in lieu of me writing an actual post, here's some texts I sent this week:
Me to Husband: hey I remember EXACTLY why we bought this house. I said "we have to buy a house big enough that we will never move again." Moving sucks.
Me to Husband: The girls just woke up and are upset you're not here. I told them you had to go to work already but they're very worried you didn't eat breakfast.
Me to Husband: Did you watch The Prince of Egypt with the girls? They are pretending to be Moses and Ramses.
Me to Husband: hey remember how I packed all the crystal and china so carefully and neatly and stacked the boxes in the dining room? Lovely has claimed it as her fort and won't stop climbing the boxes.
Me to Husband: I just tried to superglue a toy and the tube exploded all over my hands. not pleasant.
Husband to me: *picture of Lovely after she climbed in his suitcase, apparently ready to accompany him on a business trip*
Me to my mom: Hey remember my crazy smart, creative children? The oldest is using a fleece blanket, ribbon and candy cane to make a kite.
Me to my mom: The kite didn't work out so well. So now she tied the ribbon to a chair and is pretending to be a reindeer pulling the sleigh.
Me to my mom: Spent most the day packing. Realized we were hungry so I cleaned up the kitchen washed up, surveyed the fridge and promptly ordered a pizza. best mom ever. oh and Lovely is on her second piece already.
Me to Husband: I asked the girls what they want for Christmas. The first told me she wants "pierced earrings and a gun. a pink one." the second said "make up, lipstick and a soft monkey. but not a doll monkey. a real monkey that talks." and the baby sneezed on me.
Friday, December 14, 2012
quote of the day
Husband sent me this as a text the other night and it was too good to risk forgetting. So into the blog it goes...
Butterfly: Don't eat the Pilgrims.
Daddy: What Pilgrims?
Butterfly: The Pilgrims inside the popcorn. They're hard for the Indians to eat.
Daddy: There's Pilgrims inside the popcorn?
Butterfly: Some of them, but not all of them.
Ladybug: I ate some Pilgrims. They're in my tummy making my voice louder.
Butterfly: Your voice comes from your throat, not your tummy!
Lovely: *jabber jabber jabber* *throws popcorn across the room*
Butterfly: Don't eat the Pilgrims.
Daddy: What Pilgrims?
Butterfly: The Pilgrims inside the popcorn. They're hard for the Indians to eat.
Daddy: There's Pilgrims inside the popcorn?
Butterfly: Some of them, but not all of them.
Ladybug: I ate some Pilgrims. They're in my tummy making my voice louder.
Butterfly: Your voice comes from your throat, not your tummy!
Lovely: *jabber jabber jabber* *throws popcorn across the room*
sorry
I've been packing. It's not interesting.
and the children are not helpful. Particularly Ladybug who has a long time favorite activity of putting things in and then taking them out. For example, toys in a bag, puzzle pieces from the basket, clothes from her drawer, oh, and EVERYTHING I'M TRYING TO PACK.
The big girls are rather excited and seem to like the idea of moving into a new house. They're not helpful but at least they don't seem anxious or bothered as their world slowly changes.
So in the meantime, I've let them watch more tv than usual (so I can be free to pack) and they've spent countless hours playing in their cardboard castle.
Other things of late: school, dance, Lovely got sick and a few pre-Christmas activities that deserve their own post.
and the children are not helpful. Particularly Ladybug who has a long time favorite activity of putting things in and then taking them out. For example, toys in a bag, puzzle pieces from the basket, clothes from her drawer, oh, and EVERYTHING I'M TRYING TO PACK.
The big girls are rather excited and seem to like the idea of moving into a new house. They're not helpful but at least they don't seem anxious or bothered as their world slowly changes.
So in the meantime, I've let them watch more tv than usual (so I can be free to pack) and they've spent countless hours playing in their cardboard castle.
Other things of late: school, dance, Lovely got sick and a few pre-Christmas activities that deserve their own post.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
quote of the day
Daddy was growing a beard recently (I agreed to waive our deal for a few weeks. Normally we've agreed he remains clean shaven and I keep the long hair.) and finally shaven it all off. So tonight Ladybug said: "hey you got rid of the pokies! now I can kiss you with no pokies!" (as she pet his face).
Saturday, December 1, 2012
"bal-la-lay"
(which is how Ladybug pronounces "ballet")
Today was ballet day and it was wonderful! The girls had a dress rehearsal yesterday so we got to dress up in costumes, including hair and a touch of make up before reporting to the auditorium. Since there are so many classes performing, they were divided into two performances. (The first half of the show is the younger classes. After intermission, the older classes perform the Nutcracker.) Ladybug was scheduled in the matinee and Butterfly was scheduled in the evening. But for the dress rehearsal, they practiced out of order, scheduling the youngest classes first so they could go home as soon as they were done. So we arrived and joined the general noise as the girls got their shoes on and found their teachers. Then I got to stand at the front of the stage and video record each of them as they rehearsed their dances.
Ladybug danced to "Suzy Snowflake", wearing a white leotard and tutu with silver embellishments. It was delicate and traditional and sweet. She was charming and sweet and managed about half the dance, mostly watching the girl next to her.
Butterfly danced to "Snowflake Serenade", the beautiful music was well matched with sweet choreography and my little girl was so graceful and sincere and sweet that it really was very moving. She performed so well, knowing all the right steps and even performed with near perfect timing. I can't believe how good she is and how much she obviously loves it. Her costume is white and blueish teal with a full tutu and a tulle ruffle around the neck and a belt with a sparkly buckle embellishment.
Today was a busy day. Lovely had a rough night so this morning felt slow and sluggish and we had breakfast and readied for the day. My brother and his family arrived to play and we all went to the gingerbread festival. We wandered around to look at the different displays and admired the creativity and effort. The kids each got to decorate (and promptly devour) their own gingerbread cookie and then we had a quick lunch.
I took Ladybug home to get ready for her ballet performance while Daddy kept Butterfly and Lovely. They led my brother and his family into the mountains to cut a Christmas tree. Sound like they had a lot of fun, got a great tree and got very wet playing in the snow. Meanwhile, Ladybug and I went home. Grammy had come up the night before to help us start packing and attend recitals so she helped us get ready and we went over to the auditorium. We were joined there by grandma (Daddy and Grandpa came to the dress rehearsal so they could see both girls perform. Then Daddy could keep Lovely during the actual performances.) We managed to get great seats and watched my sweet little snowflake. Afterwards, we met her in the hall, gave her a rose (she admired it for a moment but it was forgotten rather quickly) and took some pictures. We went home for some cuddling, hot chocolate with our cousins and naptime.
During naptime, Husband and I did more house hunting. We are slowly inching closer to a decision. In the meantime, we've officially began packing and plan to move in two weeks.
Soon I helped Butterfly get ready for her performance. She coached me on doing her hair as instructed by her teacher ("a slick back bun with lots and lots of gel and lots and lots of spray hair", which I think meant "hair spray"). She delighted over getting to wear a little makeup and soon she was settled in with her class and Grammy, Grandma and I were settled into our seats. She performed in the first number of the evening show, as sweet and as graceful as ever. At intermission, I found her, gave her a rose, took pictures and then took her back to our seats so we could stay and watch the Nutcracker. She sat on my lap, enthralled by it all. She talked almost nonstop, whispering about the dancing, costumes and music. She was so excited and seemed to really love it.
Our first ballet performance, what a wonderful day.
Today was ballet day and it was wonderful! The girls had a dress rehearsal yesterday so we got to dress up in costumes, including hair and a touch of make up before reporting to the auditorium. Since there are so many classes performing, they were divided into two performances. (The first half of the show is the younger classes. After intermission, the older classes perform the Nutcracker.) Ladybug was scheduled in the matinee and Butterfly was scheduled in the evening. But for the dress rehearsal, they practiced out of order, scheduling the youngest classes first so they could go home as soon as they were done. So we arrived and joined the general noise as the girls got their shoes on and found their teachers. Then I got to stand at the front of the stage and video record each of them as they rehearsed their dances.
Ladybug danced to "Suzy Snowflake", wearing a white leotard and tutu with silver embellishments. It was delicate and traditional and sweet. She was charming and sweet and managed about half the dance, mostly watching the girl next to her.
Butterfly danced to "Snowflake Serenade", the beautiful music was well matched with sweet choreography and my little girl was so graceful and sincere and sweet that it really was very moving. She performed so well, knowing all the right steps and even performed with near perfect timing. I can't believe how good she is and how much she obviously loves it. Her costume is white and blueish teal with a full tutu and a tulle ruffle around the neck and a belt with a sparkly buckle embellishment.
Today was a busy day. Lovely had a rough night so this morning felt slow and sluggish and we had breakfast and readied for the day. My brother and his family arrived to play and we all went to the gingerbread festival. We wandered around to look at the different displays and admired the creativity and effort. The kids each got to decorate (and promptly devour) their own gingerbread cookie and then we had a quick lunch.
I took Ladybug home to get ready for her ballet performance while Daddy kept Butterfly and Lovely. They led my brother and his family into the mountains to cut a Christmas tree. Sound like they had a lot of fun, got a great tree and got very wet playing in the snow. Meanwhile, Ladybug and I went home. Grammy had come up the night before to help us start packing and attend recitals so she helped us get ready and we went over to the auditorium. We were joined there by grandma (Daddy and Grandpa came to the dress rehearsal so they could see both girls perform. Then Daddy could keep Lovely during the actual performances.) We managed to get great seats and watched my sweet little snowflake. Afterwards, we met her in the hall, gave her a rose (she admired it for a moment but it was forgotten rather quickly) and took some pictures. We went home for some cuddling, hot chocolate with our cousins and naptime.
During naptime, Husband and I did more house hunting. We are slowly inching closer to a decision. In the meantime, we've officially began packing and plan to move in two weeks.
Soon I helped Butterfly get ready for her performance. She coached me on doing her hair as instructed by her teacher ("a slick back bun with lots and lots of gel and lots and lots of spray hair", which I think meant "hair spray"). She delighted over getting to wear a little makeup and soon she was settled in with her class and Grammy, Grandma and I were settled into our seats. She performed in the first number of the evening show, as sweet and as graceful as ever. At intermission, I found her, gave her a rose, took pictures and then took her back to our seats so we could stay and watch the Nutcracker. She sat on my lap, enthralled by it all. She talked almost nonstop, whispering about the dancing, costumes and music. She was so excited and seemed to really love it.
Our first ballet performance, what a wonderful day.
Monday, November 26, 2012
thanksgiving weekend blitz
the theme of this weekend was "make it up as we go" or "best laid plans" or something like that because what a crazy weekend.
THE PLAN: it was technically my in-laws "turn" for thanksgiving but family circumstances (39 weeks pregnant family that couldn't come, another family's child custody situation, another sibling moving, etc) we decided to switch and be with my side instead. plus my grandma was visiting. my parents had gone to visit her, brought her home with them so she could spend a week/Thanksgiving with us at my mom's house and then my mom and I would drive her home, stay with her for a few days to work on a Christmas project for my kids.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
the first part of the week was our usual chaos: Daddy travelling on business, preschool, dance classes, the gym, etc. We added some extra chaos with preparing for the inspection and appraisal on Wednesday which meant a late night deep cleaning. After that appointment, Daddy had to squeeze in a few hours of work before we headed north to my parent's house. Things there had already gotten a little crazy. My dad has had some worsening back problems (he keeps problems well hidden until they are near-debilitating) and the doctors decided on a 3-series procedure of injecting steroids and lidocane into five of his vertebrae in attempt to repair/rebuild his discs. So he had been instructed to stay down as much as possible. So we arrived late Wednesday night, the girls having been given strict instructions to not even touch him (he didn't listen and insisted on some gentle cuddles). We let them play for a little while and headed to bed. My favorite part of our playtime was a surprise my Butterfly had been working on. Long ago, my brothers learned and performed a song in the ward talent show. It's been a family favorite ever since but no one could remember the verses, only the chorus. So I found it online, taught it to her, and she performed it for my parents and grandma...while jumping on a trampoline and dancing.
The next morning, I got up early to help prepare our Thanksgiving feast, which was now to be held at my brother's house so my dad could rest without a house full of kids. The girls played quietly (was probably/hopefully a nice distraction for my dad--he's not a the kind of person who can sit still for very long so this has been rough to feel so limited). We did a little craft (shaping waffle cones into cornucopias and filling them with m&ms for their cousins, thanks pinterest!). I brought up the most recent set of dvds I had made from converting old home movies. I put in one for my dad to surprise him, a home movie from 1950-1956 and then watched his expression as he saw his dad come onto the screen, looking so young and healthy. It was a fantastic moment and that single moment made it well worth the effort its taken to convert the movies. Both of his grandmothers are in the movie, as well as adorable footage of him as a baby, learning to walk and playing at the beach. What a treasure.
Eventually we loaded the feast into the car, settled my dad in to rest while we celebrated without him and drove to my brother's house. We played with cousins and feasted on our celebratory meal. My husband helped my brother fix up an old foosball table from a yard sale and get it into near perfect working order. We browsed the ads for Black Friday and generally had a great, relaxing time with family. I was cleaning up dishes and preparing dessert when my grandma went out to check on her dogs. Somehow she got tangled in their leashes and fell face first on the driveway, resulting in a quick trip to the ER for stitches and to check for a concussion.
On Friday morning, my mom and I snuck away for some Black Friday shopping. Typically, we've done some door buster-/early morning chaos and are glued to amazon's lightening deals throughout the day. But since my dad was out of commission grandma was injured and having a rough night and we were now babysitting my adorable niece, we didn't want to leave in the middle of the night and risk someone needing help. But by 8 am, we felt ok to leave my girls with their daddy and did a little shopping. It ended up being a quick trip and we hurried home to take care of our family.
We packed up and headed out. Husband and I had a few errands to run and my mom was helping grandma shop for a new car. But due to her new injury, her (very bruised) eye was swollen completely shut and she couldn't even drive. Fortunately, she already knew exactly what she wanted so she ended up buying a car anyway. (Maybe they took pity on her obviously roughed up appearance.) By the time we finished all of our errands, it was near dark so we brought grandma home to our house to spend the night.
My mom didn't feel comfortable leaving my dad, we were now a day behind schedule and now grandma had a new car that she couldn't drive. So the scheduled trip to grandma's house (to take her home and work on the Christmas project) had been planned and changed and adjusted several times. But eventually we decided that I would drive grandma home, do the project myself and find a ride home. We had a great drive, stopping often to stretch and do a little shopping. Along the way we talked for hours and I got to hear her recount memories of my grandpa, trips they'd taken, their lives growing up and raising kids. We experimented with all the new buttons and gadgets in her fancy new car and thoroughly enjoyed the comfort it offered. We arrived in her home town just as the Christmas parade started. So we quickly parked and got out to watch the fun floats and lights as they passed. And then went to her house to begin "my project".
Last summer, I decided to make new quilts/bedspreads for my girls and surprise them at Christmas. I picked out the fabric but didn't manage to get them done before baby arrived, I had my foot surgery and then launched into the holidays. So I put the project off for a year. But again, our schedules filled up and I didn't get around to it until now. My grandma has a full-sized, long-arm quilting machine and let me use it to make their quilts this weekend. The fabric I bought is ADORABLE but the machine is rather unforgiving and it took awhile to learn to make my lines smooth. But hopefully my girls won't notice the many mistakes and love the finished product anyway. So the quilts are pieced and quilted. I still need to do the bindings (my mom is the binding expert so I'm hoping to beg her help) and I need to sew the pillow sham and window valance. And then we will surprise them for Christmas...and then probably store it all until we move into our new house in six months.
So the first evening at my grandma's house, I pieced the tops together and stayed up late to finish quilting the first one. The next morning, grandma helped me put on the second quilt and now with a little more experience, I managed to get that one quilted a little more smoothly than the first. Somehow I managed to get all three quilts done (in less than 20 hours) before I met with some friends that were passing through and let me ride home with them. I didn't get to help my grandma with some projects as we hoped but will go down again soon. I'm thrilled to have this giant step of the project finished and can't wait to see what the girls think.
Last night, I arrived home around 11:00 to relieve grandma, got a quick kiss from my girls and we all settled into bed. It seems like we packed a whole lot of excitement and accomplishments into one weekend and I'm thrilled to have a monday to now recover, process and prepare for another week.
THE PLAN: it was technically my in-laws "turn" for thanksgiving but family circumstances (39 weeks pregnant family that couldn't come, another family's child custody situation, another sibling moving, etc) we decided to switch and be with my side instead. plus my grandma was visiting. my parents had gone to visit her, brought her home with them so she could spend a week/Thanksgiving with us at my mom's house and then my mom and I would drive her home, stay with her for a few days to work on a Christmas project for my kids.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
the first part of the week was our usual chaos: Daddy travelling on business, preschool, dance classes, the gym, etc. We added some extra chaos with preparing for the inspection and appraisal on Wednesday which meant a late night deep cleaning. After that appointment, Daddy had to squeeze in a few hours of work before we headed north to my parent's house. Things there had already gotten a little crazy. My dad has had some worsening back problems (he keeps problems well hidden until they are near-debilitating) and the doctors decided on a 3-series procedure of injecting steroids and lidocane into five of his vertebrae in attempt to repair/rebuild his discs. So he had been instructed to stay down as much as possible. So we arrived late Wednesday night, the girls having been given strict instructions to not even touch him (he didn't listen and insisted on some gentle cuddles). We let them play for a little while and headed to bed. My favorite part of our playtime was a surprise my Butterfly had been working on. Long ago, my brothers learned and performed a song in the ward talent show. It's been a family favorite ever since but no one could remember the verses, only the chorus. So I found it online, taught it to her, and she performed it for my parents and grandma...while jumping on a trampoline and dancing.
