Trick or Treat!

 Luckily I had found an easy and quick idea for a costume for the girls, because we didn't get back from our trip until the day before Halloween.  And it was great not to stress all day about sewing anything - I spent about an hour making little ladybugs from felt and ribbon.  It was great!  They both had a great time.

 We didn't go to too many houses, mainly just up our side of the street, but they both were given a TON of candy.  Which I later gave away to the trick or treaters that dropped by our house.  It's the first time we've had more than one knock on the door, and it was pretty fun. 

Baby Girl lost her shoe on the way to the second building, but we didn't realize it until she stepped up on the porch. 

Drumming

This morning while I was fixing breakfast for the girls, Cupcake was drumming her hands on her knees while walking around.  I laughed and mimicked her, so she ran over to give me a big hug.  Tooty's reaction was not so happy.  She asked us to please stop drumming. 

I asked her why and she said because drumming makes her head 'Go wickity whack!' 

Big News!

We have some great news, and we are super excited about it!  Last week, our final student loan payment went through!!  That's right, folks, we are now

DEBT FREE!!!

We are pretty excited about it.  It's been a rather interesting road to get our loans paid off, which is the only debt we've had.  We were able to pay off my graduate student loans while Daddy was still in school, thanks to a great tax return or two.  And finished my undergraduate loans last Christmas time.  That took quite a leap of faith, since Daddy didn't have a job at the time and we were living off our savings.  We sent the last $600 that month, thinking that it would be better to have it paid off than to have to keep paying a monthly payment.

And thanks to his great job right now, we were able to completely finish his loans last week.  Which means that we paid them off only 16 months after he graduated!

I don't have the figures in front of me, but I think we started out with about $24 thousand total - which really isn't too bad, considering we have 11 years of school, 2 bachelor's degrees, and one master's degree between the two of us.  

We followed the advice of the wonderful Dave Ramsey.  Thanks to him, we are sitting pretty on a budget that doesn't include any loan payments. 

WOOHOOOOOO!!!

Speaking of...

Tooty brought home a note from church on Sunday that said she is giving a talk next week in Primary!  We are trying to help her be excited about it and happy to do it, but in the back of my mind, I see myself giving the talk.  She has absolutely blossomed living here, but is still on-the-verge-of-crying-she's-so-shy about half the time.  So we'll see how it goes. 

We worked out the words today.  She was asked to speak on something related to the month's message of "The Gospel Will Be Spread Throughout All the World" or something really similar.  So I told her that means she can talk about missionaries. 

Here's the talk -

Missionaries share the scriptures.  They tell people about Jesus.  My Uncle Sam is a missionary and I pray for him.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

And we found a picture of some missionaries that we can hold up so people can see (or so she can hide).  Tonight after dinner we will head over to the church to practice in the primary room while the YW have mutual (since the church will be unlocked!). 

Good luck, Tooty!  I know you can do it!

We Are Alive

We are alive and well (except for James, who is currently in QuickCare with a tummyache).  But we all survived the move to SE Idaho, and are absolutely THRILLED to be living together again.  The girls have been doing so much better, especially Tooty, although she has decided that the best thing to do it to completely ignore my voice unless she needs something.  Which is not my favorite.  I have some pictures of some stuff we've been up to, but they are still on the camera. 

I wish that some things could just be decided for us.  We have had an amazing opportunity fall into our laps, but are currently living in a pretty great opportunity.  So how do we decide which one we should pursue?  Would you mind making up my mind for me and I will pass that along during the discussion later?  That'd be great.

Best of Moscow

I have done it! 

I have solved one of the worst problems that plague the citizens of Moscow, Idaho.

Is there anyone in town who enjoys drinking from the tap?  Not endure - enjoy.

I don't think so.

Throughout the years, I have tried a variety of ways to 'fix' the gross taste of the water.  And some work.  My freshman year of college, we filled and refilled and refilled small water bottles.  And if the water was cold enough, it was fine.  At the end of that year, I was given a large Brita filtration - and that worked great!  But it is a little on the expensive side to continue buying filters, and sometimes we weren't too good at refilling it.  So then you had to refill it and drink from the tap.

Totally gross.

And turning water into juice/crystal light/kool aid is really tasty.

But I still want to drink water, and that's tough when

my one and only pitcher is already filled.

The other day, as I was putting my pitcher of water back into the fridge,

I decided to try an experiment.

I squirted a little bit of lime juice (from the 39 cent container from WinCo)

into the water.

The result?

DE-LICIOUS!!

