Diving into Christmas Music!

I absolutely love doing holiday music in primary!  The primary program is such a wonderful Sunday for me, and typically, after it ends, we get to dive right into Thanksgiving and Christmas music.  You'll notice on the board in the picture above, I have a Thanksgiving sign, and a Christmas sign--that's because we have been doing songs for both holidays for the last month, and it has been wonderful!  Starting the day after Halloween, we had four weeks to start learning our main Christmas song that we are singing in sacrament meeting, while doing as many thanksgiving songs as possible.  I was able to teach/introduce 7 different Thanksgiving songs, including Children All Over the World, which is just so much fun to teach and sing!  We made up words to a few of the songs, talked about the importance of sharing our gratitude in prayers, and got plain silly on some songs, being thankful for everything from pokemon to mascara.  It has been a wonderful month of singing Thanksgiving songs in primary.

After singing Thanksgiving songs for 10-12 minutes, we would jump into our Christmas song, which we are performing on Dec. 13th.  We are singing "Could I Hold the Baby?" which is just a beautiful song.  Lots of words, and an unfamiliar tune, but it brings such a heartfelt spirit on a level that the kids can understand....I'm so glad the Lord led me to pick this song for the kids to learn.  We spent the first 8 or so minutes that first Sunday after Halloween learning the chorus with the visuals from the picture above.  We went on from there, reviewing, learning both verses, and this past Sunday, we watched a video with beautiful imagery and the words scrolling across the screen. We focused on the last statement that really catches the entire meaning of Christmas that can be carried throughout the year: "Jesus loves each one of us endlessly-he loves you and me."

We don't have many kids in primary, but they sing with such power, and with their testimonies on their sleeves.  It is such a pleasure, and blessing, to teach music each week to these kids.  I struggle to feel content in relief society, and that's probably something that shouldn't occur, but I always feel uplifted singing songs in primary.  We have fun, we have spiritual moments, we get creative, we bear our testimonies without even realizing it.....those 20 minutes are so special, and I just wanted to share that here on the blog.  I love my calling. :)

Random Shots of James

In searching for random shots, I realized I take more pictures of the two little boys than any of my other kids.  I need to remedy that.....

James giving me a great face on this Zebra.

 Thinking of how cool this could look when I get my new camera....

 And James with Grandpa Lautenschlager at the Trunk or Treat!

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving this year was a wonderful day, full of good memories, good food, and good feelings. We started it off with our traditional Erickson family turkey trot!  

This year was unique for several different reasons:

1. Grandma Erickson rode with us for the first time ever.  Even going back to childhood-I don't think that has ever happened.
2. We had more kids than adults.
3. I ran two of the six miles, switching off with Becca and Kristen so one of us was always running.
4. Karianna-champ that she is-ran two of the six miles as well, switching off with Makayla and Elizabeth so one of them was always running.  This is the first time we have ever had kids running the entire thing in turn.  

 I felt great running those couple of miles, especially running with Karianna.  I was on the very last mile, which was definitely more difficult than mile 4 since it is slightly uphill and since i was flat out tired.  But I did it, and managed to sprint the last 100 yards or so, just like Dad used to do.  Grateful for the ability to be active and for the accomplishments of all my family.

 Having just gotten back to Mom's house. :)

We had some scheduling snafus with the Lautenschlagers, so we ended up resting and cooking for a few hours until it was time to head back to Grandma Erickson's place for dinner with the rest of the family.  I unfortunately got a really bad sinus headache that would not dissipate until later that evening, but I pushed through as best as I could-I took a little catnap in Grandma's backyard laying on a blanket in the sun, and that actually felt heavenly, and helped my headache.  The food was delicious, and I thought my green bean casserole and brownies turned out great.  As always, I love dark meat! The kids ate well, and just had a blast playing with all the cousins.  We had a bit of a scare later on when Megan ate some ranch dressing and started to have a bad reaction during which she was struggling to breathe.  Thankfully, she responded really well to the nebulizer/albuteral that I grabbed from our house-I always have it on hand for James, and it was just the ticket to open up Megan's lungs and help her breathe better.  That was certainly scary.  

