Opus 494 - Kids' Room

Over the summer Jason and I put a Winnie the Pooh border up in the kids room. I also bought some Winnie the Pooh wall stickers some material to make a new valence for their window. I finally got around to putting it all up. Jason helped me figure out where to put the stickers:

I don't consider myself much of a seamstress, but I'm quite pleased with how the valence turned out:

Opus 493 - Microwave

Our over-the-range microwave died. Sad day. Since we can't afford a new one, we had to learn how to do things the old fashioned way. Fortunately, my parents still have the microwave they bought in the 80's. It's huge, but it works great, and is the quietest microwave you'll ever hear. They don't use it because their new house has an over-the-range microwave. My mom used it at school until she retired a year and half ago. My dad pulled it out of the garage and made sure it was still working. My mom was able to bring it up when she, Aunt Ara, and Uncle Floyd came up for my cousin Bethany's wedding.

In honor of my Grandma Stevens, the old microwave is now a bread box.*

*My Grandma Stevens had a microwave that she never used. She always kept her bread in it :)

Opus 492 - Bumbos

A friend borrowed Joshua's old Bumbo a while ago. I finally pulled it out of Aunt Lissa's room to take it to storage. Lissa and Joshua thought it was awesome and had to try it out. They sure have grown up!

Opus 491 - Kitty Sage

Lissa and Joshua adore Sage kitty. A year ago, they were scared to death of cats. Now, they love, love, love to pet Sagie kitty. Sage is really good about letting them pet her. They do a good job of keeping their voices soft and petting her gently. Sage still spends most of her time in Jason's and my room, hiding out. We have, however, seen a few rare kitty sightings lately. Maybe she's starting to warm up to them more...

Opus 490 - Sing, Sing, Sing

One of my college professors, Susan Kenney, was recently quoted in an article about early childhood music education. She said, "Singing is the first thing. Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing. Sing with them, sing to them. Music is a social and emotional phenomenon, and for the child and the parents, it's bonding time. Making music with a child is not just putting on a CD and letting them alone. It's about singing, and when they're older, making musical instruments out of pots and pans and wooden spoons." Sister Kenney, don't worry, I sing, sing, sing to my kids. Sometimes they get tired of it and ask me to stop :) Sometimes I change the words to songs and make them silly (something I learned from my dad) and the kids chew me out, "That's not how it goes!" But we definitely do a lot of singing in this house.

However, I'm not sure she'd expect to hear my son singing Adam Lambert's stuff:

Opus 489 - Happy New Year!

My cousin Lon gave us a great idea for celebrating New Year's this year. We bought some bubble wrap, laid it on our kitchen floor and let the kids jump to their hearts' content. They had a blast and didn't even know that they were celebrating 4 hours earlier than everyone else :)

We also had our traditional Root Beer Floats before sending the kids to bed. The next day, we invited Aunt Emily and Uncle Robert over for Baked Alaska.*

Check out the air Joshua was getting!

*No fire this time. Two years ago, we had a fire in the oven while making the Baked Alaska. I had made an apple pie earlier and some of it had dripped on the oven floor. I didn't notice it until it caught fire while making the Baked Alaska (you bake it at a very high temperature). I was smart this year - I ran the self-cleaning cycle on the oven on Saturday :)

Opus 488 - Snow!

Despite what it may seem like, we have had a little snow this year. It has been a very dry, mostly warm winter. The few times it has snowed Lissa and Joshua have enjoyed going out to play.

Who needs much snow to have fun?

These pictures were taken at Heritage Halls on BYU's campus. They are in the process of tearing down several of the halls. My mom and I both lived there when we were students so I had to get some pictures before they were torn down. There was much more snow on campus, so the kids enjoyed playing while I took pictures of the halls.

Lissa's first snow angel:

Joshua's first snow angel:

Opus 487 - Nursery to Sunbeams

Lissa and Joshua loved nursery. They had so much fun playing with the toys and they loved their teachers. We were thrilled when we learned that their teachers were moving up with them to Primary! It made the transition so easy.

I can't believe my kids are big Sunbeams now! So grown up! On the first day of Primary Joshua tried to go up and say the prayer. He wanted to use that microphone! As soon as Primary was done he told the Primary president (also his daycare provider) that he wanted to talk. She took care of that quickly. He gave the theme and scripture within two weeks. He did a great job and had so much fun.

Jason came in to watch, but didn't see/hear much since that was the exact time that Lissa decided to test the capacity of her pull-up. For the record, they don't hold much. There was a huge puddle under her when she was done with the test. Jason took her home and changed her, I had to start playing the piano, so a very kind brother in our ward took care of Lissa's mess. Fortunately, Lissa wasn't the least bit traumatized. She came back into Primary smiling away and waving at me as soon as she caught my eye.

Opus 486 - Christmas PJ's

The kids got new PJ's for Christmas. They LOVE them. We let them open them the night before Christmas. It was so fun to watch their excitement as they opened them and put them on. Lissa exclaimed over and over, "This is awesome!!!!" Adorably cute.

