Hunter's Funniest Kids Stuff/2014 Wrap Up

So... in case you didn't notice... I kinda didn't really blog this year.  Or last year.  In the past, I have done a "Hunter Kids Funniest Things" for the New Year.  Since I am so behind on blogging... here are some random pictures from the past two years combined with funny or sweet things my kids have said in the past two years.  Hope you enjoy!

On the top of the Conference Center for Daphne's 9th birthday

1.Victoria asks for Lemontimes for breakfast.  (Clementines!)

For dessert, she wants a Haagen Dong  (a Haagen Daz Bar)

Victoria's First Day of Kindergarten

2. Our next door neighbors, the Archibalds, asked us to watch their house, check the mail, etc... while they were out of town.  Victoria comes running to me with the "Archibalbs mail!"

Archibalds Archibalbs

Wonder Woman and Cat Girl- November 2013

3. The kids and I were having breakfast one morning and all the sudden Victoria asks,

"Can I fly in heaven?"

Painting Easter Eggs- Easter 2014

4. The week of Easter, we told the kids that they could dye Easter Eggs as soon as they finished cleaning their rooms.  Victoria furiously "cleans" her room and runs out in the hall shouting,

 "I'm ready to dye now!"

Snowman!  Christmas Day 2014

5. Many of you know that I am not a big fan of Winter.  I like snow at Christmas, but other than that I painfully endure it.  I struggle not to whine and cry and throw a fit every time I see snow covering my drive.  But Victoria, she LOVES it!  She is clearly a Daddy's girl!  She often asks when it will snow again throughout the summer and fall.  Last Spring, just as things were starting to look Spring-y, we had one of those famous middle of April Utah snowfalls. My typically cheerful Victoria looked out the window and said,

 "I used to think I would love Winter, but now I just hate it."

Victoria's Fifth Birthday

6. One day, as we were driving, I told Tori she was funny and she said, "I know.  I'm the funniest child in our family."

Daphne's First Salon Hair Cut- Summer 2013

7. Daphne is MY child.  She is animated, dramatic, and full of expression.  Even when she was tiny and just barely reading, she would read with appropriate (and sometimes extreme) expression.  Unfortunately, when they read out loud at school, most of the children in the class read with that monotone, make you want to stab yourself in the eye, sort of voice.  For some reason, being in the minority has caused her to tone it down.  Sometimes, when we are reading scriptures together, I hear that "apathetic" tone enter her voice and I correct it by saying, "Read with Expression!"  So, one evening we were just beginning the Old Testament and it's Daphne's turn.

I'm not reading along, but I can hear her voice going toward the monotone, so after a few lines I say,

"Daphne, read with expression."

She reads the next line with as much pizzazz as she can muster

"And they were both NAKED!"

(said in the loudest, most suggestively silly voice imaginable)

Genesis 2:25

Victoria's 6th Birthday

8. Victoria laying on floor and randomly says, "Mom, where are we on the earth?"

Isaac just after Junior Jazz Semi Finals

9. Isaac's 5th grade teacher is named Mrs. Gammill.  As we are talking about his class Tori says :  "Mrs. Gammills name remembers me of camels"

Easter Sunday 2014

10. August 2013- I was laying down for my Sunday afternoon nap.  I texted Matt to send Tori  to me so she could nap, too.  We had already tried to get her to sleep in her room. She climbed into bed with me, snuggled up into the crook of my arm and said, "this Is. AWESOME."  "This is Just right."

 Sure is wonderful to be someone's awesome.

Victoria's 6th Birthday

11.  Tori asked me if everyone who lives in a mansion HAS to be rich/.  I said, "well no but you pretty much have to be really rich to pay that much money for a mansion."  Tori said, "If I'm rich when I grow up, I'm not going to pay anybody any money. I'm just going to keep it."

Then she smiled and said, "I'm gonna trick people so they give me all their money."

 I said, "Wow!  Well I hope you won't lie to people and do mean tricks."

Tori, "only nice tricks."

Me: "well, if they have to give you all their money that doesn't sound very nice."

What the ?!!

Daddy Daughter Dance September 2013

12. Tori said,

 "Have you ever seen a castle?  A real one?  I have, but I was a baby and you were holding me."

Me :"We saw some pretty amazing stuff together when you were a baby."

Tori:  " I wish I was a baby again."

Me: "Oh, no you don't!  You couldn't so anything for yourself. Someone would have ot dress you, feed you, bathe you."

Tori: "I like people to do stuff for me."

Me :  "But you wouldn't be able to go outside by yourself, or play in your friend's back yard or anything.  I'd have to go everywhere with you."

