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June 30, 2008
I never thought I would say this, but I miss our snakes. For the past couple of years we have had one or two snakes living in our yard. We would only see them occasionally and usually when you least expected it. I don't know how many times I would be in the garden when one of the snakes would slither off. It always gave me a good scare.
This year we haven't seen any snakes around, but we have seen a ton of spiders. On Thursday night as we were getting home from Lagoon we stopped at the end of our driveway discussing how we were going to get Greg's car back from work. Before pulling in Greg got out and walked up to our garage and killed a black widow spider.
It was big enough that Greg could see it in our headlights as it was crawling around our garage. In the past we have seen several black widow spiders around our house, but since the snakes started showing up, the spiders started to disappear. I am tempted to ask one of the neighbor boys to go catch me a snake down by the river and let it go in our yard. I never thought I would say something like that, but I think I hate spiders a lot more than I hate snakes.
June 29, 2008
I have been toying with the idea of potty training Eliza. I haven't gotten around to it because we have been so busy. Well, that is part of the truth. The real reason is I am scared. The scars from potty training Forrest run deep and I really have no desire to repeat it. I know, I know I have to do it some time, but later seems so much better. I have gotten far enough in my thought process to buy a potty and some underwear. Eliza loves her new underwear and would wear it all the time if I would let her.
The other day she found the whole stash that I had been hiding from her. When she found it she become very excited and striped down completely so that she could try on her new underwear. Once she had her underwear on she would sit on the potty, with panties still on of course. She would then pretend to wipe and then flush the toilet paper down the toilet. When she was all done she would then come up and try on another pair and start the whole process over again. She did this about 20 times. Of course not once did she go in the potty.
I am think sometime in August I will get around to potty training Eliza. Maybe I could convince Anne to do it. I am sure she would love to earn a little extra money.
June 25, 2008
If only that statement were true. We seem to be on the run every day. At the first of the summer I plotted out all the really neat places I wanted to go this summer, then reality hit. With gas prices so high it wasn't practical to be driving all over the Wasatch Front going to this activity or that. I had to settle down for some close to home fun. Some of the fun things we have found to do is the Nature center animal tracks. Each Wednesday my kids get to meet a new animal. So far we have met a turtle, owl and a snake. We also take time to walk around the nature center. In all we have seen deer, frogs, toads, water snakes, snakes, all kinds of birds and turkeys. The kids are really getting a kick out of it.
On Wednesday we spend time at the movies. And on Friday we go swimming. We also fill the days with going to the library, having swim days at friends house and playing outside when it finally cools down. The weeks are just flying by. Which is what I wanted. I hate having nothing to do.
On Tuesday night Forrest was not in a good mood so I sent him to his room to settle down. After about 30 minutes I started to get a little worried. When I checked on him I found him fast asleep on his bed. Eliza is also sleeping in really late and taking little naps here and there. Maybe were are doing too much, but at least they are having fun.
June 23, 2008
This is one of Eliza's favorite toys. Whenever I need the floor swept I get out my little vacuum and let her go to town. She usually gets most of the crumbs and when she finally lets me have it back I finish the job.
June 19, 2008
On Tuesday we had the kid’s pictures taken again. I know crazy. This photographer was the original photographer that we were going to go with. She had given my mother-in-law a free sitting fee for letting her us their property. When I called to make the appointment she was gracious enough to point out her prices. When we found out she charged $45 for an 8 x 10 we decided that it was a little to rich for our blood, so we had another photographer do our pictures. My mother-in-law, however couldn’t pass up the free sitting fee so we did it again. If any of you are interested in seeing these pictures you can find them at her website under proofing. The password is our last name starting with a capital letter. You will have to let me know if you like these better than the last ones. Of course it doesn't really matter there is no way I am spending more money on pictures. We do have to eat sometime around here.
