A very successful potty day!

This afternoon, Rori began wearing big girl panties. She did great! She even stayed dry during her 2 hour nap on the couch! (When I saw her getting sleepy, I slipped a waterproof changing mat under her, just in case.)

She did have one little accident; when she was drinking some juice, watching a movie, she wasn't thinking and as the juice went in one end, pee came out the other. She looked so confused when she realized she was wet, she turned to me and asked, "What happened?" lol

But that was our only accident. And get this - this evening, Rori pooped, WILLINGLY, on the toilet!!! She was nervous, but she was the one to tell us she needed to, and she sat on the toilet until she was done!

I am so proud of her! I knew she was ready, but I knew she was scared. I don't fully understand, why she is so scared, but I know she is. She still is, but the more she goes, the less nervous she is. She is being brave and overcoming her fears. :) She has stopped asking to be changed into a diaper, though we will put her in one when it's time to go to bed.

I'm hoping that tomorrow will be just as successful (maybe even without ANY accidents) and then, hopefully soon, there will be no need for potty updates. ;)

Big Girl Princess Panties

That would be what Rori is wearing this afternoon!  :)



She's been going potty in the potty chair everytime we put her on it, but she's not loving it.  She'd much rather just go in her diaper. :S  Since I don't have anywhere else to go today, I thought I'd try letting her wear big girl panties instead of diapers for the rest of the day.  So far, so good!

She still would rather be in diapers, she asks for me to change her back into them, but she's keeping the panties on - and keeping them clean!  I have to ask her if she needs to go potty, she always says "no".  But I can tell when she needs to because she starts asking for the diaper more insistantly.  So far, she has held her pee until I put her on the potty chair and then she has peed, no problem. :)

I don't know why she is so opposed to being potty trained, she's really good at going potty in the potty chair and she's good at holding it until she gets there, when she needs to, so I don't know why she isn't more excited about having this control over her body and getting big girl privileges.

Ooh, she just came to me and asked to use the potty chair!  Gotta go! :)

Potty Prizes!

As soon as Rori woke up this morning, I took her into the bathroom, removed her diaper, and sat her on the potty chair.  She wasn't thrilled.  She kept telling me it was "stuck" and she was done.  Nope, you're staying there kid.  After awhile, she started crying, so we (Cadi and I) worked to entertain her.  We sang songs, made silly faces, read stories, etc.  After 40 minutes, Rori peed in the potty!  Just a little.  I'm sure she only let out what she had to in order to get off the hook, but at least she had done it!  Cadi shared some of her candy with Rori as a reward and Rori was able to choose a potty prize to open and play with. 

Don't mind the major bed-head going on. lol



After lunch, I put her on the potty chair again.  She still wasn't excited about it, but she sat down and right away peed a little.  Again, it was not a lot of pee, I think she was holding out... but she did pee on the potty, so she got to choose another potty prize!  I'm hoping that she will continue to feel more and more comfortable with it, and hopefully soon this girl will be potty trained! :)

Potty Preparations

I'm sure this subject is just riveting for all of you, but really, it's a big deal here. lol

Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow is the day we start sitting Rori on the potty chair WITHOUT her diaper! But we got anxious and started today. lol So far, she will sit on the potty without her diaper without screaming. That's good. lol But she hasn't actually gone to the bathroom on it. Before bed, she had to pee and the stubborn girl held it... and held it... even after I tickled her to death, ran the tap, put her hand in a bowl of warm water (seriously, I did all those things to try to make her go)... she just held it! As soon as she got off the potty and we put a diaper on her, she peed.

But that's okay, I know it's going to take baby steps and just sitting there without freaking out IS an improvement. Hopefully tomorrow we will get something more. And if not then, the next day, or the next. But each day I'm going to have her stay in there longer, so eventually, this girl WILL go potty in the toilet.

As always, WISH US LUCK!!! :)

I love church!

I realize that some people don't share my enthusiasm about it, but I just LOVE church! I enjoy it so much! Call me a "goodie two-shoes", or "Molly Mormon", or whatever you want, but it's just who I am. I feel bad that there was ever a time that I thought church was boring because I just love church now, all of it, and I'm sad that I didn't always appreciate it as much as I do now. And I hope that I continue to appreciate it this much.

I suppose it isn't just "church" that I love. I love the gospel! And because of the gospel, and how WONDERFUL it is, it makes church and worshipping there just as wonderful!

