Don't Want to Forget

Let's face it...I am not a good blogger or journal keeper. But at least I always know that I can throw something here, even if it is out of order or late and I will be able to look back at something someday. So, two things I want to remember that happened this week:

Lucy: She has been our 'slow to talk' child. Go figure, she can hardly get noise in between the other two, let alone some words. Anyway, she says more everyday but for months she has been saying "Hold you." instead of "hold me." I have always thought it was so cute - I think all my kids have gone through that phase. Anyway, on Sunday she was putting her sandals on. "Self!" she says. After a few minutes, they weren't going on and she said, "Help me." instead of "Help you." It was so cute, but I was sad because that little window in her life has closed. Good she is learning but my little baby isn't so little anymore.

Bella: This one is a funny thing. Bella sings ALL the time. Want to know what she thinks about? Just listen to her made-up songs. Sometimes completely made up, sometimes it is school happenings, other times it is what she has learned in Primary. Anyway, yesterday this was her song (to BINGO):

There was a family,

Had a girl,

And Bella was her name-o

B-E-L-L-A

B-E-L-L-A

B-E-L-L-A

And Bella was her name-o.

I was pretty impressed! Totally works rhythm wise and it was really cute! Then she went on to sing about a bouncy dog (same tune but didn't know how to spell bouncy, so just made up new words!) She is a creative little thing!

Somewhere in Time

I have missed several months in blog land but here are some recaps, including some favorite picture moments, but really in no particular order:

Lucy got her first hair cut by Bella in December. It was a sad, sad day for me. Now, in June she is finally getting enough hair back again that you don't notice it so much.

Then:

Now:

Clark played on his school basketball team. They had a fun season and a great coach. They even won the 'tournament' against other schools here in the city! Way to go!

He also put together this great science project on which pajama fabric is the most flame retardant - in case you want to know so you feel safe he will tell you all about it!

I thought the 2010 Christmas tree would be hard with Lucy (which is was) but honestly, Bella was no better than her with redecorating the ornaments, including decorating herself!

Well, there is more to come, but I better post since I don't know when I will get back to it again!

Preschool Graduation

Today was preschool graduation. I have had the best year doing preschool with 3 other moms here. It was fantastic to get to know them and also have our kids getting ready for school. Two of them will go to Kindergarten this fall and the other two will go next year. I sat on the fence for a while with Bella, but she going to love going to school like Clark in just a few months!

Graduation was here at my house - really low key - but I did want them to have a little cap to wear and I found this great tutorial for a graduation cap at little birdie secrets blog that was super easy and darling! What would I do without other people's blogs!?!

Expressions All About Me (by Bella)

This came from preschool a few months and I found it torn in half on my dresser today. I knew it needed to be preserved...

I dream about: Mommy and Daddy.
I am proud of: Brother 'cause he gives me hugs.
I am interested in: going to parties.
I am afraid of: ghosts.
I don't believe in: cars and trucks.
I am good at: coloring pictures of Mommy and Daddy.
I am poor at: planning to clean.
I have to: be happy.
I feel like: eggs and french toast.
I regularly: am good.
I never: had pigs and feed them.
I can't stand: chickens.
I have difficulty: cleaning my room.
I have a habit of: brushing my teeth.
I no longer: crawl.
What makes you laugh? Tickling
What makes you sad? Getting hurt
What makes you angry? Brother (sometimes)

Skirt & Flower

I have been missing a little bit of creativity the last few months - I just didn't seem to get to any of the fun little projects that I have wanted to do. But I was rather inspired by a darling shirt that I got at the gap outlet for a few dollars the week after Christmas. I wanted to make Bella a cute skirt to go with it. I found some great Heidi Grace fabric (brown) that was darling and went with the shirt and a couple others that went with it. I loved this tutorial on Everyday Chaos but I wanted to step it up a bit and make it even more girly. So I added a few ruffles and this ADORABLE flower from Cluck Cluck Sew...and here is what we got:

I did better making the skirt than taking the pictures. I don't think they quite do it justice. But it was really fun to do and I want to make some more cute projects to do. If you have any suggestions be sure and leave a comment/link for me!