June 18, 2008
Eliza has an opinion about her clothes. For the most part I can work around it. Some of the biggest hurdles is when I buy her new clothes. She refuses to wear anything that she did not pick out herself or that she has never worn before. As the weather has gotten warmer we have needed to switch to cooler clothes. This has been a big challenge. She still wants to wear her long pants and long sleeve shirts. Most mornings I wrestle her to the ground and put on what I want her to wear. She screams and cries until she can get the offending item off. I then repeat the whole procedure again. After a day of this she finally gives up and the item of clothing will now becomes acceptable for her to wear. Our latest challenge however is her desire to wear dresses. Every time I turn around she has taken off her clothes, gotten out some of her best Sunday clothes and dressed herself. I have taken to hiding her dresses. For a brief moment I consider getting her some sun dresses, but I know that she would limit her self to wearing the dresses. She has done this with her pj's. Once she discovered her nightgown that is all she will wear. I am really hoping she grows out of this. If she is this bad as a toddler I can't even begin to imagine what she will be like as a teenager.
June 10, 2008
Forrest came home from Dino Day camp today with a small present. The instructors had wrapped a small surprise in gauze and then had the kids put plaster all over it. When they got home they were supposed to open it up to see what was inside. Once we got home Forrest ran up to my bathroom to open his special surprise. He had received a small pterodactyl. When he got it open he spent a couple of minutes playing with it and trying to decide what to name it. After several minutes of careful consideration Forrest came up with what he considered the perfect name for his little friend, Little Pecker. When he told me the name I tried to explain why that wouldn't be a good name without going into too much detail. After having deal with his last unpleasant topic of conversation I really didn't want to do it again. It of course didn't sink it at all. I think it is Greg's turn to experience the joys of trying to explain taboo topics with the kids.
June 9, 2008
If anyone needs a good laugh about parenthood head over to Dawn's Blog. Her two video clips that she posted yesterday really hit my funny bone. My favorite line was from Bill Cosby when he said parenting isn't about being fair, it is about keeping things quite. You will have to scroll down a little to get to the videos, but they are well worth it.
June 6, 2008
For some insane reason I decided that we needed new pictures. Our picture day was on Tuesday. The day started off bright and sunny, but was quickly deteriorating. There was many calls back and forth on whether or not we should cancel. We finally decided to go with it and hope for the best. I had spent all day Monday looking for clothes that matched. Luckily for our pocket book I found a $6 shirt for Forrest and matching shirts for the rest of us in our closets. At 4:00 Tuesday afternoon I went upstairs to put laundry away and start getting ready for the pictures. When I cam back down stairs Eliza was sound asleep. I did everything I could to wake her up, but she was out cold. As a last resort I called Greg in a panic and asked him what I should do. He suggested taking her up to her room to lay her down. Sure enough I was about halfway to her room when she realized I was trying to put her to bed. She woke right up and marched right back down stairs. She was awake, but not happy at all. When I changed her out of her play clothes into the picture clothes she went crazy and cried for 30 minutes. Greg found us outside with Eliza laying in the driveway not happy at all. Luckily I had done her hair before so all it needed was a little touch up. We finally got her back inside where I gave her a big bowl of candy so she would sit still long enough for me to fix her hair. This of course was her dinner also since it was just about time to leave. After all the worrying the pictures actually turned out pretty good. It didn't rain on us and we even had some sun. Eliza was pretty cooperative and Forrest was a complete ham. He was always posing. The next day the photographer posted all of our pictures, all 182. At first I thought this was great because I would have such a big selection, but after spending the last two days weeding it down to the ones I want I realized that she is brilliant. Instead of her spending hours selecting the best pictures, she makes us do the dirty work. I have finally narrowed it down to the ones I want, but Greg and I can not agree on which family picture to get. I really want this one, but Greg thinks everyone would like this one better. Your opinion would greatly appreciated. The other pictures we have picked are this one and this one for the kids together. Forrest had a lot of cute pictures and I had a really hard time narrowing it down. I ended up getting this one, this one and this one. Eliza was even more difficult than Forrest to choose for. She was being so cute and funny. I could have broken the bank buying pictures for her but I had to limit myself to this one, this one and this one. If anyone would like to donate to the cause I would love to buy more. Also if you are really bored feel free to look through all 182 pictures. It should only take you 10 to 15 minutes.
It was big enough that Greg could see it in our headlights as it was crawling around our garage. In the past we have seen several black widow spiders around our house, but since the snakes started showing up, the spiders started to disappear. I am tempted to ask one of the neighbor boys to go catch me a snake down by the river and let it go in our yard. I never thought I would say something like that, but I think I hate spiders a lot more than I hate snakes.
