Every day ordinary stuff

What is this you ask? Oh, it's a stick in the dirt... More specifically a plumeria stick in the dirt. My mom forgot it at our house when she returned home from Hawaii and so she just bought herself another on-line and let me have this one. I need to transplant it into another pot, one with drainage. I always forget to pick one up at the store. She said I should see something in a month or two as far as growth goes. 

Did i post this picture all ready? Huh, not sure... But the babe is growing like a weed. That is for sure. 

The last two weekends I have hosted a Holiday Craft Camp at my house. It's been Saturday mornings for an hour and a half. I decided to charge just 5 dollars, to cover cost of materials... So far I have spent more than I have made but.... It's nice to off set the costs for the crafts. The whole reason I did it was because Ty and Maylee really like doing crafts and I couldn't justify spending 30 bucks on art supplies for a little craft. Anyhow, the kids have LOVED having 5 friends over every Saturday to come play. Matt takes Em and Gracie with him on Morning errands so I can focus on the kids there. Pictured here is the painting of the personilozed chalkboards. 

Pictured here are handprint flour sack tea towel Turkeys. 

The finished product of the Turkeys.

I had planned to do Thank You cards and gift tags in addition to these handprint Turkeys. But they sat and colored for near an hour. I was shocked! I thought they would take maybe 10 minutes! We had just enough time for snack time and to play a few games, including a camp favorite "Don't eat pete".  

Last week I text my friend Tiffany who lives 5 houses down and said, "I am going to throw all my kids toys away! I can't take the mess anymore!" She text back and said, "i'll be right over." This was actually a random picture not meant to be taken, but its a good indication of what she was starting with. 

A friend in our ward at church came by a week earlier and said she had a few toys that her girls grew out of and if we wanted them she would bring them to us instead of giving them to Good Will. I went out to her van to grab what I thought would be a few little things, but it was three dora houses with furniture and figurines, three my little pony play toys and a Disney Princess Kitchen. Wow! It was SO MUCH stuff. That's when the mess got really bad. Anyway, Tiffany brought her 4 kids with her, including Kyah, (her oldest a 10 year old who is really going on 30 she is so smart and mature) to hold Grace while she went to work. She had two trash bags full of broken or worthless toys and sent me to the store to get storage containers. I came back with 15 bins and she used everyone and labeled them. 

So much better! I was so thrilled to come upstairs after making dinner for everyone to see this. Tiffany is the best! She loves organizing and cleaning so of course it's uber organized and lovely. It's been a week and it's STILL organized. Thats how I know she did a great job. It is easy for the kids to clean up after themselves when playing. It is more functional and makes me smile when I walk by the toy area. 

Maylee hi-jacked the camera and caught me chatting with Grace. I just put her down to do the dishes and she kept giving me smiles. I'll take smiles from the little lady anyday :) 

Maylee's selfie.

Emma has done so well potty training. Shes even had three dry nights in a row, so I've called it, she's potty trained. She is such a happy girl now that she is trained. I always forget about the wailing and knashing of teeth that happens when potty training because they hold it and don't want to go in the potty. But that is over now and she's back to her busy, crazy self and loving her "Frozen" themed undies. 

As the girls were getting ready for bed tonight, Maylee ran upstairs to brush her teeth she yelled, "Race you Emma!" Then Emma took off running and yelled over her shoulder, "Race you Gracie!" Matt and I got a good laugh. It wont be long though before Grace is down for a race. She gets tummy time and spins in circles but hasn't rolled over yet, we're not super anxious for it though. 

Being home with just the girls is a big difference, but I am adjusting. Lunches are difficult, since Ty always made his own and made lunch for Maylee. He just made her what he was having, so she didn't really get an opinion. Well, with out Ty she has an opinion and it is usually requested that I give her a treat or an unhealthy snack instead of lunch. Today she finally convinced me that Nutella Toast would be yummy and nutritous. She quickly ate all her toast and so did Emma. Their faces were so perfect I just had to take a picture. 

Ty has to finish his homework in order to get play time on the iPad. I got a new app today "kid doctor". Ty liked it a TON. All the kids gathered round, and I thought it was cute so of course, gotta get a picture. 

