Our first gingerbread house!

The girls were very excited for FHE last night after we went and bought a gingerbread kit. (Yes, I had no intention of baking one myself.) Unfortunately it was a lot like carving pumpkins - I did most the work. But they did have fun sticking the candies on. It has now become their Little People's house and they pretend the witch is going to get them if they get too close!

Pics won't load now, so I'll try again later.

A Day Late, but we're in the spirit!

Well, we're a day late on Christmas decorating, but we're done. (AND cleaned up!!) We were so busy yesterday, all we had time to do was put up the tree and put lights on it. Somehow I convinced Steve to go to Santa's Arrival by helicopter at the University Mall. We rushed there and arrived right at 9:30. However, Santa didn't show until 10:00. So we were a bit cold and bored, but the girls were excited to see him. After he excited the helicopter, he walked around the blocked off area waving at everyone - accompanied by two very dressed up officers. Then he walked into the mall to sit in his spot. That was definitely a ONCE in a lifetime opportunity. Ella cried when the helicopter left. I think she thought Santa was gone. So then we walked around the hussle and bussle of the mall for a while. I had decided to forgo getting up at 3:00 am to find deals. We ended up in the My Comfort gel bed store. We have both had backaches for days now - well actually about a year if you think about when we started wanting a new bed. Our first bed only lasted about 5 years. We were so mad. So we ended up buying a new RC Willey bed, but it ended up being defective - so we just returned it outright. Then we thought we'd try a cheap Costco bed - also a no go. So now we have bought our 4th bed in 6 years. Ridiculous that we can't get comfortable. Hopefully we'll get that in a few days.

E&E had been really good all morning so we went to Carl's Jr. playland and got fries. They fell asleep in the car on the was home, but still took good naps. After they woke up, we had time to start working on the tree before we went to Lynn's for leftovers and to watch the electric parade. That was fun. I wish American Fork would do something like that!

So this morning we got all the rest of the decor up. Unfortunately, we will have to move it all and put it up again when our carpet comes!! Oh well, tradition is tradition. E&E loved seeing our family ornaments we make every year. They have photos from the biggest events of the year. We also read through our Christmas traditions book that we add to every year. It's fun to see how excited the girls are!

One cute thing Emily did at the mall yesterday. She wasn't sharing her crackers with Ella, so I told her Santa is listening to everything she says. She thought for a minute then said very loud, clear and pointed, "I...AM...GOING...TO SHARE...MY...CRACKERS...WITH...ELLA...NOW." :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today I will share some of the things I am most grateful for lately.

• I am grateful for a wonderful family.
  
• I love how sweet E&E are and that they still love their mommy. They would chose me over any friend to play with. I'm glad that they still love to be around me. It's not often I go into a room alone and stay alone for very long.
  
• I love that E&E are starting to be able to play independently and together. And that Emily can mostly entertain herself quietly during Sacrament meeting now - unless she's in a contentious mood.
  
• I am grateful for an at-home job that is thriving. I am grateful to be with my kids, earn money, and also send my kids to play at babysitters.
  
• I love Steve's 8-5 job, so he's home to help me every evening. I'm also grateful for all the raises and extra hours he's earning.
  
• I love my computer that keeps me connected to my extended family and the rest of the world.
  
• I am grateful for health and safety in our family.
  
• I am grateful for all the comforts of our home.
  
• I am grateful for hugs and kisses from my girls - returned and offered freely.
• I'm grateful to be mostly done with Christmas shopping. And I'm grateful for my Christmas gift that's coming - new carpet!! And for new kitchen flooring.
  
• I'm grateful to spend Thanksgiving with family. And that Steve likes to make mashed potatoes!
• I'm grateful for Sunday afternoons when Steve cooks with the kids and I relax with the coupons.
  
• I'm grateful we've been working on and reaching our financial goals.
  
• I'm grateful my girls still take naps - for the most part!
  
• I'm grateful Ella sleeps through the night now - for the most part!
• I'm grateful for a loving husband and that he's a wonderful father.
• I'm grateful for my loving parents. And for all my siblings and their families.
  
• I'm grateful for my testimony and the gospel. I'm thankful for Christ and the atonement. I'm grateful for Primary for Emily and nursery for Ella. I'm grateful for E&E's sweet prayers.
  

