Sprinkler

I'm afraid my kids aren't getting much of a summer this year.  I guess that is what happens when you move. At least they ran through the sprinklers once.  We planned on doing it more, but really its hard to do here.  First off the morning isn't always hot enough, when it is, there is no shade for your mom to sit in. Evening is never hot enough, afternoon is only sometimes sunny and hot, and half of those your baby sister is sleeping.  So who knows if it will come back out.  

I used picasa to upload, so they might disappear, and stay disappeared.

By the end my children were frozen, once again, refer to the not hot enough.  The sun is hot here, but that is it.

Sunday

For the first time in our adult lives, Brent and I had to learn what you say to someone, when they ask you to do something on Sunday.  I spent the last 7 years in Utah, and 6 of those years I was married.  No one asked us to do anything.  We were discussing what to say, and we realized saying, my parents don't let me do anything on Sunday, we have to go to church, no longer works.  But the last time anyone asked either of us to do something on Sunday, that was the answer.
I kept it simple.  I said something to the effect, Sundays never work for us.  We keep it a quiet day, we just go to church and relax at home.
I was originally asked to join them at a specific time, I said sorry I have church.  Then asked would a different time work.  Which is why I said Sundays never work.

Honestly though...  Any better suggestions?
How do all you non- Utahns who try to keep the Sabbath day holy, tell people you can't go on Sunday?

I decided I didn't want to say, we try to keep the Sabbath day holy by not shopping or spending money, because I didn't want to imply they were sinner.  I have no problem telling them we don't shop or spend money on Sunday, but I didn't want to imply they were sinners by not following one of the ten commandments, I think they are great people.  Growing up I never found it helpful to imply the person was a sinner.  For me the best method was telling me what I chose to believe, what I chose to do and not do, but not make implications for their own lives.  I found people were more receptive that way.
Any better explanations out there?

Happy Pioneer Day

Happy Pioneer Day.

Grandma Carol sent the kids gummy bears, and Nan got a pioneer hat.  By the way, the kids never call her Grandma Carol, but that is what Brent calls her to the kids.
Do you think the pioneers ever wore tank tops?  Probably not. My daughter loves them. I didn't really know what my opinion was as a mom.  I know some moms who say definitely not for they toddlers, if you don't learn now when?  I know others who say its a part of childhood.  All of which share my religion.
I had yet to make a decision, which I guess is my decision.  My daughter loves them.  She will pitch a fit if I try to cover her shoulders, when she has decides to wear a tank top. And honestly I don't care.  She is 2, who cares.  She is actually wearing an undershirt, but she loves them, she loves the lace and the bow, her shoulders, everything.

Speaking of pioneers, my husband and I were asked to speak at church on Pioneers.  I learned about both my family and my husband's family.  I try to help him with his research so he had more time to give to me.  I'm needy.  I didn't play with my kids much last week, because I was reading.  I really don't mind talking in church, I would rather talk or teach than just about anything else in church.  Which means I rarely get to.  If I had my way I would never have to pray publicly in church, but talks not big deal.  Between speaking, and teaching the sunbeams it totally wiped me out.  I am still exhausted over 24 hours later.  My head has been pounding for 25 hours, no matter what I do. The Lord blessed me though, my sunbeams were excellent yesterday. But wow, what is the deal with this headache?
I guess that is why I blogged so much, my computer chair is so comfy.

More House Remodels

While my mom was here a month ago, we painting my powder room/laundry room.  I don't think I took before pictures, because it was just flat neutral paint, with super dirty walls.  There was silicone on the walls I had to pull off, and soap stains all over the walls from the laundry. By the way the mirrors are unchangeable in my house, they are solidly glued on the walls.

    I picked a color called vintage taupe.  Its kind of lavender color.  I was super excited when my husband didn't say no. I thought it would match well with the slate colored tile and the vanity, and I love purple so I've wanted to paint a wall purple since our 20s bungalow that we rented. The other thing we was change towel rings.  They had a long towel bar, like for your towels when you get out of the shower, except it was a powder room.  So we put in a small towel ring, and moved the towel bar to the laundry side.  That way I have somewhere to hang the occasional shirt that isn't suppose to go in the dryer.

 Speaking of laundry, sometimes my laundry room is not so clean.  Its probably only clean right after I've done ALL the laundry.  It ends up be a catch all, for all the dirty linens that accumulate downstairs where there are no laundry baskets. Imagine a lot of dirty socks, shirts covered in dinner, and kitchen towels.  There is also no room for a basket in that room.  So dirty right, well we ended up with an extra shower curtain bar from the bathroom remodel.  I had my husband put it up, so it covers all the laundry, when I close the curtain.  The curtain is a living room curtain, that I bought at ross, but it probably looks like a shower curtain.  Doesn't matter, what matters if we have unexpected someone visit, and my laundry is a mess, they don't see it if they see the bathroom.

