Sleepytime stories and more

Last week, after we had put the girls to bed, I heard Amber "Mom, Emma's in my bed!" I was so tired and I didn't want to referee that night. So I left them alone. After a while, all was quiet in the girls' room. I was pretty sure they had worked it out themselves and fallen asleep. Before I went to bed, I peeked in on the girls. This is what I found. Both girls were asleep on Amber's bed! Amber was snuggled right up to Emma. It was such a sweet sight. I'm sure that had I not taken a picture, or had John go check it out, the girls would have slept like this all night long. But, shortly after I took pictures Amber woke up complaining that Emma was in her bed. At that point we felt the situation should be remedied. So we put Emma in her own bed.

Just a few nights ago we had once again put the girls to bed and gone downstairs to watch a movie. During the movie I heard a loud thud and thought, that sure sounded like Emma getting out of bed. But she never came to find us and I just chalked it up to Trixie (the dog) being loud. After all, John had just told me that both girls were sound asleep and so was Timothy! Yay, a miracle! So, I was getting ready to go to bed and went to check on the girls first. My heart stopped, Emma was nowhere to be found. Of course, the first place I checked was Amber's bed. But no Emma. Where could she be? I then thought that it was likely she had crawled into my bed. So, I looked there. Lo and behold, Emma fast asleep on my bed. I took pictures, then put her into her bed where she promptly started whining. I told her she could sleep on the floor next to my bed. So that is where she fell asleep. Sometime during the night she went back to her own bed as she was nowhere to be found near my bed in the morning. I was even careful to not step on her. If only I had known she wasn't there.

Face view of Emma sleeping amongst the pillows on my bed!

Then yesterday, while Amber was in school, Emma played out in the front yard. She found a hard hat in the garage and decided to add that to her daily attire. Her adventures began with digging in the front yard where we took a tree out last year. We still haven't replaced the grass, so it is a big pile of dirt. There were construction workers at the neighbors house watching Emma and laughing at her digging in the dirt with her hard hat on! I thought it was quite amusing myself. By the time I got outside to take pictures, she was using this little turtle (a sandbox toy) as a bike. Her imagination keeps her entertained, especially during the times Amber isn't around to entertain her.

It seems as if when life gets comfortable, God steps in and says, HA HA, fooled ya. You need more trials. I feel as if this is how it has been the past couple of weeks. We were getting comfortable with the hand that had been dealt to us in life. John had a good job, I was getting a few clients here and there, and the kids were relatively happy.
Yet, when we

Jam, jelly, and fire

Okay, I have to tell a funny story. Yesterday I was making strawberry jam and apple jelly. Okay, that wasn't the funny part! Well, we were on the last batch of apple jelly. The apple jelly had boiled and I was trying to take it off the burner so it wouldn't burn while I was putting it in jars. I know, you think you know what's coming next. Yep, you guessed it. The jelly spilled over the side of the pan. Well, because the burner was still on the jelly landed on the very hot burner. I didn't think anything of it and started quickly gathering the remaining jars. All of a sudden there were flames. At this point, I have to give Kudos to John for being so level headed at that point. I started freaking out and he grabbed a lid, threw it on the flames, and turned the burner off. This was all before I could even get a sound out! Fear coursed through my veins as I thought about what a fire could do! I calmly finished bottling the jelly, even as the jelly continued to smolder on that burner. The whole house was full of smoke. But I guess it wasn't enough to set off our fire alarm. I guess it is time to check the batteries once again!
Whew! We finished, and then it was cleanup time. I was looking for something to use for stove clean up, but John kindly offered to clean the stove. What a godsend. I was not looking forward to cleaning the burnt mess off. Luckily it just scraped off as we have a flat top stove. Scary. But looking back at it, I am finding humor in my canning mishaps. After all, how fun would it be to talk about canning jam if I didn't have a horror story to tell and to laugh about.
So, now that it is all done, here are some pictures of the lovely jam and jelly! Doesn't it look yummy? It was so wonderful to sample the jam on homemade bread. Thanks to Leslie for bringing homemade bread over. She didn't even know we were making jam. It was so perfect.

Isn't it beautiful? We are excited to have this homemade jam and jelly!

Night time adventures

Last night I had Young Women board meeting at my house. So John was doing his best at keeping himself and the kids out of the way. After all, it was bedtime for the girls! After board meeting I heard noises coming from my bedroom and saw the lights on. So, thinking John was back there with Timothy, I headed to my room. Surprise, surprise, but who was in my room? Emma. She was sitting there quietly going through stuff on my headboard. She had a necklace that she was taking out of the box and watching it fall back in in. I reacted very calmly and told her to get into her own bed! Not ten minutes later she was asleep.
Short entry today, sorry. Just looked at the time. Time to get Emma from Preschool. The fun begins!

