Is It Naptime Yet

Lilah had a gymnastics program Tuesday night. She did very well and ran around like a crazy before it began.

I do have video of Lilah’s gymnastics program but I need to find a video editor so I don’t have to put up the five clips from it, and we took no pictures.

After the program we went to Opportunity’s Village the Magic forest. Carolyn’s co-worker was doing a little performance so she invited us along with her.
We rode the train, the carousel and Lilah and I went down the slide.
It was lots of fun even though we never went into the actual magic forest part. (It’s just lots of lights and decorations, which we caught a glimpse of while riding the train.)

This is Jon’s “are you taking a picture of me face?’- when I obviously have a camera in my hand aimed at him. (I love you honey. <3 )

Lilah on the carousel.

Carolyn has a cute expression, that’s why I’m using this picture. But Eden with Carolyn on the carousel.

(Carolyn and I were getting a little dizzy and sea sick while standing on the carousel.)

We got home so late because we stayed till 10′ o’clock, when it closed and the girls were well behaved during the night. ( I also kinda wanted to get my money’s worth in rides.)

Wednesday night we took the girls shopping for one another.
We just went to the dollar store and allowed them to each choose four things for one another.
It was rather cute.
Lilah went with Jon while I was at a different store with Eden. We saw them outside the store and Lilah hid the bag behind her so Eden couldn’t peek.
I took Eden and I kept reminding her that we were picking out gifts for Lilah. Some things were Eden’s taste, but overall she was saying she wanted to get such and such for Lilah, except a little dog at the end, which is still for Lilah.

Thursday was lunch with the Mother’s group. Every mother had gifts for each of the other kids from their own child except me. I didn’t feel bad, but I did feel a little lame. I’m not a big gift giving person when it comes to people outside the family. We often keep such a low budget for Christmas, even though we exceeded it because of a gift we got Lilah, and I just never know what to do and which people to give to.
Gift giving could also easily get out of control, Jon’s work is a good example. I did bring truffles and cookies the week before for the moms to enjoy so that also helps me to not feel too bad.

Friday I made truffles with the Jewitt’s, or showed them how and did some of the work because I’m a better shower than teacher though her eldest daughter and youngest did help a lot.
The girls loved being at their house all day.

Jon also checked his grade and he got an A in his class this past semester. All the hard work paid off.

Saturday we went to Jon’s parents house and I finished my Christmas shopping. (I just needed stocking stuffer stuff and a picture frame.)
Jon’s parent’s have a pecan tree in their front yard and the girls and Jon decided to pick up the pecans.

Lilah looking for nuts.

We were hunter gatherer’s looking for nuts. This is about a third of what we gathered.

His mom also insisted that we take all of them because some would be bad, though we’ve had almost all very tasty nuts. I think I’ll give some to my parents and anyone else who likes pecans, please comment. 😉

While gathering Jon decided to climb the tree to shake any pecans out of the tree, like he did as a kid.

The lowest branch is about 6 ft from the ground on the trunk.

Lilah trying to catch the nuts Jon shakes off.

Eden watching Daddy in the tree.

I think he’s 32, but he may just be a 12 year old in a 32 year old’s body sometimes.
We now have a ton of pecans which are delicious. I don’t like store bought pecans but these ones are very good.

Like last year, I did the shopping for my mother-in-law for gifts to give my sister and brother-in-law and we helped set up their tree while we were there on Saturday.

Saturday night I made white chocolate covered Ritz crackers with peanut butter with the little chocolate I had left from truffle making. They were given to us the previous year and even though it sounds funny, and they look a little funny they are so delicious and I’m trying so hard to not eat all five that are left, I was able to make about nine. (I add a little honey to regular peanut butter, put a nice amount in between two crackers like a sandwich. Dip in chocolate and place on wax paper then freeze for about five minutes to speed up the process. They are soo good. You can also use white almond bark in place of the white chocolate.)

Today was just a regular ole Sunday.

I wish Christmas was tomorrow.
I can’t wait till Christmas.
I’ve been very good and have no idea what I’m getting this year. (It’s not that I try to find out what Jon gets me, but I can often figure it out through accidental occurrences.)
We also got a large box from Jon’s brother Conrad in Missouri for Lilah and I haven’t peeked, though Jon looked at it to make sure it didn’t need to be wrapped.

I’m so excited.
Christmas is almost here.

