Yay For Tay!

Hooray, I made it to the district Science Fair! Um, I mean Taylor made it to the district Science Fair!

We all know who ends up doing the majority of the work right?

I'm just glad to have it over with. We had originally decided to do a test on different germ killers, but after paying $28 to have petri dishes rush delivered, we found out that growing bacteria or mold would get her disqualified. We had to scrounge up a last minute project, but it ended up being very interesting. She did a study on right and left handed people, and if people tend to use the same sides of their bodies for most tasks (kicking and throwing a ball, looking through a tellescope, listening to something... you get the picture). She learned alot about how our brains work, and that no one knows what makes us right or left handed. Taylor actually designed most of the board too. I just bought some supplies, printed up the information, and she decided how to display it all. I think that she did a pretty good job. The fair was for 3rd and 4th graders, and only 2 girls from her grade moved on.

Way to go Tay!!

On a side note, I'm getting ready to post Reese on KSL classifieds but I thought that I would see if anyone that we know would be interested first. Anyone, anyone? She's been cutting her 4 canine teeth, and has had a crappy cold for a week now. Besides waking up every 45 minutes, and not wanting to eat anything, she's not too bad. Call me if interested!

DJ and I need a vacation from kids! Oh wait, we don't have anyone to babysit. Maybe if we just left some food, Tay could hold down the fort for a few days? We'll just tell her not to go anywhere or answer the door.

Oh, and one more thing... if anyone happened to see me standing out on 27th west with a cop and a little boy half dressed, I wasn't getting pulled over and having my kid taken away. DJ was on his way to work and noticed a 4 yr old boy all alone walking down the busy street. He didn't want people to think that he was kidnapping him, so he called me and asked to go and "rescue" him.

When I found him he told me that he was going to the store to buy some gum. He was wearing pajama shorts, moon boots, and a tiny little sweatshirt. He had 2 nickles in his hand and he told me that he snuck out while his Mom was doing work. He told me that his phone number was 10002387300..... I didn't want to scare him by putting him in my car, and I wasn't sure if he could find his house, so I called the police. When the officer got there, I suggested that he just try to drive him home, but he didn't have a booster seat in his car. I lent him an extra booster that I happened to have in my car, so I'm sure that traffic driving by thought that I was handing over my kid and his car seat.

When the officer returned the seat, he told me that his Mom didn't even know that he was missing. She had put him down for a nap and he snuck out. She thought that he was still in his room sleeping. He had walked more than a half of a mile, and the cop said that he had to take several turns to get to the boys house. Pretty smart kid to be able to find his house!

So, parents beware... if your kid is being too quiet, you better go check on them.

The DREADED Science Project...

I swear the Science Fair happens every 2 months!

It's that time again, and we have NO clue what to do.

Since Tay is only in the 3rd grade, I hate doing anything too advanced, because then it is obvious that the parents did it all. I also hate the lame "What color of M&M do you like the best" projects. (My apologies to any of you that have done those, but they're lame)

Please share any ideas that you may have. I think that I am going to start saving her projects for Ginny to use. I'll just send Ginny to a different school so that no one will notice.

That reminds me... in the 9th grade I used my friends project. I just re wrote everything in my handwriting. I think that I even used her display. It was "Which brand of microwave popcorn pops up the best". Real scientific, I know. The funny thing is, my Mom didn't even care. I was kid 4 of 7, so by then she was beyond sick of science projects.

On the news last night, they showed a group of kids from Sandy who started their own science club. The figured out how to convert lawnmowers and snow blowers to energy-efficient fuels. Maybe I will give one of them a call. They call themselves "Team Typhoon Techno".

Better yet, maybe I'll give Bill Nye a call.

Operation "No More Binky" = FAILED

When it comes to my kids, I'm usually the one in charge.

(Ask me how that's going when I have 3 raging teenage girls)

I took away both Taylor's and Ginny's binky's at 9 months. We had a rough couple of nights, but we survived. With Reese I let her have it longer. She's almost 16 months, so last week we decided it was time for her to give it up. She only uses to fall asleep, how hard can it be?

Boy were we wrong!

Day 1: First nap, she cried for over an hour before falling asleep. Second nap, she cried for about 20 minutes. Bedtime, only about 30 minutes.

Day 2: First nap, 5 minutes of crying. Second nap, no crying. Bedtime, 20 minutes.

Day 3: All hell breaks loose. She's sick of not having her binky. First nap, she cries for over an hour. Second nap, cried for over an hour until I finally let her out of her crib. We attempted 45 minutes later and she cried for 35 minutes. By then it was dinner time, so I got her out of her crib. Bedtime, cried for 45 minutes.

