Finally!

Today we enjoyed a long-anticipated visit from the Air Conditioning Repair Man. I could have kissed his feet (don't worry, I didn't). After a couple hours, and more money than I care to think about, we are feeling the blessed relief of refrigerated air. Yes...it's October and my air conditioning is running. LOVE IT! 

A Business Plan + Marketing = Success

After receiving a phone call from a friend informing us that he had just purchased a rock from our daughter, I ran to look out the front window. There I found Lindy set up for her first entrepreneurial venture: Rocks For Sale.

Note the clever marketing ploy: the rocks have been gathered in a "Jelly Belly" bag. This was, apparently, the bait that lured in the unfortunate customers. But, with charitable grace, they forked over some coins (in one case, a bill) and made a little girls day. Despite the fact that her "business" was situated about 5 steps from a gravel RV pad, her little endeavor earned her a whopping $2.25.

Now that's business savvy.

Letting Go

In an attempt to win a little peace and quiet I sent the two girls outside to play while Junior took a nap. I never do this. I usually keep my kids under close supervision. By 3pm Tuesday afternoon, however, I was willing to do almost anything for even a moment of tranquility. 

My "time-out" was quickly interrupted by a naked 3-year old. She came streaking in the house yelling, "I need my swimming suit!" With unprecedented calm I sent her to her room to fetch the much-needed apparel while I trekked outside to find her "unnecessary" clothing. Most of her clothes were strewn throughout the neighbors back-yard. It was then that I noticed the cause of the hysteria: a slip and slide in all its' glory.

The usual response would have been to grab the clothes, grab the still-clothed 5-year old, and end the girls' outside adventure. But instead, I helped both Ellie and Lindy into their suits and grabbed the camera.

The peace I gained this afternoon had nothing to do with quiet. It came from spending a few minutes watching two of the loves of my life experiencing the joy that comes from letting go... just a little bit. 

Creating "The Zone"

Returning home this afternoon from Church I found my "sick" children creating a ginormous disaster in my family room. Upon questioning the motive and reasoning behind this tragic turn of events, my 5-year old calmly explained that she had made her own "Wipeout Zone" and she and her little sister were competing to see who would take the glory.

The "course" was made up of couch cushions, pillows, baby toys, couches (sans cushions), end tables, and the pony wall.

Unfortunately a winner was NOT named due to bad sportsmanship rearing it's ugly head once the judges (aka: mom & dad) determined that the "jumping off the pony wall, over the couch, and landing on the floor on the head" move was not a legal (or advisable) move. Sorry, kids.

On the Move!

Curtis has reached the "just look under the bed" stage. Earlier, I put him down in the middle of my bedroom floor while I ran to do something else (probably to respond to some girly drama somewhere else in the house) and when I came back I found an empty floor. I suffered a moment of confusion which was soon cleared up by the subtle movement of my bedskirt. The little guy had somehow managed to roll himself under my bed! By the time I grabbed my camera he had rolled out and was having a blast playing with the bedskirt.

He just loves to roll all over the place now. If there's a bed in the room, he's bound to end up under it. 

At least we know where to look when he goes missing!

Who Knew?

I could NOT get my 3-year old to eat her yummy ham and cheese sandwich:

But when I offered corn on the cob...she devoured it:

Had there been a bet involved, I would have lost. I don't know that I'll ever figure my kids out.

Your Lid Matters

Each time Yoplait runs their "Save Lids To Save Lives" campaign, I become an avid yogurt eater and an avid lid collector, at least in my own home. This year, the motivation to help has become a little more personal. Two women I love and admire are fighting to overcome breast cancer. It is no longer possible to comfort myself with the erroneous idea that cancer happens to other people in other places.

For each pink lid sent in, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to the research and treatment of breast cancer, up to $1.5 million dollars. (In 2007 they donated just shy of $1.2 million...there could have been an additional $800K!) 

So, here's my little plug: 

If you eat Yoplait, PLEASE don't throw away those pink lids. Send them in. If you don't want to spend money on a stamp, feel free to give them to me and I'll add them to my pile. And if you don't eat Yoplait, maybe entertain the idea for a little while. It adds up.

Thanks. 

Wahoo!

So, I'm going out to dinner Saturday, October 11th at the new Olive Garden.

Anyone up for it?

Hats

My little ballerina. I just loved seeing her all dressed up for her dance recital.

In an attempt to stop Ellie's continuous finger-sucking (yes, she's still at it) Aaron thoughtfully lent her his Razorback's visor. As you can see: no fingers.

Here's little Curtis sporting his dad's lawn-mowing hat. He seemed to enjoy it...perhaps I should get him his own!

Ellie, seeing the sprinkling of rain we received the other day, quickly donned her snow boots, gloves, and "tuque" (a little Canadian vocabulary there) and promptly ran outside to enjoy the weather.

Can't She Control Her Own Children?

I admit it, I've asked myself that question several times while in public situations. All you need to do is spend a few minutes in a grocery store and you'll surely find one child, one parent, who defies all logic with embarrassing and disruptive behavior. 