I've extremely pleased with how the bathroom turned out.  I was excited my husband let me chose it, because he pretty much got what he wanted with the master bath.  Let me assure you no husband would chose vintage taupe.  Oh, and I spray painted the light fixture.  I love my powder room, and my laundry machines.  You can only truly appreciate a well working washer and dryer when you haven't always had them. (I hate coin-op laundry.) They aren't new, they aren't high efficiency.  They were a gift/handme down, and so I think I love them that much more.  I'm always grateful for my machines, even if I don't want to do the laundry.

Inspired

Two weeks ago in church, J cried because he wanted to give the scripture in Primary and read it from the Friend.  Last week during the week, I got a call, asking him to do the scripture.  Truly inspired, even if the secretary didn't realize it.
The theme for the month is the third paragraph of The Family: A Proclamation to the World.  Which reads,

IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

So we picked up the July 2011 issue of the Friend, because I knew it had an article on the temple. J read the quote by Elder Bednar, “By the power of [the] priesthood, families truly can be together forever.” He was overjoyed to hear that quote.  He proudly showed the Junior Primary the front cover of the Friend, and read the quote, and said by Elder Bednar.  It was a dream come true for him.  He is a particular little boy.

In other J thoughts.  We showed up for church about 50 minutes before it started.  If you want to sit on a soft pew instead of a folding chair you have to show up 30 minutes before it starts.  We showed up 50 minutes, so we could get a front pew, second row back, since Brent and I were speaking.  We probably could have waiting 10 or 15 minutes and still gotten a chair, but we were ready and if we would have waited we would have ended up being late.  Anyway, so there was five people in the chapel when we showed up.  J saw a boy about 10 with crutches.  He went over and pestered him, I say that because the boy wouldn't look at him, while J talked to him.  Then he came back, and drew him a picture with get better soon.  Even though the boy with crutches had no interest in talking to a boy in his little sister's primary class, it was still a sweet gesture on J's part.

Last thought, J cashed in his no cry coupon.  It worked well.  He has only cried two or three times in the last few weeks for anything other than getting hurt, and when he got hurt, he cried instead of screamed.  It was lovely to hear no screaming from the brown haired child.  Unfortunately I don't think the blond is old enough to understand the concept.

She Grew Up Too

She grew up too, but overall we are extremely grateful. Even if she was super cute, luckily she still is.

Sunbeams

*So it turns out if you want to watch the clips, you can't view them from google reader.  At least on my reader, you can't see them you have to click to my blog.*
Today I talked in church on Pioneers.  Then I did sunbeams, overall the primary kids were way better than normal, my talk went fine, a couple with no kids sat with ours for an hour and 15 minutes.  Church went well today, but I came home with a killer headache.  Not enough water, silly altitude.  I went to read the Ensign but I couldn't focus, with my head.  So I went to lds.org and ended up listening to Elder Cook and his wife talk.  This was my favorite clip.

Second One

*So it turns out if you want to watch the clips, you can't view them from google reader.  At least on my reader, you can't see them you have to click to my blog.*
This is the second I liked.  Its about being a young mom, I appreciate the comment about planning pancakes for dinner. That's how we role when we know dad is gone.

My House

Let me tell you about my house whether you want to hear it or not.
I feel like we are almost done with the inside.  Although, once I make the list, I'm not sure.
We have to paint the basement/guest bathroom.
The Master bedroom needs some paint.
The kid's bathroom, needs the linoleum ripped up, mold killed, and tile put down, then paint on the walls.
The upstairs staircase and hallway needs to get painted, which I'm sure won't happen for a year.
Then once we are done with that we'll be done painting for our house until I get bored.
Hooray, that is hardly anything.
I'm hoping to get it all done except the hallway before Christmas.  I don't think my husband is too concerned about the kids bathroom, but I would really like to get rid of the mold, the linoleum by the shower and toilet, has a black tint that I'm sure is mold, after seeing our bathroom floor, before it was remodeled.
We are also planning to replace our kitchen counter before the year is up.  That will be a dream come true, then we are done on the interior of the house.
The lawn needs some work, it needs to be thatched, and fertilized with weed killer, but all we are doing now is mowing and maintaining.  That is a next summer project, well we'll do the necessary winterizing steps (thatching and such) but not until late fall.  Can't do everything all at once. This year is interior, next is exterior.
  Next spring we'll need to get some fruit trees for my husband.
I hope we are painting the outside of the house next summer, more than me not liking the paint job, paint is peeling.  Oh and expand our patio if we have the money.