Tori: "I like to be with you all of the time, Mommy."

Victoria Learned to Ride without Training Wheels in 2014

October 2013

I went upstairs to sing to Isaac at bedtime and it occured to me that he is so big he might as well put his arm around me.  I said, "Well, bud, I think you're almost bigger than me, so you might as well just put YOUR arm around me.   So he did and I laid on his chest and sang my great big little boy a lullaby.  Sob.

Isaac Graduated from 6th Grade!

2014

Conversation with Daphne (9) while listening to Andy Grammar’s “Fine By Me” 

D: “Men and boys are so ridiculous.”

Me: “Why?”

D: “They don’t express themselves fully. What he really means to say is, ‘Yes! I would love it if you stayed with me forever. That’d be great!’ But instead he says, ‘Fine by me.’ as if he doesn't care at all. IF you really don't care, then you wouldn't be singing a song about it- Ridiculous!” with Matt Hunter

Daphne and I went to see Wicked for her 10th Birthday!

My kindergarterner just came home from school with her friend's jacket. She asked me to wash it. Apparently, her friend's mom couldn't get out the stains and Victoria told her that I am really awesome at getting clothes clean, so she offered for me to wash it. I'm not sure whether I feel like a hero or a maid.

Victoria built a Fairy House to catch fairies on our front porch.  I asked her what if mice and rats come in?  She made a sign that said Fairies Only- NO RATS (Mowses OK)

Victoria asked if she could have Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast, and I said, 

"That's a negative."

Isaac said: "Negatory"

Tori said, "Nuh UH!, you're a Nega Isaac!"

4th of July 2014

Lying in bed one Summer morning before school started, Victoria said, "I'm so lucky!  I get to snuggle with you every day!" I said, "I know... Summer is almost over though and we'll have to get up and go to first grade!  Won't that be exciting!?"  Victoria said, "I don't want to go to first grade!  I just want my Mommy!"

As she was cheerfully eating dinner with us one evening, Victoria said, "Mom, what does ass mean?"

We also got to define douchebag and rape for our older children this year- thanks Junior High!!

November 2014

Daphne and Victoria were showering together and Victoria looked at Daphne's chest and said, "Are those your testicles?"  Daphne said, "Victoria! No!  Do you even know what testicles are?!"  

Daphne and Victoria's Christmas Dance Recital

November 2014

Daphne: Mom! In social studies we are all in groups and each group represents a colony! We are Georgia.

Me: OOooh, fun! Georgia peaches

Isaac: Florida Oranges

Daphne: California Avocados. Washington RAIN.

Me: Actually, Washington is famous for producing apples.

Victoria (6): Well, China makes most of the stuff.

Sea World San Antonio August 2014

Since I wasn't recording these on the blog when my big kids were little, I found a little journal I was keeping of their funny comments.  So... just to even it out a bit:

Daphne (3)

I said, "How are you today?"

D "I don't know yet.  I just know about you."

Me "What about me?"

D " I like you."

Daphne's 4th grade Diorama of the Desert

Isaac

Praying (age 7)

"Please bless Daddy that he will have the priesthood at work.  Please bless the baby in mommy's tummy."

Isaac returning from his week long scout camp- such a hard week for me!

Happy New Year!  

Our Awesome Family Room Makeover!!

It's done! It's done!  We FINALLY finished the last painting and touch ups over Christmas Break and it's actually done! 

I have pretty much been fantasizing about this re-do since we bought this house. LOVED the floor plan and location... hated the oak and the red stripe--- what the heck?!  We started re-doing with the kitchen as you may have seen on this post about our kitchen makeover.   Then, we turned half of the basement into my preschool. So, since apparnetly I am incapable of just enjoying my house as-is (Ha!)... this year's big project was our family room. I am SO excited about how it turned out.  Y'all- I LOVE it!  So, of course, I have to share with you. 

Once again, we failed to take a before pic until we had already piled up the new flooring in front of the fireplace and started staining the staircase.  But... you get the gist:

I bought the flooring and the stain and one random July night, Matt and I tested it out.  We loved it so much we kept going!  Yes, I said July.  We started this project five months ago. For reals.   We did NO sanding.  I did do a masssive amount of de glossing/de greasing/scrubbing to rough up the wood some.  We used a gel stain for the dark and oil based white paint.  

 Do you see these people? They are amazing!! Matt's parents, Calvin and Marsha seriously worked at our house for a month to help us get this done.  Matt's time was so  limited with work and church that we had the flooring but none of the man hours to do it. They were amazing.  I scrubbed and stained and painted, but if it involved a saw or a nail gun.... Matt's dad was totally the boss for this project. Matt came home and helped where he could, but they were total workhorses to help me get this done. Thank you SO much, Nanny and Papa!  Y'all rock.  They even took time to teach Isaac some skills as well!

