What's New (2020)
January
Benji:
Well the year started off with you smothering vaseline all over the wall in your room and into your hair. We have a picture of Papa when he was about your age where he did the same thing with butch wax! Also within the first week you fell off the bench at the table and cut your chin; you might have a scar from that. We have been working on your numbers and you can count to 10 all by yourself! You and Kalyn like to dance to Scripture Scouts and you love to play with your legos and lincoln logs- you build great things with them! One day you finally learned how to build a house with a door in it and you ran over to Papa to show him! Papa loves you tease you and you have finally learned to tease back- you make funny faces back at him or call him silly names. We have been teaching you who your family is and you now know all 4 cats names, Alty our dog, Grandma and Grandpa English and Grandma and Grandpa McGregor. Of course you know Kalyn, Mama and Papa! One Sunday Mama gave you some pants to put on and we rushed out the door. When we were sitting down at church both Mama and Papa saw that your pants were really short, they came up to the top of your socks! When we got home Mama realized that she had given you Kalyn's 12-18 month sized pants to wear (you are 4 years old at this time)! One time you were playing and you got mad at something and yelled, "no more onions!" Mama and Papa couldn't stop laughing! We watched the movie Willow with you and you got so upset about the baby that you put your hands up in the air, fell on your stomach and cried. You hate seeing something "bad" happen to babies! At the end of January you got sick with a runny nose. You can't stand having a runny nose and are constantly asking to "blow nose please." Luckily you weren't sick for long.
Kalyn:
You had your 15 month appointment at the beginning of the month and you were 28" and weighed 18 lbs 14 oz. That put you in the 50% for both height and weight. You still love playing with the legos and you love to "dance" with Benji while listening to Scripture Scouts (you jump in your play pen). Your new sound is "a-bee!" You took a few steps on your own at the end of the month! You love to eat Papa's stew and you love cookies and cream yogurt! During naps you love to booty the crib across your room, which drives Papa crazy! When you wear that blue hoodie, Papa thinks you look so much like his mom, Grandma English, and calls you "mini-Judi"! Grandma English says this is a compliment.
Well the year started off with you smothering vaseline all over the wall in your room and into your hair. We have a picture of Papa when he was about your age where he did the same thing with butch wax! Also within the first week you fell off the bench at the table and cut your chin; you might have a scar from that. We have been working on your numbers and you can count to 10 all by yourself! You and Kalyn like to dance to Scripture Scouts and you love to play with your legos and lincoln logs- you build great things with them! One day you finally learned how to build a house with a door in it and you ran over to Papa to show him! Papa loves you tease you and you have finally learned to tease back- you make funny faces back at him or call him silly names. We have been teaching you who your family is and you now know all 4 cats names, Alty our dog, Grandma and Grandpa English and Grandma and Grandpa McGregor. Of course you know Kalyn, Mama and Papa! One Sunday Mama gave you some pants to put on and we rushed out the door. When we were sitting down at church both Mama and Papa saw that your pants were really short, they came up to the top of your socks! When we got home Mama realized that she had given you Kalyn's 12-18 month sized pants to wear (you are 4 years old at this time)! One time you were playing and you got mad at something and yelled, "no more onions!" Mama and Papa couldn't stop laughing! We watched the movie Willow with you and you got so upset about the baby that you put your hands up in the air, fell on your stomach and cried. You hate seeing something "bad" happen to babies! At the end of January you got sick with a runny nose. You can't stand having a runny nose and are constantly asking to "blow nose please." Luckily you weren't sick for long.
Kalyn:
You had your 15 month appointment at the beginning of the month and you were 28" and weighed 18 lbs 14 oz. That put you in the 50% for both height and weight. You still love playing with the legos and you love to "dance" with Benji while listening to Scripture Scouts (you jump in your play pen). Your new sound is "a-bee!" You took a few steps on your own at the end of the month! You love to eat Papa's stew and you love cookies and cream yogurt! During naps you love to booty the crib across your room, which drives Papa crazy! When you wear that blue hoodie, Papa thinks you look so much like his mom, Grandma English, and calls you "mini-Judi"! Grandma English says this is a compliment.
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February
Benji:
We had to move you out of the red bedroom because you wouldn't stop playing with Kalyn at night! We first tried putting you up on the top bunk but you learned how to climb down the ladder pretty quickly. You sure love your baby sister. When we ask you "what's your name?" you won't answer but will point and say "this is baby Kalyn!" You love showing her off to people at church. You still run on the treadmill and nothing gets you going better than a good song! You can be slowing down a bit but when a song comes on you will run super fast and for even longer than your allotted time! You love watching Papa cook still and this month we made a big batch of ragu! Papa gave you some of his spicy salsa, thinking you wouldn't like it, but you wouldn't stop eating it! One day you were napping on the couch and a fly fell down from the ceiling onto your face! You woke up screaming and now you are afraid of bugs! Papa was teasing you with a dead fly, holding it above your head and he dropped it on you! It landed in your mouth and before Papa could do anything you started chewing it! Papa was gagging as you swallowed it. Now when you see a dead fly you will work up your courage to grab it and run to the bathroom and flush it down the toilet! One night out of the blue you wanted bananas. You said "Papa, get in car, find bananas!" Now every morning you will say "no go to work Mom" which makes her feel really bad! You also love to tease her by saying, "eww Mom!" You love watching movies with popcorn; you loved Boxtrolls and Kubo.
Kalyn:
At the beginning of the month you took 5 steps towards Papa in the kitchen and by the end of the month you are walking around "like a Zombie"- slow steps side to side with your hands out! At church you are sometimes fussy but you will calm down when Papa holds you. We had Branch Conference this month but you pooped half way through on Saturday and unfortunately Mama didn't bring an extra diaper! The next day you peed through your pants at church- so two diaper mishaps! When we ask Benji "what's your name?" he won't answer but points at you and says "this is baby Kalyn!" He likes to show you off at church. You like to hand Mama and Papa legos, have us build towers and then you like to tear them apart. You like to splash in the bathtub. Your hair is long enough that Mama put it in your first ponytail. You like to grab the elastic and pull out the ponytail though. You love to eat Papa's stroganoff and shepherd's pie. We had to move Benji out of your room because he wouldn't stop playing with you at night! One funny thing you do is you give Papa the "stink eye"- you will squint at him and wrinkle up your nose. It is pretty funny.
We had to move you out of the red bedroom because you wouldn't stop playing with Kalyn at night! We first tried putting you up on the top bunk but you learned how to climb down the ladder pretty quickly. You sure love your baby sister. When we ask you "what's your name?" you won't answer but will point and say "this is baby Kalyn!" You love showing her off to people at church. You still run on the treadmill and nothing gets you going better than a good song! You can be slowing down a bit but when a song comes on you will run super fast and for even longer than your allotted time! You love watching Papa cook still and this month we made a big batch of ragu! Papa gave you some of his spicy salsa, thinking you wouldn't like it, but you wouldn't stop eating it! One day you were napping on the couch and a fly fell down from the ceiling onto your face! You woke up screaming and now you are afraid of bugs! Papa was teasing you with a dead fly, holding it above your head and he dropped it on you! It landed in your mouth and before Papa could do anything you started chewing it! Papa was gagging as you swallowed it. Now when you see a dead fly you will work up your courage to grab it and run to the bathroom and flush it down the toilet! One night out of the blue you wanted bananas. You said "Papa, get in car, find bananas!" Now every morning you will say "no go to work Mom" which makes her feel really bad! You also love to tease her by saying, "eww Mom!" You love watching movies with popcorn; you loved Boxtrolls and Kubo.
Kalyn:
At the beginning of the month you took 5 steps towards Papa in the kitchen and by the end of the month you are walking around "like a Zombie"- slow steps side to side with your hands out! At church you are sometimes fussy but you will calm down when Papa holds you. We had Branch Conference this month but you pooped half way through on Saturday and unfortunately Mama didn't bring an extra diaper! The next day you peed through your pants at church- so two diaper mishaps! When we ask Benji "what's your name?" he won't answer but points at you and says "this is baby Kalyn!" He likes to show you off at church. You like to hand Mama and Papa legos, have us build towers and then you like to tear them apart. You like to splash in the bathtub. Your hair is long enough that Mama put it in your first ponytail. You like to grab the elastic and pull out the ponytail though. You love to eat Papa's stroganoff and shepherd's pie. We had to move Benji out of your room because he wouldn't stop playing with you at night! One funny thing you do is you give Papa the "stink eye"- you will squint at him and wrinkle up your nose. It is pretty funny.
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March
Benji:
This month Mama had her ultrasound and we had wanted to find out if you will be getting another sister or a brother, but the baby wants it to be surprise! We have told you about the new baby but you don't really understand, you think "baby" refers just to Kalyn! Elder Holden left at the beginning of the month and he gave you a nativity set. You love playing with the people and animals, you especially like the angel. You can now get dressed all by yourself (underwear, pants, shirt and socks)! Kalyn, Mama and Papa got a really bad stomach flu, luckily you didn't get sick! We watched Madagascar 1-3 with you and you liked them (but you liked the Penguin movie better). Since you are still scared of bugs Papa thought it would be funny to watch Arachnophobia with you (a movie about spiders!) You did pretty well, you were eating your popcorn nervously but screamed in some parts! You have been having showers upstairs but you are scared to turn it off by yourself- sometimes you would cry and call for Mom to help. But after a few days you worked up the courage and turned it off! You were so proud "bam! turned off shower!" and you haven't had any problems since. You love watching New Testament Stories during scripture study- your favourites were John the Baptist and a story about "Caleb" being healed by Jesus. At the end of the month you liked "hands Jesus" (when Jesus is crucified), "punch head" (The Good Samaritan) and "daughter dead" (when Jesus heals Jairus' daughter). There is a virus spreading around the world, which started in Wuhan, China, and it has now reached pandemic levels. Church meetings are cancelled for now and the temples have been closed. Papa has been blessing the sacrament for us at home. One Sunday Kalyn was napping when we were going to do the sacrament but you insisted that we wake her up for it! President Nelson asked all members to have a fast for the relief from Covid-19 so Mama and Papa fasted. All "non-essential" businesses are closed in Ontario, but unfortunately Mama still has to go to work! You are obsessed with the "order" of things. You constantly say "5 walks then shake" or "scripture study, then exercise then shake." You like your routine!
Kalyn:
Crazy things are happening in the world! A virus that originated in Wuhan, China has started to spread worldwide and has reached a pandemic level. All church meetings have been cancelled so Papa has been blessing the sacrament at home for us. One Sunday you were taking a nap but Benji insisted we wake you up for sacrament! President Nelson asked members worldwide to fast and pray for relief of Covid so Mama and Papa joined. All temples are closed for the time being and all "non-essential" businesses in Ontario to slow the spread of the virus. Unfortunately Mama still has to go to work but she is really careful to change her clothes and wash her hands before she holds you! At the beginning of the month you, Mama and Papa got a really bad stomach flu. You threw up your dinner in your crib at 9pm so Mama gave you a bath and cleaned up your bed. Then from 11-1am you threw up every 15 minutes while Mama held you over the sink or a bowl. She was so sad for you. Papa gave you a blessing and you were able to stop throwing up and you fell asleep. Two days later Mama and Papa got sick! You like the new play pen we got for you- you think it is so funny when you stand up and hold onto the sides and Papa shakes it until you fall down! You like to say "no" and you like to sleep with a camel toy from a nativity set that a missionary gave Benji. You still like bottles but you can drink water from a cup. You have one molar on each side, top and bottom. We tried to find out if you will be getting a brother or sister during Mama's ultrasound but the baby wants it to be a surprise. Mama thinks you are getting a sister!
