Friday, October 31, 2008

New Stuff around here

This whole week I wanted to update about Amber who turned 2 on Sunday, but then on Monday our window people called at 8:00 asking if we would like our windows, we hadn't expected them until the first week in November. I had Amber's 2yr appointment so I told them sure, but I would have to leave at 9:30. Therefore my week has been crazy with moving things and taking down blinds, curtains and all that. When they called I frantically went and took down all the curtains and blinds. Then when they got here after the appointment, I talked to them and found out they install them from the inside of the house, meaning I needed to move a lot of furniture!! Of course Robert at work, my house is a mess from the birthday stuff on Sunday, which is seems like the house always gets trashed on Sunday even when there isn't a birthday. I still don't have everything all put back, and most of the windows are still bare without the blinds or curtains back up.

We changed a big window from our dinning room into a sliding glass door, which I have been wanting the majority of our residency here in this house. We finally got it! Bad thing was our rabbit's cage sat in that space, not sure where she will go now, and there is about a 2 foot drop off from the door to the patio. The kids kept jumping in and out of the door, they love the idea of the door there as much as I do.

Robert's gone at a work thing, so I decided I would make some stairs, which went awful, that is a whole other subject in itself... Making a long story short - going out with a toddler in the shopping cart, a car seat with a baby in the back of the cart, and me trying to get four 92 inch long 2x6's, that alone didn't go great. Then the pre-cut stair frames I got, one of them broke, and so then I had to redo the size, but I had already cut the boards to the desired 46" for the steps, but now that is too far for the 2 braces, I need 3, so I changed it abit, but didn't want to re-cut the boards in case Robert doesn't approve of my carpentry skills. Last time I used his wood tools, I made a new shelf for the twin's closet so I could move their clothes rod down so that maybe they could actually hang up their clothes and not break the hangers as they tried to pull down their dresses. Robert wasn't too impressed with my skills, or the lumber I chose.... but I got it done and didn't have to ask him to do it again. And like the closet, the stairs are fully functioning now!

Here are a few pics of the new windows and door, and my handy stairs (which I am sure Rob will re-create when he gets home.)



So Amber is now 2, she is so funny. She just gets into everything, and she talks so much it cracks me up. Yesterday in our travels, she was saying something, some thing about a cookie, then she said, "I'm just kidding!" She mimics the girls all the time saying, "It's not fair" or "I'm bored" which is funny, but I hear those phrases too much that I don't want little Amber to say it. The good thing about the older girls is that Amber also picks up on things they do that are good, like we are at Walmart (which was an unsuccessful trip since they didn't have the ONE thing I went there for and then after I ended up getting some candles for our pumpkins, I realized I should have gotten the milk, cheese, and diapers I was going to go to Macey's for). So we are at the check out stand and Amber is singing, "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday...." The lady checking us out was like, she is smart. That was the first time I had ever heard Amber sing that song.

We got a few packs of those little mini-donuts that come in a six pack. I told the girls they could have ONE, and I opened all the packages, so they could choose which ONE they wanted. I heard a knock at the door, so I was tied up with that.... I come back a bit later to find Amber eating the donuts, just a bite or two at a time, but most all the donuts. She scoots a chair just about anywhere on the wood floor she wants to, to get whatever it is she wants... dishes in the sink, my soda, the sugar/cinnamon bowl, the butter if it is out, she is just into EVERYTHING! I have found her before at the sink with her toothbrush in hand, brushing her teeth using dirty water in the sink that is in the dirty dishes, or she has grabbed a cup out of the sink and drank the water in it... which is yucky dirty water. With the whole donut thing, Lindsey is freaking out because, "I wanted a chocolate donut and now they are all gone!!" After trying to calm her down and tell her I have a solutions for her, (she is still crying, "I didn't even get one yet...") I cut the bite marks off the donut because of course no one wants Amber's germs... it would be crazy for them to take a bite after someone has touched their food, and worse yet, eaten off it!