Today we had terrific speakers in Sacrament meeting that I thoroughly enjoyed. The youth speaker spoke on forgiveness. I wish I had taken notes because I remember feeling especially touched by both talks. I felt inspired by them. And I remember thinking about how we can't really be happy if we aren't forgiving of all the people/things that hurt or wrong us. It was a great reminder, presented in really good talks. Then there was a musical solo by a young man. He played the piano and he played well. But not just that, I felt the spirit as he played a medley of songs about the restoration of the gospel. I'm grateful that this young man (I can't remember how old he is but I think around 12 years old) chose to overcome any fears he may have had to share his talent with us. And finally, we had two adult speakers talk about overcoming temptations and "giving up our summer cottage in Babylon". Again, I wish I had taken notes! I felt the spirit as they bore their testimonies. I especially remember a quote that was read about following a plan 80%. He said that while that might work for dieting (eating really well 80% of the time, but then eating whatever you want 20% of the time), it doesn't work for things like: paying tithing, obstaining from tobacco or alcohol, viewing pornography, etc. Then he asked, "Are we 80/20 saints?" Ooh, good question!

Sunday school and RS were awesome, too! I loved the classes and discussions we had. Whenever I'm listening to a speaker or teacher, I always think, "I need to make sure to let them know how much I appreciate what they said," or "I have to tell them how much I enjoyed their talk/lesson." But I usually get busy or forget. But seriously, just about EVERY talk and EVERY lesson makes me feel that way.

Maybe we have exceptional speakers/teachers in our congregation. Or maybe it doesn't matter how good of a speaker/teacher someone is, you can be uplifted and inspired as long as you are trying to listen with the spirit. Or maybe... both. But for whatever reason, I'm so grateful for the chance to go to church, feel the spirit, be uplifted and inspired, and to learn and grow. I absolutely love it and there is nothing else I would rather do, especially on a beautiful Sunday like this! :)

Sand-Dollar Cookies

Last night Ryan and Cadi started making this cookie recipe that they found in the July 2009 Friend.  After making the dough, Ryan was "done" and ready to go to bed.  So, I helped Cadi shape and bake them.  They turned out super cute!



1 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
3 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
slivered almonds
1/2 tsp cinnamon, mixed with 3 Tbsp sugar

Mix the margarine and sugar together in a mixing bowl until creamy.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and milk, and mix until smooth.

In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Add the flour mixture to the margarine mixture.  Mix well.

Roll dough into small balls and place them on a cookie sheet.  Dip the bottom of a drinking glass in flour, and use it to press the balls of dough into circles about 1/4 inch thick.  Press five slivered almonds on each cookie so they look like sand dollars.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.

"The most awesome toilet seat in the world."

This is what Ryan told me he bought.  Right after telling me he spent a lot of money at Home Depot.  A lot, a lot.  (He did buy more than just the toilet seat.  lol ... tools, shelving, stuff for the shed, stuff to trim our fruit trees... and the most awesomest toilet seat in the world.)

He was so eager to show me this toilet seat, it was mildly entertaining.  But I kept thinking, "It's a toilet seat.  How "awesome" can it be?"

He opened the box and handed it to me.  I've heard that the Japanese have some pretty amazing toilets, though I have never seen them, and I'm sure they are a little more awesome than ours.  However, this really is a pretty awesome toilet seat:



It has a toddler seat inside the lid!!!





You've got to admit, that's pretty cool awesome.

Rori thought so, too!  When I sat it on the couch, she was eager to jump on and sit on her own special seat within the seat.  (She still kept her diaper on, though. lol)





Let's just hope she's as eager to sit on it once it's attached to the actual toilet. lol

Conflicted no more.

Do you remember a post from April of last year about our confused tree (one of the many we seem to have on our property, but we won't go there, this is just about the confused cherry blossom/cherry tree)?

We weren't sure what we wanted to do about it.  But this year we decided to remove the weeping cherry blossom branches and keep the cherry fruit branches.  For now, at least.  The tree was conflicted, so it wasn't able to devote adequate strength or attention to either half. 

I don't have a good "before" pic, but this is what the tree looked like with it's two different blossoms two months ago:



And this was taken one month ago, but it's a close up and doesn't really show just how goofy this poor tree looked:



But yesterday, while Cadi and her friend picked cherries, Ryan and Rori took a break to help out our poor confused tree. 



