Today

• Cannon woke up at 2:30 am and 6:30 am. Not too bad so why am I still so tired?
• Kate wrote down our schedule for the day and we actually followed everything on it!
• Science Lesson: learned about "germination." No one but Adrie will remember that word tomorrow. We dissected a bean seed and learned about it's parts--seed coat, embryo, cotyledon. All we really needed to know was that seeds need sun, water and nutrients to grow--just like us.
• 10a.m. snacktime--graham crackers and milk.
• Next we played a year in review game with dice. Roll 1=I ask a math question, 2=Reading, 3=Spelling, 4=History, 5=Science, 6=Art. This was one way to get some school in while nursing a baby.
• Each girl had a "zone" to keep clean today: Kate=bedroom, Brynn=living room, Adrie? she put away her shoes.
• Brynn was the "special child" at preschool. She got to wear her new play dress. For show and tell we brought in Cannon --Just for show--no touchy. She showed some family pictures and brought popsicles for a treat. The teacher asked her her favorite color? aquamarine. Favorite activity? swimming.
• Went grocery shopping. K and A were hungry so they snuck pretzels and animal cookies into the cart.
• Kate found the softest lifelike stuffed kitty that she wanted so badly that she was willing to sell some of her toys to earn $. When we got home she got together a bucket of old stuffed animals and set up shop in the neighborhood advertising 25 cents for each. (mom had to swallow her pride and let her live a little) In no time at all, there were a dozen kids carrying off Kate's stuff. She earned $1. 70 with tip--doesn't quite add up does it?
• Kate practiced the piano without having a come-apart.
• Brandon got home at 4:30 and took the girls swimming at the local pool.
• All the girls came home hungry and crabby. In no time at all they were crying about having to eat yucky noodles for dinner (PastaRoni isn't a big hit around here.) Cannon was already crying so that made four!
• Get ready for bedtime ASAP-- scriptures, prayers, and teethbrushing.

Runaway Girls

Our girls like to do everything together so when Kate got mad at me this morning and decided to runaway the girls were all in. While I was in the shower they made their plan. They packed a suitcase full of clothes and treasures.

Sustenance--nice representation of food groups here (gummy peaches)

Lots of money

This play cell phone will come in handy.

Brynn remembered hygiene

In the end they decided just to have a picnic in the driveway. They even invited me to join them!

Dance Recital

What a night-- 2 hours of dancing girls of all ages! Kate and Brynn did a great job. It amazes me that they could be so smiley and happy on the stage. (My legs would turn to jello if I had to be up there) They did 2 dances: "Zippideedooda" and "Living in a Rainbow" with streamers. Adrie watched mesmerized the entire time. She wanted to be up there dancing more than anyone!
Nana surprised us all by coming down for the event. She presented them with flowers after the big debut and after it was all over she treated us to ice cream and donuts at Maverick which, we learned, is the best place around here to get goodies after 9pm. Wish I had known that during pregnancy.

What Does Your Toothpaste Reveal About You?

The other night Brandon and I were getting ready for bed and taking care of the nightly hygiene routine of brushing teeth. In the same moment we both looked at each other's toothpaste tubes and laughed. Can you guess who had the messy one with goop overflowing so that the lid couldn't even close and who had the one that was nice and tidy, neatly squeezed from the bottom?

Exhibit A) Junkster: Thinking of other things while brushing teeth--gives a careless, brute-like squeeze from the middle of the tube resulting in an eruption of goop. Doesn't bother to clean it up so day after day buildup accumulates, hardens, and eventually prevents any more toothpaste from coming out. Junkster's solution: squeeze harder!

Exhibit B) Spiffy Clean: His/her mind is focused on the moment. They give a well-calculated squeeze-- from the end of the tube, of course! It is the most efficient way to get the most life out of the tube. Spiffy clean likes order so they put the lid back on and put the tube back in the drawer every time.

Brandon and I used to share one tube. But, after years of patience/ frustration Brandon finally confronted me, "Could you please try to squeeze from the end of the tube!!" It never crossed my mind that there was an "end" of the tube??! Because I loved him, I put forth my best effort. However, I never mastered the art of delivering the right amount of squeeze. "It's just a simple matter of physics and gravity." Brandon explained.
"Are you for real?" I thought and I came up with my own solution. We each have our own toothpaste tubes. This way I can keep up my old habits and Brandon can be satisfied with his tube model of precision and efficiency. Plus we can get whatever fancy flavors and extra features we like.
Brandon has used this toothpaste story in his marriage therapy. Separate tubes work for us! Now about flossing...

A Lesson From History

Kate and I were on the computer doing her history lesson on Greek Gods and Goddesses when Adrie came in with a handful of barbies. Hey, what better visual aids could we ask for?! We learned the story about how Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite (played by barbies) were all fighting over who was the "fairest one of all." The trouble making goddess Eris (played by an evil stepmother of course) had thrown a golden apple to them with a note "to the fairest." They decided to let the beautiful mortal Paris, Prince of Troy,(played by Ken) be the judge. They all promised him great things but Paris ended up choosing Aphrodite because she said she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world would be his wife. This is when Adrie started crying because her barbie Athena wasn't chosen. Kate and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Adrie was heartbroken but what could we do--there's no changing a myth that's thousands of years old.
Paris takes away his new beautiful beach barbie bride (Helen). Only problem is that she is already married to Menelaus (played by Shrek because he gets very mad and ogre-like) M. rounds up some armies and some goddesses (Athena and Hera are happy to oblige) and they fight against the city of Troy. Aphrodite takes sides with Paris/Helen. This is when Adrie starts whacking Aphrodite with her barbie. And that my friends is what started the Trojan War.
Curtains close.

