Ice Fun

We didn't have preschool today so Abi and I went on an adventure to the ice skating rink. I have been promising her that we would go back since her birthday. She was so excited!
In fact, she was so excited that she ran right into the counter! Her left eye was bloodshot and swollen and really dark around it so I was sure she was going to have a black eye but its gone now. She actually cried for a few minutes. She rarely cries when she gets hurt unless it really hurts bad.
We had the entire rink to ourselves the whole hour and this made her a little braver. She even skated without my hand and her bucket a few times!!
Most of the time it ended this way.... although this picture was just of her 'resting'
So happy to be back on the ice!
She was an old pro when we got there... grabbed her bucket and headed to the rink
So much space for the two of us to goof off in...

New bed stuff

I had been keeping an eye out for toddler bed sets that weren't character ones since we got Abi's bed at Christmas but haven't been able to find any except online where they were pretty expensive (posh tots and pottery barn enjoy mocking me) but the other day we went into Target down by Doug's work and were amazed to find that Target is not the same every where as I had first imagined. Well, it was pretty much the same but had a lot more stuff! We found this complete set for really cheap and Abi loves it.
Today she is actually taking a nap and I checked on her a minute ago to find this.... I guess hippo was tired too.

Can you guess what I did this afternoon?

Yet again Doug came home to a part of the house re-arranged. This time it was the kitchen again. I have all sorts of weird quirks and one of them is that I like Abi's toys to stay in the play 'area'. It is practically impossible to keep her toys in the family room (although easier than it was when the playroom was the front room) and for some reason it just irritates me when she takes stuff in the kitchen. I decided that instead of continuing to let this bother me I had to adapt. So, I shrunk down our kitchen table to the way I used to have it against one wall in the dining area....
(by the way, that big champagne glass looking thing I have Valentines Candy in I got at Good Will for $2 and I'm loving it!)

and I undid the 'mud area', brought Abi's kitchen toy up from the basement, and made a kitchen for Abi inside the kitchen. I even decorated the blackboard for the occasion...

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. She loved it. It functions well. It was played in for a long time. We are loving it. I let Abi take the camera for awhile when I was cooking dinner and she took some 'artsy' photos of her view of her new play area...
and I got a few of her playing.
Someday maybe my house will stop being re-arranged so much... but I doubt it.

Snow Angel

No, we didn't make snow angels this week. It was just the first thought that came to mind when I looked at this picture of Abi. It was actually taken right before church Sunday morning when she ran out into the driveway giggling so I had to chase her to get her coat on. I thought she looked so cute that I hurried to grab my camera and get some pictures before putting her coat on and sticking her in the car..



Monday Abi and I drove down to Doug's work in Illinois to meet him for lunch because we needed to return some things to the church bookstore nearby. We weren't paying enough attention to Abi I guess because it took us a few minutes to notice her ketchup/sweet and sour sauce creation. You can see that her bow and shirt do not match- she dressed herself and the shirt is Tommy so it had a little star on it. The bow is a 4th of july-ish bow and has a star on it. She said they did match.
Per your requests here is another shot of the new 'do. It had tamed down a bit from earlier in the day since this was a night but you can see it's still pretty short. When I first did it that morning I came downstairs and told Doug I felt like a mushroom head. He had the perfect answer, " Well, you know I like Super Mario Brothers." Ha. I'm not crazy about the hair but it will grow out and at $12 I think I can deal with it.

My Inner Punk

A minute ago I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I was getting Abi ready. I took in the jeans, white button up, sweater vest, and what I can only think would be classified as 'mom' haircut and the thought came into my head, "Holy cow, I've become a preppy." Then I wondered how that happened.
Suddenly, my inner punk reared her ugly head and I had an overwhelming urge to layer on the eyeliner, paint my nails black, put some pink streaks in my hair, put on a temp tattoo, put my belly button ring back in, and put on some big black boots.
I'm a freak.
(Don't worry mom, I didn't do it.)

Grateful Sunday

I have been feeling really grateful for everything since yesterday. When it gets so cold here I don't really want to go outside to play with Abi but she really needs to run and climb and get her energy out so we tend to go to McDonalds about once a week to play in their playplace. We kind of cheat ( I guess) because we don't get any food. I usually get a drink so I don't feel guilty but then I sit and read or do logic puzzles while Abi plays. Yesterday I decided to take her there after the library so that Doug could get in a longer nap and Abi could get all her energy out before going home for dinner and bed.