The next morning, I got up early to help prepare our Thanksgiving feast, which was now to be held at my brother's house so my dad could rest without a house full of kids. The girls played quietly (was probably/hopefully a nice distraction for my dad--he's not a the kind of person who can sit still for very long so this has been rough to feel so limited). We did a little craft (shaping waffle cones into cornucopias and filling them with m&ms for their cousins, thanks pinterest!). I brought up the most recent set of dvds I had made from converting old home movies. I put in one for my dad to surprise him, a home movie from 1950-1956 and then watched his expression as he saw his dad come onto the screen, looking so young and healthy. It was a fantastic moment and that single moment made it well worth the effort its taken to convert the movies. Both of his grandmothers are in the movie, as well as adorable footage of him as a baby, learning to walk and playing at the beach. What a treasure.
Eventually we loaded the feast into the car, settled my dad in to rest while we celebrated without him and drove to my brother's house. We played with cousins and feasted on our celebratory meal. My husband helped my brother fix up an old foosball table from a yard sale and get it into near perfect working order. We browsed the ads for Black Friday and generally had a great, relaxing time with family. I was cleaning up dishes and preparing dessert when my grandma went out to check on her dogs. Somehow she got tangled in their leashes and fell face first on the driveway, resulting in a quick trip to the ER for stitches and to check for a concussion.
On Friday morning, my mom and I snuck away for some Black Friday shopping. Typically, we've done some door buster-/early morning chaos and are glued to amazon's lightening deals throughout the day. But since my dad was out of commission grandma was injured and having a rough night and we were now babysitting my adorable niece, we didn't want to leave in the middle of the night and risk someone needing help. But by 8 am, we felt ok to leave my girls with their daddy and did a little shopping. It ended up being a quick trip and we hurried home to take care of our family.
We packed up and headed out. Husband and I had a few errands to run and my mom was helping grandma shop for a new car. But due to her new injury, her (very bruised) eye was swollen completely shut and she couldn't even drive. Fortunately, she already knew exactly what she wanted so she ended up buying a car anyway. (Maybe they took pity on her obviously roughed up appearance.) By the time we finished all of our errands, it was near dark so we brought grandma home to our house to spend the night.
My mom didn't feel comfortable leaving my dad, we were now a day behind schedule and now grandma had a new car that she couldn't drive. So the scheduled trip to grandma's house (to take her home and work on the Christmas project) had been planned and changed and adjusted several times. But eventually we decided that I would drive grandma home, do the project myself and find a ride home. We had a great drive, stopping often to stretch and do a little shopping. Along the way we talked for hours and I got to hear her recount memories of my grandpa, trips they'd taken, their lives growing up and raising kids. We experimented with all the new buttons and gadgets in her fancy new car and thoroughly enjoyed the comfort it offered. We arrived in her home town just as the Christmas parade started. So we quickly parked and got out to watch the fun floats and lights as they passed. And then went to her house to begin "my project".
Last summer, I decided to make new quilts/bedspreads for my girls and surprise them at Christmas. I picked out the fabric but didn't manage to get them done before baby arrived, I had my foot surgery and then launched into the holidays. So I put the project off for a year. But again, our schedules filled up and I didn't get around to it until now. My grandma has a full-sized, long-arm quilting machine and let me use it to make their quilts this weekend. The fabric I bought is ADORABLE but the machine is rather unforgiving and it took awhile to learn to make my lines smooth. But hopefully my girls won't notice the many mistakes and love the finished product anyway. So the quilts are pieced and quilted. I still need to do the bindings (my mom is the binding expert so I'm hoping to beg her help) and I need to sew the pillow sham and window valance. And then we will surprise them for Christmas...and then probably store it all until we move into our new house in six months.
So the first evening at my grandma's house, I pieced the tops together and stayed up late to finish quilting the first one. The next morning, grandma helped me put on the second quilt and now with a little more experience, I managed to get that one quilted a little more smoothly than the first. Somehow I managed to get all three quilts done (in less than 20 hours) before I met with some friends that were passing through and let me ride home with them. I didn't get to help my grandma with some projects as we hoped but will go down again soon. I'm thrilled to have this giant step of the project finished and can't wait to see what the girls think.
Last night, I arrived home around 11:00 to relieve grandma, got a quick kiss from my girls and we all settled into bed. It seems like we packed a whole lot of excitement and accomplishments into one weekend and I'm thrilled to have a monday to now recover, process and prepare for another week.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
good news
This was a good week.
We got another offer on the house. It's actually the same amount and same closing date as the previous offer. What little we know about the family though makes me feel better about this situation though, it simply worked out so perfectly that it was meant to be. Plus I feel that it will be a good family moving into this amazing neighborhood. So we are making plans to move mid-December. Those plans are very vague at the moment.
Husband got some encouraging news at work. The depressed economy has trickled down to affect his company and made for a slow, sometimes discouraging year. No promises yet but it looks like next year will be much better.
We are all recovering nicely from our apparent strep throat. We must have caught it early because we didn't have any obvious symptoms and started on meds right away. But sometimes being given a diagnosis is like being given permission to admit you don't feel great so it was nice to allow ourselves a few quiet days in the name of recovery.
We've taken to playing board games with the girls in the evenings again and it's been wonderful. They are silly simple games, like Candyland, Kerplunk and Go Fish, but I love having this fun interaction with them instead of just watching movies or going for a drive.
The big girls draw pictures for me all day long. Lovely is starting to follow suit and her new favorite toy is a pen and paper. She's still mastering how to actually get the pen to write on the paper but my three budding artists are adorable when they are all hard at work, laying on their bellies to create a masterpiece for me.
I've been converting old home movies again lately. I've found some gems, like my adorable sister at age three (everything is cute at age three), the pageant that I did in college, my grandparent's 50th anniversary party, footage of my great grandparents, and the crazy antics of my siblings and me. I even found one from the year I was born. But the most amazing find was a video from 1950-1956. I have no idea who took it or how it appeared in my parents' collection (without their knowledge) but seeing my dad as a baby is incredible! And to see my grandparents so young and youthful is pretty incredible too.
Husband's elk hunt began. As always, I was hoping for an opening day success story because I'd rather him stay home and play with us instead, but no luck yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I taught Relief Society today and I really do love it. Preparing my lesson always takes me several nights spread across a few weeks but each time has been such a great experience so far. I'm learning a lot and really feel like each class has been guided. Hopefully I'll get to teach one more time before we move.
onto another busy week...
We got another offer on the house. It's actually the same amount and same closing date as the previous offer. What little we know about the family though makes me feel better about this situation though, it simply worked out so perfectly that it was meant to be. Plus I feel that it will be a good family moving into this amazing neighborhood. So we are making plans to move mid-December. Those plans are very vague at the moment.
Husband got some encouraging news at work. The depressed economy has trickled down to affect his company and made for a slow, sometimes discouraging year. No promises yet but it looks like next year will be much better.
We are all recovering nicely from our apparent strep throat. We must have caught it early because we didn't have any obvious symptoms and started on meds right away. But sometimes being given a diagnosis is like being given permission to admit you don't feel great so it was nice to allow ourselves a few quiet days in the name of recovery.
We've taken to playing board games with the girls in the evenings again and it's been wonderful. They are silly simple games, like Candyland, Kerplunk and Go Fish, but I love having this fun interaction with them instead of just watching movies or going for a drive.
The big girls draw pictures for me all day long. Lovely is starting to follow suit and her new favorite toy is a pen and paper. She's still mastering how to actually get the pen to write on the paper but my three budding artists are adorable when they are all hard at work, laying on their bellies to create a masterpiece for me.
I've been converting old home movies again lately. I've found some gems, like my adorable sister at age three (everything is cute at age three), the pageant that I did in college, my grandparent's 50th anniversary party, footage of my great grandparents, and the crazy antics of my siblings and me. I even found one from the year I was born. But the most amazing find was a video from 1950-1956. I have no idea who took it or how it appeared in my parents' collection (without their knowledge) but seeing my dad as a baby is incredible! And to see my grandparents so young and youthful is pretty incredible too.
Husband's elk hunt began. As always, I was hoping for an opening day success story because I'd rather him stay home and play with us instead, but no luck yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I taught Relief Society today and I really do love it. Preparing my lesson always takes me several nights spread across a few weeks but each time has been such a great experience so far. I'm learning a lot and really feel like each class has been guided. Hopefully I'll get to teach one more time before we move.
onto another busy week...
Thursday, November 15, 2012
quote of the day
To be clear, I am not pregnant.
But I was recently congratulated by a work friend on the news of our new baby. Not just once, but three times. From different people. All from work. More specifically, ladies from the gym's daycare. So after the third time that I had to clarify that we are not expecting, I found out that my 4 year old had told them we were getting a new baby. To make this even better, she apparently told them I'm buying a new baby. I thought she was confused since we had recently bought a baby shower gift for my cousin and perhaps she had just left out a few major details. But no, she insisted that she wanted me to go to the hospital and buy a new baby. I'd like to say that we had a long talk where I gently, patiently and candidly explained the errors of her statement. But I didn't really know what to say. So yeah. For now, that's where babies come from. (and truthfully, it's actually pretty accurate.)
As for Ladybug, my favorite phrase that she uses lately (and frequently) is "Can you flat my blankets please?" This means she wants me to tuck her in and arrange her blankets so that they lay smoothly.
And Lovely favorite word lately is "uh-oh". This is her perfect word for when she drops (or throws) something, she loses her balances or for her sisters' many silly antics. Turns out she's becoming quite a ham. I love her "scrunchie face", intentionally given to make me laugh. She will beam at me, her eyes squeezed shut, her nose tightly wrinkled up, her cheeks bunched high to accommodate the wide open toothy grin.
love, love, love these crazy wonderful kids.
But I was recently congratulated by a work friend on the news of our new baby. Not just once, but three times. From different people. All from work. More specifically, ladies from the gym's daycare. So after the third time that I had to clarify that we are not expecting, I found out that my 4 year old had told them we were getting a new baby. To make this even better, she apparently told them I'm buying a new baby. I thought she was confused since we had recently bought a baby shower gift for my cousin and perhaps she had just left out a few major details. But no, she insisted that she wanted me to go to the hospital and buy a new baby. I'd like to say that we had a long talk where I gently, patiently and candidly explained the errors of her statement. But I didn't really know what to say. So yeah. For now, that's where babies come from. (and truthfully, it's actually pretty accurate.)
As for Ladybug, my favorite phrase that she uses lately (and frequently) is "Can you flat my blankets please?" This means she wants me to tuck her in and arrange her blankets so that they lay smoothly.
And Lovely favorite word lately is "uh-oh". This is her perfect word for when she drops (or throws) something, she loses her balances or for her sisters' many silly antics. Turns out she's becoming quite a ham. I love her "scrunchie face", intentionally given to make me laugh. She will beam at me, her eyes squeezed shut, her nose tightly wrinkled up, her cheeks bunched high to accommodate the wide open toothy grin.
love, love, love these crazy wonderful kids.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
life happens fast
I did my certification video again and I'm so thrilled to have that behind me. My first attempt was lacking in many ways and while it probably would have passed, it was not impressive. But I learned a lot watching it and was glad I got to try again and improve upon my performance. My second attempt was much more confident, well delivered and near perfect in execution. My energy began to lag near the end (I had been up all night with a sick kid) but my boss and friend was behind the camera coaching me on and I think I managed to recover it well.
Then the next class I taught was by far my best class. Full of energy, well timed cues, no mistakes. I'm not sure if it's because I've finally done this material so much or if something about having finished my certification (even without my official scores) gives me an extra confidence. Someone else recognizes me as a professional and I'm happy to take their word for it. Incidentally, that was also the last time I would teach that particular release (or set of material) as we launched new material the new day. That stuff I'm still learning the cues for but I'm more than ready for new stuff. It's full of fun energy, some great songs and an overall awesome release.
I went to parent teacher conference at Butterfly's school. Butterfly was eager to show me some of the projects she has done and her teacher was very complimentary. As always, she reported that our daughter is especially brilliant, learns new concepts easily and eagerly, is very artistic and is very helpful. She asked me what else I want her to be learning and we brainstormed some extra projects and tasks for her--things her classmates probably won't be doing but something that will challenger her since she's always done early. My brilliant little girl is ahead of her class and probably always be. I know that throughout her education I'll need to find extra ways to challenge her in order to help her reach her potential. I actually worry about that, hoping that I can be and do and help in the way that she needs because I know she's brilliant and I can't wait to see what she will accomplish with her intelligence and talents.
Then, since Daddy was out of town, grandma and I arranged some special time with the girls. We met for dinner and then Ladybug got to spend the night at grandma's house while Butterfly and I spent some time together and then we switched the next night. So Butterfly and I planned a special girls night. We put together a tray of snacks and desserts, played princess yahtzee and watched a movie. The next time I got to have a similar evening with Ladybug, with plenty of cuddling and tickling too.
Husband was released from his calling as Young Men's President. We suspected it would happen soon since we are moving somewhere in the near future but it was with sad reluctance. He's really enjoyed working with the young men, and while I didn't love the time away spent in meetings, I like that he was enjoying his calling, getting to participate in activities he probably wouldn't have made time for otherwise and personally, I've really enjoyed getting to know the boys and will miss having them around.
I got to watch both the girls in their ballet classes this week. They are getting ready for their winter performance in two weeks. Ladybug is my wanderer. She paid very little attention to her teacher's cueing, or to her classmate's haphazard dance moves next to her. She mostly just stood there playing with her reflection in the mirror. We shall see what she does onstage but given her young age and her general laid-back approach to life, I suspect it will be more of the same. But Butterfly was graceful and diligent, doing all the sweet little steps and making me melt. She's my eager ballerina, regularly practicing at home and showing me her "bal-la-lay".
The house showed again to an agent who was screening it for an out of state client. So we had a blitz cleaning and the agent gave a favorable report to the client who immediately flew out to see the house. Fingers crossed but we suspect good news is coming.
We made a visit to our pediatrician. Little Ladybug's tummy has been causing growing concern for the past few weeks. Her symptoms have lasted longer than any flu or virus should so we've began suspecting its a reaction to a certain food or perhaps a bacteria. The doc agrees and we are running tests on our poor princess to figure it out. We also wanted to ask about her sleep habits that have steadily declined the past few months. We had her adenoids removed and put ear tubs in due to her restless sleeping, loud snoring and chronic infections last summer. It mostly solved all her problems at the time. But over the last several weeks, she's become as bad as before with restless sleeping (even falling out of bed once or twice a week), snoring like a freight train and showing signs of sleep apnea. So we will be visiting the ENT in a few weeks to investigate. I suspect she needs to have her tonsils removed. The ENT said he would have done that last summer as well but she was too young for such an invasive procedure unless it was really necessary. And then the third issue we addressed was her enlarged lymph nodes. Turns out she has strep throat, even though she hasn't complained about any of the typical symptoms. And a little more investigation revealed that Daddy and I tested positive for it as well.
So our little germ ridden family had to miss Gram's memorial birthday celebration. We were pretty bummed about not being able to go.
And now today, our house is cleaner than it ever has been before. We polished our wood floors, oiled all the wood furniture and got everything sparkling clean for a house showing this morning. And the rest of the time, we've spent lounging around home, resting and recovering so that by tomorrow, we will no longer be contagious and hopefully, we may even have sold the house.
Then the next class I taught was by far my best class. Full of energy, well timed cues, no mistakes. I'm not sure if it's because I've finally done this material so much or if something about having finished my certification (even without my official scores) gives me an extra confidence. Someone else recognizes me as a professional and I'm happy to take their word for it. Incidentally, that was also the last time I would teach that particular release (or set of material) as we launched new material the new day. That stuff I'm still learning the cues for but I'm more than ready for new stuff. It's full of fun energy, some great songs and an overall awesome release.
I went to parent teacher conference at Butterfly's school. Butterfly was eager to show me some of the projects she has done and her teacher was very complimentary. As always, she reported that our daughter is especially brilliant, learns new concepts easily and eagerly, is very artistic and is very helpful. She asked me what else I want her to be learning and we brainstormed some extra projects and tasks for her--things her classmates probably won't be doing but something that will challenger her since she's always done early. My brilliant little girl is ahead of her class and probably always be. I know that throughout her education I'll need to find extra ways to challenge her in order to help her reach her potential. I actually worry about that, hoping that I can be and do and help in the way that she needs because I know she's brilliant and I can't wait to see what she will accomplish with her intelligence and talents.
Then, since Daddy was out of town, grandma and I arranged some special time with the girls. We met for dinner and then Ladybug got to spend the night at grandma's house while Butterfly and I spent some time together and then we switched the next night. So Butterfly and I planned a special girls night. We put together a tray of snacks and desserts, played princess yahtzee and watched a movie. The next time I got to have a similar evening with Ladybug, with plenty of cuddling and tickling too.
