Quote of the day...

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family... What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else." -M. Russell Ballard

Food Consumption

Chloe has wanted scrambled eggs for breakfast two days in a row now. How many eggs would you guess that I make for my 33lb five year old? Bet you didn't guess three, did you? Thats right, she eats three eggs and a whole piece of toast for breakfast.

Cake Mix Cookies

A friend of mine gave me the recipe to turn a simple boxed cake mix into cookies. Chloe and I gave it a try today. It was really easy and the cookies turned out deliciously! The recipe is:

1 box of cake mix (any flavor)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

You can toss in chocolate chips, nuts or anything else you'd like.
Mix together and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.


Chloe chose to make funfetti cookies and we didn't add anything to them since Chloe is very anti-chocolate. She told me they were the best cookies she has ever had and we should make them more often!


I bought a butter pecan cake mix to make some cookies for Justin that have pecans and chocolate chips. I hope they turn out as yummy as they sound!

Rockin' Out in 3-D

Chloe watched the Hannah Montana 3D concert on tv Saturday night. She loved it and spent the entire 90 minutes rocking out on the "Wiggles" guitar and dancing around. This was her first introduction to Hannah Montana and she thought she was pretty cool.

Magical Poop

Anyone who has changed more than a few poopy diapers knows what I am talking about. I am not saying that the act of changing a poop diaper is magical, I am saying that sometimes baby poop seems to posess some kind of super-poopy properties. More specifically, flying abilities. And quite possibly the ability to pass through seemingly solid objects.

Take into account the events of this very evening: I had just changed Cooper into his night-time diaper when he started to tense up and grunt. (Note to self: Explore 'new diaper = urge to poop' phenomena another day.) So I put him down and let him run around and finish his 'business' wearing a new diaper and pajamas. When it was apparent that he was done, I scooped him up and headed to his room for a change. When I unsnapped his romper, I noticed a nasty smell. I looked down and discovered that I had poo on my arm, on my shirt, and on my shorts.(which were fresh out of the dryer.) After cleaning him (and me) up, I discovered that he had left 'deposits' on the floor of the kitchen and also in the office. I would like to point out that all of this occurred before removing his diaper and romper, and that he did not get anything on his own clothing in the process. Yep, I tell ya, sometimes kids have Magical Poop. (So much for eating my dinner while it was hot...)

What we've been up to...

I thought I'd just write an update about what we've been up to. Justin has been working a lot lately, the Microsoft company picnic was last weekend and this upcoming Saturday, so he has had to work those days up at the picnic site where they have a temporary store set up. The perks to this for him has been the really good free food and free entertainment. On Sunday he sat with some coworkers eating ribs and pulled pork sandwiches while watching moto-cross jumping. He was able to just pop into work Monday morning for an hour and a half and then take the rest of the day off. The kids were very happy to have him home:


Chloe has been keeping busy with playdates, birthday parties and gymnastics. She is working on cartwheels and handstands and takes every opportunity to practice at home. She just finished her gymnastics session, but Grandma DD was kind enough to "sponsor" her for another session... she is very excited and grateful (as are Mommy and Daddy of course)! Chloe also stays busy in our backyard conducting the lives of Owl and Mr. Mole. That will be a whole other blog post though! Here are a few pics of Chloe at gymnastics on Monday (not the best pics):



Cooper lives his life doing dangerous stunts and trying to keep up with his sister. He is enamored with his daddy... Justin can do no wrong to Cooper and Cooper just worships him. Oh there is nothing like the love sons have for their daddies. We are working on learning the meaning of "no" and using more words. Cooper has his favorite words that he likes to use over and over so we are working on expanding that vocabulary! Right now we hear a lot of Da-Da (of course!), sister, uh-oh, and all-done. Mama is said occasionally and he has put a few phrases together like "where's sister?" and "whats that?" He is such a sweet boy and loves to be cuddled! Here is Cooper mowing the backyard... he would live outside if we'd let him!


And me? Everything I've already posted about just about sums up what I've been up to! The kids keep me running in every direction and playing referee. I've been working extra hours lately because we are short staffed, so instead of the usual 3 shifts a week, its been 5. The paycheck will be nice especially for the back to school shopping Chloe and I are gonna do- But, I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit more and getting to see Justin more often. Sometimes I feel like we tag-team parent, just handing off the kids between us. It keeps the kids out of daycare or from having to be with a sitter, but I miss seeing him too. He works hard to provide for us and I wish I was home more in the evenings to help out with the kids so that he could have some relaxation time himself. In due time, I'm sure.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the blog post about the saga of Owl and Mr. Mole. It'll be a good one, I'm sure!