Tonight, unfortunately, the "Mother Who Can't Control Her Children" award goes to me. This evening I decided to drag all three of my children, sans husband, to a wedding reception for an old friend. It was a beautiful reception with lovely flowers, charming music, pretty tablecloths, and *gasp* water fountains galore! It took about five seconds for my girls to notice each and every one of the fountains. I mistakenly thought to distract them by sitting them at a table and giving them each a plate of refreshments. Oh yeah! That's a brilliant move, Ame...load them up on sugar! That will certainly encourage improved listening skills!

We didn't last very long. Soon I was forcibly dragging a very wet, very hyper, three-year old out the door while my infant threatened to shock all the dogs in the neighborhood with his high-pitched wails and my five-year old sulkily trudged behind, complaining (aloud) that we didn't get to have any wedding cake.

Note to self: Don't take my kids out in public. Ever.

Starting Early

I had to laugh when I ran across Ian showing Curtis his iPod. Apparently it's never too early to get them hooked on all those gadgety things. Look, he's even drooling.

Carnival

Tonight Jody and I took the girls over to the PTA Carnival at Lindy's school. It was a fairly simple carnival but the girls had a BLAST! They got to fish at a fishing  pond, get some cotton candy and popcorn, and (the highlight of the evening) they had butterflies painted on their faces!

It wasn't easy to convince them that they needed to wash them off their faces before going to bed that night. Poor girls...they wanted them on until daddy got home. I told them we'd take some pictures and show him. Big thanks to Aunt Jody for coming with us! We couldn't have done it without you. Well, I couldn't have done it without you. 

Knock, Knock

At 5:00 this morning, I was up with the baby (of course) and could hear Ellie, in her sleep, saying:

"Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Panther.

Panther who?

Panther no pants I'm going swimming."

Nothing like a little laughter first thing in the morning.

Suddenly She's THREE!

We celebrated Ellie's third birthday this weekend. We had a hard time figuring out what she wanted for her birthday cake...not because she didn't know, but because we couldn't understand what she was saying. It was a little sad, but also a bit funny. I was able to talk her into a teddy bear cake and we were all happy.

Thanks to all the aunts, uncles, and cousins who came over to help us celebrate. By the end of the night Ellie was in heaven playing with her new Barbie and a horse, Ponyville playhouse, Land Before Time DVD, and Princess Ariel dress-up doll.

Each time we asked her how old she would put all of her energy into figuring out how to get three fingers to stand up instead of the old stand-by two. What a girl.

Cousin Abby helped out with the presents and here's Ellie showing her appreciation.

She blew out the candles one at a time. Mike joked that she would have three boyfriends by this time next year. Hopefully she'll wait another twenty years or so before thinking about boys!

We just love this girl. She's been such a great kid to have around. She is pretty easy-going and keeps us laughing (even sometimes when she should be in trouble) and always makes us smile.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Catching on Quick...Too Quick

This morning as we were eating breakfast I thought it would be helpful to warn the girls that our Church schedule would be a little different today.

Me: "Okay, girls, we're going to have to get ready a little earlier today. It's Stake Conference."

Lindy: (excitedly) "So, does that mean we don't really have to go?"

She was not thrilled to learn that the Jones family was still going. I don't know where she gets things sometimes. 

We're going.

Scrambled Eggs

Lindy is NOT a morning person. (Yes, Ian, I realize she gets this from my side of the family.) At 8am each morning I have to go in and wake her up in order to get her ready in time for school. Usually I'm greeted by a scowl, or a growl, or something less than welcoming. (Often I get a request for "Five more minutes.") I usually just tell her to suck it up and get out of bed.

This morning I thought I'd try a different tactic. I breezed in with a cheery, "Good morning, beautiful!" and said, "I thought I'd make you some scrambled eggs for breakfast."

From under the covers I hear a grumpy, "What are you going to put in them?"

Me: "How about some bacon and cheese?" (She LOVES both items ferociously)

Her: "In that case, NO!"

Me: "Is there something else you would like in them?"

Her: "I just want them plain."

Me: "Okey, dokey!"

Her: "With cheese."

Me: "Alright"

Her: "And a little bit of ham."

Me: "I can do that."

Her: "Or bacon would be fine, too."

Me: "Coming right up." (trying not to get into an argument with a 5-year old)

It seems the non-arguing approach actually works. She came downstairs for her "plain" eggs within  minutes. Go figure.

Five Months

This last month has seen a lot of firsts for little Curtis. 

He took his first road trip at the beginning of the month. We discovered that he does NOT like his car seat. And we also found out that he's not necessarily the kind of baby that will "cry it out" and fall asleep. He will simply cry. I'm not sure we needed a 14 hour drive to find this out, but that's what we got.

He is rolling around all over the place. He usually gets upset when he is on his stomach, so it doesn't last very long before someone has to go save him from himself.

He is sitting up a little bit. Not steady at all, but a little bit. It makes him seem like such a big kid when he does it, so I am actually not encouraging it. (BTW, apparently Ellie licked the camera lens *gasp* and pictures just don't turn out as clear with a sticky lens. Go figure.)

The biggest news (as far as he is concerned) is that he's starting to eat "real" food. So far he has vacuumed down sweet potatoes, squash, and peas along with his rice cereal. He LOVES it. The girls wouldn't touch most vegetables when they were babies, so it's been nice to have one who will eat the green stuff with enthusiasm.

We are still enjoying our little guy. And even though each night brings hours of sleeplessness, each day brings something new and fun for us to revel in!