Husband was released from his calling as Young Men's President. We suspected it would happen soon since we are moving somewhere in the near future but it was with sad reluctance. He's really enjoyed working with the young men, and while I didn't love the time away spent in meetings, I like that he was enjoying his calling, getting to participate in activities he probably wouldn't have made time for otherwise and personally, I've really enjoyed getting to know the boys and will miss having them around.
I got to watch both the girls in their ballet classes this week. They are getting ready for their winter performance in two weeks. Ladybug is my wanderer. She paid very little attention to her teacher's cueing, or to her classmate's haphazard dance moves next to her. She mostly just stood there playing with her reflection in the mirror. We shall see what she does onstage but given her young age and her general laid-back approach to life, I suspect it will be more of the same. But Butterfly was graceful and diligent, doing all the sweet little steps and making me melt. She's my eager ballerina, regularly practicing at home and showing me her "bal-la-lay".
The house showed again to an agent who was screening it for an out of state client. So we had a blitz cleaning and the agent gave a favorable report to the client who immediately flew out to see the house. Fingers crossed but we suspect good news is coming.
We made a visit to our pediatrician. Little Ladybug's tummy has been causing growing concern for the past few weeks. Her symptoms have lasted longer than any flu or virus should so we've began suspecting its a reaction to a certain food or perhaps a bacteria. The doc agrees and we are running tests on our poor princess to figure it out. We also wanted to ask about her sleep habits that have steadily declined the past few months. We had her adenoids removed and put ear tubs in due to her restless sleeping, loud snoring and chronic infections last summer. It mostly solved all her problems at the time. But over the last several weeks, she's become as bad as before with restless sleeping (even falling out of bed once or twice a week), snoring like a freight train and showing signs of sleep apnea. So we will be visiting the ENT in a few weeks to investigate. I suspect she needs to have her tonsils removed. The ENT said he would have done that last summer as well but she was too young for such an invasive procedure unless it was really necessary. And then the third issue we addressed was her enlarged lymph nodes. Turns out she has strep throat, even though she hasn't complained about any of the typical symptoms. And a little more investigation revealed that Daddy and I tested positive for it as well.
So our little germ ridden family had to miss Gram's memorial birthday celebration. We were pretty bummed about not being able to go.
And now today, our house is cleaner than it ever has been before. We polished our wood floors, oiled all the wood furniture and got everything sparkling clean for a house showing this morning. And the rest of the time, we've spent lounging around home, resting and recovering so that by tomorrow, we will no longer be contagious and hopefully, we may even have sold the house.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
weekend review
another blitz. and now that I have a moment to sit and reflect, I know I'm not doing it justice and am lacking the details that make journalling purposeful. But at least it's something.
Friday night I spent canning with my mom. A friend of hers had a billion pears she couldn't use and we were more than happy to help. While in general it is not worth it to can most things, pears is my exception. It actually costs about three times as much to buy and bottle fresh fruit than buy canned fruit. But I have very fond childhood memories of my brother and I sneaking into my grandma's food storage to spirit away a jar or two of her famous cinnamon pears. She pretended to never notice but my mom recently assured me that she certainly did and thought it was wonderful.
So my mom arrived and we set to work. It took almost 10 hours using two pots and both of us working diligently to can 80 bottles of perfectly pink cinnamon pears. (with a short pizza break. and another quick run to the store for more bottles.) They looked so beautiful lined up on my counter that I actually took a picture. I couldn't resist. And Daddy played the essential role of course of keeping the girls busy and out of the kitchen.
So Saturday morning was rather groggy as we arose from our beds for breakfast, baking cookies and then I dashed off with my mother in law to attend a baby shower. It was a wonderful "day off". The baby shower was fun, relaxed and a chance to see family. We leisurely snacked on lunch and cookies, chatted about babies (one of my favorite subjects) and celebrated. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and shopping before returning home. I don't shop without my little helpers very often and it's so nice (faster, less stress, can hit more stores in half the time) without them sometimes. Daddy had played with his girls all day and kept them busy. So when we arrived home, we switched places. He went out for a guys night and Grandma stayed through the evening for some more girl time. We played, watched the new TinkerBell movie and read books until bedtime. All in all, a fantastic day.
Sunday was a bit more chaotic. Fortunately the time change worked in our favor. Instead of putting sleeping children into the car, the girls slept well, woke up and readied for church before we made the 90 minute drive to our cousin's ward to join them for a baby blessing. What a wonderful occasion! I love being surrounded by our incredible family and getting to be part of these special events. We spent most of the morning with them, playing at their house after church, having lunch and eventually loading our girls up around naptime. Unfortunately, they did not nap. We drove for an hour, hoping they would but only Lovely actually slept. We played at a park for awhile, ran a few errands, eventually got Ladybug to nap briefly and eventually arrived for an evening baby blessing for another cousin! More wonderful time spent with family for a special occasion. The girls were in heaven, having so many cousins to play with all in one day. And then we headed home, with just the perfect amount of time for a family movie cuddle time and bed.
And now another crazy week begins...
Friday night I spent canning with my mom. A friend of hers had a billion pears she couldn't use and we were more than happy to help. While in general it is not worth it to can most things, pears is my exception. It actually costs about three times as much to buy and bottle fresh fruit than buy canned fruit. But I have very fond childhood memories of my brother and I sneaking into my grandma's food storage to spirit away a jar or two of her famous cinnamon pears. She pretended to never notice but my mom recently assured me that she certainly did and thought it was wonderful.
So my mom arrived and we set to work. It took almost 10 hours using two pots and both of us working diligently to can 80 bottles of perfectly pink cinnamon pears. (with a short pizza break. and another quick run to the store for more bottles.) They looked so beautiful lined up on my counter that I actually took a picture. I couldn't resist. And Daddy played the essential role of course of keeping the girls busy and out of the kitchen.
So Saturday morning was rather groggy as we arose from our beds for breakfast, baking cookies and then I dashed off with my mother in law to attend a baby shower. It was a wonderful "day off". The baby shower was fun, relaxed and a chance to see family. We leisurely snacked on lunch and cookies, chatted about babies (one of my favorite subjects) and celebrated. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon running errands and shopping before returning home. I don't shop without my little helpers very often and it's so nice (faster, less stress, can hit more stores in half the time) without them sometimes. Daddy had played with his girls all day and kept them busy. So when we arrived home, we switched places. He went out for a guys night and Grandma stayed through the evening for some more girl time. We played, watched the new TinkerBell movie and read books until bedtime. All in all, a fantastic day.
Sunday was a bit more chaotic. Fortunately the time change worked in our favor. Instead of putting sleeping children into the car, the girls slept well, woke up and readied for church before we made the 90 minute drive to our cousin's ward to join them for a baby blessing. What a wonderful occasion! I love being surrounded by our incredible family and getting to be part of these special events. We spent most of the morning with them, playing at their house after church, having lunch and eventually loading our girls up around naptime. Unfortunately, they did not nap. We drove for an hour, hoping they would but only Lovely actually slept. We played at a park for awhile, ran a few errands, eventually got Ladybug to nap briefly and eventually arrived for an evening baby blessing for another cousin! More wonderful time spent with family for a special occasion. The girls were in heaven, having so many cousins to play with all in one day. And then we headed home, with just the perfect amount of time for a family movie cuddle time and bed.
And now another crazy week begins...
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Halloween
it started off with a bang at my family Halloween party.
Then Ladybug had her school Halloween party. She was so excited about the mummy-oreos I made for her to give to classmates. She wore her Minnie Mouse costume (complete with ears) and upon arriving at school, found that a friend had dressed up as Mickey! So they made a complete pair. She brought home her artwork for daddy-a painted spider with squiggly legs and was so proud of him.
Our ward had a Halloween party on Saturday night. The girls looked beautiful in their princess dresses. Butterfly chose to be Belle (of course), Ladybug was our Rapunzel (completely with long, flower adorned golden wig) and Lovely was a preciously sweet little Cinderella. In theme with the girls, I dressed up as the Fairy Godmother and Daddy was our very handsome Prince Charming. During the costume parade, we were announced as the "Happily Ever After Family". The girls loved the pinata, ate donuts off a string and went fishing over the curtain. They played with friends, ate lots of treats and had a great time.
Butterfly had a school party as well and chose to wear her Tinkerbell costume. She helped me assemble little treat bags for her friends including spider suckers we had made. She looked perfect in her green dress and her beautiful fairy wings and came bounding out of school with stories to tell of games, ghost stories and trick or treating. She also had a spider she had created, using her hand prints overlapping with her fingers extended out as the legs.
That afternoon, Butterfly helped me bake and decorate cookies. We made "gingerdead" men using a gingerbread man cookie cutter and decorating them to be skeletons and mummies. She eagerly helped deliver them to some friends and neighbors.
We spent that evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a bonfire (a recent windstorm knocked numerous branches out of the trees). We roasted hot dogs and s'more and then spent the evening carving pumpkins. Grandma had hidden the pumpkins among her porch decorations, tangled in spider webs and being held by goblin hands, defended by ghoulish monsters. But Butterfly and Ladybug marched past the creepy decorations and picked out their pumpkins, not at all flustered or frightened. Our pumpkins turned out pretty good and I think the adults may have had more fun than the parents (me included of course).
Finally, after much preliminary celebrations, Halloween arrived. The girls had stayed up late, so excited about going trick or treating soon, that they slept in the next morning and I had to wake them up. So it was some rather reluctant and cranky girls that I herded out of the house in the morning. Butterfly went to ballet while I taught a class at the gym. And then I took my Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse and pink flower fairy to the library's storytime Halloween party. We arrived in time to listen to the stories. But when it came time for activities the room was so packed and lines were so long that we only made it to half the stations before we had to go.
The festivities continued that evening for the "official" Halloween. We invited some of our closest friends over to celebrate with us. They made soup, I made rolls and Grandma and Grandpa brought some fruit for a tasty dinner. As we prepared the food, trick-or-treaters began to arrive. Following their example, our girls dashed outside, and over to the neighbors' house, without permission and without pants. (They had shed their costumes from that morning and were only wearing undershirts and tights.) Fortunately, they were quickly discovered and retrieved so we could address their behavior (and wardrobe). We managed through dinner, simply too excited to even stay seated. And eventually they donned their princess dresses, we left a bowl of candy out and began canvassing the neighborhood. As predicted, the girls didn't last long but they had a blast. Butterfly eagerly dashed ahead each time, frequently having to be reminded to wait for her sisters and friend. (they made such an adorable group. Princesses in gold, purple, blue and pink.) It was wonderful and fun and silly, with many opportunities to curtsy and twirl. At the very last house, they skipped past the scary decorations and up to the front door. We teasingly tried to get Butterfly to ring the door bell, which was inches under a large and creepy spider. Her first sign of fear, she refused and eventually we told her to just knock instead. She knocked and suddenly another large spider shot out from under the door's wreath, dropping down to startle her. She screamed, burst into tears, immediately followed by Ladybug who also seized up in panic, ready to cry. It was a very clever trick and startled all of us but was a little too much for the girls who were getting too tired. Our neighbor had answered the door immediately, laughing and teasing with us as we recovered and rewarded the girls with generous candy. After which, we headed home. The girls dumped all their candy out, sampled a good portion and played while we skyped with cousins and settled down for the night.
Then Ladybug had her school Halloween party. She was so excited about the mummy-oreos I made for her to give to classmates. She wore her Minnie Mouse costume (complete with ears) and upon arriving at school, found that a friend had dressed up as Mickey! So they made a complete pair. She brought home her artwork for daddy-a painted spider with squiggly legs and was so proud of him.
Our ward had a Halloween party on Saturday night. The girls looked beautiful in their princess dresses. Butterfly chose to be Belle (of course), Ladybug was our Rapunzel (completely with long, flower adorned golden wig) and Lovely was a preciously sweet little Cinderella. In theme with the girls, I dressed up as the Fairy Godmother and Daddy was our very handsome Prince Charming. During the costume parade, we were announced as the "Happily Ever After Family". The girls loved the pinata, ate donuts off a string and went fishing over the curtain. They played with friends, ate lots of treats and had a great time.
Butterfly had a school party as well and chose to wear her Tinkerbell costume. She helped me assemble little treat bags for her friends including spider suckers we had made. She looked perfect in her green dress and her beautiful fairy wings and came bounding out of school with stories to tell of games, ghost stories and trick or treating. She also had a spider she had created, using her hand prints overlapping with her fingers extended out as the legs.
That afternoon, Butterfly helped me bake and decorate cookies. We made "gingerdead" men using a gingerbread man cookie cutter and decorating them to be skeletons and mummies. She eagerly helped deliver them to some friends and neighbors.
We spent that evening at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a bonfire (a recent windstorm knocked numerous branches out of the trees). We roasted hot dogs and s'more and then spent the evening carving pumpkins. Grandma had hidden the pumpkins among her porch decorations, tangled in spider webs and being held by goblin hands, defended by ghoulish monsters. But Butterfly and Ladybug marched past the creepy decorations and picked out their pumpkins, not at all flustered or frightened. Our pumpkins turned out pretty good and I think the adults may have had more fun than the parents (me included of course).
Finally, after much preliminary celebrations, Halloween arrived. The girls had stayed up late, so excited about going trick or treating soon, that they slept in the next morning and I had to wake them up. So it was some rather reluctant and cranky girls that I herded out of the house in the morning. Butterfly went to ballet while I taught a class at the gym. And then I took my Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse and pink flower fairy to the library's storytime Halloween party. We arrived in time to listen to the stories. But when it came time for activities the room was so packed and lines were so long that we only made it to half the stations before we had to go.
The festivities continued that evening for the "official" Halloween. We invited some of our closest friends over to celebrate with us. They made soup, I made rolls and Grandma and Grandpa brought some fruit for a tasty dinner. As we prepared the food, trick-or-treaters began to arrive. Following their example, our girls dashed outside, and over to the neighbors' house, without permission and without pants. (They had shed their costumes from that morning and were only wearing undershirts and tights.) Fortunately, they were quickly discovered and retrieved so we could address their behavior (and wardrobe). We managed through dinner, simply too excited to even stay seated. And eventually they donned their princess dresses, we left a bowl of candy out and began canvassing the neighborhood. As predicted, the girls didn't last long but they had a blast. Butterfly eagerly dashed ahead each time, frequently having to be reminded to wait for her sisters and friend. (they made such an adorable group. Princesses in gold, purple, blue and pink.) It was wonderful and fun and silly, with many opportunities to curtsy and twirl. At the very last house, they skipped past the scary decorations and up to the front door. We teasingly tried to get Butterfly to ring the door bell, which was inches under a large and creepy spider. Her first sign of fear, she refused and eventually we told her to just knock instead. She knocked and suddenly another large spider shot out from under the door's wreath, dropping down to startle her. She screamed, burst into tears, immediately followed by Ladybug who also seized up in panic, ready to cry. It was a very clever trick and startled all of us but was a little too much for the girls who were getting too tired. Our neighbor had answered the door immediately, laughing and teasing with us as we recovered and rewarded the girls with generous candy. After which, we headed home. The girls dumped all their candy out, sampled a good portion and played while we skyped with cousins and settled down for the night.
Monday, October 29, 2012
prayers
Lovely folds her arms when we say prayers. It might just be the cutest thing ever. (except maybe the way she dances in her high chair. or the way she flaps her arms and tries to fly to me with bursting excitement when I pick her up from daycare. Or the way she babbles nonstop, 100% her own language, complete thoughts that I desperately wish I understood. okay, she's just so wonderfully adorable that there are simply not words to describe it.)
Ladybug is usually first to volunteer for prayers. And I hate to admit we don't mind at all because I know that it will be short, sweet and right to the point. So she wraps her arms in tight, ducks her head and furrows her brow. Despite much coaching, she cannot close her eyes. It's almost comical, sometimes annoying and rather ridiculous, but for some reason, she cannot figure out how to close her eyes for prayers. So instead, she just bunches up her eyebrows, appearing somewhat angry and launches into her prayer. But she offers the sweetest and most sincere thoughts. My favorite is that she always remembers daddy, asking "please bless come home soon" or "thank you my daddy".
And my precious, sweet and wonderful little Butterfly. She's more hesitant at mealtimes, rarely volunteering but will if called upon. But at bedtime prayers, she opens up, genuinely and sincerely talking with her Friend. She rambles about trivial things, favorite dresses or playdates with friends. But without prompting, she will often remember and ask for blessings upon a particular family member or friend in need. The other day she told me she was missing her Gram, (her great-grandmother who recently passed away). I agreed with her. "No, Mom. I really miss her." She continued on to tell me she was going to go home and pray and talk to her Gram. She matter-of-factly explained that Gram was with Heavenly Father now so if she could pray to Heavenly Father, she can pray and can talk to her Gram too.