Happy Holidays!

Merry (Belated) Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends and family!

This post is as close as we are going to get to a Christmas card this year! Since I have been a terrible blogger as of late, here are the 'one line' recaps:

Lucy: Walking, (not talking), page ripping, mess making, smiley 14.5 month old.

Bella: Dancing, singing, stubborn, preschool going 4 year old.

Clark: Sport playing, school acing, scout excelling 10 year old (well, almost 11).

Rachelle: Cooking, cleaning, organizing, Dr. Seuss book reading mom.

Ryan: Working, long commute driving, handyman dad.

I tried and keep it short and sweet so you would actually read it! Now if you want more details...Ryan graduated in April and was able to start his new job in May :) Unfortunately, it took the rest of us a few months to get here but we are finally feeling a little more settled. Good thing that Ryan has lots of house skills as they are often used as we try and get things done on our new home. Too bad he doesn't have more time for them! His commute is really long (1.5-2.5 hours each way, depending on traffic) but we are glad he has a job! The kids run to the door every night when he comes home! (And I am quite happy to see them run there :) He just got called to be the executive secretary at church, so that fills up any extra time.

I am trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep things in order around here. It seems like I am always a few days behind! Oh well. Of course, the kids keep me busy, and I am also in charge of organizing the RS meetings at church. It has been a great way to get to know lots of great people here and I am glad to have a little creative outlet!

Clark is doing well in school, started playing the French Horn in the fall and is almost done with his Arrow of Light. He is excited to move into Boy Scouts in February. Bella is in a little dance class that she LOVES and will sing or dance, with or without music! Lucy is a busy body who loves to be held and will say "Ma-Ma" forever until she get picked up. She is finally branching out and will say "Da" too now.

Thanks for all the Christmas greetings and pictures. We really love seeing our dear friends and family from across the country and how each family is growing up. We only wish we lived close to everyone and could see you more often. Have a wonderful New Year and know that we send our love and best wishes to each of you!

Halloween Happenings

I am all about the re-using costumes this year - we are still trying to get things in order around here. Bella has been talking for a year about being Little Bo Peep, again, so why break her heart?

Lucy was to large to be the little tiny sheep she was last year, but we had a couple of Bella's old things to choose from. It took some convincing but I got Ryan back into his 'cave man' costume for a few hours for the church party but he wasn't ready for another picture. So just Lucy and her 'cave woman' mama for your viewing pleasure!

Now, Clark on the other hand, he doesn't fit into old items. I asked him about a month ago what he wanted to be and he told me he wanted to be an ipod nano. What? OK, how are your going to be that? I figured that he would come up with something else, but no. He really wanted to be a nano, figured out how it should be made and waited until Thursday (after the World Series game) to get going. (See, he had to have it ready for school on Friday morning!) He went to bed without much of a costume and here is what he ended up with the next morning:

Really, I was kinda impressed with myself. I liked the back best. He liked it too, so I guess the late night paid off. He said that next year he isn't going to be some kind of 'box' costume (last year was the rubix cube). We will see.

1st Birthday and other 1st's

Happy FIRST Birthday to Lucy! (It was the first week of October, so I am just a little late recording the details.)Although I might win the award for the lamest mother ever on a first birthday, we did celebrate with a last minute cake & ice cream and a few little presents. As you can see from the pictures it was thoroughly enjoyed! Even though it wasn't really exciting we love our little Lucy!

A few things about her:
*She is very curious about things. She loves to open drawers, cabinets, etc., and take everything out of them. Sometimes she will stop and examine a thing or two.
*She is my book destroyer. Neither one of my other kids loved to rip pages like she does.
*She loves to give 'high fives'.



Here are a couple other FIRSTS that I really should document:

First Tooth: June 13th
First Steps: Right around her birthday but I would say she was really walking officially around October 24th. (So she is right in the middle at 12 months - Bella was the earliest at 11 and Clark the latest at 14)
First word: Da (for Daddy of course) but for me she really say's ma-ma more now!