 A few work in progress pictures:

 You can see that I am gradually getting the rungs done on the staircase while Matt and his parents work on the floor... actually in this pic it looks like Matt is watching his mom carry heavy stuff.  But I'm sure he was helping, too.  Right, babe?!

 The staircase was murderously painstaking to do. I'm not gonna lie. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!  Bu halfway through I was cursing and trying to convince myself that I like builder-grade oak.  The gel stain was incredibly easy to work with, but the oil based paint was a little trickier.  The hardest thing about the staircase was trying to paint one side and then go around to the other side to catch drips and prevent them from drying.  As you can see, this involved going up and down a ladder A. LOT.  You would think you could just paint one side and then the other, but if you paint one side of a rung, it is impossible not to have drips dry on the other side.  Once everything was done, we did three coats of a floor grade urethane coat on top of everything dark.  

Eventually, we got the carpet ripped up and Matt's parents put down the flooring on the stairs and we put beadboard on the risers.  That took a little tricky engineering, but my stud of a hubby figured that one out!  Thanks, babe! 

Staircase before and after:

Red Stripe? GONE! Builder grade oak staircase and fireplace? GONE!

  Horrible, old carpet? GONE!  

Here is the only one where you can really see a before and after of the fireplace and everything else:  

I do really owe a big thanks to my sister in law, Natalie as well- she held my hand at Home Depot and prevented a panic attack.  She also, unlike myself, is amazing with a saw! 

I LOVE THIS ROOM!! 

Why We Don’t Do Santa, but We Still LOVE Christmas!

Why We Don’t Do Santa, but We Still LOVE Christmas!

Alright-That’s it.  I have been insulted and accused enough.  So, I’m going to defend my choice as a mom because darn it- this is Christmastime after all!  Let me just say this:

You can do Santa and be a great mom!

You can not do Santa and be a great mom!

You can do Elf on the shelf and be a great mom!

You can do advent calendars and be a great mom!

This is in no way shape, or form an effort to say that my choice as a mom needs to be the same as yours.  It is, however,  a defense of my choice as a mom to say NO to Santa.  I have been called a scrooge, I have been judged and so here are my reasons, once and for all:

1.       But Santa is Christmas!  How can you have Christmas without Santa?!

We desire that our celebration of Christmas be Christ-centered.  We feel very strongly that focusing on Santa directs our children to the idea of receiving.  Rather than moving an elf around every day and having him do something naughty, we have an advent calendar that contains a little treat, an activity, a scripture and a hymn for the day.  Our advent calendar is not a countdown to when we get gifts, but a daily reminder to focus on the Savior, to prepare our hearts for His coming.  Do my children ever behave in a greedy fashion?  Do they ever focus on what they are getting instead of what they can give?  Sure.  But our choices as parents can either reinforce that by focusing on Santa and presents, or redirect them, with stories of Christ and giving.  Do my children still get excited for Christmas? Yes!  They LOVE our advent calendar and ask each morning what we’ll do today.  They LOVE Christmas morning and they are just as excited to open gifts from mom and dad!

2.       Santa and elves are a fun way to teach children to be good!

The very idea of a Naughty and Nice list irks me to my core.  Why?  Because Christmas gifts, in my opinion, are not a reward for good behavior.  The premise of this idea is that children “earn” gifts with their good behavior and naughty children get no gifts or even receive a punishment in return.  I have friends whose children ask throughout December if they are on the naughty list or the nice list.  They spend their days perpetually worried about whether their behavior is good enough rather than just reveling in the unmerited love of God.  Is it any surprise that so many Christians grow up worrying that they can’t be saved?  Perpetually trying to earn their salvation with works of righteousness rather than just spending each day thinking of, loving and worshiping the One who has saved them?  When we do this, the works of righteousness flow naturally out of the new Christ life inside of us. 

