Seth and Shannon Hossfield's Family Blog

2011-07-07T17:59:00.001-07:00

Monday, June 20, 2011

I love my kids so much! They are so cute! Today was the first day of 4 weeks of swim lessons. Of course, they were both so excited! As we walked into the Clearfield Aquatic Center, Sam said, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" which actually sounds kind of like "Chank Choo." He was pretty upset that we couldn't get directly into the pool and had to wait on the bleachers for instructions. He figured out that we'd have to wait. Aubrey was called to her class, and then Sam and I went to join the mommy-and-me class. If Sam could say, "FINALLY!" he would've! But again, he had to sit on the side of the pool until we were instructed to get in. He kicked the water and did everything he could to get in! Once we were in, he knew what to do; he kicked and splashed and loved it! He did well with everything except floating. i'm going to see if he does better with a swim cap on. Aubrey also did well, and was proud of the ice-cream-scoop arms she learned. Both kids wanted to stay for more, but I didn't think we could. Apparently, we can for free! I'm excited to pack a lunch on another day, and we'll just hang out at the pool all day!
We came home and got some things done while Sam took a nap.
Aubrey filled up another reading chart over the weekend, so for FHE we went to the Classic Fun Center. We let the kids play on the pirates cove climbing area and the bouncy house stuff. Holy Cow did the kids go crazy! They ran and bounced and slid all around, non-stop the whole time! It was let-loose-and-be-a-KID time! Sometimes they chose to play on different things, but it was really cute when Sam and Aubrey played together. Aubrey took him all around the pirates cove, and he was so good to follow her instructions. Both of them are so adventurous, and willing to try new things; I just LOVE that about them!
Yesturday was Father's day. Seth has had another LONG week at work. He worked 33 hours straight from Monday morning through Tues evening then continued to work a regular week from there. I tried to let him relax when I could, but the kids wanted to be with him, and he had to try out his Father's day present! We gave him his present on Saturday: battery-opperated trimmer and blower. He mowed the lawn and trimmed a bit. The blower was light enough that Aubrey did that part. :) On Sunday we slept in and missed Sacrament meeting and went to Mom's house for dinner. Aubrey sang, "Daddy's Homecoming" to Seth. She also have him lots of artwork.
This past week I practiced the piano a lot. Clarissa Lunt and I had been working on a viola piece that she wanted to perform. We put together a recital which ended up including Clarissa (viola), her friend, Ben (french horn), Gabriel Gutierrez (flute), and Liz Griggs piano. Gabriel is an aquatance of mine and Liz is my step-cousin. We didn't have a big crowd, but it was still nice just to play for each other and family; it's always good to perform as much as you can. I got in touch with Ben (french horn) last Monday, and worked hard all week to have his piece ready on Saturday.
I was pretty happy with how well it turned out. A couple hours after that recital, we went to the concert on the lawn at the Graffs house. This is our neighborhood talent show that is SO FUN! Aubrey sang in the neighborhood choir that Kimberly Graff organized. She sang, "I Won't Grow Up!" From the Peter Pan play. I played "Maple Leaf Rag" and Aubrey ended up dancing around on the "stage" as I played.
Last weekend, Sheila took Aubrey and I to the Peter Pan play at Weber State. It was put on by a community group with lots of kids and was so well done! Aubrey and I loved it! It turned out to be a great coincidence that Aubrey was learning a song from that play for the Concert on the Lawn. That was fun for her to see it perfomed live in the play. It was cute to have her whisper comments and questions to me during the play. For example, "Mom, they are not really flying..." or "Is Captain Hook a real bad guy? I mean that man on stage; is he really a bad guy?" Or when she'd notice the stage crew changing scenes and things. She really got into the story too.
A couple weeks ago, Aubrey had her dance recital. We had a dress rehearsal the day before. Her friend, Alana Bullock, dances at the same studio. Aubrey loved watching Alaina dance. After the rehearsal Aubrey said, "Mom, I wish I could dance like Alaina." She also went up to her and said, "I watched you do a good job!" Aubrey had so much fun performing the next night; no stage fright for this girl! She rocked out! Then she waited patiently through a long recital to finally watch Alaina dance, and had fun cheering for her friend! At the end of the show, the dancers went back on the stage to just dance around to music for a final number. This was sprung on Aubrey the last minute; I told her what to do, she said, "Okay," and off she went! She got on stage, and had a blast! She jumped around and twirled and bounced and just went with the music! It was SO awesome!
I hope Aubrey is always like this. Something that I just LOVE about my daughter is that she trusts me and is willing to follow my instructions. There's just no fear. When it comes to giving a talk, singing, dancing, making friends, riding a bike, taking on a new challenge or handling a new situation, I know that if I give her concrete instructions, she will trust and follow them. She turns out successful, and then we celebrate! I can't wait to see what she accomplishes; I just know that she has amazing potential. I pray all the time that Heavenly Father will guide me to help her find and reach that incredible potential that is in her. It's exciting for me, and also such a huge responsibility. She is amazing.
Something that I think a lot about is how to help my kids reach their potential. Is it better to try a lot of different things or pick one or two things and be REALLY good at just those things. At what point do a push and when do I back off? Am I being open to all their talents or are my own biases limiting them? Anyway, I'm sure it will be an issue I constanly pray about. For now, it's bed time. Good night.

2011-06-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

These last few months I've been feeling pretty blue. I thought it might be due to the weather or maybe a deficiency of some kind. I went to a chiropractor, did blood tests by a family doctor, and went down to St. George to see Graff. They all had ideas that they thought would be helpful, but I wasn't so sure. Graff was the most helpful. THese last couple days I've complained to Seth about being a stay-at-home mom. I know it's what I'm supposed to do, but I'm just bored. I was doing the dishes last night and was thinking and praying about it. I felt embarrassed that I turned to facebook for answers. The thought came to be that I need to be writing down what I'm doing. Journaling would help me appreciate this time and feel more gratitude for what I have.
Yesturday, I got up at 6:30 and did my resistance-band workout video. I like to do meditation at the end of my workout, but it's about that time that Aubrey and Sam wake up. Aubrey goes to the kitchen table where we have our notebook laptop. She knows how to get to Netflix and start a video on her own. Her favorite latest show is "Wonder Pets". She likes any show where they save animals. So I went and got Sam, got him some milk, and put him next to Aubrey so they could watch the show together while I showered. When I came back they smiled at me with mouths full of graham crackers they had helped themselves to. They love being independent. Aubrey proudly announced that she ate a healthy banana before eating the graham crackers. We finished up breakfast.
Next I think I had them play together while I played poppit on the computer. I should probably get addicted to journaling instead of poppit, but I kept beating my score, and popping ballooons is just so fun!...
Anyway, at some point, we practiced some trial lessons on the k12 website. They are actually really fun and Aubrey liked it. We learned about life at a pond, and a little about the Wright bothers and made a colorful paper airplane. I think Aubrey is going to like science the best. She loves learning about animals, her body, planets, etc. The Wright brothers lesson was fun, but something tells me that was the most fun history lesson. I think this year, I want to use history lessons from my Kimber book. I didn't get good reviews from other partents on the music corriculum, so I'm trying to decide what to do for Aubrey as far as music lessons. She loves to color and do art projects, but I think we'll still do things like that without the art curriculum or join other families for those activities. So, when k12 calls me to choose the 3 subjects for Aubrey's school, I'll choose math, language arts and science. Then she'll be in gymnastics, soccer, and music lessons. Dance crossed my mind to, but she's not that into it right now, and we probably can't afford that much.
We had lunch, and went outside. Sam pushed around a stroller. Aubrey was determined to ride her two-wheeled-no-training-wheels bike all by herself. I went to help her, and she said, "NO Mom! I can do it myself!" She really did learn how to go by herself, at least, she kept getting betther at it! She would ride around the col-di-sac, and then stop on the grass where she can slow down and get off safely. She really has amazed me with how quickly she picked up riding without training wheels.
Our next door neighbor, Jeffrey, came to play too. The kids played in the back yard, went down slides and swang. Sam really likes to climb the ladders, go down the slide, and get pushed in the swing. Aubrey used the big pieces of bark coming off the old, dead tree to build a sandbox. I also ended up watching Esme for a little bit too. They also played inside for a little bit, and I played poppit some more. We had dinner, seth went to soccer games. Then we had reading time and put the kids to bed. Aubrey really is getting good at reading; she certainly has room to grow, but she's making steady progress as long as we keep working on it. She did earn her trip to Chuck-E-Cheese, and now she's working on a trip to a bouncy house.
Aubrey has been difficult lately as far as being really argumentative. It doesn't matter what I ask her to do, she'll give me some excuse not to do it. She has her moments of being helpful, but most the time, it's just talking back. Today, I also took some time to set up a video I recorded of her dance class, so she could practice her routine that she is performing soon. At first, she just whined and complained that I was making her do this! "What?!" I thought, "This was supposed to be something really fun?!" It got so bad that I put her in a time where she had to stay there until she was ready to dance with a good attitude. Good greif! I need to figure out how to deal with the whiny, talk-back crap.
Sam and Aubre are such different kids. The other day we went to the castle park. Aubrey explored every inch of that park, and played all over it! If she made a new friend, then she might stay in one area (the sand box tends to be her favorite) for a while. I tried to show Sam around the park; I guess I thought he'd like to see his options, or I was chasing down Aubrey or something. I guess I like to see it all too. But Sam didn't like that. He just got to the first place that seemed like a fun place to play, and he wanted to stay there. He was angry when I would try to take him to a different fun place to play; he already had a fun place to play and didn't want to leave the one he had.
Even comparing them as toddlers is so different! Aubrey had to dump out EVERYTHING! Every toy, every box every area of the house needed to be explored and emptied. She is STILL that way! Sam just needs a car. If a car isn't around, he'll use his finger or something else handy to make car sounds and glide around the floor or other surface. That's it. If he thinks you're trying to take his car, he'll yell, "That's MY!" and put on his angry face.
I think the kids are awake now. Aubrey has a play-date with Emma Prinster this morning, and she needs to clean up her messes before she can go. Time to start another day!