More Kindergarten

The thought of Chloe going to kindergarten consumes most of my thoughts as of late. But, I'm trying to focus on the positive about it! I explained what recess was to her yesterday (at her preschool it was called 'outside time'), she was very, very excited about recess. We've been talking about backpacks and lunch boxes and scoping them out so we'll know what she wants when we're ready to buy it. She has been giving me on ideas of what she'd like to take in her lunch box to eat at school. Chloe and I have been checking out clothes and making a list of what she likes and wants to get (under my direction of course ;) ). I am excited to actually be justified in doing 'back to school' shopping this year! We're getting psyched up and ready for this. My baby is so grown-up.

Here she is looking all cute and grown-up after a birthday party on Saturday:

Birthday Parties

In the past two years, I have become quite aware of how popular the months of June and July are to give birth. How have I made this discovery? By the number of birthday parties we have attended in those months. In June, Chloe (and subsequently Cooper and I) attended three parties. July has brought us two so far with FIVE more on the calendar. Two this weekend, two next weekend and one the following weekend. That will bring July's total to SEVEN!

Its a good thing I like these kids and their parents otherwise my daughter would be sitting some of these parties out.

Grocery Shopping.

I used to love grocery shopping. But when we moved to Seattle, I kind of lost my love because of the high prices. This evening however, I did some shopping at Albertsons and found my love again. I walked out the door with a shopping cart full of groceries, spent $112.87 out of pocket, but between coupons and the deals in the ad, I saved 67.33. I also got two free movie tickets and a coupon for 2.50 off my next purchase at Albertsons. Not too shabby.

We've gotten out of the habit of eating at home and I'm trying to get us back into that mode since I'm hoping to implement a budget again. With gas at 4.40 a gallon and me hoping to work less, a budget is going to be a necessity and its a sacrifice I'm ready for!

Gymboreeeeee and Kindergarten

So, I worked tonight. Not at my store, but one in another local mall since they are short on managers right now. Someday I'd like to quit... but in the meantime I keep trying to get demoted but that hasn't happened yet. I've decided that I'm putting my foot down at the end of August and will become a sales associate again (I'm a part-time assistant manager) and only work once a week. Chloe is starting kindergarten and will be gone much more than she has been before and I need to be around in the evenings when she is. And between her gymnastics, dance, and soccer, our evenings will be plenty full.

For now I'm trying not to think about my baby going to kindergarten. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. I've been so involved with her schooling up until this point because we did co-op that I feel like I'll be missing out on so much of what she is learning and doing. Maybe I should volunteer to be room mom? Join the PTA? Homeschool? (ha, ha, ha) I'll have to figure something out!

Idaho

We're back from Idaho... rolled in at about 7pm last night. We had a great time, celebrating the Fourth of July. We sat on Main Street and watched the parade:



We checked out the local sites, like the Woolly Mammoth:





And had lots of fun while surrounded by the beauty all around:

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Its off to Idaho we go...

I thought I'd take a break from packing up the van (yes, for those of you who don't know, I am the proud owner of an awesome mini-van) to blog about the trip we are taking. We are going to Grangeville, Idaho to visit my grandparents. I'm sure you've never heard of it, but it is about half way between Boise and Coeur d’Alene. It may be a small town, but from what I've heard the Fourth of July is a big deal there. The rodeo is in town for three nights and they have three Fourth of July parades down Main Street, one on the 3rd, 4th and 5th. So, we are celebrating Independence Day small town-USA style this year.

We don't get the chance to take very many trips or vacations, so we are excited. Idaho here we come!

Craigslist

I'd just like everyone (not that anyone has the link to this blog) to know that I love Craigslist. I wish I could meet Craig and give him a hug. Never before has there been a better way to sell your unwanted crap to total strangers. It is genius. I feel sad for people who live in an area where Craigslist isn't a resource that is fully taken advantage of. Right now even, I'm waiting for some lady to come buy a bassinet I bought at Goodwill, new in the box-- a quick $35 profit for me and the bassinet she needs. It is a win-win for all parties involved. I ::heart:: Craigslist.

Am I the only one...

That tries to get into this 'blog thing' but thinks all the posts I start to write are lame? So then I delete them.

I'm trying though.