Our Neck of the Woods

Welcome to a slice of life in our neighborhood. I always knew we lived on an idyllic street but now I've got some pictures to prove it (these are real people) Yesterday, I saw guy across the street doing some landscaping when the other guy next door came over with his shovel to help. A while later they were across the street helping a different neighbor put up a fence. Then BD came out to help this guy build a mailbox.
Our neighborhood is mostly young families with a couple older retired couples who don't seem to mind if the kids jump on the rocks of their nicely landscaped lawns. When school is out, the kids wander to one house and play for awhile then they'll go to someone else's making the rounds in the neighborhood. Now that it is good weather they fill the road with their trikes, bikes, scooters. They will go play on someone's new swingset for awhile then go to another kids backyard. Again, making the rounds of the neighborhood. We have a great network of stay at home moms that are cool with wherever the kids are and we all have an understanding that if it's a good time to play you are welcome to come over and if not you can go try another house.
One mom hosts a kids cooking class the last Fri. of every month, another one let's the kids have picnics on the lawn. Last fall when one neighbor was putting in their sprinkler system, their front yard turned into a neighborhood mud party. All the kids were welcome to bring their swimsuits and join in the fun. We have had tea parties, cookie-decorating parties, plastic pool parties.
It's not just the kids that have fun. Every MWF a few moms meet together for an excercise/toning session in someone's basement gym. Thursdays, whoever wants to can pack a picnic and meet at the park for lunch. We have been on a few double dates with some of the couples.
One of my neighbor friends will ask me if I need anything before she goes to the store, another one will invite us over for dinner on Mondays because she knows BD works late that night, we borrow DVD's, ladders, tools, cups of sugar, baby gear...etc.
We feel so lucky to have such great neighbors that share our same values and watch out for each other's kids.

This Book Works

My neighbor friend recommended this book to me, probably after seeing me looking haggard in my bathrobe one too many times. It's having a newborn. Whenever she called, she said, "Oh I'm sorry did I wake you up?"
I wish I had been sleeping! No, my voice just sounds like it's 4 a.m. all the time. My profile photo? That was sleepwalking.
Anyway that was 2 weeks ago. Fast forward to this week. Now when she calls my voice is happy and strong, chipper even. I get dressed and I don't feel like I'm sleepwalking all day. Why? It's from following the suggestions of this book. We have been "training" Cannon to have somewhat of a schedule--one that includes sleeping more at night. Here it is. He eats at 10pm, 1am, 4am, 7am, 10am. etc. this isn't because we are religious clock worshippers. It's just worked out that way! And how great it is to have some order to replace the chaos, an extra few hours of sleep when before there wasn't any. And it gets better, in a few weeks he'll drop one of those nightime feedings, and by 8-12 weeks he should be sleeping through the night?!
How can I keep from singing...
Here's the meat and bones of it all: Feed baby every 2 1/2-3 hrs during the day then keep him awake for awhile of playtime, then let him fall asleep. That's it: FEEDING, WAKE-TIME, NAPTIME. Except for at night you just put him right back to bed after feeding. Babywise parents = blissful happy home.

New Camera? So many choices.

So my good old Olympus digital camera that I forked out some good $ for 4 yrs. ago is giving up on me. It has been a great camera--just recently the battery isn't able to stay recharged long. Anyway, I'm in the market for a new one and wow how much more you can get for your $$ now. I just want an easy digital camera that takes QUICK clear crisp shots--mostly of my wiggly baby and kids. So I'm kind of thinking of a Canon powershot or sticking with the Olympus brand that I loved. Anyone have a new camera that they want to brag about and recommend?

General Conference Traditions

Growing up, Conference was a special time when we got to stay home from church and engorge in our favorite munchies and goodies--all displayed on the coffee table. Rule was: In order to eat the treats you had to stay in your seat and LISTEN to the good word blasting from every TV/radio in the house! I always chose Reese's PB cups. Now I can't help but keep that tradition and our girls make sure I do. This year, BD picked me up some PB cups without any prompts. For him it's peanut M&M's. I always think this will be the year that I will splurge and get one of those prepared meat/cheese platters and fruit trays for some real snackin' but I haven't yet. Another treat we have to make is Sticky Buns on Sunday Morning so we will be sure to be sugared out by the end of the day. Did I mention I was a sugar addict? Anyway, I want to know what Gen. Conf. traditions other people have...do share! Recipe for those delish buns: http://www.recipezaar.com/15625

April Fool's heh heh

Kate, with a smile said, "Mom what do you want me to do for a chore? Clean the bathroom?" You know she had to be up to something at that point. She closed the door and got to work. When she was done, I went in and found a note that she had written, "YOU DO IT YOURSALF." As I read it out-loud she clapped and giggled with delight, "APRIL FOOL'S!" She also lost another tooth. Pretty soon she'll be on a liquid diet.

Ballroom Dancing Wins

It does look fun to dress up and flit around. This is what our YW want to do for our next activity. Now I have to find someone to teach them? If we had classes around here I would want to join. Especially those Latin dances are awesome--the tango... The other day Brandon took the girls to see the BYU Ballroom dancers perform at our Events Center. Since then, the girls have been into dressing up and performing for us on the ottoman. Adrie said to Brynn, "You be modest and I'll be pretty."