Lilah’s been picking up words.
Last week it was stupid. I know she heard it on Aurthur, a PBS show, and she used it while describing the toilet or something.
I told her it wasn’t a nice word and she responded that she was just joking. A response she uses often lately when she’s told not to say something, or do something or when we say no to a request. We think it’s her way of not being emotionally invested in something.
Like tonight it was “Daddy can you tell stories?”
“Not tonight it’s also my bedtime right now.”
“I was just joking.”

Back to the stupid comment. I explained it wasn’t a nice word and she got a little upset by it. (Upset in the got her feelings hurt or felt really bad for doing something the wrong way and began crying.) I tried to explain it just wasn’t a nice word and to not use it again. I knew she was just repeating what she heard and I tried to not be harsh. Today I heard.
“blah blah blah, you idiot.”
(It was said in the same tone she says “you silly mommy.”)
I wasn’t sure at first what she said. So I asked her what she said and she sensed that it was something she shouldn’t have said and replied nothing, or I was “just joking”.
I asked her if she said idiot and after a couple exchanges said yes she said idiot.
I was a little firm at first. Mostly just “Lilah that’s not a nice word and you don’t say idiot.”
She again responded she was just joking.
I tried to explain to her that it was okay that she used that word because she didn’t know it was a mean word and that it’s fine to make mistakes.
She again got upset after I corrected her on using the word idiot and I tried to comfort her once more.

I’m pretty sure, she’s just hearing words, not always knowing what they mean and not always knowing they’re bad, though she might know it’s a rude or mean word, hence the denial of using idiot, and is saying them to figure out what’s acceptable and what’s not.
At least that’s what I think about her new vocabulary.

But I’m just not sure how to react to her “I’m just joking” comment.
It bothers me that she uses it all the time.

I also don’t know how to react to her sensitivity to making a mistake.
She’s always had a hard time with making mistakes.
Like now, I’m teaching her how to recognize words and sometimes she’d rather not try to read a new, yet familiar word, than make a mistake and I’m afraid she’ll eventually be turned off of reading. (We’ve bought some phonics book and I plan on using them so she can learn the letters and what sounds and start figuring out what the word might be rather then relying on sight recognition like we are now.)

How does a parent delicately deal with a sensitive child?

Yes, I was the mom with the very loud and annoying cart.
I understand it made a terrible squeak that could entice even a sane person to want to throw it across the store in rage.
Just think how bad it would have been if you were pushing it around with a 4 year old in it and had a 2 year old slowly trailing behind?
Just be happy that I found a less annoying cart near a check out line and left the squeaky cart for the next desperate mother.
Wait, you’re the mother who got the annoyingly squeaky cart? I apologize.

Yes, I was the mom playing Marco Polo with my 2 year old who loved to hide in the clothes racks.
You see her older sister complains to no end if I have her out and walking and the younger one who knows no fear, hides in the clothes rack making each one her home if she is walking. Also if I hold the 2 year old’s hand she whines and pulls until she wiggles free.
It’s just easier to play Marco polo than to argue with them.

Yes, I was the mom who left the cart in the middle of the isle after she checked out.
You see the sea of people in line made it difficult to maneuver the cart towards a more respectable place, like the entrance, so the next costumer would be able to use it.
I usually return my cart, or in this case child stroller with a bag to put things in, to the cart area, but there are none in Mervyn’s and like I said I was just too lazy to push it through all you people waiting in line.

To an employee of Mervyn’s: My 4 year old had a stuffed puppy that she took with her under a table while I was talking with a friend. It never made it out and is still hiding in it’s new home beneath the table.
At this point I was just too tired to care about restoring it to a place within the pajamas where she found it that was also obviously not where it belonged.

My dad gave me a couple cards for Mervyn’s that gave me $10 off every $20 I spent and they expired today so I thought I’d go and get some good use out of them.
I bought a couple things for myself, clothes to give for the ward’s angel tree child I chose, a shirt for my SIL Dara and a gift card for my nieces in Utah. I also found a jumper in size 5 for Lilah next year at $5, down from $22.
I spent $45 or so and saved around $90.
It was nice.
I then went to Payless because it looked like they were having a sale and they were so I bought some cute shoes for Eden, since I couldn’t find any in her size at Mervyn’s. They are adorable. In the picture they’re not as cute as they are on her foot.

