And Uno was his Name-O

This week was anything but mundane for the Nutt House.  Each family member engaged in a variety of activities making this another Nutt-y fun filled week! 

The biggest announcement from the week is the addition to our family.  While Kaden was at his My Gym class Saturday Brent and Kara meandered over to a nearby pet store to peruse the dogs there for a pet adoption event.   Mind you, going into this we’ve talked before about getting a dog, but nothing concrete and nothing right now.  Well, Kara met the eyes of a brown eyed puppy and it was kismet.  After a picture was sent to me of Kara gazing at the puppy I could see the writing on the wall and knew the chance of the puppy coming home with us.  One condition I’ve always had about getting a dog was that Pixie had to be okay with the dog.  Well, the dog was brought to the house to gauge Pixie’s reaction.  Pixie did better with the dog than I thought she’d do.  There was some hissing even some growling on the part of Pixie while the puppy was oblivious.  Based on the lack of trying to injure the puppy the decision was made and a 4 month old Chihuahua mix puppy became the newest member of our family.  After much discussion the name of Uno was decided on for our newest family member.  We were not able to keep him last night as we had an event to go to, so in between conference session we jetted across the valley today and picked up our new puppy.  The kiddos, especially Kara, are 100% in love with the puppy that is full of energy, doesn’t really bark, and allows the kiddos to hold and carry him.   What a change for our household already!  Our Nutthouse became even more Nutt-y as our Nutthouse grew from a family of 5 (People plus pets) to a family of 6 (People plus pets)!!

Uno

Puppy love

Beyond the puppy, we’ve had many several other adventures this week.

Starting with Kaden…

This week, he had fun with another week of preschool learning the letter E.  He’s starting to get better at recognition, writing, and cutting and loves going to school. 

Pretty sharp cutting skills!

Kaden also graduated from one class at My Gym into a new one.  He loves his class, his teachers, and all of the activities that he gets to engage in while there.  My Gym has been so much fun for Kaden and it’s been great to watch him grow and develop while there.  As he graduated from his old class Saturday he was presented with a certificate and medal, I’ll be honest and say I cried while watching Kaden.  It’s bittersweet to watch my baby grown up, I’m so proud of my little man and all he is able to do!

Because every mom should see her child
encouraged to do this, right?

This too!  The trouble this may cause in
the future is limitless!

Balance walking

Zip line... weeeee!

All cool with his certificate, ribbon and medal

Mr. K Man with his teachers

On to Kara…

Kara had fun in preschool this week going to two different houses for school!  This meant two different teachers and two different sets of teaching styles.  On Tuesday, along with preschool Kara had fun swimming with her preschool friends and on Thursday she enjoyed having all of her friends over at our house for preschool and playtime. 

Preschool swim time!

J is for Jar & Painting with jars

Thursday evening Kara enjoyed an enchanted daddy-daughter date at Chick-Fil-A where along Brent they had dinner and were treated to a night with Cinderella and Prince Charming.  Of course, any encounter with Cinderella is not complete without a ride in her carriage and so that is what Kara and Brent enjoyed!  Kara loved cuddling on Brent’s lap and getting to be face to face with Cinderella while Prince Charming was right next to her.  She can hardly wait for her next daddy-daughter date.

Our beautiful princess

with her very own Prince Charming

and away they go!

Princess Kara with Cinderella and Prince Charming

Sticking with Brent…

He treasured some quality time with our two little Nutt’s while I was busy with some friends.  After a most delicious dinner of McDonalds Brent and the kiddos went to a trampoline jumping place where Kara and Kaden jumped to their hearts content while Brent looked on.  So many times it’s me that gets to see the kiddos enjoy a variety of activities, its good when Brent gets that opportunity.

 

Jumptastic fun!

Jump and jump and jump some more until there's no more energy left!

Two little Nutt’s and myself…

I felt bad that last week I hadn’t taken the little Nutt’s out for a fun adventure so I wanted to make this week’s escapade even more exciting.  To accomplish this, the two little Nutt’s and I headed out to Glendale for a chocolate factory tour.  Super yummy!  The chocolate factory, Cerreta’s, is a family owned and operated business with equipment dating back to the 50’s.  After watching white chocolate covered marshmallows being made and caramel loaded into a machine for chocolate covered caramels it was time for a couple of treats.  At the conclusion of the tour Kara and Kaden relished in the fact they got to make chocolate pizzas!  

