Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!!

I love receiving all the cute pictures of kids dressed up for Halloween!  It's so fun!  Our dear friends M & A let us crash their place, and A was a sweetie and pulled out her camera for us.  It's a film one, so we'll get pictures posted eventually.  Sorry, ya'll.   

M&A's neighbor M came over with her little girl CJ.  She's a little under two, I think.  She and H had some . . . spats? . . . where we kept ending up with candy Nerds all over the floor.  They were sure buddies when the trick or treating started up, though.

Am I a bad mom if I let my daughter eat all of her Halloween candy in one night?  Well, that's what I'm letting her do.  I've been sick the past two weeks, S is now sick, and H woke up while moving her in from the car.  So, she's at the kitchen table, doing Cookie Monster impressions with her candy.  How can I say 'no' to that?  I'm not up to much of a fight anyway. 

H just came to me with a box of Nerds, saying (as well as she can say it) "Cloey Jane? Cloey Jane?"  
"Is that a box of Nerds?"
"Cloey Jane"
Light turns on in Mommy's head: "Oh, are those Cloey Jane's?"
"Yeah," H replies with a pout.  
"Do we need to go give them back to her?"
"Yeah," H answers, still with a pout.  
"Okay. We can take them back to her."
She then turns around and walks back to the table responding, "No, me um." (um=candy)

Funny kid....

Well, she's got the Nerd box open.  Slow mama. . . . Time for bed!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Halloween preparations have begun

This morning H and I (despite our lingering colds; it was time to get out of the house!!!) joined some of our ward family (i.e. church friends) to tour a small, nearby farm.  H was so thrilled to see the chickens, cows, goats, and pigs.  The goats loved the kids and wanted to be in on all that was going on.  One even started to nibble her shoe (which we'd barely purchased the night before) when I put her up on the fence to say goodbye.  I'm glad to say that instead of it scaring her, she loved it! 

At the end of the tour the kids got to choose a small pumpkin to take home.  Some of those little three-year-olds were pretty tough, I must say, hauling around their prizes.  

H and I were finishing dinner tonight when we heard overheard 
S practicing for the Scouts Halloween festival:

(creepy Daddy laugh is heard from the bedroom)
H giggles with delight.
Me: "What was that!?
H: "PAPA!!!"
(another creepy Daddy laugh)
H: "Done!"
Me: "You want Papa to be done?"
H: "No, more!"  (I think she had meant that Daddy had stopped his drawn out creepy laugh)
(another creepy Daddy laugh)
H shrieks with delight
(another creepy Daddy laugh)
another happy shriek from H
(another creepy Daddy laugh)
another happy shriek from H

She then climbs down from her chair and runs to the bedroom, amid protests from me that her hands are filthy.  She chats with Daddy, and I catch up with a wet cloth to wash her (and luckily only the door frame and doorknob as well).  Afterward, she and I head back to the table, and she begs, "More Papa silly noise!"

H called Daddy on her toy phone after he left:
"Hi Papa!  Me pick up me Papa me car! . . . . Uh, uh, yeah!   Me pick up Papa friend too!"

At bedtime, we've been reading "Scarry Stories": Richard Scarry books. :) Our wonderful neighbors J&J gave H a collection of his works, and she's requested it for nap and bedtimes for the past two weeks.  Just today, I pulled out another Richard Scarry book that I realized I had hiding out in the family bookcases, and she was so thrilled to have a second one. :)  I realized the other day that this "Scarry Stories" thing was perfect timing.  For the past couple months, H's been saying that she's scared at night, and we tried everything from leaving the bathroom light on for her to giving her a flashlight, and the only thing she'd be content with was one of us staying in the room with her.  I figured for the first while that it was just another shinanigan to get us to stay in there as she fell asleep (you would not believe all the things she's used on us, but maybe some of you would).  However, one night, I said to her, what are you afraid of? She usually didn't answer (was there not really anything she was scared of her is it just her limited vocabulary?), so this time I continued on and asked, Are you afraid a bad man will come and take you away?  She absolutely freaked out in response to that.  Oops.  That was dumb.  However, how intensely she reacted made me think that this "Me scared" thing was quite real in her mind, which is why we finally started trying to find solutions to the problem rather than just treating it like all the previous acts.  