It's still goofy looking, but now that's because it's lopsided since the cherry branches had to grow around and above the cherry blossom branches.  But hopefully in another year or so, the new growth will even out a little bit.  Also, hopefully now that the tree is not conflicted, the cherries it grows will be just as tasty as our other cherry tree. :)

I can can!

And it's making me feel all domesticated! lol

We LOVE our cherry tree and it's YUMMY fruit we enjoy every June.  We do not love how short the cherry season is, however.  We always get so many cherries that we cannot eat them all before they go to waste.  So this year, to remedy that, we canned our cherries!  I've never canned before but I think we chose a good fruit to start with.  Canning cherries is pretty simple.  Yay! :)

Here is a before (this is just one of the bowls we filled):



And here is the after (I canned 12 quarts and 12 pints, with some leftover to have fresh today and this weekend, of course, we all ate and ate and ate as we picked, too.):



But if you'd like to see many of the "in betweens", here is a slideshow (I didn't get any pics of me actually doing the canning, as my hands were busy (and messy) and all other helpers were picking even more while I canned what we had so far.):



I really enjoyed canning!  And I love seeing the fruits of our labor! lol

Next time I will do a couple of things differently.  I will start earlier in the day (I didn't finish the last batch until midnight!) and I will use a stool while I wash and prick each cherry (my feet and back hurt SO BAD by the end of the day!).  But I am looking forward to doing it again next year, and hopefully we'll get an additional 12 quarts next time too.  (We were a little late picking and a lot of the fruit had to be tossed. :S)
I'm also eager to try my hand at other canning.  We will try canning the pears and apples we get off our trees in the backyard this fall.  And next year I will be planting MUCHO strawberry plants and a couple of blueberry bushes.  Mmmm... berries.  We'll try freezing some, making jam out of others, and maybe some pie filling, too.  Can't wait! :)

The house is a mess, the groceries aren't put away yet, and my feet hurt...

But I still feel like I accomplished a lot today! :)

I started to type it all out, but it sounded really boring. lol Basically, I got a lot done. Including canning cherries for the first time! I've never canned before so I've been a little nervous to try, but I read a bunch of stuff, looked up even more stuff on-line, and was comforted by learning that cherries are pretty easy to can. :)

Today we picked all the cherries on our tree. We should have done this a couple of days ago but Ryan wasn't available, we would have gotten more, but we still made out okay. I've got 12 quarts and I'm doing the rest as pints (I don't know how many I'll get yet). Now we can enjoy our yummy cherries in the dead of winter if we want. :)

One step forward and then right back.

An update on the potty drama:

For one whole month, Rori had a fear of pooping. It wasn't just about the potty chair, she was afraid to poop in her diaper, too. Finally, a few weeks ago, she started to poop without crying or screaming, and that was nice. It was in her diaper, but at least it was happening.

Then about a week and a half ago, she started with the crying/screaming again. This is SO. NOT. FUN.

I've decided that next week we are potty training. I'm sure it's not going to be as smooth as it was with Cadi. (Duh) But I really don't want to go another few weeks with her going on like she has. Since I've decided that next week is THE week, I started to prep her today. Everytime I've changed her diaper, we then go into the bathroom with her clean diaper on and sit on the potty chair. She doesn't want to do it, but as soon as she sits we sing a fun song and when the song is over she can get up. So far, everytime she has sat on the potty chair, she has peed in her diaper while we were singing. lol (I'm thinking I'll start to have her sit on the potty chair in her diaper BEFORE we change her. lol)

She obviously knows how this works. I just wish I knew why she is so afraid to actually go to the bathroom on the potty and also why she's afraid to poop at all. But we'll see. Maybe after a few days of going potty in her diaper while sitting on the potty, she will be more willing to transition to actually going to the bathroom IN the potty.

Yeah... well, wish us luck. :S

Is that the alarm going off? I thought it was summer break!

Today Acadia went to Activity Day Camp (a church day camp for the girls ages 8-11). It meant being ready and out the door by 8:10am. So, we were back to setting an alarm for 7am. Acadia had a lot of fun at camp and is looking forward to the next two days as well. Today she shot BB guns, made a hook to hang your coat on, did something with hair, and came home in with handcuffs. lol The only thing I've gotten out of her about tomorrow is that she gets to do something with a horse. And on the last day, it's her group that will be taking down the flag at the end of camp.

