Blogdom: General Conference edition.1

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I do when I receive a general conference edition of the Ensign magazine is review the submitted photographs. I’ve never attended Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City (and probably never will), so those pictures are the closest I will ever get to that experience.
Instead of shuttling out to Utah each April and October I, like most American Latter-day Saints, watch the sessions in the comforts of my own home. A Mormon experience that often gets overshadowed by the Conference Center, but is a part of our unique culture.
So, here’s a glimpse of what a conference weekend looks like in our Mormon household, in case you were wondering.
But first, please scan through the photos of last May’s Ensign here, so you can draw a comparison.

Breakfast Caramel Rolls (recipe coming soon, promise)

I got 36 books for $11.25 at the Millis Book Sale. Caleb's library is growing.

Ham and Swiss Rolls

Mike taking notes while watching the second Saturday session.

Waffle topping made from peach freezer jam.

Chicken Salad Binge of Happiness!

I would like to document our conference next April too, and would love for you to join in on the fun! Wouldn’t it be neat to have diverse Conference experiences displayed throughout all Blogdom? Probably the easiest way to invite someone into your home for Conference without the clean-up!

(Now all I need is for someone to remind me.
Would you be a dear? :) )

For more information about General Conference click here.

PS I've joined a new blog project for LDS moms. Check it out.

Key-cub Tah-sim

Dedicated to every parent of a child who doesn’t say their name.

Caleb's Jump-on-Phonics worked for us. :)


Caleb Update: almost 30 months

Weight: 30 lbs
Height: 36.25 inches
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite Primary Song: Book of Mormon Stories
Favorite Part of Family Home Evening: playing games like Red Rover, London Bridge, Stop Sign (our version of Red Light, Green Light), Duck, Duck, Goose!, make-shift fishing with magnets, and playing hiding stuff animals.
Favorite Foods: anything breakfast. Cereal. Waffles. Muffins. Yogurt. Fruit. And also enjoys soup and lots of it.
Current YouTube Playlist: a variety of The Wiggles songs, some Cookie Monster songs and the theme to Elmo’s World. STILL enjoys to sing, dance and listen to music.
Movie of the Month: Wall-E

Skills:

• Can identify most of the letters of the alphabet.
• Gets his colors right 9 out of 10 times.
• Enjoys counting. Counts to 10.
• Recognizes the following shapes: circle, square, triangle, oval, star, heart, and diamond and calls rectangles “door”s.
• Can often fill-in-the-blank for prayers. Knows common phrases like “Dear Heavenly Father” “Thank you for family” and “in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
• Potty-training.... still at it.

Chores:

• Loves to peer inside our mailbox and tell us if it is “Empty” or “Full” and carrying the contents to the house.
• Puts his dishes, utensils, and cups into the sink.
• Helps mommy empty-out the dishwasher.
• Helps mommy sort and put away the clean laundry, identifying whether the article of clothing is mommy’s, daddy’s, Caleb’s or socks.
• Makes his bed in the morning by tucking in Duckie and Ah-yah-yah.
• Still plays with the broom.
• Helps vacuum.

Playtime:

Spends most of his leisure time doing one of three things: constructing, racing, or pretending.

• If it is stackable, Caleb will use it to make structures. Tupperware, blocks, cubes of cheese, play dough, movies, books, anything really. I find towers erected throughout the house, and I swear they are snares.
  
• Our branch president has remarked on how he has yet to see Caleb without a car in his hand during Nursery. Caleb loves anything that goes, including his own size 9 feet. Most of our day is a course of races and I often wonder which lap we are on.
• Pretending, probably one of his most endearing activities. Besides the usual monkey, froggie, doggie, kitty act, he loves to “cook” for us and enjoys being a “daddy”. I often find him conversing with his stuff animals.

During the day he prefers me telling him a story than reading him one.
Current Bedtime Story: The Cat in the Hat

Personality:

Caleb’s disposition is his very own. Although parts of his temperament are similar to Mike’s or mine, it is only evidence of our qualifying to be his parents not the result of him being our son.
Caleb is very reserved until he feels at ease. He loves people. And is not one to be easily offended. Other children snatch toys away from him or invade his space and he shrugs it off most of the time. Once a child he considers his friend, probably best friend, did hit him and Caleb cried, mostly because it was a clash with his friend. “Gentle giant” is a title that comes to mind thinking about his interactions with others. He reminds us of a Sunbeam we taught a long time ago named Spencer.
His Y chromosome has been kickin-in this past month. He pretends to burp, is destructive and loves making messes out of just about anything.

Three words we’d use to describe Caleb:
Imaginative. Self-content. Response-driven.

Head Over Feet

Earlier this month our family had our semiannual

Family Home Evening: Conference Edition

as I like to call it, over dinner.

We teach what we can from this lesson before Caleb’s attention span calls it quits, then make a list of family concerns or questions that we will pray about up until Conference.
In the past we have generated a catalog of concerns and questions.

This year we had two questions and one, ahem, statement.

Mike had a question.
I had a question.

And Caleb kept placing his feet on the table and ecstatically exclaiming,

So in our family prayers for the past 15 days we have asked for guidance and insight concerning those queries and have been expressing gratitude for Caleb’s toes and his joyful disposition towards them. :)

Don’t you just love General Conference?
CSBH is just around the corner!
(and by the way, “You do not own ‘around the corner.’”)

How are you preparing for this G.C.?

What are you looking forward to in October?

Comment below.

PS I'm also so excited for the Millis book sale,
also on October 2nd...
but shhhhhhh, don't tell Marné!