Menu Close

Author: Mindy Zeigler

A Day of Firsts

20080821-Img01-E5y6m,P2y11m-1stdayofschool 20080821-Img05-E5y6m,P2y11m-1stdayofschool 

Ella’s first day of kindergarten.
I can’t believe she’s old enough for school!  It’s exciting to see her grow and start new things but it’s also a little sad because it’s going by so fast.  When Ella got on the school bus this morning Preston started crying because he didn’t want her to go.  It was very cute.  She had a great day.  Some of her highlights of the day included: sitting by our neighbor on the school bus and playing with her at recess, eating mini corndogs for lunch, going to different stations in her classroom and completing activities, and slipping and sliding in gym class.

Preston’s first black eye.
I can’t believe this is Preston’s first real injury with as rough and clumsy as he is.  If there’s a wall nearby-he walks into it.  If there’s a counter ledge that sticks out-he bumps his head on it.  If he runs-he falls.  You get the picture.  Today he fell at grandma’s house and got his first black eye.  I saw him a few hours after he fell and he acted like it was no big deal.

Thirty

20080722-Img07-E5y5mP2y10m-mindy30ybday

This is what thirty looks like!

Phil brought home dinner and a cake for my birthday.  He insisted on putting all thirty candles on the cake!

Here’s a list of thirty things I love:

My family
My home (especially when it’s clean)
Spending time with Phil
My education
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Snow days when you can’t leave your house
Organizing
Being creative
When my kids tell me thank you
My craft area
My laptop
When I try a new recipe and it tastes really good
Backrubs
Being barefoot
Reading
Laying by the pool on very hot days
Being able to stay home with my kids six days a week
Being able to get out and work one day a week
When I have an empty calendar and am able to stay home all week
When all the kids are in bed for the night
When the kids sleep in until 7:00am (very rare but nice)
Cooking
Vegetables
Wearing comfy clothes
Daisies
Listening to books on tape or the Ensign on my mp3 player
My minivan
My backyard
Eating Sunday dinner at my parent’s house
My life!

I Want S’MORE Fun Family Time!

20080707-Img56cni-E5y4mP2y9mB4m-bradvisit

Over The Fourth of July weekend my brother and his family came to visit.  We always have a great time seeing him, his wife Bekah, and two adorable sons Nick and Chase.  Sunday evening when they were here, my whole family came over to our house.  My parents and two sisters were also there.  Phil’s Dad Craig showed up as well.  We built a fire and had our own “fireside.”  We sang a hymn and then all drew questions from our family journal jar.  Last year I created a family journal jar with tons of questions inside.  The questions cover a wide array of topics such as childhood memories, goals, and favorite things.

Whenever we get together as a family, we answer questions from the journal jar.  It has been a lot of fun learning about each other and sharing so much.  We have enjoyed learning about my dad’s favorite childhood toy, my mom’s biggest bargain, Phil’s most frustrating experience with his car (which happened to be when he purposely got his car stuck in my parents driveway during a snow storm when we were dating and he had to spend the night—he totally embellished the story!), my thoughts on what I believe the key to a successful marriage is, my Brother Brad’s future goals, my sister in law Bekah’s most important friends, My sister Mallory’s views on each family member, and my sister Miranda’s weirdest dream.

After our “fireside” we roasted hot dogs, marshmallows, and made s’mores.  We had a great time and I am so thankful for my wonderful family.

Make a Wish…

20080600-Img16-E5y4mP2y9mB3m-misc

I let Ella and Preston have the wishbone from the chicken I cooked.  We had fun as they each made a wish and pulled for dear life.  Preston won and Ella threw a fit because, “Preston always gets what he wants!”  Ahhhh the fun only lasted a moment but I’ll take what I can get.

I wish for some peace and quiet.
I wish for an uninterrupted nights sleep.
I wish for a ten pound weight loss without dieting.
I wish for all my laundry to be washed, folded, and put away.

