I'm a Big Girl Now!

These were taken back in January and I had no idea that Lily was even putting makeup on. We left to get Ammon from school and she did this while we were on our way to pick him up. When he got in the car he said, "Mom, what happened to Lily?!" I turned around and saw her face and laughed so hard. I felt so bad because we made her feel totally embarrassed. As soon as we got home I ran to get the camera and she was already in the bathroom trying to clean it off. I took her picture before she got it all off. She was sad and I felt terrible. We were on our way out the door for a bike ride and she didn't want to go outside until her makeup was off because she didn't want anyone to see her. We worked it all out and she ended up being happy and as you can see, she still loves her makeup! By the way, she has on lipstick, not eye shadow. I had a little Mary Kay lipstick sample that came with a little brush to apply it. It looked like it could have been eyeshadow, at least to a 4 year old. So it was a little difficult to get off because you know how lipstick is, and it was so dark!

Lily loves makeup! She has gotten into all my old stuff, that hasn't been worn for almost nine years, wow! Anyway, she absolutely loves to dress up and look pretty. She is so cute. Well, Anna is now liking it too! She is a baby and she likes makeup?! She cries when I take it away from her and clean her up. It is so sad to hear her cry like that. She acts like her heart is broken. Yesterday Lily and Ammon put a little on her and then left it where she could reach it. She came into me and her face was covered! She just kept putting on and in her left eye. I think they were really irritated, poor girl. She looked so cute though and she was so proud of herself! She loves to look pretty. What am I going to do? She and Lily are so girlie and I am not, I think I am in for it. Well, the other thing Lily loves to do is paint her nails. She is actually getting pretty good at it. Yesterday before dinner she disappeared and came out with bright pink nails and toenails too. She did a great job. Today she wanted purple to match her dress, so she redid it. She cracks me up. Girls are so fun. I love them both so much!

Stake Conference

We had our Stake Conference broadcast from SLC today. It was great! The adult session last night was awesome too! I love listening to our leaders speak the words of God. I love hearing what they have to say and learning what I need to do or how I need to change. President Monson based his talk around Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." I love listening the prophet.. He is such an amazing man. I felt so much through his talk. The home is so important and I do want my home to be house of God. I want the Spirit to be here, to influence me and my family to do our best and make right choices in everything we do. This scripture was also quoted from last night as well. I know it is important and I am thankful for the spirit speaking to me and helping me know where I need to improve.
This past week I have been working on the house of order part. I made a goal to have my kitchen clean every night before bed. For most of you this is probably already routine, but I struggle with it. So I did it all but Thursday night because I was at enrichment way late with Adam and the kids and by the time I got them in bed it was after 10:00 and I was tired, and honestly just forgot, oops. Oh well, I keep trying and I am getting better. All the other nights I had the dishes and sink washed, all the counter tops washed, the highchair and table clean and the floors swept. I was so proud of myself! I also organized the kids drawers, closets, under beds, and bookshelves and reorganized the toy closet! This week my goal is to reorganize the kitchen cabinets and also keep the kitchen clean like last week. I think I will have to have that as my goal for 30 days at least. They say it takes that long to form a habit right? So, little by little I am working on a house of order. I know that the Spirit cannot dwell where it is not orderly. That isn't to say I can't still be influenced by the spirit, but I know I will feel it more and things will and are better when my home is orderly. I am thankful I was working on part of these things before conference, and I am thankful to know the many other things I can change as well.

Anna is 18 Months!

So Anna is now officially old enough to go to nursery but of course, she won't go. She won't let me out of her reach in the nursery room. She has to be on my lap or touching me or she cries. The other night for Enrichment Adam was in charge of the nursery and she wouldn't even stay in there with him. Lily didn't go until she was 2 years and 9 months old. So, it might be awhile. Anna is such a momma's girl. I love her and love that she loves me, but I would love it if she would just happily go to nursery!

Foods My Kids Like

My kids absolutely love broccoli, lima beans, and prunes. They love a lot of other things too, but I think these are usually foods most kids would complain about. I am thankful to have pretty good eaters! Lily is funny. She likes tartar sauce, and not just on fish sticks. She ate it today with tortilla chips, and a few times she has put it on her bread for a sandwich. She doesn't eat the whole thing and I don't blame her one bit! Gross! Ammon loves shrimp and asks for it all the time. I don't even remember where he has eaten it. Anyway, I promised him we would have shrimp for his birthday dinner. It's too expensive to eat often, even though I would like to eat it more often too.

Sleep Walking

I think that occasionally Lily sleep walks, but only when she uses the bathroom in the middle of the night and only if she is super-tired. She never goes on her own. She usually starts tossing and turning or crying and I go in and wake her up and take her to the bathroom. She usually wakes up, but a few times she has been so tired that she gets up and goes, but she doesn't act awake. It is really kind of funny. She doesn't respond normally and when I give her toilet paper she doesn't know what to do with it when she is done. She just holds it in her hand and then drops it on the floor and freezes. I tell her to pick it up and she just ignores me or cries. It is really kind of frustrating. It's like a power-battle, but it is crazy because she isn't awake and I get frustrated for nothing. Anyway, it is really kind of crazy and only happens once in awhile. Well, back in Vegas she needed to go in the middle of the night and I went in and got her and followed her to the bathroom. She walked right over to the side of the toilet, between the toilet and the tub, I think she was confused about where she was at. She sat on the edge of the tub and started peeing into the tub. I couldn't believe it! I was trying not to laugh and was trying to figure out what she was doing. She finished, pulled up her pants and walked back to her room, never acknowledging me. It was the funniest thing ever. Maybe I shouldn't have written it because it is an intrusion of her privacy and she would probably be embarrassed about it, but I had to write it before I forgot that it ever happened. Please don't say anything to her about it. The next morning I asked her if she remembered what happened and she said no. I told her and she laughed so hard and then Ammon laughed even harder when she told him. They think it is hilarious and love it when I tell them the story of the night Lily peed in the tub!

Stickers

I went to the post office back in December to get some stamps and I made the mistake of letting Lily hold them for me. She absolutely loves stickers and she thought they were stickers. When we got to the car she was saying something about stickers and I told her we didn't have any. She said we did and showed me her pretty stickers she had put on, the stamps! I feel so bad because I got upset with her and told her they weren't stickers and they cost a lot of money, well, if you are using them as stickers, then yes, they are really expensive! The look on her face made me so sad. I was way too hard on her and for what, a dollar of wasted money?! I wish I could go back and erase that one. I need to relax and not make such a big deal out of little things that could really be a fun and silly memory rather than a sad one. Sorry Lily!

Renocasally

My little Lily has such an imagination and is so good at playing by herself. The other day she dressed up her animals and herself and made a car with the chairs and told me she was on a date. I asked her where she was going and she said, "To renocasally, it's between the mountains and the freeway at the top of the mountain. Then we are going dancing." She was so cute and happy and her animal was dressed in Anna's church shoes and a dress. Lily is such a fun happy soul. I am so glad she is so good at playing by herself.

I Love My Husband!

Adam came home from work last night with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me and a big container of chocolate and caramel covered macadamia nuts! He is such a wonderful husband! I feel so blessed to have him. He truly is an amazing man and I admire and love him so much! Thank you Adam, I love you!

Half Snow Day

Lily helping baby bear make a snow angel!

So Ammon's school was delayed by 2 hours yesterday morning because of snow. There really wasn't very much, but I was happy for the delay. We don't get much snow out here and when we do it melts within a few hours, so we made sure we got out right after breakfast to enjoy it. We played outside from 9:00 until 10:00 and then I took Ammon to school at 11:00. We made a big snowman and the kids had tons of fun. I started a ball for them and they rolled them all over the front lawn to get them bigger. I was really surprised with how big they turned out. I had a difficult time lifting them up to build the snowman. My back was hurting last night and now I think I know why, oops! Anyway, we had lots of fun and it turned out great except that the sun is on him all day so his face keeps falling off and he is leaning really bad. I think he will tip over soon. Oh well, we had fun. Anna did well for awhile but then she had decided she was through. She was super-tired because she went to sleep late and woke up early. She is normally so happy. It was unusual for her to be crying like she was. I tried to take her in and get her snack and open the blinds so she could watch us, but she wasn't happy about being left alone. So then I got her car seat and big warm blanket and got her all comfy on the porch but she was screaming even more. Then I just took her inside and closed the door, because she was only in her pj's. But, she opened the door and came out screaming and kept trying to walk over to me, through the snow, in just her pj's... The neighbors probably thought I was being so mean. So I got her dressed up warm again and just held her and no more tears. Wow, moms are magic. All you have to do is pick them and suddenly, the crying is gone...! All in all it was a great morning and I was thankful for the extra time with Ammon. He and Lily had fun making snow angels and Lily even helped her baby bear who was dressed in a swimsuit, go figure, make a snow angel too! That girl is so sweet. She loves her animals. By the way, we used most of the snow from our front yard and by noon, all the rest had melted. Adam said it looked like we had used all the snow from our neighborhood, silly!