On a lighter note, spell check wants me to change the word "albuteral" to "butterball".  Probably not the right correction. ;)

5:30 rolled around and it was time to head home-and out shopping!  My normal partner in crime, Rebecca, also got a bad headache and stayed home most of the day, so Jared actually came black Friday (Thursday) shopping with me.  I never mind running out to a few places on Thanksgiving to be honest.  I like the crowds, I like catching the deals, and I'm always with a family member, so that is redeeming.  I do feel bad that others have to be working on Thanksgiving.  Anyhow, Jared and I went to Target to wait in line for entry.  We only needed three things: razors, a marble tower, and a book.  I figured that would be easy, and the lines/parking actually were not that bad-I have seen black Friday crowds WAY worse than this.  We got in and headed to the razors-and they were completely gone.  By the look of the set up, they probably only had like, 10 razors.  i was mad.  If you are going to put something on a black friday ad, make sure you are stocked up!  Ugh.  Anyhow, we found the other two items just fine, checked out in about 2 minutes flat, and headed to Walmart to pick up maybe 4 or 5 things, none of which were pressing.  Walmart was not that busy either.  It was fun shopping with Jared-we picked up hot chocolate and some firewood on the way home and had a great time hanging out with the kids before bedtime.  We shared things we are grateful for together, I sang the little kids thanksgiving primary songs before bed, and it was just a nice end to a lovely day (minus my headache of course).

We really are grateful for everything we have in our lives.  I know I need to focus on this gratitude more often during the year, but this is why I love thanksgiving--it really helps you take a step back and consider what is important in life.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Bush Turkey Trot 2015

The kids' school always does a Turkey Trot the day before Thanksgiving, and it is always so much fun to watch the kids race around the school!  This year, I was lucky enough to catch Karianna, Jordan, and Sara participate in the Turkey Trot-JD's grade level was later on in the day, so I unfortunately missed him.  The three kids I did get to watch were adorable....as were their two little brothers who loved playing with the balls and hula hoops after the actual run!  

 Stretching before the big run!

This is what sixth graders do, apparently-too cool to run, so they walk and talk! 

 Now, how cute is that?  Karianna leading Jackson around the field!

 Posing with Buster the Dog, and you can't see Jackson's face because he won't take his eyes off of the dog!  I couldn't tell if he was enthralled or scared!

 The reward-fudgesicles!  Yum!

 Jordan with one of his best friend, Joshua!

What a fun morning, we had such a blast, and honestly, it made me even more excited for tomorrow's Family Turkey Trot!

Pack Meeting and Belt Loops!

JD had another pack meeting tonight-we didn't have one last month, so we were excited for tonight's meeting! JD won two belt loops and now has a total of six on the new, official Cub Scout belt I got for him earlier today-they look so cool, and he loves them!  He has been super motivated to earn his belt loops.  He got them for marble works and tools.  I have to say though, he was most proud of his knife certification, and is excited to tell anyone that he is officially allowed to use knives (safely, he always notes that).  

JD got to call the flag ceremony today, which is always fun to see!

It was just him and Noah tonight representing their den-both got the same two belt loops.

 Sharing the marble bags they sewed-or knitted, as JD said!

Explaining the steps they took to cut and sand tic-tac-toe boards. 

 And officially receiving his belt loops!  Congratulations dude!

 I really enjoy going to pack meetings with JD.  We've got two more months and then Jordan will be joining him!

I will say, we had one upsetting moment at this month's pack meeting.  At the last meeting, they served awesome treats-s'mores on a stick.  Super yummy, but also filled with gluten.  He was sad, but as always, was a trooper, and we just picked up ice cream at McDonalds afterwards.  His leaders are usually pretty good about serving gluten free stuff, so I was a bit sad for JD, but didn't think much of it.  This time around, they announced the treats: Krispie Kream donuts.  Awesome, everyone was so excited....and then there was JD.  I watched his face fall, his smile just disappear, and his eyes fill with tears.  My heart broke for him, and truth be told, my eyes teared up as well.  JD is such an amazing kid, and for the last 3 years, he has had the BEST attitude about his Celiac Disease.  His moments of feeling sad are few.  It makes his moments that much harder for me, as his mother.  How do I explain to him that it is okay that all his friends get to eat donuts and he doesn't?  There is no way.  He knows why he can't. He understand.  What he was experiencing was just flat out sadness, and there was nothing I could do honestly but usher him out as fast as possible and just apologize and hug him.  Oh, my sweet boy.  I am just so sad for him during moments like this.

