It's A Bear!

Other important things you missed during my blogging hiatus: Isaac earned his Bear Achievement/Award/Notch/Badge.... Ummmm... I don't know what you call it. But it was a lot of work, and by golly, we earned it. I say "we" because it really is a team effort. The Moms get a pin, too. But Isaac really did the work, and we are so proud of him!
We got 90% of the achievements done during the Summer and honestly, we were done with all but one by October. But since I have no idea what the heck I'm doing, I had no idea how close we were. Anyway, we finished up the last achievement in January and Isaac received his award.

What a handsome boy!

I am so honored to be the mother of this boy. Isaac personifies so many of the traits of a cub scout. He is hard-working, obedient, helpful. He is almost a young man and I can't figure out where my tiny baby has gone. But I'll just enjoy the boy who's taken his place.

The Scouting program is such a great way to put principles of Faith into action. I am so grateful for this tool to teach him to be a man of God. Love you, Isaac!

Once There Was A Snowman...

Our Winter has been so mild that days like this are few and far between (you will not hear any complaints about this from me... unless of course the Snow decides to make an appearance in March and April) So... the kids were really excited to go play in the snow this day! Matt started the giant snowman for them. He and Isaac did the lion's share of the work. Daphne got busy working on the Snowman's head while Tori just explored!

Love that face!

Matt had to run an errand in the middle of the Snow Man work, so I went out and helped Isaac roll and lift the middle part of the body. And Y'all. My arms were crazy sore the next day! That snow was so wet and heavy!

Matt came back just in time to add the head and help with the face! Daphne decided it should be a girl and collected little leaves and branches to make eyelashes.

Look how tall he is!

Unfortunately, it was so warm that she only lasted a few hours, just like the song!

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman,

Once there was a snowman: tall, tall, tall.

In the sun he melted, melted, melted

In the sun he melted: small, small, small.

That evening, Tori called Nanny to say, "Nanny, do you want to hear something really sad? We had a giant snow man and her head melted off!"

All good things must come to an end, I guess.

Goodbye 2011!!

For New Year's Eve, we thought we would invite our fellow Fireworks Enthusiasts, The Johnsons, over to our house. We had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures until the end, but we had a blast. We also had our old friends, The Walds, over for dinner as well. The Walds lived in our ward in Ogden and Monalisa was in Yound Women's with me. We hadn't seen eachother in four years, so it was great to talk again! They weren't able to stay all night, but it was great to see them again. We ate Chicken, played games, talked and talked and talked. In fact, we talked so much that we forgot to count down to Midnight! All the sudden we looked up and it was 11:58. So we ran outside and Matt and David started the firework festivities. We have had a surprisingly mild Winter, so there was no snow for us this year.

All the kids got a turn with the Fireworks this year! (I like how Isaac is wearing a coat and shorts- pretty classic Isaac)

Look! I got the boys smiling! We had a great night... Happy New Year!

The Funniest Stuff My Kids Said in 2011

Miss me? I know- I'm a total blogging slacker. The truth is, I have tried to write this post about 50 times and Blogger kept ticking me off. But today I'm feeling a little icky, so I just sat down on my bed for an hour and a half and fixed it. Well, I thought I fixed it, but Blogger hate sme. So, I quit. I'm just publishing it as is. The writing is pretty choppy because I just jotted them down in this post throughout the year.

The Top FOURTEEN most awesome things my kids said in 2011. (sprinkled with random pictures from last year)

14. Nickelodeon (February 2011)

While driving in the van, Daphne asked me, "Why don't we watch Teen Nick? I explained that we watch Nick Jr. and occasionally Nickelodeon, but Teen Nick shows kids making lots of bad choices." "like what?" Daphne says. "Well, like skipping school and drinking alcohol and just doing lots of things we don't do." And Daphne said "Yeah, like drinking Pepsi!"

14. Birthday Wish (June 2011) On June 6, Tori turned 3 years old!! We had a little birthday celebration with our family and ate some cake. We don't really do birthday wishes (no moral opposition- just isn't really a "thing" at our house) So, when Daphne said, "Tori what did you wish for? " Victoria really had no idea what she meant. But, without skipping a beat, Tori answered, "Poopin Kitties". Weird!

13.Making Cookies with Tori (December 2011):
Tori "Let's put in the vamilla. Oops, I said Valimma. What's the next flavor?"

12. Healthy Living By Tori (December 2011): "If you eat your food really good, you will grown up. But if you eat too many foods, you will get chubby and fat. "

11. Brothers ( January of 2011):

Tori randomly walked up to me and told me, " I want Isaac to be a girl."

10. Bloody Love (February 2011): Tori fell and cut her lip. There was blood on her sweet face and tears on her cheeks and lots of crying. Matt sat with her on the couch and held her while they watched Scooby Doo. A few days later, Tori said to me, "Yestaday, I bleed my lip. And Daddy and me watched a show. I want to Bleed it again." I was shocked and said, What?! Tori repeated, "I want to bleed it again and watch a show with Daddy." Needless to say, Matt watched Scooby Doo with her that night, and we didn't require blood shed beforehand!

9. March 2011: For about 3 weeks or so, every morning, Tori would dress herself and say, " I look amazing!"

8. Tori-isms (January 2011).

Whenever I would ask Tori why she was doing something, she would reply, "Because I need to." And when I would ask why she wasn't doing something, she would reply, "Because Daddy do it on Fridays."

7. Shampoo (Summer 2011) Daphne, "Why don't we call shampoo poosham?"

6. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (September 2011)

While having our standard Saturday night meal at Cafe Rio, we were talking about how we hadn't been to Cafe Rio in a while and it tasted so good to us. I said, "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder." Daphne said, "What does that mean?" So I told her it was a figure of speech and explained the meaning. Then she looked at me and said, "You should make me absent from school so I can like it better!"

5. Hospitality (June 2011): Matt came home from work to have lunch with Tori and me. After lunch, Matt put on his shoes to head back to work and as he walked out the door Tori said, "Bye! Thanks for coming to our house!"

4.Daddy (March 2011)

I gave each of the children a homemade cookie after lunch one day and Tori said,

"How about Daddy- at work?"

I answered,"Why do you ask?"

Tori: "Cause He's mine."

3. Brothers and Sisters (November 2011)

Me: "Daphne, Do you remember when Tori was born?"

Daphne: "How could I forget the day my sister was born?! If I didn't have a sister, I'd probably be dead. I mean... I like Isaac and all, but brothers and sisters just don't mix very well. "

2. The Wheels on the Bus ( August 2011)

I was mopping the kitchen floor and moved all the chairs into the family room and put them in a line. This is the cue for my girls to play school bus. So they hopped on the bus and started singing, "The Wheels on the Bus" After going through all the verses, Tori said to Daphne, " Are there any Daddies on the bus?" Daphne answered, "Sure- I don't know what they do, though." Then, with a mischevious gleam in her eye said, "I know what they do! The Daddies on the bus play on their phones. On their phones, On their phones!"

And the number 1 quote from 2011 is: (Drumroll, please):

1. Kisses (July 2011)
On Sunday afternoons, I get a nap. It is a long-standing, sacred tradition in the Hunter home. We go to church and then I take a nap. For the first part of 2011, Tori and I napped together. (Sadly, this practice has fallen by the wayside as she has grown larger and more rambunctious.) Anyway, we were lying down to take a nap and Matt came in and kissed me (rather passionately) After that he said, "Night girls and gave Tori a peck on the lips. Tori declared, "No- I want a long kiss- like Mommy!" Matt and I laughed hysterically and then he gave her an extended peck on the lips while she squeezed his cheeks with her chubby little hands.