So far this summer...

It's been a month since I blogged...and I don't really have a good excuse. We've just been regularly busy, but not with much exciting going on. I haven't taken tons of pictures, so I apologize, but hopefully this weekend we'll get some good pics from the Lake Conroe. Here's some highlights of June.

We spent a weekend at Lake Conroe relaxing and Aaron and Paul spent the morning and evening fishing. My dad would be so happy!



Aaron had his 4 yr check up. He's 50th% for height and 75th% for weight, but somehow his BMI is only 25-50%. How does that work? We met with a new pediatrician and it was fun to sit and brag on my smart boy. She was impressed!

Both boys went to the dentist, but Aaron had to go twice because half way through the exam he freaked out and wouldn't let her finish. Luckily, both boys have great strong teeth with no cavities!

Aaron went to a week long day camp hosted by some young women in our ward for 3 hours a day one week. He had a great time.

Aaron is taking swimming lessons and is over half done. Some days he likes it better than others, but overall he is learning lots and doing great. Brian loves to swim too, but mostly just loves the suckers that Chandler gives them.





Aaron finished his turn in primary by giving 2 talks, saying one prayer and reading the article of faith, scripture and theme about 3 times. We were so proud of him having no fear and just being a pro.

Uncle Andrew (Paul's bro) came in town for Father's day and he and Paul went to the Astros v. Yankees game (we lost). We loved having Andrew here even for a short visit, but somehow we didn't take any pictures, silly us.

Paul and I went to the Astros v. Red Socks game last weekend and we won! It was an awesome, close, action packed game!

We've spent time at the park and the library, but most of our time is spent hanging out at home and just relaxing. The boys love helping us wash the cars!





I just made pickles, salsa and crushed tomatoes for the first time. We haven't tried them yet, but will this weekend. Wish us luck!





I feel all domestic now...like a real Mormon Woman or something! Anyway, that's it for now. I'll update again soon!

Aaron's latest

Aaron gave his first talk in Junior Primary today.

For the month of June, the 3-4 yr olds in our ward at church are responsible for the opening prayer, leading the 3-8 yr olds in saying the monthly theme, scripture, and 12th article of faith and giving a short talk. Aaron's job this Sunday was the talk. The theme for the month was "The temple blesses me and my family" so on Wednesday Aaron and I sat down and talked about it and wrote his talk.

We then practiced having him read it a few times then on Friday Paul suggested he memorize it, and he surprised us by having already memorized the whole thing. Saturday we went to the church so he could practice saying it in front of the podium in the primary room with the microphone on. We talked to him about it a lot and he didn't seem nervous at all, but we knew that come Sunday afternoon it could be a totally different story. We were prepared to have to help him if needed as we know most parents have to whisper in their kids ears what to say.

But not Aaron. When it was his turn he stepped right up on the stool, grabbed the microphone in his hand and spoke right into it. He said his talk perfectly, and while maybe not everyone could understand him, he did a GREAT job and we were so proud of him. We sat in the back of the room and just beamed at our amazing son.

Here are some pictures of our adorable boy taken right before church. The fat lip was from falling at the play place in the mall, it bled for just a second, but then he was over it and thinks the ice cream he had for dessert last night erased the bump!









He fell asleep in the car on the way to church...precious!

Also, here is the talk he gave and again...we are so proud of him!

The temple blesses me and my family
Heavenly Father has asked us to build temples
A temple is also called the house of the Lord
In Doctrine and Covenants section 97 versus 15 and 16 it says:
“And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, my presence shall be there, for I will come into it.”
In temples families can be sealed together for eternity.
I’d like to bear my testimony that I know the church is true and I know that because of temple blessings I can be with my family forever.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Brian's latest

In General Conference in April, Elder Ballard told a story about being in church with his kids and the "cheerios got away" from him. Well today, the cheerios got away from Brian. He tried to bring me the whole bag, but he grabbed it from the side/bottom and it spilled all over the floor. I cleaned up about half, then took a picture of what was left.



We started working on transitioning Brian to the "big boy bed" in his room upstairs this week. Brian typically doesn't sleep well anyplace other than his crib. After several attempts each day, he's now napped there two days in a row. When he finally fell asleep Friday I braved the possibility of waking him up and took some cute pictures. Here's one of them.