One night--was it last week?--I just happened to tell her that Richard Scarry had written the stories and drawn all the pictures in her book.  She looked a little concerned, so I explained that he wasn't really scary, that was just his name.  "It's a silly name, isn't it?"  She agreed.  After that we started calling them our "Scarry stories", and shortly thereafter, no more cries of "Me scared!"

WAHOO!!!! :) :) :)  I'm so grateful that she seems to be over this!!!


You know what, we're not going to have a camera for Halloween.  
Do you know how pathetic that is???

Friday, October 24, 2008

My child isn't normally destructive . . .

So, I couldn't help but be shocked:

(ripping sound)

"S?" I ask. "What is H ripping?"

S stands up from the computer and goes around into our kitchen to investigate. After correcting H's actions, he returns to the computer and replies:

"The wallpaper."
H's sick today. And yesterday, and the day before, but ya know, that's how illnesses go. She (and I) will probably be better in a couple weeks. . . . It's amazing how one little bug can wipe out fourteen days of a person's life. But I guess worse one little bug has wiped out many people's lives--completely--so I guess I shouldn't complain.

So, not a lot going on. Just doing some tv watching and snacking throughout the day. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. . . . And that's probably what we'll be doing for the next two weeks as well. . . . Please call. I'm going to be very bored!!!

Here's H for you all. She wanted to blog too. ;) I promise I just told her (not showed her, with the exception of the spacebar one time) which letters to type and didn't help her type them! Although, I did add a couple returns to her last "word".

hhh sick.

mom sick ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttoooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Monday, October 20, 2008

My little teenager. . .

"Me go, me pick up me Papa me-self!!!" H proudly exclaimed this evening, with my car keys in hand, after shooing me back into the apartment. . . . She was not too pleased when I insisted on coming with and picked her up to carry her to the car. (After laughing of course!) I never thought it would be possible to use the word "me" as frequently as she does! ;)

Friday, October 17, 2008

I LOVE my S!!!!

Recently S has been taking on projects around our apartment. Two weekends ago he cleaned out our screened-in patio that was still covered in pollen from April and full of all sorts of stuff I've been afraid to touch since that time. (Seriously, the pollen here is insane.) Actually, the spiders and egg sacs were much more ucky than the pollen build-up. He also took apart my hiking stroller to wash the fabric and clean all its rusty parts. YEAH!! He put it back together for me this past week. Now, we just have to get a new tire for it, and I'm all set to join my new neighbor Jenny on her morning walks.

Project number two: last Friday S hung up pictures in our dining area! The wall has been empty since we moved here over a year ago because I wasn't 100% what I wanted to do and didn't have much confidence that I could do a good job with arranging everything properly since I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of thing. (Yes, dumb, I know!)

If I hadn't of lost our camera within the last two weeks, I'd have pictures proudly displayed here on my blog!! (Yes, I'm in deep trouble. . . .)

Dancing Family

28 Sept 2008



We made a whole slew of vids as we all danced around one Sunday evening, but I'll be good and only share one.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Today's Happy Moments

:) - I got to hold a new baby today, and rock him and feed him and rock him and feed him and rock him and feed him . . . wow. I now vividly recall how an entire day could go by with only my having fed, changed, and put to sleep a child--without having had time to shower or even eat decent meals. Phew!

:) - I also got to watch S care for the new baby today (and rock him and feed him and rock him and feed him some more). "I could have a boy," he says. :) They're just as sweet as girls--at least when they're little! ;)

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Ant Colony on the Move















Aug 29, 2008
After the torrential rains of whichever storm had passed by us (Hanna? Ivan?), H and I were lucky enough to spot ants moving their entire colony to safer ground. Here they are carrying their larvae. Amazing, huh!

Be sure to click the pict so you can see it upclose!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Grow'n, Grow'n, Grow'n . . .

May 2008 - Sept 2008
H Pictures

So I just have to post them, even if I've already emailed them out. There's a ton here. Gotta play catch up!!! There are still more to add, as you'll see near the bottom. I've finally realized why it's taken so long for H to potty train. She's been too busy learning to do other things!!!

Duh, mom!














May 15, 2008
H actually wanted to do this again recently (I can't believe she remembered!) but I wouldn't let her because she's grown so much since this pict was taken.