It was packed in there. There were no tables available as a lot of people were having early dinners. I grabbed a chair that wasn't being used and sat in a corner balancing my stuff on my lap while I read. As I sat there I found it hard to focus on the book as I couldn't help hearing all the stuff going on around me.

The women right next to me were talking about all the various boys in their family (nephews, sons, brothers, grandsons, etc) and all the crimes they have committed and the jails they've been in and the rehabs they've gone into. One was 20 and just put in jail for murder. As I listened I looked at the next generation of boys playing and coming back for their food occasionally hoping that they wouldn't follow that path but knowing they probably will.

I looked across the room at two guys and two girls that all looked mad at the world and as we left at the same time listened to them fighting all the way to their car and dropping the f word every other word.

Abi actually got bullied in the play area and was crying like crazy. She climbed out with tears running down her face and just held onto me sobbing. I couldn't really get the whole story out of her but she did tell me that the girl that did it told her she couldn't come talk to me and that was the worse part I guess. It made me so sad.

So, anyway the point of this story is that the rest of the night as I curled up in my warm home and watched a great movie while Doug played a video game and Abi slumbered upstairs I was overcome with gratitude. Gratitude for the husband and daughter that I have that may get on my nerves sometimes (as I do theirs) but are kind and loving. Gratitude for the knowledge of the gospel which I believe helps us to have hope and happiness. Gratitude for the family that I grew up in and the environment in which my parents created for us so that no matter where we lived we were surrounded by peace and love.

We weren't an active mormon family. I went to church when I was Abi's age but I don't remember it. I don't remember going again until I was about 11. But during all those years we still had rules about Sunday, we still read scriptures, we still had faith in our home. I am thankful for that.

My parents read. I am grateful for that example and for the fact that they nurtured my love of reading by giving me books as well as letting me read books that were not 'kid' books because I got bored too easy in books at my level back then. I got my LDS Living magazine yesterday and they had some facts about reading in it. They said the average American visits the library 7 times a year and 25% of Americans did not read a single book last year. This shocked me although I'm not sure why it did since Doug isn't much of a reader, but I'm at the library at least once a week and I read a book or more a week. I am so grateful for that hobby and love.

Anyway, this has been a pretty rambling post but those are all the things I have been thinking about the past few hours. Now I'm off to get ready for 8:30 church!

Singing

While driving around we always have to listen to Alphabeat now. I love the whole CD but Abi's favorites are the first two songs, especially the first one which she calls the "Woo Woo" song. I set the camera up to try to catch her singing along with it. We got a little bit of it. Sorry its sideways.

Growing Up and more

Today Abi spent most of the day home with Doug while I ran errands. It was pretty nice to just go out on my own and get things done so quickly. She is in a phase right now where it feels like she never stops talking so the quiet was definitely appreciated. One of the things I had to do was to get Abi a booster seat for the car. Lately she hasn't been fitting in her car seat as well. I figured that it was because she usually has a coat on and the belt was messed up somehow but then yesterday when I saw that her friend Gabe was in a booster I did some research and realized that she is tall enough and weighs enough to be in one now. I found one for a great price on sale at Walmart.
Here she is in her new seat. She loves it because it has a tray on both sides that pulls out and has two spots for drinks, treats, or toys so she can have 4 things stored next to her! The belt fit her so good and it fit in the car so well too. I cannot believe my baby is in a booster seat!
I also got my hair cut while I was out since it had not been cut since we were in Utah in September. I wasn't sure where to go so I went to Great Clips for the $12 haircut. It looks pretty much the same as the $100 one I got at a salon here a couple years ago so that's good. I swore that day I would never spend that much on my hair again... of course going in I didn't know it was going to be that much! I do feel kind of like the girl in Notting Hill that plays Hugh Grants sister though - I don't have hair, I have feathers!
After that I went home and picked up Abi to go to the library. Here is our self portrait while at a red light.
The special room at the library has Cowboy/girl and farm stuff right now... so fun.

They also had a train display today and Abi liked watching them going around. She was also pushing this button over and over again. In the picture you can see a tiny billboard in front of her.. the button made the guy paint it.

The Song Box

I got this idea from the Executive homemaker. I printed off the title pictures and the song pictures that she had on her web site and then made a bunch of my own using free clip art I found from links at Sugar doodle. The idea is that during singing time in preschool and mostly every day just with Abi and I we can open this box and she reaches in and picks out a picture and we sing the song. It's simple but has been one of her favorite things this week.
The only screw up was that out of all the many many songs I put in this I left out one of her two favorites. The ABC song. She pointed this out to me very quickly after I showed her all of the songs.