Some Updates

2011-03-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

Aubrey had the Pledge of Allegiance memorized within the first week of preschool this year. We are still working on getting her to say "liberty" instead of "liverty" though! At the beginning of this preschool year, she also spent a lot of time trying to whistle and snap.

Aubrey's reading skills are always getting better. She definitely is more motivated when she has a chart to fill up with stickers. Right now she's working on earning a Chuch-E-Cheese trip. Having a goal to reach has really propelled her sight-words, sounding-out, and just plain motivation!

We are also reading the scriptures every evening at family prayer time. Seth and I each read two versus and Aubrey reads one. She is really good and "And it came to pass" and guessing what comes after that. She can read a lot of the scripture words! Of course, we pick the easiest versus for her to read. She has also been challenged by the Primary to read scriptures. Right after that challenge, we came home and she got her scriptures. I could hear her in her room reading them out loud to herself. She did her best to sound scriptural and talked about Nephi and Jerusalem and getting brass plates! It helped that I showed her the Living Scriptures movie, but it was SO CUTE!!

Aubrey loves her ballet class. She just got her costume yesterday. She told us she dances to a song where "the bird rocks in the treetops all day long." Us: "You mean 'Rockin Robin'?" Aubrey: "Yeah! That one!" She's excited to do her show.

She doesn't seem to like her tumbling class. They have to stand in line and wait their turn a lot. She says they take too long. She wants to go back to lil' flippers. Unfortunately, I've already paid for the rest of the year there cuz it was a discount to do preschool, ballet, and tumbling all at the same place. Oh well.

Aubrey likes doing the K12 math book that we got from the homeschooling convention last year. She's really on track as if she went to kindergarten this year. She should be ready, academically, for first grade in the fall. She is getting better at counting to 100. Aubrey is really good at counting by 10's to 100, and is getting better at counting by 5's.

She also tells me that she already knows how to play all the instruments because she watches Little Einsteins. She also knows everything about animals because she watches Diego. I tell her it is so important to be smart. She tries so hard to do what is right, to be helpful, and be smart. I'm so proud of her!

Hike to Igloos

2011-03-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Last night for FHE, we went on a hike on a nearby trail. Mel, Ben, and Doug Graff took us up the mountain a little ways to where the Fox Creek scout's igloos were. We got all bundled up in warm clothes. Sam was in his blue pooffy snow-suit, and was squished into the baby-carrier in front of Dad. It was so cute! On the way up, we could look out across Davis County. We had Perfect timing to see a gorgeous sunset! The Great Salt Lake was like a glass mirror, reflecting the mountains, and the colors of the Sunset. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We continued the hike up. Aubrey rode on Mel's shoulders most of the way.

We went off trail a bit, and found one igloo that had already been caved in and melted. We went up a little steeper and found two more igloos. Aubrey was having a great time! She was really tough, and hiked up the steep part. Okay, I ended up carrying her for part of it, but I was still proud of her for toughing it out for a while. She thought the igloos were so cool! Sam was not having very much fun at this point. I think he was sick of the baby-carrier, and freaked out by the igloos! We didn't stay too long.

Seth went ahead of us and got Sam back down the mountain. I guess Sam was happy on the hike down until Seth got to the parking lot and slipped on some ice. Seth was able to twist and fall on his backpack instead of Sam, but Sam got scared still. Poor kid; he didn't like the whole trip that much.

Aubrey, on the other hand, was having a great time! She sad on a snowboard with Doug, and rode down with him most of the way! Her job was to hold the flashlight as they rode down, as it was dark by this time. She also got a shoulder ride from Doug part of the way too. Aubrey is always up for an adventure! I love that about her!

It was good exercise and family outing.

A Wonderful Day!

2011-01-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

Yesturday, the kids were being so good I had to write the day down, so I could bottle it up and save it for a bad day!

I went running in the morning, did some crunches and stretched. Then Aubrey wanted to cuddle with me. Okay! We laid in bed while she told me about her dreams. She had some good dreams, but she is also starting to have nightmares. After a while, we got up and I took a shower. Sam was crying when I got out, so I got him from his crib. His diaper was over-flowing with urine plus there were poops. Poor kid! I got him cleaned up, and put him in my bed while I got dressed. He snuggled in my blankets and pillows, and he looked so comfortable, I decided to join him. We cuddled for a little while. In the mean time, Aubrey set the table, fed the fish and swept the floor! Wow! We've been working on filling a jar with beans for "going the extra mile." I gave Aubrey a bunch of beans in the jar!

We had breakfast and we were getting ready to go to the Odgen Nature Center with some friends. Our friends called and pushed back our play-date until 10:30. Aubrey was getting bored with the unexpected extra time. I said, "Do you want to play with your toys?" "No." "Do you want to read?" "No." "Do you want to do some math?" "Yeah! math!" So she got out her kindergarten math book, and started on her pages. I was helping her a bit, but Debbie called. Aubrey ended up doing about five pages by herself while I talked to Debbie.

Then we went to the Ogden Nature Center with our new friends Tina and her daughter Eliza. It was a beautiful day; cool and crisp but the sun was out and it felt nice. The kids stayed with us, and we had a nice visit as we strolled around. They were so good, I never got upset about anything or even had to remind them to stay with us or anything. We saw about four deer. Two of them were pretty close to us. The kids thought it was fun to watch one of them prance away. They had big antlers too! It was pretty cool. They also liked the birds there.

We got in the car and went to Red Robin for lunch. It was more than I wanted to spend, but Tina was pregnant, so I let her pick the restaurant. Oh well. The kids ate their food and were good there too.

When we got back, Heather came over. She's looking really good for her first Figure Competition coming up! THe kids played for a bit and then they had to go. It was about 4pm and we'd had a big day. Sam went down for a nap, and Aubrey wanted to do more math! I helped her with it for a bit, and then we made dinner. I put the notebook on the counter with speakers and hulu'd "the biggest loser" while we made and ate omelets. Then Seth came home and I made omelets for him and Sam. Then Seth went to his soccer game, and I finished feeding Sam. Then Aubrey read a BOB scholastic level 4 book "The Swimmers" to me as I cleaned the kitchen. This is only the second time that she read aloud while I did something instead of me sitting with her. When words were too big, like "called", she covered up the "ed" sounded out "call" and then finished sounding out "called." I've done that for her before, but I'd never her seen her do that on her own! She got mostly through her book before she was tired of it; I was so proud of her, I didn't mind that she didn't feel like doing the last page or two. She helped me stir brownies, and then went to play with Sam while I finished cleaning the kitchen. I got the kids in their pj's, and then read books to them at the kitchen table while they ate their brownies. Then they brushed their teeth. Seth came home, we said prayers and they went to bed. Aubrey cried, because she was scared. We left the hall light on and cracked her door open, we said another prayer and sang a song. She was better.

