Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Slideshow update
Anyway, not that you want to watch the entire thing again, but just want you to know that I fixed the music.
thanks!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
JOY
July Newsletter & Slideshow
Wowsers - July was insane! Hence, the long slideshow. We had a great, fun, awesome month. Below - slideshow, below that - kids stuff!
McKINLEY: Here’s some fun things that McKinley has been doing or saying this month:
-McKinley started her first lessons ever this month – swimming! She did a great job & mom & dad LOVED to watch her learn. She has been practicing whenever she can – in her little pool, in the bathtub, etc. She loves to swim!
-McKinley colored a picture one day and asked to take it to someone who was sick. We ended up taking it to a friend of the family who’s daughter is at Primary Children’s recovering from some organ transplants. It was so sweet of McKinley to want to help!
-It was not easy to get McKinley to sleep when we were out of town this month. The first time, she had horrible coughing fits and didn’t go to sleep until after 11pm. Another time, she wasn’t coughing so much as just fighting her sleep. She would just talk and talk when she was so tired. She told mom that she wanted to dream about her when she was a little girl. Mom told her she needed to go to sleep to dream. She said “Mom! I’ve already fallen asleep like 40 times!”
-McKinley was playing with one of the babies and told mom “I’m pretending this is Joseph Smith!” -McKinley has started saying things are “wicked.” Mom asked if she knew what that meant & she says she didn’t, so mom explained that wicked is doing really bad, evil things – following Satan. McKinley said “So…like peeing in the bathtub – that’s wicked?”
-When we were camping, there were some moths in the camping trailer. McKinley called them butterflies, but mom pointed out that they’re not nice like butterflies. McKinley (OF COURSE) asked why. Mom thought & said “well… they eat clothes.” So – that night there were some moths in the trailer & she was so scared. She said “Mom! I can’t go to sleep! There’s moths in here & they’re going to eat my coat!” She just cried & cried.
-McKinley had so much fun camping & hiking & riding in the Rhino. She just wasn’t used to being alone with only her family for so long. She would say “Mom, when are my friends going to get here? Like Michael, and Jack…”
-McKinley has been talking a lot about getting married lately. She sure wants to marry her daddy, or her cousin Michael. We told her that’s it’s not a good idea to marry family. She asked why & so we tried our very best to explain the logic behind that.
-Mom asked McKinley what the baby’s name should be. She said “hmmmm…probly…Hannah Montana.”
-McKinley is in to writing (or putting together with her bath letters) random letters & asking what they say. She’ll put together a bunch of letters & say “Mom – what does this say?” Usually it says something like sghioiwng
-We were in the kitchen & mom asked McKinley if she knew where daddy & Ireland were. She said “Maybe they went on a mission.”
-McKinley has been saying “nanna, nanna boo boo!” lately. We don’t know where she got it from, but it’s not nice.
-McKinley is also big into competition these days. Whether it’s finishing her food first or buckling her seatbelt, she always wants to win & constantly says “I’m beating you!”
-We were playing in the sandbox one day & making sand castles. McKinley said she was making a special sand castle & then said “See mom – this is Moroni on top!”
-McKinley has finally :( figured out the safety handle on her door. She can’t open the door with it on, but she just pulls the whole thing off.
-McKinley is also big into what Curious George says or does. She says “It’s just like George mom!” – even when it’s things that get her into trouble.
-We were driving home from Grandma Potts’ house & McKinley said “Mom – why did you want me?” Mom said “What do you mean?” Then she said “Why did you borrow me from Jesus?”
-We are working on respect issues with McKinley, including spitting, sticking out her tongue, tone of voice, and lying.
-We’ve been working with McKinley on her learning time & she is learning her letters really well & the sounds they make. She can write her name, but usually still has trouble with the K.
IRELAND: Here’s what our brand new 2-year-old has been up to
-Happy Birthday Ireland! Your birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we did our water party on Saturday, the 4th of July – we were at your Grandma Devenish’s, of course! Then on your birthday, you got to break through the birthday tape, wear the birthday crown, eat on the birthday plate & tablecloth & eat mommy’s French toast for breakfast. Then after your long nap, we had a nice meal, complete with the birthday cake and afterwards presents! We also watched your birthday DVD and looked through your birthday book. You got so many fun things – a stroller, some way cute clothes, a doll, some puzzles & some money! The festivities continued with the Potts side on the 9th of July. We had more water fun (Aunt Cindy bought a fun pool!), more cake & ice cream, and more presents – including movies, lots of princess shoes, and dolls for your dollhouse! You also let go of your 2 balloons. Happy 2nd birthday Ireland! We LOVE YOU!