One day: Two cakes

I've mentioned that Abi likes to make cakes out of everything and anything.. but especially books. Yesterday must have been special because she made one for me and one for Doug. She seems to 'get' us too.
Doug's was complete with computer programs and an action figure:

While mine was decorated with Abi's lovely hair bows:

No more early bedtimes!

It's finally happened. Abi has stopped crashing early on the nights she doesn't take naps. It used to be that she would take a nap and then go to bed at 7 and so on days where she didn't get one she would crash about 5. She always woke up around 5/530 so it didn't really matter when she went to sleep at night.
Over the past few months she has stopped taking naps entirely. She usually goes in her room for a "rest time" and just plays with her toys and books by herself (and makes a mess). She gradually has gone to sleep between 5-6.
That's done now. She does not take a nap and isn't ready for bed until 7. Or on nights like last night.. she is in bed at 7 but doesn't fall asleep until 8. It's crazy. We are not used to it so it makes the night go by so much faster. Last night Doug got up and said, "I'm going to bed." I was surprised thinking it was so early still but then looked at the clock and it was already after 10.
There is one great thing that has come out of all of this though- this week so far Abi has been sleeping until at least 6:30 and today she slept until about 7:15!!!
I was able to sleep in a little longer than normal, work out, and get a shower before she woke up. Amazing!
I guess my little girl is growing up.

Good Mail

I mentioned to Doug's mom that I was looking for a video Abi could watch on Sunday that would keep the sunday spirit but still be fun for her and asked if she knew of any. Yesterday this package showed up in the mail! These are cute little videos that you can actually use for FHE. They have a lesson and a cartoon that goes along with it. They are very short but Abi really liked them. Thanks Grammy!

Missionaries

Monday night we had the missionaries over for dinner. At first it made the day more stressful than normal as I cooked a ton of food and cleaned on a day I had planned on having "off". We usually cook tons of food because the first time we ever had missionaries for dinner a little over two years ago we didn't have enough to fill them up and they ended up eating a few peanut butter sandwiches as well. It was funny.
So, there was a point that day where I wished that we had invited them over for the next night instead. Then I felt bad for feeling that way.
It has been a long time since we had missionaries over. We used to have them over ALL the time. There was one missionary out here over a year ago that was like family to us. We still keep in touch with Jason and love him dearly and after he left it never felt the same. So, we knew it was time we tried to get back into a habit of it again.
They got here about six and were here about an hour and a half and were the most polite and nice boys. We had a really great time at dinner. We had told Abi the missionaries were coming over and so part way through dinner she asked me if I could tell her their names. I told her. She then looked confused. "I thought they were called mish-and-airies" she said in her cutest voice.
After dinner they shared a short message with us and what I noticed was that our home was filled with the greatest, calm feeling. That's when I remembered that we had always loved the feeling the missionaries brought into our home. It reminded me of what these young men (and women) do for our church and others all around the world and how little of a sacrifice it is for us to prepare them a meal and open up our homes to them for a short time.
I hope we can remember that and not get lazy again!

Perspective

Yesterday I burnt myself. I was ironing a shirt which I rarely do. I hate ironing with a passion.... don't know why but I do. I only do it if I have to. I was in the laundry room about halfway done with my shirt when for some reason I went to move it and forgot that the iron was in the way ramming my forearm right onto the edge of it.
As a result I had quite a lot of pain and ended up with a long purple welt-looking burn about 2 1/2-3 inches long. Today, more than 24 hours later, it still hurts.
Earlier I was sitting on the couch just hanging out with Abi and Doug when I had an itch. I scratched it without thinking. A burst of pain went through my whole body and I look down at my arm and realize I had scratched my burn which resulted in pulling part of the skin off. It was all oozy and raw and hurt so bad.
So, my point is... here I am feeling all sorry for myself and this stupid burn and the pain it is causing me when I come up to check my blog and see if anyone has posted, etc.. when I see that NieNie (Stephanie) the woman I have spoken of on here before that was involved in a plane crash with her husband and another man last summer has posted for the first time since the crash.
This is a woman that was burned over so much of her body that is a true miracle that she is alive. This is the woman who just barely has been able to go home and will have to be helped out by those around her for the rest of her life. This is the woman that was forced to miss out on a portion of her children's lives while she was in a coma for months while they did skin grafts and slowly got her body started in the healing and re-building process. It brought back the story that I read about the plane crash and how they were all alive when they crashed, got away from the plane and then the man with them died. How she was being held in a man's arms that found her and all she could say was thank you for being there with her and how she wanted to go home and make dinner for her family.
Suddenly, my burn doesn't hurt anymore. Suddenly, I feel so grateful for the rest of my arm that isn't burnt. Suddenly, I remember how precious life is and how blessed we all are.