Seth did some work on his computer while I made a weekly meal plan. Seth had created this amazing chart to help him save time on future equations at work (or something like that). If we printed it off, it would be about a 3'x5' poster! He wants to add to it too! He's so amazing! I'm so proud of him!

We visited for a bit, and went to bed.

And that was my wonderful day!

2011-01-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Oh boy how I need to do this more often. Our pictures probably tell a lot of our comings and goings, so here's a few things on my mind right now.

Today, Sam took a chair to the fish tank and climbed up to see the fish better. I think that will be okay, it's just that he opens the lid and plays in the water that's NOT okay. Somehow he also ended up at the top of the piano and was hanging onto the banister when I came in the room--Scary! He's trying to say more words, and it's funny to watch him think about the mechanics of what he's trying to say; his lips really do the motions of the word! We have the vowels on the refrigerator, and he's starting to learn those, because he can say them too.

Aubrey continues to amaze me. I realize that she loves charts and setting goals that she can see her progress. I made another reading chart, and that always kicks her reading in gear, and gets her more motivated to read to me. We were getting a little stuck on the sight words in set 4 of the BOB books, so we've turned a little focus on sight words now. I'm still not sure how I'm doing this. She has flash cards, and works on them a little each night. a lot of the words aren't consistent, meaning she'll get them right away one night, and have to sound it out the next night. She's getting it though. there's about 30 words that she's pretty good with.

Aubrey has been starting to get an attitude lately. She tries to tell me when I'm doing something wrong, plays the victim when she's in trouble, and is starting to get bossy. It's not too bad, and is a new problem. But of course, it is best to stop it in it's tracks! At FHE tonight, I grabbed the friend and read a story about going the "extra mile." It was an on-the-whim lesson, as usual, but it sparked an idea. I got a jar and pinto beans. Whenever someone in the family goes the extra mile, we'll earn a bean in the jar. When the kids are obedient and kind, I need to notice and give beans. I can also threaten to lose beans if they're being bad. Of course, Sam will just contribute on his good moments, and that will make Aubrey happy. We can also add if Dad and Mom go the extra mile as well. I think this will help all of us. Aubrey was SO excited that she wanted to help me get the jar and beans, and go the extra mile! Oh- when the jar is full we'll get donuts or go to a fun place or something. I said donuts, but it can change. :)

We are working on doing school time as often as possible to train ourselves for this fall when (I think) I'm going to attempt the utah virtual academy and school at home. i don't know what the future brings completely, but this feels like the right thing to do at this moment. However, I enrolled her at Venture Academy for their lottery already, but I don't have to do that. I also got another mom, Joyce Winn, to enroll there and haven't told her yet that I changed my mind. oh! This has been so hard! I really want to do the right thing for Aubrey. I have big dreams for her and Sam. Well, that's a post for another day. I need to go to bed, so I can wake up at 5:39 to go run in the cold with Emily Chapman.

2 Cute Same THings

2010-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

1. When Sam wants to move FAST, he gets in crawling postition, puts his head down, and then ZOOM! I think the head down makes him more aerodynamic!

2. When I put him down for naps and bed, he wants to be there. I loves his nap times. His favorite is when I put the blankets on him. I lift the blanket, and let it fall so there is a 'whooph' of air across his face. He loves it, and grabs at the blanket. He always go to sleep and wakes up HAPPY! Mostly, he is always happy unless he is hungry or needs a diaper change. Such an easy baby!

update

2010-10-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Let's see if I can get a few things updated.
Shannon Sinclair (my cousin) was living with us for a while. From about Feb or March and officially moved back to California in August. We had some good times together, and Aubrey still talks about her being a part of our family. She came back at the end of August to see a friend's wedding and treat me to a John Mayor concert--which was amazing! We had a great time together!
Aubrey started preschool, ballet, and tumbling. Her preschool teacher is great, and I try to do some work with her on Tues. and Thurs. Ballet doesn't seem to be her thing, it's a little awkward, and she seems to be more of a gymnast to me. But lately she has been putting on leotards and skirts when pretty music is on the radio or a movie and dances around the living room. It's so cute! It's nice when she gets in touch with her feminine side. Ballet classes will help her technique in gymnastics too. She is always trying to do cartwheels, handstands, and jump off of things, etc. Aubrey also just filled up a reading chart. She got stickers for reading her BOB scholastic books each night, and earned pizza for the whole family that we'll eat tonight.
Yesturday, on our car ride to preschool, Aubrey said, "Mom I had a tummy ache this morning. it's gone now. I prayed to Heavenly Father. I pray to Him every day." It was so sweet! I love moments like this when you realize you must be doing something right! I tried to really take advantage of the moment, and talk to her about doing the right thing, and Heavenly Father is always really happy to hear from her and stuff. She also picks up trash in random places sometimes and throws it away. She's learning that it feels good to do the right thing.
Last Monday was Charlie's 3rd Birthday. We didn't do much. We just bout some donuts and went to the cemetery. We sat next to Charlie's grave and ate our donuts. Sam had one too. Sam kept trying to crawl to the graves that had balloons. Aubrey leaned over to Charlie's grave and whispered to him. I over heard her saying things like, "We want you to come alive again, Charlie. You could come alive for your birthday.... Our phone number is (801) 719-2965." (She is really proud that she just memorized her phone number). I said, "that's good Aubrey! That way Charlie will know how to contact us!" "yep." Then Aubrey ran to the Jesus statue (a tradition now I think). She noticed that Jesus is praying. "what do you think he is praying for, Aubrey?" "That all these people will come alive again." Our time there was nice. We just enjoyed being together.
Sam took his first steps the other day! Well, I guess it's been almost a week. He still prefers to crawl. He can stand on his own and take a few steps, but that's all he feels like doing. He such a happy little guy. His laugh is so funny, it doesn't sound much like a laugh....hmmm can't explain it... but it's funny. You just know he's laughing cuz he's smiling. :) He is also saying Da-Da when Daddy walks in the room, Ma-Ma when he's sad, hungry or needs me, uh-oh which is so cute, and sometimes we think he's saying things, but we're not sure.
My uncle Darrell got married to Twila on Sunday. Aubrey drew a picture for the bride. It was simple, out doors and a pot luck. Just nice.
I've been working on a piano recital. All the music is from a book that combines classical and Christmas music. I love the music, and practice about an hour every day, so I can perform a 30 min. recital for family and friends on Nov. 30th. It should be nice. I hope it goes well; I'm really excited, and I really feel that Heavenly Father is on my side and wants me to do this and have it go well too.

Sam's Post

2010-09-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

I turned one. My party kept getting moved. We had to wait for Grandma Terry to get back from Hawaii. Then my doctor wanted mom to test me to see if I was lactose intolerant. Mom didn't want to, but did it anyway to prove to the doctor that I was. Mom gave me 1/2oz of milk in my bottles for one day. I had diarrhea for two weeks. I also was throwing up. Aubrey and Daddy started throwing up too. So we moved the party from Saturday morning to Sunday night. It still turned out nice. The weather was perfect, the family came, and we had breakfast for dinner. I still didn't feel like eating; I was still recovering from the lactose and sickness. I didn't eat my birthday muffin. I loved my singing birthday balloons. I got lots of cars for my birthday--thank goodness!

I'm trying to say mom and dad and uh-oh. I used to sign please and nod yes, but not anymore.
Mom and Dad got me a rolli-pop for my birthday, because it said that it "develops early engineering sense." I don't know about that, but I like to play with it a lot.
I probably could walk if I wanted to, but I don't want to yet. I will if I can hold on to something, but I will not take a step on my own otherwise.
I like to grunt and growl a lot.
I like my routine and come to mom when it's time for a nap.
I love my sister, mom and dad. I smile when they come in my room, and I LOVE to play with them.
I play peek-a-boo every time I get a diaper change.

Aubrey's Post

2010-09-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

I started preschool yesterday. My teacher's name is Miss Dani. I had a weird dream last night. I saw a weird pokey hand, but then the horsey found it. I keep thinking about it. A new friend moved in down the street. Her name is Brailey. We play together about once a week. I play with Esme a lot too, and Jeffrey.
I found a nice dream that a pony would fly over a rainbow, and me. The horsies jump over anything, and they have rainbows. They can catch rainbows too, that's how they have the colors. They are called Rainbow-Dash. And They love to jump all on rainbows and slide on rainbows. And it's almost Christmas. And they jump over the moon, and the snow too.
I love butterflies very much.
I love all the animals, but except monkeys. Monkeys make big messes.