Amber's birthday went well, she LOVES suckers, so we made her a sucker cake. The frosting was suppose to be blue, but I guess the yellow butter plus the small amount of blue paste, made green of course. I didn't really care, so I didn't try to change it. I just thought blue would be pretty, but green was fine too. She was so funny to watch open her presents. That morning for breakfast we made pancakes, she helped stir them with an apron on (the pictures are on the slide show of Amber) and then I put two candles in her pancake and we sang to her and she blew out those candles too. She got a bike but appearently it is a little big for her still. It said for 24-48 months, but I guess since she is just small she will have to wait until spring. At her dr. appointment, she weighed a whopping 25 lbs (must have been one of her "fat" days, since she has never weighed more than 23 lbs here at home on our scales.) She is I think 33 inches tall, which puts her in the 35% for weight and 36% for height, so for her BMI she is perfect the doctor said. Emily as a baby was 26lbs at 6 months old. Emily's first halloween costume fits Amber now, and Emily was 7 months old. Samantha will catch up with Amber I am guessing (Samantha was 16 lbs at her 4 month appointment).



Speaking of Samantha, she is doing really good. She laughs and smiles a lot. She also has learned to scream in a really high shrilly voice when she is happy. She has made the transition to formula now, makes me sad a bit but wasn't much I could do about it. She never really took to a pacifier, which she has taken to her thumb just fine. She is so cute to see sucking her thumb. She gets the whole blanket thing in there too, she grabs a part of a blanket and holds it with the same hand that she is sucking the thumb on. I don't have any of those pictures yet.



I better get on wiht my day, I was hoping for a nap, but I can't seem to do that when I have so much to do (things I NEED to do like dishes and laundry and vacuum, and then the things I WANT to do like move some shelves to Emily's room and go through some misc boxes and piles of "stuff").

Tagged!!

So the tag is, 6 things I value, 6 things I don't value, and 6 people I tag...