A Balloon, A Barbie and 4 Quarters

Today it Lucy's birthday (more about that in another post). Last night I went with the kids so they could each get her something. I did it mostly for Bella so she could physically give Lucy something in hopes that she will learn to love and be kind to her. Anyway, while we were out I got a helium balloon for Lucy since they are just so cute with them - they pull the string - the balloon goes back up - they laugh - pull the string again - etc.

So we gave Lucy her balloon this morning and she thought it was great. A few hours later Bella was playing with it and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to smash a Barbie doll hand into the balloon. And, as you can imagine, the balloon was the looser of this battle. The balloon got a rather large hole and lost all of its helium.

If we had even managed to make it through today before this occurred, I would have just let it go, but I had talked with Bella about how this special balloon wasn't for her but for Lucy and how she had gotten a special balloon on her birthday, etc. So I told Bella she was going to have to take her money and go get Lucy a new balloon. We got 4 quarters out of her piggy bank and in the car we went.

When we got to the store and while they were blowing up the balloon, Bella ran off around the corner near the front of the store. I could still see her and called her back. She didn't come of course, so after about 30 seconds I walked over to get her. Do you know what she had done? She had taken a quarter out of her purse, put it in the candy machine, turned the knob and had gotten a handful of little fish shaped sweet tarts and stuffed almost all of them into her mouth! I didn't even know she knew how the machines worked! I never buy my kids candy from them.

So, one quarter down, I have to give her another one so we can even buy the new balloon and just come home. And on the way home she cried because she didn't have any money any more and the lady took it all. This lesson didn't go well. At least Lucy had another balloon - for a few hours anyway!!!

My 33rd Birthday Day

Here is a recap of my day for any who are interested:

5:00 – Ryan gives me a kiss before he goes to work (I am still in bed - but not for long)
6:00 – Lucy wakes up and wants her bottle
6:45 – Bella wakes up and wants breakfast
7:00 – Wake-up Clark
7:15 – Wake-up Clark, again
7:45 – Breakfast where Clark and Bella both spill milk (Clark did clean those up for me :)
8:00 – Clark said prayers before he left for school today and prayed that I would have a good day.
8:30 – Clean bathroom mirrors – I really do love a clean mirror so I was hoping not to have water splashed all over them until tomorrow
9:00 – Put in the first of 5 loads of laundry

Talk with family who call to wish me a good day, check e-mail, get happy facebook messages :), and iron clothes

10:45 – Lucy already awake from her morning nap – still kind sad – try to put her back down but there will be none of that!
11:00 – Start unloading the dishwasher to realize that it never got started last night – have to re-load and start
11:45 – Bella covers hands, feet, clothes and half her hair with lotion
12:45 – Take folded clothes upstairs to the girls’ room to realize that there is also lotion all over the carpet and dresser
12:55 – Bella sneezed and wiped her face (and nose) on the carpet (what part of that seems like a good idea?) Good thing I haven’t gotten the carpet cleaner out yet to take care of the lotion, since I guess I have boogers on the carpet to take care of too!
1:00 – Lunch – leftovers for me; quesadilla for Bella; pretzels & yogurt for Lucy
1:20 – Showered and got dressed wearing a cute new shirt I bought on clearance for 5 bucks at Old Navy last week – Happy Birthday to me!
1:45 – Feed Lucy her bottle and watch the first 15 minutes of Iron Chef – then she goes down for her nap :)

1:55 - Clark had early release from school and got home. He asked how my day had gone, and I said, "Just a normal day", to which he replied, "Not that good, huh?" Do I complain too much about my days?
2:00 – Meeting to figure out what to do with my new church assignment

Fold more laundry, unload dishes, wipe runny noses, pick-up toys, small pieces of paper that Bella has cut up today, and all kinds of things that seem to not be where they are supposed to be – but a few sweet friends called and made the jobs much more enjoyable (shouldn’t the song be ‘talk while you work’ instead of ‘whistle while you work’. I can’t whistle anyway, so talking fits me much better!)