Anna's Testimony!

The video is dark sorry. I hope you can see it well enough. You can pause the sound on my play list at the bottom right side of the screen so you can hear Anna.

This was the cutest and sweetest thing during Family Home evening on Monday night. At the end of our lessons each week we all take a turn to share our testimony. Well, after watching Lily and Ammon share theirs and seeing how happy mommy and daddy were, Anna wanted to give it a try. She walked up to the front by Adam, just like the kids had done and started jabbering. She can't really talk, but she is trying so hard! She was so cute up there and when she was through she ran to me and gave me a hug. It was honestly the cutest thing ever and filled my heart with so much joy. I love that Lily and Ammon have a testimony and are willing to share them with us. I love to hear the things they say and learn about what they understand about God and the gospel. I love that Anna is only 18 months and already tries to pray and now give her testimony. Being a parent is so rewarding. I love it!

A Few More From Ammon...

I just remembered a few more funny things from Ammon. A few weeks ago, he and Lily were playing and he said, "You OBAMA LIAR!" To which lily was very upset and came running into me pouting saying that Ammon had called her an Obama liar. Being called a liar is mean enough, but making it a double-whammy by adding Obama to it is a total insult! I guess you can tell that our kids know what we think of Obama. During the election our kids actually thought Obama was a bad word! How funny!

The other thing Ammon said also deals with Obama. I had just brought him home from school and it was the day of the Inauguration. Ammon was telling me he watched it at school and we were talking about it and about Obama. He asked me what I thought about Obama being President because he knew I didn't like him and that I also thought he was a liar. I told him that I didn't have faith in him as our President because he isn't a good man and supports a lot of bad things, but that I would hope and pray that he would do what was right for our country. Then Ammon asked if he could say a prayer. So we knelt down and he said,"Heavenly Father, please help Obama not to do anything bad. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." Okay, can you think of anything sweeter than a six-year-old boy pleading with his Father in Heaven for such an important thing?! The faith of a child is amazing! Just think how many prayers are offered like this. I know Heavenly Father listens and answers. He cannot make Obama do good, but through our prayers, we can certainly help make things better. Don't give up! Thank you Ammon for your awesome example to me! I love you!

The Relief Society Declaration

I read and pondered this today and it is truly amazing! How blessed I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so grateful for my Savior and His love for me. I am glad to know who I am, why I am here, and where I want to go. The Church is such a strength in my life. I am thankful to have a foundation on which to build my life, my family, and my goals. The world is trying so hard to destroy the family. There is so much out there pulling women in so many different directions. I am so glad to feel united with this declaration. To be proud to be a woman and most importantly a mother! I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing in life at this time than being a mom. It is truly the greatest and most rewarding job! I absolutely love it! I heard a mom on TV the other day who said it was good for her that her kids were at school and away form her from 8:00a.m. until 5:00 or 6:00p.m. because it didn't suit her personality to be with them more than that! Can you believe that?! I was really sad by her comment. Then last night I heard another mom say that mother-hood is really not precious! Wow! Where are we headed people?! I wish everyone could feel the way about their family that I do about mine. It is total happiness and joy, even with all the chaos and craziness. It is truly the greatest! I hope you feel this way too! Read and ponder this declaration and think about how amazing it is!

We are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction. As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:
Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.
Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.
Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.
Delight in service and good works.
Love life and learning.
Stand for truth and righteousness.
Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.
Rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

The funny things Ammon says...