We then went to Mc Donald’s for some good ole fun and food that’s bad for you.
My girls drank all their chocolate milk, ate about three fries each and some of their chicken nuggets before they went off to play.
While I watched them play this couple came and sat in the booth next to the table I was at.
He was very friendly and when I was getting Eden’s jacket on to leave he asked what color my eyes were and to see them.
I said hazel green and he complemented me on the color and then said how beautiful Eden’s eyes were.
He was African American, though I admit I just say black cause I’m not politically correct, and he said how he always wanted a blue eyed child. We debated whether that’s possible since he’s black, even with a blue eyed partner. Though my parents have brown and green eyes and two of my sisters have blue. I said how I want a green eyed girl like myself but I so far I’ve gotten two blue eyed girls.
He tried to get the girls to smile and kinda succeeded with Eden and I had the girls wave goodbye as we left.

I got home to my loot and realized that somehow I didn’t purchase the two pairs of pants I intended to for Eden. I must have carried them around, but somehow they didn’t make it into my basket or I set them down. I’m not sure. Maybe I just looked at them as I was debating which size to buy.
I thought maybe I was charged for them and they never made it into the bag, but according to the receipt I just didn’t buy them.

Knowing my mother had two more coupons for the spend $20 get $10 off I called her to see if she had used them, since they expired today. She said no so I figured I could go pick them up and use them to buy a few things and get us out of the house so Jon could study this evening.
Have I mentioned tomorrow is his final and I will be so happy to be over with this class? It’s taken more concentration for him and thus made it harder on me because I either have to keep the girls from bothering him, or myself, while he’s studying at home or go somewhere. I think we’ll save some money on gas once he’s done.
Anyways I went and truely spent about $13 for the two pants, but I bought Christmas gifts for the grand kids from my mom. Like Pajama’s and dresses for my two girls. She reimbursed me to where I spent $15, I guess tax factors in. So in reality had I just waited until tomorrow I would have saved money in gas and even spent less because everything is suppose to be 50% of tomorrow, where as the pants were 40% off today. But I think my time in shopping for my mom helped and it’s sometimes a hit and miss with what dresses she gets the girls. Most have been very cute, but some have been my mom’s taste and not mine. 😉

I got the girls home around 9, their bedtime is 8. We got them into bed about 9:45 pm because we were all fascinated with the PBS show. It was a self made documentary made in the 70’s of a man in Alaska building his log cabin by himself with hand tools. Totally cool. Totally time and labor intensive, though if you know what you’re doing things go smoothly I’m sure.

It’s now very late and I still have one more post to write.

Maybe I’ll get some cleaning done tomorrow.

This weekend we did a very short trip to Ely to visit Andrea and Brien and to see Zarina blessed.

We left late on Saturday around 1 o’clock. (Jon was topping off fluids and accidentally put the pink windshield wiper fluid in the pink coolant fluid. It might have been OK, but since we were going on a long trip with very few towns and a lot of nothing in between we thought it would be better to have the engine flushed to be on the safe side. He was there for 3 hours. Ugh.)

We got on the road and the girls and I got excited when we we saw that there was snow on the mountains outside of Alamo.

Just in the car having fun.

Snow on the mountains!

Pretty cloud on mountain.

Are you sure you want to go this way?

We went the long way, or scenic drive to Ely through Caliente.

The Union Pacific train station in Caliente. Jon said he rode though Caliente several times as a kid on the train. (His father worked for UP.)

We stopped and played in some snow on the roadside.

I will say I thought it was pretty until Jon decided to throw snowballs, which he did immediately after getting out of the car.

The girls weren’t in the snow clothes I brought and I didn’t want them getting wet from the snow sticking to them.
OK I also didn’t want them getting dirty.

They loved it and wanted to make a snow angel like Daddy had, but I was wanting to get back into the warm car and onto the road again.

Jon mentioned how driving in the snow made him feel like he was on a different planet.
I’d have to agree.
Neither of us grew up in snow, Jon did go on a mission to New York, but that has been over 10 years ago.
Snow is just foreign to us Las Vegans.

I just noticed this guys headlights weren’t on.

It was pretty. The scenic drive wasn’t very scenic with the snow storm, but it was still pretty.

Uh, where’s the scenery?

We’ll have to visit Mount Charleston for some snow. The girls just loved it and maybe next time I’ll let them get dirty and wet.

We got to Ely around dinner time and headed over to Andrea and Brien’s for a short visit.

Eden loved Zarina and wanted to hold her.

The next day while getting ready for church Eden began to smell. So I gave her a bath and Jon inspected her dress.
A poopy diaper that she had that morning had leaked on the dress, so it smelled. We decided we’d better dress her in her pants rather then have her be stinky and in a dress.

