Fun stuff

We have been having a little fun around here.
  Cassidy started swim lessons last week. It was such an impromptu thing. We got signed up the week before and got the last spot for April lessons. She is in a class of five, though only four get in the pool without screaming. She loves it and has to be reminded not to let go of the wall and touch the bottom of the pool (4 ft deep) all by herself. She doesn't mind going under water but she is no where near swimming on her own. No biggee. I just wanted her to get away from using the swim vest. She loves it.
  A tender mercy for sure. I was inspired to start potty training Julia 12 days ago. She is now telling us when she needs to go and using the Dora seat on the big toilet and refuses to go on the potty seat. She was dry throughout church on Sunday even though I took her the the bathroom three or four times. She's 50/50 on being dry during naps and about 40% with pooping on the toilet. It has been a HUGE blessing that I needed. It's been her, all the way. I am so thankful for that thought (I was in the temple when it came) that said "You should potty train Julia". I think we only had to get out the green machine out two maybe three times. Amazing. Thank you thank you thank you. I didn't have it in me for a fight.
  Sean has two teeth and is now sitting fairly well. This has all happened in the last week and a half. He and Molly also have a cold. Poor little guy. I weighed him at seven months and he was about 17 pounds, YEAH!!!! So again impromptu- no more night feedings. That has been rough. He's about 50% sleeping through the night. That boy can SCREAM!!!! Oh can he scream and he does, day or night and at night its really bad.
  I think I had mentioned Cassidy sleep walking? Well Joe found her a few weeks ago in her open doorway asleep on the floor. Hilarious. No more incidents since then.
  Molly is so observant. She told my mother-in-law that Elder Packard (our area authority, not President Boyd K Packard) looks like her brother. He really did too. He was here a few weeks ago with Elder Jeffery R Holland. She picks on things. Oh funny thing, she took a nap yesterday (was it yesterday or maybe a few days ago). Well I went in to get her and she was asleep in the little brown leather chair in Cassidy's room. It was so cute to see her getting up from it.

Here they are, those little cute kid. 

Quick run down

Here are the quick run downs of our news.

Cassidy- can tie her shoe. I had the thought a few weeks ago to show her how to tie her shoe. We tried a few times with Joe's shoe because they are heaving and I thought it would be easier to try to show her if the shoe wasn't flopping around. We went over the procedure a few times that day and I think another day. Then I forgot about it all until a few days later and lo and behold, she tied her shoe all by herself, perfectly!! What a champ. It was the same with learning how to write her name. We had showed it to her and then on her own she did it. No pushing, no battles, just show and let be. We are moving along in her reading lessons and she's doing great and is starting to read real sentences, like today's "a man is near a sock. a cat is in that sock."

Molly- She gets lost in the mix a lot because she's just at that age where huge things aren't happening as often, I guess. But she is such a big helper when I get involved and ask for her help. I need to go with that more.

Julia- Hit the two year mark and is such a big talker. I was amazed, I don't know why though, that she came up with a gramatically correct two part sentence. "I wanna get down and wash my hands." She loves to hold Sean and is so cute when she says "look at me seany, look at me."

Sean- He's six months now. Crazy. He picked up a few percentiles in weight, from the 2nd, to 5-10th percent. That was good, but not good enough to be told to sleep all night and stop waking up. I was aiming for 15 pounds and he was only 14 lb 11 oz., darn. He looks like he's getting so much bigger but the scale never registers it. He LOVES food. We've been feeding him since 4 months and now he's up to two or three servings, big servings a day. He can eat a whole banana in a sitting. Some day he will eat us out of house and home along with his sisters. I shouldn't be too anxious for that day to arrive. He still stays where I put him for the most part. He'll turn in a circle on his back, but he's not big into rolling over or attempting to crawl. That's okay. He can take his time.

Joe- Having fun with his bass club fishing tournaments. He always catches fish but his partners aren't so he thinks he's jinxed this year. He has a couple new homes that he is selling which is a great addition for the year. He's working hard with the Elder's Quorum. Oh and he says "he loves his wife."