Ammon has been cracking me up lately. I thought I should record some of his words before I forget them. The other day Adam turned on the Mormon Messages YouTube channel for Ammon and Lily and the man speaking said "the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..." Lily said,"Latter-day Saints?" and Ammon said, "Yes, that means people who got church a lot!" How funny!
Next, I finally unpacked my box of porcelain dolls on Friday and the kids were helping me. Ammon was getting out a doll my mom made for me when I was probably about 10. My mom made her look like me and put her in the white dress I wore to the temple the day my parents were sealed. It is a very pretty doll and of course, very special to me. I reminded Ammon to be careful and he was so sweet. He was very gentle with her and as he unwrapped her from the bubble wrap he said to Lily, "Wow, this was made back in the olden days!" Am I really that old to him?!
Last, he grabbed a Halloween pencil to do his homework the other day and it had pumpkins on it. It reminded him of Halloween and he said he had eaten an eyeball before. I told him that was gross and he said,"No mom, it was a candy eyeball. It had 1200 calories of sugar in it so it was really sweet." He was so matter-of-fact about it too. That boy is absolutely hilarious! All the kids make me laugh and I wish I could remember all the silly things they have said. Hopefully they will come back to me...

My Friend

Okay, so one of my dearest friends that I honestly cannot live without is RUNNING! I kind of slacked off a few weeks ago and I started feeling all depressed and tired and gross. Then I got my act together and started running more regularly and boy do I feel better! I have decided that if I want to feel well I HAVE to run! I love my treadmill in the winter and have used it more here than in Vegas, but today it was 49 degrees out this morning! The weather was absolutely perfect and the pink morning sky was beautiful. I love the way the sun turns the snow on the mountains pink. There is something incredibly refreshing about running outdoors. I am so thankful to have a healthy body so that I can enjoy running and I am thankful for this amazing world I get to enjoy as I do it.

Lily's Birthday!

I don't know why this is taking so long to load, but if you click on view all images, it will take you to photobucket so you can see the slideshow there. Sorry!
We had a fun day for Lily. Grandpa Wayne was here to play all day and help out with getting ready for the party. He used his drywall stilts to rehang the streamers for me. The kids thought it was so cool that he was walking around with his head almost touching the ceilings, which are 10 feet high. He did a great job and they didn't fall down, hooray! Lily and Ammon decorated and filled the pinata, which turned out super-cute by the way. I didn't do any decorating on it. It was 100% kids and they loved it and so did I! Ammon drew the horse on our poster for pin-the-tail on the horse and he did a magnificent job. When Lily saw it she said, "Mom, that does not look like a horse, that looks like a dragon!" She didn't want to try to draw something better though. I am glad Ammon did it because my art skills are lacking if you know what I mean and I was afraid someone might ask which kid drew the horse when it was really me. I solved it by letting Ammon take care of it! Smart mom I do have to say. Lily cut out tails from black construction paper for the horse and got the tape all ready for them too. Lily and Ammon helped me cover cardboard horseshoes that Grandpa cut out for us with tinfoil. Ammon helped me untie the handles from his jump rope to use for our lasso the dog game. It was a lot of fun. All the games turned out great, very simple and homemade but so much fun! The kids at the party had tons of fun too! We let the kids each make their own pizzas when they got here and they loved it. The food turned out great. We had homemade pizza and bread sticks, salad, a veggie tray and drinks. I was really happy with how everything went. I decided to try something new with Lily's cake. She wanted a horse cake and so I was searching online to fine ideas and came across some cute fondant cakes. I frosted it with regular icing and then covered it with a fondant icing and fondant stars. I thought it was really cute. It took a lot of time, but was really fun and Lily loved it! She had to put her horses on it before we lit it though, it looked silly, but she thought it was the best!I love making birthday cakes. Here is the link to the recipe I used. http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm Everyone got a turn at the pinata, even Anna. She did surprisingly well. She hit it a few times and was really enjoying herself. I was hoping to let her and Lily have a second turn, but the last girl that hit it was 8 and she knocked it off the pole onto the floor and then smashed it to pieces. The kids didn't care though. It would have been fun to put it back on and the let the birthday girl break it, but they were all happy so I didn't mind too much. Lily loved her presents, Pet Shop, Polly Pockets, and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" by Dr. Seuss which came with the brown cow. She sleeps with her cow every night and dresses her in Anna's old clothes. Lily is a sweetie! I am glad we were able to have a fun party and celebrate her special day.
Oh, daddy got Lily a bouquet of roses for her special day. She has been wanting flowers for over a month and has begged me to let her use her own money to buy some. Every time we are at Costco she has to stop and look at all the pretty flowers. She was so happy when daddy came home with a big bouquet all for her!