British Films

Last night while watching Harry Potter, I realized it was a Sense and Sensibility Reunion of the movie.  Of course if you have ever watched Sense and Sensibility you should have notice Alan Rickman is both Prof. Snape and Col. Brandon.   Emma Thompson is both Elinor Dashwood and Sybil Trelawney, but then I notice Gemma Jones who played Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor and Maryanne's mom, was Madam Pomfery in the HP.  Sometimes I get to thinking there must not be very many British film actors.
I'm going to be mean, and give away Harry Potter 7.5, they kiss.
And poor Harry Potter, in the book, JK Rowlings, made him to be what most girls thought was cute, and he is the lackluster on in the real live actors.  Poor Harry.  Did you see this article about Neville?

But back to the lack of British stars, a few months ago I watch Wives and Daughters on Netflix Instant View, a miniseries I found quite enjoyable.  I recognized a few actors, so it is it a lack of British Actors or type casting?
Here is some of the character overlap
Tom Hollander - Mr. Collins in the recent Pride and Prejudice and in some Pirates
Michael Gambon - Prof. Dumbledore and Mr. Woodhouse in a BBC Emma, that I watched through Netflix
Rosamund Pike - is Jane in Pride and Prejudice
Ok, I guess there wasn't that much overlap, but enough I noticed.
You might be interested in Wives and Daughters.

Date Night

When I was a young teenager I remember babysitting for a family friend.  The father would pick me up, and when we arrived the mom would be finishing getting ready, and saying good bye to her kid(s).  I always found it peculiar, because she would dress up nice, redo her hair for her date, put on more make up including red lipstick.  I found this so odd, even when they were just having a "causal" date of a movie.  I seem to remember her saying causal and movie together.  Like I said peculiar I thought, you've been married, you see him everyday, why are you dressing up for your date. (At this point, I will say, I have no idea what my mom looked like when she went out weekly with my dad, I'm pretty sure I never notice once.)
Then this past year, when I realized my dating life had gone down the toilet, by no fault of my husband, I wondered if my former employer knew what she was doing.  Seriously it wasn't my husband's fault dating had become terrible, I take 100% credit, he was not the one doing anything wrong, I was the one yelling at him for no reason every date.  Which is why we stopped "dating" that and a lack of babysitters.  Well when we moved here we were told there are LOTS of babysitters, and so far I've never struggled finding one.  So we've started dating again, and I decided to follow suit of my former employer.  I change my clothes, I rebrush my hair, maybe reapply my mascara even if my husband has been working at home all day and seen me all day.  I guess all the more reason to change.
It seems to be working, it sets my brain more on path for a date, and I think my husband appreciates the gesture.  I don't think I've yelled at him once about date night since we moved here so I know he appreciates that. A few weeks ago we went out shooting with some friends.  I had spend sometime with the wife earlier in day and she quizzically looked at my clothes at first, noticing I had changed.  I thought I got to, for the sake of marriage.

No Cry Coupon

So here is our infamous coupon 

Every day he doesn't cry, I circle a number, he gets to color in the circle. That means, he doesn't get to cry when he is served dinner even if he does not like, he has to eat at least 5 bites, without crying.  That means, he doesn't get to cry when he hasn't cleaned up his toys, or when he doesn't want to take off his pull up first thing in the morning, or when he doesn't want to go to bed at night, or even if he doesn't get a treat.  That means if even if he doesn't want to leave the house, when I have to go visiting teaching he has to come with me.  Its a beautiful thing.  Obviously I still nag, but now, instead saying, stop I can't hear hear crying.  I say, wait I want you to get your lego, don't cry.

I thought legos would be a good reward, but I didn't want to pay him for not crying.  Which is why I like this coupon, I like that I'm not giving him money, even though the days of not crying corresponds with dollars price. Plus it works well because we have a lot of toddler toys, and not a lot of big kid toys, so it gives us a reason to expand, and with the new lego collection growing, he is actually is playing with toys again.  Which I'm sure is also helping on cutting down the crying, its a win win.

Not to mention, he likes an $70 set, that we have been talking about trading for his thumb sucking blanket. He wants it but maybe not quite that bad yet.  But still its the closest we've got to one day phasing out the blanket in years.  Although I'm slightly worried, a year or so ago, he started sucking his thumb without his blanket when watching tv, that was quickly stopped.  Then he started chewing on his long sleeves last winter, so I stopped putting him in them, because it got so gross. A few months ago he picked up biting his nails. I'm trying to decided whats worse? Biting his nails or sucking his thumb? 

