the jumper while I am getting dinner on. That is an hour and a half of extreme exercise per day my friends!!! :)

Hagen's Prognosis

We took Hagen to Primary Children's last weekend and came home feeling very blessed and humble. We actually didn't really learn anything that we didn't already know, they confirmed he has Ocular Albinism and that he doesn't and won't ever see perfectly. However they were so positive and upbeat with us. We did learn though that it is really not as bad as it seemed to us at first. One of the doctors we saw was a funny brilliant little man who gave us lots of comfort and hope. He has studied Albinism for over 30 years and has only seen about 200 cases of ocular albinism, so it is really quite rare. He actually developed the testing for the condition and has written many articles on it. He awnsered most every question we had and spent a lot of one on one time with us.

We also learned that the type of Ocular Albinism that Hagen has will continue to improve and get better as he grows. His vision now is about 20/95 which is actually still in the normal range for kids his age. He will probably be prescribed glasses by age 2-3 to help "sharpen things up" but they won't fix the problem. He did tell us that he will never see in 3D but no big deal there, hopefully his vision will just improve enough that he will be mainstream in school and be able to drive someday. They also told us his nystagmus (shaky eyes) will probably diminish to the point that it is unnoticeable by his teenage years!

He could possibly develop a head tilt or head turn where kids cock their head off to one side to help get the best angle for vision that they can. This can be fixed with a little surgery by age six or seven if it is bad enough. His skin and hair will always be a bit lighter than the rest of the family and he will always sunburn easily, but nothing that a little sunscreen and a hat can't fix.

We will see the doctors every three months for awhile just to make sure nothing else comes up with his eyes and to keep track of his progress. They were actually super impressed that our doctor, Dr. Fullmer right here in Rexburg was able to diagnose him so easily with it being so rare and all. We will actually just be following up with him and then if the need arises we can always head back to Salt Lake. We have been set up with the Idaho School for the Blind so if any developmental delays show up they can help with that. Right now he is doing great, maybe a little behind where my other kids were at his age but still in the normal category as far as charts go. He is rolling all over the place, and laughing and talking like crazy. He has two teeth and can sit up on his own for like 2 seconds but hey!! Hagen is eating lots of baby food now and is a little porker, he is still small for his age but I have a feeling with the way he eats solid food he will catch up in a hurry. He is growing out of his swing which is a sad day for me, but he does like the jumper and the walker so I can still trap him in those for a bit. He also sits in the high chair now!!

I have learned that we all want nothing more than for our children to be perfect and healthy, but we can't always have that. I am super grateful that his problems are as minor as they are at this point. In the four hours we spent at the Primary Childrens Opthamology Center we saw a lot of much worse things than we are dealing with. I think when life gets hard we can take comfort in the fact that there is always someone with much worse problems to deal with!

Cole turns 4!!

I remember when I was a kid birthdays were super exciting, we usually got to take a treat to school to share, mom would make us our favorite dinner followed by cake of choice (mine was always angel food cake with angel food cake frosting, super bad for you but if you would like the recipe I would be happy to oblige) and then one sometimes two gifts from mom and dad. The best part of the whole day though, was NO JOBS!!! I loved my birthday, I have tried to keep birthdays simple like that but it is a very hard thing to do.

Cole's ended up lasting 4 days this year! Ridiculous!

Day one: Grammy took Cole shopping to pick out a gift and go to lunch, he picked a stick cow from his favorite store in the whole world; CAL Ranch and then lunch at Dairy Queen where he got his very own blizzard! (Come on mom, what happend to one small blizzard with six extra spoons??) Cole was in heaven and loved every minute of it!

Day two: Cole's actual birthday landed on a Saturday so Weston got to have breakfast with us, Cole chose blue waffles and I surprised him by putting candles in it. (He later told me this was the best part of his birthday) We then gave Cole his gift from us which was a digger toy for their new sandpit. He could've cared less since he really just wanted to practice his bull riding on his new stick cow! Later the kids went to the fair with Weston and had lots of fun there, he however came home without them saying they wanted to go home with Gra Gra?? Whatever pleases them I guess. When we picked them up later we went to the neighbors house for pizza and when we got home Cole was too tired for his own cake.

Day three: After church we had cake and ice cream. Cole wanted a Cowboy Woody cake this year but my creativity wouldn't allow for it and he had to settle with a Woody's boot! And then the ONLY thing he wanted for his birthday was a pinata, but he wanted to whack it all by himself. Simple enough request, he and Kallie hit that thing 100 times and didn't put a dent into it, Weston finally had to give it a good whack with a golf club to bust it open!

Day four: Shopping with Grandma where he picked out basically the same gift he had with Grammy, but this time it was a stick horse (which he already had, but cowboys apparently need two horses) You can imagine the damage that kid is doing to my walls and trim, we may have to cut the ends of those off a bit. But now the birthday is over and we are all happy about it! Especially me, the spoiled little turd!

Kallie was gone to Girls Campout, I have no pictures of this because I wasn't invited. Grandma and Grandpa Crapo are troopers and take all the boys on a campout and then all the girls a different time. I would love to be a mouse in the corner for these, but they don't want me there, how rude! Anyway this is a tradition that they LOVE! Cole was finally old enough to go this year and was so excited. I am sure the older boys weren't too thrilled about having him along but Grandma says they took great care of him! Kallie is a seasoned pro and talked about it all summer. Well she was finally gone and I realized that I have a REAL problem on my hands without her and am not sure how we will manage once school starts. Cole was bored out of his mind without her there and I guess I didn't realize how much she takes care of Hagen too because I couldn't accomplish anything with just the boys at home. I finally gave up trying and called Chelsey to come swim in the little pool!

She graciously accepted the invite and we had a real good time getting some sun and watching Cole try to teach Tagg how to be big like him. So much fun!! This $20 swimming pool has been well used this summer. I bought it hoping it would keep my kids from wanting to go to the canal with the big neighbor kids all the time, since it is hard for me to help them and hold the baby. Well little did I know that the kiddie pool would be SUCH a big hit. I look out there and we had 7-8 big neighbor kids in the kiddie pool. They had made up a fun game and were honestly entertained in that thing for like 2 hours. (Including two 12 year olds and a 14 year old) I was one very happy mama!!