Gratitude for Bodies

2010-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

One day I was running with my running group i the morning. We were talking about how frustrating it was that we ran as much as we did, and still had cellulite on the back of our legs, and flab here and there. Emily Chapman pointed out, "You know, I'm just grateful to have a body that can run. Every day, before I go running, I thank God that I have this body, and that I'm grateful for it's abilities. I don't want to have to learn the hard way to be grateful for my body." She taught me a great lesson that day. I lesson I knew, but needed to be reminded of. I hope I never complain about cellulite or stretch-marks again. I'm so grateful that my body is capable of so many things, and so many more things that I can train and condition it to do. I try to run a lot, today I'll do a work-out video, two days ago I rode my bike, I'm playing the piano every day for a piano recital I want to play in November, I can take care of my kids, love my husband, smell, see (even better with my glasses on!), touch, taste, hear. I can do thousands/millions of things with little or no effort at all. My body heals itself! I can create another human! I can create beauty. Wow, I could go on, but the point is, our bodies are amazing gifts. I am so grateful.

Weddings

2010-09-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Here's more detail on those past events:
Stephanie's wedding-- Steph married David Milner. He seems very nice. On Facebook, she always posts how happy she is. They had a luncheon at a bbq place that was nice, and we tried to take some video and pics for her. The kids wanted to run around the restaurant a lot which was hard, but the employees there were very kind, and didn't seem to mind. We still tried our best to keep them entertained and quiet while people gave their thoughts and toasts for the wedding. After that, Seth and I went to the temple to make sure Shannon could get in without her temple recommend in hand. That seemed to happen a lot that day with all the weddings going on. It wasn't too much trouble to get the clearance I needed, but I hat bothering the bishop for things like that. Then we went to a neary-by park, and the kids played. Aubrey played with Diana, Becka, Caitlyn, and Drew. I talked with Debbie who was starting to look pregnant! We went back to the temple for the sealing. Ronda watched the kids for us. It's always nice to go to things like that. We took pics after, and We went back to the park to celebrate with them. It was very simple and cute. We danced a little on the tennis court, they had drinks, lots of different kinds of cake, pictures around, and it was just nice.
Debbie's sealing--I know this event was a little over a year ago, but my thoughts went to it. Sam was just 6 days old, so I went through a lot of effort to make sure he was all taken care of before I went up to the sealing room. I was thinking more about being Sam's mom and random thoughts that were not temple related at all. Debbie and Christian came in, and to me, Christian was starting to look like a man for the first time. He seemed so ready to take on the responsibilities being put on his shoulders. Debbie was beaming and crying. I got the nerve to get her a box of tissues in the middle of the sealer's speech. He knew them very well, and it was really nice. There was a point when he asked them if there was anyone that was their main motivation to come to the temple. The both said, "A lot of people," but then Debbie reminded me (all of us) that Dad was there that day. He promised to be at all of our sealings. It was an amazing feeling to KNOW that Dad was there. There are times when I hope Dad is with me, but it's different to know for sure. It felt so good. Then I realized that Ronda's wedding could be the last time that I will be able to know for sure that Dad is in the same room as me. It was a bitter-sweet thougtht.
Ben's wedding--We only had a few days after steph's wedding to pack up and get the family to MA. Seth always has a hard time flying, let alone with kids, but we had enough activities planned for them, that I thought it went really well. Autumn and Allison picked us up. I tried to talk to Allison, but Autumn kept answering for her. It was funny when I pointed it out. We ate dinner together, and we stayed at the hotel. Aubrey likes staying in hotels; she always asks if we can move, so we can stay at a hotel, I think she means to go on a vacation. We drove out to cape cod, and got Seth's suit rental on the way, paying and unexpected $200 for the rental. OH well. Then we drove out to this gorgeous location. There was a huge half-circle of grass in front of a large beautiful building that gave the feeling of a very glorified light house. Mandatory parking; which to us was funny with the jeep we were borrowing from Autumn-- it was anything but the nicest car on the lot! I think the guys that worked there appreciated that :) We were there for the rehearsal on Friday. We went to the balcony where the coctail party was going to be--beautiful view of the ocean, very open and classy. We walked past all the tennis courts, and on a boardwalk through some trees that opened up to the beach. They had a quick rehearsal, and then we moved on to the tip of the cape for the rehearsal dinner. There were rainbow flags along the way, and a gay-wedding party next to ours. It wasn't really offensively in our face, so we weren't really bothered by any of it. It was a gorgeous setting with the moon coming up, and the sun going down, and the sunset, the breeze, uh, everything was beautiful! The kids (Aubrey, Autumn's kids, and a couple kids from the other party) played on the beach, of course. We enjoyed some good food, and then headed to the hotel when it got a little too cold and late. We didn't get to visit too much cuz we were watching kids most of the time. AT least, I let Seth visit while I watched the kids, which was fine.
We stayed at a marriott and emily and autumn stayed there too. We swam together in the morning, and there was a grassy area where the kids played together too. We went out to the wedding in the evening. Seth was in the wedding party. We had to wait while one wedding finished before we could go to the beach. They gifted water, bubbles, flip-flops, and fans with the program on it. There was a live string-quartet that played as they walked down the aisle (which could've used a little more training from the wedding planner). The canopy was beautiful and we faced the beach, of course. They had a nice preacher, and Julianne looked gorgeous! Aubrey asked if Daddy was getting married! After the ceremony, we tried to take picures, but the bugs from the seaweed everywhere were so horrible! Aubrey was screaming that they were eating her, and looking at her arms afterward, they really were! She had scabs on her arms the whole trip we were there from that! AFter serviving he knats, we went to the balcony for the cocktail party. Seth stayed with the bridal party for pics, so I tried to carry Sam, and the diaper bag, and watch Aubrey at the same time. Some of Juliane's family helped. We weren't on the balcony long, before it started to rain. We moved down to the ballroom, picked up our sand dollar with our seating assignment with it. We sat with Autumns family, and asked a couple times to get the alcohol off the table. The kids danced until the wedding party came in. The toasts were nice, Ben danced with Emily, and then Ben and Julianne thanked each table for coming while they ate their dinner-- very nice. Seth and I had a great time dancing. We didn't mean to clear the floor, but that seemed to happen. We got quite a gasp from the crowd when I did a backflip over Seth's shoulder! Ha! After a while, we needed to get the kids to bed, so we left, and left a salutation on the wedding video.
The next day we spent a couple hours on the beach with the Waterman side of the family. Ron and Tiger are going to come visit us next spring. Cynthia seemed really happy to see us, and I tlaked about education with her. Aubrey saw a couple crabs, and we saw some neat things in the water. She played a lot in the sand, and Sam like the sand alot too.
Then we drove to grammy and papa's house.
2-week trip in MA, Aubrey swim lessons, Sam going down stairs and starting to say Da-da and ma-ma, Aubrey pinched by crab and stepped on nail, Seth drama at work, Sam loves the water, Aubrey loves to give, neighborhood bbq, Henry blessing, family coming next week. I'm sure there's more, but I gotta take care of the kiddos now.
Labor Day weekend, play-dates and new friends, stay in house or move, gratitude, Craig and Shirley back, Aubrey back to school, Sam's birthday and lactose intolerance,

Hurt tail bone

2010-07-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready for visiting teaching. I started down the stairs to tell Aubrey to get dressed. My heel slipped and both feet went in the air. I came crashing down on my tail bone and couldn't move for a minute. Sam cried, I think, because he saw me fall and get hurt. I tried to comfort him as I recovered. I went visiting teaching anyway, but it sure did hurt. My partner, Sarah Flint took Aubrey after that, and I put Sam down for a nap. I rested for an hour or so, and Seth came home to get me lunch, and help me get situated to spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch. I took 800mg of ib profen, and have been icing and heating it. It still hurts, but not nearly as bad as it did a few hours ago. I'm not sure if that is a good sign, or if I am just bennefitting from the pain meds. Luckily the kids are being really good, and Sam just went down for another nap.

I noticed that in an earlier post I talked about Sam's red poop; turns out, that was due to the anti-biotics he was on. He had pink eye and ear infections for weeks, and finally gave me this different type of antibiotics, and forgot to tell me that red stools was a common side effect. Regardless, he still pooped out the polly pocket shoe!