The sacrament meeting was nice and we headed over to Andrea and Brien’s for a delicious meal of pulled pork sandwiches.
It was all of Brien’s family and then us, and his one neighbor.
(My parents wanted to wait till the crowd died down since they had my aunt who has cerebral palsy with them.)

Zarina after church.

We got some pictures and then took off home.

The Parks.

The Parks with Lilah and Eden. (This is what Eden wore to church.)

Proud aunt with Zarina.

It was a very long drive and the girls started being roosters right as we got near the city and they continued for about the 20 minute drive in. And that is Eden at the end talking, for those who think she doesn’t talk, she does talk and a lot at times.

Yesterday we went to the Anderson Dairy factory, where they package milk, cottage cheese and ice cream.
It was fun for the most part.
The girls got lots of ice cream, the scoop was rather big, and I only let them eat half because it was before lunch.
Lilah liked the fog that they had and the talking animals.
Afterwards we to to CiCi’s pizza where they have a pizza buffet with salad. I’ve never been but it wasn’t bad.
I was with Sam and Britta and Emily and her two daughters, Katia and Isabell, and we saw one other mom from our group with her two kids and husband, Crystal.
Afterwards we went to Goodwill where I got a new, never used, shelf for the girls room for $12. I don’t think I’d pay more than that for it, though I’m sure it was more like $20 at Target.

It was a fun day but while waiting to take the tour Eden scared me.
All the kids were playing and her and another boy ran into one another or something happened where she got knocked down. He was cute and gave her a kiss and I ran over to comfort her.
I’m not sure if she was crying at this point, but she did have a sad face on. I picked her up and I remember waiting for the loud yell of her cry. Children get so upset that they’re silent and then you get the loud cry. Well as I was waiting for it I cuddled her into me for a brief few seconds and then she pushed away from me, arched her back and I think went unconscious for a little bit.
It freaked me out because she was not her normal self and I saw her eyes gloss over.
I started to cradle her and said that something was wrong with Eden and Crystal, another mom, started saying her name to get her attention and she took her to bring her straight up.
She just lost her breath and passed out for a few seconds but it was freaky and it was the first time anything like this has happened to me.
She was fine and just wanted to cuddle and was back to her normal self by the time we went on the tour.

Jon asked Lilah what tomorrow was and she enthusiastically replied “Turkey Day!!”

I’m excited for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure why.
I made some really good rolls to take to the in-laws tonight. Like really good. The last batch I made, just last week for Carolyn, weren’t as good as these.
I’m making pumpkin pie that unless I take a piece with me I may not get any since we won’t be at my parents house for desert.

Andrea and Brien stopped by after their dentist appointments today.
It was funny because the girls got to see Zarina and even got their picture taken before I saw her.
She was grumpy and needed to be fed so I took a quick peak of the cute girl and ate lunch while I waited for her to get a full belly.
She’s adorable and decided to poop or pass gas while I held her.

I really love that Andrea and Brien make time to visit us when they’re in town.
Often on there way out or in they stop by since we’re just a small detour off and back onto the freeway.
And they have dentist appointments twice a year so they visit after or before their appointments.
It makes me happy and I feel loved that they do this.
I’m use to many relatives always saying we traveled this far you need to come see us, but it was hard when we only had one car or I never knew when they’re going to be at the house.
Also since our house is so small about only 2 or 3 other people can fit in it comfortably, though we’ve had more, and is also seen as a reason to not stop by.

I guess I just appreciate the effort put forth by Andrea and Brien to see my family.
It makes me feel loved.

Thanks Andrea and Brien.
We love you.

Anyways, tomorrow is Turkey day and it looks like I won’t need the turkey to be tired since I’m up at 1 am and my body likes to nap in the afternoon anyways.Jon is also up so I’m not sure who will be more fit to drive tomorrow after we have turkey at my parents and have to drive the 45 minutes across town to his sisters.(They’re 33.3 miles apart. So fun.)

