First Day of School - For Gma

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

From Peyton: The Shoe Thief

"I am obsessed with shoes. Completely obsessed. I can especially sense when friends or family (i.e. Cousin Lyric!) come over who have a particular aversion to their shoes being stolen or touched by me and I head straight for THAT pair. Yep, I have very keen *shoe-radar*."

"But I really think my favorite shoes so far are my Uncle Ryan's size 13 brand new school shoes! He tried to hide them from me today, but I quickly found them and took them for a ride. Don't they look good with my pretty dress? I got it in the mail from Grandma yesterday and I look so cute in it!"

"My mommy says I'm TOO much! But I try my best to be polite because when I don't want my mommy to do something (like turn off the bath water) I just say "PLEASE DON'T MOMMY!" For some reason, mommy think that is really funny!".

Love, Peyton

Back To School Celebration

Admittedly, I derived this idea for a "back to school" celebration dinner from Stephanie (from nieniedialogues). And sadly, I learned that she was in a critical plane crash this past weekend. It's amazing how you can feel so connected to people in "blogland" that you've never met in real life, but this news has saddened me all day long.

I started telling the kids about this dinner last week. I asked them their menu requests, and they were as follows:

Jordyn: salad and noodles

Lexi: rice and corn

Both: Ice Cream for dessert!

We had a fun dinner, filled with all of their requests (except noodles, we had chicken instead) and special drinks, crowns and even some magic shell topping on the ice cream. What a fun tradition I hope to continue each school year. Good luck girls!!!!!

(Jordyn also got to meet her teacher today! The only problem is.....she is having a baby in one week!!!!! Long term sub coming her way! :-(

Beauty Queens

Jordyn and Lexi had their first non-mom haircut. In preparation for school to start (in 2 days!), I thought it would be nice to get Jordyn's amateur short haircut shaped a little more by a professional....and Lexi just had a little trim for the fun of it all.

We just hopped over to Super Wal-Mart and it was quick and painless! $9.95 each (still too much, in my opinion, for a 5 minute cut). By the way, you could honestly live at Wal-Mart. You could shop, get a pedicure, get your hair cut, go to the doctor, eat at McDonalds, get your eyes checked and get your tires & oil changed all in one stop. Whew!

Olympic Fun

We've really loved watching the Olympics this year! I think my favorites are the diving and the gymnastics. The swimming is incredible (Go Phelps and Torres....) but oh my gosh, it gives me anxiety. I mean, to lose by one one-hundreth of a second? No way, that would totally kill me.

As a kid, we always watched the Olympics in our house. I remember when I first found out that the Olympics only lasted a few weeks....I was shocked! I could've sworn it was on half of the year! That's probably because when its on, its ON. ALL the time. That's all our TV has been tuned to since it began.

The "closest" I've been to the Olympics were the SLC Winter Olympics in 2002. We were lucky enough to have Tucker's Mom on the Olympic Committee, the education department. We got free tickets to so many events, including the Opening AND Closing Ceremonies! Tucker loved every single second of it, and I tried as hard as I could, but unfortunately I was really sick and pregnant with child #1 and that ruled every waking moment for me.

And now, Tucker's brother Derek lives in China (he's a professional stunt diver) and we got a text that he's on his way to Beijing now! Lucky.

By the way, I really have never seen anything like the Olympic Racewalking. Really. It is quite a sight to see, and a bit strange. Their bodies move in ways I have never seen before! If you haven't seen it, check it out...

(racewalking.com)

Getting to Know You

I love these questionnaires that Katie does on her kids' birthdays so much, that I wanted to do them too! From here on out, I will do them on their birthday, but for now it was just a random day! It's a fun way to get to know your kids a little better, and how their brains work. I was caught off guard by a few answers!!! These are raw, unscripted and unsolicited answers!

Jordyn Lyn – Age 6

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*If you could have one super-power, what would it be? That’s a hard one. To fly.

· What was the last chore you did? Practice piano.

· What is your favorite song? Gotta Go My Own Way (HSM)

· What's your favorite food? Salad

· What's the nicest thing you've done for someone in your family lately? Help mom clean.

· What makes you mad? When Lexi is mean to me.

· Where would you like to go on vacation next year? Hawaii.

· Who's the smartest person in your family? Mommy Why? Because she remembers stuff.

· How are you like your dad? We both like chicken.

· How are you like your mom? We both have freckles.

· What's one thing that your dad has that you'd like to develop? He works out.