Swim Lessons

I have time to return to my previous mentioned post:
I use to hate swim lessons.  Hate it so much, it made me so angry it made want to cry out of passion.  It totally destroys your whole morning, can't do anything before, too short to leave your kid, to late to do anything after, and then you have to fight the toddler's boredom and desire to explore the water.  Not to mention all you kid does is sit in water they can touch and blow bubbles.  Which is why we haven't been enrolled in swim lessons for 14 months.  Why am I going to pay some over weight teenager to blow bubbles in a waiting pool with my child.  Now overall I don't care about other peoples weight, its their own business, health, whatever.  I know that sometimes genetics takes a toll.  But when I'm paying for an athletic activity for my child, I would like the instructors to look athletic.  I don't know, maybe I'm a snob.
So I did not resign up after the first month of swim lessons last summer.  We just swam a lot in our community pool.  By the end of the summer we made more progress then swimming lessons would.  My son would wander all around the pool by himself, as long as he had his life jacket on and noodle.  He would "swim" with us holding him under his belly without a life jacket.  He would jump in from the side with a life jacket on, to our arms, or jump from the sitting down without a life jacket.  Seriously it took us all summer to get him this comfortable.  He is very cautious around pools, which is I guess a good thing.  My husband said we didn't take him swimming a lot last year, but I took him at least twice a week, so I'm not sure what he judges as often.
This summer, we had no pool, I could see the summer quickly passing us by.  I did not have $50 for swim lessons, since we just moved on our dime, bought a fridge, remodeled a bathroom, and repainted 3/4 of the house.  Not to mention the only swim lessons I could find close were at the YMCA, and I had heard terrible things, to make them just as bad as our previous lessons, I refused to pay for them.  But what was going to happen to my cautious child if he didn't get in the pool at all during this summer.  Then living social saved the day.
We got $50 swim lessons, for $20.  Sure its wasn't in my small town, but at least in the north part of the Springs.  I researched the teaching method before I bought, and I was willing to take a try.
They were so awesome.  My son was proud of what he was accomplishing.  The teachers would talk to me about his progress.  His hair was wet at the end of the half hour!
Then he pointed out what I hadn't realized, during swim lessons, was the first time since preschool got out that he hadn't cried almost once a day, if not more.  He told me he hadn't cried in two days, he was excited about his progress and so was I!
One day the pool was cold, it had rained the night before, it was cloudy, actually it wasn't the first day it was cold, he had already dealt with the horrors of cold swimming lessons, (tell me about it, I never once remember the pool being warm in NH) and he didn't want to get in.  I told him if he got in he could have fruit snacks.  He didn't take the bait.  By the way the pool is heated, but when its cold outside, its cold outside, the pool is not a hot tub.  Then I offered him a small toy (ie under $6) at target if he got in, without crying.  He took the bait, and afterward his teacher said to me, I don't know what you said to get him in the pool, but whatever it was he did excellent today. I told him if he cried again about swim lessons, or didn't get in again I would take away the lego set that he picked out.  We never had another problem.
Then the real kicker came at the end.  Remember the brave story about Nan?  Well he went through all these steps with her to help her be brave.  I realized he was applying what his teacher was doing with him to teach his sister.  That's when I realized it was a good program.
I decided to beg my husband to let me sign up for more swim lessons.  J asked me for more after I decided that.  But unfortunately we didn't have to do much begging, they only had one more session and it was for members of the country club only, then the take the month of August off, I guess swim teachers need a vacation too.  The lessons are through a swim team but they don't have their own pools, they contract multiple pools for their use, which is why I couldn't sign up for the last session.  Anyway, we are sad.
But, it gave me hope, we could live without a five year old screaming.  Which is where the lego coupon came in.

Me

Last night I asked my husband if he ever wonders if there is anything I like doing.  He said no.  I said really, I do? (Aside: that was a ridiculous question for me to ask.  I'll ask him all the time, what do you think about so and so, he's response I don't think about it.  I said yeah but what if you did think about it. But I don't.  So it was a silly question to ask.) I said, but think about it, as I previous mentioned to our neighbor earlier, I took swim lessons for years, then by the time I was in high school even though I had a pool in my backyard, I rarely went swimming.  I don't really like swimming.  I gave up on both piano and violin.  (I never ever could sit still long enough to practice. No matter how much I tried, I think it took my mom two hours to get me to practice for 20 minutes. I never could play a song more than once without having to get up and do something inbetween.)  I quit ballet after three years.  I apparently begged my mom never to enroll me in team sports when we were at my brother's games, which doesn't surprise me based on my lack of interest in sports. I never liked any subjects in school, until college.  He responded with, there are plenty of stuff you like, like blogging, sewing, making things, baking cookies and cupcakes.... Reading.  I said yeah I'm not sure I like blogging anymore, its just I've been doing it so long, I don't know how to stop.  I've been blogging since 2007.  That's four years, that's a long time for internet hobbies in my opinion.

Then I said, I don't really have measurable hobbies, I also don't have hobbies that involve anyone.  

I said, its like, oh well I guess you don't know do this in Young Mens.  But in Young Womens you have lessons about self esteem, except its called Divine Nature and Individual Worth.  Sometimes, you write what everyone is good at.   Mine was never school, athletics, music, nothing measurable.  It was things, like well organized.  Unique, real nice.  Really put together, confident.  Really confident, you mean I never did care about having measurable hobbies?!