Lissa's excitement:

Joshua's excitement:

Opus 285 - Temple Square

We love living so close to Temple Square. It is always fun to go see the lights every year. The kids also really like riding the train up to Salt Lake. It was quite cold this year, but we still enjoyed seeing the lights (despite the look on their faces - this was taken at the end of the trip when they were particularly cold).

Naturally Joshua fell asleep on the way home:

Opus 284 - Sleigh Race

I learned about a fun activity to do with the kids for Christmas: Sleigh Races. It's really simple and inexpensive to do. Get a King size candy bar and two candy canes for each participant. Then get some little candy (Rolos, Hershey Kisses, etc.). Have each person tape the candy canes and candy onto their candy bar to make a sleigh, then race! Lissa and Joshua enjoyed making their sleighs, racing them, and especially eating them.

The race:

Lissa's sleigh:

Joshua's sleigh:

Mommy's sleigh:

Daddy's sleigh:

Opus 283 - Santa

This was the first year the kids wrote a letter to Santa. If you send your letter to the Santa Museum in Santa Claus, Indiana, the kids will get a letter from Santa (no cost, although donations are appreciated). Very cool.

Lissa's letter to Santa:

Joshua's letter to Santa:

Mailing the letters:

And, of course, cookies, milk, and a little note left for Santa on Christmas Eve:

Opus 482 - Lissa's Doll Bed

One of the Christmas presents we gave Lissa is doll bed with quite a history. It originally belonged to my mom's Aunt Betty (Elizabeth). She gave it to my mom, who gave it me, and now I've given it to Lissa. It's finally with an Elizabeth again :) Jason, his dad, and I spent some time (over the course of two days) sanding it and painting it. I really like how it turned how. I'm grateful for the help Jason's dad gave us!

My mom also sent us two Cabbage Patch Preemie dolls. One was the doll I had played with as a little girl. The other was a brand new doll, purchased in the 80's, but had never been opened. My mom probably could have made a pretty penny off of it, but we gave it to Joshua instead (it's a boy). In reality, Lissa plays with both dolls, but Joshua likes knowing that he has one too :)

The doll bed and preemie Christmas morning:

Here are both babies in the doll bed. The beautiful blankets were made by a dear friend of mine, Pam Tucker, and given to the kids when they were babies. She was my Primary president and Young Women's president. I am so glad that we have been able to stay in touch and that my babies get to play with blankets she made for them. They are very special to me.

Lissa playing with her babies. Two interesting things to point out in this picture: 1. Lissa also got a Rapunzel doll for Christmas that she LOVES. Uncle Matt scored some huge points with that one :) 2. Lissa is dressing the babies in the preemie clothes that she and Joshua wore in the NICU. It's very special to watch the kids play with those clothes. Sadly, the clothes fit the dolls better than they fit the kids when they were little. The dolls are shorter, so the length doesn't fit as well, but they are definitely chubbier than Lissa and Joshua were.

Lissa and most of her dolls/stuff animals (the preemies are, of course, in their bed). She is all girl!

Opus 481 - Christmas

Christmas did manage to happen in the Smith household. We began the day after Thanksgiving by putting our tree up and decorating it.

We decided this was the year to start the Camacho family tradition of sleeping "under" the Christmas tree a few days before Christmas. The kids loved staying up late, watching movies, and sleeping in their sleeping bags. I was brave and stayed down with them and slept on the couch.*

The tree after Santa came:

Another Camacho family tradition - taking a picture on the stairs before running down to see what Santa brought.

*Do you like how part of one strand of lights is out? We didn't have the time or energy to fix it. We did, however, find a new strand of lights that I had purchased on clearance last year. Unfortunately, we didn't find it until we were taking the tree down. It was buried deep in one of the Christmas boxes.

Opus 480 - Parties

We have lots of parties at our house. It usually for someone's fake birthday. It's fun to come home from school to find a big party ready for me!

We also have a little 13 year old on our hands:

Opus 479 - Computer

Lissa and Joshua have become quite good at using the computer. We have to limit their computer time to ten minutes a day or they would sit there all day! It's so funny to see those tiny hands working the mouse so well.

They also enjoy playing with the computer chair:

Opus 478 - Favorite Movies

Lissa has become a huge Tangled fan. Here she is posing as Rapunzal (Joshua wanted to be in the picture too):

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we found Mater! We had one very excited boy on our hands. Who am I kidding? Lissa was just as excited!

Of course, the kids still love Pooh:

Opus 477 - Aunt Emily and Uncle Robert

On October 28th, Aunt Emily got married! She and Robert are a beautiful couple. The kids adore Uncle Robert - he is so fun! We are very happy for Emily and Robert and so happy to have Robert in the Smith family.

My favorite part of the day was the luncheon. All six of Emily's brothers got up and talked about their favorite Emily memory and how much they love her. Not one of those boys had dry eyes. It was very sweet.

Look at all of those handsome boys!

The kids chillin' at the reception: