Courtney and I may be banned from Walmart. ;) We went there in search of some ribbon to make her some cute hair pieces for the BYU game tonight (a need, according to Courtney). We found these tall shelves that were slightly slanted forward just full of ribbon. They were quite high and so I climbed on the cart to see the top shelves. Courtney decided to try and get up to see too. She grabbed the front grate that kept the ribbons from falling out and it fell off...showering her with about 50 spools of ribbon. Courtney began screaming and yelling while I tried to stop the flood of ribbon. I have to say that it struck me as REALLY funny and I couldn't stop giggling. That may be why when the woman working in the Fabric Department came over she just made a disgusted sound and moved on.
Courtney and I, with the help of a nice woman and her little 18 month old son, cleaned up the mess, tried to put the ribbon back and then high-tailed it out of the Fabric Department. Courtney was traumatized by the falling ribbon, but I thought it was pretty funny. ;)
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
It's Cold
On Monday and Tuesday the highs were in the 90s and low 100s. It wasn't Fall weather and, to be honest, at this time of the year I get pretty tired of being hot!! But yesterday was gorgeous!! We had the windows opened all day and it didn't get above 75 degrees in our house. I loved it. This morning, it is now 6:48 a.m., it is only 48 degrees outside. It kind of makes me feel for the marathon runners who are out training this morning because it is such a dramatic change from last week, but hey, if they are up early running 18 miles, what's a little cold?!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Primary Program
Yesterday was our primary program and it was so cute. Courtney had a speaking part and Ethan sang with a group of boys. Courtney had been practicing her part ("My family loves me.") and she thought it was too short, so she kept adding to the end of it and I was a bit nervous that she would do that on the stand. Ethan had been practicing his song and had the words down really well but was a bit nervous when he practiced before the meeting began.
Here are some highlights:
1. Before the Sacrament started Ethan was sitting on the stand and the girl next to him pinched and hit him. He didn't take this well but had a wonderful sister sitting near him that put a loving arm around him and made him feel better. I am really grateful for Primary teachers (even those who don't teach my children) who love them and take care of them when I can only watch from the audience.
2. After the Sacrament, Courtney was seated with her little class on the stand and she proceeded to stand, wave her arms to get our attention and then stick her tongue out at everyone. There were quite a few chuckles. I knew something like that would happen and I'm glad it was taken care of in the first 5 minutes so I could sit back and relax.
3. As I thought, Courtney said her part wonderfully and then stood there at the microphone like she was going to say something else. Luckily, the 2nd Counselor in the Primary told her "Thank you" and helped her get down before she could say anything but everyone chuckled because they knew she wanted to say something else.
4. Ethan sang wonderfully! He did such a great job with the other 3 boys he sang with and didn't forget any of the words. He was so happy when it was over.
5. Courtney is the loudest singer in the primary and knew the chorus of most of the songs and wasn't afraid to sing them. ;)
6. Courtney made it almost through the entire program. I was very impressed with her! During the final song which was sung by the primary and congregation she ran down from the stand to cuddle with Bryan.
Courtney and Ethan both got new Primary teachers yesterday. I was a bit nervous about Courtney because she has been clingy at Church lately. I introduced her last week to the woman they called to be her teacher so she would know who she was and Courtney acted really shy so I was nervous. After Primary Courtney ran up to me and yelled. "mom, I love my new primary teacher!" Her teacher was right behind her and thanked her for being such a good example of reverence and told her how much she loved being her teacher. Courtney wasn't shy at all and said she would see her next week. Ethan also came home saying how much he loved his new teacher too. His class is filled with 8 or 9 boys and 1 girl, so it's a tough class, but the boys seem to love the sister who has been called to be their teacher. So it was a great Sunday!
Here are some highlights:
1. Before the Sacrament started Ethan was sitting on the stand and the girl next to him pinched and hit him. He didn't take this well but had a wonderful sister sitting near him that put a loving arm around him and made him feel better. I am really grateful for Primary teachers (even those who don't teach my children) who love them and take care of them when I can only watch from the audience.
2. After the Sacrament, Courtney was seated with her little class on the stand and she proceeded to stand, wave her arms to get our attention and then stick her tongue out at everyone. There were quite a few chuckles. I knew something like that would happen and I'm glad it was taken care of in the first 5 minutes so I could sit back and relax.
3. As I thought, Courtney said her part wonderfully and then stood there at the microphone like she was going to say something else. Luckily, the 2nd Counselor in the Primary told her "Thank you" and helped her get down before she could say anything but everyone chuckled because they knew she wanted to say something else.
4. Ethan sang wonderfully! He did such a great job with the other 3 boys he sang with and didn't forget any of the words. He was so happy when it was over.
5. Courtney is the loudest singer in the primary and knew the chorus of most of the songs and wasn't afraid to sing them. ;)
6. Courtney made it almost through the entire program. I was very impressed with her! During the final song which was sung by the primary and congregation she ran down from the stand to cuddle with Bryan.
Courtney and Ethan both got new Primary teachers yesterday. I was a bit nervous about Courtney because she has been clingy at Church lately. I introduced her last week to the woman they called to be her teacher so she would know who she was and Courtney acted really shy so I was nervous. After Primary Courtney ran up to me and yelled. "mom, I love my new primary teacher!" Her teacher was right behind her and thanked her for being such a good example of reverence and told her how much she loved being her teacher. Courtney wasn't shy at all and said she would see her next week. Ethan also came home saying how much he loved his new teacher too. His class is filled with 8 or 9 boys and 1 girl, so it's a tough class, but the boys seem to love the sister who has been called to be their teacher. So it was a great Sunday!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Pioneer Day
Yeah, you thought Pioneer Day was July 24th...WRONG! Santa Clara was founded by a group of Swiss pioneers whose ancestors still live in Santa Clara and keep the pioneer spirit alive. (Santa Clara and Ivins border each other and have always hated each other, for reasons I don't know, but since we are transplants we don't feel the hatred and just do the fun stuff!)
This weekend is Swiss Days for Santa Clara where they celebrate their heritage. The citizens of Santa Clara buy wooden cows (life-sized) to paint and then they put them out each year and there is a judging contest to see who has the best cow. It gets pretty intense. They have a parade on Saturday and all kinds of pioneer activities set up for the kids. They have cows to milk, make butter, play pioneer games and make candles, just to name a few activities. It's great fun. Right after Courtney was born, I entered the pie baking contest and won 1st place for my filling. I didn't understand the nasty looks at the time, but now that I have lived here longer, I realize that I made a major social mistake by entering when I hadn't lived here long enough and I wasn't living in Santa Clara. Oh well, I still won!!
So today was Pioneer Day for the 2nd graders at Ethan's elementary (Santa Clara Elementary). My friend around the corner and I are room moms together for the boys' class and we volunteered to do the pioneer games. We played stick pull, Indian leg wrestle and chain tag. There are 4 classes of 2nd graders so we did 4-30 minute rotations. It was great fun and the weather was so nice...high 70s and sunny. The kids were asked to dress up like pioneers, which we were not prepared for. We went all around the neighborhood and got things for Ethan to wear. He ended up just wearing a cowboyish shirt from and a hat borrowed from a neighbor. Earlier on he had on boots, chaps, vest, hat and jeans. He looked so cute but thought maybe he was overdoing it a bit.
The other rotations the 2nd graders did was to make homemade butter (yummy), homemade ice cream, and some other pioneer games. Then the kids sang pioneer songs while we buttered a bunch of wheat bread with their homemade butter. They then ate bread and relaxed until it was time for lunch. It was 2 hours of fun!!
Courtney went with me and would switch from being a pioneer girl to a "regular" girl. She had a bonnet she would wear. We have one that Grandma Pack gave her but she wanted to borrow one, so I got her one when I borrowed some clothes for me from a woman in the ward.
Here are some photos:
This weekend is Swiss Days for Santa Clara where they celebrate their heritage. The citizens of Santa Clara buy wooden cows (life-sized) to paint and then they put them out each year and there is a judging contest to see who has the best cow. It gets pretty intense. They have a parade on Saturday and all kinds of pioneer activities set up for the kids. They have cows to milk, make butter, play pioneer games and make candles, just to name a few activities. It's great fun. Right after Courtney was born, I entered the pie baking contest and won 1st place for my filling. I didn't understand the nasty looks at the time, but now that I have lived here longer, I realize that I made a major social mistake by entering when I hadn't lived here long enough and I wasn't living in Santa Clara. Oh well, I still won!!
So today was Pioneer Day for the 2nd graders at Ethan's elementary (Santa Clara Elementary). My friend around the corner and I are room moms together for the boys' class and we volunteered to do the pioneer games. We played stick pull, Indian leg wrestle and chain tag. There are 4 classes of 2nd graders so we did 4-30 minute rotations. It was great fun and the weather was so nice...high 70s and sunny. The kids were asked to dress up like pioneers, which we were not prepared for. We went all around the neighborhood and got things for Ethan to wear. He ended up just wearing a cowboyish shirt from and a hat borrowed from a neighbor. Earlier on he had on boots, chaps, vest, hat and jeans. He looked so cute but thought maybe he was overdoing it a bit.
The other rotations the 2nd graders did was to make homemade butter (yummy), homemade ice cream, and some other pioneer games. Then the kids sang pioneer songs while we buttered a bunch of wheat bread with their homemade butter. They then ate bread and relaxed until it was time for lunch. It was 2 hours of fun!!
Courtney went with me and would switch from being a pioneer girl to a "regular" girl. She had a bonnet she would wear. We have one that Grandma Pack gave her but she wanted to borrow one, so I got her one when I borrowed some clothes for me from a woman in the ward.
Here are some photos:
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
With a little bribbery...
She did it!! Courtney actually got into a car and went to preschool without throwing a fit or having me drive her! What a great day. Of course I did tell her that if she did well I would take her out for ice cream after preschool, but still...she went peaceably!!
Last Monday I tried the bribbery thing but it just didn't work, she screamed anyway and I ended up driving her. (They even had a Harry Potter movie ready for her in the van, but she only hesitated for a minute.) Monday afternoon, when it was time for dance class, I decided that this was a war worth fighting. Courtney was excited to go with her friend to dance class until she climbed into their truck...then she freaked out and began screaming. I gave her a hug, promised her that I wouldn't be sending her with anyone who wouldn't take care of her, told her I loved her and then held her down while the other mom buckled her in. She screamed, gave me one last hug and then, as they were pulling down the driveway, turned to the other little girl in the truck, stopped crying and said, "I love your hair today, it's so cute." Yeah, she didn't even cry until they were out of the driveway, so I think it was all a ploy!
Today I was ready to do battle again and had enlisted the mom driving to hold her down, but she just walked out the door and was happy. It helped that the little boy she just adores got out of the van and ran up to meet her. Having a cute escort doesn't hurt any situation ;)
Now...I just hope it lasts longer than today. But I don't really care because we're getting ice cream!!! (it's Golden Spoon, so it isn't bad for you) ;)
Last Monday I tried the bribbery thing but it just didn't work, she screamed anyway and I ended up driving her. (They even had a Harry Potter movie ready for her in the van, but she only hesitated for a minute.) Monday afternoon, when it was time for dance class, I decided that this was a war worth fighting. Courtney was excited to go with her friend to dance class until she climbed into their truck...then she freaked out and began screaming. I gave her a hug, promised her that I wouldn't be sending her with anyone who wouldn't take care of her, told her I loved her and then held her down while the other mom buckled her in. She screamed, gave me one last hug and then, as they were pulling down the driveway, turned to the other little girl in the truck, stopped crying and said, "I love your hair today, it's so cute." Yeah, she didn't even cry until they were out of the driveway, so I think it was all a ploy!
Today I was ready to do battle again and had enlisted the mom driving to hold her down, but she just walked out the door and was happy. It helped that the little boy she just adores got out of the van and ran up to meet her. Having a cute escort doesn't hurt any situation ;)
Now...I just hope it lasts longer than today. But I don't really care because we're getting ice cream!!! (it's Golden Spoon, so it isn't bad for you) ;)
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Wedding
On Friday, we took Ethan out of school early and headed to Laughlin, Nevada, for Leigh Ann's wedding.
It took us 3 1/2 hours and we were there (thanks to the time change) in time to have an early dinner with the family and meet Gary. They wanted a quiet wedding without the fuss, so it was just our family.
After dinner, we all went to freshen up and then we walked down the Riverwalk to the riverboat where they would be married. Laughlin is a strange place because when we were walking we saw a bunch of raccoons and on the way back from the wedding we had to stop a few times to let skunks go by us. You think they would want to keep the varmint population down, but no one really seemed to notice. We had the entire boat to ourselves, which was nice. Leigh Ann has us there 30 minutes early, so the kids explored around (they loved the boat) and waited for the wedding to begin.
Courtney was the flower girl and Ethan was photographer (Leigh Ann bought both the kids disposable cameras to use during the ceremony but I ended up using Courtney's because she isn't that great at taking photos and wasn't too interested because she was busy with flower girl duties). Leigh Ann had gotten everyone an artificial red rose to hold but Courtney and Ethan ended up with all of them, so Courtney carried hers down the aisle as she walked. Then Dad walked Leigh Ann down the aisle.
The minister did the ceremony and it was nice. Leigh Ann had a hard time getting Gary's wedding band off her finger when she had been wearing it for safe keeping ;) But it was a nice ceremony topped off with a toast and then they were given a t-shirt saying "I took the plunge in Laughlin." Then we got to play for another 45 minutes on the boat.
They turned on some music, gave us bottles of water and we went onto the second story to look around. Courtney began practicing walking down the aisle with all her flowers and Ethan began to dance Irish jigs for us to make us laugh. Then the co-captain came up and asked the kids if they wanted to drive the boat. They were THRILLED!! Courtney went first and even was allowed to honk the horn. The captain let them look through his binoculars and steer, it was great. Ethan took his job very seriously and asked a lot of questions and watched where he was driving. Courtney just moved the wheel to the beat of the music. They were even given certificates stating that they are honorary captains of the boat.
After the boat ride and we were docked, we went back to our hotel room with the intention of going swimming, but the kids were tired. So we all got ready for bed, had a few tantrums from Courtney because she was just overly tired, and then went to sleep.
The next morning we ate breakfast, watched the HUGE carp swim around the dock and watched the ducks. Then we loaded up and headed home so we could be back in time for Ethan's soccer game.
Congratulations Leigh Ann and Gary!
Here are some photos:
It took us 3 1/2 hours and we were there (thanks to the time change) in time to have an early dinner with the family and meet Gary. They wanted a quiet wedding without the fuss, so it was just our family.
After dinner, we all went to freshen up and then we walked down the Riverwalk to the riverboat where they would be married. Laughlin is a strange place because when we were walking we saw a bunch of raccoons and on the way back from the wedding we had to stop a few times to let skunks go by us. You think they would want to keep the varmint population down, but no one really seemed to notice. We had the entire boat to ourselves, which was nice. Leigh Ann has us there 30 minutes early, so the kids explored around (they loved the boat) and waited for the wedding to begin.
Courtney was the flower girl and Ethan was photographer (Leigh Ann bought both the kids disposable cameras to use during the ceremony but I ended up using Courtney's because she isn't that great at taking photos and wasn't too interested because she was busy with flower girl duties). Leigh Ann had gotten everyone an artificial red rose to hold but Courtney and Ethan ended up with all of them, so Courtney carried hers down the aisle as she walked. Then Dad walked Leigh Ann down the aisle.
The minister did the ceremony and it was nice. Leigh Ann had a hard time getting Gary's wedding band off her finger when she had been wearing it for safe keeping ;) But it was a nice ceremony topped off with a toast and then they were given a t-shirt saying "I took the plunge in Laughlin." Then we got to play for another 45 minutes on the boat.
They turned on some music, gave us bottles of water and we went onto the second story to look around. Courtney began practicing walking down the aisle with all her flowers and Ethan began to dance Irish jigs for us to make us laugh. Then the co-captain came up and asked the kids if they wanted to drive the boat. They were THRILLED!! Courtney went first and even was allowed to honk the horn. The captain let them look through his binoculars and steer, it was great. Ethan took his job very seriously and asked a lot of questions and watched where he was driving. Courtney just moved the wheel to the beat of the music. They were even given certificates stating that they are honorary captains of the boat.
After the boat ride and we were docked, we went back to our hotel room with the intention of going swimming, but the kids were tired. So we all got ready for bed, had a few tantrums from Courtney because she was just overly tired, and then went to sleep.
The next morning we ate breakfast, watched the HUGE carp swim around the dock and watched the ducks. Then we loaded up and headed home so we could be back in time for Ethan's soccer game.
Congratulations Leigh Ann and Gary!
Here are some photos:
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Too Much Like Me!
Courtney is a mini-me. This is good and bad. It's good because, as Bryan says, "We know that she'll turn out okay because look at you." But it's bad because I don't have the patience to deal with myself because I understand now that it isn't any big deal. But you can't tell that to a 4 year old.
Preschool was great the first day. Courtney popped right out of the van and was ready to go. But on Monday she wouldn't even get in the carpool van with her friends. She just screamed and held on tight saying she didn't want to leave me. I had kindergarten flashbacks in the worst way!! I completely understood how she was feeling. I drove her to preschool and, once again, she just popped right out of the van and ran inside.
But yesterday she, once again, wouldn't get in the carpool van. I drove her but this time she wouldn't let go of me. I took her into preschool and tried to get her to stop screaming but finally her teacher (who is wonderful!!) just grabbed her out of my arms, told me to wave goodbye and leave. I could still hear Courtney screaming when I drove away but she calmed right down and said she had the "bestest time" when she got home.
Dance class and Primary have now become the same way. When I asked her yesterday why she was so upset, she told me that she didn't want to leave me. I remember this well. I didn't need my mom's attention all the time, I just needed to have her around and know that she was there.
Anyway, I guess the Mother's Curse is REAL!!
Preschool was great the first day. Courtney popped right out of the van and was ready to go. But on Monday she wouldn't even get in the carpool van with her friends. She just screamed and held on tight saying she didn't want to leave me. I had kindergarten flashbacks in the worst way!! I completely understood how she was feeling. I drove her to preschool and, once again, she just popped right out of the van and ran inside.
But yesterday she, once again, wouldn't get in the carpool van. I drove her but this time she wouldn't let go of me. I took her into preschool and tried to get her to stop screaming but finally her teacher (who is wonderful!!) just grabbed her out of my arms, told me to wave goodbye and leave. I could still hear Courtney screaming when I drove away but she calmed right down and said she had the "bestest time" when she got home.
Dance class and Primary have now become the same way. When I asked her yesterday why she was so upset, she told me that she didn't want to leave me. I remember this well. I didn't need my mom's attention all the time, I just needed to have her around and know that she was there.
Anyway, I guess the Mother's Curse is REAL!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)