While she had fun shooting BB guns and getting handcuffs, Rori and I went for a walk. I brought her stroller but she opted to run most of the time. I was hoping we'd get home and she would want to take a nice nap. Instead, she was ornery and demanding for a few hours and didn't fall asleep on the couch until after 2pm. But at least then she got a little nap. By then, I was tired and not in the mood to do any work. lol

***Cadi just came up to me and asked, "Mom, do you want to get handcuffed?"***

The weather was pretty warm today; I actually turned on the A/C. But thankfully, the rest of the week will be a tad cooler (low to mid 70s) - just how I like it.

Two more days of alarm clocks and THEN we should have a summer with no alarms. :)

A Happy Noise

I always like hearing Acadia play and practice the piano. And ever since she got her Twilight piano book, it's been especially pleasant to listen while she learns Bella's Lullaby. (She's playing it right now and it's so relaxing and enjoyable, I could just lay on the couch and doze off listening to it.) :)

Randomness

•Rori had a rough morning yesterday. She kept fighting with Cadi and whining to me. Finally, after not eating her lunch, I told her that if she didn't want to eat, then she needed to just go lay down and take a nap. So, she did! Slept for two hours! And when she got up, she was MUCH better! :)

•Our friends/neighbors invited us for dinner and FHE last night. We had a lot of fun. Their oldest did a great job on the lesson. We really, really enjoy being neighbors with them. :)

•I read online today about a 9 year old boy surviving in the wilderness using tips he had learned from watching Man vs. Wild. I love that show! But sometimes I have to look away at some of the stuff he eats... or drinks. lol

•I also read that Ed McMahon died today. My first memory of him was not from the Tonight Show, but from a little TV special about Marine World Africa USA (A marine and land animal park in Vallejo, CA, before it turned into a Six Flags.) That TV special must have been about 20 years ago... at least. And that was enough for me to like him. :)

•Today I'm going to take the girls to the movies for free! Regal Cinemas has a great little "free summer film festival" for families. They show two family/kid movies each week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for free for both parents and kids. It's first come first seating though, so we'll be getting there a bit early. This week's choices at our theater are: Space Chimps and Madagascar 2. We'll be seeing Space Chimps. :) You should check to see if they have any theaters participating in your area.

Lazy days of Summer

Summer break started last week when Cadi had her last day of school on Thursday, but we were so busy with Cadi's party that it didn't feel like the break had begun yet. However, this week is different. At least today and tomorrow are. (Acadia will be at Activity Day camp Wed-Fri and needs to be out the door by 8:15am to get there in time.) I do have things to do today, but all I want to do is lay around and be lazy! lol

Rori woke up at 7am (when we normally got up for school) and came in to watch TV in my room so I could doze for another hour or so. We've had breakfast and I should go to the gym and/or go to Costco this morning. But chances are, we're going to veg out watching a movie instead. lol

What's black and white, and red all over?

Cadi's Twilight Birthday Party, that's what!!!

Last night was Acadia's birthday party and we had so much fun!!! 

I had so much fun planning and preparing for it!  Cadi wanted the Twilight party but I think it was just as much fun for me as it was for her!  I even invited some of my girlfriends over to enjoy it with us, which Acadia certainly did not mind - she loves my friends, too. :)  I took lots of pictures and I'll share many of them, but I do not have permission to post my friends' pics or some of Cadi's friends' pics.  I do have permission to post Cadi's friends/our neighbors, Kaitlyn and Jessica though.   :)

I also have LOTS of pics of the decorations; I think we did a pretty good job. :)

But first, a quick recap of the night:

Like I posted earlier, Mother Nature helped to set the mood by creating a very "Forks" atmosphere.  And of course, the party took place during "twilight" hours. (6:30-9pm) lol 

(I told you I had fun planning this! lol)

When the guests first arrived, they had lots of fun, yummy, (and red) snacks to munch on while the Twilight Soundtrack played in the background.  Then we had our "Italiana" dinner... which was just pizza. lol  I couldn't get Cadi to let me make lasagna or spaghetti or raviolis or anything, so pizza it was.  Which is good because it was easy. lol  We played a couple of party games.  One was a word scramble and word search using Twilight names and words, the other game was a Trivia game that Cadi, Susan B., and I made up while getting our pedicures.  The order in which the girls placed for each game determined which order they would get to pick out some of the items going in their goodie bags.  I made little Twilight tote bags for each girl which included: a Twilight pen, some Starbursts (One of Cadi's favorite candies.), and then their choice of a Twilight book mark, and their choice of a little Twilight button pin.  Next we had yummy cake and ice cream, and finally we opened gifts.  One of the last gifts Cadi opened was a Twilight game we bought her.  While the girls waited for their parents to come get them, they had fun playing the Twilight game.

