The Nuffer Nest

Jim hit a grand slam with my birthday this year!  He and the boys gave me a TEA PARTY!  It might sound silly, but it's exactly what I wanted and needed and I didn't even know it.  Jim had read on a friend's post (this friend has 3 little girls) that I desperately wished I could have a tea party!  I LOVE my boys and I am SUPER grateful I never have to deal with teenage daughters because I know me and I was awful!  But having boys means I don't get to do certain things.  There are no frilly dresses or bows, there are no Barbies or plastic heels with Disney Princesses on them, and I definitely don't get to have tea parties.  Not that my boys wouldn't have a tea party, I mean, let's be honest, Austin will always have a good time when food is involved!  And both my manly boys want dolls for Christmas:  Jackson wants the singing Elsa doll and Austin wants the talking Little Mermaid doll.  Side story:  We were in the store the other day an...

My little caboose turned 4 months this month!  I haven't taken the "official" 4 month pictures, but I he has lots of new happenings, so I couldn't wait to write about what Harrison is like at 4 months. He recently got a new toy that he loves.  This is the first "thing" that he has shown an attachment to.  I've mentioned that he LOVES the Daniel Tiger show, so I found a little DT plush at Target, so I picked it up for my littlest tiny.  I had just run into Target to grab some formula, so Jim and the boys stayed in the car, and when I came out Harrison was screaming (which he usually does if he's tired and the car isn't moving), but when I showed him the DT toy he immediately stopped crying and reached for it.  SO so so cute!  Here he is the day he found his new friend. There's a sweet little smile under there if you can't tell.  ;) Here he is again with DT on the floor. He seriously LOVES this little guy! Harrison ge...

I totally slacked on Memorial Day this year, but I really want the boys to know what regular people sacrifice so that they get the life they have and the freedoms they enjoy.  On Veterans Day I thought it would be nice to make some treats from some local veterans (and current military).  It also went right along with our FHE that week because we're learning about gratitude all month.  Jim and I both have veterans on both sides of our family, so we talked to the boys about family members that have served.  We also explained that people are serving right now!  And very recently our family friend and photographer joined the military family.  Her husband just left for basic training at the beginning of the month, so talking about our friend (Alicia) and her family made it more real and tangible to them. First, we made a favorite family treat- these turtle-type candies .  They're so easy that the boys basically made them all by themselves and they're DEL...

I really wanted to start studying scriptures in the morning with the boys, but I wasn't sure how.  We have always read scripture stories that were watered down with fun pictures at night to them, but I didn't want to do that in the mornings as well.  I also wanted to start reading straight from the scriptures so they become more familiar with the actual language and jargon of the King James version.  So I happened upon this app and it is wonderful!  It's called Verse By Verse- I know it's on the iPhone, I'm not sure about other phones though.   Anyway, it's wonderful!  It has one scripture daily straight from the scriptures and then it offers an explanation.  It's simple and quick, but it gets the boys thinking about the gospel and good choices in the morning before they start their day.  The boys really like reading scriptures in the morning, in fact, the first week they would hound me about morning scriptures until it was time.  It...

I've taken a few pictures recently that make me smile. The first picture is of the boys with pumpkins as babies and now- makes my heart melt. I love this picture! The second is a picture of Austin and Harrison.  This is how I found the boys after I got out from a shower a few days ago. Austin loves Harrison so much, but until the last week or so Harrison has been so afraid of him.  I think it's because Austin is a little loud and he likes to get right in Harrison's face and Harrison does not like Austin in his face.  But the last few days Harrison has become accustomed to Austin and often smiles and giggles when he sees him now.  This makes my mommy-heart happy because Austin was always so disappointed and sad when he made Harrison cry just by trying to love him. This last picture makes me laugh! Austin is such a snuggler and Jackson is NOT. This is such a good portrayal of Jackson being a good big brother and tolerating Austin snuggling w...

Austin is a little obsessed with the temple right now.  He knows where to find it when we're on the loop.  He always yells, "I can see the temple!  It's by the water tower!".  He knows the Angel Moroni is on top and he knows that the temple is Heavenly Father's house.  I thought he would like it if we had FHE on temple grounds and walked around the temple a time or two.  He LOVED it!  We had the temple FHE on Wednesday (Jim has class on Monday nights) and he has asked to go back to the temple every day since. We talked about what we do in the temple, who goes into the temple, when the boys can go to the temple for the first time, and the things we do to get and keep a temple recommend.  Austin's such a smarty pants!  I asked the boys what they think happens in the temple as we started FHE and Austin quickly answered, "We pway and talk about Jesus in the temple!" Now, that's one bright 3 year old.  Such a good, sweet boy! Here's ...

Jackson was the first Student of the Month in his class this year!  What a total 180 from last year.  He's so much more mature and responsible.  What a difference a little time, a fantastic school, and an intuitive teacher makes! He was so proud to show me his picture and his lanyard with 3 ribbons on it:  Student of the Month, Perfect Attendance, and A/B Honor Roll.  Here he is proudly standing underneath his award with his lanyard on- Here's a close-up of his picture. Such an improvement from last year! Way to go, Jackson! Austin desperately wants to go to preschool so he can do "homework" like Jackson.  I'm pretty sure he's going to be one of those kids that goes to school with lots of excitement for a few days, then he'll scream and cry because I'm "making" him go to school every day following.  That's what I'm anticipating, anyway. I came across this fun Halloween themed preschool pack on Pinterest that...

Last year we found out that Harrison was on his way on November 2nd, but a couple weeks leading up to the big surprise I was EXHAUSTED.  We didn't do as much for Halloween as we normally do because I was so tired, and the rest of the holidays were a blur because I was so sick from the pregnancy.  I feel terrible because the boys didn't do all the fun activities that I normally plan and do with them (though I don't think they noticed much difference).  Anyway, I have worked hard to make sure the boys have had LOTS of fun this Halloween. Last weekend, the weekend before Halloween, I had lots of fun activities planned around the city, but poor little Harrison got sick.  We had to take him to urgent care, so we didn't get out much.  However, I did plan some fun activities at home so the boys could still enjoy some festivities and Harrison could rest. Activity number 1:  Halloween sugar cookies! Thanks to grandma Viv for sending the boys some new cookie...