New computer

We got a new computer this last week, so Mom and Tonya you can go back to using the "cute" backgrounds on your blogs!! I am really excited about this computer. Hopefully it will last a long time and not give me too many problems!

Baptism changes

We have changed the time for Samuel's baptism. It will still be on Saturday, December 11th, but it will be at 1:00pm. We moved it early because we got to thinking about roads and people having to drive in the dark. This should allow for roads to thaw before people start driving, and it will still be light after the baptism, so most of the traveling can be done in the light again. Hope this doesn't create any problems. We love you all!

Card games

In the last year, the kids have become really interested in games. The most popular ones are Uno and Phase 10 (this one is mainly Samuel). We play multiple rounds almost daily. Even Ellen can play Uno. She knows her colors, so when her turn comes around we just tell her to "look for a yellow one." She'll find one and put it on the pile. In just the last couple of days, Ellen has taken it upon herself to straighten the pile when it falls over, and it has to be just so. It's cute to see her care so much.


When the kids play these games, they can't hold all the cards in their hands, so they lay them out in front of them. I'd like to say that I play fair games, but when Samuel can go out, on Phase 10, in just a few draws (every time), I tend to take advantage of being able to see his cards. He can't see mine. I hold them all in my hand. However, in the last three games we played, he beat me once, we tied another, and then I beat him by two phases. I think I have to cheat just to keep it a close game. I told Aaron that it's going to be weird to play a game against someone when I can't see what cards they need.


Calista absolutely loves Uno. I think she could play it all day long. I will usually play several hands with her each day. When I get tired, she plays her own games and she chooses if she's playing Sarah or me. She actually plays the games fair too. She will tell me who wins, sometimes it will be me/Sarah and other times she will win.

Luckily for Calista, Jacque likes it almost as much. They both love to go through the pile and get the "good" cards - draws, wilds, reverses, skips. Then they want to challenge each other and everyone else to a game. Calista is honest and will tell me that she actually took all the good cards and that we should probably shuffle the cards. Jacque just comes up with a huge smile and holding a stack of cards. Aaron and Samuel took Jacque up on her offer the other day. The game didn't go as well because Aaron and Samuel only had 7 cards in their hands while Jacque chose to have all of the good cards. Eventually her good cards got mixed into the "community" pile. I don't know if the game was ever going to end. Jacque could see Aaron and Samuel getting down to just a few cards and would play her draws to get them back up, but her hand wasn't moving too fast. She ended up calling it quits at one time because she only had one card left, but both Aaron and Samuel put draw four cards down.

It is so much fun having the kids at the ages where they can play the games without a lot of advising going on. I remember when we first got Uno. I felt like I was playing four hands of Uno all by myself. But now all I have to do is remind them when its their turn.

Cicklas or Calista

When we first decided to name Calista, I wondered how the kids would do pronouncing her name. But Samuel and Jacque seemed to do it easily, so I never worried again. I never wondered about how future siblings would do pronouncing such a big name. Ellen has solved the problem for herself. She refers to Calista as "kick-lus." Calista has never seemed to mind her new nickname until the other day. This is what I heard:

Ellen: Kicklus, can you...
Calista: NO! My name is is CA-LIS-TA, not kick-lus
Ellen: That's not what I said. I said, Kicklus!
Calista: NO!! That's not my name. I'm CA-LIS-TA.
Ellen: That's what I said, Kicklus!!!
Calista: NO!!! That's not my name. I'm CALISTA!!!
Ellen: That's what I said, CA-LIS-TA!!

So she can say the name right, but for some reason kicklus is what comes out first. She has to pause and really think before Calista comes out. I tried to tell Calista that it was a fun nickname that Ellen had given to her, and she hasn't seemed to mind it since then. We'll see who wins out in the future. Will she still be called kicklus when she's a teenager? What will Sarah start calling her?

Samuel's Baptism is Scheduled

For those wanting to attend Samuel's baptism, we just scheduled it for Saturday, December 11th at 4:00pm in the Pendleton Ward Building! Everyone is invited to come. We are so excited for Samuel!

Samuel

Samuel is growing up so fast, and is such a nice boy. Aaron took last week off to go hunting. The season didn't start until Wednesday, so on Monday and Tuesday he got to work around the house. Aaron hadn't met the kids' teachers yet, so he walked them to school. Before leaving Samuel's class, the teacher says, "And just so you know, I think Samuel is the most polite student I've ever had! Did you know that one day we celebrated a birthday in class, but there weren't enough cupcakes to go around and Samuel volunteered to let another child have his. And then another day he brought a dollar to school for a kid to be able to go to the pumpkin patch!" Samuel had asked me one morning if he could bring one of his dollars to school. I asked him why and he said that one of his friends from school kept forgetting to bring his dollar to go the pumpkin patch and he didn't want his friend to miss out on the field trip! I told him that was fine. He brought it to school, but his friend happened to remember that day so Samuel got to keep it. Then at church last Sunday, Samuel earned 4 dum dum suckers for memorizing his part in the program and memorizing a scripture for class. He ate one, but gave two of the suckers to a family who couldn't stay for the ward linger longer. He had one more sucker left and gave it to another little boy in the ward. He told me that he chose that little boy because he had to choose someone who didn't have other brothers and sisters since he only had one sucker! Another time was during trick-or-treat. The first trick-or-treater came at 4pm on Sunday. We weren't ready for them, so Samuel ran to his room, got his bucket and came and gave the kid some of his candy. This really impressed me because he probably only had 15-20 pieces of candy from his own trick-or-treating, so he didn't have much to give.

As for growing up really fast, one Sunday, while we were all getting ready for Church, I found this:

I guess since he saw Uncle Trace and Aaron shave, he figured it was time for him!

Math is Fun!!

I go walking with a friend in the mornings and we talk about lots of different things. Our kids are the same ages so we do a little problem solving too. I got talking about needing to help the kids in math more and she said that they use a website that has a bunch of fun ways to do math/problem solving. It is called http://mathisfun.com/. I've started exploring it and it looks like a lot of fun. They have worksheets for kindergarten levels and more advanced: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, time tables, decimals, fractions, percentages. You can create your own worksheets too. It also has fun games: connect four, puzzles, mazes and more. You can work on money, geometry, algebra and other topics. If you have a child that needs more practice, or wants more practice, this seems like a fun way to do math.

Speaking of learning...they say that stimulation is good. Do you think that you could actually overstimulate a child? What would you say to this?

Sarah is getting to where she likes to look at things. Sometimes I will put her on the blanket and set a book up for her to look at. The night this picture was taken, I put her on the blanket with one book on each side of her, so she could look at pictures either way she she looked. When I walked into the room again, I found that the girls had helped her even more. OBVIOUSLY two books was not enough! She is going to be SO smart!