Christmas Wish Lists

To be updated as new info is received....

Brad: 

brad; rolling carry-on suitcase, http://www.priesthoodline.com, tommy bahama shirts, desk, flat screen plasma TV (HD)
movie tickets, weight lifting gloves, Old Navy white dress shirt, Thomas Kinkade painting of Salt Lake City

white dress shirt 17"neck, 34/35 sleeves
dark socks
cool ties
Tshirts for gym (the kind that wick away moisture)

Valerie:

Em and fam:

Jorge Luis:
a temple bag
church clothes
sweaters

Emily:
Janeen Brady CD "Songs for a Mormon child" (Deseret Book)
Gospel Art Kit
rice cooker
swiffer
clothes from Down East Basics
new coat
apron

for JL and Em:
new sheets for our bed
renewel of Costco membership

Maddie:
bare book -blank cover (sonsanddaughtersinc.com) or (rompbklyn.com)
anything princess
Tinkerbell movie
Wall-E movie
bike
tea set
sacrament time activities book (from ldsgrand.com)
digital camera

Daniel and Ryan:
anything Cars
anything Dora/Diego
books
puzzles
bike

family:
renewal of zoo membership

Adam and fam:

ADAM - http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/GG0D1LEQ4RK/ref=cm_wl_sortbar_v_page_2?ie=UTF8&page=2 (see link for amazon wishlist), Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Wii, tripod, good negative scanner, wallet size pics of kids, nice jeans (35x32), Airport extreme (a Mac thing) running shoes (size 11)

MARIE - shirts that could go casual w/ jeans or formal/church (S/M), pants (6/8), shoes (8.5-9 need casual shoes and just can't decide what to get), running shoes (put a lot of miles on mine this year), metronome, electronic violin tuner, violin dust cloth (so I can stop using my small portion of an old 101 Dalmations towel to get the rosin off the strings), Crockpot (gotta wean myself off the back-up kitchen), pizza cutter

SPENCER - doctor kit, Thomas the tank engine movie, legos (knights - like Uncle Joel) Thomas train, crazy hair for Halloween, race track with cars that you shake, gum Diego stuff (He is also asking for everything he sees in a TV commercial..."Mommy, quick...I want that for Christmas. Disclaimer: he may not remember that he asked for any of these things, so go with your best judgment. He'll love anything). Clothing size: 4T

EMMA - baby doll stroller, babies, kitchen/toy food items (such a girl!), hair stuff, clothing size: 2T

Peter and fam:

Harrison
Loves anything that has to do with balls, cars, trucks, planes, and trains. He's all boy, and would be thrilled to have anything that has anything to do with any of those items.
Shelcore Shake 'N Bobble Hazard Highway. He would love it, not to mention the track is wide enough that his other cars can fit on it too. 
He would also like...
some big fat building blocks
Any Leap Frog toys
Tonka cars (they make little and big ones - he would love either)
BOOKS. Cannot stress how much he loves any and all books. Board books with pages that can't rip are best! (both Mommy and Daddy are REALLY tired of reading the books we have now... this would be a good one!!)
He is wearing size 18 month clothes.
Puzzles, shape sorters, or anything that has to do with putting things in the right place. He's all about that kind of stuff.
DISNEY MOVIES! We hardly have any, and he's just getting old enough that he'll watch them.

Peter

Watch (would like a really nice self winding one, but needs a cool casual one too)
Brown belt
Suit (grey or green or dark blue pinstripe)
Play station 3 (with NCAA football)
BYU polo
BYU hat
Tennis racket
Gym membership
Season football tickets
Casual shoes
Work shirts
Slacks for work
Jeans
BYU golf head covers
GPS
Shaver
Digital picture frame
Scarf
Swimming suit
Golf shoes

Leslie

Rectangular crafting table (like a folding table)
Earrings
Cute necklaces
Winter coat
External hard drive
Cricut EXPRESSION machine
VACUUM (for reals)
Any TiVo or DVR that will record the shows we watch
Casual shoes
Jeans
Willow Tree figurine: “Our Gift” or “Angel of Mine”
More pieces to my nativity set (Peter can tell you what I'm missing)
Dishes
Bedding
Gift certificate to JoAnne’s
Firewire cable (or whatever you need to attach the video camera to the computer)

Kate:

-iTunes card
-money
-clothes
-movies: anastasia, aladdin, sandlot, elf, finding nemo, that thing you do, vantage point, 3 amigos, across the universe, the prestige, oceans 11, national treasure, a beautiful mind, father of the bride 1,2...sleepless in seattle, mulan, runaway bride
-ticket to scotland
-memory card (2 G would be awesome....)
-CS4
-backup hard drive

shoes i love:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-MINNETONKA-MOCCASINS-BOOTS-8-1-2-BLACK_W0QQitemZ290277708020QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Women_s_Shoes?hash=item290277708020&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A15|39%3A1|240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.com/MINNETONKA-MOCCASIN-SHOE-ANKLE-BOOT-SUEDE-SZ-8-5-BROWN_W0QQitemZ130270251245QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Women_s_Shoes?hash=item130270251245&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A15|39%3A1|240%3A1318

i like the styles, i want some flat boots to wear to school in black or brown (or both :)) i like the ankle height, slouchyness and/or fringe. be creative ;)
i really would love to have a recipe holder/book/anything. right now i have a pile on my desk of recipes that i've printed out or copied

Laura

Winter Sunday dress

clothes: shirts old navy, gap

shoes and kind

bags

itunes card

nano holder for exercise (armband for third generation nano)

earrings (little)

earphones for iPod

Creating a safe home

(I saved this article from LDS Living Jan/Feb 03. I realized while I was reading it that I wasn't reared this way, nor did I rear my children this way, but the principles taught in the article ring very true to my heart. I must apologize to my children for all the cross looks and words that I gave to them, and hope that they can learn a better way. I love you guys to pieces!)