Epiphany

As I was waiting for Amber to get out of school I was watching Emma play on the playground. I sat under a tree and just let her play. I love watching her going down the slide. Then she decided to climb up the slide. At one point I watched her try to get onto what I call the fire pole. That's what it looks like. I didn't think she would do it by herself. All of a sudden she was hanging in midair. One hand on the pole and one hand on the bar next to the platform. I was about to jump up and rescue her when she figured out how to get her feet around the fire pole and slide down. Then all proud of herself she comes over to me, "Mom, did you see that?" So I had to will my heartbeat to slow down. A few moments later I saw her climbing over the edge of the slide. There was a little ledge that didn't connect to anything else except one of the main poles of the entire playset. Yikes. She grabbed onto that and just hung there. Once again I debated going to rescue her! And once again she climbed down the pole with no visible harm!
So, here's my epiphany. My kids don't need me to step in and save them from everything I perceive to be harmful. They are capable of taking care of themselves (to an extent). I realized that I have told them No a lot of times just because I didn't think they knew how, or that they were too little, or just plain couldn't do something. I guess I shouldn't do that. I have probably squashed a lot of their zest for life just because I was fearful of them branching out and doing something without me! So, maybe if I am reminded of this epiphany I will be able to enable my kids to accomplish great things, and I don' t have to be the one that dictates what or how they do it!
And now that my epiphany is complete, here are a few pictures to enjoy!





Emma putting grass on Emma's head!
The end result. Emma ended up looking like a chia pet!

Time Out

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Deseret Book's Time Out for Women on Friday night and Saturday in Logan. I left John home with the kids and picked up LeAnn downtown on Friday afternoon. We headed up to Logan. Of course at 4:00 it is already pretty busy on I-15 so we were stuck in traffic for a while. But, we still made it to Logan by 6:00. We checked into our hotel and booked it to USU. We had tons of fun. I'm not sure we got much sleep. We stayed up late and then had to be back at USU by about 8:30 in the morning. We had an unbelievably amazing experience!
The kids survived the night without me, yay! John even survived. It is so good that he is willing to take the kids so I can have time for me. The kids really enjoy having time with Daddy. Unfortunately, when I got home John told me Timothy had not been feeling well. Makes me feel bad sometimes knowing I left and then Timothy gets sick. But everything was under control and I didn't have anything to worry about.
This morning was difficult as I am still exhausted. No sleep over the weekend really does me in! But we got Amber off to school, and on time! An accomplishment for us this morning. We even had time for Amber to look through her things as she was supposed to take something green to school today. Thanks to Julie for letting us know. I rarely call people early, but I knew she would be up and getting her kids ready. It helps to have somebody who knows what is going on. Most days I certainly feel like I don't.
Now we get to enjoy some time without the kids fighting. Emma is trying to play the piano and Timothy is intent on making a mess. He gets into everything. So much for trying to childproof. He can get around anything.
Timothy is a bottomless pit. I made pancakes for breakfast with apple pie filling in them. Timothy ate 5! But where does he put it? With metabolism like his, wow. I can't imagine what it would be like.

Pictures!

I just had to share a few pictures of the kids from yesterday. Timothy was just way too cute and the girls were actually looking cute. I took these pictures of them all dressed up with somewhere to go!


Emma, Amber, Timothy

This is Timothy, mad at me for putting him down long enough for a picture. He was tired and hungry!

Cute knees, don't ya' think?

Funny things!

Funny things happened in the past couple of days. I think I'll write about those things.

This morning Emma was trying to sneak up on me and tickle me, at the request of my dear husband. However, after a couple of times of letting her get me, I started turning in my chair so I was facing her. Of course, she couldn't get me then. She played along for a while and then she said, "Mom, stop! Daddy told me to tickle you!" She was so upset that she couldn't tickle me. At that point I had to let her tickle me.

Last night we were at my dad's house for dinner. As we were getting ready to leave, I found Amber with her hand in Grandpa's candy jar. I was teasing her and told her she couldn't have any. She looked at me, shook her head back and forth, and said "Too bad, Grandpa said I could!"

After the girls went to bed last night, Timothy was nowhere near ready for sleep. So we riled him up with a game of peek-a-boo and the tickle monster. We were all laughing so hard. It is so much fun when Timothy laughs. I think I probably lost about 50 pounds last night just from laughing!

Amber still maintains that Chicken Nuggets are not real. They are just food. So I asked her today if that means Chicken Nuggets are fake. She said yes. But then I asked her how she can eat them if they are fake. Then she said they are just food, that's how she eats them.

I was sitting in the living room and all of sudden Emma started screaming. I told her to come over to me so she could tell me what was wrong. She said she couldn't. Being just a tad annoyed, I got up and went to her. I felt bad for being annoyed when I found her laying on the floor with her barrette stuck in the carpet. It took all I had to not laugh before rescuing her from her predicament.

There were more funny things, but at the moment, I think I am having a senior moment, as John puts it. I can't seem to remember the things I wanted to share. It will hit me at 2 a.m. and I will find myself unable to sleep.

Boredom reigns!

Now that school is in session, Amber gets really bored at home. She's been bugging me all afternoon to find something for her to do. She read books, did an art project, and she is currently playing hair salon with my head while I type! Ouch. She hasn't quite learned the art of brushing hair. But I can endure a little pain so I don't hear the complaints, "Mom, I'm bored!"