-She sure has got that 2-year-old attitude down. She will say “NO, NO, NO” and has started to really boss other kids around.
-She’s constantly saying “Help you!” which means “Help me!”
-We were sitting in the living room & Ireland said “Let’s go!” Mom asked where. She said “To church!”
-Ireland knows every time when we’re getting close to home. When we’re on Shaggy Peak Dr, she will say “We’re HOME!” and then she’ll say “Church!” before we get there. She sure is good at remembering!
-One thing we’re hearing a lot from Ireland now is “don’t say that!!” (like when we tell her not to do something) or “don’t sing that!” (when we’re singing her good-night song to her & she doesn’t want to go to sleep)
-Ireland will bring Mom dress up skirts (especially the sparkly one) and say “Mom – be princess!” which means she wants me to help her put on the skirt & be a princess.
-Another fun thing is that she’ll say “Mom/Dad – look!” and show us what’s she’s coloring or making.
-She had a necklace the other day that she was trying to put on Tundra. She would say “Tundra – hold still!!”
-When we’re cleaning her off after meals, she says “Okay, okay, okay, okay!” until we’re done. -Ireland loves getting her swim suit on & go swimming in the backyard. She’ll say “go to swimmin’ lessons!”
-Mom gave Ireland a plate of food after she had woken up from a nap. She said “I gotta say a prayer.” So she did. It was so cute.
-Ireland can really count to 10! Sometimes she’ll get mixed up, but she will even go to 12 sometimes. She’s also working on her colors – she will point to something & say “purple-blue!”
Monday, July 27, 2009
ABC's of me
A - Age: 29. (Ok, technically 30, but I'm planning on staying 29 forever, so there)
B - Bed size: California King. It's funny because for the first 4 years of our marriage, we slept in Jason's old full-size bed. It was fine because we are big-time cuddlers. When we got our huge California King bed, it was like the Grand Canyon! We still don't ever use the whole thing!
C - Chore you hate: Laundry. NEVER-ending laundry. And cleaning showers and tubs. Not so fond of sweeping or mopping either.
D - Dog's name: Tundra & Sydney. Our dog growing up was named Taffy.
E - Essential start to your day item: Prayer
F - Favorite color(s): it was purple growing up - still like a deep purple. Love green, too.
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'5 (thank goodness it didn't ask for weight...it gets SCARY when I'm pregnant!)
I - Instruments you play: Hmmm...my singing is fair. That's about it.
J - Job title: Mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, etc. When I worked for the Forest Service, it was Data Systems Specialist.
K - Kid(s): McKinley (almost 4), Ireland (2), and one due the end of Oct.
L - Living arrangements: We own a home right now & really love our neighbors, though we are still looking for small-town opportunities.
M - Mom's name: Patricia
N - Nicknames: Hmmm. I don't think I ever had any that stuck, although they did call me 'pothead' in highschool (no - I wasn't a pothead, but my last name was Potts)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: I don't think I've had any other overnight stays, although I've had probably 4 or 5 outpatient surgeries - adenoids, ankle, lip, toe
P - Pet Peeve(s): Those kind of people who just go off about every issue like they are the ultimate authority.
Q - Quote from a movie: "SAMSONITE! I was waaaaay off!"
R - Right or left handed: Righty
S - Siblings: 1 older sister, 2 younger sisters & 1 younger brother.
T - Time you wake up: Usually by 7:30am
U - Under your bed: memory stuff, scriptures, journals, articles, tissue, elastics, and I'm sure many, many dust bunnies.
V - Vegetable you dislike: I'm not so much of a squash, cauliflower, or avocado person.
W - Ways you run late: I usually blame it on my husband and his inability to hurry.
X - X-rays you've had: After a gymnastics injury - my foot. And, of course, the dentist.
Y - Yummy food you make: I am a master french toast-maker and rice crispie treat chef as well.
Z - Zoo favorite: I love to see the bears - and the seals and otters. And I still love to see the old Lion water fountains at the Hogle Zoo.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sevier County Events & Adventures
Saturday morning was our nephew, Payson's, baptism & confirmation. It turned out that he was the only one in the stake to get baptized that day, so it was pretty special. We are proud of him! After the baptism & confirmation, Canyon (our new nephew) was blessed. It was great to be there for all of these family events. That afternoon, we had Navajo tacos at the Reed home, and they rented a HUGE (19 foot!) inflatable water slide for the kids. It was a bit rainy, but it didn't stop them from having a great time!