Micah and Ashley: We finished teaching our Church Personal Finance class this month. We ended it with a service project- our group make 25 care packages for the women at the Sexual Assault Center in Kenora. Everyone really went above and beyond and donated some wonderful things! We even had Sister Wickham crochet some soap holders/washcloths to add to the kits. Micah cooked again for the group and of course it was delicious!
This month Mama had her ultrasound and we had wanted to find out if you will be getting another sister or a brother, but the baby wants it to be surprise! We have told you about the new baby but you don't really understand, you think "baby" refers just to Kalyn! Elder Holden left at the beginning of the month and he gave you a nativity set. You love playing with the people and animals, you especially like the angel. You can now get dressed all by yourself (underwear, pants, shirt and socks)! Kalyn, Mama and Papa got a really bad stomach flu, luckily you didn't get sick! We watched Madagascar 1-3 with you and you liked them (but you liked the Penguin movie better). Since you are still scared of bugs Papa thought it would be funny to watch Arachnophobia with you (a movie about spiders!) You did pretty well, you were eating your popcorn nervously but screamed in some parts! You have been having showers upstairs but you are scared to turn it off by yourself- sometimes you would cry and call for Mom to help. But after a few days you worked up the courage and turned it off! You were so proud "bam! turned off shower!" and you haven't had any problems since. You love watching New Testament Stories during scripture study- your favourites were John the Baptist and a story about "Caleb" being healed by Jesus. At the end of the month you liked "hands Jesus" (when Jesus is crucified), "punch head" (The Good Samaritan) and "daughter dead" (when Jesus heals Jairus' daughter). There is a virus spreading around the world, which started in Wuhan, China, and it has now reached pandemic levels. Church meetings are cancelled for now and the temples have been closed. Papa has been blessing the sacrament for us at home. One Sunday Kalyn was napping when we were going to do the sacrament but you insisted that we wake her up for it! President Nelson asked all members to have a fast for the relief from Covid-19 so Mama and Papa fasted. All "non-essential" businesses are closed in Ontario, but unfortunately Mama still has to go to work! You are obsessed with the "order" of things. You constantly say "5 walks then shake" or "scripture study, then exercise then shake." You like your routine!
Kalyn:
Crazy things are happening in the world! A virus that originated in Wuhan, China has started to spread worldwide and has reached a pandemic level. All church meetings have been cancelled so Papa has been blessing the sacrament at home for us. One Sunday you were taking a nap but Benji insisted we wake you up for sacrament! President Nelson asked members worldwide to fast and pray for relief of Covid so Mama and Papa joined. All temples are closed for the time being and all "non-essential" businesses in Ontario to slow the spread of the virus. Unfortunately Mama still has to go to work but she is really careful to change her clothes and wash her hands before she holds you! At the beginning of the month you, Mama and Papa got a really bad stomach flu. You threw up your dinner in your crib at 9pm so Mama gave you a bath and cleaned up your bed. Then from 11-1am you threw up every 15 minutes while Mama held you over the sink or a bowl. She was so sad for you. Papa gave you a blessing and you were able to stop throwing up and you fell asleep. Two days later Mama and Papa got sick! You like the new play pen we got for you- you think it is so funny when you stand up and hold onto the sides and Papa shakes it until you fall down! You like to say "no" and you like to sleep with a camel toy from a nativity set that a missionary gave Benji. You still like bottles but you can drink water from a cup. You have one molar on each side, top and bottom. We tried to find out if you will be getting a brother or sister during Mama's ultrasound but the baby wants it to be a surprise. Mama thinks you are getting a sister!
Micah and Ashley: We finished teaching our Church Personal Finance class this month. We ended it with a service project- our group make 25 care packages for the women at the Sexual Assault Center in Kenora. Everyone really went above and beyond and donated some wonderful things! We even had Sister Wickham crochet some soap holders/washcloths to add to the kits. Micah cooked again for the group and of course it was delicious!
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April
Benji:
At General Conference President Nelson asked members to fast again for the relief of Covid-19 on Good Friday so Mama and Papa fasted again. Papa had a prompting that Mama should stop work so April 30 was her last day. She is glad to have time at home with you before the new baby comes! You love chicken fingers and fish sticks, especially with BBQ sauce and mustard! But your favourite thing this month was watching the tv show "Seven Deadly Sins." You learned all the names of the characters and started talking like the people in the show; "indeed!" "well done!" "how dare you!" Your favourite character was Captain Meliodas and you were very relieved when "Captain" was not dead but just sick/sleeping!
Kalyn:
Your favourite thing to do is ask "what is that?" You say it all the time! You like to give high fives and try to call the cat over to you by making a kiss noise and rubbing your fingers together. You love it when Papa puts Flynn in the play pen with you! You like to walk up the stairs while holding onto Mama's hands and say "step, step, step." One time when Mama was putting laundry in the dryer you crawled over to the stairs and tried to crawl up all by yourself! Mama heard "thud thud" and then you crying! You weren't hurt but you never tried crawling up the stairs by yourself again! You like to take off your shirt- one day when Mama was at work Papa found you in your play pen with your shirt pulled down around your waist and he thought you looked so funny (he took a video of it). You now like to booty the play pen across the floor so we have to put the gate up at the top of the stairs, just in case. President Nelson asked everyone to fast again on Good Friday for relief from Covid and Mama and Papa decided that Mama should stop working due to Covid so her last day was April 30. She is excited to be able to spend more time with you before the baby comes!
At General Conference President Nelson asked members to fast again for the relief of Covid-19 on Good Friday so Mama and Papa fasted again. Papa had a prompting that Mama should stop work so April 30 was her last day. She is glad to have time at home with you before the new baby comes! You love chicken fingers and fish sticks, especially with BBQ sauce and mustard! But your favourite thing this month was watching the tv show "Seven Deadly Sins." You learned all the names of the characters and started talking like the people in the show; "indeed!" "well done!" "how dare you!" Your favourite character was Captain Meliodas and you were very relieved when "Captain" was not dead but just sick/sleeping!
Kalyn:
Your favourite thing to do is ask "what is that?" You say it all the time! You like to give high fives and try to call the cat over to you by making a kiss noise and rubbing your fingers together. You love it when Papa puts Flynn in the play pen with you! You like to walk up the stairs while holding onto Mama's hands and say "step, step, step." One time when Mama was putting laundry in the dryer you crawled over to the stairs and tried to crawl up all by yourself! Mama heard "thud thud" and then you crying! You weren't hurt but you never tried crawling up the stairs by yourself again! You like to take off your shirt- one day when Mama was at work Papa found you in your play pen with your shirt pulled down around your waist and he thought you looked so funny (he took a video of it). You now like to booty the play pen across the floor so we have to put the gate up at the top of the stairs, just in case. President Nelson asked everyone to fast again on Good Friday for relief from Covid and Mama and Papa decided that Mama should stop working due to Covid so her last day was April 30. She is excited to be able to spend more time with you before the baby comes!
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May
Benji:
Grandma and Grandpa McGregor stopped by for a little "social distancing" visit on May 1. You were happy to see them and cried when they left. A few new things you have added to your vocabulary: "nope, can't do that!" "huh?" "grossy" "no way!" and for some reason you now end a lot of your sentences with "for you" (eg. Benji wants food, for you or may I play with blocks, for you." You have also started saying "all peoples" in your sentences (eg. play with lincoln logs for all peoples)- we think that one comes from watching New Testament Stories! One night you were going to bed and we couldn't find your calculator (you still like playing with it). When we went downstairs, in your prayer you asked Heavenly Father for help finding the calculator. Afterwards Mama went upstairs and found it and brought it downstairs for you. You asked to say another prayer and said to Heavenly Father thank you for finding calculator. You are a very sweet boy and say very thoughtful prayers. Your new favourite New Testament Stories is the one where Peter is rescued from jail and the one where Steven is martyred. The weather has been super nice and you love having bonfires with hot dogs and s'mores! (You actually aren't a huge fan of marshmallows but love the graham crackers). You eat your hot dogs just like Papa with ketchup, mustard and relish! You aren't great at sharing your toys with Kalyn but you love to share popcorn with her! You like to watch Papa play Fallout 4 ("play a game Papa!") and like to watch him build settlements and "clean the place." Whenever he goes up some stairs you say "go up downstairs"- we are trying to teach you they are called stairs, not downstairs! One night you were eating beans for dinner and Kalyn was in the play pen beside you. When Mama came to see if you were done eating she found that you had thrown beans everywhere. She was so sad at the mess but focused on giving you a shower and sending you to bed. When she assessed the damage she realized they had been thrown in the direction of Kalyn and she had beans all over her hair- she needed a bath! Beans were all over the couch, the floor and even got on the white curtains. Now you aren't allowed to eat with just Kalyn in the room with you. Papa gave you a haircut, looking pretty handsome!
Kalyn:
Last month Mama cancelled your 18 month doctor appointment because she was afraid to take you out due to Covid! But Kenora has only had 2 cases so far so she took you out this month. You weighed 20 lbs 8oz and are almost 30". The nurse was wearing a mask and you were scared of her! When Mama tried to stand you up on the scale you were scared and tried to hold on to her! Grandma and Grandpa McGregor stopped by for a short "social distancing" visit and you cried the entire time! We think you need to be around people more but we can't do that when everyone is in quarantine! One day Mama was halfway through changing your diaper when she realized she had left the wet nap solution upstairs. She put you on the floor in the room (without a diaper) and ran upstairs to get it. When she got back she found you splashing around in a puddle of pee! You love it when Papa says "by the power of Ra!" and pretend punches you in your face! You are no longer a fan of being thrown up in the air. You like to play with legos- you can put them together and build towers. Benji isn't great at sharing toys with you but he loves to share popcorn with you! There were some really hot days at the end of the month and we all like to go out and have bonfires with hot dogs and s'mores (you eat the graham crackers). You love to walk around the kitchen and open cupboard doors. Sometimes when Papa is talking you will stick your fingers in your ears! You also like to put your finger up to your mouth and say "shhh" to Benji. You have a little sass in you! Your favourite snack is raisins and cereal (you can kind of say both words).