We picked up a freeze at Taco Bell for him, and laughed at the fact that the lady at the window gave it to us for free---for the third time, lol!  We exclaimed over his belt loops, and showed them off to Jared when we got home.  That moment passed for JD, but it really stayed with me, and I was reminded how difficult motherhood is. Obviously-things could be so much worse.  This is a small incident.  JD is strong.  But any moment when I see a tear in my child's eye.  My heart hurts.

So the night ended, and we chose to celebrate JD's accomplishments in scouting and the continued excitement he feels when he sees the fruits of his labor!

A Bed and a Solution

 We have a problem in our house.  Jackson enjoys turning off the TV.  The button is not in a place that is easy to cover with tape, like I might normally do.  So it is a matter of trying to be consistent with the rules until he gets it.  James didn't have the patience for that, so he came up with  solution: make a bed, in a basket, that puts him in a position to block access to the button.  He made the bed, and then told me he couldn't see the TV-he was stumped!  So he solved it by asking for the tablet so he could watch while protecting the button on the TV.  I obliged, and congratulated him for solving his problem. Doesn't he look so pleased with himself?

 I declined to tell him that there was no need to guard the TV if he was watching the same show on the tablet.  Who could tell a face like this that his ingenious solution was entirely unnecessary?

Birthday Extension!

 I am just loving this picture!  These two are just the best of friends....sometimes the worst of enemies, but mostly the best of friends! ;)  They sure do love hanging out together, and I think our weekly outings strengthen that notion.  Today was no exception.  We are continuing our ongoing celebration of Jackson's birthday, since are likely not going to have a true-blue party, So we went out to the mall to play in the play area, ride the carousel, get a paradise bakery cookie, and check out the enormous Christmas tree.  We do this weekly, but the latter is an added feature that the kids really loved!  Plus, some nice folks gave us their carousel tickets, which saved us six bucks!  I told them it was a birthday present for Jackson, and they thought that was so fitting!

 We love watching this train ride kids around the mall-Jackson especially.  We won't ride it because it is seriously expensive, but he just gets a kick out of watching it and yelling out "Chooo! Chooo!"

Fun times with the brothers!

Jackson is TWO!!!

Goodness gracious, every single birthday is going to be like this with Jackson!  Every year that passes, I am going to have a moment of sadness because he is my last baby, and I will always find myself thinking, this is the last time I am going to celebrate one of my kids turning two. Taking pictures and cherishing these silly moments-like climbing on stuff, trying to open doors,and playing with bath bubbles-seems so much more important now than ever.  

Okay, so moving past the birthday insights!  Jackson is officially TWO as of today!  He is such a wonderful, great kid, we love him to the moon and back.  Jackson is all over the place.  He does not stay still.  He won't ever watch more than a few minutes of any show/movie-he has to be moving himself.  He has to have constant parent supervision because he will get into trouble if not.  He is a smart little guy, and does whatever he needs to in order to get what he wants, whether it be something to eat, something that makes him like his brothers, or something that gets him out of his bed.  It can be frustrating....but more often than not, it is impressive-his independence and his problem-solving skills are developing nicely!  

So here's a few milestones before a serious stream of pictures:

1. Jackson STILL only eats a handful of foods.  I am pushing him to eat other things, but it is still a struggle.  He gets it-you can see the wheels turning in his head that he knows I mean business, but it is still a process.  Right now, he eats applesauce, yoghurt, bread, bananas, grapes, string cheese...and that's pretty much it, other than most cracker-type foods and some cereal type foods.  He will eat muffins of any kind too, but I think that's only because he is a fan of cupcakes ;)  He loves dum-dum suckers.
2. Jackson hit a setback in his bedtime routine/sleep schedule maybe 3 months ago.  He would wake up in the middle of the night and just scream as loud as he could, and we'd have to take him out to the TV room, and "reset"for maybe 45 minutes before putting him back to bed.  He decided to climb out of his bed shortly after this started, and that's when it got bad-and unsafe, honestly, with so much office stuff in that room. We took action and switched him to the girls room so he would be closer to us, and so we could give him a fairly empty space where he would be safe.  We gave him a twin bed, though we haven't transferred him to it yet.  I changed up his bedtime routine to be more consistent-a small amount of juice, songs, lavender lotion, bath, and the same animals/blankies.  It actually got a lot better pretty quickly.  If he got out of bed, we put him back and left his door cracked open with a gate up-he does surprisingly well with that.  Believe it or not--this is our first kid that has aggressively decided to climb out of his bed every single night. it is still a work in progress-he only sleeps through the night, with no wake ups, maybe 3 times a week, but I am glad we have a good strategy in place to help him go back to sleep quickly should he get up.  
3. Jackson likes to pee on the potty!  He pees in it before his bath almost every day.  It's a good start!
4. Jackson talks all the time.  he is in the stage where he repeats everything.  He is understandable in terms of what he is trying to convey most of the time.  He loves to play the tablet, especially a little program that has ABC flashcards, and it says the letter and the item-he loves to repeat it. He won't talk much around people he doesn't know, but he is a chatterbox at home-to the degree that I have to ask him to be quiet sometimes!
5. Jackson climbs absolutely everything.  He will move the bench, chairs, little kid seats, the ottaman, whatever it takes, to get what he wants. Lately, it has involved climbing up onto counters, which freaks me out.  He knows we used to keep suckers in a certain cupboard-he keeps getting into it even though I moved them long ago.  Oh, this boy is going to get injured someday, and it is going to make me so sad I wasn't more vigilant.  This is why it is essential to watch him every second.
6. Jackson loves to ride his bike.  He almost has his legs working to pedal. he loves to position himself at the top of our driveway "hill" and go flying down with his legs held up so the pedals and going on their own.  He likes to do that backwards too!
7. Jackson is a tough kid in so many ways.  That includes his feet.  he runs everywhere barefoot, and doesn't care.  He inherited that for me.
8. Jackson is a people-watcher.  he loves to see what others are doing, especially if those people have a baby.  
9. Jackson loves to sing!  When I put him to bed, he always requests Could I Hold the Baby, and sings many of the words with me-and if he doesn't know the words, he tries to match pitch, or form his mouth into the same vowel shapes that he sees/hears.  He loves I Believe in Jesus.  Too bad this kid isn't in primary, he could sing with us! He also loves Wheels on the Bus, but we don't do that at bedtime because it is too silly for him.  
10. Jackson loves his blankie-the same one Jared used as a baby.  He is also my only kid to develop a real, true-blue attachment to a lovey.  
11. Jackson is a momma's boy through and through.  If he sees me, he has to be with me.  I secretly love that, even though at times, it is frustrating.  The moment he wakes up, he figured out how to take the gate down (so glad he doesn't try this in the middle of the night...knock on wood) and climbs up into my bed with me.  Again-love that! 
12. Jackson LOVES Krazy Air!  he loves to jump on trampolines, and watching a kid this young jump so well is just stinkin' cute! He also loves balls with a passion.  he is great at throwing and catching, although he is in a phase right now where he just trying to hit the ball back to the thrower-he has been watching me and Karianna play volleyball too much!  he loves to swing and slide as well-he used to highly dislike both!
13. One thing he does that I do NOT like-he thinks it is fun to take off his diaper.  Not. A. Fan.

I could go on and on-Jackson is just a special little guy and we love him with all our hearts!  Happy birthday buddy!  

And here is a ridiculously long reel of pics-66 I think! 

 This bath water filled up really high-and he loved it!  Not super safe of course, but he sure loved playing in it while I sat on the floor playing candy crush ;)

 We went to McDonalds today to celebrate with ice cream.  jared's second job is keeping him busy at night, so we opted to do a sibling celebration-jackson clearly loved it, and climbing in any play area is right up his ally!

 And here are a bunch of shots I took of him as his official 2-year old shots.  My camera is at the end of its lifespan....but I still think these turned out okay!

This was his first reaction to me asking him to hold the foam 2!

 Obviously distracted by bugs and rocks.

 Love the joy on his face in this one!

 Later that day, we went to the park with the new ball we got Jackson.  He couldn't be bothered to look at the camera.

 Tracking the ball as it was flying over his head, lol!

Ah, we got to the end!  Hallelujah!