And it doesn't take very much.  And you can't really taste the lime.

It seems to neutralize the grossness and make it

taste like regular tap water.

Thank you, thank you.

You don't need to pay for this genius idea - I am allowing you

to try it and share it freely.

But I wouldn't say no to a parade...

Mispronounced

There have always been some words that puzzle Tooty.

For instance, today she was asking my sister for the 'nap' in the car.

Thinking it was very strange that Tooty wanted a nap,

she asked if she really wanted a nap.

No - the nap!

As soon as I got back in, Tooty asked me for the 'nap' and I handed

her the atlas.  I have worked with her

several times on pronouncing it right, but it's still nap.

But my favorite mispronunciation was last night.

I made her pancakes and she has always called them 'cancakes'. 

So last night while we were talking about them, I said,

"Puh-puh-pancakes."

To which she replied,

"Puh-puh-CANcakes!"

Elated

I mentioned in my last post that we stayed at my parent's house

for Easter.  When Tooty goes to bed, she has a

routine.  And I'm not talking about

her bath, book, and prayer routine - I'm talking about the routine

words that MUST be said.

If we put her in bed and don't say, "Sweet dreams," or

"I love you, too," she will be out of bed

in seconds, demanding help to get back in.

Last night, after the usual words, she wanted an extra hug.

Of course, I obliged - it's often like pulling teeth to get her to hug us back.

And as I kissed her and turned to leave, she said,
"You're my best girl."

Oh yeah!  My heart soared!

Especially since we were at my mom's house, who is Tooty's

absolutely, no-question-about-it, favorite favorite

person in the world.

But I'm her best girl.

Bliss.

Appendectomy

My sister is staying with us, and early yesterday morning (just after 2am), she woke me up because she was in a TON of pain.  Her stomach was hurting her a lot.  I asked her how I could help and what she wanted.  We called our parents, who suggested that we call the nurse hotline with their insurance company.  After talking to a nurse, we were told to head to the emergency room.  I called my sister-in-law, who came over (bless her heart, after driving 15 miles) to sleep on the couch while we were going so I didn't have to wake the girls up.

After being examined and having a few tests run, the doctor thought she was having appendicitis, but needed another test to be sure.  Since he wasn't definite on the idea (he had 2 other possibilities), he said they could do a CT scan or just wait and see how the pain went.  She didn't want to do the test right then, so she was discharged and we went back home and back to bed at 5 with instructions to call or head back when the pain got worse.  That lasted until 6 when Tooty woke us up.  So I started our morning by turning on a movie for the kids so I could sleep a little longer.  After a few hours, we thought I might try to get the house straightened up so that we could go to our parent's house in a nearby city.  When we were ready to leave, we said a prayer and asked that if she would need to be in the hospital before we could get to our destination, that we would know before we left town.  We both felt good about going, and the trip was uneventful.  The girls were quiet and slept for most of it, so really it was great.

We spent a couple hours at the house here until Dad got home from work, and he took her to the emergency room.  A few hours later, she was in surgery and had her appendix removed.  Things went great, and she is expected to come home today.  We will stay here for a few days longer than our original plan for Easter weekend, so that will be nice.  We are so grateful that everythiing went well and are hopeful that her recovery will be quick.

We are also grateful for the doctor who supported our family's desire to avoid a CT scan if possible.  Considering her age, we didn't think it was a good idea to have such a large concentration of radiation, especially when it would be focused in the reproductive area.  She was getting an ultrasound, and the nurses were telling our parents that the scan would probably be necessary, but then the surgeon came in and since the ultrasound said 90% chance that her appendix was the problem, they would just go with that.  Thanks Doc!

We're Trying It...

A garden!

We found these cutie little greenhouses at WallyWorld for only $1!

Since we were already planning to try

our hand at container gardening, we thought it was

worth a shot!

In the green boxes, we are trying to grow cucumbers, eggplant, and sweet bell peppers.
The blue has zinnias.
The seeds were included in the pack.

March & Early April

Surprise, surprise - I let myself get WAY behind...

I thought I'd do a quick update on how things have been going since my last post.

We are doing great.

We've had several big changes, and a lot of different stuff.

First of all, our big news is that Daddy got a job!

He's no longer making pizzas - his patience

and hard work have paid off, and he is loving his new position.

He is now a Jr QFD Expert - don't ask me what that is, because I don't know.

I know that he is using the Six Sigma Certificate that he

earned while in school. 

And that he loves the job.

So all is well.