December- Plugging along with Joy School. Attempting to also do a few crafty projects like a pennant banner for easter that says "He is risen", it's mostly done and super cute. I really like that fabrics I choose. Futilely trying to keep the office straightened up between then nights of crafting.And getting to the temple almost every week. Oh let me tell you. I was going to go tonight but the grandparents showed up right after dinner and so we got the kids in bed a little late and so I didn't get Sean ready for bed till about 640. I nursed him and hoped he would be out quick so I could leave by 7:10. Well at 7:10 he was still wide awake but I but him in is crib and was going to leave anyway. He starting crying and then I felt bad because I never put him down that awake and I thought it would cruel to let him cry for so long. So I didn't leave. And guess what? He was asleep in less than 20 minutes. That faker!!!!! I wish I had known and then gone, but I would have worried the whole time that he would cry forever. Oh well. It's no good going when you are so worried or stressed about that. I will try again tomorrow.

Can I say how crazy the tax law is??? I am working on our taxes and helping my dad and I learned AGAIN how complicated the IRS has made it. Can't it just be simple like tithing? It can't but man, it is way too complicated. Get the figure from line w from 2011 return, then add x, is that greater to line y, then write z, is z less then a, then multiply by b. etc.... 19 lines of arithmetic just to calculate how much of the social security payments are taxable.  16 lines to find our how much of the state refund from last year is taxable. CRAZY!!! What a waste of time. 

Oh, and I just read two books that I'd so recommend. "The Great Prologue" by Mark E Peterson, it's about the great history and destiny of the US as the means of allowing the Gospel to be restored and taken to the nations of the world. Awesome book. Compares the prophecies in scripture, like Nephi's to the events in history. I hadn't made many of the comparisons before, it is amazing how detailed those prophecies are. And "Rudy" by Daniel "Rudy" Reuttiger, of the movie "Rudy" fame. It's his biography. I loved the movie and the book (well his actual story) is way more inspiring and awesome than the movie. Who knew he was the third child of 14?!?!?! If you have a friend/family member who likes the movie, tell them to read the book. He's amazing and credits so much to God in such a way that is inspiring and refreshing. It really shows that God does care about our dreams and can use our accomplishments to help inspire and uplift others. Awesome. I have always been a Notre Dame fan, and always will. But I am a huge Rudy fan too.

Sean show and tell, well, just show

Channeling Elvis.

Hanging out with Mom and the neighbors. Photo taken by Molly.

Only grandpa puts a 3 month old on a bike, albeit a tiny one.

I love this little boy.

Don't be deceived, he HATES tummy time.

But he loves to smile...at mommy.

Busy and loving it

We have had quite the last few days: a trip to the zoo, a trip to the dentist (make that two trips), a trip to the Adobe, friends, chocolate, balloons, school...
Yesterday we went to the zoo in the morning. It was a perfect day, kind of cool, the animals were out and being hilarious. Oh man you should have seen the little squirrel monkey- hilarious- it would stand on its two legs and walk, well more like stalk, whatever it was he was stalking with his arms held in like T Rex and then ponce. I tried to tape him but as soon as I got my camera out he stopped. Who knew that squirrel monkeys stalked invisible prey? Even the condors were out and walking around. They usually just sit in the sun, motionless. Oh and the crocodiles, they were swimming so I ran over with Sean and Molly and as we got to the glass the croc stopped, right in front of us. We were inches from him, just the glass and metal grate separated us from him. Scarey, crocs are scary. The thought of meeting one of those in the wild, oh man. And he was just staring at us. I think he looked at Julia and thought "I want one of those." And the sag... apes were out and they never are when we go to the zoo. It was a great day to be with the kids and Grandpa at the zoo. Sean slept most of the time and so we were able to stay longer than normal.
Cassidy went to the dentist yesterday and had her first cleaning. She did AWESOME!! Clean bill of health and even let the dental hygienist do two x-rays. At first I was afraid, really afraid that it would be a bust, but she did great. Molly was bummed that she wasn't able to go. But I accidently dropped my camera in the waiting room (but didn't realize until I got home) so we got to make the trip again this morning. Cassidy led the way like the big sister she is.
Today for Joy School we visited a local site that has a fake cow (it's an old dairy) for the kids to milk. Molly hated it but Cassidy and Julia had fun. All six kids (ages almost 2-5) had fun going through all the little exhibits. The two babies did pretty good. But man, we were 2 moms and 8 kids and that was a feat unto itself. It was successful though and I am proud that we can do things like that without the sky falling on top of us. The only bummer was that I had to wake Sean from his nap to go.
With the gorgeous (almost 70 degrees) weather we were able to get out a bunch and play with friends. A bittersweet story. Our neighbors also have three girls, well they all had mylar balloons today for V-day. They were out playing when we got home and we arrived just in time to see the youngest girl somehow release the oldest girl's balloon. The oldest girl just broke down and bawled, she asked why it happened and even said that she had only had her balloon for an hour. Well a few minutes later the middle sister went in the house and came back out and promptly released her own balloon. In her own words because it wasn't fair that the oldest had lost her balloon. Isn't that the sweetest thing?? Funniest part was the reaction of the oldest upon seeing her younger sister's expression of love was to burst out crying all over again as if it was her own balloon. Not two minutes later did my VTer stop by with... a mylar balloon for V-day.
Grandma and Grandpa stopped by with new v-day shirts and chocolates from Ghiradelli, our hometown chocolate makers. I love the orange filled squares, they are awesome. Try them if you get the chance. Speaking of which, I think I am going to go get one or two. :) Oh yummy. Makes my tummy smile.
Over the last month or so we have been actively getting all our ducks in a line for kindergarten in the fall. I can't believe that Cassidy will be five in August and will be starting kindergarten. I have learned so much in the process of preparing for this, our next BIG adventure and I am excited. Even in the process of making my own decisions I have been able to help others get the information they need for their own educational decisions and that feels good. It is amazing how much you learn the first time through and how much easier it will be with the other children.
I love friendship and family and how much we can help each other. Tonight our neighbors brought us dinner, tomorrow we are bringing dinner to our friends, and grandma and grandpa are watching the kids to let joe and me go out for V-day.