We stayed at Jason's parent's home on Sunday and Monday and enjoyed the family's company (and went to see their cabin lot) & also got ready for camping.
Tuesday morning, we headed up to 7-mile for camping. This was our first camping trip with just our little family, so I was excited, but not sure how it would turn out. All-in-all, we had a GREAT time! Probably the biggest factor in that was that Jason's brother, Jeff, let us borrow his toy-hauler trailer & that made our camping experience 100x better! Thanks Jeff & Keeley! We left Friday afternoon and I was kind of sad to go. We had such a great spot up there. My heart & soul sure belong in the mountains!
Here are some camping highlights:
-Finding a great spot - so much shade - and right close to the 7-mile stream!
-Riding on the Rhino (thanks Dave!!)
-Fishing (I think Jason ended up catching about 6 perch and 3 nice brook trout)- and Jason taking the girls out on his pontoon to fish!
-Hanging out around the campfire - talking, singing, eating
-Swinging in the hammock - Ireland even fell asleep once
-Eating camping meals (we do need a little more practice in the dutch oven dept, but all-in-all, most of our meals turned out really yummy!)
-Enjoying the AMAZING stars at night & singing twinkle, twinkle and I am like a star...
-Going on little hikes
-Jason went on a nice, long dirt bike ride
-Going to Fishlake Lodge & then playing in Fishlake and throwing rocks
-Watching movies in the trailer
-Grandma & Grandpa Devenish came up for a little visit
-Tundra & Sydney being able to run around all over
And a few "lowlights":
-MUCHO mosquitos
-A few really bad cases of the whinies, mostly from our crazy sleep schedules
-Our poor dog Tundra got his paw stuck in Dave's truck bed earlier in the week, and then on our camping trip, he found a porcupine. Oh boy... it was probably an hour of pulling out the quills before he felt a lot better. We're still finding them here & there...
You can't really see, but his left paw was also full of them
We also got to hang out with our good friends, the Sorenson's on Friday night, & then on Saturday Jason went to Kevin Costa's Manti Temple wedding while I watched the girls, did laundry & got ready to finally head home!
Monday, July 6, 2009
June Slideshow & newsletter
Slideshow...
Girls Adventures...
McKINLEY: Here’s some of McKinley’s adventures this past month:
-McKinley had her last preschool party this month! She had fun acting out the 3 little pigs, doing an obstacle course, swimming in the backyard, playing in the sandbox, singing Happy Birthday to Jack, having cupcakes, and getting a certificate. Great job this year McKinley!
-McKinley still has a hard time saying Sydney. We keep trying to go slow Syd…ney! But every time she says Syn…dy!
-We were driving to Smith’s one day & drove by a house with some horses. McKinley said she wanted a horse - she said “Mom…if we got a baby horse, I’d be SO proud of you!” Mom told her that they were really big and hard to take care of. McKinley didn’t relent. She said “Mom – I would take care of it! I neeeed another pet because my fish Dezi died!”
-McKinley likes to talk & sing to & tickle the baby in mom’s tummy
-McKinley seems to have gotten more in tune with time lately. She asks why things take forever. One time we were driving home & she said “mom – why does life take forever?”
-We got doughnuts from Krispy Kreme & dad hid some of them in the microwave. Mom told McKinley that she couldn’t find them, so McKinley prayed “Heavenly Father, please bless there to be more doughnuts.” Sure enough, mom found those doughnuts about 30 minutes later!
-One day, McKinley asked “Dad- do I have honor?”
-We decorated dad’s card for Father’s Day & McKinley drew a stick figure on the back. Mom thought it might be dad, but McKinley said it was “Lizzy! She’s dancing!”
-One day out of the blue, McKinley said “Mom – I hate the Laminates!”
-McKinley is really starting to get the hang of the days of the week. She knows Sunday is church, Monday is Family Home Evening, Saturday is cleaning, etc…
-Mom was asking where dad was going. McKinley said “To Jerusalem”
-We’ve been working a lot with McKinley this month about tattling. She tattles quite A LOT on her friends & sister, so we’re working on only having her tell us if it’s a big mess or someone is hurt.
-McKinley’s sense of smell has apparently gotten fine-tuned recently. She will tell us the things she smells all the time. One day she said she smelled something. Mom asked what it was & she said “…a spider!”
-McKinley has started to wipe off our kisses :(
IRELAND: Here’s what our cute girl was up to last month:
-Mom heard her say to the dog “Sydney, NO NO! Time out!”