He's such an angel!

One more thing...
Aaron:
Mom, what is tuba plus tuba?
Me:
I don't know, what is it?
Aaron:
Fourba....hahahaha!

Fun weekend with Friends

Gotta love the three day weekend!

Our friends Amber and Warren and their 3 daughters visited us from Kyle, Texas and we had a great time! When they showed up Saturday afternoon we made some of my home-made strawberry banana ice cream (turned our pretty good if you ask me) which won me a prize at our church end of summer party last year. Unfortunately for my waistline, I think we've eaten over half of the batch already! Paul was at a baptism at the church, so we went to Mary Jo Pecham Park in Katy near the church so he could meet us there and play. Silly me, I forgot to bring my camera, but Amber took a few great pics so check them out on her blog referenced above.

Amber and Warren brought us dinner Saturday night from Papa Murphy's Pizza. There aren't franchises here in Houston, but there were in Logan where I went to school and I miss it! I don't know whether it was a gift to get it again, or just mean since I can't have it again for a while! Delicious though! That night we stayed up late playing games (kazink and killer bunnies), chatting, and having fun.

Sunday was church of course, and Aaron (4) and Taryn (6) sat very nicely on the pew next to each other reading The Friend and doing puzzles. Brian (1) and Haleigh (3) were a little more all over the place, but it was a good service with great talks on family history and the new website the church has put out to help us with it. My mom and I plan on working on dads genealogy so I'll have to check out the site soon.

Sunday night we had some emergency home repairs of replacing our garbage disposal (Seriously Amber, it WASN'T your fault) but luckily Paul and Warren are both really handy and were able to fix it all after 3 trips to the Home Depot. Silly us though, we set the delay start for the dishwasher when we thought the disposal was fixed, then later took it back out and while we played games that night (more killer bunnies) the dishwasher ran and water filled the bucket we luckily had placed under the sink, then overflowed in on kitchen floor. It's all cleaned and fixed now, so no big deal!

Monday we had plans to head to the museum of natural science, but Brooklyn (2) wasn't feeling so well so they all headed back home.
Memorial day Paul ended up playing volleyball at the church with the missionaries, I started cleaning the house a little, we went shopping at Target for nothing special, then we had some other friends, Julie and Justin over for dinner and more game playing (pinochle) and chatting.

Now life is going to have to get back to normal, I've got 5 loads of laundry to do today, Aaron still has 3.5 days of preschool, the house is still not really clean and dinner will need to get made like always. Thank you Amber, Warren, Julie and Justin for helping us have a great Memorial Day weekend. It's always nice to visit with friends and I hope more people come to visit us soon.

A Million Dollars

Aaron randomly asked me at lunch today, "Mommy, what would you do with a million dollars?"



He's totally Paul and my son...we talk about stuff like that all the time!

I responded that after paying 10% to tithing, I'd pay off the house, buy 2 new cars, buy new clothes for me, give some to each of mine and Paul's siblings and save the rest.

Aaron said he'd buy 3 new cars...one in yellow, one in orange and one in red!

Paul later said he would pay tithing, pay off the house, buy two new cars, heavily invest in college funds for the kids, then save the rest.

We're pretty boring I guess...but what would YOU do with a million dollars?

Busy Day

I am the only one awake at home...my 3 boys are all asleep. I should be asleep too since I have had a very busy day.

I just typed a nice long blog explaining everything exhausitng I did today but then decided no one really cares what I do all day, so instead I'm going to discuss some stuff that's been on my mind.

Via my Google Reader I routinely monitor about 50 of my friends or family members blogs. Sometimes I check my reader multiple times a day and read one or two new posts here or there. I didn't check it for about 2 days and there were over lots to read today. Several of my friends had very interesting entries which I left comments on. That brought up a thought about a discussion Paul and I had lately about this blog.