After the party, my friends visited for awhile longer, we laughed while a few of us (and by "us", I mean "not me") inhaled helium, and let the kids be a little wild and crazy.  Then when everyone else had left, our neighbors stayed and started watching Twilight with us.  It was getting late and everyone was tired, so they went home about half way through, but I let Cadi stay up (to 12:30!!!) watching the rest.  It was a super fun night for everyone! :)

Here are some of the pics (scroll over the pics to see options to pause the slideshow):

Channeling Forks

It was so nice of Mother Nature to cooperate today! We've had rather pleasant weather for the last couple of weeks. Not super sunny, kind of overcast, coolish, but not wet. However, Mother Nature heard we were having a Twilight party today and helpd us to "channel Forks" by raining! It's the perfect touch! :)

Twilight Mani and Pedis

Cadi and I like to get manicure and pedicures from time to time and as part of her birthday gift, I took her to get them today, too.  We were joined by our friend and neighbor, Susan B.  It was Susan's first time... and she has very ticklish feet... it was fun! lol

Acadia and I wanted red and black to match the Twilight theme for the party tonight.  Here are pics:

Party Preparations

In preparation for the party tomorrow, we did a lot of cleaning, decorating, etc.  Cadi's friend wanted to hang out and help... so we let her.  Rori wanted to do everything Big Sister was doing, so she followed Cadi around, copying her. 

After cleaning the bathroom and folding her clothes, Cadi and her friend washed the floors.  Don't mind my disheveled and naked baby; I did dress her, a couple of times, and I did her hair too, but she felt the clothes were overkill today and in the process of being a two year old, her hair got all messed up, too. :S





After playing Cinderella doing chores, the girls went out to play and Rori crashed on the couch.  I made a yummy Oriental Chicken Salad, which no one else wanted to even try (Ryan wasn't home, I'm sure he would have) but that's fine - all the more for me!  And after dinner, we washed strawberries, melted chocolate, and invited the neighbor kids over to help put them together. 













Mmmm... can't wait until tomorrow night!

Birthday Dinner

I let Cadi choose whether we went out to dinner last night for her birthday or tonight for the last day of school.  She chose last night.  And she wanted Boppin' Bo's.  Yum! :)

She got to choose our appetizer and we all had dinner and then ice cream.  The waitresses came and sang to her when they brought our ice creams. :)  Cadi also opened presents from her grandparents and a couple from us.  Here are a few pics from last night:

Last Day of School

Acadia is now officially a fifth grader!!!

***Excuse me while I go TURN OFF MY ALARM CLOCK!!!! WOOHOO!

Okay, I'm back...

The last day of school is always a little bitter sweet. It is great for obvious reasons: no more homework, no more getting up early every morning, no more tests... more fun in the sun, more sleeping in, more playing with friends! But it's a little sad when you are saying good-bye to a fun school year, good friends, and a great teacher. A couple of Cadi's friends will be moving this summer, which is extra sad.

But she was still all smiles when she got home from school today! It could have something to do with us spending the afternoon hanging streamers and blowing up balloons for her big birthday party tomorrow, where all of the friends she invited will be attending! :)

Hello Summer Break!

10 years old!

 

Today is Acadia's 10th birthday!  I can hardly believe it!  I remember being ten, I remember turning ten and my mom feeling the same way I feel now.  I couldn't understand.  What was the big deal?  But now I get it. 

Acadia is my Mini Me.  She is so helpful and loving!  She is smart, talented, and beautiful.  She's such a good girl, through and through.  I really feel spoiled that she is our daughter.

We love you, Cadi!  Happy Birthday!!!

Rori Cuteness

Also known as: More proof that she is Ryan's daughter.

Today as we were driving to get Cadi from school, Rori asked to "go to the donut store," repeatedly. It made me laugh because, gee, who does this remind me of? lol I don't know if Rori has ever BEEN to "the donut store," but she sure wanted to go today! When I kept chuckling, she yelled, "It's not funny! I want to go to the donut store!" hehehe

This afternoon, Rori said she wanted her daddy. I told her that Daddy was at work. Her reply: "No, he's sleeping!" Wishful thinking, and I'm sure he wishes he was home in bed too, but nope, he's stuck at work in lots of meetings.