Christmas gifts are given out of love, period.  I do not give gifts to people because they have earned it.  If I send you a Christmas gift or card, it is because I have love for you in my heart. Truly. That love may vary from a memory of our friendship in past years to the kind of love I have for my next door neighbor to the intense love I have for my children.  Christmas gifts, in our family, are symbolic of the gift of Christ to us.  They are given freely, out of love.  Now before you get all, “What about consequences for bad behavior or good behavior?” on me- please know that sometimes my children lose privileges for poor behavior.  Sometimes they don’t get to have friends over to our house or participate in a fun activity because they have made poor choices.  But, in my opinion, Christmas is completely different from these types of consequences because Christmas gifts are symbolic of Christ.  Christ did not come to earth because we had been on our best behavior.  Christ did not offer himself up as a sacrifice for us because we had made the nice list.  He came because he LOVES us!  He offered himself out of LOVE!  God sent him here because HE loved the world, NOT because the world had been behaving beautifully.  If ANYTHING,  He came because we were behaving horribly and He loved us STILL.  That is the beautiful message of Christmas!  His coming really is the “dawn of redeeming grace”! And yes, children are literal and concrete thinkers and need concrete examples.  But they can grasp simple symbolism.    My children know from the time they are two that they take communion or sacrament on Sundays and the bread and water symbolize Christ’s broken body and blood for us.  They know that.  Every year they understand it better.  Christmas can be the same for them!  We can take the opportunity to teach and every year, their understanding of the Savior will grow.  (I  hope!)

3.       But they are so little and innocent!  Shouldn’t we teach them to believe in Santa while they are young?  Protect their innocence?

 I LOVE young children!  I teach young children every day.  One of my favorite things  about working with young children is their innocence. One of my other favorite things about young children is their seemingly infinite capacity to trust.  It always amazes me how quickly, easily and fiercely they trust me.  I can lead them anywhere and they will follow because they know I want what is best for them.  Because of that trust, I take my job very seriously (mothering and teaching) I work very hard at teaching them that I mean what I say and I say what I mean.  In my opinion, using their innocence against them by tricking them feels like disrespecting their innocence.  Teaching them in simple terms as they grow seems respectful to me.  When my oldest child Isaac was in the nursery at Church, he was barely 3 on Easter Sunday.  My sister in law happened to be one of his nursery teachers and she asked all the little 3 year olds why we have Easter.  All of them said, “So the Easter Bunny can bring us treats!!”  Isaac said, “Because Jesus got resurrected!”  It was a special moment for me.  I saw that the innocence of a young child can be molded to suit whatever we teach them.   He was not too young to learn.  Did he completely understand the spiritual and physical ramifications of the resurrection? No. But in his own little 3 year old mind, He knew that Easter was about Jesus and that was enough for me.

We feel  a strong desire to be honest with our children.  I don’t know if you know this or not, but SANTA IS NOT REAL.  Telling my children that he is real abuses their trust in me.  My children know that Santa was once a real person.  We have taught them of St. Nicholas and how the legend came to be.  We have Santa decorations and Santa books and we sing Santa songs occasionally.  If you do Santa in your home, we do NOT judge you.  We just have made a different choice.  We ask the same respect.  We are loving, caring responsible parents.  We are not mean, baa-humbug  grinches because we don’t do Santa at our house.  Just as we are sure that you may very well love Christ and choose to do Santa.

4.       But Santa IS real as in the idea that he embodies the spirit of giving! 

Although some people feel that Santa is real because Santa is the spirit of giving, we feel very strongly that CHRIST is the symbol of giving.  In our home, we choose not to have anything to distract us from He who is the ultimate gift giver.  Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection are beautiful and real stories of giving and love.  We need no substitutions.

5.       But what about teaching them about MAGIC?  And fun and pretend and love and giving???

We believe that there are real powers in this world.  Powers like GRACE, LOVE, FORGIVENESS and GIVING.  We want there to be NO confusion between REAL and MAGIC.  God’s grace is not magic- it is REAL.  Our FORGIVENESS is not magic- it is REAL.  It was bought and paid for on the Cross and in the Garden.  When I teach my children about the Savior and they look at me with tears in their eyes and goosebumps on their arms, I tell them that they are feeling the Holy Spirit.  And I tell them that the Holy Spirit is real.  I cannot in good conscience use that trust to teach them about Santa and then later tell them that Santa wasn’t real… it was just me all along.

Which brings me to my final point:  I had some friends who told their daughter at age ten the truth about Santa.  She looked at them with tears in her big brown eyes and said, “Is Jesus real, then?!”  I just can’t do that to my children.  What I want more than anything in this life , is for them to know that God is their Father in Heaven and He loves them with a love so passionate it cannot be comprehended.  I will do all that I can to teach them the truth about their Savior.  God ACTUALLY sent His son to the earth to be born in a stable.  Jesus TRULY loved and lived here on the earth: healing the sick and raising the dead.  Christ HONESTLY took my sin and your sin upon Him and suffered and died on our behalf that we might return to live with God.  Jesus Christ LITERALLY rose from the grave that we will rise as well.  His body ACTUALLY ascended to heaven and HE PHYSICALLY, LITERALLY and TRUTHFULLY lives there, at the right hand of God waiting, preparing, urging, guiding and providing our return to them.  THAT is REAL.  The gospel is truth.  It is THE reason for Christmas.  If you do not know this truth, I invite you to learn of Him.  He WILL bring peace to your soul.  

