12/27/2019 0 Comments Watercolor Family GiftSo pleased and proud of my husband for making this beautiful family portrait in watercolor for his Mom! It was quite an accomplishment with so many people included. I helped a tiny bit with doing some of the coloring but he came up with the layout which I love—his parents surrounded by clusters of their children with their own families, even those who have passed on. It’s crazy how even without faces we still know who everyone is!
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It’s taken me months to write this post, but it’s an important topic I can’t skip. I hope it gives a bit of insight into "Why I Believe". “For a little while have I forsaken thee; 11/18/2019 0 Comments Batman Potty Party!We’ve had a potty for 2 years hoping our now 4-year-old son would just use it one day when he was ready, but he was showing signs of readiness so I needed to learn how to teach him. I borrowed a Potty Kit for Boys from the library with books that came with a baby doll, mini potty, bottle, and the book “Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day: Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro” by Teri Crane. I got 3 other potty training books and prayed for success since I really did only have one full day to to dedicate entirely to potty train. A ton of effort but... It worked for us!
11/12/2019 0 Comments Apple Orchard Family PhotosWarning- gushy moment... I love this family, they are some of the most genuine and kind-hearted people you will ever know. This lovely lady is one of my BFF's, and lucky for me she married one of my other BFF's who is also Jeremy's BFF! We've all come from the same hometown, been there for each other through dating, recession, weddings, pumpkin carvings, game nights, births, hair style changes... you name it! She definitely has that beautiful Mama glow with their 4th child on the way. In addition to documenting their growing family, these photos also celebrate learning the gender of the baby! They're also dang photogenic which helps because I've found I'm not a very skilled photographer (haha luckily I try to compensate in *photo editing*). Check out the photo swap with our BFF's— our family's here, and theirs below! The apple orchard location was magic for fall photos. Watch for the wild deer roaming in the background!
10/17/2019 0 Comments Fall 2019 Family PhotosBrought to you by our talented and loving Aunt Victoria, who we’re doing a photo swap with next week! Plus lots of practice matching outfits for church, silly marching with Daddy, 30minutes to sunset, and the gorgeous natural environment at a park in Provo. I love how these turned out!!!
10/1/2019 0 Comments Marriage: Ten YearWe’ve made it to our 10 year anniversary! To celebrate us, we took some much needed rest/relaxation, booked our favorite B&B, and ate at our favorite sushi restaurant. Now I’m looking at photographs of us over the years, remembering all the things we’ve been through together because I’m a sentimental type. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this marriage is that if it isn’t constantly nurtured and strengthened, it is very fragile and susceptible. Here are some things that have worked for us.
8/19/2019 0 Comments Lily’s 8th Birthday Zoo TripHappy birthday to my not so little girl! My giggly baby is now a giggly mini-adult with dancing shoes and the curiosity of a scientist. My imaginative artist who still loves animals... She is growing like a weed! We love her so much and wanted to do something special as a family to celebrate her birthday. Hogle Zoo last time was so much fun, we came back! This time we brought $$ and were in a mood to spend it on everything to make the birthday girl feel special, hahaha! Well, within reason—a special food, a special encounter, and all the zoo’s paid attractions, plus a souvenir from the gift shop. Totally different experience, as you can see below!
This kiddo turned 8 years old! She is gorgeous inside and out, thoughtful beyond her years, a caring friend to have adventures with, and loves God with all her heart. She decided to be baptized, which happened to be the day after her actual birthday so we had an all-day event including her baptism, luncheon, and a water activity!
4/8/2019 0 Comments Kids Update April 2019I haven’t had an update on the kids in a while! They are growing in many ways and it’s nice to remember some of the highlights since they change so quickly...
2/16/2019 0 Comments End of Wrestling Season 2018-2019Hallelujah, state tournament is over and I have my husband back!!! Slowly regaining sanity. I thought after years of doing this I’d be a pro. Surprisingly it’s been the most difficult wrestling season yet. Towards the end there I almost tripped right before the finish line. While everyone was doing KonMarie cleaning up their lives, I was wallowing in chaos inside and out. There were days I just cried and cursed in bed, praying to make it through one more hour, because I didn’t have another ounce of energy to get up and repeat the cycle of an endless day/night caring for others or getting stuff done alone. It got to the point where I called Jer and asked him, “What is this all for? What do we get out of it? Why do we keep doing this every year? Why am I doing this?” He had no answers for me.
1/31/2019 0 Comments I Hear You
I had a parent teacher conference for my young son in preschool. His teacher was not too worried about him. However, his speech and language pathologist who I met for the first time that day said that honestly there was nothing more she could do for him, and did I have any ideas for what to do. I was dumbfounded; how would I have any idea what to do when I am not the expert here? I managed to tell her about the things our last SLP did, that my son really responds to one-on-one time especially through play, reading, and songs. She told me that although he participated in the activities he was always non-responsive. They would catch him talking with his friends, but never to the adults and especially not to her. I asked her about what happens during these therapy sessions, and then it made sense to me why it wasn't working out. I'm not sure about the quality of their playing since the example the SLP gave me of playing with him was sitting next to him and asking for his toy. Even more importantly, there simply wasn't enough time. Therapy consisted of 20 minutes in a group activity, and then sometime during the week she worked with him individually for 10 minutes, and that this time could not be extended based on his IEP.
10/16/2018 1 Comment A New Series: Why I BelieveMost of the things I’ve shared on the blog are on the surface, a small window into our life from a narrow look at who we are. I haven’t really wanted the complications that come with widening that look or sharing more. There's a level of editing that goes on because words are powerful and cannot be unsaid; their aftermath can't be taken back once the words have been unleashed on the world or your loved ones. People can be quick to judge and slow to listen (myself included), and I prefer us getting to know each other over a snack and a visit to warm up before delving deeper.
9/12/2018 0 Comments RamblingsMy days have been filled with alternating baby screams, cleaning up random messes (today was finding my preschooler unplugging the toilets with a plunger), putting away cars and LEGOs every hour, and having just enough energy to run a couple of errands before working on orders, then throwing together dinner in 10 minutes a half hour past bedtime. Yeah, I'm kind of a mess and probably don't have any business blogging right now, but I'm hoping the thoughts inside might find their way out and I might have the clarity or motivation to keep plugging along. A Few HappeningsI should have written a post on each of these, but here we just get the headlines:
We’ve upgraded our flooring to this awesome Luxury Vinyl Plank that’s waterproof, scratch resistant, assembled by snapping together, has a gorgeous variety of dark to light tones, and will hopefully last a while!
7/7/2018 0 Comments California AdventuresIt’s our first trip of summer vacation! My husband and I grew up in Southern California where it was windy and warm year round, Joshua trees dotted the pink stuccoed suburbs, and spring fields of golden poppies blanketed the hills as far as the eye could see. Since we moved out of state, this summer will be our first time back to visit my folks with all 3 of our kids ages 6 and under. We wanted our kids to experience some of our favorite spots and meet the people here we haven’t seen for many years—skipping some of the commercialized spots involving theme or amusement parks and Hollywood in favor of hidden gems and wonderful people of the high desert.
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AuthorI'm Kat - designer, code monkey, teacher's wife, and maker of home. This blog is my personal and creative outlet chronicling the special moments of our family. Archives
January 2020
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