Although the job is in another city, and our lease here is not up yet,

so we have stayed behind for the time being.

If you want more detail than that, you have to contact me.

We have added to our family - my little sister is with us for a short stay,

and you can tell how excited Tooty is about it!

 Sometimes I am brave and let the girls bathe together - but that only happens when there is another adult available to help me out. 

As you can see, they get along great and love being together,

but Tooty isn't always as gentle as necessary.

 Cupcake's first birthday is coming right up, but with Daddy out of town,

we decided to have a party early so he could be there. 

We had a turtle party - it was a

Shell-a-bration

Cupcake had a great time.

 She went back for the crumbs after the presents:

 A few weeks ago, we woke Tooty up early from her nap.  When I walked in

her room, this is what I found:

I don't know what made her decide to use the dolly bed, but she was SOUND asleep!

Last but not lease, Cupcake's new favorite thing

(for the moment)

is Peek-a-Boo.

And I have to say, she is stinkin' cute!

Even with food on her face.





Feeling Better

Here's a riddle - what feels like pregnancy, makes you tired like pregnancy, but isn't pregnancy?

If you know the answer, please let me know.  I'm not expecting a baby, but my body seems to think that I am!  I have been needing AND taking a nap for almost 2 weeks.  Now, this last week, I'm not really sure if I should count it because I was recovering from a cold that Cupcake so kindly passed off...but the week before that, you could find me under a blanket on the couch right after lunch.  Lucky for me, Daddy's schedule allows me to do that.

Speaking of Daddy's schedule, he has an interview coming up next week.  And I get to tag along!!  Woohoo!  It's like a mini-vacation, especially since the girls are going to Grandma & Papa's house.  Oh, yeah - 2 nights in a hotel.  AND since Daddy will be dining out with the company the 2nd night, I get to order Chinese food.  Woohoo again!  I'm a little excited.

Wish us luck!

She Likes It - Hey Cupcake!

What happens when you offer your baby a whole gallon of milk?

 Bliss!

 And a whole lotta wishful thinking.

Progress

I had intended to post this before today.  

Obviously that didn't happen.

I just wanted to put on a little update about how my workouts have been going.

Pretty good.

I haven't exactly stuck to my plan - the problem started when I

went to visit my mom during the 2nd week;

I took my tape, actually did work out the first day we were there,

skipped it the next day for various reasons excuses,

and then planned on (but didn't) complete it the 3rd day

after I was back home.

And then it was Sunday (my day off), and when

Monday came around, I realized

I had left my tape at mom's.

Bummer!

So instead of calling and asking for her to pretty, pretty please mail it,

I skipped to the last tape of Slim in 6, "Burn it up!"

And like Debbie says, "There's a reason it's called Burn it up!"

It's tough.

But I've been doing pretty well, all things considered.

I haven't been as consistent as I had hoped, but most weeks I've 

averaged 4-5 good workouts.

And I have noticed some changes.  Not on the scale, but in the mirror 

(where it counts more, anyway)

and in my clothes.

Plus my husband has been telling me how great I look.

Which isn't new, but his compliments include 'skinny' more.

Woohoo!

Sledding

We've been getting snow for days

and days

and days.

On Friday, Daddy decided that it was about time we took charge and went outside.

He offered to take Tooty sledding. 

Now, I hate to admit this, but we hadn't ever done it before.

But we can no longer say that, because here's the proof:

Getting Ready

I made her put bags on her feet inside her boots (because they are cowboy boots,

and there's NO WAY they would stay dry).

She was not happy.

Plus, she didn't want to wear her pink coat.

 The sled

That's right, a homemade sled.

We just grabbed a diaper box (plenty of those around),

and Daddy went to work.

 Riding around

 Cupcake joined her for a QUICK trip between the tables.

And if anyone's interested (Grandma!), I took a 

video of Tooty's first sledding adventure.

The Answer

So, what did we find??

Has it been suspenseful enough?

It 

was...

JACK SQUAT!!

That's right, a whole lotta nothing!

After 3 months in our apartment, we discovered we had overlooked

a whole cupboard!

Found! And a Fruit Snack

We found something amazing the other day!

Daddy was looking for a place in the kitchen to put something, and asked about this cupboard:

 

It's between the sink and the stove.

I wasn't sure what was in there, so he thought it might be a good spot

to keep whatever it was.  So he opened it.

Lo and behold!!  Can you even guess what he found?!

Two points to the person who guesses first.

And to tide you over while you wait for the answer, here's Cupcake enjoying

a healthy afternoon snack.