Paul started this blog about 2 years ago for the purpose of sending information to his family in Utah. Since then (and against Paul's wishes) I've kind of hijacked the blog and my audience is more of my friends from church and school who are moms too and who we all read each other's blogs. I TRY to keep it describing the kids and stuff that my extended family would enjoy reading, but sometimes I just want to vent my thoughts, feelings, frustrations, or excitements about whatever goes on in MY life (church, teaching classes, kids driving me crazy, fun things I've done with Paul or other friends). I know Paul doesn't approve (and probably won't like this entry either...then again he's asleep right now!) but getting comments on my blog makes me happy and my girlfriends in the trenches comment (and probably read it) a lot more than my family or Paul's so I feel justified. Keep those comments comin' girls!

Anyway, there's my post...ramblings and all. I really should get to sleep though since it WAS an exhausting day!

Bunnies, Bunk Beds and Brian

For those of you that don't know, our house backs up to the pipeline easement, so we will never have neighbors directly behind us. Instead, we have a grassy field or sorts behind our house. My father suggested we plant a vegetable garden back there, but I think that would be weird and think our vegetables might get eaten by others such as...



This bunny, (maybe there's several bunnies, we don't know, we only ever see one at a time) shows up in our front, side and back yards on a regular basis. The boys and I went out to see it in the backyard on Monday and he stayed long enough for me to get several pictures of it. I'm sure he was scared of us, but I was pleased my boys weren't scared of him at all. As long as it's a bunny and not a snake I'll be fine.

Our fun news for the week (so far) is that the bunk beds arrived. Last Thursday we went to Star Furniture because we had gotten a coupon for 10% off which was only good on Thursday. We bought Aaron a set of bunk beds, a chest of drawers, and a nightstand for his room. We later went to The Mattress Firm and bought two new mattresses. Everything looks great and we are very excited! I can't wait to go shopping with my mom to buy some new bed linens! Aaron's old furniture is now in Brian's room upstairs and we plan on moving him from his crib to a big boy bed in about 2 weeks. Please wish us luck!



Lastly, Brian continues to learn how to do new things all the time. He is now tall enough to turn on and off all the light switches and I either see things flashing or just find random lights on now. He's been able to open door knobs for a while, and has even wandered outside the house by himself before (luckily it was moments before Paul arrived home from work!) The cutest thing he can do though is verbal. Not only does he have a good grasp on the alphabet, both recognizing and saying, but he'll randomly be heard around the house saying "I love you" and even says "I love you Mama" or "I love you Dada." Is there anything better in life than that?

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend, but it was great!

It started with Friday night where we chatted with some family friends, Derle and Marjene Thorpe, until late in the evening. They were in town visiting Mom Fuller from Cache Valley, Utah and we really enjoyed their visit. Derle Thorpe was an engineering professor at Utah State University and was one of Mom's college Bishops. Simultaneously, he and Farrell Edwards, a physics professor, befriended Dad and lovingly taught him about the gospel through their examples. We are all eternally grateful to Derle and Farrell!

Saturday though, we got to work. Our goal was to hang the microwave in the kitchen and hang one ceiling fan. We out did ourselves though and not only hung the microwave, but hung 3 ceiling fans and purchased the new mattresses needed for Aaron's bunk beds which will be arriving on Tuesday. Thank you President Bush and your economic stimulus check! We've stimulated the economy alright! Here's some pictures of our handy work.



Paul did MOST of the work, but I helped and handed him things as needed and even helped lift the microwave which Paul thought would require asking for help from the neighbors!

We then put the kids to bed, had a relaxing dinner, and veged on the couch!

Sunday was a great Mother's day. Paul let me sleep in, made french toast (yummm!) and didn't have early morning meetings so he was able to help me get the kids ready for church. We had Mom and Derle and Marjene over for dinner and sat around chatting and opening our present. Unfortunately, Aaron wasn't feeling very well, and had a little bit of a fever, but that makes him extra cuddly with we love. I kept him home from school on Monday and he's already feeling better.



My favorite present was from Paul and was an addition to my Willow Tree statuette collection. It's of the mom and her 2 boys...which I think look A LOT like my 2 little guys. Love it!



I hope the rest of my week is as good as my weekend was!

