Freedom!!

At church anyway!

Reese is now old enough for nursery, yahoo!

No more chasing her around primary, or trying to stop her from playing the piano, standing on chairs etc.

She did pretty well too. Our church was shortened by an hour so she wasn't in there for too long, but as soon as other parents started getting their kids she just started bawling, "Mommy!"

I'm a "let them cry it out" Mom, so unless she's crying so hard that she barfs, she's in there to stay. (I don't think that she'll have a problem though, she's pretty independent)

Also, we switched her carseat around, and she now owns the world! (In her mind anyway).

Here are some pictures that we took of her on Sunday... as soon as we get the camera out, she starts running away.

Oh, and we took her to the zoo last week and she LOVES that place. Why is it that I have 3 kids who love animals so much. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don't care for them AT ALL! (animals, not my kids)

Funny kid!

Seriously?

I'm going to strangle my husband!!

So todayI'm sitting at the table eating lunch with Reese. The sliding glass door is open, and Taylor was out on the back patio putting on sunscreen. I look up and notice the neighbor behind us, is outside in his sweat pants and NO SHIRT. He is gross fat, and I really don't think that I have ever seen him with a shirt on. I tell DJ that I just spotted my BF out back, so he looks out the window above the sink. Knowing that the door is open and that I am sitting right in front of it, he yells out, "Whoo, whoo!" Of course he used kind of a girly voice. The guy looks up and there's poor Tay standing there.

So this nasty guy thinks that my little 9 year old is cat calling him.

DJ just said, "Whoops, I forgot that Taylor was out there."

I feel sorry for my girls having to grow up the embarrassment we call Dad!

Questions.....

1. When you see your 9 year old daughter swinging on a swing "spider style" with the neighbor boy, is it okay to not say anything and just laugh to yourself?
2. Do you take a picture for black mail at a later date? (I didn't, but I was tempted to)
3. When your 4 yr old keeps calling Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Reese's Penus', do you correct her or let her keep doing it?
4. Is it sad that I am going to be teaching my 9 and 4 yr old kids to ride a 2 wheeler at the same time? (Tay is a scaredy cat like her dad... she can kind of ride one already)
5. When your 4 yr old has been planning her birthday party since December, how do you tell her she's not having one?
6. When your 1 yr old tells you when she needs to be changed, does that mean it's time to potty train?
7. Is anyone interested in potty training a cute 1 yr old?
8. When your 4 yr old lies to you, is it okay to tell her that Satan will be coming to her birthday party? (I think I scared her into never telling another lie)
9. Does that sound like something my Mom would tell her kid? (YES)!!!
10. How is it that 3 kids can be such a pain, but so dang entertaining?

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.