Family Home Evening Swaps

fhe

One of my favorite time savers are fully prepared Family Home Evening kits.  I have participated in several swaps where everyone prepares multiple copies of the same Family Home Evening and then we exchange them.  We go home with several different fully prepared Family Home Evenings.  The kits we exchange are complete lessons with visual aids, stories, games and activities.  They are great because when Monday rolls around, all I have to do is grab a kit and read over it quickly.  The above photo is a Family Home Evening I received in the last swap I participated in.  It’s nice because I have so many great lessons now.  It’s a lot easier to come up with one creative lesson and swap with others, than to come up with several on my own.  Since I have started swapping kits we have had Family Home Evening almost every Monday night.  Because the lessons are so creative my kids love them.  I have hosted several swaps as Relief Society activities.  I’ve also joined a few online swaps where we have mailed them.

Here is a copy of my swap rules and a sample lesson that you can download:

FHE-Group

FHE Prayer MbM

Anniversary, Kids, and Golf

20080600-Img04-E5y4mP2y9mB3m-misc

Phil and I celebrated our 8th anniversary this year.  With three kids including a nursing baby, busy grandparents, and my two sisters going to college, it’s getting hard to find a babysitter!  So, for our anniversary we took the kids with us to dinner.  We went to Snow Hill Country Club and had a great meal.  The kids were actually very well behaved!  After we ate, we went out and let the kids practice on the putting green and the driving range.  They both love playing golf.  It is a wonderful thing to see my husband share such a passion of his with our children.  So, even though we had the kids with us on our anniversary, it was a great time.

What I am Grateful For Today…

20080600-Img11-E5y4mP2y9mB3m-misc

-Ella picking me wild flowers from the side of the road today (and not from our neighbors flower beds this time!)
-My wonderful husband Phil who works hard to support our family
-Preston telling me “Not today mommy,” when I asked him to take a nap (I would much rather him take a nap but it was so cute!)
-Brennen’s laughter when I kiss his neck
-The beautiful summer weather
-My clean house
The gospel of Jesus Christ
-My mom and sisters who baby sit for me whenever I need it
-Spending time tonight with the women at church learning to bake bread at a Home, Family, and Personal Enrichment Meeting
-My love of organizing, cooking, and photography
-Being able to take my kids to the library and their love for books

Landscaping

20080608 petunias

When we moved into our house almost five years ago there were flowers planted everywhere.  By the next year, (under our care) weeds were everywhere!  Last year we had all the flowers and bushes and weeds taken out and we started over with clean flower beds.  We replaced all the perennial flowers with small bushes and annuals.  This year the upkeep was much easier.  Phil spent all day Friday in the ninety degree weather mulching our landscaping.  He also planted petunias in our front flower bed.  He finally came in after dark with the job unfinished.  I got up the next morning (while he was golfing!) and finished up.  It looks nice.  I love the look of freshly mulched landscaping (void of any weeds).

Bloopers!

20080523 bloopers

I have really enjoyed learning more about photography.  I enjoy showing off photos I’ve taken of my children.  It started with Ella.  I would spend hours sticking her in buckets, baskets, and bows to take her picture.  What an enjoyment.  Then we added Preston.  I found out that taking pictures of two children was a little more difficult, but I always got at least one perfect photo at the end of each session.  Now, we’ve added Brennen and I’ve discovered that taking pictures of three is impossible!  Phil helped me get them all dressed and into my studio space and away we went.  Brennen cried, Preston threw a fit, Ella made faces.  At the end of this session all I had was what looked like a blooper roll!  Taking photos of my children isn’t quite as enjoyable as it used to be, but I still love it!

A Boy and His Cars

20080517-Img06-P2y8m-cars

Preston is all boy!  He loves to play with his toy cars.  He takes them everywhere with him-to dinner, bed, church etc.  He will sit and play with them all day long.  He names them and knows when one of his many cars is missing.  Although I am constantly stepping on cars and picking them up several times a day, I am grateful for the happiness they bring him!