Then I ended the conversation, and my husband readily let me.  Really I have no regrets I am who I am.  I'm not 14, I don't care that I don't play sports and don't like math, science, language arts, etc.  I long come to terms with the fact, that I can't practice music or read music if my life depends on it.  I'm mediocre, nothing like a B average student.  I'm ok with that.

But the conversation entered into my subconscious.  Last night I had a dream that my husband was flirting with other girls, it made me mad. But once I woke up, I realized, I've never in my life seen him flirt with anyone but me. We knew each other for 10 months before we dated, I saw countless girls throw themselves at him, since he was one of the few RMs that were normal, and never once did I see him respond to them.  I'm pretty sure I have no thing to worry about. (Although its hardly that he was in love with me then, he had girlfriends during that year, he was just smart enough to not introduce them to me. That and I laughed at him every time he told me about one of them.)

But seriously, I don't know if I like blogging anymore, I just don't know what to do with the void it would create without it. I guess I could read more books, but seriously, how many books do I need to read a year?!

I do like my craft blog, and I like the way this blog looks, I just don't like the posts I write. 

Weird I know, I just wrote one.

Remember Little

What happened?  Remember when he use to be little?

When he was little he also let us cut his hair.
Some would say it was good when he let us cut his hair, others would say its better now with all his curls.

I think when I picture him in my mind, I picture him as the little guy, with sausage fingers, not a long lanky child with no baby fat.

Wrong in the Head

Dream diagnose please!
I think there is something wrong with my head.
I had a dream that my brother sent me an email from a long lost friend of mine (must have been in the same current ward, in my dream) that she wanted prayers, because she was pregnant again and worried about what would happen this time.  The last time she was pregnant, she had twin boys, who had a degenerative disease where their skin literally melted off of them until they died, when they were about a year or two old.  Then in my dream, I kept scrolling down the email, to see multiple professionally taken pictures of the skin getting worse and worse.
So seriously what is wrong with my head that I have these types of dreams?  Actually its been awhile since my brain has produce a morbid gruesome dream.  But still.  Here is the crazy thing, in my dream I at one point knew it was a dream, I didn't want to open the email in case it was just a figment of my imagination. But my subconscious is more power than my self control, and its a losing battle in my dreams, I never get to chose what I want to do. But that is not the diagnose, why does my brain produce such gruesome things?

So busy

I'd like to post, but I've been too busy mostly looking at the photos Brent took of our kids the other day.
Not entirely true.
Does this link work?

Last summer, I knew I was glad I didn't own a house, because we were having so much fun and doing so many things, I knew that wouldn't be possible with a house.  Now I own a house, guess how many times we have gone camping this year?  Oh yeah, that would be the zero.  We keep wanting to, but the house is keeping us so busy.  I swear, every weekend for a month has been spent trying to network our dang house.  Luckily Brent hasn't made me go in the attic since the first saturday.
But I'm off topic, I want to blog about how much I love swim lessons, how surprising this is, because I use to loathe swim lessons.  How my son didn't cry for a week, how he knew this was a big accomplishment, how its all the power for a great teacher who cares.  He hasn't cry less than once a day since Preschool got out.   That is why I send my child outside of the home for school, it makes him happy, he excels there without his mom around.  He cries with me. I want more swim lessons, but we can't take anymore swim lessons until the fall, which I will not be signing up for because then we will have kindergarten.  But we are totally coming back next year. Anyway, all this stuff I want to blog about maybe, I'll get around to it.
The moral of the story I've decided to reward (ie bribe) my son for not crying.  We are keeping track on the calendar, and I think every day he doesn't cry a $1 goes towards legos, and if he cries once 50 cents, more than once, none.  I feel pathetic paying my son not to cry, but I don't feel bad rewarding/bribing him with legos.  So ponder that, does it make sense?

Brave

My son just finished a set of swim lessons, and actually learned something, I would actually pay for this again.  Next to pool was a set of fountains for kids to play in.  Nan always wanted to go in, until she got there, and then would cry.  Finally today, J got her to go with him, to what he called the baby fountain (a small part of the whole set up).  She kept repeating him, baby fountain?  She actually played in it, J was very proud of how brave she was.  He told me three times on the way home how proud he was of her for being so brave, and then the last time decided she deserved a treat.

Ten Months Late

I finally had my husband take photos of red riding hood.  Luckily she hadn't out grown the dress yet.

The bottom middle is my favorite, she looks like a story book heroine.

Don't forget I made the cape.