4:45 – Tried to talk to a lady on the phone for about 1 minute and Bella threw a huge fit because I couldn’t hold both her and Lucy properly at the same time. In fact, the fit was so large I had to get off the phone with her.
4:50 – Put Bella down for a ‘rest’ in her bed – hoping she would make it through the evening! She fell asleep and I had to wake her up at 6:00; she must coming down or fighting something because she never sleeps in the afternoon.
5:00 – Finish folding the last of the 5 loads of laundry and put them away before Lucy unfolds them all!
6:30 – Ryan gets home early from work and we go out to dinner so I don’t have to cook it or clean it!
At the restaurant:
• Bella had to go to the bathroom not just once but twice
• Lucy was much more interested in squealing, eating straws, trying to eat peanuts that she shouldn’t eat, and pulling everyone’s plates off the table than she was in eating
• We managed to eat 21 rolls between the 4/5 of us
• We made it out with everyone happy and without the manager having to ask us to leave :)

8:30 – Open the presents I got for myself and that the kids gave me (I hope my kids don’t read this anytime soon or they might be disappointed that it wasn’t a surprise). Bella was really cute and said that we share birthdays to we can all get presents! She gave me a pile of hearts that she punched out of paper this afternoon before the breakdown. (There are lots of paper remnants around the downstairs.)
9:00 – Read scriptures & said prayers
9:15 – Changed Lucy’s diaper while Ryan got out the carpet cleaner to take care of the lotion upstairs. While I was changing Lucy’s diaper, she needed some diaper rash cream, so I got up to get some from the closet and while I was gone for about 30 seconds, Lucy peed on the carpet downstairs. I told Ryan not to put the carpet cleaner away.
9:20 – Got the girls in bed while Ryan cleaned the downstairs carpet spot.
9:45 – Talked with Clark about his book report that is due tomorrow but isn’t quite ready to give.
10:15 – Said goodnight to Ryan and made lunches for tomorrow.
10:30 – Wrote about my 33rd anniversary of my birth!
11:30 - Time to go to bed and do this all again tomorrow. Well, at least I don't have laundry to do again for a few days, but I don't get off the hook for dinner :)

The reality is that this day on paper really doesn’t look all that great and I suppose maybe that is why I don’t always journal day to day things because I don’t know if I want to remember the craziness of each day! But when it comes down to it – I am glad to be a mom to each of my kids, I am glad to have wonderful friends and family in my life that remember me and care enough to send a card, e-mail, a phone call, post a message, etc. I am glad I have a great man to share my life with and although I wish I was spending the day in Hawaii or something, I would still want this life back after the vacation. I wish it wasn’t quite so chaotic but, oh well. Happy Another Year of life to me!


(And if anyone can tell me how to make my picture big without getting all grainy PLEASE leave me a comment and tell me how to do it! It looks really good in photoshop but when I upload it on my blog it is so small and if I go into 'Edit HTML' and increase the numbers it gets all blury. I must be missing something.)

#4 Birthday for Bella!!

Bella has turned 4! First thing in the morning shot:

In keeping with tradition here are a few things about Bella:

1. Something we LOVE: Bella is a girly girl. It is evident in her clothes, accessories, favorite colors, and even in her comments to others. Her favorite colors are pink and purple. She loves to wear dresses and skirts - especially ones that twirl. Today she was wearing a pink shirt and white skirt and when we went to the store she wore a pink hat and HAD to have her purse, necklaces, bracelets and sunglasses. (Too bad I didn't grab a picture of that!) The other Sunday after I was done getting ready she said to me, "Mom, you look adorable!" What a sweetie!

2. Something UNIQUE: She has to go to the bathroom in the middle of EVERY meal. Less you think this is an exageration, I assure you it isn't. She will start her meal, take about 1 or 2 bites and then get up and run to the bathroom. Sometimes I tell her we are going to eat in x minutes and she needs to go to the bathroom. She assures me everytime that she doesn't need to, but within minutes of starting she has to go!

