2011 Year in Review
We had a great year this year.
The kids had a lot of fun, with tumbling, dance and school.
Mom and Dad had fun too with a trip to Jurassic Park (well, close enough).
Book Thomas Read:
- The Science of Advertising
- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.
- Poke the Box by Seth Godin
- The Alchemist
- Tell to Win
- The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice
- Blue Ocean Strategy (reread)
- All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin
- Free Prize Inside
- Verse by Verse The Four Gospels by D. Kelly Ogden, Andrew C. Skinner
- We are All Weird by Seth Godin
- Read this before your next Meeting
- The Book of Mormon
Media we Enjoyed:
- Jurassic Park (because we flew there…sort of)
- Food, Inc.
- Waking Sleeping Beauty (Documentary about the Disney Animation Renaissance)
- The Coat: A Story of Charity
- Wise Men Still Seek Him
- The Annoying Orange
- AngryBirds (all for the kids of course)
World Events:
- Widespread unrest in Arab and African nations overthrows governments in what is called the Arab Spring
- The war in Iraq finally comes to an end
- Osama bin Laden is killed
- Tsunami triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake devastates Japan and causes a meltdown situation at the Fukushima nuclear reactor
- Steve Jobs dies
Wheatley Reunion 2011
We had a fun Wheatley reunion up at the cabin.
The kids went on a nature hike in the morning with all the cousins.
The kids were told to keep an eye out for bugs and other things they might collect along the trail (there were fake bugs planted).
Megan got a little tired along the trail, but she hung in there. Fortunately, each child was given a little back to keep their goodies in which included a little apple juice.
One of the goodies the kids found along the way were small rocks that said Wheatley Family on them.
We also had a special guest visit.
Autumn was so brave and put her arm in the glove and held the prairie falcon.
Welcoming Samuel
Not quite sure what a baby must think; they’re taken out of the womb, and then wrapped up so tight in cloth and then placed in a car seat.
But he hasn’t asked to go back, so we’re grateful, and feel blessed to have Samuel in our lives.
The nursing staff went wild when they saw Autumn and Megan walk in the building with their “Big Sister” shirts on.
We were sitting at dinner, and we knew Samuel had a messy diaper. I asked, who’s going to change Samuel’s diaper.
There was a long pause, and Megan said with a big sigh, “I guess I’ll change Samuel’s diaper.”
And she did indeed help.
Just chillin’ in the monkey suit.
Read More
Zoorassic Park
We had a fun time visiting the Zoo. Not only did they have the regular animals…they had Dinosaurs.
Megan wasn’t so excited to see the dinosaurs.
“They’re not real,” we said.
“But they’re moving,” she said.
Good point. Especially when we encountered the dinosaurs that would spit on you (seen below).
Ah, a good day to “meat” a carnivore.
Peekaboo.
We saw the bird show there. The first time for the kids.
Oh yeah.
This fellow was loud!
If you’re not familiar with what this sign is from, I’m disappointed.
Read MoreAutumn Pulled Her own Tooth
Autumn had a really loose front tooth. She wiggled the tooth all the time, but she wanted to be the one to pull it out.
There was a little drama involved as we tried to get the tooth out…Autumn was eating dinner and started to cry.
The tooth was so loose that when biting into her food it pushed the edges of the tooth up into her gums giving her a sharp pain and bleeding a little.
We told her that the tooth needed to come out, but there was no luck that night.
The same thing happened to Autumn for breakfast, and we said that the tooth had to come out before lunch.
Autumn didn’t want anyone to pull it but herself.
She went upstairs and after quite a long wait, we heard some crying.
She had pulled out her tooth!
After she calmed down, she told us how she pulled it.
Autumn took one of the stretchy exercise bands we have and tied it to the closed bathroom door.
She then put the wash cloth around the stretchy band and put the wash cloth in her mouth.
The stretchy band was already stretched because she was far away enough from the door. She let go and the stretchy band pulled the washcloth witch had caught on one of the edges of the tooth, and out it came!
She did it all by herself, and came up with the idea to use the stretchy band on her own!
Read MoreMegan’s Dance Recital 2011
Megan had her Dance Recital. Her group danced the Cotton Candy dance.
We talked about smiling when she danced, and she did a great job.
A funny note, a while back before one of her practices, she told Angie that she could do the dance with her eyes closed.
Sure enough, during the practice, the teacher noticed Megan bumping in to her neighbor and she had to tell Megan to open her eyes.
We went out for ice cream afterwards. The girls loved that.