I value (in no particular order):
  1. Real Bathrooms How I love to be in a place with a real bathroom, I would much prefer it to be my own bathroom, but a real bathroom would be better than those yucky hole in the ground with a seat on it... YUCK! My definition of a real bathroom is one with running water (preferable hot water), and a toilet that flushes. Not that I have gone camping lately, but I MUST have a real toilet or I refuse to go. Unfortunately, I have taught that one to my girls too, they will need to go and then see what the toilet is like, and say I will hold it.
  2. Living in today's world-by that I mean with the technology we have today to stay in touch with people far away, and being able to travel quickly (or quicker than many years ago) for visits. I really value this since my family is far away, it makes it nice to know that I can pick up the phone or get on the computer to talk to them so quickly. And when I travel it doesn't take forever to get there (even though it feels like it).
  3. My Girls They are my treasures that I hold dear to me. They help me to stay focused on what is important and the way I should live so that I can live forever with them. They make me experence just about every emotion there is... I laugh because of them and then sometimes I cry because of them too, I would give my life for them.
  4. My husband I don't really know what else to say, he is my best friend, he loves me always and will forever. I look forward to being with him "forever and always" just like we said over 15 years ago.
  5. Sleep It may seem silly, but I SOOOO value sleep. I LOVE to sleep, which seems odd because I should be sleeping now instead of doing this... I think I could literally sleep all day long on a Saturday, or a Monday or Tuesday, okay on anyday!
  6. Family My family has taught me many things... growing up in a large family taught me to share, love, work, get along, serve, forgive.... the list could go on and on. My parents especially set a fabulous example for me. They taught me the gospel and through their examples, they showed me how to be happy and all the other blessings from living the gospel. I am grateful for all they have done for me.
I don't value (in no particular order):
  1. Money Okay so obviously we have to have money, but I really hate what money does to you. It seems like people act differently with their income level. I hate that it makes conflicts in the home when money is tight or being spent in the wrong way. I also hate that it goes so fast. I wish money was more s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y-!
  2. Long Car Rides I say this, but then I think, I have to have long car rides to get to WA to visit my family... but bad things happen on long car rides. Everyone gets tired, they fight, make a mess of whatever they can find to chew up, tear up, or take apart. Sometimes on long car rides, I even get speeding tickets trying to get to my destination quicker-OUCH! Obviously the officer hasn't traveled with my girls before or he would totally understand!
  3. Dry skin It seems like every fall/winter time I get such dry skin. I have dry skin normally anyways, but its worse in the colder seasons. My hands get all chapped and flakey and start to crack and bleed. I know what lotion is for, and I do use it. It just seems with all the diapers, food prep, and bathroom trips, I am constantly washing my hands. I can't keep up with lotion. My feet are actually worse then my hands. With my feet they start in the summer time and I get HUGE cracks in my heels which shoot up throbbing pain everytime I walk. This is when I use TONS of lotion on my feet, put them in plastic grocery type bags, put socks on my bags and sleep all night with them on. I am doing that tonight for a cracked foot.
  4. Peanut Butter breath Sounds weird I know, but this is one of the worse smells I think I have ever smelled. I don't know what it is about it, the smell of peanut butter on your breath is GROSS! I like peanut butter, and recently have been eating lots of it. Just don't come talk to me after you eat peanut butter. I think it all started way back with my brother, he use to breath or blow in my face more likely after he would eat his peanut butter sandwhiches. (I am smelling it now... yuck!!)
  5. Decision Making I really dislike making decisions, I would love to have a personal decision maker that would automaticlly make all my choices for me. I am not talking about like MAJOR choices, just the small meaningless ones. Such as where to go to eat, or if I should go get the pizza or let Robert go and get it. I learned this flaw of mine back in high school when I went to visit my sister and her family in AZ. They asked my brother (the peanut butter breather) if we wanted to go to the beach or to the mountains... I said "I don't know." Through out our few weeks there, when asked my opinion on what to do or where to go, my brother in law would respond in a girly voice, "I don't know." I don't say "I don't know" as often, instead I say, "I don't care" or "it doesn't matter to me." It drives Robert crazy!!
  6. People that don't listen well I am talking about those that seem like they are listening or seem interested in what you are saying yet you can tell they aren't really engaged because when you stop to have them respond they don't, or you tell them something funny or sad and they don't react to it like they would have if they were listening. For example, you are telling something really amazing that your child did or that you learned and the listener (who isn't really listening) says, "oh really", or the famous, "uhuh" and you are sitting there thinking, did you just hear what I said?
People I tag:
  1. Adrian
  2. Brenda
  3. Jamie
  4. Candice
  5. Lilly
  6. Tiona
Man that took me forever! I couldn't think of anything tonight that I don't value! Normally I can come up with tons of things I dislike or want to complain about... I guess I am just tired!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Friday Night at the movies...

Here is Amber, she is too funny! Here she is singing....
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bonked his head...

She is always making us laugh, while she destroys our house and messes up everything. I had cleaned our front room, putting all the toys back in the buckets and vacuumed and all. I was feeding Samantha and Amber came in and grabbed her bucket of blocks, looked and me and said, "can I make a mess?" I smiled and said, "Yes, you can make a mess."


Last night, Robert was on a camping trip with the scouts, so we had the night to ourselves. I thougt it would be a nice night...put the kids to bed and just have some relaxing time... It didn't really go that way at all. The girls had fun though. These pictures all just from last night. The girls had a movie night and had 3 bags of popcorn, m&m's, chocolate eyeballs, and got some old shleves and put them on the stairs and slid down them. (I should have gotten a picture of that!) It seems like most the house is back in its normal order this morning.














We had corndogs for dinner, we really have easy dinners when Robert is away. Amber always thinks she has to sit on the table to eat. She seems to clean up everyone else plates when they are done or just spills their leftovers all over the table. Here she is eating the crusty part of the corndog off the sticks. Yummy!!







Friday, October 24, 2008

Ward Halloween Party

We had our church halloween party last night. My camera battery was dead, so we left it charging while we were at the party. By the end of the party the girl's makeup and costumes where a little frazzled.