A plan

I have a plan it feels good.
A while back I posted I don't like plans because they never come true since I've met my husband.  But I changed my beat last fall/ early winter.  I made a plan that I would take a spanish class this fall, I had it researched I knew where I was going to take it. I didn't care about college credit, I just wanted the class.  Then we bought a house in a different state in March.  I'm not taking a spanish class now, it seemed to fall out of the cards, I thought maybe sign language would be the way to go.  Even-though I found a Community College close to home, in fact closer than most thing to me other than Home Depot and Walmart, but unfortunately I'm out of state until next spring.  I won't be taking any language classes there this fall, the first few times I past the campus I was sad, but now I don't care, obviously that wasn't in the cards for this fall, or the Lord wouldn't have directed to me Monument. Bizarrely enough I didn't like plans because I didn't like the disappointment of life changing, I'm totally at peace about the change.  I'm sure I don't understand my change of spirits, but its relaxing.

Well now I have a completely different plan, about a different subject, and just like sunbeams effect the Spanish switch, its sort of based on sunbeams, but like a said about a completely different subject.  I think the Lord approves, but only time will tell if he is only leading me down the path to take me a different fork. I'm not going to tell you my plan, but its good to have it.  Its a comfort.

Nursery

Yesterday as I was walking in to church a lady walked out of the Nursery room (the church class for 18 month olds-3 year olds) and said oh are you Nan's mom?  I said yes.  She said, she is the happiest child in Nursery.  I have never seen a child enjoy Nursery more than her.  I said oh thank you, I would have never expected that.  I seriously thought, wait are we talking about the same child?!  She has never enjoyed anything in her life? But this lady continued saying, she is always so excited for everything we do and to move to the next step.  I said oh that's good to hear, because until a few months ago, all she did was cry all day everyday.  The lady looked at me like I was crazy, just like I had looked at her when she said Nan was so happy.  I said oh yes only a few months ago, my husband pretty much had to hold her for all 3 hours of church because she screamed so much.  The lady said oh well she isn't like that anymore, she loves it.
At the at moment I realized for my daughter's self esteem and well being, I should probably stop reliving the past. Not to mention for my well-being, I need to let go and move on. If she wants to make a fresh start I should allow her without reminders of the past, because over the past winter she started to make valiant attempts to change her behavior.  Instead of all her baby dolls always crying she started singing happy baby happy baby. In fact yesterday while she was coloring, she was singing, happy happy happy happy.  Its a little ditty, she likes to repeat.  I whispered to Brent, I love when she sings happy happy, its so cute and sweet, and it almost makes the previous two years of non happy life worth it.  He smirked, in agreeance.  Although I will say although she has tried to improve her behavior at home since around her birthday, church is a new effort. (My dad noticed it at christmas that she was so joyful, but I couldn't see it.) It wasn't until we moved that she stopped screaming every hour of church.  Although I'm her excited about her new improvement, and I love that she now loves nursery, we are hardly out of the water.  About every other Sunday she throws a big fit during sacrament meeting. Last sunday she decided she wanted to leave.  I told her not right now.  She started screaming and drooling and rolling on the ground.  My husband whispered should I take her out, I said no, and silently folded my arms to reflect on religious thoughts. I think it might have made him feel awkward we are new in the ward.  Afterword I explained, that the only reason she was upset, was because she couldn't leave.  Taking her out would be letting her win.  I know we might have been a distraction for some other people for a few minutes, but she has to learn that we sit in sacrament for an hour and ten minutes we do not get up to leave because we want to.  And once the Aaronic Priesthood starting passing the sacrament she immediately stop because she wanted some. I'm sure we were a distraction to some and I'm sorry about that, but hope anyone who had a challenging child at some point in life, would remember what that was like and be understanding instead of judging.  But I have no control over others actions so I don't know what what they were thinking, and can only try my best.  For me trying my best is not allowing my toddler to play in the hall.
That all being said, let's get back to the point, my daughter loves Nursery, and that is a very good thing.
My daughter sings happy happy happy happy, and that is also a good thing.
My daughter still throws massive fits in which she holds her breath, turns red, then starts screaming and drooling so much her shirt and hands get wet.  I'm not counting my chickens, I just ignore them, and move on in life.  Since my son can be quite the screamer when life doesn't go his way, I'm not expecting perfection anytime soon. But I'm willing to ignore it all, and listen to the happy happy ditty.

Scribbles

I love the way my daughter scribbles, its so precise.  She picks up a color and scribbles a small scribble on the pants. Picks up a new color and makes a small scribble on the shirt. Picks up a new color and scribbles on the face, picks up a new color sometimes scribbles the mouth, and sometimes gets a new one and scribbles the eyes.  Depending on if the picture is big enough for her to really notice the face.  Most coloring pictures from church are too busy for her to notice all the faces.
I first noticed she scribbled like this when we were in speech class last fall.  I made a joke about how advance she was to scribble the eyes and face of the bear brown paper bag puppet.  I soon realized she was actually was.  If I draw and N on her page she also likes to draw vertical scribbles next to it.  Its so cute I think.