Ladybug is usually first to volunteer for prayers. And I hate to admit we don't mind at all because I know that it will be short, sweet and right to the point. So she wraps her arms in tight, ducks her head and furrows her brow. Despite much coaching, she cannot close her eyes. It's almost comical, sometimes annoying and rather ridiculous, but for some reason, she cannot figure out how to close her eyes for prayers. So instead, she just bunches up her eyebrows, appearing somewhat angry and launches into her prayer. But she offers the sweetest and most sincere thoughts. My favorite is that she always remembers daddy, asking "please bless come home soon" or "thank you my daddy".
And my precious, sweet and wonderful little Butterfly. She's more hesitant at mealtimes, rarely volunteering but will if called upon. But at bedtime prayers, she opens up, genuinely and sincerely talking with her Friend. She rambles about trivial things, favorite dresses or playdates with friends. But without prompting, she will often remember and ask for blessings upon a particular family member or friend in need. The other day she told me she was missing her Gram, (her great-grandmother who recently passed away). I agreed with her. "No, Mom. I really miss her." She continued on to tell me she was going to go home and pray and talk to her Gram. She matter-of-factly explained that Gram was with Heavenly Father now so if she could pray to Heavenly Father, she can pray and can talk to her Gram too.
Friday, October 26, 2012
TGIF!
This week was long.
it started with a 7:30 am life insurance exam. Months ago, this helped motivated me to reach my goal weight. I reached that goal, plateaued and became less committed. Then given three days warning, I suddenly wondered if I was still at my goal weight. A weekend full of tempting Halloween treats probably wasn't the best way to reassure myself. (but good news, I did squeak in at my goal weight after all).
The contract on our house fell through. They couldn't get financing and had to retract their offer. Now it's back on the market and seeming less likely that it would sell before spring.
Failed first attempt at filming for my video certification. Really, it was bad. My ego was pretty battered by the time I was done. Try again next week.
My good friend filmed the next day and was nearly perfect. Happy for her but my fragile ego was not soothed.
Husband was gone all week on a business trip = not enough sleep. And when he did come home, it was after a long string of delays and rerouted flights, arriving at 2am and finding out that when the airline forced him to check his coat (with keys) and carry on bag at the gate, they also lost it. I had to call my in laws to come stay with the girls while I made the hour long drive to the airport to take him an extra key to his truck and then drive home again.
Then this morning, long story short, I managed to donate my car key to the city sewer system.
But on the other hand...
fantastic night with my bunko group
playdate with grandma, including my favorite restaurant
my Relief Society lesson on Sunday went really well
attended "Girls Night Out" with one of my best friends, including a fantastically funny and inspiring keynote address from Hillary Weeks, tasty food and mini massage.
Teaching my regular classes at the gym went much better than filming, I love this program!
it started to snow. it's fresh and beautiful and my little girls were so excited.
Ladybug had her school Halloween party this week and was adorable in her Minnie Mouse dress.
the girls have been really good and we've had so much fun.
family playdate tonight with some great friends.
yea for the weekend!
it started with a 7:30 am life insurance exam. Months ago, this helped motivated me to reach my goal weight. I reached that goal, plateaued and became less committed. Then given three days warning, I suddenly wondered if I was still at my goal weight. A weekend full of tempting Halloween treats probably wasn't the best way to reassure myself. (but good news, I did squeak in at my goal weight after all).
The contract on our house fell through. They couldn't get financing and had to retract their offer. Now it's back on the market and seeming less likely that it would sell before spring.
Failed first attempt at filming for my video certification. Really, it was bad. My ego was pretty battered by the time I was done. Try again next week.
My good friend filmed the next day and was nearly perfect. Happy for her but my fragile ego was not soothed.
Husband was gone all week on a business trip = not enough sleep. And when he did come home, it was after a long string of delays and rerouted flights, arriving at 2am and finding out that when the airline forced him to check his coat (with keys) and carry on bag at the gate, they also lost it. I had to call my in laws to come stay with the girls while I made the hour long drive to the airport to take him an extra key to his truck and then drive home again.
Then this morning, long story short, I managed to donate my car key to the city sewer system.
But on the other hand...
fantastic night with my bunko group
playdate with grandma, including my favorite restaurant
my Relief Society lesson on Sunday went really well
attended "Girls Night Out" with one of my best friends, including a fantastically funny and inspiring keynote address from Hillary Weeks, tasty food and mini massage.
Teaching my regular classes at the gym went much better than filming, I love this program!
it started to snow. it's fresh and beautiful and my little girls were so excited.
Ladybug had her school Halloween party this week and was adorable in her Minnie Mouse dress.
the girls have been really good and we've had so much fun.
family playdate tonight with some great friends.
yea for the weekend!
Monday, October 22, 2012
teeth
During a recent tickle fest, I had Lovely pinned upside down and during her adorable, can't-breathe-I'm-laughing-so-hard giggling, I noticed a glimmer of white teeth across the top of her mouth. Upon closer inspection, I realized that my little "two-tooths" as I have called her for several weeks now, actually has six teeth! Her top four teeth have managed to sneak in without me noticing (which explains her recent fussiness). The two of her left are all the way through. Her right eye-tooth is edging its way in and her right front is still working, peeking just under the gum surface.
Updated vocabulary list:
mama
mama
dada
banana
thank you
chocolate
peas (please)
uh-oh
dink (drink)
marshmallow
go
She refuses a sippy but loves straws and is learning to drink from a regular cup. She's walking about a third of the time now and loves to climb. Ladybug was/is my mountain goat as she can scale and height but Lovely is my spelunker and loves to crawl into and under things, creating her own tunnels and hiding places that I struggle to reach. She's super ticklish, especially on her belly, thighs and feet (today she put my hands on her feet asking "tickle tickle"). She sleeps 12 hours solid at night (minus the recent fussiness) and is the most patient, sweet, well behaved baby I've ever seen. Hopefully that continues. Her unruly hair curls tightly in back and is wispy straight in the front. She has the most fantastic baby smile with a grin that lights up her whole face and shines into her brilliant blue eyes (but she's very hard to photograph as her eyes are closed in nearly every picture taken with a flash, perhaps light sensitive?) Her favorite toys (besides removing and scattering every toy from the play kitchen or baby center) are her fisher price princesses. She will meticulously take them out of their bag one at a time and line them up next to me, saying "thank you" as she places each one. She also LOVES the building blocks, especially when her sisters will help her build and destroy tall towers (with delighted glee). By this age, her sisters were already devoted "daddy's girl"s, but Lovely retains her affection for me. She goes to Daddy eagerly but given the choice, she usually picks me for her cuddle partner. (please keep doing this, it would be too sad if all of you turned on me.)
family Halloween party
The weekend was a blitz, one of those where I tried to fit too much in and we didn't get to it all but had a ton of chaotic fun trying.
On Friday I went out with our fabulous Realtor (and one of the infamous favorite aunties) to look at houses. Husband was out of town on business but since his schedule is particularly busy this month, I was trying to do some preliminary work. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted but needed to clarify some details. However, in looking at our options, I found that I loved everything and promptly doubled my range of choices, rather than narrowing them down. But it was a great experience, I learned a lot, fell in love with a few ideas and had lots of research to report back to Husband that night.
That evening, I arrived home just in time to gather up the girls and meet my mom and another favorite auntie (this one from my side of the family) for a quick dinner. We lounged and laughed and played until the girls went to bed and then we played some more (late night chick flick).
Saturday morning was one of those pretty perfect weekend moments where the girls come rolling in, delighted to discover that Daddy had snuck in during the night. We have a tasty and leisurely breakfast while we make plans for the day. Since we had a busy day before us, we immediately set to work. The girls helped me frost cupcakes for that evening's Halloween party and gathered some party materials. Then Husband and I went for a drive so I could show him some favorite results from my house hunting research. It's fun and exciting and a little overwhelming. No official decisions yet but we might be getting closer.
Time flew and we dashed back to the house, gathered the girls and met up with family for a lunch date party. Both of my brothers and their families, plus my cousin and his family, plus another cousin, aunt and my mom were there so we made quite the group. Children outnumbered adults and there was a frenzy of eating, laughing, talking, playing and general mischief. Eventually we headed back to our house where we spent the afternoon raking leaves, cooking dinner for that evening's Halloween party, coloring pictures and playing with toys.
The evening was fantastic. Our Halloween feast (mostly Pinterest inspired) was a blast. We had two kinds of soup accompanied by bones (rolls shaped as such) dripping with blood (strawberry jam), candy corn cups (fruit cups layered with pineapple, mandarin oranges and cool whip), devil's eyes (deviled eggs), graveyard goodies (steamed veggies and crackers artistically arranged and sprinkled with cheese), mummy men (hot dogs wrapped with thin pieces of biscuit dough) and monster cupcakes (cupcakes decorated with candy to be mummies or monsters) for dessert. It was silly and creative and fun and tasted great.
We kicked off the party with donuts on a string before changing into our costumes. The kids paraded and danced while I scrambled to finish assembling our official party games. We started by decorating our monster jugs (empty milk jugs with the top cut off) with scary/fun sticker faces. We used these for bowling and then the kids each kept their jug to collect candy and prizes throughout the night (and could use for trick or treating too if they wanted). We played the eye ball bounce (bouncing ping pong balls into candy-filled cups. if they make the shot, they keep the candy.) and pin-the-spider-on-the-web. We tried playing pumpkin patch (musical chairs using paper plates featuring a giant pumpkin) but my kids were too tired (having missed naptime) and not understanding the game, promptly broke down into tears. So instead we played the music for a costume parade, played our roll-a-skeleton game (a dice game, each number gives you another piece of our skeleton, first skeleton fully assembled wins) and ended the night with our traditional monster mash (everyone is generously adorned with glow stick bracelets while we turn out the lights and dance). Eventually we turned on a movie downstairs so the kids could unwind as we cleaned up and our guests trickled out to their own homes.
On Friday I went out with our fabulous Realtor (and one of the infamous favorite aunties) to look at houses. Husband was out of town on business but since his schedule is particularly busy this month, I was trying to do some preliminary work. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted but needed to clarify some details. However, in looking at our options, I found that I loved everything and promptly doubled my range of choices, rather than narrowing them down. But it was a great experience, I learned a lot, fell in love with a few ideas and had lots of research to report back to Husband that night.
That evening, I arrived home just in time to gather up the girls and meet my mom and another favorite auntie (this one from my side of the family) for a quick dinner. We lounged and laughed and played until the girls went to bed and then we played some more (late night chick flick).
Saturday morning was one of those pretty perfect weekend moments where the girls come rolling in, delighted to discover that Daddy had snuck in during the night. We have a tasty and leisurely breakfast while we make plans for the day. Since we had a busy day before us, we immediately set to work. The girls helped me frost cupcakes for that evening's Halloween party and gathered some party materials. Then Husband and I went for a drive so I could show him some favorite results from my house hunting research. It's fun and exciting and a little overwhelming. No official decisions yet but we might be getting closer.
Time flew and we dashed back to the house, gathered the girls and met up with family for a lunch date party. Both of my brothers and their families, plus my cousin and his family, plus another cousin, aunt and my mom were there so we made quite the group. Children outnumbered adults and there was a frenzy of eating, laughing, talking, playing and general mischief. Eventually we headed back to our house where we spent the afternoon raking leaves, cooking dinner for that evening's Halloween party, coloring pictures and playing with toys.
The evening was fantastic. Our Halloween feast (mostly Pinterest inspired) was a blast. We had two kinds of soup accompanied by bones (rolls shaped as such) dripping with blood (strawberry jam), candy corn cups (fruit cups layered with pineapple, mandarin oranges and cool whip), devil's eyes (deviled eggs), graveyard goodies (steamed veggies and crackers artistically arranged and sprinkled with cheese), mummy men (hot dogs wrapped with thin pieces of biscuit dough) and monster cupcakes (cupcakes decorated with candy to be mummies or monsters) for dessert. It was silly and creative and fun and tasted great.
We kicked off the party with donuts on a string before changing into our costumes. The kids paraded and danced while I scrambled to finish assembling our official party games. We started by decorating our monster jugs (empty milk jugs with the top cut off) with scary/fun sticker faces. We used these for bowling and then the kids each kept their jug to collect candy and prizes throughout the night (and could use for trick or treating too if they wanted). We played the eye ball bounce (bouncing ping pong balls into candy-filled cups. if they make the shot, they keep the candy.) and pin-the-spider-on-the-web. We tried playing pumpkin patch (musical chairs using paper plates featuring a giant pumpkin) but my kids were too tired (having missed naptime) and not understanding the game, promptly broke down into tears. So instead we played the music for a costume parade, played our roll-a-skeleton game (a dice game, each number gives you another piece of our skeleton, first skeleton fully assembled wins) and ended the night with our traditional monster mash (everyone is generously adorned with glow stick bracelets while we turn out the lights and dance). Eventually we turned on a movie downstairs so the kids could unwind as we cleaned up and our guests trickled out to their own homes.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
walking
little miss Lovely is walking and its ADORABLE. She's done a step or two for the past few weeks but last Friday she crossed the room, taking several steps (while squealing in excitement) to go to our friend's dog. Upon her arrival, she threw herself a tthe dog, buried her face in her thick fur and giggled and patted and snuggled. The dog was amazingly patient and put it with it.
And then she wouldn't walk again. We tried several times over the next two days but she would try a few steps and then collapse to her knees and scurry away crawling. Until we were visiting a different friend who also happen to have a dog. It was almost an exact repeat of happy squealing and frantic, high stepping, lumbering walk to throw herself at the dog and bury herself in the thick fur.
Apparently she likes dogs.
Two more days passed with no walking (once again). But then I bribed her with cookies and she's been walking ever since. Her big sisters are bursting with pride every time but unfortunately have taken this as invitation to "help" her too often. They pick her up, pulling her to her feet or pick her up and drag her across the room to make her practice walking. But she's my happy go-luck girl and generally puts up with it, slinking down out of their arms and crawling away. Crawling is still faster but her lilting walk makes me melt.
And then she wouldn't walk again. We tried several times over the next two days but she would try a few steps and then collapse to her knees and scurry away crawling. Until we were visiting a different friend who also happen to have a dog. It was almost an exact repeat of happy squealing and frantic, high stepping, lumbering walk to throw herself at the dog and bury herself in the thick fur.
Apparently she likes dogs.
Two more days passed with no walking (once again). But then I bribed her with cookies and she's been walking ever since. Her big sisters are bursting with pride every time but unfortunately have taken this as invitation to "help" her too often. They pick her up, pulling her to her feet or pick her up and drag her across the room to make her practice walking. But she's my happy go-luck girl and generally puts up with it, slinking down out of their arms and crawling away. Crawling is still faster but her lilting walk makes me melt.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
big changes
What a week.
#1 big new item is that we launched Group Kick. So glad it's finally here, we've been training and anticipating for weeks. It was such a blast and a huge success. I team-taught two of the four classes, one of which was so packed we couldn't have fit another person in the room. I team-taught an employee "sneak peek" and it was fantastic. Nerve racking, but fantastic. So for our launch, I felt prepared and it was such a thrill. After our initial launch, we have moved into a regular schedule in which I will be teaching Thursday evening and Friday morning. This week is fall break so it threw us for a loop. My Thursday class was very small, but my co-instructor (the "pro" of the group as she's the most experienced) let me run with it and teach the first half non-stop, definitely an extra level of intensity over our usual alternating schedule. And my Friday morning class was great! It was a good size class and I teach with my neighbor and good friend so I felt more relaxed. So far, my feedback has been encouraging. Comments were made that my cueing is great/well delivered (especially for a first timer) but that I tend to mumble off/ramble in instructing technique (not surprised, its a work in progress). I also need to work on my confidence but that will improve with time as well. I think in general, I'm more self-conscious than most people would think and I hate to admit but I crave verbal feedback/reassurance when I feel out of my element. Group Kick is something new for me and I feel like I'm still creating my "character" as an instructor. It's a different personality than dance or teaching or anything I've done before. It's supposed to be street fighting tough, martial arts strong and authentic. So it's different and challenging in more ways than one and I thoroughly love it.
So the same day as the launch, we got our #2 big news item of the week which was an offer on our house. And since I was already on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, this news just added to it. I ran through the emotions: the initial panicked "wait! are we sure?", the sedated "yeah, this is for the best" to the excited "this is what we want, bring on the next adventure!" We mulled over the offer and concluded it was very reasonable, even generous when we realized we would pay nothing towards closing, it had no contingencies and gave a longer escrow period, allowing us more time to prepare for the move. So we accepted the offer and are making plans to move in with my in-laws for a few months while we choose our next home. And fortunately my mother-in-law will be back in the country soon so we can let her know we're moving in. :)
Big news of the week #3 is Lovely. Our sweet is little baby girl is walking! We were visiting friends last night, bringing them dinner and admiring their brand new, not quite 5 pounds, 5 week old premie baby. Our bigger girls were thrilled to see their older kids and played happily. We chatted, catching up on all the details with one of my long term best friends. It started to rain so they had to let their dog in the house and Lovely was fascinated immediately. She stared at the dog, calling to her, cheering, clapping and bouncing. She had been traversing the couch, regularly stopping, squatting for a toy and standing again (as she has done for weeks). Suddenly she let go and crossed the room, perhaps a five foot distance to go to the dog and then proceeded to follow her around, patting and petting and chattering. Today she has continued, mostly crawling but occasionally pattering those timid, unsteady but anxiously excited toddler steps.
