Random October Pics

As you can see from the pics, Tate is going to be BUZZ for Halloween! He originally wanted to be Randall from Monsters Inc. When I explained to him that they didn't have that costume, he decided that he wanted to be Mike Wazowski. We searched all over for that and couldn't find one his size anywhere. So, he finally settled on Buzz Lightyear.

The library had a little Halloween parade for Storytime today, so the kids got to dress up in their costumes and walk around the library to show them off. It was pretty cute.

My "Not Shy" Kid

As you all know, Tate's been working really hard on learning the first two paragraphs of the Family Proclamation. He loves to say it (most of the time). For some reason though, it was super difficult getting him to record it for me... He doesn't really like performing for the camera very much. My guess is because the camera can't give him all of the praise and attention he so desires.

It's funny, the other night... After Tate had shared the proclamation with my family, he sat in the middle of the room and said, "Okay everyone. Say Yeah Tate"!!! He is definately the "perform in person" kind of kid and he is sooooooo not shy.

I Have the Very Best Husband in the Whole Wide World

I just feel like bragging about Bryan... He made PIZZA the other night and I just have to say that I've never had better pizza in my life. It had just the right consistency of sauce and cheese (which means hardly any sauce and the entire bag of cheese). Yum! Thanks Bryan.

Anniversary Scrapbook

Bryan's parents celebrated their 30th anniversary earlier this month. Their children all put together a surprise party in honor of them. They planned it all out from a Mexican Buffet to a beautiful Carrot Cake (the same that they had on their wedding). It was so fun to be a part of it and to watch Keith & Dianna's faces as they arrived.

Prior to the party, each of the children (and Dianna's Parents) documented their favorite family memory and provided a picture to go along with their story. I had the honor of compliling each of these special memories into a scrapbook that we gave Keith & Dianna as an anniversary gift. Each of the squares in the above picture represents one page of the scrapbook. We had them printed at Costco as 8x8 inch photos. Then we placed the pages in sheet protectors and into a binder. It turned out really awesome if I do say so myself.

Since I love to scrapbook, it was a ton of fun. But I must admit it was just a tad crazy trying to complete this project in less than 3 days...

Tate's Big Prize

Most little boys like to earn $ so that they can buy the latest and greatest toys. Not my Tate. He has been saving his nickels and dimes so that he can buy a feather pen. And... I'm very happy to say that it arrived in the mail today. He is just as thrilled as he can possibly be. I'm so glad that Tate is easy to please.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World Page 4

We had a fun family dinner at my parents house tonight. Pumpkin Stew was on the menu and it was delish. We celebrated 4 family birthdays! And afterwards Tate wanted to perform in front of the whole family his new achievement of saying the first two paragraphs of the proclamation by memory. He did an amazing job! Go Tate! I'll try and record him saying it so that I can put it on the blog.

Anyways, here is the rest of paragraph 3. I figured that I'd split it up since it was pretty long. We are still working on the 3rd page (first half of paragraph 3), so I don't think we'll be ready for this one quite yet. Just thought I'd post it anyways...

Concert Happenings

I had such a fun time at the concert last night. I got to go with my Mom, so that was nice. Mindy Gledhill was awesome, and just seeing Claire and Jane up there on stage singing was too much for me. I was totally crying. The bake sale was a success, and it was fun seeing some old friends. I got my very own "For the Love of Nie" t-shirt and I couldn't leave without getting a silhouette cookie of Christian and Stephanie.
This morning Tate found the silhouette cookies. I told him that he could have one. He just sat there looking at them for close to five minutes trying to decide which one he wanted. I told him a little bit about Stephanie and Christian and he just listened. Then, he asked me still trying to decide which cookie to eat, "Which one of them is nicer?" I told him they are both nice. Finally he said, "I'll just have a chocolate chip cookie from the freezer instead. Later when Bryan was eating the Nie Cookie, he asked Tate if he wanted a bite. Tate said, "No they are just too special to me". I actually feel the same way-they are gorgeous cookies.

So Blessed!!!