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

Family Pictures 2014

Matt's sister, Raegan is the brilliant talent behind Show & Tell Photography.  She took some awesom pictures of us at Union Station this year!  

Arrow of Light

Since it's Thursday, I thought I'd do a Throw Back and post some pics from last year!  Well... I'm ridiculously far behind and this is the only way I'll ever catch up.  So... for TBT-  here are some pics from Isaac receiving his Arrow of Light February 2013.

We were so proud of him for getting so many awards!  He was a stellar cub scout!  A special group called the Order of The Arrow came out to present his award. Ummmm... they were pretty serious.  They were all dressed up and acted out this whole scene where they asked Isaac questions about his achievements.  None of us had seen this happen before, so he was pretty nervous!

For the Arrow of Light ceremony, we presented him with this arrow and decorated it with different items representing Isaac and his interests.  His arrow includes:
a big smiley face because he has THE best laugh.
a soccer ball and a basketball because he is such a stud at both of those sports and loves them the most!
a heart, because he is so loving and affectionate-  Isaac is never embarrased by my hugs!
a skylander, because he loves video games.
a Lego weapon, because he loves legos. and violence.

A couple other items that I can't recall (which is why you are supposed to do this right after it happens instead of 13 months later!)

Isaac, we love you!! We are so proud of you! 

First Day of School 2013- Highmark, Here we come!

Yes, I am actually posting.  No, I don't have time.  I have about five milion things I ought to be doing right now, but I am just going to do this anyway.  I might bawl my eyes out doing it, but I am going to do it anyway.  Back in April, I applied to an awesome new Charter School near by.  It runs from K-9, so all three kids could go to the same school for another 4 years.  I had heard wonderful things about it and I knew a few moms who love it.  They were full, so I immeresed myself in all the other Mommy tasks of the Summer and planned to head back to their neighborhood public school.  

Of course, just as everything was getting really stressful with all the other craziness going on this Summer (you can read about that in another post later.) We found out that they all three were accepted to Highmark.  

On the one hand, I was really excited, but on the other, school was starting in just a few weeks.  That would be a big change for us and very little time to prepare. This is a really long story that I just don't have time to tell.  But the biggest shock of all is that all three of my kids were really excited to change schools. (Even Daphne, Miss "Don't make me leave my friends" Hunter)  She put together this "ballott" and had everyone vote:    

 So, after much prayer, thought, discussions with friends who attend Highmark, and a tour of the school, we made our decision!  Here we come, Highmark!

This morning, they were all so excited!  I made pancakes for the grade they are entering.  So we have a "K" with one leg eaten, a backward 4 and a 6:

As many of you know, I started a tradition of making a "First Day of School Cake " for my kids.  They hold it in the pictures and then we eat some cake when they get home and they tell me all about the first day.  This seems like a good  idea except that I am not gifted at Cake-Deocrating.  Some of you may have seen my struggles with decorating the cake chronicled here: First Day of School 2011 and here Back to School 2012.  Every year, I think , "I need to get my Mom's recipe for Decorator Frosting!" and I never remember in time, because I am always making the cake like at midnight the night before the first day of school.  But this year, I remembered!  And I am kicking myself for not getting it before!  The cake looks so much better and was TONS easier to decorate.  I know I'm still not going to  be invited to Cupcake Wars or anything, but it's presentable.  So, thanks, Mom!  You rock.

 Because Tori is starting Kindergarten, she will have an assessment later this week and have her real first day next Tuesday.  But we decided to pretend today so she could be in all the pics!

 Highmark has a dress code, so we had to do a lot of shopping and planning to make sure they had clothes that are "business casual", as they call it!  I think they look pretty darling!

Honestly, I think I am mmore nervous than they... I have been praying that this will be a  good school for them, that they will have excellent teachers, that they will be confident and kind and share Jesus's love iwht all they meet.  I can't even begin to explain how hard this change is for me, and I am sure it is huge for them!  It was a nerve-wracking first morning, new teachers, new school, new friends, new clothes, but I am so proud of them.  But I am grateful for a husband who holds the Priesthood of God and who was able to give thema  Father's Blessing last night.  I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing them with comfort and peace.  They both looked pretty nervous, but nowhere near what I thought might happen.  I am proud of their courage and calm and  I can't wait to see them this afternoon!! Happy First Day of School!!