Computer Time

I love my computer. I love the things that I can do on my computer. Technology amazes me, and I don't understand a lot of it, but I love it. My children watch me. They watch how much time I spend on the computer and they both love to play on the computer themselves. With Aaron, when he first got interested in the computer, we gave him an old broken keyboard to play with, then later we would just let him type on a word document. We'd put up a large, fun, colorful font and just let him type for fun. Then as he got older we moved up to starfall which is a great learning program. Now Brian loves starfall too. He's too little to move the mouse or touchpad, but he loves to watch us do it and even will sit and watch Aaron play on it.



They both are mesmerised. I feel as though I can already start to relate to my friends with teenagers who worry if their children are spending too much time on-line.

Likewise, I feel as though I probably spend too much time on-line. I love all of Google's products. Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Documents, Google Maps, etc. It is very addicting...checking to see who has updated their blogs...checking to see who has sent me e-mail...checking to see who has played me on facebook in the latest scrabble game. There are lots of legitimate reasons for me to be on-line too. My work as an environmental consultant, helping my mom sort out the medical insurance bills from my dad's last year, my job as a baby sign language instructor, paying bills, etc. but I feel as though sometimes I sit here in front of my laptop too much. Do you ever feel that way?

In April, our church had what is called General Conference. Twice a year the leaders of our church speak from Salt Lake City, Utah to give us counsel, advice and doctrine. Elder Ballard, one of the Twelve Apostles, gave a great talk about women and spoke to the mothers of young children in particular. Part of what he said was a wake-up call to me.

"Third, even as you try to cut out the extra commitments, sisters, find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would like to learn or do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others, even to your children. Avoid any kind of substance abuse, mistakenly thinking that it will help you accomplish more. And don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet. Turn to the Lord in faith, and you will know what to do and how to do it."

That last line about not being "caught up in time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet" was directed right at me for sure. I'll admit...I watch soaps. I have 4 soaps that I've watched for years. I now try not to watch any of them during the day, but I set my DVR to record 2 of them and I have one or two story lines on each show that I watch and fast-forward through the rest. I often wait 3 days or so and watch 6 hours of programing in about 1 hour. Does this qualify as being caught up in time-wasting behavior? What about checking to see who has commented on my blog? Is that a waste of time? I am trying to be more conscious of my time...not having the TV on...not playing on-line as often...reading more and checking on-line less. Hopefully it'll make me a better mom and a better person. I'll let you know!

Buzzzzzzzzz

For my birthday I requested, and received, a set of clippers so that I can try to learn to better cut my sons hair. On Wednesday we had an extra hour before I had to go to my Young Women's activity, so we tried them out.



I know that it's not perfect, and hopefully I'll continue to learn as I do it, but I don't think they look terrible. They definitely look different than they did Wednesday morning though! Hopefully these will be good summer haircuts! (sorry to those in Utah still dealing with snow, but it is summer in Houston most days!)

While it's been a busy week of birthday parties, play dates, lots of cleaning and shopping and baby showers, there hasn't been much new to really report. We've gotten a lot done, but I still feel like there's tons to do. We're trying to decide what to purchase next...ceiling fans for the upstairs bedrooms, garage door openers, landscaping stuff, bunk beds...when we decide on our next project we'll let everyone know!

Paul wouldn't let me kill him

When I went to pick Brian up from his nap before church I screamed and told Paul "Don't let me kill him." Here's what I saw.



He didn't just pull down one little piece of wallpaper, it's like one BIG tear and LOTS of little tears. Tons of little pieces on the floor actually. It's partially my own fault, I knew he wasn't asleep, but I thought some quiet time before church would be good for him. I was livid though and am still a little mad at him. I guess we'll have to put his crib in the middle of the room now, instead of next to the wall. GRRRRR!

Maybe we'll buy those bunk beds we have been talking about and put him in a bed instead of a crib. Question to other moms and dads out there...when did you move your kids from a crib to a bed? Any advice would be appreciated.