 

So much candy!

Chocolate covered marshmallows

Fairly attentive tour participants

Of course the samples help

On his way to a sugar high

Heavy 10 lb chocolate bar

Chocolate Pizza making time!

A happy and delicate time for some

More is definitely better when it's Kaden
and chocolate

Working to put everything in just the right spot

Delicately adding her toppings

This face

And this one...

On to the Nutt-y family…

As a family this week we had oodles of fun together.  Earlier this week as a family we tried out a new restaurant, Angry Crab which enabled me to reconnect slightly to my old Louisiana days.  This bunch of Nutts was fairly adventurous as we dined on fried alligator, hush puppies, a shrimp boil, and fried catfish.  Surprisingly, Kaden devoured the alligator while Kara ate a good portion of the catfish.  While the food was good and the memories that came back were enjoyable, it was watching Brent’s eyes water up as the effects of the side of hot sauce he got for the shrimp boil packed a punch that I found to be the most fun.  Most hot items don’t effect Brent, so when one does, I find it enjoyable.

He wanted his picture taken with the Angry Crab

Lovin' the alligator

Active thumbs up for the catfish

Saturday found us busy as Kara and Kaden tried out a new location for swim lessons.  Even though we are in Arizona and it is much warmer here than most other locations, it is still fall and our acclimated bodies don’t enjoy the feel of the cooler (to us) weather as we step out of a swimming pool.  So, an indoor swimming location solves that dilemma easily enough for us.  Kara continues to love the water and it was good to watch her back in it.  Kaden, who doesn’t have as much practice in the water as Kara managed to have fun and find aspects of the class he enjoyed as well.  After swimming we did some family errand running, went to Kaden’s My Gym class (where Brent and Kara left to go find our new puppy) and then purchased some new and long overdue plants for our yard.  Hopefully this batch of plants will last this season and many, many more! 

Family plant planting fun

Saturday night we continued our exposure to different sports as we watched a scrimmage by the Phoenix Suns basketball team.  Brent had secured us great seats which helped to make the night more enjoyable.  Brent and I enjoyed the game the most, followed by Kaden and Kara… well, her comment was that it was boring just watching people.  It’d be more fun to watch tv… ugh!!!!  This idea that tv is more exciting than real life experiences just gets under my skin and is something I hope to be able to change as we expose the kiddos to different activities.  Perish the thought, but this sports loving Nutthouse may have a family member that is just not a sports fan.  Who knows… maybe her sport of choice just hasn’t been discovered yet…

AMAZing seats!

Two super thrilled little Nutts!

While all of this has been fun, the greatest treasure of this weekend has been the time we’ve been able to sit, watch, and/or listen to General Conference.  To hear our beloved Prophet, President Monson and other leaders of the church provide us with inspirational talks and guidance is feast for our spirits and souls.  This conference was unique in that three new apostles were called as since last conference three wonderful brethren had passed away.  Watching President Monson speak today, my heart swelled with pride, the cadence in his voice always brings such peace unto me, yet, the effects of his age showed greater today than I’ve seen before and part of me ached and worried more for him than usual.  I read a comment someone had mentioned regarding how Pres. Monson looked that I think described what I witnessed perfectly (and I’m paraphrasing) – though it was very visible that his physical body was giving out as he leaned onto the pulpit for support there was a fire, a glow in his eyes that burned brightly, speaking to the truth of the message and love that President Monson shared….  Oh, how true!!!  The themes that I heard repeated, meaning, they are what I feel I needed to hear from conference were: the importance and value of righteous women and mothers in the world, church, and homes; how the times we are living in are getting harder, but by keeping the commandments there is hope, we will be a light unto the word, and though we will be seen more and more as a peculiar people our Heavenly Father sees us when we are making the right choices and loves and blesses us for doing so; lastly, the message I heard repeatedly was to keep doing the basics – pray, read scriptures, keep the Sabbath day holy, love, treasure and value my family… which I do with all my heart.

Conference packets are such great helpers!

I am so blessed and I express my gratitude daily to Heavenly Father for the family he has blessed me with – my family, the family and heritage I come from and the family that I’ve married into.  Family is so pivotal to our Lord and in my own life and I would not trade any part of my Nutt-y family for anything in this world.