We went on a date Friday night.
I love the ward we’re in. We have great people with great daughters who are willing to watch our girls for free and what parent doesn’t like free babysitting, unless the person is a total weirdo? (The Jewitt’s daughter, Shelby, is 14 and is the ‘technical’ babysitter when they have the girls, but my girls also love Hannah, who is 10, and is their playmate. I love the Jewitt’s. They are an awesome family, and not just because they give us free babysitting. 😉 )
Anyways, we traveled the 16 miles and saw the Elizabeth movie. I used a free pass and one we bought from Costco. The theater we went to charges $10.25 per person for a movie. Yeah, that’s why we’re picky and I buy discount tickets at Costco. ( It’s just hard to pay $20 for 2 hours of entertainment unless it’s really good.)
It was a good movie and we headed over to Coldstone afterwards for some yummy ice cream dessert since it’s only like 60 something degrees in the evenings still.
We got the girls to bed late, but we had a fun night.

Saturday we did various things round the house. I inside and Jon outside.
He found a lizard while cleaning outside and the girls had fun looking at it and touching it.

Our side-yard bug eater.

Don’t hurt the lizard.

Later that night we bit the bullet and cut Eden’s hair yet again.
She loves to play with her hair and lately she wakes with big honking knots in her hair. And she complains about me taking them out.
So Jon cut her hair and I helped towards the end.
It’s very short.
It gives me confidence that we can cut our boys hair, if we ever have one.

An example of the knot I face after she sleeps. I mean both nighttime and nap time I’ve had to deal with taking one of these out.

Her hair is pretty ruined at the tips where her knots have been.

The last picture with her having longer hair.

The first cut.

After…She might be destined for short hair throughout childhood.

Even though it’s so short it kinda fits her personality.
She’s still so cute but I’m gonna miss putting her hair in pigtails.

She didn’t enjoy the haircut. She was crying a little by the end when we were trying to make sure everything was okay. She has crooked bangs, but I think that’s standard on little kids.

We also visited Jon’s parents today after church and the girl’s naps. It’s been forever because someones been sick or we’ve had other engagements with my family.
We finally made it today. Jon also set up a machine that helps send information to Dad’s doctor from his pacemaker each night.
Dad was very slow getting around tonight and it was a slight reality check to see how bad he’s gotten, though it might also be that we just haven’t seen him for so long and have forgotten how slow he was before.

We also had a family from our old ward, as in the ward we were in for the first three years of marriage until we moved two years ago, move into our ward boundaries.
It’s ironic because Jon has a lot of respect for the father and he is probably the one person he didn’t want to know, or have to tell, about his change of heart. (His wife knows because we share a close mutual friend, so I’m sure he knows also.)
It’s still nice to have a family move into our ward because it seems like everyone is moving out.

This is a phrase my girls use every once in a while. They used it today while I was making the frosting for cinnamon rolls.
No, they weren’t saying the frosting was mmm tasty but the powdered sugar, or confectioners sugar for you bakers who know the real name.
They were dusting the sugar from off my counter and licking it from their hands. Lilah wanted to lick my strainer that I was using to sift the sugar with, but I was not that nuts of a mommy. In fact I think they would have started eating it from the bag had I let them.
I’m sure I need to store the tasty delight higher in my cupboard now that they know what it is, but more importantly how good it is.

I don’t need to buy candy or make cookies for them.
I just need a little powdered sugar.

Yesterday was a day that I got very little done.
I had nursery duty yesterday so I was with Eden and her class from 10-12.
Then our activity that goes on the first Thursday of the month, so I got home around one.
Naia only took a short nap, so she was awake enough that when I got home I got the girls fed and Naia fed. Then I did my Halloween post.
We called my parents house and the girls sang Happy Birthday to the machine for my dad’s birthday.
Then it was time for naps.
Eden went down and then Naia was already falling asleep.
I’m not sure what I did with the time before Lilah’s nap.
I may have been on-line.
I got Lilah down for her nap and took about a 15 minute one myself. (It’s now about 4:30)
I started getting our mountain of dishes in the dishwasher, then Julie came to get her sleeping Naia.
I finished dishes. Started dinner and then well, entertained Eden a little by watching Nemo.
Jon came home.
We ate.
I studied my lesson for Sunday.
The girls finished Nemo while I studied.
The girls were ornery as I watched a little bit of Ugly Betty.
Got the girls to bed.
Watched TV and ate lots of Halloween candy.
Did stuff on the computer.
Went to bed late.

What I need to get done.
My lesson foremost, so if Jon needs the computer I can oblige since he has a test on Monday.
Fold two baskets of laundry that I should have been folding instead of eating candy last night.
Dishes.
A shower would be nice.
Maybe some cleaning.
It’s already almost 10 and I fell like I’m not gonna get anything done except my lesson.
Hopefully I can shower.

A shower would be really nice.