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Beautiful day!

It is such a beautiful day that Steve decided to put up the outdoor Christmas lights. Since it's so nice, he decided to make it a bit fancier, I can't wait until next week when we start lighting them! We had to run to Lowe's really fast to buy a new outdoor outlet. I fried ours this summer when I was hosing down the front window and door. I had no idea that it could damage the covered outlet (plus I'd done it several times before), but it let off a good smoke show. So Steve gets to replace that today too. The girls ran around outside and had a picnic lunch while I mowed the lawn for the last time this summer. We kind of got lazy mowing the lawn this year after we discovered our neighbor girl would mow the whole lawn for $5 a time! We liked that deal. I tell you what, though, my arms were like Jello after I finished the lawn! I think I might have to give her a raise next year.

We got out early today to do a bit of Christmas shopping. I love that we can still get away with buying things right under their noses and they don't notice! We have way too much stuff for Emily. She's too much fun to shop for! I ran into the librarian from the school I used to teach at. She told me they fired all the librarians in the whole district. Fortunately, she got a job with the district overseeing all the assistant librarians in the district. She reminded me how awful the politics are and told me I got out at a good time. I can't believe how much they take advantage of their teachers.

Friday's are supposed to be fun days for the girls and me. I asked Emily if she wanted to go to the Children's Museum, but she chose Ikea instead. Ella had been begging to go in the playland with Emily ever since the last time we went. They are supposed to be potty trained. So I decided to sneak her in. But Ella ratted me out and told them she was wearing a diaper, so they paged me back. They said children that are still in diapers aren't mentally ready to be away from their parents. Guess that means all you working moms out there (including me) need to quit our jobs! Oh well, guess I need to follow the rules! Ella actually did go potty today!

When we were looking around at Ikea, I saw a cute mask and hat toy. I put it on Ella and thought they would like it. Instead, Emily said, "Mooom, you're messing up Ella's pretty hair!" She's too girly for me!

Well, we did it - we bought carpet!! Unfortunately, we won't have it by Thanksgiving like we'd hoped (so we wouldn't have to move the tree). But we will have it by Christmas!! That's our Christmas present this year to ourselves. Our carpet is about 15 years old and is looking pretty bad! Hopefully we chose wisely and will love it! You're all welcome to come visit when we get it in, but we'll be more anal about food and drinks!

Primary Program

It's over!! And it went well! I knew it would, those kids always come through. It was however, Emily's first primary program. She was really shy at the practice yesterday and wanted to stay glued to me. So I told Steve to really talk it up yesterday. She was excited and did a good job. Her part to say was, "I know Jesus loves me because..." She finished it to say, "because I belong into a family!" She had it memorized and said it really cute, clear and loud in the microphone! She also got to sing with a small group of other young kids singing, "I'm trying to be like Jesus." The group did really well. Anyway, the spirit was there and I was very happy with how it went! Steve was just saying in the car this morning how my big responsibility for the year is almost over. Then our 1st counselor in the primary got released today. We'll see if I get any added responsibilities or not.

After church I heard Emily ask Ella, "What did you do in nursery today, Ella?" Ella responded with, "Ummm...Jesus." I thought it was cute that they were recapping each other's days unprompted.

My cute kids

I really do have cute kids, even though I feel like they are driving me bonkers all day. Here's a few things that we've been up to lately.

Emily had been counting down the days until a show called, "Dora saves the Mermaid" was aired. It finally aired Monday night so we let her stay up late to watch it. I think she's probably watched it 10 times since then. She has it memorized. I haven't even watched it, but I practically have it memorized because she is constantly reciting it. And because we've reenacted it about 10 times everyday. At one point Dora puts on a mermaid crown and turns into a mermaid. I got out Emily's princess camp crown and now every time she puts it on, she sits down and puts her legs in her pillow case (mermaid fin). Emily's really into girly things lately. I got out her fairy paperdolls that grandma gave her and she'll dress and undress them for hours. (Unfortunately, grandma - she can't do it herself so I'm forever poking tiny tabs into tiny slits!!) She absolutely adores Ariel and anything to do with mermaids. She loves princesses! She plays with our little princess dolls all the time. And another favorite game of hers and Ella is to wrap a blanket around themselves, come up to me (the evil stepsister) and ask me if I like her pink dress. Then I have to meanly tear it off of them, saying, "That's my dress and my beads." Then they come back redressed in another blanket announcing that it is their blue dress. At this point I am not allowed to rip the dress off. It amazes me how many times we can reenact the same story with no variations. I like to be silly and change things, but Emily won't hear of it. She likes things just so.