So many Birthdays! and an update on Aaron

I've recently found out that in addition to all my family members birthdays in April, I also have several good friends with birthdays right around mine. So...to all my fellow April birthday friends
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Last week Aaron started going to PPCD, a pre-school program through the school district, in the afternoon. He now is enrolled in 2 pre-schools, one at a Presbyterian church on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings from 9am-noon, and now goes every week day to a local elementary school from 12:40-3:40pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little crazy as I have to pick him up, bring him home, feed him a "quick" lunch, then go drop him off at his new school. He obviously no longer gets an afternoon nap, which used to take place about half the time. He's definitely more tired, and a little more cranky, but he does sleep in a little later in the morning.

The teachers at this new school are supposed to help him out with his social issues and specific goals for him include initiating conversations, questions and comments with his peers. Since the PPCD class often moves slowly, he spends most of his time in the pre-K class. He likes that he gets to ride the school bus home and now suddenly notices school buses whenever we are in the car. I guess now I notice how many buses there are too! Don't you love being able to see the world through your kids eyes?




For those of you who don't know, the school district thinks my genius boy might fall somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. While I don't want to think that he has any problems, I'm glad that the school district is taking the initiative to help him at this young age. Next year they'll put him in a regular community pre-school program, but send a teacher to his school to help him on his issues. Please wish us luck as we continue to try to find what is best for him!

Birthdays, Lots of Family, Austin, and Fun!

You know how sometimes during the year, especially around the holidays, you wait for life to calm down...look forward to things getting back to "normal"? I'd still like to believe that someday life will achieve some semblance of normalcy, but I'm waiting to find out what "normal" will look like.

After my dad's funeral we were lucky enough to have family around for quite a while. My brother and his wife and baby stayed for 2 weeks. My sister and her newborn are still here, but will go back to the east cost the end of this month. Her wonderful husband has been commuting on weekends to see them and continues to help out around here. We've had a great time with them all in town and will be sad to see them go back to their lives. I hope they find their own "normal" soon!

During all this time, March and April is birthday time for our families. During these months there's 4 siblings, one niece, one grandparent, 2 parents, and Aaron's and mine. Those that took place the week or so around the funeral didn't get the attention they usually get, but everyone was very understandable. We do have pictures though from Aaron's birthday in March and my birthday in April. We all got lots of great stuff and appreciate the generosity shown by all.


In between Aaron's birthday and my birthday, Paul's parents came into town. They had been planning on coming earlier in March, but kindly rescheduled for us. We had a great time with them. We went to the Museum of Natural History and saw Lucy. (Thanks mom and dad for having a membership to the museum! Dad would have loved it!)For those of you who don't know who Lucy is, find out here. I think the exhibit is only here for one more week.

While there we also visited the Cocheral Butterfly exhibit and got some great pictures too. Aaron enjoyed it right away, but it took Brian a while to figure out what was going on. When he did though, the look on his face as he watched the butterflies dancing in the air was priceless...definitely worth the price of admission!


While they were in town we also went to Austin for the day. We drove up by way of Bastrop State Park and drove around the scenic park before having lunch at a great roadhouse in Bastrop. Then we continued to Austin and toured the LBJ Presidential Museum and Library. If you haven't been there I highly recommend it. Aaron and Brian got their pictures taken with the actor portraying Senator Johnson and though we didn't stay long, it was fun. While Paul's folks continued to tour the museum we sat on the grass outside on the University of Texas campus and just played. Great times.

After driving around Austin for a little while longer we drove out to Lake Travis to eat at the Oasis Restaurant for some good food with a great view.


Before they left to go back to Utah we spent a day relaxing at home and played at what we call Airport Park. We drive to Cullen Park, then take the 1.6 mile walk to a playground and grassy field where we fly the kite. The local small airport is nearby and we can see the planes right after the take off and before they land. We had perfect weather while they were here and it was an awesome day!


Before they left we had a Family Home Evening testimony meeting which was great. I'm amazed by the wonderful spirits our Heavenly Father has blessed us with so far!


Well, that's my current update, I hope to get more "normal" postings done on a regular basis soon. Wish me luck!

Fuller Family Cousins

The good thing about the last few weeks is that my whole family has been in town. The last day before my brother left we were able to get a picture with all the cousins. Here's Aaron (4), Brian (1.5), Jackson (5 months) and Brycen (2 weeks).