Grandma and Grandpa McGregor stopped by for a little "social distancing" visit on May 1. You were happy to see them and cried when they left. A few new things you have added to your vocabulary: "nope, can't do that!" "huh?" "grossy" "no way!" and for some reason you now end a lot of your sentences with "for you" (eg. Benji wants food, for you or may I play with blocks, for you." You have also started saying "all peoples" in your sentences (eg. play with lincoln logs for all peoples)- we think that one comes from watching New Testament Stories! One night you were going to bed and we couldn't find your calculator (you still like playing with it). When we went downstairs, in your prayer you asked Heavenly Father for help finding the calculator. Afterwards Mama went upstairs and found it and brought it downstairs for you. You asked to say another prayer and said to Heavenly Father thank you for finding calculator. You are a very sweet boy and say very thoughtful prayers. Your new favourite New Testament Stories is the one where Peter is rescued from jail and the one where Steven is martyred. The weather has been super nice and you love having bonfires with hot dogs and s'mores! (You actually aren't a huge fan of marshmallows but love the graham crackers). You eat your hot dogs just like Papa with ketchup, mustard and relish! You aren't great at sharing your toys with Kalyn but you love to share popcorn with her! You like to watch Papa play Fallout 4 ("play a game Papa!") and like to watch him build settlements and "clean the place." Whenever he goes up some stairs you say "go up downstairs"- we are trying to teach you they are called stairs, not downstairs! One night you were eating beans for dinner and Kalyn was in the play pen beside you. When Mama came to see if you were done eating she found that you had thrown beans everywhere. She was so sad at the mess but focused on giving you a shower and sending you to bed. When she assessed the damage she realized they had been thrown in the direction of Kalyn and she had beans all over her hair- she needed a bath! Beans were all over the couch, the floor and even got on the white curtains. Now you aren't allowed to eat with just Kalyn in the room with you. Papa gave you a haircut, looking pretty handsome!
Kalyn:
Last month Mama cancelled your 18 month doctor appointment because she was afraid to take you out due to Covid! But Kenora has only had 2 cases so far so she took you out this month. You weighed 20 lbs 8oz and are almost 30". The nurse was wearing a mask and you were scared of her! When Mama tried to stand you up on the scale you were scared and tried to hold on to her! Grandma and Grandpa McGregor stopped by for a short "social distancing" visit and you cried the entire time! We think you need to be around people more but we can't do that when everyone is in quarantine! One day Mama was halfway through changing your diaper when she realized she had left the wet nap solution upstairs. She put you on the floor in the room (without a diaper) and ran upstairs to get it. When she got back she found you splashing around in a puddle of pee! You love it when Papa says "by the power of Ra!" and pretend punches you in your face! You are no longer a fan of being thrown up in the air. You like to play with legos- you can put them together and build towers. Benji isn't great at sharing toys with you but he loves to share popcorn with you! There were some really hot days at the end of the month and we all like to go out and have bonfires with hot dogs and s'mores (you eat the graham crackers). You love to walk around the kitchen and open cupboard doors. Sometimes when Papa is talking you will stick your fingers in your ears! You also like to put your finger up to your mouth and say "shhh" to Benji. You have a little sass in you! Your favourite snack is raisins and cereal (you can kind of say both words).
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June
Benji:
The month started off very rainy with lots of big thunderstorms! (We got more rain in two days then the entire monthly average). You like to watch the thunderstorms but sometimes are a little scared. One time after a really loud crack of thunder you said to Mama "I want to see Papa please!" (See Papa's journal for story about lightening and water spraying through the wall!) You love to ask "where did the sun go?" and will answer yourself "behind the clouds" when it starts to rain. Your new favorite New Testament stories is "The Lost is Found" and you are obsessed with Miriam and "monies"! You love to tell Papa that you have "10 monies" and sometimes when you are in trouble you will say "but I have money!" which makes Mama and Papa laugh. You are still a sensitive boy and cry when watching the New Testament story when Jesus is crucified and sometimes you will get upset watching Papa play Fallout 4 if he starts punching people! You also like "The Righteous Judge" New Testament story (Mama can't figure out how, but you know the names of them and like to pick which ones to watch during scripture study!)You have been getting daily vitamins and Papa will give them to you one at a time if you are sitting nicely during scripture study. He saves the gummy vitamin d for last because that one is your favorite! You have started saying "no, it can't be!" and one time you yelled it when you were mad. Papa couldn't understand what you were saying and thought you said "Mozambique!" Now he likes to tease you by saying it. We have been teaching you your letters and you can draw a B,C,E,H,O, and X all by yourself! You have been sleeping in your fort (play pen) upstairs and love to listen to Scripture Scouts as you go to sleep! You like to give Kalyn goodnight kisses. It has been very hot but you insist on wearing your shirt, even when exercising; Mama eventually got you to stop wearing socks!
Kalyn:
June was a wet month! We had a giant thunderstorm the first week and we got more rain in 2 days then the whole average amount for June! (See Papa's journal for story of water spraying through the wall!) We brought our dog, Alty, inside and when you saw him you screamed so loud- Mama and Papa couldn't stop laughing (usually Alty sleeps outside- we forgot that you haven't really seen him inside much). You like to play with your toy puppy and baby and you pretend to feed both of them by holding a bottle up to their mouths. It is sweet. You also like to build things with legos and Benji was quite impressed when you built a tower with 9 wooden blocks! You love to talk in "sentences"- but we can't understand a word you say! You just talk, talk, talk! You can point to your head and ears and say the names. One day you started pointing and calling everything you saw "bird"! You like to eat Papa's food- one time you sat beside Papa and would tap his leg and say "hi" for more food. You like to pick your nose and say "ewww!" You can now feed yourself your yogurt with a spoon and you will sometimes fold your hands during prayer. You love to take out your ponytail, even though you get in trouble for it (Benji likes to tattle on you). Once the rain stopped the rest of the month was very hot- you couldn't handle the heat very well so you bunkered down in your room (the coolest room in the house!) You liked to have cool baths and splash around in it.
The month started off very rainy with lots of big thunderstorms! (We got more rain in two days then the entire monthly average). You like to watch the thunderstorms but sometimes are a little scared. One time after a really loud crack of thunder you said to Mama "I want to see Papa please!" (See Papa's journal for story about lightening and water spraying through the wall!) You love to ask "where did the sun go?" and will answer yourself "behind the clouds" when it starts to rain. Your new favorite New Testament stories is "The Lost is Found" and you are obsessed with Miriam and "monies"! You love to tell Papa that you have "10 monies" and sometimes when you are in trouble you will say "but I have money!" which makes Mama and Papa laugh. You are still a sensitive boy and cry when watching the New Testament story when Jesus is crucified and sometimes you will get upset watching Papa play Fallout 4 if he starts punching people! You also like "The Righteous Judge" New Testament story (Mama can't figure out how, but you know the names of them and like to pick which ones to watch during scripture study!)You have been getting daily vitamins and Papa will give them to you one at a time if you are sitting nicely during scripture study. He saves the gummy vitamin d for last because that one is your favorite! You have started saying "no, it can't be!" and one time you yelled it when you were mad. Papa couldn't understand what you were saying and thought you said "Mozambique!" Now he likes to tease you by saying it. We have been teaching you your letters and you can draw a B,C,E,H,O, and X all by yourself! You have been sleeping in your fort (play pen) upstairs and love to listen to Scripture Scouts as you go to sleep! You like to give Kalyn goodnight kisses. It has been very hot but you insist on wearing your shirt, even when exercising; Mama eventually got you to stop wearing socks!
Kalyn:
June was a wet month! We had a giant thunderstorm the first week and we got more rain in 2 days then the whole average amount for June! (See Papa's journal for story of water spraying through the wall!) We brought our dog, Alty, inside and when you saw him you screamed so loud- Mama and Papa couldn't stop laughing (usually Alty sleeps outside- we forgot that you haven't really seen him inside much). You like to play with your toy puppy and baby and you pretend to feed both of them by holding a bottle up to their mouths. It is sweet. You also like to build things with legos and Benji was quite impressed when you built a tower with 9 wooden blocks! You love to talk in "sentences"- but we can't understand a word you say! You just talk, talk, talk! You can point to your head and ears and say the names. One day you started pointing and calling everything you saw "bird"! You like to eat Papa's food- one time you sat beside Papa and would tap his leg and say "hi" for more food. You like to pick your nose and say "ewww!" You can now feed yourself your yogurt with a spoon and you will sometimes fold your hands during prayer. You love to take out your ponytail, even though you get in trouble for it (Benji likes to tattle on you). Once the rain stopped the rest of the month was very hot- you couldn't handle the heat very well so you bunkered down in your room (the coolest room in the house!) You liked to have cool baths and splash around in it.
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July
Week 1 (July 1-4):
The month started with a heat wave, thunderstorms and our 12 year wedding anniversary! Benji got so many mosquito bites (from sleeping with the window open) that it looked like he had a constellation on his cheek! Poor kid. 37 weeks pregnant this week- had a midwife appointment and since I was measuring small for 2 weeks in a row, she scheduled an ultrasound to be done. The upside is that maybe we can find out if we are having a boy or a girl! (Last ultrasound baby wanted to keep it a secret so was not cooperating!)
The month started with a heat wave, thunderstorms and our 12 year wedding anniversary! Benji got so many mosquito bites (from sleeping with the window open) that it looked like he had a constellation on his cheek! Poor kid. 37 weeks pregnant this week- had a midwife appointment and since I was measuring small for 2 weeks in a row, she scheduled an ultrasound to be done. The upside is that maybe we can find out if we are having a boy or a girl! (Last ultrasound baby wanted to keep it a secret so was not cooperating!)
First Date- July 2002
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Wedding- July 2008
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Week 2 (July 5-11):
Kalyn’s new favourite game with Papa is to wave her hands around and Papa pretends to get hit (it looks like she is casting spells at him). She likes to point out head, eyes and ears and she loves to try to jump on her own. Saw a coyote in our field! Mowed a whole bunch, sprayed the wasp nest that was in our garbage box and the missionaries came over to help us weed the garden. 38 weeks pregnant- got a membrane sweep done at midwife appointment. Asked Benji if he wanted a brother or another sister and he said sister! When asked which name he likes better, Ruth or Jesse (our girl and boy picks) he said Ruth! Well, he got his wish because at the ultrasound this week we found out that we are having a girl! Ultrasound showed that her abdomen is small compared to her head so will have to go for another ultrasound next week. If it is still showing a discrepancy I might have to go to Winnipeg to be induced early, praying that everything is alright with baby.
Kalyn’s new favourite game with Papa is to wave her hands around and Papa pretends to get hit (it looks like she is casting spells at him). She likes to point out head, eyes and ears and she loves to try to jump on her own. Saw a coyote in our field! Mowed a whole bunch, sprayed the wasp nest that was in our garbage box and the missionaries came over to help us weed the garden. 38 weeks pregnant- got a membrane sweep done at midwife appointment. Asked Benji if he wanted a brother or another sister and he said sister! When asked which name he likes better, Ruth or Jesse (our girl and boy picks) he said Ruth! Well, he got his wish because at the ultrasound this week we found out that we are having a girl! Ultrasound showed that her abdomen is small compared to her head so will have to go for another ultrasound next week. If it is still showing a discrepancy I might have to go to Winnipeg to be induced early, praying that everything is alright with baby.
Week 3 (July 12-18): The week started off with another midwife appointment and then we were off on a road trip to north of Winnipeg. We decided with baby #3 that we might need a bigger vehicle and we found a Ford Expedition for sale on Kijiji. Both kids did pretty good during the drive (we stopped at Prawda for snacks and for Benji to pee, "flush the toilet?" We ended up buying the car and Micah drove it home. Ultrasound this week showed everything normal so things are back on track for having a birth here in Kenora (39 weeks pregnant this week). Missionaries came over again to weed the garden. Benji starts listening to Leap Frog learning videos along with New Testament stories during scripture study. Kalyn starts saying more words "thank you", "cereal", "water", "woof" (she thinks woof, woof is so funny!). Kalyn gets super mad when she can't feed herself! Car failed safety in Ontario so will need to get some work done on it.