Ella is just really talking so much more clearly lately. She loves the show Super Why and will run around with a blanket cape on singing, "SupaWhy, SupaWhy!" She still loves babies and lately has really been working hard on dressing them. She works so intently until she gets the job done. She diapered a baby yesterday and got another dressed with a shirt and pants. Which reminds me, her favorite thing to say is, "I do it MYSELF!" She won't let me help her do much anymore. She is so independent. I love that Emily and Ella are starting to be able to play better together. FINALLY! I've been waiting for this for 4 years! Today Emily fell on the stairs and I wasn't going to check on her (ever heard of the story called, The Boy who Cried Wolf?) - besides her daddy was nearby. Ella came to find me and said, "Emily sad - come on, mom!" She motioned for me to come. She can be very tender hearted. She always notices when babies are crying. Today when I was pretend crying during another endless make-believe session, Ella kept coming over to give me hugs saying, "Mama, happy, kay?"

Both of them are really working on their metal Christmas lists. Telling them to ask Santa has saved me from lots of tears over store toys. Today we walked around the toy section trying to find a birthday present. Oh there are so many things I want to buy Emily for Christmas!! Unfortunately I think it's more fun to shop for her because she keeps getting older and changing her interests. I feel like Ella can just have all the things Emily's grown out of. Isn't that awful! I'll have to come up with some good ideas for Ella as well.

Well, time to actually publish this post. I've saved it as a draft waiting more more ideas to come! But we'll have to save that for another day!

24 new wiggly pets

We are the proud owners of 24 nightcrawlers. This week we're studying I & J - so I thought an "Inchworm's Journey" would be appropriate. Ok, it's a stretch, but I bet the kids will like it! So today I actually bought dirt, live nightcrawlers and rubber fishing nightcrawlers. When we got home I took the girls outside and we had fun learning about worms. I have a small ant farm that we filled with dirt, worms and leaves. I put the rest of the dirt and worms in our sensory table. The girls were fascinated. They liked pulling leaves off the trees the most to feed them. When we came in, Emily got out the worm books I got at the library and we learned about them. Hope I can keep them alive for a whole week!

Now the next step for me is to not be afraid to touch them. As a teacher I've done a lot of gross things I wouldn't normally do. Unfortunately you have to be brave, otherwise kids will assimilate that learned behavior! So in my career I've pet a lot of gross reptiles, held bugs, touched stingrays and other fish and even owned some hermit crabs. The grossest thing I can remember doing was eating octopus! That was just like eating bad tasting rubber. Makes me shudder just remembering it!

Daddy and his daughters

Poor Steve was sick today. He was already up not feeling well when the girls started moving around this morning. When he went in to get them, the girls asked if he was still sick. After he said yes, they made him a bed on the floor and covered him with blankets! While I was getting a crockpot dinner ready, Steve yelled for me to come look. Both Emily and Ella had books and were reading to him. Emily was reading books that she has memorized and books she knows the story to and was doing a really great job! She's quite the storyteller!

Well, after being a single mom at church and having the program practice today, I was anxious to come home. Emily and Ella both informed me in the car that they wanted daddy pancakes for lunch. (Their after-church tradition.) I told them I would probably have to do it today since daddy was sick. Well, fortunately for me, Emily and Ella put on their cutest smiles and convinced their daddy to make pancakes for them. He just can't resist them - they've really got him wrapped! I told Steve I'd cook them for him and Ella burst into tears! We come to find out that she wanted Daddy to do it! So once again, she won by pure cuteness. Later I finished cooking the batter and did a terrible job - I guess Ella knew what she was talking about!