Aubrey's Entry

2010-07-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

I like Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash is my very best friend that always makes rainbows. She exercises a lot. Anorhia is my other friend. She is kinda bad, but she loves counting. (Anoria has been Aubrey's imaginary friend for a long time. A lot of times when Aubrey does bad, she blames it on Anoria). She also exercises a lot.
I love to do this and that (Aubrey being silly. She is a pretty silly girl).
I like cranberries (really?).
I spell Rainbow Dash A-L-L-A-L-L-A.
I spell Sam S-A-M.

Mom: Sam always whines and climbs on mom when he needs a diaper change. Time for a break.

I love Sam, and I tug and play with him. And I love to come and wake him up when it's time. I play with him and make him happy. And I tell mom and dad.

I like to learn about that things are bad and good. I love brother and sister. That's all I want to say.

So much has happened!

2010-07-16T06:34:00.001-07:00

Later I need to give more detail, but here's a list of events to at least start.
Stephanie's wedding, Ben's wedding, 2-week trip in MA, Aubrey swim lessons, Sam going down stairs and starting to say Da-da and ma-ma, Aubrey pinched by crab and stepped on nail, Seth drama at work, Sam loves the water, Aubrey loves to give, neighborhood bbq, Henry blessing, family coming next week. I'm sure there's more, but I gotta take care of the kiddos now.

2010-06-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Lately Aubrey has been in to writing on her own. She usually doesn't ask for help, she just sounds it out. Yesturday she spelled watermelon "wodmelon" not bad.

Sam has had red poops lately. After quite a few brick-colored or purple poops, I decided that if I got one more I would call the doc about it. The next diaper had a polly-pocket shoe in it! Poor baby! It's so hard to keep everything out of his mouth. He'll eat the hair off the floor! Aubrey has only one polly-pocket set, but I think it will just not be allowed for a while.

Yesturday Aubrey played with her friend, Elise. We went to the castle park. It threatened to rain the whole time, but didn't even start to sprinkle until I was getting the last kid buckled in--good timing! The girls got along until their demanding personalities came out. they are a lot alike: mature for their age, smart, strong willed, etc. Sometimes they get along, and sometimes they clash.

Aubrey has a new neighborhood friend, Esme. Aubrey calls her "Esime" and Esme calls Aubrey "Aubway." They play together really well and are so cute together.

Lately, Seth has taken extra notice of the hard work I do. It makes me want to work harder, so I'm even more deserving of his praise. Last night, he thought I deserved a massage. It was great! He even put on relaxing sounds from the alarm settings in our room and dimmed the lights. So sweet!

Sheila's Birthday

2010-06-08T06:12:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Rodillio's Grill for Sheila's birthday. Aubrey and Sam stayed with our babysitter, Anne. We had a good time, and the highlight was Sheila playing the drum when they sang her "happy birthday." She was so into it! We gave her free yard work. We'll try to do it before we go to MA.

This weekend Aubrey gets to sleep at Grandma Sheila's house Friday night, and we'll drop off Sam Saturday morning. She'll watch them while we go to a homeschooling convention. Both Aubrey and Sheila really like grandparent weekend.

Aubrey's Rocks

2010-06-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Not only does Aubrey have a rock collection, but I've realized something else recently. Right now, I am her rock. When she was about two years old, she really made me feel like she didn't need me. I dropped her off places, she'd say, "Bye, Mom!" and just walk on inside. When it was time to get her, she would hide and not want to come home. This happened for church nursery, and play dates, and all the times she was dropped off when I had to visit Charlie in ICU. I started to think that she was just so independent that she didn't really care if I was there. Of course, I always would be there, but even at two, she didn't need it. Lately I've been noticing how much she really does need me.

At the beginning of her pre-school year, there was a day when I was late picking her up. Aubrey was so sad. "Mommy, did you forget me?" I felt so bad! I tried really hard not to be late again. Lately, when I go to relief society meetings (which we now call them) she really has a hard time when I leave without her. She's told me that she doesn't like it when I go to church without her or really, anywhere without her. That mommy should just stay home and has to always be home or she needs to be coming with me. I try to tell her that just like she likes to go to her friends house, I like to go places too. I don't always go with her, and she doesn't always come with me. She doesn't like it though.

Yesturday she asked me if I'm going to go to work. I asked her if she wanted me to. "No. You need to stay home."

I've realized that Aubrey is a very strong independent girl. But she can't be that girl without her foundation at home. Someday she will be strong on her own, but today, we'll be the rock together.

Baby Henry

2010-06-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

On thursday last week, we went to play with Drew, but Heather was never admitted into the hospital. On Friday morning she was admitted. We went down to play with Drew and get a gift for the baby. Grandma Terry videoed the event while I stayed with the kids. Heather didn't tell anyone the name she decided on until after he was born. Henry Farrell Jones. I love it! He's adorable, and I'm excited to have nephew #5! He's close in age to Sam, so hopefully they'll play and be friends.

2010-06-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

All the time I think, "I need to write this down!" and then I just can't get to it. Here's some real quick things before Sam wakes up.

In Feb. We had a special candle-lit family dinner with lasagna. It was fun. For Aubrey's 4th birthday, we had a swimming party at Clearfield Aquatic Center. It was a lot of fun with family and friends, but somehow I need to make parties cheaper and more affordable. I feel like I can't leave anybody out, and then it just gets too big. Aubrey loved it though. We played Hannah Montana music (her favorite of the time), ate pizza, opened presents, cake, and swam. Very fun.

My cousin, Shannon, has been living with us and will for a few more months. She saving money for college and getting Utah residency. She is helpful with the kids and cleaning a lot of times. It's been nice to have her.

In march, We went to a Mitt Romney book signing. It think I might've already talked about it. We're still working on finishing the book, but it gives us some good insight to what the country should be focused on at this time in order to stay powerful. With pres. Obama, it's made for some really scary times.

Seth isn't quite as happy at his job lately. There are still a lot of perks and good things about it. For the most part, he likes what he does, the pay is decent, and the benefits are good. Sometimes they work him extra hard or he doesn't feel like he's being treated right or that his work is important. On those days, he doesn't like it. Over-all, he's happy to have a job (since so many don't have one these days) and he'll be fine if he stays at JBT. On the other hand, he's going to be putting out resumes to see if there are other opportunities available to him now that he's had five years experience at the same place.

Seth is also due to have a new baby sister in November. It's kind of an awkward thought; his father just turned 60 and his wife, Jing, is 40. We certainly hope we aren't having kids at that age, but this seems to be what Glen (aka George, Seth's dad) wants, so we are happy for him.

Aubrey of course loves her play-dates as usual. I started to think that maybe we should have fewer play-dates and be home more. Now that's it's summer time and everyone wants to get out, is a bad time to have fewer play-dates. A new family moved on the street, the Cavanahs. Esme is probably going to be Aubrey's new friend. they play together really well, and I really like Hailey, the mom. Aubrey had her first kiss a few weeks ago. A neighborhood boy, Nathan, that is living with Kami and her sons, wanted to kiss Aubrey. After playing at their house for less than an hour, I went to get her. Luckily we have open communication at this point in her life and she said, "Mom! We were kissing... on the lips!" She thought it was so funny and cute. I didn't know what to think! Oh-my-word! Do we honestly have to have this talk already!? I told her that kissing was for mommy's and daddy's, and I didn't want her to worry about kissing for a LONG time! Then Seth, Shannon and I all talked to her about doing the right thing, even when friends want you to do a bad thing. We also talked aobut private parts, and no one touching you or seeing those parts, and always telling mommy, and that she did the right thing by telling me what happened. It was a good talk. I don't think it was over-board because I really don't have a good feeling about Nathan's dad who is living with Kami. Aubrey is not allowed to play over there any more, but they can play outside or at our house. It actually is kinda nice to have summer time and have so many kids in the neighborhood that Aubrey likes, and have her be old enough to just go play.

I'm continuing my efforts in finding the right school for Aubrey. This weekend Seth and I are going to a home-schooling convention. Whether or not we homeschool, there are some classes there that I think we can learn from, and it will be very informative. Aubrey is getting better at reading and writing all the time. Yesturday in church, she drew a picture of a bunch of creatures and wrote "God Did" on it. Then, she got frustrated and told me that she was trying to write "God created all things" on her paper. I had her write "God did All" She sounded it out, and got it. It is so amazing what she can do when she wants to do it. We've also started reading a beverly clearly boook "Ribsy." It's a long chapter book, but Aubrey really likes it. I can't believe she still has more than a year before she's supposed to go to kindergarten. She's already doing everything that they learn there. I need to find a way to keep her excited about learning and not let her get bored.