Finally that night, just as I'm falling asleep, she starts crying. She cried off and on for over an hour. I finally decided to let her have some milk. She guzzles it down, and when I try to take away her sippy, she pitches a WICKED fit! She had discovered that sucking on her sippy cup was similar to her binky. By now it's 2 in the morning and I haven't gotten any sleep. I went to her closet , got out her binky's and said,"I hope your happy you little stinker."

She had won the battle!

Although I'm sad that I was beaten out by a 15 month old, I must say that she does not take her binky for granted. When it's time to go to sleep, she grabs that thing and we don't hear a peep from her until morning.

I guess that we will have to wait until she understands giving it to another baby or something.

On the positive side, that kid is hilarious. She is so determined to be like her big sisters. She LOVES to brush her teeth, has to eat her food like we do (not cut up), loves to take showers, and loves putting on hats, gloves, tutu's, you name it. At any given time of the day you will usually find her wearing either gloves, or a hat. She has figured out how to play while still wearing the mittens that her aunt bought her for Christmas.

Gotta love the kid!

The Calm After The Storm...

Yay, it's over!

Here is a quick update on the last couple weeks...

1. Went to Temple Square, had a blast, no batteries in camera.
2. Discovered Taylor has Mom's eyes, not Dad's = 4 eyes.
3. Saw Santa several times, Reese actually doesn't mind him.
4. Camera broke, DJ won one at his work party (I wanted him to win an Ipod), lucky us.
5. Lots of parties, lots of fun.
6. DJ's baby brother left for the MTC yesterday. He will be serving in Melbourne, Australia... lucky.
7. DJ's baby sister leaves for the MTC next Wednesday. She will be serving in Anaheim, California... Disneyland, lucky.
8. Reese got the stomache flu for the first time 3 days before Christmas... not lucky.
9. Thought she was better, went to Christmas Eve party at my Mom's, had a blast.
10. Woke up Christmas morning when there arose such a clatter, not the reindeer, but Ginny running to the bathroom to barf... not lucky
11. She made it in time... lucky.
12. Opened up our sweet presents in between barf sessions.
13. After opening presents, Reese got sick again... not lucky.
14. Missed Christmas day festivities to run laps to the bathroom with kids all day... not lucky.
15. Thought we were all better by Saturday, Reese barfed again, I started to not feel so well.
16. I ended up getting the flu, lost a few pounds... kinda lucky.
17. Missed DJ's bro and sis speaking in church... sad.
18. DJ had a week off, someone was sick the whole time.... lucky me I didn't have to go it alone, crappy for DJ.
19. Reese basically didn't eat for a week, she got down to 19 pounds... poor thing.
20. Yay, she officially has her appetite back today.
21. Got all of my Christmas crap put away... lucky DJ, he was at work.
22. Oh yah, got Mario Kart from my Mom.... SO FUN!!
23. Taught my Sunbeams for the last time and got a little teary eyed. I have to laugh because they can be the biggest pains, but we have really gotten attached to them.
24. We get a new batch of 3 year olds next Sunday, I hope we don't have 11 again... pray for us.

I love January.

9 Years Fly By Fast

My Taylor is halfway to 18!!!

I sure can't believe it! I may be halfway to her time living at home. Crazy thought.

I know that I posted a million pictures, but how can you choose just a few when it's your first born?

Taylor has been such a joy to have around. She is SO stinkin smart, and kind. She has a desire to know EVERYTHING! That means constant questions, and the older she's getting, the less answers I have for her. I get to the point where I have to tell her to go ask her Dad.

Taylor is so much like her Dad. Her mind never shuts down, and is always thinking of a million things at once. Add that to a girl, and that means that alot of those thoughts get shared nonstop. It can be tiring at times, but it's always entertaining.

She is also very mature, and sincere. She loves everyone. At school she has made friends with some of the special needs kids, and makes it a point to eat lunch with them, even though one of them helps herself to Tay's food. She also plays with them at recess, and will push them on the swings. I guess living with her Dad has made her sensitive to those with special needs (Heheeeheee)!

Taylor makes me proud on a daily basis. She wants to be a Pediatrician, go on a mission, and be a Mom. She has it all planned out... she's going to get her associates through BYU while still in high school (our friends boys did this, that's where she got the idea). Then go on to get a medical degree, and fit a mission in there somewhere. I told her that she better start saving her money, and get some serious scholarships.

She sure makes our life enjoyable... we absolutely adore her!!