I heard a quote yesterday that is so true, it is to the affect of "He does not love who does not show it."
What a blessing it is to love and be loved.

Cassidy took this photo yesterday morning.

Gotta love pig tails!!

He wasn't even the biggest croc in the exhibit.

Milk it baby!!

Molly took this photo today.

At the Adobe with Joy School.

Her first dental exam, love the glasses.

Don't forget the barbies that the girls got yesterday. Their first day with barbie dolls.

Dinner Roulette

Do you ever feel like you are playing Russian Roulette with dinner? I do. Tonight for example, I made rolls from scratch with a recipe I had never tried. I thought I had plenty of time before I needed to get dinner going when I started at about 1:30. I got the dough all made and in the oven to rise while my dad played with the girls upstairs so I feed Seany and put him down for a much needed nap. Well, he woke up about two minutes after I put him down so I let him cry a little. He started wailing while I cleaned up a little and the girls all filed downstairs. I got the dough out and made into the individual rolls and back in the over to rise again at about 4. Since Sean hadn't taken a nap he was wanting to be held all the time and the girls were getting into the super crazy time and the rest of the dinner needed to get ready. So I had to put Sean on the counter (to keep him safe from the oldest) and listen to him cry while I cut up the cheese and the turkey and ham and made the sauce to make ham/turkey and cheese sliders. Of course the last time we had these the girls didn't really like them, nor did Joe, but I did, so I choose them for dinner. Well the rolls had to cook before I could make them into sliders, they were done just before 5. They were super hot as I ripped them open to spread a little mayo, add the cheese and meat, and top with the sauce. Why it said to wait for 10 minutes I don't know, maybe the same reason it said to use 1/2 cup butter in the sauce (I used 2T). I shouldn't have waited. They weren't done till about 540 just as Joe walked in (we try to eat at 530). Of course I was trying to double up on the oven and had to get the brownie mix all ready to go in as soon as the sliders came out (darn not wanting to waste all that good hot air, I'm cheap that way) so that made it seem all the more chaotic. Of course that got the girls all interested in being in the kitchen.  But I so digress. I choose our dinner because I liked it and I know that the girls are okay with all the components (at times, anyway). As I dished up their plates with salad and a single slider I warned them that I didn't want any complaining. If they didn't want to eat it, fine, just don't complain. Cassidy started crying and whining because there wasn't any butter on the inside of the slider or on top. Then she picked it all apart. So did Molly. Julia just ate it all. In the end Cassidy ate 3, Molly ate 2 and a roll, Julia had one plus a roll, Joe had 3 as did I. They loved them.
Then there are other nights I make something I know they like and it's a huge fight to get them to eat anything. Why? There is no rhyme or reason to their dinner moods. It's always a huge guess as to what will work or not.Top that off with a crying (screaming baby) and three girls that are usually at the end of their nice ropes and are getting crazy and mom is set to explode.
Is it like that in your house?