In april we went to Seth's cousin Caeli's wedding. It was our first time to the Draper temple, and was really nice. A lot of people that were important to them couldn't come becuase they were in Europe at the time, and All of Europe couldn't fly anybody in or out because of this volcano that erupted.

Right now there is this huge oil leak in the gulf of Mexico. It's a huge mess, and the government is trying to use it as a good way to impose more regulations, and stop all oil drilling in the US for at least 6 months. So stupid.

A couple weeks ago we went to St. George with Shauna, Darren and met up with Brett and Laura. It was so good to see them again. Laura and I are on the same page when it comes to education for our kids. It was nice to talk to another mom that is researching every option of education for her children. We didn't do much that weekend, just let the kids play and the adults talked to catch up with each other. Brett and Laura are in a tough financial situation (like most people in Cali right now), but they would like to adopt if they can. They have two of their own boys and might have one more on their own, but feel strongly that there could be a child coming to them from adoption.

My thoughts are kind of bouncing everywhere, but I'm just trying to get stuff down as fast as I can.

Aubrey has been very obedient lately. I'm loving it! I know one day it will end, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts. She has been so sweet and thoughtful. One day I was feeling really sick. Aubrey read me a couple of books, drew me a picture, made me some tang, brought a chair in my room to put my drink on, and attempted to do the dishes, and even started the dishwasher! Remember she's just turned 4!! Oh, she also has a huge collection of pill-bugs (ladybugs to her) that she is keeping on the front porch in a fish bowl. She continues to add to the collection, adn I think some of the neighborhood kids are actually jealous!

Sam of course, is doing more every day. He does a mixture of crawling and army-crawling. He likes to wave, starting to clap, and say "deh". He is also starting to catch on to signing "please." He makes me laugh all the time. He is contantly making a buzzing noise, and has added a hand motion in the air mimicking an airplane as he buzzes. He has an extremely long tongue that he likes to hang out all the time like micheal jordan. He makes all kinds of funny noises, funny faces, climbs on things including people, and is just fun. He is certainly the most cuddly baby I've ever had, and a little more emotionally needy, but he's just great.

I better get going now.

Lots of fun things

2010-05-10T21:16:00.001-07:00

It's really too bad that I don't write as often as I'd like. We do so much fun stuff all the time, but it's lost as time goes on. It's as if it never happened. Aubrey said the other day, "Mom, do you remember going to see Santa? We went to different houses. Santa didn't have his reindeer. We were with Grandma Terry. Do you remember that?" She was talking about how Grandma Terry had a grandparents pass to pioneer village. She went there lots of times with Grandma, but the last time was Chrismas, and she got to write a letter to santa and give it to him. It's amazing the details she remembers!

We also went to Las Vegas the weekend of May 1st to see Aliza get baptized. Aubrey went to the doctor for pink eye the morning we left. I gave her anti-biotics all day as we rode with Gradma Terry and Grandpa Mike. That night we went shopping and met up with my Uncle Robert and Aunt Kathy for dinner. (Seth didn't go bc he had to work. He is also worked on mothers day and is working late tonight.) Anyway, I got the kids to bed at the hotel. Since Debbie, Ronda, and Christian all work at Marriotts, we were able to get good deals. Carol, Mom and I all had rooms next to each other. The next day, we went to the baptism and I got to play the piano for the stake event. As we waited for each ward to have their turn for baptisms, the others sang their favorite hymns. Aliza's was "I Know that My Redeemer Lives." The spirit was so strong as we sung; I love that hymn. Aubrey got to watch Aliza get baptised; it was so special. (Someone played the piano for me for one minute so I could watch Aliza, then I had to hurry back to play.)
That afternoon we played at the park, and swam at a resort, and went out to dinner. Aubrey had so much fun with her cousins! When I gave her a bath that night, she thought the hotel bath tub looked like a baptismal font! Mom and Mike agreed to watch the grandkids while all the siblings went out together. We had fun shopping at H&M, eating ice cream and admiring the sugar store. It was short, but nice to enjoy each other with no kids!

I also wanted to make note that Aubrey has a play-date with her cousin Drew almost every Tuesday. We go down to Murray and play. Sometimes heather has other friends there and we do a craft and sing songs and such. Sometimes its just us. Sometimes we go places like fun parks. Tomorrow we are going to the aquarium. Drew's favorite is the hammer-head shark! Aubrey has been earning dimes with little chores lately, and I think she's excited to buy something at the gift shop with her very own-hard-earned money!

Sam just started crawling on his knees these last couple days (instead of army-crawl). He also started pulling himself up to standing a couple days ago too! He so excited to explore now. We've certainly entered a new stage with him.

I'm trying to do reading with Aubrey with the BOB books every night. She's so good at it, but she doesn't always like it. Sometimes we play reading memory games or flash cards. Sam likes to eat her books and it's really distracting. We give him toys, but he just wants the books.

Sam has been my drooliest baby! Drool and spit up--so gross! He has also been my most cuddly baby-- so sweet! I guess I also need to video the way he eats, bc people always comment on it. He just opens and swallows so quickly that I guess it's worth noting. he eye-balls everything I eat. I think he'll be my biggest eater, but he's still skinny.

Mother's Day was nice. Seth took me shopping to buy a pair of jeans that fit. I've lost a lot of weight after having Sam, so it's nice to have the clothes that fit, and nice to ahve Seth's approval. I loved it so much, that I'm thinking I'd like to do this for my birthday, our anniversary, Christmas, Valentines, or just whenever I feel like it!

At the same time, we are thinking about just how fast we could pay off our house. If we live way below our means, we could do it pretty fast. We need to find a balance between live for today and living for the future. Both are important.

lately I've been thinking how important it is to me to have balance in my life. Sure I want to be in shape, be educated, be a musician, be a good cook, balance my budget, spend time with my children, etc... If any of these things takes too much of a priority, the other things suffer. I need them all. A little in every area. Balance. I think I want bablance more than being an over-achiever in one area. Maybe I'll be an over-acheiving balancer?

Have I talked lately about researching schools for Aubrey? I don't want her to get bored with the curriculum at school. I want her to always love learning. Where can we achieve that the best? I still have over a year to decide, but so far I've found, Layton Elementary, Oquirh Mountain, Syracuse Arts Academy, North Davis Prep, and an online K12 school. I still have lots of research to do. it will be an interesting road regardless.

A few Sam things

2010-05-07T07:37:00.001-07:00

I had to quickly post a couple more quick things about Sam. He is starting to feed himself, which is so cute! He wants to eat adult food so bad! He just stares and watches as we eat, even if it's a whole hamburger, he just WANTS it! I don't know how much longer I'll nurse him. His little fingers like to pinch while he nurses, and it hurts. I'm down to 2-3 nursing times a day. He LOVES to buzz his lips and has for months. If he could skip crawling and just walk, he would. He loves to walk or run holding onto my hands. He also likes to play tag with Aubrey. He holds onto my hands and runs around playing tag with her. He LOVEs it!

Aubrey loves playing hide and go seek with dad. When he has time, that is the daddy-daughter activity of choice.

2010-05-07T06:26:00.001-07:00

Life has been very good to us lately. We're busy, but not overwhelmed. Having 2 kids is great; we have plenty to do, but I'm not too stressed. Seth is working longer hours, but we're dealing with it. Sam has been army-crawling for the passed month or so. These last couple of days he's been crawling on his knees for a few steps, and then down to his stomach again. He is really excited about exploring now that he's mobile. He does still spit up a lot, and when he does in the kitchen, he spits up, and then army-crawls through it, moping it around the floor with his stomach--so gross! Of course, he doesn't mind; its just good, clean fun for him.

Aubrey has just started her second set of BOB scholastic books. She can easily sound out 2-3 letter words, and is getting better at reading all the time! As usual, she loves to play with friends, and it's nice when she and Sam play and laugh together. Right now, they two of them just woke up and Aubrey went to entertain him. That's nice; that will give me a couple minutes to write some more.

This month is Aubrey's last month at Share Preschool with Rebecca Barker. She has been so great for Aubrey. It's sad to have an end, but I'm excited to have her go to Tiffany's Flowerbox in the fall. This will also be Aubrey's last month of gymnastics at Lil' Flippers. We will miss that too. This summer, I need to sign her up for swim lessons, and we'll probably continue to play with Drew a lot. He got passes to the zoo and aquarium that I'm sure we'll use frequently.

