November 2014

Art Neeley came to visit us for a little while on November 1st! He and Jeff lived on the same floor freshman year at BYU and he also served in the Hansen's mission in Hamburg. He ended up finishing his degree at OSU and was back here visiting for a Blue Jackets game.

We went to the Haunted Railroad at the Ohio Railway Museum. It was a fun little outing and nice since they are usually only open on Sundays. Sarah kept pointing at skeletons hanging on the train cars and telling me "ghosties, Mommy!" 

The kids always love a little dip in the hot tub before bath time. Pictures never turn out very well, but you can tell they are happy. :) 

Eating roasted pumpkin seeds after church (with a vest on). Notice Jeff's typewriter on the table also.

Jeff painted the dining room one Saturday. It is SW Peppercorn, which looked blue against the wood trim but I still liked it. He didn't know I took this picture :)

Jacob and Rebecca did an after school Spanish class and I got to take the little girls to the Fiesta on the last day. Here they are singing songs for us...

...and making snacks to share!

The whole class! 

All done and ready for Thanksgiving! Thanks, Jeff!

Hannah had ear tubes put in in November. She was a very fun little patient at the hospital.

We had lots of fun waiting for her to go back and she had the time of her life not only riding these cars but also having my undivided attention. Doesn't happen very often!

Now I can't remember why I took this picture exactly but it does tell a few things about Sarah - this was probably a little bit before I took the crocs and hid them up in her closet because she only wanted to wear them and it was getting colder. That bag has been thrown away because she broke it carrying it around everywhere with her "fings" inside. Also, I love her smile and laugh. Such a great kid.

Sarah got really into coloring Charlie Brown pictures, and her favorite was Patty.

Hannah reading our Yankee Doodle book. One of my favorites.

Rebecca heading out to a birthday party. They had fun dressing up!

Raking leaves out back!

Watching people rake leaves out back.

Looking at the clock, I am guessing I was making dinner right then and took this picture. Sarah and Rebecca coloring, Jacob playing some game. Hannah off on her own...

No idea if that was the same night as the previous picture but she really is into just about everything. Never forget to put the groceries away, because you might have a helper!

My parents and Jamie and her kids came for Thanksgiving.

We made peanut butter pie,

cherry pie,

pumpkin pie,

a large bird,

and little turkey cup decorations.

Sarah loves sliding a chair over to the sink to wash her hands.

We have a lot to be grateful for! 

"Whenever I picture Dad, I think of him taking the meat off a turkey carcass." - Erin, Thanksgiving 2013  We had to take a picture again this year since Erin couldn't be here :) 

Reading with grandma, making castles, and this shows that Rebecca kept putting a space in the THANKFUL banner because thank is a word and ful is a word. :)

My nieces wrestling in the loft.

The girls visited the doll museum one day in downtown Worthington. It was a great visit with everyone!

Book Review: Parenting Principles - 31 Teachings to Raise Children in Righteousness

I received an electronic copy of David Christensen's new book Parenting Principles which contains 31 short, wonderful chapters about how we can apply gospel teachings to raising our children. I'm happy to be kicking off the book tour today here on my blog! 

I loved the simplicity of this book most of all. It is approachable and easy to read and not "I know more than you so I will share what I know" as some parenting books are. There is a reminder given at the end of each section that there are no rules and that parents should follow the Holy Ghost and use prayer first and foremost to know how to best raise their children. I love this reminder - isn't it easy to read parenting books and then try to implement everything (too much!), only to get frustrated when you realize it wasn't the best method for your particular youngster? 

There are wonderful stories from the author's childhood on a dairy farm and from others he knows that teach great principles about hard work, the safety in having boundaries, and other important topics for parents to consider when raising righteous children. I love how well he adds words from Latter-day prophets with words of scripture to really make the teachings he shares applicable to our day and any age of child.

I would love to share this book with one reader in an electronic format. Leave a comment below telling what your favorite scripture is that has helped you in parenting, or a great parenting technique you have used or heard of. I'll choose a winner at random in one week!

You can learn more about David Christensen at his author website here and you can visit his Facebook page also! 



Thank you to Cedar Fort for the chance to give my honest review of this book and for the giveaway copy! 

Book Review: 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family by Nicole Carpenter

I received a preview copy of the new book 52 Weeks to Fortify Your Family: 5 Minute Messages to review for Cedar Fort, Inc. This book by Nicole Carpenter is an expanded version of something she posted on her website MOMentity that she called the Armor Your Children series. The idea is that you can spend a few minutes each day sharing a scriptural thought with your children that will give them something to think about throughout the day.

In our family, we usually read from the Book of Mormon each night before the kids go to bed, but I really wanted to try to fit in trying this book out in the mornings, but it proved to be a little bit difficult for me. I have 2 in school who are eating around 7:10 AM, and 2 little ones who are sometimes still sleeping then or who are also eating, and I realized our morning routine is not always the same each day. So I didn't try this book out as well as I hoped that I would, sad to say. But the format of the book is such that I can pick it up and begin again any time, and I like that. (Note: I reviewed an electronic copy of this book and I think if it had been a hard copy I would have been able to test it out a bit more with my kids!) Maybe we will try it at dinner time and see if that is a little easier.

I gave a copy of this book to my older sister for Christmas because I felt like it was something that would help her as a mother of 4 children (a little older than mine). I hope she is enjoying it!

I like that the book doesn't have to be done in order. It doesn't start in January or anything like that, it just has numbered weeks. And while some lessons might reference the previous week's thoughts, it is very easy to skip around as needed. If you feel like your children might need some thoughts about obedience or tithing to follow up after a Family Home Evening lesson, this book will be a great resource for you. There are General Conference talks that go along with the topics, questions to help children think about things further, and even a quote that I think could be memorized during the week you study the topic.

I feel like this is the kind of resource that parents wish they could have, lots of great thoughts/scriptures at their fingertips, all organized and ready to share with eager learners. When I discussed kindness with my children, we were all able to share some interesting thoughts. I really believe that having gospel conversations with my children is important, and I feel that this book provides a great jumping off point for me and other parents to be able to do just that.