Both of my girls are Daddy's Girls and I find it incredibly cute. :)

A true Patriots fan.

I was getting Rori ready for the day but she kept throwing a tantrum.  She didn't want to wear what I was getting for her.  Oh no, she wanted to wear this:



Daddy was so proud!  And she got several comments while out shopping today, too.  She knew what she wanted. lol

One last round of pics.

For the last week and a half, we have had our friends' girls with us, but all good things must come to an end, and today their parents will come get them to go home.  I'm sure we are all glad.  It was fun to have them visit and I think they had a good time, too.  But they miss their parents and brothers, and we miss our little family unit.

In preparation for their departure, I borrowed Kelsey's camera to swipe the pictures she took with it this week.  She took most of these, though obviously there were times she asked Ryan or I to take pictures of her.  I don't know why some of the pics are so grainy, maybe the camera was on the wrong setting at the time, or maybe it's dying.  But still, she got some pretty good pics and I'm glad I stole them! :)

Spring 2009 Piano Recital

Acadia completed her second year of piano lessons this month and had her fourth piano recital today.  She did so well!!!  She played the Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Hungarian Dance No. 5.  She also earned her third statue!  (The student(s) with the most stickers, earned by completing all of their assignments each week, get a small statue of a famous composer.)  Acadia was very excited to receive Beethoven this time! 

Here is her performance (Her teacher challenged her to memorize the first song.):



And here are a couple of pictures taken at her recital.  This one is with her friend who also performed today:



And this is her fabulous teacher:



After the recital, we took the girls out to dinner.  We thought it would be a nice way to end our week with Kelsey and Megan, too.  Acadia got to choose where we ate and she chose Olive Garden.  Yum! :)

Ape Caves

This morning, Ryan took the girls to the Ape Caves while I attended an activity at church.  They had a lot of fun and wish they could have spent more time there.  It's hard to get good pictures because it's all underground, but here are a few:

Two "Girls Nights" in one!

Last night I thoroughly enjoyed a Girl's Night Out with my girlfriends.  I love, love, LOVE GNO's!  It's awesome to sit and visit with good friends and then it's wonderful to come home and feel like I actually have more to give my family.  It's rejuvenating. :)

While I was gone last night, Ryan had his own little "girls night".  He started by taking the four girls (we're still watching our friends' girls while they are on a cruise) on a walk and let them play at the park.  Then they rented a movie and stayed up LATE!  Lucky girls. lol

Here are pics he took while on a walk and playing:

Let's go into Twilight!

Acadia's 10th birthday is next week.  Man, I'm getting old!  Double-digits!  Can you believe it?  I can't!  But as I was saying, her birthday is next week and we'll be having a super-duper fun party for her.  Per her request, we'll have a Twilight themed party.  All of her friends that are coming have seen the movie so we'll be playing Twilight games (like trivia, word searches, etc) and having an Italiana dinner (only pizza since Cadi vetoed having lasagna, spaghetti, or raviolis, lol).  We'll decorate in red and black and have red apples, chocolate covered strawberries, red twizzlers, red punch, and a Twilight cake.  We're even giving Twilight party favors (some made, some bought).  I think I'm just as excited for this party as Cadi is! lol

Last night we made the invites to be delivered today.  I think they turned out really good!  I blocked out the address and phone because that doesn't need to be on the world-wide web, but you get the idea:

GORGE-OUS!

The other day, I had a really good conversation with a really good friend.  We talked about how we really don't have any reason to complain about life, we are so blessed.  Yet, we do still find reasons to complain. lol  Why is that?  Perhaps because life is hard!  Wherever you're at, you become accustomed to it, so when bumps come along the way, they can cause us to struggle.  The truth is, we both (my friend and I) have great families with loving husbands, we have the gospel, we live in comfortable homes (as opposed to lean-tos on the side of the road), etc. 