Emma and Timothy have been having fun while Amber is in school. I think they get away with a lot more when Amber isn't around. Emma loves playing with Amber's toys. Plus, they get treats that Amber doesn't get. If only Amber knew what she was missing while she was at school. She might not be so eager. I'll just not tell her what happens while she's gone.

Here's another cute slideshow of the kids. Timothy is such a happy baby and it wasn't too hard to snap a picture of his adorable smile. The difficult part was snapping the picture before Emma stole the spotlight! I have such adorable kids.

First day of Kindergarten

Today was Amber's first day of Kindergarten. She was so excited last night that it was hard to get her to go to sleep. I wanted her to get good sleep so she wouldn't sleep through class. I know how tired she gets. It was kinda hard to let her go. For me, Kindergarten is a sure sign that my baby is growing up. She looked like such a big girl, all dressed for school with her backpack. We met Julie and her kids so we could walk together. It was about a 15 minute walk. We had a good walk and then I waited with Amber until she went into her classroom. I wanted to stay with her, but knew if I did it would make it harder for her. Plus I had the two younger kids with me.

It was a cooler morning so it was really nice to walk. We weren't so hot. It was a good walk. We took the shortcut through the field. Talk about a workout. Pushing a double stroller laden with Emma and Timothy is no easy task when on the grass. Hmmm . . . maybe tomorrow I'll make Emma get out and walk over the grass! We'll see. Take one day at a time.

Timothy fell asleep on the way home. I think our schedules are going to be a little off for a while. Getting up earlier and all the exercise. I have gotten used to Timothy's schedule, but we are messing it all up. He will still take naps, but when? He slept for about and hour and a half after we got home. I should have taken advantage of just having Emma awake. I could have at least gotten unpacked from our weekend adventures!

After school Amber was not too keen on the idea of walking home. She wanted me to carry her backpack. I think the whole idea of school and walking has lost its luster!

Anniversary

Seven years!! My how time flies. I thought it would be fun to go back and recap what has happened over the past seven years. I'll start with 2001.

2001- John and I were married Sept. 1st. We were married in Salt Lake and then drove back to Michigan. I was starting my second year of law school and John had a good job at the USPFO for the National Guard.

2002- We were still living in Michigan. A couple of weeks before our anniversary we were able to take a trip to Maine. We enjoyed the drive and had a good time. At that time I was also about three months pregnant with Amber. Earlier in the summer we had driven to Wisconsin where my brother was married. We brought my younger sister and brother back to Michigan with us. It was fun to have them for the week they were here. We flew back to Utah with them on July 4th.

2003- We had just moved to Utah. I had finished my classes and needed to do an externship for the next three months. Amber was about 6 months old at that time. Earlier in the year we had found a house close to my parents for a good price. It was a crazy year. John had found a National Guard unit to be transferred to. Unfortunately, this is also the year we found out John would be deployed. We had only been in Utah for a few short months when we knew for sure he would be deployed.

2004- This was a busy year. John was deployed at the beginning of January to Afghanistan. Amber turned one in February. I took the bar in February. At Easter time I took Amber to Michigan. I was doing volunteer work during the summer until I got a job. John surprised my by getting leave to come home a few months earlier than planned. He was actually home for our anniversary. It was nice to have him home for a short time!

2005- A lot happened this year too. My mom passed away in January, John came home for good in March, Cynthia came to visit for a while, and Emma was born in May. Wow, just in the first six months of the year. We celebrated our four year anniversary, but it felt like we had just started over again. John had been gone for so long and we had a lot of adjustments to make when he came home. Amber had a lot of adjustments to make with babysitters. At the beginning of the year she was with Bonnie. Then John was home. Then Cynthia was here, then I was home after having Emma. Then the girls were with Maegen, then they were with Jaime.

2006- Wow, five years! We actually had a very slow year, so to speak. Not much excitement this year. Although we did lose a ready babysitter. My sister went to college so we lost our last minute babysitter! Amber turned three and started going to the Boys and Girls club this year. It was nice to have the extra time in the car with her before going to work. Emma was with Andrea, just a few houses away. It was nice to have the babysitter close to home. Drop off and pick up were way easy!

2007- You know, sometimes we do things without knowing what the end result is going to be, or how things are really going to turn out. This is the year I quit my job on faith and prayer. At the time I really wasn't sure how it was going to work, but both John and I felt it was the best thing for us at the time. I knew I could work at home, and I had options. Timothy joined us in October, just in time for Halloween. At Christmastime we drove to Michigan to visit John's family. It was a good trip. The kids were amazing. They fought very little.
I started bringing in more work towards the end of the year.

2008- This year so far has been crazy. Amber turned five, Emma turned 3. John and I have been married for seven years! So far we have had a good year. We've been busy, but we've also had fun. John enjoys his job, I've been involved with a couple of HOA's, and the kids are growing up! Amber started Kindergarten, and Emma started preschool.

Looking back at the years, it looks like we have a lot to celebrate. Although we've had our trials, we have had a good life together. We are so blessed. Hooray for seven years, when some predicted we would last for not more than two!