This is after--Lauren was reading poor Amber a book. Amber was so sad and whiny! She just kept throwing herself on the floor and crying. She wanted the candy and we kept telling her no. She managed to eat through Emily's sucker wrapper, she ate a little snickers bar I had gotten, but just took a bike out of the middle and then she signed I don't like and said "I don't like it." So much for my candy bar. This was one of the better pictures I got of Amber, and she still looks pretty grumpy.
Amber somewhat cooperated for this picture although she was telling me, "Mantha too heavy" and kept trying to push her away. Both Samantha and Amber where Utah Jazz cheerleaders, or fans or something. Amber was to be a cheerleader, but she wouldn't have anything to do with the pom poms, luckily they were just a dollar.
Lindsey's costume and make-up was shot by the end of the night. When we got home, the girls were so tired and I was wiped out, I didn't feel like really doing much to make their pictures better... Lindsey said she looked more like a cat at the end of the night then a vampire. Of course a week ago Lauren was playing with Lindsey's vampire teeth, the ones she really liked and Lauren lost them. Bummer!! Linsdey was stuck with the ones that hurt her mouth, so she ended up not wearing them at all. I am not sure if anyone knew for sure that she was a vampire or not... Her cape wasn't the greatest either. I may have to go look for a different cape for her...

Samantha seemed pretty happy. I tried to find some purple and greenish color ribbon for her hair, but no luck. (Of course I waited for the last minute so on Wed. night when I went out to look, at the ONE fabric store, I didn't see anything I really liked, but I did get elastic for Emily's new skirt I made.)


Amber wasn't in any mood for pictures. She was so tired and wouldn't sit still for a picture. Her outfit turned out cuter than I had thought it would have. Although none of the pictures really show it off in the right way. She was crying and crawling up the stairs....

Or throwing herself on the floor....
Lauren loves to get her photo taken so she is always posing just so... She makes me laugh! I am sure you can tell by her pictures from last night and from other things.

Lauren wanted to be a "China girl princess" for halloween this year. I thought I could figure out how to make her kimino and then I found a great website http://www.asianideas.com/ that had all sorts of really cheap assesories to go with it. They even had the socks that seperated the big toe from the other toes to go with their cool sandles that look like flip flops on blocks. I got her shoes, fan, and umbrella all for a little over $15 and $7 of that was shipping/handling charges. I wasn't sure if I could find anything cheaper or better around here. I did want to get her some fun flowers for her hair, but I ran out of time and forgot.
Emily decided to be a witch this year. Last night she was upset before the party saying "everybody is being a witch I don't want to be a witch anymore." She has already requested the "china girl" costume for next year.
Here's the girls all together. Again you can see Lauren really posing!
Amber was too sad to be in the picture. I was lucky to get any of her at all.

I think for the most part the girls had fun. It made for a really long night, and super tired girls this morning. In fact, Robert's brother stayed here last night, so that meant Emily was out of her room and in Amber's room, which then put Lindsey and Lauren in the same room. They stay up forever fighting, argueing, or just laughing and talking when they are in the same room. So at like 10:30 or a little before they were still up yelling at each other "Lindsey stop that!" "Lauren don't do that!" and I told them they needed to go to sleep or they would stay home from school today and miss their farm field trip with their class.
Shortly after that I took a shower... Lauren got out of bed having to go the the bathroom, noticed the bathroom door shut, she went back into her room, got on the bottom bunk where Lindsey was asleep and wet Lindsey's bed. But before this, she took off her pants and all headed into the bathroom, then noticed the door was closed so she went back into her room. Robert was downstairs on the phone, trying to figure out what Lauren was doing half naked in the hallway. Lindsey was alseep through all of this. Robert told me what had happened and then I put Lauren in the bath, Robert is trying to clean the top bunk where Lauren was sleeping, to find that is was dry... (of course because she got out of bed first, and then got back in Lindsey's bed.) Then he asked Lauren again if she wet the bed and she said yes. After much confusion, he discovered Lindsey's bed wet, and of course Lindsey was wet too. He woke up Lindsey who wasn't too happy to be woken up, and then told her that Lauren peed on her so she needed to go get in the bath, which even made her even more upset. Poor girls where totally exausted this morning. Lauren ended up sleeping on the floor. It is ALWAYS an adventure around here... we are never short of anything exciting!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Teething Problems