In other news, Lovely is battling another ear infection and doing another round of antibiotics (last month was right ear and amoxicillian, this week was left ear and zithryomax). Butterfly had her first field trip and we made it a family playdate (preschool requires a parent to attend) and all the girls loved it, especially the slides and hay ride. More fun playdates with friends and the girls are loving their dance classes. And today, Butterfly is currently attending her first college football game. Daddy is chaperoning a YM/YW activity and took her with him for a special DaddyDaughterDate. The unfortunate part is that we live in a predominantly BYU ward so it's a BYU game. She was practicing her "Go Utes " cheer and I had to explain this was a different team and it's a good team so we would cheer for them unless they were playing the Utes. Can't wait to hear what she thought of the game. And how everyone reacted when Daddy helped her take her sweater off and realized she was wearing a Ute shirt underneath. :) (don't worry, its the black out game and she'll wear a black jacket over it the whole time anyway.)
#1 big new item is that we launched Group Kick. So glad it's finally here, we've been training and anticipating for weeks. It was such a blast and a huge success. I team-taught two of the four classes, one of which was so packed we couldn't have fit another person in the room. I team-taught an employee "sneak peek" and it was fantastic. Nerve racking, but fantastic. So for our launch, I felt prepared and it was such a thrill. After our initial launch, we have moved into a regular schedule in which I will be teaching Thursday evening and Friday morning. This week is fall break so it threw us for a loop. My Thursday class was very small, but my co-instructor (the "pro" of the group as she's the most experienced) let me run with it and teach the first half non-stop, definitely an extra level of intensity over our usual alternating schedule. And my Friday morning class was great! It was a good size class and I teach with my neighbor and good friend so I felt more relaxed. So far, my feedback has been encouraging. Comments were made that my cueing is great/well delivered (especially for a first timer) but that I tend to mumble off/ramble in instructing technique (not surprised, its a work in progress). I also need to work on my confidence but that will improve with time as well. I think in general, I'm more self-conscious than most people would think and I hate to admit but I crave verbal feedback/reassurance when I feel out of my element. Group Kick is something new for me and I feel like I'm still creating my "character" as an instructor. It's a different personality than dance or teaching or anything I've done before. It's supposed to be street fighting tough, martial arts strong and authentic. So it's different and challenging in more ways than one and I thoroughly love it.
So the same day as the launch, we got our #2 big news item of the week which was an offer on our house. And since I was already on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, this news just added to it. I ran through the emotions: the initial panicked "wait! are we sure?", the sedated "yeah, this is for the best" to the excited "this is what we want, bring on the next adventure!" We mulled over the offer and concluded it was very reasonable, even generous when we realized we would pay nothing towards closing, it had no contingencies and gave a longer escrow period, allowing us more time to prepare for the move. So we accepted the offer and are making plans to move in with my in-laws for a few months while we choose our next home. And fortunately my mother-in-law will be back in the country soon so we can let her know we're moving in. :)
Big news of the week #3 is Lovely. Our sweet is little baby girl is walking! We were visiting friends last night, bringing them dinner and admiring their brand new, not quite 5 pounds, 5 week old premie baby. Our bigger girls were thrilled to see their older kids and played happily. We chatted, catching up on all the details with one of my long term best friends. It started to rain so they had to let their dog in the house and Lovely was fascinated immediately. She stared at the dog, calling to her, cheering, clapping and bouncing. She had been traversing the couch, regularly stopping, squatting for a toy and standing again (as she has done for weeks). Suddenly she let go and crossed the room, perhaps a five foot distance to go to the dog and then proceeded to follow her around, patting and petting and chattering. Today she has continued, mostly crawling but occasionally pattering those timid, unsteady but anxiously excited toddler steps.
In other news, Lovely is battling another ear infection and doing another round of antibiotics (last month was right ear and amoxicillian, this week was left ear and zithryomax). Butterfly had her first field trip and we made it a family playdate (preschool requires a parent to attend) and all the girls loved it, especially the slides and hay ride. More fun playdates with friends and the girls are loving their dance classes. And today, Butterfly is currently attending her first college football game. Daddy is chaperoning a YM/YW activity and took her with him for a special DaddyDaughterDate. The unfortunate part is that we live in a predominantly BYU ward so it's a BYU game. She was practicing her "Go Utes " cheer and I had to explain this was a different team and it's a good team so we would cheer for them unless they were playing the Utes. Can't wait to hear what she thought of the game. And how everyone reacted when Daddy helped her take her sweater off and realized she was wearing a Ute shirt underneath. :) (don't worry, its the black out game and she'll wear a black jacket over it the whole time anyway.)
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
quote of the day
Daddy: "Good morning Ladybug? Are you clean and dry?"
Ladybug: "Yeah I clean and dry! Now I get wake up panties and that is my deal."
Daddy: "Oh okay. Good deal."
Ladybug: "Yeah, I go do my mission."
Daddy: "Your mission? You have to get lots bigger and then you can go on a mission."
Ladybug: "No daddy, this is just a little mission. I wake up clean and dry and I get wake up panties! That is my mission!"
silly girl.
Ladybug: "Yeah I clean and dry! Now I get wake up panties and that is my deal."
Daddy: "Oh okay. Good deal."
Ladybug: "Yeah, I go do my mission."
Daddy: "Your mission? You have to get lots bigger and then you can go on a mission."
Ladybug: "No daddy, this is just a little mission. I wake up clean and dry and I get wake up panties! That is my mission!"
silly girl.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
conference weekend
hurray for another fantastic weekend.
Friday evening wasn't a great start to the weekend. I planned a great family evening, homemade pizzas and game night. But my plans fizzled when Daddy had to work late, the girls got sassy and I got cranky. So we made it through the make-our-own-pizzas, (which the girls loved) but didn't accomplish much after that.
The rest of the weekend was pretty perfect though. Saturday morning we woke up, lounged in pajamas and made omelets piled high with veggies from our garden (which we had picked a few night before via flashlight because we lack proper garden diligence and heard last-minute about the impending frost). I diced up not one, but two, habenero peppers to hide in my heat-loving husband's food (and then laughed triumphantly when he began sweating on the first bite). But the joke was on me twenty minutes later when I rubbed my eyes and realized I still had habereno pepper juice on my hands. It was not fun.
Once I recovered, we spent the morning playing dress-ups. I may or may not have fit into one of the dresses I found in the box of costumes we borrowed from my mom. Then we headed to grandpa's house to help dig up his garden. The girls had a ton of fun searching for the "buried treasure" (potatoes) and hiding them before Captain Hook could get them. Even Lovely had a good time, crawling around the driveway, chasing the cat, playing in the dirt and tasting the potatoes. She was eager to help and found a pile of potatoes that had been set aside since they were deemed too small for the collection bin. She tossed each one into the bin, mimicking her sisters, giggling the whole time. Then at one point, I caught Ladybug playing on the patio furniture, mimicking a bench press and she declared that she had to do her "exercisings". We made lunch together and then shipped Daddy off to an afternoon scout activity while the girls and I returned home to get cleaned up and settle in for naps. I watched conference, reviewed choreography for work and then rejoined by Daddy, we spent the evening playing, having dinner and watching a movie.
Sunday morning started with my favorite breakfast (honey wheat waffles, nutella, strawberries, bananas and whip cream). Then we settled in to watch conference. Copying an idea from pinterest, I filled several glasses with different types of snacks (pretzels, cereal, marshmallows, goldfish, m&ms, skittles, swedish fish) and labelled each with a key word (Jesus Christ, prayer, faith, family, church, etc.) Each time the girls heard a key word, they could eat the corresponding snack. It was great! Even better than I expected from my 3 and 4 year old girls. During each song, we got up to dance (not the most reverent but we needed a wiggle break) and then the girls generally returned to their seats quickly and were ready to listen again. They napped through the second session of conference, allowing Husband and I to listen more attentively.
And then we had a great evening playing wii games and having dinner. We don't play our wii as often as we used to so it was a fun treat. We played Toy Story Mania (Butterfly is getting better, she actually understands and interacts and follows directions they way she should) and even played a few songs on RockBand while our crazy girls danced around us. Lovely jabbered nonstop (my new favorite is her frequent "tickle tickle tickle") and demonstrated her growing possessiveness of her favorite blanket by demanding it back from her sisters and nuzzling her face into it whenever someone else tried to play with it.
Friday evening wasn't a great start to the weekend. I planned a great family evening, homemade pizzas and game night. But my plans fizzled when Daddy had to work late, the girls got sassy and I got cranky. So we made it through the make-our-own-pizzas, (which the girls loved) but didn't accomplish much after that.
The rest of the weekend was pretty perfect though. Saturday morning we woke up, lounged in pajamas and made omelets piled high with veggies from our garden (which we had picked a few night before via flashlight because we lack proper garden diligence and heard last-minute about the impending frost). I diced up not one, but two, habenero peppers to hide in my heat-loving husband's food (and then laughed triumphantly when he began sweating on the first bite). But the joke was on me twenty minutes later when I rubbed my eyes and realized I still had habereno pepper juice on my hands. It was not fun.
Once I recovered, we spent the morning playing dress-ups. I may or may not have fit into one of the dresses I found in the box of costumes we borrowed from my mom. Then we headed to grandpa's house to help dig up his garden. The girls had a ton of fun searching for the "buried treasure" (potatoes) and hiding them before Captain Hook could get them. Even Lovely had a good time, crawling around the driveway, chasing the cat, playing in the dirt and tasting the potatoes. She was eager to help and found a pile of potatoes that had been set aside since they were deemed too small for the collection bin. She tossed each one into the bin, mimicking her sisters, giggling the whole time. Then at one point, I caught Ladybug playing on the patio furniture, mimicking a bench press and she declared that she had to do her "exercisings". We made lunch together and then shipped Daddy off to an afternoon scout activity while the girls and I returned home to get cleaned up and settle in for naps. I watched conference, reviewed choreography for work and then rejoined by Daddy, we spent the evening playing, having dinner and watching a movie.
Sunday morning started with my favorite breakfast (honey wheat waffles, nutella, strawberries, bananas and whip cream). Then we settled in to watch conference. Copying an idea from pinterest, I filled several glasses with different types of snacks (pretzels, cereal, marshmallows, goldfish, m&ms, skittles, swedish fish) and labelled each with a key word (Jesus Christ, prayer, faith, family, church, etc.) Each time the girls heard a key word, they could eat the corresponding snack. It was great! Even better than I expected from my 3 and 4 year old girls. During each song, we got up to dance (not the most reverent but we needed a wiggle break) and then the girls generally returned to their seats quickly and were ready to listen again. They napped through the second session of conference, allowing Husband and I to listen more attentively.
And then we had a great evening playing wii games and having dinner. We don't play our wii as often as we used to so it was a fun treat. We played Toy Story Mania (Butterfly is getting better, she actually understands and interacts and follows directions they way she should) and even played a few songs on RockBand while our crazy girls danced around us. Lovely jabbered nonstop (my new favorite is her frequent "tickle tickle tickle") and demonstrated her growing possessiveness of her favorite blanket by demanding it back from her sisters and nuzzling her face into it whenever someone else tried to play with it.
Friday, October 5, 2012
binky kisses
Lovely and I have this little fun (but not so unique) game where I steal her binky by grabbing the end of it with my teeth and pulling it out of her mouth. She giggles, I giggle, it's fantastic. Then I give it back to her, again using only my teeth to hold it and pass it to her to latch onto (more giggling). We played today while I was getting my post nap cuddle, I did it once or twice and then settled in just to chat. She picked up the binky and shoved the back end in my mouth again, apparently not finished with the game. So then I started leaning in, as if I was offering it to her but would drop it at the last minute to get a sloppy kiss. This made her giggle like crazy and she would promptly pick the binky up again and push it into my mouth. I laughed because if she really wanted the binky, she would have just put it in her own mouth. But no, she wanted to play our silly game and I love hearing her giggle.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
quote of the day
I have a secret. I actually have curly hair. But since it's more frizzy than curly, and since curly hair requires significantly more product/time, I choose to straighten it. But when I unraveled my braids, Butterfly saw the curly ripples left and got so excited, "mommy! you have curly hair like me! we match! mommy I love your curlies!" I thanked her and headed for the shower. Then she begged, "mommy, no please don't wash the curlies out of your hair!" It was adorable but she was genuinely sad so I promised I would wear my hair curly so we could match. So I washed and styled my hair. I returned to where she was watching a movie to show her, "oh mommy! I love your curlies! They're not curly like my curlies but we can match!"
Then at church, Butterfly participated in her first Primary program. She was eager to go to the stand and sat proudly and primly in her chair...until the newness wore off and then she bounced and wiggled like the rest of her 4 year old class. but she proudly stood and sang the songs when instructed and she even came to the mike to deliver her assigned part ("We began using our agency in the premortal life when we chose to follow God's plan"). I had practiced with her so I knew that she knew it. But in her nervousness, she relied on the teacher to help and she coached her through it. During the second song, she forgot her "princess persona" and with both hands, waved excitedly at us. Not reverent but certainly cute.
Then at church, Butterfly participated in her first Primary program. She was eager to go to the stand and sat proudly and primly in her chair...until the newness wore off and then she bounced and wiggled like the rest of her 4 year old class. but she proudly stood and sang the songs when instructed and she even came to the mike to deliver her assigned part ("We began using our agency in the premortal life when we chose to follow God's plan"). I had practiced with her so I knew that she knew it. But in her nervousness, she relied on the teacher to help and she coached her through it. During the second song, she forgot her "princess persona" and with both hands, waved excitedly at us. Not reverent but certainly cute.
Lake Powell
Last week was a blissful, fantastic and much-needed vacation for Husband and me. Some friends invited us to join a couples-only trip to Lake Powell on their houseboat. So we arranged with the grandparents to watch our kids (each set of grandparents taking two nights) and we made our escape.
(this is the short version. the long version would include the amazing conversations, billions of photos and countless jokes and small moments that made up for an amazing trip.)
We drove down Tuesday evening, carpooling with another couple from our ward. Our casual acquaintance with them was quickly developed as we chatted away the miles. We arrived close to midnight, were eagerly met by our friends who shuttled us away onto the houseboat and after a brief introduction to the couples we didn't' know, we quickly settled in for the evening.
I didn't sleep particularly well but I got to enjoy the spectacular sunrise and then got up early to help with breakfast. We had a fantastic day! "The Captain", our host, had deemed it to be our excursion day so we packed a lunch and loaded into the speedboat where he whisked us away to explore canyons, hike the "Hole in the Rock" trail, view the arch and hunt for ancient ruins. All along the way, we talked with our new friends and swapped stories. We arrived back at the houseboat just in time for dinner and we quickly joined by the sixth and final couple couple that would be sharing our vacation adventure. That night, we built a campfire on the beach and Husband demonstrated his pyrotechnic skills with his infamous "sobe bombs". Then "Mrs. Captain" brought out her guitar and we had an impromptu singalong/talent show.
after a sunrise waking of bagpipes by one of our talented crew members, we spent most of Thursday morning on the lake. Husband and I both tried wake boarding (he was much more successful than me, but he's had a few more chances than I've had too). I managed to get up and had a few mildly spectacular crashed without hurting myself. Husband did great, cutting across the wake and even doing some jumps. In the afternoon, we went on another short excursion to find the ancient ruins and hieroglyphs and then we hiked "the Crack". It was challenging and fun and reminded me of canyoneering as we scrambled and climbed over rocks. That evening, we had another fantastic dinner and fun evening. Husband and I went for a little walk (okay, I wanted to go skinny dipping. I never have and it's one of those bucket list kind of things so we went. It was fun. :) and cold.) and then we spent the evening sitting on the upper deck talking for hours.
Friday morning kicked off with more water sports. I got to try water surfing and loved it! It was still challenging but not as discouraging as wake boarding (and the crashes weren't as intense!) I got up on my first try and laughed every time I fell over, it was simply so fun. The rest of the group headed out for an afternoon excursion but it was something Husband had already seen several times and didn't sound as interesting to me, so we stayed at the houseboat. He took care of a few pressing work needs while I read. We swam and lounged in the sun together. we rejoined the group for more water sports, dinner and a late evening of playing games like Mafia or simply laughing at the comedy routines of some of our fellow sailors.
We spent Saturday morning on the lake, squeezing in a few more rounds of watersports. I went wake surfing again, Husband went wake boarding and wake surfing. He even managed to jump the entire wake on one of this runs. I went for a ride on the tube with some of the other ladies, getting bounced and tossed and eventually thrown into the water. But eventually, and reluctantly, we packed our things, cleaned the boat and headed for shore. As we drove the boat in, we observed our amazing luck: no accidents, injuries or mishaps. But someone forgot to knock on wood and the "mishaps" began piling in. They started slow, we had some trouble dumping the boat's tanks and trouble refilling the propane. Then we drove the speedboats to the ramp and sent husband to fetch the boat and trailer. We waited over an hour as he discovered the car had been booted and we had to be escorted by a sheriff to the decontamination station where we were lectured and ticketed for an illegal launch (they had the wrong forms, an honest mistake but illegal nevertheless). Eventually we got underway but then one of our cars were stopped for speeding and another stopped for a flat tire. Lesson? be grateful and don't tempt fate. We stopped for dinner as the final moment to celebrate our trip with friends and it was with much reluctance that we left. In such a short time, we felt like we had gotten to know each other so well and even though we all missed our kids and such, it was sad to see our perfect vacation come to an end.