· What's one thing that Dad always says to you? “I love you”

· What's one thing that you and Dad did together that you'll always remember? Swim, and when he chases me in the pool.

· If you had a million dollars, what's the first thing you'd buy? Baby Alive.

· How do you know that I (mom) love you? You wash laundry for me.

· What's your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

· What's your favorite TV show? Caillou

· What's your favorite vegetable? carrots

· What is a personal item that you would never give away? Our red Barbie cars.

· What's your favorite game? Uno

· What's your favorite book? Fred and Ted

· What food would you eat every day if you could? Salad

· If you could choose a different name, what would it be? Gabriella

· What's the scariest thing you've ever done? Accidentally hold a crab at the beach.

· If you could eat at any restaurant for the rest of your life, where would it be? Chili’s

· What's your favorite candy bar? Chocolate

· What's the last thing that you did that you were proud of? I didn’t pull a card in Kindergarten – well I did pull one card – but not the rest of the year.

· What's the best age to be? 8

· What's your favorite holiday? Christmas

· What's the best present you ever got? My Sharpay doll

· What's your greatest words of wisdom at age 6? Be kind.

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Lexi Leilani – Age 4 1/2

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*If you could have one super-power, what would it be? Turn into a guinea pig (like on Sky High, the movie)

· What was the last chore you did? Clean my room.

· What is your favorite song? Gotta Go My Own Way (HSM)

· What's your favorite food? Pizza and Hot dogs.

· What's the nicest thing you've done for someone in your family lately? Eat all my food (for mom).

· What makes you mad? When Jordyn hits me.

· Where would you like to go on vacation next year? The zoo.

· Who's the smartest person in your family? Daddy Why? Because after we eat our lunch all, he gives us chips.

· How are you like your dad? We both sleep.

· How are you like your mom? I like to make food.

· What's one thing that your dad has that you'd like to develop? Make my own lunch by myself.

· What's one thing that Dad always says to you? “Listen and obey the first time”

· What's one thing that you and Dad did together that you'll always remember? We both threw up on the way home from Bear Lake.

· If you had a million dollars, what's the first thing you'd buy? Chocolate Candy.

· How do you know that I (mom) love you? Because I’m your Hawaiian flower (Leilani)

· What's your favorite cereal? Rice Krispies

· What's your favorite TV show? Curious George

· What's your favorite vegetable? corn

· What is a personal item that you would never give away? My mommy.

· What's your favorite game? Go Fish

· What's your favorite book? My Princess Book

· What food would you eat every day if you could? Cinnamon Toast

· If you could choose a different name, what would it be? Ariel

· What's the scariest thing you've ever done? When I got trapped in the treadmill.

· If you could eat at any restaurant for the rest of your life, where would it be? Chili’s

· What's your favorite candy? Cotton Candy.

· What's the last thing that you did that you were proud of? Got the right answers in my kindergarten assessment.

· What's the best age to be? 6

· What's your favorite holiday? Easter

· What's the best present you ever got? Make-up

· What are your greatest words of wisdom at age 6? That we all have a light inside.

Friends, Panties, School and Teeth

I have been in such a frozen state lately! Maybe more mentally than anything. I feel like I must be actually cleaning my house only in my head because everywhere I turn it looks actually worse, no matter how much I do. But, I think the basis of my mental-paralysis is actually denial that school is starting in one week. For some reason, I feel sort of blue about the whole thing. A little part of me dreads the routine (although I actually feel happier once I'm in one) that school brings. Every morning its like we have to shoot out of a cannon to get going fast, and every evening is full of homework, family time, any extra-curricular activities, baths.......and all on a very specific early-to-bed time-line so they can wake up and handle it all again the next day. I've really enjoyed our sleeping in, lax, flexible summer. And, as a pleasant surprise, the kids haven't driven me crazy this summer. I don't feel claustrophobic like I thought I would, or even "ready" for them to be gone all day.

Part of my sadness is the (obvious) fact that each year they will keep going into an older grade. I mean, that sounds so wierd. But last year, there was lots of anticipation and excitement when Jordyn started Kindergarten because it was all new. But now, I want her to just start Kindergarten over and over and over and not keep getting older!

