Little Girl Updates

Without doing the monthly posts I've gotten behind on the daily goings on of the little ones.

Eliza is becoming quite the mover and shaker. She loves to climb the stairs and terrify mommy by climbing all over the hearth. Her favorite game is "fruit bat" where she hangs upside down. We even have a church version of "fruit bat" that we do on Mommy's lap to keep her happy during Relief Society.
Eliza is also starting to walk and I am so grateful when Laura gets home. She is just the right height to walk Eliza around the house and give my poor bent-over back a break! And, Laura loves it too!
Sara has learned to love the phone and regularly makes calls. I had to teach her how to use it for safety reasons with my fainting spells and now she is quite the expert. The funny thing is where she goes when she talks on the phone - always behind the table. She looks a lot like Laura on the phone at this age.
Sara is also more busy during the days while Laura is gone. She has learned some great new skills at preschool and we are trying to enhance them. One of her favorites is painting! She is really enjoying being the big girl during the day.

Mommy Menu Savers - Week 4

My tips for easy menus this week.

• The salad is made with my favorite cooked chicken strips, a small shaped pasta, grapes, cucumber, mayo and lemon. It's my mom's recipe, is super easy, makes tons and keeps wonderfully in the fridge for quick lunches later in the week. It's great served with celery salt.
• Pre-sliced mushrooms, a can of golden mushroom soup and petite sirloin steak cut into bites make this into a quick, one skillet meal. I serve it with instant mashed potatoes.
• Yellow Rice is made with a box of Rice a Roni (one of the chicken flavors) and a can of chicken. I cook the chicken with the Rice a Roni according to directions.
• The BBQ pork sandwiches are done super lazy this week because this pork is super on sale at Macey's this week. I use a bag coleslaw mix to make my own crunchy coleslaw.

It's Too Early, But...

I just couldn't help myself. The Halloween candy was in the stores and it's my favorite. So, my apothecaries have been changed. And I love them!

And, Eliza's getting excited for Halloween too. She adores candy corn and the chocolate pumpkins, but most of all she adores that she has figured out how to open the candy cupboard in the kitchen.

Productive Yard Weekend

I was finally feeling better this weekend. So, Jason and I made hay, because who knows how long I'll be functional. We worked on the yard because we are afraid that winter may be just around the corner.

Friday, Jason took the day off. He and I got the gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground filled with landscape edging. The right tools made this much easier and go WAY faster than we anticipated; it only took us half the day. It also worked really well and we think the gravel will stay put in spite of much sliding and playing.

On Friday, we also disassembled the playset (2 big and 3 small pieces) to prep to move it back to the gravel. After a few phone calls, Jason rounded up a big group of guys to help us actually move those two huge pieces. It was moved, leveled and reassembled in a matter of minutes - we have wonderful friends! Then everyone hung out with the kids, played soccer, chatted and had a great time! This is just what we envisioned for the yard. Hooray! The hard work is paying some dividends other than just my health!

On Saturday early morning Jason and I waterproofed the playset. It dried remarkably quickly and went on easily, so while I learned how to work the riding lawnmower later that afternoon, Jason worked on final assembly. I lended my hand once I was done and it looks wonderful back there! And we are hoping the lawn where the playset used to live will recover quickly.
The yard finally feels amazing. There is tons of space to run and play without the fear of losing a ball, falling in the pond, stepping on yucky weeds, or wandering into the road. The play stuff is all together (though we are still lusting after a trampoline) and attracting the neighborhood. I love a full house. This feels GREAT!!

Mommy Menu Savers - Week 3

I'm so incredibly terrified that the week of pain that hit me last week is going to return again this week, that my menus for this week are INSANELY simple. (2 kidney stones in 4 days with all the writhing, puking, mental instability, that comes along with it made my week of pain.) Thank heavens Jason likes easy menus.

Sara's First Day of Preschool

Sara started preschool today! In some ways I can't believe she is this old, but in other's it feels like she's been ready for this for ages.

She was so excited to begin (at the same preschool Laura attended) that she began asking how many minutes until preschool with 3.5 hours until it started. So, we got her ready early and took pictures way ahead of time. Then because I couldn't distract her any longer, we met Daddy for an early lunch. This is the best of her "off to school" pictures.
Alas, Arctic Circle resulted in a messy Sara and thus, a new outfit for school. So, we took some hurried pictures of how she actually was dressed for her first day of preschool. And "this is my real princess smile, Mom" resulted in this classic photo for the memory book!
She also thought it was important to document her "beautiful hairdo" and "cool purple backpack". And, with Sara, there's no picture taking experience without a silly face!

We made it out the door and were able to snap one picture on her way in - she was excited to get started. Sara ran right in with no trace of apprehension. She hung up her backpack, found her name on her table, started playing with playdoh, and said "see you later" to me. Sara is a serious go-getter!

Laura helped pick her up from preschool and Sara just bubbled over with how great it all was. We are excited for another wonderful year with Miss Shauna!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a wonderful long weekend together. I took way too many pictures of our fun.

Jason took Friday off - he had reached the use it or lose it stage of PTO - and he helped me deal with my third kidney stone in 3 weeks. We also got the brakes fixed on the van and bought a beautiful new (non-wool for my allergies) rug for the Family Room. It really adds some nice color to what had become just too tan.

Saturday morning we met up with my parents to fulfill Sara's 3 week long request. Sara wanted to go to IHOP with Grandma and Grandpa. The girls ate their weight and we all enjoyed the amazing balloon artist who was there. Wouldn't a balloon artist make for a great kids birthday party - especially one that can even make pandas?!

After breakfast, we packed up and met my parents for the most beautiful weather at the cabin. The girls did the zipline. Laura loved it and Sara endured.
I found a bleached out set of teeth while scoping out spots for a family photo that we'll do this fall. The girl were eerily fascinated by them and we even had to bring them home.

We made S'mores over the barbecue. And I think I may have found a new S'more favorite - Fudge stripe cookies! They were so good that we repeated the treat on Monday.

The girls spent a ton of time outside enjoying the sunshine and perfect temperatures. Jason played with them while my folks and I labored in giving the cabin a much needed deep clean.

After all the fun outside and her serious standing practice, Miss E herself required a deep clean in the (freshly bleached and cleaned) bathtub.
On Sunday, I endured. I did a crazy new treatment and passed my fourth kidney stone in 3 weeks. Let me just say that Jason is amazing and lemon juice is TART!!!

Monday I was wiped out. So instead of doing exciting plans of the cabin, neighborhood BBQ or trip to Topaz Mountain, we stayed home. Fortunately, Jason's good HS friend and his daughter (Sara's age) spent the day with us. The girls had a great time with their new friend and I recuperated - except for a serious floor cleaning that I had put off too long with the kidney stone. Oh, in the picture of the princesses, you can see the new rug on our floor!

Words

Laura and Sara were major talkers at Eliza's age. Eliza appears to be a listener. In an effort to increase her vocabulary, I have relegated the binkies to the car, bed, and church. It seems to be working. She is combining words and adding new ones every day. Her most used new word is "boo" which means book.

Reading is definitely Eliza's favorite pastime! She will look at books by herself for 20 mins or more, but has to make sure to pull them all off the shelf so she can browse them all. Yes, I clean these up around 6 times per day, but she loves them so I don't mind!!

I am grateful that I am not the only reader in the house. Laura is wonderful to read to her sister. Eliza just revels in their time together and sits so still in Laura's lap. Laura seems to love it too.
And mommy - well, I'm thrilled to have another book lover in the house.