I, (Jen), haven't blogged much lately, I've been leaving it up to Paul mostly, because it's just too hard to put any of my thoughts into words. Hopefully I'll get back to it soon.

(Check out some of the new pictures we posted on the right...I love the new slideshow feature! Expect more of those!)

Skidamarink

A few months ago, Aaron found an old children's song book at Grandma and Grandpa Fuller's house. He brought it downstairs and he and Grandma started looking through it. Grandma remembered this song and taught it to Aaron. It has been sung many times since.

Skidamarink is a very popular children's song with a long fascinating history. It was originally the grand finale song of the 1910 Broadway musical, "The Echo". Since the title is not a real word it has had various spellings over the years.

Though the original musical only lasted a few months, the song endured and was re-popularized in the 1950s by Jimmy Durante.

Typical Version of Lyrics

Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - love - you!
Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - love - you!

I love you in the morning
and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening
and underneath the moon;

Oh, Skidamarink a dink a dink,
Skidamarink a doo,
I - LOVE - YOU!

Thank you Aaron and Brian for your fantastic rendition!

Birthday at Chuck E Cheese

Friday, March 28 is Aaron's 4th birthday. We will be going to the Chuck E Cheese by the Katy Mills Mall that afternoon at 1:30pm. Anyone who wants to come and have their kids play at that time is welcome. We'd love to see you and play with you! If you have questions...just ask!

Happy Easter

With the death of Jen's father this week and his funeral on Good Friday, Easter took on a deeper meaning this year.

Needless to comment, it has been an emotional, sad, and difficult week for our family. But this Easter has been special as the promises of the Atonement and Resurrection have taken a deeper meaning in our life. Jen's sister Marcia and her Husband John blessed their week old baby Brycen in Church on Sunday.

This holiday wasn't JUST about death and sadness, but also about birth, life, and hope.

While less important, we had an Easter Egg Hunt today in the backyard. Aaron was an old-pro at looking for Easter eggs. But Brian, although a rookie, figured out the object right away.




The azalea flowers have been in full bloom this weekend, and provided a nice backdrop for our Easter family photo

In memory of...

Funeral services will be 11:00 AM Friday

at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
Cypress Stake Center on North Eldridge.
12310 New Hampton Dr

Interment will follow in Klein Memorial Park, SH 249.

Here's the link to the obituary in the Chronicle.

We do appreciate the love and support that we receive from family and friends.

we miss him already

For those who don't already know, Richard Fuller (Jen's dad) passed away Tuesday night after a year long battle with cancer. Details regarding his funeral service will be posted later. We appreciate all the love and support we've received this past year and the help we know we will continue to receive in the upcoming months.

From the Mouth of Babes

I've wanted, and tried, to do a blog entry several times this week...but life happens and so here it is Sunday before I make another attempt.

First the good news, my sister, Marcia, gave birth to a baby boy on Friday. They are going to call him Bryce and the pictures I've seen so far are SO ADORABLE! I can't wait to see him in person!

Next the bad news, my dad is back in the hospital and not doing so great. I don't want to go into details, I'm just too tired, but please everyone pray for him and my mom.

Lastly, at 9:50 tonight I went upstairs because I thought I heard Aaron moving around (keep in mind he is still 3 years old!). As I approached his room I found that his light was on and I got ready to send him to bed with gusto. However, I found him on his bed, reading The New Testament! He was reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. When I got there he was in verse 12 and when he finished his verse I started to read verse 13 to him. That made him cry though because "He wanted to do it all by himself" I laid there next to him and listened to him read all 27 verses, at which time I told him it was almost 10pm and that he should go to bed. We said our prayers and I turned off his light.

When asked why he likes reading the scriptures, his reply was "Because it talks about Jesus." When asked why ELSE he likes reading the scriptures, his reply was "Because is has so many books and so many chapters." When asked how he feels when he reads the scriptures, he replied "I feel GREAT-FULL"

He amazes me constantly and I am SO grateful to Heavenly Father for this amazing boy which I have the opportunity to help raise. I learn so much from him and I feel extremely blessed to have him as my son! I guess I'd better follow his example and go read my scriptures before I head to bed.