Then yesterday Ryan and I took the girls into the gorge.  It was a half-day of school, so Ryan took a half-day of work, too. :)  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE THE GORGE!!!  ;)  As we entered the gorge and I was overwhelmed by it's beauty, I thought again of the conversation I had with my friend.  She is right, we really don't have any reason to complain.  I know there are many beautiful parts of the world, and everyone has their own preference as to what is "most beautiful", but for me, this is it.  I need to live here.  I've lived in several different parts of the country, each with it's own beauty, but THIS is where I belong.  I just don't think I can be as happy anywhere else.  :)

We visited three waterfalls yesterday: Latourell, where we walked the short walk down to it's Lower Falls; Wahkeena Falls; and Multnomah Falls.  We didn't anticipate hiking up to the top of Multnomah but when we got there, it just kind of worked out.  We got about half way before my knee stopped me.  If I had known we were going to be hiking, I would have worn my brace, which even then still might not have been enough.  So, I didn't go to the top with Ryan.  Acadia elected to stay back with me and she and I got some alone time instead. :)

I could take pictures in the gorge all day long.  As it was, I took nearly 200 in the 3 or 4 hours we were there.  Here is a slideshow of my favorites.  Warning: these pics may give you the strong, sudden desire to drop what you're doing and plan a trip out here.  (Or if you live here, they may cause you to drop what you're doing to plan a day in the gorge.)  Don't say I didn't warn you. ;)



(Scroll over the slideshow to bring up the pause/rewind/fastforward buttons.)

Playing at the Park

The girls and I took a walk up the hill to our favorite park to have a little picnic lunch and some play time.  Here are some photos I took:

Potty Progress

I am happy to report that over the last week or two, Rori has made significant progress in the pooping department! She now poops without complaint! WooHoo! She is still not interested in the toilet, but at least she is back to allowing her body to function the way it is meant to function. It's a great relief. After one month of the poop problem, we were all more than a little frustrated.

I plan on allowing Rori some time before starting the toilet push, but I am hopeful that by the end of summer we will be out of diapers. Wish us luck!

You've never been to the beach? Well, we can fix that!

Megan had never seen the ocean before, and Kelsey had only been once - two years ago.  So, we wanted to make sure they were able to go to the beach while visiting with us.  The only problem was, we were booked up!  Cadi's still in school and is on the Safety Patrol from now until the end of the school year (the 18th) and our weekends were already pretty full.  In order to go, we had to leave early on Saturday, could only spend a couple of hours there, and then head back to get cleaned up and ready for a Welcome Home BBQ for Justin.

So that's what we did!  It was a little chilly but that didn't stop us from having fun.  The girls built sandcastles, looked for sea shells, played in the waves, and Ryan and Cadi played a little ball on the beach.  They were cold and wet when it was time to come home, but it was worth it!



And at least now Megan can say that she's been to the ocean and played on the beach. :)

Two more Tater Tots

Our friends, Steve and Emily, brought most of their family here from Idaho early on Friday morning.  Steve, Emily, and their youngest were heading up to Seattle to go on an Alaskan cruise.  They would be leaving their two daughters, Kelsey and Megan, with us to watch while they were gone.  Before they left, we went to the Portland Temple together.  Here are just a few of the pictures I took while we were there.  (Or variations of the pictures I took.)



After the temple, we went to Steve's uncle's house in Tualatin, OR.  They had both of our families over for a fun and delicious BBQ.  I wish I had taken pictures, but unfortunately, I didn't.  We had a lot of fun visiting with them and swapping stories about Steve. lol  We left Steve and Emily there while we took the girls home with us.  (Steve and Em drove up to Seattle with their aunt and uncle who would also be taking the cruise.)  The girls will be with us for just over a week and we're looking forward to having some fun while they're here! :)

Procrastinating

I'm tired.  Beat.  Whipped.  Exhausted.

See, we've got two extra kids right now.  I know, I know... that only makes 4 kids and almost everyone I know has at least that... like, all the time!  So, guess what?  The Lord knew what He was doing when He only gave me two! lol

Our friends are on an Alaskan cruise right now and while they are sailing the seas, we are watching their daughters.  Yesterday we went to the beach because one of the girls had never seen the ocean before.  We also had a fantastic time at my aunt and uncle's house for a BBQ, welcoming my cousin home from his mission.  I took lots of pictures at both of those things.  But I'm too tired to upload them.  Uploading them really wouldn't be the problem, it's going through the editing that I'm not excited about right now.

So, as I procrastinate, enjoy this instead:

Spiritual Thought

We have the BYU channel on as we're getting ready for church and right now it is showing a talk by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, called It's Your Choice. As I was getting Rori's hair done for church I heard this quote. I remember hearing it before and have always loved it, so I thought I'd share it today.

"You cannot approach the gospel as you would a buffet or smorgasbord, choosing here a little and there a little. You must sit down to the whole feast and live the Lord’s loving commandments in their fullness.