We are also going to Mass. for a couple weeks this summer for Ben's wedding. It's going to be a big, fun event! Then we'll hang out at Grammy and Papa Hossfield's house.

Lately, i've been waking up at 5:40 to go running with Emily Chapman and a couple other ladies in the ward. it's hard to get up that early, but the sunrise, and visiting is nice. I've also dropped almost 50lbs since I've had Sam. Seth is rewarding me with new Buckle jeans tonight (if I can find a babysitter.)

Seth and I are trying to keep up with politics. Our country is going through a lot right now. We attended a Mitt Romney book signing and speech a couple months ago. We've only got partially through the book so far, but it's been eye-opening. Other countries don't want America to be the super power, and they are ready to challenge us, but that's not even what our country is dealing with right now. Pres. Obama and his adminstration has sure sent our country in a loop. They want to charge cap and trade due to "global warming", they recently passed the crazy health-care bill, they want to regulate the internet and news, Arizona just started a huge ordeal with a new illegal immigrant law that basically arrests anyone that looks like a Mexican and doesn't have paper work on them, and in Utah, our education budgets are being cut. Davis county just cut their budget by over 30 million. It's hard to keep up with it all and know what to do. We want to create the best place we can for our children, but how? It's just seems so out of control right now. We are trying to do our best to stay financially conservative, and put ourselves in a position to provide and protect our family no matter what. I've also been looking into every school option possible for Aubrey. When she starts kindergarten we might to a charter school, and there are lots of options there. It's nice to have options and realize the power and freedom I still have to choose. It's a big responsibility, and I hope and pray we make the best decisions for our family.

I better go now. Aubrey's done a good job entertaining Sam, but we better get ready for the day.

Aubrey

2010-03-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today I went to relief society, and when I came home, Seth told me an amazing story that I had to write down.
Aubrey got a piece of paper, did some scribbles in red (Dad's favorite color), handed it to Seth, and said, "here you go, Dad. This is for you."
Seth said, "There's not enough on the paper. You need to do more."
Aubrey, "Okay," and she went back to work.
She put more scribbles on, and then decide to write, "To:Dad From: Aubrey"
Seth, realizing what she was trying to do asked, "Can you spell 'dad'?"
Aubrey took a second to sound it out "duh-a-duh... Dad has 2 'D's in it!"
Seth, "You're right"
aubrey wrote it down and showed Dad. "Those look like 'b's" (and they were lower-case b's, but still...) Then Seth said, "Can you spell 'mom'?"
Aubrey sounded it out and wrote it down perfectly. She also included a few other letters on the page, and put a bunch of scribbles that she said was Layton, UT. She put a heart, and a face that I need to ask her who it is in the morning.
So, our daughter can write all of the letters, knows all of their sounds, can sound out 2-3 letter words, and has read 4 BOB scholastic books by herself. She can also count to 29 without help, and when patient enough, she can count to 100 when you remind her about 30, 40, 50, etc.
She also asks about her body a lot, and we've looked at diagrams on the internet of her digestive, circular, and skelatal systems.
The other day, Aubrey and I were having a conversation in the car, which lead to a question I still am not sure how to answer. Aubrey was asking about her body, then the Holy Ghost. I told her that when she is happy and doing the right thing, that she can feel the Holy Ghost. She asked, "so is he IN my body?"
Have I mentioned that our little darling, brilliant girl just turned 4 a month ago?! How on earth can my parenting skills keep up with this! Gotta love it!

2009-07-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

These last couple of weeks Seth has been traveling. He went to Texas for about a week, and just left to go to Georgia for a day.
Aubrey has been busy with preschool and gymnastics. The summer preschool program did fun arts and crafts. It was a good way to prepare Aubrey for preschool in the fall.
Shannon made an attempt to put some things in a yard sale with a friend. The whole thing was a miserable flop! I lost more money than I made! The only thing that sold was some of Aubrey's old toys that belonged in the trash! Oh, well. Never do that again! Anything of value can be sold online, kids things can go to kid-to-kid, and everything else can go to DI from NOW ON!
For my 25th birthday, mom came to help with Aubrey and shop. I got a good nap, taught piano lessons, and went out to dinner with Seth and Aubrey to Corbin's. We came home, and put Aubrey to bed. Seth gave me a cd, and was trying to get the printer to work to print off a massage gift receipt. Then we were going to spend the evening relaxing and watching a movie. Instead, a World Financial Group guy from our ward stopped by to talk to us for 20 minutes. For some stupid reason we said, okay. Seth mentioned to him that it was my birthday. He wished me a happy birthday and talked to us for two hours! There went our evening together. Oh well.
On pioneer day, aubrey went with Mike and Sheila Browning to the parade in Salt Lake. SHe loved it. Seth put up storage in the garage and rearranged that. In the afternoon with met up with Kami and Eric Bullock and hung out with them.
Saturday 25th, we went to pioneer village with Grandparents Mike and Terry Martin. Aubrey got a horse ride and did crafts. She also did pretty good in a watermelon eating contest! Then everyone went out to dinner at Chuck-a-rama and opened presents for all July b-days.
It was a good day, but Shannon was sick with Aubrey's cold. Shannon and Aubrey are still sick, but it doesn't seem to affect Aubrey as much; she always has so much energy!

Aubrey Fixing Daddy's Spots

2009-07-26T17:14:00.000-07:00

This happened about a month ago, but I still wanted to get it down.
One day, Aubrey noticed the spots on Daddy's legs where he's lost the pigment. She told him that he needed to wash his legs. Seth decided to let her see if that would fix the problem. He let her get a cloth and soap and scrub his legs. After a while, she decided that didn't work. "What should we do?" Seth asked. "You need, lotion," said Aubrey. "Okay, let's try that," said Seth. Aubrey rubbed Daddy's legs with lotion. After a while, Aubrey decided that that didn't work either. "What should we do?" Asked Seth. "You just need need new legs, Dad!" Aubrey is so smart!

4th of July and Bear Lake

2009-07-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

On the 4th we went to Evanston to see family and fireworks. Before we left, I remembered that I had to bring a jello salad. I quickly looked online for a recipe, found something that was a little time consuming but simple, and rushed to the store for ingredients. It turned out awesome! It was a complete rainbow jello and everyone raved about it! It was a huge hit!
Visiting was fun, and then we went up on a hill to see the fireworks. All of Evanston was lighting off fireworks! It was amazing! There was a family at the bottom of the hill from us that had a lot of big fireworks that exploded right in front of us--awesome view! Then the city lit off their show just a few hundred yards from where we were sitting! Once they did their finale, then the whole town really got going, and tried to one-up the city show! It was crazy! So far, Boston has been the best firework show in regards to latest technology, but Evanston, WY takes the cake for firework craziness!
The next week on the 9th we headed out to Bear Lake. We met Darren and Eric's families in Logan, played at the park a bit, and continued to the lake. Our condo was bigger than we thought, so everyone was happy about that. The kids jumped right in to playing with each other.
On Friday we played on the beach and got a boat ride. The water was really high this year from all the rain; it came right up to the weeds and covered all the sand! We still had fun. Shauna's Mom and Dad, Nancy and Gary, brought their boat down from Idaho for us. Seth went out with Darren to wakeboard. Then Eric's family, Aubrey and I went on the boat with Gary for a little ride. Aubrey said she wanted to drive, and Gary let her! Of course she just turned the wheel and honked the horn, but she loved it!
The next day I wanted to ski, but the boat died! It was so sad! I was hoping I could say I went skiing while i was pregnant... oh well. I hope they are able to fix it. We were so grateful to Nancy and Gary for bringing it down for us.
Of course we stayed up way too late every night talking, but it was worth it, and again a really good vacation. It's such a miracle to have these amazing people in our lives that we love and know we can count on for anything.