Good Mail

For Christmas I got a smokin' deal on a printer/copier/scanner. I had been wanting one forever since I have missed our scanner that exploded right before we moved out here and I knew it would save money on the copies I make for things like preschool and FHE. So, I needed a new cartridge and I got confused as I was shopping for it (my first time buying Epson) I guess there is a printer with the same number as one of the cartridges I could use so I bought the box that had that number on it. I got home and it was too big. I was so sad. I had already opened it so I couldn't return it and I just couldn't see spending the money again on the right one. I was talking to my mom about this and she said the same thing happened to her recently. I asked if she had an Epson too. (I was pretty sure she did) We compared numbers hoping we had the one each other needed. I didn't have hers ... but she DID have mine!! A few days later we got this great package in the mail that included the print cartridge, a little desk top organizer, some fruit snacks for Abi (they were frozen! We had to let them thaw for a few hours as they were in our mailbox for about three hours.. ) and my dad sent some more dollars for Abi. (Dad she LOVED putting them in her piggy bank.)
So, thanks mom and dad for helping me to get over a rather stressful situation and if anyone needs an Epson 60120 let me know.

Woo hoo

We got Cootie for Christmas knowing it would be a game we could play with Abi and that she would enjoy it. For some reason, right from the start, she has called it "Woo Hoo" instead of Cootie.I kept telling her the real name every time she would say it.
It has been put away for the last two weeks and today we were playing games together. When we were done with a game she invented that consisted of Memory, Hi Ho Cherry O, Candyland, and Chutes and Ladders together she said, "Mommy, I want to play Woo Hoo!"
That's when I decided that I think I like that name better than Cootie anyway.

You should check this out

I am a serious fan of Shannon Hale to begin with but I wasn't sure how I would like her new graphic novel. I read comic books as a kid (Archie) but I haven't ever read a graphic novel.
It blew me away. If you are familiar with her books, you know that she is a master at taking an old folk tale/fairy tale and making it her own. This is no exception. She has taken Rapunzel to a whole new level full of adventure, fun, and girl power. It is a really fun read.

Good Mail

We got such a fun package from Doug's mom and dad on Monday! In it there was a really cute mirror for Abi from her cousins and then the rest of the things were old American Girl items from when his sisters were young and a pair of pajama pants for Abi. There were also some ships in a bottle for Doug.
I didn't get a chance to really look through them until this morning and I was jumping up and down excited.
Along with the amazing things in the portfolio of pastimes (plays to act out, a diary, a family history book, a cookbook, etc...) was a book of games. This had a game from each of Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly's time period. Among them was a game I had read about in a Victorian tradition book that teaches virtues and vices. I wanted this game but when I looked it up realized that in the original game form it is extremely expensive.
Here is my paper version of the Mansion of Happiness that I found in this treasure trove....
Then I found this pattern book. It includes the patterns for two of Kirstens dresses, an apron, a shawl, underwear, a nightgown, her spoon apron, and her bonnet. I don't know if they still sell this or not. I would assume they don't because they would want you to buy them rather than be able to make them yourself, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, I am so excited to be able to make these for Abi.

Two new systems

We've been brainstorming ideas around here for awhile to make the morning and bedtime routines/chores more fun and to help with Abi's behavior more effectively than time outs. These are what we have finally done.
I made a list of the things I wanted to get done with Abi every morning and then the things that we should do leading up to bedtime and printed them out. Then I found clip art to go with each thing and printed it out. I then colored those with colored pencil and glued them on with the words. Then I used the self laminating sheets you can get at Walmart and laminated them, punched a hole in them, tied some ribbon through it, and hung them in the hall next to her bathroom...
She gets to turn them over once each task is completed. I plan on drawing a star on the back with the word 'Done!' but I haven't go to that yet. Today was the first time we did this and she LOVES it.
The other system is a ticket system. I got a roll of raffle tickets and a plastic jar. Yesterday Abi got to decorate her 'ticket jar' and I printed out two lists. One is the rewards list. One is the consequence list. Every time she does something on the reward list she gets to put the specified amount of tickets in the jar. Each time she does something from the other list I get to take them out and put them back in the basket. We started it yesterday and occasionally she may get into the negative numbers. When this happens I put them in my little frowny face jar and she has to earn those back (into the basket) before she can earn any back into her jar.
The motivation is that she can later cash in tickets for money for the Target $1 section or money for her piggy bank. She has done really well so far and has two tickets in there now.