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Week 4 (July 19-25):
We started off this week with a fast for a natural birth (no induction or c-section) and for Ashley’s anxieties over the birth to be lessened. We had a bonfire Monday night, Benji’s favourite! Kalyn enjoys playing with legos but Benji steals everything that she makes! We are having to put Benji in time outs when he does that so that she has a chance to play! Benji is really loving the Leap Frog videos- they are helping him a lot with his letters and now whenever he sees a word he points out each letter in it and the sound it makes. Had a midwife appointment on Wednesday with another membrane sweep (I was measuring 1cm dilated). Micah is getting very impatient for baby to come out (due date is this Saturday) so I took some castor oil at 1am Wednesday night/Thursday morning (I’m getting impatient too- with the heat my right ankle is so swollen, I call it my Elephant foot!) Nothing happened after taking the castor oil so I took some more at 8:30am and 2:45pm. Thursday night I did get some contractions but the died off. Heat wave and thunderstorms again on Friday night (Micah took Benji outside to see the lightening and he was a little scared, and he hated the cold shower we gave him to cool him off but afterwards agreed that it made him feel better “sorry for crying in the shower!” Saturday was another hot day- I started having contractions at 10pm and they continued on throughout the evening.
We started off this week with a fast for a natural birth (no induction or c-section) and for Ashley’s anxieties over the birth to be lessened. We had a bonfire Monday night, Benji’s favourite! Kalyn enjoys playing with legos but Benji steals everything that she makes! We are having to put Benji in time outs when he does that so that she has a chance to play! Benji is really loving the Leap Frog videos- they are helping him a lot with his letters and now whenever he sees a word he points out each letter in it and the sound it makes. Had a midwife appointment on Wednesday with another membrane sweep (I was measuring 1cm dilated). Micah is getting very impatient for baby to come out (due date is this Saturday) so I took some castor oil at 1am Wednesday night/Thursday morning (I’m getting impatient too- with the heat my right ankle is so swollen, I call it my Elephant foot!) Nothing happened after taking the castor oil so I took some more at 8:30am and 2:45pm. Thursday night I did get some contractions but the died off. Heat wave and thunderstorms again on Friday night (Micah took Benji outside to see the lightening and he was a little scared, and he hated the cold shower we gave him to cool him off but afterwards agreed that it made him feel better “sorry for crying in the shower!” Saturday was another hot day- I started having contractions at 10pm and they continued on throughout the evening.
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Week 5 (July 26-31):
We went to bed at around 2am Saturday night/Sunday morning to try to get some rest and with each contraction I would wake up, sit at the end of the bed and hold a warm magic bag on my lower back! The contractions started to get closer and closer together and I decided to wake Micah up at 6:30am when the contractions were about 7 minutes apart and told him we should get ready to go. I called my midwife and we decided to meet at her office at 7:30. We texted our branch president and we dropped Benji and Kalyn off at the Beaumont’s house on the way into town (Kalyn was so sad to see Micah go!) Once we got to the midwife office she checked to see how far I was dilated; I was nervous that it wasn’t going to be much and that everything I went through during the night was just the beginning. But we were pleasantly surprised to hear I was about 6cm dilated and we headed over to the hospital. We were settled into our room by 8am and we found out that the nurse who would be helping my midwife was Beth’s (our friend) sister! The contractions started to slow down but I was having really bad back pain so I had sterile water injected beneath the skin on my lower back. There were 4 injections and it hurt so much (I screamed!) but it made the pain in my back go away almost completely! At 11am my midwife checked me again and I was only dilated 7.5cm so we decided to break my water. Well that got things going and an hour later I was pushing and Ruth E. English was born at 12:19. I did it without any pain meds, only the sterile water injections and some IV gravol (I did throw up twice). Baby Ruth weighed 7lbs 13oz and she was completely covered in vernix! I had a snack of toast and pears and we picked Benji and Kalyn up and were home by 4! Benji made baby Ruth a cute “welcome home” sign while he was at the Beaumonts. We all had a long nap and then woke up and Micah did the sacrament for us before the day was over. We had three home visits from the midwife during the week – Ruth passed her hearing screening and the rare diseases screening. Benji and Kalyn are learning they have to be a little more patient but they like baby Ruth. She is named after my grandma and both my mom and Micah’s mom has Ruth for their middle names so she is named after them too! She likes to suck her thumb, the first of our babies to like that! She also gets hiccups all the time. We are grateful for this addition to our little family 😊
We went to bed at around 2am Saturday night/Sunday morning to try to get some rest and with each contraction I would wake up, sit at the end of the bed and hold a warm magic bag on my lower back! The contractions started to get closer and closer together and I decided to wake Micah up at 6:30am when the contractions were about 7 minutes apart and told him we should get ready to go. I called my midwife and we decided to meet at her office at 7:30. We texted our branch president and we dropped Benji and Kalyn off at the Beaumont’s house on the way into town (Kalyn was so sad to see Micah go!) Once we got to the midwife office she checked to see how far I was dilated; I was nervous that it wasn’t going to be much and that everything I went through during the night was just the beginning. But we were pleasantly surprised to hear I was about 6cm dilated and we headed over to the hospital. We were settled into our room by 8am and we found out that the nurse who would be helping my midwife was Beth’s (our friend) sister! The contractions started to slow down but I was having really bad back pain so I had sterile water injected beneath the skin on my lower back. There were 4 injections and it hurt so much (I screamed!) but it made the pain in my back go away almost completely! At 11am my midwife checked me again and I was only dilated 7.5cm so we decided to break my water. Well that got things going and an hour later I was pushing and Ruth E. English was born at 12:19. I did it without any pain meds, only the sterile water injections and some IV gravol (I did throw up twice). Baby Ruth weighed 7lbs 13oz and she was completely covered in vernix! I had a snack of toast and pears and we picked Benji and Kalyn up and were home by 4! Benji made baby Ruth a cute “welcome home” sign while he was at the Beaumonts. We all had a long nap and then woke up and Micah did the sacrament for us before the day was over. We had three home visits from the midwife during the week – Ruth passed her hearing screening and the rare diseases screening. Benji and Kalyn are learning they have to be a little more patient but they like baby Ruth. She is named after my grandma and both my mom and Micah’s mom has Ruth for their middle names so she is named after them too! She likes to suck her thumb, the first of our babies to like that! She also gets hiccups all the time. We are grateful for this addition to our little family 😊
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August
Week 1 (August 1-8):
Benji is loving his Leap Frog movies and loves his letters and numbers! When our other midwife Bekkie came over for a home visit he sat with her and went through a book with the alphabet, naming each letter and doing the sounds each letter makes! Bekkie thought his P sound was very cute/funny and got him to repeat it several times! (Bekkie did our post-natal visits with us when Benji was born almost 5 years ago!) Kalyn is being a little grumpy poo (not sure if it has to do with the new baby) but she has started watching New Testament Stories during our scripture study and she LOVES them. Benji’s new favourite phrase is “something happened!” or “what happened?!” Whenever I take Ruth downstairs to change her diaper Benji asks, “Where is Baby Ruth going?!” Little Ruth is doing well- she was back to her birth weight by almost 2 weeks. She gets the hiccups a lot! We had our Relief Society President (Sister Shelby Wickham) stop by with a little gift from the Relief Society for Ruth. She rode in on a scooter/motorcycle and Benji was like, “there’s a robot!” Grandma and Grandpa McGregor came over for a visit to meet baby Ruth. Benji played outside with Grandpa, throwing his ball. Kalyn was very shy but warmed up a little and looked through a book with Grandma. We made them lunch- homemade Bolognese sauce with homemade noodles and garlic bread on homemade bread! We decided that we needed some home protection and finally bought some guns and 2 gun safes. I picked one up on Friday and went back on Saturday to pick up the other safe. When I got home I realized they didn’t give me a key so we can’t even open it! Will have to figure out what we are going to do about that next week…
Benji is loving his Leap Frog movies and loves his letters and numbers! When our other midwife Bekkie came over for a home visit he sat with her and went through a book with the alphabet, naming each letter and doing the sounds each letter makes! Bekkie thought his P sound was very cute/funny and got him to repeat it several times! (Bekkie did our post-natal visits with us when Benji was born almost 5 years ago!) Kalyn is being a little grumpy poo (not sure if it has to do with the new baby) but she has started watching New Testament Stories during our scripture study and she LOVES them. Benji’s new favourite phrase is “something happened!” or “what happened?!” Whenever I take Ruth downstairs to change her diaper Benji asks, “Where is Baby Ruth going?!” Little Ruth is doing well- she was back to her birth weight by almost 2 weeks. She gets the hiccups a lot! We had our Relief Society President (Sister Shelby Wickham) stop by with a little gift from the Relief Society for Ruth. She rode in on a scooter/motorcycle and Benji was like, “there’s a robot!” Grandma and Grandpa McGregor came over for a visit to meet baby Ruth. Benji played outside with Grandpa, throwing his ball. Kalyn was very shy but warmed up a little and looked through a book with Grandma. We made them lunch- homemade Bolognese sauce with homemade noodles and garlic bread on homemade bread! We decided that we needed some home protection and finally bought some guns and 2 gun safes. I picked one up on Friday and went back on Saturday to pick up the other safe. When I got home I realized they didn’t give me a key so we can’t even open it! Will have to figure out what we are going to do about that next week…
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Week 2 (August 9-15):
Got a couple guns in the mail this week, but we still don’t have any ammo! (we have to wait until we figure out the gun safe issue as guns and ammo have to be stored separately). We have now finished our one year food storage of top ramen so we decided to open a box to start cycling through it. Kalyn absolutely LOVES top ramen. I have never seen her so happy and eat so quickly! We also got our 55 gallon water containers delivered this week so we will start filling them up next week. Ruth had another midwife appointment this week and she gained almost a pound (she is now 8lbs 8oz). One morning during scripture study Benji asked for “keys” and I had no idea what he was talking about! He got a little frustrated, and then I realized he meant “Zacchaeus” because I could hear Kalyn watching that New Testament Story in the next room (and Benji obviously recognized it too!) Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Kent and Lienna came over for a little visit to meet baby Ruth and to see everyone. Benji had fun throwing a blanket on Lienna and Lienna pretended to be a little puppy. Kalyn was shy at first but then warmed up to Auntie Stephanie and even sat on her lap!
Got a couple guns in the mail this week, but we still don’t have any ammo! (we have to wait until we figure out the gun safe issue as guns and ammo have to be stored separately). We have now finished our one year food storage of top ramen so we decided to open a box to start cycling through it. Kalyn absolutely LOVES top ramen. I have never seen her so happy and eat so quickly! We also got our 55 gallon water containers delivered this week so we will start filling them up next week. Ruth had another midwife appointment this week and she gained almost a pound (she is now 8lbs 8oz). One morning during scripture study Benji asked for “keys” and I had no idea what he was talking about! He got a little frustrated, and then I realized he meant “Zacchaeus” because I could hear Kalyn watching that New Testament Story in the next room (and Benji obviously recognized it too!) Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Kent and Lienna came over for a little visit to meet baby Ruth and to see everyone. Benji had fun throwing a blanket on Lienna and Lienna pretended to be a little puppy. Kalyn was shy at first but then warmed up to Auntie Stephanie and even sat on her lap!