Vegas Trip

2009-07-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Vegas was very fun and just what I needed that week. It was Charlie's Angel-Day week, and I really wanted to leave town. We spent some time at the cemetary the Monday before to spend some time remembering our baby.
On Wednesday we drove to Vegas. On the way we made a stop at a bronzing place in Lehi to bronze the figures of Charlie's hands. They should be done in a couple more weeks. We also stopped in Provo so Aubrey could play at the park, and a stop in Cedar City so Aubrey could play at McDonald's. You'd think that would make her tired, but she didn't sleep until about 10pm when we were rolling into Vegas!
Debbie hooked us up with a killer deal at the Marriott for $45 a night! It was a suite with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bath! Thank goodness for connections!
Thursday we went to the Secret Garden to see dolphins, white tigers and lions. Aubrey really liked that. We also made a couple stops to see some free shows. It was a lot of walking, really hot, and exhausting!
That night Steve picked up Aubrey from our hotel on his way home from work. That left Seth and I free to see the Blue Man Group. We got a "deal" at $80 a ticket, but were extremely disappointed at the caliber of this Vegas show. It was a clean family show, but we were expecting a lot of percussion on things that weren't necessarily instruments, and a lot of fun. It turned out to be more of a lame comedy show with a little bit of talentless percussion segments. Oh well. Seth and I always like being together anyway; at least it was good company.
Friday we went to an old Vegas western town with a petting zoo. There was a little show in the town of a robber robbin' the bank and got hung! Of course, Aubrey loved the animals. She found a little friend there her age, and they had a good time together.
We came back to the Marriott and went swimming. Everyone at the pool loved Aubrey. One lady cheered every time Aubrey jumped in the pool. Another couple let her use one of there noodle-floaties and were going to let her keep it! Another man said he was a swim teacher, and was so excited to give Aubrey her first swim lessons! She made so much progress in the pool that day! She put her face in the water on her own, learned monkey-tree-rocket ship, and was treading water (doggy paddle) stronger than ever! We were so proud!
Friday was also Charlie's angel day, but I was glad we were busy having fun, and only thought of it for a brief moment at the petting zoo when Aubrey's friend's mom asked if Aubrey was my only child. I realized at that moment what day it was. The moment passed, and we went on having fun.
Saturday we met up with Carol's family, Steve's family, and Mom and Mike. We played at a park and went swimming again.
Sunday we went to church, and Seth started driving home to be back for work on Monday. Aubrey and I relaxed at Steve's house.
Monday we went to the chocolate factory. It was fun to see the factory, but I was not impressed with their chocolate and even less impressed with the price. I bought some m&m's. That night we went to Aliza's show "Seusical the Musical Jr." She had a pretty big part for such a young girl. I was so impressed with the talent of these kids! They all sang on pitch and were completely in character the whole time! Aubrey was getting tired, but I loved the show!
After that Aubrey and I got in the motor home with Mom and Mike and drove home.
Vegas was really HOT, but we had a good time, and I was so glad everything turned out the way it did.

Summer Plans

2009-06-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

This summer I want to keep busy. We need to get the baby's room ready for Sam, and figure out what to do with Charlie's things. That will also entail finishing photo albums and keepsakes for Aubrey. Aubrey will start a summer pre-school program, continue with gymnastics, and have swimming in August. Seth and I are trying to eat less and exercise. I got a pass to the pool and am trying to go on walks.

As for summer vacations, we're not doing very much. We might be going to Vegas at the end of June. Aliza has a show she is in, and the family is going to watch her. I really want to go somewhere for Charlie's angel-day; I don't want to just hang around the house. I hope we plan something nice.

We have also planned a trip to Bear Lake with Darren D'Orlando's family and Eric Bullock's family. We are looking for ward to that in July.

My piano students are doing "summer olympics." They have different "events" to earn points, and if they can get to 500 points by the end of the summer, they earn a $50 gift certificate to the mall for school clothes. Hopefully this goes well, and they work hard through the summer.

We have also started a reading program with Aubrey. We were inspired by the "Your Baby Can Read" program. Since Aubrey is not a baby anymore, their videos were not very interesting to her, and the program is expensive. We decided to make our own videos with Aubrey as the star! She enjoys making the vidoes, and is excited to learn how to read. Some days she does very well, and some days she still gets distracted easily. It's okay if this doesn't work, but I want to give it a good effort; it doesn't hurt to try.

Seth has always enjoyed gardening, but he has taken an interest to square-goot gardening. This is our first year really planting anything, and I don't know how successful we'll be this first year, but we're working on it, and looking forward to our fall harvest.

So all-in-all it's not an extremely exciting summer planned, but it will be a little busier than usual. Hopefully, the time will fly by, we'll get everything done we were hoping to do, and baby Sam will be here before we know it!

2009-05-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Seth has been gone for over two weeks. I am so ready for him to come home. Aubrey is has been acting up these last few days, and i think she's really missing her Dad. I think our lawn and fish tank and a few other neglected things are ready for him to come home too.
Seth has been in Florida doing tests on the units he helped design for the military.
Aubrey and I went to a lot of places this past weekend. Saturday was Aisa's b-day party, and then going to Heather and Dave's house to watch Drew while they went on a date. We spent the night there, and went to church with them on Sunday. After church we went to Primary Children's Hospital for a Memorial Tribute for all their patients that have passed away this past year. It was nicely done, and a good moment for me. Some of my family came too; it was nice to have them there with Seth out of town. We went to the park after that for a picnic and back to Heather and Dave's for the night. Heather and i took the kids to the pool the next day, and we all loved it! Swimming is a nice way to work out when you're pregnant, and Aubrey was squealing the whole time. We finally came home on Tuesday, and have been just going along since; really, just surviving until Seth comes home.

2009-05-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

oh, yeah...Another thing we did this week was going to Diana's dance/gymnastics review. Aubrey got to play with her cousins most of the day. When Diana's class was dancing, Aubrey was crying to me that she wanted to dance with the other girls too! Also, a few days later, Aubrey wanted me to do her hair pretty like Diana's. I told her I wasn't sure if I could do it, and she said, "Well, Heather can do it!" (Heather did Diana's hair really awesome the recital night)
We also got a fish tank recently, and our black molly just had our babies. It looks like about 4 minos will survive! We have a fun and active fish tank.

2009-05-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we were finally able to get together with our friends Luke, Makayle, and their little girl Kaijsa. Kaijsa had a liver transplant, and they finally felt safe enough to take her out of the house and come have dinner and play Settler's of Catan with us. It was a nice evening.
Aubrey is still working on her potty training. We had some success with pooping in the toilet this week. Aubrey has a potty chart with 5 charts with about 30 squares in each chart. As she has success, the charts fill up with stickers, and she gets rewards. When each little chart fills up, she gets a treat: McDonald's kids meal, finger paints (bad idea), and this morning she filled up her 3rd chart. She gets to pick out any book of her choice at Barne's and Noble.
Aubrey also had success at gymnastics this week. Mom stayed after with Aubrey on the trampoline for a couple minutes to practice bouncing from your bum to her feet. She did it for the first time, five times in a row! It's a tradition to go to Grandma Sheila's after gymnastics; Aubrey likes visiting Grandma and playing with Marley.
Seth has been busy at work getting ready for a trip to Florida this coming week. He has had some late nights, but on Friday he got off work early. We took Aubrey to Discovery Gateway. I think Seth had just as much fun as Aubrey did. Aubrey liked exploring in water, the beehive ball section, and especially the helicopter. She really liked when other kids were in the helicopter with her to act out an emergency situation.
After Discovery Gateway, we dropped off Aubrey with Heather and Drew. Seth and Shannon went to Olive Garden in American Fork to have dinner with other heart angel parents. We enjoyed their company and the conversation. It was nice to be able to talk about our kids without the normal reactions of people, and just get a reaction like what I was saying was normal. We also discussed issues like being surrounded by kids the same age as what your child would've been, and answering the question, "So, How many kids do you have?" We also talked about not comparing trials; this one is really important to me. I think it's important to allow ourselves and others to experience our trials for what they are, and not say, "Well, it's not as bad as so-and-so's problems, so get over it." That's not fair to ourselves or anyone else. I have more thoughts on this that I'll share another time or on my personal blog, just not now.
Then on Saturday, we had a faily lazy day, and then rushed to get ready for our date before Aubrey's baby sitter got here. We enjoyed our dinner at Prairie Schooner (SO GOOD!) and playing pool at Fat Cat's. Now we are having an extrememly lazy Sunday; I'm not sure I like being this bored. Seth and Aubrey just went outside; there's a storm coming; oh, well. We need to enjoy this time before Seth goes to Florida on Tuesday.
One last good thing that's happened lately is we've received the inheritance money from Seth's mom's house. We no longer have any debt except our house, and look forward to having that paid off in less than 15 years! THANK YOU, LORRIE!
Life is good.