Happy Love Day!

 

The girls and I made valentine's for my brother who is serving on a mission

in Maryland.  We let Cupcake give it her own touch.

Or taste.

I am surprised this turned out so great - she did NOT

want her picture taken.

And here's the delicious surprise awaiting

Daddy when he came home from work.

Okay, it's the 2nd delicious surprise, since he didn't know that I

was making dinner for just the two of us.

Decorated with the heart butterflies Tooty and Daddy made

together.

Good Friends

 

Here's Cupcake with her cousin K, exploring the kitchen that K

got for Christmas.

They could play for hours - and they did!

Determined, or An Experiment

Okay...I have known many inspirational people over the years, for one reason or another. 

Some of them have been inspiring for years, and some not so long.

Right now, I'm thinking of three in particular.

They are, in no particular order, of course:

My husband (Crazy Man), Milz (my fave kiwi), and my sister-in-law K.

Why, you may be asking?  

Well, I'll tell you, of course!

They have made a commitment to working out...

AND are sticking to it (that's the key, of course)!

Seriously, they are doing great!

Crazy Man has decided to get back to running, and he has been out every day this past week, 

and the shortest time was 40 minutes.

It has always amazed me (and made me jealous, I'll admit it) that he can take a break from running for 

months and months and then go out and run for an hour without a problem.

I'm lucky to run for 5 minutes.

He's even doing it outside, and it's not exactly warm in February in northern Idaho...

Milz has made the commitment to get back in shape, and she's doing great.

She's inspiring so many of her friends and family as she tells us how everything's going in a blog about

the 12 week challenge from Gold's Gym.

And she's meeting a ton of goals that she has set for herself.

And my sister-in-law, K, has been heading to the gym regularly, too.

I've become determined to try it myself.  I've been trying off and on to get rid of the 'extra' weight

I've been carrying around since Tooty was born.  I did get within 10 pounds of pre-prego

weight before I was pregnant again with Cupcake, and lost all that weight right away.

But I'm still hanging out with that 10 pounds.

It's not that I'm worried about the weight, but I would like to be in better shape.

But I sure wouldn't complain if I could lose that 10 pounds in the process.

Of course. 

I'm not that ridiculous.

So what is it that I have determined to do to help myself along?

Well, when I was in college, I purchased the Beachbody program

Slim in 6.

 I've never actually known someone who has been able to keep it up for 6 weeks, including myself.

But I'm going to try it out.

Starting today - and today's workout is over and done with.

I feel great, but I am pretty sure I'm going to feel sore tomorrow.

I've decided to workout 6 days a week, taking Sunday as a day off.

I am actually missing the intro video, so I will start off with Ramp It Up! for 3 weeks,

and the continue on with Burn It Up! for the last 3.

I will also allow myself ONE day off a week to do a different workout.

Because I know myself, and I will probably give up if I don't allow myself the ability to choose

an out, like instead of the long workout to just do the ab routine, or a different workout altogether.

And I will update my progress here from time to time.

Starting with some before pics...they were taken a few months ago, but things haven't changed

since then.  I still look like that, except for my hair is a different color.

Week 1 weight: 160

I considered putting my other stats on here, but I'm not sure that I want everyone to know

the circumference of my thighs...I think I'll just post how many inches I've lost.

Front - in my swim shorts and workout top.

From the side.  Hopefully my posture will improve, too!

And the back...let's get rid of those rolls!

 

Tooty and I tried making some bread the other day...

it didn't turn out very well, but we sure looked great!

She received some cooking accessories from one of her grandmas for Christmas,

and every time I don an apron, she wants to put hers on, too.

 Daddy asked Tooty to give him a piggyback after he had been running around our apartment

with her on his back. 

We have another maintenance issue at our apartment (surprise, surprise) - the tub quit working!

Luckily we have two, but last Sunday when Cupcake needed to get clean, I didn't want to put her in the tub in our room.  Into the sink she went.  It worked out okay, except I was soaked.

So this morning when I did it again, I made sure to turn her around so the water she was 

throwing ended up on the wall instead of me.

Kissing Boys

Yesterday afternoon as Daddy was getting ready to head out the door to go to work, he kissed Tooty good-bye.  Then he came over to the couch and gave me a kiss.  And I made him give me another.  And another.  Tooty piped up, "Stop it guys!"  And we told her no - it's okay for us to kiss.

Daddy told her that someday when she is big she can find a boy to kiss.  I said that it would be nice if she waited until college.  And Daddy said if she's lucky she might find someone in high school.