(this is the short version. the long version would include the amazing conversations, billions of photos and countless jokes and small moments that made up for an amazing trip.)
We drove down Tuesday evening, carpooling with another couple from our ward. Our casual acquaintance with them was quickly developed as we chatted away the miles. We arrived close to midnight, were eagerly met by our friends who shuttled us away onto the houseboat and after a brief introduction to the couples we didn't' know, we quickly settled in for the evening.
I didn't sleep particularly well but I got to enjoy the spectacular sunrise and then got up early to help with breakfast. We had a fantastic day! "The Captain", our host, had deemed it to be our excursion day so we packed a lunch and loaded into the speedboat where he whisked us away to explore canyons, hike the "Hole in the Rock" trail, view the arch and hunt for ancient ruins. All along the way, we talked with our new friends and swapped stories. We arrived back at the houseboat just in time for dinner and we quickly joined by the sixth and final couple couple that would be sharing our vacation adventure. That night, we built a campfire on the beach and Husband demonstrated his pyrotechnic skills with his infamous "sobe bombs". Then "Mrs. Captain" brought out her guitar and we had an impromptu singalong/talent show.
after a sunrise waking of bagpipes by one of our talented crew members, we spent most of Thursday morning on the lake. Husband and I both tried wake boarding (he was much more successful than me, but he's had a few more chances than I've had too). I managed to get up and had a few mildly spectacular crashed without hurting myself. Husband did great, cutting across the wake and even doing some jumps. In the afternoon, we went on another short excursion to find the ancient ruins and hieroglyphs and then we hiked "the Crack". It was challenging and fun and reminded me of canyoneering as we scrambled and climbed over rocks. That evening, we had another fantastic dinner and fun evening. Husband and I went for a little walk (okay, I wanted to go skinny dipping. I never have and it's one of those bucket list kind of things so we went. It was fun. :) and cold.) and then we spent the evening sitting on the upper deck talking for hours.
Friday morning kicked off with more water sports. I got to try water surfing and loved it! It was still challenging but not as discouraging as wake boarding (and the crashes weren't as intense!) I got up on my first try and laughed every time I fell over, it was simply so fun. The rest of the group headed out for an afternoon excursion but it was something Husband had already seen several times and didn't sound as interesting to me, so we stayed at the houseboat. He took care of a few pressing work needs while I read. We swam and lounged in the sun together. we rejoined the group for more water sports, dinner and a late evening of playing games like Mafia or simply laughing at the comedy routines of some of our fellow sailors.
We spent Saturday morning on the lake, squeezing in a few more rounds of watersports. I went wake surfing again, Husband went wake boarding and wake surfing. He even managed to jump the entire wake on one of this runs. I went for a ride on the tube with some of the other ladies, getting bounced and tossed and eventually thrown into the water. But eventually, and reluctantly, we packed our things, cleaned the boat and headed for shore. As we drove the boat in, we observed our amazing luck: no accidents, injuries or mishaps. But someone forgot to knock on wood and the "mishaps" began piling in. They started slow, we had some trouble dumping the boat's tanks and trouble refilling the propane. Then we drove the speedboats to the ramp and sent husband to fetch the boat and trailer. We waited over an hour as he discovered the car had been booted and we had to be escorted by a sheriff to the decontamination station where we were lectured and ticketed for an illegal launch (they had the wrong forms, an honest mistake but illegal nevertheless). Eventually we got underway but then one of our cars were stopped for speeding and another stopped for a flat tire. Lesson? be grateful and don't tempt fate. We stopped for dinner as the final moment to celebrate our trip with friends and it was with much reluctance that we left. In such a short time, we felt like we had gotten to know each other so well and even though we all missed our kids and such, it was sad to see our perfect vacation come to an end.
my little bird
When Lovely is happy or excited, she flaps her arms like a little bird. If she's really excited she even kicks and giggles and flaps so hard I think she might fly away.
Each moment seems like a new discovery with her. She's at a fantastic age of discovery and new achievements and I love watching her face as the world unfolds to her.
She teases us, threatening her first step. She traverses easily and quickly and stands perfectly on her own for extended lengths of time. She evens squats to pick something up and stands again, without needing assistance to find her balance. But her record remains two steps.
She's babbling and some sounds are becoming more clear like "dada", "mom", "tank you", "please" and "up", "more".
She's graduated to cow's milk but she's still taking it in a bottle as she seems unimpressed by the sippy cups we've offered However, she does like to use a straw and she LOVES drinking from a regular cup. We may skip sippy cups all together.
We lost her binky yesterday. Fortunately, she was busy and distracted through the evening and then was so tired that she fell asleep without it. But this afternoon, she decided she was missing it and then threw an epic fit when I couldn't find it. I spent two hours searching for it and concluded I must have lost it at church. She's not particularly dependent on it unless she's tired so it can be easy to overlook when we haven't needed it. She screamed and cried a tired/teething cry while I searched and tried to give her an impostor binky. It was even the same brand and color, and I put it on the same kind of binky leash thinking that she wouldn't mind. She disagreed. Even without looking, she could tell it was not the beloved binky of the past several months. I concluded she must be that sensitive to the texture of her old one, probably softer from months of use. I've worn her down through the evening and she grudgingly accepted the impostor binky this evening for bed.
Each moment seems like a new discovery with her. She's at a fantastic age of discovery and new achievements and I love watching her face as the world unfolds to her.
She teases us, threatening her first step. She traverses easily and quickly and stands perfectly on her own for extended lengths of time. She evens squats to pick something up and stands again, without needing assistance to find her balance. But her record remains two steps.
She's babbling and some sounds are becoming more clear like "dada", "mom", "tank you", "please" and "up", "more".
She's graduated to cow's milk but she's still taking it in a bottle as she seems unimpressed by the sippy cups we've offered However, she does like to use a straw and she LOVES drinking from a regular cup. We may skip sippy cups all together.
We lost her binky yesterday. Fortunately, she was busy and distracted through the evening and then was so tired that she fell asleep without it. But this afternoon, she decided she was missing it and then threw an epic fit when I couldn't find it. I spent two hours searching for it and concluded I must have lost it at church. She's not particularly dependent on it unless she's tired so it can be easy to overlook when we haven't needed it. She screamed and cried a tired/teething cry while I searched and tried to give her an impostor binky. It was even the same brand and color, and I put it on the same kind of binky leash thinking that she wouldn't mind. She disagreed. Even without looking, she could tell it was not the beloved binky of the past several months. I concluded she must be that sensitive to the texture of her old one, probably softer from months of use. I've worn her down through the evening and she grudgingly accepted the impostor binky this evening for bed.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
family weekend
I love weekends.
On this particular weekend, we were making a trip to my parents house. We left Friday when Daddy got home from work and we meandered up the canyon. Along the way we stopped for Daddy to make a quick errand. But the girls were becoming increasingly loud and distracting so I hauled them outside for a walk. We passed a Pets Smart store and my brilliant little girls bolted in to pet the ADORABLE dogs and cars that were almost too charming to resist. I rather fell in love with one in particular and had to have Daddy talk some sense into me before we did something I would probably regret. I love animals. and I really want a dog. but I'm already raising three kids and have to remind myself that I truly cannot handle a fourth right now.) eventually we made it to my parents house, ran around like wild monkeys for awhile and went to bed. except Lovely. She hit a second wind and crawled around with lightening speed until nearly midnight leaving a disaster or toys, snacks and all other forms of clutter in her wake.
Saturday was a blast. Having been joined by my brother and his five kids, we played and lounged around the house all morning. The girls dragged out all the dress up dresses and played princess. In the afternoon, we sent the men and boys to the gun range while the girls watched a princess movie and did at-home spa pedicures. (even little Lovely got her toes painted.) Then we headed to town for some shopping and a playdate at the park with more cousins. Daddy and I had to sneak away for a couples baby shower and had a great time teasing the soon-to-be-parents. After the shower we rejoined the family for pizza and more playtime in my brother's backyard, enjoying a perfect late summer evening. The kids ran and laughed and played. The babies crawled and explored and giggled. The adults lounged on the grass, chatting, watching kids and devouring pizza. What a great night.
On Sunday morning, we showered and readied the girls for our third attempt at family pictures this summer. (the first attempt went well but the photographer turned out to be a crook, the second attempt was with a great photographer but cranky kids.) So we met a long time friend (who happens to be a photographer) up the canyon for a photo session in the beautiful red and orange leaves. The kids loved throwing the leaves around and were generally cooperative and as always, adorable.
In the afternoon, we returned to Grammy's house, attended the temple dedication being broadcasted at their stake building, made a feast for dinner (chile rellenos--possibly my new go-to recipe for impressing company) and played with cousins again.
All in all, a great weekend.
On this particular weekend, we were making a trip to my parents house. We left Friday when Daddy got home from work and we meandered up the canyon. Along the way we stopped for Daddy to make a quick errand. But the girls were becoming increasingly loud and distracting so I hauled them outside for a walk. We passed a Pets Smart store and my brilliant little girls bolted in to pet the ADORABLE dogs and cars that were almost too charming to resist. I rather fell in love with one in particular and had to have Daddy talk some sense into me before we did something I would probably regret. I love animals. and I really want a dog. but I'm already raising three kids and have to remind myself that I truly cannot handle a fourth right now.) eventually we made it to my parents house, ran around like wild monkeys for awhile and went to bed. except Lovely. She hit a second wind and crawled around with lightening speed until nearly midnight leaving a disaster or toys, snacks and all other forms of clutter in her wake.
Saturday was a blast. Having been joined by my brother and his five kids, we played and lounged around the house all morning. The girls dragged out all the dress up dresses and played princess. In the afternoon, we sent the men and boys to the gun range while the girls watched a princess movie and did at-home spa pedicures. (even little Lovely got her toes painted.) Then we headed to town for some shopping and a playdate at the park with more cousins. Daddy and I had to sneak away for a couples baby shower and had a great time teasing the soon-to-be-parents. After the shower we rejoined the family for pizza and more playtime in my brother's backyard, enjoying a perfect late summer evening. The kids ran and laughed and played. The babies crawled and explored and giggled. The adults lounged on the grass, chatting, watching kids and devouring pizza. What a great night.
On Sunday morning, we showered and readied the girls for our third attempt at family pictures this summer. (the first attempt went well but the photographer turned out to be a crook, the second attempt was with a great photographer but cranky kids.) So we met a long time friend (who happens to be a photographer) up the canyon for a photo session in the beautiful red and orange leaves. The kids loved throwing the leaves around and were generally cooperative and as always, adorable.
In the afternoon, we returned to Grammy's house, attended the temple dedication being broadcasted at their stake building, made a feast for dinner (chile rellenos--possibly my new go-to recipe for impressing company) and played with cousins again.
All in all, a great weekend.
milestones
Lovely
Height: 30.5 inches, 87%
Weight: 22 lb 4 oz, 68% --hands down, our smallest baby!
New achievements:
-traversing quickly and confidently. still crawling at lightening speed (her occasional "peg-leg" crawl is adorable). can free stand for a good length of time and has taken one or two steps at a time but seems to be holding off on actually walking. like many things lately, she seems determined to let us know she is her own person. Perfectly sweet but independent, mischievous and completely in control of everything.
-I love her babble and squealing. her vocabulary is still very limited because even though there are words we've heard her say at least once or twice, it's usually only once or twice. but she's incredibly expressive with her face and hands (my favorite is her grasping reach when she wants someone/something). she also signs "more".
-she loves to climb! she has mastered the stairs both up and down but is still easily distracted so I have to watch her like a hawk. she also loves to climb onto stairs, the fireplace, into the dishwasher, etc.
-she sleeps 12 hours solid every night (and has for months). she is without a doubt, the best sleeper in the house. she sleeps much more soundly than her sisters did and loves to cuddle in her sleep. Her sisters were "stinkbug" sleepers at this age but Lovely seems to prefer being stretched out.
-we moved her into a forward facing carseat and she sang and babbled the whole way home. and then cried when I put her in her old carseat again.
-so far she only has her bottom two teeth (very different from her sisters who both had a full set by now. Butterfly even had her molars already). Teething seems much more drawn out and bothersome for her. She's much more fussy and sensitive than I remember her sisters being and the teeth take much longer from when I first notice them to when they actually break the surface. She's currently working on both eye-teeth (has been for at least two weeks and I suspect will be several more).
-she dances. mostly when sitting in her high chair or when standing, holding herself up. When encouraged, "dance!" she grins, ducks her head and rocks out, alternating her shoulders and throwing herself side to side.
Favorites:
-zero interest in tv. instead when in the playroom, she heads straight for the art easel to play with (and scatter) the magnetic letters or so the play kitchen to play with (and scatter) the plastic food. she's also discovered the little slide/swing unit and climbs all over it. or she attacks the basket of puzzles so she can teeth on the cardboard pieces. also loves the mega blocks and music table.
-she LOVES the swings at the park and will audibly giggle the whole time.
-favorite foods are bananas, yogurt bites, pancakes, cherry tomatoes, marshmallows and ice cream. so far, she's my pickest eater. not because she has limited tastes but because she's very demanding in what and when she eats. For example if I bring a new food to the table, she will refuse to finish whats on her tray and only wants the new food.
favorite moments:
-when I put her down for a nap, I wrap a blanket around her and she tucks her knees up. We cuddle into her chair and she nestles down into my arm and suddenly my fast growing almost toddler feels like a tiny baby again. She drinks her bottle and drifts off to sleep peacefully, with an angelic and serene glow.
-when Daddy gets home, the girls and I have a long standing tradition of racing to him and showering him with excited hugs and kisses. We hear the door open and race off, usually leaving Lovely behind. She scampers after us, hurrying to Daddy as fast as she can, squealing for her own round of kisses and demanding to not be left out.
Ladybug
Height: 40.5 inches, >97% - our tallest girl
Weight: 33 lb 6 oz, 75% - with only 10% body mass index which means she is solid muscle!
New achievements:
-potty trained! it's been slow and generally awful with accidents nearly everyday and no ownership/initiation from her. But last week, we seemed to have turned a corner and without any specific trigger that we know of, she is doing great. She initiates and stays dry all day, has good understanding and its suddenly not a problem anymore. And she's very, very proud of her panties, announcing them to pretty much every person we met.
-she loves school and is doing fantastic. she thrives on getting to be a special helper (both at school and at home) and has become increasingly helpful and cooperative. she's still stubborn and mischievous but so wonderful. She's sweet and good and I'm crazy about her.
-she loves dance class, still bouncing off the walls excited but settling into the expectations and rules of class.
-she knows her letters, most of their sounds, the colors, most shapes and we are working on numbers
-sleeps great through the night, still naps every day (love naptime!)
-she's my little dancer. put on some rock music and she can jam and wiggle all day long. it's hilarious and has me quite concerned about her teenage years already.
Favorites:
-foods: she's my bottomless pit and eats everything we give her, particularly fruit, ramen noodles, cheeseburgers and will eat anything dipped in ranch or sour cream.
-color: purple
-toys: her hair style salon, books, character figurines
-characters: Tiana, Rapunzel, Mickey
-loves movies and rotates favorites, especially Bolt, Rapunzel, Tiana, Ariel, Winnie the Pooh, TinkerBell, Alvin and the Chipmunks
-tv shows: Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, SuperWhy, Leapfrog Letters
other favorite activities: coloring pictures, going for a popsicle walk, reading books, calling Daddy/Grammy on the phone, helping Daddy in the garage, swimming
-sidekicks: Yellow and Panda (of course. but recently noticing less attachment during the day to them. they aren't involved in every game and playdate but are reserved for movies and bedtime now). Bebug (her crazy ladybug stuffed animal), her cell phone (my old cell phone that broke) and a stack of books.
favorite moments:
-our one-on-one moments, she gives the best cuddles, holds my hand when we walk and talks to me with lengthy sentences that I don't hear very often.
-She's her big sister's little shadow, always eager to play whatever sister suggests and yet completely independent and determined to do things her own way.
-She delights in being "mommy's Ladybug". If I use another nickname, she is insistent, "no! mommy's ladybug!"
Butterfly
New Achievements:
-she's my budding artists and draws beautiful pictures everyday with realism and clarity and bright colors. she also will fill a whole page with letters and then read me the "story" she wrote.
-doing great with her assigned chores. she helps set the table, unloads the silverware from the dishwasher and keeps her room clean, including making her bed.
-turning into a great storyteller. she tells long rambling "once upon a time" princess stories with dramatic flare and animation. She makes up wonderful songs to sing to the baby, usually something about "my heart" or Heavenly Father or "dreams come true".
-she loves dance class and seems to have a knack for it. she takes it very seriously and is a studious, graceful student. after class, she's always eager to demonstrate what she learned.