3. Something we could live WITHOUT: She has got a set of lungs, that one! And she tends to use them daily expressing displeasure about one thing or another and it is LOUD! Maybe she can use them for cheerleading...or maybe something else :)

4. Something for the FUTURE: Bella says she is going to grow up to be a "Mom" but NOT a "Grandma" (Obviously she doesn't realize that the grandma portion is the fun job!)

We had a little princess party for her today and had two little girls from her Primary Class come over. (Don't you love the ceiling...just don't ask how late I was up last night doing it for today!)

We painted their toes,
ate lunch and played. (Bella is already eating in this picture, that is why she looks so funny :)

She was so excited to have them come over but did mention several friends that couldn't come because they lived so far away...she missed them!

Ryan brought her home some flowers for her birthday. Whenever the kids hear the garage door opening they run to the garage door to greet Ryan. Today, he pulled the flowers out of the car to give to her and she said, "Oh, they are SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Thank you SOOOO much!" After he gave them to her she walked away and said, "You are so tall and handsome." Did she just turn 4 or was it 14?

She loved opening her presents which included a new pink bike! She doesn't really like to push her feet forward and prefers to push back and stop but we will keep working on it. At least she thinks it is really cute, so that should help her get back on it!

We had pink lemonade cake (and someday one of my cakes will really turn out great but that day wasn't today. It was only alright.) and pink strawberry ice cream and all in all it was a great day and she was happy.

Her parents are very tired! One of these days I will get some little videos posted, don't hold your breath waiting for them! And here is the happy girl going to bed...we love her so much!!

Back to the Blogging World

It has been a while and really there are a lot things to put down on electronic paper. If I don't get something started here I might not ever get it done, so even if it isn't pretty at least it is here!

THE GOOD:
1. Our home closed :)
2. Ryan got the bathrooms, kitchen and carpets cleaned before I got here. There were still lots to clean but at least it was a good starting point.
3. The kids and I made the 13ish hour trip here by ourselves and are still all alive.
4. Our stuff got moved from point A to point B and I don't think too many things are lost or broken, so that is great. Clark took a lot of pictures of our moving truck (there are 23 on his camera to choose from) so this good item gets a picture!

5. We are all together again :)

6. School started for Clark (FIFTH GRADE!!) and he is doing great at his third elementary school. We live close to the school so he even gets to ride his bike to school every day...currently he is still excited about it but we will see if that enthusiasm continues for another couple of years!

7. Going back in time to catch up...We had a great visit with my Grandma before we moved. I am so glad we got to go up and see her!

8. Some great friends came to visit...good thing it took so long to move so we could see them. I don't have pictures of everything but here are a couple!

THE BAD:

1. Lucy had a TERRIBLE allergic reaction to eggs (we think). I made French Toast for breakfast on Saturday and didn't think about breaking up some small pieces for her to eat...bad idea. I put her down for a nap and when she woke up really early from it I went in to find her face all red and swollen and rashes all over her sweet little body. She was scratching all over and crying. After a good dose of Benadryl and about 6 hours she was doing much better but it still makes me concerned for what might lie ahead.2. I have spent $498 and FIVE hours at the DMV in the last two days...wow. At least I am done with that place!

3. Ryan's commute is about an hour and 10 minutes in the morning and almost 2 hours in the evenings...but on a good note at least we see him every night, unlike the months while he was 'here' and I was 'there'.

4. This home has lots of little bugs in and around it...ants, spiders, etc. Hope we can get those to go away soon!

5. We have friends in now another place that we miss...and to all who helped my maintain my sanity and take care of my kids and helped us get out of there in one piece - THANK YOU! (The thank you part really should be up there in the GOOD category.)

6. Bella got into my make-up again today. I have to say, she really didn't do as well this time as last time applying her mascara. Notice it in her hair too. And the little touch of lip gloss above the lips is always a classic. That girl does have beautiful long lashes though!!

THE UGLY

1. The backyard has weeds that are almost as tall as I am, and there are a lot of them. (This is just a small sample! We have our work cut out for us on the landscaping. We started on the front yard and took some 'before' pictures and I will post on our progress later for anyone who still manages to check out our life.

