the things we learn

As a parent you can learn so many things from your children. The latest for me was a new way to study my scriptures, especially the Old Testament. You see, I always studied my scriptures by reading them (so unoriginal). It wasn't until this morning when I saw Kumquat with the scriptures that I realized I was doing it all wrong. What was I doing reading the scriptures when I could have been tearing them to shreds and listening to the noise the pages made?



The first time Kumquat studied the scriptures like this, he ripped out a section from Doctrine and Covenants where the only scripture highlighted was this:

"But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ."

So that's how our holy little Christian studies his scriptures. Unfortunately for me the only lesson learned was to keep scriptures away from curious kumquats.

The secret of PERC

No one ever told me. I lived in ignorance. Until one day (today) my mother-in-law took me down to the basement of the Orem Library to find the room of toys and books that most children and their parents could only hope for.

It's great for nursery and primary lessons (they have all the scripture flannel board thingies) or for you kids, or ESL class. I'm frugal nuthead when it comes to myself, but I do find it hard when I've got one adorable little boy to not spend all our money (Stephen would insert here "What money?") on our Kumquat. That is why I think the PERC is great, you can go and check out the toys and movies and not have to spend the money. They have everything from signing time DVDs to multiplication games.

Feel free to check out the library with all its perks including PERC at http://lib.orem.org/.

the brothers

Another one of Carl and Susan's wedding pictures:

 

Population videos

 

ohhwee

I think one of my fondest joys are great people marrying (and staying married) to other great people, the joy is only intensified when it's family.
Carl (Stephen's oldest brother) has married this wonderful girl Susan:


http://www.jaymoorephotography.com/


www.matthews-photography.com

and we were all too eager to see Christian have an excuse to dress up:

Becca's photos:

Once upon a time

Once there was a prince, oh but not of the usual kind.
He used toothbrushes as sceptres and yogurt as a crown. His robe was his pj's unzipped dragging behind him on the ground. He devoured books, quite literally especially scriptures. He loved phones not to talk but to press buttons. He required no lessons at dancing, it came quite naturally. He challenged other princes and princesses (and sometimes kings and queens) to battle, eye poking was his favorite move. He commanded constant holding at his proper elevated position with no feet touching the ground. His commands consist of "doy doy doy" and "weuoivhkjweih". And of course every now and then, he have a royal fit. He was a prince indeed.

The prince at his daily task of removing all the books from the bookshelf:

Life without play

This article brings up some interesting points. I suppose because as a kid much of my time was spent playing in the undeveloped land next to us aka "the end of the land" and at home with older brothers as alligators and sisters as storytellers, that the idea of children without plenty of recess and playtime seems to rank high on indicators that I should relocate to the desert and live off locust for a while. (well, I'm already in the desert, all I need now are some chirpy friends). Anyway, here's to play and childhood.

Cranney 2010 letter

For our blogging friends and family we give a Cranney update:

Stephen is applying to graduate schools again this year. The difference from last year is that he has a clearer idea of what he wants to study and hopefully his letter of intent shows this. He's had a few publications in peer reviewed journals and seems to come home with a seemingly endless stack of books he's dying to read. I'm enjoying the commune and am trying to get back to my old pleasures of painting, flute, and listening to books on CD. Stephen got me a yoga mat for Christmas so I no longer need to land on our hard floor when I fail to keep up with the unbelievably flexible yoga people on hulu. I'm finally making some progress on my thesis after an extended vacation and hope to defend in Spring term. Kumquat loves being my favorite distraction to my thesis and we simply can't get enough of his dancing, singing, and leading music. He's getting better with his beat and we think we might have an interpretive dancer on our hands. We can no longer brush our teeth in his Majesty's presence as he throws a fit if he is not holding at least one toothbrush as his sceptre. Pens and phones come as a quick second favorite. The only thing he likes more than any of these is his uncle's iPhone. Christian was finally completely weaned just before Christmas and the process was pretty smooth as he already took a bottle pretty well. We haven't used cloth diapers since he was 6 months, but who knows, perhaps if we ever move to a place with our own washer and dryer we might take it up again. He's in the 25th percentile for height and weight. I know, I know, what a lightweight, but we're doing all we can to make him the fattest baby you've ever seen including frequent feedings of cheese and even a little eggnog during the holidays.
Have a wonderful New Year!!

Rachel, Stephen, and Kumquat