Bryan's business has been pretty slow lately with the economy (It's hard for people to get any kind of pool loan right now). He's been looking for another job-which means that he's had lots and lots of time to spend with us!

Besides the financial stress of living from day to day, I really am so grateful for the time that we've had to spend together. It is truly amazing getting to wake up together in the morning. Throughout our marriage of almost 8 years, I can't say that we've ever been able to wake up at the same time until now (at least on a regular basis or without me having to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning). Tate has also been enjoying having his Daddy around more... I know that all things happen for a reason, and yes even though it can be scary at times not knowing what the future has in store... I know that God knows all things and that he has something wonderful just for us. So, while we are waiting I am enjoying.

Trouble with a Capital T

This cute kid has been quite a stinker lately! He doesn't want to say his prayers, he doesn't want to give me kisses (in fact he told me that he ran out of them), and he doesn't want to ever listen to me again. He's decided that he likes being bad. Tonight I threatened him by telling him that Santa Claus brings naughty little boys coal for Christmas. He replied, "I want coal because coal is a rock and I can make rocks beautiful in my rock tumbler." So, there you have it. I guess that's what happens when I threaten.

Another Benefit Concert

If you don't have any plans for next Saturday night, then just wanted to let you know about a Benefit concert that's going to be held at Mountain View High School. It's going to be awesome and 100% of the proceeds will go to Christian and Stephanie Nielson's recovery fund. Buy your tickets HERE.
Also there's going to be a fabulous Bake Sale that will be taking place just outside of the auditorium. My cousin Melissa is baking some amazing cookies and you won't want to miss them.

Here's the poster that my cousin Melanie and I designed for the bake sale. We tried to make it "Nie Style". I think it turned out pretty cute!

Thanks Everyone!

Even though I'm old now (27) and even getting grey hair, I'd have to say that my birthday this year was the very best so far thanks to all of you! I seriously feel so special with all of the phone calls, emails, and cards that I received.

I had a fabulous day! Here's some things that made it so great:

• My Mom showed up bright and early at our house with a bunch of goodies just for me


• Tate & Bryan decorated my bedroom door


• Bryan also woke up early and made me a yummy breakfast


• Every single family member called and wished me a happy birthday (most of them even sang to me) before it was yet 9 AM.


• Bryan took me on a surprise early morning date while Tate was at Preschool


• We went hiking and had such a fun time


• Bryan arranged for his Mom to pick Tate up from Preschool and watch him for much of the day, so we weren't rushed for time


• We got to hang out (random fun) which is sometimes my favorite


• I had a fun family party


• Bryan painted my toenails bright red


• I got an external hard drive for all of my scrapbooking. Horray!
  

If you don't think that 27 is old, I have proof... I completely forgot to make a wish, and I only got 1/2 of my candles blown out on my birthday cake. ha/ha!!!

The Family: a Proclamation to the World (Paragraph 3)

Wow, I just now realized that my last post was my 400th! I guess that I've been blogging for a while now... YEAH to Blogging!!!

Okay, so here is my proclamation page for this week, although I think that we are not ready to move on to this paragraph yet. We are still learning # 2. We'll start this one next week.

By the way, Tate is doing quite well with repeating the words with us now. He LOVES to point to each picture and tell us what it says.

Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Seeds, and Pumpkin Atole (All in One Day)

Yesterday was shopping day. We went to the usual place-Superstition Ranch Market. While there, Tate spotted them... The Pumpkins. "Mom, Mom, Mom, I want Pumpkin Bread!", he shouted. "Please let's buy a pumpkin so we can make pumpkin bread". (I've never made pumpkin bread before so I have no idea where he's even heard of it.)

"Um, Okay. This should be a fun new thing to try, I thought." So, we bought it.

First thing this morning... "Mom, Mom, let's make pumpkin bread now". Okay, we'll make it, but first we are going to go tour the dairy, remember? "Alright, but then let's make it when we get home". Sounds good.

The dairy was a ton of fun, but not enough to distract Tate from wanting to make the Pumpkin Bread. So, on the way home it started again, "Let's make Pumpkin Bread now!"