-doing great at school, eager to learn to read and is working on sounding out words
Favorites:
-foods: fish, grilled zucchini, mushrooms, "smashed 'tatoes", fruit and any form of dessert/candy. She's definitely a slow eater and is almost always the last one finished with her dinner. She meanders though a meal, more interested in talking than eating.
color: pink
toys: princess dolls, tea party set, her razor scooter, dress up clothes
characters: Belle and anyone/anything princess, TinkerBell, Barbie
movies: Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted
tv shows: Shaun the Sheep, Angelina Ballerina, My Little Pony
other favorite activities: playing pretend (princess/family/doctor/school/chef/fighting badguys), sidewalk chalk, playdates, helping me cook, reading books, puzzles
sidekicks: a little tin case with flavored chapsticks and increasingly present is some kind of jewelry. I've discovered her habit of hiding items under her pillow, usually a favorite little toy, a picture, book, sticker or some kind of trinket.
favorite moments:
-she wakes up from her nap before her sisters and comes to the office where I am usually working. She settles herself at Daddy's desk and diligently and studiously draws me a picture.
-She dotes on her baby sister and loves to help her by telling her stories or singing songs to her.
Height: 30.5 inches, 87%
Weight: 22 lb 4 oz, 68% --hands down, our smallest baby!
New achievements:
-traversing quickly and confidently. still crawling at lightening speed (her occasional "peg-leg" crawl is adorable). can free stand for a good length of time and has taken one or two steps at a time but seems to be holding off on actually walking. like many things lately, she seems determined to let us know she is her own person. Perfectly sweet but independent, mischievous and completely in control of everything.
-I love her babble and squealing. her vocabulary is still very limited because even though there are words we've heard her say at least once or twice, it's usually only once or twice. but she's incredibly expressive with her face and hands (my favorite is her grasping reach when she wants someone/something). she also signs "more".
-she loves to climb! she has mastered the stairs both up and down but is still easily distracted so I have to watch her like a hawk. she also loves to climb onto stairs, the fireplace, into the dishwasher, etc.
-she sleeps 12 hours solid every night (and has for months). she is without a doubt, the best sleeper in the house. she sleeps much more soundly than her sisters did and loves to cuddle in her sleep. Her sisters were "stinkbug" sleepers at this age but Lovely seems to prefer being stretched out.
-we moved her into a forward facing carseat and she sang and babbled the whole way home. and then cried when I put her in her old carseat again.
-so far she only has her bottom two teeth (very different from her sisters who both had a full set by now. Butterfly even had her molars already). Teething seems much more drawn out and bothersome for her. She's much more fussy and sensitive than I remember her sisters being and the teeth take much longer from when I first notice them to when they actually break the surface. She's currently working on both eye-teeth (has been for at least two weeks and I suspect will be several more).
-she dances. mostly when sitting in her high chair or when standing, holding herself up. When encouraged, "dance!" she grins, ducks her head and rocks out, alternating her shoulders and throwing herself side to side.
Favorites:
-zero interest in tv. instead when in the playroom, she heads straight for the art easel to play with (and scatter) the magnetic letters or so the play kitchen to play with (and scatter) the plastic food. she's also discovered the little slide/swing unit and climbs all over it. or she attacks the basket of puzzles so she can teeth on the cardboard pieces. also loves the mega blocks and music table.
-she LOVES the swings at the park and will audibly giggle the whole time.
-favorite foods are bananas, yogurt bites, pancakes, cherry tomatoes, marshmallows and ice cream. so far, she's my pickest eater. not because she has limited tastes but because she's very demanding in what and when she eats. For example if I bring a new food to the table, she will refuse to finish whats on her tray and only wants the new food.
favorite moments:
-when I put her down for a nap, I wrap a blanket around her and she tucks her knees up. We cuddle into her chair and she nestles down into my arm and suddenly my fast growing almost toddler feels like a tiny baby again. She drinks her bottle and drifts off to sleep peacefully, with an angelic and serene glow.
-when Daddy gets home, the girls and I have a long standing tradition of racing to him and showering him with excited hugs and kisses. We hear the door open and race off, usually leaving Lovely behind. She scampers after us, hurrying to Daddy as fast as she can, squealing for her own round of kisses and demanding to not be left out.
Ladybug
Height: 40.5 inches, >97% - our tallest girl
Weight: 33 lb 6 oz, 75% - with only 10% body mass index which means she is solid muscle!
New achievements:
-potty trained! it's been slow and generally awful with accidents nearly everyday and no ownership/initiation from her. But last week, we seemed to have turned a corner and without any specific trigger that we know of, she is doing great. She initiates and stays dry all day, has good understanding and its suddenly not a problem anymore. And she's very, very proud of her panties, announcing them to pretty much every person we met.
-she loves school and is doing fantastic. she thrives on getting to be a special helper (both at school and at home) and has become increasingly helpful and cooperative. she's still stubborn and mischievous but so wonderful. She's sweet and good and I'm crazy about her.
-she loves dance class, still bouncing off the walls excited but settling into the expectations and rules of class.
-she knows her letters, most of their sounds, the colors, most shapes and we are working on numbers
-sleeps great through the night, still naps every day (love naptime!)
-she's my little dancer. put on some rock music and she can jam and wiggle all day long. it's hilarious and has me quite concerned about her teenage years already.
Favorites:
-foods: she's my bottomless pit and eats everything we give her, particularly fruit, ramen noodles, cheeseburgers and will eat anything dipped in ranch or sour cream.
-color: purple
-toys: her hair style salon, books, character figurines
-characters: Tiana, Rapunzel, Mickey
-loves movies and rotates favorites, especially Bolt, Rapunzel, Tiana, Ariel, Winnie the Pooh, TinkerBell, Alvin and the Chipmunks
-tv shows: Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, SuperWhy, Leapfrog Letters
other favorite activities: coloring pictures, going for a popsicle walk, reading books, calling Daddy/Grammy on the phone, helping Daddy in the garage, swimming
-sidekicks: Yellow and Panda (of course. but recently noticing less attachment during the day to them. they aren't involved in every game and playdate but are reserved for movies and bedtime now). Bebug (her crazy ladybug stuffed animal), her cell phone (my old cell phone that broke) and a stack of books.
favorite moments:
-our one-on-one moments, she gives the best cuddles, holds my hand when we walk and talks to me with lengthy sentences that I don't hear very often.
-She's her big sister's little shadow, always eager to play whatever sister suggests and yet completely independent and determined to do things her own way.
-She delights in being "mommy's Ladybug". If I use another nickname, she is insistent, "no! mommy's ladybug!"
Butterfly
New Achievements:
-she's my budding artists and draws beautiful pictures everyday with realism and clarity and bright colors. she also will fill a whole page with letters and then read me the "story" she wrote.
-doing great with her assigned chores. she helps set the table, unloads the silverware from the dishwasher and keeps her room clean, including making her bed.
-turning into a great storyteller. she tells long rambling "once upon a time" princess stories with dramatic flare and animation. She makes up wonderful songs to sing to the baby, usually something about "my heart" or Heavenly Father or "dreams come true".
-she loves dance class and seems to have a knack for it. she takes it very seriously and is a studious, graceful student. after class, she's always eager to demonstrate what she learned.
-doing great at school, eager to learn to read and is working on sounding out words
Favorites:
-foods: fish, grilled zucchini, mushrooms, "smashed 'tatoes", fruit and any form of dessert/candy. She's definitely a slow eater and is almost always the last one finished with her dinner. She meanders though a meal, more interested in talking than eating.
color: pink
toys: princess dolls, tea party set, her razor scooter, dress up clothes
characters: Belle and anyone/anything princess, TinkerBell, Barbie
movies: Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted
tv shows: Shaun the Sheep, Angelina Ballerina, My Little Pony
other favorite activities: playing pretend (princess/family/doctor/school/chef/fighting badguys), sidewalk chalk, playdates, helping me cook, reading books, puzzles
sidekicks: a little tin case with flavored chapsticks and increasingly present is some kind of jewelry. I've discovered her habit of hiding items under her pillow, usually a favorite little toy, a picture, book, sticker or some kind of trinket.
favorite moments:
-she wakes up from her nap before her sisters and comes to the office where I am usually working. She settles herself at Daddy's desk and diligently and studiously draws me a picture.
-She dotes on her baby sister and loves to help her by telling her stories or singing songs to her.
Monday, September 24, 2012
storytime
On the way home a few nights ago, I asked Butterfly to tell the baby a story. She was sitting next to Grammy in the backseat and said she had to tell a Grammy story. This was the story as best I remember...
Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Grammy. And she had two pets, a cat name Sophia and a dog named Ella. And the dragon of the mean king came. His name was Charmont and he was green and Grammy was so, so scared. And the bad king had two pets, a dog and a cat and the dog didn't have a name and the cat name was Ugly Old Man. And the dragon had sharp claws and teeth and Ella fighted with the dragon and beat the dragon. And Grammy was hiding under her bed. And the handsome Papa prince came but he couldn't climb the tall tall tower because she didn't have long hair. So he had a dragon that was gold and his name was Gold and he was so huge and he took Papa up to the tower. And Papa took a step and another step and fell down and down and Gold saved him! And then he went up the tower and Grammy got her married dress on and her married necklace and married earrings and married tiara. But the door was locked and Papa didn't know how to open it and he was so, so sad. And then he found the key in the door and opened it. And they went to the temple and she kissed him on the cheek and they married and lived happily ever after.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Grammy. And she had two pets, a cat name Sophia and a dog named Ella. And the dragon of the mean king came. His name was Charmont and he was green and Grammy was so, so scared. And the bad king had two pets, a dog and a cat and the dog didn't have a name and the cat name was Ugly Old Man. And the dragon had sharp claws and teeth and Ella fighted with the dragon and beat the dragon. And Grammy was hiding under her bed. And the handsome Papa prince came but he couldn't climb the tall tall tower because she didn't have long hair. So he had a dragon that was gold and his name was Gold and he was so huge and he took Papa up to the tower. And Papa took a step and another step and fell down and down and Gold saved him! And then he went up the tower and Grammy got her married dress on and her married necklace and married earrings and married tiara. But the door was locked and Papa didn't know how to open it and he was so, so sad. And then he found the key in the door and opened it. And they went to the temple and she kissed him on the cheek and they married and lived happily ever after.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
quote of the day
Butterfly saying her prayers: "and please bless my daddy and thank you for a daddy that loves me and I love him so much." I don't think it gets any sweeter or more sincere than that.
...unrelated, then we were cuddling for our bedtime talktime and she asked if she can have earrings. She had obviously given it a lot of thought already and was very hesitant, as if she thought I would say no and she really wants them. So we talked about what a big responsibility that is and how it happens and what she would need to do. She agreed she will show me she's responsible enough by keeping her room clean and sleeping in her bed all night, every night (we are struggling with that again). And if she can do this, she can get her ears pierced for her next birthday. three days down, six months to go and so far, so good.
And Lovely's new word is "marshmallows". She doesn't say things like "milk" or "bottle" or "kitty" but she can say "marshmallow". yep, that's my kid.
...unrelated, then we were cuddling for our bedtime talktime and she asked if she can have earrings. She had obviously given it a lot of thought already and was very hesitant, as if she thought I would say no and she really wants them. So we talked about what a big responsibility that is and how it happens and what she would need to do. She agreed she will show me she's responsible enough by keeping her room clean and sleeping in her bed all night, every night (we are struggling with that again). And if she can do this, she can get her ears pierced for her next birthday. three days down, six months to go and so far, so good.
And Lovely's new word is "marshmallows". She doesn't say things like "milk" or "bottle" or "kitty" but she can say "marshmallow". yep, that's my kid.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
quote of the day
We went through a Winnie the Pooh phase and borrowed every movie we could find. One of the favorites was "Piglet's Big Movie" in which Piglet makes a scrapbook and his friends break the book and go chasing after the pages while calling them "Piglet's memories".
So yesterday, the girls found a stack of post-it notes and proceeded to take them apart and draw on each one. Some pages have a little picture, some have a few random letters and most look like hurried scribbles. They presented them to me with great excitement, "look mommy, our mem'ries!" and then carried them around for the rest of the day. Sometimes they would intentionally drop a few pages and chase after them, "come back mem'ries!" or show them to other people, "my beautiful mem'ries!"
Who knew post-it notes could be so fun.
So yesterday, the girls found a stack of post-it notes and proceeded to take them apart and draw on each one. Some pages have a little picture, some have a few random letters and most look like hurried scribbles. They presented them to me with great excitement, "look mommy, our mem'ries!" and then carried them around for the rest of the day. Sometimes they would intentionally drop a few pages and chase after them, "come back mem'ries!" or show them to other people, "my beautiful mem'ries!"
Who knew post-it notes could be so fun.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Lovely's 1st birthday!
Time flies! I can't believe our little baby is already a year old. She's adorable and sweet, and perfect and lovely in every way.
She got to have more birthday festivities sprinkled through the weekend. We don't mean to drag out birthdays just to spoil them unnecessarily. We have a birthday party when the schedule allows and then try to do a special family dinner on their birthday.
But this last weekend was a crazy weekend full of fun. On Saturday, we joined the Color Run. Originally, I was planning on running this crazy 5K by myself. I couldn't find any local friends to run with me so I planned to join some cousins once I got there. But at the last minute, Grandma went down as a volunteer to help stuff registration packets and got the whole family signed up. My cousin is one of the directors so our fantastic family teamed up to support him. So on Saturday morning, we loaded the girls up, drove down and readied ourselves for the happiest 5K on Earth. The start line is a mass of white. 3 miles and 4 color stations later, it's an explosion of color. My little family, joined by grandma, grandpa and auntie all started together. But my partner was Butterfly and she took off running. So we stuck together, running when she wanted to run and walking when she was ready to walk. Ladybug started in the (covered) stroller but quickly decided she wanted to run as well. Lovely patiently hung out in the stroller the whole time, grinning or napping and generally being the perfectly sweet, easily content angel that she is. We had a fantastic time and ended up plastered in the colored powdered. The girls loved it and bounced around running and laughing and dancing and being silly. We made it to the finish line, helped ourselves to the drinks and snacks, said hello to family and then hung around on the lawn watching the girls dance and play.
Eventually we decided to go. The 5K (and accompanying party had all been hosted right behind the mall). So as we got cleaned up and loaded our stuff into cars, we decided to head into the mall food court for lunch (and Lovely's birthday meal). We found food, devoured food and moved quickly onto dessert: crepes, churros and ice cream for a very happy Lovely. We took the girls fro a carousel ride and Lovely loved it! She was tentative at first, as I plopped her onto the horse and buckled her on. But as it began to move she began to squeal and giggle and bounce. It was make-me-melt adorable. After our ride, she also got to open her last present from Grandma and one from big sister. We took a few extra minutes to play with her new toys and eventually loaded everyone back into the car for some quick errands and the long drive home.
The rest of the evening was a little rough. Lovely is an amazing baby with a very predictable schedule. But we've learned that if we upset her schedule, she has a rough time adjust and recovering. So the evening was spent at home, doing some cleaning up, taking care of some honey-do jobs and cuddling and playing with our girls. After we put the girls to bed, Husband slipped over to a neighbor's house to watch the last quarter of the big game (go Utes!, a rather messy and weird end to any game but a well-earned victory nevertheless).
Sunday was her official birthday. So we kicked off with breakfast (she got a whole chocolate chip pancake to herself and ended up a complete mess), had a quick round of baths, struggled through stake conference (she eventually fell asleep on me and it was a wonderful cuddle), went home for naps and then spent the evening at a friends' house. They have three little boys for our three little girls to play with so the kids played, we feasted on the greatest chili rellenos ever and finished it off with caramel apple cheesecake. We didn't bring a candle for Lovely we did have a quick round of singing and let her dig into her dessert. She showed off her new standing skills, practiced racing up the stairs (always giggling as Daddy patiently followed since she can't go down very well yet) and even took her first unassisted step (it was just one so I don't think we will count it as walking yet but she's getting awfully close).
Finally at home, very worn out from our crazy fun weekend, she gave everyone kisses and I slipped in her to jammies. We cuddled in her chair until she was asleep, having a rather sentimental moment reflecting on her growth over the past year, her amazing and sweet disposition and the wonderful perfection that she is. Happy birthday my little Lovely.
She got to have more birthday festivities sprinkled through the weekend. We don't mean to drag out birthdays just to spoil them unnecessarily. We have a birthday party when the schedule allows and then try to do a special family dinner on their birthday.
But this last weekend was a crazy weekend full of fun. On Saturday, we joined the Color Run. Originally, I was planning on running this crazy 5K by myself. I couldn't find any local friends to run with me so I planned to join some cousins once I got there. But at the last minute, Grandma went down as a volunteer to help stuff registration packets and got the whole family signed up. My cousin is one of the directors so our fantastic family teamed up to support him. So on Saturday morning, we loaded the girls up, drove down and readied ourselves for the happiest 5K on Earth. The start line is a mass of white. 3 miles and 4 color stations later, it's an explosion of color. My little family, joined by grandma, grandpa and auntie all started together. But my partner was Butterfly and she took off running. So we stuck together, running when she wanted to run and walking when she was ready to walk. Ladybug started in the (covered) stroller but quickly decided she wanted to run as well. Lovely patiently hung out in the stroller the whole time, grinning or napping and generally being the perfectly sweet, easily content angel that she is. We had a fantastic time and ended up plastered in the colored powdered. The girls loved it and bounced around running and laughing and dancing and being silly. We made it to the finish line, helped ourselves to the drinks and snacks, said hello to family and then hung around on the lawn watching the girls dance and play.