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Week 3 (August 16-22):
Micah did Ruth’s baby naming and blessing this Sunday! She is starting to sleep in longer chunks (about 4 hours at a time) so it is a little easier to do things around the house. Our midwife appointment was cancelled this week because Bekkie had to attend 5 births in 2 days (Kelly is on holidays!) But we are doing well so we didn’t mind. Micah filled the water containers this week and we moved them into the garage. While moving them we came across two huge, disgusting spiders! Kalyn started saying her own prayers this week but the only word I can understand is when she says Amen at the end “Maymen!” We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 with Benji this week- he loves them and calls them “skeleton movie”. We finally got the Expedition safetied and registered. The missionaries came over this week to weed our garden and we made them homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade bread. Mandatory masks while in public places started this week- I feel so stupid wearing the mask. It gives me chills when I see people wearing their masks in their cars!
Micah did Ruth’s baby naming and blessing this Sunday! She is starting to sleep in longer chunks (about 4 hours at a time) so it is a little easier to do things around the house. Our midwife appointment was cancelled this week because Bekkie had to attend 5 births in 2 days (Kelly is on holidays!) But we are doing well so we didn’t mind. Micah filled the water containers this week and we moved them into the garage. While moving them we came across two huge, disgusting spiders! Kalyn started saying her own prayers this week but the only word I can understand is when she says Amen at the end “Maymen!” We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 with Benji this week- he loves them and calls them “skeleton movie”. We finally got the Expedition safetied and registered. The missionaries came over this week to weed our garden and we made them homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade bread. Mandatory masks while in public places started this week- I feel so stupid wearing the mask. It gives me chills when I see people wearing their masks in their cars!
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Week 4 (August 23-31):
Ruth is one month old this week! It is amazing how fast time flies! She is a “noisy” baby, she grunts and snorts when she is sleeping- it drives Micah crazy! He is a light sleeper and also had croup as a kid so those sounds make him feel very claustrophobic, so sometimes he will have to go sleep upstairs! Ruth likes “tummy time”, she even fell asleep for a little while on her tummy. At her midwife appointment she was 9 lbs 13 oz- she is growing really fast! We finally got the safe key thing sorted out, Canadian Tire just delivered us a whole new safe (they couldn’t find the key), but Micah and I still had to carry the safes up and down the stairs ourselves! Luckily they weren’t too heavy and Micah is really strong. We bought some ammo and Micah spent an evening scoping the guns (he’s definitely a better shot that I am!) We also got our green metal roof installed this week- now the house and all of the outbuildings match and we are finally done with the outside of the buildings! The missionaries came over to say hi as there is a new elder here, Elder Kasteler, who had heard of Micah from Elder Jensen (who is now home). We tried to have Benji and Kalyn watch New Testament stories together during scripture study one day this week but they wouldn’t sit still. We realized that Benji has New Testament stories memorized- when he was watching them with Kalyn we heard him say “door open” and we look at the tv and the door on the screen opens. It was pretty funny. We took the Expedition to a bodyshop to get a quote for rhinolining it- the estimate was $5000 for just the bumpers, wheel wells and back door! So we probably won’t be doing that… We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and 4 with Benji and ordered #5 because we don’t own it yet! We also watched Journey to the Center of the Earth and he thought it was pretty good. Benji loves practicing drawling letters, his favourites are E, F, R, X. I'm trying to get him to spell his name but he doesn't like drawing B's or N's! Kalyn is going through a grumpy phase but is happy when she is eating top ramen! We saw a really cool bird outside on our fence railing, I got one of the gun scopes to take a closer look at it and I searched the internet until I found out what kind of bird it was. Turns out it was an American Kestrel.
Ruth is one month old this week! It is amazing how fast time flies! She is a “noisy” baby, she grunts and snorts when she is sleeping- it drives Micah crazy! He is a light sleeper and also had croup as a kid so those sounds make him feel very claustrophobic, so sometimes he will have to go sleep upstairs! Ruth likes “tummy time”, she even fell asleep for a little while on her tummy. At her midwife appointment she was 9 lbs 13 oz- she is growing really fast! We finally got the safe key thing sorted out, Canadian Tire just delivered us a whole new safe (they couldn’t find the key), but Micah and I still had to carry the safes up and down the stairs ourselves! Luckily they weren’t too heavy and Micah is really strong. We bought some ammo and Micah spent an evening scoping the guns (he’s definitely a better shot that I am!) We also got our green metal roof installed this week- now the house and all of the outbuildings match and we are finally done with the outside of the buildings! The missionaries came over to say hi as there is a new elder here, Elder Kasteler, who had heard of Micah from Elder Jensen (who is now home). We tried to have Benji and Kalyn watch New Testament stories together during scripture study one day this week but they wouldn’t sit still. We realized that Benji has New Testament stories memorized- when he was watching them with Kalyn we heard him say “door open” and we look at the tv and the door on the screen opens. It was pretty funny. We took the Expedition to a bodyshop to get a quote for rhinolining it- the estimate was $5000 for just the bumpers, wheel wells and back door! So we probably won’t be doing that… We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and 4 with Benji and ordered #5 because we don’t own it yet! We also watched Journey to the Center of the Earth and he thought it was pretty good. Benji loves practicing drawling letters, his favourites are E, F, R, X. I'm trying to get him to spell his name but he doesn't like drawing B's or N's! Kalyn is going through a grumpy phase but is happy when she is eating top ramen! We saw a really cool bird outside on our fence railing, I got one of the gun scopes to take a closer look at it and I searched the internet until I found out what kind of bird it was. Turns out it was an American Kestrel.
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September
Week 1 (September 1-5):
Benji loves listening to Scripture Scouts at bedtime when he is falling asleep so we got the other ones that we didn’t have: Old Testament and Articles of Faith. I feel like the Articles of Faith one isn’t as “fun” to listen to but is a useful tool to help you memorize the Articles of Faith- it would probably be better for me than for him right now! Benji’s favourite used to be the New Testament Scripture Scouts but now he always asks for the Book of Mormon one. Benji got embarrassed when he tried to get him to dance to some music, he was blushing! It was so cute. We had a nice early morning cuddle with baby Ruth and she smiled so big at Papa when he told her that she was noisy! She has been giving Papa a lot of smiles this week. Kalyn has been enjoying watching New Testament stories- she cried during the movie where Jesus is being beaten up and crucified though. Poor girl, Benji did the same when he was a little younger. Benji kept saying he wanted to watch “welcome home” (The Prodigal Son movie) but he couldn’t choose a 3rd movie (he kept listing off the first 2!) Someone stole our recycling bin this week. And we had a strange experience where we found a bag of our old toys out in our garden area- we can’t figure out how it got there. There’s a cute groundhog that keeps coming out and eating the clovers in our field. Both Micah and I are feeling drained this week (physically and spiritually)- had a lot of anti emails this week which is just like poison on the soul. We started a fast Saturday night.
Benji loves listening to Scripture Scouts at bedtime when he is falling asleep so we got the other ones that we didn’t have: Old Testament and Articles of Faith. I feel like the Articles of Faith one isn’t as “fun” to listen to but is a useful tool to help you memorize the Articles of Faith- it would probably be better for me than for him right now! Benji’s favourite used to be the New Testament Scripture Scouts but now he always asks for the Book of Mormon one. Benji got embarrassed when he tried to get him to dance to some music, he was blushing! It was so cute. We had a nice early morning cuddle with baby Ruth and she smiled so big at Papa when he told her that she was noisy! She has been giving Papa a lot of smiles this week. Kalyn has been enjoying watching New Testament stories- she cried during the movie where Jesus is being beaten up and crucified though. Poor girl, Benji did the same when he was a little younger. Benji kept saying he wanted to watch “welcome home” (The Prodigal Son movie) but he couldn’t choose a 3rd movie (he kept listing off the first 2!) Someone stole our recycling bin this week. And we had a strange experience where we found a bag of our old toys out in our garden area- we can’t figure out how it got there. There’s a cute groundhog that keeps coming out and eating the clovers in our field. Both Micah and I are feeling drained this week (physically and spiritually)- had a lot of anti emails this week which is just like poison on the soul. We started a fast Saturday night.
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Week 2 (September 6-12):
We finished our 24 hour fast Sunday night. We started a new schedule this week that I created- we will see how it goes! (wake up 8am and breakfast, scripture study/homeschool from 9-1, exercise and shake 1-2, chores while kids nap/quiet time from 2-5, dinner 5-6, play from 6-8, kids bedtime routine 8-8:30, then Micah and I get to party lol). It's cold and rainy this week, it went down to 2C at night! Benji loves Penny, Scout, Violet and Eli from his Leap Frog videos and loves to make lego replicas of them and play with them. It's very cute. Ruth had her last midwife appointment this week (I took her to the office) and she weighs 11 lbs 2 oz (which puts her in the 80th percentile. She is our biggest baby, our other two were always under 50%). Poor Ruth has a bad flare up of baby acne and she is favoring looking to one side so we have to work on her looking to the right so her neck doesn’t get sore. She is cooing this week and does a little happy dance by wiggling her arms and legs! Kalyn would just sit in her chair and watch us exercise but this week I decided to try her on the treadmill because she was so sad for being left out. I put it on speed 1 and held her hands and she LOVES it! She walked for 1 minute and did it three times. We mowed the lawn this week (every section), probably for the last time this year. Micah did an interview with Brother Guerrero (another LDS YouTuber) over zoom at the church this Saturday. When Alty started barking outside Benji asked, “Where’s Papa?” nervously- he didn’t like how Papa wasn’t home!
We finished our 24 hour fast Sunday night. We started a new schedule this week that I created- we will see how it goes! (wake up 8am and breakfast, scripture study/homeschool from 9-1, exercise and shake 1-2, chores while kids nap/quiet time from 2-5, dinner 5-6, play from 6-8, kids bedtime routine 8-8:30, then Micah and I get to party lol). It's cold and rainy this week, it went down to 2C at night! Benji loves Penny, Scout, Violet and Eli from his Leap Frog videos and loves to make lego replicas of them and play with them. It's very cute. Ruth had her last midwife appointment this week (I took her to the office) and she weighs 11 lbs 2 oz (which puts her in the 80th percentile. She is our biggest baby, our other two were always under 50%). Poor Ruth has a bad flare up of baby acne and she is favoring looking to one side so we have to work on her looking to the right so her neck doesn’t get sore. She is cooing this week and does a little happy dance by wiggling her arms and legs! Kalyn would just sit in her chair and watch us exercise but this week I decided to try her on the treadmill because she was so sad for being left out. I put it on speed 1 and held her hands and she LOVES it! She walked for 1 minute and did it three times. We mowed the lawn this week (every section), probably for the last time this year. Micah did an interview with Brother Guerrero (another LDS YouTuber) over zoom at the church this Saturday. When Alty started barking outside Benji asked, “Where’s Papa?” nervously- he didn’t like how Papa wasn’t home!