McGruff Meets Dog The Bounty Hunter

We had a very interesting morning today!

Let me set the scene for you... we stayed up until 12:30 watching "The Dark Knight" last night (BEST movie EVER). As we were going to bed, I noticed that the neighbors across the street had left both of their garage doors open. It was too late to call them, so we just went to bed.

Well, ever since Reese started walking, she has been waking up for milk in the middle of the night. Totally annoying, but I think it's because she has been burning so many extra calories.... anyway, she woke up at 2:45, and I ignored her until she went back to bed. At 3:45, she woke up again, but would not go back to sleep. I gave in, gave her some milk, but she didn't want me to put her back in her crib. I held her for a few minutes, then put her back to bed.

As I was going back to my room, I decided to check and see if the neighbors garage doors were still open. I have a perfect view of their house from the top of my stairs, so I look across the street and see some movement in their garage.

I didn't know who it was, so I just stood there for a minute and watched. The next thing I know, a 20 something girl walks into their driveway and starts checking the doors on their daughters car. I quickly ran downstairs to get a better view, then called for DJ. The next thing I know, she goes into their garage, then goes INTO THEIR HOUSE!!!

I was so shocked, that I just stood there and watched. She came back out after a minute, so I quickly called the neighbor. They didn't answer, so I left some crazy message telling them that a lady had gone into their house, and was now going through a bag on their lawn.

Next I hung up and called the police. While I was on the phone with them, the girl goes back into their car to load up her bag. While doing this, she accidentaly leaned on the horn. This panicked her, so she quickly left with a backpack, hopped on a bike, and starts off down the street... all while talking to someone on her cell phone.

We couldn't let her get away, so Dog (aka DJ) decides to follow her in his car. As he was leaving he told me that he was going to hunt her down and tackle her.

In the mean time, the police verified that no one was in danger, and hung up. I quickly called the neighbor back and got a hold of her this time. She had just listened to my crazy message and didn't know what to think. We all met outside, and waited for Dog and the police to arrive. After a few minutes Dog came back and informed us that she had hid in someones yard, and he decided not to chase her on foot. Still no police, so he decided to drive around again. This time he encountered 3 police cars, and a girl being handcuffed.

Apparently this lady was intoxicated. The bike she was on had 2 flat tires, and they think she had stolen it from someone else. As the police were questioning me, they didn't seem to believe that she had actually gone into their house. When they found the backpack, they were able to verify that she did take some things from inside their house.

Smart one lady... you just went from a misdemeanor, to a 2nd degree felony!

The stupid thing is that all she was able to steal were some CD's, a GPS unit, and a little droor from their house that had makeup in it!!

To top it all off, it was 20 degrees outside, and all she had on was a hoodie and jeans.

After all of that excitement, I didn't fall back asleep until almost 7... which is when my alarm goes off. I am one sleepy girl today. I just find it strange that I happened to look out the window just as this idiot decides to rob the neighbors. The police were even shocked that I just happened to catch her in the act. I just told them that they can thank my hungry baby.

Pretty scary to think that some stranger would just walk into your house while you sleep. I always tease the neighbors that I know everything that goes on at their house beause I spy on them... they probably think it's true now!

How The Heck?

I love this picture of Ginny, it totally cracks me up. In fact Ginny cracks me up on a daily basis. Occasionally, she does things that are NOT very funny.

Before I share her story, let me remind you that Ginny has been potty trained for over 2 years now. In fact she potty trained herself while we were on vacation. She just decided that she wanted to go potty at Disneyland, so we let her. She has only peed her pants about 3 times, and never pooped her pants..... until the other day. She was sitting by me, and I kept smelling something funny. I told her to go brush her teeth, so she did. When she came back, I still kept smelling something bad. I thought that maybe she had decided to wipe herself, so I thought that I better check her pants.

I took a peek down the back of her pants, and about died. She had totally pooped her pants! I'm not talking about a little "Sh-art", this was a full on dump. I asked why she hadn't bothered to tell me, and she told me that she didn't know that she had gone. She said that it "must have just snuck out".

I wasn't about to clean out her beloved Cinderella underwear, so they of course went into the garbage. When Ginny found out that I had thrown them away, she said, "Maybe the garbage man will clean them for me and bring them back."

I sure hope not.

Anyway, I'm not sure how you would not know that you had pooped your pants, but apparently it's possible. Maybe I should make her start wearing some "Ooops, I Crapped My Pants" underwear (an old SNL skit)

Sorry if I grossed you out (okay, not really), and I apologize if any one was eating while reading this.