Cookie monster

Oh come now, if he asked you for a second cookie, you'd give him one just like I did.

When we're helping we're happy

What she says: "Mom, can you get this for me? I'm full of hands!"

What she means: "Mom, can you get this for me? My hands are full!"

What I do: Help, and laugh

McDs

Family date night at McDonald's:

We all thought Calvin Jesse's little bite out of Miss Lu's hamburger was pretty much the cutest thing we've ever seen. (Maybe you had to be there. But it was so cute and perfect!)

Not to be outdone, Miss Lu found what she considered to be the floppiest, funniest french fry. 

The prize

"I'm sure glad we have a one-year-old!"
-Miss Lu, as Calvin Jesse knocks down the tower she built for that express purpose

Swinging at the park

It was a good day :)

Per Nana's request

I know we get a lot of stories about Miss Lucy on this blog, so, as his Nana reminded me tonight, we need more Calvin Jesse to balance things out! (I'd write stories about what he says, except so far it's limited to "hot," "uuuhngh," "hmmm?" "ah! ah!" and "bbbbbbrrr." They all mean something fairly specific, but it's context based of course.)

Calvin Jesse after his bath before bedtime with his wild, wet hair

Thoroughly pleased by the fact that he's "reading"

Bright Eyes I

Bright Eyes II

Bright Eyes III

(You'll notice, of course, that the majority are in his high chair because the only time his still enough for a picture generally is when he's eating!)

Are you ever going to turn bad?

Tonight at dinner Miss Lucy asked Mr Nick "Dad, are you ever going to turn bad?"

"What do you mean, bad?" he replied.

"Oh, you know [thrusts fists and into the air as if punching someone repeatedly]."

"Bad like hitting people?"

"No, bad like not believing in God and going to church and stuff."

"Oh. Well, I don't think so."

Miss Lu thinks about that for a moment. Then, excitedly, she says "Hey, let's make a promise!"

"What kind of promise?" I asked.

"Let's promise to never turn bad!"

We all agree. Mr Nick has us all put our hands in toward the middle of the table, and we say together "I promise to never turn bad!" and then lift our hands high up in the air.

Miss Lu is very pleased.

Calvin Jesse continues to throw his ball and look for the crusts from his sandwich he tossed off from his high chair before we finally let him down.

It's a good way to end a day, promising as a family to never turn bad.

 

(Playing around with the camera is another good way to wrap up the day!)

Winter skies above my house right now

(Just playing around with my new Hipstamatic app.)

Out on a winter walk

Lucy's religious art

Miss Lu has been quite insistent of late that her job is to be an artist. And when we returned from church on Sunday, she let us know that she was going to spend the rest of the day making special Sunday art. Personally, I love the results.

The Tree of Life

Jesus coming out of the tomb

Jesus when he returns to Earth (with singing angels)

Miss Lucy's sweet testimony, which she wrote on the back of her Second Coming picture ("I know that Jesus and God will come again and meet. In their command they will show their selves. This is my testimony and I know this is true and in fact. Amen.")

Miss Lu also bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting last fast Sunday. I was home with a sick Calvin Jesse, so I missed it, but I heard wonderful reports :) She went up all by herself, said that she believed in God and Jesus and that she knows that they love us and that Jesus will come again to the earth, said amen, and returned to a very proud Mr. Nick. I love seeing her own spiritual awareness developing and growing. And I love her artwork!

12 in 2012: January

So, I decided to sign up for a little challenge this year. My friend Angie runs an awesome scrapbooking site (Ella Publishing Co.) and they are having a fun "Take 12 in 2012" challenge. Basically, you take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month, pop them into their handy templates, and voila! Instant scrapbook. 

You may be surprised, since I've never mentioned scrapbooking on this blog before. Because, well, to be honest, this blog is about as good as it gets for me. I take photos, write down stories, and I have these great plans to print up each year in a little book (it's going to happen this year: 2010 and 2011, here I come!) 

But this challenge seemed like a fun way to capture some of the daily details that I wouldn't think to put on the blog. Plus, they made it super easy: there are themed challenges for each month, tons of templates, and cute little embellishments. And since I don't care if it's the most original, ornate, or beautiful thing on the block, I'm just sticking with the plain and simple approach—it must be working, because I've already finished January. Thanks Angie!

Father son bonding

Mr Nick, of his own accord, suggested that he and Calvin Jesse wear their matching ties today to church. I was flabbergasted, and thrilled :)

Crazy lips

Science fair!

Lucy's class had the best science project, led by some very dedicated parents. She loved learning about the rock cycle, fossil formation, and digging up her own dinosaur bones!

The rest of the Lord ...

I went in to Miss Lu's bedroom tonight to check on her after I put Calvin Jesse to bed. I had handed her a stack of books from her shelf and told her to read until she became tired (standard procedure on nights Mr Nick is at mutual). She complied--she was asleep when I went in, hands still holding her place in the book. And the book on the top of her stack, the one that helped her drift off? The Holy Temple pamphlet. I had to smile--what other six year old reads themselves to sleep by ploughing through something like that?

Discount Christmas

I saw these gingerbread house kits yesterday on clearance. The kids didn't seem to mind one bit :)

Come let us anew

I don't have any grand goals or expectations for 2012. But there are a few things I'm trying to include in my life this year.

1. Two vegetarian dinners / week

2. Meditate 10 min. a day, consistently

3. Read more poetry

Water wheels = long baths

Monkeying around

Miss Lu needed to choose an animal for a report at school. While flipping through old National Geographics, she saw this picture of a golden snub-nosed monkey and loved it. Why? Because it reminds her of Calvin Jesse of course.

Calvin reads

Calvin growls

Winter skies close to sunset at Valles Caldera

Miss Lu, fashionista

She selects the best outfits.

Ye olde Webbs

Over Christmas, Mr. Nick and I participated in a fundraiser dinner for the local theater (Los Alamos Little Theater). It was medieval dinner theater at its best: singing, skits, and many jokes regarding the private bar the next room over (it was held at the Elks Lodge). We really had fun.

Afterwards, we stopped by the church to pick up Lucy and Calvin (our friends the Maxwells graciously took them to the ward dinner that night) and my friend Sam was still snapping family photos. So Nick and I jumped in for a few shots of us in our costumes. Enjoy!

Miser Lu

Miss Lucy opened her very own savings account today. And she's been doing extra chores to earn spending money. Something, financially, has clicked. Maybe it was Mom saying "No" every time Miss Lu asked her to buy yet another toy....