Family Pictures

Well, we bit the bullet and got family pictures done earlier this year. Here was my elaborate plan for saving money. I was going to go to a studio called Portrait Innovations and get their one-pose special. Then we were going to go to Target to get the individual shots because they have much better prices. I had different outfits picked out, ironed and all ready to go. When we got to the first place, I told them that I just wanted a group picture because ALL we were going to buy was the special package. She told me it was protocol to take individuals of everyone. Right then and there I knew I was doomed - my plan for saving money was going down the toilet! They did do a terrific job though. It's a different kind of studio where the cameras are not fixed, so they can move around and get all different kinds of shots. We moved into two areas to get our pictures taken. Then you view your pictures right there on these gigantic computer screens. Their program lets you do lots of fun things with your pictures. Then after you've done all your choosing, they print them right there for you. So I ended up spending $100 more than I'd planned, so we decided to skip Target! But really, once you look at cute pics of your babies, who could resist not buying them? Now we have about 100 sheets of photos, so everyone get your fridges cleaned off! Ella was the hardest to get to cooperate. They made her laugh though and got some good pics. Emily didn't smile in very many, but she still looked cute! So woohoo! Not only are we done for the year, but we got them before the Christmas rush and got them printed right then and there! I can check one thing off my to-do list for the season!

Hair cuts

Thursday night, Emily and I went out for a mommy/daughter date to get our hair cut. I've been warning Emily for a month that after Halloween, we were going to cut her hair short! We had to keep it long to look like Ariel, but I was sick of the daily fighting with snarls. And anyone who knows Emily knows her pain tolerance. It was her first time going to a salon - I've always done it. But she has traumatic memories about how long it took! So I thought it'd be fun to get it done by someone else. She did really great in the chair - she did exactly what the lady told her. I was kind of disappointed that the stylist just blabbed to her co-workers the whole time. She didn't even say one thing to Emily except where to move her head! I was sad she didn't make it more special for her. I got mine a little shorter with more layers. Nothing dramatic. However, Emily looks like a little diva! See next post for pictures!

Halloween

I don't know if Halloween really wore me out that much, or I'm just being lazy, but everytime I thought about writing a Halloween blog, I found something else to do! In fact, I've shampood our rug and couch and ottoman, cleaned the outside windows and door, and pulled up weeds in our flower bed all after I thought about writing a blog. I guess all that physical labor sounder easier at the moment than downloading and uploading pictures, learning how to make a slideshow and getting all my thoughts down. Now, after a busy day of family pictures, I'm ready to sit down and share.

We had a fun Halloween. Monday night, we painted the rest of our pumpkins. I ended up harvesting about 6 or 7 from our own garden, getting 4 from grandma and grandpa, and buying 2 from pumpkinland. After carving 3 earlier in the season, I thought painting would be MUCH easier. And it was, the girls were so excited to get started! Ella lasted longer than Emily and cried when we were done. Steve was excited to paint the Impossible Man on his pumpkin. The girls basically did solid colors on there. We added a Y to a blue pumpkin and a N to a red pumpkin and some poke in ears, eyes and nose in another pumpkin. We certainly had an array of pumpkins on our small porch!

On Halloween, the girls got to dress up for their library classes. It was the last class and we sure enjoyed going. Ella's mommy and me class is a hoot! The teacher is so fun and very creative. This week was about India and she tied fishing wire from a recorder to a stuffed snake that was inside a treasure chest. As she "played" the recorder (actually a CD) she stood higher and higher and danced around so it looked like the snake was being charmed. She went around and let the snake kiss everyone's toes! Emily's class is not as exciting because the librarian basically just reads book after book. After library, we took an early nap so we could go trick-or-treating downtown to the Main Street Stores. The girls had a blast, but Ella really slowed down by the end. Other than that, they did great walking! We tried to order pizza for dinner, but every pizza place was busy. So we finally did leftovers - Again. We started trick-or-treating after we'd gotten a few at our door. I loved going out early in the daylight. Emily had a BLAST! She literally RAN from door to door! Ella climbed in and out of the stroller everytime. We actually made it down our entire street and a couple of cul-de-sacs. That's the furthest we've ever gotten. We enjoyed seeing so many of our neighbors. We were surprised by how many families walking around we DIDN'T know. We have quite a variety in our neighorhood. We didn't get many trick-or-treaters after we got back and ended up with TONS of candy left over! I always overbuy. Too bad! (I did use coupons for all the bags I bought this year!) We played Sorry together as a family and I lost MISERABLY. I think I only got out of start once and only for one turn. Turns out it's not as fun to play games when you don't win all the time!