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving down in Medford. As usual it will be busy spending time with family and we can't wait to see everyone.

A visit from Pam

Pam, Matt's youngest brothers wife came to visit us for a week. She came in on the morning of the 11th and flew home on the 18th, hence the no blogging between then. She is waiting for a work visa while she lives here, since she is Canadian. She can't work or go to school while she waits. I guess it takes about 6 months to get this sort of thing so Braden suggested she come out and hang out with us. I thought it was a great idea!

We didn't really do anything "fun" since I was/still am in the middle of potty training Emma. We were able to go a few places here and there with no kids, but really just quick trips to the store and such.

It was really good to get to know Pam more. She was SO SO SO helpful with the kids! Wow, I would LOVE if she lived with us. She was always scooping up Grace to quiet her, or help Emma go potty or cuddle with Maylee. It was REALLY nice to actually get a few things done (like cook dinner) with out the constant distraction of impending disaster in the other room or a child coming to me in tears about one thing or another. She did the dishes and even folded my laundry... it was the best.

The first night she was here she helped get the kids set for bed then went in her room to call Braden. She said she spoke with him and then was so tired she went to bed, it was not even 8 pm! I laughed about it in the morning when she was telling me how tired she was. HAHAHA yeah, 4 kids 5 and under will do that to you, especially if you aren't used to it. Her last night she made it until 10 pm. So she was definitely building up child raising endurance.

(Movie night Mr. Peabody and Sherman)

On Thursday when she was here, we went to the Grocery store. We got about half way through and Emma needed to go potty "RIGHT NOW!" (her words...) so we rushed to the bathroom and of course she would NOT go. Public restrooms are not acceptable places for her to go potty I guess. Ugh, I bet everyone at the store that was in the bathroom got a good chuckle out of hearing my begging and pleading to just go in the public potty. We didn't get her to go, and she was doing the potty dance the WHOLE rest of the trip so we had to cut out Costco and just go straight home.

As we got in the car after loading up the girls Pam said in a fairly exasperated voice, "you do your shopping like that all the time??" I said, "well, yeah actually...rough huh?" She said "Uhh yeah, now I know why you don't leave the house very often." Yes... now she knows. Matt kept joking with her that visiting us is really good birth control. Her 19 year old self isn't looking to get pregnant for another few years, at least that's what she kept telling us :)

We also had Nate visiting for the weekend doing some Continuing Education in Portland for his Physical Therapy stuff. It was fun having him too. Like a Spence reunion-ish.

Pam and I had many a good laugh and I had many a "whoa, I am so old" moments. I suppose hanging out with someone a decade younger will do that to you. I wish she would come back! But it was clear that Braden missed her. Poor thing was always Facetiming and calling Pam right before FHE or when we were sitting down to dinner, or saying night time prayers... he works and goes to school so he's a busy dude.

(Bonus random pictures of the kids) 

Look at those chubby cheeks Grace is sportin' 

Emma is officially potty trained now too...

Adventures in dentistry

This morning Ty had a Dentist appointment to fill 2 cavities. One to fix an abnormality in the original formation of his back molar, and another from not flossing (shame on me...) We tried once (a few weeks ago if you remember) and Ty had a rough time, so today was the Oral Sedation appointment.

He was really nervous last night, but it made sure to lie down with him when he was going to bed and answer any questions. I tried my best to comfort him and be honest about what was going to happen the next day. The dentists office recommended he wear loose fitting clothes. So Ty chose what he was going to wear, all PJs I think he thought this would be like when he had his tonsils removed. It wasn't near as scary, but I understand. He wouldn't even put shoes on this morning. He went upstairs and put on his "hospital" socks. I had a little chuckle and picked him up to take him to the Pilot.

We dropped the girls off with Angela and off we went. He played in lobby while the hygienist came out and spoke with me. We then went back to the sedation room. I told Ty he could watch his current favorite cartoon, Transformers, while we waited. She came in gave him the little teaspoon of "strawberry drink" with in 10 minutes, this was the result.

He was being SO silly!

He did really well during his appointment all the way until very end... the sedation only lasts about 45 minutes. They gave him the wrong popsicle I think. 