And also, with Jordyn and Lexi in school, what are me and Peyton going to do for six hours? Don't get me wrong, it sounds heavenly in many ways. But as the third child, Peyton only knows life with her entertaining older sisters around. Now she'll just be with boring old mom all day! I think *this* is when many people have more babies ;-)

So, event through my mentally frozen state, I've managed to do a few noteworthy things. I literally felt like I didn't do anything worthwhile today (prob because my to-do list is so long still), and I sat around mindlessly on my computer way too much, but here are a few highlights:

Heather and Jason are some of our good friends who moved a few months ago (like everyone else) but they only moved 20 minutes away. So I had their kids over today to play. Kylie and Lexi are the same age and call each other "best friend", and Collin is 10 months older than Peyton. It's a fun bunch. (Lexi really was having fun, she just couldn't peel her eyes away from the movie to smile).

Peyton liked having a rough & tumble type play with Collin today! I tell ya, this LoveSac is one of our best "toys". The kids jump, fall, and play on it all day long.

I'm continuing the dreaded process of organizing all sorts of girls' clothing, getting ready for school mornings!

Jordyn lost her second tooth (well, third if you count the one the dentist had to pull 18 months ago that is STILL an empty spot) last night! I get so completely grossed out by loose teeth. I absolutely can't deal with it, so it's Tucker's job. But last night in the car it just fell out while she was talking! That is MY kind of tooth loss!

I seriously get a kick out of Peyton every single day (we ALL do). She's a funny kid. So tonight I was playing on the floor with her, and suddenly she got up and laid down on her stomach and said "Horsie Mommy!". I didn't get it at first, and finally Jordyn said "Mom, she wants to be the horsie for you". So I thought, what the heck! And sure enough, that's what she wanted, so I "sat" on her for a horsie ride!

My cute mother-in-law has herself believing that I'm a good at flower arrangements. She's had me do two for her house so far, and I guess when someone else believes something, it makes you think you can? They turned out decent, so Tucker keeps asking when I'm going to do an arrangement for our house. Even though I feel extremely amateur, I finally bought some flowers at Michael's and attempted one for our dining room table. I don't think this pic shows it very well, but you get the idea.

And finally....this probably deserves it's own post....but we're still working on Pey's potty training. I CANNOT stress this enough that this was HER idea. I know you're probably thinking I'm on crack because she is only 22 months old, but I swear it is totally her idea! She's been interested since 19 months old. For months, she would take off her diaper and get annoyed when she was wet, or had to pee. So finally, last week, I decided to give it an official try. I kept getting afraid that the "window" would pass of her willingness! We still have a few accidents a day, but by accident I mean that she starts to pee (forgetting for a second that there is no diaper) then totally stops herself and says "Mommy, potty!!" and we run to the potty and she goes a ton of pee! Many other times, I just take her. Around every hour. And she willingly goes each and every time. She is a great little wiper too. It's just so funny to me, but it is totally her personality! I'm afraid there isn't any turning back now because when I put a diaper on her, she will soon tell me "mommy, pee pee" and try taking it off. This is not even a LITTLE bit how my other two were to potty train, and if she were my first, I would probably be a lot more judgemental of others who had 2-3 year olds that weren't trained. But I really know that this is NOT me, it's all her. She just "gets it".

I Know I'll Miss This - Bows & All

Today, while walking into church, I had one of those moments. I have them fairly often. Its sort of hard to explain, but it feels like I'm stepping outside of myself and seeing the moment as though it was already the past. It's like I'm given a little gift - just a few quick moments - to forget the stress, and chaos, and logistics of life....and I get to see clearly what really matters.

What overwhelmed me today is how much I will miss this - I know someday I really will. For just a few short years, I don't have to worry about where my girls are, or if they are going to church or making good choices in life....I only have to worry about if their tummies are full and if their hair-bows are straight. Watching my three little girls, marching to church with enthusiasm, loudly whispering through the service and begging for more snacks - I know I am incredibly blessed. Amidst the never-ending "to do" list of life, I am exactly where I want to be and feel simultaneously overwhelmed and blessed to have these precious girls by my side.

Summer Swimming

I've neglected to post some our fun swimming pictures from this summer! These were a few weeks ago, but are definitely worthy of a post!

We had cousin Alyson in town for a few weeks in July, which was great for the cousins! There are six grandkids on my side of the family. Alyson is the oldest grandchild, and she lives in Utah so we don't get to see her as often. Thanks to my mom & dad sharing their pool, the girls made lots of poolside memories while she was here!

Lexi, Alyson, Jordyn and Lyric

This summer, everyone conquered any fears of the diving board, and that is where they spent most of their time!

