Nevan's Walking

He's been walking for about a week now, but he's still working on standing up to start this process. I've been trying to get a good video of it, but the lighting here doesn't really lend itself well to videos.

Giveaways of the Day

I love to unwind by playing some very different games. Knut loves to watch mommy playing and will help sometimes with the hidden object games. I beta test for Oberon Media Games which is kind of cool. I also will play the Big Fish games on demo, but only getting 60 minutes worth of a game gets tiring if your really into the game your playing. I found this set of webpages a while back and I thoroughly enjoy checking up and seeing what they offer. The main thing is that every day they offer something new and you have to download and install it that day. We've seen music writing software, screensavers and lots of others and the games are pretty good too. Some have been released through Big Fish but were offered here for the whole game instead of a demo.
www.giveawayoftheday.com

Wordle

Ok, Desi, I blame you for this. I love this program and creating these things with it, but now I'm trying to figure out what I can do with them now that I've made them. Any one got any ideas? The first one is from something that I have in a book for Nolan and the next two are the same words, just arranged differently from the kids and myself of 20 words that describe daddy.

Nifty Thrifty Under Fifty

Can you do all of your Christmas presents for under $50? That's what this is about. I am so excited to have been chosen to participate in this challenge and I hope that I can definitely accomplish this. If you want to keep up with every one who is participating, check out the new link on the side.

Homeschool Freebie of the Day

I've told some people about this before, and it is something I enjoy, so I thought I would share it with you. This is an awesome webpage that everyday they give away a great resource that would help with teaching your children different things. This week they focused on Thanksgiving stories and activities and also since the page was hacked earlier this week, they have left the last two weeks worth of stuff available for the next week or so. Check them out, they are awesome!

Freeway Complex/Triangle Fire

For anyone who was concerned and didn't call, just to let you know, we are safe and sound after the scare of the fires this weekend. The one in Brea was the only one to affect us and then only with the smoke and the traffic it caused., as even after it had started it was headed away from us. Watching the maps of the burn areas was kind of scary as they weren't being updated very frequently and we couldn't really tell how accurate some of the information was. The wind was a concern because it brought with it the smoke and a layer of ash. The kids were worried that the sun was sick because it turned everything orange through the smoke. We did have church on Sunday and only a few members in our Stake were evacuated, but only as a precaution on Saturday. Some schools were closed on Monday, but only Brea High School was damaged and is still closed today. As of right now, 75% containment and we have a gorgeous blue sky to look at outside with just a slight taint of smoke in the air.

A different Park

We go to the park a lot. There's a lot of space for the kids to run around and make noise and play areas for them to discover. Nolan had a job interview the other day and we checked the map and noticed it was close to one of the bigger parks that had a pond/lake in the middle of it. We tagged along and he dropped us off before his interview. The kids had fun because the ducks and other birds were out en masse. We didn't have stuff to feed them, but we enjoyed walking and looking around. We saw some interesting birds that I didn't know the name of right away, but the kids loved trying to imitate what Mommy was saying. Almost all of the pictures were taken without zooming at all, the birds were so used to humans.


Knut saying "hi" to all the ducks.









These were some of the birds we saw, they were so peaceful and still, they barely moved when I approached to take these pictures.







At the play area there were a few other kids to play with.







Then Nolan showed up, he had gotten lost and had to reschedule his interview, but he stopped and got us some bread to feed to the ducks. The kids had a blast until the geese showed up and started demanding some. Nolan had to be the big meanie and chase them away as they kept eyeing Nevan's bread he was eating and then they started watching his toes.

Happy Friends

We visited with some friends and the kids had a blast playing.

Another Park Play Day

We tried out a new park the other day before Music and Movement. Nevan had a blast because he actually got do some playing.

Play Dress of sorts

Since I had this awesome fabric for Keileigh and Knut, I made Keileigh's dress and finally got her to wear it, but she doesn't like to stand still enough for great pictures, unless it's her own idea.

Set Your Table

I totally forgot about this for a little while until I received the monthly newsletter from this webpage. A while back I had seen, on this webpage, a "contest" of sorts to tell or take a picture of your table at dinner time. I had gotten to thinking about it and had sent in some stuff of how we do "family" dinners and "special" dinners. I was pleased to see that my story and pictures were included in the final article contributing to the special things that can be done to show love for our families.

http://www.homemaking911.com/2008/10/30/set-your-table-contest-winner/

How do you set your table differently for different occasions or to show your love/thoughtfulness for your family or spouse?

Nevan Driving?

Yeah, it's a little scary, huh? But I love this shot from the back because you can get a feel for all of those curls he's growing.

Knut playing

"Hey, something flashing me!"

Having the Elders for Dinner

We have the elders over for dinner a lot, but this gives the phrase new meaning. Mom gave us the little people elders a while back and Nevan is just getting to play with some of those things when the toys come out.

Sleepy Knut

Knut looks at this one and says "That's me playing with my blanket asleep!"

Music and Movement

We have started a new thing for us, we go to music and movement every week. There are usually two maybe three different locations we go to for the same class, but each one is close to a park and if the kids are good and participate in class they get to go play at the park before we go home. I don't have any pictures of this class because of mommy participation, but we do have fun at the parks.







This is one of the places where the class is held, if we're early the kids get to play a little bit.

Big Brother Shares Again

We were invited to a missionary farewell fireside where some of the elders from our area were giving their last talk before going home and of course there were refreshments afterwards. Knut decided it was his job to help his siblings get some food too.

Trying to have a picnic

We tried to have a family picnic last week, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. Mommy took this one from inside the van because it was too cold for some of the family to be outside with the wind blowing and then the rain started right after this picture was taken.

All Ready to Go

As Knut put it the other day, Mommy's car is a walk. Meaning that, Mommy walks everywhere and we take the stroller. This is heading out the other day to go to the park. I just wish they would wait until after I got it outside to load up the stroller.

Halloween Trunk or Treat

We did the ward Halloween party this year and had fun playing the games and visiting with friends. The kids had a blast getting to dress up, especially since Daddy did too this year. Sorry about the pictures, my computer was being wonky and wouldn't let me put them in any order, but if you go from the bottom up, that's how the evening went.