You have been taught the commandments. You know what to do: pray, study the scriptures, fast, pay your tithes and offerings, attend your meetings, partake of the sacrament, magnify your callings and serve others, sustain your Church leaders, make and keep sacred covenants, share the gospel, be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous."

Welcome Home?

Today my cousin came home from his mission!

My cousin that I've never met. Really, he's not exactly my cousin. But his dad married my aunt so, that's enough for me... he's our cousin now! :)

I've just got to wonder how he's feeling now though. When he left for his mission, both of his parents lived in Arlington, WA. After he left for his mission both of his parents moved. His dad married my aunt and moved here. And his mom moved out of state with her husband and had a baby - his sister that he only met just this evening.
So, he came home from his mission to a new home, in a new city, with a whole new family! He met his sister today, also his new stepmom, stepbrother, stepcousins (us), and is now having dinner with his new stepsister and her hubby and daughter. There were eight of us at the airport to welcome him back, but only his father and mother were people he had already known before his mission.

Crazy, huh?

We're really looking forward to getting to know him. We love his dad and are so glad he's a part of our family, I'm sure we're going to love him, too. We'll get to visit with him more this weekend, we're getting together at their house on Saturday for a BBQ. :)

So, welcome home Cuz! It's nice to meet you! lol

Cadi's Track Meet

Acadia decided to try something new this year - Track!  For the last several weeks, she's stayed after school a couple times a week to practice.  Yesterday was their track meet.  I think there were four different schools participating.  Cadi was competing in 100 meter dash, javelin throw, 100 meter hurdles, and standing long jump.  She had fun and we had fun cheering her on!  (We also saw lots of kids from our ward and had fun cheering them on, too!)



I asked her if she thinks she'll do it again next year.  She says she doesn't know, she'll just wait to see if she wants to when they pass around the sign ups next year.  I think she will.  :)

I'm a tur.......tle.

Years and years ago, I used to watch a recording of a ventriloquist act.  I don't even remember the guy's name... Ron somebody.  Anyhow, one of the puppets was a turtle.  He. talked. very. slow.  When the ventriloquist commented on how slow he was, the turtle replied, "It's my job."  "Oh really?  Where do you work?  What do you do?"  "I work for the United States Postal Service.  In my spare time, I polish my car... I use people wax.  Ha ha ha."

Don't ask me why I remember that, or why I still laugh when I think about it (or ever laughed at all)... just one of those childhood memories I will likely never forget.  :)

However, this post isn't about that turtle.  It's about this turtle:









(She's way cuter than the puppet.)

It must be June!

I know because this is what's sitting right outside my front door:

A non-Twilight post.

It has been brought to my attention that in 5 days I posted 5 Twilight related blogs and only 2 other blogs.  hee hee  Well, lots of good Twilight stuff is out right now! :)

However, there has been much more to our life than Twilight.  :)

For instance, I posted about my neighbors taking over our backyard. ;)  They did a great job!  Here is a picture of how the bush and apple tree look now that Susan B. has finished "pruning"...



Uh yeah, we found a couple of balls buried in the bushes she cut back. lol

On Saturday, I took the girls shopping while Ryan ran a lot of the yard debris to the dump (not really, the dump but I can't remember where he takes it.... somewhere that he's supposed to. ;) lol).  Cadi scored herself a couple of swimming suits and two pairs of shorts.  One of the shorts is a pair of running shorts for her to wear in her first ever track meet today. :)

That night, Ryan and I went out on a double date with some good friends.  We went to Sweet Tomatoes (YUM!) and then to the new Star Trek movie.  WAY GOOD!  I would definitely go see it again, though we'll probably wait until it's in the $3 theaters, cause we're cheap like that. ;)

Yesterday we made good on our promise and had our neighbors over for dinner.  I went all out since we really wanted to "repay" them.  We had a delicious pork tenderloin roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, my favorite asparagus recipe, corn (I knew most of the kids wouldn't want asparagus, lol), salad, rolls, and for dessert I MADE a very yummy Orange Pineapple Cake.   (I rarely bake, this alone shows how sincere my gratitude was. lol)

Today I've got my Visiting Teachers coming (I know - they're awesome, right?  Coming on the FIRST!) and I have about a mountain worth of laundry to catch up on.  There's Cadi's track meet this afternoon, and FHE tonight.

So, that's what's been going on, all non-Twilight related. ;)