Jordyn has some serious skills. I wonder if she'll take after her Uncle Derek in her stunt-diving skills!

Even little Lyric had no-fear at 3 years old!

Paxton made Lindy crazy by crawling around the pool for hours and hours.....but eventually he turned into a fish too! He'd kick and dunk his head with much maturity for a little 1 year old!

I should win an award for keeping this kid sunburn-free! She is the fairest child in the land, for sure. And I felt better once I forced her to keep this floatie on because she thinks she's a big girl too (not at 21 months)!

Lexi's got the pencil down perfectly! She can even pose while jumping in!

And check it out, Alyson looks like she's floating halfway out of the water! She's also got a great pencil jump!!

Fun times. We never had a pool growing up, but it's been so fun that my parents have one now for our kids to spend the hot, lazy days of summer in!

Reason #356: Why Not to Yell

I really, really try not to yell at my kids.

Believe me, I've tried it lots of times. But it honestly doesn't work. And by that I mean, it doesn't get my kids to listen to me more often or to respect what I'm saying. It might work for that second of shock, but in the long run it seems to make my kids actually act worse. I can see Jordyn totally shut out when I get loud or mad and as she gets older that scares me.

So I've tried to do it less.

But it gets really hard sometimes because it's such a release of my OWN frustration! It takes so much self control to not yell when I am literally at my wits end. Like today, Lexi was testing my nerves. She does NOT drop a topic - ever. She wanted a snack, but she hadn't eaten any of her lunch. So she was annoyingly persistent for almost an hour.

(And then I lost it and discovered yet another reason not to yell when I'm mad....)

I could not stand it anymore and started yelling at her, all the reasons why she could NOT have a snack.

And guess who stared at me.......soaked it all in.........and then quickly started copying me? Yep, little Peyton put one hand on her hip, one finger up in the air and started yelling at Lexi, right in her face!

That stopped me right in my tracks and I just said "oooooh no". And right then and there I reset my goal to not yell!

Hands Free

I just have to say that in all honesty, I am much less safe of a driver when I am trying to figure out my headsets (I have two - a bluetooth and a corded one) than I am actually holding my phone to my ear.

I cannot get used to this California law!!!

How Do People Do It?

I think 5 years is a magical point in home-owning where you start to crave an overhaul. By that point, you've become a little TOO settled in and overcrowded. Especially in the childbearing years - when there is a constant shift in clothing, bedding, beds, toys, etc.

We have definitely hit that point.

I feel cluttered, disorganized, and like I'm not using our space the best way I could. I wish I just had $10,000 to hire someone to do some organization and slight re-decoration. Yeah right.

The problem is, I have so many thoughts running around in my head of what I should do and want to do.....but my body is totally unmotivated to do any of it. I look around at every single (messy) room, and I just want to walk back to this computer and be lazy with it all day. Poor kids of mine.

I think I'm still experiencing post-trip exhaustion.

One of my projects is to take our under-used office (aka junk room) and overhaul it into a kids playroom. I'm doing a decent job, but it is causing a domino effect. Closets are being re-done, toys are being moved, bedrooms are re-arranged. Whew!! As I see it take shape, I'm also seeing the light, but it is moving much slower than an impatient person like me would prefer.

All in all? I would actually love a slightly bigger house. Or at the very least, a storage basement. I feel so ungrateful saying that because there are plenty of people around the world who would give their right arm for our home. But our 1800 sq feet that used to feel huge, is starting to feel a little squishy. Just one extra bonus room is all I'd really want. But it just doesn't seem necessary to spend more $ on a house when I can just do some major re-arranging.

And as long as I'm rambling, I have to say what an addiction Craigslist furniture sales can be. It's like the best virtual garage sale ever! And everytime I refresh the page, people have posted new things. So yesterday, we bought a Broyhill pine armoire for the T.V. in the piano room for $250 from a lady who bought it for $700 just two years ago. It is in perfect condition. And even though I wasn't in the mood to spend $250, it will help clear up the clutter a LOT and I love that its a quality piece of furniture rather than some pressboard thing.

Please send me vibes of energy and organizational skills!

The Best Horsie!

Without exaggeration, I don't think I could have special-ordered a better Daddy for my girls than Tucker. On a constant basis, I learn so much from him. One of the things I most admire and appreciate about him is his ability to just BE with the girls. I am so task-oriented (which I think is common as a mother) that it is often hard for me to consciously just BE with the girls, and it comes so easy to Tucker. I love that about him and hope the girls know how priceless that is as they get older.