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Week 3 (September 13-19):
Second week into the schedule and it is going well! Kalyn really loves walking on the treadmill- at the beginning of the week she did 5 sets of walking for 1 minutes on speed 1 and by Saturday she was going for 2 minutes! Kalyn likes to be chased by Papa when playing- Papa taught her how to kick the soccer ball and she was really good at it! I started playing hymns (children’s songbook) for Kalyn while she takes her nap- one day I went in there to change baby Ruth and it created a super peaceful environment! Benji had fun running around the deck with Alty and playing outside. Benji likes helping me in the mornings by getting the bowls and spoons out for breakfast and he likes to put the cutlery away from the dish rack. I’m so jealous, baby Ruth smiles ALL THE TIME at Papa but will only smile sometimes for me! I see a little of my sister Brenna in her sometimes, and Micah thinks she is going to have my nose! We got a quote for a 3-sided haybarn (not insulated, no doors) done and it came back WAAAYY too expensive- $88k! So we definitely won’t be building that anytime soon. We also got a quote for the work we need done on the Equinox, we are going to take it to a second place to compare. Fang has started to like his cat bed that we put on top of the gun safe in our room, now that it is getting cooler out. Micah's mom asked for a picture of all three kids together and Micah told her that she was asking him to part the Red Sea! hahaha I can't get Kalyn to smile for any pictures either...
Second week into the schedule and it is going well! Kalyn really loves walking on the treadmill- at the beginning of the week she did 5 sets of walking for 1 minutes on speed 1 and by Saturday she was going for 2 minutes! Kalyn likes to be chased by Papa when playing- Papa taught her how to kick the soccer ball and she was really good at it! I started playing hymns (children’s songbook) for Kalyn while she takes her nap- one day I went in there to change baby Ruth and it created a super peaceful environment! Benji had fun running around the deck with Alty and playing outside. Benji likes helping me in the mornings by getting the bowls and spoons out for breakfast and he likes to put the cutlery away from the dish rack. I’m so jealous, baby Ruth smiles ALL THE TIME at Papa but will only smile sometimes for me! I see a little of my sister Brenna in her sometimes, and Micah thinks she is going to have my nose! We got a quote for a 3-sided haybarn (not insulated, no doors) done and it came back WAAAYY too expensive- $88k! So we definitely won’t be building that anytime soon. We also got a quote for the work we need done on the Equinox, we are going to take it to a second place to compare. Fang has started to like his cat bed that we put on top of the gun safe in our room, now that it is getting cooler out. Micah's mom asked for a picture of all three kids together and Micah told her that she was asking him to part the Red Sea! hahaha I can't get Kalyn to smile for any pictures either...
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Week 4 (September 20-26):
The leaves are starting to change color this week; I’m not ready for fall/winter yet! I didn’t get to enjoy the hot summer weather, too pregnant to enjoy it- I unfortunately just complained! We are going to have to start cutting firewood soon. This week we got a second quote for the work on the Equinox and it came back $500 cheaper than the first place so we will get it done there- we have an appointment scheduled for mid October. Micah was going to have an interview this week with Troy Ables from the YouTube channel The Last Dispensation but Troy had to cancel. They plan to reschedule. Micah scoped a few more of our guns this week and while he was shooting we heard our neighbor shoot his gun (a big one). Micah thought it was time to go inside and then we see a truck driving up our driveway! It was our neighbor; he had heard us and brought over his gun to show Micah (and wanted him to shoot it)! He didn’t belong to any sobriety and had a strange conversation with Micah before returning home. Micah got his ancestry DNA results back. I’m excited to start on his family history! This week Benji finally stopped saying “I’m all done poop eww” and now says “I’m all done pooping” haha. He has started singing along to Scripture Scouts (I could never get him to sing before) and when I sang a line from one of the songs he finished off the line for me! (Mary, soon you will have a baby…and Jesus will be his name!) It warmed my heart. We got the Old Testament and Book of Mormon animated series in the mail this week so we have started watching those during scripture study. Benji really likes “The Joseph Smith Story” where Joseph has his leg operated on. Both Benji and Kalyn (while in different rooms) started crying during the “Samuel” Old Testament story. Benji can’t say the word smokey, he always ends up saying “spokey” and so I started calling baby Ruth spokey this week. Benji has turned into a little tattler- it was funny because one day he was tattling on Kalyn (for rocking in her chair) while his hand was in the blocks (that he wasn’t supposed to be playing with!) One day this week Benji was giving Papa a hug goodnight and then he said “I stayed on the couch”- I had forgotten that I told him if he stayed in his chair while eating then he could maybe watch a movie later. Benji hadn’t forgotten! So Papa put in a short movie for him 😊 Kalyn turned two this week! She enjoyed the Jeanne’s Bakery cake we got for her! She is an independent little girl- while walking on the treadmill (she still loves it) she didn’t want to hold my hand and wanted to walk all by herself! She can be fierce but also is sensitive- she cries when Benji or Ruth starts crying, one time she started crying when seeing a funny video of a little boy running into a wall and falling over, she cried when the hen in one of her videos was sucked up into a vacuum! Kalyn has stopped talking (this started when baby Ruth was born) and now points at things she wants. I’m a little concerned but I think she just needs to get used to her new position in the family. We have been trying to show her extra love and spend time trying to make her laugh (she loves to sit on Papa’s knee and point at the mole on Papa’s neck and he pretends to choke!) She also likes doing fist bumps, double high fives and clapping. Baby Ruth is doing well- she really enjoys tummy time and even likes to nap on her tummy (we are right there with her). She is giving big smiles to everyone this week, even to Benji and Kalyn! She still smiles the most at Papa. She likes to be kissed on the cheeks and will smile if you rub her head. Her hair is starting to get lighter. She is now 2 months old.
The leaves are starting to change color this week; I’m not ready for fall/winter yet! I didn’t get to enjoy the hot summer weather, too pregnant to enjoy it- I unfortunately just complained! We are going to have to start cutting firewood soon. This week we got a second quote for the work on the Equinox and it came back $500 cheaper than the first place so we will get it done there- we have an appointment scheduled for mid October. Micah was going to have an interview this week with Troy Ables from the YouTube channel The Last Dispensation but Troy had to cancel. They plan to reschedule. Micah scoped a few more of our guns this week and while he was shooting we heard our neighbor shoot his gun (a big one). Micah thought it was time to go inside and then we see a truck driving up our driveway! It was our neighbor; he had heard us and brought over his gun to show Micah (and wanted him to shoot it)! He didn’t belong to any sobriety and had a strange conversation with Micah before returning home. Micah got his ancestry DNA results back. I’m excited to start on his family history! This week Benji finally stopped saying “I’m all done poop eww” and now says “I’m all done pooping” haha. He has started singing along to Scripture Scouts (I could never get him to sing before) and when I sang a line from one of the songs he finished off the line for me! (Mary, soon you will have a baby…and Jesus will be his name!) It warmed my heart. We got the Old Testament and Book of Mormon animated series in the mail this week so we have started watching those during scripture study. Benji really likes “The Joseph Smith Story” where Joseph has his leg operated on. Both Benji and Kalyn (while in different rooms) started crying during the “Samuel” Old Testament story. Benji can’t say the word smokey, he always ends up saying “spokey” and so I started calling baby Ruth spokey this week. Benji has turned into a little tattler- it was funny because one day he was tattling on Kalyn (for rocking in her chair) while his hand was in the blocks (that he wasn’t supposed to be playing with!) One day this week Benji was giving Papa a hug goodnight and then he said “I stayed on the couch”- I had forgotten that I told him if he stayed in his chair while eating then he could maybe watch a movie later. Benji hadn’t forgotten! So Papa put in a short movie for him 😊 Kalyn turned two this week! She enjoyed the Jeanne’s Bakery cake we got for her! She is an independent little girl- while walking on the treadmill (she still loves it) she didn’t want to hold my hand and wanted to walk all by herself! She can be fierce but also is sensitive- she cries when Benji or Ruth starts crying, one time she started crying when seeing a funny video of a little boy running into a wall and falling over, she cried when the hen in one of her videos was sucked up into a vacuum! Kalyn has stopped talking (this started when baby Ruth was born) and now points at things she wants. I’m a little concerned but I think she just needs to get used to her new position in the family. We have been trying to show her extra love and spend time trying to make her laugh (she loves to sit on Papa’s knee and point at the mole on Papa’s neck and he pretends to choke!) She also likes doing fist bumps, double high fives and clapping. Baby Ruth is doing well- she really enjoys tummy time and even likes to nap on her tummy (we are right there with her). She is giving big smiles to everyone this week, even to Benji and Kalyn! She still smiles the most at Papa. She likes to be kissed on the cheeks and will smile if you rub her head. Her hair is starting to get lighter. She is now 2 months old.
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Week 5 (September 27-October 3):
The next day after Kalyn’s birthday she woke up with a runny nose and was so grumpy! She wouldn’t eat any food (except protein shakes) for two days, not even her favorite top ramen! Wednesday she woke up happy and was in a much better mood, her and I danced to Scripture Scout’s “Hypocrite Rock” and she was squealing and laughing. Kalyn can say one of our cat’s name, “shade” and loves to say “step” when on the treadmill. She loves to practice her falls in front of the mirror! And will ask Papa to sit on his lap, only so she can point to the mini fridge and ask for brew (soda)! Benji hasn’t wet his bed all week (yay!) and he has started to want to pee standing up. He loves peanut butter on bread- he ate it so fast (he eats his top ramen SOOO slowly, he’s not a huge fan). Baby Ruth is looking beautiful this week (Micah says babies stop looking like aliens when they turn 2 months hahaha). She loves to nap on her tummy and is smiling and cooing. She is a good baby. A Little Caesar's just opened up in town, Micah hates pizza except for Little Caesar's so this might be dangerous (I love pizza!) October 1 we got a few snow flurries :( We need to start cutting our firewood! We got our water treatment system fixed this week- it was broken and our laundry and faucets were starting to get rusty! I’m happy it was an easy fix. Micah had an interview with Troy Ables from The Last Dispensation on Friday and then was able to help the elders record a video for their missionary Facebook page. Finally General Conference is here! Saturday was really good! The elders came over for the afternoon session and then we made them dinner after (homemade pasta with ragu and homemade bread). The “theme” that we got from the Saturday sessions was “prepare, becoming a Zion people (knit hearts together, unity), tribulations ahead will make you stronger, always have temple recommended”. Looking forward for the Sunday session!
