How the Grinch Stole Christmas

We are already in full Christmas mode at our house. We have been listening to Christmas music and reading Jared Christmas children's books. We haven't put up our decorations yet, but we do have lights on our house. :)

I tried to upload an EXTREMELY long video here of Jared reciting the entire Grinch poem, but I finally gave up (or, rather, Blogger gave up on the video). He seriously knows the whole thing by heart, except I noticed that he skipped a couplet here and there. It is so cute to hear him recite it!

And while we are on the topic of Jared, he and I have really been enjoying having our Mommy School twice a week (I stole the name from you, Jennifer!). It is totally casual and only lasts about 20 or 30 mins. each time, but it is helping Jared learn about shapes, colors, numbers, and the alphabet, and I really enjoy the easy crafts and songs we do together. Jared asks almost every night before bedtime, "Do we get to do Mommy school tomorrow?" He loves it.

Also, a few of my blogging friends recommended the site Starfall.com to me, and I just have to pass on that recommendation! Jared has learned about each of the ABC's from this site. In just a few weeks, Jared not only learned how to use a mouse on the computer, but he now can recognize both capital AND lowercase letters of the alphabet, and he knows most of their sounds now. He routinely asks me throughout the day things like, "Mommy, does m-m-m-milk start with the letter m?" And last night, at the late hour of 11:00 pm, Jared thought it was really important to get out of bed and ask me "what makes a ch sound, like ch-ch-chicken?" He asks me almost every day if we can "learn a letter" on the computer. I would totally recommend this website! I look forward to utilizing more of the other features on the site, like the beginning reading sections.

Our Anniversary

This week we will celebrate our wedding anniversary. We don't really have any big plans (we can't with a nursing baby), but thanks to a couple of my cousins, we are going to be able to go out to lunch and then go out after the kids are in bed.

I really love Alan so much. He is such a good husband and father. It's funny, as each year passes and as we add more members to our family, I am more aware of just how important the temple is in our lives. Everything points us to the temple. The temple is what allows us to be a family forever. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Snow!!

Mommy, I'm cold!

It snowed one of the last days in October. Jared was begging to go outside and play in it! We had lots of fun (although it melted by the afternoon), and I'm sure we will make lots of memories over these next few months playing in the snow.

Our miniature snowman

Maggie was asleep for most of the time we were outside, but once she woke up I bundled her up and took her outside, too!

Here is a darling outfit my mom bought her. I just had to post this picture, too.

Halloween

We celebrated Halloween over the course of a whole week. First was the Stout family Halloween party, complete with costume contest, spook alley, and games. Not to mention all of the delicious food, a sampling of which you see above. Yum! The party was so much fun, and we are glad it is now a yearly tradition!

Yeah, the balloons for our grapes costumes didn't last too long. Try nursing a baby with balloons stuck all over your shirt!


This video is of the donut-eating contest

Then several days later we had the Halloween party with my side of the family, where we carved pumpkins and sang Halloween carols (my family has a repertoire of a dozen or so!)

My dad making Maggie laugh a bit at the party

Yum. I am obsessed with delicious food.

Here is the pumpkin Alan carved.

This was the hilarious attempt at getting all of the grandkids on my side of the family together for a picture. Ha ha!

On the Saturday of Halloween, we went to our neighborhood's very rainy trunk or treat. We were planning on taking Jared around to a few neighbors' houses as well, but we ran out of steam.

Maggie loves Halloween. Can't you tell? Jared wore this same costume for his first Halloween.

Jared the Bee. This picture doesn't quite capture the full effect.