So, we did...

I found a recipe HERE and it actually turned out REALLY REALLY GOOD! After making the bread, we still had a ton of Pumpkin left over so we made some pies and Pumpkin Atole. For those of you who have never heard of Pumpkin Atole before-you have got to try this drink. It is seriously to die for... I made it multiple times throughout October and November last year, and I've been waiting and waiting for pumpkin season ever since. So, HERE is the recipe for that.

I still have 2 1/2 containers left of Pumpkin Puree (Whatever it's called). I think that I'll be making more of everything tomorrow.

My Wonderful Life

I've been so busy around here. Doing what you might ask... Oh, I don't know just a little bit of nothing. (Errands, Scrap booking, Shopping, Cooking, Trying to Conquer the never ending laundry pile, but mainly answering Tate's questions). He asks them non-stop. Seriously his little brain is always thinking. You wouldn't believe some of the things he thinks up. Like...

What are cars made out of?

What does the chain on a bike do?

Why don't training wheels need to be pumped up with air?

When an animal sheds its skin, then does the animal ONLY have a spirit left?

Is there concrete underneath a building?

Does the concrete keep the building from flying away?

Do sea jellies have eyes?

And on, and on, and on... It gets so monotonous for me sometimes, but I really am so very thankful for a curious and smart 4 year old. I feel so blessed to be a wife and Mom.

Just a Few New Pages

The Family:A Proclamation to the World (Paragraph 2)

I'm so happy because... this project is going really good so far! We learned about the first paragraph for FHE last Monday, and have been repeating it every day during Scriptures. Bryan and I now have the first paragraph down. It's going to take Tate a little longer. He's just now realizing that we are supposed to be learning this thing that we repeat every day. The good news is that as of today-he began to say a few words along with us. So... It's working :)

Flashback (Ants in the Syrup)

We've been having an ant issue at our house lately... Seriously I try to keep the house clean. I'm always doing the dishes and vaccuuming up crumbs but they just don't want to go away. So, I've been spraying for ants constantly. It's becoming a part of my daily routine. This whole ant thing has totally been bringing flashbacks of the early days of our marriage. I realize that many of you have heard this story before, but for the purpose of documenting it on my blog, I'll share it again:

One day about a year after we got married, Bryan woke up and decided to make waffles. When they were finished, he called me in to eat. I was very hungry, and so I ate my waffle REALLY fast. I happened to glance at his plate because he was not yet through, and I noticed that there were tiny dead black ants all around the edges of his plate. In awe, I asked him what was going on, and he told me that there were ants in the syrup bottle. He had picked all of his ants out! He said that he hadn't told me because he knew that if he had, I wouldn't have eaten mine, and that he didn't want to waste any syrup. I was furious especially since we had a brand new unopened bottle of syrup sitting right there.

I've since forgiven him. It's taken about 6 1/2 years (ha,ha), lots of apologies and explanations from him on how he had learned this "Waste Not/Want Not" stuff on his mission to Guatamala, etc. But, to this day, I NEVER pour syrup on my waffles without first holding the bottle up to the light to check for ants. I'm so paranoid!

Hopefully I can get this ant problem fixed soon...

Tate's Favorite Hang Out Place...

Believe it or not, this kid actually likes our new apartment better than our old house. Today he said to me, "Mom I just LOVE our new stair home".
He is ALWAYS wanting to hang out at the lake. His favorite thing is to pick up goose feathers because he wants "to make a goose feather pillow". Tate is so creative. He amazes me with some of the things he comes up with.

I am so grateful to be his Mother.

My Newest Hobby

I admit, I've ALWAYS wanted to take up beading but haven't had a clue as to where to start! My friend Faith was so kind as to go bead shopping with me today and teach me a ton of techniques. Now all I have to do is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

Tate's First Fish

Bryan took Tate fishing when I was at the Women's Conference the other night, and supposedly he caught his first fish. Unfortunately, they forgot the camera. So, I insisted that we go fishing again this time WITH the camera. Just as before, Tate demonstrated his fishing skills...