The next day after Kalyn’s birthday she woke up with a runny nose and was so grumpy! She wouldn’t eat any food (except protein shakes) for two days, not even her favorite top ramen! Wednesday she woke up happy and was in a much better mood, her and I danced to Scripture Scout’s “Hypocrite Rock” and she was squealing and laughing. Kalyn can say one of our cat’s name, “shade” and loves to say “step” when on the treadmill. She loves to practice her falls in front of the mirror! And will ask Papa to sit on his lap, only so she can point to the mini fridge and ask for brew (soda)! Benji hasn’t wet his bed all week (yay!) and he has started to want to pee standing up. He loves peanut butter on bread- he ate it so fast (he eats his top ramen SOOO slowly, he’s not a huge fan). Baby Ruth is looking beautiful this week (Micah says babies stop looking like aliens when they turn 2 months hahaha). She loves to nap on her tummy and is smiling and cooing. She is a good baby. A Little Caesar's just opened up in town, Micah hates pizza except for Little Caesar's so this might be dangerous (I love pizza!) October 1 we got a few snow flurries :( We need to start cutting our firewood! We got our water treatment system fixed this week- it was broken and our laundry and faucets were starting to get rusty! I’m happy it was an easy fix. Micah had an interview with Troy Ables from The Last Dispensation on Friday and then was able to help the elders record a video for their missionary Facebook page. Finally General Conference is here! Saturday was really good! The elders came over for the afternoon session and then we made them dinner after (homemade pasta with ragu and homemade bread). The “theme” that we got from the Saturday sessions was “prepare, becoming a Zion people (knit hearts together, unity), tribulations ahead will make you stronger, always have temple recommended”. Looking forward for the Sunday session!
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October
Week 1 (October 4-10):
Sunday session of General Conference was good, but not quite as good as Saturday’s. Micah did an impromptu video Sunday night of his thoughts about General Conference that I really enjoyed. It’s amazing how everything talked about at General Conference we had been studying the past six months. Ruth had her 2 month doctor appointment this week and she weighs 12 lbs 10.5oz- that puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and she was in the 90th percentile for height. She is a big baby! She is a little sweetie and took the oral vaccine very well (the nurse was surprised she didn’t spit out a single drop!) She is still smiling a lot (especially at Micah) and loves to have her head rubbed (her eyes go so wide and she smiles). She also is starting to smack her lips when she is hungry- I think she will like eating solid foods early. Kalyn is starting to be a fussy eater- she hates mashed potatoes and threw them on the ground! She still likes to kick the soccer ball and this week I tried to put her hair in a braid for the first time. Micah called her “his little Viking girl.” Benji is loving the Old Testament Stories, he likes Moses the best and he likes Abinadi from the Book of Mormon stories. We ordered some letters and math videos and Kalyn hates them! Benji saw them for the first time this week and thought they were great! Micah couldn’t believe how he liked them so much, we thought they were a little weird! (eg. A star floats across the screen and it keeps repeating “star” in different tones). In the mornings Benji likes to put away the cutlery and will ask me “is this spoon large or small?” (but he pronounces small like “paul”). We hired someone to come out this week to cut up some firewood and on Thursday four missionaries came over and helped Micah move the logs and split/stack the firewood. We are going to have a lot this year, the firewood area is almost full already! My mom was in the hospital for two nights this week but luckily everything is okay and she is now home. We got a nice surprise in the mail on Saturday- one of Micah’s new friends from his channel sent him some sparkling water! It was so nice of them. We love the people we have met through The II LDS Archives! They are now like second family.
Sunday session of General Conference was good, but not quite as good as Saturday’s. Micah did an impromptu video Sunday night of his thoughts about General Conference that I really enjoyed. It’s amazing how everything talked about at General Conference we had been studying the past six months. Ruth had her 2 month doctor appointment this week and she weighs 12 lbs 10.5oz- that puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and she was in the 90th percentile for height. She is a big baby! She is a little sweetie and took the oral vaccine very well (the nurse was surprised she didn’t spit out a single drop!) She is still smiling a lot (especially at Micah) and loves to have her head rubbed (her eyes go so wide and she smiles). She also is starting to smack her lips when she is hungry- I think she will like eating solid foods early. Kalyn is starting to be a fussy eater- she hates mashed potatoes and threw them on the ground! She still likes to kick the soccer ball and this week I tried to put her hair in a braid for the first time. Micah called her “his little Viking girl.” Benji is loving the Old Testament Stories, he likes Moses the best and he likes Abinadi from the Book of Mormon stories. We ordered some letters and math videos and Kalyn hates them! Benji saw them for the first time this week and thought they were great! Micah couldn’t believe how he liked them so much, we thought they were a little weird! (eg. A star floats across the screen and it keeps repeating “star” in different tones). In the mornings Benji likes to put away the cutlery and will ask me “is this spoon large or small?” (but he pronounces small like “paul”). We hired someone to come out this week to cut up some firewood and on Thursday four missionaries came over and helped Micah move the logs and split/stack the firewood. We are going to have a lot this year, the firewood area is almost full already! My mom was in the hospital for two nights this week but luckily everything is okay and she is now home. We got a nice surprise in the mail on Saturday- one of Micah’s new friends from his channel sent him some sparkling water! It was so nice of them. We love the people we have met through The II LDS Archives! They are now like second family.
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Week 2 (October 11-17):
Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving! We are not big fans of the typical thanksgiving meal (turkey, mashed potatoes etc) but we created a similar dish that we really like- Chicken (or turkey) Pot Pie Casserole. Micah also created a Sweet Potato Marshmallow Casserole recipe that we made for today. Friday was Micah’s birthday, he didn’t want a dessert but he let me buy him a Little Caesar’s pizza 😊 The missionaries came over twice this week and helped us finish splitting and stacking the firewood (just in time too because we got some snow flurries this week!) We had a bonfire with the elders and had hot dogs and hamburgers and s’mores. Kalyn and Benji joined us for the first bonfire and we bundled them up in their new snow pants and winter jackets. We got the winter tires put on the Expedition this week and also got a new car battery for it and got the new steering wheel cover put on it! Kalyn loves throwing the soccer ball with Papa. Benji’s new favorite scripture movie is when Jesus comes to America (“he shows blood hand, blood hand, blood foot and blood foot”) and the one where Nephi builds the ship. He has started to say “no, I beg you!” if he does something bad and has to go to time out. When he was playing with his legos he said “Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Judas are bad guys!” Glad he is learning hahaha. Ruth is doing well, her flat head is starting to look better because she now naps on her tummy and she will suck on her hand to soothe herself. We got Kalyn’s photo book in the mail this week but the first page was falling out and some text was misprinted so we are getting a replacement. We got some new pictures for our picture wall and switched out some old ones to make room for the new ones. Benji noticed right away two that were missing (“where is Benji drawing?”) and he liked the new one of him holding baby Ruth.
Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving! We are not big fans of the typical thanksgiving meal (turkey, mashed potatoes etc) but we created a similar dish that we really like- Chicken (or turkey) Pot Pie Casserole. Micah also created a Sweet Potato Marshmallow Casserole recipe that we made for today. Friday was Micah’s birthday, he didn’t want a dessert but he let me buy him a Little Caesar’s pizza 😊 The missionaries came over twice this week and helped us finish splitting and stacking the firewood (just in time too because we got some snow flurries this week!) We had a bonfire with the elders and had hot dogs and hamburgers and s’mores. Kalyn and Benji joined us for the first bonfire and we bundled them up in their new snow pants and winter jackets. We got the winter tires put on the Expedition this week and also got a new car battery for it and got the new steering wheel cover put on it! Kalyn loves throwing the soccer ball with Papa. Benji’s new favorite scripture movie is when Jesus comes to America (“he shows blood hand, blood hand, blood foot and blood foot”) and the one where Nephi builds the ship. He has started to say “no, I beg you!” if he does something bad and has to go to time out. When he was playing with his legos he said “Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, and Judas are bad guys!” Glad he is learning hahaha. Ruth is doing well, her flat head is starting to look better because she now naps on her tummy and she will suck on her hand to soothe herself. We got Kalyn’s photo book in the mail this week but the first page was falling out and some text was misprinted so we are getting a replacement. We got some new pictures for our picture wall and switched out some old ones to make room for the new ones. Benji noticed right away two that were missing (“where is Benji drawing?”) and he liked the new one of him holding baby Ruth.
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Week 3 (October 18-24):
The week started out with snow and with some package deliveries! One viewer of Micah’s channel sent us some wonderful gifts. They are such a nice, generous family- we love them! I picked up some pumpkins this week. When Benji saw them he immediately started talking about carving them (“draw circle and pull off, put hand in and say eww pumpkin, draw scary face and put fire in”). I’m amazed that he remembered that from last year! He is super excited. We watched a lot of movies with the kids this week: Despicable Me, The Pagemaster, Battleship and Godzilla (Benji kept calling Godzilla a bear!) We had popcorn and Micah made it even better by mixing ketchup and cheddar popcorn topper together. Micah and I started a fast Saturday night. Kalyn loves the spaghetti casserole I made. Benji dropped his cup of water on his toe and the nail turned black. Ruth is super talkative this week. I started crocheting a hat for Benji. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it by Halloween but I’m excited for him to see it when it is finished!
The week started out with snow and with some package deliveries! One viewer of Micah’s channel sent us some wonderful gifts. They are such a nice, generous family- we love them! I picked up some pumpkins this week. When Benji saw them he immediately started talking about carving them (“draw circle and pull off, put hand in and say eww pumpkin, draw scary face and put fire in”). I’m amazed that he remembered that from last year! He is super excited. We watched a lot of movies with the kids this week: Despicable Me, The Pagemaster, Battleship and Godzilla (Benji kept calling Godzilla a bear!) We had popcorn and Micah made it even better by mixing ketchup and cheddar popcorn topper together. Micah and I started a fast Saturday night. Kalyn loves the spaghetti casserole I made. Benji dropped his cup of water on his toe and the nail turned black. Ruth is super talkative this week. I started crocheting a hat for Benji. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it by Halloween but I’m excited for him to see it when it is finished!
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Week 4 (October 25-31):
I started back to work this week. Due to COVID I started my maternity leave 3 months before Ruth was born (I didn’t want to get COVID and potentially have to be separated from her when she was born) and now she is 3 months old and I’m back to work. Originally I thought I would take the whole year off but Micah and I decided that we want to save up some more money for the potentially difficult days ahead! It was a little stressful the first day back, trying to remember the computer system etc but by the end of week it was like I hadn’t left (although my feet are killing me- I’m not used to standing all day and wearing shoes! Haha) The kids did very well with Micah, they followed the same schedule we had been doing, but listened to him even better! When Benji was exercising with Micah he was very concerned that I wasn’t exercising too, but when I got home from work I went on the treadmill after he went to bed. In the morning he asked if I had exercised! HAHA Ruth did very well except for on Thursday she cried a lot for Micah. By the end of the week we were all feeling very tired. Monday night we dropped off the Equinox at Carstar to have the front and back bumpers replaced and picked it up on Thursday. Glad to have that finally done. Saturday, Halloween, we carved pumpkins, had candy and watched Goosebumps with the kids. Benji loved carving the pumpkins! For his pumpkin he asked for triangle eyes, a square nose and a rectangle mouth. It was such a windy day with blowing snow- I didn’t see a single trick or treater when I drove in to pick up pizza. Kalyn is starting to cry less. She loves the book “Home for a Bunny” and she loves to hug baby Ruth. Ruth is so smiley and she rolled over once from her tummy onto her back. I love how her blue eyes sparkle when she smiles. Benji likes the book “Princess and the Pea.” We watched Despicable Me 2 this week and he thought it was funny.