-We were at the Riverton Arts Festival & having lots of fun, but at the end, Ireland fell back on the metal bleachers & hit her head. She had quite the goose-egg and was hurting for a while. Poor girl L
-Ireland loves to chew on almonds, but for some reason will NOT swallow them. She waits until she can spit it out all chewed up.
-Ireland has started to close doors – AND OPEN THEM!
-When Ireland colors, she usually says she’s coloring a rainbow & will sing the Signing Time rainbow song.
-whenever we talk about the baby in mommy’s tummy, Ireland wants mom to lift up her shirt and show her tummy, so Ireland can blow on it.
-Mom asked Ireland what she was doing one day. Ireland said “Makin’ a mess!”
-One day at the table, Ireland said “Mom!” Mom said “Yes?” then Ireland let out a HUGE burp!
-Ireland has decided that she needs to be equal at the dinner table. She would rather sit at a regular chair with no booster, eat with big utensils, not have a bib, and not have a lid on her cup.
-Ireland still likes to get in the dishwasher. One day we forgot to close it & she put all the dirty utensils in with the clean ones in the drawer.
-Ireland likes to say “Whatcha doin’?” and “Come baaaaack!”
-Ireland wants to help cook right along with McKinley when mommy makes meals. She says “I syrup!” which is really “I stir it!”
-One day mom had lots of errands & places to go & she heard Ireland in the hall bathroom. She tried to open the door and realized that Ireland had opened the drawer & she couldn’t get in. She tried everything she could think of to get the drawer closed, but in the end, after about 20 minutes, Ireland finally figured out how to open it herself. We were worried, though!
-One day mom walked outside to find Ireland sitting, fully clothed, in the dog’s water bucket. Her little bum was stuck & she couldn’t get out!
-Ireland enjoys turning the lights on & off – especially at church!
-One day at dinner, Ireland looked at mom & said “Heidi!”
4th of July/Ireland's Birthday re-cap
Anyway, we got down there to his mom's on Friday afternoon. The kids had fun running around with their cousins in the backyard & Jason had fun going on a long ride with his brother on their dirt bikes. It was great to see everyone. Ireland went to sleep at 8pm, which was terrific! McKinley on the other hand...she has always had a hard time sleeping anywhere but home. Plus she has had this dry cough for like a month, so she just tossed & turned and talked & coughed while I laid in bed with her for an hour & a half before she finally went to sleep. NOT FUN! We made a midnight run to Walmart to get her some medicine for her cough, so that helped a little, but the fact that she didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm was really frustrating, because I knew that she was going to be tired & ornery & overtired the next day.
Saturday was the 4th. Ireland woke up at about 6:30, McKinley woke up @ 8am. Jason made his yummy pancakes for everyone & then we all got ready for the big parade. Grandma Devenish gets matching 4th of July shirts for all the grandkids & they were all so cute. The parade was fun - the kids all love all the candy & we were all grateful for Jason & Jeff that they had set out chairs for us the night before so we could be in the shade. McKinley was tired by about 10am. Looking back, I probably should have taken her home right after the parade, but we went to the park & they played on the playground while Jason found & caught up with some old high school pals. We went back home at about 12:30 & I tried to get the girls to sleep with no luck, so I went for a drive & they both zonked out, but when I tried to get them back in the house to sleep, they both woke up! Grrr. Oh well. Later on, we had a great BBQ, slip-n-slide, pool, & water balloon fun! Ireland went to sleep at 7pm, but woke up at 9:30pm when the big fireworks were going on, which was rigth about the time McKinley said she was tired & wanted to go to bed, so I took her, but she didn't fall asleep until about 10:30. She slept between us that night & was kicking & coughing most of the night. Irleand went to bed about midnight. So... you can see we were a bit off-kilter with our sleep schedule. I sure wish my girls would sleep better away from home :(
It was a great time with family, though, and we got some fun pictures!
Sunday was Ireland's birthday & it started with our traditional crown & breakfast. We went to sacrament meeting & then she took a nap & we woke her up about 3pm & had her birthday festivities, complete with a slideshow DVD from her past year, yummy cake from grandma (thanks again!), ice cream, & presents! She got wonderful gifts including cute dresses, a baby with a car carrier, a stroller, a puzzle, more cute clothes, and some small dolls. We took off for home about 7pm & McKinley fell asleep about 8:30. Ireland stayed awake ALL THE WAY HOME - and was still jabbering when we got home about 10. Here's to hoping we get back to a regular sleep schedule before our next trip this weekend.
Below is a slideshow with scrapbook pages from Ireland's birthday book and pics from her birthday.
