Learning new things....

I am going out on an Emotional Limb here and sharing something with you. Several weeks ago I signed up for a digital photography class. As part of the class and the assignments, we are supposed to have our own blog on which to post our pictures. I thought that I would share them with you. Keep in mind that I am far from being a professional, and I do not have a fancy camera, just a nice point and shoot.



So here is the link.....

http://kawpictures.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!!

Spencer's Enthusiasm

Saturday night we were getting ready to do tubbies. I had taken Spencer's shirt off in preperation for his bath, Matalyn was still getting out so he wasn't completely ready to get in. Within two minutes of me taking his shirt off, we heard a commotion in the bathroom. Apparently, Spencer had taken a head dive, right into the tub. Shorts and diaper still attached!! I have to admit, that he is the first one of four that has done this!

Compound Interest

I was reading in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity (Chapter 9) this morning and found a quote that I think is quite profound:

"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the
little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.
The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which,
a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed
of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a
ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an
attack otherwise impossible."

The Crofts Cousins

This past week we were able to get together with all my siblings. After one of our many get togethers, Mom (or Grandma in this case) had the idea of putting all of the grandchildren in red shirts that she had gotten ahead of time. Let's just say the we all enjoyed about ten minutes of hilarious and comic confusion as we tried to get seven little boys and one girl, all under the age of eight, to sit still long enough to take a picture. This may not be the greatest one taken, but it is the one that contains all eight bodies, and they are all somewhat looking at the camera!!

Spencer turns two

Spencer turned two years old on Tuesday the 22 of July. We had a birthday party for him in Sandy with both sides of the family being there. He sure had a great time, playing with cousins, opening presents, and especially with Elmo cupcakes!

Family Home Evening by an eight year old

Yesterday I returned home from a Scout meeting and had the idea that Joseph should do something for FHE to pass off something for Cub Scouts. I suggested to him that he prepare a short lesson on the food pyramid and teach us about it. Today I reminded him a couple of times and was surprised that I did not meet with much resistence. When the time came for FHE, he was prepared. Not knowing what he was going to say or do, and not having any help from Mat or I, I have to admit that I was curious. As he started, he pulled out this large poster of the food pyramid that he recieved in 2nd grade. He went through each section and asked each of us what is in the grain group, etc. After everyone knew and understood, he then got out paper plates that he had written one food group on each plate. He then passed around a can that he had pictures of various food items in, we each took two pictures. We then put our pictures of the food item on the correct plate. He had gone through an old stack of Reader's Digest magazines, and found pictures of food to use for his activity. Matalyn and Jacob really enjoyed it, I was surprised that he kept their attention. I have to admit that I was really impressed by the whole event. He presented the information, asked follow up questions and then ended it with an activity that we used the knowledge that we had just learned.

I Can Draw Dinosaurs

Hi. My name is Joseph Weaver and I like drawing dinosaurs. I Can Draw Dinosaurs is a book that tells about drawing dinosaurs. It is a fact book about dinosaurs and a drawing book about dinosaurs by Terry Longhurst. I like this book because it has easy to understand steps. If you had this book I think you would really like it.

Here is a poster that I made about this book:

The First Day of Spring -- Oh the Irony

Yesterday I had thought of starting to compose an entry that went something like this:

Despite having at least a foot of snow, if not more in places, and about 80% of our yard still covered in snow, it is starting to melt. Having spent last weekend down in Salt Lake and Cedar Hills where there is no snow, some of you might find this a bit difficult to imagine. Even the drive into Logan, most places have much less snow than we do. But that is usually the norm at this time of year. The kids played outside and had a great time. By the time they came in they all needed a change of pants, and socks, having soaked through everything. I even opened the windows for quite a while. It was wonderful. After having run the usual activities in the evening, I was coming home and saw the very first flower of the season in the flower bed! Spring really is coming!!

So back to the irony...we woke up this morning to about three inches of snow, and by the looks of the weather, the possibility of more to come today. I just had to laugh. I ventured out and took some pictures for those of you who may have already have forgotten what winter looks like. Please keep in mind the date, March 20th, when you look below. :)

View looking Northwest (normally you can see the mountains)

View looking directly West.

View looking directly East.

Last but not least, my first flower of the season, surrounded by the snow.
If you look closely, you can see several other buds.

