Duty to God

For our combined RS/Priesthood meeting we discussed the Duty to God program. Our Stake President feels more emphasis needs to be placed on this program so the dedication to it by the boys and their parents equals the dedication they have for the scouting program. The point was made that previous versions of the Duty to God award were farily easy to earn. As long as a boy was attending his meetings and being basically good he could get it. The current iteration is much more extensive in its requirements. Our Bishop noted this reflects a need for us as parents to step up our religious instruction within the home. As the temptations of the world become stronger, we and our children must become stronger as well. In the years to come it will take a more concerted effort to stay on the path of righteousness. I'm greatful to programs like Duty to God and Personal Progress that provide guidance for us in staying on that path.

Leaves

Caden thought it was pretty funny to sit on the grass and have me rake leaves into a pile around him. The real fun started, though, once he figured out how to crush the leaves and throw the pieces like confetti.

Brushing Our Teeth

Caden loves to brush his teeth in the morning with Daddy!

Cautious Caden

Its been a full week since Caden took his little spill while walking by himself, and he still hasn't forgotten the pain of the tumble. He absolutely will not walk by himself. He must be holding on to you in some way or he simply throws himself to the ground and squawks. I've tried all the tricks and just in the last two days I've been able to get him to go about 2 steps on his own. When he is a teenage boy and all his friends are jumping off roofs I'm going to be grateful for this cautious nature. I'm the meantime, I'm still walking in circles around my house with him.

Also, he's still obsessed with the bubbles he got for Halloween. He found them today in his pile of toys and brought them to me, requesting I make them work. After giggling and enjoying the bubbles for a few minutes he started investigating. He stuck his fingers through the wand, thoroughly examined the wand from every angle, then turned his attention to the bottle. Its so cute to watch him tilt his head and intently peer into the bottle trying to figure out how it produces those magic bubbles. He got as far as putting the wand in and out of the bottle, but no amount of demonstrating could get him to figure out how to 'blow'.

Daddy's Little Helper

Last night Ryan stayed home with Caden while I went to a meeting in Provo. He let Caden play on the floor in the bathroom while he worked on sheetrocking the walls in the shower. Smart little kiddo noticed daddy kept taking screws from the bucket, so he started handing them to him. One by one he put the screws from the bucket to the shower area. He must have thought it was really helpful, because this morning he went back into the bathroom and started doing it again. Doesn't he look pleased with his work?

And since this may be the first you are hearing about the shower remodel, let me explain. When we bought the house in May 2005 the shower in the master bathroom leaked. In the course of our initial remodel we pulled up the floor in there and retiled, but the tile in the shower was molded/mildewed as well and the vanity was too destroyed to reinstall. Our toiletries took up residence in the hall bathroom where we've continued to do our showering to this day. This arrangement has been fine until Caden outgrew his infant tub and needed to bathe in the real tub. The problem being he's allergic to one of the soaps we use so each night before his bath the tub must be thoroughly scrubbed down. I'm not always thorough enough and sometimes Caden gets sent to bed with a rash and a dose of Benadryl. So while I was in Vegas Ryan decided to surprise me and start working on getting our shower up and running. With the help of both our dad's, so far he's ripped out the old one, expanded the length of the shower by a foot (thanks, Lincoln, for moving the plumbing!), redone the concrete base, and sheetrocked. Now we just need to tile, repaint the walls, and set the toilet in and we'll have a pretty functioning bathroom (the vanity will come later). Here are some pics of the progress.

Where is Thumbkin

Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am, here I am.
How are you today, sir?
Very well, I thank you.
Run away, run away.

Other verses:
Where is Pointer?
Where is Ring Man?
Where is Small Man?

Walking!

Caden has been soooo close to walking for weeks now, and today he surprised us all by just taking off. My mom was walking with him, just barely steadying his back. She stopped to pick something up on the floor and Caden kept going - all the way across the family room and down the front entry to the door. We took this video about a half hour later. Hooray for our walking kiddo!

3 Little Monkeys

I'm in Vegas this week helping watch my sister's two girls while she and my brother in law are in Hawaii for a 5th Anniversary get away. (Really I came so the cousins could have a chance to play together.) Last night as we were getting the three kids ready for bed the two older girls started jumping on the bed. Caden had never experienced this, but thought it was a blast. As my mom pulled each child off the bed she said "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!" And so that is this week's nursery rhyme.

3 Little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and broke his head.
Momma called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

(repeat, counting down the number of monkeys)

Christian Courage

In light of all the persecution the Church seems to have come under in the last few weeks, my sister reminded me of Elder Hales' masterful General Conference address titled "Christian Courage: The Price of Discipleship." You can read the full talk by clicking here.

My favorite paragraph is toward the end:
To my inquiring sister and all who seek to know how we should respond to our accusers, I reply, we love them. Whatever their race, creed, religion, or political persuasion, if we follow Christ and show forth His courage, we must love them. We do not feel we are better than they are. Rather, we desire with our love to show them a better way—the way of Jesus Christ. His way leads to the gate of baptism, the strait and narrow path of righteous living, and the temple of God. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Only through Him can we and all our brothers and sisters inherit the greatest gift we can receive—eternal life and eternal happiness. To help them, to be an example for them, is not for the weak. It is for the strong. It is for you and me, Latter-day Saints who pay the price of discipleship by answering our accusers with Christian courage.

Bubbles!

As part of his Halloween haul Caden got a small pumpkin shaped bottle of bubbles. Its by far his favorite treat. He sits and giggles the whole time I blow bubbles at him, then cries when I put them away. We've already been through the solution that came in the bottle so yesterday I had to make more. I'm thinking next spring I might get him a battery powered bubble blower that he could play with out in the yard.

Freedom!

Caden loves to walk, he's just not brave enough to do it on his own yet. This video was (obviously) taken a few days ago. He just giggles when he gets out in the cul-de-sac and runs from one end to the other. Hear that squeal at the beginning? This morning he is standing at the window watching the snow come down - a boy after my own heart. I tried to get a picture of it, but the reflection from the bright snow and the glass just isn't working for me.

Have You Voted Yet?

(I'm not sure why the picture turned out so grainy.)

The Grand Old Duke of York

As Caden gets a little older and a little more interactive, I want to try and focus on nursery rhymes with motions. To start things off I'm doing one that I remember my dad singing with us as kids.

The Grand Old Duke of York Actions as follows:
The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill, (lift baby up)
And he marched them down again. (lower baby down)
And when they were up they were up, (lift baby up)
And when they were down they were down, (lower baby down)
And when they were only half way up, (hold baby in front of you)
They were neither up nor down. (lift baby up and down on the words)