Babysitters

I feel so lucky to have a few babysitters around that I trust with my girls. Often times, my girls will beg me to get a babysitter and go somewhere! They babysitters must be more fun than mommy - especially when I come home to candy wrappers, empty Pringles containers and popcorn sprouting from every corner of my home. Hey, as long as the kids are safe and happy, that's all that matters!

One of their favorite is Silvina. Silvina lives down the street from us and also goes to church with us. She is almost 15 and is ALWAYS available. She loves to babysit and always brings along one of her (many) siblings. The most common one is Flavio. The girls love to make Flavio laugh. We've had to have MANY MANY talks on what are the appropriate ways to make someone laugh. "We don't show someone our bottom to make them laugh, or our panties, or say potty words, right girls?". I certainly don't want any unneccessary problems just for the sake of a laugh!

I go through phases with getting babysitters. Sometimes I'm too cheap....and other times it just feels SO worth the money to have a little break and to run errands in peace! Plus, the girls usually have more fun playing at home than running around with mom (especially on my couponing escapades!).

Here's an Example and Some Sites

Here are a few sites that we use to find out the latest and greatest deals (but really Lindy should get the credit....I just follow her lead)...

www.hotcouponworld.com

http://forums.slickdeals.net/

http://scavengerhuntoncrack.blogspot.com/


And here is an example of one of the great deals from last night:
Oil of Olay body wash was 3 for $10 at Walgreens. Lindy bought coupons off eBay that gave $2 off per bottle (yes, people sell coupons!) for like $ .10 each. But then, if you bought six bottles, the register would spit out a $7 Register Rewards (which is like cash at Walgreens). So it would go like this:

$20 for 6 bottles of Oil of Olay
-$12 in manufacturer coupons = $8
-$7 in Register Rewards=
like paying $1 for six bottles of body wash!

In other examples:

• Pert Plus has a $4.99 rebate, so it's free!
• Oust candle on clearance for $2, then with a $2 rebate it's free!
• Loreal Shampoo, coupon for Buy One Get One Free, then coupon for $1 off, then rebate for $1 ea makes it $1 a bottle.
• One Touch Blood Glucose Monitor on sale for $29.99 (reg $70). I had a $20 off coupon, making it $10 out of my pocket. But then there was a rebate inside for the purchase price, so I will actually make $20 off this one.
• And then yesterday, all day long, Walgreens honored a coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase, so I did all of this in 5 transactions and used it every time....giving me a total of $25 off just for the heck of it.
• It really does make your brain hurt when you're there though, and you should really do it kid-less.

You Won't Believe Me

A couple months ago, Lindy and I started discovering how amazing and fun it can be to really get into the whole couponing thing. See, up until this point, I've always thought it was annoying to save $ .35 cents on something and not really worth the effort of clipping the dang coupon.

But that's before I really got it. (well, really Lindy GETS it and tries her best to teach her older/dense sister)

It's so much better than that. But you DO have to want a hobby because it takes some major dedication. At least until you REALLY get it.

I'm not going to go really into it on this post because it would make your brain hurt, but lets just say that after 7 transactions and 5 hours....I came home with lots of free stuff. Lindy and I shopped for that many hours and MADE money! How could that not be fun?

Here's my loot in a nutshell:


(I went to Walgreens (most of it), SaveMart and Longs Drugstore):

Retail Value: $390
Savings: $403 (this includes weekly sales, manufacturer & store coupons, and rebates)
Out Of Pocket: +$13 (I actually MADE $13)

Does this seem possible? No, but it really is! Crazy, huh?

End of the Trip

We are finally home! As much as I loved our trip, I am so happy to be home. There really is no place like home - and definitely no place like your OWN bed!

But I still want to document the final few stops on our trip.

Before we drove out of town, we stopped by Tucker's (paternal) Grandma and Grandpa's home. They are near 90 and their days are numbered. Our visit was very short, but it was good to see them and get a picture with them.






Then, we took a detour and stopped to see Dane & Beth. It was so great to see them and talk and laugh with them. One of the highlights was swinging on Dane's latest creation, the tree swing!














And finally, we only made one stop on our 700 mile drive home. And we decided to make it a fun one and stopped to have dinner at the Las Vegas Hard Rock. Hard Rocks are always a little significant for Tucker and I since we met at the SLC Hard Rock.