Early Morning Wake-up

We came down to Sandy to visit Mat's Mom. As usual we had several interruptions during the night....children waking up to use the potty, crying of course, children crying because they are wandering around being very disoriented, etc. But the best interruption happened early this morning. Jacob came in the bedroom to ask where his backpack was. Waking up from a deep sleep, I was confused as to why he needed his backpack when it was still dark. He then went on to say something about how everyone (Joseph and Matalyn) was awake and upstairs. Worried that they had woken up Grandma, I quickly jumped out of bed and ran upstairs. When I got upstairs I noticed the time, to my amazement, the clock said 4:30 AM. Three of my children were up and going for the day! I quickly explained to them that it was NOT time to get up, not even close! I was also worried because they had gone to bed so late, close to 11 PM, and getting up that early in the morning was going to make an extremely long day. I told them that they needed to return to bed and to my surprise, not a single one of them complained or even made a sound after I helped them back to bed and tucked them in. Thankgoodness all were able to go back to sleep and all was quiet for several more hours.

When I grow up...

I want to be just like my Mom. Well, in one sense I have accomplished that task. For several years, my Mom worked for a company that made very high end baby products. She would sew quite a few of these products and has learned a lot. Here a while ago, the company she worked for went out of business and the owner gave her thousands of dollars worth of fabric. One of the things that she would make is a baby blanket called a swaddler. It has a strip of chenille around the outside and then the rest of it is made of a coordinating gingham flannel and a percale flower print. Well, I have finally learned to make these from some of the scraps that she has given me. I have to admit that these turned out so well, even my corners match perfectly, if I do say so myself...thanks for being such a wonderful teacher, Mom!

The pink one below is for Mat's sister Wendi, who is having her second girl.

The blue one came about as a last minute baby gift for someone in my ward. This one doesn't have the chenille around the edges, just flannel, but it will be perfect for summer.

Where's my best friend?

So I was doing the dishes and Joseph comes running in and asked "where is my best friend?" Thinking that I had misunderstood him I was sorting different ideas out in my mind...What's a best friend? Who is my best friend? Having none of that really make sense to me, I asked what he had said. His response was "where is my best friend?" Being that the only people in the house were immediate family his question confused me. He finally answered by replying "my football!" He had misplaced his football and was trying to find it. He got a nice leather football from Grandma Crofts at Christmas. Needless to say that he loves it. Every night we find him tucked in bed cuddled up with his football. After all, what more could an active eight year old boy like than a football?

The fun of having children

Does this contraption look familiar to anyone? If you know what it is, and have used it before on a child, then I have sympathy for you. In the past seven weeks, we have been to the doctor with Spencer a total of six times. If you take the time to do a quick bit of math, that almost averages out to almost once a week. Between the co-payments for the doctors office and antibiotics we have spent lately, we have spent a small fortune. So you may be wondering what is wrong with Spencer. Our first visit was on the Saturday after Christmas and we took both Jacob and Spencer into the doctor because of pink eye. Turned out that Spencer had ear infections in both ears, and continued to have them every time we went in. It was seriously looking like we were going to have to put tubes in his ears. Amazingly enough, or just enough serious prayers, we went back last week and were told that his ears are clear. (For the first time in almost two months.) I was shocked. I was finally coming to accept that we would have to have it done. The doctor then went on to tell us that the next time he gets sick he will probably end up with another ear infection and that is it. We will then be making an appointment with an ENT. So pray for no more ear infections for the little guy! Now returning to the picture. The second visit we paid the doctor was because of extreme wheezing. His oxygen level was borderline (not good). We were sent home with a nebulizer. We spent the next week giving Spencer treatments with albuterol. Lets just say that holding an eighteen month old for seven minutes is definitely not my idea of fun. It took both Mat and I to do the task. Doing it four times a day for several minutes was hard on all of us. This picture was taken about five days into his treatments, he started to pick up the top part and play with it, when it was not on. One night I was not home to assit Mat in the actvity before bedtime. Mat gave him this little pep talk about how he could do it, etc. He entertained him, played, sang songs and from then on it was amazing. After being on the nebulizer for about nine days, we finished it, returned it to the doctors office and all was well for a week or so. Then he started to wheeze again. So once again we took a trip back to the doctors office. This time he wrote us a prescription for one and told us to go purchase one. Chances are that his respitory problem will happen every time he gets sick this winter. So if anyone out there needs a nebulizer in the future, we have one! I truly hope you never will need it! Spencer does so well with it now, will sit and will even turn it on himself! It has also been a great time to just sit with him and play and sing songs.

Joseph's first Pinewood Derby

What boy doesn't dream of his first Pinewood Derby? Okay, I don't know about if the boys really understand the joy, but the fathers sure enjoy the event! Mat and Joseph spent several weekends sawing, sanding, and painting the car. The evening came and fun was had by boys big and small. There were a total of eleven boys that participated. Awards were given to all, Joseph received the "Most Futuristic" award.