Samantha turned 5 months yesterday, and she already has her bottom two teeth. She is getting more, which is making her unbearable at times, and quite a little slobbery mess! I keep thinking any day she will have her top teeth in. She has been waking up at nights...
I was looking at her gums and all, and I noticed her gums and lips and what not are much like Ambers. Amber has a gap in her front teeth due to that little skin flap, muscle, whatever it is... that comes down in the middle of your top lip to your gums. I am sure Tracy could explain it, since she is the expert in that area. Amber's is thick and so is Samantha's.
I thought maybe you could see for yourself, and see what you think. I think as Samantha gets more teeth, you can tell better. But there is a striking resemblems in their teeth now...



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Red RIbbon Week-Crazy hair day







This week at school the girls are having a red ribbon week, for drug awareness. They got little red plastic bracelets that say something about saying no to drugs (I can't remember the exact wording). Each day of school this week they have different fun days to dress up or do funny things. Yesterday was red day, they were to all wear red. The class with the most red or most people wearing red wins a prize.

Today is crazy hair day. Lindsey and Lauren gave me strict instructions on how they wanted their hair. Then once Lauren was done with her hair, Lindsey just told me to do her hair like Laurens. I was telling the girls last night that their hair was pretty dirty and we needed to wash it, then I remembered today was crazy hair day, and thought of all the hair spray that would go into their hair and decided to wait one more day.... Tomorrow is pajama day. That should make for a easy morning to get the girls dressed.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I finally did it!

So I have been thinking about starting a blog to keep in touch and give updates on the things the girls are doing. It seems like I never have time to start a blog when I am thinking I need to do that. Then I don't think about it until I have something to report on.... such as the other day...

I had Amber and Samantha with me, we were running some errands right before the girls were to get out of school. I told Amber we would get an ice cream, which she LOVES!! I stopped at Artic Circle got her an ice cream cone and got myself a plain burger, I hadn't eaten all day and it was 2pm and time to pick up the girls from school. I gave Amber her ice cream. She started to eat it and then noticed that I had a bag with food in it and wanted to know where her chicken was. I told her I didn't have any for her and to just eat her ice cream. Then she told me she put it down and she was ready for her chicken. Of course I didn't have any chicken so I break a piece of my burger off and give it to her. As I am driving to the school to get the girls I think back on Amber's words, "I put it down" and start wondering where did she put it down? Thinking she has dumped it on the floor of the suburban I am thinking Rob is going to kill me! He is always upset about how the car is ALWAYS trashed with food bits, garbage, and lost belonging the girls leave in there.... i.e. socks, shoes, jackets, papers from school. About this time I figure I will soon see where she has dumped it figuring I will check when I pick the girls up from school which I was now headed to go get them. I then focus on Samantha and try to soothe her. She had gotten fussy in the last little bit. As I am talking to Samantha, Amber tells me that she is done and wants her ice cream back. I am thinking, YUCK, there is no way you can eat it off the coats, blankets, socks, and garbage that is on the floor in front of her seat, and so I ask her, "where is your cone?" She replies, "I gave it to Mantha" (which is how she says Samantha.) I am now thinking maybe that's why Samantha has been crying since about the time we left Artic Circle. I pull over and get out of the car and look in Samantha's seat, and sure enough there is the ice cream cone, tucked on the side of Samantha, all nice and cold! Poor baby. Amber is going crazy trying to get her cone back, I remove the ice cream cone from Samantha's car seat and give it back to Amber. And everyone was happy again, and I continue my drive to go get the big girls from school.

I also plan on putting on emails that I have sent to my family/friends with pictures and stories like this and what has been going on.  So even though I am just now starting my blog... it will date back further... hopefully!  {fingers crossed}