Eventually we decided to go. The 5K (and accompanying party had all been hosted right behind the mall). So as we got cleaned up and loaded our stuff into cars, we decided to head into the mall food court for lunch (and Lovely's birthday meal). We found food, devoured food and moved quickly onto dessert: crepes, churros and ice cream for a very happy Lovely. We took the girls fro a carousel ride and Lovely loved it! She was tentative at first, as I plopped her onto the horse and buckled her on. But as it began to move she began to squeal and giggle and bounce. It was make-me-melt adorable. After our ride, she also got to open her last present from Grandma and one from big sister. We took a few extra minutes to play with her new toys and eventually loaded everyone back into the car for some quick errands and the long drive home.
The rest of the evening was a little rough. Lovely is an amazing baby with a very predictable schedule. But we've learned that if we upset her schedule, she has a rough time adjust and recovering. So the evening was spent at home, doing some cleaning up, taking care of some honey-do jobs and cuddling and playing with our girls. After we put the girls to bed, Husband slipped over to a neighbor's house to watch the last quarter of the big game (go Utes!, a rather messy and weird end to any game but a well-earned victory nevertheless).
Sunday was her official birthday. So we kicked off with breakfast (she got a whole chocolate chip pancake to herself and ended up a complete mess), had a quick round of baths, struggled through stake conference (she eventually fell asleep on me and it was a wonderful cuddle), went home for naps and then spent the evening at a friends' house. They have three little boys for our three little girls to play with so the kids played, we feasted on the greatest chili rellenos ever and finished it off with caramel apple cheesecake. We didn't bring a candle for Lovely we did have a quick round of singing and let her dig into her dessert. She showed off her new standing skills, practiced racing up the stairs (always giggling as Daddy patiently followed since she can't go down very well yet) and even took her first unassisted step (it was just one so I don't think we will count it as walking yet but she's getting awfully close).
Finally at home, very worn out from our crazy fun weekend, she gave everyone kisses and I slipped in her to jammies. We cuddled in her chair until she was asleep, having a rather sentimental moment reflecting on her growth over the past year, her amazing and sweet disposition and the wonderful perfection that she is. Happy birthday my little Lovely.
Ladybug's 3rd
it will be a shocking realization someday when my kids find out that birthdays are actually only one day and that we have been spoiling them by dragging it out so long. lucky girls.
We celebrated Lovely and Ladybug's birthday at the combined Splash Party and what a blast. Then Ladybug's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday. Wednesday means a quick breakfast, taking big sister to dance class while we run a few errands and then taking all the girls to storytime at the library. They sang songs, played the games and listened to stories about A-oriented characters like alligator. The library was packed and chaotic so we didn't stay to do the craft, deciding to take it home and do it later.
Instead we met Dad, Grandma and Grandpa at the state park for some time on the play ground, feeding the ducks, fishing and a picnic lunch. We even took a little cake and candles for Ladybug (my girls LOVE to pull the candles out and lick off the frosting. sometimes repeatedly. I did not teach them this.) So we had a little cake and Ladybug got to open one last present from Grandma and one from big sister (grandma took her shopping...but she can't keep a secret so she had regularly announced what it was).
After naptime, we watched a movie and cuddled until dinner. Daddy had Young Men's so he wouldn't be staying to play with us. Instead we invited Ladybug's best friend for a playdate (especially since her mom happens to be one of my best friends and her husband had meetings too). So we had a girls night of a quick dinner and lots of playtime. Towards the end of the evening, my tired Ladybug collided with her best friend and Ladybug got the worst of it and has been sporting a black eye ever since but all in all, she had a great day. Happy birthday big girl.
We celebrated Lovely and Ladybug's birthday at the combined Splash Party and what a blast. Then Ladybug's actual birthday fell on a Wednesday. Wednesday means a quick breakfast, taking big sister to dance class while we run a few errands and then taking all the girls to storytime at the library. They sang songs, played the games and listened to stories about A-oriented characters like alligator. The library was packed and chaotic so we didn't stay to do the craft, deciding to take it home and do it later.
Instead we met Dad, Grandma and Grandpa at the state park for some time on the play ground, feeding the ducks, fishing and a picnic lunch. We even took a little cake and candles for Ladybug (my girls LOVE to pull the candles out and lick off the frosting. sometimes repeatedly. I did not teach them this.) So we had a little cake and Ladybug got to open one last present from Grandma and one from big sister (grandma took her shopping...but she can't keep a secret so she had regularly announced what it was).
After naptime, we watched a movie and cuddled until dinner. Daddy had Young Men's so he wouldn't be staying to play with us. Instead we invited Ladybug's best friend for a playdate (especially since her mom happens to be one of my best friends and her husband had meetings too). So we had a girls night of a quick dinner and lots of playtime. Towards the end of the evening, my tired Ladybug collided with her best friend and Ladybug got the worst of it and has been sporting a black eye ever since but all in all, she had a great day. Happy birthday big girl.
Monday, September 10, 2012
birthday celebrations
Ladybug's and Lovely's birthdays are four days apart. so this weekend we celebrated both birthdays with a crazy fun and fabulous time. (I didn't want to do a combined party but Husband eventually convinced me it really did make more sense. Especially when considering out of town family and the general busy chaos of September. Sorry girls.)
We spent the morning playing with babies and decorating birthday cakes (they turned out pretty fantastic if I do say so myself). For my Ladybug, I made a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and buttercream frosting Abby Cadaby cake. And for Lovely, I made a heart-shaped bunny bliss cake (kind of like a cinnamon carrot cake with a smoother texture) with white cream cheese frosting decorated with pink roses. We tried to get the girls to take naps but lately they've been begging to sleep in the same room. Sometimes this works, but mostly they just play quietly together. This was one of the latter occasions. yea for playing together but generally this means they will be nap-deprived and cranky later.
The official celebrating kick off activity (at Ladybug's request) was going to the pool. Some of our friends were able to meet us there and the girls had a great time running in every direction, splashing, floating, going down the waterslide and playing with friends.
The party continued back at our house, now joined by grandparents and more friends. Guests trickled in as we finished setting up, fired up the grill and let the kids run around. Daddy/Grill-Master-Extraordinaire grilled chicken and hot dogs to have with fruit, veggies and chips. We played some party games starting with our own little variation of "hot potato" except that instead of a potato its a contraption that runs off a timer and when the timer goes off, it bursts a water balloon inside all over the person holding it. The kids loved it. Then the kids worked with a partner using squirt guns to clean eachother's feet from the whipped cream I sprayed on top (hilarious!) and threw a ball into the basket hoop floating in the pool. (We called it a "Splash Party" because we continued the water theme after our swimming adventure, playing water games, using kiddie pools and generally making a soggy mess of the backyard.)
Next the kids gathered around for the pinata (a purple flower chosen by Ladybug) and the poor pinata barely made it through all the kids who turned out to be especially adept at smashing it. Everyone got their fill of candy and even Lovely (held by Papa) took a turn holding the bat and looking around in confusion. We brought the cakes out and sat the birthday girls side by side. Ladybug was grinning from ear to ear and Lovely was ready to burst into overly-tired tears. But she managed to hang on through our quick rendition of Happy Birthday and then Daddy encouraged Lovely to touch her birthday cake. Ladybug needed no prompting and dove in with huge, giggling bites. Then she happily helped me cut the cake with our special birthday knife (our wedding knife) while Lovely warmed to the task and began to grab handfuls of frosting and smear them everywhere. Our once near-tears baby forgot her tiredness and happily slapped at the cake, devoured frosting and made a giant mess. We quickly cut the cake in half so there was some left to eat while she demolished her half (in my defense, I did not let my baby eat half a cake. she ate very little. instead she smeared it all over her face, in her hair, all over her high chair and on several family members that dared stand too close.). Eventually Daddy was feeding her bites of ice cream and she managed to give herself a brain freeze and began to cry. But after a quick cuddle and warm shower, she was clean, content and ready to play again. So we brought out the truckload of presents to finish out the evening. (okay, maybe half a truckload. but between it being a double birthday and the generosity of our friends and family, our lucky little girls were very spoiled.) Lovely sat on my lap, Ladybug sat on Daddy's lap and Butterfly was our runner, retrieving new presents for them to open. They got some great stuff and managed a few sincere and adorable cries of thanks and dashes for tight hugs amid the flurry of present opening.
Cake devoured and presents opened, we did a quick clean up and bid goodbye to our guests as they trickled out. Some family lingered and watched as the girls began going through the stack of presents again, playing and investigating, declaring each one to be the favorite. We got to skype and say hello to some family that wasn't able to make it but the girls didn't last long so I put Lovely to bed and Daddy took the girls to cuddle and watch a movie in our room. When I checked on them a few minutes later, everyone was sound asleep. What a great day.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
first day of school
you know those kids who cling to mom, sometimes even crying, begging her to stay, terrified at the separation? Yeah, not my kids.
you know the moms who sit in the car and cry after dropping their precious baby off at the first day of school? I thought that might be me. But no.
(...There might be something wrong with us.)
The first day of school was fantastic. It actually started two days ago when Butterfly and I went to Parent-Teacher Conference. The genius of this plan is that she gets to meet her teacher for a one-on-one interview, at the school, before the official first day chaos. We dropped Ladybug off at dance class and went to her school. Walking to the school, I reached out to hold her hand and she shied away. Almost apologetically she told me no. ??!!! That was the saddest moment of the week. But I respect her independence. We met her teacher and she acted like a perfect little lady. She sat properly in her chair, quietly listening and gracefully retrieving forms from her backpack when asked for them and then delicately folding her hands in her lap again. Eventually I confessed that this was all rather deceptive and she would soon be her talkative, super friendly, full of life and energetic self.
This morning I cuddled my two big girls for a few minutes as we all descended into wakefulness. Then I bounced on the bed, playing and shouting "first day of school! first day of school!" My plan worked perfectly and they were instantly excited, hurrying through showers, dressing and breakfast. We stopped for a quick photo shoot on the front step and loaded into the car.
Butterfly will be attending three days a week, Ladybug will be attending one day a week at a two year old program (since she doesn't turn three until next week). I suspect hers will be more of a structured playgroup than an academic experience but it will be good for her. Their school starts at the same time and both happened to have their first full day today. So we took Ladybug to school first, all of us piling out of the car, arriving 10 minutes early and having to wait around outside for a few minutes. While we waited, Butterfly and Ladybug nosily bounced around, peeking the windows and enthusiastically greeting her classmates (all of which promptly hid behind their moms). We were welcomed into the school, had a brief little flurry of "here's what you do" instructions, picture with new teacher, hang up backpacks and Ladybug ran off to play. She didn't even give me a second look, let alone a hug or a goodbye.
So we raced over to Butterfly's school where parents had been invited to stay for the first half hour. Daddy met us there and she was thrilled to see him. We were greeted by her teacher, did a similar "hang up your stuff" routine and then watched as the kids played a few games with their new teacher and classmates. Butterfly was quieter than usual and surprised me when she shied away from a boy that excitedly declared he knew her. What a reverse from the usual! After the games, the kids lined behind teacher and chugged away on their train, waving goodbye and cheering and chugging. I got a quick picture of her with her new teacher and then the school's head teacher welcomed us and ran through the orientation info.
And then we were done! No lingering hugs, sad goodbyes or anything. So me and Lovely headed out for our errands, loving the one-on-one time (and the ease of running errands with only one mischievous, curious, rambunctious munchkin!) We took the car for a safety inspection, renewed the registration and renewed my driver's license (which expired on my birthday two weeks ago, a fact that was recently pointed out to me by the officer when he pulled me over for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign with no one near it!...except for the officer parked in a parking lot half a block away. But I dutifully accept the consequence of my mistake--which was an interesting conversation with my kids sitting in the back seat. I had to explain to them what I did wrong and that it was a consequence of my naughty choice. Butterfly tried to comfort me by pointing out he only gave me a paper but I didn't have to go on time out. I wish kid. anyway. happy birthday to me.)
We picked up Ladybug from school who was full of excitement and indiscernible chatter. Her teacher spoke to us for a few minutes to offer her observations of the day, commenting that she was very friendly and helpful...in fact a little too helpful and we needed to help by reminding her to take care of herself and let others do the same. Apparently she was quite mothering to the other kids. Eager to help and yet, smothering. But she had a great time and was eager to show me the picture she drew.
A friend from the daycare picked up Butterfly from school since I was in a required GroupKick rehearsal. On her way to the daycare, Butterfly passed by the window, spotting me and excitedly shouted things I couldn't hear and blew me happy kisses. Fortunately, I got to see her shortly after and she has rambled about the picture she drew, her new friends at school (who have some seriously odd names. I think this state wins for tried-too-hard-to-be-unique award. as well as the wanted-them-to-be-unique-but-really-I-just-can't-spell award.), her new teacher and all the activities they did.
They both had a great day and were thrilled to see each other again. They played, we had lunch and then slept soundly through long naps, thoroughly worn out from what must have been a very busy, wonderful first day of school.
you know the moms who sit in the car and cry after dropping their precious baby off at the first day of school? I thought that might be me. But no.
(...There might be something wrong with us.)
The first day of school was fantastic. It actually started two days ago when Butterfly and I went to Parent-Teacher Conference. The genius of this plan is that she gets to meet her teacher for a one-on-one interview, at the school, before the official first day chaos. We dropped Ladybug off at dance class and went to her school. Walking to the school, I reached out to hold her hand and she shied away. Almost apologetically she told me no. ??!!! That was the saddest moment of the week. But I respect her independence. We met her teacher and she acted like a perfect little lady. She sat properly in her chair, quietly listening and gracefully retrieving forms from her backpack when asked for them and then delicately folding her hands in her lap again. Eventually I confessed that this was all rather deceptive and she would soon be her talkative, super friendly, full of life and energetic self.
This morning I cuddled my two big girls for a few minutes as we all descended into wakefulness. Then I bounced on the bed, playing and shouting "first day of school! first day of school!" My plan worked perfectly and they were instantly excited, hurrying through showers, dressing and breakfast. We stopped for a quick photo shoot on the front step and loaded into the car.
Butterfly will be attending three days a week, Ladybug will be attending one day a week at a two year old program (since she doesn't turn three until next week). I suspect hers will be more of a structured playgroup than an academic experience but it will be good for her. Their school starts at the same time and both happened to have their first full day today. So we took Ladybug to school first, all of us piling out of the car, arriving 10 minutes early and having to wait around outside for a few minutes. While we waited, Butterfly and Ladybug nosily bounced around, peeking the windows and enthusiastically greeting her classmates (all of which promptly hid behind their moms). We were welcomed into the school, had a brief little flurry of "here's what you do" instructions, picture with new teacher, hang up backpacks and Ladybug ran off to play. She didn't even give me a second look, let alone a hug or a goodbye.
So we raced over to Butterfly's school where parents had been invited to stay for the first half hour. Daddy met us there and she was thrilled to see him. We were greeted by her teacher, did a similar "hang up your stuff" routine and then watched as the kids played a few games with their new teacher and classmates. Butterfly was quieter than usual and surprised me when she shied away from a boy that excitedly declared he knew her. What a reverse from the usual! After the games, the kids lined behind teacher and chugged away on their train, waving goodbye and cheering and chugging. I got a quick picture of her with her new teacher and then the school's head teacher welcomed us and ran through the orientation info.
And then we were done! No lingering hugs, sad goodbyes or anything. So me and Lovely headed out for our errands, loving the one-on-one time (and the ease of running errands with only one mischievous, curious, rambunctious munchkin!) We took the car for a safety inspection, renewed the registration and renewed my driver's license (which expired on my birthday two weeks ago, a fact that was recently pointed out to me by the officer when he pulled me over for failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign with no one near it!...except for the officer parked in a parking lot half a block away. But I dutifully accept the consequence of my mistake--which was an interesting conversation with my kids sitting in the back seat. I had to explain to them what I did wrong and that it was a consequence of my naughty choice. Butterfly tried to comfort me by pointing out he only gave me a paper but I didn't have to go on time out. I wish kid. anyway. happy birthday to me.)
We picked up Ladybug from school who was full of excitement and indiscernible chatter. Her teacher spoke to us for a few minutes to offer her observations of the day, commenting that she was very friendly and helpful...in fact a little too helpful and we needed to help by reminding her to take care of herself and let others do the same. Apparently she was quite mothering to the other kids. Eager to help and yet, smothering. But she had a great time and was eager to show me the picture she drew.
A friend from the daycare picked up Butterfly from school since I was in a required GroupKick rehearsal. On her way to the daycare, Butterfly passed by the window, spotting me and excitedly shouted things I couldn't hear and blew me happy kisses. Fortunately, I got to see her shortly after and she has rambled about the picture she drew, her new friends at school (who have some seriously odd names. I think this state wins for tried-too-hard-to-be-unique award. as well as the wanted-them-to-be-unique-but-really-I-just-can't-spell award.), her new teacher and all the activities they did.
They both had a great day and were thrilled to see each other again. They played, we had lunch and then slept soundly through long naps, thoroughly worn out from what must have been a very busy, wonderful first day of school.
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