Her response?  "That would be great!"

Once Upon a Dream

While Big Sister has been starting to use the potty, we will sing a few songs together or read the potty book (Once Upon a Potty - I totally recommend it!).  While I was changing Cupcake's diaper tonight, Big Sister was behind me and singing to herself in the mirror:

"I know you, I walked with you....I know you and saw you in the mirror"

I think somewhere there was the word dream mixed in.  Her favorite songs for me to sing to her anytime we are singing are "Heigh Ho" from Snow White, "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, and "Cinderelly" from Cinderella, of course.  I find it really interesting, since we only own Sleeping Beauty, and I think she has only watched the other two once in her life.

Lazy Day

Why is it that the house seems to be so messy on Sundays?  It's like I dread that someone will unexpectedly drop by because it would be so embarrassing to have someone see it in its current state.

It's probably because I use the excuse of not doing chores and things seem to simply pile up.

And up.

And up.

So here's my idea - drop by anytime, but if it's Sunday, please give me some notice!

Peace

It's nice and quiet here...I'm listening to the keyboard as I type and the laundry tumbling in the dryer. 

That's all - two sleeping girls.

Bliss!

I Need Help

We are trying not to seem as desperate as we feel.  Tooty, who is almost 3 1/2, is still not too interested in learning to use the potty, and it's starting to become pretty frustrating.  We are playing it cool, and adjusting routines and trying to make her see how great it is to wear panties and not a diaper.  Part of the problem is she's stubborn and isn't interested, another is that she hasn't ever really cared too much if her diaper is wet...she'll asked to be changed when she's poopy sometimes, but it doesn't always seem to bother her. 

So what do we do?  Do you have any gems of wisdom in this area?  A book suggestion we should read?  A reward of some kind?  We have already told her that she can't go to school until she learns to go potty all the time and not wear a diaper, but even as much as she wants to go to school, it hasn't changed anything.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

Words

So far in Tooty's life, she hasn't said anything that was mean or bad...super innocent, and we like it that way.

Tonight as she was getting up to the table, we were talking about something.  I wasn't in the greatest mood, and her reply to our conversation was, "Stupid." 

She didn't say it like she was calling me stupid, and I wasn't sure if that's what I heard or not, so I asked her what she said.  And she repeated, "stupid".  Since that is not a word that we use much around here, I wondered where she had heard it.  And after asking her, I received the place: at school.  Said with complete belief. 

I still don't know where she heard it, but it sure wasn't at school!

It's Been a While

I made a cake for my father-in-law's birthday.  If you want more detail, head over HERE to my craft blog.

A Little Too Early...

During breakfast on Sunday morning, Tooty was telling me what she wanted her birthday cake to be. 

Pink cake.  Pink frosting.  Pink candles.  4 of them. 

Did I mention that her birthday isn't until the fall?

Don't forget the pink sprinkles.

She also showed me how big it was going to be...good thing I have a 13" round cake pan!  But luckily by the end of the conversation, it ended up being only about 8" round and 2 layers tall. 

I told her I thought that sounded like a good plan.  And I will admit I was surprised (although maybe I should have seen it coming?) when she told me this morning (as I was trying to convince her to go back to bed because it was still dark outside) that she was ready to make her pink cake.

It might be a long winter/spring/summer!

Christmas at Stanley Pie

What did we do this season?  I'm sure you've been dying to find out.

Watched Santa in the light parade

Helped grandma in the kitchen...many times.  

 And now I ask mom every meal if I can help her, too.  Which is good, and I try to let her at least get out a dish or something.  I don't want to discourage that helping desire.

Played

Time with family

Wrote to Santa

Enjoyed presents

Played with paper.  She was GREAT at opening gifts.  But really just wanted the paper.

Had Santa show up at our Christmas Eve party. 

 As soon as he walked in, she started yelling, "Santa, I want a dolly!"  Over and over again.  At least she has the general idea - we tried to get her to sit on his lap at the mall and she didn't even want to look at him.

Not too scared to take a little present from Santa.

Washed the dishes

We had a great time having Christmas together.  Daddy and I did our traditional way of buying a gift for each other - we spend an hour at the mall and find something, but we have to keep it under a set amount.  This year, since Daddy is only working part-time at Papa Smurf's, we decreased the regular amount by half.  So $5 it was.  It's pretty fun.  I think every year I am given socks - well needed, and always different - this year Daddy got a Mario Bros keychain.