Learning to rise above the temptation to show our disapproval leads to higher ground.

by Dr. Glenn I. Latham

Everyone wants to be safe. When floodwaters rise, people seek higher ground. When gunshots ring out, people run for cover. And when parents are harsh and abrasive, children desperately try to remain out of sight.

A safe home is the sweetest place of all.

There's no higher ground above life's raging flood of problems, no cover more secure from society's inevitable assaults than a safe home  provides.  A safe home is where your children and grandchildren want to be.

Unhappily, many homes are unsafe. While parents may think they're providing their children safety and security from an uncertain world, they may be unwittingly creating a home environment that isn't safe for the very children they are trying to protect.

Frowns and scowls are sure tip-offs to an unsafe home. A parent's face etched with displeasure is an early warning sign. An angry expression allows a mother or father to convey displeasure and unhappiness without saying  a word. Such unspoken communication is devastating to a child.

In my doctor's office waiting room, I was recently amused by a small boy's efforts to entertain his little brother while their mother spoke with the receptionist. He was wheeling the toddler's stroller back and forth, making him squeal with delight. It was a precious scene. Suddenly the mother snapped, "Stop that right now! Stand here! Settle down!"  How much better it would have been if that mother had tenderly smiled and softly said, "I"m glad you're trying to make your brother happy, but we must be careful here. Please stand over here by me: we'll be going soon."

Parents persist in harsh, contentious behavior because they mistakenly believe it to be an efficient way to keep children in line. In  the long run, this never works - it only makes matters worse. The more parents frown and scowl, the more their children are likely to misbehave.

Try this experiment in the coming week. Whenever your children behave well, reward them with a smile. Give them a wink. Blow them a kiss. Give them a high-five, or simply pass along a gentle touch or tender word of appreciation. 

When they do annoying, but harmless things that don't hurt anyone or damage anything, simply look away and say nothing. When they begin behaving once again, acknowledge this with a warm look or smile.

In unsafe homes, parents are heavily inclined to communicate disapproval. Safe home parents take a moment- just a second or two- to convey approval an average of 30 times an hour. Think about it. It takes no more than a minute and a half to have 30 positve, pleasant "safe home" interactions with your children in just a single hour. 

Try it! Beware of the message - both silent and spoken - you send your children. Practice positive communication. The rewards are great, and you  have absolutely nothing to lose- but an unsafe home.

Let the Chocolate Days begin...

I can't let last weekend fade away into history without documenting it. We (Brad, Valerie, Laura, Emily, Maddie, Daniel, Ryan, Adam, Marie, Spencer, and Emma) all descended on the Coxes for "Chocolate Day". Can you believe our chutzpah?!!! They have a beautiful home in rural northern Pennsylvania, and I can pretty much say that their home was made just for Chocolate Day.  The kitchen is large; big enough to hold an massive granite island at which four people can work with room to spare.  We left VA on Saturday, 1 November, at about noon. We arrived at their home at about 4:30, and started to work. Maddie and Brad made a gazillion hershey kiss mice, while Laura and I whipped up truffle centers, almond joys, and orange/raspberry jellies. Adam, Marie and family arrived later in the evening. Sunday we went to church with them, then came home to a Thanksgiving dinner. They spoil us!! After that came some fun Halloween pix out in the yard, then a bonfire and s'mores (did you know you can make s'mores with chocolate-covered graham crackers? It was yummy!). Once the fire started dying down, we came in and played with the wii fit for a while. Laura blew us out of the water with her bowling skills.  

Monday was back to chocolates....for some of us. Brad, Darwin, and whoever else was so inclined headed outdoors to play and play and play: in the leaves (they made a leaf maze, and piled up leaves to jump in), they went for  walks with

 all the kids piled in the wagon, they jumped on the trampoline. No wonder that when Emily left in the afternoon, and arrived back in NYC, Daniel threw a fit. "NO 

HOME! NO HOME!! Baby! Grandpa! Baby! Grandpa!!" (

Daniel and Ryan love baby Emma)

Happy Novemberyan!

Ryan the contented skunk
Originally uploaded by ValerieBW

It's the month of Ryan! I love his smile; it lights up the room. He loves Lightning McQueen, trains, his mom, and Lightning McQueen. He also loves jumping in autumn leaves, jumping on the trampoline, jumping on the bed, jumping on the floor. And he can do somersaults! Real heels-over-head somersaults. Did I mention that he loves Lightning McQueen?