2. There are some horrific light fixtures in this house. Those are pretty easy to change but still ugly, and then I have to find ones I really want...it is on the really long list of things to do.

Well, I think I am going to stop there...those are most of the highlights. Now I can move forward and try not to have a million items all in one post! Thanks to anyone who actually read it...now you can comment so I know you came :) j/k

Lookin' Good

We got word yesterday that the bank has approved the sale of the home we had offered on (it was short sale with a few loans to work through) so it looks like this one will be it!! I told Ryan I am still a little nervous to get excited because it isn't done yet, but hopefully we will be closing at the end of July! It needs a lot of work - cleaning, yard work, painting, etc., but we are ready to all be in the same state again! Here is a picture of the kitchen (the outside shot is the one in the post a couple days ago). FYI-the wall paper border will be one of the first things to go :)

First Hair Style

Lucy is slowly getting some hair and we did her first little style today...
Maybe we will wait until she has some more before we try anything else, or even this style again!!

Updates

Well in the last post we were trying to get some things accomplished...a month later lets see how we are doing:

Ryan & Rachelle: Lets see...we have now made 8 offers on homes. #1 decided not to sell, #2-7 we were outbid, and the jury is still out on #8 but it is looking promising. I got tired of being here without Ryan so the kids and I went out to see him and my sister Cami. We had a good time being together but I don't have too many pictures to show for it, including house #8. I stole this picture of it off the internet! I will blame my lack of packing on being gone but truth be told by the end of the day I am just tired and don't want to pack. I am really going to try and get on top of that!

Clark: Finished up 4th grade and with flying colors is moving on to 5th. He also had a great time in June with his cousins and is working hard on his Webelos Boy Scout Requirements and becoming a Yahtzee Champion (his car entertainment!).

Bella: Has got the puzzle thing down and loves to do them. She had a great time this last month with her cousins and managed to do a couple puzzles with them too. She also became an expert at putting on mascara. When we were out at Cami's I saw something black beside her eye and realized she had mascara on her eyelashes...she actually did really well and if it hadn't been for the black smudge I don't know if I would have noticed!


Lucy: She did a great job! She is crawling and also managed to get two little teeth!! Way to go to our little bundle of joy! She is trying to keep up with her two older siblings now!



Last but not least, I made it to my 100th post! Hurray for blogging so I have something to show for my last couple of years!

Almost There

I am almost to 100 posts. That is pretty amazing seeing that I don't even know if I have 100 journal entries for almost my whole life. It is sad really, but I am trying to make improvements and in some cases we are ALMOST there, but not quite...

Lucy: ALMOST crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks around. Sometimes she even pushes herself up on her feet and looks like she is doing yoga.

Bella: ALMOST does puzzles on her own. Actually she can do a 24 piece one on her own a lot and loves to do it, show you, and then break it all up and throw the pieces around. The one in the picture is a little harder - around 50 pieces. She loves to do it, but with some encouragement and help. Maybe someday soon when she is quiet I won't worry about what trouble she is up to!

Clark: ALMOST done with 4th grade! Wow. He has had a field trip, a class program (in the picture below - he is dressed up like Jim Bridger - he normally doesn't dress like a cowboy to go to school :) and it doesn't seem like there is much school work being done anymore, so school is almost finished.

Rachelle: ALMOST have 20 of the million boxes I need to pack before we can move. I really want to get going but since I don't know WHEN we are moving it is difficult to get up a lot of motivation to get it done.

Ryan: ALMOST found us a house. We made an offer and it looked promising but it didn't work out :(. He found a new one today so we will see what happens.

And where we are going...I am kinda funny about posting locations because of stalkers that may be reading this but I will say that we are moving to CALIFORNIA!!! Ryan moved a couple weeks ago and started working and the rest of us will join him as soon as we can! I figure it is a big enough state that it would be hard for any crazy person to find us. If you want more detail you can e-mail me. Does that make me ALMOST crazy too?