He then threw a fit for a few hours. He kept telling me he couldn't close his mouth, or open it right. He wouldn't play his favorite iPad game Leo's Pad because he couldn't copy what the wishing fish was doing. I encouraged him to try it anyway, this was the result. It goes top to bottom left to right. That last picture is when he was crying because he "couldn't open his mouth". 

 Poor kid couldn't walk straight for a while there and he didn't appreciate the numbness of his lips.

He was frustrated that the spoon wasn't working right...

By the afternoon he was back to normal though, and he couldn't really remember any of the morning, so that's good I guess. Hopefully some day he'll be able to go to the dentist with out any Oral Sedation, and it wont take until he is 23 (like me) when he doesn't cry during a cleaning.  

Changes...always changes

1. Grace is "sleeping" through the night. Really we just decided we were too tired to wake up and feed her anymore, being zombies just isn't becoming. She cried for a few hours...apparently. My head hit the pillow last night and I woke up this morning with Matt handing her to me at 6:30. I guess Matt woke up quite a few times feeling bad for Gracie. He is such a good Dad. He always gets the best smiles from her too, she even adds a little coo for him too. It won't be long before he coaxes a belly laugh from her. 

(This is when I try to get her to smile)

(This is Dad getting it done) 

She had her 2 month check up yesterday. She is 11 lbs 8 oz. (54th percentile) and 22 inches long (31st peecentile) she is quite the chunker for one of our children. 

2. Emma is potty training! I started with her on Monday, only one success. Then Tuesday we had equal successes and failures. Moving on to yesterday was so/so as well and now she finally getting it. Her little bum is so cute in her favorite Minnie undies :) Hopefully soon we'll get her to go on a public potty. Her peeing on the floor at the doctors office because she didn't want to go on the potty there wasn't my favorite. Since she is my third child potty training I have dialed it back on the intensity and realize that it's going to take a while. I need to be in it for the long haul. Every day she gets better and better and that's all I ask from her, daily improvement. 

She got dressed this morning, (i helped her put on her shirt) she loves that skirt. She always says, "mom, it's so beautiful!" I realized today its a lot easier to put a skirt on to cover my girly's naked bum. Tuesday-Thursday she was a nudey bum I didn't want to have to wash that much underwear. Oh and the best part about her potty training is she has the poo part down... No worries there. Its just making it when she has to go the other one! Maylee has been a GREAT resource too, she is really good about telling me if she things emma needs to go, and even helps her to the bathroom. Thats how we do it, when Emma goes potty EVERYONE gets a treat. More incentive for brother and sister to make sure she is going on the potty.

3. Maylee started Pre-school! She is so cute. I can tell she feels really special and important going to school like her brother. She definitely gives me more details about Tiny Titans than Ty ever did. She gives me a good play by play. She also said "Mom I was sad at pre-school today because they kept picking me up and I didn't want them to pick me up." I got a little chuckle out of that. I told her to politely tell them to put her down. She's so little all the high school buddies must think she likes to be held. She loves school though, and it's fun for me to go shopping with just Emma and Grace. I can't believe I used to dread going shopping with two kids. Now it's heaven! 

Halloween: Pumpkins, Apples and Costumes

This October seemed to be quite busy around here. There is always something to be done! So the last Monday before Halloween rolled around and I realized we never went to our beloved Pumpkin Patch this year. I was so bummed. We go every year to Bi-Zi farms! Since I was out of town for Rachel's wedding the weekend before and the weekend before that it was dumping buckets of rain we should have gone the first weekend in October. Oh well.

So we went to go get some pumpkins at a different farm. They only had monstrous pumpkins left and Matt told me as we were leaving that he preferred the children choose smaller pumpkins this year so it didn't take so long. So we left that pumpkin patch (after the kids played a little) and went over to Safeway. Still only monster pumpkins. Last ditch effort we went to Wal-Mart. All they had was weird gourds and pumpkin pie pumpkins. Matt and I laughed about it, but the kids went for it and the girls both picked teeny little pumpkins while Ty picked a yellow/white pumpkin.

We came home and for FHE we carved pumpkins and had root beer floats for treat.