Yellow Room

My son got the Lion King Room, this is before, Pretty Terrible I think.

I let him decided what he wanted to do with his room, and of course yellow was chosen.  He had to wait until Grammy came to visit since his dad left before we had time to paint his room  One day there will be a US map and a world map on either side of his bed, one at the head, and one on the wall next to his bed, but all in due time.

 Oh and you might wonder about the box next to his closet.  That is where he sucks his thumb during mandatory quiet time.  His own doing not mine, it looks like we have a pet. I was hoping to get rid of during painting, I just threw it in the closet for it then to disappear.  One day near the end of painting, he said I can't wait until my box comes back.  Since he already accuses me of throwing away his things, I figured the box could stay a little while longer.

After the maps I'll probably make him a blanket that matches his room a little better.  Unless he wants to keep batman. I also think these bicycle decals would be fun over this closet or something, but maybe that it is over kill. I love his window nook, Brent thinks its wierd floor plan.  I made the circus flags for his room, which totally fit J's personality.

Funny story about batman quilt.  Brent had it in college and I was convince he must be a big batman fan to have it at college.  He assured me he couldn't careless about batman it was just the material his mom had to make a blanket with.  I thought he was just being modest and/or embarrassed.  But no really he doesn't like any comic book character. It was all function and no form.  That is Brent's motto in life. To have a batman blanket in college you either have to be a really big fan, or not care one lick about anything commercial, and that would be Brent. Fast forward seven years, although J loves many comic book characters he doesn't care about batman.  Which is unforunate, because I would much rather read about batman than most of the comic books he picks out. I grew up watch a batman cartoon, and of course the 8 million movies they produced.

More Pink, finally done

I know you are sick of seeing the pink room, but I wanted to show the final additions.  I mentioned to my mom one day in a while I was going to have Brent put a shelf over Nan's window, she loved that idea and had my dad install one while he was visiting. Of course with the addition to the shelf, she need frilly, sheer, fluffy white curtains.  She loved them, I wasn't too trilled, but she loves them so I kept them. (The shelf is straight just the picture is crooked.)

Plus I finally got her a clock so I can panic that bedtime is going too slow. Now that I've finished her room, its time to get her a big girl bed. I'm thinking labor day weekend during a sale.

When did she get so big?

Continued

Remember how I said my husband was in the business to make dreams come true on Saturday. He hung my chair rails!  More pictures of my finished kitchen coming soon.  

In the Biz

After all the things Brent did around the house over the weekend, I think he is in the business to make dreams come true.  Number one of the list, moved the fridge box playhouse in the basement.

 Isn't it cute, Brent cut out shutters!

In case those previous pictures didn't show, think my daughter is getting big enough?  She totally doesn't look like a baby anymore.

Our Fourth

We started off our Independence day with pancakes at home and a short history lesson during the food. Then  we went to our small town's parade, via school bus.  I'm pretty sure everyone in town showed up.  Don't we have lovely blue skies?

 Everyone told us, there are Elephants.  Indeed there were elephants.

 Let's not forget my boy's rock collection he found and wasn't allowed to take home.

 Honestly we thought the parade was a little under quality compared with what everyone told us to expect.  But luckily we ran into our new family friends so we had fun baking at 6,975 feet.  Holy smokes the sun is hot up here.  Here is our friends' daughter is close in age to J.  With her homemade flag, isn't she cute?!

 After the parade we went home made a Jell-O salad for a neighborhood party we got invited to.  We tried to be social, while the kids played in a bouncy house.  In a few short hours our left-over jell-o salad turned back to liquid, so we had to carry home a bowl of warm sticky liquid it was pretty gross.
By that time we were hot, tired, our brains had melted from the sun, and coated in sun screen. So we showered everyone quickly and all took naps.  It felt good to take off the eight layers of sunscreen. We woke up just in time to eat a late dinner, and then drive up to the fireworks!

 Its so nice to have a child old enough to take a picture of us together. I think we all know who inherited who's eyes.

Then finally the fireworks came, we are on the eastern side of our time zone which is great because fireworks start a whole hour earlier here than they do in Utah.  That means we can go to bed an hour earlier.  Yes, I'm old.

 Our poor wee one was scared of the fireworks, she hid under her blanket on top of me most of the time, luckily we were at 7300 ft after the sun went down so she wasn't hot under the blanket.  Also luckily she quietly sucked her thumb until she decided to roll over on her dad, and slightly peek out of the blanket.

Two Unrelated

Hope everyone had a good Independence Day.  We had a great 4th had lots of fun, saw lots of friends, and pretty much baked in this high altitude.  Thank goodness for sunscreen. We even managed to fit in a few short history lessons.
I like this National Anthem Video, there is no ridiculous pop additions, or variations. She does a good job.


