Enjoying the weather

About 2 weeks ago, the weather here in Provo was PERFECT. We decided to take advantage of it by eating our dinner outside. The twins had so much fun! I was also very pleased to see them eating their pasta salad. Although, like their father, they seem to be shying away from tomatoes. We'll have to work on that one.

Love in Bloom

I've decided to keep track of all the beautiful flowers JT gives to me! Since I just posted flowers recently, consider this entry #2 of the "Love in Bloom" series!

Hot Hubby Contest

Have you heard about The Dating Divas yet??? If not, then be sure to head over there right now! It's a site run by a group of women who work hard on their marriages by coming up with creative dates.  I've gotten a lot of good ideas from them before, like the sleepover camp-out date I had with JT!

Right now they're hosting a Hot Hubby Contest on their Facebook page. The prize is a family/couples photo shoot along with a professional stylist to do our hair!!!! Best prize ever!!!!

I've entered JT into the running as entry number #88. It's a picture of him sleeping in bed with the twins. I love it because it shows his love for me and them.  Their entire first year of life, JT chose to get up with them EVERY time they woke up EVERY night.  He honestly enjoyed spending time with them! He also loved knowing that even though he couldn't be there during the day to help me, he could show his support each night by letting me catch a few extra winks. I never once asked him to do it! This tough handsome man went from pulling all-nighters defending our country in Iraq to all-nighters with babies' spit-up on his shirt. My hubby is HOT!

The only way we can win is if enough people "Like" JT's photo.  Please head over the The Dating Divas Facebook page, "Like" it, and then "Like" the photo in their contest album.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

THANK YOU for all your support. I'm giddy to even have a chance at winning this amazing prize!

How will they know?

The title for this post comes from one of my all-time favorite Primary songs, "How Will They Know?"
The lyrics are as follow:

How will they know 

the ones for whom we care 

that God is love and with us everywhere, 

That life is good, with blessings all can share? 

How will they know 

unless we teach them so?

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I will teach my children the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I'm still new at this and not exactly sure how to start...but I have come up with some sort of a routine.

The best part? The impact is almost instantaneous.

So I'll go ahead and show you what I've got, and PLEASE feel free to interject with any advice you have!

8am: I pull the twins out of their cribs and we have a family prayer that also blesses breakfast. Then I change diapers, get them dressed, and feed them cheerios as they wait for their oatmeal to finish cooking.

11am: I sit down with them to read 3 children's books that are specifically religious. Then we read one scripture from the Book of Mormon and sing a primary song.  As soon as the song is over, the twins get put into their cribs for their late morning nap. 

1 pm: The twins wake up and are pulled out of their cribs. We play, read books, sing songs, etc. I make lunch and we bless it.

4:30pm: I read 3 stories out of our children's Bible and then read one verse out of the KJV Bible. We sing another primary song and then the twins get put in their cribs for their late afternoon nap.

6:30pm: The twins wake up in time to greet Daddy as he walks through the door. I have dinner done by that time and we bless it before eating. 

8:00pm: The twins are changed into their pajamas and we gather in the living room for a family devotional. My parents gave us a packet of pictures depicting stories from the scriptures. We use one picture a night to briefly explain the story to the twins. Then they each get a turn holding the picture. We say a family prayer and then they twins are put to bed.

Obviously I'm going to have to change the schedule once the twins start growing out of their nap schedule. I want to make it fun for them. They seem to be enjoying it right now, but I'd love for it to be more engaging and less formal. Any ideas?

Okay, so for the fun parts of my story!!!

This morning when I said the prayer, Porter sat on the floor, crossed his legs, and bowed his head! Delilah stood in place, folded her arms, and bowed her head!  I could barely contain my excitement!!!! They did such a good job being reverent.  I am so proud of them!

I do think that Delilah's a little confused though. When we were singing "I Am a Child of God" she folded her arms. It wasn't until Porter started waving his arm to conduct the music that she realized it was music time instead! Then she joined right in. 

I've definitely got my work cut out for me with these two. Oh, and did I mention I'm considering early potty training? Heaven help me!

Flowers

Look at the pretty flowers JT brought me home last night!!!

He also brought me my favorite cookies (snickerdoodles). But they disappeared...