The kids thought it was great. Funny thing was is I ran out of tea lights too. How was I going to light the pumpkins? I told Ty I would buy candles before Halloween (yep I totally forgot, I went to the store a couple times and always forgot, they never did get lit outside)

Tuesday night we made Carmel Apples. I went to Costco to get apples and they had these ones, They are bigger than soft balls. It was crazy!

We crushed the toppings, melted the carmel and chocolate and away we went, The children each chose their toppings and Matt really just went to town.

We ate one that night, and Matt and I both decided that Carmel Apples are what heaven tastes like in the fall. So delicious.

P.S. The Giants won the world series, so i wore my Orange and black to celebrate...

Well Halloween was finally here. I heard from Ty quite a few times that he needed to wear his costume to school that day. Knowing other Elementary's around didn't have children wear costumes I wondered... so i e-mailed Ty's teacher. Nope, no costumes, no parties... nothing like that. Kind of sad since I really enjoyed that in my youth. However we had plenty of plans for after school to keep the fun alive.

Ty chose to be Jake (from the Disney Cartoon Jake and the Neverland Pirates) I made his costume It was pretty easy thanks to a few online tutorials and the ease that is sewing with felt.

Maylee chose to be Cinderella. This one was a bit more difficult for me to sew. My seam ripper and I had quite the love affair going that day. I am glad she liked it so much even though I made many mistakes.

Emma was a Doctor. I decided for her since I all ready had the costume, and sewing Ty and Maylee's stuff about did me in. Kristin made this for Jason to wear when he was 2 (or so) and it fit Emma perfectly so I went with it. A doctor friend of ours even helped us out by getting Emma the full spread of disposable surgeon stuff for her to wear, but alas she wouldnt wear it for longer than 10 seconds, so I never got a picture of her in the full get up.

Grace was a BYU cheerleader. A friend of mine had this outfit for when her daughter was a baby and it fit Grace and her chunky self perfectly. This football season has been pretty much a bust, so we have high hopes for the Basketball season this year. (Odd side note, a boy I used to babysit when I was a teen is on the team this year... talk about feeling old, seeing a kid you babysat, married and playing college ball...am I THAT old??)

I picked Ty up from school and we headed straight over to Matt's work for the Fisher Halloween Party. The party there is pretty crazy, just a bunch of people with kids running around like crazies. They have candy and games and coloring pages but for my control freak OCD issues it gets to be too much for me to stand in a large crowd of people doing nothing but making sure my children arent destroying something. So after the kids snagged some candy I told Matt we needed to find a place to sit. I went over to the first open table I could find and said hello to a man standing near the table. That man happened to be the owner of Fisher Investments, Ken Fisher himself. Whoops, i didnt mean to heard the munkins toward him on purpose! Now I was praying that no sticky fingers found their way near him. He was personable, but didnt stick around our table for long. We didn't really either. We visited Matt's desk and the kids got some candy that his boss brought in and headed out.

We went Trick or Treating at the local high school. It was really great! I thought it would be crazy crowded and they'd give out lame candy and there would only be a few people passing out candy... it was the exact opposite. From what I gathered each "club" at the school has kids go decorate and dress up and pass out candy. Dance team, Speech and Debate, even French club had people there. It was really good practice for Emma since she didnt understand the whole Halloween thing just yet. Believe me she quickly caught on and was knocking doors with the best of them.

The group shot didn't ever turn out. I have a feeling that group shots will forever more be ridiculously hard to come by, unless a professional takes them.

Then we zipped home ate our traditional Jack-o-lantern Pizza for dinner and our friend the Anderson's met up with us to Trick or Treat our neighborhood. They had just returned from their trip to Disneyland and went Trick or Treating there. It was good because it started raining about 2/3 in to our Trick or Treating and Maylee was throwing in the towel. I think Emma and Ty could have ran from door to door in the rain all night long! We made a big loop, about 20 houses and called it a night.

We passed out candy and put the kids to bed then riffled through all of their treats to pick out what we wanted :)

It was a fun Halloween and I think the kids had a great time.

And last but not least, Matt didnt last all of his Octobeard campaign, he shaved it off on the 26th. Thank goodness, I was done with it! He found out he doesnt like having a beard much either. He is shirtless because he is about to shave it off, just pointing that out, he doesnt normally take shirtless bearded selfies. Haha.