I started back to work this week. Due to COVID I started my maternity leave 3 months before Ruth was born (I didn’t want to get COVID and potentially have to be separated from her when she was born) and now she is 3 months old and I’m back to work. Originally I thought I would take the whole year off but Micah and I decided that we want to save up some more money for the potentially difficult days ahead! It was a little stressful the first day back, trying to remember the computer system etc but by the end of week it was like I hadn’t left (although my feet are killing me- I’m not used to standing all day and wearing shoes! Haha) The kids did very well with Micah, they followed the same schedule we had been doing, but listened to him even better! When Benji was exercising with Micah he was very concerned that I wasn’t exercising too, but when I got home from work I went on the treadmill after he went to bed. In the morning he asked if I had exercised! HAHA Ruth did very well except for on Thursday she cried a lot for Micah. By the end of the week we were all feeling very tired. Monday night we dropped off the Equinox at Carstar to have the front and back bumpers replaced and picked it up on Thursday. Glad to have that finally done. Saturday, Halloween, we carved pumpkins, had candy and watched Goosebumps with the kids. Benji loved carving the pumpkins! For his pumpkin he asked for triangle eyes, a square nose and a rectangle mouth. It was such a windy day with blowing snow- I didn’t see a single trick or treater when I drove in to pick up pizza. Kalyn is starting to cry less. She loves the book “Home for a Bunny” and she loves to hug baby Ruth. Ruth is so smiley and she rolled over once from her tummy onto her back. I love how her blue eyes sparkle when she smiles. Benji likes the book “Princess and the Pea.” We watched Despicable Me 2 this week and he thought it was funny.
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November
Week 1 (November 1-7):
Well the US elections were this week. I was optimistic that Trump would win flat out but Micah was a little more realistic with his thoughts! There was no clear winner on election night but by the end of the week Biden’s team came out and declared themselves the winner even though there will be multiple recounts and investigations into voter fraud. This week at work was better than last week, I now feel like I never left. The hardest part so far is getting used to wearing a mask all day (for COVID). Giving out lots of flu shots but we only have ones for people ages 65+, there is a shortage on the other ones. We fed our Halloween pumpkins to the deer this week- they were gone the next day and when I came home from work one night the deer were hanging out by our car! I guess they wanted more. When Micah was recording one of his videos, Kalyn put on Benji’s shoes (which are way too big for her) and was walking around the room squawking- she thought it was great fun (you can hear her in the video). Kalyn hates mashed potatoes- Benji finished his and got to go play while Kalyn sat there with her food. She never did finish! Kalyn and Benji watched Rio (they liked the music in in) and Bolt this week. Benji had a nervous breakdown when he thought the girl in the movie died in the fire- he yelled, got up and paced, and pointed at Micah (like “you did this!”). He’s a funny boy because when he’s playing with his toys someone is always dying! Haha. Ruth is definitely a thumb sucker. We measured all the kids this week and for their height:age Benji is the in the 90th percentile, Kalyn is in the 10th percentile and Ruth is in the 95th percentile! Micah calls Ruth a giant! She does look pretty big, especially since Kalyn is so small! We had our temple recommend interviews with our branch president this week and we finally gave him the two boxes of things we wanted to give away after cleaning out our kitchen (toaster, steamer, blender etc)!
Well the US elections were this week. I was optimistic that Trump would win flat out but Micah was a little more realistic with his thoughts! There was no clear winner on election night but by the end of the week Biden’s team came out and declared themselves the winner even though there will be multiple recounts and investigations into voter fraud. This week at work was better than last week, I now feel like I never left. The hardest part so far is getting used to wearing a mask all day (for COVID). Giving out lots of flu shots but we only have ones for people ages 65+, there is a shortage on the other ones. We fed our Halloween pumpkins to the deer this week- they were gone the next day and when I came home from work one night the deer were hanging out by our car! I guess they wanted more. When Micah was recording one of his videos, Kalyn put on Benji’s shoes (which are way too big for her) and was walking around the room squawking- she thought it was great fun (you can hear her in the video). Kalyn hates mashed potatoes- Benji finished his and got to go play while Kalyn sat there with her food. She never did finish! Kalyn and Benji watched Rio (they liked the music in in) and Bolt this week. Benji had a nervous breakdown when he thought the girl in the movie died in the fire- he yelled, got up and paced, and pointed at Micah (like “you did this!”). He’s a funny boy because when he’s playing with his toys someone is always dying! Haha. Ruth is definitely a thumb sucker. We measured all the kids this week and for their height:age Benji is the in the 90th percentile, Kalyn is in the 10th percentile and Ruth is in the 95th percentile! Micah calls Ruth a giant! She does look pretty big, especially since Kalyn is so small! We had our temple recommend interviews with our branch president this week and we finally gave him the two boxes of things we wanted to give away after cleaning out our kitchen (toaster, steamer, blender etc)!
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Week 2 (November 8-14):
It was really warm on Sunday (16 degrees) so all the snow melted away! We fasted on Sunday and I had to break my fast at work Monday morning! We started a new diet this week and made all of our dinners for the weekdays on Sunday- it was super easy and convenient for the rest of the week. Friday and Saturday were our free meal days- for Friday I bought ice cream to have with apple pie, it was even better than the pizza! We had our car cleaned this week and the kids liked going for a ride in the car. We watched 101 Dalmatians and Aristocats this week. Baby Ruth is intrigued with her hands this week- she is always holding them up and staring at them. Kalyn gave Alty some nice hugs this week and is getting really good at saying thank you after she is given something. Kalyn kept pointing to a drink and wiggling her finger to get Papa to give it to her. It also sounded like she said “glug, glug” when she was walking around with her water cup. I braided Kalyn's hair for the first time this week! Benji really liked the soup Micah made for them but kept calling the tortellini in it marshmallows! When Micah took the pie out of the oven, Benji said “wow, big cookie!” and Micah told him it’s called a pie and he said “sp-kie please” (I couldn’t stop laughing when Micah told me that story). Benji’s new favorite scripture movie is the Ten Commandments for kids but he gets really upset in the movie with commandments 5 and 6 when he thinks the boys are getting hurt!
It was really warm on Sunday (16 degrees) so all the snow melted away! We fasted on Sunday and I had to break my fast at work Monday morning! We started a new diet this week and made all of our dinners for the weekdays on Sunday- it was super easy and convenient for the rest of the week. Friday and Saturday were our free meal days- for Friday I bought ice cream to have with apple pie, it was even better than the pizza! We had our car cleaned this week and the kids liked going for a ride in the car. We watched 101 Dalmatians and Aristocats this week. Baby Ruth is intrigued with her hands this week- she is always holding them up and staring at them. Kalyn gave Alty some nice hugs this week and is getting really good at saying thank you after she is given something. Kalyn kept pointing to a drink and wiggling her finger to get Papa to give it to her. It also sounded like she said “glug, glug” when she was walking around with her water cup. I braided Kalyn's hair for the first time this week! Benji really liked the soup Micah made for them but kept calling the tortellini in it marshmallows! When Micah took the pie out of the oven, Benji said “wow, big cookie!” and Micah told him it’s called a pie and he said “sp-kie please” (I couldn’t stop laughing when Micah told me that story). Benji’s new favorite scripture movie is the Ten Commandments for kids but he gets really upset in the movie with commandments 5 and 6 when he thinks the boys are getting hurt!
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Week 3 (November 15-21):
We had a fast on Sunday again and broke it Monday morning. This Sunday I got an email from FamilySearch saying that I have ancestors who were aboard the Mayflower. I looked into it and it turns out my 10th great-grandfather is John Howland (he is Joseph Smith’s 5th great-grandfather). So that was pretty neat! My work schedule was a little more steady this week, working mainly evening shifts, so I was able to take part in our family scripture study and exercise most mornings! In the evenings Benji and Kalyn get to play with their toys and Micah took pictures of Kalyn playing “tea time” while I was at work. She also likes to make piles of Lincoln logs throughout the room. I bought a new fluffy blanket that I thought Fang and Raven would love (they don’t) so now Kalyn has been using it to nap on! Benji practiced drawing his numbers and shapes this week, and I keep forgetting to write that he can count to 20. Benji loved Micah’s “Red soup” that he made for the kids this week- because it has tortellini and hot dogs in it! Ruth is as smiley as ever- she is a very “easy” baby to look after!
We had a fast on Sunday again and broke it Monday morning. This Sunday I got an email from FamilySearch saying that I have ancestors who were aboard the Mayflower. I looked into it and it turns out my 10th great-grandfather is John Howland (he is Joseph Smith’s 5th great-grandfather). So that was pretty neat! My work schedule was a little more steady this week, working mainly evening shifts, so I was able to take part in our family scripture study and exercise most mornings! In the evenings Benji and Kalyn get to play with their toys and Micah took pictures of Kalyn playing “tea time” while I was at work. She also likes to make piles of Lincoln logs throughout the room. I bought a new fluffy blanket that I thought Fang and Raven would love (they don’t) so now Kalyn has been using it to nap on! Benji practiced drawing his numbers and shapes this week, and I keep forgetting to write that he can count to 20. Benji loved Micah’s “Red soup” that he made for the kids this week- because it has tortellini and hot dogs in it! Ruth is as smiley as ever- she is a very “easy” baby to look after!
Week 4 (November 22-28):
Not much happened this week. We started taking apart the bunk bed in the baby room. Benji, when on the top bunk, decided to pull down all the blades on the ceiling fan so now it looks like a droopy flower. Hopefully we can fix it but now the bunk bed is done! Benji has been going through a rebellious period and has not been listening! When he gets in trouble he has to have a time out and face the wall. He hates it! He is still not great at playing with Kalyn and always tries to steal her puppy and water cup (her two favourite things). Kalyn is starting to get over her grumpy phase and is now great friends with Papa (and now when I come home from work she runs over to give me a hug!) She is now a top ramen addict though and won’t eat much else (she hated Micah’s “Red Soup” that Benji loves!) Kalyn loves her new game with Micah- she stands in front of him, he grabs her feet and turns her upside down and throws her in the air “lift off!” Baby Ruth turned 4 months this week. She is starting to get very vocal when she wants attention! She still loves staring at her hands and is starting to use them to move her blanket etc. She is such a sweet baby. Her eyes have changed from blue to grey.
Not much happened this week. We started taking apart the bunk bed in the baby room. Benji, when on the top bunk, decided to pull down all the blades on the ceiling fan so now it looks like a droopy flower. Hopefully we can fix it but now the bunk bed is done! Benji has been going through a rebellious period and has not been listening! When he gets in trouble he has to have a time out and face the wall. He hates it! He is still not great at playing with Kalyn and always tries to steal her puppy and water cup (her two favourite things). Kalyn is starting to get over her grumpy phase and is now great friends with Papa (and now when I come home from work she runs over to give me a hug!) She is now a top ramen addict though and won’t eat much else (she hated Micah’s “Red Soup” that Benji loves!) Kalyn loves her new game with Micah- she stands in front of him, he grabs her feet and turns her upside down and throws her in the air “lift off!” Baby Ruth turned 4 months this week. She is starting to get very vocal when she wants attention! She still loves staring at her hands and is starting to use them to move her blanket etc. She is such a sweet baby. Her eyes have changed from blue to grey.