Happy Birthday Lily!

My sweet little Lily is 5! Wow how time flies! She got to open her present from me and Adam this morning. She got a pink cowgirl hat and pink boots! She looks so darling. What a cutie. She had Corn Pops and Strawberry Mango juice for her special birthday breakfast. She spilled her juice on the floor. I am so glad I didn't mop last night. All her birthday decorations fell down during the night, I need to go buy some different tape today. She can't wait for her party tonight, she keeps trying to get me to let her have it after lunch. Cute girl. Happy Birthday Lily, I love you!

Grandpa Wayne

My dad got here yesterday form Utah and the kids are in heaven! We love grandpa! He came to help us fix some things around the house. Well, not really fix, but change. It is nice to have a handy dad. He told me has a magic hammer and can fix anything! He really can. The timing works out nice because he will be here for Lily's birthday tomorrow. She is crazy excited. I love how happy kids are about birthdays. By the way, I think the pinata might work! Yeah!

Lily's Pinata

You can't even see how messy Anna was. She had paste on her eyelids and all over her, including her hair. We had to change her whole outfit too!

We are trying to make a pinata for Lily's party on Thursday. I don't know if it is going to work. Yesterday the kids had a blast but made an awful mess! They kept eating the paste, flour and water, and saying it was good. They are so silly. We had paste all over the floor, chairs, and ourselves. What a crazy mess, but it is totally worth it to see them have so much fun and make it themselves.

Family Home Evening

Last night we were invited to attend Family Home Evening at a families home in our ward who live up near Pyramid Lake. They have Alpacas, goats, dogs, chickens, a cat and 80 acres! They live out really far, but it is so cool! It would be neat to live like that. Anyway, we had some awesome steak for dinner and they had this cute fhe lesson and then the husband made homemade candy and the rest of us decorated posters and hearts and then we went and heart-attacked our bishopric's homes. It was super fun! The candy was absolutely amazing. They sent us home with a a bag of caramel popcorn, toffee, and a dozen eggs! This family is amazing! They get their milk from their goats and make their own butter, wow! Can you imagine being so self-sufficient? One of the Alpacas is about to have babies so we get to go see them in a few days. The kids were in heaven up at their home and cannot wait to go back. What an amazing family. It was a great fhe! FYI, an alpaca is like a llama, but they seem fluffier. They were way cute. I didn't have my camera, so sorry no pictures.

An Issue

Yesterday Ammon and Lily were building a fort under Lily's bed and I was listening to them play. Lily was trying to get in and Ammon needed to get out. He said, "Lily, I need to get out, I have an issue." To which Lily responded, "OK, where did you get your issue?" I tried so hard not to laugh. It was too cute. Kids say the funniest things. I don't know what his issue was, but they got it worked out and went on happily playing. So fun!

This is how we store we our food...

We just bought a few bags of oats, wheat, beans and sugar and so I finally sealed them up so we don't get weevils again! That happened last year and was a gross and costly experience. They love oats! So, if you have oats, do NOT leave them in the paper bag they come in, you'll probably end up with weevils and a lot of wasted money.

Anyway, I found some info online about how to seal your food at home, here goes... You'll need mylar bags, oxygen pouches, buckets, lids, a sharpie, and an iron, oh, and a broom for when you are all done. When the kids help it gets a little messy. You can get the mylar bags ($.37/ea) and oxygen absorbers ($.07/ea) at the LDS Cannery. First you pour your food product into the mylar bag and then put in an oxygen pouch. Don't fill it too full because you have to lay it on it's side to seal it with a hot iron. I promise it won't ruin your iron. I use the same iron we use for our clothes and it is fine. After it is sealed write what is in it and where and when you bought it. Then place your bags in a bucket and write on the bucket what is inside and then put a lid on it. You will probably need to use a rubber mallet. Now your food is double-sealed and should last for a good length of time because of the oxygen absorber. Make sure you put them in the bucket when your done and not the next day because they will get hard as rocks once the oxygen is sucked out and you won't be able to squish them to fit. This has worked great for us. It doesn't take too long and the kids love to help! I think it is a great and cheap way to save your food! Happy Food Storing!