Next topic unrelated.  Its a good thing Brent and I met when we did and got married 6 and half years ago, because he doesn't like lace, and lace is like the huge wedding trend right now. Lace and vintage, some light pink, some green, and lots of lace.

A repeat?

I can't remember what I've typed or not, so this story might be a repeat.
I was reading the Ensign this morning, because the chocolate chip cookies were tempting me, and I read Start Moving, by Elder Von G. Keetch Area Seventy, Utah Stake Lake City Area.  When I read this paragraph it reminded me of a conversation I had with my husband six months ago.

The crew chief hiked back to the smoke jumpers and tossed the radio to the leader, saying, “You are in a dead spot. All you had to do was start moving down one of the trails, and the dispatcher could have easily given you course corrections and brought you right into the spot where we needed you. Instead you lounged up here, and you were totally worthless to us.”

Six months ago, I was getting very bored of the MBA, and all it meant to the family.  I decided I could handle living in our current apartment until the end of the year, but no more.  Our lease was up in July, and I figured I could handle signing up for another six months after that, to get us to January in which case I wanted to live somewhere else.  I said to my husband come June I meeting with a Real Estate Agent.  It might not be the right time to buy but nothing changes if nothing changes.  (Our Singles ward Bishop always said that, he was talking about sin and stopping but the principle is very multi-faceted.) I said as we look at houses, we will know if we are suppose to buy or rent somewhere else, but I need life to change once you graduated.  Now this conversation had been contiguous of many; we had discussed back and forth how long we could live in the apartment to save money.  As Brent had pointed out in a previous conversation if we stayed there for another 12 months after school we would probably have at $15-20,000 for a down-payment.  Since that is what we were use to paying for tuition, we could continue our finances and save the formerly tuition money for a downpayment. And just imagine how much money we would have if we could live there double the time.  At first that sounded do-able, but as the winter continued, I knew I couldn't do it. For one, my family could not progress in that apartment. I had be taught the principle in order to find change you must move. I told my husband that we could stay in the apartment indefinitely without receiving inspiration to change.  As mortals we have to take action to receive growth. I firmly believe that the opportunity to move to here, might have not come up if we didn't have a desire to keep progressing in life. Here is the funny thing, I wanted to start looking at house in June, then Brent decided it was about time to move here, he wanted to buy a house in July here.  We bought a house in March, a little sooner than we were expecting, but still I think all the wheels started in motion, by us saying, Lord we are stuck in neutral living here. During the last 6 and half years of our marriage, Brent and I have had a constant goal not to settle in life. We don't want to be content with status quo and stop progressing.
The article continues to say,

Often in our need for spiritual guidance and direction, we can be tempted to do exactly what the smoke jumpers did. We find ourselves in unfamiliar territory. We see several paths available to us, and we’re not sure which one to take. We have been promised inspiration and help from our Heavenly Father. But it doesn’t always come immediately. We grow frustrated and decide we are simply going to sit down and wait until the promised guidance comes. We wait and we wait and we wait, wondering why the divine Dispatcher doesn’t help us with our course.
In so doing, we ignore an important principle of revelation. Our Father in Heaven expects us to use our own intelligence, ability, and experience to chart our initial course. As we press forward along the path we have chosen, we are in a much better position to receive the course corrections He may have for us. But if we simply plop down on the ridge and recline on our backpacks until He gives us instruction, we risk finding ourselves in a spiritual dead spot.

Old

An oldlie but a goodie. Taken two years ago. Crazy!

TV Friends

I'm a big fan of the TV show Castle, on ABC.  I like that the cop drama that isn't so bloody and gory.  My dreams can get pretty gruesome with just a little bit of prompting from TV, like way worse than they would be allowed to show on TV, so I have to keep my TV viewing pretty tame, which is where Castle comes in.  Brent says I watch Castle because of the cheesy love scenes, he is probably right but I would have never thought of that without him teasing me. But its hardly a romance, my husband is totally willing to watch the show assuming he doesn't have homework or sleep calling his name.  Anyway, Castle became my friend while my husband was at school at night. A lot of the TV shows have been forgotten about now that I have a house to clean and a husband at 5 instead of at 10. But some are too good of friends to be forgotten about like the citizens of Pawnee.
Castle got backlined while I was moving, and I'm catching up on the last few episodes of the season.  The episode To Love and Die in LA, had two cute songs I thought.  If I was one of those big itunes users, I would just spend two dollars and be done with it, but since I don't even have a credit card hooked up to my itunes account, here are the songs on youtube videos.


I especially like the beginning of this song, (overall I'm just a  fan of Pearl Jam)

Oh I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands the ones I love,.. Some folks just have one, yeah, others, they've got none, 

P.S. I don't know if I time to be friends with Twitter anymore.  Facebook just has more users and I have no desire to hook up my twitter account with Facebook.  I don't know its been 22 days...