May 17, 2008
So, this isn't of H, but I was so proud of creating a fun twist from my mom's scrumptious sausage casserole--one that I could actually eat these days! (I'm now lactose-intolerant.) I mixed fresh salsa (and a little more green pepper) into the egg mixture that is poured on top of the bread and sprinkled on bacon instead of sausage. I put cheese on half for S & H. I was afraid my cheese-less side would be bland, but it was incredible. So, next time we all gather for Christmas, could we make this too, please???


















May 17, 2008
H drew a cat. Yes, a cat. And, yes, we're grateful we have some talented artist friends to pass her on to down the road!!! That's not exactly down my alley. (Although I guess I do have to confess I did make a few sketches I was proud of when I was in my teens. . . .)














June 1, 2008
H fixing Leap
Oh, yeah, she watched a friend of mine replace Leap's batteries earlier. I forgot about that.

A girlfriend has better shots--and video--of her son fixing his potato head's teeth with his plastic handyman tools. (His daddy was in dental school at the time.)














May 31, 2008
H potty training her doll














June 10, 2008
H wanted to wear a watch--just like Mom & Dad.














June 18, 2008
H helping plant seeds. She wiped half the dirt off her face before I could get the camera!































June 23, 2008
So, we got this crazy idea that we could actually buy a house, and we--I said we were crazy, didn't I?--took H along with us to check it out. The owner was working on some repairs, and H thought his tools and things were quite fun. (Where's that "rolling eyes" emoticon when I need it?) This is the one thing we allowed her to play with--briefly!














July 5, 2008
Playing with our neighbor's umbrella














July 6, 2008
I attempted a photo shoot with H so that I could send my German sister a cute picture of her in the dress she sent, but it turned out that H somehow had my film camera within the first few minutes. How did that happen? I really can honestly say I don't remember at this point. Of course it had something to do with me handing it over to her, but I have no clue what possessed me at the time to do it. Oh, maybe it was the opportunity to get a picture like this one. . . . Well, Tina, here you go!!! :)















Yes, this is our neighbor's bird bath, and yes, I did wash her hands afterward!

I also didn't realize until it was too late that my camera lens had collected a little moisture from the humid morning air. Most of the pictures I took ended up with halos around my little angelic H!




























July 10, 2007
H insisted on wearing her pjs--a shirt from a friend of ours--all day, but I insisted she have some pants on when she went outside. Luckily, it overalls worked pretty well. She just HAD to have her hat on the way out the door, though. What an outfit, eh?



July 28, 2008 Bike Practice

Aug 1, 2008
If only potty training was as easy as learning to ride a bike! Look at that face!


















20080801_0006.MOV

Gotta wash that bike














Proud Papa!


"Painting" the parking lot






Aug 9, 2008
She's mastered her letter H!!


Aug 10, 2008 Kiva Face
This reminds me of my cousin's cutie Kiva

Aug 19, 2008
Playing Chess





This is how I feel throughout S & my recent games of chess. . . .




Aug 22, 2008
Borrowing Daddy's toothbrush


10 Sept 2008

I was sitting on the floor as I chatted with my mom on the phone when H approached me and handed me a piece of paper, announcing, "Me Mommy name."

Not paying much attention, I took the paper and looked at it and screamed into the phone, "MOM!!! H just wrote my NAME!!! She wrote MOM!!!"

"Well, yeah, it's a bunch of zig-zags!"

"No, she wrote M-O-m-M!!!" I protested.

Here's proof!




Sept 19, 2008
H loves her Veggie Tales CD!

I was cubing some raw potatoes next to her, and mid-song she decided to give one a try. ;) Yuck!



19 Sept 2008
I've recently started working with H to teach her to clean up after herself, secretly hoping that it just might rub off on me. . . . Once the room looks beautiful, or when she'd like to be done with it all, she shouts, "Clean room!" I love the way she says "clean", though, so I just had to make and share this short vid with you all. I also have learned a good lesson from her as well: When you do something well, CELEBRATE your accomplishment, no matter how small it may seem!

Okay, so I'm using this thing again. . . .

I have a couple blogs going, but neither one was for family stuff. I just pretty much emailed everyone blah, blah, blah, blah, blah every once in a while to keep things updated. But, this way, I can just write blah, blah, blah blah blah here and if they are interested they can check here for updates whenever they feel like it.

This also works as a "photo summary". If you're like my mom and don't want to see all 147 photos I took as Hannah danced in our living room one day, this way you can see just one or two here. ;)